31.1.05

dine out vancouver.

a good way to check out some of the restaurants in vancouver, and to pay a visit to your favourite ones. ends february 3rd.

22.1.05

shopping london style.

[london]
ok, to summarize, shopping in london is way out of this world, nothing that i have experienced anywhere at least, even compared to new york or san francisco.

harrods
this store is out of control. from the crazy egyptian motif room to the food hall to the selection, it is the prototype for the department store.

selfridges
a more modern version of harrods, this store's men's floor boasted every men's wear designer on the planet, each with its own boutique.

bond street
the premiere fashion street in london. every fashion house that's anybody has a shop here

oxford circus
crazy crazy crazy. every day here seems like christmas. they don't call it a circus for nothing.

h & m
toronto is so lucky (the only city where there are locations). i love this place, definitely the only store in my budget. was even able to pick up a few things!

21.1.05

chicago.

[london]
on thursday afternoon, liezel and i headed to leicester square where we picked up some half price tickets to see chicago. it's been a while since i've been to the theatre, vancouver or otherwise, so it was great to see a show in london's theatre district, the famed west end. it was an amazing show -- definitely worth it. the theatre though old had a lot of charm and was packed. as a director i always look at the staging and things that i can incorporate into my show, so i definitely got some ideas.

the cool thing about the whole experience is that the theatre in london does not seem as 'high' brow as in vancouver -- it is just the thing that people do here. people were having things like ice-cream and chocolate bars, just like we do when we go to see a movie at a north american multi-plex.

before the show, we went out for dinner at rules, the oldest restaurant in london. can you imagine, it was opened in 1798! the restaurant is older than canada! anyways, it was neat to eat at a restaurant that had so much history. former patrons such as king edward VII and charles dickens even have rooms named after them.

20.1.05

art lesson.

[london]
so last night, after work liezel and i headed to the national gallery, since it is open late on wednesday nights. first of all, what an amazing building, certainly a beautiful place to display art. the vag, although a great gallery in its own right, is very small with a contemporary focus but probabaly more significantly is very new so its collection does not boast anything by degas or renoir. As well, its size seems to be prohibitive since none of the very large touring exhibitions that normally visit bigger cities world cities such as san francisco or even toronto make their way to vancouver.

the national gallery does not have this problem.

i truly was overwhelmed by the experience. in my undergrad, i took a lot of art history courses -- actually in hindsight i should have been a fine arts major. but to actually see the pointilism employed by seurat up close and personal, the ability to view the agony of van gogh displayed by his paintings in his later years in this painting almost brought me to tears. that such beauty and such history existed on the walls of the gallery and was so close for me that i could almost feel the artist painting them was amazing. i wondered if londoners took stuff like this for granted. i wondered if i was able to view gaugin paintings at the vag, if i would take it for granted.

at that moment, i realized that i needed to go to paris and visit the louvre.

random thoughts:
- ordering a jacket at a restaurant will get you a baked potato (with skin on) and your choice of toppings
- i think the reason why men dress so well here is because of its strong history of tailoring and saville row
- english people are very polite and courteous
- food is for 'take-away' not 'take-out'
- you don't need to tip in bars or pubs
- when walking i still seem to be in people's way

18.1.05

movie set.

[london]
so what are my second thoughts? well, i've decided that the whole of central london is like a movie set. it's almost as if a director is going to yell 'cut' as i'm walking down the street. seriously -- the buildings and the architecture is almost picture perfect. as bill puts it, the country has been around for almost 2000 years and has been ruling the world for almost 500 of those years and it definitely shows. the sophistication that oozes from the heart of this city is unparalleled to anything that i've experienced. maybe this is what all of europe of is like. maybe i'm just unsophisticated.

random thoughts:
- if the elevators are side by side, they will work how the traffic flows on the roads
- i thought that i walked fast, but when i walk the streets of london, i feel like i'm in the way of everyone whizzing past
- don't do the conversion from pounds to dollars when you're buying stuff
- the indian food here is good however i don't know if it is necessarily better than vancouver
- my best fashionista outfit is what people wear here everyday
- when you're ordering a regular coffee, you need to ask for it to be white if you don't want it black
- service is generally bad (or should i say not as good as in vancouver), and when dining out they still add a tip. next time you see me, ask me about my 'soup' experience

17.1.05

first thoughts.

[london]
okay, so we arrived safely here in london. i used to not believe what people said about jet lag, but i certainly experienced now first hand. i ended up falling asleep at around 9 pm london time, and woke up thinking it was close to 7 when in fact it was only 12:30 am. anyways, after tossing and turning i ended up falling to sleep at 3:30 am -- needless to say i was a bit late to meet my colleague this morning. anyways, i'm going to try my best to stay up as late as possible tonight.

well, i was right -- i am overwhelmed by everything -- the fashion, the architecture, the history, the food, everything. metrosexuals are everywhere -- let's just say i can not tell the difference right now. lovely places to eat on narrow cobblestone streets where fabulous londoners either eat in or take out it seems. men wearing the latest fashion not because they are working in fashion but just because they are fashionable.

random thoughts and things i have learned:
- elevators are called lifts
- places are available 'for let' not 'for rent'
- bring a north american power adaptor
- tv shows begin on the quarter hour
- news anchors sound smarter on the BBC
- read the road before you cross the street
- asking someone where the washroom will be returned with puzzled gaze
- try not to do the conversion from pounds to dollars when you are buying stuff
- getting a cafe latte from the chinese barista and you don't understand a word he's saying because of his english accent vs. chinese accent is something i will have to get used to
- i am NOT in fashion here -- a few seasons behind

a view from the plane...

12.1.05

confirmed.

so veejay and i have been sweating it for a while now, but we have finally secured the venue for our upcoming show, to be held on june 11. we had originally planned and even booked this theatre, where we have not performed yet. it is probably a better venue for our type and size of show, but they bumped us recently for a theatrical presentation with a month run (what's all that about!!!).

vancouver has a shortage of medium sized performance spaces, especially for dance, but in the end, i think it's fitting that we're back at the QET, the main civic theatre that attracts all the big shows.

i can't wait to share the stage again with likha, in our neck of the woods.

10.1.05

YVR to LHR.

what's going on...here's a quick update. first of all, good news for me -- i'm going to be travelling to london for business this weekend for a week. i'm super stoked -- it's actually my second time away for work, which i do enjoy (the novelty is definitely still there), and my first time to london and europe in fact. it's going to be busy, but i do like the pace and especially the interaction with the customer in their environment. i can't wait to take in what i can with the limited time -- the culture, the history, the fashion and the pace.

on a side note, i've been hearing alot about this book -- with my foray into dating, i wonder if this applies to gay guys?

7.1.05

not all created equal.

set in my ways, i always generally go to the same japanese restaurant. with aimee in town, we thought we would try something different, so we went to tsunami sushi on robson. also we thought that it would be kind of retro since it's been there since we were in high school.

however, take note -- just because a restaurant has been around for a long time does not mean it's any good.

4.1.05

images from steveston.

since aimee has been in town, we did a bit of sightseeing and took her to steveston. one of my fondest memories of growing up is when my whole family would wake up really early on saturday mornings to go to steveston, to ensure we were able to get the fishermen's freshest haul.

2.1.05

2005.

i have a good feeling about 2005. i think it is going to be a good year. don't ask me why, but i think it's something in the air...

happy new year everyone!