Vermont Ski/Snowboard Trip - December 21, 2013

December 20, 2013

December 22-23, 2013

December 24-25, 2013

December 21, 2013 - Let the Skiing/Snowboarding Begin!

Tour of our chalet

Oh these were the only pictures I took...Trust me, the rest of the place was not worth taking pictures of. Except for this little surprise:

Sound asleep throughout our stay. Must be a deep sleeper.

Chef Carmen and Loni's Breakfast

Location: Stowe, Vermont

Time: 10:00 am

Party Size: 8

Pictures of food consumed: (Click on image to enlarge)

Review of Cooking:
Not bad. The hash browns were cooked to perfection. Sausages just at the right temperature. Bacon, can't complain about that. No stomach ache!

The Slopes at Stowe Mountain Resort

Location: 5781 Mountain Rd, Stowe, VT 05672

Time: 12:00 pm

It took us 2 hours to get ready from waking up to hitting the slopes! Unfortunately, it was raining throughout the entire runs! At the top of the hill, it was foggy.

That's fog, not a snowstorm. Nexus 4 has the worst camera in a phone.

Ermmm, blue for now.

Top of Mount Doom.

We were all soaked. Gore-Tex failed me. My gloves and North Face jacket were drenched!

We lined our gears around the fireplace to dry them up. We even built a contraption to hold as many accessories as possible. It did not go well. A flaming log rolled down and destroyed the carpet. RIP gloves, tights, hats. Too many causalities to name.

Before the contraption was constructed by Engineer Gavin

Chef Carmen and Loni's Dinner

Location: Stowe, Vermont

Time: 7:30 pm

Party Size: 8

Pictures of food consumed: (Click on images to enlarge)

Proper hand washing was observed. 

Review of Cooking:
The pasta sauce was amazing. Very creamy and fresh. Passed my stomach test yet again. When will they fail? Stay tuned on the next entry.

To End the Night with Beer Pong

Adrian got too tired from standing. The game lasted too long.

Vermont Ski/Snowboard Trip - December 20, 2013

December 20, 2013 - Beginning of our Journey

Breakfast of the Champions at Cakewood Bakery & Cafe

Location: 1571 Sandhurst Circle, Scarborough, ON M1V 1V2

Time: 10:45 am

Party Size: 8

Price: $3.50 plus $0.50 upgrade to hot lemon tea, before tax

Food consumed:
- Ham and macaroni in soup

Pictures of food consumed: (Click on image to enlarge)

Review of Restaurant:
Your typical HK breakfast. Fast, cheap and 50 cents for a lemon tea? Since when do they charge extra for slices of lemon? I should have walked over to Food Basics which is a 2 mins swim through the sea of elderly people. They must have thought that we were all skipping school. "Those naughty school kids."

City of Toronto Inspection Report

(Click on image to enlarge)

Source: http://www.toronto.ca/health/dinesafe/index.htm?show=detail&id=113823

Perfect track record with only one inspection. This is suspicious since this bakery existed over 10 years ago. The name hasn't changed at all. What happened to the results from the past 2 years? Did they bribe the inspectors? So many questions and so little answers.

VERDICT: Approach with caution, nevertheless, passed my stomach test.

Car Ride Snack

Featuring: Potato Chips Takoyaki Flavour

Reasons not to buy this:

1. Made in China. Can never trust the QA with that country

2. Not even the real Japanese snack, it's a knock-off

3. Potato chips packed with instructions

4. MSG galore

5. Paid for lots of air

6. Excessive packaging

7. 280 calories

8. Why do you Shake and Roll? Shouldn't it be "Shake Shake Shake"?

Late Lunch at A&W (ONroute)

Location: 680 Highway 401 Eastbound, Mallorytown, ON K0E 1R0

Time: 4:00 pm

Party Size: 8

Price: $7.00, before tax

Food consumed:
- 2 buddy burgers - $1.75 each
- Mama burger - $3.50
(Tax tip: Make two separate order under $4 to avoid paying PST. Amount saved: $0.56)

Pictures of food consumed: (Click on images to enlarge)

Review of Restaurant:
Cheapest food around. I don't usually eat at A&W and wanted to give them a try. No stomach issue at this location. If you have A&W cravings, be sure to drive all the way to Mallorytown for their burgers because you know you can trust their food!

6:00 pm - We made it to the border at Cornwall, ON

9:49 pm - Made it to Costco at Colchester, VT but found out that it was closed. We were so close. Darn snow slowed us down. We just had to take a photo to show that we arrived.

We made it!

Trying to be Sam Fisher

Reason to buy Petzl Tikka XP 2 headlamp:
1. It's French engineering
2. Can be used to co-pilot with map in hand. The driver will feel like he is in a rally race. True story.
3. Used to help the driver back up in pitch dark when we were stuck on an icy road.
4. Can be used for camping or mountaineering.
5. Includes a rape whistle

9:54 pm - We drove across the street for Shaw's grocery store.

Facts about Vermont (summarized from Wikipedia):
- Second least populous state in US with more than 600,000 residents
- Canada's competitor for maple syrup. We make better maple syrup!
- Most populous city is Burlington (200,000 + residents) but capital is Montpelier
- Known for its ski resorts, thus tourism is an important economy for this state
- Food and clothing are exempted from sales tax

Super Late Dinner at Junior's Italian

Location: 85 South Park Drive, Colchester, VT 05446

Time: 11:30 pm

Party Size: 4

Food consumed (Click on image to enlarge):
- Sausage penne with marinara sauce - $11.95

Website: http://www.juniorsvt.com/

Review of Restaurant:
We arrived with only 30 mins before closing. It was snowing really hard outside so there weren't many people dining here on a Friday night.

The pasta was very watery and the sausage was undercooked. There is still some pink. My friend's meatball was also undercooked. Might have been because we rushed them but they should still cook it thoroughly so we don't end up suing them for causing stomach upsets. This is Murica after all.

December 21, 2013
December 22-23, 2013
December 24-25, 2013

Home of Hot Taste - On This Day, Foghorn Leghorn's Family Was Decimated

Date visited: March 9, 2013

Time: 7:00 pm

Party Size: 8

Food consumed:
- Hite beer
- Blazing Fire Chicken - $14.99
- Blazing Fire Chicken with Nachos - $15.99
- Sauced Fried Chicken with Sweet and Sour Sauce - $16.99
- Fried Chicken with Green Onion - $17.99
- Roasted Wings - $16.99
- Special Steamed Rice - $2.50
- Crispy Spicy Chicken - $16.99

Pictures of food consumed: (Click on images to enlarge)

As with any Korean restaurant, appetizers are free. In this case, lettuce...

... and pickled radish.

Hite beer, Korean domestic brand

Blazing Fire Chicken

Blazing Fire Chicken with Nachos

Sauced Fried Chicken with Sweet and Sour Sauce

Fried Chicken with Green Onion

Roasted Wings

Special Steamed Rice

Hands will get dirty so use those plastic gloves.

Mix ingredients and make balls cause everyone loves balls.

If I didn't eat with a Korean, I wouldn't know what to do with the dish. I would have eaten it with my chopsticks.

Crispy Spicy Chicken

Review of Restaurant:

• Why did I come to this restaurant?

My Korean friend brought us to this place. I would never venture here if it wasn't for him. This is a chicken slaughterhouse, pretty much every dish is chicken. Definitely not vegetarian-friendly. Another speciality is the spiciness of the food. We have a few in the group who can devour hot peppers. Come to this restaurant if you like spicy chicken.

• What did I think of the food and service?

The food was good but very spicy. This is not recommended if you can't take much spicy food. You will need some milk handy or in my case, Korean beer.

My only complaint with this restaurant is that there is no explanation on the special steamed rice dish. They assumed that you know how to eat it. Luckily the Korean in the our group was able to assemble the balls (very experienced ball maker)

• How did my sensitive stomach feel?
  

The craving for chicken sidetracked my stomach. It only hungers for poultry.

Remember Foghorn Leghorn from Looney Tunes? Well, it's a sad day for his family. Here is a compilation of his best lines from YouTube as a tribute to his family.

York Region Inspection Reports

(Click on image to enlarge)

Source: http://www.york.ca/yorksafe/

Here are just the Not in compliance infractions:

March 8, 2012 - PASS

June 19, 2012 - PASS
1. Fail to ensure ceilings of food handling room kept clean and in good repair

September 20, 2012 - PASS

January 14, 2013 - PASS
1. Fail to ensure ceilings of food handling room kept clean and in good repair

May 30, 2013 - Reinspected
1. Fail to provide hot and cold water for handwashing in food preparation area

June 3, 2013 - PASS

September 11, 2013 - PASS
1. Fail to operate food premises in a manner to permit cleaning / sanitary maintenance of ceilings

Keyword: ceilings. Watch for falling food grime from the ceiling

VERDICT: Foghorn Leghorn's family will always be remembered before I feast there again.