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.

Winter holidays wouldn’t really be complete without Boxing Day shopping, dim sum, and a trip to the mountains. We did our shopping online at Air Canada (looking forward to travels in the new year!), taking advantage of the 15% deal (code GIFT2016), and we had our dim sum on Boxing Day with T, who was back from Edmonton, M, J&K, who were back from Calgary. We made it up to Cypress today, with M, who was back from Waterloo:

We made some new friends with the Grey Jay residents of Hollyburn:

After an hour on our rented snowshoes (much too short but we had other plans), we went to Boiling Point in Burnaby for lunch with M, M, and C. H and i will be back to snowshoe more. We will also be back to Boiling Point to try all the other soups (#goals2017?). Lunch is a better deal than dinner, you get a cold tea to go with the meal, and it’s $1 less.

More links to information on Hollyburn:

https://www.vancouvertrails.com/trails/hollyburn-mountain/

http://vancouverhiatus.com/hiking/hollyburn-mountain.html

https://www.outdoorvancouver.ca/hollyburn-mountain-snowshoe-trail/

http://www.cypressmountain.com/snowshoetours/

Snowshoe rentals and ticket to access trails for 2 people were about $55. I now have heart burn because of too much food in the past 4 days, and not enough exercise. It's so nice to have everybody back in Vancouver. 

MERRY CHRISTMAS, THANKS EVERYBODY FOR THE WONDERFUL MEMORIES AND PRESENTS THIS WEEKEND. LOOKING FORWARD TO CRAMMING MORE JOY AND LAUGHS INTO THE NEXT 4 DAYS BEFORE 2017.

Read more about how I spent Christmas this year:
http://luwesa.blogspot.ca/2016/12/jolly.html
http://luwesa.blogspot.ca/2016/12/magical.html

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?

Now that I’m in my late 20’s, I go skiing without a hangover. Whistler was beautiful this Saturday:



Then, we picked up a Nespresso on Saturday, and decorated my house with red and champagne (not white) roses:



This is the Inissia model, uses only the OriginalLine capsules. We took advantage of the $100 coffee credit to pick up about 14 boxes of capsules, including the limited edition Ciocco Ginger (intensity of 6, which is the middle).  When they run out, I’m going to scalp these on Craigslist. H laughed when I told him my plan.

It was difficult getting back to work on Monday.

My friend's Facebook status:

"god. jealousy in a relationship is unattractive"

It's also unattractive when they refuse to come out for food after a movie without a reason, or they act like a baby that I have to take care of. Am I too immature to be attracted to/attract somebody mature?

On a more positive note, Cypress was amazing as usual. V is becoming my snowboarding model for all my snow photos!

It’s never a bad day up on Whistler (just like Cypress).

Last time we went to 7th Heaven (the peak of Blackcomb), I could barely see my own hands in front of my face, but check out the same view from today:

My favourite run of the day was Cloud Nine.  On the Whistler side, at the Peak Express. We tried to make it up a 2nd time, but the chair was closed already.

The snow was melting near the base of the mountain, which means that Spring is coming.  Until next year... 

We went to Cypress this Sunday, and got lost not once, but twice, down the same run. There was no escaping the diamonds.

It’s always a good day when I get to go skiing, no matter how tired/stressed/angry/ANYTHING I am.  It’s like I’ve entered a whole new world (like Aladdin whisking Jasmine into the air on his magic carpet).  On the other hand, I’ve been sighing all day at work.  Make the phones stop ringing, and stop sending me emails!

vancouver snow! :D

credit to www.comics.com and Charles Schultz. (too bad he retired.)

CCR, CCL, CXCL,CXCR.