Vancouver exploits

A while back Tommy and I went to Vancouver - Tommy's second time (though he's not NEAR as researchy as I am so he & his friend were only able to find the "peelers" - but now that I think about it, that was all they were probably looking for in the first place) and my first.

I pricelined a 4-star hotel (the Hyatt near Robson St.) and got it for $75 a night. Our nice, comfy room had a balcony overlooking The Fairmount (something tells me priceline doesn't sell their rooms).

We started out at Granville Public Market. We bought some great bread at Terra Breads and some salami at one of the many meat stalls. Lee's Donuts had just pulled out fresh donut holes so we couldn't exactly pass that up either. I looked for Duso's Spices but couldn't find it. South China Seas Trading Co. did me just right, though. I bought some red Thai rice and some spices including those cute little star anise pods that look so great in the magnetic spice rack that my dear, a little too skinny friend Dave gave me.

The rest of the day was spent walking around window shopping and such.

Later that night we went to dinner at Memphis Blues BBQ House. It was WONDERFUL. Granted, it was kind of weird traveling all the way to Vancouver for BBQ but, like I've said before, it just doesn't exist in my neck o' the woods and we haven't tasted much in Seattle, either. Tommy and I split the Memphis platter which basically took up the whole table (it was a 2-top). The sides (cole slaw, potato salad, and beans) were just adequate which was fine because it left more room for the ridiculously good fries, brisket, 2 kinds of ribs, pulled pork, sausage, and chicken. It was a silly amount of food and we ended up making a homeless guy VERY happy with the leftovers.

I made Tommy go for a walk with me once we got back to the hotel (you could tell he wanted to just slink into his blissful meat coma) so we walked up and down way-too-congested Robson St.
Just in case our arteries weren't fully clogged, we stopped and got some decent fudge.

The next morning we met Uncle Jim (no relation) at Zin Restaurant. UJ and I each had the rockin' Huevos Rancheros. It came in a fried red flour tortilla bowl and had layers of hashbrowns, eggs, chorizo, ranchero sauce, and sour cream and had two cheddar crisps* garnishing it. Spectacular, spectacular! Tommy had the waffles (waffles are to Tommy as cheese is to me) but regretably they tasted frozen (gasp!).

Then we walked around some more - I dragged Tommy and Uncle Jim into the MAC store so I could buy a couple of lipsticks (NY Apple and Rocker). It came out to about the same price as in the states with my MAC card. I was hoping to get a refill for the Lightful Protective Foundation Powder compact I bought at the Sydney airport but apparently it's only sold in a couple of international airports and Japan (something about it having too much SPF to be approved by the FDA or something - the bastards!). I will try not to get too much sun (the shade I bought is a bit light) til the next time my Aussie friends come to visit and hopefully they can pick me up a refill or two.

Eventually we walked enough to make room for Mondo Gelato. So, so good.

Then we headed for Lynn Canyon Park to cross the suspension bridge. The Capilano Bridge is a bit more famous but why spend $22CAD when you can go to Lynn Canyon for free? The park and views were stunning and the bridge was Goldilocks scary. I HIGHLY (get it? suspension bridge humor!) recommend you visit if you get the opportunity.

On the way back we stopped at the Roots factory store - I can't normally fit into their clothes much less stuffed with all that we ate while in Vancouver - but I definitely want to go back if and when we have a baby (I was thisclose to buying a little onesie covered in monkeys - not sure why I'm so obsessed with monkeys and babies but if we have a boy, there's a deadstock crib set from Land of Nod covered in blue monkeys that I would have to buy off ebay or some place).

Then we headed out of town stopping at the last duty free shop to spend the rest of our Canadian money on booze, a box of big Kit-Kats with a bonus Kit-Kat radio for my sister, among other things. Note to self: if you get in the bus lane to get to the shop, you skip a big chunk of the line and save a ton of time because you get to "cut" to the front of the line by showing your shop receipt.

As you can see, it was a lovely, lovely trip.

*I'm a cheese freak and have been known, on many an occasion, to add grated cheese to a really hot nonstick pan to fry til golden - a.k.a. cheddar crisps! Horrible, I know.....horribly delicious that is!