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Rocky Mountain Soap Company – Sugar Pear Body Butter

I’ve been really dry lately, and I’ve recently walked into one of my newly favourite stores Rocky Mountain Soap Company at Canmore and tried one of their Limited release Sugar Pear product line and I really began to love their body butter! The body butter comes in a stick form, much like a deodorant, which is really nice for easy application – without getting your hands all sticky and greasy!

The scent is quite amazing, it’s like becoming a walking dessert, which is really quite a treat! It does leave a sticky film on the skin at first, but it just melts away – leaving unbelievably soft skin afterwards! This product is completely natural, and 99.6% organic which is a huge selling feature for some of their clients. I’m good either way, I just like a product that works – and this product delivers! With my super dry legs, it seems to have made the snake skin disappear after a day and a half!

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O’Cup Calgary

There’s this one day, I just went to Chinatown, and noticed a new restaurant/cafe – so I called up a few friends and advised them something called O’Cup was opened. We made the effort to go down. It’s in the former location of Bubble Station (former location of original Dessert House). This little place has really odd hours which doesn’t make me feel like it’s very convenient. We got in at 8pm as a few of us got off work around then, and right away they told us it was last call. Regardless, we asked for a few more minutes as the rest of the party arrives – and they were really accommodating in that aspect! At the end, when we were about to leave, there were a lot of tables that did come in for drinks, so I think it’s okay if you actually make it in before 9PM.

Their menus are really interesting as they put lamination on the menu and you check off what you want with a white pen. We ordered some Milk Tea, and it says it can come “hot”, and we ordered 2 drinks from that section. One of them came hot, and the other was cold. We didn’t specify, as we assumed it would be “cold” unless we asked them for a hot drink. Regardless, it was a very decent. The drinks did come out one at a time, so it was like they only had 1 drink maker. We got the Almond Milk Tea and that came out hot and it tasted quite delicious!

I ordered the Hazelnut Milk Tea and it came out cold. It tasted really good, but there was a ton of ice cubes.

As a little snack, I ordered my favourite Condensed Milk Waffles. I love condensed milk, and I am convinced that if you put it on anything, everything tastes good! The condensed milk was delicious, but the waffles was just a little weird. It was really dry and dense and not my favourite.

We also got another sweet waffle, and we tried the Oreo Cookie Waffle which was good, except for the texture of the waffle – so I think it’s their batter that hasn’t been perfected… otherwise, it’s just a different type which I’m not a fan of! I am sure there are lots out there who would like it. I just like the ones with a crispy exterior and a light and fluffy interior.

We also had some Popcorn Chicken which comes in a little bowl and some mustard mayonnaise as a dip. It was fried to a nice colour with a huge crisp! I really enjoyed their popcorn chicken and I’m sure I’ll get it again!

We all shared another deep fried item called the Taiwanese Fried Chicken which are small pieces of chicken slices, seasoned with a seasoning very much like salt & pepper chicken. Again, it was really crispy and tasty and the chicken wasn’t too dry!

Finally, our last little treat that we ordered was the Curry Fish Balls, and it was interesting as it wasn’t actually all fish balls. They have pieces of lo bak (daikon) in it – and just a few fish balls. So, we were just a little mis-lead, but it tasted good anyway! But again, you really can’t goof up something like this!

Overall, I did enjoy the “deep” fried food and the drinks from here. So, now, we got another little place where we don’t mind going to on a Saturday or Sunday, as the hours work best for us there!

O'Cup on Urbanspoon

O’Cup

2-110 2 Ave SE
Calgary, AB T2G
(403) 452-2606

Hours of Operation:
Mon – Thurs 11AM – 9PM
Fri-Sat 11AM – 11PM
sun 11AM – 6PM

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Edmonton Hotel and Convention Centre

Edmonton isn’t a place where we go, unless we truly have to. Lately, my other half has been going to Edmonton once in awhile for business, and he’s been staying at the Edmonton Hotel & Convention Centre which was formerly a Holiday Inn hotel. This hotel has just gone through some updating and renovations making the interior much more modern. This review is of the Executive King Suite which offers a lot of amenities in a hotel room. The room itself is fairly large and it offers a kitchenette, seating area and a glass divider to separate the room for the business side to the personal side. This glass sliding divider isn’t frosted to ensure privacy like the website leads you to think. But, I think they did this as the room offers 1 TV, and it’s in the “bedroom” part of the suite – so when you’re sitting in the sitting area, you can see the TV.

The bathroom is quite a beauty, the shower is modern and offers some body jets. The pressure and temperatures of the shower is very reasonable, making a nice home away from home feel,with a clean, sleek, modern design. The bathroom is large/spacious and offers yours standard bathroom amenities.

The actual room itself is large, and very comfortable. As mentioned, there is a kitchenette, which includes a small fridge and microwave making longer stays much more comfortable – or even left over meals, or packed lunches for the following day. There is even a little dining area as well, which is really neat! This suite has more than enough seating area for guests and visitors.

Here is a quick walk-through of the room that was used during the visit to Edmonton.

Edmonton Hotel & Convention Centre

4520 – 76 Avenue NW
Edmonton, Alberta
Canada
T6B 0A5

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Chili’s Texas Grill (Southcentre Mall)

I’ve never been to Chili’s and to be honest, we went there because we heard about a fantastic promotion they have going on… it’s the 2 for $25 which was one appetizer to share and 2 full sized entrees! Even if they didn’t do a full size entree, it’s still a fantastic deal! We visit the Chili’s location at South Centre mall, which is located outside of the mall, towards SportsChek. We went during mid-week evening, and thinking there wouldn’t be a line up, there was! It was exciting to see so many guests, it makes me think the place is always good!

We got inside and they took our name and they advised us it would be about 45 minute wait for a table. We said that’s fine and we sat down to wait. Not long after we sat down, they came out with some appetizers for their waiting guest – which was a really nice touch! They were bringing out Jalapeno Cheese Bites which was a delicious jalapeno cheddar that is breaded in panko and deep fried to perfection!

When we sat down, we flipped through the menu, and figured we wanted to upgrade our dinner to the other special 2 for $30 special, which is the same deal, but the food sounded more appetizing for us! We ordered a Texas Dry Ribs for our appetizer to share. It was a huge portion and it was delicious whether we took it as is, or splashed some lemon juice on it!

I ordered the Classic Chicken Fajita which is something I really like! I love eating with my hands, and with fajitas coming out on a sizzling plate with caramelized veggies, this was a fun meal for me! The chicken was delicious and it was truly a full sized entree. There was only 3 tortilla wraps, but it’s alright, I just ate the entire thing off the sizzling with the condiments poured on top! It was really enjoyable and memorable!

The other entree that we ordered was the Chicken Enchilada Pasta which is a huge bowl of penne with some grilled chicken, corn, mushrooms and onions in a rich enchilada sauce with melted mixed cheese. It was a hearty meal and cheesy too!

We really enjoyed our time at Chili’s and we’ve been thinking about returning – especially during the spring/summer months and enjoy their patio too! Regular meals are reasonably priced, and the service was exceptional. To top it off, the food was spectacular and very pleasant to eat! We’ve just selected Chili’s as a location we will add to our circulation of places to go for dinner now!

Chili's Texas Grill (Southcentre Mall) on Urbanspoon

Chili’s Texas Grill

282 100 Anderson Rd SE
Calgary, AB
(403) 225-2150

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Saigon Annam Vietnamese Cuisine

I love eating Vietnamese food, especially during cold winter evenings when I don’t want to cook. This usually happens during weekends, and my favourite Vietnamese restaurant doesn’t open on Sundays, so I was out on a hunt looking for a new Vietnamese cuisine that was opened! I found one, and I like it! It’s Saigon Annam Vietnamese Cuisine which is opened daily from 11:00 to 9:00PM. This business is located on 24th Street SE just off Deerfoot Trail and Douglasdale Blvd/24th Street exit. It’s at the same area as Sobeys plaza, but further west. It is a stand-alone building.

We started our meal with their Prawn Salad Rolls which came on a plate with 4 salad rolls, which was decent in size, for $6.50, I wouldn’t expect it to be small. The shrimp was quite fresh, which is always a delight! The worse thing is having soggy shrimp with a fishy smell/taste! But, thankfully this little restaurant doesn’t server stuff like that!

We wanted a good satay noodle, as the last time we had one, it was nothing but chili oil in the soup – which isn’t “satay” flavour. So, we ordered a bowl of Satay Beef Noodle Soup, and we love it! It was actually a bit spicy and it offered some great satay flavour! There was a lot of noodles and beef in the bowl, and for a price of $9.50, it ranks in on the high end of regular Vietnamese noodle prices. I really like the portion sizes that justifies the price tag!

As the temperatures get colder and colder, all I want is spice! So, I ordered a bowl of Bun Bo Hue which is something I order a lot, but with caution since a lot of times, it just turns into a bowl of SUPER spicy noodles with again, no taste. I am happy to say it was really good here, and the texture of their noodles was perfect! It was just a great bowl of Bun Bo Hue – and now I’m thinking about ordering another bowl for take-out tonight!

Overall, I really like this place. The service is great, fast and friendly. The cost is really decent for the amount of food you get (even though it’s Asian food), and it’s not too far from home! I’m sure I’ll be back, and I know I would love to thy their Vietnamese submarines, as I haven’t had a delicious one in a long time!

Saigon Annam Vietnamese Cuisine on Urbanspoon

Saigon Annam Vietnamese Cuisine

11566 24 St SE
Calgary, AB T2Z3J3
(403) 457-3885