There is no better way to spend a nice lunch than with extended family and friends, at a great restaurant: The Old Spaghetti Factory. We went to the Gastown location, although I have been there and to other locations with J, my brother, and other friends. I recognize I should have written this review LONG ago, but anyways.
The great thing about the OSF is that there is no way in hell you will not be full at the end of your meal. I ordered a spicy chorizo penne, and to be honest, I don’t think I could have eaten it all had it not been for the fact that I had not had breakfast (I was too busy trying to finish off some work, as I knew that my afternoon was a total write-off – I had family members visiting).
The food is, as always, great. The staff (servers and host) were very nice, greeted us with drinks and bread and butter, and provided us with soft drinks refills all the way. So I can’t complain. The best part was visiting with extended family, but also it was very nice to just have some really good food. If you have a large group, it’s really worth the price of the food (less than $ 20.00 for a REALLY GOOD lunch). I’d seriously recommend it.
I am a bit afraid that two of my most relevant pieces this week (the diatribe about Translink’s decision-making process and the upcoming climate-change related events here in Vancouver) will disappear into oblivion if I keep writing these “light content” posts but I’ve been wanting to say this for a few days now. So here it goes (and apologies to those who will waste 3 minutes of their time in reading this post!)
Last night, I completely cleaned up my apartment. As in, I sat down, went through the piles of papers that had accumulated in my living room, on my bed, on my kitchen table and on my (rather small) desk. You’ll see, I live in a REALLY tiny apartment (to see a layout of what my apartment looks like and be a bit frightened about how much I crammed in less than 500 square feet, click here).
(when decorating apartments in Vancouver, you have to deal with VERY limited spaces).
Anyhow, I digress… Given the very small amount of space I have in my apartment, I really have to keep it rather clean and organized. So, I got rid of a few items (donated to Triage, a non-governmental organization that provides emergency services to homeless and low-income people, but I’ll blog about that later) and organized all my files (yet again). You’d be surprised to see my apartment now. It looks almost immaculate.
On the cleaning up the house side of things, I should also mention that I’ve decided to be more financially conscious. So, the number of restaurant reviews will probably decrease in 2008 (unless I find a REALLY good new job and make enough money to actually dine out as much as I did in the past). Admittedly, all the dining out I did in 2007 has allowed me to have a very clear panoramic view of the restaurant scene in Vancouver and surrounding cities, and I’ve managed to find some very good cheap eats.
Cleaning up the house also meant reviving a few friendships that were dormant in 2007, and looking forward to spending some good times in 2008. It also means that I have to make a conscious effort to keep my apartment in good condition so that I can feel comfortable both spending more time here and inviting friends over. As J very clearly said, I take pride in being able to invite friends and entertain guests, so I should keep it up.
And while we are at the topic of beauty, I leave you with a photo of the scenery as you would see it from the Rose Garden at UBC. Now, you can understand one of the reasons why I am so happy in this city! (by the way, I have to find a way to upload my photos to Flickr so that people can use them with attribution) – but too busy to do that today! – thanks to Nomade Moderne for the suggestion though).
Ok, so now on to the $ 25.00 dollar mark recommendations. I’ve been to these restaurants and I should have written restaurant reviews, might do so in the near future.
– Aqua Riva – I love it.
– Dockside – Love it too (and reviewed here on my blog).
– Gramercy Grill – Not convinced from the brunch menu, but perhaps curious to see dinner menu.
– Hell’s Kitchen – Had brunch here, don’t know about dinner.
– Horizons – HELL YEAH. ABSOLUTELY. One of my best evenings was dinner here with J.
– La Bodega – YES. HELL YES. OH MY GOD, I HAVE TO GO! Reviewed here too.
– Mosaic – Excellent brunch, figure dinner is just as good. Reviewed here.
– NU – Hmm. Not convinced. May try this one.
– Ouisi – Excellent dinner food. Worth trying. Reviewed here.
– Red Door – I hated it, but who knows, maybe people will want to go. Reviewed here.
– Seasons in the Park – I’m tempted to try this one.
– Steamworks – Not worth it for dinner. Been there, done that. But good food nonetheless. I just wouldn’t do Dine Out 2008 there.
– The Boathouse – Awesome food. I fell in love with this restaurant. Worth going on Dine Out.
– The Cats Meow – Hmmmm. Should I attempt one more try? Reviewed here.
– Cloud 9 – Hell yeah. If they have a $25.00 menu, I am SO going. Also reviewed here.
– The Transcontinental – Never done dinner here. Not interested. Good drinks and appetizers though.
– Tropika – J loves it. I hate it.
– Water St. Cafe – ABSOLUTELY. I swear by the Water Street Cafe.
– Trafalgars Bistro – hmmm… curious about it.
January 25th, 2008 in
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I know, how on Earth did I manage to not talk about Dine Out Vancouver 2008? Particularly since my dining out posts are the most popular on my blog. I know, guilty as charged. Truth be told, one of my New Year’s resolution was to be more budget-conscious. And that can’t be done if I’m dining out every week/weekend. Still, I’ve been to a few restaurants already (but trying to have more budget-conscious brunches and dinners). Couple of new restaurants I’ll review in the next few days.
Now, since we’re talking about budget-conscious, what are your options for Dine-Out that I would recommend. This list is taken from the Tourism Vancouver website, just adding my own personal opinion.
The list of participating restaurants is here.
And now, for my own personal recommendations
– Ashiana – had dinner here once, it was fantastic. Worth trying.
– Nyala – already reviewed on my blog, excellent food.
– The Old Spaghetti Factory – can’t go wrong with this one. Abundant portions, tasty.
– The Sunset Grill – reviewed for brunch, excellent dinner items too.
Curious about
– Migz – hmmm… never been, interesting menu.
– Maria Taverna – can’t recall if I’ve been (I think I have). Interesting menu.
– The Irish Heather – I’ve been, but not in a long time. Interesting…
Let me know if you have any other recommendations.
Voters Taking Action Against Climate Change (VTACC) is a non-partisan group that is organizing a series of talks on climate change that will take place within the next few weeks. I don’t know the first couple of speakers, but I do know Dr. Mark Jaccard and he’s a brilliant speaker. Many people may disagree with his views, but he is certainly a rigorous scholar who does good social science and that should not be discounted.
From the VTACC website (all talks take place at the Canadian Memorial United Church at 7 pm, on Burrard and 15th Avenue):
Global Warming: More than Hot Air?
Dr. David Chapman, Professor of Geophysics, Dean of the Graduate School at the University of Utah
Tuesday, February 5th, 7 pm.
Global Warming as Spiritual Crisis and Opportunity
Bruce Sanguin, Minister, Canadian Memorial United Church
Tuesday February 19th, 7 pm.
Lessons for the Future from Canada’s Climate Policy Failures
Dr. Mark Jaccard, Professor at the School of Resources and Environmental Management at SFU
Tuesday March 4th, 7 pm.
I am a bit surprised about the fact that very little has been talked about the politics of Canadian climate change policy (that is, about the political climate in Canada and how that is impacting implementation of post-Kyoto commitments). Would be worth examining, I think. And let me know if you attend any of the talks. You’re even welcome to guest-blog!
For more information about VTACC:
VTACC is a group of Kitsilano neighbours who are deeply concerned about global warming and want to mobilize people to get engaged politically to call for immediate and deep reductions in emissions.[VTACC website]
While I was traveling in Mexico this past December and early January, I felt guilt-ridden because I drove a couple of times a single-occupant vehicle (SOV). Admittedly, most of the time I drove my Mom and my friend ML, in addition to a couple of my nieces, so really it was a high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) for the few weeks I was there. Nevertheless, whenever I am in another country (e.g. France, Germany, Canada), I make a conscious choice to commute by transit (bus, train and metro). Thus, as a frequent transit user, it frustrates me to no end that (apparently) stupid decisions are made which affect my daily commute.
Recently, a few of these decisions were put in place: the stops at Main at 10th Avenue (on both the east and west sides) were removed, and the Main and 15th (northbound) was moved to Main and 14th (right across from Zigz). Furthermore, I don’t know whose “bright idea” was it to only have a couple of routes on Broadway (9 and 99 B-Line) and one on King Edward (25) but none on 16th Avenue, basically from Macdonald to Fraser. We need a route along 16th Avenue, even if it’s only a Commuter Bus (like the ones that Translink provided for short trips within UBC, or the C21 and C23 from Main Street Skytrain station to the West End and back). Why hasn’t this happened?
I could cite the other dozens of stupid transportation policy decisions that have been made in the Metro Vancouver area, but there is a point I’ve been thinking about bringing across. When we complain about transportation policy, we often say “Translink should do this” or “Translink should do that” as though Translink is a homogeneous body. This is not the case.
The truth is that organizations are composed of individuals, each one with a different view of the world. Unless we recognize this heterogeneity in organizational composition, we are bound to be frustrated by the decision-making processes of an organization that doesn’t really make decisions itself. When we speak about “Translink’s decisions“, are we referring to the decisions of its Board of Directors, or their planning staff, or the CEO. Who *decides* within Translink? I am very curious to find out, quite frankly. Translink’s new governance model is quite puzzling, admittedly (and this comes from someone who actually has read the academic literature on governance!)
And yes, I recognize that I’m guilty of what I am pointing out (e.g. assuming Translink is a homogeneous entity). There are two reasons why I pointed this out. The first one, is that the decision-making in Translink (and the rest of this region’s governmental agencies) is much more complex than one would think. The second one is that I believe that transportation policy in the Metro Vancouver area should have much more citizen involvement than it has right now. Who was consulted about moving the Main and 15th Avenue bus stop? Has nobody in this city pointed out to the lack of a bus along 16th Avenue? Is there evidence that consultation took place, and is there any degree of accountability for these decisions? How did “Translink” decide? (e.g. who at Translink made this decision and how was it made?)… inquiring minds want to know…
Theoretically, this location will eventually become Bean Around the World. Right now, it is a coffee shop right beside where Monsoon used to be and in the location formerly known as the home of SoMa. The coffee is good, not too harsh on my tummy, and the barista is pretty nice.
I actually couldn’t use the wireless, although they do have it, but my wireless card didn’t seem to be talking with their router. The place is well illuminated, and quite spacious. It looks as though a few people have taken it up as their centre of operations. I still see many more people at Waves, or at Lugz. But as somebody said, there’s always space for everyone.
If I had woken up at a decent hour, I probably would have come here to work and spent the whole day looking at the beautiful mountains (this location has a gorgeous view of the snowed mountains). The night lighting is quite good, and if you need to stay late, you could very well stay here until 10pm. But that’s the drawback. This coffee shop only opens until 10pm (and I think only until 8pm on weekends).
I would still come back to work here. There’s more than enough space to work, and enough hotties that walk by to provide good eye candy. It’s a good place to do people watching too.
I haven’t had a chance to go and see Juno in theatres (and I should, to be quite honest, because everyone thinks it’s very funny). It was filmed in Vancouver and stars Ellen Page and Jennifer Garner, two of my favourite actresses. So, there are a number of reasons why I should go and see it. And with the Oscars nominations just announced, Canadians are doing really well.
I am glad that Ellen Page got her nomination. She has taken on some pretty daring and rough roles (such as Sylvia Likens in An American Crime and Hayley Stark in Hard Candy). She has proven she’s a very talented actress. And Sarah Polley… well, I loved Sarah Polley since her appearance in “The Sweet Hereafter”. I was most impressed with her work in “My Life Without Me“.
Polley is up for Best Adapted Screenplay for “Away From Her”, a movie that has earned Julie Christie both a Golden Globe and an Academy Award nomination. Despite the fact that I love Ellen Page, this time, I want Julie Christie to win.
There are many other Canadians who are doing well in the nominations, so go on to the Oscars webpage and check them out (or read a few of the summaries available on the internet).
January 22nd, 2008 in
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Having had dinner with R, T and J last Thursday and being asked “what is your blog about?” I started pondering and asking myself this precise question. I started this blog with a focus on environmental issues (since I study human/environment interactions in my day job). Then I began discussing other things, and opening up my own internal world, my thoughts and activities to the world.
Through the course of the last couple of years (I began blogging in April 2006) I have become somewhat famous for my restaurant reviews, although I have also noticed that some of my most popular posts are actually think pieces (see for example my discussion of Gore/IPCC Nobel Prize and the comparison between transportation infrastructure in Mexico City and Vancouver).
I have training in urban planning, sustainability, policy sciences and geography. I have also traveled and lived in a number of countries, which I think allows me to bring a different perspective to Canadian issues. And I am very interested in the development of Metro Vancouver.
Thus, I think I’ll try to write at least one Vancouver-centric, or Canada-centric , relevant think piece a week (or every couple of weeks). For those of you who read my blog for the other stuff (e.g. my adventures, restaurant reviews and all that), I plan to continue doing that. But I also want to contribute to the overall discussions on the future of Vancouver, the Metro Vancouver region and Canada. I hope to make at least a small contribution. Thoughts, opinions anyone?
There is a gazillion reasons why you should mosey over to Commercial Drive. It’s a vibrant and diverse community that has managed to create a mosaic of exciting and fun events. If you want to be up-to-date on the comings and goings on The Drive, I’d recommend the blog “Commercial Drive – Live!“.
I’m writing this post as I sit at The End Cafe (corner of N Grandview Hwy and Commercial Drive, pretty much at 6th Avenue and Commercial). I have met friends of mine here on our way to dinner or a movie. However, this is the very first time I actually have spent any time at The End Cafe.
I have heard rave reviews of the place, particularly jazz nights on Sundays (7-9 pm). Admittedly, that kind of clashes with my evenings with J, but I am sure I can convince him to come and listen to jazz (he wasn’t very keen on acid jazz when we went to the Fairview pub, but hey it’s all about having an open mind, don’t you think?)
The coffee is pretty good, and I have to say that the layout is very conducive to doing everything: from doing work on your laptop (there are two side bars with plenty of jacks to connect to the electrical energy, and free wireless internet) to having a relaxed evening reading a book and having a coffee (comfy couches) to doing school homework (plenty of tables with enough seating to entertain a small army of school brats) to having a drink (they’re licensed to serve alcohol until 11.45pm).
I read on the Girlports website that there is an informal queer women group every second Wednesday at the End Cafe.
Another habitual haunt for the lesbian set, the End Café is especially helpful for travelers with their free wifi access. They’ve got a nice loungey feel and serve coffee, soups, fresh organic sandwiches, burgers, breakfast and desserts. Every other Wednesday there’s an informal lesbian meet’n’greet you may want to keep your eyes open for.[Girlports website]
I can’t praise enough the management of End Cafe for being this queer-positive. Of course, this is one of the most diverse and culturally-aware neighbourhoods in Vancouver!
My readership has steadily increased, but there is still a few hurdles to broader dissemination of my writing. Apparently, WordPress is a better platform for trackbacks. Whenever I try to trackback on any blogger’s site, it never appears. That’s kind of frustrating, as I find the Blogger platform very user-friendly.
So, it seems as though, unless I can find a way to make Blogger speak to WordPress and link the trackbacks, I will be switching to WP any time soon. I’m sort of worried about the amount of time I’ll have to spend cleaning up my entries, but at the same time, I do want my readership to increase, and it’ll be hard to do unless I switch to WP.
I was hanging out at J’s (as I often do on Sunday evenings) and we got to see the first few minutes of “Test the Nation”, a Canadian trivia show where six teams of contestants (bloggers, celebrity look-alikes, chefs, cab drivers, flight crew and backpackers) answer trivia questions.
I am a bit surprised that nobody from the psychology field has criticized the show for touting itself as the “Canada’s First IQ Test for the Nation“. Anybody who has read the literature on IQ (and I certainly have, as my parents sent me off for numerous tests in my childhood) knows that there is a large debate surrounding mental testing.
So, for a show like this, to promote itself as a mental testing show, it does beg the question – how much do they really know about IQ tests? And how much does the team of experts know about IQ tests? Trivia tests are not exactly mental tests that will yield any statistically significant results on mental prowess. And the team of experts does seem to know a lot about culture and pop culture, world affairs, but certainly nothing in their credentials indicates anything about mental testing.
Of course, I’ll unashamedly admit that I did want to be invited (I wanted to be on the bloggers team, but for one reason or another, I never made it). I guess I could try to be on the “New Canadians” team. Not sure that after my criticism the producers will want to invite me, hehe. But I still would recommend to the producers of the show to get some expert advice from a Canadian psychologist who specializes in mental testing. It would add credibility and depth to the show, I think.
And on the other hand, I want to congratulate all bloggers, and especially those of you West Coasters who represented us. The two I clearly recognized were Rebecca Bollwitt (aka Miss604) and Lainey Lui (aka Lainey Gossip). Love both of their blogs! Congratulations again!
It annoys me to no end that important events aren’t promoted and/or broadcasted in mainstream media. Even though I was alerted to these workshops by an email from my friend J, I didn’t see it in the news. Thus, I make it my duty to try and promote local, Vancouver-based events whenever I can. This is one of those important dates you shouldn’t miss.
Ecodensity workshops will take place in the remainder of January 2008 and February 2008. From the City of Vancouver’s Ecodensity website, here are the dates of the next workshops. If you want to meet me in person, I’ll most likely be at the January 30th (unless, of course, Vancouver Blogger Meetup is the same day – which then would mean that I’d have to attend another date for the workshop).
The workshop dates are as follows:[City of Vancouver Ecodensity website]
Saturday, January 26, 1 – 3:30 pm
Van Dusen Gardens, Floral Hall
5251 Oak Street
Map
Wednesday, January 30, 7 – 9:30 am
Polish Community Centre
4015 Fraser Street
Map
Sunday, February 3, 1 – 3:30 pm
Croatian Cultural Centre
3250 Commercial Drive
Map
*Chinese facilitation available
Tuesday, February 12, 7 -9:30 pm
St. James Hall
3214 West 10th Avenue
Map
Saturday, February 16, 1:30 – 4 pm
Chinese Cultural Centre
50 East Pender Street
Map
*Chinese facilitation available
Please RSVP to ecodensity@vancouver.ca
Let me note that the locations for the workshops are fairly low-to-medium density. I wonder how would West End or Yaletown residents react to Eco-Density workshops. Same thing goes for areas like Shaughnessy or Dunbar. At any rate, I think you should participate, and feel free to spread the word.
I had the pleasure of having dinner with R, T and J last night. We engaged in a very pleasant conversation where we frequently used the word “geek”. Wikipedia’s article on the definition of geek is tagged as needing revision, re-writing and pretty much every other “re-” you can imagine. But the interesting thing is that, at least in my realm (in my day job, I’m an academic and a consultant), being a geek is not derogatory at all.
While the definition remains quite loose, I would say that geeks have particular technical skills in a specific field. For example, I am very lucky to have in my life an information technology geek. He is quite competent with computers and is usually the one to whom I run with questions as stupid as “so which webcam do you think I should buy?” or “how the hell do I recharge my iPod?“. Yeah, that’s me. The non-computer geek. J often jokes that I’m about five years behind in regards to technology (I don’t own a plasma TV, for one, and my cell phone is as basic as you can imagine! – no camera, no data transmission capabilities, etc.)
That being said, I think I could say I’m an enviro geek. I am more than happy to engage in long-winded discussions on climate change, pollution, the state of our world’s sustainability, etc. One time, I had a 39 oC- fever and had just flown to Germany to attend a conference. I sat through 4 and a half hours (non-stop) of talks on environmental affairs, and I didn’t even twitch in my seat. That’s a sign of passion, and I am very passionate about sustainability. I guess that also makes me an enviro geek.
I think (and I don’t believe I’m that wrong) that many people equate bloggers with geeks, and admittedly, I can see how many bloggers may have great technical skills (web savvy for example). But I would argue that not every blogger is geeky. I, for one, couldn’t backtrack to save my life until Rebecca (aka Miss604) told me that sometimes, trackbacks don’t work between Blogger and WordPress. Yeah, sadly, I’m not that good when it comes to platforms, and so on.
I’d be interested in hearing your opinions on the topic. As I had mentioned before, I feel as though I belong to a community of bloggers, and I wonder if this community thinks of themselves as geeks.
There are lots of people raving (and some ranting) about the recently unveiled Provincial Transit Plan, with ambitious goals of a Skytrain to UBC, amongst others. Since there are other bloggers who have covered the issue much better than me (like Stephen Rees, Gordon Price and Paul Hillsdon), I figured that I should examine the issue from a different perspective, so here it is. I’m not a transportation policy expert, but I do know a few things about urban planning and sustainability.
One of the things that surprises me (to this day) is the size of the Metro Vancouver region (formerly the Greater Vancouver Regional District) and it poorly designed transit system. Compared to Mexico City, Metro Vancouver has roughly one-tenth of the population, and a GDP per capita about ten times higher. However, if you look at the Metro system in Mexico City, the latter is so much better and so much more used than the Skytrain, that it does beg the question – why is it that a city in a third-world, relatively poorer country can have such a stellar transportation system as compared to Vancouver (which is supposed to be a world-class, affluent, wealthy, first-world kind of city).
The Metro system in Mexico City [Photo credit: Wikipedia’s entry on Mexico City Metro]
Don’t get me wrong. There IS a reason why I live in this city. But it’s not its transportation system, for sure. I am well aware of the air pollution problems in Mexico City, and I also know the argument that these problems are in large measure due to the excessive number of cars (here is a link to a study that looked interesting). However, it is indeed true that the Metro system in Mexico City kicks ass. You can get pretty much anywhere within the urban core. So much that, when having conversations with residents of Mexico City, they make geographical references to specific Metro stations. For example, one of my very best friends used to live a block away from Metro Mixcoac. The bus station is at Metro Autobuses del Norte. The Benito Juarez International Airport has a station at Metro Terminal Aérea. The Zócalo has a Metro station, so does the Palacio de Bellas Artes, and the Plaza de las Tres Culturas is pretty much within five blocks of Metro Tlatelolco.
Having enjoyed the Metro system (and the peseras) in Mexico City less than two weeks ago (accompanied by a Canadian, indeed), I can’t help but laugh at the irony that Mexico City’s transportation system can be so much better than that of the whole province of British Columbia (in my opinion, of course … if you have enough data and a good solid argument to defeat my proposition, I’m happy to discuss it).
Viewing this issue from another angle, if you think about it, unless Metro Vancouver creates a smart growth/smart transportation strategy, its air quality going to end up much worse than Mexico City. Just think about it for a second… if it is true (I still have my doubts) that Mexico City’s air pollution is due to the excessive number of polluting cars and other vehicles, even with a kick-ass, world-class Metro system like the one it has, can you imagine what will happen to Metro Vancouver a few years down the road?
Sometimes, when analyzing policy (and creating new policies), it’s useful to look at how other cities/regions/countries are doing things, and first-world countries can learn from third-world countries too, just as much. It would be good for Metro Vancouver to look at Mexico City as an example of a solid transportation system that moves millions of people around. Thoughts anyone?
I moved to Canada almost 12 years ago. In doing so, I decided to learn more about the country, its history and culture, demographics, etc. Thanks to the Canadian Content policy (Cancon, as it’s often referred), I have been exposed to made-in-Canada TV, Canadian actors, musicians, writers, etc. That’s how I discovered Shania Twain, Jann Arden, Sarah McLachlan, Ryan Gosling, Ryan Reynolds, etc.
Some people seem to find it annoying that Cancon is in place. Even the Wikipedia entry indicates that there is controversy surrounding the restriction of freedom that Cancon puts on choices of entertainment sources. Since this is my blog, I thought it would be appropriate for me to say that I am quite happy with the existence and enforcement of Cancon. I am happy that we are forced to be exposed to Canadian productions, shows and artists.
Admittedly, there is already Canadian content in US television shows. Smallville, for example, employs a large number of Canadians (some of which are incredibly talented such as the Ashmore twins – Shawn and Aaron – Kristin Kreuk, Emanuelle Vaughier, Eric Johnson, Laura Vandervoort to name just a few in the main cast). The show is filmed in Vancouver (although of course, it’s set in Kansas). But I think it’s also good that Cancon is in place and enforced.
You can call me nationalistic, or weird, but I also enjoy Vancouver-centric or Canada-centric shows. Robson Arms, for example, is a show that focuses on the tenants of a building in Vancouver’s West End. From their website:
Welcome back to Robson Arms, the once-grand low-rise apartment building in Vancouver’s West End. Season 2 of Robson Arms picks up 6 months after Season 1 left off. The previous owners of the building are dead, earthquake repairs are still underway, and a “For Sale” sign sits front and center outside. As with any apartment building, some tenants have moved on… and others have moved in.[Robson Arms’ website]
Other great shows, such as Intelligence, DaVinci’s Inquest, Cold Squad, have done a great job in portraying Vancouver and its problems. I am proud to live in this city and also proud of the great job that Canadians are doing in the entertainment industry. Why not support them? Why not encourage their development?
I like the shows where Canadian life is examined, where Canadian cities are shown as their real selves (not like in the case of Queer as Folk, where Toronto passed for Pittsburgh). And yes, I do support the US writers in their strike and am waiting with baited breath for some shows to continue (such as Smallville, Brothers and Sisters, Supernatural).
But if the circumstances of the writers’ strike lead to an increased focus on Canadian shows, I say this is good. Note: I am not saying that it’s good that the US writers aren’t getting what they deserve, on the contrary, I really support their cause. But what I am saying is that I am happy that, with all the worry surrounding the lack of content in Canadian television because US shows will be doing re-runs, there is more attention being paid to Canadian-produced shows. Too bad it’s due to circumstances, rather than based on a strong development plan for the Canadian entertainment industry!
Not sure why I’m so exhausted. Probably because I’ve tried really hard to juggle a thousand things and because my calendar, both work-related and non-work related, is filling up pretty fast. I had high hopes that I’d be blogging everything I did during my holiday, but I’m getting tired at an incredibly fast rate.
I’ve been back in Vancouver for less than a week. During that period, I’ve had to do a lot of work (both personal, chores, errands and work, work). Normally, my processing speed is quite high and I end up doing a gazillion things. But right now I am tired and don’t want to work as hard as I did in 2007, so I think I’m going to take the rest of this evening easy. Particularly since the weather is not cooperating! The wind is so strong that I thought I was going to start flying.
I need some time to just be on my own as well. Some ME time (which seems unlikely since there’s a tonne of stuff to do). Perhaps I’ll end up going to bed early. One thing I will do is to turn off my phone. Friends of mine have had the bad luck of calling me at 10 pm when I’ve already gone to sleep, and it really screws my sleeping patterns, so I will nonchalantly turn it off.
January 15th, 2008 in
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After spending a few days in Victoria with J, I got used to waking up pretty early and do work, but in the past couple of days, it looks like I’m back to being the night owl. Don’t know why, but I’ll see how things go. I still wake up early but my brain starts functioning in the afternoon. Maybe it’s true that old habits die hard.
January 14th, 2008 in
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Phew! Back to the grind, and also back to my usual social routine. I went for coffee with J, B and C on Friday night (lots of laughs and good times). Saturday morning, brunch with Nomade Moderne and CS. Great times too (although I arrived late! ooops, hate it when that happens).
Saturday night, JH was my date for a wine and cheese party. Great hosts, wonderful people, amazing wine, and one of the hottest girls on the planet as my date 🙂 Great times indeed! I got home around 3.30am. Sunday I should have played volleyball but was way too hungover. So I just went out to do some Costco/Safeway/shopping runs with J. We spent a quiet and nice evening, which included installing some software and hardware on my computer (yeah, I’m turning into a geek).
The week looks a bit daunting as I have social and work commitments pretty much all week, and my weekend is already booked (with the mere exception of Saturday morning). WOW. And here I thought I was going to have quiet times when I got back. Think again, Raul!
Best way to be welcomed to Vancouver? Brunch at IHOP with my close friends C and B. They were kind enough to pick me up at the Vancouver International Airport, and since I had eaten only airline snacks, they thought it would be better for me if I actually ate good food.
I’ve been a customer of IHOP for many years now, but I rarely go because there’s none in Vancouver. I’ve been to the one in Delta with my brother, to the one in Brentwood Mall (Burnaby) with J, and now to the one in Richmond (close to the airport) with B and C. And if you read this sentence carefully, you’ll realize that none of these are actually in Vancouver. Hence why I never go to IHOP. Which is regrettable, because their food is SO GOOD!
I had one of their International Passport, which was enough food to keep me going through a really busy afternoon (had to register my volleyball team by 4.30pm). The best part, of course, is hanging out with B and C. They even took me to my office after dropping off my luggage! They are such a cute couple, and such a perfect team! And I’m very proud of counting them amongst my dear friends.
So, all in all, I would seriously recommend IHOP. Normally, I am the type of guy who will endorse only local products and services (e.g. I’ll have coffee from Blenz rather than from Starbucks), but IHOP is a good international franchise, and it’s good for your stomach (and your wallet!)
My upstairs neighbours have a 2 years old child, who is by anyone’s definition, a living hell. The kid screams, yells, throws tantrums, smashes things on the floor, argues with his parents (!?!?!? – yeah, incredibly, the kid argues with his parents at 2 yrs old, and they argue back!) and has absolutely no sense of when to stop crying.
In my opinion, this isn’t the kid’s fault, but the result of bad parenting. However we want to look at it, a child is the product of his or her parents. I see my nieces and nephews, and they’re all great kids. That’s the result of my brothers’ and their wives’ efforts, not some random DNA strand.
Naturally, some of my brothers are more strict than others. There are specific circumstances that have colored each kid’s life. But the overall result are great girls and boys. In the case of my neighbours’ little guy, he can be cute as a button, but it’s a pain and a torture to live in my apartment when he is around.
Is there anything that can be done? Yeah, for sure. Teach his Mom and Dad how to be better parents. However, there is no real school that prepares you to be a Mom or a Dad. My parents weren’t prepared either! Nevertheless, I am proud of what my parents made of me and my brothers, and I’ll have to admit that it was pure damn luck combined with a great dose of love.
My parents might have been very strict, sometimes dominant and at times overwhelming, but they loved me and my brothers very much (they still do, because thank God, they’re still alive!). They were visionaries in that they wanted to create diamonds out of us, and I believe they succeeded. I don’t know how to pass my Mom and Dad’s parenting lessons to my neighbours, but one thing I can tell you is that my parents were very disciplined and taught us to behave properly under every circumstance. Maybe my neighbours will learn the lesson sometime.
There are many things I love, but here is a short list that I’m loving at the moment:
- Chocolate mints – “After Eight”. One of my former students gave me a box as a token of appreciation. I was really touched, and honestly, I have to say that it made me very happy as I can eat a full box of chocolate mints, right by my side when I’m writing a paper or a report. Coffee + chocolate mints + my laptop + an interesting project to work in = bliss.
- A busy social schedule. Not surprisingly, my weekend is full already. Brunch/lunch with Nomade Moderne and his girlfriend tomorrow (Saturday), a wine and cheese party on Saturday night (although truth be told, I will not be consuming cheese for obvious reasons – I hate it), volleyball on Sunday, then most likely brunch with LF and potentially W, K and R. Sunday evenings are already taken by J, so that brings me to next week… and I’m already booked for next Wednesday, Thursday and potentially Friday. Possible tea and coffee tonight with J, B, C and L.
- My local travel equipment. This includes my laptop-fitted backpack, and my iPod. It’s so nice to be able to move around town and know that I have the equipment to do work wherever I choose. That’s one of the greatest things about doing the type of work I do, that you can work anywhere…
January 12th, 2008 in
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I learned about Paul Hillsdon’s blog through other bloggers, such as Miss604, Keefer, Gordon Price, Erika Rathje and Stephen Rees. I was shocked at first to hear that he was just 16 (at the time, he’s now 17). His posts are extremely well written, coherent and articulate.
Well, his readership is exploding now, in part because he wrote a really well-researched plan for transportation South of the Fraser river (I would suggest you go to Price‘ or Rees’ blogs for discussions on the matter, as Paul’s server is overwhelmed – you can also check the Livable Region Coalition blog).
The point I would like to make (since I am not really a transportation kind of guy – but I do have other strengths in urban planning and sustainability) is that instead of just complaining, Paul’s plan is making suggestions. I would like to encourage other bloggers, readers, citizens of Vancouver and the Metro Vancouver (formerly GVRD) area to write proposals and offer suggestions. It’s easy to rant and whine, and hard to research a topic and put countless hours into developing a coherent and well-analyzed report. Let’s all try to follow Paul’s example and use the second strategy. Congratulations Paul!
Since I got back to Vancouver, I’ve been working at the office and doing lots of errands. Thus, by the time I head back home, I’m totally exhausted. As it often happens to me when I take the 99 B-Line home, I ended up sleeping and missing my stop. So I had to go back from Commercial and Broadway (good thing the 99 B-Line wasn’t one of those ‘Boundary’ ones or else I would’ve been royally in trouble).
On my way back, a nagging feeling and a slight headache started to bug me. Having just shopped at Safeway, I figured that it was nothing, but by the time I crossed the street west over to Commercial and Broadway, the lion inside me woke up and started to demand food. Being the case that pizza is the only thing with cheese that I allow myself to consume (just because I can’t even taste the cheese with all those toppings), I stopped at Uncle Fatih’s Pizza.
Since I started hanging out on Commercial Drive, I had promised myself that one day, I’d make a quick stop at Uncle Fatih’s. The line-up is always long and there’s all sorts of people (from men in suits to young guys in rags) consuming pizza. Determined not to let this opportunity pass, I stopped and ordered a full dinner (2 slices and a pop for a whooping $ 3.50, even cheaper than a latte at Starbucks).
Admittedly, my definition of cheap eats is substantially different to that of Andrew Morrison from Urban Diner (I just read his weekly West Ender column on cheap eats, and he suggested that he could do dinner for $20 or so – my definition of cheap eats is dinner for less than 7 bucks). This is most definitely a place for cheap, affordable, tasty and satisfying pizza. I’ll be back, for sure!
And apparently other reviewers agree with me 🙂
