We started off our day with a group of friends at the Opus Hotel's Elixir restaurant for an annual holiday brunch. I think this is the third year of the tradition, although it's the second time we've participated. This is the first time we've had the brunch at Elixir.
Elixir is done up in the style of a French brasserie with white tile floors, bright yellow walls and deep wood finishings. It's a bit of a contrast to the modern and minimalist decor in the rest of the hotel. I have had brunch there a few times and strangely have never had any other kind of meal there. The first time I ate there was on the morning following my cousin's wedding. As we were eating, Sting was in the lobby a few feet away checking out. The following time I had brunch at Elixir was about a year later. Josh and I stood for several minutes in the lobby waiting for the host. I joked to Josh, "I wonder who we'll see this time". As I glazed off into space awaiting to be seated, my gaze was met by that of Michael Stipe's. He was seated with the rest of REM. We were seated at the booth next to theirs.
I like Elixir because the service is good and the brunch is often unique because where else can you get chocolate croissants and duck confit with your breakfast? Or smoked salmon scrambled eggs over a bed of truffle-oil green lentils? Nowhere else in Vancouver I tell you! So if you feel like splurging, it usually feels justified if you order some unique breakfast concoction that you can't get in a typical greasy spoon. And greasy spoon Elixir is not.
The downside is that the prices are about triple what you'd pay elsewhere for a similar breakfast. Vancouver has such a large percentage of its population eating out in restaurants. And unlike a city like Toronto or New York where people use their corporate spending accounts to pay the bills at fancy restaurants, most people dining in Vancouver's foodie establishments shell out money from their personal accounts, so prices tend to be pretty competitive and cheap by comparison. It's often cheaper to eat out than to buy the groceries and cook yourself, at least if you're like us - living downtown without a car, relying upon downtown's urban-style grocery stores ($$$). Not only that, but we carry back all our groceries so we can only buy so much at once. And with our minuscule kitchen, a lack of storage space, and no kitchen table (as the kitchen is too tiny for a table), then you tend to eat a lot of your meals elsewhere.
So yes, Elixir is way overpriced for the Vancouver market. But it's a hotel restaurant that caters to international stars like Sting, so it really shouldn't surprise me.
The only disappointment of this brunch, as I highlighted in an earlier post, is that, since we were such a large group today, we were all given the same meal. But the meal was very ordinary for Elixir. It was basic scrambled eggs, hashbrowns, sausages, toast, and pastry selection for the table. It was $26 per person. You can usually get this kind of breakfast in Vancouver for well under $10, and sometimes even under $5. So that's my only beef. But it's a trivial beef. It just seems like a waste to go to Elixir and spend $26 just to get plain scrambled eggs.
</rant>
The previous night Josh and I had a cozy night at home watching Wall-E. What a film. In so many ways, it completely exceeded what I was anticipating... I'm not quite sure why it took us so long to watch it, as it was a film we had wanted to see back when it was in theatres. It was just so touching and genuinely awe-inspiring. The little details were what got to us the most. However, I'm purposely choosing not to elaborate as I don't want this to turn into a film review. But last night, the night after we initially watched Wall-E, we stayed up until at least 4am watching it back to back (and with the director's commentary) because it was such inspiration. Definitely, this movie charmed us, and for me, the closing credits were especially moving.
Looking at how they made the film, it immediately brought me back to class at CDIS in 1998 as I was fooling around with the archaic 3D modelling program, Form Z. For a class project, I had to take an item from my home and model it. I chose a plush teddy bear - not the easiest for a beginner, but it turned out well! I also modeled an old Yamaha synthesizer, another success, and the entire interior of the long gone Vancouver nightclub Graceland. I remember at how fulfilling the whole creative process was and how much time and effort I put into those pieces simply because it was fun.
And now I'm here, 10 years later... three multimedia certificates later, one degree later... and Wall-E is seriously making me reconsider my career goals.
The issue, of course, is that this is possibly the worst time to be starting the journey into a new industry. But then again, uncertainties are always a little scary...
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