From Portland to Cannon Beach

We have been in Oregon for the last 4 days. Tomorrow we are heading home. This family trip includes my sister, brother in law, my two nieces and my parents. It has been more than I had expected. First of all, this is the first family trip we have taken in several years. I wasn't sure how it would be like to travel with my family as we often bicker here and there and with kids around I had imagined it to be quite crazy. However it wasn't. It was so fun. So many unexpected things happened. Like tonight, we had a bonfire out on the beach and made s'mores. My family doesn't do that but they did it because I really wanted to and everyone ended up really enjoying the experience. Out of all of us I think Avery had the best time. She was always smiling.




Avery digging in the sand at Cannon Beach.
I think this was the first time she ever played in sand. Once in a while she even ate sand. Hmmm... Not a good idea. Abbie enjoyed all the food she got to eat. That girl can eat!!! She also kept trying to break out into the patio where she was normally forbidden to go. My nieces remind me of me lol. I feel very proud of them.




Kids fooling around in the hotel room.

Also, it was really nice to spend some time with my parents. We never get to just relax around each other. Tonight I even got some time to sit on the beach alone with my dad and to stare at the stars with him. I showed him the Little Dipper because he has never seen it.

Some highlights of the trip: We went to the waterfalls by Portland and hung out at the beach to watch the sunset. My mom learned how to roast marshmallows. We ate at some damn good restaurants. Most memorable was all the time I got to spend with my nieces and see all the excitement in their eyes everyone time there was a new experience.

Here are some more photos.




Wakeena Falls.




Multnohmah Falls.




Apizza Scholls in Portland: on the weekend they get so busy there is no take out orders allowed and you have to reserve your pizza dough. The pizza is 18 inches across!!!




Rooster Rock and the Columbia River Gorge.




Another photo of Rooster Rock.




Bonfire night.




A visit to the Haystack Rock to check out who got stuck in the tide pools during low tide.

Cannon Beach in the morning is a gorgeous site too.




Great trip!!!
I am thankful for all the new memories!

21 days

Michelle says it takes 21 days to change a habit. In Behaviour Science it also states you should wait at least 3 weeks before you change any part of your behavior plan because it takes that long for a change in behaviour to occur. Most people don't give life changes more than a week before they give up. Either they forget there was something they were supposed to change or be conscious about or they get frustrated and give up. Gotta remember not to waste the valuable lessons we learn in life and just go back to our easy habits.

My major life goal this year is to be patient. It's been a running life theme. Impatience affects my interactions with people and my attention to details. How do I train myself in 21 days to be patient? I really think this will take longer than 21 days. Michelle has challenged me on this so we shall see. I'm going to write a behaviour plan so when I feel impatient I will have a coping strategy or a replacement behaviour. I need to some how break down my behaviour so I can work at my impatience in small increments.


I also have a goal of self restraint I need to work on. I have two focuses in my life in which practicing self restraint is necessary. These areas are two things I really need not dwell on or further investigate. It will be a daily goal but I consider it a goal I really have to take one day at a time. Lets cross fingers that I will be successful. These two will be difficult.


As everyday we are changing and are different people moment by moment its important to have some sense of direction or idea of where it is you are headed. Not too long ago I wrote a list of goals or wishes of things I wanted in life. Deepak Chopra said to write out this list somewhere and carry it with you everywhere. Read it in the morning. Read it before you meditate. Read it before you sleep. This engages your mind to connect your wants with the Universe when you are conscious. Just by doing this you can tap into the energy that is with us all and connects everyone and everything in the Universe. We can affect all energy with our thoughts. Though it may not bring things to you on a silver platter it will open up doors and map out new roads for you that you would have never been able to see before. Sadly, I wrote this list but lost it.

I feel very inspired to write a new one. Sometimes in the hustle and bustle of life you forget to work on your spirituality. Today seeing lightning light up the night sky seemed to bring some of that pureness of thought back. I will write one tomorrow as I think my wishes have changed since then anyway. Maybe that's why I lost that list anyway. It didn't suit me anymore.

More food and fun!

Last week was the last week of summer school. It seems like it went by so fast but if you really think about it summer is half over. Now I can sit back and relax a little and enjoy more fun in the sun. I think the solid schedule made me more productive though.


The week started off with a hike in Lynn Valley. I guess the word hike should be lightly used as it is actually very easy trail walking except for a flight of stairs. It was really fun. Lynn Valley is so different during the summer. It's teeming with people just sitting around on rocks and people watching. There are police men scolding people not to drink in public and men just prancing around in their underwear because they did not bring swimming trunks. Kids are jumping into the canyons and it's just really fun and chill. According to the info center there are plenty of animals that live in every acre of Lynn Valley. We were looking for salamanders and we got lucky. Look! We got a photo of these two very rare creatures before they were able to scuttle away!



I wanted to go to Lynn Valley because I really wanted to see Rice Lake which was not really part of Lynn Valley Park. It is in a very woody area and it's super quiet. Not much is going on here. It's just a quiet lake were you can do some rainbow trout fishing. Apparently the limit is 2 rainbow trout per fisherman. This lake wasn't too exciting but I am glad that I got to see it. I've been curious for a long time. What was interesting was that it was very smoky all around. Then we found out they were shooting "Arrow" in the area. There was filming crew everywhere with smoke machines. It was pretty neat.


Moving on from this... this week I sort of discovered a new love. Ginger beer: not the alcholic type but the soda type. It's sooo good. Some brands are stronger than others. I tried four so far but I only have photo's of Grace and Old Jamaican. The other two I tried were Fentiman's and Old Tyme. My favourite is the Old Jamaican. I had it at the Carribean Festival and it was so refreshing. Sometimes when you drink ginger beer it really hurts like how you have wasabi and it goes up your sinus's but this one brand in particular didn't do that. I wish I knew where I could get some more!






Notable restaurants... THE ONE... Taiwanese fair in Burnaby on Kingsway. The reason why this place is notable is due to the portion size of the food.
That fried rice can feed a family of 4 and it's only 8 dollars... it's pretty good too. It's the fried chicken nugget fried rice. I would definately order it again. They put chinese five spice in the rice too and it gives it a really nice flavour.



Shaved ice... this is huge too. Just make sure you don't add too much syrup because it gets really sweet.


Uhhmm.... yeah.... I know what your thinking.... lol... aside from the obvious it's just a really big slushie. Here is a tip for you if you want to check this restaurant out... bring a jacket... it's really cold in there.


Tokyo Time in Kerrisdale: This is now my new favourite Japanese restaurant. The rolls are just so fresh and tasty. They combine ingredients so well. The separate flavours compliment each other so well. It's a bit pricey though. Special rolls are between $15-$20. However the regular rolls are just as good. I love this place for their negitoro roll. It's the best I've ever tasted. They mix a bit of shiso in there so it has a unique flavour but it's also not to strong.


Black Sesame Crusted Tuna Steak.   This dish is tasty because of the black sesame but it's a bit too pricey for what it is. You can get similar dishes at Guu restaurants for half the price. It did taste very good though.


Vegetarian Gyoza: Tofu, cheese, kale.  For a vegetarian gyoza this dish had a lot of flavour. I wouldn't even mind trying it again.

Indian Summer Roll...



Bloody Winter Roll...

I don't remember what the big roll is but the other two are chopped scallop and negitoro.

All the rolls were good but you also don't have to spend big money on rolls to feel very satisfied. The rolls in the last picture were 5 dollars or less and they were great.

Food cart fest... My favourite thing there...blueberry mojito popsicle from Johnnypops!


And goat curry from the Carribean Fest... a must have if you go there... I wish I knew how to make this.


Sunday night I went to Kit's for dinner and we stayed at the beach for a bit. There were a row of chairs there that had some quotes inscribed into them. This was my favourite one because it's true. There is nothing wrong with being wrong though... just remind yourself you aren't always right...

So many fruits!!!

A couple of weeks ago I discovered a tree by Main Street that was full of figs. I love figs and this was very exciting news to me. The figs weren't quite ripe so I decided to come back sometime later to pick some fruit. I went back this weekend but unfortunately most of the fruits within reach were still too young. I will have to go back again in a couple of weeks when they should all be ripe. I did pick some to bring home though as I heard you can leave them in a sunny window and sometimes they will ripen. This was not the case for my figs. Now I have a bunch of figs that will never ripen and I feel bad that I took them. I will have to do something with them.

I lay under the tree for a considerable amount of time. It's also a nice little picnic spot. The tree is quite low and the leaves are extremely large. It feels very private and peaceful. All that green is very calming. It's a very pleasing color. I love seeing rays of light coming through leaves and I love seeing translucent glow. It's only during summer time that we can enjoy things like this. We should really take advantage of it. I think I heard on the radio today that we have had 33 days of sunshine. We are so lucky!

While I was sitting under the tree a lady was picking fruit with a light bulb changer. She was having a wine and cheese party that night and she was going to serve some figs to go along with it. She knew what she was doing and gave me some tips for picking figs. I think it's so cool that people pick fruit from the local park to eat at home. I wish that was more common. She was nice enough to get me a ripe fruit from the top to try. 



There was also a crab apple tree near by. I picked a couple and ate one or two. They are soooo sour.




In addition to this, my friend came over today and brought some fresh blackberries he picked from his neighborhood. They are very sour as well and I have a lot of them. I also have some pears from the backyard. I think tomorrow I am going to make a dessert with all these fruits. It will be like having a Chopped dessert round. Hmm... so fun. I don't know what I am going to make but I will update with a picture after a make it. I hope it tastes good!!!

Weekend Update

This weekend was relatively busy. Yet Monday comes along and now I can hardly remember what I've done with all that time. Time to reflect.
Went to the park a couple of times this weekend and one time Michelle joined me and brought me some treats. I call one of then the Blow your mind... Goat cheesecake with beet sponge cake. Wahhhh!!! I want more this was so yummy. You can get it at Beta 5 in Vancouver but I heard that they aren't selling cakes in a jar anymore. I hope that still mean s another version of this cake is available.




It is sprinkled with poached pears and comes with a little Baggie of colorful crumble. It's so crunchy. I love this cake THHHHIIIISSSSS much!!! Thank you Michelle for getting me one even though I didn't join the rock climbing cult.
Here is another dessert from Beta 5. It's a sour cherry pistachio cream puff.








So good. I liked the combination of pistachio cream and the sour cherry jelly inside. I would like to visit that bakery and get a bunch of stuff. Apparently they have a stout truffle. Hmmmm... My name is all over that one.
Saturday lunch was at El Camino's. I've blogged about El Camino's many times because we are addicted to the chickpea fries. We were craving chickpea fries for lunch that day but unfortunately they don't have them during the daytime. Who knew? What the! I think they should Never take them off the menu. We had to order brunch instead. They had a wide variety of South American style dishes to choose from.




This is what I ordered. I forget the name if it though. Spicy... A little too spicy for brunch. I ordered this because it had rice and beans and an arepa comes with the meal. However, It didn't appeal to me. Flavours were too strong. I prefer their evening menu more.

Sunday night I hit the night market and tried a couple of snacks. I also did a bit of shopping. There is this jewlery stand that sells knock off jewelry for $5 each. The items look quite convincing. I got a pair of Stella and Dot earrings :)
Snack wise, I think most notable is this French fry corn dog.




Looks like a great idea. It is made with a hotdog dipped in corn-dog batter and then coated with hash-browns and drizzled in ketchup. This was so disappointing. It lacked a lot of flavour. All they had to do was season it a bit and use a better quality hot dog. Unfortunately they didn't.
Here is a dish I have been ordering a lot at the night market. It's their palabok pancit which is a Filipino noodle dish. I love palabok and I can't make it myself. Even though they don't use the traditional fatter noodle for it I am happy I can order this. I like it alot. The sauce is savoury and there is egg and pork in it.




I love the palabok from PinPin on Fraser street though. That was is extra yummy and savoury.




These two are having Mango Sago from Mango Yummy. It's such a good drink! It's made with mango, coconut milk, tapioca and some sort if citrus. Yum!
Don't forget to take a picture with the duckies!



After the night market we went to Cascade for some polenta fries. We were curious about them. They are similar to chick pea fries just a bit crunchier and cheesier. I liked them a lot but you can't eat too many unlike the chick pea fries at El Caminos. However, I had a Pisco Sour there too and their Pisco Sour can give El Caminos a run for their money. It's just as good. I love Pisco Sours. I think they are my favourite drink. We also had onion rings there. The rings had a light batter and came with onion bacon jam and garlic mayo. Nice combo.











Ahhhh... Pisco Sour.

One thing that pisses me off

Yesterday I blogged about finding peace and contentment and always trying to appreciate what you have. Then today someone told me a story of what someone did to them. It makes me wonder why some people need to do horrible things to others. What do they get out of it? Why can't they just be happy on their own? It's all very senseless.

Even seemingly normal people can really surprise you with their darkness. Is this whole world becoming mentally ill? Or is there something in all of us that when given the opportunity will take advantage of a situation if they don't get caught. Sometimes technology really brings out the worst in people. It gives you the ability to hide who you are and pretend to be who ever you want to be. You can find out anything or access pretty much anything you want. You can also use it to mess up someone you don't like.

There are many ways to harass people. Too bad not all crimes are taken seriously. I've had my own experiences with harassment and it's interesting that the law is always on the perpretrators side. Some can prank call you from a blocked number endlessly, leave your personal information and pictures on the Internet and yet everything is out in place to protect them. Victims are left to feel vulnerable and helpless.

Did you know that in order to get a faked profile off a website you need to be able to provide the email address that was used to sign that profile up? That's really stupid.

Did you know that you can get the phone company to cooperate with you to find a blocked number on a LAN line but not a cell phone? Who uses a LAN line anymore?

Did you know there are prank calling apps out there that can change your voice and change the incoming call or text number to any number you want? That is so wrong.

Did you know to get a blocked number revealed you need to get a court order from a judge and pay the phone company hundreds of dollars. Even so, it would take 3-6 months to retrieve that number? What is the point of this? All the while, whoever is playing games with your mind is free to do so and do it while hiding behind the veil of technology.

I don't even understand why they allow people to block numbers. It seems really unfair. There can be no good reason to block a number. If there is then it should only be limitedly allowed. If you don't want your number revealed to someone why are you bothering to call them. It can't be for a good reason. Really stupid.

In this moment.

How to be happy? For me, it's to give and share my life with others. Also, I am learning that being happy means to think of your actions before you engage in them and always choose what will make you and others happy in the long run not in the moment. It's good to have lots of friends that let you practice your ever evolving being with them.


However, what is better than being able to enjoy your own company? Being able to sit in silence and feel ok with things just as they are is a gift. I love the ability to be in silence and just feel good. It's so peaceful. When your mind is quiet so is everything else. The whole Universe is still. However, there is a calm before and after every storm. Remember? The only thing you can count on is that things are ever changing. Eventually another storm will come and I wish that for those moments I could encapsulate the moments of complete comfort and contentment and bottle them up. How many bottles would one need? What would the inside of these bottles look like? Do they have a color? What substance would they resemble? Maybe they would be labelled as "Happy Food", "Time for a nap", "Drink me instead of beer", "Vegas". I see sparking butterflies in jars. The essence of grass and fresh air in bottles. A light blowing wind and sunlight coming from another one. The sounds of wild birds in another. Laughter of my nieces will be somewhere there too. Everyone needs a couple of bottles in their pantry for those moments you forget how ok everything really is. We should try to keep some in the pantry of our consciousness. What would yours look like?


Pain, on the other hand, should never be bottled up. No one needs to save it. If it's bottled up in you somewhere it's time to pour it out and let to go back to where it came from: the past. We can still label the unhappy moments in our lives but see that they are empty of their power. So many people allow the past to hold them hostage. They allow it to color their daily events. The past has no hold on you now. Just be happy with what you have in the moment. I once saw a movie a wonderful idea of how to get rid of unhappiness. Get a cup of water, scream your unhappiness into it then dump it out the window. Let that frustration splatter all over a plant rather than you. I think the plant would appreciate it more anyhow.


Some people say it's a choice to be happy. I think it's more of a choice to not let unhappy moments take over your life. No matter what we will feel unhappy sometimes and you won't be able to help it. That's just human nature. Just don't let it become who you are. It's just like how people let words define who they are. "I'm stubborn", "I can't do that", "I'm unhappy", it can truly become you if you let it define you. Be flexible. If you are aware you have some negative tendencies be conscious about them and don't let them ruin good things that are given to you. We are all happy individuals that have moments of unhappiness mask our true essence. If it weren't so we shouldn't be able to feel incredible for no reason.
Maybe next time you have a shitty day say thanks because without shitty moments we would never know how lucky we are just as is.




Kinda like that. Everything is a blessing in disguise.