Recent Shenanigans

So I've had a somewhat hectic week of events, including a packed out weekend where I decided to squeeze in as much as humanely possible, I had lots of things I wanted to be doing, and not enough time to get it all seen to! In an effort to make more progress and to stop my woeful procrastination I am treating job hunting like a job. Monday to Friday 9 (ish) to 5 I am putting my efforts into finding a job and on the weekends and evenings I'm relaxing and doing the fun stuff.

Crazy good xylophone skills!

Make Music Vancouver!

So Friday evening rolled around and Ian was working late, and I had nothing planned. I heard that there was a free music event down in Gastown so I grabbed my bag and headed for the Skytrain. On route I came across a small community event where a group of young people were playing xylophones (very skillfully I might add!) so I actually spent a good portion of the evening standing on a patch of grass 2 blocks from home just marveling at them. I got a bit jealous. If my school had a band like that, I would have 100% joined. Eventually I tore myself away and hopped on the Skytrain down to the Waterfront and checked out the Make Music Vancouver event in Gastown. It was relatively early when I arrived, but packed! There were around 25 different locations across the event, and each one had 4-5 acts throughout the evening so there was a lot to be seeing, I slowly wandered up and down Water Street, picking out acts that appealed and listening for awhile. My personal favorites were the Vancouver Didgeridoo Players and a Samba band named Bloco Energia (who I am very tempted to contact and try and join!) Just wandering and soaking up the energy and atmosphere made for a great evening and hung around till around 10, and then headed off to meet Ian for a cheeky Subway!

Saturday was a packed day. I had planned on spending the morning exploring Kits, but a lay in somehow worked its way into my schedule, and we had a relaxed morning just chilling out. Ian headed off to meet a friend, but shortly after he left I got a noisy phone call from him to tell me that Robson street was all closed off and the Jazz festival was in full swing, full of people and music and to get my butt down there and check it out. I could hear it all in the background and excitedly grabbed my stuff and power walked there! I wandered through the venue and loved the atmosphere, but I only had a quick look round, I had plans! I then met up with the lovely lady I have mentioned before (Louise, you got another mention!) and we made our way to the Rio Tinto Alcan Dragon Boat Festival. There we watched a few races, dragon boats looking somewhat like canoes and come with a rich Chinese history, we enjoyed taking in the views, the racing and chatting away the afternoon.

Dragon Boats mid race and Science World.

Later that evening, Ian and I made our way to Chinatown, to check out the Chinese Market which is held in the evenings every weekend from May to September. It's a great little place, with food stalls on one side and shops selling clothes and other such things on the opposite side. To be fair we were only really interested in the food, so I'm not entirely what they were selling. We tried a few dishes, some of which were delicious, I had a sweet and sour one which was so moreish! And then we hung around and waited for the real reason we were there - an outdoor cinema! Around 9:30 we plonked ourselves in the middle of a car park (armed with pillows we'd brought from home for our comfort, I swear we were the only ones who did, it must have been crazily uncomfortable!)  and waited for the sun to go down. Steadily the sky darkened and the screen being projected onto the side a building emerged. And then the fun began! The film was Iron Monkey, not the best film in the world I must say but it was more about the experience, being outside and surrounded by people. It just has a great feel about it, and we'll definitely be returning for Enter the Dragon in a few weeks time!

Sunday was Jazz day. We wasted a few hours doing boring household type things like shopping and such (yawn!) and then finally we got to visit the Jazz Festival. After my brief wander round the day before I was really excited for it, so we had a walk around and took in a few sights, then plonked ourselves on the steps of Vancouver Art Gallery and spent a few hours listening to some great music.

 

Tuesday is ordinarily quiz night, but this week we switched to another, so we took the opportunity to visit the aforementioned Vancouver Art Gallery, as Tuesday nights between 5-9pm its entry by donation. (Ordinarily its $20 to get in!) It was quite a small space, with 2 main exhibitions, one on Flemish art work and another on Hotel architecture, we whizzed around it, there were a few pieces we liked but honestly most of it wasn't quite our cup of tea. The whole thing took us about an hour, and I'm pretty glad we didn't pay full price to be honest.

Yesterday was quiz night, and I'm not sure the quiz was quite as good as the Lamplighters, I think we might try somewhere different. Following the quiz Ian and I hunted out a pub on Granville Street. We've been after a more pub style establishment rather than the bar type places that make up the majority of drinking holes in Vancouver, we'd done some online research and with this place we struck gold. It has a cool vibe, its smallish and quaint, the staff were great, the drink selection was wide, it even had a pub kind of smell. In celebration we had a pint each and a bowl of poutine. Great way to end an evening! Its not even very far away from where we live, and now plan on going there for dinner soon, roll on pub times!

Food (and Drink) for Thought

So we've now been here a whole month already, and in that time we've had a veritable smorgasbord of food! Ian and I are big on meals out, we like our food, and since we've been here we've tried quite a few places to eat and drink at, mostly around the Downtown area.

So here's the lowdown on our findings so far!

Blenz

Discovering Blenz - and on my bday!

The first place we stopped off at to get anything to eat or drink in Canada...and we found Blenz. A great Canadian owned coffee company, we dived into their protein shakes with gusto - the peanut butter one is immense but ridiculously calorific. They also have a great selection of green teas, I love the Citrus one, but found some of the other flavours to be a bit lacking. My new favourite is the Americano Misto - I'm loving the steamed milkiness - and since Ian is now working there and learning the ropes, he's made loads of suggestions and got me to try all sorts of variations, hello agave syrup!

Zefferelli's Spaghetti Joint
This place is amazing. Really amazing. If you love Italian, even if you just sorta like Italian, this place is a must! We went on my birthday back in May as I'm a massive Spaghetti fiend, and I must say it was perfect. The orange juice tasted freshly squeezed (don't judge, we weren't drinking that day) I had a Caesar salad, yes you read that correctly, I think for the first time ever, I ordered a salad  along with a gd ol' Spag bol, while Ian had a meatball dish to start and a carbonara. We were both very impressed, each of our dishes were delicious and really decent portions. We enjoyed Zefferelli's so much we went back to celebrate our first month in Vancouver recently and I opted for the Caesar again, it's that good! (What's happening to me, salad and no pudding??) For a main I had a Penne Michelangelo, and the sundried tomatoes were so packed with flavour it gave the dish an almost meaty taste. Ian had a simple pizza to start, very cheesy, they don't scrimp on ingredients for sure, and a sausage pasta dish. I also opted for a glass of the house red, and it was divine! I love this place. I want to go EVERY month.

The Lamplighter
We've been to The Lamplighter a number of times now, as we've been partaking in their weekly quiz on Tuesday nights and making the most of the $11 beer and burger deal. the burgers are simple, the fries that come with the burger are alright, but ask to upgrade to yam fries instead and BOOM its an amazing meal. Its an extra $1.50, but oh my goodness is it worth it in flavour, those blighters and great! And every time we go we get a different combination of dips, you never really know what you'll get. The main pull for The Lamplighter for me is the quiz, and catching up with other IECers. Oh, and last week I won a pitcher of beer...

It rather made my day!

 

The Templeton
This is by far one of our favourite places to eat at. Its got an old school diner vibe, with leather clad booths, and bar stools, a jukebox with some great music, and a great vibe, and huge portions of food that really doesn't disappoint. When we first went tere I ordered a chicken burger, as we've found chicken is quite expensive as a meat out here we've not been eating much, and I was missing it. It was the most ginormous chicken breast I've ever seen, with the most delicious focaccia bread and BBQ sauce I've ever had, washed down with a $6 milkshake! The next time we went, we both ordered the chicken burgers, added bacon, and finished with peanut butter and chocolate pie. The third time we visited it was pecan pie.
Then this morning... we went for breakfast. We both chose a dish called the 'Big Ass Breakfast.' Eggs, sausage or bacon, pancakes or french toast, potatoes cooked in rosemary and toast. Oh and maple syrup. (There is photographic evidence of my excitement, but I have yet to upload!) If you want a chilled, sort of greasy spoon kinda vibe, but with huge portions, great staff, and just an all round cool food experience, go here, you will NOT be disappointed.

The Flying Pig 
I really enjoyed our meal here, The Flying Pig has locations in Gastown and Yaletown, and a great little menu. I tried the chilli rubbed steak for a starter a) I love steak and this was done to perfection, still quite pink in the middle, just how I like it b) it came with a mountain of matchstick potatoes, which were lovely too. Ian went for a cheese board starter, and I think he rated most of them! For mains, Ian went for a simple roasted half chicken with mash and veggies, it was a large portion (great for Ian and his appetite) and I had a BBQ'd Salmon with risotto and a dill sauce. It looked small on the plate, but was incredibly filling, and the sauce was incredible. I'd definitely have it again.

Japadog
Ah Japadog! What a concept! The basic idea is thus, hot dogs with a japanese theme. Yeah, its almost as weird as it sounds. We dropped into the store on Robson street, as we'd seen a smattering of the stalls across the city and were intrigued. They must be doing well, they have 4 stands and a store in Vancouver, and a recently opened store in New York. I chose a Kurobuta Terimayo, a Kurobuta pork sausage, with Teriyaki sauce, mayo and seaweed. It was...interesting, I enjoyed most of it, the pork and sauces were lovely, however I wasn't quite sure on the seaweed. If had another, I would chose a different hot dog I think. I also really liked the Shichimi and Garlic shaked fries, and would have those again for sure, I loved the idea and they turned out very flavorsome. My only complaint would be the portions. For myself it was a reasonable lunch, but for a big guy like my other half it was more of a snack, it hardly touched the sides and for the price probably not worth it. I'd go again for a novelty, but it wouldn't count as a dinner!

Tim Horton's 
I finally got to try a Tim Horton's! If you like coffee, and not just any coffee, swwet coffee, or coffee with chocolate, sugar, vanilla or lots of cream this is your place. It's sweet heaven, the place is stuffed with ice cream, doughnuts, muffins, cookies and their signature 'Tim Bits.' I had a Cafe Mocha and even for me it was crazy sweet! Its a cool treat I think, but my goodness the calories I coudl eat in there!

Tony's Fish and Oyster Cafe
Last week we made an attempt at Granville Island. But after the whole smashing a glass bottle on Ian's foot thing we didn't get far. We decided to go there just for dinner and chose Tony's as it was supposed to be the best Fish and Chips in Vancouver. We were quite disappointed. We had some Calamari and Clam Chowder to start, they were decent, my Calamari had actual tentacles which I've not seen before, Ive only ever had it as rings so I enjoyed that, and the chowder was tasty. But unfortunately the fish and chips were really not to our taste, I found the batter so thick, dense and over fried, it actually made me feel ill, and wasn't great tasting. If that's seriously the best Vancouver has to offer, I vow not to try any more!

Granville Island Brewery 
We did finally get to do the Granville Island Brewery tour and test out some of their beers. We did the tour first (We got 2 for 1 on the tour price and pretty glad we did, the tour was quite short) and then got to taste a few of the beers. Due to the laws, they were only allowed to serve us 12oz alcohol though, so we only had a few small tasters.
Pictured left to right, the three we tried were Uncle Monty's Best Bitter, Ginga Ninja Ginger Beer and then Cloak and Dagger Cascadian Dark Ale, I particularly enjoyed the Ginger Beer, I liked the Bitter, but the Dark Ale was not to my taste at all! Following the tour we bought a few bottles from the shop and later tried the Imperial IPA (eurgh) the Maple Cream Ale and the Honey Lager (my favourite!) Overall there are some interesting flavours, and the alcohol is actually pretty reasonably priced in the shop, but the tour was a little short and lacking for me.

Anyway, that's it for my foodie round up (unless you want to hear about the Subway across the road that does $5 foot longs!)

Week 3

I haven't done a 'what we've been upto' post for awhile so here's a quick rundown on last week, our third week here in Vancouver! (I can't believe that on Thursday we'll have been here a whole month!

So last weekend was the big move to Downtown, and now we've been here awhile I can safely say we love it. We're going to save so much on transport for a start, busing it back to Shaughnessy everyday was beginning to cost and arm and a leg, and now we're right were we want to be. Ian started work on Monday, and its about a 15 minute walk for him, so that's easy, and it's easy for me to get everywhere I need to in my job hunting quest. The view we have will never get old, and I still love our cosy little room!

Still loving our view - Granville street looks amazing at night!

 I love that because we share an apartment we don't have to worry about things like buying furniture or decorations or cutlery etc. We just use what's already here and have our own little space. It's perfect for us!

So Monday was back to job-hunting for me, but I discovered that there is a beach about a 15 minute walk away from our apartment... much time was/will be lost reading there! Since its discovery Ian and I have gone for a few evening strolls there, there's something incredible relaxing about wandering down a quiet beach (on weekdays its heavenly empty!)

Sunset Beach, Vancouver, BC.

Tuesday morning I stayed in and listened to a friend on the radio back in the UK over the Internet, and then popped out for coffee with a fellow Brit IECer, and finally got to try a Tim Hortons - delicious I must say! (More on that later, I have a food/drink orientated post in the pipeline!

The rest of the week passed quite quickly, one day I popped out of Downtown with the lovely lady I had coffee with earlier in the week. We visited Metropolis shopping mall at Metrotown and it was ridiculously huge! I've never seen anything like it to be honest, it has everything you could possibly want. I bought writing utensils and stationary, as I intend to write letters home to people soon!

This weekend was...interesting, things didn't quite go to plan. We were going to visit Granville Island Brewery and do the tour (we got a cool 2 for 1 deal) however a mishap occurred on Friday! While cooking dinner a glass bottle of olive oil fell and smashed on the kitchen floor and poor Ian cut his foot open. So instead we took it easy round the apartment, and I kept dashing out for crappy food and snacks. Hello Subway and 711! Yesterday we took a short stroll on the beach and then decided we would take a small trip to Granville Island for dinner. We took the bus and found a place to eat (an Oyster and Fish bar, again wait for the food post for a proper verdict!) Slowly over the evening I began developing shin pain, I had shin splints about 2 years ago so after eating we hastily came home and I propped my leg up with pillows and iced it regularly. This morning I'm feeling much better, I'm going to attempt a short walk and see how it goes!

Anyway, as long as my leg stays pain free, back to job hunting for me!

Vancouver... in picture form.

So far during this blog I have included the odd picture, but they have been sparing, so here's a collection of favorites so far, enjoy!

Gastown

The Olympic Cauldron at Coal Harbour

Ian on the Digital Orca Statue

Stanley Park and the mountains.

Pender Street

False creek

Dr Sun Yat-Sen Chinese Classical Garden

Us!

Stanley Park Totem Poles

Goslings!

Beaver Lake - me

Beaver Lake - Ian

Tra la! Plenty more to come in future posts I'm sure!

Downtown

Oh.

And I cannot stop humming this ruddy song...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUSYb3igXzI

Moving to Downtown Vancouver.

The last few days have again been hectic, but everything is progressing perfectly!

Thursday was a day of job hunting for me, and a day of dragging poor Ian around all day and boring him senseless. But I got my Resume out there, and it's all a good step in the right direction. At the end of the day we were both too tired to go back and cook, so we indulged in what is quickly becoming our favorite haunt, The Templeton on Granville Street - the chicken burgers there are A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.

Yesterday we had the most incredible day. We hotfooted it to Oakridge and bought naughty snacks, then got a Jugo Juice drink each for breakfast. The most delicious and filling protein shake I and I think Ian might agree, we, have ever had. This was all planned to give us energy for our long awaited trip to the beautiful Stanley Park. The weather was scheduled to be great that day, so we'd waited to go and see it in all its glory and we really weren't disappointed. We walked half way around the sea wall, taking millions of photos as we went. Ian gallantly climbed down onto a section of the beach to get me shells (which I kept, I think I have a slight hoarding tendency.) We got half way round and started to tire (its a long old walk!) and I also wanted to get into the middle to experience the full effect of the trees. So we went down one of the trails, past the stunningly photogenic Beaver Lake, then across to the other side. We we're walking for a good 6 hours minimum, and with not great shoes either, so by the end we were absolutely exhausted. As this is our last weekend of non working and being together we went out for a meal at the Flying Pig restaurant in Gastown. I highly recommend!

Then we crashed in anticipation of an early morning today...

It's surprising...the amount of 'stuff' you can accumulate over a short period of time is really quite something. Today we moved into our new place in Downtown Vancouver, on Howe/Davie Street. We checked it out a few weeks ago after we found it on Craigslist, but now we've got a real feel for the place, and love it.

And now we're here, tucked up in bed with the blinds wide open and I can't stop looking outside!

Can you blame me, with views like this... (and to be quite honest this doesn't do it justice)

Anyway. We're settling in. We share an apartment with a Japanese couple who seem friendly and a Canadian guy who seems to keep to himself. We're in a great location, rent is comparably cheap for the area and I'm just really chuffed at the moment. The agenda tomorrow is to relax and take it easy I think, then Ian starts work on Monday, and I'll plow on with the job hunt!