Eastwood

Had lunch today at Eastwood City- A restaurant complex near a developing technology park, 40 minutes from central Manila. Food is so expensive. Ordered lots of seafood - paella, grilled squid, seafood soup and crabs for a whopping price of £8 for 3 people.

An Asian Powerhouse District

Makati City, Philippines - The financial district of the country. It's like your typical wealthy city - clean spacious streets, fancy restaurants, 5-star hotels, thousands of brand name shops, loads of flashy cars (and raucous drivers), wealthy shoppers pooled in a small area..it's a mirage.

Warm Treat

I'm visiting Manila for three weeks. Can't be beat the tingling tropic weather matched with delicious and cheap food. Pictured above is the garden of Westin Philippine Plaza in Manila.

Back in the tropics.. Pina colada, seafood - lobsters, oysters, king prawns, lechon (suckling pig) and an all-time summer favourite: sweet juicy watermelon.

History Lessons

A look from outside the Forbidden City in central Beijing. More than 1,000 pavilions grace this walled imperial complex of the Ming and Qing dynasties. China's feudal system only ended sometime in 1911. I gave up walking after 3 hours. Jenny and I decided that we've had enough history lessons in one day.

Imperial Ice Castle

Complete with intricate details, this one of many 30 foot ice/snow carvings awakened my curiosity for large ice structures.

I'm travelling in the northern part of China now. I'll post more when I get a chance.

Snow in Vancouver

We got around 5cm of snow yesterday, maybe even a little less in this picture of the back of our house. In the midst of the snow out pour, I went out of the house fully coated and started a snow ball toss around with Assad. I ended up soaking wet after failing to aim my snow balls properly.. in short, I got snow-clobbered (what's worst, by a rookie).

A Love for Berries: A Mixture for the Perfect Dessert to Usher in 2005

A local produce of Canada, blueberries are popular around the world for muffins. I like raspberries more for its look than its taste. We've been eating a lot of Assad-made blueberry desserts lately.. he calls it Blueberry Supreme. The dessert tastes like blueberry cheesecake with a layer of graham cracker crumbs, several thin layers of cream and blueberries and gelatin on top. Thanks to Assad for the desserts and this picture.

Sunset of 2004

A sunset trip to Granville Island before the new year. Granville Island is an hour away from where I live and is also an hour away from the ski resorts. The pictured bridge (Granville bridge) connects downtown Vancouver to the West side of Vancouver, a suburban residential area.