Day 2: Day of eating adventure / more bourbon st

What happens jn New Orleans stays in New Orleans! Haha.. Jk

We started our day eating at Eat New Orleans. It was a walking distance from our hotel. (everything in the French Quarter is walking distance from us) There is free wifi in our hotel room. We checked out the menu online before we went there. We waited for about 20 mins to get seated. We shared 4 dishes: crawfish pie, eggs cochon ( kinda like an eggs benedict but with pullled pork), catfish dauphine (kinda like eggs benedict but with catfish) and breakfast trio ( grillades, shrimp and grits, eggs and biscuit).
I like the crawfish pie the best. It was warm and comforting. It reminded me of lasagna: melting cheese on the top and a warm stewy filling. There were three tables that got sat after us and ordered after us. They got their food before us. We waited 45 minutes for our food to arrive. We were hungry and pissed off. Dont go there. Service sucks.

After breakfast, we went to our first tourist attraction: Spring Fiesta House. It is a house from the 1800's. It was really neat to see how people celebrated christmas in the 1800's.

We finally took public transportation. We took the streetcar down to the Riverwalk ( a pier with shops and restaurants). It was really neat to see the shops.

After walking around for a few hours, we went to eat at Mothers. it was a recommendation from a few friends. It was like a take out restaurant. You order at the counter and they bring the food out to you. The best item i ate there was the bread pudding. It was nice and warm.

It was back to the hotel for some rest and relaxation before we went to celebrated the new year. We went to the Riverwalk again. This time to watch the fireworks. It was on 15 mins. We then walked on Bourbon St to get back to our hotel. It was more of a zoo then the other days.

Time to call it a night. Have to start our day early tomorrow.

Day 1: travelling to new orleans / bourbon st

We started the day early. Our first flight was at 825am. We met at the airport at 630am. Our first flight was to DFW ( dallas / forth worth), texas. There was a few hours in the layover. We finally arrived in new orleans at 630ish. By the time we arrived at our hotel, it was 730ish. Our hotel is in the French Quarter. Its a very quint hotel with a lot of character.

We had dinner at the Red Fish Grill. It was recommended by two friends. There is 4 of us. we shared two entrees and a gumbo. One entree was pan seared scallops with asparagus. It was so delicious. The pan seared jumbo scallops with corn macque chouz, roasted asparagus, jalapeno oil and crispy andouille.

The second entree was the hickory grilled redfish with tasso and wild msuhroom pontalba potatoes, sauteed louisiana jumbo lump crabmeat with lemon butter sauce. The fish was the best fish i've ever had. It was crusty on the outside and soft on the inside. It wasnt dry and overcooked like most fish i've had.

The gumbo was alligator sausage and seafood gumbo with rich dark roux, onion, bell peppers, celery and fresh herbs. It was a tad too spicy for me. The alligator was a sausage so it was hard to taste the actual alligator meat.

After dinner, we walked on Bourbon st. This is like walking on the Vegas strip times that by ten. There is more drinking and more drunken antics than vegas. There are buildings with balconies and people on the balconies throw down beads. Sometimes they just throw down the beads for random people. Sometimes they throw the beads to people who show some boobs or butt.

One place we wanted to try was Cafe Du Monde. It is known for its beignets and cafe au lait. Beignets are like a puff donut engulfed with icing sugar. I am not a coffee but the cafe au lait was good with a bit of sugar. It stayed really hot for a really long time. It was walking distance to the French Market. Eventhough the stores were closed, we just did some window shopping. We will make it there again to go in the shops. There are so many shops with artsy and crafty things to see.

We finally walked back to our hotel. It is really nice to relax and rest my legs after 3 hours of walking.

For Sale: Coupons I won't be using

TBC Indoor Kart Racing: 2 races - Sun - Thurs
2100 Viceroy Pl, Richmond
Expires on Oct 1, 2011
$20







Blackberry Books
1666 Johnston st
Expires on Dec 29, 2015
$25 worth of books for $15






Don Guacamole's
1333 Robson St
Expires on Oct 1, 2011
$30 worth of authentic Mexican cuisine for only $20









Accent Cruises
1661 Duranleau St
Expires on Sept 15, 2011
$30 value for a 2.5 hour cruise for $20 (two coupons available)




If you are interested in any of these coupons, please email me at lisahaa@gmail.com.

Another wedding dress?

I thought I loved the dress I bought. I realized that I needed too much alterations. I realized I didn't want an ivory wedding dress. It didn't look 'clean'. It is an original design. I have never seen anything like it. I felt I wanted a less expensive dress. I went to another sale. Of course I would expect at sales to have just the left overs and nothing special.



The sale I went to was at Lauren's Bridal. It was a lady's house in Surrey. It was a small room in her townhouse which she sells the wedding dresses. There is a small selection in each size. I tried on the first dress. I liked it. I didn't really want to try on any other dresses but I was curious on what else she had. I tried on a bunch of different styles. I tried on a two piece dress. I didn't like it too much. There was one style which I liked. It is a halter top. It is a chiffon material. It has a small train. But I did like the first dress the best. It is a strapless mermaid style. I can't post a picture cause 'someone' doesn't want to see it until the wedding day. This sale was a bit different. I actually found something nice and affordable.

My Wedding Dress

Besides the venue, my wedding dress is one of my next biggest decisions. We are in the middle of choosing our wedding favours and centerpieces. Today I made a decision on my dress.

The other week my maid of honour and I went dress shopping. We went to New West where there is tonnes of bridal shops. I thought there was only 3 or 4 stores. But really there is about 10 of them. One of the shops we went into was the Bridal Gallery. I think it is supposed to be one of the higher end shops. You are supposed to make an appointment and you get a personal consultant to help you. I didn't make an appointment. It was a Monday afternoon and we just walked in. If they turned us away because we didn't make an appointment, we would've just checked out the other stores. We were lucky because they slotted us in. It reminded me of the store at the TLC show 'Say Yes to the Dress'. It is very bright, you get a personal consultant and you get to stand on the little platform with a three way mirror. The consultant, I forgot her name already, asked me many questions so she can the dresses for me to try one. She had to find out my budget and style to find the right dress for me. I was there for about an hour and tried on many types of dresses. I wanted to try on the many styles to see how I feel and look in them. I don't want a strapless gown. It was almost impossible to find a non strapless gown at the Bridal Gallery. I tried on a 'princess' gown which was strapless and form fitting at the bodice and puffy. It was heavy and it wasn't flattering on me. I tried on many dresses and it was so heavy. I am looking for a light dress that is easy to put on and off. Many of the dresses had the corset back. Man, what a pain in the ass to put on and off. I knew I wanted a zipper back. I tried on a short dress. I would never know if that was for me or not unless I tried on one. After I tried it on, I felt that a longer dress would be more appropriate. I didn't want alot of rhinestones or flowers. I didn't want a long train. Because it will be a spring wedding, it would be easier for me to get around in a dress with a short train. I originally wanted a white dress but the consultant at the Bridal Gallery suggested an ivory dress because it would complement my skin. I finally tried on a dress that I really liked. It was a strapless dress. It was a pretty typical bridal dress, kinda mermaid and flares out that bottom. It was way over my budget. The saleslady was really pushing for me to make another appointment to come back and try the dress again to purchase the dress. I told her I would call her to make an appointment. I never did. I thought the dress was too expensive and wasn't totally what I wanted.

I found and bought my dress today. It was totally by accident. Last night my fiance told me about a sale at Sandra Sung which was on today. Today at work I did a quick search to find out more about the sale. The sale was only on till 5 pm today. I get off work at 4pm. I couldn't ask my cousin because it was super last minute and she had her son's birthday party to prepare for. I asked my co worker to come shopping with me. Sandra Sung has been in the business for 25 years and is wanting to retire from running her bridal shop. The sale was actually on from yesterday to today. All proceeds go to support the Breast Care Program at Mount Saint Joseph Hospital (TAPESTRY FOUNDATION FOR HEALTH CARE, http://www.tapestryfoundation.com). There are no price tags. I had a sales lady help me out. She suggested that I pick and try on the dresses that I like. Then if I want to purchase one, then suggest a price for Sandra to approve. My co worker and I chose a few dresses. Some were pretty standard wedding magazine styles. There was a ground floor level and an upstairs level. We started off downstairs and I didn't see anything that really caught my eye. There was a dress on a mannequin that I thought was ok. We then went upstairs to see the other styles available. I saw a dress on another mannequin that caught my eye. I tried on a few dresses and didn't really felt anything was right. The dress on the mannequin was the one for me. I ended up purchasing it. I realized that it fits most of my criteria in a dress. It isn't a strapless dress. It doesn't have a lot of sequins or flowers on it. It has a mini train. It is super easy to get in and out of because it has a zipper back. It is ivory. It is a bit different than all the other typical wedding magazine dresses. It doesn't fit me perfectly but the alterations that has to be done are very minimal. It was a bit over what I budgeted to spend on a wedding dress. It is ok because it is an unique dress and proceeds go to a good cause.

Lost of a Schoolmate / Vancouver Riots

Lost of a schoolmate

On Monday, June 13 I found out that a high school mate passed away. I found out thru another friend via facebook. My friend wrote that he passed away because he had cancer. There was a blog written about his last seventy something days. It was a blog written by his girlfriend, who wrote in it as what it seems like every other day. She wrote about how he found out he had the cancer and his struggle with it. It seemed like everyday was a struggle for him.

After I found out, I was sad all day. It really made me think about me and my life. It was only about three months from the time he found out to the time he passed away. If I found out I have cancer and only three months to live, what would I do? Would I have completed my bucket list? Would I die happy?

Vancouver Riots

A few days later, the Vancouver riots happened. That made me sad too. It is so unbelievable that something like this would happen. I think it would've happened if the Canucks won or lost. What was the point of burning the cars or looting? It was an opportunity for all the crazies to come out and play. It was a monkey see monkey do attitude. If they saw someone doing something illegal, it seemed ok to do it too. It was so crazy for them to do all the stupid things that they did. Didn't they see or know that there were surveillance cameras and everyone there had a camera too? All these smart phones these days. All of them comes with a camera and some with video capabilities. In an instant, their images are plastered all over the internet. It is a different society and lifestyle than 1994, when the last riots happened. In two days, some rioters have been identified already.

The day after the riot happened, the people fought back and cleaned up the streets. It was pretty amazing. Everyone banned together and took back the streets. They swept glass off the streets. They cleaned what they can. The Bay was looted and was boarded up. The board has now been used as a canvas to share the thoughts of Vancouverites who condemned the violence.

Storage Wars

This show is on A&E. I don't know when the show is on. I usually channel surf and it happens to be on. I was channel surfing one day and it was on. I watched the whole episode. It is quite interesting. It follows five main people. Each of them has a different style and technique on how they bid on the lockers. The show takes place in Southern California. They go to storage auctions and bid on abandoned storage lockers. The locker is opened and they get a few minutes to see if it is a locker they are interested in. They are not allowed to touch anything in the locker.

It is interesting because you never know what is in the lockers. The items are usually covered in something or in a box. They don't know exactly what they get until after they pay for the locker and go through all the items. They usually buy the lockers to resell the items. The items they find in the lockers range on depending on the previous owners. Sometimes they find items that are worth a lot of money. Sometimes they just find junk in the lockers. If there is something they think is of value, they bring it to get assessed by a professional. At the end of the episode it shows who made the most money and who made the least.