Good Coffee, Good Earth

Coffee, as I've written about it several time is the most favorite drink in Canada but that's not because people like to drink it more often, it's because it gives them a very mild relaxation that they can only get through alcohol when drank a little. And because they can't drink alcohol that much then coffee would be a good choice.

This was just a preface to tell you a short story about we, trying a different coffee house: Good Earth. Their coffee is good but expensive: $2 for a medium size. Their, bakery goods, I asked they make them on premises, is delicious and filling and a little expensive as well but if you don't care about the price, go ahead.

Last piece of information: You might want to pay $14.95 for an one Ounce bag of Colombian! That's almost 2 times a regular coffee in a supermarket.

(Photo: I should have posted a better picture but I didn't have a better camera on and was not sure they let me take a photo. I like that cup with steams coming off!)

Surya

No I'm not going to tell you the story of my trip to Syria! This is Suria an East Indian restaurant in Calgary that we just tried last Wed. and was good.

In fact it was my third East Indian cuisine try and the 2nd restaurant of the kind. The first time I and Hodani went to a restaurant in West Vancouver called Handi. That was a good experience because Hodani speaks the language and we had a good service.

This time we tried the buffet in this one in Calgary and we liked it. We paid $15.24 each (including tax) and we had three invasions. I mostly tried their vegetarian foods including one with Chickpea and the other one Yogurt Currey. Also they have a very thin Cumin Bread which although it is made of white flour but is very tasty. It's even thinner than a regular chip like Lays. There they have a kind of Rice Pudding which is exactly the same as Persian Shir-Berenj (Milk-Rice) and the other cold-served fruit of them is a creamy mixture of Mango and Grape, I guess which really good.

Oh! I forgot to say that you get a freshly baked bread on your desk too and it's really good but unfortunately again white flour as whole grain bakery not common in old cooking style.

For a full list of their menu check their website or simply go to 11th and 11th. I will compare this to the other East Indian restaurant that I will probably try later soon until I buy a recipe book!

(Photo: I did not have a chance to take a photo and I'm not sure if they allow it. I might check with them if we go there again. Picked one from their website. Just to add that this is not what we had but you can get if you really are hungry!)

Polar Bears

There was a documentary about the Polar Bears, these beautiful creatures of Canada which are in the verge of distinction on CBC the other night and it answered a question I had a long time ago. The story speaks about Churchill, Manitoba, a little town adjacent to Hudson Bay.

Every year the Polar Bears who are wandering around northern Manitoba and vicinity of Hudson Bay, get trapped at the south side of it because of the ice meltdown in July and have no way to go back north. For that reason they get deprived of having their most nutritious food, the seals. They have to roam around Churchill and other places for food, like garbage, goose egg, fish and small stuff like that. They, then, lose a significant amount of weight, some die because now the meltdown is longer as a result of global warming. The documentary does not say what happens to the larger population of Polar Bears who their habitat is not around Hudson Bay but generally blames global warming for as the prime risk for them. That's a sad story because just watching these beautiful creatures on TV is very nice. Imagine that you're in Churchill on that very special vehicle and watching them from feet away, where I wanted to go in 2005 and couldn't and I still want to. The Government apparently does not have a plan yet and I hope they come up with something before we only see them on Loonies. I hope the Government consider this problem as important as Somalia and Afghanistan!

(Photo: This map, although small, shows where Churchill in Northern Manitoba is located)

I Insist: Multiculturalism Does Not Work

I mentioned not a long time ago that multiculturalism does not work. This time I have a good witness: This Norwegian guy. They all say that he is a psychopath but the truth is he was tired of seeing all this women with a table cloths around their head and sleepers on the edge of their feet, walking in shabby cloths with half open mouth. He was probably also tired of seeing people with turbans and long beard walking on his hometown street. I'm not giving him credit for that but he would probably ask: Why should I work and pay taxes so these people who doesn't care about the country get benefit?

Again what he did was extremely stupid rather than criminal in my opinion. If he had that problem which we believe he had he should have let the others hear him through a member of parliament, like that guy in Netherlands, through a newspaper or any other media. After all the pen is mightier than the sword. What would you get by killing bunch of the kids who are camping on a small island? Just because you don't like foreigners and you're afraid that Muslims and Africans will take over your country that does not give you the right to kill bunch of people simply because they are from the party who supports immigrants. Another fact that should be mentioned here is the US and Canada and especially the US are more foreigner/immigrant/refugee-friendly because they have been accepting people from different corners of the globe for years but the world has changed and with all shit we see on daily basis I wonder when something like that happens in Canada.

(Photo: The Norwegian flag flutter half-mast on the top of the parliament building as a sign of sorrow)

New Calgary Police Office

There is barely a week that we do not see a police vehicle in our neighborhood. It's one specific building that looks like has problems. F. F. has a good suggestion: Calgary Police Service should open a new office in our neighbourhood! In that case they don't have to send officers to the building. They would just walk out, take a few steps, get in and talk the guys down!

(Photo: A police van is parked(!) in the neighbourhood. The officers are investigating. Not to mention the idling!)

Kiwano

As Canada is close to Caribbean and all those countries have tropical weather and have nothing much to export and make revenue but cheap fruits and vegetables and also because people like to try everything available no matter how much it cost them, you can find almost every kind of fruit, vegetable and food here. Not to mention that all immigrants and refugees from every corner of the world bring their own cuisines to Canada.

I, myself, have tried things that had never have them before my immigration. I made Sushi just last night, eat Avocado regularly and many other things on daily basis.

This one that I bought two weeks ago called Kiwano and although looks very attractive but tastes awful! I study a bit about that and it's eaten raw. It's added to the salad and is also called Horned Melon. So be careful with your money! Get a good recipe and make sure you will use the best of it because I had to dump half of it. Cost me some $4 one single damn fruit!

(Photo: Horned Melon looks nice although this photo is crap but taste wise, I wouldn't recommend that!)