Vancouver Day 2 - Salmon Hatchery

Sept 16th Thursday

  Busy busy day.  I woke up from my alarm at 8 and didn't want to get out of bed.  The bed's here are actually really comfortable.  When I did manage to get up.  I headed down for some free breakfast.  They actually had a decent spread of grains and carbs.  They had cereal with jugs of 2% milk, muffins, bisquits, raisin bread, bread, and bagels.  For spreads they  had big slabs of cream cheese, butter, peanut butter, and jam.  Because I knew I needed the energy I had a rather big breakfast.  It was a toasted bagel with loads of butter and some cold cuts, a banana I got yesterday, a yop, and some orange slices/OJ the hostel had for us. [Wow that was unnecessarily descriptive... but so is a lot of my journal]

  Afterwards, I packed up and headed to the mountain.  On the way I saw a big line waiting for the mall. Hardcore [Think they were lining up for H&M to open.  I think Vancouver would have been really fun for some of the shoppers in my circle of friends].  I took a sea bus which was pretty neat.  When I was taking the bus to North Vancouver, I saw the sign to capilano suspension bridge.  I had misunderstood all previous explanations, and somehow thought that the bridge led to the mountain.  I was wrong and got off at the bridge for them to tell me they are seperate attractions [I have no idea why I thought they were the same attraction.  I guess I didn't think they'd make a whole attraction off of a bridge].  I got a tip from the Slovenia guy that there was a hatchery for fish and I could see the salmon jump upstream this time of year.  The hatchery conveniently was between the bridge and the mountain.  I decided to do the fish, then mountain and swing back for the bridge.  The hatchery sign was 3 blocks away [uphill...], but pointed me 1km towards a park.  I walked towards the hatchery and there were lots of hiking trailes I passed by. [The trails were actually really nice.  If I hadn't spent so much time in nature already, I would have liked hiking there too]

  When I got there, it was pretty empty.  There were no workers, just an open attraction for those who know about it.

  When I got there, there was a man-made stream with windows allowing you to see the salmon under and over water [It was basically a cross section of a stream.  You could see the smaller weaker fish at the bottom and stronger fish up where the current was a bit stronger].  It was cool to see the salmon jump up the river, but it was annoying trying to film it.  They would jump sporatically, and I'd miss the jump on the video.  The hatchery steadily got tourists as asian tour buses came one at a time.  I left and headed back to the main road.

  I finally made it to the road, and was going to grab a bus to the mountain.  By this time I walked a bit over 2km already and it was noon.  Perfect time to start a hike...

[Too many pictures on my hike, going to split this one up]

Vancouver Day 1 - Guu

I got back and planned out my next day on the Grouse Grind, and got a feel for some of Kyle's recommended restaurants.  Later on, I bought some fruit and yoghurt drinks for my climb and headed out to eat.  Kyle recommended a place called Guu.  It was just like a japanese pub fare snack and drinking hole in Okinawa.  Just like in Okinawa, the place was loud and crowded.  Also like in Japan, you'd hear all the staff yell 'welcome' and 'thank you' in japanese as people came in and out.  I loved the atmosphere and sat right in front of the cooks.  They were amazing.  Like bartenders they precisely made and prepared all the dishes with genuine care and focus.  The thing was, they were fast.  Each dish had a specific presentation and garnish and it all came together masterfully.  Also they offered high quality liquors and cocktails.  All of this quality was expensive mind you, but well worth the experience [Provided you experience it once, but really it was my fault, as I came in hungry expecting a restaurant, when it really was just a place to drink and snack].  I ordered beef sashimi which they garnish with a nice sour sauce and mustard and arranged into a tight rose.  I also ordered stewed cow tongue, being sure not to get something cheaper and sacrifice the experience (a real struggle).  For a drink I got a single shot of japanese 'vodka' [Their words, not mine] called kaido, which just tasted like good sake.  The seat beside me was taken by a lone white guy, so I figured I'd start a conversation.  The general mood of the place encouraged social forwardness.  He was a friendly guy from Slovenia.  From what I gathered, he moved here after visiting family here and has been living here since 2002 (8 yrs).  He has a chinese girlfriend and likes butchering japanese [language] to the waitress and chinese to me [I don't know why people try to impress me by showing off that they know how to say hello in Chinese.  I mean, it wouldn't bug me at all if there wasn't that awkward pause of anticipation for recognition.  What do I say? "uhhh... hey yea! that's hello alright.  way to go?"].  He's active and swims everyday, which is why I pegged him at mid 30's even tho he's 42.  Asking him what to do, he suggested the grouse grind, which he did 2 weeks ago.  A lucky coincidence as I was doing it anyways.  I ordered a sake mojito, which included a japanese 'ball' drink. [I kind of felt the urge to buy him a drink, as that would be a Canadian thing to do, but I was in super cheap mode still]

We talked some more and he asked me to keep in touch, giving me his email [Lost it, but I don't think I would have emailed him anyways, because I'm a jerk].  He also told me about a great coffee place in town (saying a lot since he's european).  It's supposedly owned by an italian couple.  I took my leave and paid the $33!! bill for just myself, with a tip and tax it was closer to 40.  No regrets since it was a great time, but ouch. [Alright let's put this into perspective... I knew my trip would cost a ton as I would be eating out and paying for room and board for a whole month, so yes... I was worried about money at the time]

  I left feeling really good and ready to party, but for the first time, really wished there was someone to chill with.  I wandered through the busy pub streets and came back to the hostel.  The hostel was organizing a pub crawl, but I didn't feel like getting drunk with a bunch of hardcores the night before a hike. [That and I don't know how much conversing there'd be, as everyone was stoked to get smashed and you'd be in the bar for about 15-30 mins at a time before heading to the next]

  Instead I chatted with Wakana as she sent me links to houses in Ottawa.  We chatted for about 2 hours and I came up to shower and write.  As I was writing this I finally met a dorm mate.  He's Zak, and from France.  He's looking for a more permanent place till Dec.  He seems really nice... but he stinks.  2 mins after he got in, and there's a powerful B.O. smell.  I hope he's gone soon, it's a little overwhelming.

Vancouver Day 1 - The Arcade

When I got to Vancouver I realized I was super unprepared.  I had no idea where the bus terminal was in relation to downtown, nor did I jot the taxi #.  After calling the hostel, I got my bearings and headed to the hostel.  I saw a photobooth, and will come back for it.  [I had to pee in the train station when I first got off, which was awkward as I had a giant back pack and a guitar that I didn't want to get stolen.  I brought it into the large bathroom and found a relatively clean corner to put my guitar]

 On the train I had my pyjama pants still on and it remained that way till the hostel.  I had an irrational fear of getting pants'd on the way. [Seriously... I was actually paranoid some random stranger would pants me.  Also I felt like I was walking downtown in my pyjamas and everyone knew, even though my pj pants looked like black sweats]

I saw an arcade on the way and decided I'd swing back after dropping off my stuff.

  As I checked in, I bought some net time and went up to the room.  The location is right downtown so I'm close to everything.  The rooms seem decent, with only 4 bunks, 1 of which is empty.  There are lockers and a sink in the room.  I'm on the 4th floor, but I figure that's just less used bathrooms.  Plus, the elevator is right there.

When I headed back to the arcade I noticed a "18+ no minors allowed" sign.  I found this odd as it looked like a regular arcade (albeit with older games).  The games themselves were great.  Old street fighter 2 games, 1945 strikers, raiden I and II, SF3, Area 51, and a bunch of old classics.  Intrigued by the sign I wandered to the back expecting Video Lottery or old japanese dating sims [I remember seeing a few of adult themed video games in Japan].  Instead I found old wooden booths.  The booths looked like photobooths until I got closer and noticed that it had no curtain or seat, and only afforded room to stand 1 person in the space.  In that space was a small slot like a bouncer's eyehole slot and a coin dispense for 25 cents.  Of course I knew what it was, I just had a hard time believing that such a thing still existed, let alone existed at all.  I, of course, put a coin in, and the slot slid open and the sound of an old reel camera started.  The video was a poor quality porn from the 70s or 80s or something.  Given that it was a throwback to an old 5 cent picture box of old, I was surprised how hardcore the porn was [It was a close up of a DP.  I'll leave it at that].  I actually laughed out loud a little before heading back to the games.  I didn't actually stick around to see how long the thing lasted, but I figure for 25 cents, not long.  I later heard someone using it, and wondered what kind of person would use it.  It really was the poorest of the poor's way to access porn.  I wanted to snap a picture of the booths, but was afraid I'd snap a picture of someone coming out or the owner would see my camera and boot me out for making his clientelle uncomfortable.  I'll try again as I know I'll be asked for pictures. [I did go back and grabbed some pics a day or 2 later]

  After gaming with some old favourites, I went out and got some pizza at 'Mega Bite'.  The pizza was really good for a takeout slice, and the sesame seeds on the crust made it so much better.  [They had a really good roasted garlic sauce]

  I proceeded to wander around and look for a BMO.  After a bunch of misgiven and confused directions, I took out some money and checked my transactions.

[Splitting this one up, as I am running out of days left on this journal, and this entry was kinda long]

To Vancouver! -- the hot dog

Just leaving chilliwak now.  I thought I wouldn't get any sleep, but I slept with a good 3-4 more hours.  by the time we reached this station I hadn't eaten for about 13 hours.  I bought a much needed jumbo hot dog.

  It was good when I got past the idea of eating a meaty tube made up of sodium rich assholes. [The hot dog was a little rubbery, but not the worse I've had... which is kind of gross]

To Vancouver!

September 15th Wednesday

  It's 5:45am local here in Kamloops.  The bus is refueling.  When it picked me up in Jasper there was a big group of fob asian girls.  I'm not sure if they got off the buss, or were seeing this dude off.  Either way it involved a lot of waving and cutesy posing.  Everyone on that side of the bus just stared at them. [It was really odd, because it wasn't like a pose and wave as the bus pulled away... they were there for like 10 mins]

  Halfway here, we stopped at Blue River.  The convenient store was being invaded by moths.  They were everywhere.  The driver made a call saying anyone who wants off should go so he could seal the door from the moths.  While I was in the store, someone opened the door and the driver seemed a little pissed.  He got over it fast though, what an easy-going guy. [It was pretty gross... you can't see too well with the dark picture, but there were insane amounts of moths]

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So now I'm sitting here for an hour.  I played some 1945 III but died really fast.  There's a funky picture on the wall of a gorilla by Martin Tuba.  It's pretty neat.

[You can check out his work by doing a quick google search: http://www.tru.ca/arts/TRU_Rebel_Writers_Camp/RebelwcWorkshops/RebelWC_Martin_Tuba.html]