The Vancouver Interviews (3): Up and Abouting

While I had some very weak, upright intentions of attending some of the conference presentations, I did not attend a single one. I felt I paid my dues by wearing the most uncomfortable clothes and shoes for the whole job shebang. So afterwards, I either wandered about or stayed in and ordered "the roast of the day" at the hotel.
I took to Vancouver pretty much immediately. It has an air or being relaxed and casual without being slow. Its more diverse than NY and again, more comfortably so, but less exciting. Quirky and welcoming, but without trying too hard. The city as such seems to be into urban gardening, many of the residential buildings had trees on the rooftop. There was also a good bit of island art, with twirly depiction of animals, even on manhole covers.

Also, second hand book shops. I went into one which seemed to have a world of its own within. Got a muriel spark, which rescued me from the boredom of layovers on my way back and a Maugham, which I now realize I have read before, but is still a good read. I looked into an antique shop, and I stood swooning in front of a cup. I told myself that I should just take a pic toremember what I felt like when I stood in front of it, but I caved and bought it instead. Bargained it down to a reasonable price to ease my conscience.

Food is more authentic than the stuff in the US. Day 1, I had shawarma at Baghdad cafe. This wasn't my first choice, kerala is teeming with shawarma stands. But I still have to wait a semester before I can head home. Besides I was hungry. Anyhow, I wasn't disappointed, it was pretty good, though I wasted all the rice and stuff that came with it. I felt a little out of place, because the only people sitting in were young arab men and I got some curious looks. I got the feeling that most people just have it to-go. Oh well.

I also discovered some cool soda on the way back. I tried this bright green thing which tasted like slightly sweeter Limca, its got a nice kick to it and I bought it again another time.

I saw this promising looking donut shop called Cartems donuterie. Once I was inside though, for the most part, the donuts all looked pretty ordinary. Whats the point of eating the same ol thing, so I decided to try a not so obvious choice for myself - the bacon whisky donut. Theres a girl in Syracuse who puts bacon on a lot of her desserts and they are quite popular, so who knows. I could barely taste the whiskey, I guess they put in a drop or two into the glazing, and the bacon basically just added some saltiness to the whole thing. Flavor wise it barely made a difference. But the doughy part of the donut, that was goooood, and I realized that I could have stuck to an ordinary donut, and it would have been still worth my while.

At the hotel, I had the joy of having the perfect creme brulee. The server brought it in saying hes given me some extra blueberries with it. And Im thinking well, that was unnecessary. But he was right and I was wrong, they pair off beautifully. Also, the best creme brulee I've ever had, very thin glassy sheet of caramel, that cracks perfectly to let out the gooey creamy custard inside. I suppose its a very simple dessert really.
Once, after a particularly long day, I grabbed dinner from a Vietnamese sandwich place, clean flavors, its the sorta thing you would have often for a quick lunch between office hours.

 Sweet women too, they chatted pleasantly with their customers, seemed to remember each of their backstories. They wished me luck with the interviews and I was happy to receive it. Finally, there was the Japanese curry place. I wasn't sure what to order so I asked the waitress to recommend something. She indicated the most popular item and it had cheese in it, so I wasn't too keen on it. I asked her what her favorite was. She indicated the pork katsu don and while I wanted something I hadn't had before, I didn't have the heart to reject her suggestion once again, so I went with that.

I am glad I did, she seemed so thrilled. I should do that more often.