A great time, eh?

Goodbye, Vancouver. We love everything about you. We love that you are nestled in between the sea and the mountains. We love your coffee shops, with clever names like Bean Around the World and Higher Grounds Cafe. We love your numerous sushi and izakaya restaurants, and that dim sum we tried in Richmond was damn good. We love your summer weather (we felt guilty if we didn't spend copious amounts of time outdoors). We love your residents, their attitudes, their lifestyle. Your no. 1 best-city-to-live ranking is well-deserved. Thanks for the memories!

The Food Entry

Here are some photos of great food memories from Vancouver. That cupcakes place on Denman Street:

Dan took me to a lovely Filipino restaurant for my birthday, called Rekados, which served kamote (aka sweet potato) fries.

Going to Pearl Castle with Harvey, Helen, and Samira in Richmond:

The Noodle Man at Legendary Noodles:

And of course, Bubble Tea!
Too many pictures to post. See the rest in our slideshow.

Mambo

Yes! Every orchestra needs a jolt of this. The Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela, with Gustavo Dudamel conducting.

Seattle

Pics (to see captions, click on the picture during the flickr slideshow)

Taking advantage of the three-day weekend in Canada, and the fact that it was our second year wedding anniversary (whoo-hoo!), we took the bus and crossed the border to visit Seattle, shrine to Nirvana, grunge, and Starbucks. It is usually a 3.5 hour trip, including border time, and we made plans to spend one night. Armed with Starbucks coffee--we were preparing for the atmosphere--we gleefully boarded the bus in downtown Vancouver at 9am, ready to arrive at 12:30pm in downtown Seattle.

Unfortunately, it seemed like everyone in Canada was crossing at the same time, and our wait turned into 5 hours just to go through the border. There are only so many rock-paper-scissors games you can play before going insane, as we learned. After finally passing through, we arrived in Seattle just after 5pm. (whoo-hoo #2!)

We got to our B&B in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, the Gaslight Inn, where we were met by innkeeper Trevor, who recommended that we head down to Pike Place Market fast. We got there just as all the stalls were closing, but at least the original Starbucks was open.

The next day, we went back to Pike Place to see what the market was like when open. We also did the walking Underground Tour in Pioneer Place. To experience the best tour ever of dilapidated basements and the odd alleyway, we suggest you do this. We actually found ourselves oohing and aah-ing at metal bracings and dirty concrete, thanks to the enthusiastic tour guides.

Finally, we rode the monorail to the Space Needle, which is actually set apart from the downtown area, unlike the crafty pictures of Seattle seem to depict. More ooh-ing and aah-ing, and it was finally time to catch the bus back to Vancouver. A whirlwind trip, and we got tired out, but we enjoyed every minute of it. Seattle has a relaxed vibe despite all the coffee, and it seemed to have pride in being an independent, thriving outpost in the Northwest. But who are we to say? We spent barely over 24 hours there. Definitely an anniversary to remember.

Vancouver

Do not be fooled by Dan's t-shirt. We are in Vancouver, this photo taken from Granville Island. We've spent the last couple of weeks getting to know this city, deemed the World's Best Place to Live in a survey conducted by the Economist in 2005. (Melbourne came second in that same study.)

Judging by the time we've spent here, I can see why--the weather is good, the air is clean, and the opportunity for outdoor activities is endless. We are staying in a place just at the entrance of Stanley Park, which is a huge park just on the tip of the city. Every day, we see people cycling, jogging, walking and rollerblading around the seawall. Vancouver is nestled in between the ocean and the mountains, so the views are amazing.

In pacific northwest fashion, Vancouver seems to have followed Seattle's coffee culture (or rather, Starbucks culture). In addition to all the Starbucks, there are tons of other independent and chain cafes in town. Just down the street there are two cafes on opposite corners, and yes, I've been to both of them.

We've been hanging out with some of Dan's co-workers who have been so great in welcoming us and introducing us to that West Coast culture. It's all very familiar to me, having grown up in San Diego. The seafood here is so fresh, and so is the sushi. We only have one question: why hasn't sushi pizza taken off here? Check out photos here.