I've barely started reporting on my stay in Vancouver but I'm about to take off and I wanted to at least acknowledge this: Sharks clinch the Pacific!!! How fitting I'm in hockey country.
This was especially significant for a few reasons. We'll have home ice advantage for the first two rounds (which, I'm not sure it's totally huge for the boys since they have such a great road record. But they have been doing quite well at home recently). Also, we did it on Anaheim ice which is sweet redemption considering how much I hate that team (fuck you Teemu Selanne). I wish I could've seen all the "fans" leaving that building after we won last night.
Won't get my hopes up TOO high as there's lots of hockey left. All I know is that I'll be broke pretty soon if we get far enough to the postseason. If we make it to the conference finals, my regular life will officially go on hold.
OK, I'm about to leave my fantasy life living in this hotel (www.opushotel.com)
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Friday, March 28, 2008
Canada owns your face (now expanded! with new features!)
**OK, so I re-read this and realized how it completely glossed over the entire first day and first impression of Vancouver. I suppose that tends to happen when you are paying $1/half hour for the internet. so now, expanded for your pleasure.**
The first thing I'm going to do when I get home and have some time (because you know I have to start working the minute I get home. Seriously, my boss has already lined me up to make an offer before the weekend is over). ANYWAY, I'm going to be watching some Arrested Development, holla!! Like from Season 1 I think.
The last time we met, I was leaving Seattle for our great border in the North. Everyone had these stories for me about how it was going to be like 2 hours waiting at the border to get in. Um, other way around people. I would imagine it takes way longer getting into the States than getting in Canada (apparently Canada doesn't care about international terrorism). It only took me about 20 minutes and I believe I look harmless enough. The lady asked what I did for a living. I told her education. She asked if I was planning on selling any goods in Canada. Only the 20 children I smuggled in the trunk, lady.
The first thing I had to do was change my odometer. Km. Apparently Canadians didn't switch over until the mid 70s so they're still adjusting 30 years later. I understand why people argue for the metric changeover but HA HA America is better than all of you! We will not conform to the rest of the world's standards. Nor will we learn another language!
You know what has been amazing to have on this trip? The GPS. Even though I yell at it sometimes because it's not recalculating fast enough and I miss my turn or if the satellites aren't lined up correctly (which happens not very often). I'd be f'ed if I didn't have that thing.
The road lead to a long stretch of highway before spitting me out into suburban Vancouver. What a nice city! First impressions? Clean. Quiet. One of the first things I saw was a bus. On the little sign above the windshield, it said, "SORRY, NOT IN SERVICE." What a polite bus! Muni would've just run you over with no apologies.
I drove through the streets of downtown Vancouver before arriving at my hostel with it's BRIGHT, BIG, NEON, LIGHTS! Oy! It was almost the only thing lit up like that on the street but that's not to say it wasn't busy. Just not, like NYC busy. Or even San Francisco busy for that matter. Not overwhelming!
After finally figuring out where to park (a challenge I didn't quite think about), I entered the hostel to see the Canucks/Avs game on. A pub in the hostel! Good sign. The people were friendly enough, some kids were lined up to go see a comedy tour. Ah, hostel living, how I'd come to forget it. I kind of felt conspicuous because I was that lady with the roll luggage that I never could quite figure out in Europe. I get it now.
Upon entering the dorms, I smelled lacquered wood reminiscent of log cabins and camping. I braced myself for some dirty living as the internet seemed to have implied that this place grungy. But friendly which is why I picked it. To be honest, they all sounded kind of dodgy on the internet. When I turned on the light, no cockroaches ran under the beds. The room was squishy but that's to be expected. Apparently I was the last to arrive so I got the top bed by the door, of course. I love the comforters they give you in these places, they're much nicer that you expect.
I had to pee really really really bad but I had no idea where the bathrooms were. Up? Down? You'd think in a hostel that big, SOMEONE would be around. I had to go creeping down the hall; nervous someone would open their door and I'd be like a deer caught in the headlights. I'm hella shady looking. Luckily they were at the end of the of hall and I didn't have any explaining to do.
I had signed up for a mixed dorm but it looks like they separate the dudes from the chicks anyway. Plus each gender has their own bathroom which is nice. My dorm mates were from Washington and Oregon; not exactly your international fair but granted I am still on the West Coast.
Finally got my act together and headed downstairs to the bar (yes, there was a bar in the hostel) to catch the rest of the Canucks game. Met an Irish guy here from Australia and some French guys. And a hella drunk ass British dude giving me shit during the game (of course I gave it right back). That is the best part of staying in a hostel is meeting new people every day. They're all kinda crazy but never in a creepy way. Actually, some of the creepiest dudes I ever met on my travels were from Vancouver. No joke. In Switzerland.
Every time I have met foreigners, there is one thing that will ALWAYS come up. Get your mind of the gutter, people. It's POLITICS. Guaranteed. People are very well informed about our government; mostly because so much of what we do affects what their own governments do. At this point, most travelers know that many Americans (particularly ones that travel) don't represent the faction that voted GW into office (let's not get into technicalities people). I have this wonderful fantasy that I can move to another country and their ideals will be different ("better"?) but I am starting to find out that it's all the same shit everywhere. You just figure out what you're willing to compromise.
The French guys moved from Paris to London (to learn English plus they like it better. London over Paris?! I don't know if I've ever heard that. But I do love London. Can't speak for Paris yet). The Irish guy moved from Cork to Perth, Australia. Wanderlust. I feel it tugging but the responsible / not wanting to be broke part keeps one foot on the ground. I'm going to change my name to "one foot on the ground." It's just so fitting for so many parts of my life.
The Canucks lost and more beer was offered but after getting up early, it was a night for me. I headed upstairs to the common room for some CPU time and spending some time with the real journal (don't be sad, blog). Observed some antics. The hostel was pretty rad; pool table, tv room, huge kitchen, and 5 computers plus wireless internet so everyone was on their laptops. I felt left out :( I love people watching in hostels. I also hate looking like that stupid foreigner, so I tend to do a lot of observing. Although reminiscent, the vibe was definitely different being that we were in an English speaking city. Sometimes I felt like people expected me to speak with an Asian accent. Sorry, American as they come, buddy.
I can't remember what I did for the rest of the night. Did I eat dinner? It's really quite unclear.
The first thing I'm going to do when I get home and have some time (because you know I have to start working the minute I get home. Seriously, my boss has already lined me up to make an offer before the weekend is over). ANYWAY, I'm going to be watching some Arrested Development, holla!! Like from Season 1 I think.
The last time we met, I was leaving Seattle for our great border in the North. Everyone had these stories for me about how it was going to be like 2 hours waiting at the border to get in. Um, other way around people. I would imagine it takes way longer getting into the States than getting in Canada (apparently Canada doesn't care about international terrorism). It only took me about 20 minutes and I believe I look harmless enough. The lady asked what I did for a living. I told her education. She asked if I was planning on selling any goods in Canada. Only the 20 children I smuggled in the trunk, lady.
The first thing I had to do was change my odometer. Km. Apparently Canadians didn't switch over until the mid 70s so they're still adjusting 30 years later. I understand why people argue for the metric changeover but HA HA America is better than all of you! We will not conform to the rest of the world's standards. Nor will we learn another language!
You know what has been amazing to have on this trip? The GPS. Even though I yell at it sometimes because it's not recalculating fast enough and I miss my turn or if the satellites aren't lined up correctly (which happens not very often). I'd be f'ed if I didn't have that thing.
The road lead to a long stretch of highway before spitting me out into suburban Vancouver. What a nice city! First impressions? Clean. Quiet. One of the first things I saw was a bus. On the little sign above the windshield, it said, "SORRY, NOT IN SERVICE." What a polite bus! Muni would've just run you over with no apologies.
I drove through the streets of downtown Vancouver before arriving at my hostel with it's BRIGHT, BIG, NEON, LIGHTS! Oy! It was almost the only thing lit up like that on the street but that's not to say it wasn't busy. Just not, like NYC busy. Or even San Francisco busy for that matter. Not overwhelming!
After finally figuring out where to park (a challenge I didn't quite think about), I entered the hostel to see the Canucks/Avs game on. A pub in the hostel! Good sign. The people were friendly enough, some kids were lined up to go see a comedy tour. Ah, hostel living, how I'd come to forget it. I kind of felt conspicuous because I was that lady with the roll luggage that I never could quite figure out in Europe. I get it now.
Upon entering the dorms, I smelled lacquered wood reminiscent of log cabins and camping. I braced myself for some dirty living as the internet seemed to have implied that this place grungy. But friendly which is why I picked it. To be honest, they all sounded kind of dodgy on the internet. When I turned on the light, no cockroaches ran under the beds. The room was squishy but that's to be expected. Apparently I was the last to arrive so I got the top bed by the door, of course. I love the comforters they give you in these places, they're much nicer that you expect.
I had to pee really really really bad but I had no idea where the bathrooms were. Up? Down? You'd think in a hostel that big, SOMEONE would be around. I had to go creeping down the hall; nervous someone would open their door and I'd be like a deer caught in the headlights. I'm hella shady looking. Luckily they were at the end of the of hall and I didn't have any explaining to do.
I had signed up for a mixed dorm but it looks like they separate the dudes from the chicks anyway. Plus each gender has their own bathroom which is nice. My dorm mates were from Washington and Oregon; not exactly your international fair but granted I am still on the West Coast.
Finally got my act together and headed downstairs to the bar (yes, there was a bar in the hostel) to catch the rest of the Canucks game. Met an Irish guy here from Australia and some French guys. And a hella drunk ass British dude giving me shit during the game (of course I gave it right back). That is the best part of staying in a hostel is meeting new people every day. They're all kinda crazy but never in a creepy way. Actually, some of the creepiest dudes I ever met on my travels were from Vancouver. No joke. In Switzerland.
Every time I have met foreigners, there is one thing that will ALWAYS come up. Get your mind of the gutter, people. It's POLITICS. Guaranteed. People are very well informed about our government; mostly because so much of what we do affects what their own governments do. At this point, most travelers know that many Americans (particularly ones that travel) don't represent the faction that voted GW into office (let's not get into technicalities people). I have this wonderful fantasy that I can move to another country and their ideals will be different ("better"?) but I am starting to find out that it's all the same shit everywhere. You just figure out what you're willing to compromise.
The French guys moved from Paris to London (to learn English plus they like it better. London over Paris?! I don't know if I've ever heard that. But I do love London. Can't speak for Paris yet). The Irish guy moved from Cork to Perth, Australia. Wanderlust. I feel it tugging but the responsible / not wanting to be broke part keeps one foot on the ground. I'm going to change my name to "one foot on the ground." It's just so fitting for so many parts of my life.
The Canucks lost and more beer was offered but after getting up early, it was a night for me. I headed upstairs to the common room for some CPU time and spending some time with the real journal (don't be sad, blog). Observed some antics. The hostel was pretty rad; pool table, tv room, huge kitchen, and 5 computers plus wireless internet so everyone was on their laptops. I felt left out :( I love people watching in hostels. I also hate looking like that stupid foreigner, so I tend to do a lot of observing. Although reminiscent, the vibe was definitely different being that we were in an English speaking city. Sometimes I felt like people expected me to speak with an Asian accent. Sorry, American as they come, buddy.
I can't remember what I did for the rest of the night. Did I eat dinner? It's really quite unclear.
Seattle
On Wednesday morning I headed out of Portland and towards the great state of Washington. Within a blink of an eye, I was there. Seriously, I had no idea it was that close. All their freeway signs that show upcoming intersections are in the shape of Washington heads. How cute.
The drive up north wasn't beeeeyooootifull since it was on an industrial highway but there were lots of trees. Hella trees. Big trees. Which I like. I took my time since it wasn't going to take as long as I thought it would.
(Some dude just coughed in my face. Thanks, dude).
In Seattle, I was planning on meeting up for food with Quinn, my old roommate. My GPS time was off though so I kept overestimating my arrival time. The traffic started getting heavy in Seattle but then I cruised into town around 1:30PM (only took about 2 hours from Portland). I drove through downtown then over to Queen Anne Blvd. All the cars were parked with their butts in, I found that strange.
The food was good (BBQ pork sandwich at this restaurant that changes themes every month. this month was route 66. they were playing the audio version of grapes of wrath in the bathrom). The conversation was good. At some point were discussing grad school and Quinn said, "Why do you want to go to grad school?"
I stopped. Why did I want to go to grad school? For the paper diploma? For the massive amount of loans I will need?
Then he continued. "Is it to start all over somehwere new?"
BING. Yes. Yes, that's the exact reason. I've been feeling somewhat... lost the past few months and I think I'm just ready for something different. Hence, this trip. I've never lived further than 2 hours from the Bay. I've never lived in another state. I've been lucky enough to have traveled alone around the world and I think it's convinced me that I can pretty much live anywhere and thrive.
The secondary reason being that my parents would be very happy about it. That's pretty important too.
After lunch, we headed to Quinn's dad's pottery place. I needed to use the CPU to work (I KNOW). Yeah, I was pretty annoyed about that too. Why is it that someone from work has contacted me every single day? They always start the conversation with, "I'm sorry to be bothering you, I know you're on vacation..." THEN STOP CALLING ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I stopped answering my phone on Thursday.
My plan was to see a bit of Seattle before taking off but Quinn pointed out that I should leave before the traffic got heavy because of commuters. Boo but true. I found Portland to be a little bit more quaint than Seattle but it was nice too. Quinn mentioned that no one in the northwest honks and once he honked at an old man (after he moved back from SF) and the old man rolled down his window and said, "I wonder what you would have done if you didn't have that horn!" Man, old people are aggressive.
The drive to BC was awesome. It didn't take as long as I anticipated, only about 3 hours? But that's another story.
The drive up north wasn't beeeeyooootifull since it was on an industrial highway but there were lots of trees. Hella trees. Big trees. Which I like. I took my time since it wasn't going to take as long as I thought it would.
(Some dude just coughed in my face. Thanks, dude).
In Seattle, I was planning on meeting up for food with Quinn, my old roommate. My GPS time was off though so I kept overestimating my arrival time. The traffic started getting heavy in Seattle but then I cruised into town around 1:30PM (only took about 2 hours from Portland). I drove through downtown then over to Queen Anne Blvd. All the cars were parked with their butts in, I found that strange.
The food was good (BBQ pork sandwich at this restaurant that changes themes every month. this month was route 66. they were playing the audio version of grapes of wrath in the bathrom). The conversation was good. At some point were discussing grad school and Quinn said, "Why do you want to go to grad school?"
I stopped. Why did I want to go to grad school? For the paper diploma? For the massive amount of loans I will need?
Then he continued. "Is it to start all over somehwere new?"
BING. Yes. Yes, that's the exact reason. I've been feeling somewhat... lost the past few months and I think I'm just ready for something different. Hence, this trip. I've never lived further than 2 hours from the Bay. I've never lived in another state. I've been lucky enough to have traveled alone around the world and I think it's convinced me that I can pretty much live anywhere and thrive.
The secondary reason being that my parents would be very happy about it. That's pretty important too.
After lunch, we headed to Quinn's dad's pottery place. I needed to use the CPU to work (I KNOW). Yeah, I was pretty annoyed about that too. Why is it that someone from work has contacted me every single day? They always start the conversation with, "I'm sorry to be bothering you, I know you're on vacation..." THEN STOP CALLING ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I stopped answering my phone on Thursday.
My plan was to see a bit of Seattle before taking off but Quinn pointed out that I should leave before the traffic got heavy because of commuters. Boo but true. I found Portland to be a little bit more quaint than Seattle but it was nice too. Quinn mentioned that no one in the northwest honks and once he honked at an old man (after he moved back from SF) and the old man rolled down his window and said, "I wonder what you would have done if you didn't have that horn!" Man, old people are aggressive.
The drive to BC was awesome. It didn't take as long as I anticipated, only about 3 hours? But that's another story.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Portland, give me your food!
Monday morning I left my worries all behind in San Francisco and traveled to the beautiful state of Oregon. I have never rented a car before so that was an adventure and from the get go, everyone was SO nice! The lady at the counter chatted me up for awhile before I went on my way. There were no intermediate cars left, so I picked up a free upgrade on a full size car; now I'm rolling in an Impala, holla!
Thanks to my handy dandy GPS, I drove over to Biscuit's pretty quick and I got my first real hug from him in almost 6 months. His house is amazing and I won't even tell you people what he pays in rent for 4 bedroom house.
Anyway, we went and ran errands for him and had lunch at this amazing cafe downtown called the Blue Plate Cafe. They make their own sodas and I haven't had a grilled cheese like that in years. Biscuit apologized, saying that it was a little more on the pricey side but it was only $6 for a sandwich/soup, score! The guy that runs the place was funny and they make their own sodas. What hippies! I liked Portland already.
Downtown is super nice and we did a whole walking tour. I saw Powell's (hi, I could live there and be happy), the hip funky part of town (where we had a beer), and then had to pee really bad as we headed back downtown to the car.
That night we were invited to Biscuit's friend's house because the weekend before they had "put up with" Amy's sister. HA! They were all very nice and Biscuit's roommate Cody's girlfriend Melina (wow that was a mouthful) is from San Jose! Small world. For some reason I wasn't hella chatty but it's a little bit difficult in such a tight group of friends. They were booking their tickets to Mexico that night and I was a bit jealous I have to say. I miss having friends like that.
I was starting to fade because I'd be up pretty early at that point. I'm old, sorry. We just headed home, hung out in the living room and fell asleep watching Short Circuit 2 (don't ask). Somehow I crawled into bed and slept in until I had my weekly phone meeting with Boss #2. I KNOW, I had to work, so lame. In fact, someone from work has called me every single day since I've been gone.
The next morning we had some coffee and breakfast at another rad cafe. Portland knows how to do their coffee shops. Probably because they have to spend so much time inside due to the rain, ha ha. I have to say, it was such a treat just sitting there across from Biscuit and just talking to him (more later).
We headed over to Nat's restaurant shortly thereafter. She cancelled her cell phone so I haven't been able to get a hold of her. I asked someone to pass along a message via myspace but to no avail so I figured I'd just drop in. The girl working there is from Santa Cruz it turns out and it also turns out that Natalie was on vacation! Of course we're on vacation at the same time. At least I got to see the restaurant and it's beautiful, I'm so proud of her. She's always talked about wanting her own place to match the principles she feels about food so it was quite inspiring to see it come to fruition. Next time I will actually get to eat there!
After that stop, we headed to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI). They had an exhibit on Chinese dinosaurs! At first we felt a little bit awkward I think but then we started getting into all the hands on things. Think the Exploratorium but in nicer facilities (like Tech Museum in SJ). There was this "inventor's ball room" where there were a bunch of machines with compressed air and you could shoot balls up into a basket (or at little kids). We started getting really into it and connecting like three tubes together to make the balls go farther. Then we met a crazy 12 year old who joined in with us which was funny. Then we had a race to see who could build the more stable building (I lost but I think I had a disadvantage being that there were only small square LEGOs left), then some paper airplane racing, then some tornado fun. Good times.
We went back home and just chilled in Biscuit's room listening to music; him fixing some computers and me reading. That's the kind of vibe I needed for this trip so I was grateful for that time. Then we went to a bar for food and drink. In Oregon it's state law that you have to serve food with drink. And apparently all the bars in Portland have pretty great food. Wow, this place rocks! We had HELLA fries sprinkled with crack and just bitched / moaned / talked / laughed. Seriously, what a treat. Biscuit and I have a pretty unique friendship. We met over three years ago but this was only the 5th time we'd really hung out plus numerous phone conversations. We just bonded super quick and like I told him, if someone had told me 3 years ago that I'd be sitting in Portland at that very moment having dinner with Biscuit, I wouldn't have been surprised. He's always going to be one of those people at least on my periphery and I'm so glad I was able to have this time to just sit and enjoy being friends with him. The other times, there's always been other people around and it was good to be able to let our guards down and be friends. I heart that kid.
That night I passed out while reading my book and I woke up to Biscuit saying, "You're passed out already?!" because I think I had just gotten into bed like 5 minutes earlier. My book was still open in my hand.
The next morning we planned on going to b-fast but Biscuit slept poorly so I let him sleep in. I headed out on my own and I was sad to be leaving Portland! I think it was sad I was leaving too because it started crying (aka raining) on my way out.
Don't worry Portland, I'll be back :)
Thanks to my handy dandy GPS, I drove over to Biscuit's pretty quick and I got my first real hug from him in almost 6 months. His house is amazing and I won't even tell you people what he pays in rent for 4 bedroom house.
Anyway, we went and ran errands for him and had lunch at this amazing cafe downtown called the Blue Plate Cafe. They make their own sodas and I haven't had a grilled cheese like that in years. Biscuit apologized, saying that it was a little more on the pricey side but it was only $6 for a sandwich/soup, score! The guy that runs the place was funny and they make their own sodas. What hippies! I liked Portland already.
Downtown is super nice and we did a whole walking tour. I saw Powell's (hi, I could live there and be happy), the hip funky part of town (where we had a beer), and then had to pee really bad as we headed back downtown to the car.
That night we were invited to Biscuit's friend's house because the weekend before they had "put up with" Amy's sister. HA! They were all very nice and Biscuit's roommate Cody's girlfriend Melina (wow that was a mouthful) is from San Jose! Small world. For some reason I wasn't hella chatty but it's a little bit difficult in such a tight group of friends. They were booking their tickets to Mexico that night and I was a bit jealous I have to say. I miss having friends like that.
I was starting to fade because I'd be up pretty early at that point. I'm old, sorry. We just headed home, hung out in the living room and fell asleep watching Short Circuit 2 (don't ask). Somehow I crawled into bed and slept in until I had my weekly phone meeting with Boss #2. I KNOW, I had to work, so lame. In fact, someone from work has called me every single day since I've been gone.
The next morning we had some coffee and breakfast at another rad cafe. Portland knows how to do their coffee shops. Probably because they have to spend so much time inside due to the rain, ha ha. I have to say, it was such a treat just sitting there across from Biscuit and just talking to him (more later).
We headed over to Nat's restaurant shortly thereafter. She cancelled her cell phone so I haven't been able to get a hold of her. I asked someone to pass along a message via myspace but to no avail so I figured I'd just drop in. The girl working there is from Santa Cruz it turns out and it also turns out that Natalie was on vacation! Of course we're on vacation at the same time. At least I got to see the restaurant and it's beautiful, I'm so proud of her. She's always talked about wanting her own place to match the principles she feels about food so it was quite inspiring to see it come to fruition. Next time I will actually get to eat there!
After that stop, we headed to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI). They had an exhibit on Chinese dinosaurs! At first we felt a little bit awkward I think but then we started getting into all the hands on things. Think the Exploratorium but in nicer facilities (like Tech Museum in SJ). There was this "inventor's ball room" where there were a bunch of machines with compressed air and you could shoot balls up into a basket (or at little kids). We started getting really into it and connecting like three tubes together to make the balls go farther. Then we met a crazy 12 year old who joined in with us which was funny. Then we had a race to see who could build the more stable building (I lost but I think I had a disadvantage being that there were only small square LEGOs left), then some paper airplane racing, then some tornado fun. Good times.
We went back home and just chilled in Biscuit's room listening to music; him fixing some computers and me reading. That's the kind of vibe I needed for this trip so I was grateful for that time. Then we went to a bar for food and drink. In Oregon it's state law that you have to serve food with drink. And apparently all the bars in Portland have pretty great food. Wow, this place rocks! We had HELLA fries sprinkled with crack and just bitched / moaned / talked / laughed. Seriously, what a treat. Biscuit and I have a pretty unique friendship. We met over three years ago but this was only the 5th time we'd really hung out plus numerous phone conversations. We just bonded super quick and like I told him, if someone had told me 3 years ago that I'd be sitting in Portland at that very moment having dinner with Biscuit, I wouldn't have been surprised. He's always going to be one of those people at least on my periphery and I'm so glad I was able to have this time to just sit and enjoy being friends with him. The other times, there's always been other people around and it was good to be able to let our guards down and be friends. I heart that kid.
That night I passed out while reading my book and I woke up to Biscuit saying, "You're passed out already?!" because I think I had just gotten into bed like 5 minutes earlier. My book was still open in my hand.
The next morning we planned on going to b-fast but Biscuit slept poorly so I let him sleep in. I headed out on my own and I was sad to be leaving Portland! I think it was sad I was leaving too because it started crying (aka raining) on my way out.
Don't worry Portland, I'll be back :)
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