Richmond Night Market: My Weekend Food Escapade in Vancouver

It’s not officially summer in Vancouver yet, however the glorious sun decided to show upon this long weekend, creating a perfect recipe for an outdoor adventure. Typically, an adventure in Canada would mean hiking, snowboarding, skiing etc. but lack of planning probably made me choose otherwise and I decided to explore the options within the city.

I ended up doing a couple of interesting things. Besides watching the long awaited and much hyped movie “Bahubali” which turned out to be an excellent choice, I took my taste buds for a treat to the must-see “Richmond Night Market”. All credit goes to my friend from "Shiamak's" who recommended this place. Yes; there is “Shiamak’s” in Vancouver, story to be shared some other day perhaps.
For the benefit of the readers who don’t know about this weekend night market it is one of the largest and longest running night markets in North America. Started in the year 2000 the Richmond Night Market has become an attraction for visitors around the world, especially the locals and tourists who throng the market every summer for some good ethnic food, cool merchandise and entertainment.

When I got there, I realised the hype was in fact right. I had to wait in the queue for 20 minutes to just get in. The entry fee of 3.75 was not a bad bargain (free admission for children and seniors). With the Zoom pass worth $25 one can not only skip the line but also use it for 7 visits. Check out the official website here for more info.

I must admit; the highlight of this market is its food and if I’m not wrong most people visit this place just to try the ethnic cuisine.Because of the large immigrant population in Richmond this night market has a strong South Asian influence.

200 food stalls with a little over 500 food choices made my life a whole lot difficult. Out of the 1000 things that I wanted to try I could only manage to have 5 food items, thanks to my below average appetite.
Tip: Go in a big group so you can try multiple items.

I picked my 5 items based on what attracted my eyes and taking a guess at crowd popularity. In the end, I was happy with all my picks and went home with a tummy full of explorations.  So I shall skip the suspense and quickly run through a pictorial description of what I actually ate at the Richmond night market.

FISH STICKS:

My favourite pick from the food section were the Fish sticks. Being a seafood lover this food stall quickly grabbed my attention with its attractive looking battered fried fish on a stick and a choice of sauce as topping.Well what could go wrong with a deep-fried fish with some tartar sauce on top!

TOKOYAKI:

The next best pick was the Japanese Takoyaki; a ball-shaped snack made of a wheat-flour batter, typically filled with minced or diced octopus, however there were other fillings to choose from. I had it with the a shrimp filling.

Garlic fried squid @THE SQUID COMPANY:

This one seemed to be a hot favourite of the night market given the never-ending queue outside its stall. I had to try one although I’m not a fan of squid. The squids were pan fried with your choice of sauce. I went for the garlic lover and it was yummy!


Pink Grape @THE RAINBULB:

The highlight of the evening was, the fruit flavored beverage served in a bulb shaped glowing glass. The best part was that you could chose the color of your drink!It was quite an eye-catcher as a few people asked me the direction to its stall.


Mango Shaved Ice @MANGO YUMMY:

This one never fails to disappoint. Mango lovers are all over the world and just like many others I jumped at the first sight of this food stall. Diced mango with vanilla ice-cream and shaved ice-cream a perfect summery dessert. Need I say more??!!


ROTATO:

I was pretty much full at this point, and was about to call it a day when I saw the Rotato.
It’s a spiral cut Russet potato on a stick sprinkled with your choice of seasoning. I picked sour cream onion after much deliberation over cheddar cheese and BBQ seasoning.

The adventure ended on a super happy note after I won the Totoro soft-toy at a game stall. This was without a doubt my favourite take-away from the Richmond Night Market. 


-SOnali
 For So-Saree Canada

From Chandni To English Vinglish – The Effervescent Sridevi

I was in Switzerland recently, and the moment I laid my eyes on the snow-clad Alps providing the most picturesque background to the lush green cow specked slopes, the ever present Hindi film buff “nautanki” in me struggled not to break into a jig with a chiffon draped saree singing “Tere Mere hoton pe mithe mithe geet mitwa”…!
I think all of us girls who are obsessed with the Saree can’t help being head over heels with the Big S-Trinity of Bollywood – Sridevi, Saree and Switzerland. Am I right or what??!!

There is something about the yesteryear leading ladies and the saree that is just so Yin-Yang, that we can’t think of them without being draped in mouth-watering sarees.
Whether it is the gorgeous chiffon yellow saree in Chandni, or the red-hot saree in Jaanbaaz, whether it is the rain-clad blue number in Mr.India or the super elegant simple sarees in English Vinglish – Sridevi managed to create movie history in all of these and many more!!

And yet, just like the age-old cliché about aging wine, Sridevi looks her most gorgeous and delectable self today – still rocking the elegant garment. Take a look below in case you disagree!!

 

 

 

-Gouri Patwardhan
 For So-Saree

P.S. We do not own images used in this post.

The Famous Temples of Goa

This year too we had our customary holiday to Goa. Every time we visit Goa, we plan to stay at a different Goa hotels.

Since we were traveling with our family this time, five star amenities, proximity to the beach and yummy food was on our agenda. So we decided to stay at none other than the Park Hyatt Hotel.

Every time, my parents travel to Goa they make sure they visit the famous temples in Goa and so this year we joined them too.

Goa is famous for the beautiful churches and the Portuguese culture.

But did you know about the two iconic temples of Goa.

So in today's post I am going to write about these two beautiful temples.

The Mangueshi Temple

The Mangueshi temple is located in the Mangeshi village in Ponda Taluka of Goa. It is a temple dedicated to Lord Manguesh, an incarnation of Lord Shiva. He is worshipped in the form of a Shivlinga. He is the Kuldevta of many Goud Saraswat Brahmins.

The Manguesh temple in Goa is almost 450 years old and is a simple but beautiful structure consisting of several domes and pillars.

Did you know that the illustrious musical family of Mangeshkars get their surname from the Mangeshi village?

Deenanath Mangeshkar, the father of Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosale, Hridaynath Mangeshkar was a well known Marathi Theatre actor, a Natya Sangeet musician and Indian classical music vocalist.

He was born to Ganesh Bhatt Navathe who served as a priest at the famous Mangueshi Temple in Goa. Since his family had the privilege of performing the Abhishekam ceremony for the Shiva lingam of the Mangueshi Temple since ages, they came to be known by the surname "Abhisheki." But since Deenanath's mother belonged to the Devadasi community of Goa, he did not inherit the surname. He was given the surname "Mangeshkar," which means "of Mangesh."

Now...how interesting is that!

The Shanta Durga temple

Shanta Durga is considered as the Kuldevi of many Konkani Saraswat Brahmin families. The Shanta Durga temple is a private temple belonging to the GSB Community, again in the Ponda Taluka of Goa and is 450 years old too.

Goddess Shanta Durga is the goddess who mediates between Lord Shiva and Vishnu.

In our old scriptures/Puranas, there are references of a battle between Shiva and Vishnu. The battle was so fierce that its effects would be grave, hence Lord Brahma prayed to Goddess Parvati to intervene, which she did in the form of Goddess Shanta Durga.

The idol of Goddess Shanta Durga is shown holding 2 serpents, one in each hand, which are symbolic of Shiva and Vishnu.

So the next time you are in Goa, apart from visiting the gorgeous churches of Goa, make sure you visit these two beautiful and iconic temples of Goa.

So-Saree Readers Speak - Priyanka G

It's time for another So-Saree Reader feature.
And today we have Priyanka G. sharing her love for sarees and So-Saree along with a story about how she picked the perfect saree for her engagement.
Over to you Priyanka..!


Wow! Thanks Aditi for letting me a part of your blog which I have been reading for so many years. Be Indian or western, formal or casuals, your sense of fashion is superb and elegant. Most importantly it’s sensible and easy to follow for any woman. So-Saree helps me to be updated with new trends in market.

I think any Indian girl/woman loves to see herself draped in a saree more than any other dress. I remember when I was a kid; my mother bought me a ‘Kalpana Saree’ specifically made for kids. I use to wear and flaunt it in style on Dashera, Nag Panchami, Sankranti with suitable accessories to complete the dressing.

Saree is such an apparel that suits any event anywhere in the world. All you need to do is  play a bit with accessories and you are done. For the past so many years, I have been wearing sarees but my most memorable moment happened recently during my engagement. As per Maharashtrian tradition, the bride-to-be gets a green saree from her in-laws which needs to be worn for engagement rituals and ring ceremony. My mother-in-law suggested that my fiancé and I should go together and get a green saree of my choice. I was very sure that I wanted a typical Marathi Mulgi look on this most important event of my life. Accordingly the type of saree, jewelry, make-up and hairstyle was clear in my mind.

So, we both went for shopping two sarees – a green saree and another another one from my maternal side. I explained to the sales person at the saree showroom that I was looking for a Maharashtrian style green color zari saree. Within a few minutes, I had finalised my sarees. A peacock green silk saree with zari border and blue pallu from my in-laws side and another turmeric yellow saree with zari border for the maternal side. Surprisingly my shopping was done in 20 minutes and my fiance was astonished at this feat.
I teamed up my saree with heavy golden jhumkas, choker style necklace, banunath (nose ring) and golden todey (bangles) with green chooda and red chandrakor bindi gave the perfect Maharashtrian bride look I had imagined.

I was nervous as everybody’s eyes were on me and my fiance's relatives and friends were curious to meet his choice. Thank God! My equation of saree and accessories was a hit. My fiance and everybody at the ceremony just couldn’t stop complimenting me. And with this I breathed a sigh of relief.

Priyanka, I have now words to describe how stunning you look. And thanks for all the love and appreciation.

My Shoping Experience with ToSave.com

I recently came across an eCommerce company that offers variety of products from numerous categories..and at unbeatable prices.
When I was approached for a review of the site and its products, I was really surprised to see their price tags. And immediately assumed that the products might be of a substandard quality.
But my four ears of blogging had made me wiser and immediately at the next moment I decided to not judge the book by its cover and review the website and its services first hand.

I started browzing through the website and picked up a few things I liked.
After placing the order, I went back to my daily chores.
Within a few hours, I received a message about my order being processed and within 3 days, my order was ready to be shipped.
The speed at which my order was being processed, really impressed me, but I had already decided to not jump to conclusions.
A few weeks later my package arrived.

One by one I unwrapped my package and absolutely fell in love with the quality of the products.
The products were exactly as I had seen on their website and the quality was good too.
I had ordered cushion covers, a travel toiletry bag and nail art stamping tools.

 

Overall, I was very happy with my experience and wouldn't shopping from ToSave.com again.

Also, if you are a fan of hair extensions, do check out this website:Beauty In Hair

Look Perfect with Perfectcutt.com

Hey Guys!!

Today, I am going to talk about a brand I discovered recently and you have already read me gushing about it a month ago on the blog.
PERFECT CUTT is an exclusive plus size ready made clothes & accessories store.

Established in 2015, PerfectCutt has created a niche for itself due to its exclusive range of accessories and international shipping. They manufacturer and supply plus size women garments ranging from size 46-56 and deal in handmade hand embroidered punjabi juttis and box clutches too.
When my order from PerfectCutt first arrived, what first caught my eye was the fine craftsmanship of the clutches. Perfect Cutt hires Zardosi Karigar from Agra who are trained in moti work, bharatkaam and patchwork stitches.

You have already seen how I styled their Taj Mahal clutch in this post.
To see how I styled another gorgeous clutch from Perfect Cutt, scroll down.

Outfit Details:
Saree: Gift from Mom
Clutch: Perfect Cutt
Earrings: Confusion Fashion Accessories
Bracelet: Vintage Desi

Photography by: Deepali Suryawanshi Photography