Anni Adventures

I got to visit yet another escape room recently. This time I went to a place I haven't been before, adding to the ever growing list of places I've been to. This time I was going for University of Waterloo Vancouver alumni's Spring Social. Because most of the executives work downtown, we had to go with one that was downtown. Thus, Smartypantz. Smartypantz was conveniently located a five minutes walk from the closest skytrain station and was central to our needs. We booked for their Thirst for Murder room which was rated to be a bit more challenging.

What was interesting about this escape place is that to enter the building, you had to say the pass-word. Ours was "snowman." Once they've determined that you have the correct password, they buzz you in. The moment you walk in you really notice the smelly of the old building. It was something I wasn't too fond of. Up the stairs and into the place, it was well decorated with interesting decor, which really suited its going theme. The employees were very helpful and enthusiastic. Their waiting room had some puzzles that could get your brain going. 

Once our whole team arrived, we were led to our escape room by an actor that really immersed himself into his role. another thing to note is that all the doors have their themes decorated onto them. You could tell a lot of care went into setting this place up. The actor went through the plot with us and then left to allow us to work our escape. We were given an hour and two hints for our mission. I won't go into mechanics, as not to ruin it, however there were three rooms. It was very immersive. Definitely different from other escape rooms I've been to. There was more hands on actions required and less numbers and locks, which was refreshing. Our group managed to escape using our two clues and having about 10 minutes left to spare. Immediately after finishing, I was a little confused since I thought there would be more to it. It did feel a bit short. There were aspects which we found a tad confusing, and their clues were given through a walkie talkie that made understanding a bit difficult through the static of the radio. 

In the end, we took a celebratory picture for successfully escaping our room before we went on our way. I look forward to trying their other rooms, but perhaps only if they have a promotion. 

I've heard a lot of good things about Lockdown Escape, but have never decided to go since they never seem to have any specials. But it seemed that we are almost out of options BUT this. We decided to skip the easier ones and jump straight into a more difficult one, given that we're seasoned players already. Each of the rooms at Lockdown Escape are an hour long and you are given two hints for the entire game. 

The location is easy to find with ample parking spots. We got there right at the time when we were suppose to start, but the staff was very accommodating and didn't seem to mind. Their waiting area isn't that big. There's only two or three benches available for you to sit at. After we paid and put our phones, bags and whatnot away, we were oriented through a short video, which was very well done. 

We selected the Prison Detective room. This is one of those that you start off handcuffed. Right off the bat, I liked it already. While I won't go into details and spoil the room, I will say that we quite liked the mechanics of the room. It isn't all locks, which can get old real fast. There were also moments where we were Wow'd by what we had to do. However, there were clues that were misleading and parts where we got ahead of ourselves. Ultimately, this is our first official fail in over 15 games. We got stuck on the very last puzzle of the room for over 10 minutes, which in our opinions wasn't done well. But that aside, I quite liked this place. It had mechanisms not seen in other places. I definitely look forward to seeing how their other rooms pan out.

At the end of it all, we got to take a picture with a themed backdrop for our room.  I highly recommend trying this place out, but perhaps if its your first time, try an easier room.

If any of you follow Masterchef Canada, you will know that the winner of season two was David Jorge from my very own Surrey, BC. I was rooting for him the entire season, and he was very deserving of this win. Since then, I've been waiting for the moment he'd open up his own restaurant. That moment happened late last month. David partnered with Joseph Richard Group to open S+L They had a lot of social media advertising in prep for this and when they released the menu, my wallet cried a little. The price tier for S+L is on the high end to say the least. It definitely isn't somewhere I'd be able to go often. However, they did have buck-a-shuck happy hours Monday - Friday 2 - 5 pm. Because the beau usually works M-F, we took the opportunity on Family Day, this past Monday to go try it out.

He claims to have the best sandwiches in North America. Everyone calls him the sandwich Nazi, and to be honest I don't doubt these claims. La Charcuterie, the name of the deli, is CASH only and cellphones are forbidden. I recommend you not tempt fate on this one. I visited on a Saturday afternoon because the deli's hours are spontaneous and if he runs out of bread, he'll close up for the day.

As you enter, you'll notice the ambiance as something different. I didn't know quite what to expect. He was going on about prostitutes and other vulgar topics, I wasn't sure if I would make it through the experience. The deli has a menu, although its quite useless because he just adds to the sandwich what he feels like, and there really isn't saying no to him. He makes 6-8 sandwiches all at once and while doing so he carries on random conversations.

We bought two sandwiches, and the whole process took about half an hour with the lineup as long as it was. It came out to $20, ($8 each for the sandwich, drink and tip). Considering how much food it is, I'd say that was cheap. If you're a light eater like me, this could equal 4 meals or more.

I took a picture of the sandwich after getting home and opening it up. as you can see, its the size of my fist. you can't even wrap your mouth around it.

The experience was crazy, I'd definitely go back, although I'd personally prefer to add more dressing as mustard was all that was added.

I'm starting to get into a routine with school and what not. Although it isn't easy. Because a couple of my classes start at 6:30, I don't get off until 9:30. I always think that I can last and make it home to eat, but by break time, I'm always starving. So the other night, after class ended, my dad picked me up in Burnaby on my way home from class. Gotta love him <3. We went to Estea. Estea as my family likes to refer to it as our second kitchen. We don't actually cook there. no. However, we eat there so often, that it has essentially become our kitchen. The owner is a nice lady that gives us a permanent 10% discount. Come to think of it, I don't think I've eaten at home in a long time due to classes and church and time spent with niu.

In the olden days, we'd come every Friday night and order our staple food of marinaJimited platter, siu mai, and thick toast with peanut butter. Tonight, because I was really starved, so we ordered a braised beef noodle soup, a thick toast with peanut butter (for my daddy) and a milk tea.

It was actually my first time trying the noodle soup there, and I was actually surprised it was quite good. The soup is light but rich in flavor. The noodles are al dente just like it should be. Had they been more generous with the beef portions and the beef flavor, it would have been perfect. But when you're as hungry as I was, you aren't going to complain and will eat anything :)


I actually have to say for me though, the milk tea isn't the greatest. But that is a personal preference. It has too much of a tea flavor and not enough of the milky flavor. This isn't to say its bad. It just isn't my preferred taste.

I received the Dead Sea Mud Spa Mask by Montagne Jeunesse a few months back in the influenster voxbox. I have tons of face mask so I haven't had the chance to get this one. That is, until the other night. I've personally never tried a mud mask before so I was quite interested to see what it was like. This mud mask only uses Dead Sea mud, Dead Sea salt and seaweed.

Yesterday was niu's momma's birthday and in celebration we decided to go out to eat. Niu picked a place that we had gone to before but had recently changed ownerships. The place was now called "Seoul BBQ House", serving all you can eat Korean BBQ.  Under the previous ownerships (there has been rumored to be quite a few) we've had food here. Before the food was only okay but was slightly overpriced.

The ayce on a weeknight was $19.99 per person. You had the options to add extras, like vegetables, spicy tofu and a few specialty soups. Otherwise there was a buffet where you could help yourself to the food of your liking.

Their buffet actually had a wonderful array of Korean cuisine. There was the typical side dishes that you would get with any Korean meal, like kimchi, potato in sweet sauce, kimchi styled seafood/cucumber, takoyaki, karage, crystal noodles and more. They had a few soups out too.

Their meat selection was somewhat limiting though, with only a small cooler selection.


Tastes were hit and miss. There was some food that we had that was good but other's that weren't so.

At the end of it all, they also have ice cream for dessert. There was mango, coffee, vanilla and strawberry flavors. 

Overall, this place is definitely better than it was before. I would come again. The value is definitely there. I feel bad for the owners though because the place had a history of failures and not a lot of people were actually at the restaurant. You could really feel it too as the restaurant was pretty huge.

I can't even seem to find this place on google yet!

Seoul BBQ House
15155 101 Avenue
Surrey BC

The other day I watched Life of Pi. It was an interesting movie that had a lot of funny moments and cute moments, but it touched home on a lot of points too.

But first, a shout out because the movie was filmed offshore of Taiwan, where I was born.

Warning. If you have not watched and would not like the movie spoiled please stop here.

The movie is revolved around Pi Patel, he is visited by a writer that is in search of the perfect story to write. Pi shares with him a story that he claimed would make him believe in God. Young Pi was happy with his life in India. He didn't believe in one God but in multiple Gods. Vishnu, Christ, and Allah. He felt each religion had truth to them. One day, his father decided that business was not great and wanted to move to Canada and sell their zoo animals abroad. His father took reference of Columbus on his journey to Canada, but Pi remarked that Columbia's original intent was to find India. On the freight ship, that was taking the family to Canada, one night, a storm hit that sank the ship. Pi was the sole human survivor along with a orangutan, a hyena, an injured zebra and a tiger. The hyena first kills the zebra and the orangutans out of hunger before being killed itself by the tiger. Together with the tiger, Pi remains shipwrecked on the pacific. They slowly learn to co-exist, helping each other survive.


They eventually come ashore on the coast of Mexico. However, as the tiger enters the jungle, it chose not to look back, as if the time spent together meant nothing to him. When asked by investigators what had happened. The story he told was unbelievable. At this point he offered them another story of four people surviving the shipwreck. The greedy cook, the injured sailor, the mother and himself. He told of how the cook killed the sailor and then the mother before he had to kill the cook because the cook had gone too far. Back to present where he asked the writer which story he believed, the writer chose to believe the first story claiming it was far more interesting.

As he finished off his story he left the writer, and myself in all honesty, an important lesson, which was that it is important to conclude things properly. Only then can you let go. Otherwise you are left with words you should have said but never said and your heart is heavy with remorse. This applies to so many things in my life. I keep wanting to hang on, which gets me emotional entangled. Even now, I can think of several instances where this is the case. Now there's nothing but to deal with the regrets and the what ifs.

What I liked the most and will keep in mind is when they were talking about religion. This hits home quite more than I think.

Pi Patel: religion is a house with many rooms.
Writer: but with no room for doubt?
Pi: Oh yes, a room on every floor.

It reminds me of the life I've had and how much I've believed but doubted too. It's natural for humans to doubt because we have sinned. That is why Adam and Eve sinned in the first place. Anyways, I felt the movie was a really touching movie to watch. Richard Parker was an adorable tiger and the graphics in the film was amazing. They made the ocean a very beautiful place. It's definitely a movie worth watching.

That's it for now. Until next time.

PS. Pictures in this post is not my own.