April 2016 – Page 2

Brunch @ Orchard

April 20, 2016April 28, 2016Food, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a Comment

We recently hit up Orchard while we were looking for somewhere to brunch. Their selections are homely and simple.

I ordered the Orchard Classix, which as the name describes, classic staples like bacon, eggs, toast and fries. It wasn’t particularly exciting but I guess that’s my fault for ordering it! I wish the fries had a bit more spice or even salt though.

Nash had the Sweet Stuffed French Toast with strawberry and vanilla compote and vanilla cream. This was delicious but the portion could’ve been a bit bigger for the price.

We haven’t tried their other stuff yet but I think they are probably more known for their beverages and events.

Nowhere With You

April 19, 2016April 20, 2016Books, Entertainment1 Comment

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Came home to this in the mail! Can't wait to read it @joshokane @joelplaskett

A post shared by Tiana Feng (@tianafeng) on Apr 5, 2016 at 3:13pm PDT

I recently finished Josh O’Kane’s Nowhere With You, a biography of Canadian singer Joel Plaskett. I read it swiftly as it was very easy to pick up. It beautiful romanticized the East Coast and I have a vast appreciation for the music and industry that has come from there.

It’s so hard to make a living making music without leaving home for the big city, something I don’t actually have much experience in as I am lucky enough to be from the city (kind of). I love how O’Kane told the stories of how certain songs were made, the events attached to them and the circumstances of Plaskett’s album. It made me appreciate the music even more than I already do.

I’m on a Podcast!

April 18, 2016LifeLeave a Comment

hernameis

I’m excited to be featured in the latest episode of the podcast Her Name Is… about women in Toronto who create content. It makes me anxious to hear myself talk, but I love opportunities if I can inspire others to want to create things, or take on new projects. This year, one of my goals was to be a little braver and speaking on a podcast is definitely within that goal.

Hear the entire thing below!

Record Store Day Haul

April 17, 2016Entertainment, MusicLeave a Comment

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A post shared by Tiana Feng (@tianafeng)

Yesterday was Record Store Day and I went to support my local record store Dead Dog Records. I wasn’t interested in many Record Store Day exclusives but I did dig through and pick up a few cool records I didn’t already have.

I took home with me Braids Deep in the Iris with a 16 page photobook, the new Explosions in the Sky record with etchings on side D and Jimmy Eat World’s Futures in blue.

I love picking up records that have random extras. I love looking at vinyl (including the packaging and contents) as much as I do listening to them.

Emma’s Country Kitchen

April 16, 2016Food, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a Comment

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This morning I went for brunch at Emma’s Country Kitchen. My friend and I arrived before the 9am opening time and there were already locals in line. It’s a super popular spot on the weekends for brunch and also appeared on Jon Catucci’s You Gotta Eat Here.

I ordered the Emma’s Benny. Warm and fluffy buttermilk biscuit was topped with house cured peameal bacon, poached eggs and a generous amount of in mousselline sauce (like a hollandaise with whipped cream). It was served with a side of griddled red skin potatoes. The sauce was buttery and delicious and I dipped everything in it. The peameal bacon was not too salty or hard. The eggs were a perfect poach. This dish was heavenly and I washed it down with some freshly squeeze orange juice.

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My friend had the Cornbread and Pimento Cheese French Toast. A house made corn bread, dipped in a creamy custard and griddled until golden brown. It’s opped with melted pimento cheese, 2 over easy eggs, avocado, crema and finished with a smoked paprika salt. I stole a bite and it had a heat to it that was balanced well with avocado cream.

This place, even if you have to wait, is well worth it.

Sushi Inn

April 15, 2016April 23, 2016Food, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a Comment

I recently went for dinner with my friend in Yorkville at Sushi Inn. Though it is the prime location for pricey restaurants, this place is very affordable. I ordered a plate of sashimi of all types: salmon, hokkagai, scallop, octopus, tuna, shrimp and more for around $20.

The quality of the sushi wasn’t bad and mostly fresh though the shrimp was a bit limp. I’m not entirely sure why they have to lump a bunch of carrot shavings there. It seems like a waste of carrots to me!

The meal came with classic staples of miso soup and salad. Those things are very hard to get wrong!

My friend and I also split the Beef Sashimi which was served with green onions and ponzu sauce. Look, there are damn carrot shavings again! I think the beef might have been sitting on top of ice for a little too long because it was the tiniest bit frozen but still tasty with the sauce.

We were very full by the end of the meal (she ordered a sushi set) and the bill didn’t break the bank. Sushi Inn is a good place to go if you’re looking for affordable sushi in the middle of Yorkville and the quality and selection is more than you would expect for the price.

Vinyl Me Please- April 2016 Edition

April 14, 2016Entertainment, MusicLeave a Comment

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This month’s Vinyl Me Please pressing celebrates the 20th anniversary of The Fugees’ The Score. It is printed on beautiful orange and black vinyl and includes a bonus gold 7″ with tracks that were never on vinyl. They used all the original masters which means there’s some crackling from the original recordings. There’s also a poster and art by Kenyatta A.C. Hinkle.

There were a few extras thrown in like a mysterious 7″ with no description, that was later revealed to be a new Tourist song. I think it’s awesome and kind of romantic to tease new tracks this way. I had no idea what to expect when I put it on the player. Also added was a $35 gift certificated to Hello Fresh, which I sadly cannot use because they haven’t launched in Canada yet.

DSCF9018 This month was also the first time I ordered from Vinyl Me Please’s exclusive member store. They did a limited run of Suun’s upcoming Hold/Still (it isn’t released until tomorrow) in white.

I’m slowly outgrowing my little bachelor apartment as vinyl starts to take up more and more space.

Movement Goals

April 13, 2016Health, iOS, Life, TechnologyLeave a Comment

One of the biggest benefits personally from the Apple Watch is the Activity app which encourages me to move more each day.

I set a modest goal, the app suggests readjustments when you beat/fail goals. Right now it’s at around 200 calories. That doesn’t seem like much but the watch does not measure the calories you burn by just living. They take into account your body, movement and heart rate to figure out active calories for the movement app. 220 is a modest amount because on days where I’m super lazy I embarrassingly don’t make it. It’s encouraged me to do more walking and taking stairs instead of escalators.

Another part to it is this Exercise ring. It tracks any strenuous activity (again based on heart rate I think). I don’t always exercise but I do a lot of fast walking that happens to fill this ring. On days where I feel like I have some movement to catch up on I do the 7 minute workout.

One thing we often don’t take into account is how much time we spent sitting each day. The activity app has goals for how many hours you’ve stood at least a minute. It seems like an easy goal to make but I often get reminded at the 50 minute mark that I’ve been siting for too long.

I don’t think these small changes will shed any visible weight (not that I need to) but it’s always healthy to find ways to encourage movement and I love that I have these little goals and reminders.

My Sibling

April 12, 2016Family, LifeLeave a Comment

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Happy #nationalsiblingday! Here's a photo of @liviafeng and I wearing weird dresses

A post shared by Tiana Feng (@tianafeng) on Apr 10, 2016 at 3:32pm PDT

It was National Sibling Day over the weekend and I dug up a few old photos of me and my sister. We used to be put in a lot of strange matching outfits and colourful dresses. I look like I’m a watermelon in the photo above.

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Haha young jay fans #nationalsiblingday

A post shared by Tiana Feng (@tianafeng) on Apr 10, 2016 at 5:59pm PDT

I remember in elementary school a Blue Jay player visited and we had an assembly and we all received hats. To this day, I have no idea if my parents even knew what the hats were for. I don’t think they knew what the Blue Jays were at the time of this photo (but they obviously do now because of last year’s success).

It’s strange how time flies and to look back at these old photos. I’m lucky to have had someone to share a lot of my life with. We might not always get a long but I don’t know where I’d be without her.