Oh Victoria

Me and some friends took a day trip to Victoria BC on what, to our pleasant surprise, turned out to be a sunny August Sunday. We travelled on the Clipper from Seattle to Victoria in about 3 hours. I'd personally suggest considering alternate transportation if it's affordable. There were people literally getting sick on the ride there, and the food and ride over was on par to that of an airplane.



















When we arrived we left the rainy day in Seattle behind the find a lot of sunshine, flowers and people shuffling about. We began by hunting down the Choux Choux Charcuterie, which was closed on Sundays. Strike one. So, we headed back towards the water and found the Cactus Club Cafe, which had good food and is led by the only Iron Chef in Victoria, Rob Feenie.



















Afterwards we wandered through the Sunday market, not finding too much of interest. Then we came across Chinatown. Chinatown was one of my favorite areas because it had a lot of restaurants and interesting shops. I really enjoyed our discovery of the Fan Tan Alley, easily missed, but worth finding. It was very cute and had interesting shops with original artwork that was both decent and affordable.



















After that we headed to Lo Jo (Lower Johnson) for some boutique shopping that proved fruitful. All and all I'd say it was a pretty good day - minus that whole bird incident (that occurred twice). So I leave you with two words of wisdom - never forget! And wear a hood for protection. There's some crazy birds out there.



























Photography by me and Sarah Ramee

Oh Vancouver, Canada

About an hour drive North of an alpaca farm in Washington is the Canadian border. Not to be confused with the border going to Baja Mexico, there is a peace arch, lots of green grass temporarily housing Japanese tourists and a mysterious lack of uneasy tension. A stones throw North of the border is Vancouver, BC. To be confused, Vancouver is a melting pot of Seattle and Hollywood, with a dash of I can't put my finger on it.

When you drive into the city it seems almost like a fairy tale town. The buildings are gorgeous, but give off the impression that they might be run down and then you realize that it's just the general architectural style of the town.* Stanley Park is the same way, absolutely beautiful, but flagrantly exposing it's flaws as natural beauty. Chinatown on the other hand truly is run down (watch out for homeless men purposely jumping in front of your car).

Vancouver has a wide variety of great restaurants. At the Gyoza King I immensely enjoyed ramen soup with Kimchi, perfectly spicy and very inexpensive. At Vij's they are generous with traditional Indian appetizers while you wait two hours for your table. Keep your eyes open at Vij's. I'm pretty sure I spotted Kiefer Sutherland eating when we got on the wait list. For the morning after you can get excellent Belgian waffles and crispy bacon at Sophie's Cosmic Cafe.

After finishing your dinner there are numerous options for going out on the town. I chose to go to Lift, the bar at the Westin. At Lift you are guaranteed to overhear someone in the film industry using it as a means to pick up on chicks. Outside there is a gorgeous view of the city and a firepit to sit around. What I enjoyed most was talking to all of the business men that were in town hanging out buying me drinks on their company card. A perk when going out at hotel bars.

I didn't have a lot of time to go shopping, but after wading through a lot of orthopedic shoes I managed to find a beautiful pair of French sandals at Umeboshi and instantly fell in love with almost everything available at Eugene Choo. In the same area of town there are also numerous thrift stores and boutiques carrying local designer clothing.

I suppose confused isn't the best description of Vancouver, it's more like a low-key fusion restaurant.

Photography by me.

Updated 8/24/07
*I was so humbly informed that Vancouver was coined the "City of Glass" by Douglas Coupland.