BEST BIRTHDAY EVER!

This past weekend was my 31^st birthday. I was super surprised by my bf and my friends. I started off my birthday week taking off work on Friday and Monday. Friday I went to morning yoga at Vancouver Bikram. Then over to Body Energy Juice Bar for my favourite King Kale Smoothie. I signed up for my first purchase there and received a free smoothie for my next visit. YAY! Next I went to grab lunch at La Taqueria Pinche Taco Shop on Cambie and Broadway. I had their steam cod taco on special for $3 and the seared tuna taco for $5. I preferred their steam cod taco special. But the tacos were nothing compared to the tacos at Tacofino in Tofino. I missed the tacos there so that is why I went to eat tacos that day. Cravings were not satisfied L but its ok.

Afterwards, I went straight home to finish packing for my surprise trip. Bf told me to take 2 days off work for us to go somewhere. He didn’t say where but he told me what to pack for the trip.

Bf came around 2:30pm to come pick me up to go watch the Star Wars movie. We waited till the crowd died down. Bf bought tix beforehand and he got 3D, Dbox tickets, reserved seating. But it ended up being the night before. So the cashier was super friendly and she gave us regular seating, 3D and I was glad it wasn’t busy so we still got good seats. We had a quick meal of hot dog, burger and fries and of course the Cherry Fanta. The movie was good but nothing over the top for me. (sorry hardcore Star Wars fan). The main actress reminded me so much of Keira Knightly (younger version) the overall movie was good to me.

Afterwards we headed out to our weekend journey. He headed over to Surrey were we were going to cross the border and beforehand he made sure I had my nexus pass which I did. So he told me we were going to Seattle. Which made me so disappointed because I was worried about all the money we were going to spend on the trip because our dollar was so low. I felt uncomfortable with shopping and eating around the US. But I didn’t want to complain so I went with it. He said my friends wanted to get together for dinner before we left so we head over to Kappa Sushi in White Rock. The food was alright but the service….WOW…..slowest service ever! The food dishes came one after the other. We would finish one dish and the next one will come but we had 6 ppl and the food was devoured so fast because the service was soo slow. We waited about an hour to 2 for our food. I probably won’t go here again unless I was in the area craving sushi but the sushi in Vancouver is much better.

Then we realized we were still hungry so we decided to grab McDonalds before we headed out. I was full but I wanted a hot chocolate. We ended up at White Rock Beach where we drove into a 4 level condo. I was super confused by then because we were all driving our cars together into the driveway. Then I realized we were all staying together. I was sooo happy! The place looked amazing. All in white, large white comfy couches, a super cool looking fire place, a big screen tv in the living rooms and all the rooms. Bath tubs everywhere, a raining shower head, heated towel racks, the view of the beach from the patio. It was amazing. And more of my friends were on the way.

We started off the rest of the night with drinks and snacks we played Fred which is basically a truth and dare game. We ended off watching a movie and playing more games. Overall, I enjoyed every little part of my trip so far. 

2^nd night: Saturday 

We woke up to Mark and Denise preparing breakfast of sausages, eggs and cinnamon buns. It was a simple but delicious meal. We then rest for a bit and then headed out for lunch at the Hemingway Public House. I had the fish tacos (because I was still craving tacos) and a seafood chowder while bf had the $4 breakfast consisting of eggs, toast and sausages and we both had a Ceaser which was on special. Afterwards we took a 30 min walk around the area to Save Ons at Semiahmoo Mall in Surrey. We grabbed some more snacks, bath salts, shampoo and liquor for the rest of our stay.

In the morning, we prepared the broth for dinner for hot pot. I’m so surprised my bf was so well prepared with getting each and every single item I enjoyed for hot pot. We played some dancing games on the PS4. Just chilled and had fun.

For dinner we got together had a great meal. And bf surprised me with my favourite cake: Strawberry Shortcake from Save Ons. Best cake ever! Blew out 31 candles -.-“ couldn’t blow them all out unfortunately getting too old. Afterwards, we watched a Jackie Chan movie, I started a bath and I just relaxed for the rest of the evening.

Day 3: Sunday

John prepared some pancakes and sausages for breakfast and we had more hot pot for lunch. Played some more drinking games and some people passed out for a nap. At the end of the day most people started to go home because everyone had work the next day. Bf, me, John and Hannah had our 3^rd session of hot pot. Watched some animal documentary and just relaxed. Afterwards, they had to go home so me and bf started another bath and finished the series: Lost. Super confusing and I realized I spent so much time watching all 6 seasons of lost to find out the ending. I wish the ending was more epic.

Day 4: Monday

Me and bf woke up. Started our day with a bath, showered and started packing. We ended up decided to do our last session of hot pot. Cleaned up the place and just relaxed watching some Netflix and enjoying each others company. We watched the sunset and met up with the care taker. The place was clean, dishes were done, laundry was done and we were on our way back home. Ordered some pizza and watched Ninja Turtles. We had a good night and I had an awesome weekend thanks to my dearest. I love him and I’m so thankful to have him in my life. This was ultimately the best birthday I had ever had in my life!

Bikram Yoga Vancouver

I ended my first time one month trial at Bikram Richmond on Jan 4. So I decided to search for another deal in the Lower Mainland to continue my yoga regime. I found Bikram Yoga Vancouver for a monthly unlimited trial for $35.00 on groupon so I decided to give that location a try. Before I started I read the reviews on google and yelp and some of the comments that people made were pretty on point. Firstly, I started my first class on a Friday night at 7pm. I got there around 6:30 to register. Because my bf has been there before but it has been more then 2 years ago they told him he wasn't eligible to be part of the groupon offer. I read the fine lines and it read that client is not able to use groupon if he or she has been active within the last 18 months. So I told the lady at the counter and she still was persistent about him not being eligible and she explained a little bit of how groupon works but I think you shouldn't be on groupon if you don't agree with the terms. But, eventually she let us use the groupon passes. It was half the size of Richmond's location and the room was pretty packed already but the lady mentioned that the 7pm class will be less people. And they have a ridiculous rent fee for mat, bath towel, mat towel for $7.50 per session. And it was about $45.00 a month for full rental when Richmond Bikram only charges $10.00 for rent for a whole month!
I quickly got changed and the change room was really big and spacious which I really liked. The lockers were 25 cents which I thought was another scam. So I just put my things on the side. Lockers at Richmond was free but limited to about 12 lockers. So when it was 5 mins to 7 people were already going inside the room when there was obviously the last class doing there Shavasana. So people were walking in and out and the room which was so noisy. I usually go inside the room at Richmond location 15 mins prior before class started to stretch and to warm up and to gather myself but there's no opportunity to do so at this location. People were in and out of the room, so noisy. Mats were flapping everywhere, the door was creaking back and forth. Before you know it the instructor came in with a booming voice. It was an hour class. The class structure was pretty much the same. The room was stuffier because it was much smaller. Afterwards headed to wash myself off. Lots of shower space not much wait time. Overall, an ok experience. Let's see how this month goes.

Lotus Pho Restaurant

This past Sunday me and bf decided to have a chill day and start the day by having lunch at Lotus in Richmond. The parking lot was pretty much full and we were surprised because when we first starting going here it was newly opened and there wasn't many people coming in and out of this restaurant especially when the pho is on a higher price margin. For a small a bowl of pho was around $8.75 and a large is about $9.75. It was fairly hard to find parking but we managed to find parking at the back of the restaurant. The signs were very confusing because we weren't sure of where we can park and where we can. We walked into the restaurant and there was already 2 ppl waiting in line. There was even a clipboard to write your name down for the next available seating. We didn't wait long until we got a seat about 5 mins wait. I ordered the spicy and sour seafood pho while my bf had the regular pho with spicy and sour soup. Overall a great meal. The broth was pretty much like a tom yum base with lemon grass. I wasn't a big fan of the shrimp and fish balls so next time I'll probably order the regular pho with spicy and sour soup. Bf's soup base was very similar but his broth had a more meatier flavor to it. His meat had a weird prolonged old flavor to it and it wasn't fresh but rather tough. Overall, the food experience was alright. I probably prefer the Bun Bo Hue on Nainamo if I was craving for spiciness and tender meats.

Lotus Pho Restaurant

Overall Rating: ☆☆☆1/2 /5

Location: 4131 No. 5 Road, Richmond BC