You know, the Olympics are happening in 33 days and Vancouver's one of the warmest places in North America right now. Seriously!
Vancouver's currently 10°C or 50°F.
Compare this to:
New York City: -3°C / 27°F
Atlanta: 0°C / 32°F
Orlando: 6°C / 43°F
Denver: -1°C / 30°F
Edmonton: 3°C / 37°F
Calgary: 6°C / 43°F
Minneapolis: -8°C / 17°F
Knoxville: -2°C / 29°F
Dallas: 3°C / 38°F
Boston: -1°C / 30°F
Cleveland: -7°C / 19°F
Raleigh: 1°C / 34°F
New Orleans: 3°C / 37°F
Toronto: -4°C / 25°F
Montreal: -6°C / 21°F
Chicago: -8°C / 18°F
San Francisco: 9°C / 48°F
Miami is actually the exact same temperature as Vancouver right now. Phoenix is only slightly warmer at 11°C / 52°F. Los Angeles is only a tad warmer at 15°C / 59°F.
But way to go Vancouver! I can't wait to see how many people arrive next month dressing for the stereotypical Canadian winter.
Monday, January 11, 2010
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...
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...
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
New law about driving with cell phones
This morning the HR department at my work sent out a memo about the new cell phone laws here in BC. I thought it would be worthwhile sharing because while I knew the basics of what it pertained to, I didn't fully know the details.
* * *
Just a quick reminder that effective Jan 1, 2010 all drivers caught holding, communicating, texting or WATCHING the screen of a hand-held electronic device will be subject to a fine and penalty in BC.
Hands-free devices are allowed while driving if:
The electronic device is not held or operated by the hand
It is voice-activated or requires only one touch in order to initiate, accept or end a call
If the device includes an earpiece, that earpiece can be worn in one ear only and must be placed on the ear prior to driving
The electronic device is securely fixed to the vehicle or worn securely on the person's body, and is within the easy reach of the driver's seat
* Manual dialing is prohibited and is treated as texting.
Caught in the act?
Talking on the hand-held cell phone - $167 fine and no penalty points
Texting, e-mailing or dialing - $167 fine and 3 penalty points
For more information, including MP3 and GPS restrictions, visit the ICBC website: www.drivecellsafe.com
* * *
Driving while talking on the cell phone is definitely one of my personal pet peeves (which, hypocritically, I'm guilty of doing in the past). I used to get away with it while driving long stretches where distractions are minimal, but in places like downtown Vancouver where pedestrians outnumber the traffic and everywhere is an intersection? It's just stupid. In our era of iPhone and Blackberry, I welcome these new laws. Do you?
Just a quick reminder that effective Jan 1, 2010 all drivers caught holding, communicating, texting or WATCHING the screen of a hand-held electronic device will be subject to a fine and penalty in BC.
Hands-free devices are allowed while driving if:
The electronic device is not held or operated by the hand
It is voice-activated or requires only one touch in order to initiate, accept or end a call
If the device includes an earpiece, that earpiece can be worn in one ear only and must be placed on the ear prior to driving
The electronic device is securely fixed to the vehicle or worn securely on the person's body, and is within the easy reach of the driver's seat
* Manual dialing is prohibited and is treated as texting.
Caught in the act?
Talking on the hand-held cell phone - $167 fine and no penalty points
Texting, e-mailing or dialing - $167 fine and 3 penalty points
For more information, including MP3 and GPS restrictions, visit the ICBC website: www.drivecellsafe.com
Driving while talking on the cell phone is definitely one of my personal pet peeves (which, hypocritically, I'm guilty of doing in the past). I used to get away with it while driving long stretches where distractions are minimal, but in places like downtown Vancouver where pedestrians outnumber the traffic and everywhere is an intersection? It's just stupid. In our era of iPhone and Blackberry, I welcome these new laws. Do you?
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Budget-friendly restaurants in Vancouver
A bunch of foodies were asking on the TripAdvisor Olympics forum for some Vancouver restaurant recommendations.
Listing the proverbial favourites such as Vij's, Tojo's, C, Bishop's, West, etc. the topic eventually evolved into budget restaurant recommendations. Budget relatively speaking, of course. Not "UBC student" budget, but "Maybe we'll do Market tomorrow" budget.
There was one person who was planning to visit 20 of Vancouver's crème de la crème restaurants, yet somehow they had Stepho's on their list. So I wrote:
As a local, I don't know if I'd recommend lining up at Stepho's. It's famous because it's cheap and the portions of food are huge, but that's about it. That's why people line up - for the quantity. Don't waste your time.
My personal favourites for budget:
East is East (on Broadway in Kitsilano). A really cozy exotic atmosphere (pillows, tapestries, etc) - great smoothies and a nice selection of Indian/Afghani curries and stews which you have on a platter with rice, lentil soup, salad, or rolled up into a roti. Excellent chai (which they'll give you a sample as you walk in). Very friendly staff.
Nuba (two locations downtown) Their Gastown location is more of a sit-down where their Seymour St location is more of a take-out, but very fresh, tasty Lebanese food.
Babylon Cafe (locations on Robson & Granville and on Denman Street by English Bay). Lebanese take-out. They have arguably the best chicken shwarmas in the city!
Falafel Maison (Robson at Richards) another Lebanese take-out, smaller portions than Babylon Cafe but more authentic ingredients and run by a very friendly family. (Edit:
Japadog (hot dog stand on Smithe and Burrard ) A bit of a novelty to have a hot dog with Japanese toppings, but very tasty. A tad more expensive than your typical hot dog, but worth it.
Legendary Noodle (on Denman in the West End) A tiny hole in the wall with cozy ambiance where they make their own noodles. Not fancy, but very comforting.
Vancouver Art Gallery Cafe (at Howe and Robson) Cafeteria-style but classy with an always changing selection of hot entrees, gourmet salads, paninis, homemade sandwiches, and the best selection of fresh, homemade desserts downtown! Oh yes, they also do wine by the glass.
Burgoo (several locations) They do comfort food so well here - Kentucky burgoo with biscuits (as immortalized in my photo above), ratatouille, lamb tagine, etc. Rustic, cozy atmosphere. Best visited after being outside in the cold.
Go Fish (on the seawall around the corner from Granville Island) Sustainable seafood takeout shack (with some outdoor seating) located across from the wharf of fishing boats. The people who run Go Fish also run Bin 941 & Bin 942 tapas restaurants in Vancouver. Fish tacos, chowder, fish & chips, salmon burgers (on Portuguese buns with wasabi mayo, coleslaw, etc). Tasty stuff!
Oh, and not really "budget" but on Davie Street, consider a meal at La Brasserie for French/German food - very reasonable prices, excellent food, great staff.
Also, a trip to Vancouver would not be complete without a visit to an izakaya restaurant of which there are many.
So those were my immediate "budget" recommendations.
Knowing there will be thousands of foodies infiltrating Vancouver in, oh, a MONTH, what would you recommend for a tasty meal that won't break the bank?
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Grocery shopping in Yaletown
Living downtown means that I typically live car free when I run my errands. When I go grocery shopping, I walk. In Yaletown there are 3 main grocery stores nearby:
Choices at the corner of Richards and Davie
Urban Fare on Davie east of Pacific
Nester's on the corner of Nelson and Seymour
Sure, there are more grocery stores if you want to walk a bit further: the Korean H-Mart and the IGA Marketplace on opposite sides of Richards and Robson, the IGA Marketplace on Burrard and Smithe, the Chinese T&T at Abbott and Keefer, the Safeway and SuperValu further west down Davie in the West End, and so on. This doesn't include Granville Island Public Market which is a short water taxi ride away, the many family-run produce markets, the Shoppers Drug Marts, or the slew of 7-11's.
But typically if I want to spontaneously run out and pick up some items, I have two choices:
Choices or Urban Fare.
Unfortunately for me, they're also two of the most expensive places you can go grocery shopping in the city - one of the draw-backs of living downtown.
Choices is a BC-based grocery store that features many health products and organic items in addition to every day items. In terms of organic produce, they really are the best, but if you're seeking organic anything, chances are they'll have it. If I just need to pick up milk and some generic items, I'll probably go to Choices as it's only a 2 minute walk down the block.
Urban Fare, which is Save-on-Foods's gourmet grocery branch, is where I go if I want speciality products. It's just over a 5 minute walk away from me. It opened up in Yaletown oh, about 10 years ago now, and I remember somebody joking around saying that it's "20,000 square feet of condiments".
It's true. They have jars of pretty much anything. All the different kinds of oils, olive oils, infused oils, vinegars, mustards, gourmet preserves, different kinds of salts and spice, and what have you. If I'm looking for specialty meat products, like duck legs, or if I need to pick up a loaf of brioche, that's where I go. If I need to pick up a stinky French cheese that's just oozing from its rind, or, heck, juniper berries - they'd have them.
At one time Urban Fare was locally known for flying in a loaf of bread from Paris every day. I wouldn't want to make a habit of doing my daily grocery shopping at Urban Fare, but if I'm seeking that one item that I'd otherwise have to drive to a specialty store to get, Urban Fare is where I'd go.
Last night we had a few of our friends over for some wine and cheese. Josh ended up picking up all the supplies at Urban Fare. Fresh cherries, raspberries, 7 different kinds of cheese (from that stinking melting French monstrosity to an aged Oka), a wild boar and apricot pate, prosciutto, Spanish Serrano ham, several artisan breads, Morroccan sun-dried olives, different kinds of hummus, and erm... yeah. We polished off 6 bottles of wine and still have enough cheese, bread, and meat to feed, oh... 40 people or so.
Guess who's eating cheese for dinner!
Choices at the corner of Richards and Davie
Urban Fare on Davie east of Pacific
Nester's on the corner of Nelson and Seymour
Sure, there are more grocery stores if you want to walk a bit further: the Korean H-Mart and the IGA Marketplace on opposite sides of Richards and Robson, the IGA Marketplace on Burrard and Smithe, the Chinese T&T at Abbott and Keefer, the Safeway and SuperValu further west down Davie in the West End, and so on. This doesn't include Granville Island Public Market which is a short water taxi ride away, the many family-run produce markets, the Shoppers Drug Marts, or the slew of 7-11's.
But typically if I want to spontaneously run out and pick up some items, I have two choices:
Choices or Urban Fare.
Unfortunately for me, they're also two of the most expensive places you can go grocery shopping in the city - one of the draw-backs of living downtown.
Choices is a BC-based grocery store that features many health products and organic items in addition to every day items. In terms of organic produce, they really are the best, but if you're seeking organic anything, chances are they'll have it. If I just need to pick up milk and some generic items, I'll probably go to Choices as it's only a 2 minute walk down the block.
Urban Fare, which is Save-on-Foods's gourmet grocery branch, is where I go if I want speciality products. It's just over a 5 minute walk away from me. It opened up in Yaletown oh, about 10 years ago now, and I remember somebody joking around saying that it's "20,000 square feet of condiments".
It's true. They have jars of pretty much anything. All the different kinds of oils, olive oils, infused oils, vinegars, mustards, gourmet preserves, different kinds of salts and spice, and what have you. If I'm looking for specialty meat products, like duck legs, or if I need to pick up a loaf of brioche, that's where I go. If I need to pick up a stinky French cheese that's just oozing from its rind, or, heck, juniper berries - they'd have them.
At one time Urban Fare was locally known for flying in a loaf of bread from Paris every day. I wouldn't want to make a habit of doing my daily grocery shopping at Urban Fare, but if I'm seeking that one item that I'd otherwise have to drive to a specialty store to get, Urban Fare is where I'd go.
Last night we had a few of our friends over for some wine and cheese. Josh ended up picking up all the supplies at Urban Fare. Fresh cherries, raspberries, 7 different kinds of cheese (from that stinking melting French monstrosity to an aged Oka), a wild boar and apricot pate, prosciutto, Spanish Serrano ham, several artisan breads, Morroccan sun-dried olives, different kinds of hummus, and erm... yeah. We polished off 6 bottles of wine and still have enough cheese, bread, and meat to feed, oh... 40 people or so.
Guess who's eating cheese for dinner!
Saturday, January 2, 2010
New Years Resolutions
The first day of January came and went. I slept through most of it to be honest. I think I have a sort of self-induced jet lag. I don't know what time I went to bed last night, but whatever time it was, I ended up waking up at 3:30pm. I blame it partially on my sleep deprivation from the night before. Tack on last night's party, and voila!
Well it's currently quarter after midnight and it's 9 degrees Celsius outside (48 Fahrenheit), so it's pretty mild out. It also occurred to me (thanks to Duane's Twitter post) that it's Friday night.
It's Friday night in Vancouver (well, early Saturday morning), the last weekend before I go back to work, and downtown's as quiet as it was on Christmas. And because of my strange sleeping patterns, I'm in no shape to go to bed just yet.
In fact, Josh is currently at work a few blocks away finishing up some images for a January 4th deadline and I've been peacefully blogging away at home alone. Although, I'm almost tempted to go out to his work studio and teach myself how to play pool. (They have a pool table there).
I'm almost embarrassed to say that I never properly learned to play pool. I've played once or twice, but I'm truly awful. I find it hard to learn when everyone around you is outstanding at it. Maybe that'll be my New Year's resolution: learn to play pool so you won't feel intimidated playing pool badly around the experts.
Well it's currently quarter after midnight and it's 9 degrees Celsius outside (48 Fahrenheit), so it's pretty mild out. It also occurred to me (thanks to Duane's Twitter post) that it's Friday night.
It's Friday night in Vancouver (well, early Saturday morning), the last weekend before I go back to work, and downtown's as quiet as it was on Christmas. And because of my strange sleeping patterns, I'm in no shape to go to bed just yet.
In fact, Josh is currently at work a few blocks away finishing up some images for a January 4th deadline and I've been peacefully blogging away at home alone. Although, I'm almost tempted to go out to his work studio and teach myself how to play pool. (They have a pool table there).
I'm almost embarrassed to say that I never properly learned to play pool. I've played once or twice, but I'm truly awful. I find it hard to learn when everyone around you is outstanding at it. Maybe that'll be my New Year's resolution: learn to play pool so you won't feel intimidated playing pool badly around the experts.
Friday, January 1, 2010
Happy New Year Vancouver-style at Chambar
Happy New Year!
2010 is officially here. A scary concept for Vancouverites, considering that 2010 is synonymous with the Olympics... which are happening in SIX weeks. Crazy!!!
Well, everyone laments that there's nothing "going on" in Vancouver on New Year's Eve, and sure, as I mentioned before there are no Sydney-style fireworks or big public gatherings, so if you're visiting as a tourist on New Year's, Vancouver could certainly be a disappointment unless you shell out big bucks. But, if you can tap into the right social circle (or really ANY social circle), you'll find more than enough fun on New Year's Eve. That's the secret in Vancouver.
Case in point, last night around 8:30 we met up with our friends at their Beatty Street loft and enjoyed some wine, cheese & charcuterie as we waited for everyone else to arrive. All together there were 15 of us. As we sipped our wine, somebody decided to play some classic Culture Club and Bronski Beat to the amusement of everyone.
We had a reservation next door at Chambar at 10pm. Chambar's a gourmet Belgian restaurant located in a brick-walled heritage loft - a popular must-visit for foodies. If you're a fan of Belgian beer and mussels, they do it very well. But really, they do everything very well - check out their menu.
We were seated at a long table in their back room next to another large group who were elegantly dressed to the nines. The atmosphere was loud but festive. Despite the restaurant being extremely busy, we were served in a prompt and efficient manner by (what sounded like) an Australian who looked uncannily like a young Jerry Seinfeld.
Many of us started off the night with Chambar's signature Blue Fig martini - a fig-infused gin served in a martini glass with a side of Danish blue cheese. Despite enjoying this cocktail in my previous visits, I wasn't as impressed this time around as I could only taste the gin and not the fig. (Mental note to self: next time order a Gulden Draak.)
After our cocktails we ordered our food while sharing bottles of Shiraz. While I'm not the biggest fan of mushrooms, I ordered their "les champignons forestiers". A mushroom dish, essentially. As described on their menu, it was marinated baby beets, forest mushrooms, watercress, black trumpet & goat cheese spring roll, with douglas-fir vinaigrette.
I'll be honest - I only ordered it to try their douglas-fir vinaigrette, because, I mean, really! Wouldn't you be curious too? But it was well-worth the experimentation and it became a meal highlight for those who tasted it. Unexpectedly, the feature of that dish was the crispy spring rolls filled with a creamy goat's cheese. The mushrooms from the famed title seemed to play a secondary roll beside the pickled beets and watercress. A great choice for me, personally, and the envy of those who didn't order it.
For my main I decided to NOT go with my typical order of Moules frites Congolaise (mussels in a tomato coconut cream sauce with smoked chilis, lime, and fresh cilantro). Although thanks to my friend Adam, I got to taste one of his mussels to remind myself why I always order that dish.
This time at Chambar, which is (I think) my third or fourth visit, I opted for their "Marue marocaine" which was a pan roasted sablefish with chickpea & zucchini charmoula, olive, parsley & mint salad, and a sumac lemon vinaigrette. As a lover of Morroccan food, this made a perfectly light and flavourful choice. Others at the table ordered heavier items such as venison, braised lamb shank, ribeye steak, and duck, but I was very happy with my seafood choice.
Meanwhile, the funniest things kept happening while having dinner. I suppose you really have to love music to appreciate this anecdote, but I was sitting at the end of the table next to my music-loving friends, so we were all amused by this. When we arrived at our table, Modest Mouse's "Float On" was playing. I casually remarked to Adam how unexpected it was to be celebrating New Year's Eve at Chambar to Modest Mouse. He agreed and said that he had actually been listening to Modest Mouse just before coming over. I then brought up my recent appreciation for Death Cab For Cutie, when the next song after changed to Death Cab's "Soul Meets Body". I don't know if it was a case of serendipity, but this happened several times throughout the night.
The music at Chambar was totally unexpected. They'd play the entire Gorillaz "Demon Days" album, for example. And it was then during the Gorillaz song "DARE" that I mentioned to Adam that I had started taking hip hop dance lessons and that we did a routine to A Tribe Called Quest's "Check the Rhime". A few minutes later, A Tribe Called Quest started to play throughout Chambar. Adam and I looked at eachother and he laughed, "hey, are they listening into us?". It was just one of those nights.
Before we knew it, however, it was three minutes to midnight. Our dishes had been cleared and we were being poured glasses of champagne. We didn't even do a countdown as we were all busy coordinating champagne that when midnight struck, we only knew it because somebody remarked, "Hey, my iphone says it's midnight already" and then everyone else in the restaurant started to shout out "Happy New Year!!!!" So we all got up and hugged and kissed one another and wished each other a Happy New Year. It was such a warm and welcoming way to start 2010. Graceful, playful, understated, but fun.
To complete our meal at Chambar, some of us ordered dessert. I started the trend by ordering "le bavarois salé" which was a salted hazelnut praline bavarois with caramel, sour apple, fig compote & calvados ice cream. I didn't even know what a bavarois was, but it turns out its a mousse-like cream. Well that salted caramel cream dessert with spiced apples, a dollop of satiny ice cream (and a square-shaped hazelnut praline placed upright like an arch) was truly an underrated pleasure to end the night with! Once it arrived at the table, everybody eyed it. I mean, that pretzel-looking praline arch was impressive enough. Those that tasted my dessert promptly ordered one for themselves.
Finishing dessert I noticed that I somehow had two glasses of red on the go, which is what happens when everyone at your table orders different bottles of wine to share - and it especially happens when everyone's busy chatting and having fun! But since Chambar was essentially closed, we finished up our drinks, paid our bills, then stumbled back outside to walk the twenty paces down the sidewalk back to our friends' loft next door.
While we had all been invited to the founder of United Front Games' Yaletown apartment for a New Year's Party (that would have been going with DJ's until 4am), we decided to stay put where we were. Besides, we had good friends, good food and drinks, and good music. While some of our friends left for the night, we were some of the last ones remaining, sloppily dancing to Depeche Mode, Hall & Oates, and other such favourites. (And you just know somebody's going to be posting some real gems on Facebook soon from that part of the night).
So that was my Vancouver-style New Year's Eve. Rather than cabbing home, we decided to walk the 15 minutes across the downtown peninsula to our Yaletown apartment, following those circular flags on the sidewalk. Alas, I didn't shout out each country's name as I stepped over their flag, but I was keeping tabs silently in my mind.
2010 is officially here. A scary concept for Vancouverites, considering that 2010 is synonymous with the Olympics... which are happening in SIX weeks. Crazy!!!
Well, everyone laments that there's nothing "going on" in Vancouver on New Year's Eve, and sure, as I mentioned before there are no Sydney-style fireworks or big public gatherings, so if you're visiting as a tourist on New Year's, Vancouver could certainly be a disappointment unless you shell out big bucks. But, if you can tap into the right social circle (or really ANY social circle), you'll find more than enough fun on New Year's Eve. That's the secret in Vancouver.
Case in point, last night around 8:30 we met up with our friends at their Beatty Street loft and enjoyed some wine, cheese & charcuterie as we waited for everyone else to arrive. All together there were 15 of us. As we sipped our wine, somebody decided to play some classic Culture Club and Bronski Beat to the amusement of everyone.
We had a reservation next door at Chambar at 10pm. Chambar's a gourmet Belgian restaurant located in a brick-walled heritage loft - a popular must-visit for foodies. If you're a fan of Belgian beer and mussels, they do it very well. But really, they do everything very well - check out their menu.
We were seated at a long table in their back room next to another large group who were elegantly dressed to the nines. The atmosphere was loud but festive. Despite the restaurant being extremely busy, we were served in a prompt and efficient manner by (what sounded like) an Australian who looked uncannily like a young Jerry Seinfeld.
Many of us started off the night with Chambar's signature Blue Fig martini - a fig-infused gin served in a martini glass with a side of Danish blue cheese. Despite enjoying this cocktail in my previous visits, I wasn't as impressed this time around as I could only taste the gin and not the fig. (Mental note to self: next time order a Gulden Draak.)
After our cocktails we ordered our food while sharing bottles of Shiraz. While I'm not the biggest fan of mushrooms, I ordered their "les champignons forestiers". A mushroom dish, essentially. As described on their menu, it was marinated baby beets, forest mushrooms, watercress, black trumpet & goat cheese spring roll, with douglas-fir vinaigrette.
I'll be honest - I only ordered it to try their douglas-fir vinaigrette, because, I mean, really! Wouldn't you be curious too? But it was well-worth the experimentation and it became a meal highlight for those who tasted it. Unexpectedly, the feature of that dish was the crispy spring rolls filled with a creamy goat's cheese. The mushrooms from the famed title seemed to play a secondary roll beside the pickled beets and watercress. A great choice for me, personally, and the envy of those who didn't order it.
For my main I decided to NOT go with my typical order of Moules frites Congolaise (mussels in a tomato coconut cream sauce with smoked chilis, lime, and fresh cilantro). Although thanks to my friend Adam, I got to taste one of his mussels to remind myself why I always order that dish.
This time at Chambar, which is (I think) my third or fourth visit, I opted for their "Marue marocaine" which was a pan roasted sablefish with chickpea & zucchini charmoula, olive, parsley & mint salad, and a sumac lemon vinaigrette. As a lover of Morroccan food, this made a perfectly light and flavourful choice. Others at the table ordered heavier items such as venison, braised lamb shank, ribeye steak, and duck, but I was very happy with my seafood choice.
Meanwhile, the funniest things kept happening while having dinner. I suppose you really have to love music to appreciate this anecdote, but I was sitting at the end of the table next to my music-loving friends, so we were all amused by this. When we arrived at our table, Modest Mouse's "Float On" was playing. I casually remarked to Adam how unexpected it was to be celebrating New Year's Eve at Chambar to Modest Mouse. He agreed and said that he had actually been listening to Modest Mouse just before coming over. I then brought up my recent appreciation for Death Cab For Cutie, when the next song after changed to Death Cab's "Soul Meets Body". I don't know if it was a case of serendipity, but this happened several times throughout the night.
The music at Chambar was totally unexpected. They'd play the entire Gorillaz "Demon Days" album, for example. And it was then during the Gorillaz song "DARE" that I mentioned to Adam that I had started taking hip hop dance lessons and that we did a routine to A Tribe Called Quest's "Check the Rhime". A few minutes later, A Tribe Called Quest started to play throughout Chambar. Adam and I looked at eachother and he laughed, "hey, are they listening into us?". It was just one of those nights.
Before we knew it, however, it was three minutes to midnight. Our dishes had been cleared and we were being poured glasses of champagne. We didn't even do a countdown as we were all busy coordinating champagne that when midnight struck, we only knew it because somebody remarked, "Hey, my iphone says it's midnight already" and then everyone else in the restaurant started to shout out "Happy New Year!!!!" So we all got up and hugged and kissed one another and wished each other a Happy New Year. It was such a warm and welcoming way to start 2010. Graceful, playful, understated, but fun.
To complete our meal at Chambar, some of us ordered dessert. I started the trend by ordering "le bavarois salé" which was a salted hazelnut praline bavarois with caramel, sour apple, fig compote & calvados ice cream. I didn't even know what a bavarois was, but it turns out its a mousse-like cream. Well that salted caramel cream dessert with spiced apples, a dollop of satiny ice cream (and a square-shaped hazelnut praline placed upright like an arch) was truly an underrated pleasure to end the night with! Once it arrived at the table, everybody eyed it. I mean, that pretzel-looking praline arch was impressive enough. Those that tasted my dessert promptly ordered one for themselves.
Finishing dessert I noticed that I somehow had two glasses of red on the go, which is what happens when everyone at your table orders different bottles of wine to share - and it especially happens when everyone's busy chatting and having fun! But since Chambar was essentially closed, we finished up our drinks, paid our bills, then stumbled back outside to walk the twenty paces down the sidewalk back to our friends' loft next door.
While we had all been invited to the founder of United Front Games' Yaletown apartment for a New Year's Party (that would have been going with DJ's until 4am), we decided to stay put where we were. Besides, we had good friends, good food and drinks, and good music. While some of our friends left for the night, we were some of the last ones remaining, sloppily dancing to Depeche Mode, Hall & Oates, and other such favourites. (And you just know somebody's going to be posting some real gems on Facebook soon from that part of the night).
So that was my Vancouver-style New Year's Eve. Rather than cabbing home, we decided to walk the 15 minutes across the downtown peninsula to our Yaletown apartment, following those circular flags on the sidewalk. Alas, I didn't shout out each country's name as I stepped over their flag, but I was keeping tabs silently in my mind.
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