Thursday, January 7, 2010

The Olympics are coming! The Olympics are coming!

In a month and a week, the 2010 Olympics will be happening everywhere around me.

As somebody who lives practically at "ground zero" of all the Olympic activity downtown, it's going to be an interesting few weeks for me. I'm probably going to have constant updates on my blog for those who are interested in seeing the chaos first hand. ;)

I'm still debating whether it would be worth driving to work in Richmond during the Olympics or worth taking public transit. I mean, heck, the Olympics are happening in Richmond too. I live near the Canada Line, but I'd need to transfer on a bus to get to work. No big deal, right? It takes 45 minutes to get to work via the Canada Line + bus, or 15 minutes via car (at 6:30am).

Hrmmm...

11 comments:

Blogger said...

I was sooo used to driving around everywhere a year ago. (Probably because everything in Australia is sooo spread out that it takes you forever to get anywhere!) But I've learned to appreciate the public transport system here. (Except for that first time I didn't realise you had to PUSH the doors on the bus for them to open.)

PS. Went to Fritz's this afternoon. I went last week as well, but the lady was giving me REAL attitude. I said "I know what Poutine is, but what's a Fritz?" And she was like, "D'uhh.. they're fries." I was ALMOST about to mouth-off and storm out, or at the very least say "Then I'll have a small poutine, extra gravy, hold the f*cking attitude", but I calmed down and just tried the poutine. Attitude aside, it was REALLY good. I took Tiny there today and BUt we made the mistake of taking it home. Nah. Not as good. The gravy is still good though, but the chips were gay by the time you get them back to Yaletown.

Also went to Falafel King on Davie. Run by a nice guy and his daughter who speak Spanish. I bought 2 x Shawermas (one mixed chicken & lamb and one mixed beef & lamb). They have fresh chicken on the rotisserie, BUT they keep shaved beef and lamb strips in a refrigerator under the counter and microwave them when you order it. (And the strips were abnormally uniform in shape) Tiny and I stood there with raised eyebrows. (Is that normal?). We took them home and I'm supposed to heat it up and eat it tonight for dinner. If I don't make it... tell my wife I love her.

Longest comment EVER! (Sorry!)

Robyn said...

Yeah, I used to drive everywhere from about 1998-2004, but then stopped when UBC brought in the U-Pass system (a bus pass which is included in your tuition). Until then I had been living out in Steveston, but moving downtown in 2005 made using public transit a no-brainer. When my car died in 2006, that sealed the deal. It also helped living and working downtown.

Now that I work in Richmond (I start at 7am), I've had to change things up. I used to take the B-line (had to be at the bus stop at 6am, meaning I had to leave my place at 5:45am, meaning I had to wake up at 5:15!!!). I then had a carpool where I got picked up at 6:30am. Now that I have a car (and now that my carpool works different hours), I drive.

Re: Fritz - stupid lady! Doesn't actually surprise me though. There used to be this really chatty know-it-all who used to work there, but I think they fired him. I also forgot that they have all their fries written as "Fritz" on the board. Small Fritz. Medium Fritz. etc.

I seriously don't know what it would be like to go there in the afternoon. I'm always there at 2am, where the flourescent lights and yellow paint is truly harsh.

Speaking of harsh, did you survive the microwaved Falafel King delicacy? Never been there, but microwaving beef/lamb??! No, not what I'd call normal. Then again, whenever I went to Falafel Maison on Robson, I ordered the chicken. But you said Falafel Maison's staff speaks Spanish. Whenever I've gone to Falafel Maison, the family that works there are certainly Arabic, so perhaps these are two completely different businesses?

Maybe we should start a team blog: Kabob vs. Shewarma

What do you think?

p.s. Never apologize for long comments!

Colene said...

I've been wondering the same thing (driving vs transit). I live in the same area and it's really not far to walk to the Canada Line station and take transit, but people keep saying to me that the line to get onto transit will be crazy (1 hr waits?!). It's hard to say what it will be like.

BTW, have you seen the site at David Lam park? I'm a little concerned about the foot traffic and noise...during the jazz festival, I can hear the music at my place and I'm hoping it won't get too rowdy. I don't want to be a party pooper, but I like silence when I try to go to sleep :)

PS. I've seen the microwaving thing before at a few places and am always turned off by it.

Duane Storey said...

I used to eat Fritz quite a bit as I lived at Beach and Howe, so it was only a block away. I got to know most of the people there over the course of a few years. I don't remember any girls with attitude, but like Robyn I went mostly in the evenings and after coming home from the bar. But easily some of the best poutine in our city.

Robyn said...

Colene, I can see David Lam Park out of my solarium and kitchen window. I'm sure it'll be noisy but I wouldn't expect it to be rowdy. It'll be interesting though, for sure. Right now they have a significant chunk of the park covered with a big red plastic Coca-Cola tent.

Blogger said...

What are they doing at the Park? Are they planning live entertainment during the Games or something? Or are they televising events "big screen"?

Duane Storey: Yeah, she was an older lady. Probably part of management. I don't know is she was a "b*tch" in general, or just lacked customer service skills. But yes, some of the best Fries and Poutine I've had here.

Robyn said...

VJM, they're turning it into a live entertainment site called "LiveCity Yaletown". For example, Wilco's scheduled to play a show there. The park will be out of commission to the public from now until June!


http://olympichostcity.vancouver.ca/events/livecity/davidlampark.htm

Robyn said...

Blah. Let's try this again:

http://olympichostcity.vancouver.ca
/events/livecity/davidlampark.htm

Blogger said...

Niiice! Hopefully I'll see you guys there!

Robyn said...

That would be cool. We should do an official meet-up!

Blogger said...

Yep, totally! Just let me know when and where and I'll be down.

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