The rain’s back, so here we are today, exploring the city instead. There’s a new coffee shop in Vancouver, called The Garden Strathcona:

The interiors were beautiful, and there was actually a garden wall with lots of beauitul plants. Hopefully, those plants are still thriving in a year. Seating was limited though, so if you’re not too enthused about sitting bum to bum with a stranger, then I suggest getting your coffee and pastries go.



I like the aesthetic, and it’s a nice beautiful place to visit. I wish they had more seating, and less retail (there’s a corner with shelves of skincare/beauty products and a table of hand made pottery). I also wish the latte was stronger.



This place reminds me of La Foret in Burnaby. Probably not revisiting this spot in the near future though, because it’s slightly out of the way, but it is exciting to see this beautiful addition to this strip of East Hastings. I’m sure the locals are stoked.

Next weekend, I will be in Banff! Gonna be winging this trip mostly, with car camping and not a lot of research.

M and I went for a quick coffee date, which turned into a (window) shopping trip last weekend. I’ve been wanting to check out Modus Coffee for a few weeks now:



They kindly made me a flat white, even though it’s not on their menu. It was not horrible, and I would go back, if I’m ever craving a good smooth espresso in the Broadway/Cambie area. This is serious coffee here. The shop does get sort of stuffy though, and it was pretty humid with the rain dumping outside.

Record rain falls this January actually.

To save a few dollars on coffee, I’ve started to make my own. I have a Nespresso machine, but it’s not always the best coffee and mine only makes espresso shots. I invested in an Aeropress:



I look forward to getting beans that are not from Costco and maybe a steel filter that R recommended. Thanks R&B for the Porlex grinder! Thanks everybody else for all your Aeropress tips!

OK, off to ski and more sushi tonight. So Vancouver.

Sometimes, it feels like the world is ending, and things are closing in… Maybe it’s just my world, but if Stephen Hawking (one of the smartest guys on Earth) says the same, then really, we should perhaps try to take this more seriously. Technology is literally taking huge leaps (look at Atlas!), and I’m still just sitting here at home on Christmas vacation. I’m trying to find something productive to do, but really, all I want to do is drink lots of coffee and find somewhere nice to fly my drone.

Here we were at Aubade, a super minimalistic coffee shop. The coffee barista was actually the owner, and he was super friendly and easy to chat with. The milk for the espressos were made with nut milk (and some other organic healthy stuff), just a warning that they don’t have other types of milk. Other than espressos, there were all the other types of coffees that you could possibly imagine, all done in a corner of a thrift shop! It was all very cozy, and I would go back again, next time I have time.



Seriously though, check this place out, and while you’re in the hood, go check out the shops along Union St for some inspiration to live while we still can – Hunter & Hare, Charlie & Lee. I am motivated to work towards acquiring this convertible Vere Verto Macta bag/backpack for just under $700CAD:

WANT vs NEED…

Ending this long weekend with a coffee at Revolver:

Beautiful coffee shop with plenty of space to read and work, chat and catch up. Their large selection of coffees and espressos satisfies every coffee drinker. The baristas really know their stuff! I was pretty intimidated by the choice, so I asked for help to choose from their extensive list of beans for my macchiato. Although I can’t remember which roast it was, except that it had dark chocolate and berry notes, I think it might’ve been one of my favorites.



R and B were there, doing their work, so I had time to finish No Is Not Enough by Naomi Klein. Good ideas about the Trump situation down south.

Back tracking one day, MANNA had their wedding out at Westwood:



It’s peaceful, out of the way from traffic. There were quite a few friends that I hadn’t seen in a while, it really is too bad that we only catch up at weddings.

Backing up more, H and I were at S's house for board games and dinner.

Why don’t I see these people more often? Coffee date at Revolver next week, friends?

7:11AM – Wake up, check Instagram… Right. Earth Day today. H just got off work, but doesn’t pick up his phone when I call… Sometimes. Anyways.

7:19AM – H calls me back! I get out of bed, and get coffee #1 from the Nespresso machine.

8:00AM – Girlboss marathon starts.

9:37AM – Crap, going to have to drive fast to get to Yyoga.

11:27AM – Best yoga place ever – clean and lots of hot water. Unlike at home, where my boiler is slowly failing. Back to Girlboss.

1:20PM – The bus will be here soon, but… I’ll just skip through this last episode…

1:30PM - Gotta get to Nemesis!

2:00PM – Another Translink fail. What happened to the Skytrain today?

2:15PM – @Nemesis:

I had the heirloom grits…

and a latte with whole milk, because they don’t have 2% or skim…

I guess they control calories through smaller food portions. I mean, it was great and all, very fresh, loved the mint and so much flavor in each bite, but the whole thing cost $17. Not sure if I can come back. I tried a bit of their tomato jam, which looked very unappetizing by the way. M seemed to like her coffee and bacon scone. C had a cappuccino, which I think I should’ve ordered to avoid all the fatty milk. Overall, I wouldn’t go out of my way to come back, because there are a few other (better?) brunch and coffee shops in the neighborhood. Perhaps I had set my standards too high, because the reviews have been so good.

Went up to visit C’s brother’s apartment, and what a view! Another pro of living in a downtown apartment.

Still not sure what my role is in this mission to save the world from overheating. It’s hard to boycott all the things that are slowly killing the planet, because it’s just so convenient to not be conscientious about it. We’re all here for such a short time, and it would be so easy to just ignore all the devastating storms occurring around the world, the floods, the hurricanes. I shouldn’t suffer all this stress over something I can’t control, but I always tend to stress about the uncontrollable. I’ve heard that we can all do our fair share, and our small contribution will be a part of the world wide movement. Not sure about that because the large oil corporations and the governments seem pretty manipulative… Maybe one day, we will think of using coal and fracking the same way as smoking cigarettes.

Maybe it’s time to donate some money to help out organizations who are fighting climate change. Leo Dicaprio seems to support a few different ones.

#earthday

A post shared by VICELAND (@viceland) on Apr 22, 2017 at 9:34am PDT

Wow, what a different city Vancouver becomes when the snow hits. Before the shit show of traffic jams, gridlock, and car accidents, R, C, and I got a chance to visit the newly opened Aer Cafe along Hastings:

Grilled cheese and latte, and a snippet of the cortado. C and I spent a full minute asking what this is… C – “what’s a coratdo?” me – “i don’t know, what IS a cortado?” C – “Not sure, it’s on the menu. What is it?” // It’s good. Just drink it.

R’s order - Avocado on toast with poach eggs and salsa.

So the grilled cheese was spectacular, with lots of stringy cheese bits and perfectly done onions and mushrooms. Very crispy. C found a small square of aluminum still stuck to her bread. R’s eggs were too raw for her liking, so they just stuck it in the microwave for her. I found the coffee a bit weak, which may be due to my insane addiction to coffee and tolerance to the little molecules. Overall, a cute little joint that I’d come back to for a quick bite. Especially as Platform 7, just one street East, does not really serve grilled cheese.

Cute little nooks everywhere for studying and reading, between 7AM to 7PM:

It was such an awesome weekend, Monday just came as a shock.

The people I live with have a huge influence on my mood, and after an argument, I can be uncommunicative for days, weeks, months… Not just with the root cause, but with EVERYBODY. It’s like the world is against me, when my home is not calm. I’m not sure how other people do it. Move out, I guess?

Feelings are supposed to be irrelevant – John Oliver on Donald Trump and the Republican National Convention

Chocolate Chip Sea Salt Cookie and Iced Latte:

Turkey sandwich and iced Americano with milk (and C’s hat):

All very delicious, just what I needed on a hot summer afternoon, post Pokemon walk. The cookie was not the soft kinds I usually bake, so I don’t think I’d get it again except in a pinch. Don’t take it the wrong way, I liked it a lot, but not enough to want to try baking it on my own. Definitely heading back for that iced latte – SO SMOOTH.

Sometimes, it’s hard to understand why people do things, especially at the end of the day when we’re all exhausted. I wish the explanation for all inexplicable behavior could be a brain infection, but that only happens for some lucky friends of mine. I’m just glad to know that there are amazing places like Lindeman Lake out in the wild, and Platform 7 in the middle of the city for us lost souls to visit and try to find ourselves.