All posts tagged: food

V-day in Toronto

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The moment New Years Eve activity wraps up, retail stores are suddenly decked out in pink and red hearts and boxes of chocolates wrapped in delicate bows.  Valentine’s Day doesn’t have to be the cheesy and cliche roses and fancy dinner.  Make it fun this year with your significant other or your girl friends with a unique experience! Sweet Tooth Duo What’s more thoughtful than buying your sweetheart a box of chocolates? Making them together! Toronto offers some fun courses on making your favorite confectionaries from chocoalte to french macarons.  In fact, this would be a perfect girls night out option too for the single ladies. Purdy’s Truffle Making Class Le Dolci’s Cupcake making or Parisian Macaron class Artistic Couples This is a great opportunity to get creative with paint cafes! They offer classes or free style options. Just purchase a canvas, and you have access to all the paint and tools needed to create your masterpiece. They usually have a cafe or bar in the lounge as well, so you can sip on your …

10 Fun Things to do in November [Toronto]

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Now that I am back in Toronto, it’s hit me that there are an overwhelming amount of events, concerts, and activities to do in the city. I looked into what was happening in the month of November and thought I’d share some interesting ones with my readers. Concerts/Shows/Exhibits The Weeknd Scarborough born multi-platinum selling artist returns home with The Madness Fall Tour. Nov 3 – 5 at the Air Canada Center Buy Tickets Sleeping Beauty on Ice Watch elegant skaters dance to the classic fairytale on ice Nov 20 – 21 at the Sony Center for the Performing Arts Buy Tickets Calvacade of Lights Bundle up and head outside to watch fireworks, the lighting of the Christmas Tree and free performances Nov 28 at Nathan Philips Square More Info Andy Warhol Revisited A Toronto Warhol exhibition of iconic paintings and prints opening Canada Day.  The exhibition includes over 120 works from Revolver Gallery. Tues – Sun 10am – 8pm Buy Tickets Getting into the Spirit Santa Clause Parade Gather in the heart of Toronto to watch the …

Quebec City – Canada’s own Paris

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As I was preparing to recap my recent weekend trip to Quebec City, I stumbled upon Huffington Post’s recent article entitled “Quebec City: A Closer Pick Than Paris.”  I couldn’t agree more.  Although not nearly not the same scale as the capital of France, Quebec City has its own unique charm and is much cleaner than it’s European counterpart.  It offers some spectacular views of the St.Lawrence river and a taste of it’s French roots in Old Quebec. I literally felt like I wasn’t in Canada anymore.  We were welcomed with stunning views after a short walk up from the Plains of Abraham where Britain won its battle over France.   The European style architecture adds such character to the city, especially the iconic Chateau Frontenac which was previously the residence of British Colonial Governors and now converted into a grand Fairmont Hotel and currently a National Historical site in Canada. You can take a scenic ferry ride across the St. Lawrence river to capture the beautiful skyline with the Frontenac for just a few …

Boston: Walking through the American Revolution

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It was just after Canada Day on July 1st which happens to fall on a Wednesday and so K and I decided to write off Thursday and Friday to hit the road and give Boston a visit (just in time for 4th of July!).  It was a blisteringly hot day so obviously we stopped for some McDonald’s soft serve 🙂 After about 8hrs of driving we made it just in time to catch the sunset.  Their metro system is very robust and you get pretty much get to anywhere using their transit.  We walked over to South Boston to explore the area and grab some seafood as recommended by our Airbnb host.  Seaport is where you can find beautiful views of the water and about a dozen seafood restaurants . Legal Seafood was a hot spot and for a good reason – they had probably the best outdoor patio lookout.  They charge a pretty penny for it too, but that didn’t stop a line up from bursting past the doors. We skipped it and ate …

Summer in the Capital

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Surprisingly, there is a lot of events happening in Ottawa in the summer.  Almost anything you’d normally find in Toronto, there’s something similar (granted, on a smaller scale).  Although, there is one thing that Toronto is lacking – Nordstrom.  I’ve found some great deals on their summer and anniversary sale.  Their built in restaurant, Bazille, is actually a great spot to dine after a good shopping haul.  They have a lovely patio area, delicious food, and great service.  Bonus: the menu is very affordable so you don’t have to choose between that pair of sunglasses or a satisfying dining experience. I like to stick in scenic shots of my jogging routes in all my Ottawa related posts because… I mean, look how soothing this is. Bluesfest – another huge event in Ottawa that runs multiple weeks with dozens of artists coming to perform including the likes of Keith Urban and Hedley and many more in between.  I had the pleasure of attending courtesy of my company.  We had a gorgeous two tiered booth with an open …

Los Angeles: Santa Monica Beach, Mexican Food and Rooftop Lounging

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Day 2 of Los Angeles and it was time to hit the beaches!  We went to Santa Monica beach which was swarming with both tourists and locals looking to catch some rays and fun in the sun. Seems strange to find rows of crosses on a beach but they are placed there in memory of the American soldiers that died in the Iraq war.  Pretty deep for a place people usually go to sun tan. One of the key features that makes Santa Monica unique is the outdoor gymnasium/work out equipment.  You see people doing some crazy athletic poses and moves and its pretty entertaining to watch them perform. Near the beach there are streets conveniently lined with shops and restaurants.  We stopped by Border Grill for some dinner.  The Mexican food is supposed to be very good in California because of the large Spanish community.  The chips are fried in house with a fresh guacamole and the ceviche with crispy plantain was bursting with flavor and my favorite dish. Their Baja Fish Tacos served with three …

Hong Kong [Part 6] Blue Butcher, Gardens, LKF, Dragon Dance

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We spent our last day in Hong Kong hitting up all the places that remained on our bucket list.  We started the day off with brunch at the Blue Butcher.  The picture below should explain the name..don’t worry, it’s not real blood.  Apparently this place was extremely hard to book as people usually reserve up to a month in advance!  And for a good reason.  For a fixed price, they offer a buffet style selection of delicious salads all made form quality ingredients such as prosciutto, tuna steak, and beef.  They also have all-you-can-eat raw oysters, foie gras, and a waffle station.  This is just the first course by the way.  For my main, I had eggs benedict over a slab of crusty bread.  Other options included French Toast, half roast chicken, and burgers.  The 3-course meal finishes with dessert which was very delicious as well.  I would highly recommend Blue Butcher! After the heavy brunch, we walked around Hollywood road which is the oldest road in HK.  Lot’s little shops and such in the …

Hong Kong [Part 5] Wakeboarding, Laduree, High Tea, drinks at the Ritz Carlton

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We started our day off bright and early (like 6:00am early) for wake boarding!  I’ve never tried it before, nor have I really done any sort of board sports before so I was pretty excited.  We drove to Tai Tam Bay to ride the waves with one of the most amazing scenic backdrops. The water was warm, the sun was gentle and the breeze was lovely.  Although I spent most of the session swallowing salt water from falling (haha) it was still so much fun and I can’t wait to try it again.       The wake boarding team 🙂 We were all so hungry and tired after wake boarding, this bowl of beef noodle soup with fish balls from On Lee really hit the spot. Afterwards we took it easy and walked around the city, this time we managed to wander into the heart of the protest zones.   I won a bet earlier with K and this box of Laduree macarons was my reward 🙂 such a pretty box!  Stopping by the Hilton …

Macau Day Trip: Senado Square, Casinos, Portugese Pork buns and Egg Tarts!

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Macau is a small city located just an hour away from Hong Kong by water.  Deemed as the Las Vegas of Asia, Macau is a power house of massive casinos all dripping with high class luxury.  It was formerly a Portuguese colony so it’s very interesting to see the historic influence in the city.  You can very easily purchase tickets near the port in Sheung Wan in Hong Kong for a trip to Macau. There are 33 casinos in Macau with The Venetian being the largest in the world.  We’ll get to that later…   I found navigating Macau to be as confusing as trying to weave your way around the many small lanes in Venice – near impossible in my opinion.  That may have been contributed to the fact that we were trying to find our way around without a map!  We took lift from one of the bicycle cart guys…we just needed to get into Senado square. Senado Square is adorned with your typical shopping brands and also in every corner you can …

Hong Kong [Part 4]: The Peak, Royal Yacht Club, and lots of great city views

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We started the day off exploring a bit of the city core around Central and Sheung Wan.  It’s really interesting seeing the different districts and how buildings suddenly merge from run down to corporate towers.  I think there’s so much character in these streets.  For lunch, we headed to a fairly remote area to dine in a very special restaurant located inside the 中華廚藝學院 (Hong Kong Culinary Academy).  What’s special about this place is that it is a training facility to groom students for a career in the hotel and catering industry.  The purpose of having guests dine at this training facility is to allow the students to get hands on experience dealing with clients.  As such, only lunch is available and there is very limited seating.  Dozens of students dotted the dining area with their manager hovering closely to ensure everything from pouring the tea to explaining the dishes was done correctly.   Guests were required to communicate purely in English to force the students to master the language.  It was a very interesting …