I had a short stint of waitressing lastweek at a pho restaurant in downtown Kitchener. Most horrible job ever! The problem with working for vietnamese is that we're cheap just like any other asians and we like to get our money's worth; especially when we're paying someone. The job was $8/hr; which was below minimum, but I thought the fact that I was getting cash would be the plus to it. If only it was just as simple as waitressing. The problem I had majorly was that she made me go fold the wontons and wash the dishes; manually hand wash! For a measly $8, I had to work very hard and then thinking back I got kind of pissed. When I originally asked about the wages this was her reply:

"Cause this shop is not busy and due to it being a pho restaurant, customers don't give tips at all. So the wage is $6/hr and I'm gonna pay you an extra $2 so we'll make it $8/hr."


Psh, no tips my ass! I roughly estimated that I could've earned about $20-$25 in tips each night and I worked 5 hours shift. So that means the tips that was rightfully mine went into half of my pay. If she didn't make me help in the kitchen, I probably wouldn't mind the place too too much really. I just hate being made to do things that I didn't apply for.

Another thing that pissed me off was that she did not train me properly. The woman that worked the shift before gave me very very minimal instructions. Just wipe the tables and condiment bottles. I had no clue how to make the shakes or properly do cash. No clue where anything is. So each time a customer comes I always have to ask. The funny thing is that I had no clue what a jackfruit looked like. lol So yeah I'm done with that place.

Weekend was spent quietly. It was Jonathan's monthly orthodontist and hunnie had complained that why didn't my mom chose an orthodontist that was close by. She just prefers to go up there for grocery. Well anyways, the original plan was orthodontist and then up to Pacific Mall so that hunnie can get his hair cut before he leaves. Never happened since we got up there late.

We decided to go to the Ding Dong Bakery there since the last time my mom bought a japanese cheesecake there and it was delicious! Before I called it the cheesecake cake lol since it has the cheesecake taste but the texture was more of a cake. Makes sense? lol

So on that day hunnie felt the mood for dimsum, but since it was nearly 2 in Chinatown, the only place was the one up in Dragon City. Both hunnie and I have a dislike for that place so dimsum was a no go. Okonomi House was also a no go since hunnie didn't want to drive that far and when we asked Andy, he was in the mood for fried rice. So the choice was Com Tam Dao Vien. Too bad that never happened since we decided to take our chances at the restaurant with the all day dimsum banner across the top. The one across from Pho Hung, which is also a place to avoid for people who appreciates vietnamese food.

On first impression, this place looked pretty shabby on the outside and when you step in, it looks like any other restaurant in Chinatown that haven't decided to switch over to makeover or not. But the big surprise was that it had another section in the back and the impression turned from shabby to wow, pretty nice. I really liked the paint colour.





A very vibrant green and yellow, really makes you feel cheerful no?


Egg Custard bun, I wonder why they don't bring this out last since its a sweet dish. I saved this for last so by the time I got to it, the filling was already cold. I remember seeing a review on ChowHound for all the custard buns in the area and this one; from memory, was filled with ooey gooey goodness. Too bad I didn't get to taste it.


What's left of the deep fried squid tentacles. I really enjoyed this as it was light, crunchy and chewy. The hot sauce was gross though. It was very diluted and tasted more on the side of tabasco than actual chinese hot sauce.


This is one of my all time must have at any dimsum; along with a few others, and I liked the texture of the rice noodle. Not bad but then not so great as well.


This had a very taste to it. The sauce or whatever they used was not right and it left a weird aftertaste. Tasted very water down.


Very good. Best dish out of them all. The wrap was very good. This dish can be easily compared to at Grand or anywhere decent up in Markham.


Didn't eat this, but Andy and Jonathan liked it.


Curry cuttlefish. Surprisingly, it had a nice mild curry taste that isn't overpowering like most other chinese places. I liked it.


I found it ok, hunnie didn't like it, and the other two are indifferent. I don't mind if its either chewy or fall off the bone and hunnie likes it fall off the bone. The sauce they used are pretty tasteless to me though.


Again didn't eat this one, but I remember how I used to enjoy it.



I'm not really a fan of siu mai and this dish definitely couldn't change my mind. Honestly, the only place I actually enjoyed it was at Grand.


I like this dish, I've always enjoyed it, but not from here. The dough fritter was overcooked and they didn't cut it properly.

So overall, this place is a notch better than the one above Dragon City, but I would much rather go up to Markham for Dimsum. Thise place is quite expensive as well, compared to the one at Dragon City or Emerald in Mississauga. This place I would probably keep it as a hit and miss.

Recently, I also went out to eat at Angel's Diner with Andy after driving him out to his co-op interview. Back in highschool, I used to come here often for their breakfast special. For $3.99, can't be better for a poor highschool student. lol




Keeping it up with the good ol' days


My egg over easy.


Andy's basting (?) egg. It looks better than mine. The texture tasted better than over easy as well. I think I will get this the next time.




I was kind of disappointed today. The sausages and fries tasted funny. More like freezer burn. A place I would really recommend for a good breakfast with amazing fries and sausages is in a food court-like place in the Downtown Kitchener Farmer's Market. Delicious breakfast and they also have beavertales. lol

We also took Mochi; yorkie, and Timmy; maltese, out to Petsmart over in Cambridge sometime during the week and as it was cold out, we popped on a sweater and shirt for them. Yeah I know sounds crazy but these two gets sick quite easily so its better to prevent it now than suffer later.

Now these two aren't exactly the pleasant type. All they really have going for them is that they are friggin adorable. Either than that, they really have no redeeming quality. They bark, they're grouchy, and they just don't get along with strangers or other dogs, but since they're cute, a lot of people like to come up and pet them or bring their dog over to 'be friends', bad idea. Good thing they're tiny and the excuse we give each time is that they're still in the middle of training, but then thinking about it, we don't really need to give an excuse since its our dog and they're properly on a leash. We properly told people to not come close and yet they still chose to. sigh...

Anyways, after Petsmart, hunnie dropped by Futureshop to pay some bills so I stayed out with the two rugrats. Best thing to pass time is *snap snap snap* lol







The little hellraiser. This sweater was one we bought for him when he was tiny. Luckily it still fit him and he looks absolutely adorable. Too bad the little jerk can't be cute as he looks.




The mellow of the two brats, until he sees another dog walking down the street and decides to be Mr. Macho. lol He's usually the scaredy cat.

Of course, I had to camwhore a little bit. lol




The first one pic I like cause the lighting was just perfect. Anyways Ciao~

Labels: food, life, work