freakzspeaks

freakzspeaks

Saturday 24 May 2014

Vancouver Highlights (Part 3) @ Bard On The Beach Shakespeare Festival

My family and I are generally theatre fans, particularly my mum and sis. They have been to quite a number in London, UK and I myself have experienced the longest running play in London when I was there 5 years ago! Summer in Vancouver gave us the opportunity to attend Bard On The Beach, which is Western Canada's largest professional Shakespeare festival (runs from June-Sept). In fact, I have been to the Shakespeare on Saskatchewan in Saskatoon in previous summer and loved it so much! So, we were there for Twelfth Night. I can't exactly remember how much was the tickets but I think its about $35 for matinees. Anyways, its located at Vanier Park and honestly, its not that easy to find the place. Even the cab driver had difficulty finding us after the play was finished. We took a cab directly from Waterfront Station; since there's no direct access for public transit. 
Mum knows practically all the Shakespeare plays! (Well..I do know them roughly too ;p
The MUST-POSE-WITH-TICKETS look. After 5 years still posing the same @__@
No cameras allowed once the play starts so, no photos:) Place was almost full regardless of seatings. People in Vancouver do know how to enjoy ;P. The play was close to 3 hours including intermission. Lots of portable toilets (brilliant idea, so that you don't have to wait like crazy in a long line) in case you need to go. Play was awesome (with superb leads) and lots of naked butts scenes. Lols. After the play, we walked around the grounds by the river since it was a nice sunny afternoon. More snapshots of Vancouver! (I'm loving it!) We left the place by calling a cab as well which was a little bit of a hassle because the driver couldn't find the place. So we ended up having to wait for quite a while ( but it was fine, since it was a beautiful day:).


I will definitely be back if given the chance. This year's play will be Midsummers Night Dream and Tempest. There's always a tragedy and comedy play for you to choose from. Check out their website for more info.


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Thursday 22 May 2014

Take-outs @ Saskatoon (VS what 'tapau' means in Malaysia)

I don't very often order for take-outs (apart from Pizzas and fast food) but here are two I've tried so far:

Chef Express 
I was working on my statistics till late one day and decided to try the Groupon voucher that I bought a couple of weeks earlier. Fairly new place on 3rd Ave downtown. Currently, they are most probably trying out the market by offering deliveries / take-outs. They have tables and chairs but looked pretty empty so I don't think they are ready for it just yet. Called to make my order and went to collect 30 minutes later. Still had to wait for 5-10 minutes for food to be ready (to be fair, I think I was there slightly earlier). One thing good is that this place opens till late; not many Asian restaurants open past 10pm. 
Egg roll and spring roll was a little bit oily. The wax paper pocket used is not really a good idea. It makes the whole delivery packet oily as well. 
Set (A) Egg roll, chicken chow mein and fried rice and sweet sour pork ($10.50). I personally thought this was quite acceptable. I have bad experience with these dinner sets ( usually greasy, soak in oil with very little ingredients); this however was one of the better ones. It has the 'wok hei' (flavor/taste by the hot wok frying) and chunks of real chicken meat in both the noodles and rice. It was not too oily as well. Portion is huge. 
Set (C) Vietnamese spring roll, Pad Thai with chicken and shrimp, Thai Yellow Curry with chicken and steamed rice ($12.50). While I thought the curry and rice was good, the Pad Thai was a major disappointment. The noodles didn't taste right and neither did it taste like Pad Thai to me. Although I must say they are quite generous with the chicken and shrimp; the noodles itself was bland and came out from the container as a big lump. 

Overall, food was just ok. Not the best Asian food around and totally meant for take-outs and deliveries for now but at least they open till late night. I heard their Thai curry pizza is good, so maybe I'll try that next. 

Address : 329, 3rd Avenue N, Saskatoon, SK
Chef Express Restaurant on Urbanspoon
Oceania Inn Restaurant
A more typical look of take-outs (especially Asian eateries) would be like these that I had from Oceania Inn. Not one of the more famous ones in Saskatoon but because it is around my neighbourhood (and the fact that my roommate works part-time there), I must at least try it out once and in fact, I've ordered for take-out quite a couple of times. Once, I had the Special Chow Mein. A little bit messy  for take-outs and I didn't quite like the idea of using polystyrene for hot gravy. Portion is quite big and considering you pay slightly more than the usual kind of chow mein, they are quite generous with the ingredients. However, I thought that the gravy was quite bland. I'm not so sure whether because they modified it to fit the taste buds of the locals but even the chow mein I had in Chinatown, Vancouver was quite similar in taste and 'blandness'. Maybe its just me :P
Special Chow Mein $10.50
I quite like the Szechuan Ginger Chicken (ordered this more than once ;P). It tasted different from those I usually have in Malaysia. Basically they are deep fried pieces of chicken with sweet, sour, spicy and ginger-y sauce. Its is quite spicy though, but tasted good with rice. Portion is quite big as well. 
Szechuan Ginger Chicken $11.50
Overall, food is ok. Price-wise, its slightly on the high side. I've never dine in before so I'm not sure of the ambience nor service. Probably, certain dishes are worth trying out. Parking is easy as well.

Address : 3929 8th St E Saskatoon, SK S7H5M7
Website : Oceania Inn
Oceania Inn on Urbanspoon

What is 'tapau' ? 
If you are in Malaysia, probably every Malaysian (Malay, Chinese, Indians) will know what 'tapau' means despite the fact that this term is of a Chinese dialect (@_@). Its similar to take-outs/take away and frequently used in most eateries. Take-outs/take away is generally used more often in the higher-scale westernized restaurants, some non-Chinese restaurants and fast food joints.  
The usual 'tapau'-look in Malaysia. You must be wondering how many people is that amount for ?? lols
A newer, more 'environmental-friendly' version of 'tapau' which I have not seen myself since last 2 years.

Sunday 18 May 2014

A dinner buffet @ Spicy Bite, Downtown Saskatoon

One of the better restaurants in Saskatoon with a nice ambience. Located at downtown, this place is easily spotted as it is at the corner of the building. I was generally impressed with the internal look of the place; clean, spacious and well-decorated. I met up with a couple of friends for dinner buffet. This is probably the only second time I had Indian food in Saskatoon so it was worth trying. Dinner buffet is set at $19.90 (comes with free flow of pop, chai tea); considerably cheaper than other dinner buffets (Chinese, Japanese, Asian) in town. However, I would have expected them to have more varieties of food as I thought the buffet spread (appetizers, mains, desserts) is quite limited.
Buffet spread. You've gotta love spices, curry, cheese and cream. Butter chicken, lamb, beef, peas, chick peas.




Salad, fruits, desserts and dressings. Really limited options.

Basmati rice, samosas, and dessert. Vege samosa is quite ok. Not too greasy and well-filled with potatoes.
Noteworthy items included the tandoori chicken which I thought was quite tasty and well-marinated. The vegetarian samosa was quite good (with lots of potatoes) and not too greasy. I liked most the garlic naan which was freshly made from the kitchen and not on the buffet spread. You have a choice of butter or garlic naan but just go for the garlic naan (with butter and garlic on it, I'm sure). 
My plate : Vegetable samosa, tandoori chicken, peas and chick peas with gravy, steamed rice

Freshly made Garlic Naan and Butter Naan. Garlic Naan is really good (something like an Indian version of toasted garlic bread;P)

Assortment of Indian dessert. Sweet stuff. I liked the white stuff Kheer (rice pudding) the best.
Overall, this is a good place for dinner meets or if you would like to try something different. They are basically a mixture of East Indian and Pakistani cuisines. You can have buffet or order from menu. You do need to love spices in your food though (yeap, including the desserts). Waiters are friendly but we need to request for the extra plates on the table to be removed (a lil' bit blur?).

Address : 113, 3rd Avenue South, Saskatoon, SK, S7K1L6
Opening hours : 11am-10pm daily
Website : Spicy Bite *This restaurant is HALAL. Delivery and take-out are available. 
Spicy Bite (Downtown) on Urbanspoon

Saturday 17 May 2014

Vancouver highlights (August 2013) Part 2

Dr Sun Yat Sen Garden
It has always been my mum's dream to come visit Vancouver; so I decided to put Vancouver as the main itinerary during her 2-week trip. We spent one week in downtown Vancouver; in a relax pace enjoying the food, sceneries, people, shopping and everything else! If you followed my previous post (Vancouver highlights-Part 1), I chose to stay near Chinatown in an apartment I rented via AirBnB. We were right next to Dr Sun Yat Sen Garden. I would recommend visitors to visit Vancouver Lookout as the first place of interest. Summer in Vancouver is lovely (not too hot or cold or windy), so enjoy the beautiful weather! Just a summary of the walking distance from where we stayed (Taylor St. near Chinatown/Gastown):
1. Vancouver Lookout - 800m
2. Big Bus Hop-On-Hop-Off centre point (Water St.) - 750m
3. Waterfront Station - 900m
4. Canada Place - 1.2km
It's really not too far and Waterfront Station was the main train station that we use for most of the places we visited; including getting a cab! Of course, there are more high-end hotel options near Canada Place (mostly for cruise-shippers) such as Fairmont but why pay so much? And the place there is always crowded with people! 
Vancouver Lookout - See something familiar in the poster ?? KLCC Petronas Twin Towers (*proud Malaysian)
Waterfront Station : One of the lines goes directly to Vancouver International Airport, Downtown Vancouver and Richmond. Reach the airport within 25 minutes!
If you are a first-timer to Vancouver, the best way I would suggest to explore downtown is by using the Big Bus Hop-On-Hop-Off tour. The hop-on-off sightseeing route covers 20 stops; mostly at the main attractions in Vancouver. One-day and two-passes are offered; depending on your schedule, you can arrange according to your pace and flexibility. I would suggest you to take the 2-day pass; one day to cover the whole loop while another day to cover Stanley Park. *Tips : Do frequently check Groupon especially during the summer for deals from Big Bus. I got two passes for half the price and just top-up $10 for additional one day at the Big Bus welcome centre on Water St. 
Big Bus with partial open roof top ! Amazing weather ! Might get a little bit too hot later in the afternoon though.lols

So, basically my itinerary with the Big Bus 2-day pass was :
Day 1
Gastown (where we started)
Canada Place
English Bay Beach
Stanley Park (Vancouver Aquarium) $29/adult ; Seniors $20
Robson shopping district (where we ended)

Day 2
Stanley Park excursion ( a different loop compared to the main city loop)
Standley Park's Prospect Point-View of Lions Gate bridge
Granville Island
Here comes the Pink Bus !
Vancouver Aquarium : Lots of sea creatures and jelly fish. Just ok. Have been to better underwater aquariums
View from Big Bus during Stanley Park Excursion loop
A must-not-missed view at Prospect Point. Right : Claimed to be Best Ice Cream in town! 
Left: Gastown famous steam clock. Right : Granville Island (sunburnt face @__@)
Check out some of  my previous blog post of food we had :
8. Beard Papa's - Had this for supper one night.
Fresh and natural cream puffs with different flavors such as vanilla beans, Belgian dark chocolate and green tea. Puffs are baked, not fried and no preservatives used. I quite like the fresh taste of the whipped cream. Not a must-have item but if you happen to be on Robson St and care for a snack, do check them out.
Address : 548 Robson St, Vancouver, BC V6B 2B7
Website : Beard Papa's
Beard Papa's on Urbanspoon

You might also be interested with :
Vancouver Highlights (Part 1)
Vancouver Highlights (Part 3)-Bard on the Beach
The Official Richmond Night Market @ Richmond, BC
Explore Victoria, BC (4D3Ns)
To Whistler, BC on Rocky Mountaineer Dome Service

Friday 16 May 2014

Amazing Yellowstone Road Trip @ April, 2014

During Easter long weekend, we took a road trip and drove to Yellowstone National Park. It was totally a last-minute plan (a sunbae and I); with the rest of them still busy with the finals, that however did not deter their enthusiasm to join us! For me, it was definitely an experience of a lifetime. My initial thoughts on the 1650km drive was total madness…considering it was only for a couple of days. Anyways, five of us made it and having to look back, it was so much fun and scary at times ...
(Adapted from Google Map). We used the North Entrance, as it was the only entrance open since it was early season.




So, for those folks out there who are not familiar of Yellowstone, some quick facts on it :
1. It is the oldest national park in the States 
2. It sits on a dormant supervolcano where some believe it is time for eruption within this lifetime. If it 
does erupt, the whole of North America might be affected. So pray hard!
3. It has the most geysers, hot springs and waterfalls more than anywhere else in the world. 
4. Majority of the park is in Wyoming but also extends into Montana and Idaho. 
5. The strongest earthquake was recorded just the week prior to our road trip; which definitely added to the scariness and doubts on it!

Honestly, I did not know much about Yellowstone except the fact that its a national park. So, we had to do quite an amount of research on it beforehand; I found this website particularly useful because it has all the information you need such as road opening/closure, hours of visit, maps and places of interests. We were lucky that a majority of the major roads were open on April 18.
(Adapted from www.nps.gov). We covered the red line as those were the only roads open at that time. 



To cover completely the whole park loop, you might need up to 3 days. Since we only had one full day, it does not really matter to us with the road closure and all since a majority of their top attractions are covered within roads we took. But make sure you check the map beforehand, there will be lots of driving eg you need 2 hours to drive from North Entrance to Old Faithful.(A GPS would definitely come in handy). Some of the major attractions that we went to :
1. Old Faithful geyser (most famous)-remember to check for eruption schedule. You will curse if you drive all the way only to find out you just missed one and have to wait for another 1-2 hours. 
2. Upper falls and lower falls (Lower falls is twice the height of Niagara!)
3. Grand Prismatic Spring-largest hotspring in Yellowstone *Must not be missed!
4. Excelsior Geyser-once the largest geyser in the world, this is now dormant and forms a deep blue crater *Super mysterious! (3 and 4 is located at Midway Geyser Basin-I liked these the most; largely due to the fact that there were rain, hail, mist, fog, wind (you name it…) when we were there, which added to the whole creepiness and excitement (mad!)
5. Grand Canyon of Yellowstone (please do not get confused with the one in Nevada because someone did @__@ ;P)
6. Mammoth Hot Spring-Easily spotted because this will be the first major attraction that you will see
Plan your trip properly if you are driving from Canada because you will need to reach the US border by 6pm. If you missed this, you will have to bunk in your car till 9am the next day!
Monchy-US/Canadian Border *Excited!!Perfect timing, thanks to a perfect planner *wink-not me





First town (!?) after the US border..Deserted far far away land..kinda scary but that didn't stop us from stopping by the road to take a photo ;p

Billings, MT
We were not mad enough to drive all the way to Yellowstone at once, so we planned it in such a way that we will be able to explore Montana along the way. We drove through Morgan/Monchy crossing and arrived at Billings (East of Montana) close to 10pm. Supposedly the largest city in Montana; development seems comparable to Saskatoon though ;P. We spent a night in Billings and explored the city the next day.
Super 8 Billings. Not the best location but considerably good. 

Right : Rimrock; Far left : Sacrifice cliff. The two major attractions of Billings. You will see the whole of Billings from these 2 spots.
Perfect weather, perfect tree and perfect rock ;P

Brunch at Stella's Kitchen & Bakery, Billings (previous post)



Yellowstone National Park, North Entrance
We made it to North Entrance Yellowstone National Park (2.5hrs from Billings)!

Closest major attraction to entrance : Mammoth Hot Springs. Smell of sulphur everywhere (smells like boiled egg actually ;P)

Loved these photos very much because they came out so nicely on my Nex-3!
Camwhoring like 'sakai'(curiously silly) at the border of Wyoming and Montana
There were Bisons everywhere…..end of Winter/early Spring…skinny bisons
Left : Poop size 5 ? Right (photo courtesy of Awang): Kena kejar (chased) bison ?
Since we had limited time, we stayed in Gardiner, closest town to the North Entrance. There are not many hotels (as in cheap hotels) here despite it being the closest gateway to Yellowstone. You will definitely have to book in advance especially during long weekends and peak summer. Anyway, I was lucky enough to book 2 rooms in Yellowstone Gateway Inn. This place is fairly new so not much review on it. Since we were on 'desperate mode' (Super 8 just beside was fully booked!), I tooked the chances with this. No regrets! Price was good, location was good, room (suite) was superb! Rooms are limited so make sure you book in advance!
(Top left photo courtesy of Awang). One bedroom suite for less than $100! Loved loved this! I wish we could have stayed here for more nights!


Dinner at Wokking Panda Chinese Food, Gardiner
Wokking Panda is a Chinese restaurant almost like a version of Wok Box (yeap, those noodle/rice boxes). As it was late ( 9-ish pm), they were about to close so we ordered for take-out. Among us, we had chow-mein (stir-fry noodles), shrimp fried rice, stir-fry cabbage and General Tso's chicken. We wanted something else, but the lady owner recommended us General Tso's chicken instead. For those who are not familiar, this is a North Chinese cuisine-slightly sweetish, spicy with deep-fried chicken. We told her we wanted it spicier and she really gave us super spicy ( to the point that I didn't really taste the 'sweet' part! The chicken was really really good and tasty and basically the only dish worth mentioning. The rest were mediocre (The noodles tasted like rubber-bands?Might just be the type of noodles they used). I can't remember the exact prices but overall, we paid $50 for everything including rice. We also had some pop and guys, please do remember to check the expiry date before leaving the shop @__@
Making use of the dining area we had in our suite :)

Address : 906 Scott St W Gardiner, MT 

Wokking Panda Chinese Food on Urbanspoon

As much as we prayed for it to not rain, it DID rain on Good Friday; the first day of opening for some major roads in Yellowstone. We left our hotel after 8am due to the rain ( behind schedule but came out to be right on track :). Fee for a 7-day pass is $25/vehicle. Maps and brochures were handed out as well and they turned out to be super-useful. We drove all the way to Old Faithful Geyser first because it was the furthest ( 2-hr drive) but the view along the way was just amazing! Couldn't help but to imagine the boiling magma far below us (lols!)
Eruption lasted for a few minutes and thats it. You will have to wait for 1-2 hours for the next one. So remember to check the schedule! (Top right and bottom photos courtesy of Awang)
All hooded, raincoats, windbreaker, proper shoes!
I can't remember which thermal pool was this but the color was just amazing
Grand Prismatic Spring : Where we had the rain, mist, fog, hail, wind and we could hardly see what was in front of us; let alone taking a photo!
Excelsior Geyser Crater : The deep blue color was just beautiful. The water must be super-burning hot! It was so misty that you have to wait for a good chance to see the blue bottom.
Upper Falls

Lower Falls (Photo courtesy of Awang)
There were many many more attractions that I did not cover here in my post which included Boiling River (bring you swim wear and take a dip. Its like hot spring pool!), Gibbon Falls, Norris Geyser, and many more lakes, geysers, hot springs and waterfalls. The sceneries are nothing like the Canadian Rockies so definitely worth a shot to drive all the way there! I'm sure summer will be even more beautiful but the downside would be the throngs of tourist. As the roads are narrow, winding and going uphill, there would definitely be more vehicles as well. We came here just as winter ends; less visitors and we practically have the whole place to ourselves apart from Old Faithful. So, you might just consider coming off-season or early season instead. Just remember your jackets, boots, and gloves because it gets cold at times. Bring some food/snacks/drinks along but if you want, there is a souvenir/cafe at Canyon Village Centre for you to get a snack, hotdog, coffee and even instant noodles cup (superb idea especially on a chilly day!).

Helena, MT
It was perfect timing and we were right on track to leave the park and continue our journey back up north. We drove north west towards Helena, the capital of Montana where we stayed overnight. It was another 4-hour drive from the Park; no easy task but with cheery companions, it didn't seem that tiring. We stayed in Super 8, Helena (sorry, no picture) but hotel room was quite similar to the one we had in Billings. The free breakfast was slightly better because they had a few types of omelettes as well (no complaints!).

Late night supper at Shellie's Country Cafe
We arrived at Super 8 almost 11pm so not many restaurants were open and we were starving because the last we ate was late afternoon before we left the park. A nice lady at the first restaurant we went in recommended us Shellie's a cafe which opens around the clock! I had one of the specials; Holy Cow Chicken Chop (supposedly as big as my face-not really, my face is still bigger..lols!). Not sure why they served the boiled beans but not to my liking. Food was just ok; nothing to shout-about; loved the mash potatoes (but then again, how wrong can you with it) maybe because we were dead tired from the long day. They have quite a variety in their menu and waitress was sweet enough to give us recommendations etc (nice girl even though she was doing the late-night shift!). 
Holy Cow Chicken Chop and Beef steak (huge portion-not recommended for small eaters), Salmon, and Eggs Benny

Address : 1612 Prospect Ave Helena, MT 59601
Website : Shellie's Country Cafe
Shellie's Country Cafe on Urbanspoon

Great Falls
The last stop we made was Great Falls, MT. A town with dams as attractions. Not much to see except for Ryan Dam. Skip the rest. On return to the Canadian border, we used the Turner/Climax crossing, which was closer to where we were. Again, schedule have to be well-organized in order to reach the border by 6pm!
Pit-stop at a town full with dams. Ryan dam
Hardee's for lunch. Nice fast food. I finally understand why US is 'fast food.obesity'  ;P