Adventures and Interviews!

Siwash Rock!

Recently we've quietened down on the whole tourist thing and gone low scale, choosing to do cheap and cheerful activities, and things which are a little more off the beaten track.

Last Tuesday we took another opportunity to tackle Stanley Park. The first time we went a month or so ago we walked a portion of the sea wall and then cut through the middle, and with me in my crappy cheap trainers which I brought back in the UK, was a sorry mess by the end of it. Good shoes are a must, and quite frankly I was in agony by the end of that day. This time I was more prepared. I have purchased some ridiculously comfortable shoes (thank you Payless Shoesource!) and armed with those and a crap load of water we were off. This time we walked down Davie street, past English Bay and went clockwise around Stanley Park. Along the way we came across Siwash Rock, a beautiful rock formation which we had to clamber across a rocky beach to get to and sat on for a considerable amount of time, taking in the gorgeous views and watching the boats drift by. A very memorable and beautiful experience.

View of the sea wall - taken while sitting on Siwash Rock!

I'm in the Hollow Tree!

We continued further along the wall, going under the Lion Gate Bridge and then cut into the Park to take in some of the stunning trails available. After a considerable amount of walking (and for a portion of it going round and round in circles as I'd forgotten my map) we eventually stumbled across the Hollow Tree, a huge Western Red Cedar stump, estimated to be about 700-800 years old. The stump was almost removed in 2006 after it was damaged in a storm, but locals formed a society to save the tree, and thus it still stands.

All in all, we had a great day, and were both knackered and fulfilled by the end of it. Stanley Park is such a beautiful location and one that just keeps on giving. There's so much of it to see.

This weekend we dived back into Chinatown again, I think it's fast becoming one of our favourite areas. With the Chinese Market taking place every weekend, I can't get enough of the place, and this was my third visit (so far!) We were there for Chinatown's second Outdoor Film event for this year, where we watched Bruce Lee's Enter the Dragon. Again we came prepared with pillows and snacks, but we couldn't help feasting on Chinese food from the vendors. I snacked on my favourite - sweet and sour pork and then some delicious stir fried rice rolls from the Dim Sum Express stall, which where incredibly filling and I would highly recommend. The film experience itself was brilliant (if a little dark to begin with, but they fixed the contrast eventually!) and if they had more films planned, I would definitely go. Next up for Outdoor films is Raiders of the Lost Ark, however this one takes place at Second Beach, so I realise it's going to be very busy and a different experience entirely.

For some reason it makes me look rather small!

On Sunday evening we had a lovely meal out with another couple - our first 'double date' in 3 years, which was great fun, we had a meal at The Templeton (yes again, we really love that place) and then one evening this week Ian and I hit up our local pub again. It was the day before I had a big session of job interviews, to help steady the nerves of course!

The last few days have been a blur of job interviews for me, things have finally started to come to fruition so I have high hopes something will appear very soon. I've had a real mix of opportunities crop up suddenly, including one for a bakery, one for a hostel and one for a contact lens company. Once I nab that elusive job I'll make sure to post about my job hunting experience.

This afternoon I had another job interview, one I'm rather excited about getting as it's in a pretty cool location, and I'm very enthusiastic about. Fingers crossed I get a call back from them for a second interview!

I've also been rather busy with Birthday plans, as it's my better halves birthday this coming Tuesday. I have a surprise lined up for him which I'm really looking forward to, I think it's pretty awesome and I can't wait for him to find out what it is! I hope he likes it! More on that later!

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!)

10 Days in Vancouver!

So we've been here a grand total of 10 days, and I already feel like this city is kinda home. So much has happened, we've been darting around the city in all directions, and everything is just so easy!

Here's the highlights of our last week or so in Vancouver! Early last week we took a chilled few days to relax a bit after our hectic first few days and weekend, we did barely anything, transferring our UK money over to our new Canadian accounts was about the most energetic thing we did. Tuesday was spent at the cinema to see the new Star Trek film (great film by the way) and then we spent an evening in the Lamplighter pub in Gastown. We were invited by the lovely Natalie and Nick of ourcanadianadventure to join them and a whole bunch of fellow Brits and IECers for a quiz night. We also came 2nd in the quiz, which apparently is the teams best score to date.

Around Wednesday we decided to crack on with the job hunting, so we tracked down one of the many branches of Vancouver Public Library, our first stop was the Oakridge branch, but later we also discovered the Downtown one, and it's immensely HUGE! I was in heaven :D So we spent a few days wandering the city and handing out our resumes. In Coal Harbour I found some luck, I enquired into a chocolate shop, and they asked me to pop back in on Monday for a chat with the manager... more on that later!

Friday we took a tourist day, and revisited Coal Harbour, and made our first foray onto Granville Island. We loved this area, and will definitely be going back. Tonnes of little goslings running around the area, and very protective parents.

Rather cute goslings running around.

Granvile Island with Downtown in the background.

Saturday we needed to do a food shop...a job I loathe to hell and back, so Ian and I have struck up a deal. He does the weekly food shop thing, I do the laundry, which he hates! It's a fair swap, one I'm ridiculously chuffed about, no more trudging round supermarkets! Woohoo! So while Ian happily went round Safeway, I spent the time wandering the mall, and splashed out on myself. It also means I eat really well, Ian has us on a $5 a day each budget so I'm eating so low cal, I'm losing weight like a mad woman, and loving how lean I feel. That night we'd been invited out to Chinatown with some of the people we met earlier in the week, and discovered Chinatown is actually really cool. In our first few days in Vancouver we made the mistake of going done East Hastings and on finding it to be rough as hell had avoided that whole area like the plague. But Chinatown is actually pretty awesome looking, and I'm keen to go back and visit the night market which runs till September, and the Jimi Hendrix shrine, which was developed at his grandmother's house where he stayed during the summer and apparently learnt to play the guitar!

Today I had my meeting with the chocolate shop, and Ian had an interview with the coffee company Blenz. I didn't have much luck, the guy wanted me to do a load of research and come up with recipe ideas for a high tea concept he wanted me to bring into the shop, which really isn't my forte to start with, and then asked me to do a whole load of research then come back to meet with someone else to discuss my ideas. I just want a job dude. Ian had more luck! We met up a few hours later and he has a full-time job at Blenz, starting Sunday/Monday!

Exciting stuff! Lots of things to be doing, I have another interview tomorrow, and we're hitting up a gallery, which I'm excited for! Still loving Vancouver, even today's constant downpour hasn't dampened my spirits. Oh yes, despite the photos, we have discovered the rain here too. We definitely need to buy an umbrella...