Seaweed and dog do not mix

No sign of bears

 It’s Sunday evening and I’ve just got back in after a walk in West Vancouver where there are ‘bear spotted in this area’ signs. We didn’t see any bears, but Ash nearly wet herself when she saw a squirrel. We’ve got a great view of the mountains around here, it seems like every day the snow comes a little further down and we had our first hail storm this week. Thankfully I have finally ordered some boots so I shouldn’t get trench foot now. 

It’s been quite an eventful second week here. Firstly, me and Ash have both got jobs. I start on the 8^th of November at a stylish technology shop right in the middle of Davie Street. It’s a different kind of shop that gives back a heck of a lot to the LGBTQ community, and I should be able to do some volunteering through them too. I’m really excited about starting, but a little concerned about my tech knowledge. I feel a bit out of my depth but they’re very supportive, and I now find myself making a mental note every time I see a someone with a smartphone (ALL the time).

We went to our first gig on Saturday night, a band called Uh Huh Her which was really fun, even if it did finish at 9:30. At our best estimate, the audience was 85-90% gay women. We’ve also discovered that I am really tall for a lesbian...but there were a couple of hard lasses in vests who stood a couple of inches taller. Phew. It was also pretty fun to be here for Halloween. The girl who served our lunch was dressed as Anne of Green Gables which made my year. If you look hard on Ash’s blog you should be able to spot her Dirts (look for the straw boater). 

Getting excited about Green Gables

We move into our new apartment in a week which is really exciting. It’s in a great position and I think we could make it feel really cosy. (It’ll probably be easy because it’s a studio and therefore ‘cosy’ by definition). However it’ll be great to have our own space and I can’t wait to start cooking with the produce here. I haven’t got high hopes for the oven but it’ll be nice to eat in. It’s been really great staying with Sandi and Steve because we’ve had some home-cooked meals, but we’ve definitely still had some new culinary experiences this week...

Firstly, JAPADOG: the fusion of Western hot dogs with Japanese flavourings. They are mad for this over here and the place was still rammed at 3pm. I had the staple beef hot dog with Japanese dressing, onions and seaweed, and fries with soy sauce and butter dressing. It was by the fourth mouthful that I started to regret my decision. By the time we’d both come to the end of our dogs, we were both pretty close to vomming. It’s safe to say that the marriage of these flavours was perhaps a bit too much for our British palates. The windy bus journey home was tricky to say the least. Epic food FAIL. 

However, I have also found my food heaven this week, in a sandwich shop called simply, ‘Meat & Bread’. They specialise in Porchetta (haha Bobs) ciabattas, and dress it differently each day. It was salsa verde when we went, which is as close to the perfect sandwich as I could ask for. They only do 4 sandwiches a day, which change depending on what’s available and it was exceptional. Really stylish, and with that communal long table eating thing which seems to be very trendy here, I think we’re going to be visiting this place pretty often. Plus they had a massive light-up sign which said MEAT.

A couple of further points:

      1.       They make salmon into everything here and on reflection they probably shouldn’t. Salmon pepperoni is extremely dry and the idea of salmon candy just scares me.

      2.       Chorizo is super cheap so I’m pretty sure I’m going to live here forever.

      3.       There’s lots of Vietnamese food here which is amazing. But Vietnamese Mint is the devil’s food.

      4.       EVERYTHING is sweet.  Ash found this out the hard way with some cornichons and I had a bad experience with some baked beans (heavy on the molasses).

      5.       We’re still on the search for some good bars, but we’ve found a good area in Gastown, and Ash is going to be working right in the middle of it.

Ash enjoying a pint

6.       I had cauliflower at breakfast. 

We’re hoping to get out of the city soon, and get over to Vancouver Island. Ash has her heart set on doing the big suspension bridge in the forest so as soon as it isn’t raining we’re heading to Lynn Canyon to do that. I’m pretty sure that Converse on a wooden suspension bridge in the rain is a really bad idea. 

        I'm still really enjoying it and hopefully this week will be just as good. Ash is working at the American Apparel warehouse sale so I'm fixing to buy a new bow tie.

 

I promise I’ll try and talk about something other than food next time.

Stella x