Life in the Lower Mainland (BC, Canada)

I LOVE MY JOB. I work in an apartment building as a concierge, and over feasting holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas, etcetera), afternoon shift is one of the best because often kind and generous residents will bring down a nice plate of dinner or dessert. It always makes me feel grateful for my job which is otherwise really not particularly glamourous or well-paying. We also received a bunch of neat apples from the Okanagan, each with an Ogopogo logo on them, presumably done by pasting a sticker on the apple while it was developing. As we had such an excess of them, I gave some away to residents who were kind enough to give us staff a little something as well -- It's the season for giving and sharing, right? Happy Holidays everyone!

I recently finished playing Spellforce 2 : Shadow Wars and the Dragon Storm expansion. It was for the most part standard fare, but there were a few really good subplots. These very short stories were told in bits throughout the main story arc. In our last posts I talked about the DreamStalker and the themes of the innocent and weak defeating the wicked and powerful; and Judge Caine and moral dilemmas. In this post, I'll mention the short but touching story of the protagonist and his ward Yasha. In bits and pieces, we learn that Yasha Ashir is a mean, possibly evil woman, taking after her powerful father, a Mage of the Circle, Hokan Ashir. In the time of the Circle Mages, Rune Warriors traded free will for immortality, bound to a magical rune stone that forces them to obey whoever carries the stone, but which also allows them to return to life again and again so long as the stone exists. After the magic of the Circle ended, their artifacts also lost their enchantments, and with i...

Well, my dad's still in Royal Columbian Hospital . I guess I never really did update my blog about it. He's had multiple surgeries, and the nurses have hinted on occasion that he might not make it through the night. We had another such call tonight. He went in for some surgery, and it looks like he's having trouble pulling out. Breathing is weak. The hospital called to let us know, and of course they are doing their best and trying this and that. I missed the call and they spoke with my sister. Who then relayed it to me in the most long-winded fashion imaginable. And she wanted me to call the specialist later to get an update. I suppose the feel-good thing would be to call the hospital, but at this point, I'm not sure what the point would be. I'm sure if they're not busy with my dad, they're busy tending other patients. And if something happened, they'd try to call. Meanwhile, why bother them? And why load me with detailed information about the exact...

I recently finished playing Spellforce 2 : Shadow Wars and the Dragon Storm expansion. It was for the most part standard fare, but there were a few really good subplots. These very short stories were told in bits throughout the main story arc. In our last post I talked about the DreamStalker and the themes of the innocent and weak defeating the wicked and powerful. In this post, I'll examine the moral dilemmas presented by the Judge Caine. In the world of Eo, there are otherworldly demons that offer power in exchange for one's soul. When the contract is up, the demons come and take what is theirs. However, they cannot enter holy ground, and so some parties hide from their fate by staying in such areas. When that happens, a human assassin is sent. Not being a demon, holy ground does not deter them. In exchange for these errands, these assassins are given the power to sustain their life indefinitely by drinking the blood of their targets. Caine is one such assassin, and when ...

I recently finished playing Spellforce 2 : Shadow Wars and the Dragon Storm expansion. It was for the most part standard fare, but there were a few really good subplots. These very short stories were told in bits throughout the main story arc. In this post and over the next few posts, I'll talk about some of these short but powerful stories. One of these stories is the series of quests involving the DreamStalker. A similar story appeared in the first Spellforce game, but the resolution was much simpler: Kill the Dream Thief. Except it was extremely difficult unless you also killed the innocent woman whose dreams it was stealing and giving him power. In Dragon Storm, this sidestory has been re-written into a full quest. In the city of SevenKeeps, we quickly find out that the dreams of children are being stolen, and as a result they wither away. As part of the ritual to this, four children were murdered and their dreams stolen. Each continues to linger on with painful memories, ...

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I got back from a week in Germany on Sunday, November 2nd, 2009. It was a crazy trip as my friend and I discovered that their father had passed away while we were out hiking. One of the things I found in Germany, and indeed everywhere I've ever been in Europe, is that people are the same everywhere. There's graffiti. People litter when it's inconvenient to go to the next garbage can. If you can't speak the local language, you're probably from North America. And everyone does the same thing with soup apparently. On the last night, my friend brought me and two of her closest friends to the Ratskellar in Bad Hersfeld where they ordered for me. They started me off with Ochsenschwanzsuppe , a soup which, with my limited German, I thought to be ox tongue soup, but turned out to be something surprisingly available in many cultures. When it came, there was no ox in it, just a couple of really thin dumplings. By the time it landed o...

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I got back from a week in Germany on Sunday, November 2nd, 2009. It was a crazy trip as my friend and I discovered that their father had passed away while we were out hiking. One of the stories that was shared with me was about a person who hated, or was at least contemptuous, of his neighbour. But one day, his neighbour passed away. He contritely went over to convey his condolences and offer assistance but was turned away: A lifetime of ill-will had nursed resentment and bred distrust. It was even thought his gesture was a cunning attempt to improve his own reputation, to be seen as a respectful person even to someone he thought so little of. Perhaps he was really, at this too-late time, sorry for the relationship with his neighbour. Perhaps pride had gotten in the way of reconciliation when they were both alive, and somehow at his neighbour's death, when an olive branch wouldn't be met with rejection, it was easier for him to be sorry. ...

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I got back from a week in Germany on Sunday, November 2nd, 2009. It was a crazy trip as my friend and I discovered that their father had passed away while we were out hiking. Yesterday I talked about how the universe had once moved me where I needed to be. The trip to Germany turned out to be just another incident of this, but with such longer strands of fate and timing that my friends have been amazed. I came out of my career change (about 10 years ago now) looking for a "helping-people" type position, and expanded my volunteering. I was with the ASK Friendship Centre (until a transit strike made going there too costly) and the Vancouver General Hospital STAT Centre . I joined the Burnaby Hospice Society , and later the Vancouver Crisis Centre (and I'm still there, eight years later...). All this volunteering gave me experience with seniors, some knowledge about bereavement, and crisis counselling. I also looked into Occupationa...

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I got back from a week in Germany on Sunday, November 2nd, 2009. It was a crazy trip as my friend and I discovered that their father had passed away while we were out hiking. Long ago, I had an experience of the universe being in control of my life. I had had enough of a desk job that involved a lot of overtime and unappreciative employers. I made lots of money but had no time to enjoy it, and didn't have enough of a social life anyway. One day, I walked into Transitions , a career-change agency. There was exactly ONE spot left for their next class. On an impulse, I took it and gave my notice. I came out of it with a vague idea of a job, something involving helping people face-to-face. I bounced around and finally landed as a teaching assistant with King George International College for a while. The SARS crisis lost me my job, but shortly after, Drake Medox called me back to be a companion for a while. They specifically needed a male compan...

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I got back from a week in Germany on Sunday, November 2nd, 2009. It was a crazy trip as my friend and I discovered that their father had passed away while we were out hiking. Long ago, I went on two major vacations. Once on a cruise to Alaska , and years later, on a bus tour in Europe (which I'll never do again since you spend the best part of the day in the bus, because no one wants to sleep on the bus at night, but they do sleep anyway during the long transit on the highways). The cruise turned out to be a lonely affair. The bus tour had you grouped with a bunch of mostly couples, so there was more of a chance to socialize. I remembered that the best time we had on that tour was when we pulled into Italy (if I remember correctly) in the evening. It was snowing. We had a bunch of South Africans who'd never seen snow, so we brought them out back to build a snowman. Naturally, the first thing that happened when we hit the snow was to get ...

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I got back from a week in Germany on Sunday, November 2nd, 2009. It was a crazy trip as my friend and I discovered that their father had passed away while we were out hiking. When someone passes away, the people closest to them often go through a period of mourning. This is typical, of course, and to be expected. But gawd, is it ever time-consuming! We plod around for days, weeks, maybe even months. Thinking sad thoughts, missing the person, possibly even blaming ourselves. In other types of loss, we are encouraged to live and learn, look for the upside, call it experience and move on. But not death. Even though everyone knows it's coming and we see it all around us every day. Dharma: ... What is the greatest wonder? ... Yudhishthira: ... Day after day countless people die. Yet the living wish to live forever... -- from the Mahabarata And grieving is all about us. You can say it's about honouring the dead, but they're dead an...

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I got back from a week in Germany on Sunday, November 2nd, 2009. It was a crazy trip as my friend and I discovered that their father had passed away while we were out hiking. One of the things I saw in Germany was the profound sadness of unrequited love. There is a certain nobility in loyal love and persistent attention for "the one". Often we are wowed and inspired by stories of grand gestures and enduring patience ending in heartwarming love. When we read these stories, we already know that in the end it will work out to a happily-ever-after. When we're in it, however, it's different. We need persistence. But what if there really is no hope? That the other party simply doesn't feel the same way, and tries to tell us clearly and unambiguously that it will never be? How much persistence is enough, and how much is simply wasted time? For a long time now, I've decided that I will love my friends however much I feel love...

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I got back from a week in Germany on Sunday, November 2nd, 2009. It was a crazy trip as my friend and I discovered that their father had passed away while we were out hiking. One of the things that came out -- that almost invariably comes out -- is how the deceased didn't have a good enough life. Often we are reminded that "you can't take it with you" and to enjoy life with whatever riches or resources we have amassed. The life unlived, so to speak. Especially when death comes unexpectedly. But what if that is what *we* want, and not what they wanted? What if travelling the world and is what is important to us, but not to them? For the person who passed away, perhaps they lived in quiet contentment, with the things they loved comfortably around them, life a comfortable routine of familiarity and ease. (Especially) in North America and our self-help-book culture, we are taught -- pushed -- to grow and expand and seek new experie...

I ducked out to Germany for a week to see a friend, and landed back in Vancouver Sunday night. It was the best of times and the worst of times. On day three, my friend's father passed away, and we found him together. After that, I learned a few things that I always knew but never did pay enough attention to. Over the next few days, I'll blog about them... If for no other reason than to get it out of my system. I did just fine in Germany, but, combined with songs on the radio in the airplane that seemed to resonate with all that happened... I admit I cried on the way home. How music can move us sometimes. And how words can take on different meanings at different times in our lives.

I've been an Investors Group client for many years now, but apparently haven't paid enough attention to their mail-outs because this is the first time I've heard of the annual Investors Group comedy tour which has been on for several years. BC clients were invited by their respective advisors to attend, free of charge. as it was in support of the Food Bank (Investors Group is a $100k+ " key partner " level donor), however, we were asked to kindly bring something in support, and I was happy to bring a 12-pack of Campbell's Vegetable Soup. The event was hosted by comedian John Wing , and also featured David Merry and Ryan Belleville . I must not have been going to enough comedy events because the trio was absolutely hilarious. It's too bad they ducked off-stage so quickly because the audience wanted to give them a standing ovation!

I was donating platelets at Canadian Blood Services last week, and one of the nurses happened to mention that they were low on donations at the moment. The cause, it turned out, was the computers having been down for a while. Without the computers, donors can't be reliably screened for safety or reasons they should not be donating at the moment. No screening = no donations = no blood. How sadly reliant we are on computers.

SunStar Realty is looking for a photographer / web presence maintainence person. Ideally, one person would fill the entire role as a single full-time position. They are willing to consider breaking up the position into two part-time positions. The essential tasks are: * Take professional-quality real estate photographs. Please have a look at the various listings for style and quality of photography you will be expected to produce. * Update advertising on Craigslist, Kijiji, various other advertising websites, and some social networking sites such as FaceBook and Twitter. For their furnished properties, advertising sites will require constant monitoring and maximum-allowed reposting. For sales and long-term rentals, work load varies. * Update their website at the HTML code level. There is no content management system per se. At the most basic level, you will be required to copy existing files to use as a template for new entry; edit existing entries as the status of properties ...

I recently took the BST (Basic Security Training) online course from JIBC (the Justice Institute of BC). One of the questions for discussion was, You are working at a nightclub. Your job is to monitor the entrance, watching for minors and anyone who may be concealing alcohol. A young female approaches the gate, and the entrance attendant allows her to proceed into the venue. When you question the attendant, he tells you not to worry because the young female is his girlfriend. What should you do? The technically correct answer is to challenge her for ID. But is that a real-life answer? What if no one -- your co-workers, or even your supervisor -- supports you? Sure, you may be right, but what if your boss is wrong and insists on being wrong? Just started a new position this week, and some things just weren't right. The head concierge had a clumsy set of over twenty keys but couldn't open the mechanical room. Didn't know he couldn't. Didn't have any explanati...

I tried to close my HSBC internet banking account tonight. After all, every single time I went to the website, it indicated that "internet banking is currently unavailable". It had been this way for so long that I discovered the account to actually have become dormant. Could they close the account right away? No. They wanted me to reactivate it first. Okay, no problem. Could they reactivate it for me? No. It had to go to the supervisor, and presumably the next business day. Okay, no problem. Could they have an instruction on my account to reactivate it? No. They needed me to fax in my name and signature. This, after I had verified my identity over the phone. And I wouldn't even have had to do this if the account were still active. Okay, fine. How do I get my money out? Could they transfer it to another institution? No. ATM (which won't give me any residual amount that was less than $20) or bank draft. Which would cost me $6.50. $6.50 is probably more inte...

Last night, I attended one of the Irish Heather Gastropub 's Long Table Series dinner (212 Carrall Street, half a block up from Gassy Jack ) through an event put together by the Vancouver Activity Group . Although it was all booked up even up to about a week ago, for some reason over a dozen people dropped out at the end, and we ended up with 44 out of 52 spots (helped no doubt by the waiting list that Sean Heather had on hand). All in all a fair showing for an event that's invariably sold out. (Special thanks to @HummingBird604 for helping out with a last-minute tweet on my behalf to try to fill up the spots. Honestly, I felt so embarrassed by the no-shows from the Vancouver Activity Group that I sent out a tweet at around 5pm.) If you're not familiar with the Long Table Series, the basic idea a one-course dinner and drink for $12 plus tax and tip ( roasts on Sundays for $15). Everyone gets the same thing. It invariably involves meat, but you can ask for a veg...

Hi Everyone! Awesome news! As you may know, I recently invested USD 5000 in TreeBanking LLC , a Colorado company whose primary business is reforesting rain-forests. Unlike other conservation efforts, this one is not a charity money sinkhole, but a sustainable business that will also capitalize on carbon trading. They were recently in Indonesia, and have been mentioned in Newsweek . It's just the beginning of extensive involvement in Indonesia. Very promising news for investors! If you're curious about them, you can chat with the company principals on Twitter at @TreeBanker or @TreeBanker2 -- they're flying home from Indonesia now.

My sister dropped by today en route to see my dad in Royal Columbian, and for a no-fuss lunch we ordered a Supreme! Supreme! from Little Caesars. There's an awesome $10.99 deal going on at their somewhat obscure Burnaby location . We ordered by phone and it was ready in about 10 minutes -- all set for pick-up when we got there! Anniversary Special! Any Size Pizza $10.99 Unlimited Toppings Original Round Crust. Plus Taxes. Extra cheese & chicken topping excluded. Pick-up only. Expires August 31/09. 604.432.7766 6681 MacPherson Avenue., Burnaby Sunday - Thursday 11am - 11pm, Friday - Saturday 11am - 1am Can't decide on the toppings? Try one from their menu .

Hi everyone! Just last Tuesday, my dad took seriously ill and ended up in Royal Columbian Hospital 's intensive care unit. Today, finally, he was more or less in the clear and was transferred to Critical Care. Which, to me sounds worse, but is actually a de-escalation from Intensive Care. He has serious diabetes and his illness was in part blood infection and in part some kind of cough or cold or other bug which showed up on tests on his sputum. Special thanks to the nurses at Royal Columbian for taking great care of him and being patient with our family's visits.

Went out for a lovely dinner tonight with The Yaletown Vancouver Meetup Group at Alpha Global Sushi and Bar , where I had the 'Natto Bomb'. It's got that infamous natto goop and some other stuff which didn't seem to matter much because the whole concoction was strangely tasteless (and very slimy thanks to a raw quail's egg). The mix is all chopped up, and I was recommended by staff to put soy sauce -- a lot of soy sauce -- then use the provided seaweed sheets to wrap it. The seaweed turned out to be tricky to use because it was too tough to bite through, and in any case promptly sticks to the roof of my mouth. It was worth the experience for $8.50, I suppose, but not much else, IMO. And without the soy sauce, I wasn't sure if it would have had any taste at all.

After a long hiatus, I finally went back to playing Heroes of Might and Magic V . I used to play it on the highest difficulty (Heroic), and could make it through most of the missions at that level. But there were a couple of maps that I just couldn't do at Heroic, and after several wasted days, I decided to give it up and took a break. I wrestled with it for a while. Succeeding at Heroic difficulty felt great: Even the developers warn that they didn't test the game at that level and there was no guarantee the missions were winnable. But the time! All that wasted time! When I came back to the game, I decided to play at Normal difficulty, and, sure enough, the game was very easy. I suppose having played on Heroic helped me find the strategies and tactical combat tips to make it easy. But now there was a new challenge -- tedious missions. Sylvan Campaign 5 Mission 5 was one such tedious mission. It's a huge map and endless fighting. I could certainly see that it was winnab...

I recently checked out the Edgeworth Properties "EMIC" -- Edgeworth Mortgage Investment Corporation -- offering. The bottom line: 12.5% annual return on investment. Although it's got the word "mortgage" in it, it's really about land banking . Minimum investment $10,000. Offering closes once they get $50 million. As I was feeling anxious about investing with line of credit monies, I pumped them for how they were doing it. Here's the summary, in crude layman's terms. Contact them for the official scoop. This blog is not affiliated with Edgeworth Properites or any other kind of investment you can possibly think of. We make no money off Edgeworth or anyone else for writing this. Consider this all opinion. To cover my ass, why don't I just say this is all utter rubbish for feeble comedic entertainment value only . Research. Find out where there will be strong need for construction. Where will there be expansion? Where will the government want t...

Spagnuolo & Company Real Estate Lawyers called me today to set up an appointment for finalizing my mortgage, which is up for renewal. The final amount I needed to cough up was just over $2000. The appointment was for 9am the next day, and it wasn't even 9am when I left the house. I had it in the bank, so I figured, no problem, even though my account is with the online bank, President's Choice Financial (you know, the one that gives you free groceries ). There were two banks side-by-side: CIBC and BMO . They both indicated branch opening times of 9:30am, but at 9:30am, only BMO was open. So, I go into the Bank of Montreal. Can I get a money order or certified cheque? No. Cash, or I had to have an account with them. Huh. Looks like they don't have an Interac machine, which every two-bit vendor and their dog has to get a cash-equivalent payment from any bank. Why is it actually harder at a bank? Can I pay with cash? Oops -- My daily ATM withdrawal limit is $1000. S...

Got my Shaw modem swapped with their swanky new model this afternoon at Shaw Tower downtown. Now that I've got it, I've been told it allows me to sign up for their Shaw High Speed Xtreme-I , which goes up to 15Mbps, or twice as fast as what I've been using. The introductory cost (only until May 31st) to get you spoiled on higher speed is an $4.95 per month over what I'm paying now, for the first three months. After that, the regular additional charge of $10 starts. So what can surfing at double speed let me do? Discover Twitter is over-capacity twice as quickly? For now I'm going to decline, I think. There's "faster", but for average schmoes, there's also "fast enough". Just as someone who only needs word processing really could do just fine with an old IBM AT Compatible and Windows 3.1.

Ducked out for a walk in the late evening from Stanley Park following the Sea Wall to Vancouver Convention Centre and it's wonky lights, then on a whim headed to Commercial Drive for dinner before my graveyard shift at the Crisis Centre . I'd been to the Reef on Commercial Drive (1018 Commercial Drive, 604.568.JERK) a long time ago, for the Jamaican national dish, Ackee and Salt Fish (which is interesting food if you've never tried it, but nothing so tasty you absolutely have to have it). This time I just sort of eyeballed the menu and chose the Trini Roti. On a Wednesday night, past 8:30pm, the patio was pretty packed, but the inside was deserted -- a plus if you want to cool down from the still-hot summer day , as you had the pick of seating and could choose to be more or less right under a fan. The Trini Roti for $10 was about the size of two fists put together. I had the one with Jerk Goat, and the curried meat was moist but not gooey wet, very tasty, spicy ...

Went out to the Hamilton Street Grill for a lovely dinner last night with my wonderful friend Jennifer! In case you still haven't heard, all through June they are celebrating their 12th anniversary with a $12 steak (8 oz) special! You get a moderately sized steak, mashed potatoes, brussel sprouts, and a long, skinny, baby carrot for colour. (While you're on their website, be 'warned' -- clicking the links about menus or events initiates a PDF download. Harmless, but unexpected). Do remember to try their ultra-delicious Gingerbread Pudding if you've never had it before (recipe here courtesy of CityTV ). It's changed a bit from years past, no longer drenched in gooey sweet sauce that may have been a bit sweet for some palates.

Once upon a time, I listed my Fantasy Art Blog with Bloggapedia , and more or less forgot about it. Today, I got an e-mail from same... When I signed up for it, there was this blurb further explaining the process: What is syndication and what does it mean for me and my blog? Essentially, it means there are websites out there that would like to offer your blog content for download on devices like smartphones and e-readers, for a small fee. Because these websites are looking for the best of the best in blog content, they've partnered with Bloggapedia If you choose to allow us to syndicate your blog you'll receive a 30% royalty on the profit from the syndication of your blog once the submission of your blog listing is approved. Whenever someone downloads your blog content onto their device via Bloggapedia's syndication service, we'll pass on 30% of Bloggapedia's revenue from that sale to you! Payments are made quarterly; minimum payout $25. Funds will accrue...

Following Saturday's tragic news of Vendors Bludgeoned to Death over Happy Song , I of course immediately rushed over to the gory aftermath of the Texas Scottish Festival (which will stoically continue, as the festival is scheduled over June 5th to 7th -- the show must go on!). After exhaustively interviewing the key more-or-less reliable witnesses Christine R. and Ethan R. , I am pleased to present this public service announcement positively identifying the dangerous suspects involved in Saturday's bloodbath! Suspect #1 - "C. Rose" The first suspect is known to frequent seedy karaoke dives, and we expect she can be easily apprehended there. She can be positively identified by her (1) Bad Pasty Makeup, (2) Alluring Dark Eyes (unconfirmed sources say she is some sort of evil hypnotist who can mesmerize unsuspecting persons into appearing on YouTube ), and her (3) Tight Ass... about inane children's songs -- which triggered the outrageous fit of violence ending...

Amazon.com Widgets Amazon.com Widgets Okay, sorry for the rant, but here goes: I haven't had my Canon iP1600 for very long. Less than a year, I think. I got the cartridges refilled once, and it seemed to work fine. Until today. The black cartridge still felt heavy with ink, but the printer said it was empty. I couldn't get it to try printing anyway. So I take it to Cyto-Ink refill near Metrotown, and the guy says he didn't know of this printer model locking out refilled cartridges. He didn't think refilling it would work again, and he tested the cartridges for ink by pressing the nozzles to a piece of absorbent paper. Yup, there's ink. So he sells me a refurbished black cartridge. I plod home in the sweltering heat and put it in the printer. Now, the printer says it detects the cartridge as a previously used one, and it won't detect ink levels, but I can press RESUME to print anyway. Only there's no RESUME button. I click okay. The message pop...

Thursday's my day off, and I decided I'd duck out before the evening rush to try that poutine from the Templeton ) ( huh? ). If you do go either don't order any other entree, or bring a friend, because for a measly $7, you do get a full meal worth of poutine. It didn't taste particularly mushroomy, but it was savory, spiced, fries started off crispy, and there was a generous amount of gravy (so eat the soggy fries first, and save the crispy ones for scooping up leftover gravy). The gravy's a bit salty on its own, so water's recommended. The server initially asked if I wanted tomato sauce on my fries -- I didn't try this, but you may want to. I don't know if I'll get in enough Grouse Grind time (now Smoke-Free , by the way) to justify another serving of so much poutine. So, was it "addictive" as reviewed by Vancouver Magazine's October 2008 issue ( 101 Things to Taste Before You Die )? Nah. If anything, perhaps they could make it ...

I have no idea how I ever survived living close to the equator in Singapore when I was a kid. It's sooo hot these days. I, for one, never complained about the extended winter we had this year. I had fancied going to the Templeton (1087 Granville Street - 604.685-4612) this evening for their supposedly famous vegetarian poutine, said to be so wonderful it received a mention in Vancouver Magazine's October 2008 issue where they recommended " 101 Things to Taste Before You Die ": Herbivores rejoice! The meatless mushroom gravy, generously poured over crispy fries and chunks of white cheddar cheese, doesn't make for a traditional poutine (not a cheese curd in sight), but it's highly addictive. If you're dropping by their website , here's a tip: DON'T use the menu links on the right to look at the menu. It adds irritating "#links" bookmarks and at least the Side Orders menu link is broken. Instead, keep scrolling down on the main page t...

Attended the Vancouver Blogger Meetup tonight at the St. Regis Bar and Grill , with a panel of local well-knowns ( Shane Gibson , Raul Pacheco , Raincoaster ) talking about social media etiquette and such. No summary here -- You sort of had to be there to try to make sense of the chaotic conversation and pick out what was relevant for you. Best if you had a question and asked them about what you wanted to know, which someone did at the end, about how to gauge how much time a business should be spend building relationships in social media. Gibson answered it best -- Measure results and compare time and returns (business gained from it) with your other advertising efforts (expect to put in start-up effort of course). Most curious to me was how a few people professed to not have known of the existence of this lower-floor meeting space, even though they'd been to the street-level St. Regis bar plenty enough times. This "Regis Room" has pictures of historic Vancouver, the...

Last time I went dining out on a recommendation was based on a newspaper column. Some kind of latin bakery that sold lots of desserts, but also these supposedly authentic Mexican sandwiches with fresh bread, slices of beef, mayo, and green beans. Sounded bleah, but the reviewer said the combo worked, so I gave it a go. It was bleah (her recommendation for the 3-milk cake turned out fab, though). Cut to today: My friend Lina recommended La Bretegne Creperie . Said she had the apple, cinnamon, cheese, and sausage crepe and thought it was fab. It was a nice little restaurant, just off busy Robson on subdued Jervis, opposite the Pacific Palisades hotel and a bit squashed between louder storefronts, so you might easily miss it when you walk by. Very friendly and attentive staff when I was there, hours after the lunch crowd and still a couple of hours before any kind of dinner rush from the end of the work day. I ordered the apple, cinnamon, cheese, and sausage crepe (from the Savoury m...

Took time out from working on more screenshots (from Dungeon Siege II , to add to my website, The Fantasy Art of Computer Games ) tonight to meet up with Yourah at her Young and Adventurous Social Group meet-up at Sip Resto Lounge . We went in just after 7pm, and the place would have been dead if not for a Persian business networking group that grew in size steadily till close to 10pm. They had a photographer nosing about taking shots of the beautiful people, and ubiquitous socialite Francis Hui also made an appearance, which could only mean that this was a big deal . If you don't already know, all the menu items use booze of some kind. I ordered the beer-battered fries to share, and it came with a generous amount of dip. Very crispy, a little spicy (but not hot) kick to it. No beer flavour, though -- The beer evaporates during the cooking, and is used to make the batter crispier. Definitely not greasy at all, and, like all fries, best when hot. Good fries, but I thought it wa...

Donated platelets at the Canadian Blood Services permanent clinic on Oak Street today. Three weeks ago, Oasis juice was giving out FREE 960ml Oasis Classic juice tetra packs to all donors, and they were doing the same today! You can even sample it first, as it's served to all donors after donating either blood or platelets. Thank you Oasis juice!

Okay, it's not "at" the Sutton Place Hotel per se, but it's more or less right outside (outside the wine store, actually). I finally got around to trying the fourth of Japadog 's four specials, the Okonomi. I was meeting my friend Marcy there for dogs today, and got there shortly after 12:30 pm. One of the four, one of them (the MisoMayo, I think) was already marked SOLD OUT (though I wonder if they had just run out of an ingredient?). My Okonomi (not listed on their online menu yet) was a nice mix that had a sweet sauce juxtaposed with savory fish flakes precariously sprinkled in a generous quantity on top -- cover your dog on windy days! You might want to duck under the awning nearby to eat your dog without bits flying all over. Marcy also liked her very first Japadog, the Oroshi. We both declined to try the various optional condiments (such as the popular miso mayo), as we wanted to taste what it was like before possibly ruining it with our experimentat...

Went to my very first Third Tuesday Vancouver   Meetup put on by NetChick ( Tanya Davis ) today. The speaker was none other than John Chow -- the John Chow , the blogger Google hates, the blogger who makes $40,000 a month. It was at Republic  (958 Granville), and best of all, it was completely  free to attend! Check out Third Tuesday Vancouver regularly for more free-to-attend events local to Vancouver (or the Lower Mainland), BC, Canada. At the talk, John Chow presented the fundamental paradigm shift necessary to have all three of time freedom, financial freedom, and location freedom. What I took away from that talk was a reminder of Robert Kiyosaki's book, Rich Dad Poor Dad : Buy Assets , where Assets are defined as things that make you money without effort from you. Use Time to Create Leverage , instead of trying to do it all yourself, or trading time for money (i.e., working at a job).

When I originally wrote a review at Yelp for Sanafir (1026 Granville), I forgot to mention that at the end of the meal, there was a brochure for their current regional menus promotion, and on the bottom of that, a tear-off coupon for a free appetizer at any of the Glowbal Group restaurants. I also filled in the customer survey form, and couple of days later, got a note thanking me -- a note that included yet another tear-off appy coupon! Tonight I finally got to catch up in person with my friend Charlene, and I decided to invite her to the Italian Kitchen , another of the Glowbal Group of restaurants. They would only accept one coupon, and in exchange gave us the free appy of the day, something apparently everyone who turns in a coupon gets, and something not on the menu -- a pair of Kobe beef meatballs. Very tasty balls and about the size of golf balls. I let Charlene choose and she got the garlic pizza she'd seen on the online menu (available only as PDFs on their page), and I...