Feeling materialistic lately, which has led to a lot of online window shopping instead of sleeping. This might be caused by too much television. I also had dinner at Coast, for a friend’s birthday party, which has inspired me to act more lavishly than usual. I met a few new friends there, and it’s inspired me to be more ambition than before. They’re a bit older, they dress nicely, and the servers at Coast know them by name! If that’s not a sign of societal success, I’m not sure what is…

Too bad the food was so salty at Coast. I’m not sure if I’d want to pay that amount of money for a meal, and then have to spend more money to replace my kidney, which would be losing functionality from all the oversalted food! For 9 people, we had the set menu, which came with various options. For appetizer, I chose the tuna poke, which had lots of cucumbers and pineapples.

I also had the sablefish, which was served over mashed potatoes and mushrooms. If I weren’t so hungry, there would be so much of this salty dish left over:

A few of us had the lobster, which was really cool to look at, but not the most convenient to eat. S had a tough time separating the meat and the shell:

Finally, dessert! The server had forgotten that we had asked for a different dessert for the birthday girl, because she doesn’t enjoy coconut, which made up 80% of this coconut banana cake dessert. Coconut is not one of my faves either… Anyway, in the end, the server came back with a chocolate lava cake topped with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream:

It’s really getting late now, but I’ve passed that point where I’m actually tired. This week has been full of staying out late and sleeping about 5 to 6 hours. The light from my screen has ruined my circadian rhythm, and even though it’s 1AM right now, my brain doesn’t want to shut off. I’m probably going to crash over the long weekend, but before the holiday, I have things to do this week:

-do 5 days of work in 3 because I’m taking Thursday and Friday off
-get a haircut
-prepare for P’s wedding
-prepare for D’s wedding
-plan my own wedding

H’s 30th birthday is coming up, and it’s an important age, so I wanted to make sure he would remember it. Behind his back, I had planned for about 20 of our friends to meet at Speeder’s to hang out last weekend, before his actual birthday to catch him off guard. As part of the deception, I had also booked him for a nice dinner prior to his surprise birthday party. It was a way to book off his evening and get him out of the house. We went to West Oak in Yaletown:

They’re known for serving sustainable, West Coast style dishes. I’m still not too sure what “West Coast” food means, other than certain seafoods, but we had some good mussels. There was also a delicious side of brussel sprouts bacon dish, which was made with apricots and a sprinkle of parmesan:

You’ll ntoice the lobster tail linguine in the background of the photo above. It’s in the background because neither of us preferred it, and we would not spend our hard earned money on that again. The service was quick, and they managed to seat us on the packed patio after just a few minutes of waiting. Overall, a good experience, but I would not go back. The restaurant scene in Vancouver is very competitive, and there are plenty of other places to go for more affordable West Coast, sustainable dishes.



I think H had a good time at his party. He was thoroughly surprised, and did not expect me to plan such a successful event. I almost want to plan another one, just because it was so satisfying to bring everybody together for a purpose. After doing this though, I think I realize the significance of making time and energy to participate in these types of events, and really try to connect with everybody. Parties are difficult to coordinate, because everybody is busy now being adults and making a living, and how many 30th birthdays, 1st birthdays, weddings, graduations, Fridays, Mondays – DAYS in general - are left for us to actually celebrate together?

Thinking back to this dinner at Abe and Louie’s, my stomach is starting to grumble once again (I’ve also just gotten out of yoga class at Yyoga and I’ve worked up an appetite). I don’t usually go out for dinners like this, just because I’m not really a steak and potatoes type of person and these meals can really burn a hole in the wallet… But when travelling with other people, I’ll usually go with the restaurant choice of whoever is the most enthusiasitc and makes the reservation first. So, because I am not really into steak and potatoes, I opted for the halibut special:

The fish was served over a bed of lobster mashed potatoes and… I don’t recall the sauce, sorry. I did also have a martini, which may have added to the memory loss. I do remember how excited I was about the mashed potatoes, and how I wiped the plate clean! D thought the fish was a tad dry; I thought the fish was fine with the sauce and mashed potates to add moisture. The little seed net over the lemon really was an indication of the calibre of food that was being served.

We worked through our mains, finished the creamed spinach and what not (great sides too, I think any of the options would have been amazing), and it was time for dessert. This was the creme brulee, and it may have been one of the best I’ve ever had (#Drake). I couldn’t wait to eat it, so the photo above is not of the actual dish as it comes out.



Conversations over heavy meals like this can get pretty interesting, as everybody gets a bit more relaxed. I really am glad I work with such open minded people though, who can discuss almost anything, from politics to love to the weather. There can be so many different perspectives to a topic, and it’s not all 2 sided, like the wall that Trump wants to build.

Go to Boston Breakfast

Go to Boston Lunch

Another day went by at the Moscone center, with more handshaking and smiling. As our reward:

Tadich Grill. I found it on Zagat actually, as P sounded like he really wanted seafood and I love shrimp. This place has been around for over 168 years, according to their menu, and their servers look like they’ve been around for at least three quarters of that time:

Our server was great fun, so full of personality, probably hidden in his hair. He gave off that feeling of being somebody’s feisty uncle. It probably helped that the food was delicious (or the other way around – maybe the awesome service sparked something in our brains that made the food taste better). I had the seafood cioppino that was on special (see photo above). Some places just inspire good conversation, no matter who you’re with.

Not saying that the people I was with weren’t cool, sales people are generally fun to be around.

I don’t know if anybody is really made for this type of lifestyle of standing 8 hours a day, going for huge meals with optional side of alcohol, then going back “home” to your hotel. It did help me appreciate having a regular office job a bit, but now that I’m back in the office for the 2nd day already, I’m getting a bit frustrated again. The snow really isn’t helping much either right now and the long commute is a pain, especially with angry drivers all over the road.

Start rant.

Today, a well put together Caucasian male with white hair driving a red Audi sedan, possibly a coupe, rolled down his window to yell at me, as I tried to get into the southbound lanes first and then try to quickly change into the other lane that would take me to the north bound lane. He angrily requested that I stay in the “real” merge lane, instead of making my own. Frankly, I “made my own lane” to clear up space for him to get back to his big house in the south sooner, because I was trying to head north, and if he didn’t keep his head stuck in his self entitlement, he would have seen that. I rolled my window down to reply him that I was trying to get into the far lane, and I could hear him crawling back into that hole… Those who rage first are rarely in the right. Stop embarrassing yourself. I’m sure there are moments when I’ve honked for no reason, or when I’ve been honked at for good reason. However, there’s no reason to get out of your car or roll down your window to shout.

End rant. TLDR: rich man road raged at me because his time is precious.