The moment after you keep going even though you’re ready to give up, and you realize that it was worth the pain because it got you where you are right now.

I believe that everybody’s got to put in their time. Then you can enjoy what you worked for.

Very honestly though, kayaking is not my thing. H has been whining to go though, so I finally gave in and planned a trip with a couple other pals this Sunday. What a grey day, rained a bit. I treated myself to some Honey Doughnuts after we reached Cates Park:

 

It was not as good as I recall! Maybe because they were stuffed in the kayak in a dry bag for a good 2 hours. Not the soft, fluffy fried dough that I recall. Maybe I’ll stick to the waffles at Cafe Orso on future trips to Deep Cove.

It’s so nice to catch up with friends and share new ideas, like this whole culture of being non-binary/gender neutral.  We caught up over dinner and drinks at Sai Woo, a Chinese fusion restaurant downtown, with petrified trees “growing” and decorating the place. I knew the portions would be quite small and expensive, so I went and had pizza before this adorable pulled pork slider:

This was about $5. I had a couple of average drinks there with funky names, but they didn’t stick out (Chill Winston has the best funky cocktails so far). Nice atmosphere, and great place to have long conversations, as it wasn’t too loud inside the restaurant. Awesome service too!



Are you familiar with this new phenomenon of using the pronoun “they” or "ze" (pronounced like he or she, but replace the "h" or the "sh" with "z") for those who do not identify with either the female or male gender? I only recently heard these different terms while working at the VFM, about 2-3 weeks ago, and it came up again recently at dinner for C's birthday. Apparently, it’s progressive to ask people what gender they identify with, and I’m cool like that because I did it.

Which do you think would win in a physical fight?

Croissant from A Bread Affair, picked up at the Trout Lake Farmers Market on Saturday.

Coffee from my Nespresso. Black, just the way I like it. 


I stocked up on Nespresso capsules the other day. They have a new one called the Envivo Lungo that is just amazing. Level 9 intensity, and gives that extra KICK to start the day. I had one yesterday and today, before hitting up the VFM.

Back to back shifts this weekend… Add that to all the Pokemon hunting and biking, and I think I can honestly say that I deserve this buttery croissant. It goes quite well with the coffee. The almond chocolate croissants are amazing too, just the perfect balance of sweet almond and salty butter, but they ran out, so I took this guy home instead.




PS: Somebody said my Instagram feed was “aesthetic as fuck”. Have you followed me yet?

It's Thursday, and nothing will get done tomorrow because all we'll do is talk about our plans for the weekend. Sometimes, I get upset when things aren’t done properly and I really need to learn to just relax. TBH, I think I’m better at not being so anal these days because I’ve learned to do things that help me relax. Eating and drinking, to be more exact.

H & I came to Boston Pizza on a Wednesday night. It wasn’t Pasta Tuesday. We didn’t come here to watch sports on TV. Why did we decide to eat at such a boring chain restaurant? Convenience, I suppose. Double Long Islands were on special, and they have a $9.99 deal for 3 mini pizzas that could be chosen from a list of different flavors/toppings. Not bad. I got a great buzz from the Long Island, so I’m giving this place a 4/5, and I’d go again for the mini pizzas!

From closest to farthest: Deluxe, Perogi, Mediterranean.

Sometimes, it’s more about who you go with though.

1. Lost luggage
2. Lost on the trail
3. Lost cellphone
4. Lost Altoids box
5. Lost passport

All found. This is the place to find yourself. There’s so much space to develop and grow. It was exactly what I needed.

1. Lost luggage

We arrived on the 24th after a 7 hour plane ride at the lovely KEF airport. I was feeling quite excited and refreshed, because I slept pretty much the whole way. H makes a magnificent pillow. We went through customs with no problems, met up with TPL, and went to grab our luggage. We all grabbed our stuff, and waited for T’s suitcase to come out of the chute. We waited and waited and waited for a black suitcase with a little red string on the handle. Where was it?!

As the rest of the crowd dispersed, we realized it would not make sense for us to keep waiting pointlessly, so T went to the counter to ask. D and TPL went to get the car, while H and I went to pick up alcohol at the duty free (it’s so much cheaper!). T eventually had some forms to fill out and was sitting near the conveyer belts, where one of the airport attendants was checking the remaining pieces of luggage left behind. There was a black one, a random stroller, some other bags, and a grey one. The airport attendant approached T, who was sitting forlornly by the belts.

“Is this one yours?” she asked, pointing at the grey one. “It has your last name on the tag.”

“No, it’s not, mine’s black, it’s probably somebody else’s.” T was sure that it wasn’t his. “If it’s mine, you can laugh,” he says, stubbornly.

“Pretty sure it’s yours, it even has the same flight.” The attendant starts laughing.

At least we picked up some good alcohol:

We dropped off stuff at the place we were staying (Airbnb is the way to go in Iceland – we each spent about $218CAD for 7 nights), and headed back out for what was supposed to be breakfast, now brunch. Went to Kaffi:

This place took a bit of hunting to find – had to ask a kind stranger for help. Food was great, maybe because we were all starving. It was pure vegan heaven. Too bad I’m not a vegan. We were now ready to continue exploring the rest of this quaint little city (town?).

This week was rather busy again…

Monday – Scout volunteer event at Ceili’s with H.

Tuesday – Victoria Sushi with a couple of Point Grey coworkers.

Wednesday – This happened:

Went to G-Men with R. I LOVE THIS NOODLE. The soup is thick and creamy. The meat and the noodles are cooked just right. The egg is the best part, yolk is perfect. I think this came to $15.00 each. Don’t bother with fried chicken next time.



Thursday – Yoga
Friday – Made some dumplings with P and H.
Today – Work at the Vancouver Farmer’s Market, bought some Pork & Apple sausage from Stapleton Sausage. Good brunch materials. 33 Acres Brewing was there today, being all L33T with the B33R. #nerd.

It's actually pretty hard to do some of the tasks that are required for setting up the market. I'm small and not used to the manual labor. Carrying those barricades are THE WORST. Usually when I help out at HSCPC events, I wouldn't touch that stuff and somebody (usually a big buff guy who wants to go into policing) would step up. If you see me there next time, please take pity and help me out.

Tomorrow will be the first day I get to relax a bit, although things likely won’t slow down until the end of June.

Another summery song by R3HAB:

You were my conductor of energy, director of fantasy…

Went to the New Po Kong for lunch with H and his folks. H’s parents are vegetarian, and they know all the good places. New Po Kong just opened, maybe 2 weeks ago, and they’ve already been here for dinner. (It's right across from the regular old Po Kong). We had a ton of dim sum dishes (no pictures because I thought it’d be too rude to keep pulling out a camera…), but couldn’t resist this (fake) shark fin dumpling:

IT’S AMAZING. The way to eat it is with red vinegar. Stuffed, but the owner brought out some tapioca custard pudding with taro:

Fat goals achieved for the day.

I haven’t worked out since Sun Run last Sunday, and a short 30 minute bike ride to get dinner with H on Wednesday… Fat goals achieved for the week.

I’m nowhere close to being ready to fly. This should be a nice and simple check in online, but it’s becoming quite painful as my One Plus keeps dropping internet connection. Work with me PLEASE. Frustrated by the United Airlines app that took 5 attempts to accept my passport scan, haven’t started packing, still hungover from last night at J’s house, and spent all morning recovering with H (who has been expressing his feelings about me leaving tomorrow by sighing every few minutes and pouting a little).

Replenishing with dirty HK cafe food at Happy Date. Can’t live without this. I think this place is better than Lido (another HK style cafe that serves similar food), in terms of price, service, and quality. All of this was only $10! Must go if you ever visit Richmond for breakfast.

From top left, going clockwise: Spanish Omelette, Pineapple Bun with Butter, HK Style Milk Tea, Satay Beef Instant Noodles

Here’s the food from a different angle while I was taking the above photo:


Ingrid Nilsen posted a recent video about how she gets over hangovers. Seems like a legit cure, with avocado and eggs.

Well, I’m hungry again. Bye. Going to forage for food around the house.

Today has been food and caffeine filled. How else would I spend my Saturday? Took a break from baking to have lunch with H, and visited Parker Street Cafe, where they were roasting fresh coffee beans:

Got the Parker’s Special, cold Americcino, which is blended ice with a shot of cold brew. (Shamelessly displaying H’s handmade leather wallet… Give me a shout if you want one.)

Nice place to hang out, quiet neighborhood, not a lot of traffic. Coffee’s STRONG. I like it. Come back soon!!!!