ADDRESS : 8251 Alexandra Road, Richmond, BC
PHONE # : 604-303-9780
First of all, for those who understands Chinese (specifically Mandarin), please forward this message to your friends/relatives/family in Taiwan.
Lin-Fong, a hunchback 90-year-old widow in Taipei, has lost her husband and her eldest son decades ago. Ten years ago, her youngest son became ill and was diagnosed with diabetes. Later, the youngest son was declared to be in a Permanent Vegetative State (植物人). Since then, she has been taking care and supporting her son by selling chewing gum on the streets in Taipei. Each day, usually, she could make enough to buy food, however, if she was ill, she would have problems just to feed one person. Last week, her son passed away suddenly. She is now back on the streets selling chewing gum trying to save money for her son's burial. To all friends in Taipei, I'm not asking you to donate, but if you happen to walk by this poor old lady. please buy few packs of chewing gum from her. Even if you don't chew gum, please buy some and pass them to people you know. Thank you.
Sigh...it's sad to hear that many of us have the luxury to dine out and try many different types of food...but there are many people in this world who scramble to feed themselves everyday. I know it's depressing that I started this post by sharing the story, but being all the way on the other side of the globe, this is the least I can do.
Today is my high school friend's wedding and the banquet was at Empire Chinese Cuisine. It's nice to meet up with the old crew and reminisce about how dumb and stupid we were back in high school...LOL!!! Looking at the menu in Chinese (sorry the English one was blurry), Buddha Boy and I didn't have any high expectations...instead of abalone, they used sea conch...instead of the usual Rock Cod, the menu said "Steamed Big Ocean Fish"...um...ok?!?!?!
Though the cake display was very simple and beautiful, we did not enjoy this mixed-fruits cake.
Wedding favors...very cute! These reminded me of the ones I made for my sister's wedding couple years ago, I used ring-pops instead of chocolates.
They were passing out mini juice boxes for the kids...I asked for one too!!! LOL!!! I ended up giving it to Baby Kira on our table! Baby Kira was so well-behaved (props to her parents) and was so polite and adorable!!! At the end of the night, she became the center of attention!
Appetizer Platter...pork hock (no flavor), veggie goose (over-salted), beef (not bad), roasted pork (skin was crunchy, meat was tough), jelly fish (pretty standard).
Crab Claw...I think the batter was a bit too heavy...and they needed to change their oil for deep-frying!
Seafood Stir-Fry...shrimps were a bit over-cooked but the scallops were nice.
Shredded Chicken Shark Fin Soup...very little shark fin...soup was bland.
This was the dish that fooled a lot of people...those abalone-look-alike pieces were sea conch, not abalone.
Lobsters...very nicely done. Meats were tender, however, these were a bit salty.
Crispy Free-Range Chicken...Buddha Boy thought it was not bad...I thought this dish was poor...too dry, too tough, too oily.
Ok...this was the "Steamed Big Ocean Fish"...we're trying to figure out what type of fish this was...Baby Kira's daddy thought this was bass...Buddha Boy thought this was carp...I just thought this was not very nice fish to eat...
Yee Mein...with enoki mushrooms stir-fried with oyster sauce...the flavor was quite bland, but the noodle texture was done perfectly!
On the menu...this was supposed to be Golden Seafood Fried-Rice, but maybe they ran out of seafood...we ended up with Stir-Fried Sticky Rice...haha...but this was not bad, quite flavorful...but quite oily.
Logan & Jujube Tea...more like a dessert "soup" instead of dessert "tea"...not my favorite but I did try it...this was really sweet...
Dessert Duo...the almond cookies were quite yummy, soft and chewy, but could use a bit more almonds...the sesame balls were stale!!!
