Have you ever thought that perhaps you might be get lost while taking the bus? I had that feeling today. I was taking the bus and it veered in the wrong direction... and did a huge loop and the proceeded back on the correct path... which apparantly is its normal route. BUT hey! I didnt know... so i got worried that I was going to end up in some unknown place... AND my cell ran out of power. Oi! What a day!
This past month has been pretty crazy with lots of different things going on, but the most memorable of them all was a day at South Granville. We strolled through some art galleries over there and it was so relaxing ... i should do these things more often. Some of my fave were Bau-Xi, Equinox Gallery, Diane Farris Gallery and one that I cant remember the name of but it is next to 18Karat.
All our gallery sightseeing, got us a bit hungry so we went to find somewhere to eat. While we were re-parking the car we saw in passing a little cafe that looked super packed. I didnt see a sign for the place but we thought... well hey its packed we should go try it. So, we enter the door and the cafe is overflowing from its little area into the lobby of the building its in. Luckly there was a table so we sat down immediately. So we get the menus and they are completely in french, and the servers are all speaking french... and im thinkin... whats going on here! Then, we realize that this cafe called Salade de Fruits is in the French Cultural Centre... and it all makes sense! French bistro in french cultural centre! There were buisness ppl busily eating a quick lunch, groups having a big get together, students, shoppers and just people from all walks of life. I ate the omlette of the day which was a salami and cheese omlette with salad ($7.99). Wow, it was good! The salad was good and super fresh too. My friend had the mushroom crepe which was delicious too. I spied others eating mussels and fries... i was tottally eyeing it. They also have poutine on the menu, man... i miss poutine from the little chip wagons in ontario!!!! So this seems like an amazing chill neighborhood secret where you could go every day. Im going to come again for sure and eat the mussels!
Salade de Fruits Cafe Bistro
1551 West 7th Avenue,
Vancouver BC V6J 1S1
Tel.: (604) 714-5987
So, as always things catch my fancy and it kinda guides me for a couple months. Recent things that have been on my mind include:
Its been a crazy month! I thought it was gonna be pretty chillax, but no it was not meant to be apparantly. The job prep proved to be a much larger task than I had thought and just finding a job was a job in itself. Well suffice it to say that ... yes I did find a job finally after a mess of interviews and lots of debating over offers and stuff. Which is great! Now all I need is a place to call my own.
I have been also getting this whole AIBC thing down. Which seemed pretty complicated in the beginning but acctually its pretty simple. They want money... you give them money... you work... you take some tests... and voila ure an architect. I am now getting my education certified. Whoohoo!
The rest of the month was mainly just getting things done, organizing things and wow... just never thought it would take so much time to get things done! lol
As I was looking for something on my desk, I found a bill for Rodney's that was from last summer when I went with a friend for a day of eating out... man that was a fun day. The oysters here were SUPER! I get so spoilt on seafood living in Vancouver. I loved how it was so relaxed and whatever. We sat upstairs where we could look down at the oyster bar... pretty nice. The huge windows at the front are pretty nice. Most of the people there were just relaxing after a day at work... having a beer and some oysters. It was a fun atmosphere not super slick, which is what you expect from Yaletown but the oysters were just good and most importantly fresh. They brought a huge tray with lots of different sauces to season our oysters with. The menu is basically the oysters of the day that you can see at the bar but their menu is pretty basic, with a quiet selection of clam chowder, fish, mussels, shrimp and some crab. I had a new england clam chowder which was pretty good too.... but aaaaaah the oysters! Our server was very laid back and let us take our time which is always a plus in my books.
What did I eat & drink?
12 Mac's Oysters @ 2.40
2 New England Clam Chowder @ 6.95
1 Manhattan Clam Chowder @ 6.95
1 Stella Artois @ 5.75
Rodney's Oyster House
405-1228 Hamilton Street,
Vancouver, BC V6B 6L2
(604) 609-0080
Other places in Vancouver for oysters? Joe Fortes is good and ive heard Blue Water is good too but never been for oysters.
Happy Canada Day to all you canadians out there. Have some beer, poutine and whatever else you may fancy. Im jealous of all of you that are currently partying it up in Ottawa honestly. Hope everyone has a fun day... oh and also a Happy Birthday to Ann! Hope you also have a great day!!
So, if you dont know Vancouver is very close to Seattle... the purveyors of starbucks coffee-ness. I have been trying to take as many pictures of starbucks and tim hortons as I see them whenever I can. Anyway, the other day I took 3 pictures of starbucks in various parts of town. Honestly I missed like 4 other starbucks during my travels. In Vancouver Starbucks is the Tim Hortons of Ontario.
So, I moved back to Vancouver right? and well i had a bunch of stuff in Ottawa with me. People have been asking me did I drive back to Van? or what... well I shipped my stuff with Purolator. I had 8 boxes worth of stuff some were like 60lbs (books) others were 20lbs and in all it was 294lbs of stuff. Well it cost me with tax $214.42 ... for some reason i thought it was waaay less so applogies. It was on Extended Ground Service with a definite delivery day. I sent it on a monday and it got to vancouver on friday. Not bad eh? Just remember to get some sturdy boxes... some of mine were falling apart when i got them back... and make sure if you have ANYthing thats breakable to really wrap it. Anyway, if you have stuff to ship... definatly send it by purolator! they will either pick up from your place or you can bring it to them at one of their centers and they will deliver it right to ure destination... so no picking up etc.
There is also greyhound which you can try but its a bit more of a hassle.
Alright, I blame portfolio and facebook for taking time away from blog... im sorry. I am happy to report that portfolio is going well. It could be better I figured out today that I need to fill up two more pages but itll get done. So on to the good stuff, why have I gathered you all here today on this blog of blogs? Well according to the title of this post its about Susur Lee... well i finally tracked down that menu from that dinner @ eighteen in ottawa I had a while ago. Here it is for all you food lovers.
Seared Digby Sea Scallops - crispy rice, wild leek, burnt butter
2004 Chardonnay, Closson Chase Winery, Niagara Peninsula, VQA
(this was a great first dish with a nicely matching wine for the scallops)
Chiang Mai Rack of Lamb - fresh ground peanut and yellow curry sauces, mango salad, chili mint chutney
2005 Alluvium Blanc, Beringer Knights Valley, Sonoma County, California
(I really liked the lamb, prob my fave of the night... wine not so much)
Combination #4 - air dried duck tart with aple, foie gras mousse, seared fois gras with chinese broad bean sauce, rhubarb and celery salad
2003 Rielsing Auslese, Hattenheim Nussbrunnen, Rheingau QMP, Germany
(love the name of this dish... the foie gras mousse wasnt a fave... but the others were great and the rielsing was nice with)
Oysters 3 Ways - one from west coast, two from the east
2005 Un-Oaked Chardonnay, Tohu Wines, Marlborough New Zealand
(maybe its the west coaster in me... but the oysters werent good)
Pounded Raw Tuna - wasabi mousse, saffron pickled vegetables, soya glaze, ume
2006 Tavel "Rose", Domaine Carteresses, Rhone Valley France
(again, its the mousse! i dont think im a fan of the mousse... but everything was great)
Local Green Asparagus and Morel Mushrooms - creamed with madiera
Muscat, Domaine Allimant-Augner, Alsace, France
(very yumm! although there was quite a lot of alcohol in me)
Clear Gin Gazpacho - fresh BC spot prawn, purple basil
2006 Sparkling Sauvignon Blanc, "Savee", Mount Riley, Marlborough, New Zealand
(loved this wine with the bit of sparkling, the soup was good too)
Strawberry with white chocolate and passion fruit mousse - rasberry and lemon grass coulis
2005 Select late harvest cabernet, cave spring vineyards, niagara peninsula VQA
(this mousse was alright... acctually way more than alright yummyness)
