You can order a pizza at Subway.
Or get a sub sandwich at Dominos. AND Dunkin Donuts.
Now Pizza Hut is pushing pasta.

What next? You're going to tell me McCain and Obama are tied in the polls? Yeah right...

Labels: fast food politics

I've always dreamed of this day. OK, I dream of better things, but it is a good day when a wonderfully useful site like yelp comes to Canada. Vancouver has had this hole in the webosphere that DineHere.ca and the Martini Boys could never quite fulfill. Chowhound will still be my most trusted source for restaurant reviews because of all the knowledge foodie contributors, but it can't compete with Yelp's interface.

Now for the issue of defaulting the home city to Toronto...

Labels: reviews web

Long overdue for an update, so I'll just sum up the past two weeks (with lots of firsts):

• Road the Aquabus for the first time (after Fireworks)
  
• Umbro Beach Soccer tournament at Spanish Banks (we tied all 3 games
  
• Pride Parade (too many floats, not as good as last year)
  
• First hot yoga class (thx E)
  
• Scored tickets to the Dec 21 Seahawks vs Jets with Brett Favre announcement a few days later (10am Ticketmaster, refresh, refresh)
  
• good first time eats at Chambar (mussels & guwerztraminer from Germany, not the Okanagan), Finch's Tea House (brie pear proscuitto sandwich), The Eatery (neat sushi) and Falafel Maison (schwarmas)
  
• Finally got a Queen bed
  
• Kits Summer of Love Festival (pretty weak honestly, but it'll improve)
  
• Canlan soccer playoffs (we lost, we were down a man but good effort)
  
• biked the trails at Stanley Park (yes, they have trails, they are easy!)
  

Phewph. And Tuesday is the much awaited Radiohead outdoor concert at UBC's Thunderbird Stadium. Also a bit of work and Jamaican rum thrown in there, and made some new friends and reconnected with some old ones.

The photo is of the diesel stacks on the new Coast Renaissance super ferry (fastcat) on the way back from four nights camping at Lake Cowichan. I would plan my trip just to ride these new ferries, they are that nice.

Labels: summer update

I'm headed to the Okanagan with Ryan tomorrow for 4 nights, staying by Kelowna & Summerland. Yup, just us two, we had some interest in Van & Calgary but it all fell through (kind of like the Canada Day camping trip...).

Last month as I was doing my occasional nerding out on tech news, I caught this video on how to use PBwiki, using a camping trip as an example. My thirst for new tools and not wanting to flood Ryan's Hotmail inbox while organizing led me to signup to PBwiki. It worked rather well! Its a tad thorough, so if you plan on a similar trip you might even find the content useful. Its entitled Okanagan Camping 2008. Don't laugh, my itineraries are only meant as guidelines and suggestions, I'm a go-with-the-flow type. Its an odd trip, save money by camping, then eat at top notch restaurants (I'm pretty excited about ex-Teatro Michael Allemeier at Mission Hill, Bouchons Bistro in Kelowna & Amante Bistro in Penticton).

Biking (bought a new rack and a Gary Fisher Big Sur), hiking, beaches, boats, kayaks, and of course, the wine. So much to do, I can't wait to explore BC.

Labels: camping okanagan

Call me easily amused, or possibly the fact that I am in the bathroom more often when I've had a few drinks and giggly, but I love when an establishment adds a little wit in the loo. I'm not just talking the urinal ad that gets your thirty seconds of undivided attention. An example is this poster from one of my favorite lounges, Section 3 in Yaletown. That's all there is to it, no words, just a big poster of two Chinese construction workers looking your way. Bumpy's cafe in Calgary also has a witty toilet. Any WC's make you laugh while you answer nature's call? Share them in the comments.

Personal Update: Next week I'll be working in Calgary for five days, and I'm finally armed with business cards! (Anyone notice oil spiking $10.75 on Friday? The pundits call it a market overreaction... now gas is at $1.46 per litre! I remember the 39.9c days... check out GasBuddy.com for historical price charts).

Note: I originally titled this post "Washroom humour", but changed it to be American friendly.

Labels: washroom bathroom humour gas oil

My friend in California is a rocket scientist. His Gmail Chat status reads "Hating Work". Two contacts below, my friend in NYC "is hating the CFA". She's been with one of the largest investment banks for five years. I don't have any more background on their feelings at this no doubt stressful moment, but it echoes some thoughts I've had recently.

If someone were to ask you to do something you hated, and do it five times a week, eight hours a day, for the foreseeable future, what would you say? Then why do we all do it? Something to ask yourself.

On a related note, I've been back in town for two months, yet I haven't seen one of my good friends because he is too busy with work and school. Its not his fault, it speaks more to the North American Institution we've fallen into (I'll save my rants for a future post). Last night I finished John Grisham's newest and easiest read, Playing for Pizza, and I find myself wishing I could follow Rick Dockery and runaway to Parma.

Labels: work inspiration

Its been gorgeous lately here in Vansterdam. So much so that I've been at the beach three times in the past two weeks! I'm not bragging... OK maybe a bit, but the beach is one of the things I missed the most in the past four years in the land-locked Prairies where all you get for water is a glacial-fed lake or a cess pool like Sylvan (then again, its rare to see locals actually IN the water on the coast).

It was "only" 24C out, which reminded me of two Septembers ago when I was visiting Toby in SF (Frisco as the locals say, SanFran as Canadians say). It was an abnormally hot Labour Day weekend (or labor as Americans say =P) and Karina from France was in town with nothing on the schedule, so I suggested we hit the beach.

Toby: The beach? No ones gonna be there, its not hot enough!
Victor: What are you talkin aboot, its 30C! Let's go! (it was actually 90F)
Toby: Alright, you're the tourists...

We stopped for some snacks, picked up some Taiwan Beer for old times sake, and beach supplies (kid's ball & bat). We climbed over the hill on the edge of the highway in Pacifica and saw the beach come slowly into view. Empty. Toby's usually right. Didn't matter, we enjoyed the sun and a beautiful sunset. I'd link to the album, except it was on the now defunct Imagestation. I told Toby about how Vancouverites flock to the beach at the first sign of sun and +20C temperatures. The response I usually get is a friendly belittling "Canadians".

On a personal note, I just got back from Calgary last night on another business trip and booked my tickets for September long weekend in SF. Its one of the few cities I could see myself living in... so anyone need a housesitter for a month or two? I'll keep it clean and pay all the utilities! :)

Labels: kits beach sf vancouver

I stepped out of the safety net today and attended Launch Party 4 by myself last night at The Republic. A gathering of "entrepreneurs, techies and marketers", LPV4 as its known is a networking event for the small but growing Vancouver .com scene. Of the seven start-ups showing their stuff, two looked to be on the cusp of something big, while another two seemed completely out to lunch. I met a handful of good people, and look forward to the next event. When I get things sorted out, I'll write about the featured companies. I should probably get some temporary business cards as well! (Still waiting on that logo, Kerry...)

SavvyAuntie.com wrote a helpful article "20 Tips for the New Entrepreneur". I'm not a regular reader of this "auntrepreneur" blog, but my friend Erica sent me the link and I just stumbled upon this article written today, after the link has been sitting in my inbox for 2 weeks. I share her same reads, so immediately I know we're like minded people. As Melanie says in bullet #14, surround yourself with people who inspire you.

As for this blog, I know its quite random, and has never had intentions to get big. It was a personal journal, a place for old friends to see what I'm up to, and to link to my photos and whatever else is on my mind at the time. It hasn't been redesigned in four years, but I'm re-evaluating everything from the content to the design. Stay tuned.

Labels: vancouver startups entrepreneur

Think of the out of focus cluster of leaves at the back as Pandora, one of my favorite sites that is no longer available to Canadians. I wrote about this back in 2007. The semi out of focus leaves to the left could be Last.fm, which I still use and scrobble my iPods with. The top leaf could be Yahoo! Music, the 2nd most popular streaming on demand music site.

So you're asking, what about the leaf in focus? What did Victor find? The answer, which is new to me but may not be to you (one of 10 million users), is imeem.com. Social media on-demand streaming music at its finest (for now). Read the Wired article that led me to it. (And can you believe the whole Wired / TechCrunch pissing match? What a waste of time, I'm not even going to link to it. How unprofessional can these popular sites get? Please. Stop.).

Note: The photo is of a red leaf Japanese Maple tree taken last week on a sunny day at the VanDusen Botanical Gardens, that I forcibly related to this post. This was surprisingly my first visit ever, so take a look at some of my photos from VanDusen on Flickr.

Labels: music streaming social media gardens flora

I'm one of those people that are always looking for the next vacation. So the latest deal I heard (through my mom of all people) is from up and coming (and profitable) Allegiant Air. If you don't mind the border and park'n ride hassle, Allegiant is offering new summer service from Bellingham to SF for $78 each way. Thats $177US after taxes!

Or if you're looking for a different kind of culture, experience Independence Day in Las Vegas, for $88 each way, $196US after taxes! Thats dirt cheap for a Canadian!

Labels: flights deals airlines