Hummingbird604.com » Granville Island

Vancouver International Children’s Festival 2012 on Granville Island

Raul — Mon, 21 May 2012 16:37:22 +0000

While my blog is normally a lifestyle and travel blog (dining out, fine and performing arts, dance, theatre, travel features, history), most of my readers know that I am an uncle several times now, and that my nephews and nieces are one of my top priorities. So when my nephews are in town, particularly L who is now four years old, I’m always keen to bring them to do children’s-focused activities. And slowly but surely I’m learning about all that the kidlets and youngins have available for activities. Like the Vancouver International Children’s Festival 2012 on Granville Island.

You can check more on the Vancouver International Children’s Festival 2012 Facebook Page or follow them on Twitter at @VICF.

A world-renowned festival of performing arts for young audiences, the Vancouver International Children’s Festival has been educating, entertaining and inspiring young audiences since 1978.

As someone who grew up trained in the arts (I’m a competitive dancer and a former theatre actor, and like my four brothers, I play classical piano), I love festivals like the Vancouver International Children’s Festival. The schedule of events is here. Tickets to the event start I think at $18 per single event, and you can find the prizing bundles and packages here. I love the fact that there will be a number of shows in French.

I thought it’d be important to show the Age Policy, something that is often debated in the arts. Personally I love children but I know they can be disruptive in some performances. Note the age policy for VICF here.

The Festival is family-friendly. All ages, including babies, are admitted to the following Festival SoundStage shows: Élage Dioiuf, Kutapira, Journey Through Sound, Will Stroet, along wiith age-appropriate activities. Babies under 12 months are admitted at no charge to the Festival SoundStage.

For all other venues, all patrons require a ticket. The age ratings for each show have been developed to ensure a positive and enriching theatrical experience for everyone. Children younger than the ages listed on the individual shows and babes in arms (children under 12 mos.) are not permitted in the theatre venues as they may become frightened or disruptive.

~~I didn’t have the time to talk to the organizers so at this point I don’t know if I will have any tickets to give away yet, but stay tuned and check back!~~ UPDATE: The organizers have given me stuff to give away, so check out my contest:

Win a Family 4-Pack of Site Activity Passes to the Vancouver International Children’s Festival, taking place May 29 to June 3 on Granville Island. The passes are good for 1 day and allow your family to access the world of art & music in their 3 activity zones. If you win, you’ll be able to enjoy these activities by picking your tickets up at VICF Box Office on Granville Island.

All you need to do to enter my giveaway is tell me your favorite family activity, be it on Granville Island or elsewhere in Vancouver. I found out when I last babysat L and E, my nephews (1 and 4) that we had an amazing time at Stanley Park, where the train is. What about you? What do you do with your family? When we were little, my parents and I and my brothers we all used to go to the movies on Sunday night and then have dinner as a family. Even as I’ve grown older, I do that still.

An additional entry can be earned by posting on Pinterest (if you have a Pinterest account) a photo of your favorite family activity, and pinging me back either on Pinterest, or on Twitter. My Pinterest account is here. Or you can just repin the pin originated from this blog post.

A third entry can be earned by posting the following text on your Twitter account:

Shared w/ @hummingbird604 my favorite family activity http://is.gd/1IMGyO 2 enter 2 win a Family On-Site Pack for @VICF – what’s yours?

I will draw a winner on Sunday May 27th at 2pm.

Granville Island Brewery Pumpkin Ale launch party

jessica — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 18:00:42 +0000

All 3 of us (Raul, Anabelle and I) headed to Granville Island on Tuesday evening to try out some Pumpkin Ale (#GIBPumpkinAle). Now, I’m not a professional critic and I’ve never taken any sort of tasting course, but I do love craft beer, and I am well-versed in all GIB beers. I hope this review is a helpful guide to others like me, who just love to enjoy good seasonal beer, and apologies if I’m missing the proper beer review methods!

We started the evening with a taste-tour of 3 different beers – ales, to be exact.

The Pale Ale and an explanation of the malts used in it was the first to go. It was paired with local cheese from Granville Island’s Benton Brother’s Fine Cheese. The idea of beer and cheese tastings crossed my world about a year ago, and I’ve been obsessed with it ever since. I’m so glad that GIB took part in this, because Granville Island’s artisan shops are fantastic and it tasted delicious.

The second beer was their Maple Cream ale. I’ve tried this one before and remember disliking it, but this night it tasted just fine. Maybe the recipe has changed in the year or so that I haven’t drank it, or maybe it was just a good evening. The Maple Cream Ale was sweet but not sugary, and went down smoothly.

Finally we got to the Pumpkin Ale! It’s brewed with real roasted pumpkin puree and a blend of secret spices. This is the third year that Granville Island has produced their seasonal Pumpkin Ale, each year they change the recipe slightly. In my opinion, this year’s was bang on. When we were finished the test and given the choice of any beers at the tap-room, I had to go for more pumpkin. It tasted like pumpkin pie, and even though it went well with cheese, I would like to try it with an entire turkey dinner. The colour was a beautiful amber, and the aroma was super light (I probably wouldn’t have guessed pumpkin if I hadn’t known.) The taste was light as well, but lightly spiced and very delicious.

Our Pumpkin Ales’s earthy undertones lend a unique twist to this untraditional ale. Burnt orange in colour, this ale is a reflection of autumn’s changing landscape. Smells like fresh pumpkin pie. Roasted pumpkin with dashes of nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves create a lingering finish.

EDITOR’S NOTE AND DISCLOSURE: I (Raul) was invited to the launch party for Granville Island Brewery’s pumpkin ale and brought along my interns Jessica and Anabelle. A blog post is neither expected nor paid for, although we did get to sample a couple of glasses of beer compliments of our hosts. As always I retain editorial control on anything published on my site. Jessica wrote this review on behalf of all three of us as she’s the one who does love beer

The Aquabus

Raul — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 20:00:11 +0000

This past week, the sun was absolutely glorious and JT and I were headed to The Wiz (the reinvention of The Wizard of Oz by my friends of Fighting Chance Productions) and we wanted to make it on time so we had to use the Aquabus (were we in the other side, we probably could have used False Creek Ferries).

I loved the Aquabus from the first time I ever took it. I have the most fond memories of it particularly because my good friends and I always take it, particularly on good days. Whenever anybody comes to visit me to Vancouver, I always take them on a tour of False Creek on either the Aquabus or False Creek Ferries.

While I’m not happy that their schedule is in PDF format and thus not very mobile friendly, I do like their service hours (6:40am to 9:30pm). I really enjoy taking it particularly when I go for dinner close to Hornby (service is Hornby Street downtown to Granville Island on the mainland). You should check it out if you haven’t yet!

False Creek Ferries (Granville Island)

Raul — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 16:38:08 +0000

There are few things that warm my heart and remind me of how much I love Vancouver. One of them is to take the little ferry across False Creek, from the downtown core to Granville Island. Most of the time, I used to just walk down, take the False Creek Ferries (or the AquaBus, whichever was there) and just cross to wherever I had to go. One of my most fond memories was 2007 Pride when my good friends AF, BS and HZ spent the whole day with me and then we took the False Creek Ferries across to Second Beach.

I just found out that the False Creek Ferries are on Twitter! (@FalseCreekFerry) and I am glad that they’re also jumping on the social bandwagon (with a Flickr account no less). From their website:

False Creek ferries is the original ferry service, operating in False Creek since 1982. Starting with two 18’ electric boats running between Granville Island and the old Boater’s Village Marina on the north shore, the idea of water borne transit in the Creek slowly, but surely, became accepted. Twenty-eight years and over 11 million passengers later, the “little blue ferries” are firmly established as an integral part of the city of Vancouver, offering a unique perspective on one of the most vibrant areas of the city. The fleet now consists of ten vessels, including four 20-passenger diesel powered “supermini‑ferries,” and routes extend from the Maritime Museum in Kitsilano to Science World and the Main Street Skytrain station.

It’s way too cold (apparently it’s going to go down to -10 oC and 20 cm of snow in Vancouver) but I’m definitely down to coming and using the False Creek Ferries sometime this summer.

I Love Granville Island – The Granville Island Storytelling Contest

Raul — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 19:50:41 +0000

That I am in love with Granville Island is not a surprise to anyone. If you have read my blog for any length of time you will know that I spend a ridiculously large amount of time on Granville Island. I often attend plays at the Granville Island Stage or the Revue Stage, I have had dinner at the Dockside (actually, now that I recall, one of my Valentine’s Day celebrations was there), I have profiled the former industrial nature of Granville Island. I have written about the floating houses on Granville Island and the need to keep the Olympic Streetcar. And of course, I have had beer there! (thank you Granville Island Brewing Tap Room!)

I got invited recently to a media preview of the I Love Granville Island tour, associated with the Granville Island storytelling contest. I am, by definition, a story teller, and thus found this invite quite compelling. While I did not do everything in the tour (glass-blowing, paint-making, dinner at The Sandbar) I did visit the Granville Island Brewing Tap Room and had a wonderful tour of their brewing facilities. As a chemical engineer, just bring me to an industrial plant and I’ll love you forever.

With Valentine’s Day around the corner, we want your stories of love and other adventures, intimate tales of intrigue or chance meetings! Fill out the form below before Feb 10, 2011 at midnight for a chance to win! Three winners selected each week between now and February 10th. Music, video and photo submissions can be emailed to stories@granvilleislandworks.com.

If you do enter the contest and know about it via my site – there’s an option there that says “how did you hear about the contest” – please add Hummingbird604.com there under ‘Other’. I definitely love knowing that my readers get places via my site!

Dockside Restaurant (Granville Island)

Raul — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 16:38:32 +0000

About three years ago (in 2007, I think) JT and I went to the Dockside Restaurant (right on the heart of Granville Island, as this is the restaurant of the Granville Island Hotel) for dinner. Three years later, despite how often we’ve been out and about, we had not repeated the Dockside, but since we needed food right away and we were on Granville Island, we stopped again at this restaurant.

It might have been the fact that I was sick, but I kind of remember the food at Dockside better than what I had this time. I ordered a salmon with cold seafood salad (at $24, and the salad ended up being mussels, oops – I totally hate mussels), while JT ordered sirloin with onion rings. He liked the sirloin (at $28, not cheap, though he mentioned he had had better), and I did like my salmon, but I didn’t find the flavors overwhelmingly good (again, I should indicate I was sick).

The one thing I can say was totally outstanding was the service – our server responded to my request to exchange the mussels for a green salad really quickly and he didn’t even charge me, he was prompt, friendly, extremely courteous and speedy. That’s when I really love tipping extra generously (when I can see that someone went the extra mile).

The industrial-to-urban transformation of Granville Island

Raul — Thu, 13 May 2010 15:45:55 +0000

Whenever friends of mine or other touristy folks ask me where to go to get a real taste of Vancouver, for some reason I always think of Granville Island. To me, Granville Island is the epitome of Vancouver. Beautiful outdoor patios, great restaurant, wonderful little artsy shops, and terrific views of False Creek, the Burrard Inlet and Yaletown/Downtown Vancouver.

However, there’s an additional reason why I love Granville Island. One of the reasons is that this “island” is really not an island. It’s a beautiful peninsula, and more importantly, it’s a peninsula that has seen a radical industrial-to-urban transformation. As I wrote before, my doctoral dissertation used an interdisciplinary framework that borrows heavily from economic geography and urban planning. Thus, I’m always keen to look at empirical examples of how cities and regions have transformed from heavily-industrialized centers to posh, sophisticated urban developments.

In particular, I have an absolute fascination for the fact that Granville Island has a concrete factory (which I have to say, looks like it’s actually operating!) Every time I go to see a show on Granville Island at The Arts Club or for a drink at the Backstage Lounge, I end up walking by the cute little exhibit of how cement is made (pictured to the right). Not only am I a specialist in urban/industrial restructuring, I am also a chemical engineer, so anything that has to do with chemical processes gets me all excited. Moreover, I find the little exhibit a great educational tool that sparks interest in the younger crowds.

I dug around the archives of the Granville Island website (on their Heritage page) and found out that the concrete factory is still in operation (Ocean Construction Ltd). I always find (as you noticed in my previous post) the co-existence of industrial and urban spaces rather fascinating. I probably will start a series of posts on the transformation of Vancouver, as I already have done some research on Mount Pleasant (an area of Vancouver that also suffered a substantial industrial-to-urban transformation)

Floating houses on Granville Island

Raul — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 05:40:50 +0000

I’ve been in love with Granville Island ever since I set foot there. I attend theatre plays at various venues, have had lots of brunches at several of the restaurants here and have ended up having drinks at the Backstage Lounge several times. Recently I was on a walk with Emme Rogers recently, and we found ourselves near the floating homes on Granville Island. These are located very close to the ECUAD.

ECUAD stands for Emily Carr University of Art and Design. I had walked by previously with JT but we hadn’t had the chance to take photos, so I did this time. I really would LOVE to own one of these floating homes, or at least, have a chance to come visit one from inside! A few photos of my walk by shown below.

The Olympic Line Streetcar

Raul — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:29:56 +0000

I was invited as part of a small group of bloggers to go and test-ride the Olympic Line Streetcar, which takes people from the Olympic Village Canada Line station to Granville Island (although, in my opinion, it’s kind of ridiculous that it doesn’t go all the way to, at the very least, Main Street/Science World Skytrain station – the tracks are there, so it’s not like it can’t go all the way).

I couldn’t make it to the launch, but on separate occasions, I’ve had the chance to ride it. First, with the delightful Emme Rogers as we were making our way to False Creek for one of our routine walks, and second, with my dearest friend JT, who really wanted us to do this very short trip (we did the Streetcar in the summer of 2009, so it was kind of a coming-back-to-our-roots kind of small trip). While I find the ride extremely pleasant, it’s really short. I really can’t see a good reason why we cannot extend the Streetcar to go all the way to, at the very least, Main Street/Science World Skytrain station. I also don’t really want to return it to Belgium, it’s such a cute tram!

Overall, I had a great time, and it’s fantastic that it’s free entertainment and transportation for Vancouver visitors and residents alike. It will be operating 18 hours a day, 7 days a week between January 21st and March 21st, 2010.

Via Beatrice [win tickets!]

Raul — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 18:40:04 +0000

My Mom was a trained opera singer, so I grew up listening to arias. I’ve been lucky enough to be part of the Blogger Night program by the Vancouver Opera before (also, Tris took me to see Carmen and we did a video review for Sexy in VanCity, and my very good friend JT took me to see Rigoletto, which I also reviewed). Therefore, it’s no surprise that I’m intrigued to know what Via Beatrice is all about. I am most intrigued because the world premiere of this Fugue Theatre production took place on August 14th at the Playwrights Theatre Centre (Granville Island). I’m delighted that I’ve been invited to see it.

I’ll be giving away a pair of tickets for this operetta, so to enter the contest, just drop a comment on this post. Via Beatrice will run from August 19th to the 22nd, so you might want to check it out soon. From the production’s website:

A woman travels to Italy after the suicide of her daughter. They were supposed to take the trip together. Practically giving up all hope for life itself, the woman stumbles upon a haunted tour of Rome led by a slick Italian tour guide. He has his own demons. Together, they become entwined with the ghost of Beatrice Cenci in a roller-coaster ride of sensuality, fright, grief and hope.

You can purchase tickets online ($25 general admission, $18 students/seniors with ID). I will be drawing randomly a winner tomorrow (Tuesday) at 2pm.

Restaurant review – Bridges (Granville Island)

Raul — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 18:53:32 +0000

Without a doubt, Bridges manages to offer the best mojito I’ve ever had in Vancouver. Sweet, tasty, well muddled. Everything is perfect. Moreover, it offers some of the best food I’ve had in all my time here. I had been to Bridges before, but this past weekend, with my brother’s visit, he suggested that we go for lunch to Granville Island, which to me is always a great proposition for lots of fun and great food, and an amazing view.

I wasn’t disappointed in Bridges. It is still one of the best restaurants in Vancouver. The service was very prompt (and a tad too friendly, I would say but that’s ok, I don’t mind). We ordered ceviche and a dipper platter which should have been more than enough for lunch, but I was way hungry and we finished it off rather quickly. Loved the tzatziki and the hummus, and of course, the ceviche wasn’t 100% authentic like what I would expect, but it wasn’t bad at all.

The main course I chose, a smoked salmon burger, was very good but I couldn’t finish it off. Perhaps I should have ordered a different dish, but frankly, this is a West Coast restaurant and it should provide a good salmon burger. That, they do. I was slightly surprised at how many staff members they had, but it seemed like they were having a good time.
finished it rather fast.

The prices are in the higher-end-ish scale, but I really don’t think it’s too much of an issue, because really, I would only come to Bridges for a celebration or for a meal that is somewhat significant. A main course can go anywhere from $25 to about $35-$40 (which is not all that unreasonable for the kind of place that Bridges is).

The food was amazing, the company was outstanding, and I had a great time. I *will* be coming back to Bridges, for sure. This is one of the best restaurants I’ve tried in a long while.

Natural beauty, friends and short updates

Raul — Fri, 30 May 2008 18:27:47 +0000

This past couple of weeks, the weather in Vancouver has been fairly decent, and I’ve managed to take a few photos. With my recent scare (e.g. fainting spell), I just came to realize that I haven’t had a relaxed week/weekend in a long while. Thus, I figured I’d just use this short post to show you some pretty pictures I took from the very rare occasions when I have taken relaxing, leisurely walks around Vancouver.

The first set is from brunch at Deep Cove’s Arm Reach Bistro with JT.

The view from the parking lot of Panorama. Photo credit: JT.

Martinis @ Arms Reach Bistro, FTW! Photo credit: JT.

The second set is from brunch at The Nice Cafe and a long walk around the False Creek seawall, from the bridge crossing into Charleson Park to Granville Island and back (a walk I did with C and B).

The view of Yaletown from False Creek. Photo credit: Me.

I rarely use the visual editor because I find it annoying, but I wanted to see if I could adjust the code for photo alignment and size. And yes, I’m doing much better (physically and in the process of geekification). Going to take it easy this weekend anyways.

EDIT – Hat tips to Andy for fixing the code. I’m such a non geek

VIDFEST 2008 – Vancouver International Digital Festival 2008 is now

Raul — Wed, 21 May 2008 17:15:28 +0000

Never in my life have I felt like I’m being pulled in three directions like this week. It *is* a very important week for social media. While I have talked at length about other upcoming events, including those happening today (LaunchParty IV at Republic – to which I *am* going – and Green Drinks Vancouver 30 Days of Sustainability Wrap Up Party – to which I *might* show up), there’s the launch party for VIDFEST 2008.

So you may ask yourselves “What is VIDFEST 2008 and why should I care?“. The first question is really easy to answer. The Vancouver International Digital Festival is

VIDFEST is eleven events over four days, including conferences, an awards gala, an international partnering forum, a pitch fest, and a recruiting fair. Book your calendar for this digital media extravaganza.[VIDFEST website]

You can check the schedule for the event and that may lead you to the answer to the second question (why should YOU care). Simply speaking, I can put it in code and I’m sure you’ll get it

IF YourGeekinessQuotient > 0.05 THEN
Attend_VIDFEST
ENDIF

Two important events I really want to attend that are part of VIDFEST include Convergence 2008 (on Thursday 9am-5pm, Granville Island Hotel) and the PopVox Awards Gala (on Saturday evening). For Convergence’s schedule you can click here. By an absolute miracle of the scheduling Gods (and considering how booked I am this week), I *am* free on Thursday from 2.30pm to 5:30pm, so I am pretty sure I can make it to the panel where Darren Barefoot, Rebecca Bollwitt and Kate Trgovac will speak, on Blogger Relations: Influencing Online Influencers. I will bring up my own complaint with MatchStick up if I manage to sneak in to this particular session. Besides, I am looking forward to meeting Kate Trgovac, whom I’ve heard wonders about in the blogosphere for a long, long time.

As for the PopVox Awards,

PopVox (from vox populi – L. voice of the people) is the people’s choice awards for the Vancouver International Digital Festival. Submit your project today! The deadline for entries is April 30, 2008. It’s free to submit. Online voting will determine the winners. The PopVox awards recognizes and celebrates the creativity, talent, and achievements of the digital media industry. Prizes are awarded in eleven categories:[VIDFEST 2008 website]

Kudos to the VIDFEST organizers. If you are in media, you can check ALL THE STUFF they are providing YOU to make your job much easier. Since I am hoping to be able to attend and live-blog a couple of events, their clever thinking really allows me to just focus on the actual event rather than trying to dig information for my blog posts.

I am really hoping to be able to attend some of the VIDFEST events, since I am sure you my dear readers would greatly benefit, particularly if (like me) you are feeling pulled in all directions! However, given my transitional stage towards my new career path, I feel like I am able to make enough time in my social and work calendar to sneak in some of these events. If you are attending, drop me a comment, an email, send me a tweet or simply say “hi!“

Weekend roundup II: The cherry blossom photowalk

Raul — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 21:12:44 +0000

Now that I have learned how to insert Flickr pictures directly on to my blog, I can walk you through what we did on Saturday afternoon (the cherry blossom photowalk I had talked about), and include a few photos.

I have had this conversation with Nomade Moderne, who is a phenomenal photographer, and with Arjana as well. And PatZ concurs. Apparently, Rule # 1 of Flickr is to only upload what you think are the best photos you’ve taken. Quite honestly, I have to say that I loved ALL my photos from the photowalk. Yes, I deleted about 10, but overall, I really liked them. Comments, absolutely welcome of course.

We then proceeded to drop by Cafe Crepe for a crepe-to-go (in my case, banana and dark chocolate, walking along Thurlow until we reached the cherry blossoms on Beach Avenue and proceeded to take a few more photos.

Arjana suggested to jump in the AquaBus. Since I love undertaking random adventures (and she is one of the best partners-in-crime to do so, plus Pat had never taken the AquaBus), I said “sure, let’s do it“. We crossed the water and reached Granville Island, which is one of my favorite destinations. Bumped into a street guitar player who was playing the first movement of the Moonlight sonata (which I play in the piano) and a random couple started dancing along.

We then walked along Granville Island and sat on the pier overlooking False Creek. I *love* this area, I really do. Arjana offered us some “iced tea” (you know what it was, hehehe) while we took in some of the gorgeous views of False Creek.

Finally, we ended up having a coffee at Starbucks (I was forced into it, I swear! In principle, I do not drink Starbucks – but it was the closest coffee shop and we needed something warm after a photo-walk in the cold). Absolutely loved the company of Arjana and PatZ. It was a great Saturday! And if you really want to see the rest of my photos, here is my Flickr link. I may not be the best photographer in Vancouver, but I really liked how these photos turned out.

Bar review – The Backstage Lounge (Granville Island)

Raul — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 08:54:10 +0000

The Backstage Lounge is one of my favorite bars. It overlooks the water, on Granville Island. The view is amazing, during the day and at night. They usually have a fairly good beverage selection, good specials (they had tequila shots on special last night) and great live music, plus a really wide dance floor.

I went there with a group of close friends of AF to celebrate her birthday last night, and despite the fact that the starter group wasn’t all that good, we had a good time. I started feeling really sick and had the beginnings of a fever around midnight, and by the time I got home, the fever was full blown, so I really didn’t stay for long.

However, for the period of time I stayed (and to be fair, every time I go to the Backstage Lounge), I had a fantastic time, not only because it was AF’s birthday (someone who is very near and dear to my heart) but also because it seemed like the right venue for this type of celebration. Besides, there were LOTS of eye candy!

I would definitely recommend the Backstage Lounge for birthday celebrations, although most likely, next time I go I will be wearing jeans instead of dress slacks, because with the cold temperature snap and my legs being not really warmed up, I think that had to do with how quickly I fell prey to the cold.

Much to say, too little time

Raul — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 16:34:00 +0000

So you’ll have to apologize my point-form post…

M’s birthday was on Monday, and I was so crazy busy trying to finish a major piece of work that I completely forgot. It wasn’t until Thursday that she reminded me and I feel SO guilty about having forgotten her birthday like you have no idea. Given M’s sense of loyalty and dedication to her friends, family and work, I feel twice as guilty. Admittedly, I was super stressed. But I should have made sure to send her a birthday email. Luckily I do have her birthday gift already and I’ll take her out for dinner to make up for my forgetfulness.

Had a wonderful American Thanksgiving dinner thanks to the hospitality of M and K. Good friends of mine C and H were also there, as well as three other friends of the hosts. Lots of laugh, good food, and great times. And yeah, I’m still a light-weight. Two and a half glasses of wine made my evening quite the experience, he he he.

One of my best friends, who is now living a split life between Madrid and Mexico City, called me this morning. It was so nice to hear his voice again. We met in Vancouver around a decade ago, and we have maintained a very strong bond despite the physical distance. This friend of mine (CB) is very successful and it was nice to catch up as though no time had passed.

My best friend from high school’s birthday (LEAD) was yesterday, November 22nd. I really did intent to call him but I’ve been running around so much it was pretty much impossible. Oh, well, I’ll have to make it up when I visit.

My great friends C and B managed to sneak a visit with KW, since she’s visiting them for American Thanksgiving. Since C and B will have a ton of friends over for these holidays, I know that it’ll be a complete madhouse at their place. But we managed to do lunch together (at Denny’s of all places, and it was quite good) and then we did coffee on Granville Island. Spending time with C and B and KW is always really fun, and I got to meet JN’s mom and brother too. Very nice people. I still can’t believe I’ve done so much socializing in the past day!

On a funny note, while walking around, KW noticed a really cute guy and when I turned left to see who she was talking about, guess who it was? One of the Ashmore twins! I am not sure if it was Aaron Ashmore or Shawn Ashmore (I would probably guess it was Aaron since the Screenwriters Guild of America is on strike, and perhaps Smallville is on hiatus — thus giving him some time to walk around Granville Island’s Market, but I’m not totally sure). He is strikingly handsome in person (I have met other actors in person and they are usually not as good looking in real life as they look on TV). And the funny thing is (oh beautiful laid-back Vancouver) that nobody really seemed to care that he was a TV star. Everyone let him do his thing (he was hanging out with friends of him, apparently). Ah, to live in the West Coast…

The next few days will be crazy so don’t expect content to be posted very frequently. But I’ll keep you on the loop, I promise.

Restaurant review – The Cat’s Meow

Raul — Fri, 18 May 2007 06:32:00 +0000

I love Granville Island. I love the scenery, I love the fact that it used to be an industrial zone and now it is very residential/a tad commercial. It houses the Granville Market, and the Backstage Lounge, the Dockside and a few other restaurants. I always enjoyed going down to Granville Island because, for a few hours, I just got lost in the scenic beauty.

For a while there, my group of close friends and I used to go to the Cat’s Meow for brunch all the time. It was sort of “our joint”. The first few times we went there, the service was excellent. The food was awesome. One time, my scrambled eggs got cold because I was too chatty and the waitress said “oh, don’t worry – we’ll just throw them and make you new ones”. You can bet our tip was good, because I personally considered that the best service I had received anywhere in Vancouver.

Then the past few times the service went not so bad to very bad to really bad to I-really-don’t-want-to-ever-set-my-foot-in-this-place-ever-again. So now I don’t ever come back to The Cat’s Meow. Don’t get me wrong, they do have a place in the brunch and dinner scene, particularly in False Creek. But I just have been a witness to a deteriorating service.

Would I give The Cat’s Meow a chance again? Probably this fall. Not any time soon, but I am sure in the fall I will. Now, if you think I am being unfair to TCM, read these reviews and tell me again after you’ve done the reading. Hopefully The Cat’s Meow management will wake up and say “hey let’s make this place as good as it used to be”. Be prepared to shell some bucks if you go there, the brunch ain’t cheap.

Restaurant review – Dockside Restaurant

Raul — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 07:33:00 +0000

Located on Granville Island, the Dockside Restaurant is one of the nicest places you can find for dinner (or drinks). Directly located beside the waterfront (hence the name), you can look over Science World, Yaletown and False Creek all without having to leave your seat. The Dockside Restaurant is part of the Granville Island Hotel.

The food is really good and the service is super attentive. I had stuffed the Chevre and Apricot free range chicken breast, which was unbelievably tasty. I saw a few other items with meat, fish but no full vegetarian option. My dinner did have cheese (a tiny bit) but I survived because the food was so good. The pricing is fairly upscale from the last time I remember ($24-$30 for main courses) and they completely got rid of their pastas but their menu is fairly good, so no reason to complain. Worth visiting if you have a special occasion.