Gal Sushi @ Richmond Hill

Gal Sushi
Date: October 12, 2007 (Friday)
Address: 324 Hwy. 7 East, Unit 3, Ho-View Plaza, Richmond Hill (Hwy 7 & Bayview)Phone: (905) 882-9959
Opening Hours: Tues-Sun 11:30am - 11pm

per kareshi's suggestion, we went to try out Gal Sushi in Richmond Hill.. it's a small cozy restaurant.. not much fancy decor.. unlike the one in Markham.. they don't seem to have Korean food on the menu.. & we were given soup, salad, & the appetizers: Korean Cold Vermicelli & Tofu..

we ordered a Sil Boat ($55), which has more than it stated on the menu..

according to the menu, there should be 20 pcs of Assorted Sashimi, 18 pcs of Sushi (Uni, Unagi, Hamachi, Tuna, Salmon), 18 pcs of Roll (California, Unagi & Dynamite).. but as u can see from the below picture, we actually had 24 pcs of Sashimi (with Amaebi & Kazunoko: Herring Roe), 20 pcs of Sushi, & 18 pcs of Roll (Crabmeat salad instead of California Roll).. LG said the sashimi tasted better than those in the other Gal..

we also had a Spider Roll, & a Hamachi Neki Roll..

as Z&A said, they always order take-out from this restaurant.. we usually will order take-out from the Ichiban at Times Square, but i guess we can give this a try next time..

怪誕城之夜

i always love Tim Burton's movies..
& this song gives us a snapshot of his movies..
full of fantasy.. lots of fun..
it's like a tribute to Tim Burton..


Endy is very good at creating the atmosphere using his music.. not to mention that Wyman's lyrics fit perfectly!
they chose a very special topic, where i've never heard before.. & turns out to be very good!

i've put in the movie reference (in bracket) next to the lyric below..

怪誕城之夜 (試聽)
歌手：Zarahn
作曲: 周國賢 / 作詞: 黃偉文 / 編曲: Zarahn / 監製: 林健華,崔炎德

由一眾妖怪 統治天下 應該有趣吧
頭長角的你 可願加入 這大人童話
大魚在 寢室內 變做爸爸 (from: Big Fish)
人猿在武裝 未脫下 (from: Planet of the Apes)

賠一塊真相　三滴魔幻　剛好美滿吧
誰一格一格　一幕一幕　鏡頭圍黑紗
銀幕之上　奇樹引路　快出發好嗎

銀幕之下　誰在往上爬
走進黑洞去吧　跟著侏儒入去吧

隨時讓你 進入魔域 帶回童真 埋下做人那點化
斷頭谷裡　遇斷頭路人問你的話 (from: Sleepy Hollow)
請用撒旦的結他　回答吧
用鉸剪　一吋一吋　逐吋剪下 (from: Edward Scissorhand)
幾片紙碎　七色晚霞
留待送她　還陽出嫁 (from: Corpse Bride)

你看見那隻　寂寞野貓嗎
我聽說那裡　情人曾跌下

但上面尚有蝙蝠嗎　在救她嗎 (from: Batman Returns)
何以一切好事 來到一半總是會 滿身巧克力? (from: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory)
外星大舉侵襲　你睡了吧 (from: Mars Attacks!)
抬頭吧　飛碟　在降下

隨時讓你　進入魔域　帶回童真　埋下做人那點化
劇場一暗　若突然蕩回六歲之下
請用眼淚的雪花　回答吧　你渴望　回去吧

由一眾妖怪　統治天下　應該有趣吧
頭長角的你　出外多日　該歸去了吧



** All pictures from one of my fav.. "Corpse Bride"
FYI: The Tim Burton Collective

Sweet Basil 香葉屋

Sweet Basil 香葉屋
Address: 10610 Bayview Avenue, Richmond Hill (Elgin Mills & Bayview)
Phone: (905) 508-7361
Opening Hours: Sun-Thur 11am-10pm / Fri-Sat 11am-10:30pm

haven't been to this restaurant for quite a while & when we first went in, we were surprised to see all customers there were not Chinese.. seems like we were eating in a western restaurant..

the 4 of us decided to order some food to share..
Malay Yellow Curry with Chicken.. it's Traditional green chili spices with roasted shallots & onion with fresh herbs in coconut milk.. we ordered two Roti on the side.. i believe the Yellow Curry is the mildest Curry among all.. so the curry flavor wasn't very strong..

My-Tho.. it's Vietnamese glass noodles stir-fry with egg, shrimp, chicken, beansprouts & roasted garlic.. & the server said one of their specials tonight was 馬拉盞通菜.. so we had that too..

Vietnamese Hanoi Seafood Fried Rice.. it's Shrimps, scallops and calamari in a crab sause served on a bed of fried rice.. it's a dish that i would order every time i came here.. very rich in ingredients & the sauce tasted good.. not very salty..

we always like this restaurant.. not very crowded, & the food tasted good.. but i guess the price might be a bit high comparing to other Singapore/Malay Restaurants..

Gal Sushi

Gal Sushi

Address: 3621 Hwy 7 East Unit 106, Markham (Hwy 7 & Warden)

Phone: (905) 305-7753
Opening Hours: 8:30am - 11pm (7 days a week)

it's in the new plaza opening on Hwy 7 & Warden, where lots of salons in the plaza.. (we had our hair cut in one of the salons there too!)
the 3 of us went there on a Saturday night, which was very crowded.. glad that we already made reservation & that's why we don't need to wait.. dunno if this restaurant is a franchise of the one at 黃金商場.. but it seems like they are operated by Koreans, as they served Korean food on the menu..

it's setup on each table.. they used silver chopsticks.. which is different from most of the other japanese restaurant..


as starter, we were served with soup & salad, & some korean appeitizers, which were some potatoes & Korean Cold Vermicelli (涼拌韓國粉絲)

we decided to try their Dol-sot Bi Bim Bap (石鍋拌飯), the traditional Korean Stone Rice.. i used to have it for my Friday lunch when i still worked in Hong Kong.. really missed it! i love mixing all the ingredients together with the sauce.. tasted very good!!
we also had a sushi/sashimi combo, called GAL Combi.. it has 14 pcs of Assorted Sashimi, 12 pcs of Sushi (Uni, Hamachi, Toro, Unagi, Salmon, Tobiko), & 6 pcs of Dynamite Roll.. what i think special is, there were many different varieties in this combo.. not only Salmon, Tuna, it also came with White Tuna (Butter Fish), Ama Ebi (Sweet Shrimp), & Masago (Smelt Roe).. & Toro sushi, Hamachi sushi & Uni sushi!! it costed $33.99.. i think it's a really good deal..

we also had the sushi pizza.. just to fill up the space in the guys' stomach..

overall, it's good.. LG said it's not as special as he thought.. (he becomes very picky these days.. )

there is a "button" on each table, where customers can press it to ask for service.. & when it was pressed, its table # will be shown on the mini board above the cashier.. (see the picture below, the place where i placed a red arrow pointing at)

Coca Cola: The Happiness Factory

a very creative & cheerful ad..
download the commercial & screenshots here..
more about The Happiness Factory..

Inside the Happiness Factory

The Story of Happiness Factory




Client: Coca-Cola
Advertising Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, Amsterdam
Executive Creative Director: Al Moseley, John Norman
Creative Director: Rick Condos, Hunter Hindman
Copywriter: Rick Condos
Art Director: Hunter Hindman
Agency Producer: Darryl Hagans, Tom Dunlap
Production Company: Psyop, Hungry Man
Director: Todd Mueller, Kylie Matulick
Producer: Boo Wong
Editor: Psyop
Music: Human
Sound Design/Arrangement: Amber Music/Sound Design

Ala Kitchen 阿拉

Ala Kitchen 阿拉
Address: Unit 18, 21 Fairburn Drive, First Markham Center (Hwy 7 & Woodbine)
Phone: (905) 946-7990 / (905) 946-7992

it's located at the new plaza just behind First Markham Place.. we went there once before but it was so crowded that day & we left.. this time, we went on a Thursday & i guess we waited for about 5-10 minutes before we were seated..

this is the decor on the ceiling.. a lot of steamer (蒸籠) hanging together.. look pretty nice..

we ordered a Small Hot & Sour Soup (酸辣湯).. which is only $3.99, but very large in portion..

Steamed Crab Pork Dumplings (蟹粉小籠包)

Pan Fried Pork Dumplings (鮮肉窩貼)

Noodles with Peanut Sauce (擔擔麵)
Braised Beef Noodles (紅燒牛肉粗麵)

both LG & i think that the food is not bad, but also not "very" special.. maybe coz we didn't try their "signature" dishes.. =P

Favourite Topped Devilled Eggs

we made this yesterday for our house warming party..
& it turned out that everybody loves it & asked for the recipe!! again, i found it from Kraft website..

Ingredients (Serves: 24)
12 hard-cooked eggs
125 g (1/2 of 250-g pkg.) PHILADELPHIA Light Brick Cream Cheese Spread, softened
3 Tbsp. MIRACLE WHIP CALORIE-WISE Dressing
2 tsp. Dijon mustard
2 tsp. white vinegar
1 tsp. sugar
1/8 tsp. paprika (optional)

Directions
1. Make hard-cooked eggs by placing the eggs in a saucepan & to cover the eggs with water by at least an inch. Bring the water to a boil & cover, then remove the pan from the heat & let it stands for 15 minutes. Place the eggs in a bowl of ice-water to cool them.

2. Remove egg shells & cut eggs in half lengthwise. Remove yolks; place in medium bowl. Add cream cheese spread, dressing, mustard, vinegar & sugar; mix until well blended.

3. Spoon mixture into large resealable plastic bag. Cut a small corner from bag and pipe filling into egg white halves. Sprinkle with paprika (optional).

we've added in crumbled bacon but not the paprika..
it's very easy to make.. & i think it's a perfect hors d'oeuvres!