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Here are some shots of us enjoying Vancouver.
The first shot is Alyssa at English Bay after we enjoyed a delicious brunch at Nu.
There I am on the boardwalk at Jerico Beach on the first day of Spring.
The cherry blossoms came and went very early this year. We are fortunate that our street was full of them for a few weeks.
The last picture shows the unique geography and climate of Vancouver. Cypress Mountain in the background where I’m sure people were skiing and snowboarding that day and someone sailing in the foreground.
We decided to spend our last Christmas as a twosome in Vancouver. It has been very relaxing. Filled with eating, walks, reading and entertaining. And we still have a week to go.
Here are some pictures of our Christmas holidays so far:
I have relied on blogs for a lot of my regular consumption of news and information for a while how. Especially political news. I am always finding new blogs and wanted to share a few of my new favs. And now as a regular twitterer I have an entirely new vehicle to feed my news and information addiction.
Interesting bloggers I read regularly:
Eaves.ca- My friend Dave writes a widely read blog about all things ‘open’, especially open government. His posts are always thoughtful and well-written. If you are interested in government 2.0 check it out.
Dailygumboot.ca - A blog I have recently started to read. It is an eclectic collection of posts about everything from North Korea to the recipe for an Akon concert.
Samara- A wonderful new organization concerned with public service and public leadership. Alison Loat is the Executive Director and she writes a great blog that highlights new and innovative public policy initiatives across Canada.
Public Eye Online- A blog dedicated to news about the BC Government. It is a tremendous resource for my job because it helps me keep tabs on key people and “insider” news.
Frances Bula- An excellent blog about urban issues, particularly the City of Vancouver. Frances Bula used to be the urban affairs columnits for the Vancouver Sun and is one of the few bloggers who focuses on Vancouver.
Twitterers I would recommend you follow:
@MarkKnoller- Tweets about happenings at the White House with the occasional photo taken from his iPhone (like the Obama’s boarding Marine 1). I particularly like that he expresses a complete thought using the 140 characters and doesn’t just write the first part of …. followed by a link.
@NBA/@si_golf - Both provide regular updates and links to the latest stories about their sports. @si_golf is great at providing updates about what is happening during a major tournament. Like last weekend’s PGA Championship. And @NBA retweets a lot of NBA stars which I always enjoy.
Government 2.0 crew – I am interested in how social media tools such as Twitter, social networking and wikis can be used in government. There is a group of people exploring that topic and doing some interesting things from inside the federal public service and the BC government. Follow @nickcharney, @TariqAlexander, @dbast, @dbhume to keep up with what’s going on.
@CanPlaceNames – Our friend Melissa Edwards does the maps found on the last page of each issue of Geist Magazine. She tweets about interesting places in Canada and the stories behind their names.
Today Alyssa and I went for a walk around the Stanley Park seawall. The weather started out a bit cloudy but ended up being nice and sunny for the last half of our walk. We walk just over half of the seawall and rewarded ourselves with lunch on the patio at Milestones followed by some ice cream from Marble Slab.
On Saturday night we planned to head to Trout Lake for Illuminares. However, thunder and lightning got in the way. Staying home did give us a chance to watch the Celebration of Light from our balcony. South Africa’s fireworks talent was on display. They were overshadowed by the lightning display put on by Mother Nature over English Bay.
Here are some incredible shots from http://www.flickr.com/photos/shiftybatter/
I’ve lived in Vancouver for three years now and it is very much my home. However, when I am doing certain things I still often think about how ‘Vancouver’ they are. It is like I step out of the moment and think that what I am doing could only happen in Vancouver.
This weekend was one of those times.
Saturday morning started with a dim sum brunch at Tong’s on Main Street. The dim sum is pretty good and the prices are unbelievable. Four of us left stuffed for about $30. I particularly like their sui mai and Alyssa is a big fan of the egg tarts.
The Vancouver experiences kept coming Saturday afternoon and evening with a trip to Spanish Banks. Having the beach in the middle of your city is one of the special things about Vancouver. We packed up the kids (Matthew, Haley and Sheridan) and met our friends Kate and Drew for a picnic. We played some frisbee in the wind, a game of Apples to Apples and generally enjoyed the setting. Ocean, mountains and a sunset.
My weekend was topped off by a run around Stanley Park. Well, some of it. We joined bikers, rollerbladers, tourists and other runners for an active start to our Sunday. It really is an incredible place to go for a run or walk. We said over and over how we should visit Stanley Park more often.
Dim sum, running and the beach. Very Vancouver.
Yesterday I conquered the Grouse Grind for the first time with Alyssa and Haley. I say conquered because that what it felt like. It was definitely a grind, especially the second half when things got really steep. For those of you unfamiliar with the Grind, here are a few stats:
- Length: 2.9 km
- Elevation change from bottom to top – 2,800 feet
- Total stairs: 2,830
I think stairs is used in a very liberal sense. Some of the stairs are rocks. Some are fallen trees. Many may have actually been stairs at one point they no longer resemble what I would consider a stair.
The hike up was pretty grueling. The first quarter seemed to last forever. When I saw I quarter mark I was sure it was supposed to read 1/2. Lots of people turned around at that point.
After a break and some water we continued up. The second quarter went by a lot faster than the first. But the second half was tough. Things got steeper and the terrain a little more difficult. And it started to rain.
My time wasn’t great – 75 minutes – but it felt great to finish the Grind. The rain robbed me of the spectacular view from the top of Grouse so I guess I’ll have to try again another day.
Gung hai fat choy – happy year of the ox everyone!
The 2009 Chinese New Year parade was definitely the wettest, coldest one I have been to so far. But neither sleet nor rain could keep me from delivering the little red envelopes! And I’m not going to lie, the promise of hot tea and dim sum helped keep a cheerful new year smile on my face as we paraded through the rain.
Gingerbread pancakes and turkey sausages, ridiculous amounts of presents and, oh yes, snow!
