Tubing, or 'the way sledging always should have been', or 'sliding very fast down a hill on a rubber ring'

So, tubing.

I'd never heard of tubing until i came to Canada, although i'm assured that it does exist elsewhere. Tubing is basically all the good bits of sledging, without having to walk up the hill inbetween. Win.

The basic premise is that you get a large rubber ring, with some plastic covering the bottom, then you go to a specifically designed tubing park and slide. How you slide is, to a certain extent, a matter of taste. But in the author's lowly opinion, you can also test the mettle of the given mountain by their tubing policy. For example, at Cypress you sit in the tube and slide down the track spinning a little as you go. At Seymour, on the other hand, the advise is to hold the two handles infront of you, lie on the tube and slide down head first, preferably as fast as you can muster...

What. Awesome. Fun.

The way the tracks at Seymour are set up it also looks a lot like you would simply go flying off into Vancouver if you were to overshoot the end. (You wouldn't, incidently - one of my friends is the Snow Play supervisior and has the enviable job of going tubing each morning to set the start gate heights so that this doesn't happen).

So we went tubing the other day and tried it out for the first time. I must say i was a little nervous when i actually picked up my tube and headed to the starting gate - it starts to look awfully steep and hard. However, one time is all it takes. You go whizzing down the track at ever increasing speed, until you start to think that you really are going terribly fast, at which point you go flying up the slope on the other side slide back down backwards and find yourself lying onto of your tube in a heap in the snow.

The best is still top come though. Once at the bottom, all you have to do is wander over to the side of the track with your tube, sit in your tube, be clipped onto the tow and be pulled back up the hill. Awesome.

Kindling

kindling, adv. - to kindle, v. - reading books without the otherwise necessary paper...

So, Santa ;) magicked me up a Kindle for Christmas (well, New Year... :p ), so i thought i'd review this new-fangled reading device.

The first thing that hit me about the Kindle was, I must confess, the packaging, which is comical in its size and volume. (*small things...*) It's like an evolution of box to book, getting ever smaller as you go...


Anyway, once i had actually got through the packaging I finally found my new library - it's sooo small (in a good way). About the size of an average book page, but about 5mms thick. And basically, the whole thing is like magic. It's as if someone has magically trapped a book inside underneath the screen. It's not like a normal computer screen at all. It doesn't reflect and when you 'turn the page' the pixels just rearrange themselves into the next page. Quite where it fits in anything - storage, intelligence is beyond me - it makes no noise or anything, it just magics the book onto the screen.

What's even cooler, is that if all of a sudden you decide that you need a new book, as long as you're somewhere with wireless, you can just shop for it on your kindle and have it delivered there (i can only assume, by magic) within seconds.

So how does it compare to a 'real' book?

Well, much as i was stauchly in the 'i like paper' camp before i went travelling, this does have massive advantages for wayward strays like me... And infact, if you can get over paper-snobbery, this has all the advantages of a book, but with other cool points besides...

No need to ruin the corners of your pages, since it know where you last were. You can flick between books without having to carry them around, and books are cheaper. Infact, if you're into the classics, you can get most of them free one way or another, and many modern books are nearly half their print price on the kindle making just buying books rather more affordable (whilst encouraging you, economically, to read all those classics you'd not otherwise get around to).

One feature i am rather ambivalent about is the fact that along with other statistics, the Kindle tells you what percentage of the book you've read... which for people like me who can't help but be competitive at heart, is rather dangerous. You become competitive just with yourself. And it also encourgaes you to think you're reading quickly and, therefore, can afford to read more. Of course, you always turn out to be mistaken when you actually have to get up in the morning.

That said, there are those other stats i mentioned. You highlight phrases you like or want to come back to, and moreover, see what other people have themselves highilighted - sometimes quite enlightening. You can also make notes as you go along - which is really good if you are reading any kind of infuriating or confusing book. And when you're reading Derren Brown's book, as I currently am, it is crucial that the OED is also included, since he uses gratuitously obscure words to no particular effect... Interesting, but just as well there's a dictionary...

Anywayz, i have yet to stretch it to it's full travelling/coffee shop potential. I would take it out with me, but i want to get a case for it first. I'm sure it's hardy enough, but being so thin makes me slightly nervous about how much it would stand up to being in a bag at all. So i'm looking into that (but since they don't sell the kindle in Canada, i'm researching on the web first, rather than just being able to go out and buy one...). (Some of the Amazon ones have lits in them that are powered from the kindle itself, which is rather genius, since the one down side of the screen being so cleverly non-reflective, is that it isn't lit up in the same way a computer screen is, meaning you have to use that old-fangled invention, the light bulb. How arduous. ;) )

All in all though, it fits the 'i don't want to collect material things in Canada' brief given, rather excellently! And i am sure i will return home a learned lady as a result!

An accidental trek around Vancouver...

(so i actually started writing this two weeks ago, but got distracted by life and things... oops...)

Last week my days off provided me with an opportunity to explore some bit of Vancouver that i've so far neglected.

Main Street, so I am repeatedly told, is where a lot of the good eating places are. Since the main reason I'd gone out was to find a cool cafe to chill out in, it seemed like a good place to start. Main Street is about as close as Vancouver get to Bristol; a little worn-down or seedy looking in parts, but with cool stuff and a nice vibe in the gaps. It has second hand book shops and vintage shops and reandom comic orientated stores - you get the idea.

I came across a few interesting cafes and sat in one of them (where they made their hot chocolate out of real chocolate - win). But along the way found other titbits of interest. For example, the vintage shop had made their security grill thing out of cutlery, which i thought was quite cool.


And I came across more wall art - I wish i always had my camera with me to take pics,cos there's loads of it in Vancouver, and it make the whole place shinier. This isn't really my style, but i like the fact it's there anywayz.



At this point my sitting in a coffee shop turned into something of a hike...

Having seen that Main and Broadway intersect I went for a wander down Broadway - yet another thoroughfare that I had yet to venture down. Clearly not paying enough attention I amused myself for at least five minutes when i came across an 'eye psychic' - a mystic one. I was quite a loss as to what an eye psychic does, but i liked the idea. I somewhat ruined my own illusions when i realised it was a 'mystic eye' psychic (rather than a mystic 'eye psychic'), but never mind.


Another thing i mused upon on my hike was just how prominent the mountains are inVancouver. You'd think i'd know that working on one and living at the bottom of them, but to be honest i had completely forgotten. Living at the bottom of them, you can't see them most of the time (And actually, it's so misty such a lot of the time, that you can't really see them when you are on one!).


Anyways, they do, i am reminded, completely overshadow the whole city, which i guess is one of the reasons why people around here are so keen for all things mountainy. :)

Talking of mountainy things, there's a sign on the mountain that i had wanted to take a picture of for ages, but we always go past it too fast. However, i was presented with the ideal opportunity during the holidays when the road had been closed and I had got throroughly stuck at the bottom off it, crawling up the hill at snails pace, along with everyone else.

Don't feed the bears. This is what happens if you feed the bears:

This is probably my favourite Canadian sign so far (although, it's very close between this and the 'vancouver is a nuclear weapons free zone' sign of my very first post). More signs should have cartoons.

Anywayz, going back to my meanderings around Vancouver. I had eventually found myself walking so far that I ended up somewhere near Granville Island, which is apparently a scary, wild place, according to the sign which warns you to beware the wild coyotes! *eek*



And I shall finish the post off with one more sign for the day. Just around the corner from the coyotes I came across possibly the most weirdly named street in the whole of Vancouver:

At least, I'll be a little surprised if i find anything more idiosyncratic...

Other highlights of the day included a beautifully indulgent visit to my favourite hat shop, and also finally joining the local libary and getting some french and german grammar books out (like all the cool kids... ;) )

New Years Day

You may remember (i doubt it) that in one of my first few posts i uploaded a picture of a ski slope with no snow on it. Well, that was up at Cypress, where my flatemates are working, and on New Years day me and Tabitha headed up there to swap snowboarding tips. It was an absolutely stunning day, and while we did only manage to get up for the 1pm shuttle bus (having partied hard the night before, of course), this had the huge advantage that we got to see the sun setting over the stunning view of the islands off the coast of Vancouver, which Cypress rather impressively enjoys. I onlyy wish i'd had my own camera with me. Nonetheless, i've still mangaed to nick a few off Tabs:

Our old acquaintance, the ski slope with no snow, with snow:



Posing, badly (and not in a good way):


One fo the numerous stunning views (they're even better looking out towards the islands though):


Me and Tabs advertising Burton snowboards as best we know how - colour co-ordinated and everything...:

Christmas!

Well, Christmas happened, and much fun was had. It was a bit weird being away from home (espeically since due to 'inclement weather' (rain...)) I wasn't actually working as planned. Hard to know what to do with yourself in Xmas day with no family to hang out with.

Anywayz, our Christmas efforts started with our modest, but perfectly formed $7 Christmas tree - lovingly decorated with real candy canes :D (And eventually my sheep (aka 'Giraffe the second') joined in the effort as our Christmas fairy sat on the top - alas that picture is on Hannah's camera, but i assure you that sheep makes an excellent guardian of the tree.



Having invited some friends around for Xmas dinner I spent Xmas eve shopping for ingredients and having a mini adventure. In an effort to find a real butcher, i ventured further into West Vancouver than I ever had before. Alas, my efforts were thwarted when I got there only to discover that the whole stree had had a power cut so they couldn't open their fridges for fear of ruining all the Xmas turkeys by warming them up. I decided that unfortunately i couldn't really hang around in the rain waiting for it all to come back on again, so that lovely organic specialist butchers shop i found (more or less the only one in vancouver as far as i can make out) shall have to wait.

While i was pondering what to do, though, I found a beach and the sea, and on the beach i found a christmas tree garden. It was awesome - never have i ever seen so many xmas trees in one place before. Really wish i'd had my camera with me. I think they were all sponsored by local businesses cos some of them were themed (eg. decorated with trowels for the local landscaping business) - awesomeness.

Anywayz, xmas eve was spent doing preparation and stereotypically north american xmas activities. I present, a gingerbread house making kit:



And post 'one for the house, one for me' decorating strategy:


So that was that for Xmas Eve.

Bright and early on Christmas day (6.15 to be precise!) my alarm went off in preparation for the work day ahead. However, a quick call to our 'snow phone' confirmed what the sound of the wind outside rather suggested - that we wouldn't open. Sort of good news, but rather a shame about the time and half i missed out on! It did give me the chance to skype matt and dad though; a perfectly timed call just coinciding with the end of Doctor Who.

It also gave me plenty of time to cook the most leisurely roast dinner i've ever cooked (having gained an extra several hours to cook it, and having prepared it all the night before!).

The fruits of my labour:

You can't even begin to imagine how chuffed i was with my yorkshire puddings (which, incidently, the Canadians don't have! (They also give you very strange looks it you try to ask for mince pies in a shop... ). The trick is a higher egg to everything else ratio, i've discovered.

So by that point Hannah had got home from work, and Shima and Michelle had arrived so we broke out the wine and served up a scrumptious dinner :D


And then ate it all up. And wore hats.


And finally, over cake (yule log...) we played "Clue" as the Canadians like to call Cluedo (presumably because it's more bilingual that way...?). I was most upset to be narrowly beaten to victory by a kamakazi guess, just because I knew what it was but couldn't get to the middle in time!


So that was my first Canadian Christmas!

I also enjoyed a second roast dinner (Canadian stylee) on Boxing Day when all us mountain 'orphans' were given a free Xmas dinner together by Mount Seymour's volunteer co-ordinator (and resident Santa for a couple of weeks) John. Apparently a couple of years ago him and his wife decided that they wouldn't give gifts amoung themselves, but instead put on a xmas dinner for those of us away from home - we even got very small gifts. I can quite honestly say that he is one of the loveliest people i know. The world would be a better place if everyone were as awesome :D


Exciting tales and pictures of all things New Year will follow shortly, but basically we spent the New Year at Shima and Michelle's nibbling on food and playing games, as well as watching the "live" (i'm extrememly dubious...) streaming of Times Square New Years count down to midnight, at our midnight (you see why i'm dubious?). And today, instead of the traditional new years walk, me and Tabitha we for a New Years snowboard on Cypress mountain (where my flatmates work). It was an absolutely stunning day, and hopefully i'll have some pictures up soon enough. So i guess as new years go it was pretty excellent. Now bed. Work again tomorrow and if the weather sticks, it's likely to be extrememly busy. (More about busy mountains next time too - remind me to show you my favourite Canadian sign so far sometime - it has a bear in it, you can't fail to like it....)

Introducing Mount Seymour

So, thought i'd show you where i work.

This is our rather quaint suttle bus, which drives us up through Narnia each day. It is essentially a school bus, and could be more comfortable, but it is blue, and i think that more than makes up for any of its failings. Teh buckets on the side are where all the skis and boards go - i'm always slightly concerned that they'll fall out one day, but apparently the designer had considered that, and to the best of my knowledge nothing's fallen off yet...



These are the beautiful views that enjoy from my staff room window :D

In one direction...


... and in the other:

Behind the back of my building you can see the mountain range in Washington which is home to Mount Baker - another big ski resort. Alas, i still haven't had my camera with me on a clear day when i've had a chance to take pics, but you get the idea:


Directions to our chairlifts - nice colourful sign in an otherwise white and tree-colour landscape, and some snow-shoers (haven't tried that yet - seems like hard work, but i'll definitely give it a go sometime - probably a better way to get nice pictures too...


And this is Mystery chairlift- the main one that goes up the first part of the mountain (and as far up as i've made it so far. Brockton goes up after this, but i'll do that on skis one day when it's not dark...) Obviously you can't see most of it, but it's pretty long - probably takes a nearly 10 minutes to get to the top of it (although, partly that's because it's really slow - not those nice speedy express lifts you get in the Alps (and other richer ski resorts...)



I've only braved this one on skis so far because the run off from the chairlift itself is ridiculously steep and while i can cope with it on skis, i haven't plucked up the courage to face it on a snowboard yet. Mounting and dismounting lifts on a snowboard is rather more complicated in general, because you ride them sideways (lifts weren't built with this in mind really) and can only have one foot in while you're on the lift - so basically you have to skate down the run-off without the board slipping out from underneath you or tripping over your own board. I'm sure once i get thoroughly bored of Lodge (a set of much shorter runs that goes down the hill instead of up) then i'll persuade myself into it... I'll keep you updated ;)

There are some brilliant view from up the top, but i've only gone up in the dark so far, and not having a tripod, i think any pics i took would just be a big blur. Hopefully i'll get up there in daylight on Friday, which is my next day off. There are some runs where you may as well be riding straight into Vancouver - you can't see anything else but the view in front of you.

I was gonna put up a video of our flat here too, but i think that'll take me over my memory quota - however you can view it on my google web albums :D

Canadian things that amuse me...

So, the Canadians really nuts about maple syrup... There's maple syrup everything and when i saw the beans i couldn't resist. In case you're wondering, they taste a lot like other beans but less tomato-y and very very sweet. They look revolting. I guess I'd give it a 6/10 for the experience, but i won't be buying them again... Next time, i'll buy the maple syrup tea or bacon in maple syrup... I mean, what could possibly go wrong?

New Year, New Posts :D

Ok, so i realise i've been a little remise in updating lately, something to do with the Christmas holidays being by far the busiest time at work for the whole year. I.e. mostly i've been sleeping and working (and having a little fun inbetween, i guess) so there's not been a terribly large amount to report. However, now i have lots of little tasty morsels (mostly pictures) to put up and remind you all what a lovely existence Canada and mountains are... In fact, they've been particularly stunning of late with beautiful weather all through the week between Christmas and New Year. This was the sun setting on Vancouver's 2010 yesterday evening. Stunning.