Tea Ceremony

Met a friend at her office near Granville Island yesterday, and we walked to a nearby Japanese spot, Sawa, for lunch. I'd never been there before. Sawa is located in a concrete building and looks like just another hole in the wall lunch counter sort of place, until you venture in past the menu board and down the stairs into a simply but beautifully decorated back room. Around the centrepiece here is a square seating area - a communal table for people who come in alone to sit together. Lovely.


Post title from this song by Shan Di Orchestra.

Note: this was supposed to be Friday's post. Clearly I'm not very good at typing in the date when I'm scheduling a post.

Dim Sum

One of the best things about living in Vancouver is the plentiful, delicious, and inexpensive (comparatively speaking) variety of food in our restaurants. (I once got take-out Thai food in Zurich for about $65. The same meal in Vancouver would be closer to $35.) From hole-in-the-wall greasy spoons to upmarket tasting menus with wine pairings, we've got food covered; especially Asian food. One of my favourites is dim sum - I took this quick photo the last time I was at Sun Sui Wah, one of the best places for it in the city.


Post title from this song by Jeroenski & Jorn.

Scene at the Open Air Market

Vancouver has a thriving network of farmers' markets. There is fecund agricultural land surrounding Metro Vancouver and throughout parts of southern British Columbia. As spring is upon us and summer beckons, over the past few weeks the regular weekly markets have been opening one by one, the last one opening today in my neighbourhood, downtown's West End. The market gets better as the season progresses, but this morning I was able to pick up locally and organically grown new potatoes, bell peppers, heritage tomatoes, a basil plant, dried apple chips, some phenomenal smoked canned tuna, and delicious baked goods.

The highrise in the background is the Wall Centre, once Vancouver's tallest building until it was surpassed by the Shangri La.

 Post title from this Thievery Corporation song.

Market of the Night

Yesterday early evening I stopped by the Chinatown Night Market to wander through the stalls of trinkets, knockoffs, and delicious street food of the meat-on-a-stick variety. Vancouver has two Chinese night markets during the summer months - this one in Chinatown proper on Keefer Street and another in the suburb of Richmond. Clutter in my home being in no short supply, I go strictly for the food. Green onion cakes and sui mai are must-haves!

In the background loom the distinctive concrete and glass residential towers of Yaletown.



Post title from this song by the Great Bloomers.