For those of you who don't know, I've come to Vancouver to work for the Olympics. I traveled with my fellow leasider and Guelph friend Sarah, and we're staying with our girl Erin-- all three of us will be working together at the Molson Canadian Hockey House for 17 days straight, no days off. Should be quite the experience.
SO.......
Sarah and I embarked on our journey on Thursday, leaving
our little Leaside behind us, excited for what lay ahead. The plane ride to Van started off well, but about an hour into the trip we hit some serious turbulence. We are both very uneasy fliers and must have looked like quite the team aboard the plane. I sat frozen in my seat, one hand clenching my seat arm and the other firmly squeezing Sarah's hand, unable to reach the ativan mum had given me for situations of tension. Juxtaposingly, Sar thrashed violently, grabbing the seat in front of her every time we hit a bump, hoping to anchor her for our impending doom. "Katie, is this normal, oh my god.... omg omg omg, how is no one around us freaking out? OMG.. omg omg katie OMG." I'm convinced we caused quite the scene and we've had good laughs thinking of the scenario since. Anyway, when the plane leveled out we decided to get some red wine to calm our nerves and celebrate our survival. Lindeman's merlot.... very tastey!After the flight we hopped in a cab with our 2 pieces of luggage each and ventured to East Van, our to-be neighbourhood for the following 6 weeks. It's a great little area, so many restaurants and vintage shops around, which we explored on Friday after a night of getting settled in our new digs. As Erin works another job Mon-Fri 9-5, Sar and I were left to fend for ourselves the first day. We mooched around and checked out all the local shops and managed to resist making purchases as we're being good girls and saving our money to travel after the games.
As it was my bday on Sunday, we decided to have a weekend
full of celebrating. Friday night we got dressed in our finest club garb and went out for a night on the town. Little did Sarah and I know, Van City people like to go out at 9 pm.... back home we're usually getting ready at this time. By the time we got to our destination, a club on Granville (the main nightlife strip downtown), there was already a lineup out the wazoo. We ended up waiting 45 minutes in line after trying to pursuade the bouncer to just let us in, a move that only works in Toronto apparently. Erin's buddy Conner ended up paying the bouncer 80 dollars to let us in, not to mention there was a $12 cover charge once inside this mediocre "hot spot". In conclusion, our first night out left us with a bad impression of the nightlife, HOWEVER, I remain optimistic.
Saturday the girls and I went for an early brunch at a local dim sum spot. It was the closest thing to being in Asia that I've ever experienced as the food was authentic and we three blondes stood out like sore thumbs amidst the sea of oriental families dining. After, we hopped on two buses which took us to Jericho beach to watch Erin's friends play rugby. It was the most beautiful day and most amazing view of the mountains and city. Incredible! We had some brews and "watched" the game, aka we drank and gossiped about the night before. There are so many Toronto friends in Vancouver, two of whom met us at the game (Geoff Brooks, a leasider, and Andrew Lackie, an old fam friend!). After the game we went to the rugby house and had some more beers with the team. Great times! Needless to say, Sarah and I were pretty drained by the end of the night, so we ended up staying in and watched episodes of Fawlty Towers and True Blood while Erin went out and partied. What a champ.
The next day was my big 2-4 birthday celebration, which also coincided with the SUPABOWL! What an amazing day. We went for all-you-can eat sushi at a great spot called BC Sushi, then worked our way downtown to meet Conner and his buddies at Shark Club. The place was packeddddddd with football fans, most of which were cheering for the Saints (me included). What a game it was, and what a good way to celebrate my getting older (but none the wiser). After the game, we went to dinner at a great restaurant called Earl's, and then finished the night off at a strip club! Haha, quite the day/night that will go down as being one of the top birthdays yet. Thanks to all who participated!!!
Anyway, yesterday Sarah and I had the laziest of lazy days; we had a True Blood marathon and only came up for air to go to the bathroom and to grab McDonald's. We ate outside so at least we got to enjoy the day a bit. I know, I know... so bad and somewhat pathetic, but we're justifying our lack of sight-seeing with the fact that we need to take it easy before having to work slave labour hours for the rest of Febuary.
We just got home from grabbing a coffee at a popular cafe called JJ Bean, did some grocery shopping, and are now planning on making some pizza and having some vino while watching the second season of True Blood as this is our last day off for 19 days straight. DON'T worry mumsie, I haven't been drinking THAT much.... haha love you!
So there you have it, a solid yet rushed recap of the days we've spent discouvering so far. Stay tuned to hear about our first days at MCHH, I'm sure there will be lots to tell.
Peace out - KT xo
