Well it’s certainly been a fair old while
since I updated. Here’s what’s been going on in the past few weeks.
Well, one of the major events of the year
here in Canada, the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs, began and also promptly ended
here in Vancouver. To put it lightly,
the Vancouver Canucks had an absolute stinker. A lot of people in the city were
hopeful for a playoff run similar to last year’s, when the Canucks went deep
before falling at the very final hurdle (prompting this [video of riots].
However, things could not have gone much worse this time around. The Canucks
actually finished the regular season with the best record in the NHL (for the 2nd
year running), meaning they would have home advantage in each round of the
playoffs. Unfortunately in the fickle world of the North American sports the
regular season means very little and only the playoff winners are remembered.
Being 1st seed they faced the 8th seed LA Kings in the first round but promptly lost the first two games, both at home, on the back of two limp performances full of defensive errors. Game 3 in LA didn’t go much better, leaving the team in a 3-0 hole in a best of seven series. The return of top scoring super Swede, Daniel Sedin, seemed to inspire them in Game 4 and so the Canucks avoided a humiliating sweep, but LA again came out on top in overtime in game 5 and thus the Canucks were eliminated. Thankfully there was no repeat or even hint of any rioting, probably because the city had mentally prepared itself for the worst after the first 2 games. Anyway, hockey season is now over for us Vancouverites. I have little intention of following the rest of the NHL playoffs as I now have the end of the football season, the NBA playoffs and, of course, the mighty Vancouver Whitecaps (shoot me now) to keep my sporting attention. A long night of sorrow drowning followed game 5 and a long period of liver recovery followed the day after.
Being 1st seed they faced the 8th seed LA Kings in the first round but promptly lost the first two games, both at home, on the back of two limp performances full of defensive errors. Game 3 in LA didn’t go much better, leaving the team in a 3-0 hole in a best of seven series. The return of top scoring super Swede, Daniel Sedin, seemed to inspire them in Game 4 and so the Canucks avoided a humiliating sweep, but LA again came out on top in overtime in game 5 and thus the Canucks were eliminated. Thankfully there was no repeat or even hint of any rioting, probably because the city had mentally prepared itself for the worst after the first 2 games. Anyway, hockey season is now over for us Vancouverites. I have little intention of following the rest of the NHL playoffs as I now have the end of the football season, the NBA playoffs and, of course, the mighty Vancouver Whitecaps (shoot me now) to keep my sporting attention. A long night of sorrow drowning followed game 5 and a long period of liver recovery followed the day after.
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| Canucks season ends. |
I’ve got to say, I do feel very bad for
Daniel, who’s lost out on a lot of money by the Canucks going out early. 4 playoff
rounds of tips would have been a hell of
a lot! Nice one, Canucks! >:(
5th April was a bit of a momentous day for me as I
decided to venture out to Richmond with Irina to the Bikram Yoga class that she
regularly attends. I’ve never done any type of yoga in my life but it seems
like a very Vancouver thing to do. You can’t walk a block without seeing
someone carrying a mat or decked out head-to-toe in lululemon gear. It had been
talked about for a few weeks but this was the day I would throw myself in at the
deep end and give this ‘hot yoga’ thing a try. One word: intense! The room
wasn’t quite as hot as a sauna but must have been getting up there. Cue 90
minutes of stretches, poses and trying to take on as much water in the few
seconds of rest each time! It was a surprisingly good workout and I managed to
make the goal for a first timer – just stay in the room for the 90 minutes.
Turns out you don’t need buckets of water for a wet t-shirt contest and I soon
realised why the fat guys were letting it all hang out as my t-shirt was
literally stuck to me by the end. Anyway, having completed a session of yoga I think I can now officially call myself a Vancouverite! I’d actually quite like to go again at some
point although I need to save the pennies as the memberships are quite
expensive. We’ll see!
That day was actually one of the nicest Spring days we've had and so I seized the opportunity to take a stroll along the seawall and around to Stanley Park. I went to see some old friends that I hadn't seen since arriving here in September:
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| View back towards Coal Harbour/DT |
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| Spotted a heron in the water |
On 7th April, Armin Van Buuren
played a set at the Convention Centre for Seasons Fest 2012 (whatever that
was). Steve Angello was also due to show up as well but had to cancel last
minute for family reasons. A guy by the name of Jochen Miller replaced him at
the last minute, which was actually a much more exciting prospect for me, but
unfortunately it turned out he was playing the first set and I wasn’t able to
make it in time.
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I hadn’t seen Armin Van Buuren live before
but he certainly lived up to his reputation as one of the world’s best trance
djs. Even though I’m not the biggest fan of vocal trance I thought Armin’s set
was absolutely amazing and the crowd was buzzing from start to finish. He even
came down to greet fans at the end of his show, which was a cool touch.
The 24th April brought a Vancouver magical
mystery tour with Gina. Freshly kitted out with her new car, she took me here, there and everywhere around Van City and Richmond. We cruised through Kitsilano, made a quick stop off at Spanish Banks beach, drove around the UBC campus, then
went to Richmond for some shopping and my first bubble tea. Bubble tea is a Taiwanese milk drink that has small, chewy jelly-like peals at the bottom. It comes in hundreds of different flavours and is massively popular, especially in Richmond. I opted for a Coconut milk tea, which was pretty sweet and the whole bubble thing was a bit crazy but it was nice all the same.
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| A street name close to my heart |
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| Downtown from Spanish Banks |
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| Not exactly beach weather - I'll be back in the summer! |
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| Bubble tea!! |
We then cruised back into
Vancouver and all the way down Main Street. We were going to stop off for a coffee/bite here as I hadn't really explored this area and Gina knew a couple of cool places but we ended up going all the way back to Gastown for a quick drink and then to
Tropica Thai restaurant on Robson St for a dinner. My duck red curry really hit the spot. A very chilled and fun day.
In other news, my visa application looks to
have been accepted. Hopefully that should be done and dusted in the next couple
of weeks, so I have the option to extend beyond September. I also got my tax rebate back last week, so I obviously didn't go too far wrong filling out all the forms. Unfortunately it was less than half what I wanted to get back though. :(
It’s also now less than a
week until the boys come over. Excitement levels building steadily! Can’t wait
to show them around. Unfortunately it looks like their visit might come too
early for a beasting up the Grouse Grind as there’s still a lot of snow up
there but you never know... Vancouver IS famous for its heatwaves...
Also, please check out my brother’s new
blog on his Aussie adventure at http://lkfblogging.wordpress.com/
Ciao for now.
Ciao for now.
Peace,
Simon x
Simon x
