Before we went to Vancouver, I called Verizon to see whether my plan covered calls to Canada, or whether I would have to pay an arm and a leg to talk to the kids. While I was talking to the guy, he mentioned that I was eligible for a new phone. So I said that I would really like an iPhone and so I was going to wait until they're available from Verizon. Of course, he explained to me how Verizon has something better than the iPhone, the LG Dare. So long story short, he talked me into buying the LG Dare, Verizon's fake iPhone. As it turns out, I do like it a lot. I enjoy getting to Facebook and checking my email when I'm on the bus.
One of the reasons they claim it's better than the iPhone is because it's faster, or so they say. So the other day I met my colleague, Michael Quan, on the bus. Michael has an iPhone so we were comparing phones, and we decided to do a speed test from the Bart platform. So we both connected to dslreports.com from our phones, and it turns out, the LG Dare *is* faster than the iPhone! Next time I meet Michael on the bus or Bart, we'll do another test.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Trip to Vancouver & Seattle summary
We had a great time in both Vancouver and Seattle. Canadians really are friendly, except for that one waitress!!! Public transportation in both cities is great, although traffic in Seattle is awful. Our flight home was fine, although we did stop in Boise. The day we arrived we had multiple commitments, some of which we missed, as we were victimized by the terrible Bay Area traffic after we landed and got Aisling to her friend's birthday party in San Francisco - two hours from Oakland airport! We did manage to make it to Carol's annual birthday party.
Photos of the trip are on flickr in two sets - Vancouver and Seattle.
Photos of the trip are on flickr in two sets - Vancouver and Seattle.
Trip to Vancouver & Seattle - Day 7
Although our Seattle hotel was pretty lame, the breakfast was actually pretty good!! I had agreed to take Aisling to some local thrift stores recommended to us by Lucia, so right after breakfast we headed off to one near our hotel, where she could enjoy second-hand Seattle clothes!! We then headed into Seattle to Pike's Place market, which is fun, if a little touristy. Gordon and Aisling explored the market while I headed over to the University of Washington to have lunch with my friend Sara. We did a very short tour of the local campus area. We visited a new office building, recently acquired by the university from Safeco, after Safeco consolidated it's staff in it's newer downtown Seattle building. It's a very nice building and it's being utilized mostly for administrative folks, so I visited Sara's office plus the office of my former colleague from Berkeley who is now the budget person at UW. What a fabulous view, downtown Seattle and Rainier, still visible in the slight smog. After lunch I met up with Gordon and Aisling again. We dropped Gordon at the Experience Music Project near the Space Needle, and then I took Aisling to the thrift store mecca - the Goodwill Outlet store, which sells old stuff by the pound!! We went to the wrong store first - a regular Goodwill retail store, but probably the largest Goodwill in North America! It was huge! But Aisling held her shopping for the Outlet store, where she bought 15 lbs of clothes and I bought an extra suitcase just to get home! The Goodwill by the pound is not my thing, but she had a blast.
We headed back over to the Seattle Center and picked up Gordon. He loved the Experience Music Project, probably could have spent two days there! But we moved on to the Space Needle. Since I've done it before, I stayed on the ground while Gordon and Aisling went up and enjoyed the views. We then did a few of the rides at the Seattle Center, including the roller coaster and log flume (since it was the hottest day of the year in Seattle) before heading over to Pioneer Square for the underground tour.
We really enjoyed the underground tour. It started with a discussion of the history of Seattle, how it was founded etc. I won't give all the details, apparently one should read a book by the tour founder, Bill Speidel, who died in 1988. The guide was informative and amusing. They seem to enjoy making fun of Tacoma. The history is that when Seattle was built first, in the second half of the 19th century, it was made of wooden building, and it was also built at a pretty low level, which made it subject to mud and flooding. There was also much discussion of sewage and the early "crappers" which I won't go into here. Anyhow, after a fire destroyed pretty much all Seattle in 1889, the merchants rebuilt in stone, but declined the city's request to wait several years while the city was regraded and sidewalks were more or less raised. After the building were back up, the city came in and raised the streets by anywhere from 10 to 35 feet, meaning that large portions of the building were underground. The sidewalks had ladders at each end, and people would climb up and down to get around. ultimately, the merchants built the sidewalks at street level and mostly filled in the lower floors of their buildings although a couple remain as basement, including in the Pioneer building. Years later, they excavated some of the filler out of the buildings and now they have the underground tour. It's a great tour, although we did see a rat while we were down there. It ends in a nice little museum, although Aisling didn't have a lot of patience for that after 90 minutes wandering around the underground!
We had dinner at a Chinese restaurant in Chinatown. All in all, I prefer Vancouver's Chinatown to Seattle's. In fact, I think it's my favorite Chinatown and I've even been in China! We headed home to the difficult task of packing Aisling's purchases!
Pictures are on Flickr.
We headed back over to the Seattle Center and picked up Gordon. He loved the Experience Music Project, probably could have spent two days there! But we moved on to the Space Needle. Since I've done it before, I stayed on the ground while Gordon and Aisling went up and enjoyed the views. We then did a few of the rides at the Seattle Center, including the roller coaster and log flume (since it was the hottest day of the year in Seattle) before heading over to Pioneer Square for the underground tour.
We really enjoyed the underground tour. It started with a discussion of the history of Seattle, how it was founded etc. I won't give all the details, apparently one should read a book by the tour founder, Bill Speidel, who died in 1988. The guide was informative and amusing. They seem to enjoy making fun of Tacoma. The history is that when Seattle was built first, in the second half of the 19th century, it was made of wooden building, and it was also built at a pretty low level, which made it subject to mud and flooding. There was also much discussion of sewage and the early "crappers" which I won't go into here. Anyhow, after a fire destroyed pretty much all Seattle in 1889, the merchants rebuilt in stone, but declined the city's request to wait several years while the city was regraded and sidewalks were more or less raised. After the building were back up, the city came in and raised the streets by anywhere from 10 to 35 feet, meaning that large portions of the building were underground. The sidewalks had ladders at each end, and people would climb up and down to get around. ultimately, the merchants built the sidewalks at street level and mostly filled in the lower floors of their buildings although a couple remain as basement, including in the Pioneer building. Years later, they excavated some of the filler out of the buildings and now they have the underground tour. It's a great tour, although we did see a rat while we were down there. It ends in a nice little museum, although Aisling didn't have a lot of patience for that after 90 minutes wandering around the underground!
We had dinner at a Chinese restaurant in Chinatown. All in all, I prefer Vancouver's Chinatown to Seattle's. In fact, I think it's my favorite Chinatown and I've even been in China! We headed home to the difficult task of packing Aisling's purchases!
Pictures are on Flickr.
Trip to Vancouver & Seattle - Day 6
On Thursday, we were heading back to Seattle. We said goodbye to Mary, our Irish friend, and wished her good luck, and then headed to the border. We crossed at the Peace Arch at Blaine Washington. Crossing was no problem, except there was a 50 minute wait! People were jumping out of their cars while in line to take pictures of the Peace Arch, so Gordon did too! We stopped for lunch somewhere in Washington, and also stopped at a town called Mount Vernon so that Aisling could swim in the Skagit River. The Skagit River, which I think gets a fair amount of glacier runoff, is way colder than the bay in Vancouver! We arrived in Seattle, fought the traffic, and then met our friends Bill & Lucia for dinner at a great Vietnamese restaurant called the Tamarind Tree in the Chinatown/International district. We would never have found it ourselves, and it was fabulous. Great food and especially great cocktails. After dinner, Bill and Lucia took us over to West Seattle so we could enjoy the sunset over the Seattle skyline. It was fabulous, just beautiful. The view of the skyline and Mt. Rainier was just incredible, although because it has been unusually warm in Seattle, it was a little smoggy. We also saw ferries, party boats and a fleet of kayaks coming back in. We then headed back to our slightly lame hotel near the airport. Not nearly as much character as the Met!!
Trip to Vancouver & Seattle - Day 5
Since it was our last full day in Vancouver we thought we'd go back to our favorite place, Stanley Park. We headed into Vancouver, did a little shopping and had lunch on the way. We ate at a korean restaurant, and we thought it was interesting that even in a Korean restaurant, some of the dishes were flavored with maple. Before heading to Stanley Park, we went to the Vancouver Art Museum. The building is beautiful, although they seemed to have a balloon shaped like a fetus adorning the front of the building for some reason. The exhibit was cartoon and anime. I don't claim to be an art buff by any stretch of the imagination, but it's really hard to get my mind around cartoons and anime as art! So I was pretty disappointed in the exhibits. However, they also had a part of the exhibit on computer games, apparently they're art too. The good part about that is that they had an old Pac Man machine, which Aisling and I played on for quite a while and also a Super Mario game that Aisling played. PacMan as art, that I can see!
They also had a couple of other exhibits, equally disappointing. A Chinese artist who expresses himself by dressing in a suit made of raw meat and then hanging out near ground zero in New York. I'm not sure what that's about. Also a local artist whose exhibit included a four-poster bed on a turkish rug. It was very nice, but more in a furniture and furnishings sort of way than in a art way. Finally some female Canadian artists whose work looked a little more traditional. Sometimes I don't get art. Especially when there's raw meat involved.
After the museum we headed back up to third beach in Stanley Park. I'm not sure why the highways have names and the beaches have numbers, but I guess it works. It was just as beautiful as the previous day and we spent hours there playing in the water. It is so much warmer than northern California beaches, I cannot figure out why, perhaps it's to do with currents or something. We stayed until about 7 and then headed home. However, on the way home we passed another beach called English Bay beach, bigger and way more crowded than third beach and with the added attraction of a platform with a slide out about thirty feet from the shore. Aisling was still in her swimsuit and begged us to stop. Miraculously, I found a parking spot, and off she went to play in the water for another thirty minutes or so. The beach is in a lovely area, the west end of Vancouver. There are lots of the high-rise condos that seem to be common here, including one with a rather large tree growing on the roof. What a great place to live! After Aisling finally got her fill of the sea, we headed back to New Westminster and ate at the Keg, which seems to be a Canadian chain, but was very nice.
Photos are on flick.
They also had a couple of other exhibits, equally disappointing. A Chinese artist who expresses himself by dressing in a suit made of raw meat and then hanging out near ground zero in New York. I'm not sure what that's about. Also a local artist whose exhibit included a four-poster bed on a turkish rug. It was very nice, but more in a furniture and furnishings sort of way than in a art way. Finally some female Canadian artists whose work looked a little more traditional. Sometimes I don't get art. Especially when there's raw meat involved.
After the museum we headed back up to third beach in Stanley Park. I'm not sure why the highways have names and the beaches have numbers, but I guess it works. It was just as beautiful as the previous day and we spent hours there playing in the water. It is so much warmer than northern California beaches, I cannot figure out why, perhaps it's to do with currents or something. We stayed until about 7 and then headed home. However, on the way home we passed another beach called English Bay beach, bigger and way more crowded than third beach and with the added attraction of a platform with a slide out about thirty feet from the shore. Aisling was still in her swimsuit and begged us to stop. Miraculously, I found a parking spot, and off she went to play in the water for another thirty minutes or so. The beach is in a lovely area, the west end of Vancouver. There are lots of the high-rise condos that seem to be common here, including one with a rather large tree growing on the roof. What a great place to live! After Aisling finally got her fill of the sea, we headed back to New Westminster and ate at the Keg, which seems to be a Canadian chain, but was very nice.
Photos are on flick.
Trip to Vancouver & Seattle - Day 4
We got up on Tuesday morning and while we were having coffee in the lobby we met an Irish woman named Mary. Mary had come to Vancouver unexpectedly as her daughter had been in a plane crash a couple of days before, and thankfully survived but with fairly major injuries. She is in a hospital in New Westminster, and is going to recover, but will probably have to spend eight weeks in the hospital in Canada. She was actually going skydiving, but at 4000 feet, an engine failed, and so they started to descend. On the way down, unfortunately, the other engine failed and they ended up crash landing. Fortunately, everyone on board survived although apparently one person is on life support. Apparently, the plane has to climb to 5000 feet before any skydivers can jump, so even though they had parachutes, they all remained in the plane. It was certainly a stunning story!
We decided to head on up to Whistler for the day. Before we got on the road, we went to the local English shop to buy sweets and other things that Aisling and I miss! In addition to the turkish delight and milky bars, we bought some savory items for breakfast, including a scotch egg. I've been telling Gordon about how great they are for years! Unfortunately, it was possibly the worst scotch egg ever created!! So we got on the freeway, first the Trans-Canada highway and then the Sea-to-Sky highway. Highways have such nice names here! The Sea-to-Sky (or 99) runs from Vancouver to Whistler, and because they are having the winter olympics here in 2010, there is a huge amount of construction on it, so the drive was really slow. However, it is quite possibly the most beautiful drive in the world, absolutely stunning scenery. It follows Horseshoe Bay on up to Howe Strait, and then more inland, through Squamish into Whistler. Squamish and Whistler are really more winter destinations, however, in Whistler, there are lots of lakes connected by short and easy hikes (walks really) so out plan was to swim in those lakes. Unfortunately, when we got up to Whistler, it was about 20 degrees colder than Vancouver and outdoor swimming didn't seem like it made sense! However, we saw an ad for an indoor sports center, with a pool, so we went there and spent the whole afternoon in the pool, spa and hot tub!! Gordon even used the treadmill and weight room. They had a slide and basketball in the pool and we just had a blast. On the way out, we stopped at a lake park - we thought we should see some Whistler scenery since we made the drive! We enjoyed the drive back also, more fabulous scenery. We also listened to Canadian radio in the car, and they were just as obsessed as Canadian TV about the lack of Olympic medals won by the Canadian athletes!
When we got back to New Westminster, we had dinner at a Sushi place called Ki Sushi. Aisling was able to get oysters, which she had been craving. Gordon got the Canada special, which includes deep-fried creamed corn. He also continued to sample many Canadian beers.
Vancouver photos are on Flickr.
We decided to head on up to Whistler for the day. Before we got on the road, we went to the local English shop to buy sweets and other things that Aisling and I miss! In addition to the turkish delight and milky bars, we bought some savory items for breakfast, including a scotch egg. I've been telling Gordon about how great they are for years! Unfortunately, it was possibly the worst scotch egg ever created!! So we got on the freeway, first the Trans-Canada highway and then the Sea-to-Sky highway. Highways have such nice names here! The Sea-to-Sky (or 99) runs from Vancouver to Whistler, and because they are having the winter olympics here in 2010, there is a huge amount of construction on it, so the drive was really slow. However, it is quite possibly the most beautiful drive in the world, absolutely stunning scenery. It follows Horseshoe Bay on up to Howe Strait, and then more inland, through Squamish into Whistler. Squamish and Whistler are really more winter destinations, however, in Whistler, there are lots of lakes connected by short and easy hikes (walks really) so out plan was to swim in those lakes. Unfortunately, when we got up to Whistler, it was about 20 degrees colder than Vancouver and outdoor swimming didn't seem like it made sense! However, we saw an ad for an indoor sports center, with a pool, so we went there and spent the whole afternoon in the pool, spa and hot tub!! Gordon even used the treadmill and weight room. They had a slide and basketball in the pool and we just had a blast. On the way out, we stopped at a lake park - we thought we should see some Whistler scenery since we made the drive! We enjoyed the drive back also, more fabulous scenery. We also listened to Canadian radio in the car, and they were just as obsessed as Canadian TV about the lack of Olympic medals won by the Canadian athletes!
When we got back to New Westminster, we had dinner at a Sushi place called Ki Sushi. Aisling was able to get oysters, which she had been craving. Gordon got the Canada special, which includes deep-fried creamed corn. He also continued to sample many Canadian beers.
Vancouver photos are on Flickr.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Trip to Vancouver & Seattle - Day 3
Being a thrift store junkie, Aisling decided to start the day by visiting the Salvation Army store in New Westminster. I think she was a little disappointed. After her shopping trip, we decided to drive into Vancouver so we could visit Stanley Park and also go over to North Vancouver. When we got to Stanley Park we spent a little time at the Rose Garden and also at the Vancouver Rowing club, but we decided to head up to North Vancouver pretty early. We drove across the Lions Gate bridge out of Stanley Park, up into North Vancouver. We had lunch at a little pizza place in Capilano called DDDN pizza - healthy pizza, according to the accolades posted on their wall, the best pizza in the world. It was pretty good, but the best pizza ever? I'm just not sure. We then headed to the Capilano suspension bridge. This suspension bridge is built 230 ft above the Capilano canyon. It was sort of a queasy feeling walking across a 450 ft long swinging bridge (although perfectly safe) and the scenery was spectacular. Across the bridge, there was a "treetop adventure" more swinging bridges strung between platforms in trees, some as high as 100 ft off the ground. This is actually a rainforest, and apparently this is the best way to see one, and also to minimize the impact on the forest itself. It was certainly beautiful. We also walked on the Cliffhanger boardwalk, built above a cliff with trees growing out of it. We crossed the suspension bridge again. Gordon almost got deported from Canada for swinging the bridge despite multiple warnings not to do so! We then drove a short way to Capilano Canyon provincial park (sort of like a state park in California) and visited a salmon hatchery. We then did a very short hike, a stroll really, along the Capilano river where we did see one guy fly fishing, although we didn't notice any fish being caught.
On the way back to Vancouver we stopped at a place called Earls for our customary late afternoon drinks and snacks. It was much friendlier than Sammy Peppers! We watched the Olympics, still zero medals for Canada. The Canadian media seems to be relatively upset with this, although of course they're more of a "winter sports" country. We then headed back across the Lions Gate Bridge into Stanley Park. We stopped at Prospect Point for the breathtaking view, and met some raccoons. Even the raccoons are friendly in Canada!!!
In Stanley Park we stopped at a beach called third beach. It was just beautiful. We spent a long time there, Aisling's favorite spot so far. We weren't prepared for the beach, but Aisling had shorts and a sportsbra so she was able to jump right in to the water, which was quite warm. Way warmer than Northern California, I'm not sure why. After a few hours, we headed back to our hotel, where we slept really well.
On the way back to Vancouver we stopped at a place called Earls for our customary late afternoon drinks and snacks. It was much friendlier than Sammy Peppers! We watched the Olympics, still zero medals for Canada. The Canadian media seems to be relatively upset with this, although of course they're more of a "winter sports" country. We then headed back across the Lions Gate Bridge into Stanley Park. We stopped at Prospect Point for the breathtaking view, and met some raccoons. Even the raccoons are friendly in Canada!!!
In Stanley Park we stopped at a beach called third beach. It was just beautiful. We spent a long time there, Aisling's favorite spot so far. We weren't prepared for the beach, but Aisling had shorts and a sportsbra so she was able to jump right in to the water, which was quite warm. Way warmer than Northern California, I'm not sure why. After a few hours, we headed back to our hotel, where we slept really well.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Trip to Vancouver & Seattle - Day 2
Coffee and muffins are served in the lobby of the Met every day from 8 - 11. The coffee is surprisingly good! Also, you can tell this is not America. 8-11 is a much more civilized hour than what we'd get in the US - probably 6-9 or something. After the coffee and muffins we hoped on the Skytrain to downtown Vancouver. The Skytrain is fabulous, and busy. Not even 10 on Sunday morning and it's full of people going somewhere! We got off at Stadium/Chinatown. Stadium is the home of the Canucks apparently, some hockey thing. We wandered over to Chinatown, and again were struck by how much later things get going in Canada than the US. Chinatown was just not that lively. We spent some time in Dr. Sun Yat-Sen's traditional Chinese garden, it was very nice. They unfortunately have a "no feeding the Koi" rule. Aisling still tried to entice them so come close to us by sticking her finger in the water, with no success. We headed out to Chinatown and the shops and malls and it was beginning to wake up. So we stopped and had dim sum for breakfast. It was really good. After breakfast, we walked around Chinatown, shopping, window-shopping, going to bakeries and finally headed over to the Gaslight part of town. It was still pretty chilly, and there were some showers. We browsed some of the touristy stores including a boot shop (very expensive). And we noted a lot of items related to the upcoming 2010 winter olympics, which will be held in Vancouver. Hopefully the Canadians will do better there than in Beijing. We also liked the little inukshuks - a native collection of stones but together to represent man. After we were done in the gaslight section, we headed into downtown Vancouver, where we walked along the waterfront. We then hopped on a bus to Granville Island. The public transportation is great!
Granville Island is very touristy, but fun. Lots of art and funky shops, plus a miniature ship and train museum and a public market. We stopped for a drink and some food at a place called Sammy Peppers and sat on the patio overlooking the dock. Our waitress was probably the least friendly waitress I've ever had, and probably the least friendly person in Canada. But the drinks and food were fine. We then walked around Granville Island a little more. When we were done we took a bus back into Chinatown. The Vancouver Chinatown night market was just getting started - it runs from 6 until 11 on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It's very cool, lots of stalls selling interesting food and other items. We spent a little time there and then took the Skytrain back to our hotel. Aisling and I went for a short drive around New Westminster, just to get a sense of the place, before we went to bed.
Granville Island is very touristy, but fun. Lots of art and funky shops, plus a miniature ship and train museum and a public market. We stopped for a drink and some food at a place called Sammy Peppers and sat on the patio overlooking the dock. Our waitress was probably the least friendly waitress I've ever had, and probably the least friendly person in Canada. But the drinks and food were fine. We then walked around Granville Island a little more. When we were done we took a bus back into Chinatown. The Vancouver Chinatown night market was just getting started - it runs from 6 until 11 on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It's very cool, lots of stalls selling interesting food and other items. We spent a little time there and then took the Skytrain back to our hotel. Aisling and I went for a short drive around New Westminster, just to get a sense of the place, before we went to bed.
Trip to Vancouver and Seattle - Day 1
This year's big vacation is a trip to Vancouver and Seattle. We left Saturday, August 9th. Unfortunately our flight out of Oakland was delayed due to fog/rain in Seattle. Since we hadn't seen rain in California literally for months and we're in the midst of a drought, that actually sounded pretty good. We arrived in Seattle and picked up our car, and headed north toward Vancouver. We actually drove through some rain so I got to exercise the wipers, which felt a little novel due to the lack of rain in California! Traffic in Seattle was predictably bad. We also got caught on I-5 outside of Seattle due to an overturned RV. Not only did it block traffic, but apparently the sewage tank exploded, resulting in a pretty awful smell!! Once we got through that delay, we headed up north and stopped in the last town in Washington before Canada, Blaine, the home of the Peace Arch. We bought wine and beer and some snacks for our room and then headed across the border. The border crossing was easy, although the Canadian immigration guy did ask us a bunch of questions. We then drove up to New Westminster, a suburb of Vancouver where we had booked a room in a hotel called the Met. It's fair to say that New Westminster has character. It's a very small town on the quay of the Fraser river. It possibly has the highest concentration of bridal shops I have ever seen. Our hotel, the Met, was built in 1891. The room was nice, but the kitchenette that we booked turned out to be a refrigerator and microwave. Given the age of the building, there was obviously no exercise room! The location was pretty perfect though, right next to the Skytrain that goes into Vancouver. We wandered around New Westminster, checking out the Casino boat (at least from the outside) and various restaurants, finally settling on eating at the Heritage bar and grill, which featured live music by a local group called Fretworks. Aisling especially enjoyed their rendition of "Summertime" by Porgy & Bess. After dinner we headed to the local internet cafe/map store where Aisling and Gordon checked myspace and I bought a map of Vancouver. We went back to our room, which turned out to overlook both the Skytrain station and the beergarden for the hotel bar, which was pretty lively, since it was a Saturday night. We got a good sense of how effective the Skytrain is; a train seemed to be stopping literally every two minutes. Even with all the noise, though, we slept really well after the long day traveling.
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Aidan's First Birthday
Today was Aidan's first birthday. I can't believe it's gone by so fast, and also that he is so different to the day he was born, when he only weighed 4lbs! I think one of his legs weighs 4lbs now! It just reminds me that this day last year, we were coming home from China and rushing to the hospital to greet Aidan. And poor Dara was just in pain!
Dara and Zach had a barbecue in the park in Crockett to celebrate Aidan's birthday. The weather was beautiful, although a little hot. The little kids played on the slide and the swings, while Zach cooked and we ate. Aidan got lots of nice gifts, of course, and we had a great time. Video of Aidan on the swing can be seen here. Photos can be seen here.
Dara and Zach had a barbecue in the park in Crockett to celebrate Aidan's birthday. The weather was beautiful, although a little hot. The little kids played on the slide and the swings, while Zach cooked and we ate. Aidan got lots of nice gifts, of course, and we had a great time. Video of Aidan on the swing can be seen here. Photos can be seen here.
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Gordon & Helen in Crete
