Kelowna, British Columbia

After 3 wonderful days in Vancouver, we travel by Grey Hound bus from Vancouver to Kelowna.  Kelowna is a city about 400km away from Vancouver.  We planned to put up 3 nights here because it is situated between Vancouver and Banff National park.  We just do not want to be too tired on our journey and we need a break before we travel further.  The bus took about 7 hours to reach Kelowna.  This is because the speed limit for the bus is only 70 to 80 km/h and moreover the bus has to put up a few stop at  few towns to drop and pick up passengers.  We were just relax and enjoyed the scenery's outside the Windows.

The beautiful mountain before reaching Kelowna

We stayed in the Econo Lodge for 3 nights, very clean and suitable with breakfast included.

We started our journey at 9.30am and reached Kelowna at about 4pm.  Check into hotel .  We had a good rest before we walked to downtown, which took us about 20 minutes slow walk for our dinner.  As Kelowna is a small town, there is nothing much to do in downtown during night falls.  We walked back to the hotel and a good rest after a long journey drive.

After breakfast, Emilly and me walked to downtown while Ong and wife decided to rest in the hotel for the day.  The first place we visited is the museum,(free of charge).

 The next place we visited is the local library.  We were allowed to use the Internet free for 1 hour.

 From the library, we walked to a casino.  It is a small casino.  We just had a quick walk in the casino and came out.

 We found very beautiful scenery behind the casino, so excited.  We spent almost an hour around the lake(lake Okanagan).

 It is lunch time.  We walked into an Italian . It was so cool and relax in the restaurant after half day walking in the sun.

 We ordered pasta, tomato soup and toast scallops.  The food were not to our expectation, or may be not to our Malaysian 's taste.

 We walked to the other part of the town and found this clock tower. From the clock tower we walked to Japanese garden.

 Japanese garden in Kelowna.

 We walked back to the hotel after our whole day tour in downtown. We had a real good rest and prepare for the next day tour in Kelowna.
We were so lucky to meet the lady boss of the hotel(Maria) , a Filipino who married the boss , Canadian. She offered to drive us to Summerhill winery which was located on a hill.

 The grape farm just beside the winery.

 The beautiful views from the winery of  Lake Shore.

 We spent about half an hour at the winery before Maria drove to a local fruit market.

 The fruits here were very cheap compared to those same fruits that we bought in the supermarket.

Our half day ended after our shopping at the fruit market.  We have to pack to get ready to travel again the next morning to Banff National Park. It will be another long journey.

Mango Chiffon cake

Its Nov again and it will be my father-in-law's and husband's birthday.  We will celebrate father's birthday in Kuala Lumpur in my sister-in-law's house. I bake a butter cake with basket weaving decoration, for my husband I decided to bake a mango cake which I never done it before.  I searched for mango cake recipe a few days before hand.  Finally I found 1 recipe from my old recipe book.  The mangoes the recipe recommended was just the normal mangoes.  I wanted to try with some mangoes with strong fragrant e.i (kunning).  I managed to buy 5 such mangoes from the morning market, really strong smell.  I like it.

 The ingredients is as follow:

for the cake
6 egg yolks
1/2cup caster sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup corn oil
175g super fine flour
2 tsps baking powder
6 egg whites
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 cup of caster sugar
for the filling
2 mangoes (cubed)
1 cup plain yogurt(150g)
100g caster sugar
29g gelatin(dissolved in 1/4 cup water)
350ml whipping cream
for decoration
2 mangoes
some whipping cream(whipped)

Washed and peel the mangoes.  2 cubed while the other 2 sliced and keep aside.

 Hand mix the egg yolks,sugar, water, corn oil, flour and baking powder until well-combined. Leave aside.
In another mixing bowl, use electric mixer to beat up the egg whites, sugar and the cream of tartar until foamy.  Combine with well-mixed egg yolks mixture and bake in preheat oven for 40 -45 minutes.
Invert the cake to cool before slicing into 3 layers.
Next prepare the filling.  Mix cubed mangoes, yogurt and sugar in a bowl. Dissolve gelatin in water by double boiling over simmering water until it turns clear. Mix with mangoes mixture.  Meanwhile whip up the whipping cream and add into the mango mixture.  Divide into 2 portions.

 Place a layer of cake into loose cake tin. Spread a layer of mango mixture onto it. Repeat the next layer until finish . Keep the cake chilled.
For Decoration, whip the cream. Spread on the top and side of the cake. Decorate with sliced mangoes.

My first mango cake is a success. Every body like it very much. Taste like mango ice-cream.

Butchat Garden

On the 3rd day which is also our last day in Vancouver, we booked a day tour in China Town to Butchat Gardens.  This 55 acer of stunning floral show gardens and a National Historic Site of Canada is located near Victoria We boarded the tour bus from China Town  at 7.30 am and headed to the port .  The ferry left the port at 9am and reached the island at 10.30am.  By the time we reached China Town of Victoria(capital of Vancouver) is already our lunch time.  We had our own simple lunch.

 The oldest railway station in Canada

 The port in Victoria

 The Parliament house in Victoria

 O mile from Victoria to the main road of Vancouver

 We reached The Butchart Gardens at about 1pm after going round Victoria.

 Outside Butchart Gardens.

 The first garden that we visited was The Sunken Garden.

 We were so amazed on the first look of the garden.  The landscaping is so fantastic, the plants, the flowers and so on, so.....beautiful!! Lets go on to the other parts of the gardens.

 The Italian Garden, another type of beauty in the landscaping.

 The Japanese garden.

 Ocean in a hole.  We can see the ocean from this hole among the plants in the garden.  We walk to the jetty of the Ocean in  the hole.

 Garden in a window.

AS we had only 2 hours for such a big garden, we actually missed out a lot of the gardens.  We were short of time because we have to catch the 5pm ferry back to main land (Vancouver).  We left the gardens with some disappointment because we did not see enough of the gardens.  It was 6pm when we reached our hotel.  That ends our tour in Vancouver.