Vancouver in One Post

I'm glad "blogging regularly" wasn't one of my resolutions, because I would be failing that one miserably. Someday, I may get back to blogging more regularly (or at least frequently)--someday. I hope, anyway! I haven't finished my HK posts yet (oh, didn't this happen last time too? Yes, I think it did.) but lest I get too far behind, I'm just gonna go ahead and talk about Vancouver before too much more time passes. I just went for a short trip this time, mostly because I wanted to be there for Py's birthday. And I arrived to glorious sun and warmth! Woohoo, sun and warmth! So we made a beeline for the UBC Botanical Garden; above is my favorite explanatory sign from their Physic Garden. Welcome home husband, though ever so drunk! At least he'll also be free from corns!

Although before we got there, we stopped and had brunch at a place in Kitsilano, whose name I can no longer remember. Um, it was a pub, though? This is Py's southwest eggs benedict....


And my fish and chips. This was merely okay, with the batter being a bit too heavy and greasy. What I WAS tickled by was the paper lining the plate--it was one of those wax sheets that's printed to look like newspaper, except this one had all kinds of weird fish recipes, including one for Cheesy Pollock Loaf, which I really regret not taking a photo of. It involved lots of mayo and pollock mixed together and stuffed into a hollowed out bread loaf.


This picture doesn't do a good job of showing it, but that bee in the middle of this picture was ENORMOUS. Even its legs were at least twice the width of normal bees. Not sure if this was a different species or if the obesity epidemic has reached the bee world.


And this cute and normal-sized ladybug paid Py's finger a brief visit.


On another day, we went to Stanley Park and saw this gang of goslings. I had to laugh, because everyone who walked by stopped to take a picture. We've become such a picture-taking culture! I was all for having a seat in the grass and hanging out and watching them some more, but it turns out that where there are geese, there is a lot of goose poop. So we kept going.


We also saw two awesome shows--Santigold, who was awesome and had an incredible team of dancers, and the decidedly more downtempo and relaxed Cass Mccombs. Sorry, that's as good a picture as I can summon up of Cass McCombs--it was in a small, very dark venue. But it was awesome (and so was the Santigold show). I can't knock Vancouver's music scene!


As usual, we did a lot of good eating! And as usual, i did not take nearly as many pictures as I should have. I'm really starting to consider whether I should get a smaller camera so that I don't lug the dSLR around all the time....because then I could have shown you the enormous mango shaved ice (enormous and delicious) that we had one day at lunch at a Taiwanese beef noodle soup place. Instead, you just get a picture of these (also delicious) chicken wings from Peckinpah in Gastown. This was followed by very credible barbecue.


To celebrate Py's birthday, we made dinner reservations at Yew Restaurant, in the Four Seasons Hotel downtown. Another occasion where I really regretted not bringing the camera (Py seemed pleasantly surprised, heh) because we had some really great food there, and the restaurant just had a really great ambiance. (I was less pleased with the seating, which was kind of saggy, so I was practically at chin level with the table.) We started with a shared raw platter, which had some of the best oysters I've had in ages, and then I had bouillabaisse. Mmm, soupy seafood deliciousness. Oh--I must give a special shoutout to the biscuits we were served. Those biscuits were awesome. I would not be surprised if they involved lard. So you might be asking, "Well if you went to this fancy pants restaurant and didn't bring your camera, what gives with the bowl of fruit?"

We were too full for dessert at Yew, so I made birthday pie at home! Those limes are actually calamansis, which, in case you can't tell from the bowl, are tiny. And my recipe called for 1/2 a cup of juice. Let me tell you, it takes a lot of these tiny bastards to make 1/2 a cup of juice. But it was worth it--calamansis have a sharp tartness that's different from limes (almost orangey, which makes sense because they are actually related to oranges). And the crust! Can't go wrong with digestive biscuits and butter, that's what I say.


And how did we belatedly celebrate my birthday? Of course--trip to the aquarium! Yay! Check it out, this otter is totally shooting lasers out of his nose. Okay, I've rambled on enough--I will stop now. But there are more aquarium and flower pictures in my Vancouver set over on Flickr, if you are so inclined!

Merry Christmas from the Great White North

Hello! Gosh, only a few more days left in the year, can you believe it? It feels like the year just flew by, doesn't it? Anyway, I'm still here in Vancouver and thought I'd do a quick update on our Christmas, starting with a trip to the Christmas market (I arrived on Christmas eve which was the last day this market was open, and I was determined to make it there, rain be damned!) And of course, it was raining! But not too badly, and I think it helped keep the crowds down (or maybe people were at home, cooking Christmas dinner!)


There were lots of stands selling things like ornaments, clothes, lebkuchen, toys, and so on (most of which I believe was actually imported from Germany) but I was there for the food, and more specifically, the raclette. I haven't had raclette since Py was in Switzerland, so there was no way I was going to pass up the chance to eat it again. If you haven't had it, it's basically cheese, toasted under a grill, and then scraped off and served with potatoes, pickled onions, and cornichons. This version came with bread instead of potatoes and added some ham and was pretty good!


Py had the roast chicken, which was also pretty good. It's hard to go wrong with roast chicken, if you ask me.


And then, because I am greedy, we got a waffle-on-a-stick. (I say we, but I really mean me.) This was yummy, and I ended up totally covered in powdered sugar, which is not necessarily a bad thing! Oh, and we also had mugs of mulled wine, which was significantly more delicious than that horrible jaegertee we had at the Basel Christmas market years ago.


We were invited to Christmas eve dinner at our friends' place; check out their lovely tree! So pretty. We brought them a box of cookies and a couple of little gifts, and received a copy of Bakerella's cake pops book (thanks!) Dinner was turkey, brussels sprouts, mashed potatoes, green beans, cranberry sauce, stuffing...in short, pretty close to what I would have eaten if I were celebrating Christmas in the states! Followed by an insanely delicious cranberry cake that was drowned in a butter-brown sugar sauce. Mmm, butter.


I neglected to take any photos of dinner, so instead, here's a picture of a handpainted ornament from their tree. I like the beady eyes of the snowmen.


Christmas Day itself was nice and quiet; we opened gifts and then went for a nice long walk. Actually we were hoping to find an open pub somewhere for a drink, but everything was shut down, so we went to T&T (that supermarket wonderland), bought some vegetables and then went home and made Christmas dinner--sauteed steaks, salad, and potato-leek soup. As Monokuro Boo would say, Simple is best! For those celebrating, I hope you had a merry Christmas!

Vancouver: Tea at the Fairmont Pacific Rim

Blogging sure has been inconsistent around here lately, huh? I'm so behind! I've got a ton of things to talk about (my Flickr is way more caught up) but no time lately! We were just in Chicago over last weekend and although I have exactly one food pic, a highlight of the trip was meeting fellow blogger PopArtichoke! Anyway--that post will have to wait, I am determined to go in order. So, let us hop in the time machine and head back to my Vancouver trip in September....

You probably know by now that I love me some afternoon tea and I am definitely not one to pass up an opportunity to try out a new place! (I have secret plans to work my way through all of the afternoon teas on offer in Vancouver.) This time, we decided to try out the tea at the Fairmont Pacific Rim, which is located at Canada Place. The tea is served in the Lobby Lounge, which is a nice, comfortable space although sadly doesn't have the amazing views of the mountains that you get directly outside (and presumably from the hotel rooms!) We sprung for the champagne tea (can you think of a better way to spend a Sunday? I can't!) and were promptly brought glasses of bubbly, followed by a tea service (and one comment about that to the hotel--get your poor servers some higher rolling carts for pete's sake! These poor ladies were bent double pushing tea carts around.)


So the twist here is that there is a bit of an Asian influence going on; there are "sushi style" offerings in addition to the traditional tea sandwiches. If you look at the top photo you'll see there is even some actual sushi. This prawn and avocado open-faced sandwich wasn't particularly Asian but was pretty yummy!


A play on gunkan-maki, with the sushi rice wrapped in a strip of cucumber and topped with crab and tobiko.


And one of my faves, a truffled egg salad sandwich. I'm not super wild about the flavor of truffles or truffle oil but it was nice here.


And of course, you have to have scones at afternoon tea! These were nice and light, served with cream and sour cherry compote. I really could have put away another scone or two! But I do love the plates they used. Somehow I did not manage to get another shot of the sweets, but if I remember correctly (and it has been a while, I guess!) my favorites were the financier and the lychee and green tea cake.


In closing, here's a bonus shot of some random chips I picked up at T&T. I can now report that the Roasted Chicken one was disgusting! But the spicy one was not too bad. Plus, how can you resist that evil chili pepper face?

Hopefully posting will now be less erratic! I mean, are there even any readers left? Anyone out there? Hellooooo!!

More Vancouver: More Food, the Bard, Canada Day, and A Whole Lot of Flowers

Sigh, as usual, life is getting in the way of blogging--I really don't know how daily bloggers do it! They must not need sleep. Anyway, things have been busy and hectic; you'd think summer would mean things would slow down at work, but someone somewhere has not gotten the memo. So I'm a bit behind in my posting, as you can tell from the fact that I am just now getting around to finishing up writing about my vacation back in the end of June! This one is a long one...but there is food involved!

On Canada Day, we headed over to Canada Place (along with lots of other people!) to see what there was to see. There were tons of food vendors (I was intrigued by the Poutinerie, but passed. Next time...), live music, and displays from the Canadian military branches. I tried to talk Py into getting a photo of himself holding a bazooka, but he declined. Hmph.


The Olympic torch was all lit up for the occasion, and man, what a view you get from Canada Place. We walked a bit further around Coal Harbor, eventually ducking into a waterfront pub for a snack and some beer. But I know--I'm babbling. You want to see the food...


Check it out! We wanted to try out the Feastro truck and wandered over on a gorgeous, sunny day for a late lunch. I like the fact that this truck is purple--it's hard to miss, and I imagine that it's even more hard to miss now that they've been featured on the Food Networks' Eat Street.


I got the salmon fish and chips, which was pretty good, although probably not the ideal way to enjoy good salmon. Still tasty, though!


Py had the far more virtuous albacore tuna carpaccio. I like that they sauteed the capers. Of course, any virtue in this dish was undone by the yam fries.


But holy crap were these yam fries ever good! Served with a little cup of aioli, these were awesome. I really wish I had a plate right now.


My trip happened to coincide with Bard on the Beach, so it was a no-brainer to go see a show. The location (in Vanier Park with rather nice views of the water) really adds something, and I hear people will bring picnics with them, which sounds like a nice idea. We opted for beer from the concession stand and a bag of popcorn (caramel and cheese). Anyway, this is the view of False Creek from the Burrard Street Bridge (we decided to walk to the festival)--nice, right? And one of my favorite tiny ferry boats...We saw the Merchant of Venice, which I really enjoyed, particularly the (non-period) gorgeous costumes. (Actually, if I'm lucky, I may make it to another show at the end of the season!)


Okay the only reason I'm putting up this not very good photo is so that you can see the sign. Yes, it does say that they have 218 FLAVORS ON LOCATION. That is a LOT of freaking flavors!! They had some really wild ones like Vegemite, garlic, and gin and tonic, but in the end, I opted for cherry pie.


It was good, too.


On one of the (many) gray days, I headed out to the UBC Botanical Garden and went a little snap happy. Actually I guess I was also thrilled that it didn't rain! (And that I can use Zipcar in Canada--that's pretty convenient.) They had a really nice collection of plants, and my one complaint is that not everything is labelled (or if it was, the sign was hidden.) I've only included a couple of my favorite photos here (this post is already getting too long), but if you click through any of them you can see more.


One of my favorites, they remind me of icicles.



I really loved this one! So vibrant!


You could buy a combo ticket for the botanical garden as well as the Nitobe Memorial Garden (which was a short drive away), so of course I did (we'd also been foiled on a previous attempt to visit). It was a little bit underwhelming, but certainly was tranquil and green, so I wasn't too disappointed. I suppose the biggest let down to me was that the informational pamphlet was basically just speculation, and no one actually knows what the layout of the garden or some of the elements of it mean.


Someone on Flickr was kind enough to translate this; it reads "I want to become a bridge that spans the Pacific Ocean." A nice thought.


Py is perfecting his Caesar, and I personally think these little flag picks add a little something extra. (Except when they fall into your drink...)


And then it was time to go. At least I got a nice sunset before I had to get on the plane! Another nice trip.

Vancouver: The Bog, The Park, and Food!

Ah, Vancouver--this is the weather on the first day of my trip. Bright, sunny, and gorgeous! Boy did it have me fooled, because for most of the rest of my trip, it was cool, cloudy, and rainy. Although it did end on a sunny weekend so really, I can't complain, and hey, any vacation is a good vacation! But I'm getting ahead of myself, because even before I got there things were looking up because for the first time ever, I got upgraded to business class on the flight out. Woo-HOOO!! I was very, very excited, because Cathay Pacific has got those individual cubicles with seats that recline completely flat into a bed. Oh man, they are so roomy compared to economy! And then of course, the food in business class is about 1000 times better...and they even set your tray with a tablecloth.


Dinner started with seared scallops on salad. This was really pretty good!


And then I had fried rice and prawns in XO sauce--this looks more like regular airplane food, but was also pretty tasty.


And then a cheese plate! I thought for sure I would stay awake through the whole flight (I mean, it is only 5ish hours) and watch movies on my relatively giant screen, but the lure of the completely reclining chair was too much to resist, and I got a couple of hours of shut-eye and almost too soon we were landing in Vancouver (they have one awesome airport, by the way.)


The next day, we went out for breakfast to The Elbow Room, which I gather is something of an institution and certainly is a place with character! I can't seem to find their rules anywhere on the Internet, but when I went up to pay, the proprietor lectured Pyota on letting a woman pay. Heehee.


Anyway, here is a picture of my breakfast, the Big Ben. Totally hit the spot!


And then we rented a Zipcar and drove out to the Camosun Bog which was smaller than I expected, but was a nice walk nevertheless. Most of the ground is, well, boggy, so there are boardwalks that run above it, with helpful signs about the kind of plants you see in a bog.


Like blueberries! Above are blueberry blossoms, and below, wild blueberries (I was very excited, but restrained myself from eating them.)




On another day, we went to Stanley Park and saw some wildlife in the form of a great blue heron (we also saw a whole lot of nests! But I didn't get any good pictures.) over by the Lost Lagoon. And of course, my favorite, the resident raccoons:



You can see a video of racoons that Pyota made, too. I love them, they're so cute!


I had lunch with Py a couple of times during the work week, at places like Boss, which is a totally HK style cafe where I had the most enormous serving of pork chop rice noodle soup ever (it came in a pie plate!). Above is a more reasonable serving of Taiwanese style beef noodle soup from Favor Eat in the Crystal Mall. So delicious.


And of course, a bubble tea. But really I just wanted to take a picture of the lid, as it depicts one of my favorite activities--eating watermelon. And on that note, time to go! The really good food pictures are coming up in the next post....

P.S. I cannot wait to see the last Harry Potter movie. I know I'm going to cry like a little girl. Maybe I shouldn't have admitted that....