It kinda astounds me how quickly this year has been flying by. While it has been rather even doses of fun and madness, I wonder a bit whether the pace will ease up or just keep on quickening. We'll see...
My homemade meal from last week: quinoa stuffed roasted peppers. Pretty tasty meal that, despite the lack of meat, I found to be quite hearty. If you want the recipe, you can click here to grab it from the Whole Food's website.
So I had family in town this past weekend and I look forward to each and every visit because they usually bring with them some well-traveled food for me to enjoy. I think this weekend's offerrings top the chart: feijoas from NZ! If you haven't had the fortune of trying one of these, or even worse, have never heard of them (in which case, click here to be educated) go out and find yourself some to try. I can't offer you any of mine because I've eaten them all by now!
Aunty Karen, Callum and I standing outside of the Apple Store in San Francisco. Mum & Aunty went inside and played around on the kiddie iMacs for a bit just like they did last year when they visited. Old habits die hard...
Mum, Aunty Karen, Callum and myself in the Hilton San Francisco. Mum flew up from HI, Aunty Karen worked the flight from HK and Callum came up to the States on his school trip from NZ. I traveled the shortest distance to arrive at this mini family reunion. How about that?
Anyhow, I really enjoyed spending this past weekend with my family and it allowed me to relax and enjoy things at a reasonable pace more than anything (as much as you can while chauffeuring folks around town). The next few week will be just a bit crazy I imagine so I hope I'll make it through!
Picking up where we left off last time, and continuing the travel theme a bit longer, I had an awesome opportunity to visit the recently remodeled Terminal 2 at SFO. I don't tend to fly American or Virgin America too much so I probably wouldn't otherwise get a chance to see T2 beyond security. Check out these pics to see what it looks like.
They have these swanky red chairs littered about near the boarding gates and they give you a cozy place to plant your travel weary posterior. I can't remember if Nick found them comfortable or not.
Pretty standard fare at the boarding gate counters, though you can see yet another example of an unorthodox chair on the left.
If you take a closer peek at the windows, you can see these dots which help to moderate the amount of light shining in. Kinda trippy, especially when you stand closer to the windows...
They had a interactive, mechanical butterfly thing which you could control using these rotary knobs. Kids loved it (and Mari enjoyed it too).
Nick, Me & Mari waiting for a flight that won't be coming.
American Airlines brought one of their vintage planes (DC3?) which they used in part of their official (private) ceremony a few days earlier.
Ah, SFO. One of my favourite airports indeed. I missed a beautiful shot of a wide body Boeing (767 or 777 I think) taking off and instead had to settle for this death trap Southwest 737.
Check out the large, open hallway that greets you after you pass through security while you walk towards the gate. The netting adds a nice touch of color and they droop down from sky lights. They did a great job of harnessing an immense amount of natural lighting, which helps to keep the energy usage of the new terminal down.
The new American Airlines check-in counters. Plenty of flat screens, self-check in computers and, in my opinion, really cool lighting fixtures.
Even the hallway joining T2 with Terminal 3 had a bit of character to it.
Amazing job with the remodel. The terminal looks amazing and I'm sure any passengers lucky enough to fly through will thoroughly enjoy it. I hope United takes some notes and spruces up their side of things sometime soon. Otherwise, I'll be spending as much of my waiting time as possible in the International terminal...
I love traveling to new places and this past weekend (plus a few extra vacation days), I did just that by taking my first trip up to the Pacific Northwest. This included a visit to our neighbours of the north: Canada. Observe the pictures from a brilliantly beautiful and fun "spring" holiday.
The journey starts, as you might expect, at SFO where I departed on the first leg of the journey to Seattle. No visit to SFO is complete without viewing some of the many exhibits scattered throughout the terminals and I saw this display cabinet with Pan Am flight crew uniforms in the International Terminal. Ah, nostalgia...
We arrived safely at SEA and awaited a ride from Aunty Jackie who was kind enough to give us shelter for the first evening of our journey. She even had baked some cookies for us!
And here we are the next morning in her recently remodeled kitchen. Aunty Jackie, you've done a beautiful job with the place and I'm envious of all your newfound kitchen space and plentiful lighting options! And thank you so much for allowing us to stay over!
The very first Starbuck's at Pike Place. I'm not a coffee drinker, but I took this photo for those of my friends who do.
Aunty Jackie's suggestion for brekkie was a new restaurant near Pike Place called "Seatown". Pictured above are the eggs benedict that I ordered and Aunty Jackie's fork dangling cheekily above. I don't usually order eggs benedict because they can be hit or miss in my opinion but these were excellent.
We strolled through the Pike Place market to walk off breakfast a bit and to see a few of the sights including the one above. Awesome.
And why not grab a shot of the famous Pike Place exterior in the gloomy Seattle morning.
Space Needle! Aunty Jackie took us for a quick drive-through tour of the major city landmarks. It definitely left me wanting to come back and spend a few, proper days here.
We then got dropped off back at SEA to grab our rental car which we would use to zip us over the border to Canada. But before we got anywhere near the border, we made a stop in Everett to check out the Future of Flight (i.e. Boeing factory tour). The tour was AMAZING, however they don't allow photography. I saw production lines for the 747 (including the new -8), 767, 777 and new 787 Dreamliner. This visit appealed immensely to both my professional, manufacturing engineer sensibilities as well as my childhood fascination of commercial aviation. I just can't say enough positive things about the tour. Take it if you happen to be in the area (heck, I'd even recommend making a detour...like we sorta did). Anyways, I feel like I've waxed lyrical enough about something not pictured above...
More Pan Am stuff, this time as seen after we finished the factory tour (in this case, a piece of the fuselage).
Me and an example of one of the massive B777 engines. It even kinda, sorta matches my jacket!
Finally made it to the border! We even got blessed by a bit of sunshine! We got to enjoy the modicum of good weather from the car as we waited in line to cross the border.
The weary travelers! Mari and I made it across the border and into Canada where we drove straight into Richmond. Seriously, it looked like a Chinatown of sorts with Chinese characters scrawled across 99% of the signage. Anyways, we decided to walk around town a bit to take in some of the nightlife and we stumbled upon this "carnival" like event going on near the hotel. Midway games, rides and food. Sure made us miss Punahou Carnival...
As appetizing as that all looked, we ended up grabbing some grub at a nearby Chinese restaurant. E-mein with crab meat and stir-fried green beans with pork. Plenty yummy food for the two of us (and a little leftover for a future breakfast).
The view the next morning from the Sheraton Four Points YVR (a lovely hotel btw).
Jaume Plensa's "WE" on display in Sunset Beach Park (Burrard Bridge in the background) and the first of many public artworks we saw on our trip.
The two of us hanging out in the Plensa. Probably not the way he intended people to enjoy the sculpture.
The sun poked out and shone for a bit as we walked around to check out Bernar Venet's "217.15 Arcs x 13", also on display at Sunset Beach Park. Again, we enjoyed the sculpture in an unintended fashion.
Afterwards, we drove the car to YVR to return it before heading back to the City. En route, we had our first (of many) public transport trips. You can see me in the photo above enjoying a ride on the new Canada line (completed just before the Winter Olympics last year).
They opened a new Icebreaker store in Vancouver just the week before and I thought it might be cool to visit. Here, Mari is touching some raw merino wool yarn on display in the new shop. And, yes, I did buy something: a new pair of socks.
We met Harrison at the Icebreaker store, in Kitsilano, had lunch at a Korean BBQ place and then caught the bus back to the University of British Columbia (UBC).
The three of us toured UBC a bit (including watching part of the "Storm the Wall" event) and then visited the UBC Anthropology Museum which has a thorough collection of First Nation artifacts.
One of the central pieces in the museum is a large carved sculpture of the Raven/Man/Clam which depicts the First Nations creation myth.
More large First Nation carvings. Impressive collection for sure.
After the Anthropology museum, we took a brief walk down to Wreck Beach just down below campus. In the summer, this beach would be chock full of naked people (clothes-optional), but thankfully none were present (one of the benefits of the cooler temperatures I suppose). We were blessed yet again with a brief spell of sunshine.
Mari & I caught dinner at Lily's with her, Davis & Carin. We made some wonderful pizzas and enjoyed plenty of catching up. Lily got a few pics and I will post those when I get them.
The next day, we headed over to Stanley Park for a walk around the seawall. Not the best weather (pretty breezy and cool), but we made the best of it.
Siwash Rock, the Outer Harbour and ominous rain clouds hanging about.
We took the opportunity to bring some lunch that we picked up from the "Dirty Apron" (a great cooking class/grocery/deli near our hotel). An amazing smoked ham sandwich, roasted beets with pomegranate glaze and some Canadian BBQ potato chips.
After doing a lap around Stanley Park, we walked on down to the Vancouver Aquarium (situated in the middle of the park) and met up with Harrison to check it out. P.S. I'm in the picture above.
Some of the coolest fish around. They shrank bank into the sand when the other, larger fish in the tank swam by.
Mari and the Lionfish.
The Vancouver Aquarium recently re-opened their Amazon exhibit section. Interestingly, this area featured much less fish and more things like these Hyacinth macaws. They also had fruit bats, giant cockroaches and (hilarious) marmosets.
Beluga whales!!! Kinda chunky there Mr (or Ms) whale. Can anyone say muffin top?
Definitely one of the highlights of the aquarium, this Harbour porpoise would swim down to the underwater observation window, orient itself vertically and gaze in at all the spectators. Amazing.
And then we popped up topside to watch the dolphin performance. Having seen the documentary "The Cove", I felt more than just a little guilty enjoying this show while realizing all the craziness that some dolphins have had to endure for our entertainment.
Me, Mari & Harrison sitting in the windows of the observation level of the dolphin tank.
After the aquarium, the three of us walked over to the West End for dinner at Motomachi Shokudo. One of the few times, my self-portrait skills have gone amiss.
My spicy miso ramen. Since we sat at the counter, I could watch them meticulously prepare our ramen bowls. Very impressive to watch and equally impressive to taste. I would definitely recommend this place (I originally learned about it from my Lonely Planet).
The next day, Lily and Davis (and Roger) took Mari & I to Lynn Valley to do a bit of hiking.
Mari and the tree stump.
Lily and Roger. Woof woof.
Davis, Mari, Me, Lily & Roger on one of the bridges.
So, I set up my camera using the cheapo/knockoff gorilla pod camera holder on the branch as shown...
...so that we could take this amazing group picture with the river behind us.
I brought this water filter all the way from the States and I figured I might as well put it to use. I did so by filtering some water from the river. It tasted amazing. Nothing like some fresh water.
The misty trees of Lynn Valley. Hauntingly beautiful.
During our hike, "Professor" Lily taught us little bits of trivia about the various foliage found in Lynn Valley. She discussed that the roots of the tipped tree pictured above represent a typical red cedar with roots that spread very shallow but wide. This contrasts against the other common tree type in the area, the hemlock, which has a much deeper root system. Who knew this hike would be so educational?!
The five of us (including Roger) on the suspension bridge in Lynn Valley.
After the hike, Mari and I took a quick spin through the Vancouver Art Gallery. Shortly after taking this photo of me awkwardly reading the text on the wall, we were made aware that photos are not allowed in the gallery.
So I took this one when no one was looking (in the Ken Lum exhibition).
After the Art Gallery, we headed over to the Lily's family's for dinner. Thank you so much for inviting us over and making us feel so welcome. Your family is awesome. And, the home-cooked food was excellent.
It was awesome seeing you again Lily! Thanks so much for being a great host and showing us around parts of your hometown!!!
Our final day began with breakfast at Cafe Medina where we enjoyed this veggie omelet (and some amazing waffles).
We then walked over to Chinatown to check out Dr. Sun Yat Sen park (though we didn't pay to go to the garden).
The Olympic torch erected for last year's winter games.
More public art: Douglas Coupland's "Digital Orca", just outside the Vancouver Convention Center. Probably one of my favourites from all the sculptures throughout the city.
Mari taking a break and sitting on Liu Jianhua's "Pillows" in the Harbour Green Park.
And Mari cheekily sitting with Sorel Etrog's "The King and Queen", also in Harbour Green Park.
Lastly, we enjoyed a delicious Indian lunch at Rangoli in South Granville. Pictured above is Mari and the ginger lamb curry we shared.
And also the dessert roti we shared as well. By the end of this meal, we were soooooo stuffed!
I had a secondary objective during the trip to try poutine (fries with gravy and cheese curds) and by the time I had reached YVR airport, I had not yet had any. Luckily (or not, depending on your perspective), the BK's at YVR had poutine on the menu. Definitely not as delicious as I expect the real thing to be so I'll just give myself a semi-pass mark for now. Until next time...
I can't thank Aunty Jackie, Lily and Harrison enough for making this trip so amazing. Your collective kindness and generosity made this trip extraordinarily fun and memorable. And thanks Mari for coming with and enriching the overall journey. Until next time, folks, have fun out there!
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