Qype: Vancouver in Welt

Welt

I rather wanted to have the first review of places in Vancouver on Qype. I was waiting for it to be added to the database of places… and got beaten by the Germans, who didn’t wait. Sniff. Never mind, here’s the first ENGLISH review for Vancouver. I think I’ll stick to the German convention of placing Vancouver, Canada in Welt, Germany. It’s sort of amusing… Welt is both a real place in Germany and the German word for ‘World’.

First a little questionnaire for you:

1) What environment will you find around Vancouver?
a. Tundra
b. Rainforest
c. Desert
2) What two main languages will you find spoken in Vancouver?
a. English
b. German
c. French
d. Chinese
3) Which of these was filmed in and around Vancouver?
a. Stargate SG1
b. X-Men movies
c. X-Files
d. Smallville

Answers to be found in the following text… Vancouver is the unofficial capitol of British Columbia (the official one being Victoria, which is, quite ironically, on Vancouver Island). It’s built on a river delta, with nearby Richmond (officially a separate town now, but locals aren’t precious about it) and the airport actually being on low-lying flat islands. The climate is not the ice and snow associated with Canada. In fact it rarely snows in Vancouver itself, though rain is frequent. However it’s surrounded by high mountains where the rain gives way to snow, making for good ski-ing very close to town. These mountains are also covered in temperate rainforest. Huge red cedar trees, dripping with moss and ferns.

Vancouver has a large Chinese population. In many areas street signs are in both English and Chinese (Cantonese is the most common dialect apparently). If you like Chinese food you’ll find plenty! The Dr Sun Yat-Sen Garden is also reputed to be the only authentic classical Chinese garden outside China. Diverging a little, food is generally excellent, often superb quality, including local seafoods, and reasonably priced.

Not forgetting the First Nations: this being the largely preferred term to refer to the local native/indigenous peoples. Totem poles greet you at the airport, and their stylised representations of eagles, ravens, orca, salmon etc are common motifs on T-shirts and more.

Another population that’s influenced Vancouver is the influx of American draft-dodgers during the Vietnam war. There’s now quite a few aging hippies live in Vancouver! On the positive side Vancouver is very lively in terms of culture and arts, and has a thriving gay scene. On the negative side there are areas with major drug problems. Avoid the Downtown area if you don’t want to be pestered by beggars supporting drug habits (and possibly worse if you get unlucky or stupid). This area is centred around the junction of Main and Hastings (and is easy to wander into if walking between the tourist areas of Gastown and Chinatown). Some advise avoiding Hastings east of Cambie Street. Pender Street is generally considered a safer route.

These days Vancouver is also popular as a film location for Americans looking for somewhere a bit cheaper to film than LA… Everything listed in (3) was filmed here! (Smallville is nearby Cloverdale) If you wander around downtown you’ll usually find at least one film crew somewhere!

For the tourist Vancouver is a great place to visit. Locals are very friendly and service standards are high. It’s not somewhere for those that want sun, sand and boozing. But if you’d like stunning natural scenery, water sports and winter sports, wildlife (whale watching is a must), good food and culture, (including First Nation culture of course…), then it’s amazing. UK visitors will find exchange levels to their advantage. But look out for tax… prices in shops etc do not include this, and it will be added at the till! You should keep receipts for large purchases and accommodation (not other services unfortunately) and claim back this tax (forms at the airport, allow time to get them and get your receipts stamped when you leave, services that offer to do it for you aren’t really worth it: it’s easy).

Public transport is excellent: I’d recommend you don’t hire a car unless you are driving well out of town.

More reviews of places in Vancouver and the area coming up…

Check out my review of Vancouver - I am moonrising - on Qype

Qype: Organic and Natural in London

London

Clapton is not always the nicest area. Though it has some very nice houses around, it also has a main street with many run down and in some cases derelict buildings, and some of the local pubs have a very bad reputation. Recently there’s been moves made to bring it up to scratch: the overhaul of Clapton Pond being one.

Organic and Natural is either desperately out of place, or a foretaste of what’s to come. It’s the sort of shop you might expect to find in posh Islington. A very fine wholefoods store, selling not just the basics, but stuff you might also find in an upmarket delicatessen. As well as the dried beans and meat-free stuff they also sell organic meats (including a sausage that’s apparently been voted second best in the world), an incredible range of seasonings, fresh breads and premium chocolate truffles.

They also have a snack bar in the back, selling coffee and baguettes (e.g. one with thick slices of proper brie and grapes. I always think brie looks like what you get on the top of a cup of a milky drink forgotten in a teenager’s bedroom, but those who do like it may want to take note).

Prices are not cheap, but favourably compare to what you’d pay in Islington. I think I may be heading up to this shop for a few presents this Christmas…

Check out my review of Organic and Natural - I am moonrising - on Qype

Qype: Butlins in Bognor Regis

Bognor Regis - Travel & Hotels - Holiday Parks

I visited this camp a couple of years ago for an SF convention. I won’t go into that (it had its own problems), but the venue was a nightmare.

I was sharing with a friend who uses a wheelchair: she can walk short distances, but has chronic severe pain, is sensitive to cold and has sleeping problems. On arrival at the station we found out that the ‘accessible’ taxis could only take folding chairs, not her powered one, so we had to make our own way to the camp. Not too much fun with heavy bags to carry.

We’d been told that the convention goers would have their own area of villas, well away from other groups using the camp that weekend. Our ‘accessible’ chalet was tiny. Getting the chair in and out was like doing one of those puzzles where you slide bricks about and it had to be left, basically, in the way. It was cold (yes, it was winter, but we’d been told the heating would be up to it) and the sliding door to the loo had to be lifted up so my friend couldn’t close it unless I was around to open it again for her. (We also discovered we both snore, and spent the night alternately keeping each other awake, but I guess that’s not the venue’s fault… except we’d had to push the beds together to get the chair in…)

The second day we did get moved to a newly built accessible two bedroom chalet, which was much nicer. 2 bedrooms, HUGE bathroom, (wet room style so the shower could be used with a chair or a fold-down seat), living room with kitchen. Pretty amazing! (Though I did have to pin some towels over the bathroom windows: staff gave me the pins!). Unfortunately it’s there we discovered the other major problem…

The other big group there that weekend was for Butlin’s own ‘adults only’ weekend. Basically stags, hens and others up for mayhem. Don’t get me wrong, SF fans can party. Some of us even drink, and miss the morning talks because we’ve been up all night. And people have been known to get injured while dancing to ‘Star Trekkin’ (I’m serious, someone had to go to hospital at one con I went to, and I’ve had bruises myself). But generally we party in the party area, are fairly quiet on the way back to our rooms, don’t play loud music there and shut up if asked.

Anyway, we basically got kept up every night after by upstair’s loud music and what sounded like acrobatic displays complete with thumping and cheers (though they were too drunk for that), and had to call security several times to shut them up. We didn’t have the energy to ask for another move. And it probably wouldn’t have helped… Back in the SF con’s allocated accommodation area they had people from the other group passing through on their way home. Shouting, screaming and banging on all the doors as they went. Very scary apparently. Some friends came back one night to find a couple banging on their doorstep, and in this case I don’t mean knocking.

If that wasn’t enough, we shared some venues. Our talks hall was used for their disco at night. One day I went to kneel in the aisle to take a picture and felt a wet patch. Though it had been slightly cleaned there was still enough vomit in the carpet to leave a lovely pink patch on my jeans. On the last morning I did actually (not politely) ask someone I saw coming out upstairs if they minded they’d wrecked our weekend, to which the (also not polite) response was that no, he just wanted to get laid (he put it somewhat less delicately). Though they were a load of louts, I have to lay the blame with Butlins. They’d come expecting to be able to ‘live it up’ all weekend, so being told to shut up must have been annoying. They’d also been giving a list of venues available to them, some of which were actually used by us in the evenings, so they’d got short changed on that too.

As for general facilities… the swimming area was open, but only the same hours as con talks were on, so I never got to use it. For food there were some fast food type places, a supermarket, and a canteen where we got some meals included. I thought the canteen wasn’t bad: a bit institutional of course, but a good range of food choices. Some people hated it, but I’ve had a lot worse. The outside attractions were closed. The big fun fair / amusements type area was open, and was often the quickest route to other places. Clever! While Butlins might be cheap to stay at, this was a total money trap, with coin slots everywhere! Parents taking children, beware…

Generally I found the staff absolutely lovely, and it’s thanks to them this place scrapes 2 stars. (Added note: I did write this before seeing the other reviewers were ex-staff!) However I did rather get the feeling that they knew we’d been screwed, and there was nothing they could do about it. Head office didn’t care.

Check out my review of Butlins - I am moonrising - on Qype

Headlines

Like many people I get a lot of spam emails. The ones offering to increase the size of my member, or from cute Russians who saw me online and really want to meet me, have got just boring. Offers of rip-off watches and mails pretending to be from bank accounts I don’t have always were. I have been rather impressed by some headlined with fake news stories this week though. I’ll admit to even checking the BBC just in case on a couple of them… So here’s a selection, with just one genuine story, from the Hackney Gazzette. Can you spot it?

Kidney Stealing Ring Busted
Arnold Says I’m Gay Too!
Monkeys Taught To Handle A Gun
Hospital Handwash Stolen To Make Moonshine
Plucky Pensioner Discovers Hitler In His Local Starbucks
Police Open Fire On Elderly In Iowa
Orgy In Public Park
Scientists Prove Landing In Mars Staged
Flu Outbreak Kills Thousands In Mexico
Girl Attacked By Pirahnas In Georgia
Geek Turns Into Hot Babe

Some funny, some definitely not, but I think they all have that hint of ‘could be…’. I’ve opened a couple (definitely not replied, or clicked on the links inside…) and they contain more stories. The Mexico Flu outbreak contains a link purporting to be to a story on global warming causing cancer. Interested in gay Arnie? Inside is a link to ‘Courtney Love Vows To Wear Clothes’. Are the two stories linked? Anyway, if you want to know… the genuine East End story is the hospital one. Yep, apparently people are stealing the newly-introduced bottles of mediscrub in the corridors… It contains alcohol you know.

A Strange Old Week

It’s been one of those weeks where things happen. I could probably have got a few blog posts out of it if I hadn’t been too busy to write them.

Sunday was a low in one way and a right of passage in another. I’ve recently started working as a cat sitter. On Sunday one of my charges bit me while I was pilling her, hard enough to draw blood. First time I’ve ever had a ‘proper’ cat bite, so I guess it had to happen sometime. Anyway, it’s almost healed now, without infection. And I’ve found that the cat responds well to a bit of Ttouch massage and now purrs during her pilling and massage session. Hmmm, I think I will post on pilling cats at some point.

Sad to report I’ve been having trouble with my knees, due partly to the mileage I’ve been covering for work, and partly the fact the bike is too big and putting strain on them. Tuesday I decided to walk my rounds. Two visits only most of this week, unfortunately near Kings Cross and up in E5. Actually I’m rather glad I choose that day to start walking… It was Ant Day!

As I left my Kings Cross visit I noticed the winged ants gathering around the entrance of every nest in huge numbers. In one place I had to explain to a mystified bloke what was going on (for anybody that doesn’t know, it’s mating flights, co-ordinated by weather conditions). The nest he was looking at was especially impressive: a wooden post by the entrance was totally coated by especially large winged ants, glistening as they moved. As I walked through Angel people were beginning to jump and swat. Along Essex Road they were pelting you constantly: I’ve never seen such numbers. At times it was like a horror film at the point just before someone starts screaming ‘help, they’re eating me!’

Wednesday was my birthday, but still a work day for me. A high point was stopping off at Mucho Mas for a burrito. I will definitely go there again! Thursday I measured my walking mileage, and with the addition of the dog walk I do that day, it made twelve miles. Friday I saw a physio, and confirmed the bike is not helping. I vowed I’d not use it again, then found myself running late and had to. And of course I misjudged squeezing round the back of a lorry, hit the curb and fell over it, adding some lovely bruises to what was the knee that was less painful, as if I wasn’t in enough trouble with them!

Still, I think the aches are decreasing, and the King’s Cross booking has now finished. Lovely cat, but it’s a relief to have less distance to do! A brief respite before the storm, as everyone seems to want a cat sitter in August…

Writing for the Perfect Hazelnut Yoghurt

When I write I tend to do a rough, spelling mistakes and total junk and all, then come back later to polish. Just occasionally there’s something in the original, lost later on, that makes it worth saving for later. Maybe a witty comment that didn’t quite fit in the final version, which I hope to use one day elsewhere. Something like that…

Further down this blog you’ll find a review I just posted on Qype. I was thinking of posting it anyway, even before things got strange. I’m pretty busy at the moment. A few nights ago I was feeling very tired, but decided to do just a bit of writing before I headed off to bed. So I started writing about hazelnut yoghurts. As I typed my eyes closed, and I guess my mind wandered, maybe I even fell asleep and dreamed a little? Then I jerked awake, opened my eyes, read what I’d written and decided I really had to go to bed, right that minute… Here’s what I wrote:

I remember the hazelnut yogurts you usee to get. Cheap, plain
yogurts. Each with a sprinkling of the real nuts. I was told to be
strict with the dog. Who comes out and socializes on a regular bowl.

I can’t help noticing my spelling improved while I was typing nonsense.

.

Qype: Tesco Express in London

London - Food & Drink - Supermarkets

Recently I’ve been on the look out for a good hazelnut yoghurt. I guess my model is the old, cheap hazelnut yoghurts I got as a kid. Back in those days quite likely full of junk and definitely not live… but… I used to love the milky, clean flavour with the little bits of real nut. On the whole I love the trend to more ‘luxurious’ flavours in yoghurts. Creamy lemon curd or Greek with honey… yum! But it seems that if you try to improve hazel, what you end up with is something that tastes of caramel, rather than nut. And don’t even get me started on the brazil yoghurts that have replaced them in some places. I love brazils, but put them in a yoghurt and the milkyness of the nut is hidden by the yoghurt itself and all you get is sickly sweetness and the bitterness of gone-off nut. Ik.

My local Tesco used to do a good hazel yoghurt. Milky rather than creamy. Generous with the ‘bits’. I didn’t blame them when they (and the lovely black cherry that was also part of the same line) disappeared, replaced by another line. I believed it was head office’s fault, the line was discontinued, and I mourned.

I was wrong. This branch has them! (And I’ve included a picture should anyone want to try them). I will have to go and take a star off my local branch…

Anyway, as to this branch… It’s largish for one of the smaller Tescos (come on, you know what I mean…). So lots to choose from. Not often visited (though maybe now I will!), but never had a problem. And they did some awesome reductions on Christmas Eve this year: I had oven ready ‘posh’ stuffed pheasant at Christmas for £3 thanks to them.

PS: ironically, in these yoghurts caramel is listed in the ingredients. What can I say? They’ve got the balance right in my opinion.

Check out my review of Tesco Express - I am moonrising - on Qype