Speechless in Seattle.

I had spent the past 4 days in Seattle and it was by far, the best time I had spent in this Emerald City than any other day trips I've made in years past. I've always had a certain affinity with the Pacific Northwest and Seattle embodies everything I love with its pristine coastlines along the Pacific, the island retreat of Mercer Island, the relaxed ambience of Alki Beach with its quintessential Fish & Chips at Spud's, and a variety of cuisine from around the world to excite my taste buds.










I drove down to Seattle to meet with Jona, a friend from Arizona who was helping his friend Matt move back to Seattle. Our CS host, Andrea, welcomed Jona and I to her home with open arms and was a joy to be with. The four of us spent a great time together catching some entertainment at the Buskers Festival at Pike Place Market, having the "wurst" time of our life at the Wallingford Wurst Festival, soaking up the sun along Alki Beach, and enjoying a savoury Thai dish at Thai Tom while watching the kochmeister in front of us prepare our meals like clock work. We paid a visit to an Irish pub called Kells down at the Pike to grab something to eat and say hello to Ann, Andrea's flatmate, since we rarely saw her at home (as she was working double shifts). What an affable character she was.



We made a pizza run one night to Milano Pizza & Pasta and was served by a handsome gentleman with an unique tone of voice commonly heard on television adverts, movie trailer narration, and on-hold voice prompts. Andrea, Jona, and I were floored, so much so that we went back a few nights later just to be served by him again. Every time I hear "Your call is in priority sequence. Please continue to hold and a customer service representative will be with you shortly. Thank you." I'll think of him now. Embarrassingly, after a few drinks, I had told this guy how much I loved his voice, then excused myself out the door.



Taking the Washington State Ferry to Bainbridge Island was a pleasure. Seeing the Seattle skyline diminishing as we sailed further away was a splendiferous sight to behold. Approaching Bainbridge Island was majestic, as well as the drive along the long and windy road to Poulsbo. Chillaxing at an adorable little bubble tea shop by the marina, Jona and I entertained our thoughts about owning a cute little outfit like this place too. Work is fun here and chatting it up with the regulars while serving up your own imaginative bubble tea creations seem like a world away from the usual daily grind. To take a passage from MGMT's song titled Time to Pretend: "What else can we do? Get jobs in offices and wake up for the morning commute?" This Norwegian village of Poulsbo enchanted me.



As a perfect finish to my wonderful Seattle experience, the four of us gathered at a neighbourhood bar called Prost! for some decadent Bier aus Deutschland. We had a wonderfully gregarious server there who laughed along with us and made us feel like this was OUR bar. She was an absolute delight!

And delightful would be this year's biggest understatement if I was to describe my time in Seattle. Driving back up the I-5 on my way home to Canada, the fresh new memories were dancing in my head and I was left speechless.

On the Washington State Ferry.

Beer Fizz.

Thai Tom Kochmeister @ Work.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

In honour of mother's 61st birthday, mom, dad, and I took a drive out to the Wellbrook winery in Delta for a wine tasting. it was the first time for all of us to visit this particular winery and after sipping raspberry and cranapple wines along with pomegranate juice, it gave me an incentive to check out the other wineries in the Fraser Valley.

The duck estuary was the next point of attraction. The ducks were as happy as they could be in the pond and fattening up with the seeds and bread crumbs people were giving them.

We moved on to the London Community Farm in Richmond. This historic farm along Dyke Road had its similarities to the Stewart Farm House in South Surrey with its old rusty farm equipment on display and an orchard of fruit trees surrounding the house. The late afternoon sun kissed the horizon and cast a lovely shade of tangerine upon the earth's surface during our walk about and gave me plenty of opportunity to take astounding pictures.

Sushi was the order of the the evening and mom had placed an order a few hours ahead for pick up at a place called Sushi House in Richmond. We brought it back home with us and were very pleased with the quality and price with this place. Apparently, they don't use farmed salmon either so this was a plus for all of us.

Life's a Beach.

Although I was rather disappointed by my cancelled trip to Vancouver Island this Labour Day long weekend, I made up for it by chasing the coastlines from White Rock Beach and all the way down to Fairhaven, WA and drove through the twisty tree-lined road of Chuckanut Drive for a splendiferous view of the glimmering Pacific.

After meeting up with my good friend Jen at her new apartment in White Rock, we walked down to the beach and along the promenade, basking in the warm blanket of the sun, had a double scoop of Tiramisu gelato on a cone, shared laughter, took our cameras out for "Jump Shots", and watched people and their dogs frolic about on the expansive beach with the tide gone out.

This was followed by a drive through the commercial crossing, bypassing the long line-up of cars at the regular crossing, to cruise along Interstate-5 southbound towards Fairhaven. Open skies. Cool breeze. Minimal traffic. Wide open roads. Mountainscapes zipping past us with more straight ahead! Can you see it? Can you feel it? Can you live it?!

Pulled aside to take in the scenic vista and catch some of that fresh mountain air before moving into the beautiful village of Fairhaven. The sailboats in the distance, the long concrete pier leading towards a cafe in a park, and a stairway up several flights to cross over the railway tracks, not to mention passing a tree bearing a lot of spiky ball shaped fruit or bulb, which I later learned was a kind of gum tree, just made my day. With a soft spot for independent bookstores, especially of those with a great collection of used books, we found ourselves overjoyed at Eclipse Bookstore where piles of books were stacked all over the floors, desks, and tables as the shelves were already filled to the max. Then we discovered the lower level with even more books. I walked away with a biography on Richard Branson called "Losing my Virginity" for only $8.95 + tax.

The evening sun was setting at this point and we were getting hungry, so we had soup and sandwich at the Colophon Café. I devoured my turkey vatapa completely.

Have you been to the Colophon Café (lately)? It's worth a visit. www.colophoncafe.com.

Seagulls and Seascapes.

Cruising along Chuckanut Drive.

Neighbourhood Stroll.

I took a stroll around my neighbourhood today as the sun was out beckoning me to come out and play. I took trails through the urban forest and wound up along Crescent Road, then crossed it to head over to the historic Stewart Farm House. This lead me to the beautiful marina on Nicomekl River where I stopped to watch canoes and kayakers paddle along it. Back onto Crescent Road, I continued walking West to Crescent Beach where locales strolled the grounds and children ate ice cream by the nearby creamery that's been a fixture here at the end of the road for many years. From the moment I set off on foot, to watching the sun go down at Crescent Beach, then back home again under the cover of the night sky, I had MGMT's Oracular Spectacular playing on my iPod on repeat, a well suited soundtrack, I thought, while I rediscovered my neighbourhood.

Stewart Farm House Marina.

MELDYMEL Returns!

You know that feeling one gets when you stumble upon a cache of old photos in your closet? Well, in this day and age, it'll all be filed under the "To Sort" folder on an external HD, but anyway that's besides my point. Meeting up with Mel today for the first time after separating in Beijing almost a month ago tickled me pink. A familiar face from the life I left behind across the pacific, reunited once again.

With a cup of Caramel Nut Latte for me and some concoction with bananas for Mel from the Marble Slab Creamery, we set off to English Bay on foot in the sunshine and took in the great outdoors of Vancouver. From the Seawall and under the Lions Gate Bridge to the VPL central branch and down along Robson Street, we went to Fatburgers for dinner then spent a few hours at an indie video store before retiring for the night.

08.08.08. Tears of Pearls.

I never really cared for the much ballyhooed and glorified sporting event called the Olympics and have continued to downplay this silly upcoming event when people ask me why I didn't stick around in Beijing for it. With all the trouble, pain, and agony we as expats and foreigners in China had faced with the strict visa restrictions, new regulations, heightened security presence, racism, and rising cost of living in the Jing just to name a handful of things gone wrong Because Of The Olympics™ (BOTO), I flew back home to Vancouver in disgust as I fully believed that it could only get worse during the sixteen days of the bloody fun & games. I told people how fortunate I was to have escaped from the capital while I still could.

But as I was filling up my huge shopping cart at Costco and loading up on jumbo-mega-family sized packs of frozen lasagna, pizza, maple syrup, pancake mix, Clamato™, honey roasted almond cereal, and an assortment of other things, I passed by the home electronics department where I stood in front of rows of plasma and LCD flat screen displays all tuned to CBC's coverage of the Beijing 2008 Olympics. As I watched footage of the men's cycling event around Tian'anmen Square, seeing all the familiar streets and buildings to which I called my home away from home for two years, an overwhelming emotional response came over me.

I wanted to be there in person to experience the games.

I wanted to be with my friends.

I wanted to be there.

Angels & Airwaves.

It's been a while since I'd been to a concert of any sort, so to cure the craving and reset the clock, I went to see Angels & Airwaves with Aaron. This Alliteration with All the A's was Absolutely Accidental.

While lining up at the Commodore Ballroom waiting for the doors to open, I popped into Café Crêpe and ordered a delicious savoury crêpe with chicken, eggs, and Swiss cheese. I'm salivating again just thinking about it!

Perched on top of bar stools with a good view of the stage ahead, we watched them rock with lights spectacular.

AVA perform at The Commodore.

AVA perform at The Commodore 2.