The Globe and Mail has an interactive tool to calculate if it’s worthwhile driving a certain distance for cheaper gas. A lot of Canadians do this, especially on a trip down to the States. I’d probably never go down on purpose just to get gas. I’d likely fill up if I were going on a trip south. So I fill up once I cross the … Continue reading How far should you drive for cheaper gas?
Living in Vancouver, BC, we are in easy driving range of Seattle. One could easily make a day trip down to the Emerald City. Or as the recent “2 Days in Seattle” ad campaign suggests, you should spend two days in Seattle. For the past few trips into the US, I’ve made it a point to visit one particular bookstore in Seattle. It’s Kinokuniya. What’s … Continue reading Kinokuniya – My Favourite Japanese Bookstore in Seattle
In the past few years, I’ve watched the retail fronts of many a bookstore lower their shutters never to open them again. It looks like the good old local bookstore is disappearing in favour of online book sellers and the big box book megastore. It is with sadness that a local Vancouver icon in the book business is going out of business. I remember when … Continue reading The Death of the Vancouver Bookstore
One of Portland’s mottos is “Keep Portland Weird.” It’s a fun and funky slogan. It’s even painted all over one wall in Old Town. It sums up part of the Portland experience. (I’m not sure if the Benz really fits with the motto, though). In Old Town, you can find one of Portland’s weird, fun, and funky eateries – Voodoo Doughnut. It’s been featured on … Continue reading Keep Portland Weird!
So apparently, today is White Day in Japan (and in Korea, I believe). White Day is the partner day for Valentine’s Day. In Japan, women give men chocolate on Valentine’s Day. That is quite different to the norm in North America where men tend to do all the buying of gifts on February 14th. Then on March 14th, White Day, Japanese men will buy chocolate … Continue reading White Day
We left the central part of Portland’s Downtown. It was still too early to search for dinner and we just had our “unhappy hour” meal. Originally, I thought we’d walk around Powell’s City of Books for a while. As we circled around the block for parking, we came across the Brewery Blocks. The Brewery Blocks are on the southern edge of the the ever-gentrified Pearl … Continue reading Portland’s Brewery Blocks
It’s hard to believe that it’s been a year since the Great Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami happened a year ago today. I was in Taiwan when the earthquake struck and news travelled quickly to the little island not too far away. I remember sitting in my hotel room in Taipei just glued to the news and wondering if the same tsunami that hit Japan would … Continue reading 3/11 – One Year Ago Today
More and more these days, I keep hearing about Austin, Texas. Before this year, I didn’t know very much about the small capitol of the Lone Star State. However, Austin seems to be climbing in status and stature in the US. Many major companies and international events call, or are starting to call, Austin home. The big event going on in Austin right now is … Continue reading Austin Is the Place To Be
As I am typing this, I realize that I didn’t take many photos as we were in Downtown Portland. We had finished riding the Portland Aerial Tram and had come downtown. This is when the weather turned. We had turned our car into one parking lot to see if there were any spots and then came back out to a downpour. Egads! Save the camera! … Continue reading Downtown Portland and Our Happy Hour Disappointment
The first time I visited Portland, I arrived at the aerial tram on a statutory holiday. That meant the tram was not running. I even purposely took the streetcar all the way from downtown to ride the aerial tram. So after being disappointed on my first visit to the tram, I was not about to be disappointed this time. However, a funny thing happened on … Continue reading Portland Aerial Tram
metro babel 