Run Jin: Episode 17 — New Year's Gift Giveaway

Love this friendship so much. This episode really highlights their teamwork, how they hype each other up to give each other energy, and how they can cheat at games better together… This is what being besties is all about.

J-Hope — J-Hope on the Stage Tour in North America

(Photo source: BTS Weverse)
Just applied for the Membership Presale for the US and Mexico 'cause I ain't taking any chances here. PRAYING TO THE BANGTAN GODS. 🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼

BTS — Jin & J-Hope's Plans for 2025

Love a good Zoom meeting with Powerpoint presentations. So professional.

Dining Out: Tteok Mandu Guk and King-Size Meat and Kimchi Mandu at Jin Korean Noodles

My friends Minji, Daniel, Samuel, and I were all craving something hot, soupy, and comforting for dinner since it's been -10℃ everyday for the past week. So we made the unanimous decision to go to Jin Korean Noodles:

Tteok Mandu Guk
Half-Half King-Size Mandu

Since we just started the new year, I decided to get the tteok mandu guk (rice cake soup with dumplings) as per Korean New Year tradition, and we shared an order of their signature king-size mandu (half meat and half meat with kimchi). I gotta say, I've been coming here since they opened during the pandemic and they never disappoint. Their line-ups get crazy but it's always worth the wait. Will have to come back ASAP for my favourite kalguksu. It's noodle soup season, after all.

Jin Korean Noodles

230 Commerce Valley Dr. E., Unit 7

Thornhill, ON L3T 7Y3

(905) 764-5922

J-Hope — "Beginning of a New Dream"

Man, both Jin and J-Hope really jumped right back into work from the moment they got discharged from the military... But on that note, NEW MUSIC IN MARCH I CAN'T FUCKING WAIT.

J-Hope — J-Hope on the Stage Tour

(Photo source: BTS Weverse)
Oooof. Let the first bloodbath of 2025 begin.

Run Jin: Episode 16 — It's Me, Zombie

The puzzles aren't particularly hard, but frankly, the physical agility required — and the fact that there are only two players — makes this escape "room" (building?) a 5/5 difficulty level in my books. Those Run Jin producers are ruthless.

HAPPY (BELATED) V DAY 2024! 🐯

(Photo source: BTS Weverse)
(Photo source: BTS Weverse)
(Photo source: BTS Weverse)
(Photo source: BTS Weverse)
(Photo source: BTS Weverse)
(Photo source: BTS Weverse)
(Photo source: BTS Weverse)
To Bangtan's social butterfly, ARMY's Winter Bear, and father of Tata, happy 29th birthday! Thank you for your childlike innocence, deep soulful voice, incredible vocal range, big boxy smile, charming naiveté, beautiful imagination, and eccentric sense of humour. Thank you for being unapologetically you, and for always showing us the purity of love and friendship, the importance of humility, and the beauty of slow dancing by yourself. Please stay safe and healthy in the military, and come back stronger than ever. 💜

(Note: V's birthday is on December 30, but out of respect for the victims and victims' families of the Jeju Air plane crash, BigHit Music halted all activity until today.)

Dining Out: Burrata & Prosciutto and Orecchiette Chicken & Mushrooms in Gorgonzola Cream Sauce at Il Postino

Since both my friend Chelsea and I weren't able to meet up in December due to schedules and illness, we decided to meet up for a little combo Christmas/New Year's dinner at Il Postino this evening:

Burrata & Prosciutto
Pasta Special: Orecchiette with chicken and mushrooms in gorgonzola cream sauce

We started with the burrata and prosciutto as usual, which is simple but reliably delicious, especially put on their complimentary bread with smear of their house made chili oil. (Chelsea is gluten-free, so I actually ended up eating the entire loaf of bread by myself with the burrata, and it was worth every carby crumb.) For my main dish, I decided to get today's pasta special, which was orecchiette with chicken and mushrooms in a lightly spiced gorgonzola cream sauce, and it was PHENOMENAL. (They serve 6 pasta dishes on their regular menu and I've had them all multiple times, so when they have a pasta special, I always order it. And I never regret it.) I added some freshly grated parmesan and a few scoops of their chili oil (which they should bottle up and sell to the public because I would buy a vat of it) and it was PERFECTION.

I say this after every time I eat there, but I have never had a single disappointing dish at Il Postino, and this still hasn't changed since I first ate there over a decade ago. And service was particularly great this evening. I haven't tried Costa Sorrento yet (which is closed for winter break until next week) but Il Postino is still my favourite Italian restaurant in Markham.

Il Postino

186 Main St. Unionville

Unionville, ON L3R 2G9

(905) 940-1555

Dining Out: New Year Special at Uncle Qiang BBQ 犟贰叔

Happy New Year!

I rang in 2025 with Chinese takeout, bubble tea, and a Harry Potter movie marathon with my friends Minji and Daniel, which, frankly, was the best idea, ever. Since I got home at 4:00AM, we decided to go for a late lunch at my new fave, Uncle Qiang BBQ, where they are currently having a New Year Special Combo for $119.99:

Hand-smashed cucumbers
Flavoured sausage
Black pepper beef brisket
Pickled Chinese cabbage with chili oil
Chinese sausage and black pepper beef brisket
Garlic prawns
Miso beef brisket
Miso beef brisket and pickled cabbage
Egg fried rice
Uncle's Special beef
Uncle's Special lamb
Cheese corn

2025 is off to a great start.

Uncle Qiang BBQ 犟贰叔

350 Highway 7, Unit 105

Richmond Hill, ON L4B 3N2

(905) 751-7518

Run Jin: Episode 15 — You've Been Kidnapped

"We really must be dumb. We shouldn't film content like this."

Coincidentally, I have been doing a lot of escape rooms recently. My friends and I just went to our third one in a month at Omventure, and just a couple weeks ago, we did a horror-themed one that had a live actor. Let's just say, I was so glad I had already taken my heart rate medication because I had never run that fast in my life. Anyway, I feel for these guys, who are maybe the biggest scaredy cats I have ever seen, to be forced to do a horror escape room let alone a regular escape room. They would totally be my last choices to bring with me because we would never get out in time.

Dining Out: Christmas Dinner at Xiang Zi Hot Pot

Every year, my mom and I go out for Christmas dinner, usually a set menu type of deal. But I wanted something a little more comforting this year, and more warming because I've had a runny nose and nasal congestion since Sunday. And what could be more warming than hot pot?

Ready-to-serve dishes: Cucumber salad, lettuce stem salad, and marinated duck tongues

Premium item: Abalone

Napa cabbage, lettuce stems, king oyster mushrooms, and enoki mushrooms

Beef tripe, beef tendon, fish and beef balls, winter melon, daikon, and lotus root

Premium item: Tender beef

Angus beef, beef brisket, beef sirloin, New Zealand lamb, pork belly, and basa fillet

Cooking in mushroom and pork bone broth

Dessert: Fresh-cut papaya, oriental melon, honeydew, and watermelon

On top of their regular menu, they also had a Christmas-exclusive buffet-style spread around the main centre booth, which included ready-to-eat foods like marinated quail eggs, braised tofu, and stewed beef tendon; raw items already separated into dishes that you could pick up instead of ordering from the tablet; a huge variety of all-you-can-drink canned pop; as well as an assortment of cakes, Melona bars, and fruits for dessert. This was awesome. Kinda wish they had this all year round, but I know it's a lot to maintain and it makes the restaurant way more hectic than it needs to be since so many more people are getting up to roam. Still, the food was excellent, the service was excellent, and therefore, Christmas was excellent. 

Hope everyone had a similarly delicious and merry Christmas!

Xiang Zi Hot Pot

Uptown Market Shopping Centre

3989 Highway 7

Markham, ON L3R 5M6

(905) 305-9888

Dining Out: Christmas Eve Dim Sum at NKS Banquet Hall

Went for a late dim sum brunch with my mom at her regular spot, where the servers are efficient, the food is affordable, their dim sum hours run until 3:00PM, and they have the biggest har gow I have ever seen:

Steamed shrimp dumplings (har gow)

Baked egg tarts (daan tat)

Steamed BBQ pork buns (cha siu bao)

Dough fritter rice noodle rolls

Deep-fried stuffed tofu and eggplant

Steamed bean curd rolls in oyster sauce

Nothing like dim sum to get us into the Christmas spirit!

NKS Banquet Hall

New Kennedy Square

8360 Kennedy Rd., Unit B06

Markham, ON L3R 9W5

(905) 948-8668

Dining Out: Winter Solstice Banquet Dinner at Casa Victoria

My brother and sis-in-law brought my nephew, Archer, to visit us in Toronto for the first time this weekend! Since most of us live in Toronto, it was also Archer's first time meeting all the relatives, so to celebrate this first meeting as well as winter solstice, my brother treated the entire extended family to a Chinese banquet dinner at Casa Victoria:

Roasted suckling pig with jellyfish noodles
Baked meat-stuffed sea whelk in Portuguese sauce
Deep-fried scallop and shrimp balls with broccoli
Braised duck feet with snow pea leaves and shiitake mushrooms
Stir-fried jumbo shrimp with snap peas and carrots
Roasted crispy chicken
Glutinous fried rice with Chinese sausage

There was also a soup course, wontons in soup, and desserts (red bean soup, almond cookies, and goji berry jelly), but I was too distracted with catching up with my cousins to take photos. Anyway, everyone got to meet Archer and agreed he is one hecking cute baby, the food was delicious, and everyone was full and happy by the end, so I think dinner was a success overall. Hope everyone had a great winter solstice!

Casa Victoria

8601 Warden Ave., Unit 4 - 6

Markham, ON L3R 0B5

(905) 948-1618

Dining Out: A Yakiniku Feast at Shinta Japanese BBQ

Minji, Daniel, and I took our friend Samuel out for his birthday at Shinta since he had never had Japanese BBQ and wanted to try it. Since it was his first time having Japanese BBQ and it was his birthday, we decided to spring for the Silver Wagyu AYCE menu and quite literally ordered every single item off of it:

Chef selected wagyu cuts
Chef selected wagyu cuts
Chef selected wagyu cuts
Chef selected wagyu cuts
Rack of lamb, miso toro beef, and pineapple
Australia Mg+ top sirloin steak and foie gras
Prime kalbi short rib
Toro beef with tare sweet soy sauce
Thick cut ox tongue
Berkshire pork belly and sous vide pork belly
Sukiyaki beef
Thin cut beef tongue, scallops, and shrimp
Hazelnut chocolate mochi jelly cake from Savorology

I didn't even include the non-meat items we ate: clams in sake, baked sweet potatoes with cheese, cheesy butter corn, vegetables, takoyaki, cold noodles, or bibimbap… Honestly, there was so much meat that we couldn't keep track of every single cut we ate. I can only tell you that there wasn't a single one we didn't like. That having been said, I think after you eat like, 12 different types of beef, you can't even really tell which one is the wagyu, so I can't say that the $53 price jump from their regular menu to the Silver Wagyu menu is worth it. Still, Samuel loved everything and had a great time, which is what really matters at the end of the day. And we even got him an adorable hazelnut chocolate mochi jelly cake from Savorology which is just as delicious as it is cute.

The only thing I have to complain about here is how much they rush you to leave when your seating time is almost up. They have a 2-hour seating limit, which is reasonable, but they come by the table to ask for "last call" orders about 30 minutes before your time is up. Of course, by the time your last call orders arrive and everything is grilled, you only have about 10 minutes to eat. So not only were they hesitant to bring out the birthday cake with only 5 minutes remaining in our seating time, they were also reluctant to bring out a knife or plates for it. And when we finally got a knife to cut the cake, our server lay down the bill on the table and got a bus boy to start cleaning up everything off our table and even asked if we wanted to get the cake we were IN THE MIDDLE OF EATING to go. I get that you want to get the next table seated, but you can give us an extra 5 minutes to eat a cake that was clearly for a birthday. Especially if we're spending over $100 per person. Again, I understand that it's apart of your policy, but it is somewhat unprofessional and ruins the vibe of what is clearly someone's birthday celebration. Seriously, your next party can wait 5 minutes. They can accommodate it at every other restaurant.

Shinta Japanese BBQ

280 West Beaver Creek Rd.

Richmond Hill, ON L4B 3B1

(905) 597-0305