Thursday, April 19, 2007

Yaletown

Okay, so I was in Yaletown the other day, and for those of you that don't know Yaletown, it's described as Vancouver's "trendy and upscale renovated warehouse district". Personally, I don't like Yaletown at night, or even much during the day for that matter. As much as I like a lot of restaurants and bars in Yaletown, I find on the weekends the parking is horrendous, and the one-way traffic in the narrow two main streets is not enjoyable, and everytime I think I found a parking spot, it's "reserved" for a garbage receptacle.
What I don't like about it besides the parking is some of the people that hang out there trying to be cool. If you go in some of the boutiques, you'll see the girls that look at a top that costs about $430 try to look really bored, touch the fabric with their acrylic nails, and say something like, 'oh, it looks okay I guess, but I don't really like the colour". Yeah, right. Meanwhile she's wearing a Sirens top with a fake horsebit-Gucci bag.
Quick story, my handsome male friend met some girls in Glowbal, they said they live close in downtown by Burrard. Anyways, end of the night, he ends up going home with one of them, and she actually lives on Hastings and Gilmore area close to Burnaby..

If you go there during the day however, there's plenty of parking (all paid meter parking of course). I think cause the shopping albeit funky and some cutting-edge stuff, there's just not that many stores, and it's pretty spendy. I checked out Basquiat which is owned by Trevor Linden's wife. It's a nice store, but tops run about $500, but they do have some cool designer ware and some nice jeans too. I'm wondering, how come they can name their store Basquiat and there's no problem, and DeNiro's restaurant had to change their name because Robert De Niro threatened to sue. They changed their name to Section 3 (Tuesday highballs are $3.95)

Anwyays, I'll have to go back to Basquiat when I start making more money..

Good deals

In Tuesday's Vancouver Sun's Style section there's a $30 off coupon at Wear Else which expires April 30. The great thing about this coupon is, it's not one of those, spend at least $100. As long as the item's over $30, you can use it. So you can buy a $40 item for $10. Doh.

www.beancoffeeshop.com
Get $12 off your first order for new customers. I'm not a coffee drinker so I've never tried their coffees, but they appear to have a pretty good clientele.
Looks like no minimum order.

Cheerios select cereals has a free adult admission movie pass inside!

Canadian Tire online, free shipping for any order over $49. Use this promo code SPRING316


:)

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Craigslist Vancouver

I sold my car within TWO HOURS! I posted my ad on Craigslist, and within 45 minutes I got THREE replies. An hour and forty five minutes later we are meeting up in a sketchy parking lot and I'm receiving a $100 deposit. A few months ago I posted an ad (which I paid good money for) on another website and I didn't even get one response, and it was a better deal too.

Now I gotta buy a car. Groan. I find it so stressful, but what can you do, I am not a public transportation kind of gal. I just can't get up early enough to catch a bus. I literally wake up 35 minutes before work starts, get ready within 15 (including a shower) roll into work one minute before I start with my Mighty Leaf African Nectar tea in hand and my Vancouver Sun (actually, just the page with the crossword puzzle - the easier one, not the New York Times crossword)

Sunday, April 15, 2007

Joey's on Broadway, George in Yaletown, Kyung Bok Palace

Joey's

I finally had a chance to check out Joey's on Broadway. They don't take reservations and we ended up waiting about 40 minutes (there were five of us). We were really hungry so it helped that they gave out samples of food and drink (non-alcoholic) while you wait!
I ordered the Forbidden Fruit martini which did not taste good (it's way better at the Joey's in Coquitlam). Too much lime. I had the ahi tuna tacos, which was decent, but I wouldn't order it again. Maybe it was an off night, but I think the Joey's in Coquitlam is a lot better. On the other hand our waitress was fantastic! Despite how busy it was, she was attentive, helpful, and just an all round great server. The hostesses were nice enough, but a couple of them seemed like they were just there to chat with each other which comes across unprofessional. I had a couple other drinks including the pomegranate mojito which is nothing to write home about, (but I guess blog-worthy).
Although the food and drink wasn't exceptional, I would go back again for the ambiance. I'm not a big fan of having to take the stairs to go to the bathroom, but it was a pretty cool bathroom. I love the paper towels they provide, and the oil paintings in the bathroom stalls is a nice touch.
It's pretty much a Cactus Club atmosphere, so as for dress code anything goes.


George Bar in Yaletown

I went last week and the drinks are very good. I especially like the Old-Fashioned (bourbon, brown sugar and some citrus) which I think is the very first thing on the vast drink menu. Tried some appies as well which were equally impressive. I thought I saw Gary Busey there. The cocktails range from $8-12.
If you haven't been, you can just walk in and sit wherever which anyone can probably figure out, except we stood at the door waiting to be seated.. We got there about 9 so pretty much 90% of the seats were full. Around ten the place was really happening. I did not like the bathrooms which is shared with Capone's restaurant out in the hallway.
I'd come here again, but next time I'll make sure I'm wearing some stiletto heels and a smaller top to fit in with all the other beautiful people. Oh, and ladies, there are definitely more guys than girls here.


Kyung Bok Palace

This Korean restaurant in North Vancouver has gotten a couple of awards for best Korean restaurant. In addition, numerous Koreans have recommended this place, so I went quite a few times until they opened a second location in Richmond (Lansdowne Mall) which is actually more convenient for me. I happened to be in North Vancouver recently so I went in for lunch but was I ever disappointed. First of all the service was horrible (it used to be decent), when we asked for extra bowls for the soup, she brought us plates (?!?) and on top of that, one of them had kimchi looking red spice specks all over it and the other one had brown sauce on it. To top it off, the waitresses hands were dripping wet! and she was holding the plates with her thumb on the middle of the plate dripping water onto it. It was not very busy, and when she wasn't serving (which was hardly ever), she sat at a table eating food and watching TV.. The waitresses never came around to refill tea, and I never got my drink order on top of that. The menu pages were stuck together which is so gross. I worked at a restaurant before and when it wasn't busy, we were wiping menu pages.
The tea was lukewarm and tasted like they used the same leaves all day. The noodles were overcooked, but the side dishes and bibimbap still rocked.
The waitress was only attentive when it came time to pay and she stood there to see the tip. How utterly tacky.
It seems like the majority of Korean restaurants in Vancouver are hit or miss and if it's a hit, it's often inconsistent. The only place that's been consistent everytime is Kyung Bok Palace in Lansdowne and a restaurant in Coquitlam but I don't know the name. There's one on broadway that's good but the name escapes me.
Other than that, the best Korean restaurants in North America seem to be in Cali or New York.
I haven't been to many Coquitlam Korean restaurants, if you know any good ones, let me know! I love kimchi, seafood pancakes and kalbi.

Victoria Beckham fashion

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at PhotobucketHow come she always looks so good? I always thought obvious fake breasts look so tacky, but she somehow manages to make it look fashionable.
I like this outfit, it's simple yet chic yet sexy. I need to recreate this look minus the big breasteses. oh.. and I guess my legs aren't this skinny either.


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Rude drivers in Vancouver

Why are there are so many rude (and shitty) drivers in Vancouver.
The other day I was at Champlain Mall circling for parking. The driver in front of me stopped his car and it appeared he was talking to his passenger. About twenty seconds later (meanwhile traffic is building up behind me and there's no way to go around him) the passenger gets out, I guess so she wouldn't have to walk all the way from a parked car to the store. It wasn't even raining AND she was a healthy fit person in her 20s. Once she got out, you'd think she'd walk immediately to the store. Nope, they continue their conversation. Car stopped, all while blocking traffic. So I honked. The girl turned around, gave me a look and continued talking. I layed on the horn (for a continuous 5-6 seconds), started opening my window to say something and she turned around and gave me the finger then finally walks towards the store. I was so fuming mad, and as luck would have it, there were two parking spaces that opened up and the guy that dropped of his passenger parked in one, and I parked right next to him. He took one look at me, saw how mad I was, he reversed and took off..

Monday, April 2, 2007

Vancouver shopping

I guess I've been too busy going south to do my shopping and haven't yet had a chance to check out Urban Outfitters in Vancouver which opened up on Granville and Robson. I wonder if there's any comparison to the Seattle location.
I love their stuff, but I think it's a little overpriced.