8 Glasses of Water a Day...

I've decided I need to start drinking a lot more water in the hopes that I will feel less tired and more healthy. Apparently dehydration can be attributed to a lot of these symptoms. So, in light of my new goal I bought a new water bottle since my other ones are far too big/heavy to toss in my bag sometimes. Yes, it is for children. Apparently it's supposed to replace a sippy cup for toddlers. But it's just so cute!!

Posh Japanese Sukiyaki

At Posh, you can get all-you-can-eat sukiyaki, which is a kind of Japanese hot pot. Lunch costs $11.88/person and dinner costs $15.88/person. I'm lucky because there is a location only a few blocks from my house (Posh - Broadway), and as such, have become a regular customer. Not only is the food delicious, but the price is reasonable and really filling!

First, you get a clay pot filled with cabbage and special sukiyaki sauce, which rests on a personal gas burner. For bigger groups, there are often multiple pots going at once. Then you order the items you want for your hot pot from a list. There are two kinds of meat (thinly sliced beef and thinly sliced pork) that come with the traditional sukiyaki. This is supplemented with a wide variety of veggies (greens, mushrooms, tomatoes, yams, etc.) and noodles (udon, ramen, vermicelli).

My favourite sukiyaki items include: sliced pork (tastes a lot better than the beef, in my opinion), shitake mushrooms, tofu puffs, soft tofu, yams, bok choy, and vermicelli. The tofu puffs and yams, in particular, are tasty because they soak up the flavour really well. But the best part about hot pot is that it's one of those meals you share so everyone gets to eat what they like. For the more "adventurous," it's recommended to crack a raw egg into a bowl and dip your food into it after you retrieve it from the hot pot. This helps cool it down better so less burnt tongues. I admit to being wary of the whole raw egg business initially but you don't taste it at all and it does make the food easier to eat.

This place is great for large groups. If you have a really big group, you can even book your own room. They also serve a variety of specialty drinks and alcohol. Perfect for cold winter nights but I eat this stuff in the hot hot summer too, haha.

Address: 101-1788 West Broadway, Vancouver, BC (there are 3 other locations in BC)
Website: http://www.303-posh.com

OPI Alice In Wonderland: Thanks So Muchness!

This is part 1 in a series of reviews for the OPI Alice In Wonderland collection, which was released in anticipation of Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland movie. (Side note: I saw the movie right when it came out and I really liked it. I know it's gotten a lot of mixed reviews but I loved the imagery and thought it was well done. I mean, you have to remember that this was Tim Burton for Walt Disney so his usually creepy aesthetic obviously had to be toned down). Anyway, I decided to buy the mini set of this OPI collection so that I could easily try out all the colours. Apparently these sets only cost a ridiculously cheap $7 or something in the US. Here in Canada I had to shell out $17.99 (!!).

I know the glitters in this collection have been getting lots of rave reviews but I decided to start with Thanks So Muchness!, a nice pearlized berry shade. Application was easy, and I achieved opacity in 2 coats. I decided to add a third coat because the painting lines were still slightly visible. That usually happens with formulas like this, however, so I don't know if I would necessarily count that as a "negative." Might annoy some people though!

I don't usually wear reds but this is what I would call a more "classy" and not so "in your face" red. It's quite polished and would be good for a dressy night out.

Glowbal Grill & Satay Bar

Glowbal Grill & Satay Bar is one of those hip Vancouver hotspots, located in the heart of Yaletown. It's been made particularly famous due to numerous celebrity patrons - the cast of the Twilight movie series, for example (I've never actually read/seen Twilight but from what I understand RPattz is quite the teen idol). Unfortunately on my visit, there were no celebrity sightings but I was nonetheless satified by the yummy yummy food.

Glowbal counts amongst its specialties a wide array of satays, so naturally it was fitting for me to try the Chef's Selection platter for $25. This included: lamb chop, king mushroom, sea scallop, ahi tuna, tiger prawn, coconut chicken, kobe meatball, shortrib, and wild salmon along with 3 dipping sauces. My favourite satay was the kobe meatball, followed close behind by the wild salmon. I didn't really care for the dipping sauces but the satays are so flavourful that you don't need them anyway.

For my main I selected the roasted half chicken ($21) which came on a bed of mashed potatoes and seasonal veggies. The chicken was delicious and the mashed potatoes were even better.

The ambiance of the restaurant is okay, with seating inside and a small patio area outside. Service was pretty good. This place is on the pricier side but I think justifiable for a special night out.

Address: 1079 Mainland Street, Vancouver, BC
Website: http://www.glowbalgrill.com

OPI My Private Jet

About a year ago, I got a pedicure done while in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (manis and pedis are so cheap in Asia... I think the one I got was equivalent to about $10!). I chose a gorgeous holographic glittery black shade which I was instantly enamoured with, but silly me never thought to check what the name was! As soon as I got home I made it my mission to figure out what nail polish it was so that I could make it my own. I finally narrowed it down to OPI My Private Jet but for some reason took my sweet time to actually purchase it. Anyway, the point is that I wanted it and now I have it.

MPJ shimmers under the light and honestly, is quite distracting... I can't stop looking at my nails! Unfortunately I couldn't get a good photo of the polish at all. You'll just have to trust me when I say that it's worth it and it something that needs to be seen in person.

Application was super easy due to the wide OPI brush and I only needed 2 thick coats to get the opacity I wanted. All in all, this polish was a huge "win" for me on all accounts.

NOTE: there has been some controversy surrounding this nail polish. Apparently there are two versions with the original being the most sought after. From what I understand, the newer version is missing the unique holos and looks brown-ish with silver glitter.

Essie Mint Candy Apple

Since Spring is basically here, I've been lusting over pastel nail colours like crazy. Baby pinks, light yellows, robin's egg blues... and of course, mint green! I was so excited when I found Essie's Mint Candy Apple because I love the colour and I've been reading rave reviews on tons of nail polish blogs. This shade was released with Essie's Winter 2009 collection, Sweet Time of the Year but should still be available for sale.

I found this to be quite tricky application-wise, but I find that with pretty much all Essie nail polishes. I think it has something to do with the brushes and the overall formula. The first coat goes on streaky, second coat is a bit better. I had to do 3 coats to get the colour as opaque as I wanted it. I think it might help to do thicker coats rather than thin ones and top it off with Seche Vite quick drying top coat to hide any imperfections.

I decided to add a little 3D rubber nail art bow from Haute Nails to my thumb nails, which I think made for a very simple but cute and girly mani!