Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Haven't been updating recently.. Well CNY just started and hope everyone is having fun visiting, collecting ang baos and eating all the goodies!! (Though i don't get to collect ang baos and eat cny goodies.. *bleahz*)

This is my first time celebrating CNY overseas without my family and friends back home and i must say though it was not as 'traditional' and 'happening' due to the lack of visiting and maybe even gambling, i still had fun celebrating my first overseas CNY!!

除夕
Went to Chinatown with only Zhenni and Julian as the others were either busy with preparing for mid-term tests or having a long day in school. Cynthia also came to join us for dinner after her first day of work (Congrats Cynthia for your newfound job!). We have been hearing that East Hastings Street at Chinatown was not safe with all the vices and so we avoided that street. However, we still came across this woman who told us to get out of her way while we were crossing the road!! We weren't even in her path in the first place!! That was my first unruly encounter in Vancouver. By the time we reached Chinatown, most of the shops were closed but we came across this shop which i bought almond cookies from, which was of the same brand which i bought from Macau previously! The shop even ignited fire crackers later on which you don't get to see it in Singapore!

Entering Chinatown!!

Shop that set off fire crackers

We had our dinner at this HK restaurant and all of us ordered roasted duck rice with char siew haha.. Oh and we managed to each get a bowl of lotus root soup for 0.75 Cad and it was so good!! The duck and char siew wasn't very good though, still prefer Singaporean roast duck and char siew...

Yummy lotus root soup!!

Group Pic

After dinner, we went to T&T Supermarket which sells Asian stuff! Bought another rounds of groceries again...

Frozen durians anyone?!

After grocery shopping, we could not resist but succumb to our cravings for desserts at True Confections!! It's CNY's eve after all, so we should indulge ourselves!! This time round, we ordered Marble Top Cheesecake and Chocolate Pecan Pie with Vanilla Bean ice-cream. The cheesecake was very normal, not as good as the peanut butter cheesecake we tried previously.. However, the chocolate pecan pie was heavenly.. it almost took my breathe away when it literally melted in my mouth...

Star of the night!

Cakes and pies galore!!

Dessert gluttons..

初一
No holiday from school!! But that won't stop us from enjoying CNY!! Decided to have our cny dinner at one of the Prima Taste restaurants at downtown. Hence after classes, Julian, Zhenni and me headed to downtown and did some window shopping!! Went to this departmental shopping mall called Sears and it has this tourist corner which sells maple syrup in assorted bottles!! Maple syrup is supposed to be the local product of Canada and heard that they really taste good.. Gonna make sure i try them before i leave... After walking around for some time, we came to an Aldo shop (yes, the same Aldo that you see in Singapore) which was having sales! We quickly went in but in the end, only Julian managed to buy a pair of leather shoes at 30+ cad!! I couldn't find anything i like... darn!!!

Back to the future IV?

Vince came to meet us after his lessons and we went to Prima Taste for dinner!! All of us ordered laksa except for Vince, who ordered Hokkien Prawn Noodles. I would say the food was good and probably the best Singaporean cuisine in Vancouver, but it still can't beat the better ones in Singapore!! In addition, the price was exorbitant!! I paid like 10 cad for a bowl of laksa!! And the portion wasn't big.. Well, just for the experience!!

Prima Taste!

Grp Pic

I miss Laksa!!

初二
Gonna have a potluck party at Zhenni's place! Turned out there was too much food in the end! I made sambal prawns and potato soup with tomatoes, onions, tofu and carrots (whatever this soup is called). Zhenni prepared a vegetable dish, Cynthia cooked curry chicken and pork ribs with chili and black beans. Ha prepared Vietnamese spring rolls with fish sauce while Julian prepared asam fish! Corrine, Zhenni's Swiss housemate, prepared fruits and chocolate cream and Danielle brought 2 cakes for desserts!! Haven't had such a sumptuous feast in a long while!! Everything was simply delicious!! Company was good and the desserts were great!! I'm gonna learn how to make chocolate cream from Corrine!! Whoever has not tried eating fruits dipped in chocolate cream deserves to be shot!! haha...

Zhenni "squashing" the tofu, just kidding lol

Yummy soup from my granny's recipe!!

Chef Lionel and his prawns!

Potluckers..

We decided to play Indian poker and the loser has to eat some leftover fruits or cake. And guess what, i lost 3 times!! Grr... Am i just plain unlucky or not smart enough to trust the correct person??

Indian poker commences!

Loser of the night.. sigh..

Bought this ice wine from a nearby liquor store which cost 50 cad!! We have been told that we must try the ice wines in Vancouver so we decided to buy it so that everyone could have a taste! It was expensive but it was good!! Complemented the good food that we ate earlier!! Really felt so sinful eating all the food, chocolate and wine.. CNY wasn't lacking of good food for me after all!!

What is Zhenni trying to do? Be Duck Woman perhaps?

Corrine, the chocolate cream chef!

Me advertising for the ice wine and Zhenni had to spoil it..

The remnants of the party..