Schooooolllll's out for Summer!

School is finally out! Friday was the last day. We all went to school for the year end staff meeting to announce what a wonderful school year it had been and to say goodbye to staff that were moving to different schools or who had lost their placements. Two lovely ladies are leaving our program this year and they will be missed. We had planned to have a little BBQ at a coworkers who lived by Commercial Dr. after the meeting for one last hooha and to celebrate the official start of summer break! It was nice to have most of the crew come out for the day. We walked out to the drive to grab food for our BBQ and got to explore Commercial Dr. a little bit more on the personal side. There are little surprises around every corner. On Grant Street by a street corner we noticed this. It's a neighborhood book exchange! It's so cute! I have never seen one of these before. I think I will contribute some books to it one day even though it's not my neighborhood. I have plenty of books to share. I love the idea that the community shares and returns things for the greater good. Every community has it's own flavour.




We went to a butcher shop called Pasture to Plate. Everything there is from a local farm that is organic and fresh. We got some burgers, sausages and beef tongue. I wasn't too big on the burgers but the sausages were delicious. I find that "healthy" burgers aren't juicy enough. Just like at Romer's Burger Bar the burger meat is a little dry but it's healthy. If I'm going to get a burger I want the big juicy, bad stuff! The beef tongue was precooked so we just heated that up on the grill a little bit more. It was so tender. Delicious.


We went to an Italian Bakery to pick up some buns. They had soooo many desserts and pastries. One day I will try a lemon tart there. I got an olive bun from there. Yum. I love olive buns.


After half of the people left the BBQ the other half stuck around drinking and laughing and we realized that our friend was heading to Mexico in a couple days for her wedding and she had not celebrated with a stagette yet. We decided to throw her an impromptu stagette and headed back out to the Dr. First we went to Merchant's Oyster Bar for some slippery suckers! Between 5-6  pmeveryday raw oysters are only $1.50. We tried three different kinds: Fanny Bay (bigger size, slighty creamy and salty), Hammerslay (little tiny oysters with a overall salty flavour, my fav), and Read Island oysters (medium sized oysters with a super creamy lingering finish). They had a load of oysters there.


We also had ceviche, broiled oysters and some scalloped potatoes. Merchant's Oyster Bar is pretty pricey if you are sticking around for drinks and such so we looked for another place to hang out. Falconetti's was just up the street. That place has a patio and live music all night. We didn't get the patio but we got the table right by the open window. We spent the rest of the night at Falconetti's. Did you know this restuaurant has been featured on Diner's, Drive-In's and Dives. We tried their asian inspired fries and had beer all night. Although it was a low key stagette we did manage to meet a sleezy guy who bought us drinks. Congrats to Lesly and Rene!!!!





That night we also saw an artist for hire pulling this wagon around... I also saw him the next day on main street outside of the Electric Owl after a show. He drags his cart around and has people sign and write on it. Maybe it will be featured in a MOMA one day.



There was also a group cycling event that night.... the next night there was another group cycling even with people in costumes... where do people find out about these events? It would be fun to join one.



On Saturday I checked out the Chinatown Night Market and before heading to the Wake Owl show at the Electric Owl. As we were walking around Chinatown we noticed a small little fern growing out of a crack on a bare concrete wall.


The Electric Owl was soooooo packed. Last time I was there it was much more comfortable. It was a good show and now I've discovered a new band. The band that opened up for Wake Owl was called



I'm off to Chicago tonight so stay tuned on my updates about deep dish pizza! and other Chicago thangs. Have a Happy Canada Day!!!

Motivational posters

These things show up everywhere now. Before I used to think they were corny. Now I see they are awesome reminders to stay focused. I recently added my Zumba instructor onto my Facebook and her fb is full of these. I stole my favourite ones. Here they are. Now next time I feel like skipping the gym I should read some of these.










Anytime I feel like the love has left my body I'll read these.












Anytime I feel disappointed by people I'll remember this









And whenever I wonder what the hell I'm doing with my life I'll think of this.

Stay Conscious

Being out in nature reminds me how small we are and how little our individual problems matter. You can have the worst day but when you go for a walk the fresh air, singing birds and whispering trees will comfort you and bring you back to peace. There is a greater power in that. You are part of a greater story. If we weren't we wouldn't be able to feel the entire Universe through these short glimpses. How long can we listen for before we forget that it's not all about us? Don't forget to keep loving your life even when it sucks. Look for the good signs everywhere that are pointing you in the right direction.

Concerts, cows and Dosas! Yes, they do have something in common and that's me!

This Sunday was supposed to be awesome weather. I had made plans with my coworkers to walk the seawall and check out the Jazz Fest. It was the last day and the headliner was a band I discovered this year called The Harpoonist and the Axe Murderer. They are a two man band but they play loud and are super fun to watch. I saw them earlier this year at a Current Swell show at the Commodore and a couple of months later at their own show at the Biltmore. If you ever get a chance to see them I highly recommend you checking them out. They are local from Vancouver.

Sunday, before meeting up with coworkers, I had lunch with a friend. We went to Burgoo on Main. I haven't been to this place for so long. I wanted the fondue which I remember enjoying but I saw someone ordering a grilled cheese sandwich and we decided to get that and share it.







I wanted the grilled cheese because it had some extra crusty cheese over the bread and not just in the bread. The crazy thing about this meal was that it came with 2 grilled cheese sandwiches. It was super crusty and gooey with loads of cheese. I don't know how someone can order this for themselves.  It was way too much and greasy! It was good for the first couple of bites and then you start feeling sick.  I love grilled cheese sandwiches and this one did taste good but as far as comfort food goes, you don't feel so comfortable after eating it.

We also ordered the hummus which was also coated in oil. I think Burgoo just isn't my kind of restaurant. The place is all about comfort food but maybe they can make it less rich? What is the definition of comfort food? I thought it was just food from your childhood memories. To me, Burgoo is like comfort food with a couple of tablespoons of oil poured on top. I find it extremely greasy. It is super busy most of the time. There is definitely a market for it.

As the day went on, the weather started to get worse. Friends seemed to not want to go to the show as much anymore and some weren't feeling well. We cancelled the seawall and concert. I was a bit disappointed but I thought "no big deal". However, as the day went on, I got more and more restless. I wanted to do something and some of my friends were going to the Greek Festival. Instead of going with them I decided to check out the Jazz fest on my own. I have never gone to a concert by myself before but it wasn't so bad! I had such a good time! The band was great as usual and they had a guest and some musicians in the background playing instruments. Wonderful show! It was raining a little bit but it was in a nice and refreshing way. I am so glad I went.



This photo was from the show at the Biltmore in April.


This was from the Jazz Fest.

After the show I decided to drive through Stanley Park. If I could go to the Jazz Fest on my own, I thought I'd complete the whole day on my own and finish it off with all I had planned to do.  Here are some shots of the light house and the sulfur pile.





It was nice even though it was sprinkling a little. Sometimes you just gotta do what is in your heart.

Monday rolls along and I go back to West Dyke Trail.  There is a section there with cows and I really wanted to take a photo of the cows. They were extremely close to the boardwalk so I was able to inch up closely to them and take a photo. I learned that cows are nervous animals. They watch you carefully as you come up close to them and when you get too close they run. The whole herd will go along. They galloped through the wet grass and splashed through the ditches. I've never seen cows gallop before. They move very much like horses.







I love cows... those cows were weird... they have a white band in the middle. I have never seen cows like that before.

It was $5.99 dosa day again at House of Dosas and my friends had made plans to eat there for dinner. We got there at 6 and it didn't take too long to get a table. I guess right before 6pm is a good time to get a table before dinner because after that the place was PACKED!

We ordered an appetizer this time to go along with our super cheap meal. The picture below is of veggie pakoras. I don't remember where it was that I had the best pakoras of my life but ever since that time all other pakoras just don't taste good. These ones were okay. They seemed like they had too much chickpea batter. I prefer more veggies. They were also slightly spicy. The chutney had a slight licorice taste to them.



This time around I didn't get the usual dosa (which is the tube shaped one). I ordered a rava dosa. I noticed a difference between the two dosas aside from the shape. First of all, the batter is different. The usual dosa batter is slighty sour and tastes similar to McDonald's french fries. The rava dosa is more bland. I did not notice a sour taste at all. I really liked the sour taste of the tube shaped dosa. The texture is different as well. The usual dosa is smooth and flat. This one is bumpy, has holes, thicker and rough. I thought the rava was crispier but it was also greasier. Some parts were fried throughout especially the edges. I will order the tube shaped one next time but I'm glad I tried the rava.

To get some perspective it doesn't look as big as the tube shaped dosa but it is still very filling. I finished probably less than 1/3 of this.


Rainy Monday adventures... I am going to stay in tomorrow and clean the house!

Another beautiful Saturday... go find something to do!

 Hello everyone! The forecasts for this weekend was all about sunshine and heat. When I woke up this morning it was cloudy and gray outside. However, after lunch the sun came out so yay!!! I have a fun update for you guys about the awesome Saturday we got today. But... first... sometimes I forget to mention something awesome I experienced the wee before so  I am going to squeeze in a restaurant I went to last weekend that didn't make it in to last weekend's post. I went out for ramen with some friends and we tried a place off Robson called Marutama Ramen.  My friend, Elaine, really wanted to try as she had heard good things about it. I never say no to ramen so I was happy to try yet another ramen restaurant downtown. It was a very small restaurant. Interesting thing to mention about this place is that they serve you cold tea. I was wondering what the purpose of this was as it's very unusual but after eating the ramen I got it. You feel very steamed when you are eating a hot bowl of noodles. The cold tea really cools you down. There wasn't much on the menu except for different types of ramen. Most was made with the same chicken based stock. I had the most basic dish.





The ramen is handmade and thinner than most other ramen that I have tried. The soup is thick and a little creamy. It's quite oily and salty but it was very savoury. It is garnished with some green onions and seaweed. It came with some pork slices and a soft boiled marinated egg.


Everyone I went with went nuts over the egg. They thought it was delicious. I liked it too. The egg white had some flavour I couldn't put my finger on. The yolk was salty and very creamy tasting. I liked the broth and seaweed combo. I liked putting a little bit of seaweed on every spoonful of noodle.  They are well known for the broth and I liked it. It was a bit different from the other soups which seem to be more pork based. I was happy with my meal but I have to say I didn't feel very good after the meal though. I was very bloated. Maybe too much salt or msg?

On Tuesday I decided to go to Lynn Valley Park. It's a nature area in North Vancouver that has a suspension bridge and a canyon with some water running through it. I don't exactly know what the geological structures are but it is very beautiful there. I haven't been there in several  years but the weather was good and I was close by. Nature was calling me. There were plenty of other people walking through the trails there. I started by the suspension bridge. The suspension bridge overlooks this beautiful rushing waterfall.


Walking through the trails I got to the water canyon area. I was only wearing flip flops so I couldn't get too close. The water pool is mostly green. It's quite majestic. This is a smaller pool of water. It looks very misleading though as I believe the water is probably quite deep. There have been some people who have lost their lives playing around in the water in Lynn Canyon. I remembered that they said by the waterfall there was a very strong undertow current. The water is also super deep in some areas. Always respect nature.





I love moss.


Today we went for a walk by West Dyke Trail in Richmond. It's adjacent to Sturgeon Banks and full of wild life. According to some plaque it was home to loads of migratory birds, ducks and loons. There is a bird symphony when you go there. While we were walking along the trail below we noticed a coyote walking along the grass along side us a little further out. He stopped and watched us for a little bit. Maybe he was hungry.


There are many bushes and flowers everywhere. One bush had these interesting tomato like bulbs. I think they turn into a giant pink flower that looks very much like a rose as there were some flowers sharing that same bush. Tomato octopus?


The trail leads all the way to Steveston but that would be a 3 hour walk. We decided to head back to the car and drive to Steveston. We went to the marina were you can buy live fish, shrimp and other seafood right from the fishermen. They had a sale for fresh sea urchin: 5 for 10 dollars! I bought sea urchin from the marina before so I knew better. It's a dirty job opening up a sea urchin! The docks were beautiful in the light.



We also stopped by this ice creamery. I usually don't like ice cream but I saw an interesting flavour and I had to try it! Black Licorice! It was good! I ended up getting three tiny scoops of icecream: back licorice, maple walnut and cookies and cream. I finished it all and I never finish my ice cream. Highly recommended!!! They are also coming up with flavours that reflect the characters from the TV show "Once Upon A Time" because it's filmed in Steveston. All the flavours are named after characters and are also flavoured according to their personalities. I must go back and try them when they start selling them :)

For dinner we went to the Crab King. It's right next to Pajo's. Wasn't feeling much like fish and chips so we tried this place. I ordered the seafood salad. It comes with crab and tiger prawns.



Pretty good!

After dinner we went for a walk around Gary Point. I remember coming here when I was in high school for bonfires. No more bonfires allowed now though, but still was nice to be back. I found a booey that drifted onto shore.


It turned out to be such a nice day! It's the 2nd day of summer. I love summer!