Chromilo Amin

Just spent the day walking around the beach today watching the tide change from low to high tide. We walked around barefooted enjoying the feel of slimy seaweed and warm water on our feet. There were people flying kites and kids running around catching baby crabs on the sand. It was low tide early in the morning so it was easy to see all the creepy crawlies. We had fish & chips at the Moby Dick Restaurant ( www.mobydickrestaurant.com , 15479 Marine Drive, 604-536-2424). There is always a line up because the fish is so good. I usually get the 2-piece fish & chips for $14.95. A medium drink and small home-made tartar sauce usually sets me back $35 because I usually grab two orders. There were picnic benches alongside the beach so it was perfect. We walked off the big lunch along the seawall to ensure we burn off some of the fat. Along the way, we saw a bald eagle guarding its nest. It's hard to really burn off any fat because K & C always fancy a bit of ice c...

My neighbor invited us over to her blueberry farm on the 32nd Avenue and 176th Street area in Surrey, BC. Just like in previous years, she says that they didn't maintain the blueberry farm this year because there is no market for it; their tractor that clears the overgrown weeds is broken; and that her aging father could no longer take care of the farm work. Regardless of all these reasons, I think there was plenty of the blueberries for harvest this year. My wife says they are 'organic' just because of all the overgrown weeds. I'm fairly certain they just left the crops alone this year which probably means no pesticides, fertilizers, etc. were used. A group of us went to the farm over the weekend including P, A, N, W, V, and R. It was hard work just to fill one basket and we wonder how professional blueberry-pickers do it, day in and out. We gave Gabriel and Natasha some of our pickings (there was a lot) and wife has already made blueberry muffins out of some of them. ...

After the trip to the zoo last weekend, we headed out to the Krause Berry Farm in Langley the very next day for some berry-picking and farm animal-petting fun. My sister, Dennis, kids, my mom, and family all went. Melvin, Patricia, and kids were also there (although I didn't quite see them in the farm as we were madly trying to fill our basket full of blueberries). We didn't go into the raspberry patch as there weren't as much and decided we would rather just buy more of the blueberries from the store in the farm instead. We also purchased some strawberries and corn, and the berry-flavored pies all looked so good. We'll get some of those next time. There is a fenced petting area where I saw a llama and goats, and you can purchase feed for $2. There is a horse-carriage and rides were offered around the farm for $2 each. We didn't go into the rides this time. I lined-up at the concession stand to get us some drinks as it was very hot that day. I ordered lemonade drink...

We took the kids to the Greater Vancouver Zoo this past weekend with my sister, Dennis, A & A, and mom. The rates were decent at $22.25 for adults and $16.25 for kids 3 years old and up http://www.gvzoo.com/general-info/hours-and-rates . We bought train ride tickets at the gate and they were about $5 for adults, and no fees for kids 3 and under. The train ride wasn't too busy on the Sunday and the driver+guide was very lively and educational. Compared to the Buffalo Zoo in New York, I would say the Greater Vancouver zoo has a lot more acreage to house bigger outdoor animals but less to house smaller ones like birds, reptiles, amphibians. We needed to take the train ride because there was too much land to cover. I don't remember any train rides at the Buffalo Zoo. In addition to taking the train ride, we rented one of those triple-seater bicycles, which allows for 2 adults to pedal, a third adult to sit in between, and allows for 3 toddles to sit in front. It was a lot of fu...

We visited the Westfield SouthCenter Mall in Washington this past long weekend with my brother, Weng, V, and family, to eat at Jollibee and Chowking, and to shop at Seafood City and Valerio's Bakery. It was my first time visiting and we were thrilled. We stayed at a nearby Best Western Hotel so that we could keep coming back to the mall to try out different foods/snacks and spend time shopping for popular Filipino products. I finally tried Chicken Joy and Palabok at Jollibee. The beef wonton soup at Chowking was very tasty and the halo-halo was worth the 10 minute lineup. Valerio's Bakery had a collection of my childhood favorite snacks like espasol, sapin-sapin, cuchinta, suman, etc. I bought one of each to bring back to Vancouver for co-workers and also to savor for later. Seafood City is just like T&T Supermarket but the aisles are all filled with Filipino products and everyone around speaks Tagalog. Miss that. The drive from the US/Canada border to Jollibee, Chowking, S...