Pia "I'm a kayak, hear me roar" W.'s Profile

The convenience that this grocery store offers with ready-to-cook options at almost every section of their store (i.e. produce, seafood and meat) impresses me as it caters to the times when I'm exhausted from work and don't really want to expend more strength to prep and cook a meal (who hasn't had one of those days before?).

Despite its unofficial nickname, "Whole Paycheck", I find that in times when food prices are still high no matter which store you go to, I would choose quality over quantity -- and the quality of food that they offer here sure beats every other grocery store's you-know-what. Not only do they keep their products fresh, but they also provide more tidbits of information of where the food is from (i.e. a grade system for the meat sold, how and where the fish was caught...etc.); And I like that Whole Foods is confident enough about what they sell to give you more information about it than you would ask for.

Whole Foods also offers a wide variety of vegan and organic food products is something they should be commended for and which is something that sets them apart.

Savings Tips:
-Every 2 weeks Whole Foods publishes a flyer of savings around the store, always make sure to consult it before making your rounds.
-Pay attention to is the $/kg rate used in the meat section. For example, compare the rate posted with the meats in their meat counter with the meats that have been prepackaged -- usually a slight difference there, but it's definitely useful to note.
-If you're a big buyer of the packaged items (i.e. chips, crackers, pasta noodles), make sure that you cannot get it anywhere else unless its a Whole Foods exclusive brand.
-In the prepared foods section, look for the combo deals they offer. The one I use the most is their soup and sandwich combo.
-There's always some sort of special bakery item on sale -- so if you have a sweet tooth like me, you should not bypass this section. They also would write messages on the pastries (given there is a writable surface) upon your request.
-Parking is validated when you spend more than $10.
-Bring all your reusable bags -- you get 10 cents off your bill for each bag (Ok, within reason of course...that the bags will be used to bag the groceries you buy).

And so my search for new contemporary furniture continued...

The selection they have here is standard: Couches, coffee tables, media systems, bookcases, dining sets and bedroom sets. Not too many decorative ornaments or figurines. If you're looking for a lava lamp or some of the hottest trends in interior design, then this would not be the place to go. On the other hand, if you know exactly what you want from them (i.e. know that for a fact that they are a retailer for a certain brand), then it's a good place to go for a good price.

Obviously, furniture will always be sold to you at a marked up price. But I find that if you show the sales rep here that you are serious about buying a certain piece (or pieces for that matter), these sales are pretty good about helping you get your price (within reason).

We bought a custom-order Skovby dining set (oak, made in Denmark) for at least 40% less than the price I was told to be their best at Inspiration furniture store. Even got them to throw in free delivery. Service was great and we were very pleased with the delivery and service: On schedule and the delivery guys even made sure to help me check each piece for damages before leaving.

They always have items on sale and there is plenty of parking spaces to make it an easy drop-by just to check things out!

"What's all this fuss about?" I was intrigued to find out.

So I don't know if you've heard, this place is a "daily" kitchen: It's pretty self-explanatory. The chef goes out everyday to the local markets to find the freshest ingredients, brings it back to his kitchen and concocts the items on the menu for each night. There is simply no question that the ingredients used here is fresh.

We had the seafood cioppino and the beef short ribs: Everything was well-seasoned and the taste of each item on the plate was brought together very nicely. The meat on the ribs just fell right off, and the tomato broth on the cioppino is YUM!

It's just amazing how fresh ingredients can bring new perspectives to well-known dishes such as the ones we had. One can be rest assured that if you looked back in the kitchen, you would not find Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares lurking about.

Simple, modern and clean decor, just a great setting for a nice evening meal.

Came in on a weekday after work just in time to catch the happy hour for...alcohol? No, hand shucked raw oysters of course!

Happy hour is raw oysters at $1.50 each. Mind you, these aren't dinky little oysters, they take up quite a mouthful ( tasting fresh and juicy too)!

The establishment was pretty packed by the time we sat down and eyeing the food that other tables were ordering, I'd definitely consider coming back for dinner soon!

Having 2 dozen oysters washed down with some beer afterwards, my tummy was full and happy. I will have to come back for dinner/lunch to try
their other seafood items. Mmmm...pan fried oysters...

...but for the happy hour oysters, I'm always game!

It's one thing to observe disgruntled behaviour from servers, it's another (called rudeness) when the server comes to my table, looking impatient to get away, and talks back to me after I asked her a question about the menu, saying that I better hurry up and tell her what I want because she has a lot of other things to do.

Oh and did I mention that when I asked her what the ingredients were in a particular dumpling, she first said "I don't know I have never eaten it before." and then following that up with, "Meat."

Meat? Gee thanks, I sure could not have arrived to that conclusion myself Sherlock.

Eaten the regular xiao long bao, dan dan noodles, wontons and dumplings -- of all those things I would say that the xiao long baos were ok. The others? Well I have had better Shanghai-style food elsewhere.

In addition to the service (or lack of), I don't think I'll be coming back anytime soon.

For those of you who, like me, was always tuna-averse when it comes to ordering sashimi or anything with raw fish because of its mushy texture and tasteless meat -- well I now have one place where I would order tuna from: Oki Doki.

Their Negitoro roll is one of my favourites -- you can really tell that the fish is fresh (not stinky) and mixed well with the chopped green onions, and with a dab of soya sauce...yum!

They have also done some major renovations and hired more people since I first started coming here last year. That's a pretty good sign that their business is improving.

P.S. So far I have introduced two other people here, and they have been hooked ever since!

So this is where I have been sneaking off to these days...

If the word "organic" doesn't mean much to you, then how about "fresh" and phrases like "yummy in my tummy" sound? For a small cafe, Aphrodite's is quite unique on its own -- the setup of the place has two entrances (one for those who want to just order their coffees or pies to-go = east entrance, sit-ins = west entrance).

Most of their entrees come with a garden salad with toasted pumpkin seeds and some sort of yummy (but not overpowering) vinaigrette dressing. Some must-trys are: The roma and brie melt -- an open-faced sandwich that is laden on a thick pieces of bread that is soft and moist on the inside with a nice crispy crust. Chilli and cornbread -- the chilli is is good and filling, there's never enough cornbread to dip it all. Chicken and Shitake quesadilla with avocado -- the name says it all, just eat it!

Oh, and I might be forgetting something...PIES!!!!

Mmmm...pies...

A slice of pie with ice-cream is a must! The pies aren't too sweet (like most pies have tendency to be). Every time I get my slice of blueberry pie I cannot help but notice that the slice of pie is bleeding out blueberries -- YUM!

Small tip: Once you get addicted to pies, it is definitely much cheaper to buy an entire pie to-go rather than by slice. But as far as I know, whole pies are sold to-go only, though then again, I never tried ordering an entire pie to eat-in.

Having read some good (and mediocre)-rated reviews on this place, I was actually kind of excited to try this place out for Dine Out 2011.

Ambiance here is nice. But the food isn't really anything special. The risotto that we had was undercooked, and the server did not resolve to do anything when we told this to her.

It has been over a couple of months since my visit, and honestly I do no remember much -- except for the undercooked risotto and the fact that they charged me $1.50 for hot water.

"Meh, I've experienced better" really is the right words for this bistro.

Remember my last review? Well this last experience I have had with them (hopefully the last ever...) is not any better. Service here is really a lot less than mediocre -- lack of attentiveness to the customer and there seems to be a lack of communication between internal departments.

Being that my car was still under its 3-year warranty, I had found a glitch in my back-up sensors which happens only in below-zero weathers (just one or two degrees below). Long story short, first time I brought it to OpenRoad's attention, they said they would check it -- but since the weather was warmer by that time, they couldn't replicate the scenario and just gave me the car back saying that everything looks fine (oh, by the way, they kept no record of this visit). Second time (by this time I had moved my business over to Granville Toyota, which is over a year later), Granville was able to find out what was wrong -- one sensor was dead and attempted to contact OpenRoad to tell them more details so that they could help me get it replaced. Apparently OpenRoad refused to tell them anything and said that the customer (me) would have to go to them directly to get that replaced. Granville updated Toyota's central database about this defect on my car and told me that OpenRoad will have access to this information as well. Granville even printed out a description of the defect on my service invoice so that I would have some record of it.

So here's the kicker: I went to OpenRoad and the Service department told me that they would need to test it out again. I told them that Granville had already tested and specified that one of the sensors was dead. However, they insisted on doing the test themselves -- guess what, the weather was warmer by then and they, of course, could not find anything.

So what did I do? I told the Service department that I need to speak with the people who would deal with warranty issues -- and was directed to the Finance department. They spoke with me and said they would look at the car again and replace the sensor as per Granville's findings. When I came to pick up the car, I asked the person there if they had replaced the defective sensor, and he/she told me yes. Again, no paper record/statement saying that they fixed the problem was given to me or written down -- I would not be able to know if they did what was asked or whether they just danced a jig around my car and called it a day.

Oh no, the story does not end here. Lo and behold, a cold front came to Vancouver and what did I find out? My sensor is still defective...

This time, I insisted on speaking with the Service manager -- who agreed to completely replace my entire back-up sensor system. How did I know they really did it this time? Because the back-up chirping sounds different than before...even then I made sure to clarify that if there is any problem with these sensors, I would be covered.

They even had the audacity to attempt to charge me to rent a "courtesy car", until I had a talk with the manager.

1 defective sensor under warranty
4 visits to "fix" the situation
Numerous hours spent on going back and forth with Openroad to settle this matter.

I'm out.

I have been waiting for a chance to make a purchase on a new cell phone. So I walked into Best Buy (because they had a good promo for buying the phone from them) with the decision made already that I would be buying one -- literally had money ready to pay kind of buying. Here is my play-by-play experience:

Best Buy Mobile Sales Associate: Hi, how can we help you?

Me: Hi, I would like to purchase a [enter cell phone name/brand here].

The two Asian Best Buy Sales Associate guys sitting at the counter stared at me, blinking. Silence elapsed for at least 30-40 seconds.

Me: So where do we start? How can we get this process going?

Best Buy Mobile Sales Associate: Oh, we've sold out on the phone...you're going to have to come back sometime next week.

Duhhh...

So guess where Best Buy lost their stars in this review? Customer service -- does it really take that long to process my blunt and explicit statement that I want to buy the phone?

I must admit, this is the second time I have experienced customer service hiccup at Best Buy (funny enough, regarding the same cell phone I have been trying to get for the past month) -- Summary of that experience: The Best Buy website stated/advertised that they were accepting pre-orders for the phone in-stores only. I go into a Best Buy store, and the sales associate AND the manager had no idea what I was talking about.

Seriously, I just wanted to buy one phone, get the phone, pay for it and leave -- this should not take as much effort and time as anyone would in planning for a wedding or a strategic market positioning of a product.