Pacific Northwest Adventures (part one)
Currently I am in the Pacific Northwest visiting my dear brother who is living in Tacoma. I must admit actually in Parkland area (not far though from Tacoma proper about 10-15 minutes depending on Interstate5 traffic.
I adore the lush tall green trees that line the highway but I notice people do not really drive fast here. All drive the same speed for all lanes. You have to be careful which lane you are in as some exits the whole two lanes are split up (my brother and I found that out too late when behind a big truck).
Tacoma is a port city, save for the Tacoma Dome and two art museums--the Glass and the Art Museums, there is not much going on there (in comparison to nearby Seattle (a good 40-60 minutes away depending upon traffic). I found out from my brother there is a big Korean contingent in the area. There are some superb Korean supermarkets nearby (I wish we had in Boston).
As I went into the Korean market, I ogled the great rows of frozen thinly sliced up short ribs (kalbi), tons of prepared side dishes, Asian veggies and fruits, marinades, sauces and other snacks I was in heaven. Since we went there for a quick snack, we grabbed the pollack dipped into egg and bulgoki kim bop (yummy--mashiso). My brother and I enjoyed the pizza flavored snacks or the new "light" flavored BBQ flavor (a far cry American BBQ flavor--so subtle that I would not associate it with BBQ flavor at all.
Over the weekend I met up with my good friend Felicia. I had a great time bonding on many issues with her. It is great to have great conversations with her. She and her boyfriend Nien were great hosts.
First we stopped by Felicia's place of work CRANIUM. Very cool place. Dinner we grabbed in the University District at Thai Tom (4543 University Way Seattle-206-548-9548). This place is a small hole in the wall that seats 15 people. Those who are on the hot seat (bar like area in front of the cooks) two guys masterfully handling four pans on an oven creating culinary magic. Be careful on how spicy you want your stuff, medium is pretty hot (unlike Thai places in Boston). Their pad thai is AMBROSIA for the gods! At only $6 a steal and delight for the senses given a scoop of rice, the thin needles are riddled with flavor and I love the crispy bits found from the cooking pan. To die for and the sauteed chicken with Chinese egg plant was superb as well. On a Friday night, our wait was minimal for only 10 minutes (usually it is about 30-1 hour) but it is WORTH the wait. To be more efficient, they give you a menu (while you are waiting outside) and you order when outside before you are even seated.
Saturday,we did a day trip to Vancouver. (They usually go in the summer). We did the truck route at the border (to avoid the 25 minute wait). The wait was not too bad for a Saturday morning and the weather ended up sunny and nice (not bad as the forecast had included rain). All of use were told to talk to border patrol. We showed our passports, had to exit our car, be searched, asked about our relationship to each other, why we were going to Canada (for the dim sum in Richmond---which is SUPERIOR to Seattle's) and for how long. We saw another three car loads of Asians disembarking as well. Very interesting.
The whole process was quick not even 20 minutes and we were on our way. We started out in Richmond on the main drag--No 3 Road. This road is where all the many Hong Kong restaurants/shops and malls are located. Many more sprouted up since my last visit back in 2002 with my mom and brother. Based on some on line research I wanted to go to Shiang Garden. Seems like a ritzy chi chi place as we enter seeing many chandeliers and all the chairs are covered in fabric. No regular dim sum push carts are to be seen. We are told to write down our order on a scan sheet with pencil. For those who do not read/write Chinese, ordering is problematic. Luckily I can hold my own (the accompanying small menu has English translation---which would be good to have on the order sheet too--HINT HINT). After waiting 30 minutes and noticing others who came later were served before us. I asked the waiter where our food was as I was famished. One orange at 7am (that time being 1pm) did not help matters with my frustration. The waiter said the food takes time. Then after a few more moments I asked again. Turns out I my order did not get processed. I gave it to someone wearing a suit jacked. We decided to leave. Not impressed at all. The assistant general manager personally apologized, asked who took the form and wanted that person to apologize. Then he said he would make sure the kitchen would get our order. Since everything is cooked to order, it would take a long time. We just left. We had ordered a bowl of hot and sour soup (after the alleged ordering of dim sum) and that came and went. So we were told our soup was on them. They hoped we would come again.
I really wanted to try this place but the principle of the situation led me to leave and go to a fave---Sun Siu Wah Restaurant. Here we had to wait for 15 minutes, by this time it is the height of dim sum attendance. When we were finally seated, we got to eat reasonably well with the carts coming by. Occasionally we asked the waiter for help. I must admit, the variety was not as much or good as the location outside of Chinatown in Vancouver (from my memory of four years ago). The pan friend dumplings were excellent--my friends recommended it. The staples of siu mai, har gao, chang fun are good. Overall an enjoyable meal and much cheaper than Shiang Garden would have been.
Off to the nearby Buddhist Temple in Richmond, it is big compound. The outdoor area has a pond, tons of gleaming gold and red. I was impressed of the size of the temple.
Then off to Vancouver proper to Robson Street (the shopping street in Vancouver---a la Newbury Street in Boston). My friends had to go to Jacobs, Esprit and of course the Spanish store Zara (I adore their stuff too but the closest ones for me are in NYC and Philly). The line to try out stuff was very long.
Then we headed to Granville Island (not really an Island) and visited the "biggest North American Public Market" according to some of its advertisements. Lots of cool fruits/veggies, gourmet foods and crafts. Then surrounding the main market area are craft shops galore. Very cute place indeed to spend an hour or two. There are cute ferry buses you can take to go to the Aquarium or over to Vancouver city.
Then we head back over to the city to Chinatown to get a snack of baked goods. This one bakery (takes US dollars too) had good chicken bao (white steamed chicken buns) and a steamed sponge cake only set us back a little. It satisfied our small hunger pangs.
Off back to the USA, by this time it is 6:45 and before the border we are stuck waiting in line for an hour. But the sign before hitting the line did not say how long the wait was, it only listed "N/A" which now we surmise as "not available" as opposed to "not applicable".
At the end of a long day, we got back late. Grabbed some burritos to nosh on (must say not the best but boy were they big).
This morning, went to for brunch in Capitol Hill at Julias. Cute place decorated with posters of Moulin Rouge (later I am told that the posters change with different movies during different weeks.). My brother got the healthy egg whites with turkey sausage, black beans and honey wheat toast, I got the lemon poppy seed buckwheat pancakes (big stack--three huge plate size pieces) and a side of fruit. The side of fruit at $6.95 was not a bargain. Got 4 slivers of grape fruit and 2 of orange, some pieces of banana, tiny center bowl filled with 5 chunks of honeydew and pineapple chunks, four grapes not worth the price. The $2.95 small fresh squeezed orange juice was good.
The pancakes are not bad. My brothers eggs was ok and over all the food was not bad but not great. I adore the brunches in Boston more. Zaftigs (around the Coolidge Corner area on Harvard Street in Boston) can teach a thing or two at this place. Plus the menu had some interesting offerings (substitution of tofu for egg possible etc).
To walk off our big brunch meal (the portions were big, our server was nice but the taste was mediocre at best) we head to Jimmy Hendrix's statue. Though he had not lived in the Capitol Hill area.
Later on, we head to the downtown area again, I want to check out the pretty new dutch designed Central Public Library, Pikes Market Place and do some window shopping.
Currently I am in the Pacific Northwest visiting my dear brother who is living in Tacoma. I must admit actually in Parkland area (not far though from Tacoma proper about 10-15 minutes depending on Interstate5 traffic.
I adore the lush tall green trees that line the highway but I notice people do not really drive fast here. All drive the same speed for all lanes. You have to be careful which lane you are in as some exits the whole two lanes are split up (my brother and I found that out too late when behind a big truck).
Tacoma is a port city, save for the Tacoma Dome and two art museums--the Glass and the Art Museums, there is not much going on there (in comparison to nearby Seattle (a good 40-60 minutes away depending upon traffic). I found out from my brother there is a big Korean contingent in the area. There are some superb Korean supermarkets nearby (I wish we had in Boston).
As I went into the Korean market, I ogled the great rows of frozen thinly sliced up short ribs (kalbi), tons of prepared side dishes, Asian veggies and fruits, marinades, sauces and other snacks I was in heaven. Since we went there for a quick snack, we grabbed the pollack dipped into egg and bulgoki kim bop (yummy--mashiso). My brother and I enjoyed the pizza flavored snacks or the new "light" flavored BBQ flavor (a far cry American BBQ flavor--so subtle that I would not associate it with BBQ flavor at all.
Over the weekend I met up with my good friend Felicia. I had a great time bonding on many issues with her. It is great to have great conversations with her. She and her boyfriend Nien were great hosts.
First we stopped by Felicia's place of work CRANIUM. Very cool place. Dinner we grabbed in the University District at Thai Tom (4543 University Way Seattle-206-548-9548). This place is a small hole in the wall that seats 15 people. Those who are on the hot seat (bar like area in front of the cooks) two guys masterfully handling four pans on an oven creating culinary magic. Be careful on how spicy you want your stuff, medium is pretty hot (unlike Thai places in Boston). Their pad thai is AMBROSIA for the gods! At only $6 a steal and delight for the senses given a scoop of rice, the thin needles are riddled with flavor and I love the crispy bits found from the cooking pan. To die for and the sauteed chicken with Chinese egg plant was superb as well. On a Friday night, our wait was minimal for only 10 minutes (usually it is about 30-1 hour) but it is WORTH the wait. To be more efficient, they give you a menu (while you are waiting outside) and you order when outside before you are even seated.
Saturday,we did a day trip to Vancouver. (They usually go in the summer). We did the truck route at the border (to avoid the 25 minute wait). The wait was not too bad for a Saturday morning and the weather ended up sunny and nice (not bad as the forecast had included rain). All of use were told to talk to border patrol. We showed our passports, had to exit our car, be searched, asked about our relationship to each other, why we were going to Canada (for the dim sum in Richmond---which is SUPERIOR to Seattle's) and for how long. We saw another three car loads of Asians disembarking as well. Very interesting.
The whole process was quick not even 20 minutes and we were on our way. We started out in Richmond on the main drag--No 3 Road. This road is where all the many Hong Kong restaurants/shops and malls are located. Many more sprouted up since my last visit back in 2002 with my mom and brother. Based on some on line research I wanted to go to Shiang Garden. Seems like a ritzy chi chi place as we enter seeing many chandeliers and all the chairs are covered in fabric. No regular dim sum push carts are to be seen. We are told to write down our order on a scan sheet with pencil. For those who do not read/write Chinese, ordering is problematic. Luckily I can hold my own (the accompanying small menu has English translation---which would be good to have on the order sheet too--HINT HINT). After waiting 30 minutes and noticing others who came later were served before us. I asked the waiter where our food was as I was famished. One orange at 7am (that time being 1pm) did not help matters with my frustration. The waiter said the food takes time. Then after a few more moments I asked again. Turns out I my order did not get processed. I gave it to someone wearing a suit jacked. We decided to leave. Not impressed at all. The assistant general manager personally apologized, asked who took the form and wanted that person to apologize. Then he said he would make sure the kitchen would get our order. Since everything is cooked to order, it would take a long time. We just left. We had ordered a bowl of hot and sour soup (after the alleged ordering of dim sum) and that came and went. So we were told our soup was on them. They hoped we would come again.
I really wanted to try this place but the principle of the situation led me to leave and go to a fave---Sun Siu Wah Restaurant. Here we had to wait for 15 minutes, by this time it is the height of dim sum attendance. When we were finally seated, we got to eat reasonably well with the carts coming by. Occasionally we asked the waiter for help. I must admit, the variety was not as much or good as the location outside of Chinatown in Vancouver (from my memory of four years ago). The pan friend dumplings were excellent--my friends recommended it. The staples of siu mai, har gao, chang fun are good. Overall an enjoyable meal and much cheaper than Shiang Garden would have been.
Off to the nearby Buddhist Temple in Richmond, it is big compound. The outdoor area has a pond, tons of gleaming gold and red. I was impressed of the size of the temple.
Then off to Vancouver proper to Robson Street (the shopping street in Vancouver---a la Newbury Street in Boston). My friends had to go to Jacobs, Esprit and of course the Spanish store Zara (I adore their stuff too but the closest ones for me are in NYC and Philly). The line to try out stuff was very long.
Then we headed to Granville Island (not really an Island) and visited the "biggest North American Public Market" according to some of its advertisements. Lots of cool fruits/veggies, gourmet foods and crafts. Then surrounding the main market area are craft shops galore. Very cute place indeed to spend an hour or two. There are cute ferry buses you can take to go to the Aquarium or over to Vancouver city.
Then we head back over to the city to Chinatown to get a snack of baked goods. This one bakery (takes US dollars too) had good chicken bao (white steamed chicken buns) and a steamed sponge cake only set us back a little. It satisfied our small hunger pangs.
Off back to the USA, by this time it is 6:45 and before the border we are stuck waiting in line for an hour. But the sign before hitting the line did not say how long the wait was, it only listed "N/A" which now we surmise as "not available" as opposed to "not applicable".
At the end of a long day, we got back late. Grabbed some burritos to nosh on (must say not the best but boy were they big).
This morning, went to for brunch in Capitol Hill at Julias. Cute place decorated with posters of Moulin Rouge (later I am told that the posters change with different movies during different weeks.). My brother got the healthy egg whites with turkey sausage, black beans and honey wheat toast, I got the lemon poppy seed buckwheat pancakes (big stack--three huge plate size pieces) and a side of fruit. The side of fruit at $6.95 was not a bargain. Got 4 slivers of grape fruit and 2 of orange, some pieces of banana, tiny center bowl filled with 5 chunks of honeydew and pineapple chunks, four grapes not worth the price. The $2.95 small fresh squeezed orange juice was good.
The pancakes are not bad. My brothers eggs was ok and over all the food was not bad but not great. I adore the brunches in Boston more. Zaftigs (around the Coolidge Corner area on Harvard Street in Boston) can teach a thing or two at this place. Plus the menu had some interesting offerings (substitution of tofu for egg possible etc).
To walk off our big brunch meal (the portions were big, our server was nice but the taste was mediocre at best) we head to Jimmy Hendrix's statue. Though he had not lived in the Capitol Hill area.
Later on, we head to the downtown area again, I want to check out the pretty new dutch designed Central Public Library, Pikes Market Place and do some window shopping.
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