Review Archives - Steven D Rowe

Bubble World Surrey BC

For quite some time today was a gloomy cold day here in British Columbia, it was great to see some rain. As we were feeling cold we thought a visit to Jade Valley restaurant was in order as they are well known for their Hot and Sour Soup. However, they never opened on time so we decided to go to another favourite of ours, The Bubble World Restaurant.

For the first time, I had a warm drink in there, a milking coffee. I wasn’t expecting such a huge cup and it was warm and milking, really good. It was worth the price and I couldn’t believe I virtually finished it, I may not need a coffee for a few days.

I chose the Beef Brisket on Rice for my lunch. It came with Bok Choi, carrots, and tomato. It actually had a bit of a kick to it as well, which I wasn’t expecting. It was really good.

The hubby had fish, bacon and tofu dish, I didn’t try any but I have it on good authority that was pretty good too.

Thank goodness we took containers with us as there was enough to take home which we shall get another meal out of. It came to around about $38 excluding tip which is a pretty decent price these days, especially for the quality that we had.

I recommend this restaurant, give it a go if you are in the area. I give it a 5/5.

Steven2023-07-24T23:03:39+00:0024 July 2023|Food, Review|

The Ark

The Ark is a US TV Sci-Fi Series aired on the SyFy network in 2023. It was released in Canada on 1st February 2023.

About

A hundred years into the future, a spacecraft known as Ark One is shuttling a complement of would-be colonists away from a devastated Earth to a new home, Proxima b. The ship suffers a catastrophic event that kills almost all of the technical crew and all of the ship’s senior officers. The survivors must work to reorganize themselves to maintain the boat and stay on course to reach their destination.
Via Wikipedia.

Cast

Some, but not all, of the cast members:

Christie Burke as Sharon Garnet
We recently saw her in the 2022 series Billy The Kid. She is a Canadian actress and model.

Reece Richie as Spencer Lane
We recognize other productions he has been in including a 2007 episode of The Bill, Endeavour and the TV series Les Miserables. He is a British actor from Lowestoft.

Richard Fleeshman as James Bruce
Numerous British productions such as 210 episodes of Coronation Street, and 1 episode of Call The Midwife. He is a British actor and singer. In 2008 he supported Elton John on his Summer stadium tour.

Shalini Peiris as Dr Sanjivni Kabir
She has appeared in many productions including most recently Good Karma Hospital which we really enjoyed.

Tiana Upcheva as Eva Markovic
A well known actress from Serbia with recent productions such as The Outpost and Igra subdine.
Instagram

Pavle Jerinic as Felix Strickland
Also from Serbia he has appeared in numerous production including, with Tiana, The Outpost and Igra subdine.

Review

The show was filmed At Pink Films International Studio in Serbia.

This show didn’t receive good reviews on sites like IMDB, with a rating of only 5.2 stars at the time of writing this. It seemed to be the case that those who watched more episodes enjoyed it more and were giving it a rating between 8-10 out of 10.

One of the complaints I heard about the series was the “unknown actors” they had on it. However, it was an international cast who had quite long resumes, so I believe, because it was on the US channel SyFy, that the audience might have been expecting a American-based blockbuster star. I am more than happy that it gave the opportunity to those actors to break in more to a different market.

There was good character development with numerous personal surprises for each of them. The worst thing about a drama are when a character is the same throughout the show.

The story was pretty solid with mysteries and challenges along the way, plus Dr Smith type character having to content with ie can’t leave him behind so have to put up with him. There was a good level of personal challenges, action and humour.

The CGI was ok, the ark itself didn’t look quite right, can’t lay my finger on it. Inside the ark the special effects were ok. The gear stick, as though it was pinched from a gaming console, I found quite amusing although I’m not sure if it was a purposely funny moment.

Summary

The show is worth watching but like everything one needs to give it a chance. The first season of Star Trek The Next Generation wasn’t well received but caught on to be iconic. I will give it a 8/10.

Trailer

Steven2023-07-11T22:11:59+00:0011 July 2023|Review, Television|

Lush

Lush is a store I would visit in London from time to time, a long time ago. Since I do like a unique handmade soap now and again I thought I would try out their branch in Vancouver.

Background

I usually use Yardley soap from the UK which is available everywhere in Canada. It suits my skin type. Whenever I see a handmade soap shop I will buy something usually in an oatmeal-type scent. There is a store on Granville Island that I love. For moisturiser, I use the Bulldog brand which is also from the UK.

Visit to Lush

I went into Lush and asked if they had an Oatmeal type product, they said no but they went on to give me a sales pitch and I’m not sure they actually listened to my initial ask.

I found out later that the store now pitches itself towards the 25-35-year-old market, so maybe they aren’t used to an old geezer going in there.

I did buy one bar of soap from them but it was CAD$19!

I was the only one in the store and it was lunchtime with many people passing so I’m not sure if they are really that busy. Maybe many people had forgotten they existed, which is what some are saying. The company has decreased their social media presence, maybe that is a risky way forward these days. Some seem to discuss whether they are ethically minded but it seems they are “on that journey”.

Pricing

These are price comparisons of the products I use:

A Yardley bar of soap is about CAD$1.25 each and lasts for a month. A four-pack of soap can be cheaper.

A unique bar of soap costs me around CAD$5.99. These can be found at markets and specialist stores. Whether they are ethical is hit and miss, it’s best to check before buying it.

So, CAD$19 for Lush is way out there beyond anything I’ve paid before. The same bar in Lush UK costs CAD0.30 less.

Soap Review

The bar of soap I bought was ok but nothing to write home about. It breaks up into many little pieces. Instead of moisturising my skin it actually dried it out. The smell is quite strong and carries out of the bathroom into the hallway.

I will use it for hand rather than face use. I won’t buy it again, too expensive for the quality, or lack thereof.

Lessons Learned

It’s good to try these things but I will stick to Yardley and handmade soaps.

Steven2023-06-07T20:53:25+00:007 June 2023|Review|

Paul Bakery Cafe Restaurant

PAUL is a bakery restaurant that I am more familiar with from my visits to Paris, France. Eventually, it opened up in London then other locations where we lived such as Washington DC. Recently they opened up a branch in Downtown Vancouver, British Columbia along the popular Robson Street.

This week, we finally made it to the location here. We hadn’t been downtown since COVID broke out but felt like we needed to start going out and about in the city. This is my review of the restaurant.

Ambience

The Vancouver location of course had similar branding to the other stores although much larger than the ones we’ve been to in Europe. The branch in Washington DC appeared to be larger although more chaotic.

The Vancouver branch is separated into three sections. First the line up and buy bakery items and a drink which you can take out or have in the cafe area with the cafe. The informal cafe part had plenty of seating to bring your purchases to eat in comfort. The third area was the sit down menu based area where you are waited on by servers. That area has a large ceiling and ornate paintings on the walls.

No matter what section you sat in it was fairly noisy and there wasn’t a lot of people in there when we arrived. We acclimatized after a little while although a couple of times I couldn’t hear the staff’s questions. It seemed, due to the high ceilings maybe, there was a lot of echo.

There were three bathrooms; two unisex and one for special needs. They were clean and maintained very well.

Staff

The staff were friendly and attentive no matter what section you sat in.

See pictures above. I had the Salmon Eggs Benedict which was amazing, I have this dish often and this was one of the best. The Mocha I had was luscious; very naughty but nice. I almost ate everything, I didn’t feel too full up. The eggs were done as I ordered, soft. The brioche was light and fluffy, not too stodgy as I’ve recently in another restaurant. View the full menu on their website.

Pricing

It was expensive but I guess you pay for quality and we don’t come here that often so it’s all good.

Take Out

I took an almond croissant away to have another time. That was expensive too but it’s most likely the best you can get. I have bought more expensive ones and they haven’t turned out very well.

Conclusion

I would go back here again, it was a treat that we don’t have too often. If I worked near here I would have no salary left.

Steven2023-06-02T20:58:40+00:002 June 2023|Food, Review|