Wonderfully Delicious-ness of Toronto and the GTA

Hello there everyone!

Taking a small break from posting up pictures and details from my trip to Korea! I decided to just post some pictures about great deals on food, and super delicious foods that I have had the pleasure of trying out lately.

First stop is a super good deal for dinner. $3.99 Canadian for a good Chinese boxed dinner with your choice of daily soup, chrysanthemum tea, or soya milk. This is tax included. I know. Amazing. This place is located in a plaza across the street from Pacific Mall (where Star wok buffet was?) It is a food court.

Beef brisket with rice noodles. I chose chrysanthemum tea. 

 Right beside the food court, you will find an amazing Cantonese dessert house. This place is called Hung Fook Tong. They serve herbal teas and desserts. The origin of this dessert house is from Hong Kong. I came here on two different occasions, and I enjoyed the desserts every time.

Red bean with grass jelly in a coconut milk drink. 

Grass jelly dessert with mixed fruit and chia seeds with a little bit of coconut milk base. 

 Now, I'm not only about eating out. I love myself a home cooked meal. I was working a promotional bit for Saputo Mozzarellissima cheese, and they had some leftovers for us to bring home. I brought it home and decided to test the stretchiness of this "ULTIMATE" cooking cheese. Believe me when I say it is true to its name and claims. I made a pizza with pepperoni, green peppers, mushrooms and fresh roma tomatoes, featuring the one and only Mozzarellissima cheese. I got nothing but praise from my family.

See how far that cheese stretches? Delicious gooey-ness at it's best.

Finally, this one sushi place is seriously the best I have ever had in Toronto. I first came here with my boyfriend and his family after we went on an adventure to Esc-It. Esc-It is a place where you try to escape a room with the clues you have to find in said room. The second time was this weekend. The sushi here is super duper fresh, and the amount of selection you get and the quality of the food is just amazing. Where is this place? Ten-Ichi is its name, and here is the address. 4810 Sheppard Avenue East. For dinner on the weekends, it is kinda pricey $26 Canadian, but as a treat it was soooo worth it. 

This is picture proof that we escaped our room! We needed two hints though...so technically we didn't really pass. But in my mind, I was a genius and super awesome. 

Last but definitely not least, my first ever Sushi boat. I was drooling. 

I hope you all enjoyed this random post about foods that I have had this past...while. I hope to be able to post more in the near future. Hugs and kisses!


-Chrissymon

Chrissy Travels: Episode 3.2 - Korea Part 3

Boo! Did you miss me? Are you excited to see what's up next? I hope you are, because I am wanting to go back to Korea this moment!

January 16, 2014 - Instead of skiing like the others, we shopped, roamed, explored and ate during this time. We then headed over to a place where we could learn how to make kimchi, and try on 한복 - Hanbok. Traditional Korean clothing. We ended the night with Korean BBQ (amazing!) and watching a comedic Kungfu show. This was the most relaxing day we had yet.

Started the day right with a super large breakfast! Leave it up to me to get fat during vacation right? :)

Skipped lunch and had a super large snack instead! Dumplings, fish cake, and spicy rice cakes! We even got hot chocolate from a vending machine. The cans come out warm, so it was great on a cold day. 

The people prepared everything for us to make some Kimchi. 

My finished Kimchi roll. This place is super kind. The kimchis that we make will be donated to orphanages and old folk's homes. That is why they are called "Loving Kimchi". I'm proud of my creation :)

This is the best colour combination of Hanbok that I tried on. Although, the grass things at the back of my head look funny....>.>;

Super cute old style tea set was there for us to post with. We were scolded cuz we still had our glasses on, but we fixed that immediately and both of us couldn't see...lol

Bored on the bus...so we decided it was time for selfies :)

Korean Barbecue! What was even more amazing was that we were told the guys were supposed to be the ones cooking. Our photographer oppa helped us with this (I am fully capable of bbqing) But it was great to see the guys work for the food. 

Poster of the super awesome comedic Kung Fu show we went to at the end of the night. It was GREAT! Too bad we didn't have time to stay behind to take pictures with the staff. =(

Our room was on the 12th floor, and as soon as you get off the elevator you see this. It made me smile. 

The last two days will be to be continued in my next post! I hope you have been enjoying these, because I really, really want to head back to Korea now...Or just binge on some Korean Dramas :)

-Chrissymon

Chrissy Travels: Episode 3.1 - Korea Part 2

Good day everyone!

This is coming a few days late...I wanted to do one every Sunday or so...I'm sorry, but I was kinda swamped :)

So continuing on with the most awesome Korea trip that we have all been anticipating for~ (maybe just me)

January 15, 2014 - We took a suuuuper long trip to the YongPyong ski resort (myself and bff didn't end up skiing since we live in Toronto and it's quite easy for us to go skiing if we wish). When we arrived at the resort, we rode the gondola up to Dragon's Peak. This was where they filmed a famous scene in the drama Winter Sonata, so we were super stoked to go (me especially since that was one of the first dramas ever to spark my interest) The resort was also connected to a water resort, so we played there. I went on a water slide for the first time in my life, and we both experienced water massage for the first time. Amazing place ;)

Saw snow for the first time since leaving Toronto. It felt so great. I felt like I was almost home <3

Walnut cakes at the rest stop. I wanted to compare these to the ones I can get in Toronto. Surprisingly, they are much sweeter than the ones I can get at home. But they were still lovely.

Saw a cage of random chickens and a rooster being guarded by a cute shivering shitzu. This was at the ski rentals place.

만두장구 - Dumpling noodle soup. Yummies <3

Beautiful walkway! I believe this was walking out of the Ice Gallery.

Sitting in the cable car to head up to Dragon's Peak.

All the humans skiing and having a great time 

This oppa was our photographer for the whole tour. He was great! He was also the one to teach me the names of all the foods that I had. 오빠 고마워요! 

Panoramic view from the Dragon's Peak. This is right when you get off the gondola. Beautiful!

A secluded area at the peak. I'm so happy to be here!!!

The place was still decorated for Christmas. It was really beautiful. 

The walkway to the resort from ski lodge at night. All lit up. Too bad I didn't go with my boyfriend, because this looks really romantic. 

불고기 - bulgogi. I thought I heard wrong at first, but apparently bulgogi comes in many different forms? This is the soup form. And lemme tell you, it is just as yummy!

Trying Makgeoli for the first time. It is a Korean rice wine, and you typically drink it out of a bowl like container. I enjoyed it quite a lot ;)

This is kind of longer than I expected, so I will post the next day in the next post! I will show you our Hanbok experience and other things in the next episode! Looking through my photos to put the most perfect ones on this blog is like reliving my vacation. I love it!

-Chrissymon

Chrissy Travels: Episode 3.0 - Korea Part 1

Greetings everyone!

This is where my blogs will become more thorough. At this point in our vacation, two of the bfflz (best friends for lifez) have left to return to the extreme cold of Toronto. That left two of us to continue on with our journey to Korea. I am going to speak honestly and say I am obsessed with Korean pop culture, so for me to be able to go to Korea was mind boggling.

Warning: the dates will not match with previous two episodes because I will continue on with those later. I have left Beijing to head to Hong Kong to stay for the remainder of my journey (and Macau).

January 13, 2014 - We had an overnight flight to Incheon airport in Seoul. During breakfast at the hotel we were staying at in Hong Kong, two Korean ajummas (aunties) suddenly asked us something in Korean. At first I was like O____O wahhh.....then I clicked and actually ended up having a decent conversation with them! (Well...as decent as my broken half Korean will go) Needless to say, that conversation boosted my confidence in being able to survive our trip to Korea. We followed a tour on this, so I didn't need much of my abilities anyway XD

January 14, 2014 - Arrived at Incheon airport and had a 삼각 김밥 (Triangular rice ball) Oh man. These taste amazing <3 Waaaaayyyy more yummy than the ones I can get in Toronto. :(  First stop was the ice gallery. We learned to make an ice mug! We then headed over to Insadong to look at their stationary and I had a 똥빵 - Doong bbang (poop bread). We had lunch, and went to the Women's University market where we went just a tad crazy on skin care ;) Then we went to a tiny seafood like restaurant with an amazing view and had a super yummy plain dinner and called it a night.

Mine and Janet's ice cups :)

Beautiful ice land <3

닭갈비 - dalk-kalbi. Chicken, cabbage, rice cake and rice stir fried in a big pan/pot. It was super yummy

Oh how I wanted to go over and kiss this display. GDragon paper statue in front of the Saem (A skincare and cosmetics store). 

The panoramic view outside of the small seafood restaurant. So calm and nice. 

버섯전골 - pork belly with cabbage and assorted mushrooms soup. You eat this with rice and the side dishes provided. 

I hope you have enjoyed the trip so far! In the next post, I will be showing you a ski resort in Korea. The same one where they filmed Winter Sonata. The place was super beautiful!

-Chrissymon

Chrissy Travels: Episode 2 - Beijing

Hellooooo Humans!

I hope you are all ready for another suuuuuuper long post, because episode two of my trip is here! This post will be on my trip to Beijing. We didn't follow a tour group here because my stepmom has relatives here, so we had one of her cousins bring us around. During this time, we braved the trek of the Great Wall of China, visited the Forbidden Palace, Heavenly Temple, and the Summer Palace. We also managed to eat local cuisine. For a more in-depth view of my vacation, feel free to hop over to my BFF's blog where she made one post per place we were at. http://jygsawpuzzle.blogspot.com/

So first stop, we took the train to Beijing. I really wanted to experience taking a train to visit other cities just like the locals would, so I pestered my BFFs about this for a while before our trip.

This train station was the biggest I have ever seen. We don't have anything like this in Canada. It looked like an airport to me. o_o

The first meal we had in Beijing was homemade JaJangMyeon (Black bean sauce noodles). This was super duper delicious. The only other time I had this was Korean instant noodles. FYI, Beijing Strawberries are ridiculously sweet. Even the most ripe strawberries we can buy in Toronto can't rival them.

January 6, 2014 - We woke up at 6am to have breakfast and get ready for our trek on the Great Wall. The section we went to was not the normal ones tourists go to, we went to Jin Shan Ling. The normal one people go to would be BaDaLing. The reason why this one is worth mentioning is because of the fact that there was literally not another soul up there climbing with us. That made it more of a private and beautiful experience, not to mention the great photos with no random human behind you! We then went to a small restaurant near-ish to the area and got fresh sashimi. A kitty gave us a surprise visit while we were eating and scared the crap out of me. It jumped up on the seat beside me and pretty much wanted to eat from my plate. Cute, but scary at the same time. 

Taking a short break to enjoy the view and catch our breaths.

Not a human in view! I am Queen of the Wall! :D
We managed to go on the first snow in Bejing. This gave us a different, but still beautiful view. The trek was a bit harder since the steps were slippery. 

This plate of sashimi was heavenly. 

January 7, 2014 - We visited the Forbidden Palace and the Heavenly Temple and experienced the temple of echos. Then we had some traditional Peking Duck to compare it to ones we can have in Toronto. I gotta say, it is soooooo much crispier compared to Toronto ducks. ;)

Another candid Jumping photo of course ;)

Looks like we are the only ones there! But really, there was a line up behind our heads. 

Part of Heavenly Temple area. :)
I wasn't feeling too well that day so I had to wear a mask. :(

Look at how glossy that is. I am salivating as I type this...

January 8, 2014 - The Summer Palace. This was where the concubines would to go "play" and spend time. There is a restaurant that looks like a boat and is on the river. Super beautiful place. 

A type of candy art. Melted sugar, then you blow into it to make shapes. We provided the air, and the skilled man provided the shaping of the sugar. From left to right: Snake, Horse, Rabbit, Dragon. 

The beautiful boat restaurant at the Summer Palace. I want to dine there too. 

January 9, 2014 - We had homemade wontons and prepared to head to Hong Kong. Our visit to Beijing was too short. When I have a next time to head back, I will definitely spend much more time there to see and eat more things. :3

Huge group shot of my stepmom's cousin's family. I had an awesome time!

As I mentioned above, if you want more details on everything, visit my BFF's blog. This is just a quick overview because she already posted more in-depth ones. My in-depth blogs will come in due time ;) I hope this has sparked an interest for everyone to just slow down and enjoy the beauties in our surroundings. Look at the way the trees sway, the way your food smells, the smiles on your family's faces. I'm not going to lie and say I never have a bad day and hate myself and everyone/everything around me, but I'm trying my best to calm down and see the good in everything. It's really hard to do, but baby steps mean everything. 

Until next time my lovelies!

-Chrissymon

First Pakistani Wedding Experience

Humans of the interwebs!
I would like to invite you to share my experience at my close friend's wedding. This is the first ever Pakistani wedding I have ever went to. I have heard that they run from 2-3 days long, but unfortunately, I was only able to attend one of those days. I am also going to respect the couple's wishes and none of the pictures where they could be identified will be posted.

The wedding was at Maple Banquet Hall. A nice sized place for a cozy wedding. I loved the place, and it was decorated beautifully. During this day of the wedding, the ladies and gentlemen were separated in their own sections.

The theme was red and white I think. :)

This is the table I was sitting at. 

This is where the bride sat for the whole evening. We got to take pictures and chat with her. 

I got there on time (7pm) and turns out that you technically don't have to be there on time. People starting milling in from 7:40-8:20. Then the appetizers started at around 9ish. Main course was served at 10:30ish and then dessert at 11. All in all a super long night filled with pictures and food.

Her henna was done beautifully! And the dress!!! 

I only managed to take a picture of the dessert, but I absolutely loved the coffee cake. The little coffee cup design they put on it with chocolate was just adorable. 

That is all I can share for you! It was a most amazing time and I loved it. I wish the couple a most happy and long marriage filled with love and care. If you have experiences with other weddings please let me know! I'm at that age where everyone around me is getting engaged and married...lol

Until my next post lovelies!

-Chrissymon