Films, filling food and fall.

Hello again. Not much to report here, as I've been conserving funds for my upcoming trip to Ottawa and Montreal. I have enjoyed seeing a few films at the Vancouver International Film Festival, where tickets were very reasonably priced (hooray!). The ones I saw were from Israel, Poland, Brazil and Russia. My favourites were Jellyfish and Ballerina.

I also enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving meal on Monday (it was a long weekend for the occasion) at a friend's house. There were about 10 of us and we had turkey, stuffing, roast potatoes, sweet potatoes, peas, cornbread, gravy etc - the works! And pumpkin pie (a favourite of mine) and lemon meringue pie for dessert. We were all completely stuffed afterwards. Here are a couple of pics of the food and people:

Tom and Tania (Aussies). We were able to sit out in the sunshine in the afternoon for a while, before it got too chilly. Beer, chips, sunshine and good company - who could ask for more? :-)



Tucking in! That's me on the end.

Thought I'd share a couple of other recent photos - this one is from a sunrise earlier this week. Looking out from my apartment I noticed the rainbow, which only lasted a minute or so.

And this is the stunning view from the kitchen window of the building at Vancouver General Hospital where I'm working at the moment:

You can see some of the pretty autumn/fall leaves the city is displaying at the moment.

Oh and a couple of funny things that have happened: someone asked me the other day if New Zealand was in the Philippines. Ummmm.... no. Not last time I checked. Another person asked me if you can drive to New Zealand from Sydney! And someone at work asked me if I know any May-ories and do they live on reservations??

To be fair, it was pointed out to me that a lot of people down under probably don't know a lot about North American geography, which is true. I just rely on the airline to put me down at the right airport - I'm no expert on what's where and how to navigate between cities!

And let's not talk about the rugby.

Till next time....

Pics from Mini-Reunion in Seattle, 1-3 September

(Alternative Title: Seattle Food Tour!)

These pics are from a month ago, when I caught a bus to Seattle to meet up with some friends I met when we were all living in Wellington. Jenny's Scottish and living with her Aussie boyfriend in Seattle at the moment, and Americans Lindsay and Katrina flew in for the weekend from Los Angeles and San Diego, respectively. It was so good to catch up with the girls and play tourist in Seattle! They made a bit of a fuss of me for my birthday which was lovely! :-)


At the border crossing.


Kiran, Lindsay, Jenny and Katrina.


Katrina and the Space Needle!


At the top of the Space Needle.


View from the top. We were lucky to have some really nice weather!



Surprise birthday cheesecake at the Cheesecake Factory! And it was accompanied by waiters singing Happy Birthday!


Look at all those cheesecakes!!!!! Mmmmm-mmmm! (If you click on the picture to get the full-size image, you can just read the labels... such as Chocolate Oreo Mudslide Cheesecake!)


The famous Pike Place markets.




And the famous fish-throwing place inside the markets! It's hard to tell but there is a flying fish in this photo, just above the head of the guy with the blue backpack. It was difficult to time the photo!




What a fantastic idea - Latte Happy Hour!


A colourful chili-bouquet!




Cheesecake truffles! Did I mention I like cheesecake?? These were delicious! I got one free just for being a Kiwi :-D

Time for a caffeine break.


A kilt shop and Lindsay attempting to answer the age-old question....



This is from the underground tour, which I really enjoyed. This is looking up at the sidewalk above, and the glass panels designed to let light through. It was really interesting hearing how the city was built, destroyed by fire, then rebuilt and raised up.

Time to trade books, catch up on the gossip mags, and enjoy cocktails courtesy of Kiran!


A nice hearty breakfast to start the day!


I liked this :-)

I really enjoyed Seattle and wished I could have spent more time there. I'm looking forward to going back for a weekend with friends next month!