C Restaurant

well, it's Dine-Out Vancouver time again :) DC and I went to C Restaurant, located on Howe street in downtown Vancouver, last night. this was my second time, my first was with NK last year and I was so impressed with the food, the service, and the environment, that i had to come back here again :D

of course, being Dine-Out Vancouver season, the restaurant was packed. so packed that they opened their wine room to serve guests in. when they told us we would be sitting in the wine room, i was like, "Oh! how nice!" but when we got there, i was disappointed. it may be a wine room but it wasn't a very cozy or inviting wine room at all. especially since i had dined in the wine room of La Terrazza, a really gorgeous restaurant with great food, and an equally beautiful wine room to boot!

to make things worse, the room was tiny. it only held 1 small table for 2, 1 table for 4, and 1 larger table for 6. Of course, being in a small room with a low ceiling, no windows whatsoever, and blank white walls, the sound of everyone's conversation, especially coming from the larger table, was just too loud. DC and I practically raised our voices in order to be heard by each other.

C Restaurant has a great environment in the main dining areas, however it was not carried out into the wine room. it was almost as if the room was an after-thought -- something they quickly pulled together in haste in order to accomodate their reservaation list that night. i felt like we were put in the 'kiddie room' away from all the 'adults' :b

the food was great, but the experience was not. i thought C Restaurant sincerely cared about providing not only great food and service, but a great experience as well. clearly, this was not the case, and because of one bad experience, i don't know if i would classify the restaurant as Fine Dining.

oh! and if you're wondering what we had, i had the lobster 4-course meal, and DC had the steak 3-course meal.

i hope they'll think twice abuot serving in the wine room next year...

new year's resolution 3 -- get to work earlier

so i thought of another thing i really should do -- get to work earlier. i usually get into the office at around 10am and in the industry i'm in, thats actually ok. but getting to work later means leaving later and leaving later means leaving at 6 or 7pm when its dark outside. :(

by the time i get home, its time for dinner, and then its late and i can't do anything. so the evening is just wasted away at home.

so i'm going to work on getting into the office earlier and earlier everyday -- one day 9:45, then 9:30, then 9:15, then 9:00am. baby steps are crucial, you know. :) but that means getting to bed earlier and i'm a real night owl so that's going to be difficult :(

i wanna dog...

a chihuahua
when i come home to my small flat
i want to hear somebody bark

don't want a cat
scratching its claws all over my
habitat
giving no love and getting fat

hee hee... yep i'm a pet shop boys fan but really, i REALLY do want a dog. but not a chihuahua. i'd really like to have a golden retriever or a yellow lab.

why did i bring this up all of a sudden? well people close to me know that i've been wanting a dog for the longest time. i'm just waiting to finally find a place to buy so that i can get a dog. but the other day a coworker brought his dog to work and i was so in love with it! its still a puppy but its getting pretty big! he's a yellow lab and so playful :)

but maybe i'll get a yellow lab when i actually buy a house. if i'm going to buy an apartment in a condo, i'll get a smaller dog. :) i already have a M&N dog carrier! :b

new year's resolution 2 -- shop SMRT

notice i didn't say no shopping haha

so what is shopping smart? buying things you only need? no impulse buying?
a 24 hour cooling off period to decide if you *really* need something? leaving your credit cards in the freezer when you go out? buying everything with cash only? all of the above? or hows about shopping around for the best deals at sample sales, warehouse sales, small boutiques in yaletown, gastown, and on west 4th? yah... that sounds better :)

i think i'll hit up gastown this weekend :b and if i have time, i'll hit up west 4th :b anyone wanna join me?

wine & oyster festival 2006

uuggghhhhh.... i'm writing this while nursing my hangover. hee hee

i drank SO much wine and chugged SO many oysters tonite at the BC Wine & Oyster Fest downtown. i think i set a new personal record for oysters eaten -- 24 in one sitting, just for the oyster eating contest i entered :D i didn't win but i entered just to eat the oysters!!!! YUMMMMMY~~~~~

on top of that DC and I made the rounds and probably chugged down another 26 oysters each --- 50 plus ... my personal BEST. i'm going for 80 next year.. i think i'll enter heat 1 and heat 2 of the oysters challenge next year ---- thats like 48 oysters over 2 sittings in less than 60 seconds.. hahahahahaha

i start training next week with jello shooters.

THAT WINE BASKET IS *MINE*...

on top of the oysters, i got to taste a lot of yummy wines (especially my favourite, gewurztraminer... i tried ALL of the gewurz's). i found my favourite ice wine, Apricot from Elephant Island Orchards too.

i also got a job offer to work at Joe Fortes shucking oysters!!! :D but i think i would eat more than i shuck, "one for the restaurant, one for me, two for the restaurant, 5 for me..." :p

i learned one thing about getting oysters --- LINE UPS ARE FOR SUCKERS -- just bud in and grab one -- people too sloshed to notice anyways... hahahahaah my favourites -- kushis -- but pound for pound, the easiest to get were from Mosaic of Hyatt Regency. no line-ups and DC camped out for the better part of the night until they finally ran out of oysters and had to close down. heh. i was really surprised that DC didn't eat oysters before this evening, but ive made him into a believer. in fact he's become quite a monster. DAMN, can't let him enter the competition next year :b NK and i are going to go head-to-head in 2007 fer sure. YOU'RE GOING DOWN!!!!

it was a lot of fun and i got to enjoy it with DC, NK, DH, Emi, and Diana. i can't believe we stayed til the very end and ate one of the final oysters of the fest. i think we literally had one of the last 3 oysters before they kicked us out and went bankrupt hahahhaha.

ok, actually feeling ok now -- very fun evening -- probably the most fun from all the years i've been. time to go nighty-night and dream of oysters...

heh, i'm curious to read this blog tomorrow morning when i'm sober :b

new year's resolution 1 -- go to the gym

so i've been hearing quite a few people in the last week or so since i've been back in the 604, talking about their New Year's Resolutions. and it got me thinking, what sort of things would be on my list? shop more? spend less? no, that doesn't work.

what about everyone's vow to go to the gym? i'm thinking, do they even have a good reason to go to the gym? so i ask a couple of my friends, and i got a lot of humming and hawing, "Hmm I guess I need to lose some of that Christmas weight.", or "Umm well.. my buddies are going, so I thought it might be a good idea to join them...".

and then i have friends who already have a gym membership, going in hopes that they will lose some weight but are perplexed as to why they haven't lost any, "yah.. I go but it doesn't seem to be working...", they say as they munch on a bag of chips. :b

heading to the gym in hopes that it'll work miracles on your body is ridiculous. there are so many other things that are major factors in getting the results you are looking for -- whether that be to lose weight, to tone, or to bulk up. knowing how to train, eating the right food, getting enough sleep, and minimizing stress, are all BIG factors to consider.

but not everyone's answer is the gym. a couple of my friends only use the gym or do tai chi to supplement their other main activities, like volleyball or hockey. they are in the best shape, no gut, and toned muscles but don't rely on the gym to give them all of that.

its all good for me to say, but i'm in the same boat as a lot of people out there -- i gotta work on all of that and unfortunately it doesnt happen overnight :(

i think i'll create a couple of milestones to reach throughout the year... and see how far i get :b

holiday recap

hAppY nEw yEAr!

i hope y'all had a good holiday. i had a pretty good one -- 3 weeks with my parents in snowy and cold TO. i had to work some days from home during the holiday, but all in all, it was good. :) i spent everyday with my parents, shopping, watching TV, running daily errands, chatting, eating, and of course, ballroom dancing (i don't think i've ever spent more time with adults my parents age so much like i did this holiday :b )

surprisingly i didn't buy too much for myself on boxing day... probably cause there really weren't a lot of good deals to be had. a lot of places didn't have discounts, or they had discounts that were like $5 off of an item that was originally $139 :b

i spent a bit of time with my cousin/family-friend WJ shopping, eating, and watching movies. She's like the older sister i never had :) -- passing on beauty and shopping tips, and bringing me up to speed with the news of the family :)

i had a high-school reunion one evening at my parents' house with all my high-school buddies and their wives and children under one roof! AF couldn't make it as she was in Korea. CM and I were the only un-married gals, except for Ms. Samuels. it was SO much fun watching the lil' ones run around too. my mom had the most fun tho, especially with little JH :) i just hope she doesnt get any ideas ... :b

besides the cold, it was an awesome holiday :) and we had a BEAUTIFUL white christmas to boot! :D

hope you all had a rockin' holiday too!