Work life balance in Nanaimo

I had to go from Vancouver to Nanaimo for an overnight work trip.  At first, I was quite reluctant, but then changed my perspective.  It would be a chance for me to go on a peaceful ferry ride across the Georgia Straight.  It would be a chance to discover Nanaimo again, I think I was last there in the late 90's.  And it would be a chance to get away from my normal day-to-day work routine.

I went into Nanaimo on an early afternoon ferry, allowing me to check into the Best Western Dorchester in downtown Nanaimo and have a quick walk around before my meeting at the office.  From there, I had some recommendations about where to have dinner, but resorted to Minnoz at The Coast Hotel since it was close by.  My steak medallions were great, and they even had gluten, egg and dairy free dessert for me, a raw torte, that was a bonus!

It also gave me a chance to read the tourist pamphlets I had picked up along the way.  I was on TripAdvisor checking out what to see, where to go, assessing what I would have time for.

I had already meandered down Church St., which was the Arts District.  It was great for me because I'm also an artist and love going into craft stores, galleries and boutiques.  I really liked House of Indigo, the Artisans Studio, Artzi Stuff had awesome artisan work, and Hills Native Store.  If I needed another stainless steel thermos, I would've bought one with a sandblasted native design on it, they were so nice.

I also did some sightseeing, the Bastion, the cannons, the anchor, the Front St. waterfront, Diana Krall Plaza and the Lighthouse Bistro & Pub.

I had some great meals during my 2 day stay as well.  I love checking reviews on TripAdvisor to see what's consistent and well-liked.  I had breakfast at 2 Chefs.  They had advertised gluten, egg and dairy free options, and I got the sweet sausage with homemade ketchup, gluten free bread with homemade jam and roasted tomatoes.  It was such a pleasant start to my morning.




I stopped into Powerhouse Living Foods for lunch.  I had the Hawaiian BBQ pizza.  It had a seed crust, some sort of nut cream as a spread, greens and veggies on top.  I downed it all with fresh juice.











After work, I had the chance to walk over to the Old City Quarter before heading home on the evening ferry.  It was so quaint, several old shops, bakeries, etc.  I was quite impressed with the amount of baked goods I could find that suited my food restrictions.  This included A Wee Cupcakery and the bakery within Spirit Bear Coffee in Fitzwilliam Gate.  In Gallery Row, I found some great work from Caldera Glass.

Overall, I was able to enjoy so much that I sometimes felt that I was on vacation, wandering down a street, wondering what I would find.  It was great to have such work/life balance in those 2 days, that I was glad to have had the opportunity to rediscover Nanaimo.

Highlights in Edmonton

We booked a last minute vacation to Edmonton after Hurricane Odile hit land at Los Cabos and forced us to cancel our Mexican vacation.  We were disappointed that we would not get to enjoy sandy beaches, hot weather and lazy days, but were thankful that we were not in harm's way, and felt sympathy for all those affected.

We arrived in Edmonton late on a Monday night. We were so thankful that we still had a chance for time away from work and home, and grateful that we weren't imposing on family members on such short notice.

The first few days were lazy; we enjoyed the unusually warm weather 25 - 29C, walks in Mill Creek Ravine Park with a dog and 1 year old, and enjoying local restaurants.









Our food highlights include several highly popular restaurants.  First, Padmanadi, a vegan Indonesian restaurant, where the "meat" is formed to look like the real thing.  The food was super tasty, even for us meat lovers.





We also had take-out from MEAT; great BBQ ribs, pulled pork and andouille sausage!  









Tres Carnales was a great Mexican restaurant, where the tacos were so tasty even for their small size.  

We also went to Narayanni's, South African Indian buffet.  Lots of options for my gluten, egg and dairy sensitivities.  The curry lamb and eggplant were our unanimous favourites.

Of course, a shopping trip to West Edmonton Mall is a must.  We were overwhelmed with the size, even being from Metro Vancouver.  We don't have Simon's department store, so that was a good place to start. Lots of entertainment for families, including a pirate show, sea lions, ice rink and more.

We wandered downtown for an afternoon, going to Churchill Square, City Hall and the Alberta Craft Council, which had wonderful pieces of art.  As an artisan, I always like to support local and visit farmer's markets.  There were quite a few here, and we went to Mother's Market, the only indoor 3 day market, and the Old Strathcona Market on Saturday.  Both were impressive, with many vendors with organic produce or meats, local crafts and food.

A walk along popular Whyte Avenue on a sunny afternoon gave us a chance to go in and out of different shops, bakeries and cafes.  Remedy Cafe was a good choice for my diet; I was so happy to have a chocolate muffin!

The #1 attraction for Edmonton according to TripAdvisor is The Winspear and #2 is the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra.  We had the chance to go to the season opener and have the opportunity to hear Paul Jacobs, world renowned organist.  What a beautiful venue and fabulous merge of 2 types of music.  Great Saturday night date.

We took the High Level Bridge Streetcar on another sunny day.  What a great ride, with stunning views over the Saskatchewan River, and a bit of history from the volunteers operating the train.  It was definitely a highlight of the trip.  

We got off the streetcar to head to University of Alberta to enjoy a free afternoon concert by the University Symphony Orchestra for Alumni Weekend.

Over the week, we had a chance to wind down, visit with family and see many highlights of Edmonton.  It was a great time; we were so glad to have great weather, family to host us and a chance to visit a 1 year old, seeing the progress he's making!

Trapped in Vegas

I had read about these games where you and your friends are trapped in a room and have to figure out clues to escape within a certain length of time.  I saw a deal on Social Shopper and took advantage of it to bring a team together to experience this.

A group of 5 of us went to Trapped Canada (Richmond location) and chose the Wake Up in Vegas theme.  If you think it's like Hangover the movie, it's similar but not as entertaining, there are no live animals or actors in our room. We were given very brief instructions,  shown where the timer was, where the "push for help / hints" button was and the staff closed the door; we had 45 minutes to figure things out and escape.

Each of us went scrambling around a small room turning furniture around to see what we could find, opening drawers, looking at photos on the walls, etc.  Without spoiling it for others, I will tell you that almost everything in the room is incorporated into a clue.  When we figured out the clues, it would give us a combination to open a lock box which in turn gave us a further clue. When we got the combo for the "exit" door, we were surprised to see yet another room with more boxes with locks!!!  We were already 20 minutes into the game and now had more clues to figure out.

I will say that it was a happy ending and we got out with 4 minutes to spare with the help of a pen in my purse.  I can say no more, except that they put your cell phones in safe storage before you begin, but I kept my purse with me.  They said everything we would need will be in the room, which was true, except a pen and paper sure helps you figure out complicated math rather than try to do it in your head or in the air with the added pressure of a timer going.

We had a fabulous time, and got photos to prove our victory.  Thanks 5th Wheels for bringing your brains!

Event Date: Jun 21, 2014

Trivia shows you how much random stuff you know

Event: Mr. Brownstone Trivia Tuesdays When my friend invited me to trivia night, I was expecting a digital screen for the questions and people shouting out answers. We showed up at Mr. Brownstone on Main Street, Vancouver and there was only 1 free table left. Looks like huge groups reserve their table for a fun Tuesday night gathering.  If you're considering going, better call ahead. We signed up with the host, IQ2000, and chose a team name; this in itself was a daunting task for a group of girls. We were given a 5 page booklet, each page represented one round of trivia.  My friend was so excited! IQ2000 started with the theme of the night, World Oceans Day and we were told of the prizes, one prize was signed by David Suzuki but somehow, a bottle of wine gave the most cheers.  All trivia questions were tied to this theme.  In the first 2 rounds, we did alright; in fact, someone in our group knew quite a bit of random stuff!  Round #3 was the music round and we didn't do as well as we thought.  I guess our group was not so well-rounded, as there were songs which we didn't recognize at all..  We were starting to doubt our ability to win the prize. Rounds 4 and 5 of trivia were definitely harder, with questions from geography, history to current events, music of all types and eras, sports, etc.  I think we need some young people, old people, girls and boys to get most of these.  No chance our team was winning the prize.  Even my friend was not so excited anymore. If you 'like' IQ2000 on Facebook, he gives you 2 free answers.  Today's were Pangaea and Seaborgium.  I don't have a clue what either of those is.  Thank God for teammates. When we swapped answers with another table for marking, we realized that some people really do know a lot of random stuff!  They probably won, but we weren't hanging around to find out.   IQ2000 was trying to pump up the crowd by giving away prizes and free drinks to the loudest team, so there's always a chance you'll win something.  But don't blame me if you come out of there thinking you're dumb, 'cause I did!  Event date: Jun 3

Commercial Drive is always a hit

One Sunday afternoon, I had some free time, and the sun was out, so I decided to head down to one of my favourite neighbourhoods, The Drive (http://www.thedrive.ca/)

I always feel tied to the Drive because I grew up in East Van.  I always found the Drive a great blend of culture, good food and easy going attitude.  I love it so much, I included it in my Amazing Race contestant entry video 2 seasons ago!

I had no plans in mind, just to stroll in the sunshine and see what hit my fancy.  I always go into the stores to see what there is, Wander and Wonderbucks are always stores I like to get lost in; I was sad when Ten Thousand Villages closed.

I parked the car and as I walked by Tangent Cafe, I saw their chalkboard sign that said live music from 4 - 7; I just might have to come back and have a glass of wine there later.  At this point, it was too early to eat yet.  So many places to stop at: Grandview park to chill; ice cream parlours like Gelateria Dolce Amore which has the best non-dairy gelato I've tasted,  restaurants and pubs like no other, like Havana and BierCraft are some of my favourites.  One could totally have a pub crawl here and in fact, I did go to one for St. Patrick's Day a few years ago.

I would say that it's one of the best neighbourhoods in Vancouver to visit.

Adventure Date: Jun 1, 2014

Science World escapades

As a scientist, I love Science World (http://www.scienceworld.ca/), so when the new exhibit Science of Sports started, I was eager to go.  I went with a family crowd.  I was wondering what my toddler nephews would be interested in.

Of course, they were amazed by the huge ball maze machine in front of the entrance, as even adults are.  Then they were onto interactive things in Ken Spencer Outdoor Park.

One nephew started biking on the machine where you use your pedal power in the installation to lift 25 golf balls into a bin, which then would release them to drop and make music.  Of course he lost interest before getting 25 balls in, and even I wasn't pedaling fast enough to fill the bin before he left!

They also loved the transit installation where there were steering wheels that moved a different level of transit within it.  They could see that whatever direction they turned the wheel moved the skytrain level, or the bus level, or cyclists.

Then they moved onto the installation with water and you know how boys are, they love to get wet!  Anyways, I was so happy to see that they loved the interactive exhibits.  I don't know how much they're learning at age 3, but I know they're having fun and so am I.

Science of Sports was full of assessments

Event Date: Jun 1, 2014

Elliptical in the park

We wanted to go out for a walk after dinner, so decided to go to Central Park in Burnaby.   The sun was still out, and we walked till 9pm and didn't even notice the time this weeknight.

We knew that there was a fitness circuit in the park, but we saw new installations, including an elliptical, swivel pads, a monkey bar type station, etc.  (http://www.burnaby.ca/Things-To-Do/Explore-Outdoors/Parks/Central-Park/Outdoor-Fitness-Circuit.html)

So, if you really wanted to use gym equipment but be outside, this was the place to go to.  We walked around the trails, stopping at each one to try it out.  Sure beats staying inside in a stuffy gym.

Euro Fest was also on and we could hear the music, which added to our energy.  There were lots of families on the playgrounds, and many seniors taking a stroll.  Walking by the ponds, we saw duck and geese, and lots of squirrels in the park.  They were used to humans, they were waiting to be fed.  However, I did see some kids show up with water guns...

It was so enjoyable, it was only the setting sun that told us to go home.  I would recommend this park as a great place in the burbs to take a walk.

Adventure date: May 31, 2014

Belly dancing and circus come together

Event date:  May 27, 2014 Luciterra Fusion Belly Dance (http://www.luciterradance.com/) and host Chris Murdoch (http://www.bothsidescircus.blogspot.ca/) perform the last Tuesday of every month at Guilt &; Co. (http://www.guiltandcompany.com/) , Vancouver. It was our first time going, so we made sure to get there early.  Even still, there were reserved tables and we were lucky to get one in second row from the stage and in the center. The place was almost full when the show started.  Emcee Chris is a circus performer with tons of energy and gratitude.  By a show of hands, most of the audience had been here before, and for the few walk ins, they were in for a treat.  They have been doing this for 40+ months!  Luciterra is a group of belly dancers, each one doing a solo act in her wonderful glitzy costume.   One after the other, we saw a great display of grace, hip swinging and smiles.   There was a special guest tonight, Karen Flamenco (http://karenflamenco.com).  Her foot stomping performance was accompanied by her guitarist and percussionist. In between performances, Chris would dazzle us with his circus skills and promoted the MadSkillz Event at the end of June (http://madskillzvancouver.com/) to showcase ground level circus acts like juggling. Sitting in a packed bar, you'd never think it was a Tuesday night. Vancouver is full of fun things to do, and I'm glad I caught this show.