Another year in the books

I thought I'd close out 2017 with another mosaic of my year in photos. While the larger social and political backdrop of the past 12 months was just one continuos loop of shit news and even shittier people, it was a pretty epic year of adventures for us. From starting the year off in Vietnam, to hiking and scrambling 16 peaks in the Rockies, reconnecting with friends and family in Ireland and Belgium, seeing the cherry blossoms in Seattle, sleeping in a teepee in Montana, to generally eating and drinking new and interesting food and beers to excess, we've carpe'd that diem like 2018 may not happen.

I wanted to send a shout out to each of you for following along in my adventures here over the past nine years. I started this blog purely for my own personal entertainment, but have been continually staggered by the number of regular readers that have followed along the way. Here's hoping you had a great 2017, and wishing you all the best in the coming year!



Previous annual mosaics: 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009

Dear Stomach: I'm Sorry (yet again?)

A colleague of ours recently mentioned how she loves Chinese food, but was actually referring to ginger beef. Queue the collective groans from all of us Asians. This would set in motion a plan to re-educate her on the finer points of authenticity in Asian food. And so today came to be, where we spent ten hours wandering around grazing at various spots in Chinatown and the Beltline on dim sum, egg waffles, white rabbit candies, HK style pastries, beers, Thai rolled ice cream, HK afternoon tea & snacks, more beers, and then a mountain of yakitori. I'm incredibly proud of the folks that stuck it through our entire itinerary. You guys (and your stomachs) deserve a round of applause... and beers.


The day's raison d'être: Hannah 'I Love Ginger Beef' needed to experience real Asian food.


Our first stop: dim sum at Silver Dragon.


White Rabbit candies, wrapped with edible rice paper. A staple in the memory of most young asian kids.


Stef accidentally drops her own candy. Much sadness.


HK style 'little egg waffles' from Hi-Tea.












HK Style Egg Tarts from Diamond Bakery.


A quick stop inside the Chinese Cultural Centre to check out the traditional architectural design of the ceiling.


Beers from the Barley Mill (NOT Asian, but that's cause there aren't any good Asian beer joints in town).


United Way staffers will get why this is funny. Everyone else will just judge the poor choice in beverage.




Freshly made Thai rolled ice cream at Sweet Tooth.










Afternoon tea from Calgary Court.




Deep fried French Toast with butter, syrup and condensed milk.




Beers at National on 17th (because Ming Asian Bistro and Bar wasn't open yet).




Grilled meats on sticks at Ke Charcoal Grill.








Ten hours after our first stop, these are the looks of some tired, but satisfied gluttons.

Dear Stomach: I'm Sorry (again)

Welcome to another edition of "Dear Stomach: I'm Sorry", a tale of our food and drink adventure yesterday that will make you fat just from looking at the photos. We started with the intention of having a simple bowl of ramen for lunch, that somehow turned into a 7 hour local excursion of stomach stretching gluttony. The itinerary included: Breakfast at Mi Noodles, beer flights at Annex Ales, epic caesars and dessert at Cleaver, skeeball and arcades at Home & Away and Tubby Dog, and then pad thai stuffed burgers at Naina's.

While this adventure paled in comparison to our last outing in February, my stomach is nonetheless gurgling now, and I can't tell if it's because I'm dying, or if it's just in shock from not having eaten in more than an hour.

If any of you are interested in joining us next time for one of these impromptu eating binges, let me know and I'll play culinary tour guide for you.

#fatguystuckinaskinnybody


How's this for a Caesar?


Crab meat Xiao Long Bao.


Beef brisket noodle stew.


Taiwanese fried egg pancake.


Zha Chiang Mian (Chinese style noodles with minced meat sauce).


My accomplices for the day.


Beer flights from Annex Ales.


For when you need to navigate from craft brewery to craft brewery.


The "Caesar Stack" from Cleaver.


Garnishes included: slider with pepperoncini, a waffle with jalapeño popper, and fried chicken wings.


The tap handles were cleavers.


Toberlone and Meringue Kisses cheesecake.


We needed to give our stomachs some time to digest, so we hit up Home and Away for skee ball and bubble hockey.


Enough rest, stomach. Back to work!


Pad Thai stuffed burger from Naina's. But look, I had a salad to be healthy. :)

Tim and Lesley's Wedding

Once every couple of years, someone grossly overestimates my photography skills and asks me to photograph their wedding day. And for some dumb reason, the words 'Sure, I can do it' fall out of my mouth faster than my brain can remind me of how much I suck at this, and how it stresses me the frick out that I'll ruin someone's big day. And so here we are, a couple years removed from the last wedding I shot, when Tim asked me to shoot his big day. No pressure, this is only like my adopted family and all. Fraaack.

Anyways, here's a selection Dean and I shot that I thought turned out okay. Hopefully Tim and Lesley aren't too dismayed by our crap results.