Post for April

The last two hours of the last day of April.  I'm travelling at the moment and have had no time to post - and when I have had time I had no motivation or focus.  So here is my post for April, I will edit it later.

[edit: later. Much later] Now in the twilight days of 2016 coming to an end, I hide inside and catch up on posts.
I should've mentioned that I had a wonderfully relaxed birthday at the end of March.  I woke up feeling fine, and just overall happy.  I wore a long light skirt just for the sake of a special occasion! I walked to the nearby Denny's to get my FREE birthday Grand Slam breakfast (scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, and pancakes), which is more than I can eat in one sitting so I had leftovers for next day's breakfast.  From the West End I walked into a Blendz and got a FREE whatever-beverage-I-want, so I got what would normally be the most expensive matcha tea and proceeded down the street.  I couldn't stop smiling, it was like I was giddy with the giggles for no reason.  Passersby looked at me rather puzzled but reflexively smiled back.  Note that if you're smiling or laughing to yourself while hitchiking many drivers find this alarming like you're a psychopath.  Even the social conscience that thinks of the doom-and-gloom news couldn't sober me.  I'm just happy today.  And my matcha tea lasted me exactly till I got to another Blendz down the street so I got another FREE matcha.  Happy day! From there I took my well-trodden path to Shaktea on Main St where I would meet my friend for our usual tea+tarot birthday ritual later, and on my way I found a few more geocaches including one that had eluded me before.  Yay! Onto tea and a good chat, then I returned back downtown and got dressed up fancy for a steak dinner at Hy's steakhouse, which I'd noticed before and been curious to visit for a special occasion that would justify the price.  Cocktails and steak+lobster and red wine and a little sliver of dessert.  Happy birthday to me!
 
What do I remember of April? I spent a few weeks out with my friends in White Rock and made a new friend there, we spent most days walking and geocaching around White Rock together and he would later accompany me on my trip to Sloquet hot springs, in essentially the wilderness.  I consider a new friend a belated birthday gift from the universe!
I also had a nice Easter with my parents back in Oliver, a brief visit for the holiday long weekend.

Warm in Snug Cove

March has steadily slogged on through the rain, with the occasional appearance of sun we Vancouverites crave all winter.  We lucked into a sunny weekend for most of our time in Snug Cove (apart from a rainy sail back), and did some hiking along winding hilly residential roads, forests, and a staircase down to the beach.  Exercise was steady enough to wake up muscles from a season's stupor, combined with fresh woodsy air made me feel bright and positive.  There are plenty of networking trails for hikers, but an easy walk in any weather along well maintained paths is in Crippen Regional Park.  Hemlock trees growing out of nurse logs and stumps look like they're on stilts as the old wood crumbles away.
We had our biannual potluck in the rented cabin and had breakfast at The Snug, a cozy and popular place that floods with people every time the ferry unloads.  I'd been there a few times and always remember the friendly older fella who ran the place, Piers.  So far his was the only split pea soup that I've liked.  I learned that he passed away just recently, and though I didn't know him well he was an important fixture in this small community and there was an outpouring of condolences at the restaurant.  Makes me wish I'd brought a spotlight to The Snug sooner.

Valentine's Volunteering

Even with an extra Leap Day for Leap Year I've found little time to write.

The end of February came and went quickly, with a return to volunteering with the Vancouver International Wine Festival I've posted on in the past here and here.  This year I was a team leader and had four days of helping pour for all the seminars, working with my excellent crew.  This year's focus was Italy, and I enjoyed some prosecco but frankly feel a bit ambivalent towards the reds, even the orange-tinged ones from 1997 that the others ooh and ahh over - for lack of a better term, they just taste like wine.  I prefer the juicy purple roundness of the New World wines.  To each their own.
 
This year through a friend's relatives I had an opportunity to volunteer for the Variety's Show of Hearts Telethon, answering phones and taking pledges for donations to Variety that enriches the lives of children with special needs.  I'm not a big fan on talking on phones as my strength is writing more than speaking, but was eager for a new experience and glad that I could be of service to someone.  Our shift fell right on Valentine's Day morning this year, but we were compensated fairly with both breakfast and lunch catered by White Spot.  The 'work' was a pleasure, brief conversations with donors who were happy to give us their money, it's like the happier side of working in retail.  Between taking calls we watched the interviews and flashback clips from past years, and were subjected to the Rubber Ducky song from Sesame Street, becoming an earworm in my head for the rest of the day.

A taste of Tojo's

At the risk of sounding jaded, I feel that Valentine's Day is another holiday built on consumer-driven guilt, rather much like Christmas.  Retailers and restaurants with jack their prices for seasonal fare because they know we'll pay it to impress our loved ones, and we do!  Bah humbug.
To skip the prices and throngs of everyone else on a date, we simply _moved_ Valentine's Day a few days before.  I reject needing an arbitrarily designated day to show appreciation for someone.  That said, it's a great excuse to get prettied up for an indulgence.
We went to Tojo's for sushi.  This isn't your party-tray-from-the-grocery-store sushi, this is finely crafted gourmet creations from a world famous pioneer of sushi; Tojo invented the 'inside out' rolls, with the rice on the outside surrounding a core of seaweed-bound flavours, for North American tastes that don't favour the taste or texture of too much seaweed.  As well he features seafood not traditionally found in Japan, including albacore tuna, sablefish, and salmon.  Pictured here is the last morsel of the Great Canadian Roll which pairs two of my favorite yummy critters: lobster and salmon.  Suffice to say it didn't last long enough to start fussing with cameras.  We had to get a photo of the splendid presentation of the Celebration 2010 Roll: that little candle lantern is made of what appears to be thinly sliced vegetable of some sort with stamped little stars cut out, and has a single birthday candle that lasts roughly as long as it takes to finish the roll.  That writing is a blueberry drizzle - who else would think to pair blueberry with sushi? - that complimented the pineapple and salmon in the roll, which held a myriad of flavors I was curious about from the menu description, and all came together to be my favorite.  We enjoyed the baked oysters and got a second round of marinated Tojo's Tuna.
We ordered some fun cocktails here, the Ginger-tini (I love ginger, always feel so energized), and the Lychee Orchid.  They also offer one of the most impressive lists of sake I've seen, both hot or cold.  Sometimes heating alcohol is a way of concealing flaws and loses some of the subtleties - I'm reminded of our spirited competitions to find the cheapest bottle 'o red for making mulled wine at Christmas - so today we tried a cold one.  Presented in frosted shot glasses in small wooden box-trays so the server's hands don't warm it, the sake was quite melon and citrus and just went with the light+clean sense of the whole meal.
We saw Tojo himself working behind the counter, where along with his crew they compose these precise arrangements with an air of steady focus and ease.  The wait staff were very attentive and the ambiance was very tranquil.  My compliments to everyone there, I would revisit in an instant.

Winter silence, then comes the noise..

January has passed by quickly it seems, yet I have little to report on.  Fun outings with my friends, and plans for more in Feb.  As January comes to a close we're back into the rain, but here's some photos of the riverside promenade of Fort Langley a few weeks ago. Frost and a rosy sunset.

I am eager for color to return.  My rosemary bloomed at Christmas, and the snowdrops and miniature irises and grape hyacinth are coming soon.

I attended the Robbie Burns Supper put on by the Vancouver Police Pipe Band, as I have in years past.  They did a great job, and I can recommend going though it seems tickets are sold through friend-of-a-friend of the police force and/or pipe band, with proceeds going towards their touring.
The band was great, one I was familiar with seeing at the Irish Heather I frequented years ago, they covered plenty of songs I knew from Great Big Sea and Spirit of the West.
The food was fantastic; rolls, two kinds of salad, steamed veggies, traditional turnips, whipped potatos and haggis, and roast beef.  I got my yearly dose of haggis and more - in past years I'd heard that they sold off the leftovers in takeaway containers (and I just missed out), yet this year I inquired early and I suppose it filtered back to the kitchen somehow, there was an extra entire haggis, cooked yet unopened, and they simply gave it to me at the end of the night. Nice score!
On top of all this fine night was my highlight, the pipe band itself.  The pomp and pageantry of the bright  polished uniforms is exciting, and the wall of sound was tremendous.  A haunting call that wafts o'er the moors from a distance would befit this weather, but mere feet away from me it filled the hall triumphantly and I was silently cheering.  I felt I could crash through an entire battlefield single handed and annihilate everyone just because I have a wall of bagpipes with me!!!
I got three samples of different scotches and they were quite generous pours, so maybe that helps...

Liebster Award 2015

My friend Eeva nominated me for a Liebster Award 2015 for this blog - thanks Eeva!
Alas, as per award stipulations I can't nominate hers back and I don't really browse others' blogs often enough to have a favorite 11, but here are my responses to Wander the World's questions:

1. If you could visit one destination in the world, where would it be? Iceland.  Their culture has been proudly self-contained for ages, and their geography and landscape is dynamic and beautiful, and yet the land is small enough I can perhaps "do it all" in one go.

2. Which book is your favourite and why? "Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal", by Christopher Moore. I find it accessible to anyone who doesn't mind a humorous take on Christ's unaccounted-for years, and it's silly, but also thoughtful and well done.

3. Can you speak another language(s) and if so, which one(s)? A bit of German, enough to get by, and Grade 11 Canadian French, though is a bit rusty.

4. What is the most bizarre food you’ve eaten? "Bizarre" is relative.  I've eaten eight feet of raw stinging nettles in an hour at the Stinging Nettle Eating Championship in Marshwood, England.  They're high in vitamin D and would pair well with a Sauvignon Blanc.

5. Would you travel solo? I prefer travelling solo.  Less people to consult/cater to every decision.

6. What are your 3 essentials you take with you when travelling? Passport.  Water bottle.  Little toy bunny on my bag I can talk to when the going gets rough.

7. Do you prefer sweet or savory foods? Years ago I would've said sweet, but nowadays I find savoury more satisfying, less of that cloying mouth-feel and sugar spike-crash.  I sometimes convince myself that they're more healthy too.

8. Is your preference beers, wines or cocktails? Wine.

9. How did you start blogging? It was recommended as a tip for marketing and exposure to get a career foothold as a 'professional'... in whatever my profession is.  Hmm.  Some folks think I should court the travel mags to see if they'd like to publish my articles - any takers?

10. How many languages can you say “thank you” in? Five.  I can say "cheers" in more.

11. Where have you experienced the most extreme culture shock? Maybe Mexico, as many practices there we would consider unsafe here, especially with cars. Safety features like rear view mirrors and seatbelts and even seats are merely a suggestion!!  Most of my travels have been to countries with cultures similar to mine (Europe, and I'm English blood), so perhaps slight variations in gender roles, how ladies should dress and how macho the guys are. A wise man told me "People are pretty much the same, wherever you go" - the differences are amusing, but the similarities are just human.

Thanks for the nomination!

Silver for the season

As I write this, the grey rains have returned.  When I was younger I always disliked November as "nothing good happens" or ""I have nothing to look forward to", yet now I see it's up to me to make my own fun and make the choice to burn brightly despite the blah.  And so we start winding up for the Christmas season - not the frantic commercialism that'll set in like a panic the week before, but the positive festive aspects. 
One of my most anticipated tasks is decorating a tree.  Big or small, real or fake, it doesn't matter.  I'll decorate anyone's tree who will let me, that way we can enjoy it all December.
So here is one done; she has two steamer trunks full of ornaments accumulated over years that won't all fit onto a tiny tree, so I can pick and choose what I want to use each year.  This year's motif was sparkly: glass, crisp white, shiny silver, soft grey, and a few hits of red to catch the eye.  It'll go with the sparkling wine for her party.

I recalled years ago hearing a German folktale about silver pinecones; while not specifically for Christmas I enjoy the thought of benevolent and charitable spirits in winter.

Silver Pinecones
Once upon a time there was a man and woman living in their home near the forested mountains, and they had many children.  The man worked as a miner, but fell ill and was confined to his bed.  The family soon ran out of money to feed their children, but more pressing was the dwindling firewood to heat their home in the cold nights.  The wife set out into the woods to collect pinecones that would burn brightly and perhaps she could sell for some food.
In the dark woods she was afraid as she began to collect pinecones, and even moreso when one of the forest folk appeared and demanded to know why she was taking his pinecones.  When she explained her situation he suggested she instead collect the pinecones in the next forest over, just a bit further up the mountain.  She climbed there, and was so tired she set her basket down and immediately pinecones rained down around her and filled her basket.
As she carried her full basket back down the mountain she thought the load seemed to get heavier with every step.  When she finally poured out her basket, the pinecones had turned to solid silver!
She had enough to buy food for the whole winter and medicine to heal her husband, and they had so many silver pinecones left that the family was never poor or hungry again.
To this day, many still keep a silver pinecone in their homes for good luck.

And I just found this one today, though a few variations on the tale:
Christmas Spiders
A woman was cleaning her house before Christmas and the spiders around her home fled lest they be swept away.  The watched from high dark corners as she set up the Christmas tree, and when she'd gone to bed they raced along the boughs and excitedly admired the ornaments on the decorated tree, trailing their dusty webs behind them.
When Father Christmas arrived, he was glad to see that the spiders were so happy but knew the woman would be heartbroken to see her tree covered with webs, so with one touch he turned the webs to silver and gold.  The tree was even more beautiful than before.