Hyang Jin

Today's post is about a small restaurant called Hyang Jin. It serves mainly japanese food but you can also find a few korean dishes in the menu. Because it is a small family-owned business, service can be slow sometimes, but the waitresses are very friendly and polite. It is a nice cozy place.

The restaurant has gone through some changes, when the Korean owner got married. The girl is very nice and friendly. Because I used to go there so often, we kinda became friends. I was so happy for them when I learned the happy news =) She included many new dishes and combos in the menu and added many little decorations in the restaurant to make Hyang Jin even better than before.

This is how the place looks inside. The white papers on the wall are written some appetizers. It is like a mini menu on the wall.

What I present today is one of the combos for 2. This one is called Aki; it means autumn in japanese. Aki is a very good deal. Only 50$, tax included and you get all the "common" japanese food people would order when they crave for a yummy japanese meal.

This is the sashimi platter. Hyang Jin is a small restaurant. I am guessing this is why they do not offer a too big variety of seafood. You do not find the freshest fish, but the quality is decent for the price you pay. As you see, you get a lot of salmon, which I like d=

We also got more sashimi than the regular size since I cancelled one of the dish in the combo which was grilled saba or grilled salmon bones.

Nice presentation?
Side dishes are offered. They are seaweed, kimchi and beans sprouts. Hyang Jin's kimchi is homemade and they serve the best kimchi I have tasted. I do not really like kimchi that tastes sour and Hyang Jin's kimchi has not a tiny sour taste. I somehow taste the japanese rice wine sake, but I don't know if I'm wrong. You can also buy it from the restaurant =)

Sushi includes some maki and some sushi. I noticed that Hyang Jin's nigiri has "longer" fish on top of the rice, making more unique and more Japanese authentic.


This one is beef teriyaki. It is served on a hot plate, making it smell sooo delicious!
The tempura platter has shrimps and a great variety of veggies.
Tempura sauce with green onions.
Yummy isn't it? Believe me, at the end of the night, both you and your dinner partner will be very full! If this is too much, they also have other smaller combos cheaper, but also very tasty. Next time I will blog about Hyang Jin's lunch menu which I highly recommend also. I just need to go again and take better pictures...hopefully soon, perhaps with my U1 friends. They are having such a hard time trying to get used to McGill hahahah I believe after all the suffering, we deserve a yummy treat =)

Hyang Jin

5332, chemin Queen-Mary (corner Decarie)

Montreal, Qc

H3X 1T7

(514) 482-0645

Relaxation @ Espace Nomad

Last week was a lovely week. All my midterms were done so I finally had time to go to Espace Nomad for a spa with a friend, just in time before our Tuango coupon expires! After several experiences, my friend and I decided that manicures, massages, facials, briefly all the spas that we purchase from Groupon and all these discount websites are bad! So even before getting there, we had 0 expectation and we even discussed about how much tips we would give if the experience would be too poor.

And then... SURPRISE! Our experience at Spa Espace Nomad totally exceeded our expectation. We enjoyed so much and are planning of going back! =)

Our spa includes a facial and a back or feet exfoliation (worth 128$). Very sadly, we had to take a bus to get there, and there was huge traffic! We ended up being (very) late so the aesthetician told me that I could have the feet exfoliation while enjoying the second mask. I was a little disappointed because my friend and I were really looking forward for a back exfoliation. Apparently, our back has the thickest skin so an exfoliation from time to time is highly recommended. And in the same time, it just feels so good to have someone "massage" our back a little d=

Back to my story, the lady understood that we really wanted a back exfoliation, so she suggested that we could cut a part of the facial so that we could enjoy the exfoliation we wanted =) I do simple facial mask at home sometimes, so cutting in our facial was fine to me. After all, the facial treatment at Espace Nomad includes 2 masks, so skipping the second one, we still benefit from a mask.

The treatment started with washing and exfoliating the face. The aesthetician pressed on my face with the most appropriate force. It followed with a vegetarian clay mask that enormously nourishes our skin. In the same time, she also gave me a arm, decollete and shoulder massage. It was heavenly amazing (except that the massage was too short, as always). I totally did not expect a massage, especially a good one. It was not even said in our Tuango deal. They did not cut in their service because we did not pay the regular price. Isn't it marvellous? Up to here, I knew I would come back!

The waited-for-so-long back exfoliation did not upset us. I was glad that I ended up enjoy it. It was just like a mini massage, in the same time, I felt cleaner d= After both treatments, my skin was amazingly soft. Even those areas where I used to have a lot of blackheads/whiteheads were very smooth. I really loved it and felt that the facial treatment truly improved my skin.

This was the room. It was a small room. I should say that the spa itself is not very big. They have 2 floors but it is not a very big spa. It is not tiny, just the right size =)

This is outside the room.
Espace Nomad has a tiny lounge where you are welcome to rest after your spa before you get ready to pay. You can have a cup of tea, water, etc. My friend and I tried a coconut chocolate tea. It was special.
This is the princess chair where I relaxed =)

My friend and I already decided that we would go back. Next time, we will not be late heheheh We loved it so much that right after our relaxing tea, we bought their facial scrub d= It is worth mentioning that their products are mainly natural and biologic. Very good for our skin =)

I highly highly recommend Espace Nomad. They have some promotions right now. Take a look at their website =)

http://www.espacenomad.ca/en/spa-massage-espacenomad.php

Première neige

Hello everyone!

Last week, it snowed in Montreal! Even though I tried to deny it, I think winter is really here.. so I thought it was time to continue my winter design collection! Since I did this manicure on the day it snowed, this konadicure will be named "Première neige". Cute name isn't it? d=

This nail polish is "new" in my nail lacquer collection. I got it this summer during my trip to Toronto. It was such a good deal! All China Glaze nail polishes were 5$ each! 5$ only!! Isn't it amazing?? I love China Glaze for the perfect formula that allows flawless applications so I ended up getting 8 of them kekekek

This colour is a creme blue, named Aqua Blue. Since I wanted my snowflakes to be silver, I chose Aqua Blue, a relatively dark colour so my snowflakes would be more apparent. Lovely?

Plate used : m59

Finally a konadicure!

Hi everyone!

Now that school has started, my schedule is more fixed, so I seem to have more time to update my blog!

Today's post is a konadicure which I named "Summer butterflies". Finally, I can blog some of my designs! As konadicures take time to do, I believe this is the only one I did this summer. I had a few days off and I went to Toronto with my boyfriend, so I decided I had to get my nails ready for vacations heheheh

It is a simple design but I hope you all like it! =)

Nail polish: China Glaze Sexy Lady
Plates: m57, m36

Miss K

Fish pedicure @ Dahlia

Hi readers!

Finally, we are back to school. My summer has been so fun, I still need some time to really get myself ready for school. So here I am, after the second day of school last Friday, right after my only class of the day ended, I headed to a Salon called Dahlia in downtown, for a fish pedicure! heheheh

It all began last week when I saw, on Teambuy or another of these websites, a great discount for fish pedicure. I really was going to purchase the coupon!! but when I remembered to buy it, the offer expired! So I told my boyfriend that we couldn't enjoy the fishies that we have been waiting to try for so long, then he was sweet enough to say that he would bring me to a fish pedicure and he would pay full price! heheheh The next day, we came to Dahlia! There was a place reserved for fishies pedicure. There was a curtain but we could still see the rest of the salon where others were enjoying the traditional spa pedicure. Now comes the fun part: the fishies! They were a lot bigger than I expected, about 6-7cm). I was soooo excited..but the fish were even more excited than I was! Even before I put my feet in the tub, they all swam to my feet, waiting for foood!! I got soooo scared!!

Our treatment was supposed to be 15 minutes. I seriously did not put my feet for more than a minute! It took me A LOT of time to have the courage to put my foot in the water, and as soon as I felt the body of the fish, I got soo scared I would immediately take my foot out of the water! It is to be mentioned that my boyfriend couldn't bear to the tickling of the fish, so he took out his feet promptly and it really scared me! hahahah Briefly, it was a lot of feet-in-and-out, fears, screams and laughters. We ended up not having much dead skin removed, but afterall it was a very fun activity! I promised my boyfriend that next time we won't have our money wasted and I will be b-r-a-v-e! =)

Best Korean BBQ in Montreal!

Hello everybody!!
Sorry again! I have stopped blogging for a while. I have been overwhelming with the many jobs I have.. but here I am!

Today, I present to you, the best Korean BBQ in Montreal (in my opinion). The name of the restaurant is Chez Hwang. Hwang is a family name. In French, Chez Hwang means at Hwang's house. The restaurant is nothing fancy, but the food is very authentic. Delicious!

The following is an authentic Korean entree. Spicy rice cake. This one is served with seafood. At Chez Hwang, you find those thick potato noodles (called japchae, it is a famous Korean ingredient) in this plat. This day, I brought a friend who does not love spicy dishes. We still ordered the spicy rice cake and she liked it!
This is the famous jap chae, Korean thick noodles.
This is the yummy rice cake. I love the texture!Now comes the star of the restaurant, Korean BBQ! Like many other Korean restaurants, you need to order two plates of BBQ if you want to BBQ at the table. We chose kalbi (marinated ribs) and bulgogi (marinated beef). It was absolutely succulent!! Both my friend and I find it is the best Korean BBQ we have tasted in Montreal so far. Trust me, I have been addicted to Korean BBQ since the beginning of Summer, so I have tried quite a few restaurants! Chez Hwang is really the best for BBQ!!

Does this make you hungry? d=
Koreans eat BBQ with lettuce. They use vegetables to wrap the meat and a paste. Yummmmmmy!
A miso soup is included when you order the BBQ. Side dishes such as kimchi and other marinated veggies are offered. They are both not exceptionnal, but the kalbi and bulgogi will make you forget the bad soup and the so-so side dishes! hahaha

I highly highly recommend Chez Hwang for the Korean BBQ!

Chez Hwang
5545 Chemin Upper Lachine
Montréal, QC
(514) 484-5263

Back!

I am back everyone!! So sorry for the lack of posts. I can't believe I haven't blogged anything for almost a month!!

Very briefly, besides my current part-time job, I also started my summer job, which is teaching mathematics to children at a Chinese school for their "summer camp". Yes, asians are very intense sometimes.. At the summer camp, children have math, English, Chinese, French classes...A good thing is that we do not give tests and homework, so the children can relax a little during summer. They also have some fun classes, like arts, martial arts, dance, etc. I personally think it is a very nice camp for the children for they can still learn but in a more fun and stress-free way. =) I absolutely love my job there! Kids can be very very loud and naughty sometimes, but they are sooo cute and it is sooo funny just watching and talking with them. I never imagined I would have so much fun with them heheheh

Now, back to nail polishes, I went to Katie Nail Salon for the manicure and pedicure deluxe coupon I bought from Teambuy. It was a big disappointment! The discount in the price made a huge difference in the quality of service provided. Some might say that it is "normal" that if the salon charges customers less, the service will be of lower quality. I do not agree at all. If they are not happy with the price we pay, they should just not engage in these agreements with Teambuy and other sites to offer disounts for consumers. If quality goes with the price, then why offer discounts??!

For my mani colour, I chose Essie Sugar Daddy. It is very sheer. I think 2 more coats would have been a lot better. The next day, I decided to paint OPI Stranger Tides over this Sugar Daddy, because seriously, I don't see trace of nail polish here!
As for my feet, I chose OPI Lucky Lavender. I love the colour. I am actually thinking of getting a bottle for myself d=
Lastly, the below picture shows my feet before having the pedicure. Do you think they look better here? hahahah According to what they say, the package I bought includes a reflexology treatment, cooling mask, exfoliation, etc. I really did not feel I enjoyed much of it, and they probably skipped a lot of the treatments. Is it possible that the whole mani and pedi DELUXE, including drying time, took roughly 1 hour??
Katie Salon is situated on Queen Mary. The salon looks very nice but I will NEVER go back! It was really not worth it. For the first time in my life, I didn't tip them for the quality was so incredibly poor.

Miss K