We arrived back from Montreal two nights ago, back to Vancouver... a Vancouver which, for the first time in over 3 weeks, was finally above 0 degrees Celsius. The biggest irony is that while we were in Montreal (famous for its harsh winters), Vancouver was experiencing its biggest snowfall with weeks on end of record breaking subzero temperatures. There was so much snow around Vancouver that Christmas plans were switched around and some of my relatives were actually stranded in their homes and couldn't make it.
Of course, when you have a Montreal-style snowfall on Vancouver but you lack the infrastructure to remove said snow, you have a monster of a problem on your hands. While Vancouver plows the main streets once after a snowfall, they never, ever plow the side streets. In Montreal? Side streets, alleyways, and heck, even sidewalks are cleared almost by the hour, over and over again. And every few days they'll bring a dump truck to remove the snowbanks. In Vancouver? They had 3 weeks worth of snow (2 feet deep in some areas) covering every single residential side street. Needless to say, most people gave up on their cars... and their jobs, and their holidays, and their Boxing day sales, and school... and even Translink (our public transit service) stopped key bus routes!
Us? We missed all the chaos by being in Montreal.
While sure, Montreal's winters may be more extreme (a daily high might be -7 or -14 Celsius), at least they know how to deal with the snow when it falls. Vancouver? Vancouver's policy has always appeared to be, "just wait it out" because after all, the snow will just melt in a day or two, right? But what happens when a day or two stretches out to be three weeks?
As we were driving back from the airport along Granville Street towards downtown Vancouver, I could see the Montreal-style snowbanks, 7 feet high, by the gas stations. All the residential side streets looked impassible. I did not envy my poor sister who, on January 1st, had to move apartments onto such a side street in a minivan without snow tires.
It has now been raining non-stop since yesterday morning and almost all the snow outside has disappeared. However, I see in the little weather widget here that there may be a chance of snow again this weekend!
Anyway, this is just to say that we're back and we're in one piece. I will be updating this with photos and stories of Montreal (in between sending off my resume for potential jobs!)
Showing posts with label Vancouver. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vancouver. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Monday, December 8, 2008
Vancouver ...a local's perspective
I've started a new blog, Vancouver ...a local's perspective. I figure it's easier to keep Lulu Island Girl as a separate blog... a blog with little structure, where I'm free to post whatever's on my mind. By contrast, my Vancouver blog will be more focused with its aim at providing specific information to potential visitors. I figure I've put at least 10 years into travel forum writing, I might as well start documenting it in one spot!
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Weekend in sunshine
After a Saturday downpour, I woke up to... more rain. However, by 11am the sun was out and what a beautiful day it has turned out to be! Even as I type, the sun is shining on my monitor, a strange feat considering the windows are facing north, but with the surrounding condo windows reflecting like mirrors, you'd be surprised at how real these rays feel. And if you're at all familiar with the December climate on this wet coast, you'll know that we'll just about take any form of sunshine we can get.
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...
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...
Sunday, November 30, 2008
August in Vancouver
I just discovered these photos that my father took back in the summer at Jericho Beach. To me they just capture the essence of everything that is August in Vancouver.
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