The Lakehouse and Other Stories

Hello!

So towards the end of fall, my friend had her birthday and decided to have dinner at a really nice restaurant called The Lakehouse. I think it is named that because it is a wooden cabin looking building with a very lovely interior that overlooks a lake. The restaurant comes complete with dim orange ambience lighting, a fire place with real fire and chandeliers shaped like antlers- quite picturesque. This makes it a popular destination for weddings and events, so it is usually booked on weekends. When I saw the menu and the prices I was already prepared to dislike the food because I could not recognize anything on the menu, and the items on the menu were not many. I eventually asked our server and I think she recommended the maple cured bison sirloin for me. I do not regret my decisions. It was so good that I could have ordered another, but the price brought be back to my senses. It was also quite filling, even though it does not look like much.

I attended my cousin’s wedding in Nigeria via zoom, keeping me awake all night because of the time zone differences. It was very nice to see everything in real time because I was feeling a little sad that I could not be there in person. She had the traditional ceremony and the church wedding on the same day- one in the morning and the other in the afternoon.

For another friend’s birthday, I went with her other friends to Donna Mac, a restaurant downtown. This was my first time going to a restaurant that was vegan or focused on serving mostly vegetable based meals. The ambience was really nice and the staff were also really friendly. However I found it a bit difficult to decide what to eat. I eventually settled for the lamb kofta in the spirit of trying new things. I also tried some appetizers- one was breaded and fried with cheese on the inside and the other was breaded and fried cauliflowers. Let me confess- I do not like cauliflowers or it’s close relatives like broccoli, so I was initially hesitant. However I liked the appetizers, especially the cheese one. The cauliflower one was also really tasty- I was just mostly shocked that I was eating a cauliflower. I did not particularly enjoy the lamb kofta though.

Waking up one morning, I was greeted with the most beautiful sunrise I had ever seen. I took a picture but the camera did not do justice to it in my opinion. It was like a masterful artist painted it, with hues of orange, pink and slight yellow tinges. I have put the unedited image here in all its glory for you to be in awe with me at the beauty of the earth.

One rainy Sunday afternoon I went to Flavours, a Nigerian restaurant in Calgary, with some friends and acquaintances. The place was relatively empty in terms of indoor dining, but I lost count of the number of people that came in to pick up orders of different quantities and sizes. I had never been because I had heard not very positive feedback from a few people, but I finally braved it and went and I am very happy that I decided to try it myself. It is a family owned and family run business that makes good food. I had amala with okra soup and beef for the main meal, and for starters, I had puff-puff, a dough ball dessert that I love with my whole heart. I also had suya, a spicy dried beef snack originally from Northern Nigeria. The service was good and polite, with the person who attended to my friends and me patiently explaining and recommending food to the non- Nigerians amongst us. I was happy to be there and I ate to my heart’s content. The price was also very decent as I even ordered vegetable stew to go.

I also had a cake event where I got different flavours of cake and set them out for people, and it was very exciting to see how many flavours we ended up with after laying everything on the table. The flavours ranged from vanilla to black forest to strawberry to chocolate to cookies and creme cakes and so on. I particularly liked the cookies and creme, and I think most people did too because we got three of those and they cleared out very quickly.

Towards the end of the year, there was an exhibition at the Central Downtown Library showcasing projects from my workplace and spring classes. My colleagues and I went to participate and check out the exhibitions on one of the evenings. It was an interactive architecture exhibit with colouring, movable pieces and videos.

Have a wonderful week!

Cheers.