plunkybug: (weeleaf)
I believe I left off on Wednesday, last week, so let me pick up with Thursday.

So, Thursday was our last day in Vancouver, so we got up pretty early and headed out to a few places in town. Chas wanted to visit the Apple retail stores in the area, and I wanted to visit the Lunapads office. We went to one store called Mac Station on Nelson and Homer in the downtown area, within walking distance from our hotel. The interesting thing with this location is that it is the same store our friend here battled with over name rights...his shop was called Mac Station too. We took a picture of it for him. The shop was pretty new to that location, but it was a nice shop. From there we found the bus stop we needed to cross the Cambie Bridge and get us to the other side of the False Creek, so we could get to the Lunapads office, as it was only a few blocks walk from Cambie on West 6th Avenue. We had a nice chat with the Lunachix, and even got a few of the new pads in a new pattern, nether of which have been released on the website yet.

For the girls, unless you are a liberated guy who doesn't get squeamish at the mention of menstruation. :P )

After this stop, we walked around the corner and up a few blocks to West 2nd Avenue to catch the bus over to Simply Computing on Pine and Broadway. We had to walk a few blocks from where the bus dropped us off. This store was bigger, but busting at the seams for space, and just not as cool looking. On the way to find the bus stop back to the hotel, so we could check out, we came across this cool little shop that had tons of hats! I found a few that were cute, but did not get anything. Back at the hotel we checked out and waited for the Airporter shuttle, and then was off back to LA a few hours later.

Localized map of Vancouver )

Friday was the beginning of the convention, but we got there late since we had wandered to a few nearby stores, and Chas scored a deal of deals! In the Circuit City he found a Samsung camcorder/4.1 megapixel camera with optical zoom for...

...wait for it...


...$69.99!!!


Ok, so it was sold as is with no accessories, though even buying the accessories separately puts the total at about $200, and the unit runs close to $400 normally. We highly suspect that it was supposed to be $169.99, because it took a long time to get it approved for sale from a manager.


We had a fantastic lunch at the Del Taco, and headed to the convention. It was near the airport this year, and MUCH closer to where we were staying, and it was also MUCH larger. It actually dwarfed the convention, as everything was in one organized area. The great thing was that about 1/3 of the people there were new fans. Usually first timers is much smaller, and it tends to be more of a family reunion as much as a convention.

Saturday was more of the convention. We met up with [livejournal.com profile] teajade and [livejournal.com profile] joscobo in the lobby of the hotel and chatted for a little bit, but they couldn't stay too long, as they were just passing through LA to get to San Pedro, to catch a cruise to Mexico, I think. The rest of the day was much a repeat of Friday at the convention, though we were trying to meet up with other friends who came to the convention for the day. The only bad thing about the convention was that my cell had no signal in the ballroom level...I had to go up to the lobby in order to make any phone calls. Suxor.

Sunday, Chas was co-hosting the annual charity auction, so I stayed with our host's girlfriend and cleaned the house a little while we girl chatted, then went to visit our host and had lunch together. She had to go home and our host came home a little later. We just relaxed a bit and then went to the convention later, though it was nearly over by then. We had Benny's BBQ for dinner. Not Bubbalou's Bodacious BBQ or anything, but pretty good stuff.

Monday was a little laid back. We went to the store, and on the way back I was allowing my imagination to run wild with the idea of moving to Victoria. We started making an early dinner/late lunch...Greek chicken and potatoes...both cooked slowly in the oven. Oy it was good. And now I know the recipe! :) After eating we headed back to Irvine for another dance performance. This was much better than the previous one we saw. We saw a friend in Long Beach, ate loads of Krispy Kreme (oh my!) and rushed home to pack and go to bed. We had to be up at 5am Tuesday for our flight back home.

Tuesday we made it to our flight on time, but very drowsy and hungry. Grabbed some food at the airport and good job for us because there were no meals on either the flight to Atlanta, or the flight from Atlanta back to Orlando. It was a long day. A packed full flight on the leg to Atlanta, though much less crowded on the much shorter jump to Orlando. Did I mention the 3 hour layover in Atlanta? Oh yeah, I slept through it. We got back safely, and our luggage was already sorted out because of the transfer, and soon my parents arrived to take us home. I knew something was wrong the minute they pulled away from the curb, but I kept it to myself, because I constantly get taunted for hearing things a car is doing (that is usually an indication of a problem). But lo and behold, the car was having trouble. Transmission trouble. We almost got home. Almost. The car died at the intersection of Horatio and Orlando Avenue. A police car showed up soon after and helped push us over to a parking lot, then the fire department had to come and clean up, because the transmission fluid was going straight out after being poured in, and it was a hazard. Luckily, they got the car from Don Reid Ford, which is right in front of our complex, and that they got the warranty for as long as they make payments on the car, so it cost them nothing. We had the tow truck bring Chas home, so he could get his car, get us, take us to the car so we could unload our luggage, and then take my parents home. We stopped at the store to get cold stuff for Chas, and food for dinner. Got in after all this at about midnight. Oh, and I learned that a guy I knew in high school, who lived about 5 houses down from me then, was killed the night before. I'll be going to the funeral on Saturday.

Today was back to work.

Must go to bed soon. Still tired from yesterday.

PS. The digital camera died on the trip, though we did get a disposable in Victoria, and Chas took a lot of video footage. So, I will post info as soon as we have some to post. :)
plunkybug: (weeleaf)
Saturday afternoon we flew into LA. Got in late and had a yummy pastrami sandwich.

Sunday, we went to Irvine to see a dance performance...some interesting things, some crap things. Early night because we had to be at the airport early the following morning.

Monday we had the flight to Vancouver, via a minor layover in Portland where we boarded a puddle jumper plane. It was getting tossed and turned in the wind, but we got to Vancouver in one piece about 2:30pm. Had to go through customs and sort out transportation to the hotel. The trip from the airport through Vancouver and up into downtown was neat. I was following our journey on the fold out map from the Airporter desk. We checked in about 4pm, called [livejournal.com profile] katykate and left a message we were in town, and then out to get some food. We went to a place called Rosies on Robson and had fish and chips for a late lunch/snack. I also had some matzah ball soup, which I found quite odd for an Irish-centric restaurant. Nonetheless, it was tasty enough. We got info on what to do that evening (there was fuck all to do in that area on a Monday night in winter). We headed back to the hotel briefly, to drop off the camcorder, and learned that [livejournal.com profile] katykate was sick, and we wouldn't be able to see her that night. After that, we headed for the Futureshop (electronics shop) a few blocks down and then the massive Sears after that. I still can't believe the size of that place! After not finding Chas a new windbreaker there, it was time for us to catch our movie. We saw Narnia, since I still hadn't seen it. The movie was enjoyable. :) We went back to the hotel just a little too late to catch our dinner at the in house restaurant, but the front desk had a few menus for delivery in the area, and we got some honey garlic wings. Then we went to bed because we needed to head out to Victoria the following morning.

Tuesday morning we got up, had a decent breakfast at the hotel (decent enough for free) and called a cab to go to the nearby bus station, where the coach would take us to the ferry over to Victoria. The coach took us back through town, past the airport, through the void of absolutely nothing, and then finally onto the ferry at the port. The ferry ride was about 90 minutes, and then another 20-30 minutes from the ferry port into the heart of Victoria, to the bus depot. From there we took a cab to the hotel. It was neat, because the cab was a Toyota Prius hybrid...apparently both Vancouver and Victoria had a number of hybrids for cabs. It was very cool. From the hotel we were able to take the courtesy shuttle into downtown Victoria and walk around for a few hours, then we came back and ate dinner at the hotel. We were the youngest people there, though we later learned that while the hotel was popular with families in the warmer months, it was a haven for retirees from the colder cities in the winter. We also learned that the tap water is amazing. It was good in Vancouver too, but we really noticed it that night in Victoria.

Wednesday we went to this restaurant a little outside of downtown, the older part, called Floyd's Diner for breakfat. I had The Donald Trump...a variation on Eggs Benny with poached chicken for the meat, with apple chutney on top, the standard poached egg on top of that, covered in a curry hollandaise sauce. Oh it was good. Chas had Listen To Me When I'm Talkin' To Ya Son, which was your basic eggs bacon, sausage type meal. We went into a neat market, and the local London Drugs which were across the street from Floyds for a bit, and then back to the hotel to check out. When we got back to the hotel and checked out, we had the courtesy shuttle drop us at the Immigration and Citizenship office a few blocks away to see what is needed to be done for us to move there, with me being a citizen and all. It seems all straightforward. I need to get the new version of my birth certificate, and sponsor Chas, though it would help if I got my Canadian passport too. We went around a little more and caught a late ferry back to Vancouver. We got in about 7:30 to the hotel, and promptly headed to the skytrain stop a few blocks away and headed to The Republic of East Vancouver in the Commercial Drive area, which is commonly known as "The Drive" and met up with [livejournal.com profile] starra74 and [livejournal.com profile] scorchtone who took us to a restaurant called Waazubee for dinner and drinks. We had a great time with them, chatting about all sorts of things. We had to call it a night because we needed to get up early Thursday morning to get a few things done before heading to the airport after lunch.

To be continued...
plunkybug: (weeleaf)
Too tired to do a full update on the last few days, but back in Los Angeles now. Updates later. Doctor Who convention begins tomorrow. Whee! :)
plunkybug: (weeleaf)
We left our hotel in Vancouver this morning, and headed aroubd the corner to the Pacific Central Station to catch the bus to the ferry dock for our trip to Victoria. It was neat riding in the coach, driving through town trying to identify places on the map while we were going to the BC Ferries terminal, and it was neat driving onto the ferry in the coach as well, The ferry was old and smelly, but the ride was nice enough. Back off the ferry, in the coach, and into Victoria. I can certainly see why Chas liked it so much when he was here in the summer. It has a certain feeling that I did not get in Vancouver, though I have enjoyed Vancouver so far. It would be great to be able to find that same kind of feeling in Vancouver somewhere too. The hotel is great, and so it the courtesy shuttle too. I very nearly picked up a few Canadian cds in a store at The Bay Center (a nice mall), but I did not have time to listen to them all, only Feist, and some of Hot Hot Heat, a band that comes from Victoria. I actually have heard them before, with their song "Goodnight, Goodnight" I think on The-N in between shows. I wish I had time to hear the other two bands, Arctic Fire (?) and Metro. Maybe later. Should go to bed shortly, as it has been a long day and we have another long one tomorrow. Oh, and it may get below 0C (1C right now) and freeze here tonight. Whee!


Chas' recollection (with photos) from September are here.
plunkybug: (weeleaf)
I was in a Sears that had 7 floors today. I think I am still a bit stunned at that. :P


Oh, and our first shuttle driver from the airport was channeling Red Green! :P
plunkybug: (Default)
Layovers getting to Atlanta due to the rain in Orlando leaving, lots of ear pressure issues on both legs of the flight, long day in all, but we got to LA late last night. About 11pm. Had monster pastrami sandwich after we landed. Yummy! Had a good breakfast today, then went to Irvine to see a dance performance. It was a mixed bag. Just taking it easy today. Tomorrow we head to Vancouver. That's all for now.

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