I finally made it to Cherry Blossoms season at High Park this year! Where was I all these years in Toronto, you ask? No clue. I always seem to be very busy during that time of the year so the idea did not come on top of my head and when I finally realize, everyone has already went or that the petals have already fallen. Yet, this year, thankfully a friend initiated the idea and reminded me of it. So, we quickly set a side a day for Sakura Hanami and prepared our cameras to catch these beautiful flowers in full bloom.

Sakura (Cherry Blossoms) are widely known and most popular in Japanese or Asian culture. I always love Sakura due to their delicacy, unique shape and soft pink colour. It is unfortunate that these lovely Sakura have such a short life span.They remind me how important it is to cherish the things around you or things you already have before you regret afterwards for losing them.

I am not sure since when Cherry Blossoms have become a symbol of fortune and love. Perhaps, I have been deeply influenced by Japanese manga and anime, where these flowers added ambient effect to most vanilla stories I've read.

I saw this Groupon deal for Hapa Izakaya recently and thought it would be nice to try out this restaurant with my friends. The deal that we got was $15 for a $30 worth of food and drinks for at least two people. I called in to make a reservation just to confirm that it is available on the day and time we wanted. The staff told us that only 6:30 time slot is available on that Saturday night and that we have to leave at around 8 because a large group of party will be dining at 8:30. I actually didn't think it was really welcoming for a first time customer to get an early leave request on their initial visit. But, anyway, reservation booked. Groupon bought. On the Friday, I got a call from the restaurant confirming the time and again they asked us if we could leave at around 8 because of the party. Okay! I get it. Then, on the day of, we arrived at exactly 6:30 pm sharp. The staff greeted us when we asked for our table and for the third time they asked us if we could leave at 8 pm for the party to come in after. Wow. Pushy much? I haven't even sat down and ordered yet.


Walking into the restaurant, I feel that they are more upscale and going for the higher class approach. Not exactly the loud and down to earth environment that I'm familiar with from traditional Izakayas. Also, judging from their choice of waitresses, they are very much like the ones you would see at Joey's.  Then, browsing through their menu, I thought, yup, definitely catered to more of the western type of crowd. Overall, I find their dishes are mostly uninspiring fushion with soy sauce.

{Candy Crush Birthday Cake}

I told myself that I'm going to retire from making cakes after the hectic process and stressful experience of attempting a 3D sailboat cake for a baby shower party (post to come). Then, 4 days just before my relaxation getaway trip to Cuba, someone asked me to make a chocolate birthday cake for his girlfriend who is addicted to playing the popular game Candy Crush. I thought it's a very cute idea to transfer a game idea onto a cake. I seem to get really excited to anything game inspired, it is just so much fun and allows more creativity (My first game inspired project was an Angry Bird Cake Topper). It was a great temptation because Candy Crush is so popular these days. So, after thinking for not too long, I already took my baking apron and started doing all the prep work again. Pior to making this cake, I did a lot of research because I have never played this game in my life (even though all my friends are pretty much obsessed with playing it). I decided to make use of the Candy Crush logo and turned it into a Happy Birthday Whale message (Whale is the nickname of the gf).

I finally made it to Sansotei Ramen one Saturday afternoon for lunch. I made a few attempts to visit this well praised restaurant but all times were unsuccessful. Either the noodles were sold out or it was closed because it was a Sunday.

I'm glad there was no line ups when I was there with my friend a month ago. The hype probably died down a bit or perhaps the crowd normally don't crave for ramen in the afternoon. The restaurant is located downtown, a small urban decor of casual wood furnitures. We were lucky to get seated right away. Their menu is very simple. I always have the perception of thinking that if the menu is short listed, it means that the restaurant is specialized on those dishes.

I ordered their signature Tonkotsu Ramen. There are different kind of noodles to choose from, if you have a particular preference you can choose from thin or thick ones. I just went for their Sansotei original. My bowl of ramen didn't take long to arrive. I immediately dived in after taken a quick snaps from my camera. I couldn't resist from the aroma of the rich pork broth already.

{How can it be a good friday without a good homemade breakfast?}

Every now and then, I get bored of eating the same breakfast every morning. So during the weekends or when I am on holiday, I try to make myself a fancier alternative with still the same ingredients found in my fridge. I eat spinach salad everyday at work, so there's always a box of spinach sitting in my fridge. For breakfast this holiday, I try to incorporate these spinach into my dish so that they can be finished sooner. And yes, another breakfast dish with eggs.

{Baked Egg Breakfast with spinach, tomatoes, onions, cheese and turkey bacon}