Vansterdam

We spent the day wandering around Vancouver today, looking for an area that we could call home. While we love Yaletown for its vibrant scene, it is expensive, so we decided to check out two more areas: Richmond and Steveston. RICHMOND This is where Kyle stayed prior to us getting the apartment in Yaletown. He liked the proximity to work and to parks, as well as the delicious Chinese food. However, after living in Yaletown, there is no going back. So we have scratched this location. STEVESTON Now this one has potential! It has a beach town feel with a wonderful boardwalk, a lively bar and restaurant scene, Kyle could bike to work or drive 15 minutes, and the rent is far cheaper than Yaletown! Who wouldn't want to wake up to this view? However, only time will tell where we end up, and that is fast approaching.

That was the question I kept asking myself earlier tonight after a second failed attempt at our anniversary dinner. While I am sure the restaurant I made reservations for would have been a great place to dine, unfortunately, we did not stay long enough to enjoy it. So, let's back track a bit and visit the lessons I've learned in Vancouver: Lesson 1 : Reservations are a must for inner city restaurants. Lesson 2 : Restaurants can tack on end times to reservations. Lesson 3 : Crying in public gets you free drinks. Lesson 4 : You don't need reservations at restaurants outside the bougie area. Lesson 1 was learned by Kyle before I arrived, thank goodness. Lesson 2 was learned by both of us when we arrived at the restaurant. After sitting down, thinking we could still dine in the hour and forty-five minutes allotted to us, we ordered drinks; where we learned lesson 2 plus stress equals Roxanne crying and thus lesson 3. While I felt horrible for our server, becau...

Meet Vinay Varadarajan!  He lives in the unit next to us at Quay West. He also moved to Vancouver recently for his work (he is a surgeon for the Royal Society of Medicine in England). He is super friendly and invited us over last night for an "uplifting" movie night. Great! So, Kyle and I had our bets on the movie he picked out: Kyle Animated: The Great Mouse Detector Non-animated: The Princess Bride Roxanne Animated: The Little Mermaid Non-animated: The Princess Bride But as it turns out Vinay has a VERY different definition of "uplifting" and instead chose Invictus and The Kite Runner .  Having seen Invictus, we chose the latter and while it was a moving movie, "uplifting" would not be the one of the first thousand words I would use to describe it.  Still, it was a good movie and we got to know Vinay and his buddy Mark. Yes, I did Google him . As I didn't know his last name and I didn't have a photo of him to post on the ...

We began the day by walking to Small Victory, a local hipster coffee shop for pastries and an Americano. What a delicious treat! We even sat outside and enjoyed making up stories of an Indian heir who arrived it the douchiest tricked out Porche ever, wearing what appeared to be a bear skinned decalled patterned shirt. After finishing our food/coffee, we went for a walk along the board wall of False Creek where we encountered many pups and got to see the moon setting.  I especially love this pup whose own probably thought I was crazy as I took several shots of his drooling pet. Then we were off to Lynn Canyon Park which was a unique find! The picturesque scenery was dotted with signs warning of your imminent doom which I found hilarious. But in all seriousness people have died. Because who wouldn't want to jump in this pool after a long hike? Never mind that the water is just barely above freezing. Still, clearl...

That would be the Canadian Football League, not a Compact Florescent Light. We ventured out with several folks from VI Vancouver tonight to a game at the stadium, the Lions vs. Redblacks. What are  Redblacks ? We have no idea but it sounds racist. A good time was had by all, including this guy! In addition, here are some photos of the full moon and stadium at night that Kyle took with his creeper camera.

Thank you, MamaLu!  We spent Kyle's birthday money eating out at Blue Water Cafe .  Here I am enjoying a Chanel 75 a delightful blackberry twist to a French 75. We dined on a sample of oysters. My favorite tasted like Belon oyster: Chef's Creek Deep Bay, Vancouver Island, round, deep cup, salty, sweet Kyle's favorite had a smokey finish: Sawmill Bay Read Island, deep cup tray oyster, sweet with a smoky finish This was followed by Halibut Tataki, a special of the day, with land caviar , thinly sliced shishito red pepper , with ponzu sauce. It was "SLAP-YOUR-GRANDMA GOOD!" After another round of cocktails, we had fresh scallop ceviche, and while it was delicious, it still was not as good at the ceviche in Nicaragua; which brought on a great conversation topic: what foods/dishes will you "hunt" for another bite of the rest of your life? We ended with a Salmon Terrine  which was out of this world: Smoked Sockeye Sal...

Naturally, the first place you visit when in a new country is the library. Why the library, you ask? Because Canadian libraries beat US libraries EVERY. DAMN. DAY. www.vpl.ca You want to borrow an instrument? They ask, "Which one?" "Violin?" "Mandolin?" "Djembe?" They have them all and you can borrow them for up to three weeks at a time. Not enough goodie for you? They offer whole sections of the library for books in other languages like German, Chinese, Japanese, etc. Still not swayed? With a valid library card, you can borrow up to 50 items at a time. Best part? When you return your items, they are sorted and delivered by a conveyer system similar to the ones that Kyle installs in airports! Clearly, Kyle is already enjoying this new-found resource and is excited that he won't have to bring or purchase new instruments here.

While it is not tiny living by its newly acquired definition; living in 600 square feet with a significant other that you haven't really lived with for the past two months, is, well, cramped. But with a view that includes a mountain vista, city life, and water, we can make anything work. Still, living in a small apartment with large furniture (we may have close to 200 square feet of furniture) may pose future problems. Good thing we are only here for three months. Bella is going to love all sniffs at the nearby park filled with numerous small dogs and once Roxanne gets an international cellphone plan, she will be walking everywhere with her to get those Pokémon.