Cats! Kittens! Tis blog time. A fair bit to get through this post. First off:- Work. I think there actually trying to kill me. As predicted, doing fry prep is fine Monday to Wednesday, but there just isn't enough time Thursdays and Fridays. By the time I get to the wash area in the afternoon, its looks like shit. To be fair, they do send people back to help me, because they can see I'm on the verge of exploding. An insert fell of a shelf on Thursday, and I angrily through it into a sink. Erin (one of the new trainee bosses going to the Joeys opening soon in Kitsalano) witnessed this and has since been good in getting me help when I need it. Also I will be on pans on the Monday and Tuesday lunch rush soon, Hopefully start next Monday with that one. So I am moving forward, and not just expanding sideways as before. More news on work to follow post this weekends adventure.
So this Wednesday I went for Sushi with JP and Rosie. Sushi is stupidly expensive in the UK, but in Canada there are hundreds of sushi restaurants, its treated a bit like getting a Indian back home. So for $5.99 you can get 22 pieces of Sushi, it was really tasty apart from Rosie and JP getting there food 5 minutes before me, and then when my meal did arrive it was pretty much dropped onto the table next to me. A crappy tip was left for the crappy service. After I met up with Chloe, and we planned to walk around the Olympic village, except I took us over the wrong bridge, so we ended up walking around a small portion of the Harbor, then ended up on Davie street. So we walked along the sea wall for a bit, then headed back into town, grabbed some ice cream on the way back, before sinking a couple of drinks up on Granville at the Roxy bar. Nothing much to report until Friday, when me and Chloe went on a trip to Victoria. I met up with her straight after work, and we started our epic journey to the most southerly city in Canada, on Vancouver Island. First we had to catch the new Canada line subway system out to the bus depo. Its only just been finished, on time, on budget, and works super efficiently. If only the UK could manage that. The train goes out past the airport, and I realised that its the first time I've been out this way since I arrived here... over 3 months ago. Shit, that went quickly. At the bus terminal we learnt of this adventures travel cock up. Whistler it was traffic, Seattle it was paying for the visa, Victoria... a bloody ferry caught fire, and was put out of use, righting off the whole schedule on one of the busiest weekends of the year (Thanksgiving. More to follow on this also.) When we arrived at the ferry port people were queuing out of the door, all the way through the car park, and out the exit. We didn't think we would make it, but the ferry left late, and they filled it to over capacity, and the ferry captain floored it. In many ways, it was like the Titanic, except for the sinking bit. After another bus we arrived at our Hostel. It was called the Turtle Hostel, and filled with pictures, models and paintings of Turtles. After the 4 hour travel ordeal we went straight to bed, but got a poor nights sleep as the walls were made of papermache, and we could hear every small noise, from every other room. Next day we decided over breakfast to hit up miniature world first. This is a place were some guy has recreated various battle scenes and stuff using tiny home made models. I thought it would be really crap, and so hilarious. Except he had done a really good job, so it was just dull. I'm not going to tell you how much it cost to get in, because its embarrassing. Next we went to Underwater world. This was basically a pontoon in the harbour, with an underwater gallery were they had netted in some fish for you to look at. We did see a conga eel, and another giant octopus. So not a complete waste of time. Like miniature world was. Next we walked around the sea wall, witnessed a violin playing Darth Vader, and generally mooched. Later that evening we grabbed a meal at the steam works restaurant ( another middle class restaurant chain, but with cheap tasty food) before grabbing a few drinks at an Irish bar in the city centre before heading home. Another night of crappy Hostel sleep later and we decided to find some hangover cure type grub. We found a really nice Dinner just down the road that was like Templetons on steroids. Comic book posters of superman, black marker pen comments and quotes from customers on the walls, and all the staff were tattooed hipsters or alternative types. My fish omelet, round of toast, and 3 coffees came to a meager $11, but we left a fairly hefty tip, as the place was rammed and we still got good service. Next we did some shopping as Victoria has a lot of small trendy independent shops, I bought a new shirt to help with the hipster style I'm cultivating. Then I bought a card for Rosie for her Birthday (Message:- "Anyone who doesn't wish you happy birthday is a lamewad and I hate them"). After that we began our journey home. The bus from Victoria to the ferry port arrived just in time to watch the ferry pulling out of the bay. So, thanks to Fridays Ferry fire, we had to weight Two Hours for the next one. We finally arrived back in Vancouver at 8pm after being in transit for 6 hours, at some point on the journey I got a call from my Boss telling me... I didn't have to come in on Monday on the thanksgiving Holiday after all, and they would pay me for it. I was bloody ecstatic. This allowed me to go to Chloe and Monique's thanksgiving bash that evening, were I broke my vegetarianism vow and ate a MASSIVE portion of Turkey, making me go from Vegetarian, to some some a one who just doesn't eat that much meat. It was a good night, when we arrived a couple of Canadian guys were watching the Hockey on telly, just like they do in the movies, then the twelve random (and mainly Irish) people who were there continued drinking until around 3 ish. Monday I spent the day recovering, doing menial tasks such as clothes washing and room cleaning, and watched 500 days of summer ( http://quicksilverscreen.com/watch?video=97695 ) which is my second favourite thinking women's rom com of the year, after Away we go. Defo worth seeing. That night I got 9 or 10 hours solid sleep.
After arriving at work today, it became obvious why they had given me Monday off, the place was dead. Not that I'm complaining, I shouldn't get holidays off, let alone paid for them. I had one of the most relaxing days in weeks, got loads done, but at a easy pace. I carried out operation deep cleanse on the wash area. I washed areas that haven't been touched since Joeys opened two years ago. Plus we were so dead I got to leave an hour early. Good times.
Quote Time
Adam:-"Good work Greg, they would be proud of you in Manchester"
*Adam walks off*
Byron:- "I didn't think you were from Manchester"
Me:- "Nah, I'm from the hard streets of Oxford"
Byron:- "Really?"
me:- "Yup, our biggest export is Dictionaries"
Byron:- "wow, that's really... interesting"
WOOSH!
That is the sound of a joke flying far above the guys I work for. They would be proud of you in Manchester? Good old Adam and his cheese ball sayings.
Bus Driver:- "If you this bus journey was below your expectations, then please lower your expectations"
After not realising how bad the holiday traffic was, and filling one bus already, the bus company found another bus in 5 minutes, and got us to the ferry terminal in time for the ferry, and let us have the service for free. Way above my expectations to be honest.
Ferry Terminal Guy:- "You will all be on the next Ferry. Please save me the last serving of mash potato and gravy!"
It was funny the first time we heard it, but got a little old by the tenth time. As far as we could tell the guy was running the ferry terminal all by himself. He probably even drove the ferry.
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