Portugal - Mercado do Bolhao

The ground floor of Mercado do Bolhao in Porto

If something is too good to be true, it probably is. 

Even when you're on holiday.

On the suggestion of a waiter working at the restaurant we ate at last night, we checked out Mercado do Bolhao, about a 15-minute walk from where we are staying.

The "lobster tail" before we tried it

It's a food market place that has a covered courtyard filled with stalls selling fruits, vegetables, meats and seafood, as well as conservas, or tinned seafood, pastries, coffee, sandwiches and chocolate.

At one seafood stall we saw big, red plump lobster tails, which is how it was labelled. They were 5 euros each. 

Really?! Lobster tails for 5 euros only?

My aunt was so excited she wanted to buy one to try.

But when we got our small wooden prongs to poke it, we could see right away it wasn't the juicy meat of the crustacean, but instead some kind of fish cake made to look like lobster tail.

Scam of the day -- at 9.30am.

Lots of colourful fruits for sale

But we didn't let that bother us, and we bought some other food to try, like thinly sliced Iberico pork, small meat pies including wild boar and beef stew, mushrooms on toast, melted cheese, and grilled halloumi, eaten with a loaf of bread and some coffee (to combat jetlag).

We enjoyed ourselves so much, that the couple next to us were jealous the six of us could sample so many things!

The market has washrooms, though there aren't many, and there's even a piano on the third floor inviting visitors to tinkle the ivories.

Mercado do Bolhao was established in 1838, and the current building was built in 1917. What's interesting is that the market has three floors, each floor has a street entrance, as it's located on a hill. The bottom floor is the actual market, second floor has a few open stalls selling handmade jewellery, clothing, bags and ceramics, while the third floor houses three restaurants.

Some of what we ate for brunch

We were so full afterwards we weren't even hungry until around 5pm despite walking so much around Porto!

Wildfires in Summerland Bring Fear and Kindness

The wildfires quickly expanded down to Okanagan Lake

On Friday a wildfire ignited near Summerland, a mostly agricultural area in the Okanagan in southeast British Columbia, which resulted in 20,000 residents evacuating, some with only minutes' notice.

The wildfire, known as the Bald Ridge fire, started 15km northwest of Summerland and grew to 50 square kilometres within three hours. Today it has expanded to over 156 square kilometres.

British Columbia Premier David Eby declared a state of provincial emergency on Saturday, advising those under an evacuation orders should leave immediately.

Air quality has worsened due to severe smoke

"Explosive" is how Cliff Chapman of the BC Wildfire Service described the situation on Saturday.

"When we see a fire start, when we see the smoke lift, we are going to be challenged and we may see fires do what we saw on this fire last night," he said at the time.

"I cannot stress enough that the conditions we are facing right now are conditions that we have never seen before."

The drought-like conditions this year have resulted in trees catching fire very easily, and strong winds have made it worse. In this case the winds blew the fire down the valley towards Summerland.

There are harrowing stories of escaping: a family was celebrating their little girl's birthday when large chunks of ash began falling down on them. They grabbed photos off the walls and important documents and then fled to Penticton, about 35km south of Summerland.

A farmer evacuated his goats in the middle of the night, while a journalist who literally just moved to Summerland had to flee with her husband and described the experience as surreal.

Many farmers evacuated with animals like goats

Temporary foreign workers from Mexico who are in Summerland to pick fruit had to be airlifted to safety by helicopter, as the road they were on was blocked by fallen trees. 

But at the same time there are many recounting the kindness of strangers, taking evacuees in, taking farm animals or dogs and cats, as their owners cannot keep them in hotel rooms or elsewhere. 

There is also a story of Patricia Robinson, a 90-year-old woman who was trying to fly from Calgary to Kelowna to celebrate her birthday with family. However, the dense smoke forced Kelowna Airport to cancel 40 flights including hers and the plane turned back to Calgary.

However, two men on the same flight offered to drive Robinson there as they too wanted to get to Kelowna, and the trio made the seven-hour drive and had fun along the way too.

"I don't know how my family felt with me embarking on this journey with two strangers, but I just had a really good feeling about the both of them," she said.

"They were just very chivalrous, gallant, young me... my instincts and trusting these two young men were bang on."

It also turns out one of the men had the same birthday as Robinson -- and exactly half her age.

What a birthday to remember!

Real Fruit Slurpee

Watermelon and strawberry sorbet

On July 11 the convenience store chain 7-Eleven offers free slurpees -- well small ones -- all day.

It also happens to be 7-Eleven's 60th anniversary this year. Who knew it was that old?!

My nephew had to get one and it had such intense artificial flavouring that it left your tongue an abnormal bright red.

We decided to figure out a way to make a slurpee out of fruits and found one using watermelon.

First chop up three cups of seedless watermelon into chunks and then freeze them for a few hours.

When you're ready to make it, in a blender combine the frozen watermelon with a generous cup of frozen strawberries, a cup of plant-based milk, like almond or oat, and a tablespoon or two of honey.

Slowly raise the speed of the blender until everything is mixed and a slurpee-like consistency.

And boy is it refreshing!

To make it like a sorbet, freeze the watermelon overnight and follow the same instructions as above. The end result will be thicker, a cross between a sorbet and granita.

Either way it's a great way to beat the heat in a healthier way!

Montreal's Atwater Market

Atwater Market was built in 1930s Art Deco style

Chef Andersen Lee took us to his favourite public market in Montreal called Atwater Market near Lachine Canal. It's not touristy, more locals who come here to buy perennials and wines, as well as meats, vegetables and cheeses.

Thick-cut slices of smoked meat at Alywin's

The market is named after Edwin Atwater, a 19th century businessman and city councillor, and the Art Deco building opened in 1933 during the Great Depression in a bid to stimulate the economy. 

Inside there are two floors housing butchers, cheesemongers, a shop selling coffee beans, a boulangerie and patisserie. We went into Aylwin Deli to try their smoked meat sandwich (C$16) on rye and pumpernickel bread, but the thickly sliced meat tasted flat, with no peppery taste.

Nevertheless, we marvelled at the stalls selling an abundance of asparagus, not only green but purple and white as well, fresh bulbs of garlic, giant stalks of rhubarb, and fresh herbs.

Large selection of vegetables and fruits for sale

We also tried some pastries -- a coffee-flavoured eclair, and one with chocolate ganache inside, and a small lemon tart with lime zest. They were all delicious, washed down with a refreshing raspberry lemonade.

There were lots of baskets of colourful perennials to hang or place in small balcony boxes at home, while oenophiles enjoyed wandering the aisles of a giant wine shop selling a wide variety of bottles.

Lee likes to come here, pick out a bottle, buy some cheeses, cold cuts and a baguette and have a picnic.

It's such a French way of organising a casual bite that also tastes amazing -- with a glass of wine. 

If you don't drive, it's also relatively easy to get to Atwater Market by metro too.

Colourful perennials ready to be taken home

Atwater Market

155 Green Avenue

Montreal

Hong Kong Braces for Super Typhoon Ragasa

Masking tape and vegetables at the wet market

Super Typhoon Ragasa is approaching Hong Kong, and the Observatory has just raised the No. 8 storm signal almost 30 minutes ago.

Ragasa, a Filipino word that means "rapid" or "fast motion" already crossed the Luzon Strait 

with winds clocking at 230km/h, making it the most powerful storm in the world so far this year.

Two shopping carts filled with instant noodles

People in Hong Kong are now rushing home, and bringing back whatever supplies they can find to survive at least two days.

Supermarkets and wet markets were swarmed by customers, with fresh vegetables and fruit to quickly disappear, along with eggs, meat and bread.

On social media there's a video of a man who filled two supermarket trolleys with around 70 instant noodle cups and several bags of frozen dim sum. Was he planning to eat that all himself?

One shopper described the mad rush as busy as before Lunar New Year. The 67-year-old woman bought more than 1kg of vegetables, including two cabbages, five dragon fruit and four oranges, that she believed would last till the weekend.

However, one couple that wasn't as quick to buy essential food items could only find snacks, though they did still have some food at home. 

Some people prioritised buying up toilet paper to ride out the storm...

Slim pickings for those not organised

And yet there were those who believe in using masking tape to tape up their windows. Lo Kok-keung, a former Hong Kong Polytechnic University engineer, says there are three major causes of window breakage during typhoons: strong winds that generate vibrations that cause cracks, high wind speeds that blow up debris that breaks glass, and strong winds that deform glass.

In a bid to minimise the risk of glass shattering, Lo suggests taping the Chinese character for rice (米) on windows, which he says provides more support points and reduces the likelihood of glass fragments shattering.

Shops were selling masking tape like hot cakes, with one renovation store in Hoi Wan selling 200 rolls in the past few days. 

"People have heard that this coming typhoon is bigger than usual, so they're stocking up just in case," the manager said, adding that most customers were buying more than two rolls and many were new faces.

"Some were buying as many as 10 at a time, especially those who live in places with many windows or are purchasing for high-rise offices."

Blueberry Season in British Columbia

A blueberry bush can have 6,000 berries a year

It's blueberry season in Metro Vancouver, and you can find these round dark blue gems for sale in supermarkets.

Some interesting facts about blueberries:

Blueberries on waffles with whipped cream

In British Columbia, they are only available from July to September;

The province is the largest highbush blueberry-growing region in Canada, and one of the top blueberry producers in the world! BC exports to more than 30 countries, making blueberries Canada's most exported fruit.

Blueberries contain a lot of antioxidants, Vitamin C and fibre;

The majority of BC's blueberry farms are family-owned and operated, some for several generations;

A single blueberry bush can produce as many as 6,000 blueberries per year! BC producers more than 150 million pounds of blueberries annually. This makes the province one of the top 10 blueberry-producing regions in the world.

A decadent homemade blueberry pie

Just wash and eat them fresh, or add them to ice cream, into pies, muffins and pancakes, or into smoothies, or use them to garnish salads.

Picture of the Day: Emerald Gem Melon

A small melon that's similar to honeydew

Yesterday we were at T&T Supermarket in Richmond and came across this mini melon called 绿宝石甜瓜 or emerald gem melon. It's so small that it fits in the palm of your hand.

When I Googled it I was surprised to discover it's a fruit! 

We chopped it open tonight and discovered the flesh inside really is emerald green with tiny yellow seeds. Once the seeds are scooped out, there isn't much of the fruit left.

The best way to eat it is to slice it up like a watermelon. We didn't know what we were buying so we didn't know how to choose a ripe melon, but overall it has a bit of sweetness. 

Is it worth it? Not really -- best to stick with a ripe honeydew or cantaloupe instead!

Picture of the Day: Thimbleberries

Thimbleberries are starting to ripen

These are thimbleberries!

At first glance they look like raspberries, but don't look as bulbous. I picked a few today and was surprised when I pulled them off the shrub they were like tiny skull caps, or thimbles, which is probably where it gets its name from.

I tried these thimbleberries today

Biting into them, they aren't juicy, but more like a dried fruit taste and texture, though hardly sweet. Apparently they are a good source of vitamin C.

They can also be made into a jam or jelly, but that would mean having to harvest a lot of them when I only see a few here and there!

Army of Cooks Feeding Cruise Ship Passengers

Showing off some cool knife skills

We ate all our meals on the Ruby Princess this past week and I can attest as a cruiser that the novelty fades quickly; the breakfast buffet looks pretty much the same everyday, and in the fine dining restaurant, ingredients are used in different ways. It's best to eat something fresh on the menu -- and asking your waiter for tips on what's good that day.

Nevertheless we have to say running the food outlets on a cruise ship is no easy task. Executive chef Russell Clarke explained that half the staff are related to food and beverage, either cooks or waiters from some 50 different countries.

Pastry chefs busy making cakes for the day

During a culinary presentation in the theatre, Clarke quipped that he spoke Australian, not English, while all the other cooks and waiters spoke at least two or three different languages.

On stage, Clarke quickly made three dishes for the audience of passengers: shrimp cocktail with mango salsa, lamb chops, and pavlova with berries and coulis.

However, we weren't invited to try the dishes -- the pavlova looked rock hard and dense -- but to go to the galley kitchens to take a look. Apparently this is a popular tour and some people raced to the kitchens! In the end there wasn't much to see, except lots of empty work spaces, stainless steel everywhere and only a handful of chefs working at 11am.

Perhaps the cooks were shy, or Clarke wanted the area cleared out, we could only look at a distance though some areas were decorated with creative carvings of vegetables and fruits. Some were constructed to look like mice and birds, but the flowers carved out of the side of a watermelon were most impressive.

A hearty slice of prime rib with potato, beans

We were given a fact sheet on how much food is produced on the ship, and it involves ordering 110-115 tons of food delivered on a single cruise.

Three butchers clean and cut 1,700 fish into portions daily, while five butchers, three assistants and helpers prepare beef and poultry. On a cruise, 1,400lbs of poultry, 1,700lbs of beef, 1,400lbs of pork and pork products (like sausages); 300lbs of veal, and 200lbs of lamb are cooked daily.

While I had a large slice of prime rib that was pretty good on the last night, the lamb rack I had was overcooked. Interestingly the cream of whatever vegetable soup like cauliflower, or lentil, and the Alaska seafood soup were really good. These are made by 13 staff, preparing 550 gallons per day.

Some 1,600lbs of salad are served daily along with 400lbs of shrimp, 13 gallons of mayonnaise, and 1,500 sandwiches. The Caesar salad was consistently good and what I ate the most.

The bread served on board is made fresh daily by 10 bakers, including the bread rolls we ate everyday that had a light crunchy exterior and fluffy interior along with whipped butter. I did not try the pizza nor the croissants. The bakers use some 1,500lbs of flour daily! I saw some dough being proofed when we went through the kitchens.

Breads are made daily on the ship

And there are 13 people working in pastry making desserts, ice creams, cakes and pies. Around 6,000 pieces of pastries are made everyday, along with 100 gallons of ice cream, and 300 cakes and pies. The blueberry crumble with vanilla ice cream was a favourite at our table. The souffle on the first day was more like a steamed cake, but there was baked Alaska (a giant one sliced up, to individual ones that were sloppy). The safest bet was peach melba or ice cream with fresh fruit sauce like pineapple or strawberry.

Every morning I ate fruits -- honeydew, cantaloupe, watermelon and pineapple. Sometimes there was papaya. Towards the end of the trip there was more canned fruit like apricot, peach and pineapple. I ate those anyway, and once had canned figs. Around 6,000lbs of fresh fruit is served daily, while 400lbs of butter are used everyday!

For those who drink coffee, 470 gallons are consumed, 62 gallons of coffee cream, and 400lbs of sugar for the coffee.

After consuming all that food, someone has to clean the dishes. Fifty-seven people wash china, glasses, silver, and pots and pans. Everyday 70,000 dishes are washed, while 21,500 glasses are washed. 

And that's just the passengers. There are also 1,1000 crew who need to eat too!

Hongkongers Swarm Costco

Massive crowds waited over an hour to get into Costco

Costco has just opened its first location in southern China in Shenzhen, and on the first day, it was overwhelmed mostly with shoppers from Hong Kong. The pictures of the massive queue of people made the Hong Kong news.

'

The most popular items? Boxes of 30 strawberries for 95.90 yuan (US$13.50), 2.5kg of Chilean cherries at 249.90 yuan, and a box of 30 eggs for 1880 yuan.

Many shoppers bought boxes of strawberries

Also a good deal was the two-piece of hard-sided Samsonite luggage at 769.90 yuan at Costco, which costs between HK$1,888 and HK$1,980 in Hong Kong. The luggage was snapped up within minutes of the store opening and would be very useful carrying purchases later.

Another popular item was a giant stuffed Disney teddy bear called Lotso from the animated movie Toy Story. 

Shoppers who were interviewed all said they would come back probably once a month because of the good deals. One reported they enjoyed the shopping experience on the mainland compared to Hong Kong, saying it was "livelier"... does that mean shopping in their hometown is depressing?!

Did it ever occur to the Hong Kong government that it should try to lure Costco or Sam's Club to set up shop in the city? Or its hands are tied because billionaires like Li Ka-shing would threaten to retaliate if it did?

Giant Lotso from Toy Story was also a big seller

Either way Hong Kong is losing out on its status as a shopping mecca...

Four Vancouver Businesses Gutted by Fire

The three-alarm fire started at 10pm at the back of Nando's

This morning we woke up to the news that some businesses in a neighbourhood near where we live were destroyed after a fire last night. It's quite a shock as I was just in that area yesterday to do some errands. 

The fire reportedly broke out around 10pm last night behind Nando's restaurant, an Afro-Portuguese chain that served flame-grilled chicken with a spicy sauce. The fire spread to the next door businesses called Deer Island Bakery and Yummy Yogurt, as well as Pho Tan Vietnamese Restaurant and Sandy Farm Market. They are located at 41st Avenue between East Boulevard and Maple Street.

The four businesses were torn down today

Periodically we would go to Sandy Farm Market for fruits and vegetables. It was a Korean-owned store and they closed on Sundays to go to church.

Not only were the businesses gutted, but also people who lived in four units above one of the buildings were homeless.

Fifty-five firefighters fought the three-alarm fire to get it under control. 

"At this time we can't say we don't know exactly where the fire started. There's so much damage right now... We'll be trying to ascertain the cause," said assistant fire chief Keith Stewart.

From photographs taken from the scene, it looks like Nando's has collapsed into itself, though Stewart has said at least the four businesses will have to be demolished, and an excavator was brought in Monday to take them down.

It's so tragic to hear about the fire -- which results in losses for business owners and people being out of work.

Okanagan: Farmers Market Haul

A nice day for a visit to the Farmers Market in Kelowna

This morning I checked on the map where to walk and found a Farmers Market nearby. I thought I had lots of time to check it out when I realised it closed at 1pm and would not open again until Saturday morning!

So I walked over there, which took about 15 minutes. Kelowna is an easy town to drive around, but is definitely not for pedestrians, who need to wait a long time to cross the street.

Some wonton soup with your bubble tea?

At one point I followed a young woman wearing a peach-coloured long sleeve top and black leggings and she periodically looked behind.

At the crosswalk she asked if I was going to the mall -- Orchard Place across the street.

"I'm going to check out the Farmers Market," I replied.

"Oh thanks for reminding me! Are you from here?" she asked.

"I'm from Vancouver," I replied.

"Oh this is our biggest mall and you probably have all those stores," she said before walking across the street to the mall.

A short time later I found the outdoor market in full swing with a decent turnout considering it was a weekday. 

Large jars of apple ginger and grape juice

Some stalls sold honey, cherries, and vegetables, while a food truck offered samosas, butter chicken, and naan bread, another wonton soup, steamed buns and bubble tea. There were also people selling ceramics, jewellery, cleaning solution for laminate in camper vans, and even French crepes, both savoury and sweet.

One stand was selling Italian-style sausages and it turns out the sausage maker is from Cinque Terre. He makes the sausages with pork, beef and bison varieties, and doesn't use many preservatives so the sausages are frozen. 

I looked at their salami selection and was intrigued by the truffle salami (C$19.80)! There are tiny black dots in it, the bits of truffle in there and the saleslady promised me it was delicious when thinly sliced. So I got one to try and she was excited to hear I was from Vancouver. They do sell their products in Metro Vancouver -- in New Westminster...

Small but sweet strawberries locally grown

Next to the Italian sausage stand was a South Asian woman selling strawberries (C$5 for a small box). They looked a bit overripe, but since we had bought so many cherries, I thought strawberries would be a nice complement. They were on the small side, but sweet.

Another stand sold large glass jars of fruit juice, in particular apple variations as well as grape. The original flavour one had some riboos tea in it and as promised, it did taste like the liquid form of apple pie. I also tried a sip of the apple and ginger juice. It sure had overt ginger tones in it, which would be nice to sip on, but not gulp down!

One guy was selling his own handmade chocolate with cacao beans he imports from various places like Uganda, Haiti, Tanzania and Belize. He admitted he liked eating the 100 percent dark chocolate one which was strongly bitter, while the ones with 70 percent were pretty good. 

People could try bits of chocolate before buying

The 70 percent one from Tanzania had a cherry after finish, the one from Belize more of a raisin flavour. He also makes bars with nuts and other flavours, but a chocolate purist would just buy the chocolate bars (C$10), so I got one each of the Tanzania and Belize. 

Now the trick is to try to prevent myself from eating everything too quickly, though the strawberries need to be eaten in the next day or so...

Okanagan: Road Trip to Osoyoos

Osoyoos is surrounded by hills and water, ideal for fruits, wine

Yesterday we drove east from Vancouver to Osoyoos for a few days before going on to Kelowna, both small towns in the Okanagan, a region best known for its wineries and orchards, as well as fruits like cherries, apricots, peaches, and apples. Only the cherries are for sale at the moment and they are delicious!

The drive takes about four hours but we broke it up into three sections: Vancouver to Hope, where we had a bite to eat at a well-known diner called Home Restaurant. I had the all-day breakfast of two eggs, a large German sausage, a giant heap of hash browns and rye toast. The pies on display looked amazing, but we were too full even for a bite. 

There are many colourful murals around

Then I took the wheel from Hope to Princeton, where the roads were quite winding and many hairpin turns that required slowing down and steady handling of the car. Luckily there weren't many cars on the road, and when there were passing lanes available, I was more than happy to let those speeders go past me!

Princeton to Osoyoos didn't have the hairpin turns, but many parts were single-lane traffic before arriving in the small town. There are big hotel chains like Holiday Inn and Best Western, while many others are private operations. I was surprised to see that they promoted having a "sandy beach" -- that meant Osoyoos Lake was at the back of the property, and while there was soft sand, it was only a few metres long, and no shells, just pebbles.

Nevertheless, the natural scenery is stunning, with Osoyoos in the bottom of a valley surrounded by hills. No wonder it's an ideal place for growing wine grapes, and the place is usually the hottest place in British Columbia in the summer.

Luckily for us temperatures haven't hit the peak yet, and instead the sun's rays are cooled by blustery winds. 

This legion stands out and very patriotic

Today I went for a walk around Osoyoos Lake, which looks like a slithering snake that is split in half almost in the middle by a small bridge. There's lots of green space around the lake, as well as the aforementioned "beach". People are either hanging out and sitting on benches enjoying the view, or out on the lake in their boats.

Walking into town there are several murals. One that caught my eye was the one for veterans, and pointed out they had served in both world wars, the Korean War as well as in Afghanistan, and as peacekeepers. By the lake there is also Veterans Park paying tribute to these soldiers.

Founded in 1946, Osoyoos is named after the Syilx (Okanagan Indian) word soo-yoos, meaning "narrowing of the waters". Fur traders first worked here in the 1800s, followed by miners. It wasn't until the early 1900s were commercial orchards established and then growing wine grapes in the 1960s.

The town has a few banks, national chain stores like Shopper's Drug Mart and Home Hardware, and the rest are independent shops from jewellery to books, nail salons and clothing. Oh yes and ice cream shops, and by the lake there's a trailer selling mini doughnuts and frozen lemonade.

A refreshing frozen lemonade

As I reached the trailer before lunchtime it was more prudent to just get the frozen lemonade, which was probably a ripoff at C$6, but what the heck, it was hot and lemonade flavoured shaved ice seemed like the ideal antidote after a warm day in the sun.