Chowtimes wishes all a very blessed ChristmasGreetings from Ben, Suanne, Arkensen and Nanzaro.The post Merry Christmas 2019 appeared first on chowtimes.com Read More

My company had our Christmas dinner at Penang Bistro this year. We booked a table for 8 people more than a week prior to the event. It was a busy time of the year plus it was on a Friday eve… Read More

Hi Chowtimes reader, Ben had migrated chowtimes.com to a self hosted site. Hope you enjoy the new layout. Below are some fall photos that Ben and I took before then end of a beautiful sea… Read More

A few of our closest friends here gathered for a picnic and light hike at Lighthouse Park at West Vancouver this summer. We usually have annual picnic. Since the youngest family’s kids… Read More

Crystal Mall foodcourt is our favourite place to have an early lunch after church service. We attended the early service which ends around 10:30am. We usually have coffee after the church se… Read More

My boss bought a farewell dinner for one of our team member who resigned. It is sad to loose a colleague but we want to share a memorable farewell. We had the farewell dinner at Trattoria I… Read More

Happy Canada Day to all chowtimes reader. Due to work, it’s getting harder for me to blog. Thank you for all your support all this long thirteen plus years. I will try my best to keep… Read More

This is a meal to celebrate mother’s day plus birthday and something else for Nanzaro. Ben suggested a couple of places for Nanzaro to choose and he picked Shine Valley Lamb Soup. Th… Read More

Ben picked me up from work on one of the Friday in March. He wanted to check out the new T&T on Kingsway. So, we had dinner at a nearby restaurant, Cafe Xu Hue. It was past 6:30pm and… Read More

A friend posted some pictures of a beautiful park in Richmond recently on facebook. We were surprised this park exists in Richmond which we are not aware of it. So, one evening, we went for… Read More

My family went out for dinner on a weekend. It is getting rarer for the whole family to eat out together. Xian Noodle Restaurant has a location on No. 3 Road now, on the row of shops north… Read More

On 7th April, Ben and I decided to go to the Garry Point Park Cherry Blossom Festival after our lunch after church service. This is the 3rd year of this festival held at Garry Point Park… Read More

Emily, Marian and me met up at Dolar Shop Hot Pot for dinner on a week day. Emily had just returned from China. Emily made reservation and she was there early to ensure we had a table. Mari… Read More

Ben and I often go to Crystal Mall for lunch after church service as we love the ethnic food in the foodcourt. We love this Healthy Soyfoods stall on the ground floor at the market place. T… Read More

Spring finally arrived with after winter which arrived late this year. Suddenly, flowers appear everywhere with full force. Early blooms of crocuses. Snow drops. New leaves appear on the… Read More

One of our favourite Hong Kong style cafe reopened near the Richmond Walmart at Mcclelland Road. It used to be on Park Road and the whole strip mall was closed for redevelopment. Happy Day… Read More

Lorna invited me to the Friends of Tai Chi Chinese New Year celebration dinner at Shiang Garden. This is an annual event for the Friends of Tai Chi group. The master of this group had been… Read More

It was Lorna’s special day. She invited me and Marian to join her and her friends on their weekly dine out to celebrate her special day. By the way, her friends do not know it’s… Read More

It’s the celebration of a colleague in the office. We initially wanted to order take out from Panos Greek Taverna but unfortunately, it was closed on Monday. So, we had to go to plan… Read More

Ben and I thought that we will not see snow in 2019. Then in February, we were blessed with three snow storms. Here are some of the snow scenes. A garden fountain filled with snow. A fiel… Read More

Ben found a bag of dried chickpeas in the pantry. He decided to make some chickpea snacks that he used to have in his childhood. In the old days in Kuala Lumpur, we had mobile Indian snacks… Read More

Ben and the boys like fatty pork. Me, not so much. Ben made the above Braised Pork Hock in a pressure cooker. Ingredients 2 pieces of cinnamon bark 2 pieces of star anise 1 teaspoon of whit… Read More

Ben got this recipe from Reddit. It sounded auspicious and great to be served during Chinese New Year. In plain English, this dish is known as Spicy Fried Hard-Boiled Eggs Hunan style. We e… Read More

Chowtimes wishes all good health and good fortune in the coming pig year. Ben, Suanne, Arkensen & Nanzaro Read More

A few of the participants from the Experience Works program which I attended in early 2018 got together for lunch. Eva suggested Chongqing Restaurant as she and her gardening group used to… Read More

Here is another recipe from The Woks of Life, one of Ben’s favourite following. We made this for one of the Christmas potluck gathering. Ingredients 6 dried shiitake mushrooms, recons… Read More

We bought a bag of very cheap white potatoes from a grocery store along Fraser St, something like $1.49 for a bag. It was on sale because some of the bags were wet. I found one bag that was… Read More

Ben made some daikon and carrot pickles as appetizer at home. I’m impressed by his patience in cutting the daikon and carrot into the match stick size. These daikon and carrot refrige… Read More

After the walk at the Lights of Lafarge, Nanzaro recommended to have dinner at Popeye’s in Coquitlam since we were in the neighbourhood. Popeye’s is located in the Fremont Villa… Read More

Ben, Nanzaro and I spent the Christmas evening at the Lights of Lafarge. This is a free event. We wished we have something like that in Minoru Park. This is merely a photo blog. Enjoy the… Read More

Garlic stem is in season. It is 99cents for a bunch. We cooked this Stir Fried Pork Belly with Garlic Stem as a side dish to go with steamed rice. Ingredients a bunch of garlic stem, cut in… Read More

Ben cooked this homey dish for dinner as we bought a lot of chicken legs which was on sale, something like $1.06 per pound. Ingredients 4 chicken legs cut into small pieces 3 inches of ging… Read More

Chowtimes would like to thank it’s readers their support for the past 13 years. Best regards, Ben, Suanne, Arkensen and Nanzaro Read More

My office celebrated a colleague’s birthday on Christmas eve. We ordered take out from Dhaliwal Sweets & Restaurant as the birthday girl is from Gujarat. We had Fish Pakora as sta… Read More

Ben surprised me one day with this Cinnamon Star bread. I was totally amazed that for someone who has no experience in baking can make something so awesome on his first attempt. Ingredients… Read More

I love this dish called Ants Climbing Tree. So, Ben made it for me one day. Ingredients 4 oz mung bean noodle/glass noodle 1 tablespoon oil 1 tablespoon finely minced ginger 1 tablespoon sp… Read More

Ben made some candied ginger for snacking in the wintery cold weather. Ginger is a common kitchen spice which has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. It is commonly used to treat… Read More

We had a batch of rice that does not yield good steam rice. So, Ben decided to use it to make Horchata. Horchata is a Mexican drink made out of rice, milk, vanilla and cinnamon. Ingredients… Read More

My company had the Christmas dinner at Good Choice Restaurant. It’s convenient for everyone due to it’s proximity to the workplace. The restaurant was busy and it was full house… Read More

We decided to have breakfast near my work place on a week day. We always walk past this restaurant which opens early for breakfast. It’s a Japanese style restaurant with simple bites… Read More

Ben found a pack of belachan in the store room. I must have bought it a while ago but reluctant to cook it as it will stink up the apartment. Ben decided to use it to make some Sambal Belac… Read More

Ben and I went to Crystal Mall after church service for grocery shopping and lunch. We had lunch at Han Ju Restaurant. In the colder weather, we look forward to a hot bowl of soup. I ordere… Read More

Ben made this Korean Egg Bread for me to bring for lunch at work. We used a muffin tin to make four with egg filing. Since I am not a fan of egg, I asked him to made me a couple with cheese… Read More

When we were shopping in the Costco in USA, we decided to grab our lunch there. There is self service terminal for ordering food here. We had the usual hotdog and soda combo which we can ge… Read More

Ben made this Korean snack food for the family. The recipe is adapted from one of his favourite youtube food blogger, Maangchi. Our boys simply love this crunchy boneless chicken nugget wit… Read More

Ben made this Taiwanese Braised Pork Belly for dinner. Everyone at home loves it. It is saucy and the pork belly has the right amount of fat and lean meat which gives it the great texture… Read More

After church service on Sunday, Ben and I went to Crystal Mall food court for lunch and buy groceries, killing 2 birds with one stone. We tried the Malay Curry House since the Ipoh Beanspro… Read More

Ben made the Seremban Siew Bao from scratch at home because he misses it. The last time he had it was probably six years ago when he went back to Malaysia. The Siew Bao was a success and Be… Read More

Ben made this vegetarian Eggplant as a side dish. Ingredients 1 long Eggplant 5 cloves garlic, minced 2 green onions, finely chopped 2 tablespoons soy sauce 2 teaspoons fish sauce 2 teaspoo… Read More

Nanzaro treated the family with a German brunch. Fraser Park Restaurant is located at an unassuming warehouse park at Byrne Road. It was very busy when we arrived around 11:30AM on a Saturd… Read More

Ben loves dishes with a lot of sauce. He can just eat steamed rice with sauce. Ben made this Chinese Five Spice Chicken with Hard Boiled Eggs and Tofu Puff on Thanksgiving weekend. We avoid… Read More

I like the sweetish Korean potato banchan whenever I dined at a Korean restaurant. Ben noticed that I like Gamja Jorim and he searched for the recipe to make this side dish for me. He is sw… Read More

Ben made this Steamed Chicken with Chicken Essence for dinner. I love this kind of healthy dish. He learned how to make this dish from a youtube channel that he subscribed; Cooking Ah Pa. H… Read More

On the drive back from Coquitlam, Ben stopped by Barnet Marine Park for a walk since the drizzle had eased off. From the parking area, we crossed a covered bridge for safety purpose. The c… Read More

After the Lafarge Lake visit was cut short by the weather, we went to the nearby Henderson Place Mall for lunch. We love this mall for it’s variety of Asian and Middle Eastern Cuisine… Read More

Ben and I intended to go for a hike at the Admiralty Point Park on a Saturday. But Ben dilly-dallied after he woke up and only ready for the journey at 10:00AM. He changed his plan as it&rsq&hell…Read More

Richmond Country Farms Market is one of our favourite place to shop. There is also a small animal farm (not petting zoo) on site for viewing. Pumpkin patch is opened in October and is a popu… Read More

This is Ben’s home cooking, :-). I feel so blessed. Ben made the above Flat Rice Noodle Soup for my family. He made the broth from scratch with chicken bones, onion, carrot and celery… Read More

Ben and I went to the Richmond Public Market to get groceries. Since, it was near lunch time, Ben suggested that we had lunch here before we headed back home. Ben decided to try the above B… Read More

TGIF! My family went out for dinner as the home cook is taking a break. We went for Vietnamese cuisine as it’s been a while we had that. We went to Gia Minh Vietnamese Restaurant on F… Read More

On a weekend, my family went to Karakoram Restaurant for lunch. Karakoram Restaurant took over Tibisti which was also a middle eastern restaurant which offered all you can eat. We were the… Read More

My office celebrated the birthday of a colleague on a Friday. We ordered lunch from Panos Greek Taverna on SE Marine Dr which is 5 minutes drive away. My colleague called to place the take… Read More

Nanzaro opted for some Korean food, instead at the Henderson Place Mall food court. He went to the Seoul Truck stall where the stall front is decorated like a food truck. Nanzaro ordered t… Read More

After the hike at Belcara Regional Park, we went for lunch at Henderson Place Mall in Coquitlam. The food court was not busy like those in Richmond. Ben and I decided to try ML JianBing, a… Read More

On the Labour Day long weekend, Nanzaro, Ben and I decided to go for a hike at Belcara Regional Park. We could not get a parking spot at our earlier attempt this summer. So, this time we he… Read More

Since Ben and I attend church near Burnaby, we often take the opportunity to have lunch in Burnaby. One of our favourite place is the Crystal Mall. For this occasion, Ben decided to try the… Read More

Ben and I had dinner at the Le Petit Saigon on East Hastings on the day we went to the PNE. Le Petit Saigon was quite busy on a Friday night. We also noticed quite a number of take out orde… Read More

We continued our adventure at the PNE at the Action Sports World Tour at the Pacific Coliseum. It’s a show of professional skateboarders and BMX riders performing aerial stunts on a s… Read More

Ben and I went to PNE on a Friday to avoid the crowds on weekend. We were there at noon, so we decided to grab a bite first. We wanted to try a new item this year, which is the Deep Fried B… Read More

Ben and I went to Duffin’s donuts for a light lunch after church service on a Sunday. Duffin’s donut is a Vancouver iconic restaurant serving donuts, sandwich and fritou chicken… Read More

Ben and I visited BT Cafe for dinner on a week day when we were in the neighborhood to run errands. It’s been a long time since we came back to this restaurant. Even the banner has ag… Read More

Ben and I was in downtown Vancouver for an appointment. We had parked our car in a free parking zone with 2 hours parking limit. We do not have enough time to eat in downtown as we had to ma… Read More

My family went out for dinner on a Sunday evening. When Ben asked what we would like to eat, everyone’s answer was “anything”. I’m sure Ben is frustrated with such an… Read More

My family visited the RMD Oriental Rice Noodle on Akroyd Rd for dinner on Sunday evening. This is a new restaurant that replaced the Tri-Ty Café. The name of the restaurant literall… Read More

Ben decided to have Bahn Mi for lunch after church service on a Sunday. We went to Bahn Mi Saigon on Victoria Drive, Vancouver. The place was very busy around 1PM. There is a few small tab… Read More

The Caring Place Community Kitchen made Peach Apple Cobbler for dessert since peach is in season. The Peach Apple Cobbler is best served warm with a dollop of vanilla ice-cream. Ingredients… Read More

The main course for this vegetarian theme meal at the Caring Place Community Kitchen was a Lentil Mushroom Stew over Mashed Potatoes. This is a very hearty meal. Minoo also suggested that w… Read More

I had the opportunity to attend the Caring Place Community Kitchen in the month of August. I had not been to this kitchen for a long time. This kitchen started with a Greek Salad. The dress… Read More

My family went out for lunch on a Saturday afternoon except Nanzaro as he was at work. We went to Tian Shi Fu on No. 3 Road which shares a space with Sharetea. We were there before noon an… Read More

When in Burnaby, our favourite place to eat out is Crystal Mall. The food court has many stalls that we like; e.g. Ipoh Beansprouts, Bubble Waffle Café, Chao Shou Wang, etc. On this… Read More

Ben and I were doing groceries shopping in Lansdowne Mall at the Langley Farm Market. We stopped by the food court to grab a bite. We decided to try the Bahn Mi from Villa Vietnamese. It&r&hell…Read More

Every year, Ben and I will go to the Celebration of Lights Festival in Vancouver. It is one of the summer highlight in Vancouver. This year, we decided to watch it from English Bay. We foun… Read More

A few of our closed friends met up at the Langley Events Centre for a picnic. The key to the selection of a place is the water park where younger kids can enjoy in the hot summer weather. W… Read More

It’s been a while that my family had been to Pho Lan, simply because the parking is difficult. We decided to give it a try a Saturday evening as we came out early for dinner, around 5P… Read More

The South Arm Community Kitchen made an Italian Tossed Salad to complement the Spaghetti with Bolognese Sauce. Ingredients 8 cups torn or roughly chopped Romaine lettuce (or a standard 10oz… Read More

For the summer months i.e. July and August, the South Arm Community Kitchen is held in other locations as the kitchen in the South Arm Community Center is fully booked for summer activities… Read More

While we were in Surrey, Ben decided to go for dessert at Krispy Kreme since we seldom patrol this area. This is the only Krispy Kreme in Metro Vancouver. Like all Krispy Kreme locations… Read More

On a Friday evening, Ben brought me to Apna Chaat House for dinner. Apna Chaat House serves Indian Street Food in a restaurant setting. One of the wall serves as a huge menu. Another wall… Read More

Our family had been trying to come to this restaurant more often once we learned that the current location will be closed in July due to redevelopment. We really hope they will find a new ho… Read More

Ben and I finally get to try the ramen hot pot from Nabegugyo Hot Pot Cuisine on Cambie St. on a Friday evening. We had wanted to check this place out for several times but just did not mak… Read More

The June birthday boy wanted to celebrate his birthday at Tandoori Flame, the new Indian Buffet in Delta. I was not so eager for any all you can eat as I always ended up regretting it. We c… Read More

It’s only Arkensen and us went our for dinner that Saturday as Nanzaro went out for dinner with his friends. We did not want to go too far, so we went to the Garden City Shopping Cent… Read More

Ben and I had our casual walk on a Saturday morning. We parked our car in Lansdowne Mall, window shopping in the mall for a while and then exit the mall and walked under the Canada Line for… Read More

On a Friday evening, Ben got a text from Arkensen after picking me up from work that his bus was way late for its regular schedule. So, we had to change our plan of eating out in Vancouver a… Read More

Ben and I went to Daddy’s Grill on No. 5 Road after Sunday church service. We arrived just a few minutes before 1PM and the restaurant had just opened for business for the day. We we… Read More

This year marked the 13th Annual Bonsai and Bloom Exhibition. The exhibition took place in the Central Atrium at Aberdeen Centre on June 2nd & 3rd, 2018. The exhibition show case over… Read More

Ben and I went to check out the Food Court in River Rock Casino Resort in Richmond on a Friday evening after he picked me up from work. There is a Chinese restaurant, a burger place, a pizza… Read More

Danny’s Market which is located on Garden City Road and Francis Road is a popular convenience store for the nearby McRobert’s High School students. Teachers sometimes brought the… Read More

After having an episode of food poisoning on the middle of a work week, I was on BRAT diet for the following 2 days; i.e. just crackers, dry toasts and banana. I lost 1.5kg during that few d… Read More

After having lunch at the Henderson Place Mall, we did some groceries shopping at the New Pacific Supermarket in the mall. We also checked out a Korean style dollar store there. I like to se… Read More