Vancouver Meanderings and New Plans

   It's that time again! Yes, more stuff to share with you as we continue our stay in Vancouver. But first, a little note to you kind folk who comment here on the blog.

  For some bizarre reason your identities are hidden from me when I read your comments. Also, unless you tell Blogger that you want to be notified of my replies you won't know I've read the comments and want to continue the discussion. Here's what you should do if you want to comment.

1. Include your name in the actual comment if the screen says you are "Anonymous". Also, there are three couples we know who have been commenting and identifying themselves as "S and B" so, Susan and Bruce, Sheila and Bryan, Sandra and Ben, HELP!
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  There, details taken care of. Now, on to today's installment. It's Friday, so there's a whole week to catch up on.

  We started the week with a visit to Yvonne, a family friend who I've known since the age of 5. We touch base occasionally via email and have seen her every few years when she stops off in Toronto on her way home to Newfoundland. She and her family have been living in BC since the 1970's and this was the first time we've been able to visit her since my brother and I saw her in Fort St. John in 1977.

  It was a very nice visit and we got the chance to get to know her son, David, who I last saw when he was eight years old. He's a little bigger now and, it turns out, we have much in common. We've been invited for dinner next week and he's agreed to let me criticize the quality of his home renovations. Not.

  Since we're living in Surrey, which is about an hour's drive to downtown Vancouver, we haven't had much opportunity to explore so this week was our first chance to check things out. On Tuesday we headed to Stanley Park for some walking along the seawall, checking out some food trucks and just general slumming.

  It was a beautiful day at a beautiful spot. We did, however, learn a valuable lesson... no driving in the city! When we were ready to go home it was later in the afternoon and traffic was, well, slow. Not slow like molasses, or snails or postal delivery. Slow, like in geologic terms. Slow, like how long it takes for your tax refund to appear. Yes, that slow.

  Having learned our lesson we promised to use transit next time and booked a Chinatown walking food tour for Thursday with Bob Sung. What a great experience! Bob has spent his life in food as a chef, as well as food supplier through his family business. His family have been in Vancouver for 125 years and he is intimately connected to Chinatown as its unofficial ambassador.

  One of the first questions he asked all of us was, "Do you live to eat or eat to live?" As we're in the "live to eat"... and "travel to eat" group we knew we were in the right place.

  We started at the Dr. Sun Yat Sen Chinese Garden in the heart of the city. The Chinese government donated the garden to the city for Expo 86 and brought craftsmen from China to construct it using traditional materials and techniques. At that time it was the only full-size classical Chinese garden outside China.

  Bob spent an hour teaching us about Taoism (balance), Confucionism (structure) and Buddhism (nature) and how they were represented in the garden and structures.

  After a calming hour there we headed out to the streets of Chinatown. Our first stop was the Thinnest Building in the World (according to Guinness), only six feet wide and about one hundred feet long. Below, you'll see Bob standing in front of the end window and you can see where it meets the building next door. It was originally a regular sized structure but, when the city decided to build Pender Street, they expropriated the land underneath. Not wanting to give up the entire property, the owner told them they could take only as much of the building as they needed for the street. The rest, as they say, is history.

  We spent the next three hours touring the area while Bob explained the history and customs and exposed us to herbal medicines and ancestral worship. Fascinating stuff although being on our feet, standing, for three hours became a bit uncomfortable towards the end. Oh, I did say it was a food tour. We ate. "What did we eat?", you might ask.

  Well, we started at Chinatown BBQ with two kinds of BBQ pork, one delicious and the other deliciouser. After that we proceeded to inhale apple buns from New Town Bakery which, in 2017, was featured by CNN Travel as a "must visit" out of all the world's Chinatowns. We did and it was. We went to a tea shop to learn about how tea is brewed and presented. Also great. The conclusion was dim sum at Floata Seafood Restaurant:

  Now, I'm not one to take pictures of food as I'd rather be eating it than worrying if it's Instagrammable. Fortunately for you, dear readers, Penny thought the food was definitely picture-worthy. To say this is the best dim sum I'd ever had is an understatement. I hate to use hyperbole... ok, I love to use hyperbole. This dim sum was better than Fly Over Canada. Much better. If you're reading this blog for the first time, read the previous episode.

  Anyway, we ate and we ate and we ate. And we got a crash course in all things Chinese in Vancouver. Thanks to Bob and, if you're out this way, I heartily recommend taking an afternoon for this tour. He also does one in Granville Market and we might do that too.

  That brings me to today. As this adventure has progressed and we've become comfortable with the way we're traveling we've decided to move further afield. We had a video chat with a couple in Botswana this morning and we've agreed to house sit for them in April. Lots of details to work out in the next couple of months but we're very excited to return to Africa. Who knows where else we'll end up in the coming months. Stay tuned to find out! And don't forget to post your comments like I showed you at the beginning. We're always happy to hear from you.