I had forgotten how much I love being by the water watching the tide come in and waiting for the sun to set. I had forgotten how serene it is when the current has finally reached the calm and the tiny ripples that give life to it are like a blanket covering life that never ceases being in motion. It never stops - life, that is - and most days and most nights, we long to pause it simply because we wish to look at what we have done and what we have yet to do, and have time to appreciate it without worrying that the time we spend pondering on the small things, could be time spent on something else - something that isn't in the now. What ever happened to living in the present?

Outta Time - Oasis

On Nikaido and Tea

(Photo from the Steveston Insider)

On a lovely Saturday afternoon in sunny Steveston, my cousin dragged me to this specialty boutique along No. 1 Road. Nikaido is a quiant, cozy store that sells cards, stationery, and many other things you would want to splurge money on - ehem, cutest of all the cute in the world. This is one side of its interior:

(Photo from the Steveston Insider)

They also sell tea, and A LOT of it. I wish I could tell you about each and every kind, but I can only tell you about one since well, I only purchased one kind that day - the Nikaido Mango Ceylon black tea ($7.95).



I was never a fan of fruity tea until I had this particular one and I was blown away in delight. This black tea has a tangy-ness to it that is just perfect. The pieces that make up the loose leaf are authentic (there isn't much of it out there) and have a wonderful aroma. Whenever I steep this tea at night, or in the late afternoon, its aroma fills the whole place with calm, and it's nice. Also, you can use a batch several times without worrying about your next one being too bland. I also bought my tea filter (around $5) from them.

Nikaido also carries a variety of tea of different brands, some made for cough, weight loss, energy boost, or whatever you need. Name it, they probably have it. My cousin got a double matcha and milk oolong. She loves them too.

This was a really good buy. I can't wait to go back and get some more of a different kind! The lovely couple who owns the place are very nice too. They make you feel welcome to take your time and look at what they have in store.

I wish I had known about Nikaido a long time ago. Then I wouldn't have gone back to grocery stores to buy boxed tea. But hey, we learn, we learn.

Mother's Day // Busy Sunday Fun Day

I thought it was a really good day. It was simple, but it was fun.

We had a family lunch out to celebrate one of my cousins' birthday and Mother's Day of course. Lunch was courtesy of my cousin and aunt. It was fun catching up with everyone and having a good laugh at the small things. We're a very happy family - I think we're rather the nice to be around kind of people. We love to eat - already a plus right there!



That's me, by the way - platinum hair, leather jacket, short stuff. Yeah, that's me surrounded by awesome family. See our faces? All smiles, as a result of a good, greasy lunch at the Hog Shack, and good conversations.

And of course, this is one of those I like to call an obligaroty family photo.

Since it was Mother's Day, of course I wanted the day to be a little extra for the momma. And since every restaurant in the Lower Mainland is probably overflowing in reservations, I decided to sit my dad and uncle down and ask if they were willing to join me in cooking. Oh yeah, it happened. The three of us ransacked the kitchen to cook. Fact: we all love to cook at anytime of any day, but tonight, it was all on us and all my mom had to do was sit back, relax, and wait for everything to be set. She'd stand and move around the kitchen once or twice but we have to admit, it's a wife/mother's instinct to check up on everything and make sure that everything is still tip top.

So I am very tired from preparing tonight's meal, dessert included. It was extremely fun though. I'm glad everything from this morning to the wee hours of tonight turned out well for everyone.

Such culinary delight!

Oh Lovely Steveston

When you wake up to a sunny day during winter, you don't just stay home, sit by the window and watch people enjoy it. You just don't torture yourself with envy. Although today, despite the beautiful weather, I wanted to just stay home and rest. But my dad kept making obvious comments he wanted to go out since it was really pretty outside. He even asked my if I had many things to do. Since it's only a Friday, I decided to put everything aside and ask him if he wanted to go to Steveston. He has only been there once and that was in 2010. He loved the place and I am sure he'd love it again now. I personally love Steveston. It's really nice out there when it's sunny. It's a quaint ole place where everybody seems so pleasant. It's like being in Stepford except for the whole being replaced with a robot thing. And the food's really good too. I used to go to Steveston every weekend with my mom, but when I came back last month, the weather never permitted me.

I didn't bring my backpack today. Hooray for a first! Instead, I brought my camera bag and my tripod. I took a few shots and found some of it to be lovely.

Taken using a Canon 600D; Macro: Manual. F4.0 ISO 3200.

None of the photos above are post-processed (edited), only copyrighted.

We ate at this small burger shack near the wharf after our walk. I had Salmon Burger. It was really good. And their onion rings? Heavenly <3 I would go there again. The shack is called The Village Burgery.

Today was a nice day. Thank you, Lord.