June 2007 Archives
Over the weekend I went to the Capilano Suspension Bridge. It's one of the many tourist attractions in Vancouver and a nice escape to nature. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the bridge is only about a 20 minute drive from where I live. The bridge is anchored by 13 tons of concrete on either side of the canyon and spans the width of two 747s side-by-side. It can also support two fully loaded 747s.
If you're afraid of heights, it might not be such a good idea for you to cross this bridge as it's very buoyant from the number of people walking across. The effect is like walking while you're really drunk. On the other side there are more trails and suspension bridges linking from tree to tree. The fresh smell of cedar wood was fantastic. I almost wished I had a log cabin.
Today I had dimsum in Richmond and it was so good. Living in Vancouver, you'd think I'd be going to dimsum every weekend, but actually I haven't had dimsum in a real long time. Between three people, we had about 9-10 dishes for $45 including tip. It's more on the expensive side, but the quality of the food is definitely worth it. The restaurant's specialty is seafood and has many of the popular dishes you'd find in any seafood restaurant like shark fin's soup for $23. Most Chinese do their shopping and eating in Richmond rather than Chinatown, which I've yet to visit. I've been told Chinatown is rather run down and not in a very safe area. One of these days I'll make my way there and check it out for myself.
Point Roberts, WA
This past weekend I crossed the border into Point Roberts, WA. It's a small piece of the Tsawwassen peninsula (part of Canada) that belongs to the U.S. because of the 49th parallel. In order to get to Point Roberts, you must drive through Canada. The area it occupies is about 2 miles by 3 miles wide and only 40 minutes from Vancouver. You can read more about this town's unique location from National Geographic.
Not much is there except a few gas stations, a supermarket, U.S. post office and a shipping and receiving center. I've heard some Canadians like to take advantage of the cheaper gas on the U.S. side and cross into Point Roberts just to fill their tank. Another advantage is being able to receive mail and packages from the U.S. in a fast and convenient way. For some reason, a lot of items are more expensive if bought in Canada compared to the U.S. Books, magazines and electronics are just some examples. But if I purchased them from the U.S. and have them sent to a post office box in Point Roberts, I'd be able to save money even after paying duties on them. For larger items, there is a shipping and receiving business right next door. The funny thing is you have to go through a border crossing to get to this small little town.
Lunch at the Aberdeen Centre food court in Richmond
Yesterday I went to a mall in Richmond called Aberdeen Centre. It's pretty much an Asian mall. The food court is all Asian cuisine and so are most of the stores and shoppers. I had the Singapore vermicelli which was all right and some of my friend's Shanghai dumplings and rice rolls. The dumplings were decent (not the best I've had) and the rice rolls were ok. Wrapped in rice, inside is a Chinese doughnut and shredded pork jerky. After all it is a food court and not gourmet cuisine.
Afterwards we shopped at Daiso - a two-floor Japanese $2 store filled with anything and everything you can imagine for only $2. I bought a few things knowing I'd be wondering why I bought this junk later on, but also knowing it'll come in handy one day and be glad that the $2 was worth it.
Got back Monday evening. I took a 5:30pm flight out of O'Hare and seemed like a lot of people were on their way home or going on vacation. It was pretty busy. The security line was all the way to the end and of all the times I've flown out of O'Hare, I've never been in a line as long as that. At the gate there were announcements that the flight to Tampa was full and they were looking for volunteers to take the next flight out in return for a roundtrip ticket anywhere in the continental U.S. I was thinking I wouldn't mind doing that if that was the case for my filght, but there weren't many people on the filght to Vancouver. I had the row to myself which was nice.
I tried to see everyone while I was back in Chicago, but my time there was too short. In some ways it felt like I never left, but it's been almost half a year since I've been gone. Not much has changed. Just the little ones have gotten bigger. My cousin's wedding in Milwaukee was lovely. Actually Milwaukee seems like a very nice place to live during the summers. While in Chicago, I stopped at the new Joy Yee's in Chinatown to grab a bubble tea. (What took them so long to move into the new space, which is much nicer btw, but why don't they use their walk-up window outside instead?) In the beginning, I thought the bubble teas at Joy Yee's were better than the ones in Vancouver, but now I believe that the fruit ones they have are very good, but the pearls are not as soft and chewy as Bubble World in Vancouver. The milk teas though are better at Bubble World. Oh, I just remembered, I owe Sarah a bubble tea... oops, next time!
On Tuesday I went out with the team to celebrate a job well done at the Keg. Don't let the name fool you. It's not a bar, but a steak and seafood restaurant. The exterior of the building is quite interesting... not sure how I'd describe it, but definitely not what you would imagine how a fine dining establishment would look like. During the entire dinner they played 80s music... stuff you haven't heard since, well the 80s. I ordered the steak and half lobster and it was delicious. For dessert I had the Billy Miner pie, named after a famous Canadian bank robber who, I was told coined the phrase "stick 'em up." It's mocha ice cream over a fudge crumble with chocolate and sliced almonds. I can't believe I ate so much.
Well, it was good seeing everyone. I wish I had more time. I'll try to plan for more time when I go back for future visits.
The weather's been super nice here in Vancouver. Temperatures are around mid-upper 20s Celcius (mid-upper 70s Fahrenheit). It gets pretty hot in my apartment and I don't have air conditioning. I bought a fan on Friday to keep my place cool, but I think I'll need another one. I have all my windows and balcony door open, but I don't have any screens. Hopefully no birds will fly in.
Yesterday I went to Granville Island to enjoy the sun and walk around. I ate a fish burger at Tony's Fish and Oyster. Actually I wanted to get the fish and chips, but didn't realize it was on the menu until after I put in my order. It's a small joint, but the fish is fresh and good. Afterwards I came upon a street performer who did Houdini's escape act from lock and chain in 60 seconds. Actually it took him 10 extra seconds and his comedic routine was nowhere near funny. Before his unexciting escape, he did his spiel on giving him money after the performance. $20+ if you really enjoyed it, $10 if you thought it was pretty good, $5 for the entertainment value and no coins because they are hard to carry. USD and CAD accepted. I don't know, but if I was a street performer, I don't think I can be picky about the form and amount of payment. Well there are no dollar bills in Canadian currency. The $1 and $2 are coins the Canadians refer to as Loonie and Toonies respectively. His stereotypical jokes of Americans were lame and his act was rather long and tiresome so I gave him $1 USD. I'm not sure why I stayed to watch until the end. I guess I just wanted to see if he really could do it.
Well, I'll be flying into Chicago on Tuesday and staying for a week, so if anyone wants to get together, let me know. I'm open to lunch, dinner or any other entertainment besides street performers (unless they are very good) any day of the week except Saturday, which I'll be attending a wedding in Milwaukee.
