Vancouver

2016 Summer Getaway | Day 5 & 6

August 23, 2016 by Mellie Dee Leave a Comment

We didn’t notice our gorgeous backyard view at our AirBnB until that morning when we were all packed and ready to leave. On the drive back to Seattle, we tried to eat our Tim Horton’s donuts in the car as breakfast but like I mentioned before, it was bleugh.

Before we crossed the border, we stopped by the duty-free store for some last minute souvenir shopping.

Then waited in line to cross the border where there was a match on Scruffy’s passport so we had to leave the car and walk into the building. They told us his passport had been reported stolen.

They asked questions and did some investigation during which I tried to make him laugh but it didn’t work. Luckily they let us cross the border, but they kept his passport.

Serious Pie
316 Virginia St
Seattle, Washington 98121
(206) 838-7388
http://tomdouglas.com

We made plans to eat pizza here since it was on his list and we didn’t have a chance to in the beginning of our trip.

We both ordered beers because apparently beer and pizza is a thing.

We shared the Roasted Seasonal Mushrooms with Truffle Cheese | $19. It was very savory and we kind of wished that we got a pizza that had a tomato sauce base but we finished it all anyway. I really liked having the mushrooms in every bite and surprisingly loved the crust – crispy but soft inside.

Dahlia Bakery
2001 4th Ave
Seattle, Washington 98121
(206) 441-4540
http://tomdouglas.com

I wanted to bring treats to eat on the plane or to take back home and since this was next door, it was perfect.

French Macaron [flourless lemon lavender] | $1.75 wasn’t that great.

Chocolate Chunk Cookie | $2.75 was so huge and was chewy, just how I like it.

Dog Treats [peanut butter & bacon] | $0.75 each – our pups gobbled it up … but I think they gobble everything up.

He gassed up the car while I cashed in my lotto. Then we returned our car and took and Uber to the airport.

When we almost got to the security line, he realized he lost his drivers license and having his passport taken up didn’t help. Luckily he had his old college id and credit cards and after some questions and a body search, we were on our way.

Nothing was going right that day and since we got to the airport early, we went to this restaurant.

We shared a Blue Moon.

And some nachos – bleugh.

We finally boarded but had to sit separately since we forgot to check in the day before. When we were almost back at his house, we realized our backpack was left on the bus that takes us from the airport to where our car was parked but decided to get it the next day since nothing very expensive was in there.

The next day, he woke up early to fill in forms for his driver’s license and went online to “stand in line” virtually so we didn’t have to spend so much time at the center. Once we finished, we drove back to the airport parking place to grab my backpack.

El Tiempo Cantina
21810 Kingsland Blvd.
Katy, Texas 77450
(281) 384-4704
http://eltiempocantina.com

Then we had lunch of drinks with chips and dip and Mexican food. They have my favourite green sauce!

When he was about to take me home, I realized I left my house keys on his desk back at his house. What else can go wrong, right? Luckily, Mum worked five minutes from my house so we didn’t have to go back to his place.

Overall, I had a great trip and we both learned more about one another. I haven’t scared him away just yet and he still wants to vacation with me. We’ve already booked tickets to Denver in December. Eeep! First time seeing snow for me.

2016 Summer Getaway | Day 4

August 18, 2016 by Mellie Dee Leave a Comment

There was early morning fog as we headed to Grouse Mountain. I wanted to go early so that it wouldn’t be hot and sticky when we climbed but I definitely didn’t take into account the fogginess that could occur.

McDonald’s
2601 Westview Dr
North Vancouver, BC V7M 0A3, Canada
(604) 985-0203

There weren’t many places opened on the way to Grouse Mountain and we actually had to turn around and stop at McDonald’s instead. He gave me a mean look when he couldn’t eat his food so that I could take a picture. hehe

Grouse Mountain
6400 Nancy Greene Way
North Vancouver, BC V7R 4K9, Canada
(604) 980-9311
http://grousemountain.com

We finally arrived but we didn’t end up climbing. Instead, we bought lift tickets. I shall climb a mountain next time so I can cross it off my list. Eeep.

The view from the lift was incredible and the fog surprisingly made it that much more breathtaking.

When we arrived, we walked into this cabin-like place. It reminded me of movies and telly shows where people will come inside for hot cocoa and coffee and warm up before going back out on the slopes. Maybe one day I’ll actually get to experience that.

Grouse Mountain | Vancouver, Canada | Scruffy & Mellie Dee

Scruffy & Me on top of Grouse Mountain

The fog sucked since we couldn’t see past much of anything but it was relaxing to be up there because the view was still as stunning.

We walked around for a bit … mostly because I wanted to get my steps in since we didn’t do the hike.

I like that they share the wilderness instead of taking away their homes. We were lucky to run into some bears. It may seem as if they are caged but in reality, they are living in their own habitat with the forest behind them.

The weather was so nice that there was a yoga session going on. They had mats laid out for anyone to join and I almost did.

Scruffy & Me taking in the last of the mountain air

But we just watched them instead and took in the mountain air before we headed back down. Having him with me up there made everything complete and I didn’t want to leave.

Going back down was a faster ride and once we did, we went back to our AirBnB to change out of our “workout” clothes and headed to lunch.

Meat & Bread
370 Cambie Street
Vancouver, BC V6B 2N4, Canada
(604) 566-9003
http://meatandbread.ca

We split the Porchetta [with salsa verde] | $9 and Sparkling Water | $2. They even added cracklins inside for that crispy texture. Although it is a simple sandwich, it was one of the best I’ve had which says a lot since I’m not a big fan of pork.

We walked into Chinatown for a bit just to see how it was.

And saw a lady using wood and a steamroller to make some kind of art. We didn’t stay the whole time to check out the entire process but I will say that the end products they previously made were pretty.

Scruffy and I had decided to jump around different food places again so our first stop was …

The Pint Public House
455 Abbott Street
Vancouver, BC V6B 1S5, Canada
(604) 684-0258
http://thepint.ca

We both got drinks and thought it was pretty cool that the Grapefruit Mimosa I ordered came with a small bottle of champagne so that you can put in as much or as little as you want. I poured the whole thing in of course.

Pint Poutine [pint fries topped with cheese curds and pint gravy] | $10 to share. It didn’t live up to my expectations or memories of when I first had it in Toronto back in 2006 but at least Scruffy can now say he’s tried Poutine!

Tim Hortons
108 W Pender St
Vancouver, BC V6B 0K4, Canada
(604) 568-9262
http://timhortons.com

I also had great memories of this place back in 2006 so we bought an Eclair, Vanilla Dip Donut, Chocolate Glazed Timbits, Sour Cream Glazed Timbits, Apple Fritters Timbits, and Blueberry Timbits for breakfast the next day. It didn’t live up to expectations as well. Sigh … maybe it’s because it was a day old or maybe because it was just too sweet.

Sushi Itoga
1668 Robson Street
Vancouver, BC V6G 1C7, Canada
(604) 687-2422
http://itoga.com

I thought it was pretty cool that they gave each person their own picture of Matcha Green Tea | free.

And they gave us Miso Soup | free as well. I was so excited for all the free things, especially because we only ordered one dish to share.

The Assorted Sashimi [11pc: tuna, salmon, hamachi, tako] | $18. So legit. I don’t ever want to leave the land of raw fish.

BC Liquor Store
1716 Robson St
Vancouver, BC V6G 2J7, Canada
(604) 660-9031
http://bcliquorstores.com

We stopped by the liquor store to pick up a whiskey made from Canada for Scruffy’s dad. It was crazy busy in there. We then walked back to our AirBnB to put it down before heading to our reservation at …

Guu with Garlic
1698 Robson Street
Vancouver, BC V6G 1C7, Canada
(604) 685-8678
http://guu-izakaya.com/robson

This place gets packed so we had to put our names down while we went to the liquor store and AirBnB.

Sake Bombs. I’m not sure if I have already mentioned this but Seattle and Vancouver are a little more upscale to where they aren’t a fan of sake bombs so we did shots instead and used our beer for chasers.

Premium Garlic Beef Tongue [sliced beef tongue with garlic butter soy sauce] | $8.50 had some chewy pieces at the top but the middle was just right. Tender and juicy. Scruffy wasn’t a big fan but did enjoy those little gems.

Sockeye Salmon Carpaccio [thinly sliced sockeye salmon sashimi with onion & garlic dressing] | $8.80 was just as delicious. Ordering this helps donate money to some charity who builds schools? houses? or something which was pretty cool.

Green Panda Dispensary
1707 Robson Street
Vancouver, BC V6G, Canada
(888) 562-0848
http://greenpandadispensary.com

I saw this across the street and got very excited. I thought it was a cute little sushi place … but I was mistaken. No sushi. Just weed. Sigh … Super cute and clever name for a dispensary though.

Nero Belgian Waffle Bar
1703 Robson Street
Vancouver, BC V6G 1C9, Canada
(778) 712-0694
http://nerobelgianwafflebar.com

This was right next door to Green Panda and since we hadn’t really had desserts, we went in.

Mini Liege Waffles [original, vanilla custard, almond, 2 mini Liege au chocolat] | 5 for $10 hit the spot. It was crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. I wish I could get more of the mini Liege au chocolats here in Houston. So freaking good.

Sapporo Japanese Restaurant
1709 Robson Street
Vancouver, BC V6G 1C9, Canada
(604) 684-3444

Volcano Roll [8pcs: deep fried prawn, cucumber, avocado, topped with spicy tuna, green onion, spicy sauce, and sesame seeds] | $9

Hokikai [surf clam] | $2.25

Ama Ebi [sweet raw prawn] | $2.75

Scruffy ate most of the volcano roll and was getting full adding that when we go to our last food place, he won’t eat a lot but will only drink. He can’t hang. Nah, just kidding. It’s because he keeps drinking beer while I stick with water so I could eat more.

Dover Arms
961 Denman Street
Vancouver, BC V6G 2M3, Canada
(604) 683-1929
http://doverarmspub.com

Exhibit A. haha We had to make reservations to the next place so we stopped by here for him to grab a beer. He loved the glass and asked me to take a picture of it. So here it is. Looks like a grenade.

Kingyo
871 Denman Street
Vancouver, BC V6G 2L9, Canada
(604) 608-1677
http://kingyo-izakaya.ca

His, of course.

Stone-Grilled Kobe Beef [stone-grilled marinated Kobe beef with 2 kinds of Kingyo original sauce] | $24 was the BEST thing we ate that day. Oh my goodness gracious.

Look at that Kobe searing on that stone! Marbling perfection. My mouth is watering …

Stone-Grilled Beef Tongue [stone-grilled beef tongue served with Shio koji, red yuzu pepper sauce & green onions] | $ 9.80 is the same concept. And I about died. I’ve only eaten beef tongue in Hong Kong and Taiwan so having it here was like a dream.

Kingyo Japanese Izakaya| Vancouver, Canada | Mellie Dee & Scruffy Silly Faces

Me & Scruffy being silly

We took pictures while we waited for more food. This one’s my favourite.

I couldn’t leave without pigging out on this one last time. I would have gotten the Kobe beef if he was hungry but since he wasn’t and beef tongue was cheaper, I picked that instead. He had fun cooking it for me while I had fun eating it. Win-win.

They gave us Frozen Grapes | free as dessert. The flowers made a super cheap dessert super fancy.

While we were walking to Dover Arms we saw herds of people walking down the street with kids in tow. They were heading to English Bay to view the Honda Celebration of Light fireworks presented by The Walt Disney Company from the USA. While we walked back to Kingyo and after eating at Kingyo, they were still walking, like zombies. The fireworks haven’t even started!

We followed the crowd and watched the fireworks with them. I didn’t understand why they were all so excited to see fireworks and figured that they didn’t get to light fireworks like we do back in the states.

After a long walk back with the rest of the zombies, we reached our AirBnB. We finally opened up the Kinder Egg Surprise we got while we were in Chinatown earlier. He loved the chocolate and we tried playing with the toy that came inside.

That was the only form of coolness we got came from that standing fan. I was sweating so bad the day before and we decided to move it to the middle which was better. I thought everyone pretty much had air conditioning since we had it in Hong Kong but boy was I wrong.

Jumping to different sushi places made my heart smile and I’m thankful that he was willing to do so with me. At the end of the trip he flat out told me he was done with sushi/raw fish for a while. haha

2016 Summer Getaway | Day 3

August 16, 2016 by Mellie Dee Leave a Comment

We woke up and focused on packing up the rest of our things and getting ready. Scruffy called Avis to pick us up since that is what they guaranteed to do but when we did, they said that they will see if they can. We were literally a few blocks away.

Instead, we had to call our own Uber to get there, because of their horrible service. Once we got our car, we started our drive to Vancouver, Canada.

Carl’s Jr.
3703 116th St NE
Marysville, WA 98271
(360) 651-7531
http://carlsjr.com

We stopped by for brunch and ended up with horrible service like we did at Avis. The burger I ordered was wrong and when we went and told them, they insisted that they were correct and wouldn’t do anything about it even after I pointed out the picture on the board showed something different. Sigh … what happened to “the customer is always right?”

We stopped by the gas station while on our drive for some lotto and scratch offs. I did a few in the car to pass the time and won a little bit of cash.

We finally arrived at the border and the waiting game to get in began.

After crossing the border and a bit more driving, we were greeted with this view. Sigh … so gorgeous. We got to our AirBnb and after much confusion, we finally settled in and headed out to stuff our faces.

Steamworks Brewing Company
375 Water Street
Vancouver, BC V6B 5C6 Canada
(604) 689-2739
http://steamworks.com

He ordered the Empress IPA which was pretty strong and hoppy.

And ordered a flight to share where we each picked two flavours:

Killer Cucumber Ale that tasted like cucumber water.
Grapefruit Radler that tasted like straight up grapefruit juice, which is a given since that is what it’s mixed with.
Cranbeerium that tasted tart and crisp.
Smokey Milk Porter that tasted like chocolate and caramel smoke.

We also shared the Baked Spinach & Crab Dip [crab, Parmesan, mozzarella & cheddar cheese, toasted bagel chips] | $14.99. The dip itself was good but we didn’t feel bagel chips was the right way to go.

One of the reasons we went here was for the view suggested by one of our coworkers. But when we got there, this is what we saw. A gorgeous view blocked by railroads and storage containers. It was still gorgeous nonetheless.

131 Water Kitchen & Bar
131 Water Street
Vancouver, BC V6B 1B2 Canda
(604) 669-7219
http://131water.com

Scruffy was still on his ribs high from the night before so when he saw the Dry Garlic Ribs [hickory apple bbq sauce] | $5 he ordered it. It was so horrible we only shared one as a taster and didn’t eat the rest. I also found it funny that there was a dip section for the plate but they didn’t use it.

I opted for the Panko Prawns [spicy mayo and fries] | $4.50 which wasn’t too bad. The shrimp actually hit the spot for me but the fries could be better.

We didn’t go in here but thought it was adorable since his puppy’s name is Luna.

The Flying Pig
102 Water Street
Vancouver, BC V6B 2K8 Canada
(604) 559-7968
http://theflyingpigvan.com

He ordered a beer here while I got a water and scratched a couple more lotto tickets before moving on to the next place.

The Lamplighter Public House
92 Water St
Vancouver, BC V6B 2K8 Canda
(604) 687-4424
http://donnellygroup.ca/the-lamplighter/

He ordered a beer and we people watched. We both agreed the people here who have big muscles are less threatening than the ones in the states because Canadians are so nice.

Pourhouse Restaurant
162 Water Street
Vancouver, BC V6B 1B2 Canada
(604) 568-7022
http://pourhousevancouver.com

We both got beers since it was a more upscale place.

And we each enjoyed a Scotch Egg [spicy mayonnaise] | $8. I’ve never had one before and he insisted that they have to taste great here and they sure did. I craved this the next day and wished we got some. I want to try making this at home.

Six Acres
203 Carrall Street
Vancouver, BC V6B 2J2 Canada
(604) 488-0110
http://sixacres.ca

The lady who served us at the Lamplighter guided us here since we just wanted drinks. A Sour Ale beer for him and a wine for me. We had a great time here and even struck up a conversation with the ladies next to us.

This cutie enjoying his beer. He was in love with the bottle design.

Kimprints
41 Powell Street
Vancouver, BC V6A 1E9 Canada
(604) 685-0443
http://kimprints.com

I like going into gift shops because they have the funniest and cutest things like these pictures above.

The Irish Heather
210 Carrall Street
Vancouver, BC V6B 2J2 Canada
(604) 688-9779
http://irishheather.com

We made reservations for L’Abattoir so while we waited, we grabbed more drinks. (I’m starting to realize that this is the reason I didn’t lose any weight.)

We got lost searching for L’Abattoir but found a convenience store and bought some scratch offs. We didn’t win anything from Canada.

We saw that the ladies from Six Acres was still there so we asked them for guidance and we finally made it to our destination.

L’Abattoir
217 Carrall Street
Vancouver, BC V6B 2J1 Canada
(604) 568-1701
http://labattoir.ca

He ordered some fancy drink – pretty much a girly version of an old fashioned.

They gave us Bread | free. I loved the little rolls and sticks but not so much the flat ones.

We had decided to order only the Foie Gras Torchon [warm brioche, fresh yogurt, figs]. It was my first time trying this dish and all I could think about was how it tasted like butter. I’m hoping he’ll try the pate next time. Not as buttery but the flavours … oy.

We headed home earlier than all the previous nights since we were out so late the night before and from the long drive. And we knew we would want to try to hit more things the next day.

2016 Summer Getaway | Take Me Back

August 2, 2016 by Mellie Dee 1 Comment

Hi world! Scruffy and I are officially back to reality. We went into work today (I worked half at home after taking Dad to the doctor) and we were both so tired. I wish we were still living the good life up in that good weather eating that good seafood.

I took so many pictures that I know for a fact Scruffy was annoyed. I am one of those people who takes a picture of EVERY. SINGLE. THING. because memories. Here’s a picture to tide you over until I have a chance for a recap.

We found this little leaf in the hallway of our AirBnB in Seattle. I’m told it’s a marijuana leaf. I’ve never seen one before so I’ll believe what I’m told and since it’s legal in Seattle and Vancouver, they’re apparently everywhere.

Until next time,

2016 Summer Getaway

June 30, 2016 by Mellie Dee 4 Comments

Seattle, Washington Skyline
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Scruffy and I have always discussed going on a trip out of Texas in the past and in less than a couple of days, flights, lodging, and transportation were all booked for the end of July for Seattle and Vancouver.

I cannot wait to get out of this humid Texas weather and into more cooling temperatures. I’m certain after visiting, I’ll be wanting to move like I did when I visited Portland a couple of years back. Sigh … my family picked the wrong place to live.

All we have left to plan are places to eat, attractions to see, and things to do. We have both never been to these places before, so it’ll be an interesting, new experience for us both. I cannot wait until the day comes … that is if we don’t kill one another trying to figure everything out.

Vancouver, Canada Skyline
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