Food is complicated. There are so many different ingredients in foods that it takes time to decipher what will meet your individual needs. CarrotLines is a free mobile app that simplifies the decision making process and helps you make the right healthy food choices faster!

You set your nutritional profile (e.g. Organic, Vegan, low fat, high fibre, amount of sugar, allergies, etc.) and use the camera on your mobile device to scan the bar code on a product in store. The app will let you know automatically if that food is right for you! Pretty cool, huh? Now you don't have to spend the time squinting at the label and spend that time eating the food you love instead! It is a pretty innovative app that health conscience people will find very useful.

I found out about this app when I was at the Vancouver Health Show last month and I also entered a contest there and guess what? I won the grand prize which includes a Sunrise Tofu prize pack and a $100 Visa giftcard! Thank you CarrotLines and Sunrise Tofu!


When picking up my prize, I met the developers behind the CarrotLines app. They are three amazing people that made all of this into what it is! CarrotLines is currently nominated for "Best Concept" in Small Business BC's Successful You Awards. You can vote for them here. Voting closes at the end of the month so make sure you make your vote count and support some home-grown talent!

 Watch CarrotLines app in action here:


CarrotLines is available right now on the Apple App Store but don't worry Android users, your app is currently in the pipeline!

Check out the CarrotLines website for more information on the app and follow on their Facebook page and Twitter feed to get the latest news.



Disclaimer: All opinions expressed in this post are honest and of my own and have not been influenced in any other way.

A bunch of friends invited us to dinner and bubble tea Saturday night to bid us bonne voyage. We ended up eating at White Spot which was the only place still available at 8pm near Metrotown. The Canucks were playing and all the other restaurants were packed! So after dinner, we went across the street to have bubble tea at 508 Social Bistro.
 

We were given complementary spicy peanuts when we sat down. They were so spicy but I couldn't stop eating them!



They have typical Taiwanese food available on their menu but we were more interested in the beverages since we were still full from dinner! They have a good selection of drinks and also alcoholic ones! Some of the names of the drinks are quite unique and funny. One of the is called "Orgasm". HA! This prompted the obligated jokes: "I'll have an Orgasm, please." and "I hear they are quite good."

I ended up choosing a Hawaiian Holiday (non-alcoholic since I needed to drive). Some of the waitresses there do not speak English very well and they tend to confuse you and themselves when you are ordering. When my friend ordered and pointed to the item on the menu she said " You must be." Ok. That makes a whole lot of sense. But later on we figured out that she might have been trying to say "you must be 19 or older" since it was an alcoholic drink.


A weird thing was that the drinks came in different formats. Two of my friends got something similar to the photo above with a twisty straw twisted in a funky way, in a glass cup. My friend who ordered pearls with hers got a bigger glass cup than the one above. Mine and other was in a take-a-way sealed plastic cup. Weird.

Another weird thing that happened was some guys came in who wanted alcoholic drinks (but it was after last call) and when the girl went in the back to presumably ask the manager, the guys took off with a plastic Heineken display. O_o

Despite those weird occurrences, I loved the Hawaiian Holiday. It was delicious. It tasted similar to a pina colada with a hint of peach and banana. Yum.


Friday, November 25

Grey Cup Festival
Downtown Vancouver


Saturday, November 26

Grey Cup Festival
Downtown Vancouver

Brock House Christmas Fair
10:00am - 2:30pm
3875 Point Grey Road, Vancouver

MEC Snowfest Vancouver
10:00am - 4:00pm
130 West Broadway, Vancouver

Christmas at Leigh Square 
11:00am - 5:00 pm
Leigh Square Community Arts Village
Port Coquitlam

Green Men at Pepper Wireless
1:00pm - 2:00pm
Pepper Wireless Broadway and Cambie location
519 West Broadway, Vancouver   



Sunday, November 27

Grey Cup Festival
Downtown Vancouver

Stevenston Christmas Craft Fair
10:00am to 4:00pm.
Steveston Community Centre 4111 Moncton
Admission is by cash/food bank donation.

Stevenston Winter Market
 

Wavefront presents the Vancouver Samsung Holiday WaveGuide Meet-Up on Thursday December 1st. Learn about the latest gadgets from Samsung while enjoying assorted drinks and appies. Samsung's Galaxy S II and the Galaxy Tab 10.1 will be there for you to try out.

It's free to attend but pre-registration is required which you can do here. Plus when you register, you'll be automatically entered in a drawing to win a Galaxy Tab 10.1 of your very own! The winner must be attending the event in order to win. Don't miss out!

When
Thursday, December 1st
6:00pm - 8:00pm

Where
1035 West Pender St, Vancouver
Lobby Level, Oceanic Plaza Hastings Room

Source: http://www.wavefrontac.com/news-events/waveguide-training/SamsungMeetup_Dec01_2011/meetup-2011-12-01

Love the Canucks Green Men? You can meet them in person at Broadway Pepper Wireless this Saturday! While you are there, you can enter to win one of two $50 Monk M0cQueens gift cards, drawn every game day!


When
Saturday, November 26
1:00pm - 2:00pm

Where
Pepper Wireless Broadway and Cambie location
519 West Broadway, Vancouver 

RSVP to the Facebook event here: https://www.facebook.com/events/201534219918614/


Something big is happening this weekend and it's not about hockey. This time it's football! I'm not really into football but our home team, the BC Lions, are going to battle the Winnipeg Blue Bombers for the 99th Grey Cup Championship on Sunday at BC Place! If When the Lions win, they are going to be just the third CFL team to win the Grey Cup at home in the last 34 years!

To celebrate, the BC Lions Football Club and the 2011 Grey Cup Festival Committee, along with countless of sponsors, will be putting on the biggest Grey Cup Festival this weekend! Starting on Thursday, the four days of the festival will include more than 25 events to experience from family-friendly activities and entertainment to concerts and beer gardens!

Contests:

  1.  If you want to win some 3-day passes to the Molson Canadian House, Canada Place is hosting a contest! Find out how here.
  2.  If you have Twitter, retweet this BCLions update and be entered to win two priority access passes to Lions Den! 

 Here is the schedule of events:

Thursday, November 24

Friday, November 25


Saturday, November 26


Sunday, November 27

Source: http://2011greycupfestival.ca/




Gary (Jason Segel) and Walter (voiced by Peter Linz) are brothers who are the best friends. Walter is a huge fan of the Muppets and when Gary invites him along on his trip to Los Angeles with his girlfriend Mary (Amy Adams), Walter is ecstatic. However, he is crestfallen when he finds out that the original Muppets Studios have been long abandoned and fallen into ruin. While wandering around the studios, Walter overhears a plot by rich business man, Tex Richman (Chris Cooper), who wants to drill under the Muppet theater for oil. Now it's up to the three friends to find and reunite the Muppets so they can put on one last show to raise $10 million needed to save the Muppet Studios!

Original Muppet fans are not going to be disappointed with this one. The Muppets is full of cheeky humour that will have you laughing throughout the movie. Funny references that you are watching a movie are littered throughout the movie and they that are bound to amuse you. Also look out for celebrity cameos! There are so many that it is hard to list them all! I loved the choice of human-version Walter - you're going to have to watch the movie in order to find out who it is! Heehee.

A Muppet movie wouldn't be complete with song and dance numbers and there are a lot of them - new ones and old favourites. They are all integrated nicely in between scenes and it doesn't feel weird when someone suddenly breaks out into song. In fact you expect it! I love all the songs especially "Life's a Happy Song" which is so good it is played twice! I'm going to get myself the soundtrack now.

The Muppets will please original fans and create new ones. The movie is more targeted to older audiences but children will probably enjoy it as well - they just won't get a lot of the jokes. Give yourself the 3rd best gift in the world and go see it in theatres! You'll also be able to watch a Toy Story short before the movie! The Muppets is coming out in theatres on Wednesday, November 23, 2011! It's time to play the music, it's time to light the lights!


Bakers Market held their cupcake eating contest yesterday and I decided to check it out and support the contestants. I arrived just before the contest started so I was in the back of the huge crowd that had gathered to watch the event.  

The contestants had to eat as many cupcakes as they could in 5 minutes. Everyone did their best and in the end there was a tie! The two contestants, Mario and some other guy had tied with 12 cupcakes! So a second round was held to determine the winner. They had to eat as many cupcakes in 1 minute - but guess what? That ALSO ended up in a tie! It was decided that the ultimate tie-breaker would involve the two eating 1 cupcake...without the aid of their hands! Who ever finished first will be declared the winner.

Mario dreading that cupcake.
Mario was not looking forward to eating that last cupcake and almost forfeited but with a little encouragement from his friends, he decided to give it one last try. Here's the video of the last showdown:

(Sorry for the out of focus, the camera focused on the girl's sleeve when she moved in front and didn't refocus back until the end.)


Mario won and took home a cute trophy and a goodie bag which included more cupcakes much to his dismay. lol

Walking around the market afterwards, I saw there were a lot of sweets and even cupcake making accessories! If you are interested in snagging some of these delicious baked goods, check out the Bakers Market next Saturday! They will be there every Saturday until Dec 10!

 




Met up with friends last night for dinner at Burgoo, a small soup and stewhouse serving delicious comfort foods from international origins. I like how they showed the country of the food on their menu. They were very busy when I arrived at 7pm. The wait time was 45 minutes but some people left on the waiting list so we got our table faster. There were still people waiting two hours later so it goes to show you that this place is really popular!


We snacked on Guacamole while we waited for our other friend to arrive.

Guacamole $6
 I ordered the Jambalaya but we tasted a bit of each others' dishes. I think I'll get the mussels next time I'm there. They are so delicious! The Jambalaya was good, it had chicken, sausages, and prawns mixed in the rice. It was a bit spicy maybe because of the Andouille sausages but it was at a tolerable level.

I'll definitely go back, there are so many other dishes I want to try. They all sound so yummy!

Beef Bourguignon $18
Jambalaya $17
Cocotte Mussels $17



Yesterday we managed to chase down the Muppet Motorcoach when it stopped by Metrotown in Burnaby. Friends of Gary and Mary were there handing out mini-posters and promoting Disney's new movie, the Muppets, coming out on November 23rd!


We even got to meet Kermit and Miss Piggy! Miniaturized for travel convenience. Heheheh.

The Muppet bus will still be out on today driving around Vancouver so if you missed them yesterday you still have a chance to see them!

VANCOUVER STOPS on Sunday, Nov 20th
11:00am to 11:45am – English Bay @ Denman Street
12:00pm to 2:00pm – BC Place/Robson and Beatty @ 777 Pacific Blvd
2:15pm to 2:45pm – Robson Street @ Denman Street to Burrard Street
3:00pm to 3:30pm – Granville Street @ Davie Street to Dunsmuir
3:45pm to 4:15pm – Davie Street @ Bute Street to Pacific Blvd
4:30pm to 6:30pm – West Georgia Street/Rogers Arena @ West Georgia Street & Howe-Expo Blvd
6:30pm to 7:00pm – Yaletown @ Cambie Street & Davie Street


Remember to vote!

Friday, November 18, 2011

The Muppet Bus Tour
8:45am - 7:30pm
Various locations around Lower Mainland

Eastside Culture Crawl
5:00pm - 10:00pm
Various locations in area bounded by Main St., 1st Ave., Victoria Drive, and the Waterfront, Vancouver



Saturday, November 19, 2011

Vancouver Votes!
Everyone should be doing this! No excuses!
8:45am - 8:00pm
Various polling stations around Vancouver

Vancouver's Winter Farmers Market
10:00am - 2:00pm
Plaza of Nat Bailey Stadium
4601 Ontario Street & 30th, Vancouver

Christmas Craft Fair
10:00am - 3:00pm
Bonsor Recreation Complex
6550 Bonsor Avenue Burnaby 

ZoomerShow
Print out this voucher for free admission for two
10:00am - 5:00pm
Vancouver Convention Centre Hall A
1055 Canada Place, Vancouver

Nikkei Place Craft & Bake Fair
11:00am - 4:00pm
National Nikkei Heritage Centre
6688 Southoaks Crescent, Burnaby

Eastside Culture Crawl
11:00pm - 6:00pm
Various locations in area bounded by Main St., 1st Ave., Victoria Drive, and the Waterfront, Vancouver

The Muppet Bus Tour
11:00am - 7:00pm
Various locations around Lower Mainland 

Festival de la Poutine de Vancouver 
12:00pm - 5:00pm
Hellenic Community Center
4500 Arbutus Street, Vancouver

1st Anniversary at Osaka Supermarket
12:00pm - 6:00pm
Osaka Supermarket, Park Royal, North Vancouver

Canucks Ryan Kesler Autograph Signing
3:00pm - 4:00pm
Fraser Valley Wireless
1022 Mainland St, Vancouver


Sunday, November 20, 2011

Baker's Market 
11:00am - 3:00pm
Cupcake Eating Contest at 2pm! - Registration is still open!
Moberly Arts & Cultural Centre
7646 Prince Albert Street, Vancouver

Nikkei Place Craft & Bake Fair
11:00am - 4:00pm
National Nikkei Heritage Centre
6688 Southoaks Crescent, Burnaby

ZoomerShow
Print out this voucher for free admission for two
11:00am - 5:00pm
Vancouver Convention Centre Hall A
1055 Canada Place, Vancouver

Eastside Culture Crawl
11:00pm - 6:00pm
Various locations in area bounded by Main St., 1st Ave., Victoria Drive, and the Waterfront, Vancouver

The Muppet Bus Tour
11:00am - 7:00pm
Various locations around Lower Mainland

Blim Community Market
12:00pm - 5:00pm
Chinese Cultural Center
50 East Pender Street, Vancouver 

1st Anniversary at Osaka Supermarket
12:00pm - 6:00pm
Osaka Supermarket, Park Royal, North Vancouver

Sugarlime's Holiday Jewelery Show
1:00 - 3:00pm
Hart House 6664 Deer Lake Avenue, Burnaby






Go celebrate the 15th Annual Eastside Culture Crawl - a FREE 3-day event that involves artists in Vancouver's east side opening in their studios to the public in the area bounded by Main Street and Victoria Drive north of First Avenue in Vancouver. Go see the works of painters, jewelers, sculptors, furniture makers, musicians, weavers, potters, writers, printmakers, photographers, and glassblowers!

Download the program guide here: Eastside Culture Crawl Program Guide

When
Friday, November 18th, 5:00pm - 10:00pm
Saturday, November 19th, 11:00am - 6:00pm
Sunday, November 20th, 11:00am - 6:00pm


Where
Area bounded by Main St., 1st Ave., Victoria Drive, and the Waterfront, Vancouver
See the various art studios here: http://www.eastsideculturecrawl.com/map or print out the map here: http://www.eastsideculturecrawl.com/sites/default/files/ecc_2011_map.pdf

Source: http://www.eastsideculturecrawl.com/
It’s time to play the music, it’s time to light the lights! You know what time it is Muppet fans! The new Muppet movie is coming to theatres on November 23rd and to celebrate, Disney is dispatching a fully Muppetized Motorcoach to select cities in Canada on ! Fans can participate in Muppet trivia, listen to Muppet music and other Muppet games such as Muppet Monopoly and Muppet Yahtzee. Did I mention there will be prizes and giveaways? Yes you could win mini movie posters, plush Muppet toys and iPhone covers (while supplies last) just for participating!

Here's where you can find the Muppet Motocoach!

The Muppet Bus Tour Schedule*

Friday, November 18, 2011

VANCOUVER STOPS
8:45am to 9:15am – The Burrard Skytrain Station @ Burrard Street & Dunsmuir
9:15am to 10:00am – The Granville Skytrain Station between Georgia & Dunsmuir
3:00pm to 3:30pm – Waterfront Skytrain Station @ West Hastings & West Cordova Street
3:45pm to 4:45pm – Burrard Street @ Burrard & Robson Street near West Georgia
5:00pm to 5:30pm – Robson Square @ Robson & St. Howe
5:45pm to 6:15pm – Granville Street @ Davie Street & Dunsmuir
6:30pm to 7:30pm – Gastown @ Powell & West Cordova

 Saturday, November 19, 2011

CALGARY STOPS
11:00am to 12:00pm – Canada Olympic Park @ 88 Olympic Square Road
12:30pm to 1:15pm – Eau Claire Market @ 4th Avenue & 1st Avenue Southwest
1:30pm to 2:15pm – 9th Avenue @ 9th Street Southwest & 7th Street Southeast
2:30pm to 3:30pm – Chinook Centre & MacLeod Trail Southwest
4:00pm to 4:30pm – Heritage Park @ Heritage Drive Southwest
4:45pm to 5:15pm – Stephen Ave @ MacLeod Trail & 1st Street Southwest
5:45pm to 6:00pm – 17th Avenue @ 9th Street SW & MacLeod Trail Southeast

MONTREAL STOPS
12:30pm to 1:30pm – Place des Arts/Rue Saint Urbain @ Rue Saint Urbain & Sainte Catherine
1:45pm to 2:30pm – Boul. De Maisonneuve @ Rue Guy to Rue Saint Urbain
2:45pm to 3:30pm – Boul. Saint Laurent @ Ave Mont Royal to Boul. Rene Levesque
3:45pm to 4:30pm – Boul. Rene Levesque @ Ave Atwater to Rue Berri
4:45pm to 5:30pm – Rue Sherbrooke @ Rue Berri to Rue Peel
5:45pm to 7:30pm – Bell Centre @ Boul. Rene Levesque & Rue De La Montagne

VANCOUVER STOPS
11:00am to 11:30am – English Bay @ Denman Street
11:45am to 12:15pm – Robson Street @ Denman Street to Burrard Street
12:30pm to 1:15pm – Howe Street @ West Hastings to Pacific Street
1:45pm to 2:45pm – Metropolis at Metrotown @ 604-4720 Kingsway, Burnaby
3:15pm to 3:45pm – Main Street @ Kingsway to Georgia
4:00pm to 4:30pm – Granville Island @ Granville Street
4:45pm to 5:15pm – Robson Square @ Robson Street & Howe Street
5:30pm to 6:00pm – Dunsmuir Street @ Expo Blvd to Thurlow
6:15pm to 7:00pm – Gastown @ West Cordova Street

Sunday, November 20, 2011

EDMONTON STOPS
12:00pm to 1:30pm – South Edmonton Common @ Gateway Boulevard & 99th Street
2:00pm to 2:30pm – Whyte Avenue @ 99th Street Northwest to 110th Street Northwest
2:45pm – 3:30pm – Winston Churchill Square @ 1 Sir Winston Churchill Square
3:45pm to 5:00pm – West Edmonton Mall @ 170th Street Northwest & 87th Avenue Northwest
5:15pm to 6:00pm – 104th Avenue Northwest @ 100th Street Northwest to 116th Street Northwest
6:15pm to 7:00pm – Jasper Avenue @ 100th Street Northwest to 116th Street Northwest

MONTREAL STOPS
11:00am to 11:45am – Marche Jean-Talon @ Rue Jean Talon
12:00pm to 12:45pm – Old Montreal @ Rue Notre Dame
1:00pm to 1:45pm – Rue Sherbrooke @ Rue Berri to Rue Peel
2:15pm to 3:30pm – Centropolis @ Boulevard Saint Martin (Laval)
4:00pm to 4:45pm – Boulevard Saint Laurent @ Ave Mont Royal to Boul. Rene Levesque
5:00pm to 6:00pm – Rue Saint Catherine @ Atwater to De La Montagne

VANCOUVER STOPS
11:00am to 11:45am – English Bay @ Denman Street
12:00pm to 2:00pm – BC Place/Robson and Beatty @ 777 Pacific Blvd
2:15pm to 2:45pm – Robson Street @ Denman Street to Burrard Street
3:00pm to 3:30pm – Granville Street @ Davie Street to Dunsmuir
3:45pm to 4:15pm – Davie Street @ Bute Street to Pacific Blvd
4:30pm to 6:30pm – West Georgia Street/Rogers Arena @ West Georgia Street & Howe-Expo Blvd
6:30pm to 7:00pm – Yaletown @ Cambie Street & Davie Street

*Schedule subject to change

Source: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Canada Facebook


In the evening our family headed out to Flo Tea Room in Richmond. I know there's a Granville location and I always wanted to try it out.


My cousin ordered a curry dish that she had before while the rest of us ordered  a set meal.


My meal came with soup and a drink. We could pick two items from the menu so I chose the Korean BBQ short ribs and prawn skewers. The Borsch soup was really salty. I think the Chinese soup was the better one to order. I didn't see my parents complaining about it. The prawns and short ribs were good. The only complaint about it was that the short ribs were quite fatty.


My sister ordered a mango slush for her drink (added $2) and she thought it was good and now regrets not getting the groupon they had previously ($20 for 10 bubble tea). I didn't think it was thaaat good. I've tasted better elsewhere.

All in all, the place has good portions and reasonable prices.

Had a late lunch with friends yesterday at Provence Marinaside. We were suppose to go to Twisted Forks but it was so busy!


We had warm bread and my friends ordered Wild Mushroom Ravioli and Bennis. 

 
Smoked Salmon Egg Benedict
I had the Crab and Lobster omelette. It was quite pricey but it was so good! I couldn't taste the crab all that much though. The potatoes that came with it were awesome.

Crab and Lobster Omelette.


Yay! I finally upgraded from a BlackBerry Curve to a Samsung Galaxy SII X. I received this anticipated  package on Monday, unlocked it on Tuesday and now am fully on Android!

Here are my unboxing photos. Heheh. Am I a geek for taking photos? Yes. Yes. I probably am...


 
8MP camera! Can't wait to go out and use it. I love the feel of the backing.

 

It's pretty thin and light. It is a much bigger phone than I am use to, but big phones are standard nowadays. I'm just behind on the times. lol



Ooo turning it on...




I love the screen. It is so vivid, clear and crisp. Even at the lowest brightness settings it is still quite bright.


Yeah, that date isn't right...



Woo! I'm so excited to finally own a Galaxy S2!
Black Friday Sale! Free Shipping & Free Returns! Microsoft Canada



Ebates Coupons and Cash Back

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