Life in the Lower Mainland (BC, Canada)

So I got a bicycle (an older model Diamondback Sorrento) this year. For FREE! -- Our condo was cleaning up the bike room of abandoned bikes -- those that have been there over a year and with no one acknowledging them as theirs. Repairs and parts replacement of the somewhat banged up bike at Reckless Bikes (downtown Denman, at the SeaWall)  cost more than half what a new bike of the type is worth, and I needed a helmet on top of that. Mountain Equipment Co-Op was recommended (of course) and I got a middle-of-the-price-range $70 Alpina Spice helmet at  MEC's West Broadway location . It was my very first helmet purchase, and I really didn't know what the heck I was doing. Fortunately, the busy but super-helpful staff took care of me. Something that very much impressed me was how one of the staff members who was helping another customer at the time remembered I was waiting and automatically looked me up as soon as he was able, and snooped around for another staff membe...

The weather's still waffling over whether to give us full-on summer yet, but with enough hot (or muggy) days, it's a good time to think about ice cream. For ice cream on the go, I'm impressed by the smooth and creaminess of Bella Gelateria (at 1001 West Cordova,  at Burrard) in that exclusive estates waterfront region downtown. Obviously not as many flavours can be crammed into the small store as La Casa Gelato , but if you're a connoisseur of premium ingredients and can feel/taste the difference when something is made with the very best ingredients and elite procedures , then this is the place to go. If you're at home or entertaining guests, then Breyers  (not to be confused with Dreyers ) is a good choice. My mom really over-indulged early this summer and bought several boxes of Breyers when it was on sale. So far, I've been very impressed by the not-overly-rich richness of it (sometimes, when something is "too rich", it leaves a fatty or heavy...

It's been a long time since I'd heard about pulled pork sandwiches at Re-Up ( which can be slang for getting more street drugs , BTW), but still hadn't gotten myself over to try one. Well, my birthday had just gone by, and a friend who works downtown offered to buy me lunch. He suggested White Spot especially if it rained, but I knew he was on the clock with just an hour for lunch, so I suggested something casual like Re-Up. Besides, he was a sort of steak and potatoes type of guy and I thought he might like it. So, we were on for lunch at the Hornby and Georgia location, conveniently close to the art gallery fountain and lots of room to sit or wander amid the bustle of downtown Vancouver. At 1pm, there was practically no lineup. Some drifters coming and going, but clearly the lunch rush was over. What struck me at first was the teeny tiny silver cubicle that passed for a food stand. It was so small that two coolers had to be set outside to hold ice and drinks. Wher...

When I hopped on the skytrain late Tuesday afternoon, I saw a young man purchasing a ticket from a young woman. That in and of itself was a bit strange since they were both already on the train. It's not the man was getting a cheap ticket to get past Skytrain Police doing gatekeeper duty. What really got interesting was his explanation. He held up what looked like the receipt and based on what he said, I surmised that it was a Translink fine for fare evasion . He told her that now he'd have a ticket for the "travel period". The upshot of it was that he didn't have a ticket and got a fine. Now he was going to dispute the fine with supposed proof of having a fare which he would try to say he "couldn't find at the time".

Shared by a friend on Facebook -- Vancouver Jobs on Craiglist: Miso Soup Stirrer -- and I just had to check out the actual Craigslist listing before it gets flagged or deleted or whatever.

I went downtown on Wednesday to meet a friend with a $20 Groupon (which cost her $10) for The Kaboom Box (at Robson and Granville) . It was going to expire in the same week, so time was of the essence. She'd had their smoked-right-there "World Famous Hot Smoked Salmon 'Salmwich'" before and was impressed, so I aimed to try it. She opted for their Gulf Island Fried Oyster Po'Boy. We  walked from the stand at Robson and Granville to the very quiet park in sort-of-nearby Cathedral Place (925 West Georgia) to have our late lunch and catch-up chat. That, I think, might have been the biggest mistake. At $7.14 (basically $8 after 12% HST), the salmon sandwich might look a bit small, but price-wise it is actually quite alright if you compare it to, say, Vera's Burger Shack ( Granville store online menu ). The very red slab of salmon is big enough to peek out from under the about average sized bun, and sits on coleslaw. The online description reads, ...

I happened to read an article today about Late-Life Divorce. The summary: " It might be more common than you think. Why some older couples are calling it quits after decades of marriage." My own parents wanted to call it quits after the stress and resentment of a move to Canada, wild fluctuation in family finances, and fundamental differences in financial risk tolerance. All of which led to a confusing love-hate situation -- or perhaps more accurately, a gratefulness-anger situation. Grateful for what each does (and have done) for the other, yet really unable to reconcile that with their differences and accumulation of unresolved arguments. I've always thought of marriage as being a sort of idealistic illusion. I mean, what is it, exactly? The ritual of marriage typically has everyone come together to acknowledge that two people are now "attached" -- and therefore are off limits. This is further enforced with generally commonly acknowledged terms and connot...

You may know various recipe spinoffs of the Spanish/Portuguese sangria . Here's an interesting non-alcoholic one from The Urban Tea Merchant , available in-store on free, handy postcards. No space in the fridge for everything? You can enjoy it in-store for a limited time . Place 8 teaspoons of tea leaves into a cotton filter or envelope and place into a 1 litre glass jug. Suggested teas are: Alfonso (black tea with rare mango and flowers) Number 4 (green tea with cherry blossoms and pomegranate) Jade of Africa (rooibos with red berries and sunflower petals) Add 3 cups of filtered water (cold or room temperature), 1 cup of white grape juice , and 3 tablespoons of fruit syrup . Place jug into refrigerator and allow to steep for at least 2 hours. Remove tea leaves and add fresh fruit (sliced apples, oranges, strawberries, and peaches). Pour into tall glasses and garnish with orange slices. Enjoy!

(Photographs courtesy of my dining companion.) ( What is TWG Tea? ) Had a very unrushed, relaxed, tea service at The Urban Tea Merchant ( Georgia / Alberni location ) on Monday to get together with a friend I hadn't seen in a very long time. From the get-go, the experience is calm, friendly, polite -- like something you might receive at the highest calibre of restaurant dining. The food is carefully crafted to look neat and beautiful, with little touches here and there to raise it from the ordinary: For example, chocolate dipped strawberries had three drops of white cream (?) to add decoration and interestingness to them; and miniature waffle cones had sesame seeds to add to the aroma of the waffles, which held very rich fillings, and which were smartly dressed in gold foil wraps. This is definitely quality over quantity, and with it comes a very appropriate ambiance and excellent service. The tea service is comprised of one or two-bite samplings, each carefully prepar...