stenoodie

Private Dinner Tasting at Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ

Posted on August 14, 2017 by stenoodie

Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ located at 81 Church St in Toronto

I had the pleasure to dine in at the Toronto location of Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ last Friday with my boo. According to Wikipedia, Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ (牛角 gyū kaku, “bull’s horn”) is a chain of Japanese yakiniku restaurants specializing in Japanese barbecue.

They have over 600 locations all over the world and yet this was my first time encountering the restaurant chain. (I actually passed by the one in Flushing, New York when we were there in April too.) Other than having Japanese BBQ in Japan, I have actually never had Japanese BBQ in Continue reading →

Posted in Complimentary Adventures, Food | Tagged "Premium Meat Lover's for 2" BBQ course, 81 Church St, @GyuKakuJBBQ twitter, Beef Sukiyaki Bibimbap, chicken karaage, edamame, filet mignon, food blog, foodie, Gyu kaku Toronto, Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ, Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ Toronto, Gyukaku at Church and Adelaide, Gyukaku Japanese BBQ, Gyukaku Toronto, Happy Hour deals at Gyukaku, Harami Miso Skirt Steak, Japanese barbecue Toronto, Japanese BBQ, Japanese BBQ in Toronto, Kalbi Short Rib, Kim-Chee, Maple Syrup Gyu-Kaku Ice Cream, miso soup, pint of Sapporo beer, restaurant review, Scallops Japanese BBQ, Spicy Tuna Volcano, Toro Beef, Toronto, Toronto food bloggers, Toronto Gyukaku, Yuzu Shishito Pepper | 1 Comment

Exclusive Preview of the Fall and Holiday Collections from Pampered Chef Canada

Posted on August 13, 2017 by stenoodie

Event held at Westin Harbour Castle Hotel at 1 Harbour Square in Toronto

This past Thursday, I was invited by Jojoinstameets to an exclusive preview of the fall and holiday collections from Pampered Chef Canada.

According to Wikipedia, Pampered Chef Canada is:

“a multinational multi-level marketing (MLM) company that offers a line of kitchen tools, food products, and cookbooks for preparing food in the home. … The company is headquartered in Addison, Illinois and operates in three countries: United States, Germany, and Canada.”

The following entry is a recap blog post about the event from my Continue reading →

Posted in Complimentary Adventures, Food | Tagged 1 Harbour Square, @pamperedchef twitter, Cheesecake Bites, Chef Maddy Goldberg food, Cornbread with Corn and Jalapeno, Emoji Sticker Cookies, Foccacia, food displayed on the Pampered Chef products, Grilled Vegetable Salad, One-Bite Taco Cups, Pampered Chef, Pampered Chef Canada, Pampered Chef Canada events, Pampered Chef cookie cutters, Pampered Chef event in Toronto, Pampered Chef items, Pampered Chef media event, Pampered Chef new fall products, Pampered Chef products description and prices, Pampered Chef products display, Pampered Chef spoons logo, Roasted Red Pepper Bureka mini pastry, silicone chocolate spoons tray, Toronto, Westin Harbour Castle Hotel, Westin Harbour Castle Hotel 34th floor view, Westin Harbour Castle Hotel Executive Suite | Leave a comment

Dinner at Hashi Izakaya

Posted on August 12, 2017 by stenoodie

Hashi Izakaya located at 5582 Yonge St in North York

May 2, 2017:

After our long and arduous trip back from New York, we headed back uptown to Yonge and Finch area and decided to eat at Hashi Izakaya. I had won an online contest back in February where my prize was a $25 gift card to Hashi Izakaya. (The contest held by @frances.menu had three prizes: one $100 gift card, one $50 gift card, and one $25 gift card — I won the last one.) After I had been picked as one of the three winners, I sent a private message to Hashi Izakaya to confirm my prize and inquire about the details for the Continue reading →

Posted in Complimentary Adventures, Food | Tagged 5582 Yonge St, food blog, food blogger, foodie, Hashi Izakaya, Hashi Izakaya food, izakaya, Japanese, North York, restaurant review, restaurants at Yonge and Finch, Salmon Hako Sushi, Salmon Natto, Spicy Sashimi Salad, Teishoku Meal Set, Toronto food blogger, Yonge and Finch restaurants | 5 Comments

Hotel Review: Hotel Pennsylvania in New York

Posted on August 11, 2017 by stenoodie

Hotel Pennsylvania located at 401 7th Ave in New York

We booked this hotel in New York from April 27 and checked out on May 1, 2017. Hotel Pennsylvania is located in the Midtown Manhattan area of New York and really close to Penn Station for easy transit. It is also located right across from Madison Square Garden.

Although we booked the hotel to stay from April 27, we actually didn’t check in until the wee morning of the 28th due to a plane delay. We checked in at 3 a.m. in the morning and there was only one other person in the lobby. The check-in process was Continue reading →

Posted in Hotel Reviews | Tagged 401 7th Ave New York, @NYHotelPenn twitter, Hotel Pennsylvania, Hotel Pennsylvania New York, Hotel Pennsylvania New York reviews, Hotel Pennsylvania Penn Station subway, Hotel Reviews, Midtown Manhattan hotels, New York, photos of washroom Hotel Pennsylvania | Leave a comment

New York in Spring 2017 Day 5 and 6: Flushing and the Long Journey home

Posted on August 11, 2017 by stenoodie

Day 5 and 6 in New York

May 1, 2017. Day 5: On the last day of our trip, we packed up and waved good-bye to the hotel that housed us for the last four nights. It was a bittersweet moment because New York had been so fun but it was time to go home. We looked up our route and because we wanted to stop in Flushing before we headed to the airport for our late afternoon flight (where Flushing was close to the LGA airport anyway), we decided on taking the Long Island Rail Road to Flushing from Penn Station. It was only Continue reading →

Posted in Food, Travel | Tagged airport travel stories, airport woes, April construction at Pearson Airport, Chinese food in Flushing New York, Europan Cafe, flight delay stories, Garlic Fried Spinach, Lamb Bun, Long Island Rail Road train, New World Mall, New World Mall food court food, New York travel blogger, Penn Station, Shake Shack at Penn Station, Shake Shack cheese fries, stuck in New York because of cancelled flight, taking the Greyhound from New York City to Toronto, travel blogger, travel blogs, travel blogs to New York, visiting Flushing for one day, Xi'an Cold Noodle, Xiang Ba La | 3 Comments

Yelp Elite Event: “We Are Family at Aunty’s Kitchen”

Posted on August 10, 2017 by stenoodie

Auntie’s Kitchen located at 6039 Erin Mills Pkwy in Mississauga

Last night, I had the pleasure of attending a Yelp Elite Event at a new-ish Pakistani casual restaurant called Aunty’s Kitchen in Mississauga. A Yelp Elite Event is an invite-only event where the organizers of Yelp GTA select Yelp Elite members to dine in on a pre-selected restaurant to celebrate and thank them for their contributions on Yelp.ca.

This was my fourth YEE and I was very thankful to have been selected to be one of the 50-ish people to attend. I know that not everyone gets into the wait list and that Yelp Elite Events are always Continue reading →

Posted in Complimentary Adventures, Food | Tagged 6039 Erin Mills Pkwy, @auntys_kitchen twitter, @yelpGTA twitter, Auntie's Kitchen dessert naan, Aunty's Kitchen, Aunty's Kitchen Mississauga On, Butter Chicken with Naan, Cheese Naan, chicken boti, food blog, food blogger, foodie, free wifi, Karachi kababs, Mango Lassi, Mississauga, Nihari Poutine, Nutella Oreo Naan, Pakistani, Pakistani restaurants in Mississauga, Pindi ribs, Tandoori Chicken, Toronto food blogger, Uncle's Platter, Yelp Elite Event | Leave a comment

New York in Spring 2017 Day 4: Central Park, Halal Guys, Lombardi’s

Posted on August 9, 2017 by stenoodie

Day 4 and seeing Central Park 🙂

April 30, 2017: Day 4. For our last full day in New York City, we tried to make the most of it by visiting more of the bookmarked places on our map. It was a cloudy and somewhat windy day; a much bigger weather change when compared to the past two days of sunshine and heat.

We decided to head to Central Park in the morning and grab food as well on the way there. We had slept in that morning and by the time we arrived at the Italian restaurant I had found online, it was already Continue reading →

Posted in Food, Travel | Tagged "Piece Sampler", Barilla, Barilla Restaurants, Barilla Restaurants menu and prices, Barilla Restaurants Radio City, Beyond Sushi menu and prices, Beyond Sushi New York, Central Park, Combo Over Rice, Halal Guys, Halal Guys in New York, Halal Guys in New York menu and prices, Lombardi 's Pizza menu and prices, Lombardi's, Lombardi's Original Margherita, Lombardi's Pizza, New York tourists, Penne Amatricana, restaurants to try in New York, The Halal Guys, The Halal Guys food truck in New York, Tortellini Alfredo, tourist photos of Central Park, travel blog to New York City, travel blogger, vegan sushi in New York, visiting Central Park for the first time | 4 Comments

Weekly Photo Challenge: Elemental

Posted on August 9, 2017 by stenoodie

Shores of Lake Tekapo, April 2015

“For this week’s challenge, explore the classical elements of earth, air, water, and fire” — elemental. I dug up this photo that I took in New Zealand when we were touristing the Church of the Good Shepherd, a church in Lake Tekapo, New Zealand. This view is of the shores of Lake Tekapo. It was a very sunny and beautiful morning with our tourmates and other tourists strolling along the rocky shores.

This photo shows all four elements: the rocks of the Continue reading →

Posted in Weekly Photo Challenge | Tagged elemental, Lake Tekapo, New Zealand, postaday, shores of Lake Tekapo, weekly photo challenge | 6 Comments

Saturday, August 5, 2017 morning dream

Posted on August 5, 2017 by stenoodie

I don’t usually make my dream posts public but I wanted to share this one because it’s significant (and now you guys know I publish private dream posts too XD).

I dreamt that I was with Ken in Shoppers Drug Mart and we were standing just Continue reading →

Posted in dreams | Tagged bad experiences, Dream blogging, dreams blog, experiences in network marketing, warnings about network marketing companies | Leave a comment

The Shadower becomes the Shadowed

Posted on August 3, 2017 by stenoodie

Today, I had a student court reporter job shadow me for the first time! 😀 Originally, I thought it was going to be the one I had previously taught back in my CCVS days, but it turned out it was the other self-taught student that was working her way to the top of the steno speeds. I was really excited to meet her!

Unfortunately, today’s job turned out to be a non-appearance — my first one if I’m not mistaken although Continue reading →