Curiously Carmen

I have used essential oils with my diffuser on/off for the past 2 years or so.  But over the past few months, I have developed a strong interest in essential oils and have been regularly using my diffuser for relaxation and as a sleep aid!

I have tried a few different brands, experimented with which oils I like, and which oils blend well together! I would consider myself to be pretty knowledgable about essential oils now. 

Thursday Plantation is a line from Australia that produces high quality essential oils, and essential oil-based products. They recently sent me a few things to try out, and I was more than happy to considering my new found interest in essential oils. 

I tried 3 of the most common essential oils – tea tree, peppermint, and lavender. They are great beginner oils and some of the first ones I’ve used a couple years ago. 

Compared to other essential oils I’ve used, the Thursday Plantation ones are very potent. One drop is probably all you need in a diffuser. 

On my first try with these, I used 4 peppermint drops and 2 lavender drops. That’s pretty standard for the cheap oils I purchase off Amazon. But that was WAY too strong for these bad boys! I got a bit dizzy and ended up pouring half of the water out and adding fresh water to dilute. Lesson learned, only 1-2 drops needed! 

The essential oils are about $15-20 CAD each, which I would say is mid range pricing for essential oils. I’ve purchased a kit of 8 oils for $30 CAD, and also more expensive ones that were $40 CAD each.

I also tried Thursday Plantation’s face wipes. They contain tea tree oil, copaiba oil, and aloe vera. 

My experience with tea tree oil face products in the past is that it has been very drying. I was a bit hesitant to try the wipes because I thought it would dry my skin out, but it didn’t at all. The wipe was moisturizing and made my skin feel plump, hydrated, and refreshed. 

Other products that they carry include soaps, pure tea tree oil antiseptic for skin (different than essential oils, NEVER put essential oils on your skin without a carrier base), face wash, shampoo, conditioner, lice treatment, and more. 

My first experience with Thursday Plantation was positive and I would recommend giving them a try. Thursday Plantation is also suitable for vegans and do not do any animal testing. 

Products are available at Safeway, Real Canadian Superstore, Save on Foods, Rexall, GNC, and online!

Press product featured. Opinions are own.

Although I have been to this plaza many times, I never noticed Wang’s Shanghai Cuisine quietly tucked in the back until Maki recommended. This place has been on my to-try list for quite awhile, so the boyfriend and I finally went one weekend afternoon! 

Wang’s looks bigger than it is from the outside. The inside is quite cramped. It has the mom and pop run feel to it which was nice! Although cramped, the service was really friendly and fast. 

One thing I recommend is to come early or be prepared to wait.

Just to give you an idea, we came on a Saturday at 10:50am which was 10 minutes before they officially opened. 

But… Most of the seats were taken and we got the last seat, 10 minutes before opening! How crazy. A steady line was forming by 11 so we took that as a sign of a good restaurant.  

Xiao Long Bao: The XLB were reasonably priced, about $7 I believe? Pretty cheap compared to other places in 2019. (I mention the year because food prices increase every year, and I don’t want someone reading this 3 years from now thinking they’re the same price. Cause Curiously Carmen is here to stay if things go as planned!)

Anyways, the XLB were so good. There was a small glass window where you could see 2 staff making them from scratch. The portion of pork was very generous and filling. The broth was very flavourful. I would order these again in a heartbeat. 

Sliced beef with noodles in soup: I was having a hard time deciding between this and their pork noodle soup. In the end, I had no regrets picking the beef one because it was so good. 

The sliced beef was so incredibly tender and flavourful. From the online photos, it looked like the beef wouldn’t be that tender but the slices almost melted in my mouth.

In addition to the delicious beef, the broth was really good too! Although the broth was on the clear side, it was full of comforting sesame flavour. I would imagine this bowl would taste good if one added the chili oil on the table into this too. 

Dan Dan noodles: The boyfriend enjoyed his Dan Dan noodles too. There was a good amount of spiciness to it.

His only complaint was that it didn’t come with any meat, so he was a bit hungry after still. 

The food came out very quickly, and since it was such a busy place, we finished our meal in under 20 minutes!

The turnover is quite quick, which is needed due to the line ups. So glad we finally tried Wang’s! 

I would definitely come back in a heartbeat… But only if I came before 11 because I don’t like lining up for meals!

Yay!

About a year ago, the boyfriend and I found Shanghai River on Yelp and it has become one of our go-to places whenever in Richmond. We started practicing archery nearby which is great because we can come here for dinner afterwards!

Since we have been here multiple times since my first post, I thought I would write a revisit on it.

This place is a bit upscale but we usually just order the XLB and some noodles, so it’s not that expensive. The set menus and larger dishes are the expensive ones.

Parking has usually been pretty easy. There is an underground parking lot with many reserved spots for the restaurant.

Pan fried pork soft buns: The pork buns are delightfully crispy on the outside. The pork inside was flavourful and juicy. An order comes with 5 buns so it is great to share.

Shanghai fried noodles: The noodles here were decent. There was a good amount of wok hei in the noodles. I’m not really sure how to translate wok hei but the literal translation is ‘pan air’.

When a dish is cooked in a wok pan, you should be able to taste the smokiness/grilled taste in the dish. They were a bit oily so I only had a few bites.

Mapo tofu: The mapo tofu was absolutely delicious! It packed a good amount of heat. There was a good amount of minced pork and tofu in there too. I shouldn’t be having spicy food but I couldn’t resist and had a couple bites!

Shanghai wonton soup: After seeing the staff make the wonton behind the clear glass, I decided to give their wontons a try and was not disappointed!

The soup was a bit bland and probably just a canned chicken broth, but the wontons made up for it. The skin was silky smooth and the inside was filled with meat. I would recommend this if you’re wanting something clear and light but still yummy.

Dan dan noodles: The boyfriend’s must order when coming here. The dan dan noodles here are more soupy rather than saucy. It packed a good amount of spice.

Xiao long bao: Saving the best for last, the xiao long bao! The skin is thin except for the dough twist on top. There was a good amount of flavourful broth inside, as well as pork. Just writing about this is making me hungry.

The boyfriend and I first saw Sonoya Japanese Restaurant when we were passing by the library, and did not think much of it. When looking on Yelp for a place to try with Takoyaki, I saw that this place had pretty good reviews so off we went!

Unfortunately, our expectations fell short and we found it to be meh….

Sushi Sonoya is located inside the downtown library on the second floor. There are a few small food places and coffee shops here. They have recently renovated and opened under their current name a few months ago.

The restaurant is small but seating was still comfortable, although it wasn’t busy so I can’t comment on peak times. I am not sure if there’s a washroom here, but the library has one a few steps away.

Chirashi don: The chirashi don was smaller than I expected. The salmon sashimi portion was quite small. For reference, the tuna slices beside are the typical size you’d get.

In addition, the sashimi did not taste fresh at all. The octopus was so chewy and bland that I ended up not finishing it. Meanwhile, the shrimp had a bitter taste so I just stopped eating it in fear that I would be greeted with food poisoning later….

The rice itself also wasn’t that filling either, so needless to say it was disappointing and I was still hungry.

Gyoza: The gyoza came piping hot and had a delicious garlic aroma. However, Takoyaki mentioned that there was not much filling inside. There was a lot of air once you bit into the gyoza so that was disappointing.

Magic salmon roll: The magic salmon roll came with crab, avocado, prawn tempura and cucumber inside. The outside was topped with smoked salmon, spicy mayo (sub. regular mayo), unagi sauce, fish flakes, and green onion.

It was quite a filling roll so I was helped Takoyaki finish the last couple! I’m glad I did because I was still hungry after my disappointing chirashi don. The roll was quite delicious. I enjoyed the mix of unagi and mayo sauce.

The smoked salmon and bonito flakes also made the roll more fun. I’m a huge fan of smoked/grilled fish flavours so it was delicious.

The sashimi needs some work because it did not taste fresh. I wouldn’t come back unless I was desperately hungry in this area and had no other options. Usually Yelp is pretty reliable but it disappointed me this time!

Nay!