SG Lewis in Chinatown

Rather than wrap up the whole weekend in one post, I wanted to focus on one particular weekend happening (I'll wrap up the rest of the weekend in a post tomorrow, I think).  Leaving Conrad with Olive for the evening, Van and I hopped the Metro down to Chinatown to go to an open air event there.  SG Lewis, an artist we both like and whom we've seen in concert at the Greek before, was doing an extended DJ set, from 6 until 10 or 11 (I saw varying information, and it didn't matter - we didn't intend to stay the whole night). 

A cool opportunity.

It was a fun night.  Not too crowded when we got there before 6:30. 

There was still some free pizza being handed out, and we happily took a piece each and settled into enjoying the music.  There were no lines at the bars at that time either.  The sun was behind buildings, so there was no fear of sunburn.  Ideal!

Lewis did mix in some of his own songs, happily.  And it was great to bob and sway and bounce to the tunes.  Eventually we claimed seats and shared a large hot dog and chips at the sandwich shop open within the venue space.  That felt good to sit down.  We moved back from the crowd after that, soaking in the music, dancing less, people watching.  Such excellent people watching, and we were genuinely surprised that he has such a large gay fanbase.  Oh, and we were almost certainly the two oldest attendees, and if not that, then in the top five!

We headed back to the Metro around about 9 or so and got back to the condo, picked up the car, and arrived back home to Conrad and Olive at Van's house by 10:15 or so.  I wasn't up for much longer - I've been getting to bed early these days, relatively speaking, and up earlier than usual in the morning.  I don't mind, I promise.  It was a terrific evening, one of those things that reminds these two old farts that we're still alive and enjoying things!

 

Oh, and apparently I'm hot!  :-P

Saturday in Vancouver

Ready for a lot of photos?  No matter, you're getting them.

One thing I love about being in Vancouver is that it's a familiar city with which I'm comfortable but it's also not the city in which I currently live.  What that means is I can go for my early morning walks and feel fairly at ease, but also that I'm not seeing the same old thing day after day.  Last Saturday morning in Vancouver, I was up early enough and out the door to take advantage of that.

It's a cool way to get shots of buildings,

public art,

nice gardens and parks,

the natural surroundings (such as they may be in a city),

and more. 

Accordingly, I walked and snapped.  I think I did a little over four miles that morning. 

It truly was a weekend for getting my step count in!

And then it was off to my first meal of the day with other folks.  Steven and Patrick

and brunch in New Westminster.  Man, it's been a long time since I last saw them.  Pre-pandemic!  And that's the shame of the visit:  seeing people I haven't made time for in far too long.  I felt badly about that, truly.

Anyway, I

hopped SkyTrain out to meet up with them, enjoying the last seat on the train, getting a view out the back window as we went along. 

Patrick was at the station,

waiting for Steven

(who snuck by him somehow and was waiting at a nearby corner outside of our lunch destination, Piva), and so I got a big hug right off the train.  Yay!  Brunch was nice.  A breakfast pizza (tasty, maybe needed something a little saltier on it) was my choice,

and much catching up ensued.  Always such delightful guys to hang out with.

I let them go on their way after brunch - Steven is an avid knitter, and he had a yarn shop he wanted to get to.  I took myself a short way uphill,

and in a few minutes I was ringing the buzzer to get into Marie's apartment. 

I hadn't seen her place in years, and that's even considering she hasn't had a cat for a while.  She and I gabbed, then headed back onto SkyTrain and downtown where we turned up at Open Outcry for the start of their happy hour. 

Alas, the bar seems to be a shadow of what it was before the pandemic, and after that drink, we headed to the hotel so that I could get ready for dinner.

Marie and I had dinner with Chris

and Allister

over in Chinatown.  I was a little surprised that Chris and Allister hadn't been to Bao Bei

before - they don't live far from it, it's been around for at least 15 years, and it has a good reputation still (I hope!).  I've only been the once, a long time ago, and I've always intended to go back.  They were having a special Year of the Horse menu,

and we were excited for it.  Here's a rundown of it:

Seafood "Bing".  Nice start.  A simple pastry, a turnover.

Lobster crudo.  Lovely.  Reminded me of amaebi.

Lucky dumplings.  Tasty!  Don't be shocked, but I liked the mushrooms with this dish.

Taiwanese knife cut noodles with clams, mussels, and pork.  Really good.  More of a seafood dish than a noodle dish, and we had no problem with the generous portion.

Crispy whole branzino.  Loved loved loved the sauce especially!

Dark chocolate leche flan.  I usually don't go for chocolate desserts, but this turned out to be an excellent way to finish the meal.

We opted for drink pairings which started with the 12 Knots,

included two bottles of wine for the table, and then a finishing cocktail

whose name I didn't catch but that I liked so much that I (and Chris!) ordered another each.  Dinner and drinks done, we walked Marie to the SkyTrain then headed home ourselves on foot.  That was my indulgent meal for the trip, and it made for a lovely Valentine's dinner away from Conrad and Van (and Olive!).