Why I Love My Job - Reason #89

We had a work function this evening…bowling at Commodore Lanes. Last year, I didn’t bowl...I had bruised my wrist. This year, as part of the Social Committee, I was the photographer.
Afterwards, we walked over to Sala Thai for dinner. We ordered their appetizer platter, a seafood curry, and veggie dish, and a pad thai as well. Too bad I forgot to take photos.

On another note, the Canucks played their second game in Chicago, and got smoked. It’s a good thing that the tv at Sala Thai was too small for me to see the action during dinner. Plus my phone died also disabling me from checking the score on Score Mobile.
It wasn’t until I got home that I realized the loss we suffered.

Smores Saturday

Yay, it's Round Two, Game 1. The best to watch it? Earls Bridge Park in Burnaby. Woke up at the first intermission from a well-deserved nap. Mad love to the hostess who took our call and saved us a seat at the lounge. Got the Dry Ribs to start, as my friend had been craving it. It’s almost like the Big Mac from McDonalds – you have to get it, you know it’s going to be good, and no matter where you go, it’s the same!
Started the night (er, evening) with a bottle of the Perrin & Fils Cotes Du Rhone wine. Yes, a whole bottle...live on the edge people. You can always bring it home if you can't finish it!

The Dry Ribs were perfect…salty and peppery, and juicy little riblets. Love the way you have to eat them with your hands, but your hands don’t get greasy because the ribs are juicy, but not greasy. There’s always just enough meat on each piece to make it worth sucking on the bone…just saying.

As good as we were trying to be, we needed to order another dish. We were deciding between the Certified Angus Beef Top Sirloin Sandwich and the Sicilian Pizza. A desire for the tried and true won out and we went the pizza route.

What could be more satisfying than salami, capicollo and bacon, baked with cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese? Once we received our requested condiments of chilli flakes and parmesan cheese, we were sitting pretty. Besides we were saving room for dessert.

Campfire Smores made it back onto the menu. If you have a sweet tooth, stop reading. What's better than a sandwich made with homemade graham cookies, filled with chococlate and marshmallows and drizzled with chocolate sauce? When you get TWO with every order. Plus they serve it with a scoop of chocolate and vanilla gelato. Wow…sugar heaven…hands down!

Game 6...do I dare to watch?

So, after witnessing the Canucks win at home at GM Place on Friday (more on that later), I was excited to watch the away game, since it will not be a do-or-die game for the Canucks. Obviously, I want them to win as quickly as possible, but it wouldn't be the end of the world if they didn't win today. It would mean that they would play Game 7 here and win the series at home! *wink*

So it was with that thought in mind that I accepted my friend's invitation to watch the game with him at his place, where I witnessed the depressing Game 2 loss as well as a regular season loss. If memory serves me right, both time the Canucks were leading, both times he left the room, and both times, the opposing team scored, once it was three goals, and two during Game 2.

I repeated my strategy from last Wednesday, didn't wear anything Canuck-y, but still drank red wine. It was good game, with a 4-2 win by the Canucks to take the series in 6 games! Full recap here.
I guess some jinxes can be broken!

It worked!

So yesterday, as mentioned in my post, the method to my madness required me to do "the opposite". I ended up watching the Montreal/Capitals debacle, and completely missed the Canucks game. Instead, I closed my balcony door (to block out the cheers and jeers of my neighbours), looked through my PVR for shows that had nothing to do with hockey, and just vegged out in front of the TV. I sat through two episodes of TNG as well as two episodes of The Best Thing I Ever Ate.
About halfway through the game, I started getting texts from friends commenting on the game. I promptly replied that I wasn't watching and was living with a self-imposed blackout. Even for phone calls, I had to interrupt when asked, isn't this a better time to call? I guess it was intermission, right? But anyways, after the initial explanation of why I wasn't watching the game sunk in, we never mentioned it. After all, if we had lost, I would really dread the game on Friday.
It's a good thing that I didn't watch the game though. Despite it be a really GOOD game (as I read in the 3-page recap in The Vancouver Sun - more on that later), I found myself having one of the best conversations I recall in a long time. Sometimes, I find it easier to get into deeper conversations without talking face to face. Some things are just a little too awkward, well, at least for me.

So, tucked myself into bed around midnight, and drifted off to an uneventful sleep…without any alarms going off in the middle of the night, accidental or otherwise. Woke up at my usual time and jumped out of bed and bounded towards the gym – full of energy.

Reminded myself not to turn the TVs on for the treadmill, not to check Hootsuite, Ubertwitter, and even emails, since The Province has been known to “breaking news” Canucks score.

Succeeded in getting ready for work without getting even a whiff of the outcome. Walked into my elevator to see my newspaper man/boy…I told him (and the other dude), “I don’t want to know the score”. Paperman decides to blurt out “We won”. Other dude was righteously annoyed for yours truly, and said, “Ugh, she told you she didn’t want to KNOW!”. I guess he figured he didn’t really tell me the score…but the paper he handed me had the Swede Win headline with the 6-4 socre on top! I guess I couldn’t really be mad at him…it was good news!

How to Break the Curse!

So, my friend scored awesome tickets to the playoff game on Friday, and with the series 2-1 for the Kings, tonight is a “make it or break it” game for my boys.
If they lose tonight, there is a chance that the Kings could be celebrating a Western Conference quarterfinal series win on Friday. Since the previous two Canucks versus Kings games were so disappointing, I have been asked by other superstitious fans to do the EXACT OPPOSITE of everything I’ve done for those two games.
So previously:
1. I had dinner out with other people.
2. I wore Canucks gear, once a pink t-shirt, and once a grey t-shirt.
3. I drank wine.
So tonight:
1. I will eat dinner at home, alone. Actually, can I just eat with different people?
2. I could either wear my #33 jersey or something non-Canucks at all.
3. Taking the leap and switching to white wines, martinis and shooters.
Taking Suggestions: Is there anything else I should do to turn the karma around?

Game 3 in LA

So, since the game is away today, I have to find a nice big TV to watch my Canucks. We headed towards Main St., with the intention of going either to Copper Tank Grill or The Cascade Room. Since CTG was where the Canucks went down whimpering to the Kings by a score of 8-3, we eliminated that as an option as we drove. Headed instead to The Cascade Room where we were one of the last ones to get seated before the lineup started. We ordered a bottle of the Kettle Valley’s Brakeman’s Select. Delish…so the next thing we needed to decide on was the food.

We chose the Mushroom Pizza because of our mutual love for the fungus. The pie came and we were both surprised at the presentation. Spinach was an ingredient of the dish, and after having been to so many other restaurants (Italian Kitchen, Cascades, Coast, etc) that serve flat bread and/or pizza with a sprinkling of whole spinach, arugula, watercress leaves, that was what we were expecting.

If you look closely at the photo, you can see that the spinach was washed, dried and then thinly sliced into match stick sized strips. This definitely stood out in terms of originality. The downside was the oiliness of the pizza, now, we both know pizza isn’t exactly a healthy dish, but it seems like the drizzle of olive oil went a bit too far, or perhaps, it was done twice. It made the pie feel a lot richer than its simple ingredients would have on its own. As the evening wore on, and as the pizza cooled, we both found that the texture improved. Almost as if the oil had solidified, to make the crust crisper…goodness knows what the solidifying oil was doing to our arteries.
So, halfway through the second period and further nourishment was need to soothe the pain of the Canucks dim outlook.

We moved on to the Charcuterie plate. It’s three locally sourced selections served with cornichons, grainy mustard, pickled baby onions & crostini. The night we were there, we got to sample the Speck Ham. It was delicious with a great smokey flavour. According to Ingredients Gourmet, Speck Ham is a lightly smoked raw ham from Northern Italy. Seasoned for 22 weeks, Speck ham has an intense dry-cured flavor, slices like prosciutto but cooks like bacon and is cut from the hind quarters of a special breed of Italian hogs. Next on the plate was the Venison Salami. We’d had bison and boar sausage from Granville Island before, so we knew that despite the name, it wouldn’t be too gamey. And sure enough, it wasn’t gamey at all, it was the spiciest of the three though, so perhaps that covered it up!? The last item on the platter was the Calabrese. As soon as I popped a sliver into my mouth, it reminded me of the ocean. My first thought was that there was some anchovy used to cure it. My friend’s first thought? It tastes like how fish food smells. Whoa, there’s an imagination…I know this probably turns most people off, but the combination, along with some of the cornichons really work.
Although the game ended with a Canucks loss, the meal did help to alleviate some of the sadness.

Shanghai Village Saturday

Game 2 of the Stanley Cup playoffs between Canucks and Kings. Before heading over to a friend’s place to watch the game, sustenance was required. We headed up to Shanghai Village for dinner and was pleasantly surprised by the food. I’d never been here before, so I made my friend do the ordering. I occupied my time playing with his son…I’m trying to get him better at “matching” and he’s already pretty good.

We ordered an appetizer of Century egg with Duck egg. Neither of us had any idea of what it would actually be like, but it seemed interesting and when you like both items, combining them can only be a good thing. The egg dish was amazing…century egg hardboiled “in the shell” with the Duck egg. It actually made the century egg a little “jello” like. We knew we ordered right thing when we heard the table next to us ask…”what is that?” In the search of yummy food, you feel like a great explorer when you’ve discovered a dish that other people find interesting.

My contribution to the ordering was the Beef with Crepes. I love playing with my food, and I try to do it whenever I get a chance. It was really good...served with a bit of finely slice cucumber and green onions, there was a LOT of beef for the 8 crepes that accompanied the dish. Between the boy who hates veggies and the bigger boy who hates green onions, I had a lot of filler to use to make my crepes.

We also ordered the Veggie and Pork with New Year Cake…otherwise known as the world’s most ergonomically correct noodle, right, engineers?? It's the only noodle that you can eat one at a time. I tried the new year cake without any condiments first, and it was a little bland. After getting the traditional hot sauce to go with it though…well, now we’re talking. It was soothing and my idea of comfort food.

A welcome surprise was the Little Dragon Buns (Siu Loong Bau) gratis. There were 6...is it wrong that I'm wondering how I can score 4 without the boys noticing? Hmm...wish me luck...Everything was super yummy. It was the last thing that landed at our table, steaming hot. I’m always a sucker for dumplings, and these did not disappoint. Although the first one I tried to pick up broke and the soup within leaked out, the second one I tried was amazing. The soup was tasty and the skin wasn’t too doughy.
Headed home after to watch the game, where we were leading 2-0. I made the mistake of stepping out for a ciggie only to return to a 2-2 game. Alas, the Canucks never made up the difference, giving up an OT goal to let the Kings tie the series at 1-1.
Only consolation…a gigantic pocky stick, French Rabbit vino and dessert…

Playoff Thursday!

So another yummy dinner was required to before we headed to another awesome event at GM Place…Game One of the Stanley Cup Playoffs! Cravings were super random, from Hainenese Chicken Rice to BBQ Duck to Pho.
As we were heading downtown, I was getting a little antsy, and he suggested Clubhouse Sushi. I had never been before but had heard about it. Not good things, not bad things…just that it was there. We walked in around 5:30 and the place only had one other customer. It was Bif Naked and some friends. I’m not a fan, so I didn’t recognize her.
After we were seated and given menus, I looked and was surprised by some of the items on there. The deep fried sushi, the cream cheese sushi…and the Ooh Avocado. Actually, that one disgusted me. The menu has a lot of pictures so it took some time to settle down and decide on food.
The server came by two seconds after dropping off the drink menu and asked what we wanted. When we said that we needed a few moments to decided, she flitted off and returned, this time asking us if we were ready to order food.
Now, if the restaurant was rammed and we looked like some other couple that was eating there, I’d sort of (no, not even then) understand. However, it was either us, or Bif Naked. So, we ordered, but I felt so pressured…as if I was in a Future Shop taking too long to walk past a new 3D television, only to be accosted by commission salesmen.

The first to arrive was the Sashimi Special, as well as the Toro Special. Now, it would have been nice had she told us that there was already toro in the sashimi special, because we probably would have ordered another of the daily special sashimi. It was good toro, but we didn’t really need 8 slices (4 in the special and 4 in the platter). Another weird thing on the sashimi platter was the presence of smoked salmon.

Why couldn’t they have just given us 4 pieces of instead? We also ordered their Scallop, Avocado and Tobiko roll, asking them to make it without the avocado…which they did. The scallop in both the sashimi and the roll was amazingly fresh and sweet. I didn’t think I’d miss the avocado, but with all the whiteness of the rice and scallop plus the scantiness of the tobiko made the roll, although tasty, quite unattractive. I didn't bother taking a picture.

We also got the Grilled Salmon Belly. That was really good too. They served it with lemon, which I was used too, but they didn't serve it with the grated daikon, which I really liked. It worked as a perfect medium to soak up soy sauce, which you can then dip the salmon pieces in. The onion-like things on the lower right hand corner is my failed attempt to use the sliced daikon from the sashimi platter as a substitute soy sauce holder.

Overall, the food is really good, but I think the owner is more interested in being a friend to the patrons rather than to be their server. Oh, and on a side note, their wasabi is hot, and they have low-sodium soy if you ask.

Hockey Saturday

Woke up this morning feeling a little sluggish…so couldn’t motivate myself to get a workout in. But, I did take advantage of the gym’s sauna. Stayed in there for about an hour (20 minutes on and then 5 minutes off) and got so relaxed. I think I could have fallen asleep, if I wasn’t twittering!
Went to Moxie's for a drink and dinner before the game. See review at Urban Spoon.
We walked over to GM Place afterwards and arrived just after the first goal. As we waited to sit down, we saw the second goal. Alas, this was not turning out to be the game my Flames fan wanted to see. Both teams put in a good effort to the season ender, and the Canucks came out on top with a 7-3 win. For some strange reason, I was craving dessert…in the form of ice cream. Stopped off at the Liquor Barn (what a weird place to buy booze) and then heading to Earls for a huge ice cream sundae, served in a candy snap basket, drizzled with chocolate sauce. Whoa – I don’t do this often, but boy, was this heavenly. I think there is a correlation here… desserts help me sleep better…slept right through the night until the next morning…and probably woke up with a smile on my face too.

Tuckered out Tuesday

Well, I think I definitely overdid it yesterday when I worked out. Super sore today, it hurts to laugh, cough, and even to do the downward dog. Woke up without the aid of my alarm clock this morning, which means I woke up late. Not crazy late, just about 10 minutes later than usual. Decided to cut my treadmill portion to only 12 minutes…did some more plants and vsits, until I was about to die.
Off to work with not much to do today – just making revisions on some memos and editing. Also got caught up on the emails that came in on Monday, since most people were not off.
Home right after work for a quick visit with a friend where about an hour was spent debating the quality of Coke Zero versus Diet Coke. Rushed to get ready afterwards, to head out to the Canucks game at GM Place.

Since I didn’t get to munch on my hot dog with fried onions on Sunday, the goal was to make up for that today! Grabbed a glass of wine (or two) and settled in to watch the game. The Avalanche started the scoring off with a goal from Tucker, followed by a goal by Daniel to tie it up. The joy didn’t last long, since the Avalanche came back and scored less than a minute later. A goal by Mason Raymond again ties it up, but darn Stastny scored with less than 6 minutes left in the third. Two minutes later, Daniel scores to make it 3-3. I hate OT and I hate Shootouts. My winning average took a hit tonight…73.33%...I’m blaming the pink jersey. Maybe we’ll have a little bonfire to “celebrate”.

Strolling Sunday

Yay – welcome back meat! Things with legs! I’m craving BBQ duck, Chicken Wings, Beef Short Rib, and so so much more. Will start off with Phnom Penh chicken wings to ease into my meat eating day. Also got the beef brisket noodles which were delicious too! The wings were perfect, as they always are - super crispy on the outside, and juicy and moist on the inside. the Lemon Pepper dipping sauce is amazing...essentially RealLemon that you can get at any grocery store, with a very generous dose of very finely ground black pepper. BTW - if you make this concoction at home, you should dip your next Church's Fried Chicken into it. It's a whole new East meets West thing. The beef brisket noodle soup was disappointing. I always get it and always hope that it would actually come "spicy" as indicated on the menu. I asked for extra spicy this time when ordering...but she just said taht she will bring me hot sauce. Meats were tender, noodles were good as usual, but just not spicy!
Next time, going to have more people join…because I was craving the Chicken in Clay Pot rice as well as the Butter Beef.

Walked around Robson and English Bay in search of dessert…satisfied a cupcake craving…just a mini one is all I need. Were it a warmer day, I could have gone for the Marble Slab ice creamery next door.
Headed over to Glowbal for a quick bevy before the Canucks game tonight. Well, one drink turned into two…man, those olives, the Goose…addictive. Headed over to GM place before we got completely smashed. It really sucks that you can’t smoke in GM Place anymore…Despite all my complaining before, I could have lived with the 6 metres rule. So full from my yummy lunch that I didn’t even get my usual Hot Dog with Fried Onions! So buzzed from the Glowbal martinis that I barely finished two wines at the game!
The game was awesome…right up to the last minute. We were up 3-1 when the Canucks decided to stop playing. How can you let someone score their first NHL goal ever against you with less than a minute left? Defense people, and even before the announcer finished recapping the goal, the Wilds scored AGAIN! Can’t believe we had to go into OT…only good thing? Henrik got a point, and now leads Ovechkin by four points.
As a side note, my average is now 11 wins out of 14 games…

Thursday that's like a Friday

Worked a full day knowing that it was going to be a four-day weekend. It’s April so it’s time for my new flower of the month! Went out for dinner to CopperTank Grill on Main Street for dinner and to catch the Canucks game. Well, let’s just say dinner was great and the game was not. 8-3 to the LA Kings. Sigh. Had the regular nachos with extra jalapenos and also the Ahi Tuna sliders. I love it when places have those. The last place I had those was at Voya, and they were awesome. The ones at CopperTank weren’t as good, but boy, their wasabi was off the hook! Definitely gave a (much-needed) kick to the slightly overdone tuna “patty” themselves. Home after the horrific game to drown my sorrows with a Coke Zero…and maybe just a little dessert.

Why I have to go to the Canucks game this Sunday.

So, I've done a tally of the games that I have been to this 2009.10 Canucks season, and have come up with a surprising theory. The Canucks win 77% of the time when I am in attendance. I think this translates (in my ill-fated logic) into this: the more games I go to, the more they will win. I know it's not an exact science, but the numbers speak for themselves! 10 wins out of 13...that's pretty convincing, isn't it?

Date	Against	W or L
Tue, Nov 10, 09	Dallas	W
Sun, Nov 22, 09	Chicago	L
Thu, Nov 26, 09	Los Angeles	W
Thu, Dec 10, 09	Atlanta	W
Mon, Dec 14, 09	Los Angeles	W
Fri, Dec 22, 06	Nashville	W
Thu, Jan 07, 10	Phoenix	W
Mon, Jan 11, 10	Nashville	L
Thu, Jan 21, 10	Dallas	W
Mon, Jan 25, 10	Buffalo	W
Wed, Jan 27, 10	St. Louis	W
Sun, Mar 14, 10	Calgary	W
Tue, Mar 16, 10	NY Islanders	L
	Wins	77%

And so, since the Canucks are away for the next two games (Thursday and Friday), I must go to their next game at home on Sunday against Minnesota!

Suddenly Sunny Saturday

Shocked to wake up to a sunny day. All weather forecasts predicted rain/showers...so I was crossing my fingers for my golfing friends. I had no idea I could actually affect the weather! I AM ALL POWERFUL!
Had brunch with my parents at White Spot and was disappointed for the first time at WS...not at the food, since my expectations there are limited. I was disappointed by the service.
My mom ordered the Nat's Hearty intending to save half for dinner. She left the dish with "one egg, two bacon strips and one sausage link, along with half her hashbrowns and toast". When we asked for our takeout upon leaving, we were shocked to learn that they tossed it!
With more than half the entrée left on the plate, I expected them to know to pack it, especially after we told him we wanted to take it home...and even if we didn't ask for that, shouldn't he have asked if there was anything wrong with the meal, since half of it was left???
They received a prompt complaint via email...wonder if I will hear back from them?
Afternoon was filled with a ST:TNG marathon...and some laundry...exciting Saturday Sh*t...
Headed over to a friend's to watch the hockey game, but left soon afer. Nothing can console me after a tragic Canucks loss...not even the Extra Buttery popcorn from SilverCity, nor the Veggie Pepperoni from Panago...I guess the loss hit me harder than I thought.
Home to drown my sorrows...

Terrific Tuesday

Long day at work but I had something to look forward to! Dinner and rinks with a uni pal…heading to Earls to catch the Canucks versus Oilers in Edmonton. I’m always a little scared when they play bad-ish teams, and I was right again. Left Earls after the second period (just too painful to watch) but came home and watched anyways. It was in the cards…we lost a miserable game.
And my friend who was visiting Edmonton had to witness the Canucks lose…sigh. Maybe he jinxed them.

Sad Saturday

Woke up super early and decided to download ringtones for my berry. It’s been a problem getting them reinstalled after my last upgrade, so I figure it’s probably easier to just re-download.
Had to head downtown to pick up my car from my work parking lot and then went for a quick dinner at White Spot.
The Prawn and Scallop Fusilli is pretty good, (minus the fennel seeds), especially if you have someone who loves scallops to share with. And fish and chips are always good…but the kid’s grilled cheese looked pretty awesome too. Went back to my friend’s place to watch the Canucks vs Red Wings game, but every time he left the room, they would score. Methinks he should stay put when the Canucks are on the ice. He must be a really big fan to give them all that positive energy.
Headed home after the game…a disappointing loss…but nonetheless, a great night.

It’s finally Friday! Didn’t do much at work today –but I did sign up for my course. Also worked out in the morning despite all attempts by my bed to hold me back. Went to Art Gallery with some co-workers to check out the free Leonardo Da vinci exhibit. It was mostly his human anatomy stuff, but interesting nonetheless.
Headed to Las Magaritas for a quick drink and nibble before heading over to the Bronze Sledge Hockey Game at UBC. Didn’t expect to see the Canadian team play for the Bronze and sure as hell didn’t expect to see them lose! Heartbroken now.
Plans changed for the second part of the evening only because I scored dinner resos to La Buca. Otherwise, it would have been Aglio e Olio with Shrimp. Good thing too because the only thing that soothed the pain of the loss was a fantastic dinner. Skipped dessert and headed home for some Marks & Spencer’s Potato Rings for dessert instead. Awesome.

Trout for Thursday

I was supposed to have dinner with my mom and stepdad, but they stood me up in favour for some other curling buddies. I’m okay with it…it was great to finally stay at home to relax and enjoy some ME-time. Made my trout and rice for dinner and vegged in front of the TV, watching the Canucks and Sharks game.
Decided to sleep early but was pleasantly surprised by a friend bearing a gift…UBC cinnamon bun…lucky me that he was working/volunteering at the Paralympics and decided to score me a cin (aka sin)-bun!
Ended up sleeping way too late…but still determined to work out tomorrow – it’s just weights…not cardio, WHEW!

Tickets for Hockey Tuesday!

With the computers back up at work, I managed to make up for the time that we lost yesterday. It was a mellow night…just another hockey game…lol. Got home from work and got a ride down to Moxie’s to grab a quick bite before the game. I figured vegetarian options would have been scarce at GM Place. However, VanCanucks on Twitter actually responded to my post and suggested that I: Check out Amigos at Section 310 or Chopsticks at Section 121 for good vegetarian options at the #Canucks game!
Tonight’s game was not as good as the one against Calgary…we lost miserably to the NY Islanders. The crowd was so quiet…sad sight indeed.

Springing Sunday

So the clocks move ahead an hour today, and I decided to celebrate by watching a few hours of HIMYM. Once you start watching tv...time just trickles along, doesn't it.
Also made myself a very "dinner for lunch" meal of steamed fish and rice. It's really not a "lunchtime" thing, but when you live alone, you can do stuff like that. Then I just stayed home for the rest of the day, but finally had to get up to go watch sledge hockey at the Paralympics. Given that you still have to clear security, it was decided that we should leave around 3:30 to be there in time for the 5pm start. One little glitch...those Canucks vs. Calgary tickets I scored yesterday meant that we would have to leave sledge early to make it there in time for the puck drop. Oh well, decisions decisions.
The game at GM Place was awesome, second time the Canucks played at home after the Olympic hiatus. It was great getting to see the medals too...yes, all three of them, because good things come in threes...just saying.