The Dan Band

This weekend I went to see "The Dan Band" http://www.thedanband.com/ at the Commodore.

It was kind of a last minute thing. I didn't have anything planned for Friday night, it was supposed to be a good show at a cool venue that I had never been to and a girl I work with had an extra ticket. So voila, instant night out.

Before the show, I was supposed to drop by her house to have a couple of drinks and pick up the ticket.

Her place was very close to mine so I looked it up on google maps and walked over. Being the idiot small-towner that I am, I walked right by the street and went an extra 10 minutes before I decided that I must have gone too far, or missed a turn. So I hailed a cab and he took me back. Her street was smaller than I had expected and not marked that well, so that must have been why I missed it ;)
I hadn't ever heard of these guys so they explained that they are these 3 guys who cover ballads which were originally written by women.

What I didn't know was that one guy wears a backwards baseball cap and a maintenance shirt with his name stiched on it and injects profanity into every other verse of the songs.

To top it off the rest of the band is made up of these two guys, in suits, ties and horn-rimmed glasses who perform synchronized moves to the words. It was ridiculously funny.




I am meeting tons of new people here, (mainly through work), and they are all very nice and fun to hang out with.



The Commodore was a great venue. There is plenty of room to dance and move around, or take a seat if you need a rest.

There are 4 bars in the place so no one really has to wait very long to order drinks.

Chinese New Year

This weekend was Chinese New Year. This year it is the year of the Bore. I decided I would go down to China Town on Saturday. It was overcast, but not raining and very mild.

First I went to a doctor's appointment (on a Saturday) to get some perscriptions refilled, and to the bank (also on a Saturday) which was open and serving Chinese desserts and coffee .




I passed a soccer game on the way over at a park near my Building.

Soccer season must have begun because every weekend there are men's games to watch on this field.
I also passed the Roundhouse which is a leftover from when trains passed though Vancouver. The building has been converted into a community center, but they've kept the mechanism which allowed them to turn the Engines that were housed in the garages you see here.

The path in the middle used to rotate to moved the engines onto the desired track. There is also an old engine which you can view in the museum part of the building.



Most of the New Year festivities were taking place in the International Village which is the China town mall.

There were food vendors, all sorts of things for sale, entertainment, demonstrations and prizes.




One of the main things for sale were these little trinkets which the Chinese hang around their home, work, car, etc.

Most of them are supposed to bring either good luck or fortune. I bought a couple that were made out of metal coins which are supposed to mean good fortune, I also got a little stuffed pig for the year of the bore.

There were a large number of clothing vendors selling traditional Chinese garb. From pajamas, to slippers to jackets like this one, they all had one thing in common.

Everything is made of colorful silk.

This vendor was selling decorative swords and other assorted weapons.

He was also demonstrating their razor sharp blades on various pieces of unlucky produce.

It was difficult to get to this booth, due to it's popularity.

There were also many fake and real orchids for sale.

I've been thinking of getting a purple one like the one seen here, but I don't think it would last long under the care of me and my black thumb.

Here is some of the entertainment that was going on.

There were many child dancers and singers. I couldn't believe the voice coming out of one pint sized diva.

I am pretty much tone deaf, but even I could tell that she was Star Search material for sure.

I picked up some jewelry, my trinkets, and tried some green tea gelato.

On my way back I discovered a salad bar right
near our place. I love salad bars and it is something that we didn't have in Fredericton.

Basically you pick a container size and you go around this salad bar with all these bins of fresh fruit, vegetables, nuts, shredded meat, cheese, croûtons, dressings, etc. and you make your own healthy lunch.

Then you pay by the weight at the counter. I had fresh watermelon, honey due melon, grapes, raisins, pineapple, strawberries, blueberries and jello all topped with cottage, cheese and raspberry yogurt. Soooo good.

Chris and Rain had invited us over for dinner so I picked up some cappuccino cheesecake for dessert. Here is Rain cooking up a storm in her kitchen.


For dinner Chris and Rain actually made homemade Fettuccine noodles. Rain cooked scallops and shrimp and made a delicious cream rose sauce.

It was scrumptious. Chris and Rain are such good cooks!


We brought Tala and Unos as Uncle Chris and Auntie Rain insisted that we did. The dogs love them especially when they buy them delicious presents.




Sooo spoiled! Here Unos has stolen both the bones for himself.

So we had a delicious meal with our great friends. Next time, our place for sure!

I can't guarantee that it will be as delicious, but it will certainly be a fun time.

Today was another gorgeous day.

I made sure I took advantage of it and took both dogs for a walk, then I took Unos to the park in front of our building for some off leash fun.

Here he is chasing a ball with two of his friends.

He is in front and you can barely see him. He is such a great dog. He plays so nicely and fetches back and forth and back and forth...and back and forth and back and forth.

Here is a nice action shot of him bounding for the ball.

After he got his exercise, I took a seat on one of the metal lawn chairs they have on the look out over the park and Unos chilled out on a towel I brought for him and watched the dogs from a bird's eye view. I read a book and soaked up the sun.

Happy Chinese New Year everyone!

Atlantic Trap and Gill

Friday evening of last weekend Mike and I walked to a restaurant near our condo (Milestones) and had a tasty dinner. This restaurant is known for it's fruity Martinis and I have to say they are scrumptious.

Saturday was absolutely gorgeous. It was sunny and there was a high of 15 degrees. Mike and I walked the dogs on the seawall and took in the sun. I was wearing capris joggers, a long-sleeved shirt and sandals and Michael quickly shed his hat, gloves and jacket.

People were playing tennis and basketball, skateboarding and overall enjoying the gorgeous weather.

After our walk, I did some shopping and then met up with friends at "The Atlantic Trap and Gill". This pub is about 5 minutes from our place and is a Maritime bar. NB, NFLD, NS, PEI and Acadien flags adorn the walls and a live band plays all the well known maritime tunes from Old Black Rum to Barrett's Privateers.
They serve PEI mussels and everyone claps, stomps and chants to the music.

Best of all you can get Moosehead, Alpine and Keiths.
While in Fredericton, the maritime pubs become tiresome, (Loud, same old music and plain food), but it was nice to get a little taste of home. I think I could go to this place every 6 months or so and get my fill ;)















For Valentine's Day I received a very nice care package from home. All kinds of goodies and these very cute pjs. Thanks Mom!

This weekend is the Chinese New Year. I plan on going to China town and taking some pics.

Cheers,

Andrea

The Quarrel

On Friday, Mike and I went to "The Hamilton Grill" for dinner.

It was part of the "Dineout Vancouver" series where a ton of restaurants put together specific menu choices and charge a discounted fee for a 3 course meal.

It wasn't bad, but not exceptional either. Mike has a renewed love for my lobster bisque ;)

Today, I took Unos to training class (This is our 4th week, he has a couple more to go). It is a good class and I am learning all sorts of things that I am doing wrong :( Apparently my problem is I am too nice to the dogs and they think they are the leaders. We go over the "ques" in class and then they give us all sorts of handouts to practice and read at home.

This evening we went to a Greek restaurant and then to a play at the "Pacific Theater". Again, a 2 for one from the entertainment booklet. It was about these two Jewish men who were both very religious, but one loses his faith after surviving through WW2. Basically the whole play was two men standing in a park setting and arguing with each other about the existence of God and dissecting religious beliefs. It was good, entertaining. I don't think I would have paid full price though ($30 bucks a pop).

Anywho, that pretty much sums up this weekend. Work is going well, very busy and Mike is doing great at his place too.

Cheers,

Andrea

Vancouver Aquarium

Last weekend Mike and I went out for dinner with Chris to a Thai restaurant in Yaletown on Saturday night. He and Rain had just got back from a trip to Hawaii.

We got this chicken dish that came in a coconut. It was sooo good. I should have taken a picture!

On Sunday we went to the Vancouver Aquarium. We had a 2 admit at the price of one from the entertainment booklet and the kid at the door let us in as students because there was only an hour left, so it cost us 14 bucks. We took the long way so Mike could get a slice of pizza. This car was parked on Robson street. I've seen it before but didn't have my camera. Check out the headlights and the license plate.
In this pic you see the engine which is made into a fountain. I can't believe the thing actually runs, but it isn't always parked there so it must.

Here is some of the ugly scenery we saw on the way over. I am really getting sick of looking at those mountains. ;)
Another thing I love about Vancouver is the gorgeous landscaping. There are water features and little gardens all over the place.

So does it look this green and lush in Freddy "Beach" right now?

When we got near Stanley park we saw another of the gorgeous trees which was victim to that big windstorm. What a shame.
So, we got to the aquarium. Fun for all ages!




















One of the first attractions is a little jungle like area that has tree frogs, lizards and these little feushia birds hopping around. I love how they let them run around free like this. The doors are wide open too, so I'm unsure how they keep them in there. I'm sure there must be escapees every once in a while.






I believe these flowers have something to do with their coloring. Honestly I didn't do much reading this time. I was just gawking and taking pictures.







Here is the resident aligator.












A shark...
















Some sushi...




Calamari... Sick look at the suckers on that thing. (That is glass obviously) Those things always make me wince.








Beautiful but painful! I loved the way they had the jellyfish exhibit set up. They were lit and the water was darkened to show how gorgeous they are.







It took me a while to get a picture of this one everyone else had the same idea.







Beautiful Belugas you can see them below water or above. They play their calls all through the aquarium.

Mike observed that to entertain themselves, they take in air from above and then blow it out while swimming underwater. Then they chase and eat the air bubble.

Here is the dophin. He was just hanging out in this corner.

I took a video of me clicking at him. He kept trying to get a look at me (difficult with eyes on the side of your head) and snorted through his blow hole.
They'd just finished feeding the sea lions and I caught this guy letting out a huge belch.

You should have heard it. Holy fish breath!

So that was the aquarium.

More Snowboarding

So I haven't written in a while. I have about 3 blogs to do right in a row and here is the first.

First of all I went snowboarding 2 more times. The second time was great. There was lots of soft snow, which is perfect for learning because falls were comfy.

I bought boots and a new ski jacket (I needed a jacket anyway) at a discount boarding store for about $250, which is really good. Then I went online on Craigslist and got myself a used board and bindings for $90. Which is really cheap. The board is well used but in good condition. It was actually a short Brazilian (in touch with his femininity) who sold me this board. He was moving back to Brazil after being in Vancouver a couple of years. I've been boarding once more since I bought it and it worked just fine.
Around this same time, Mike and I went over to Granville market to use up the gift certificate he got for the Keg from work at Christmas. We saw a busker on our way. She was standing on the shoulder of the volunteers and juggling flaming torches.
We had a nice dinner then bought some dessert, rented a movie and took the ferry back home.