It was Wendy’s birthday on the 26th (last Sat). I prepped gifts and home made dinner (sirloin strip steak) for the night, and home made chocolate mousse! Even though the main highlight was the dinner, the steak turned out to be overcooked a bit, and the chocolate mousse wasn’t hardened enough but the spaghetti was awesome. I also bought sea salt and cheese (chunky ones) to level up the dishes. It was a fantastic night and I was particularly happy since I wasn’t able to celebrate Wendy’s birthday with her for the past 2 years and finally, this year I could stay with her.

The next day (Sunday) we rode the new Skytrain “Canada Line” from Richmond to Downtown, got off at the Waterfront Station. The ride was cool, got to see a lot of roof tops (since the rail was quite high up) from Richmond Centre area all the way to Bridgeport. Upon crossing the river the train went underground for the rest of the trip. We revisited Mink Cafe near the station since I was craving for the blended iced mocha and Wendy wanted the Chocolate Fondue - we ended up getting both of them =D Yummy~

Went to the Vancouver Central Library with Peter for some books on photography. The place was pretty huge, and there were lots of people but most looked like students. I got my new library card for free and went straight up to the 6th floor for the books I need. They had a LOT of books for photography, I think four huge standalone shelves of them. It didn’t took me too much time to find some books that interest me (those with tons of pictures). I ended up finished reading one book on filters and borrowed five. Also took a couple shot of the interior of the library since it was so nicely built with this curvy sides and tops - perfect subject for my 8mm fish eye lens. Took some exterior shots as well, and it was just as stunning.

Rest of the day was just work.. as usual. I finally deployed the app that I’ve been working on since April 3rd to the QA environment for the testers to test. After almost two months of intensive non-stop work, I really hope that the app will turn out okay…

Went to Japadog finally, a Japanese style hot dog stand in Downtown Vancouver. I first heard it from Andrew since he worked close to there and he often had it for lunch. I didn’t really have a chance to actually check out the stand as parking was quite hectic there and it was quite far from where I live. Anyway Wendy and I drove by it again last week and I finally decided that I must check it out ASAP. It wasn’t too busy when we were there, even though there was a “line up here” sign on the ground there wasn’t really any line-up (there were maybe 3 or 4 people either eating or waiting to order). It sure smelt good though, with a strong scent of Japanese okonomiyaki sauce and mayonnaise~ We quickly ordered two dogs: The Misomayo and Okonomi. The ladies at the booth served quite quickly and we got our food in less than 2 minutes. They were tasty!! The sausage was HUGE, the bun was grilled nicely and it was crispy. The sauce and toppings were great - the radish sprouts tasted refreshing on the Misomayo dog, while the okonomiyaki sauce and cabbage on the Okonomi dog tasted just like okonomiyaki, not a surprising taste but still very tasty. We’ll definitely go again to try their “chilli” dogs

We went to the Yavis Club Cafe at night, which was a dessert/cheesecake cafe in Richmond. We were stoked to go as we were curious how this place would compare to Berry Good. It was packed, we had to wait outside for about 10 minutes. The menu was pretty huge, with a variety of cheesecakes. The special ones were the “glacier” cheesecakes…. Wendy ordered a Mango Cheesecake and I got a Sesame Glacier Cheesecake. The mango one was pretty tasty, without the super strong cheesy taste which I dislike. The sesame one was very nice and it was a brand new thing for my tastebuds - kind of like icecream but tasted like cheesecake at the same time, with a nice sesame accent - very nice. The drinks were tasty too, I got a greentea milkshake (tasty!!!) and Wendy got a iced coffee. This is definitely another “must go again soon” type of place.

April 3rd…our 9th anniversary. I had received plenty of gifts from Wendy as with every other special occasions =D I got almond cookie that she baked in different shapes, also four hand-painted wooden clothes hangers with vibrant colors and shapes. Thanks wenwen~

I had also made a note/photo holder with a wooden base, painted with colorful patterns, a huge digit “9″, and a drawing of a boy sending fruits of hearts to a girl. I had also attached two cherry blossem flowers that had been drying since May last year, and I had sealed them in clear tape for protection.

We decided to have dinner at Kingyo Izakaya in Downtown Vancouver, after wandering around Denman Street in cold for approx 20 minutes couldn’t decide what to eat. We didn’t know what it was but it looked interesting from the outside so we walked in. The ambience and decor was pretty cool, food was pretty awesome as well. We ordered amaebi (raw shrimps), chawan mushi (steamed egg), salmon tataki (raw salmon), and curry hotpot w/ veggie, pork, mushroom and fried prawn. All were great, and we got really full. Service was great, very attentive. I will be back to try out some other dishes like the black cod, the pork tan tan noodle, and a couple more items…forgot what they were..

Was sick for the whole week. I’m not sure if I’ve caught a cold or if it’s my regular pollen allergic reaction during Spring. Felt so bad for the entire week, didn’t do much except work (a whole lot), sleep, eat. My room is so messy as I didn’t have the energy to tidy it up.

Yesterday I felt a bit better so I went out and did a couple things. Went to downtown to get my Easy Park sticker as I’ve applied for the “Very Efficient Vehicle Discount Program” which gives me 50% discount at any Easy Park parking lot =D Of course the program is not available for most vehicles except for a few, and my Smart car is one of them. Got a sticker from the Easy Park office for my windshield.

I also went to Mercedes Benz to redeem a gift that was given to me free for the 10th year celebration of Smart. Nice little paper package with a notepad in it, several pins with Smart related prints on them, and a miniature 1:87 Smart car model enclosed in a display case. Smart periodically hosts events and gives away gifts for free, it’s a really nice (like this event where I won a Smart jacket.)

At night I went to the Maurya Indian Cusine restaurant with Wendy. I actually went there with Davinder last year and I recalled that it was really good, and this year they won some awards at the 2009 Dine Out Vancouver event so I thought it would be a good place to eat. On par with my expectation, the food was really good. We ordered two Starters (Kararlari Prawns, Shyam Savera), and a Main (Chicken Chettinad). All of them were very good, as well as the complimentary papadum (crispy bread) and naan bread. I liked the flavor they have in all the foods, very distinctive but not too strong. I also liked the fried herbal leaves in the Chicken Chettinad, they were so crispy and full of flavor… I will go again to try their lamb racks and dessert…

It’s Xmas Day…feels like it’s the end of the year. I can’t even remember what I did on the same day last year…. I spent half of the day today trying to sell off my two extra X Japan concert tickets off Ebay, craigslist, and a couple other Hong Kong forums, hopefully can get rid of them soon. Last night (24th) I went to Alice’s place for some Xmas food: lamb chop, Greek salad, cream puff dessert, chips, wine….etc. and played a lot with Brandy (dog) and got both of my hands super wet from his saliva. I didn’t take any pictures but I do have some that I took on the 20th - same place but a different party with her friends:

Going to go for another Xmas dinner tonight with Benny and his friends in Downtown Vancouver. Tomorrow I might goto Futureshop to get this $14.99 Microsoft wireless laptop mouse for my Boxing Day gift…hopefully I won’t have to line up or anything.