Celine's Life Adventure

I love botanical gardens! When I was in Singapore, I spent a few hours at the Singapore Botanic Garden. It was very relaxing, sitting in benches under the trees, smelling the flowers, and enjoying the cool breeze. It was great! Now, that I am in Canada, one of my places to visit is the VanDusen Botanical Garden . Last Wednesday, Jomar and I spent 1-5pm walking around the vast land area. Hello Botanical Garden!

I wish we had more time in Vancouver Aquarium. Jomar and I arrived at the Vancouver Aquarium yesterday at around 1:00 PM and the aquarium closes at 5:00 PM. Four hours is not enough inside this sanctuary for marine life. The entrance at VanAqua costs $31.00 (plus taxes) per person and since it's a nonprofit organization the money goes to saving and preservation of animal life from the sea, rivers, and lakes. Vancouver Aquarium The first section we visited in the aquarium is Discover Rays . We touched the back of a live stingray! It was cool!

Today, our family celebrated Victoria Day by having a picnic at Centennial Beach. It was our first time to visit a beach in Canada and my first time to have a picnic with Jomar. Family Picnic with the rest of the Couples of Christ family My dad cooked the most delicious Filipino adobo for sharing. It was so good that the other family decided to bring some home with them. My mom was thrilled because a family brought ginataan , a Filipino sweet dessert she'd been craving for a few weeks now.

Right beside the Steveston Fisherman's Wharf, The Crab King Restaurant offers fresh crab and seafood that's delicious but a bit pricey. We went there at around 5:00 PM yesterday, still a lot early than the dinner crowd. It's more of an afternoon snack after a tiring game of Lazer Tag for my siblings. We were celebrating Alyanna's birthday. These are the food we had: Crispy Battered Prawns and Chips

The first time I tried Peri-Peri Chicken I had to Google search what it is and its origin. "Piri-piri chicken is a spicy dish with roots in both Africa and Portugal." - www.epicurious.com Below is the Peri-Peri Chicken I have tried so far. Gostoso Piri Piri Chicken at Kapitolyo, Pasig, Philippines Eduardo's Peri Peri at SM Light Mall, Mandaluyong Philippines

I will tell you a little secret. Ever since I was in high school, I've always dreamt of having the Dairy Queen ice cream cake KitKat flavour. Well, I've never got one. So for mother's day, this year, my siblings and I purchased an ice cream cake from Marble Slab Creamery. It was delicious! I wanted to cry. Chocolate Swiss Ice Cream Cake from Marble Slab Creamery

I have come to realize that I do my best to post something new once a week. Since I didn't try any exciting restaurants this week or visit any cool place, I will highlight one food that people seems to love so much: Burgers! From fast food joints to high-end restaurants burger is a menu item that seems to always be there. Below are some of the burgers I have tried over the last six months in Lower Mainland BC. Bacon Cheeseburger Five Guys at 635 Robson Street Downtown Vancouver The Legendary White Spot at Bridgeport, Richmond Old Style Bacon Cheddar Fatburger at 111 Dunsmuir Street Downtown Vancouver

My sisters have been craving for churros for a while now. In the Philippines, Taco Bell offers Churros with a chocolate dip that they love. Thus, my hunt for Churros in Metro Vancouver begins. I was in Downtown Vancouver yesterday and decided I could spend the afternoon searching for Churros. According to Foursquare (my trusted and fave application), I could go to Tacofino Cantina, a food truck along Howe Street since it's the closest to my location yesterday. I walked for 10 minutes and asked if they have Churros available. It was out of stock! The guy suggested I go to their main restaurant at Gastown, but I am too lazy to walk all the way there. Last week, I also went to Cambie Village to search for churros. The only restaurant there that offers churros is Las Tortas, and it's also out of stock. Going back to yesterday, I remember Therese saying that Cineplex sells churros so I searched for the nearest Cineplex and the Scotiabank Theatre is a 6-minute walk. I also did

As part of my goal to network in Vancouver and learn something new, I attended a meetup, "Donuts and Coffee and Pics, oh my!". The meetup is basically on how to be better at taking food photos. I shot hundreds of food photos over the years, and I thought that I could learn more about angles and lighting. Sweetery Cafe offers excellent pastries and coffee. Of all the sweets and bread we've had, my personal fave is the chicken strips and waffles. Amazing! Below are some of the pictures, I took applying what I have learned today.

The Sakura Illumination is a free event organized by Stuart Ward & Ben Z Cooper from Hfour (http://hfour.ca/). The goal is to have an unobstructed view of illuminated sakura ideal for photography and picnicking in the spring evening under the cherry blossoms. Therese and I arrived there at 5:00 PM and ate the sandwiches she prepared as we settled in the blanket she has. It was our first time to a picnic, so it was a fun sister bonding. The first photo of Stanley Park Japanese-Canadian War Memorial Here's our little picnic with the best view of the tree with lanterns. Sakura and Lanterns

Since I am new to Canada, it's my first time to experience Spring. I am excited to see how the environment will change with the season change. Therese was so enthusiastic about the Sakura Illumination , but for weather reasons, they moved it to April 1. Nonetheless, our family decided to visit the park to see Spring colours come back to life! Sadly, not all flowers are in full bloom yet, but we did have some great photos to take with us. More importantly, we had some family quality time.

Happy birthday Therese! =) We had dinner earlier today to celebrate the birthday of my dearest sister Therese. She chose the Cactus Club Cafe to celebrate her birthday because we haven't tried eating there. She made the 6 PM reservation and thanked God, she did! For a Wednesday evening, the place was packed. We all ordered what we wanted and had dinner. Appetizer for Everyone: Beef Carpaccio I had Pesto Chicken Quesadilla.

It was a rainy early evening as I walk towards the Hootsuite office for a meetup. I was searching online  Foursquare for good places to have dinner after the event is over. The app showed all restaurants within my vicinity, and one of the suggestions is Menya Japanese Noodle. Since it was raining, it only made sense for me to have a bowl of ramen and gyoza. 8-pc Gyoza Tantanmen Ramen I entered the restaurant. It is full of Japanese men, women, and children eating what they had to serve. I thought to myself they must have good (authentic even) food to attract this crowd. I ordered Tantanmen Ramen and Gyoza for my dinner. The ramen was delicious! I enjoyed my warm and spicy Ramen bowl while it's raining outside. I am happy. 2019 Update: They changed management, and the quality and recipe of the Ramen changed. It's not as good as it used to. :(

Oh, how I wish I am better at taking food photos! The only picture I took of the food from Five Guys did not give justice to the delicious, juicy burger I had. Therese and I coming from our six-hour shift were exhausted, and I was planning to have dinner at a nearby Japanese Curry restaurant that Foursquare keeps suggesting (yes, I allow Foursquare to be my food guide). Sadly, we didn't find the restaurant early enough that it was already closed for the day. Now, we looked around and saw Five Guys open just across the street from where we were standing. Awesome! Time to eat. Bacon Cheeseburger! This definitely goes to the top of the best burgers I have tried in a long time!

If you love crispy, sweet, and delicious waffles, this is the place to go. My siblings and I had a discussion if we're waffles or pancakes (siblings food war). Therese and I were Team Waffles because we enjoy the crunchy exterior of waffles while Hovey and Alyanna were Team Pancakes because they love how soft pancakes are (I guess another factor here is Hovey works part-time at IHOP.). Anyway, Therese and I in one of our after-work dates had dinner at Waffle Bant. She saw it while we were walking to the SkyTrain. She had a full-on dessert while I had a sandwich. Bacon and Egg Medium Sandwich (4 Waffles)  Darkest Desire Waffle I love how crunchy the exterior of the waffles in my sandwich was. I also enjoyed how the flavours of my lunch tasted together in every bite. The sweet waffle buns, salty bacon and egg, crunchy apples, and fresh tomatoes tasted really great together. Though I think I should have ordered the small one because with the medium-sized sandwich, come t

I love Japanese Curry! If you need a fix of Japanese (or any Asian) cuisine, you should definitely go to Richmond. The curry from Saboten tasted like what you would expect from Japan. The meat was tender (though a bit too oily), and the sauce was at the right consistency. Overall, I am happy and satisfied with my Japanese Curry.

International House of Pancakes. My dad is flying back to the Philippines, and our family had lunch together at IHOP as my youngest sister suggested. It was awesome! For Alyanna, Crispy Chicken Strips and Fries For Hovey, Classic Breakfast Crepe For Therese, Banana Crepes with Nutella For mother, Southwestern Club For father, Strawberry Banana Pancakes We had so much fun eating and bonding over lunch. =)

Therese wanted to go out last night because it was Friday. Again, ever since we attended the travel meetup, she wanted to try something new every Friday after her classes. Since I can't accompany her yesterday to the Vancouver Lookout Tower , Therese suggested we go to a restaurant or bar in Richmond. Upon research, she decided we should try Pumphouse Taproom because she wanted some alcoholic drink. I, on the other hand, am a foodie, so I was after trying out their food. I had their Prosciutto Chicken Burger while Therese had their Calamari. Prosciutto Chicken Burger Calamari The Calamari was superb. It was crispy and wasn't chewy or oily at all. It was excellent. I wish I could say the same for the Chicken burger. Sadly, the burger I ordered was dry, and the whole thing was just tasteless. I was telling Therese that I should have probably ordered their other burger. Ambiance and service were also excellent. It was a pub/bar because of the full range of beer

I have this love-hate relationship with my new country of residence. I hate (okay maybe hate is strong, dislike sounds better) Canada because I could not find a job as quickly as I want to and in the IT industry but I love this beautiful, clean, and safe city. I want to cry out of joy. The Fairmont Hotel is one of my favourite Downtown buildings Yesterday, I was in Downtown Vancouver for two events. From 12nn to 1pm, I was at BrainStation for the Recruiting Social meetup by Angela Bortolussi then in the evening 6pm - onwards I decided to attend the TechFest by Techvibes at Vancouver Convention Centre West, Canada Place. I learned a lot from Angela about how headhunters could find you in LinkedIn and online. She also recommended how to use other social media platform such as Instagram and Twitter to be discovered by recruiter (sadly, I don't use both). After this meetup, I found out about TechFest. Initially, I was going to the Startup PM Roundtable: Lessons From the Trenches

Last night, Therese and I went to the YVR Traveller meetup. Therese introduced herself as "have not seen the world" since she has not travelled a lot. As we are going home from the meetup and I was telling her of my travels and life challenges, she keeps on saying that she will go to Victoria, BC the following day. I was telling her that you should bring clothes because you might get stranded there if the weather changes. She was shocked! Anyway, she kept on searching and reading on places to visit. It's like the travel bug hit her when we were in the meetup. Because she's still in university, she enjoyed the talk from Jami Savage ( adventureawaits.ca ) the most because it's focused on British Columbia travel. Companion for this trip: Therese and Hovey Thus, she keeps on asking Hovey and me to go with her to Capilano Suspension Bridge Park, so we did. Coming from Richmond, we took a bus then SkyTrain then another bus from Downtown. Entrance of Capilano