thekua.com@rest

Offering a warm wooden retreat from all the drizzle outside, only to be disappointed by untimely service and mediocre food, Sandbar missed its mark with me on my trip to Vancouver. Looking back, I should have stuck to pillaging the wealth of smaller, and more likely, tastier options in the public market nearby.

Don’t get me wrong. At first thought, Sandbar looked to promise a lot. I could hear the orders resonate through the kitchen from where I was, indicating a relatively efficient one at least. Unfortunately it just took a long time for the waitress to take my order and bring the bill.

On the upside, they did serve complementary bread. Better yet, they had warmed it through and, surprisingly, accompanied by softened butter, made the normal ordeal of combining the two a breeze.

My only dish, the plank salmon arrived and true to form looked good, yet it still disappointed as the fish was slightly overcooked, lacking in the luscious moistness I’d expected out of a place like this. At least, the skin, none too fatty indicating it wasn’t a farmed fish, was crisp and the fresh … taste of the caramalesied sugar/maple left permeated through its flesh.

I’ll also admit, even though I waited for some time, their comfy brown leather seaters I sat in made it pretty worthwhile.

TheKua.com Rating: 6 out of 10

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Dear Calgary,

Do you remember when I asked you for some fresh snow when I first arrived? You certainly delivered with some fresh powder during my times in Lake Louise, Sunshine Village and some light snowfall around town. I thanked you dearly for your generous gift when you literally buried the city under 19 centimetres of snow, only to be followed by a weekend with temperatures of up to 20 degrees celcius. I thought to myself, what a wonderful way to really start the spring weather off.

Understandably, maintaining your 20 degrees is a bit much to ask for, especially during Spring-time weather and the showers everyone told me to expect. To be fair, given how dry the city tends to be, I would definitely not complain should you decide to share a heavy downpour with us all. I can completely relate to your need to also vary your temperatures, from the near zero to the high teens - you definitely don’t want people to mistake this period for summertime.

However given that it is the start of May, I’m disappointed with the pretty constant, albeit light, snow that’s blanketing the city tonight (please see the picture above I took just before writing this). I feel like you don’t want to let go of the bitter winter, and that, for some reason, you don’t want to welcome spring with open arms. You already made me more than happy by giving me such wonderful snow in April, and I’m really looking forward to the summer hikes the surroundings offer, should the snow finally leave the ground.

I do hope you consider the confusion your behaviour has created around the city.

Yours sincerely,

The Kua ^_^

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I’ve now flown Air Canada both domestically and overseas. For some reason, their domestic planes have an on demand entertainment system yet their international planes which actually really need them, lack them. Instead, their screens literally carpeted over with seat material instead. Bizarre? Yes, not to mention what a taunt.

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Wow! After only spending two days in Vancouver, I think it must be one of the most liveable cities I’ve been to so far. It beats Brisbane by having a real down town. It beats London by having the crowds and density without actually feeling like it. It beats Calgary by apparently only being 40 minutes from the nearest ski hill. It beats New York by actually being very walkable without feeling like you just completed a marathon. It also has an amazing number of suburban areas, each slightly different and unique. I would place bets that it also rivals the number of coffee stores selling reasonable coffee per capita than Melbourne.

There are plenty things that you may not like about it as well. Apparently it’s a very wet city. For me it rained Saturday morning although cleared up with spectacular results and fortunately making everything appear an intense green. Vancouver also has its fair share of dodgy areas, like on Hastings street that runs between the historic gas town and Vancouver’s vast Chinatown.

I’m not sure where all my time went spent between hanging around the awesome Granville Island Public Market, sitting in a number of cafes (including my, now favourite, Cafe Artigiano), walking around Stanley Park, eating superbly fresh seafood and indulging in the lively atmosphere along Robson. To be honest, I’m not sure if it really matters though with the great time I had there.

View the rest of the photos here.

Restaurants/cafes eaten at:

• Paul’s Place Omlettery
• The Sandbar Restaurant
• Mango’s
• Irish Heather
• Tsunami Sushi
• Cafe Artigiano

Other places I wanted to eat at:

• Vij’s for great Indian
• C Restaurant for seafood
• Tojo’s for atmosphere (and Japanese)
• Chill Winston for brunch

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It’s easy to find a bunch of Australians in Calgary - normally all you have to do is go up to the ski hills in Banff and Lake Louise. It’s much more difficult trying to find a bunch of Aussies perform an astonishing 61 circus acts in 60 minutes. Fortunately, Circa and its four performers not only manage to pull it off without the potential droll, but they manage to make it a blast for everyone in the audience. Tonight I was lucky enough to see them on the opening night with the folks from Theatre Junction at The Grand. Their first night wasn’t a completely full house, although the the standing ovation at the end demonstrated exactly how much value everyone received for the price of their ticket.

To say that the performers, made up of one lady and three gentlemen, are charismatic would be an understatement. Their witty commentary and perfect timing takes you on a journey through the different circus acts where you literally laugh, cry and cringe your way through some mind-bending physical feats. With only just the four of them, they cover pretty much all types of circus acts including juggling, tumbling, acrobatics, slapstick, magic, and some more unique combinations involving some modern props like a fitness ball.

Although on first thought, an hour isn’t really a long time for a show, I’m just amazed at how energised the entire hour felt and with the breadth of the performance, I’m sure that everyone walked out of there extremely satisfied. Of course with so much pressure on the performers, some of the acts didn’t quite go according to plan and given their format, you at least knew that particular act would draw to a close very quickly.

Definitely go and see these guys, if for nothing else but a light hearted evening. It’s an hour of your life you’ll definitely appreciate.

TheKua.com Rating: 9 out of 10

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With all the snow around, it’s been my first actual weekend I’ve got to stay in Calgary. Next week I’m off to Vancouver so I thought it was about time to head off to the Calgary Farmer’s Markets. Located out of downtown, it was the first time I had to actually use the public transport. Other than a website that wasn’t working, the whole system seems pretty efficient with more buses than trains covering greater areas. All stops even have a service number you can call that will tell you exactly how many minutes away the next bus will be. It only cost CAN$2.50 for a ticket and a transfer gives you 90 minutes to hop on and off, or return in that period.

To say that the markets were crowded would’ve been an understatement and even though it’s in a large warehouse, they could definitely use some more space. It’s nice to see local and, some organic, produce. I really enjoyed seeing the different types of Canadian products, including lots of items involving maple syrup, lots of local pork and beef, and bison of all things! I couldn’t resist and buy some bison sausages for later in the week. Asking the chap for any specific instructions, he just said avoid poking them like normal sausages as bison is naturally lean and would end up all dry. I’ll definitely report on it when I get a chance to grill them on my BBQ outside.

Other than that, I wandered around even more around town, heading out to Kensington for a brunch on Sunday and taking my new inline skates for a spin on Prince’s Island paths, where the last remaining snow continued to melt away. Calgary definitely has an out door lifestyle and I continue to be impressed by how much sunlight you get.

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Mmmm…. Coffee

April 25th 2008 at 6:45 AM Posted to Canada

Whilst I enjoy the morning walks to different coffee stores around Calgary, sometimes I just don’t have enough time to be able to go out and find it. More than that, I feel like I’m missing out or I can’t really judge baristas until I can make a decent cup of joe myself. So here it is…

My new coffee machine. It’s a perfect size for two cups of coffee. The next size up was the six cup and although that’d be much more social, realistically it would be far too much coffee for a single person.

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Making Sense

April 22nd 2008 at 6:31 AM Posted to Annoyances, Canada, Travel

Is it me, or does everyone also struggle to find the right coin combination for exact change, with the usual result a quick draw from the wallet to find a note for payment instead?

Strangely I don’t have any problems with money from the US, yet when I find myself in front of a cashier, the hunt for Canadian quarters, nickels, dimes and pennies is a stressful event. Like the US, it also doesn’t help that tax is also added at the cashier, making any prior preparation a fruitless endeavour.

I’m sure that by the time I leave, I’ll have worked out the system. Until then, it’ll be a handful of change and a cheeky smile to tide me over.

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