Have Car, Will Travel - Part 2

I've officially fallen off the WW wagon, I think I had about a weeks worth of food on Monday. It's 10 AM Tuesday, and I'm still full from last night. I'll be up a few pounds on weigh-day and I don't care.

Breakfast was at the 9th Avenue Diner, where I had one of the best Benny's I've ever had - instead of back bacon, it had a farmer's sausage. That, the english muffin, two eggs and the hollandaise sauce, and I was pretty much good for the day. As a conceit to good dietary practices, I skipped the hash browns and had mixed fruit instead.

For lunch I had candy.

Supper was at one of the restaurants that garething recommended - Kam's Singapore Restaurant (Davie, between Burrard and Thurlow). It was damn good. We had the Veggie Pad Thai, Coconut Rice, Ginger Beef and Chicken & Veggies in Black Bean Sauce. It was all really good. Spicy, but not stupid spicy. And it was all spicy in different ways, so that you never really got used to one flavour, so you got it good and hard with every bite (assuming you eat like a normal person and not like a Romulan). The Ginger beef was especially good because it was different from what I'm used to in Cowtown. In Calgary, ginger beef is always the same style (albeit there are differences in quality), namely shredded and dee fried, then mixed with some veggies and doused in ginger sauce. Kam's was different - I suspect they pan fried the beef instead of deep frying. As I mentioned, it was spicy, but you didn't really feel it on your tongue - it was more a back-of-the-throat spicy, that you felt, and raised a sweat, but didn't have you begging for mercy. I also had a blended coconut/leechee drink called Boo Boo's Special that was damn tasty and was just the sort of creamy goodness that went well with a spicy meal.

To add insult to injury, we went to Calhouns for a late-night coffee and I had a hot chocolate and peanut butter cookie.

But I didn't just stuff my face in Vancouver, oh no, I also went to see The Goblet of Fire. It was good, better than the novel I think.

( Spoilers for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire )

Have Car, Will Travel - Part 3

wendy_licious told me I had to buy her "prezzies" while in Vancouver - should I go for this or this?

Have Car, Will Travel - Part 4

Today I just wandered around Vancouver.

I walked from the hotel to Commercial Avenue, where I spent the afternoon window shopping. Bought a few things for assorted people, which I will give as birthday presents (my birthday but their presents - tis better to give then to receive, plus my birthday has been declared Buy Nothing Day. Hmm. Not sure I approve, but Ok.)

I checked out lots of subversive little shops, and also didn't eat nearly as much as I did yesterday. I still ate too much, but it's not so bad. Later I went back to the hotel and snoozed for an hour or so, then went to meet somejauntypolka, chris9871 and whiggy_one for supper at Cactus Club, where I once again fell in love (or some similar four letter word beginning with "L") with every single waitress. By a weird train of coincidences, I managed to treat one waitress with a truly awe-inspiring bit of advice that I hope she heeds - don't ever watch the Blair Witch Project.

Two things happened on the way to dinner. While walking to Granville, some 'tard almost ran me down - on the sidewalk. And the fool had the nerve to blame me because I was wearing dark clothing. Fuckwad - it's your responsibility to watch where you're going, and that includes not advancing into a driveway while people are in it. A bit of a shouting match ensued, and the guy threatened to "teach me a lesson". Right pal, because the fact that I have a foot of height, 50 pounds of mass and I'm 15 years younger than you means nothing. Jerk.

Whew. Ok, I'm calm now.

The more important thing is that I showed up at the Stanley Theatre and managed to get a ticket to see Beauty and the Beast! Sadly, I couldn't convince somejauntypolka or slavewench to go. I suspect more advanced warning or possibly less spicy food the day before would have helped.

Supper was good, but fast because I had to make curtain time. I got a truly pleasant surprise to find that I was sitting beside someone who was also not part of a couple - a pretty woman who was both chatty and charming. No idea what her name was because I managed to get all nervous every time we spoke.

The show started and, for the first few minutes, it was total cheese. I thought maybe I had made a big mistake, but no, with the first musical number I fell into it's spell and ended up feeling the joy that I felt when I saw the movie.

As musical theatre it was pretty good. the choreography was fantastic (and the dancers obviously talented and athletic!). The sets where beautiful and well designed. The actores did a great job and everyone's singing was top notch. Amy Wallis, The lead actress playing Belle was so good in fact that she sounded like Paige O'Hara, a comparison I intend as high praise! Warren Kimmel as the Beast also sang his heart and managed to come across as the tortured soul that the Beast is, despite having to act and sing through an alarming amount of prosthesis. Johathan Winsby also has a good time camping things up as Gaston.

The ending arrived and I once again got all misty eyed the way I always do, though it has given me a powerful urge to watch the movie again.

Throughout it all, the girl beside me seemed to be enjoying herself as much as I was, and she had a wonderfully full and infectious laugh - I think I fell a little bit in love with her. I just wish I had the nerve to talk to her some more. I was even going to pass her the url of this site, but I chickened out at the last minute. :(

She wished me a good remaining vacation, and then we went our separate ways. sigh. I know people who have the magical ability to simply talk to anyone without fear. God I envy them.