My Justification for Buying Ridiculously Expensive Rain Boots

This past semester I dropped $150.00 on a pair of shiny new Hunter rain boots. Ridiculous. I know. Needless to say, I have been very surprised by how much attention they have received (the good, the bad, and the ugly). I have heard everything from how great they look, to how stupid I am for paying that much when “you can just go to wal-mart and get a pair for like $20.00″. The thing about cheaper rain boots, in my experience, is that not only are they uncomfortable, but within a couple of months they are leaking everywhere, rendering them useless (believe me, I have gone through two pairs, and many miserable days of wet feet through out University). I reached the point where I was fed up with trying to keep my feet dry and happy, and I impulsively purchased these beauties at a time when I really could not afford to. However, I see it like  this: I do not have to invest any money in a car since I don’t have  one, and I do not have  to invest any money in a bike, since mine was stolen. No, I am a walker and a public transit frequenter, who’s shoes are their primary mode of transportation. Not only that, but I am convinced that these  boots will never leak, and never fall apart. Therefore, regardless of the flack I receive, and in appreciation of  the positive  feedback I have gotten for how good these boots look,  I am recommending  them as  a necessity to any “walker” who lives on the West  Coast.

Of All the Restaurants in Victoria…

I have often said that the thing I am going to miss most about Victoria are the restaurants. Downtown is home to many independently owned “holes in the wall”, and these restaurants have the single most devastating effect on my bank account.  I have narrowed my favourites down to three:

 

First on the list is the infamous (at least in my  group of  friends) “Siam Thai Restaurant”, at 512 Fort St. My room mates and I were literally addicted to the Vegetarian Pad Thai     for years. In fact, we spent year trying to replicate the recipe, coming as close as we did in one of my first posts on this blog – Vegetarian Pad Thai. Only recently did we decide to broaden  our horizons, and try the Tofu Cashew Delight, or the Red Curry. All three dishes are phenomenal (which is a word I do not take lightly), and Siam is a  must-try for anyone visiting the area.

 

The  next restaurant  I recommend is “Lotus Pond  Vegetarian  Restaurant”, at  617 Johnson St. Here you will find they have a buffet every day from 12  -  3 that offers  anything a vegetarian could dream of, from sweet & sour  soy balls, to turnip cake, to chow mein, to soy beef & broccoli, and every vegetable in between. If  you don’t try it at lunch time, you can go for dinner where they offer $10 specials  that come with an  entree, a vegetable stir-fry side dish, a spring  roll, rice,  and  a choice between wonton soup or  hot & sour soup. One of the great things  about this restaurant is that  EVERYTHING is vegan, but everything  is also incredibly delicious.  Therefore, everyone would be satisfied eating here.

Finally, I have to make mention of “The  Reef”, on 533 Yates St. The Caribbean restaurant is home to the Mo-ca Burger, which is essentially one of the best sandwiches I have ever had, coming with either tofu or chicken, BBQ pineapple, and salsa; as well as the Jamaican Bun, which consists of either jerk tofu or jerk chicken, coleslaw, and sourcream. Both are unreal, but the best part of the reef is their plantain chips, which are a relative of bananas, and their peanut dipping sauce. But that’s not all! The Reef is great for drinks too, and pictured below is the Reef Rum Punch, which comes in pitchers and includes fancy little decorative umbrellas. It’s on special Sundays!

Of course these aren’t the only great restaurants you can find in downtown Victoria, I just chose my absolute favourites based on the fact that I have been to them 10+ times, and I have always had great service from very friendly staff. I also recommend them because I have taken many friends to these three gems, and have heard nothing but good feedback. Eat happy, live well!

 

Fernwood – Home of the Hippies!

For the last eight  months, I resided in the most  free-spirited neighbourhood that Victoria, B.C. has to offer – Fernwood. In my previous post, “No Microwave, No Cable, No  Car, No Problem!”, I shared the quirkiness and artsiness found  in my home alone! Now I want  to share the  neighbourhood my house was a part of.

I found myself going for walks through this neighbourhood for no reason other than to look around. The long walks to the bus stop, and long bus ride to the school were worth getting the chance to call this friendly place home.

Pictured above is what you might call “downtown Fernwood”, where the playhouse and the art shop reside. If  you kept walking straight  from that crosswalk, you would find a canopy where people are encouraged to leave items they no longer need, in hopes that somebody would find  a treasure to take home. Just down the  street  from the  art studio is a little park called  ”Gower Park”, where I found my favourite skirt at a  sidewalk sale for $1, and  on the opposite side of the street  is where the  ”Fernwood Inn” and “Cornerstone Cafe” are located. They are small, but always busy, businesses that offer great meals, treats, coffee, and free art shows! This is the kind of community that  is welcoming to everybody, especially those who are out of the ordinary.

In addition to the rustic looking buildings that give off the artsy vibe, Fernwood was home to a telephone pole painting event, in which residents and friends were able to share their artistry and creativity by decorating the telephone poles that lined the streets. I would estimate that there were about forty to fifty of these poles scattered  throughout the neighbourhood, bringing life and colour to the sidewalks, but I could only choose a few of my favourites to share.

               

And of course, as always, I appreciate the Japanese Cherry Blossoms every year. Here are a couple of the beauties that Fernwood had to offer.

A Blog a Day for the Month of May

In light of the fact that I am completely finished my 5th year of University after a two-week teaching stint for a mini-practicum, and the fact that I am currently unemployed until the last week of June, I have decided to set a goal of a blog post per day during the month of May. I intend to include new recipes, opinions, experiences, book reviews, and anything else that I think my readers will find interesting.

Here is a picture of my favourite super food, which will  surely inspire some recipes this month, and make this post look slightly cooler.

Until tomorrow!

No Microwave, No Cable, No Car, No Problem!

Ahhh the life of a starving student. Yes, it is once again a topic of my blog since moving back to Victoria and out of my parent’s house with its perks! I bet the typical thing for me to type here would be an “apology” for not posting anything during September, because maybe I was “too busy with school”, or “too busy catching up with friends”. No. The reason I am finally getting around to posting now is because I am procrastinating, and doing anything I can to put off my homework.

I did miss blogging, and I must admit that I do not really have that good of an excuse for why I haven’t posted in a month. I have been reminded of how enjoyable it is, and, if you care, I will be posting a lot more frequently from here on out!

Anyways, back to the topic of this post. Our little house that we moved into this year is a bit different than the one we occupied the last two. First, we are very close to downtown (about a 20 minute walk). Second, our house contains at least all of the colours of the rainbow, and then some. Third, we have neither a microwave nor cable this year. Finally, the house is much, much older than the town houses of our previous complex.

The closeness of downtown has made this year in Victoria an entirely different experience than the last four. I actually have learned my way around the city from the amount of walking I have done (this would come as a shock to my family and friends who are aware of how directionally challenged I am). I have been able to take in a lot more of the culture of the “Old Victoria”, as everything around the street I live is a lot less modern than the area by campus that I occupied previously. Included in this is Fernwood village, which is literally two blocks away. Here we can find telephone poles that have been painted into all kinds of different hippie creations, sidewalk sales (where I got an elephant skirt for a dollar!), coffee shops, vintage hotels and more peace and love than you could ever hope for.

Our house is essentially the definition of a paint job on drugs. We have a (multi) yellow dining room, a (multi) blue kitchen, a burgundy bathroom, a green bedroom, a red bedroom, and purple window frames. Unfortunately, I got stuck with the boring white room; however, I did get the biggest room, and I do basically have the downstairs area to myself. Our sinks are a little finicky, our drains are useless, our cupboards don’t quite shut right, our heating is good old oil heating, and our wall patches are literally paper-plates pasted onto the wall… but we have absolutely fallen in love with this house. One of the coolest features of it? Hot Hot Heat used to live here, and they got evicted for trying to turn a room (presumably mine) into a recording studio!

This year we opted out of purchasing cable, which has resulted in a lot less time wasted, a lot less Jersey Shore (see “time wasted”), and a lot more opportunity to explore the beautiful downtown area that is our backyard. It is actually quite a lot easier and freeing than I had first thought… and I may never go back to having cable (as long as I can stop by my parents house every once in a while to catch up with PVR).

Also, we showed up on moving day to discover that we had no microwave! To some college students, who rely on microwavable dinners and the necessity of defrosting meat, this may have been a nightmare… but to a health conscious, vegetarian eater such as myself, this seemed to be a push in the right direction. Microwaves actually due take nutritional value out of food, and with all the talk of radiation and cancer, I figured this was a good opportunity to cut the appliance out of my life. Again, not as hard as it may sound.

Here are some pictures of my favourite house:

This is the curtain we have in the kitchen. It was an impulsive buy from a desperate street vendor in Bali this summer. It just happened to fit the window perfectly! Also, the bright yellow, and dark yellow contrast are the colours I was indicating when I said “multi-yellow”. The purple? That is the colour of all the trim, and all of the window and door frames in the whole house.

This is one of my favourite features of the house – the crystal doorknobs. Although they are only on two of the doors in the house, I must admit ever since I was a kid I have wanted these doorknobs in my house. Other than these two, none of the doorknobs in the house match. Just another crazy feature of this gem of a house.

This is the burgundy bathroom. In the reflection of the mirror you can see the cool shower curtain that was surprisingly in very good condition when we got the house! Other cool features of the bathroom: vintage bathtub, hand-painted mural on the door, separate taps for “hot” and “cold” (which are installed on the wrong sides), and cupboards that will not stay shut! No secrets here!

 

 

These are some of the sights you may see in our kitchen should we invite you over for dinner one day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is where Alex keeps all of her jars. These jars signify why in no way do we need a microwave. The chili peppers are courtesy of Mexico, and the red cupboard is courtesy of our free-spirited Landlord. The “dining room” is basically the only communal space in the house, and is all of about 10ft by 10 ft. So far, we have used the dining room area the most of any room of the house, especially since we often have to prepare food out hear since our kitchen is all of about 4ft by 2ft.

 

 

 

 

This is the glass bottle that is randomly hanging outside our door, we aren’t quite sure what it is for, but we wouldn’t be surprised if some hippies of the past used it to catch rainwater.

Below is the sign that was already on the front door reminding us to turn the heat off before we leave. Again, we have oil heating, and yes, again, we are students.

Finally, below are pictures of my room. Since my walls are the only boring white walls in the whole house, you might notice I tried to spruce things up a little bit with some decorations. They work for me! Love this house!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The above picture, and the picture to the bottom right are my grandmother’s contributions to my room. Above, is my makeshift curtain, which was a table cloth at my Granny’s house. She insisted I have it after I told her I liked the elephants on it. The bottom right is a Norman Rockwell plate that my Nanny gave me. It was given to me when I left for university, and it is a picture of a girl leaving by herself at a train station. She told me she purchased it the day I was born and waited to give it to me when she thought it looked like an image of me. AWE!

The flower pot is a special item as well. My Dad dug it up from the ground when he was a kid, and has kept it all these years.

Little bit of love makes a lot of difference!

Being a Tourist in Your Own City

This summer has been an extremely busy one (note the lack of posts), but fortunately I can say that I really was busy doing a lot of really cool stuff! I made it a goal this summer to see places that are so close to where I live, yet so far when I consider the gas prices or the effort it would take to transit. Since I unexpectedly happened to meet a new boyfriend this summer, one who is from Kamloops and has not yet discovered many of the great sites that Greater Vancouver has to offer, dating seemed to be the perfect excuse to hit up all of these awesome places in and around the lower mainland.

 Granville Island: My favourite part of Vancouver. I have fond memories of the “kid’s market” growing up, as well as various family outings to see “It’s a Wonderful Life” at the Art’s Club Theatre Company. Now, I enjoy the giant public market that offers a vast selection of the freshest, most delicious food I could imagine. After picking out my favourite gelato, cheese, fruit or ethnic cuisine from inside the market, it is great to be able to wander around outside on the docks, staring at one of the best views of the city, or watching various street performers do whatever it is they do best. It would also be a shame to miss the pond where all the geese and ducks can be found, as it provides great photo-ops. To finish off the day, there is a great selection of restaurants that can be found scattered all throughout the gem that is Granville Island.

Whistler Village: I had the opportunity to visit whistler twice this summer. Once during the day to go bungee jumping, (See previous post for details!) and once overnight with my girlfriends to hit the town. Both times were so much fun! Especially since my experiences were full of great deals. First, I got to go bungee jumping with a groupon, which saved me 50% and got me a free T-shirt! Second, my friend’s sister happened to get us a great deal at a hotel in town that offered 50% off dinner in their very fancy restaurant if you arrived before 6. On a budget, as always, my friends and I were thrilled to experience both the gorgeous sites of the day, and the bumpin’ night life that left us with quite the hangover for the drive home. Don’t miss out on Garfinkel’s or any of the bachelor/bachelorette parties you happen to come across during your visit.

Richmond Night Market: Although I would like to say this way my idea, my boyfriend was definitely the one who was pushing for us to go. Getting lost three times on the way there and back didn’t manage to ruin the experience for us, as the night market was not like anything we had expected. I was thinking that the stands were going to be full of homemade products that hippies or homebodies had made, but we found that cellphone skins, socks, cheap jewelry and electronics were the big hits at this market! The food choices there were also very unique. We only tried the candy apples because we had eaten dinner with friends before we came, but we will for sure be back to try the deep-fried cheesecake, and the variety of different Asian Cuisines that were offered! My advice for you: Come hungry, and bring a map!

Downtown Vancouver: I must admit that I frequent downtown Vancouver on a regular basis. This summer alone I have gone downtown to work, party, meet friends’ new boyfriends, see Live @ Stanley Park, shop, and believe me I could hardly wait to get down there and see the damage done from the Stanley Cup Riots when I got home from Australia. However, since my guy had never rally had the opportunity to explore downtown, it was fun to take him down there and show him the sites. There is nothing quite like being on Granville street at nighttime. The lights and the noise make the experience fun, even in the most sober of situations. Yaletown is a great place to get lost, the sea-wall is full of fascinating views, and Davie street has some of the nicest, and rudest people you will ever encounter working as a promotions representative. Shopping downtown does not even compare to most places in British Columbia (Downtown Victoria is slowly becoming an exception), and the unlimited list of places you can eat, cuisines you can try and unique places you can drink leaves you with no choice but to enjoy yourself. I love this city.

 Kitsilano: Since an out of town guest from Australia was visiting, we decided to show him around Kits beach, in hopes that maybe it might compare to an Australian beach. Fortunately, the beach offers a great view of the city, and has the most amusing people rollerblading past as you take a stroll. I like this beach because of the sand it offers, compared to some of the beaches around here that are very rocky. Not too far away is yet another abundance of restaurants that will satisfy any appetite. The one that comes to mind is “The Eatery”, where hundreds of sushi types are offered, and one of the best restaurant atmospheres that I have experienced.

Sydney to Home

We spent the final three days of our trip in Sydney with some boys we met in Byron Bay. After a 12 hour bus ride, we drove over the bridge in Sydney Harbour, and got our first view of the Opera House – something that we had all been waiting for, and had looked forward to the entire trip. We then arrived at our friends’ house to quickly be convinced to hit the  town to party. The bar we went to hosted an elaborate wet T-shirt contest, which would explain why it was the most crowded club we saw the entire trip. We had fun dancing,  but  realized quickly that Sydney was much colder than the rest of the coast we had seen when we stepped out of the club. The next morning we got an extensive tour from our gracious host through the entire city, hitting the Opera House again, Darling harbour, and a restaurant that claimed to be the home of the world’s greatest burgers. According to Kayleigh and Kirsten, it was. The three of us also agreed that the second night was one of the most fun of the trip, as we decided to stay home and play drinking games after one of the hosts dislocated his shoulder unexpectedly at the gym. Goon got the best of us one last time! The night was complete with very talented live music performances, and viewings of Planet Earth on a giant projector screen.

Our last day in Sydney was spent receiving a tour of Bondi Beach –  the final breathtaking beach of our tour. The long hike up to and through the  many different viewing points was well worth it. We even got  to see some  humpback whales in the wild. The final night was spent meeting  up with a few of our Contiki friends one last time  at  a great restaurant right in the harbour. We then went to meet up with our temporary roomies at a bar that was hosting trivia night. Before we showed up and won a giant case of beer for our team (which had conveniently been named the Boston Bruins prior to our arrival), Kirsten nearly got herself kicked out when she was caught sneaking her vodka into the bar. Of course she managed to not only sweet talk her way into staying, but keeping the vodka as well! We finished the night at a karaoke bar, where Kayleigh and roomie sang a fantastic duet to “A Whole New World”.

The next morning the boys were even nice enough to drive us to the airport to see us of – to the worst flight of our lives. It seemed that even “the sleeper” aka Kirsten had trouble taking a nap on that cramped 13-hour flight. However, we were all relieved to arrive safe and sound to Vancouver, especially to the hotties at customs. My Dad welcomed me back, while Kayleigh’s boyfriend not only surprised her with a bouquet, but gave Kirsten and I a rose each as well. It was a good welcoming.

Overall our trip was absolutely amazing. I’ll be in debt for an eternity, but it was worth every penny.

Byron Bay

Byron Bay was most likely my favourite stop on the trip as it was literally a hippie-filled, happy little town. We went on a day trip to Nimbin, which is known for the excessive amount of little old ladies that sell weed cookies. We went in a museum there that cannot be described as anything other than trippy. The bus driver, named Jim, is known for his infamous “Jim’s alternative tours” company, and he completed our bus ride home with Pink Floyd, Bob Marley and Sublime, except all the songs came on at specific times during the ride because of their ability to “go with” the scenery outside at that particular moment. Again, trippy. We stayed at a hostel called “The Art’s Factory”, where we met some Australian boys that offered us a place to stay in Sydney. Three nights of not having to pay for a hostel? Yes please. They joined us at Cheeky Monkey’s, a bar with bleachers that you stand and dance on, and we are still hanging out with them as I write this post. We also got to meet many different roommates from around the world, all of which instinctively questioned us about the Vancouver riots, much to our dismay, considering we weren’t aware that it was an international headline. We also got to hang out at another beautiful beach, complete with hippies playing drums and guitar every time we went. Kayleigh even decided to take a free drumming lesson at the hostel, with a very free-spirited instructor. We really appreciated the free-spirited lifestyle, and loved the most chill town we’ve ever set foot in.

Surfer’s Paradise

Surfer’s Paradise prooved to be a very fun place. Kayleigh discovered a show called “Dracula’s Cabaret” which she insisted we go to. It basically consisted of a bunch of people dressed as dracula’s and performing dance routines and burlesque, as well as dessert being served to us in a chocolate coffin. Good combination. The following day we got to take a surf lesson with two hot Aussie surf instructors. Kirsten and I did pretty well, and Kayleigh tried her best. The best part was the instructors dragging us around in the water until they thought a suitable wave was coming. One of the instructors also managed to get us a free ride on “The sling shot” which is basically a ride that shoots you up into the air – like a slingshot. The following day we watched in horror as the Canucks lost the Stanley Cup final. Needless to say, we were just as disgusted as the rest of the city when we heard about the riots in Vancouver.

Fraser Island to Rainbow Beach to Brisbane

After arriving back to Hervey Bay from our 4x4ing tour very tired, very dirty, and very scarred from the English boys stories and questions, we headed off to Rainbow beach for one night. This town, again, had an amazing beach, but really didn’t have much else to offer. One could basically say that it would be a nice place to retire one day. Luckily, we headed off to Brisbane the next day, which is comparable to Vancouver in that it has high-rises, was about the same temperature, and has cafes and sushi restaurants on every corner. They had an ice-skating/winter/Christmas festival set-up. It was complete with fake-snow, kids running around in Santa costumes, and free chai tea lattes (which were obviously what drew us to the event). We all agreed that we felt very weird being in a Christmas environment in the middle of June, but nonetheless we quite enjoyed the little taste of the holiday spirit. In Brisbane, we spent most of our time either watching the Canucks, or going out to massive clubs. The nightlife was a bit of a let down though, considering we didn’t make it there on their busy nights, and the people that we did meet were a bit less gentleman-like than Vancouver. However, we did get to spend the day at Steve Irwin’s Australia Zoo. We lucked out because we happened to be there on the day that Terry, Bindi, and Bob Irwin were filming the first episode of their new show. We got to watch as they wrestled an alligator to move it to a more suitable home. It was like watching the crocodile hunter all over again! We also got to hang out with kangaroos that would willingly interact with you and allow you to pet them. There was also a Koala sanctuary that allowed us to give the Koalas willing to participate, a pat on the back. Overall, the standards of the zoo were pretty good, considering the Irwin family is running the facility, and they are actively involved with many conservation efforts, and humane-treatment of animal movements. Then we headed off to Surfer’s Paradise…