One of the things we’ve come to appreciate on the West coast is the sometimes unpredictable weather. We always knew that Vancouver was famous for rain, but we didn’t realize how quickly the weather could change.  That was the case for our third Saturday in Vancouver. When we went to bed the night before the weather report was expecting rain, but when we woke up we found a beautiful sunny day.

Episode 9: https://youtu.be/vj6Lzg_6H3c

Our plans had to change as quickly as the weather as the night before we decided we would have some indoor activities to escape the looming rain. Well, seeing as there appeared to be no rain on the horizon we had to regroup quickly because there was no way we were going to waste a beautiful day indoors.

After a bit of research Nicole found an activity that sounded really fun and we set out. We’d rode several ferries back and forth on False Creek, and we’ve explored many sections of the shore on various walks, and after today we could add kayaking as an activity we’d do associated with False Creek. It was a short 20 minute walk to the other side of False Creek to Creekside Kayak Rentals. They have an office in the Creekside Community Recreation Centre and a dock down on the water. We were really excited to find that we happened to be visiting Vancouver during their dragon boat racing season and that there were several races queued up for the time we’d be paddling False Creek. In fact, the rental shop shares an office with the organization that fosters the dragon boat community in the city.

After very little instruction, actually, shockingly little instruction, we were in our kayak and paddling along False Creek. It luckily didn’t take us long to get the hang of the double bladed paddle and we could get up to a good clip. Nicole surprised me and did exceptionally well, often paddling on her own while I filmed or relaxed a bit in the back of the boat. We had a very enjoyable 2 hours paddling around False Creek, making it out past Burrard Street Bridge, which seemed to surprise the guy who was at the dock to greet us on our return. Check out the accompanying video to see all the shenanigans we got up to out on the water.

After our paddling we were exceptionally hungry and had a place in mind for lunch. We’d seen this restaurant days before on a trip to Whole Foods for some groceries. The restaurant is called Pepper Lunch and it originated in Japan. We actually ate at a Pepper Lunch in Shibuya back in 2007 during our first trip to Japan. I remember that being such an experience as it was our first time having to figure out a vending machine at a restaurant. We were very confused. The Canadian version has a standard ordering counter you’d expect at a North American restaurant. I was a little disappointed they didn’t bring the vending machine experience over. But despite that, the food was exactly as I remembered it. Your meal is served on a pipping hot cast-iron plate, and this allows you to finish cooking your meat to whatever doneness you prefer. The sound, the smell and the sight of the food piled on the hotplate brought back memories. I don’t think we spoke much during the meal as we were both famished from our paddling. The food was good, keeping in mind that it is technically fast food.

As we were so close to Whole Foods we decided to make a quick stop for a grocery refill. I really like the Whole Foods they have in Vancouver. It is so big, clean and has a great selection. We were able to find everything we wanted and were headed back home trying to beat the rain.

It’s such a treat walking around Vancouver, the air so fresh despite us being downtown. The views out at the mountains in the distance are breathtaking. It’s all almost enough to distract from the noisy traffic on the bridge we walked along on our way home.

It was a busy day so far, but we weren’t calling it done yet. We decided to go out for a real date night, as opposed to the date afternoon we had a few days ago. Nicole had spotted a restaurant that looked really good while exploring Yaletown, and after looking it up online decided we had to give it a try. From her research she discovered that it was a favourite of several stars including Russel Crow, Tom Cruise and Andie MacDowell. Must be good! And it was, the food was delicious. We would highly recommend a visit to this restaurant, Simply Thai. Really authentic Thai food, served by a very friendly staff and prepared by equally friendly chefs. Check out our video for the lowdown on what we got and what we thought. On the way out I got chatting with the chef who invited me into her kitchen for a demonstration. It was a real honour to get to film her cook with a fireball. It was pretty intense, also caught on video. 🙂

Extremely full and satisfied we waddled home and did then call it a night. A new week would begin in the morning.

Locations

There were several locations featured in this episode

• Creekside Kayak Rentals – Friendly kayak rental shop on False Creek near Science World.
• False Creek – Large creek, which isn’t a creek, on which we’ve taken ferries and now also kayaked.
• Pepper Lunch – A restaurant which originated in Japan serving food on hot cast-iron plates.
• Whole Foods – Upscale grocery store you can now find everywhere.
• Simply Thai – An amazing and highly recommended Thai restaurant in Yaletown which apparently often has famous clientele visiting.

Thanks for watching/reading!