Food trail is pushed aside for summer J-dorama!!!

Sorry fans of my food trail, but I just HAVE to interrupt my food trail to blog about the summer line-up of my beloved J-dramas!!

I think this is the first time that i WANT and i WILL be watching the whole line-up of the J-dramas!!! XDDDDDD *does the TegoMass Chu Chu Chu dance crazily*

Well, first up - being a NEWS fan, i shall introduce Ryou-chan's and Shige's dramas first!!

1) Zenkai Girl - Nishikido Ryo and Aragaki Yui
A romantic comedy - Aragaki Yui will portray the typical career woman, working as an aspiring lawyer... who has to take care of her boss' daughter. Then she meets Nishikido Ryo, who is a chef, at the school where she picks up her boss' daughter ... and totally detests him XDDDDD

i wonder what Ryou-chan's character is gonna be like ... and how he will portray it hahaha >_< i mean, who can detest this face??




2) Hanawake no Yon Shimai - Kato Shigeaki as a supporting actor
The tale is about four sisters who each have their own problems and story ... and somehow they are all linked to this mysterious photographer?? Who is our loveable photographer in NEWS? Kato Shigeaki!! ^_^




3) You're Beautiful - Japanese version (Johnny's boys)
Yes i know everyone was raving about the Korean drama "You're Beautiful" and everyone was asking me to watch it. but i REFUSED!! haha and looks like my refusal paid off! What with the Koreans remaking all the popular Japanese dramas like Hana Yori Dango, Itazura na Kiss etc etc... and now Hana Kimi too *shakes head* So i hope this Japanese remake of You're Beautiful will be a SMASHING success!! The drama would be starring Johnny's boys (members from Hey Say Jump and Kiss My Ft) - and i'm definitely watching this one!!

4) Ouran High School Host Club LIVE ACTION!!!
FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!! when everyone has been speculating and hoping and praying for a live action of Ouran after the success of the manga and the anime. Even my sis and i came up with different combinations of our dream Ouran - with NEWS members as the host characters hahahaha XDDDDD

But this time, the cast list is FINAL and the REAL one haha - those interested to know who the cast members are can go here: http://www.mydramalist.com/front/profileCastDrama.php?id=2711

Let's just say Yamamoto Yusuke has some VERY large shoes to fill... wonder what his portrayal of Tamaki would be like? ;) it seems like the cast for Kyouya, Mori-senpai and Hani-senpai is quite suitable. but i wonder if the twins can pull it off? hmmm i totally can't wait for this drama!!!

5) Hana Kimi remake
OOoooook ... i had no idea why there is a remake after Horikita Maki, Oguri Shun, Ikuta Toma, Mizushima Hiro & Shirota Yuu's excellent drama, just only 4 years ago... but now i know why.. cause the main girl is gonna be the super popular AKB48's Maeda Atsuko... the male cast (VERY important) has not been decided yet ... so we'll see ...

Kamei Royale Restaurant, Vancouver (Part 2)

And yes we went back to my favourite restaurant again!! haha my friends couldn't understand why we kept eating Japanese food in Canada, lol i guess i love Japan too much hee hee ^_^

I did not post their website in my previous post, so for those who are interested - please visit here http://www.kameiroyale.com/

They have a few other branches in Vancouver under the names of Ebisu or Daimasu. But there is only ONE Kamei Royale Restaurant :)



I would recommend the Dragon Roll to anybody who loves sushi hee hee. It is a unagi (eel) and cucumber roll, topped with avocado and fish roe


For those who do not eat eel (like my sis), you may try the Delicious roll - chopped scallops, crabmeat, avocado and fresh mango with poached prawns and fish roe on top. absolutely heavenly *drool*


And honestly, this is the best Katsu Don i have ever tasted. I've never tried it in Japan though, so its the best of those i have tasted in Singapore and Canada! Katsu Don is deep fried top quality pork served with egg, onions, on a bed of steaming rice *yumz*


For those who are interested to see their menu:
http://www.kameiroyale.com/menu-kamei-royale.html

Kamei Royale Restaurant - Japanese food in Vancouver, Sushi in Vancouver, Katsu Don in Vancouver
211-1030 W. Georgia St.
Vancouver, BC V6E 2Y3, Canada

Original cupcakes by heather & lori

Cupcakes are currently all the rage in North America and my personal favourite when i was in Canada - The Cupcake Wars show!!! hahaha

I was elated when i saw this small cupcake booth in the Pacific Centre shopping mall in Vancouver..



The cupcakes looked absolutely awesome, but we kinda just stared, contemplated on whether we should buy it... and my mum was like let's go.. that was the biggest regret of my life!!! *smacks self*

The booth was gone the next time we went to the mall and we didn't see their main shop while we were around Vancouver. but i am soooo going there the next time i drop by Vancouver :)

Anyone interested in finding their shop locations or about what they do, you may visit their website! Their wedding cakes look awesome too :) *sparkly eyes* ... i wish they had a franchise in Singapore haha

http://www.cupcakesonline.com/cupcakes.php

Jade Dynasty Restaurant, Vancouver

Craving for some Chinese food in Vancouver, we headed down to Chinatown! We bought the tickets for the 2-day Vancouver Trolley Bus, so we hopped on at our hotel and hopped off at Chinatown, how convenient!


Those interested in shopping for Chinese ethnic clothing can head down to the OCHI boutique along East Pender Street. They have a wide variety of Chinese ethnic clothing designed by a local designer. My mum bought a few tops that could be paired with jeans and also a pair of black pants with Chinese inspired buttons down the side. My sis bought a cute pink Chinese embroidered handbag and i bought a light purple convertible tube/halter/spaghetti top with tastefully embroidered Chinese flower patterns.

We asked the friendly shopkeeper where the best dim sum place is in Chinatown, and she directed us to the Jade Dynasty Restaurant just a few doors down...

The restaurant is small with not many tables, but it was not very crowded so we managed to get a table. We were asked to choose our type of tea, and we ordered a pot of chrysanthemum tea, which was absolutely refreshing - with bits of chrysanthemum petals floating in our cups of tea. We ordered a few dishes and the food came pretty quickly.

Prawn Rice Noodle Roll (also known as Chee Cheong Fun)


Shrimp Dumplings (also known as Har Gao)


Pork Dumplings (also known as Siew Mai)


Steamed Pork Dumplings with Soup (also known as Xiao Long Bao)


Egg Custard Tarts (also known as Dan Tart)


Honestly, just my personal opinion, but i found the food to be quite lacking in quality and flavour. However, if you are really hungry and stuck in Chinatown, you probably could go here because of the affordable pricing. Otherwise, I would recommend another dim sum restaurant in Vancouver (the bestest eva!), which would be coming up near the end of my food trail in Canada.

Jade Dynasty Restaurant - Chinese cuisine in Vancouver, Dim Sum in Vancouver
137 East Pender Street
Vancouver, BC V6A 1T6, Canada

Ricky's Diner, Vancouver

And the food trail continues!!

This place is located in the underground area next to the Fairmont Waterfront. There's also a Tim Horton's and a food court there, for those looking for cheap places to eat around the Vancouver waterfront.

Tucked in a corner is Ricky's Diner!!


They sell mainly western food - namely sandwiches, burgers, omelettes...
We custom made our own omelette!


Their special feature is Eggs Benedict in Hollandaise sauce :)


Just a side random snapshot, i love the condiments that Canada provides hee hee


Again, rather big portions for small eaters!

Ricky's Diner - Diner in Vancouver / Western food in Vancouver
Waterfront Unit 23
200 Burrard Street
Vancouver, BC
V6C 3L6

Kamei Royale Restaurant, Vancouver

My all time favourite restaurant in Vancouver! it's always the first and last place that I dine at whenever i'm in Vancouver haha

So naturally this is the first place that we stepped into for our first meal after a long plane ride, and before we could check-in at our hotel :)

The staff here are always friendly, attentive and ever-ready to help! And of course, the food is first-rate, excellent and scrumptious! :P

The portions might be a little large for small eaters (like myself) though, so you may try to share the dishes if you like :)

My sis ordered the Chicken Karaage (Japanese fried chicken) and Ebi Tempura (Prawn tempura).. it's like the twice the portion of the servings in Singapore!


I shared with my mum the Lunch Bento Set - Mixed Sushi and Sashimi. Everything was very fresh and appetizing


We ordered another 6pc Spicy Salmon Sushi Roll to share. I love salmon, but i personally found this spicy sauce a bit weird for me ...


There would be more Kamei Royale food photos coming up as I can never stay away from this place hahaha

Kamei Royale Restaurant - Japanese Cuisine in Vancouver / Sushi in Vancouver
1030 W Georgia Street, #211
Vancouver, BC V6E2Y3
(Opposite the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, on the 2nd floor above Tiffany & Co.)

Back from Vacation!

it was a good trip to Canada! i think i shall start a mini food blog trail from my trip haha. Most of the photos from my vacation were food, food and more food! YUMZ stay tuned! :)

Well, for starters, i had an 8 hour transit in Japan Narita Aiport. so i could take 2 meals there and went to sleep/shower in the Day Rooms (with shampoo/soap/lotion/toothbrush/toothpaste/comb etc etc provided! don't you just love Japan!)

I now know the transit area in the Narita Airport like the back of my hand hehehe. it's a great place for shopping too! i even bought some onigiri's and Tokyo Ginza baumkuchen for my next flight to Vancouver :)

I felt a little queasy after my first flight, so we went for some soupy stuff! I can't remember the name of the shop, but its a small cafe like restaurant two shops to the right of McDonald's and beside the origami shop.

I had the sweet beef udon ..


and my sis had the prawn tempura udon.

it was affordable and really good. soothed our tummies :)

then we went to the Day Rooms to sleep for 3 hours and had a quick shower too. you know how flights make your hair all greasy and you get off the plane looking terrible haha. It's located before McDonald's and the noodle cafe/restaurant above. It was clean, the beds were comfortable and the amenities provided were excellent :)

before our flight, we had dinner at the small cafe near Gates 56-58. it was tucked away in a corner but it was a good find! the Omu Rice was delicious and tasty yum yum!

this place was cheaper and they had a wider range of stuff to choose from. we came back here again when we transited home a few weeks later :)

Awesome food in Canada coming soon! ^_^