Saturday, July 10, 2010

We ate LA: Bad stuff

I had two meals I had to eat while in LA.

1. A Double Down. It's KFC sandwich that has two fried chicken filets instead of a bun. Inside are four different types of cheese, a sauce of unknown provenance, and some bacon.

2. A pancake layered with cheesecake. At IHOP you can have a pancake-cheesecake-pancake creation or a pancake stack with the cheescake embedded in the pancake.

We achieved both and were poorer for it.

IHOP Pancakes

I didn't have high hopes other than to be full and slightly grossed out. Mission accomplished.




This is what it should look like. It's "close". Also we opted to go for four pancakes instead of the two. Even with the extra pancakes it was only $6. The taste? Well, the cheesecake adds a creamy heavy flavour. None of us who were brave enough to order this were able to finish. Also, I don't think we ate again until dinner.


The Double Down

Our last full meal in LA we went to KFC for the infamous Double Down. Sadly, it didn't live up to the hype. I didn't even finish mine as it's just a bunch of chicken breast with some stuff in the middle. One of group ended up eating my half in addition to his full one. He later paid for it in the bathroom.

Daorcey didn't have many options at KFC. He settled for two corn cobettes and a bowl of coleslaw.


Our next post will detail the good food we actually ate.

Saturday, July 03, 2010

Five years in the adventures of two geeks

Wow, that went by quickly.

Five years ago this morning, Arone and I were running around Canmore picking up flowers, putting up directional signs, and being mistaken for groom and groom (yup, that was awkward). We stopped in at the spa where the girls were getting their hair and makeup done so Arone (not me, 'cause, you know, that would be against "tradition") could drop off my surprise gift of a diamond necklace to Natalie. Upon doing so, Arone was mistaken as Natalie's fiance (also awkward). That was an interesting day with a few stories that could be told years later. Maybe that's for another post.

So, a half-decade has passed--what are my thoughts on being married for that time?

Twelve years ago, I was standing by myself in the gardens of Versailles. It was a cold spring day and the full garden wasn't in bloom, but some of the flowers were out. Despite doing that trip with a school group, I had spent a lot of time on my own getting lost and exploring. This was one of those times.

I wasn't feeling particularly lonely (I actually don't mind being alone), but I do recall that I was suddenly struck by the urge to share this experience. This didn't mean I was to return to Canada intent upon finding a partner, but it was a moment when I realized an important requirement for future relationships: sharing is good.

Since that time, we've been to Versailles together. But, we've also been to other places and had shared experiences we'd never expected. From a Canadian cemetery in Belgium to a gamer-filled conference hall in Seattle to an ancient forest on Vancouver Island to a Viking settlement in Sweden. All ridiculously cool experiences made even more unique and important to us because they are shared.


It's been five-plus years of experiences that make this adventure a great one. But it's not just travel that I cherish. It's the shared experiences of daily life: playing video games, reading our iPhones in bed, and even writing together are important. Our recent hobby of writing about games and gadgets with The Review Crew has been a lot of fun. Of course, the trips to Vegas and LA were cool, but even just writing beside each other on our computers at home or on separate laptops from the comfort of a hotel room is unique experience I wouldn't want to give up.


In five years, we've grown together through our experiences that we've had as a couple. I guess this is a predictable process, but it's something you tend not to consider while it's happening.

It's an odd experience to reflect on five years. Time has moved quickly, yet there's been a definite progression in our relationship. We continue to learn more about each other as we grow individually and as a married unit.

I can definitely say that life together has only become better the more time passes. We first came together as friends and now we continue along as even better friends. I've often joked about how being married is just like an extended sleep over with late nights, movies, video games, good food, and hanging out with friends.

It's more than that, of course, but it's still a good, fun time nonetheless.

Thursday, July 01, 2010

Happy Canada Day

Living in China for three months was obviously a cool experience for a variety of reasons. One of them was I looked like everyone else pretty much--minus my toque and bike helmet.

But I felt like I was missing something--it wasn't homesickness--and I couldn't put my finger on it. It wasn't until I flew back and was chilling in Vancouver for our Calgary flight. I saw an Indian-Canadian couple. The woman was dressed in a sari and the man had a brightly-coloured turban. When I saw them, that's when it clicked. I missed seeing the faces of Canadians.

It's something Douglas Coupland wrote in his first Souvenir of Canada. He went to Scotland to a little town where pratically anyone could have been his relative which he found creepy.

"And this is the point where being Canadian really hits home, because what you want, and what you're missing, is the variety of people you see in Canada... I know we're all supposed to love being multicultural and all of that, and we all know how that works and how to play the game and talk the talk--but to crave it and feel deprived without it is another sensation altogether. It's one of those things that lumps your throat and makes you realize that things will probably work out in the end."

And then we watched hockey playoffs and drank beer.

So, happy Canada Day. I'm extremely glad my parents decided to move to Canada.