Eye Before the Storm

It is officially fall. What have I been up to since my Whistler excursion back in July? Well, not a hell of a whole lot. Two months has passed by seamlessly and, much like last year, I’ve been waiting with baited breath for this time of the year – my holidays. Next week, I leave for a much anticipated sojourn in the Mediterranean…ahh…but first, an extremely brief overview of the last two months.

In short, I’ve been to Griffin’s twice and the food was amazing. In long, here’s some pictures and a narrative.

Like last year, I became a mother in August for a few weeks as I hosted a Japanese student during her study tour here in Canada. Um, if you talked to me during that period, I don’t think I need to explain how that all went down. In my attempts to show her a good time, we headed down to Metrotown and downtown one Saturday for a wild time.


This is us…Manami looks sleepy and the rest of us look shiny. Marty really can’t capture a good picture – sorry Marty!

We found a Japanese restaurant at Metrotown because for some reason Japanese people like to eat at faux Japanese restaurants while they are in foreign countries. Go figure.



I had a delicious tonkatsu don dish with raw egg on top. Yum!



We did some shopping around and Janelle and I sat a bit at the insanity that is Urban Planet.



The completely redeeming quality of this severely-lame looking expedition was the purikura machine we found in the arcade. Always fun.



We made our way downtown to Griffins in the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver for dinner (one of my favies!) as Janelle had never tasted their dessert buffet before.




My Mediterranean pizza – chicken, artichoke hearts, sundried tomatoes, feta cheese…we only pounded back half since we wanted to save our stomachs for the coming desserts.




Janelle, eyeing up the dessert spread for another round.


Manami, who we forbade from eating too much dessert since her stomach is nearly weaker than mine.

So, that was that. Switching gears onto something more random, I got a cool balloon animal and caricature done at the Party on the Green at work last week Friday. I want to show you:


Ahem…this is my Tweety Bird hat courtesy of Scruffles the Clown. I insisted I needed no such thing, but well, that didn’t work obviously.


Nancy and I in caricature form – hot, right? Totally!

Okay, that was nice. Now this last weekend Janelle and I went shopping again and ate at Griffins again. Thrilling, right? Well, I took the pictures so I’m going to use them.


Janelle trying on this Marc Jacobs bag…which she bought! Holt Renfrew is dangerous.




Oi.

Okay, that’s all. Seriously, the highlights of my last two months. But more is coming…this is like the calm before the hectic, hectic storm.

Thanks for the Lift!

It’s always strange sleeping in a bed that isn’t your own. I always wake up crazy early (for me) but since I’m not at home, I probably should be awake anyway. The early bird gets the worm! No 16-hour sleeps for me! Moving along, let’s recap. We are in Whistler. It’s July. Okay, onward.

It’s another hot one folks. The group departed our villa before 10 AM and were zipping up the gondola shortly thereafter. We are an expedious bunch.



This gondola will bring us to the top of Whistler mountain. For those who may be unaware, there are two mountains attached to the Whistler resort: Whistler and Blackcomb. There’s even transportation between the tops of them both! But we’ll be seeing that shortly.

The inside of these little gondolas is pretty small, as you can guess, and the inside is scratched to shit from those pesky skiers and bikers.


Superhero salute, Kaitlyn-style.

After a short ride, we arrived on the top. Sheesh, what a view. This is Canada folks, no denying that!





After a pit stop, we hopped on the first available gondola that would shuttle us between the two mountains. It’s pretty sick y’all! Length of unsupported span: 1.88 MILES. And we had it all to ourselves.






Whoa! Do you see that? Follow the cables and the tree line.




Yo, we heading south.




We arrived on the other side! Mountain-hopping…no big deal.

Next up was the chairlifts. Let me tell you about chairlifts. They are awesome. I never really thought about them beyond winter activities but they are infinitely more fun in warm weather. It was like a swing-set for grown-ups.




Can you see the village down there by the lake? Ah, feel the breeze…


Almost to the bottom…but no matter, we’ll just swing back around and ride it back up. Repeat.




This is from the top of Blackcomb.

Had enough? I know, let’s just hop over to the other mountain. What do you think? (Silence) Off we go then!




That fur hat is still so sweet.


Quite clearly, we had the gondola to ourselves again.





There was a Nestea event held on Whistler mountain this particular day called, “Chill on the Hill” and Marty was psyched because Protest the Hero played a set. I didn’t watch, but let me tell you it was fairly awful and the sound echoed from each crevasse of the mountain. Blah.





We perused the gift shop for a while and I was appalled to discover the prices were far cheaper on top of the mountain than in the village. What gives?


Kaitlyn and our mutual friend, Quatchi. He is such a jokester, sitting on peoples’ heads and whatnot. Kaitlyn is not amused.

We decided to head to the real top of Whistler mountain, which involved a hike down to ride the chairlift up. I’m gonna hate that climb back up in the heat, but I’m hooked on chairlifts now, so off we go.





Reaching the top…uwaaaa is all I can say.


I’m standing on top of the world.

Okay, back down we go, only to come back up again.



Even better than coming up! It was a bit chilly (!!) so Kaitlyn was using a wool blanket.





I had met up with Marty at the bottom (he had gone to listen to that terrible band) so I rode back up with him.




I have no idea why he is making such a stupid face.

I attempted a few of my NOW FAMOUS (ha ha ha) panoramic pictures. Click for an enlarged version.




Can you spot Whistler village down there?


Wow. I’m so lucky to live here.

Marty and I wandered around a bit, taking it all in. I was looking at the chairlift randomly…



Hey wait…I think I know those people. Let me zoom in.


Yes I do! Hello family!


It kind of looks like I was photoshopped into this picture. But I wasn’t.

After a wonderfully panoramic ride down and an exhaustingly hot and sweaty walk back up from the chairlift, we met up with Matthew and then hopped back on the Peak 2 Peak gondola for a jaunt back over to Blackcomb. From there, we boarded the bus with the snowboarders to check out the glacier.






July 25: There is still snowboarding on Blackcomb mountain.




This is a good candidate for our Christmas card picture.


I call this one, “A Marty in Reflection”.






This cliff was ridiculous. People going off this cliff must have some kind of deathwish.


Marty was being a bit of a photo ho that day.



As Matthew had been ripping up and down the hill all day on his bike and we had been noshing on leftover Delisso pizza while riding the chairlifts, he stopped for burger on the glacier and a few of us ripped off to go ride the chairlift up and down again.



We spent the rest of the afternoon ripping up and down on more chairlifts before heading down the mountain 15 minutes before the gondola was to be closed. We shut it down…at least we go our money’s worth!



We were, as expected, pretty piffed-out from all the sun exposure and I received a painful burn on my chest due to the apparent ineffectiveness of my SPF 60! That sun just ate up my sunblock like a candy bar.

What a fun weekend in Whistler. Thank you to Al and Martha and their generosity for letting us stay! It was a wonderful, memorable weekend.

Villa in the Mountains

The last weekend in July we were kindly invited by my extended family to come spend some time up in the mountain community of Whistler. While we both had to work all week, come Friday, we were raring to go. They had taken off for the better part of the week and rented out a villa in the upper village, so they were well-seasoned by the time we arrived. Luckily, there was a king-sized bed waiting for us and bucket-load of heat.








Do you see that container on the counter? It’s filled with puffed-wheat squares…YAYAYAYAYAY!

After settling in a bit, we headed out on foot to the village to check out the scene. Did I happen to mention our villa was right next to the Four Seasons? No? Well, it was, no big deal all brushing shoulders with the rich people and whatnot.







Matthew was up on the mountain ripping around on his bike, along with a giant herd of other people. This lift up and the subsequent ride down was the focal point of the village on this sweltering day.



We left my uncle and Marty there to schpatziere and Mildred and I headed into the village to track down the rest of the gang.







Like bloodhounds, we sniffed them out and before we knew it we were onto the next hunt – dinner. Thankfully there’s an IGA where snacks can be retrieved from…and so I picked some chocoalmonds, chips, and Nature Valley bars…you know, for sustenance tomorrow when we are gallivanting up in the mountains. Marty picked up some pizza.



Mildred put the bug in my ear for sushi so I trekked in vain to several sushi places before finding one that was actually open and serving food.



We then began the long trek home in the late afternoon heat. I’m dying y’all.





Anyone who knows me well can attest that when I get hot, I get cranky and I can be very short with people. I’m not angry with them, I just don’t want to talk or think because it makes me even hotter. Uphill in 30 degree heat…I was brisk. Sorry to all! After standing in front of a small fan for ten minutes, I was human again and ready to enjoy my delicious sushi. I ordered kappa maki and a creation called “cupcakes”.




So good…let me tell you I’m jonesing big-time for one slice of these right this second…

After stuffing ourselves, we began considering our next adventure for the evening. When Al and Martha went out for a bike ride, it was up to us “kids” (myself, Marty, and Mildred included) to shake things up a bit. Off we sauntered into the village.







The place was bustling (sorry for the LQ pictures…sheesh) and Kaitlyn wanted to go shopping for…something yet to be determined. So we hit up every open shop and tried on a much of weird moose and bear hats. Right. We then headed into a legitimate hat store and whipped up a frenzy, all of us ladies getting hats (thank you Mildred!) Kaitlyn got this sweet white furry cap with shiny pink polka-dotted lining. I’m jealous.

We finished the day with smoothies from Starbucks and avoided stepping in the barf on the sidewalk. Always good times in Whistler.



Tomorrow we glide through the air from one mountain peak to another…and…it’s awesome.

Blowing Out

I’m bad. Who writes Canada Day blogs in August? Well, there’s not much here for content and I’ll pre-date the blog so you’ll be none the wiser…except that you’ll be reading it in August. I thought I’d be cool this year and actually attend the fireworks at rotary stadium since my family invited me and I’d been a bum all day lazing about indoors (plus I like spending time with them).


Matthew, Janelle, and Marty telling stories waiting for the excitement to begin.

The fireworks generally never cease to disappoint. Am I a party-pooper? Probably. I guess I’ve just never understood why they don’t light the whole kit-and-caboodle in one go and really knock our socks off. Just once, I’d like to see that. But, until that happens, here’s the highlights.





















That’s all she wrote folks.

Happy Canada Day!

I suck.

Tap That

Since I work with a bunch of accountants and, well, am one as well, we are quite the golfing bunch. And by that I mean I go like, once a season and I only started last year. That aside, I do quite enjoying taking an afternoon off and hitting the links. This year, we decided to venture out to Chilliwack for our annual post-fiscal-year-end celebration and enjoy the putting course at Tap-Ins. Of course, we had to eat first to bring up our energy.






My deliciously exotic array of chicken fingers and salad a la Caesar.


This is a good one of Betty and Regina. HA HA HA HA.


And, of course, Deanna enjoying her sandwich.

Once lunch had been polished, it was time to get my game-face on. The course was gorgeous.



I joined Regina and Brenda in a team of three and we took the course by storm.








These darn little ponds always get in the way of my ball. It is aiming for the hole, but then the pond all goes and moves to intercept it. Seriously unhappy.



I can’t really recall the score and, admit it, you don’t care either. Everyone was making fun of me crawling on the ground to take photos, but how else can you capture the essence of golfing better than being one with the green. Exactly.




I included this shot as it is a living incarnation of my tattoo.

In the warm sunshine along Cultus Lake, this place is tap-o-rific. Eh…yeah.

They'd Eat You, Given The Chance

It summer – what does that make one think of? Sunshine? Nope. Beaches? Nope. Camping? Nope. Patios? Nope. The zoo? YES! Well, really the first four are more often associated with summer, but the zoo should be in there too. The only reason I say so is because I went to the zoo with Jean one Sunday and it just so happened to be summer. The zoo in these here parts is kind of located in the middle of a field near Aldergrove. We were very excited and Jean talked me into buying a ticket for the train (ride to be taken much later.)




This looks like fun. Slow fun.

We visited the vivarium first to check out the slimy and crawly contributions. Hang onto your lunches kiddies.




I don’t know about you, but I often have dreams about lizards running free in my house and I can’t trap them anywhere because they just slide out through the cracks. It’s scary.


This dude is so into wanting to eat my hand.





Blah. Next up was the ‘Bird of Prey’ show in which an owl almost clotheslined my head. His name was Hagrid.



There was also this friend:



And this guy with a fancy headdress:





I don’t think Marty would have liked the bird show. :) There was lots of swooping and stuff.

We then went to check out our other friends in the animal kingdom.




This is Mufasa, Simba’s Dad. He got a haircut since then…I know that’s what you were thinking.



Before we knew it, we had putterd away the time and it was our turn to ride the train. Hooray! I’m excited, can you tell?


Ready to ride.


And off we go!

We met many more friends on the ride – c’mon…I’ll show ya!






Oh snap, this guys a hot mess.



We strolled for another while after the train ride. I was, naturally, breathless from screaming on the train since it was a whirlwind, so we observed other creatures.


Ba-dump….ba-dump.


Herro!


This guy would not budge. I even tried calling him over by his name “Cheetah”, but he wouldn’t come. Maybe his name wasn’t Cheetah – that’s probably why.



Our last visit was to the monkeys…these were an interesting bunch to say the least. A good majority of them seemed to have infections…on their rears. Poor guys. Even I get a bit queasy at these pictures, so for the good people who wish not to see it, I’ll put it behind this cut (click here to view). Oi! At least his friend is looking out for him…even if it is invasive.

And that was our trip to the zoo! What a nice time – thank you Jean!

The Funky Bunch

Life was back to normal after my Ottawa and Montreal adventures as I focused on studying for my exam (which I passed, yay!) and catching up on the work I missed when I was away. Most of June was quiet until one day some visitors arrived from Manitoba – Dan and Lori. For the most part, they toiled away in the wilderness, camping and such, but they did spend a few days at our house and we squeezed in a brief Vancouver adventure on our way to dropping them off the night before their flight.

We decided to take in the beach at Spanish Banks; turns out it was International Surf Day and there was a free BBQ, of which our guests partook.







After a delicious dinner at Las Margaritas (ignoring that they had just had BBQ at the beach), we headed down to Richmond to check out the night market.







And, of course, the night market staple, fake tokidoki backpacks.




This delicious friend is a waffle filled with chocolate cream and nutella. It’s a must-try.


The entertainment at the night market is always first-class. I was there again this last weekend and some five-year-old boy singing about how he was sorry he did wrong, he loves you and wants you back. Did I mention he was five?! There was another guy there one time who thought he was an Asian Ricky Martin, thrusting his pelvis all over the place. It is always amusing.



We headed back to the car along the river and encountered a friend wearing my favourite colours – black and white. Turns out he was certainly not our friend. He didn’t unleash his hideous stench upon us but he heebie-jeebied me out nonetheless.