Despite the fact that this city is full of health nuts it actually has a pretty serious number of burger joints. I’m not talking Mc Donalds burgers, but real, “dude making the home made patties in the back”, type burger places.
One of the first places I checked out on my search for awesome Van city burgers was the Tomahawk restaurant. The place is well known by most Vancouver natives. I checked out the menu online and realized pretty quick I had to try the Skookum Chief Burger.
The place itself is a bit of a blast from the past. It reminded me a lot of the Russell Williams diner in Aldershot but with a native American motif. I was filled with all sorts of native American stuff and even had a counter table – something I get really excited about for no reason in particular. Not to mention an awesome place mat, a fundamental piece of any diner experience.
The burger itself was a beast. Cheese, Yukon bacon (whatever that means), egg and even cut up wieners on top. It was awesome. The best I’ve ever had? Probably not, but for such a kitchy diner, the food followed a similar theme, really gimmicky and ultimately rewarding.
The quest for the best burger continues…..
Tomahawk diner facts:
- Brian Adams used to bus here.
- Narduar apparently had heart problems related to eating the skookum burger too frequently here. his picture is even up in the place, as well as a number of other 2nd rate celebrities.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Vegas, day 3
Day 3 started the same way as day 2: extremely hung over. However this day it didn’t seem to slow me down as much as the day before. Got up around noon-ish met up with the dudes in the lobby for a big day of shooting guns.
This was something I was really looking forward to. Not being a big gambler, I have to be a little more creative in the ways I try to sin. We took a car over to the gun store, one of Vegas more well known places to shoot a gun. Right away, the place is pretty hilarious. Surrounded by automatic weapons as well as some heavier artillery, it can be a little bit nerve racking, especially because you can hear people shooting automatic weapons in the range beside the store.
So you get in line, they ask you what you want to shoot – I chose an AK-47 – they give you the clip then you choose a target. Most of the targets are very anti-terrorist but there’s a few in their that are just wild cards, including one that looks like AC Slater about to punch you in the face.
Most of us chose an AK-47 but I know there was an M-16 thrown in there as well (which, for the record seemed to have a more impressive black then the AK, also, the AK did jam up a few times like it’s notorious for). Once we got in the range the butterflies started acting up a bit. Shooting a gun is fun because you know you shouldn’t be doing it. It’s like when you’re a kid and you get your hands on fire crackers. Because it’s a bit dangerous, it’s pretty exhilarating. The trigger is like a feather, you touch it down and 5 bullets fly out. The kick back is pretty serious too. So much so that Greg almost flew back when he first shot it. The safety guy had to hold him up. After you’re done shooting it though you’re amped. It’s a serious rush.
After shooting a gun we met up with the rest of the guys then headed down to the old strip. Not really much to say about this. The old strip is basically just a giant tourist trap, and at the end of it, you kind of end up in a crap part of Las Vegas. I had heard good things about it but it didn’t really do much to me.
Right around now is when my camera died, so despite going out one last night to a club where Paul Oakenfold was Djing, I don’t have any photos of it. I also didn’t sleep that night as we had to hop on a plane at 7 in the morning. Got back to Vancouver and crashed out the entire day. All in all an amazing trip, one of the best weekends I’ve had in a while. Thanks again to everyone who organized it.
Going to really try and make an effort now to start documenting things around Vancouver again. Winter is almost over here so I feel like my hibernation is due to end as well.
This was something I was really looking forward to. Not being a big gambler, I have to be a little more creative in the ways I try to sin. We took a car over to the gun store, one of Vegas more well known places to shoot a gun. Right away, the place is pretty hilarious. Surrounded by automatic weapons as well as some heavier artillery, it can be a little bit nerve racking, especially because you can hear people shooting automatic weapons in the range beside the store.
So you get in line, they ask you what you want to shoot – I chose an AK-47 – they give you the clip then you choose a target. Most of the targets are very anti-terrorist but there’s a few in their that are just wild cards, including one that looks like AC Slater about to punch you in the face.
Most of us chose an AK-47 but I know there was an M-16 thrown in there as well (which, for the record seemed to have a more impressive black then the AK, also, the AK did jam up a few times like it’s notorious for). Once we got in the range the butterflies started acting up a bit. Shooting a gun is fun because you know you shouldn’t be doing it. It’s like when you’re a kid and you get your hands on fire crackers. Because it’s a bit dangerous, it’s pretty exhilarating. The trigger is like a feather, you touch it down and 5 bullets fly out. The kick back is pretty serious too. So much so that Greg almost flew back when he first shot it. The safety guy had to hold him up. After you’re done shooting it though you’re amped. It’s a serious rush.
After shooting a gun we met up with the rest of the guys then headed down to the old strip. Not really much to say about this. The old strip is basically just a giant tourist trap, and at the end of it, you kind of end up in a crap part of Las Vegas. I had heard good things about it but it didn’t really do much to me.
Right around now is when my camera died, so despite going out one last night to a club where Paul Oakenfold was Djing, I don’t have any photos of it. I also didn’t sleep that night as we had to hop on a plane at 7 in the morning. Got back to Vancouver and crashed out the entire day. All in all an amazing trip, one of the best weekends I’ve had in a while. Thanks again to everyone who organized it.
Going to really try and make an effort now to start documenting things around Vancouver again. Winter is almost over here so I feel like my hibernation is due to end as well.
Canucks at the Leafs
Last night's game was poetry. Sundin wins it in the shootout. The standing Ovation to his memorial video. That amazing tip in goal by Burrows. The no stick break away.
Seriously, story book stuff.
Seriously, story book stuff.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Vegas part two
Woke up a total mess from the night before. Thankfully I wasn’t the only one. I dragged my horrible feeling body out of the bed and met up with the dudes in front of the hotel where we all took off to take a walk along the main strip. Because I had emptied out the contents of my stomach over the course of the night before, I ducked into a Denny’s with Scott and Kev and had the country fried steak. It was my first experience with Denny’s and it was very real. Too real. Look at the colour of all that food. It’s the official colour of failure.
After the meal we decided to pass on the strip and instead just crashed out for a bit. When I woke up from a sleep I was feeling like getting the boozitude going again but didn’t feel like buying from the casino bar, and considering I didn’t gamble I wasn’t going to get any freebies. This is when I discovered one of the most beautiful thing about Vegas. You can buy a 12 pack for 5 bucks and just walk around a casino with it under your arm. Maybe it’s the recession or something but no one said a word while I had a half open case of Busch and a can in my hand. I even put it down on the ground while I went to the bathroom and when I came back they were still there. God Bless America.
After a few beers I took a quick trip over to the mall at Caesars Palace. Apparently Gucci takes themselves pretty seriously.
Got back to the Palms and went with the dudes up to a club on the top level called moon. It was pretty bodacious but Adam and some of his buddies decided we should up the ante by going to a club called Tao at the Venetian. Once again, I’m not a club dude, but bottle service at a Vegas club is pretty radical. You go from being a dude who grew up in Hamilton to Lil’ Wayne when he’s on top of the limo playing a guitar solo. Boom, Just like that. The rest of the night went awesomely. Drank another buckets worth but this time my body was used to it so I partied all night till around 6 or so. Even got to see Adam and a bunch of other dudes lose some money at the tables.
Good times.
After the meal we decided to pass on the strip and instead just crashed out for a bit. When I woke up from a sleep I was feeling like getting the boozitude going again but didn’t feel like buying from the casino bar, and considering I didn’t gamble I wasn’t going to get any freebies. This is when I discovered one of the most beautiful thing about Vegas. You can buy a 12 pack for 5 bucks and just walk around a casino with it under your arm. Maybe it’s the recession or something but no one said a word while I had a half open case of Busch and a can in my hand. I even put it down on the ground while I went to the bathroom and when I came back they were still there. God Bless America.
After a few beers I took a quick trip over to the mall at Caesars Palace. Apparently Gucci takes themselves pretty seriously.
Got back to the Palms and went with the dudes up to a club on the top level called moon. It was pretty bodacious but Adam and some of his buddies decided we should up the ante by going to a club called Tao at the Venetian. Once again, I’m not a club dude, but bottle service at a Vegas club is pretty radical. You go from being a dude who grew up in Hamilton to Lil’ Wayne when he’s on top of the limo playing a guitar solo. Boom, Just like that. The rest of the night went awesomely. Drank another buckets worth but this time my body was used to it so I partied all night till around 6 or so. Even got to see Adam and a bunch of other dudes lose some money at the tables.
Good times.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Vegas part one
We took off from Vancouver on Thursday evening. Since we flew into Seattle first we took one of those old fangled propeller planes. It was my first time taking one. One cool thing about them is you fly lower so you can see a lot more of the buildings and ocean and all that on your flight. One con is the plane shakes like a leaf and is loud as hell.
After a quick stop over in Seattle we made our way to Vegas. Once we landed we were all in way too much of a rush to get the party started. First thing we did was buy sodas from a vendor and fill them up with vodka from the duty free. We took a quick cab to the Palms, dropped off our stuff and met with the rest of the dudes from Ontario. It was great seeing them all, especially Adam considering it was his stag.
Mike Scime had done a sweet job of setting up a limo to pick us up as well as bottle service at the club once we got there. We went to a club called Tryst at the Wynn Casino. I wish I wasn’t so shallow and vain but I must admit I did get a kick out of skipping the line, walking right into the club and finding six bottles of vodka waiting for us.
I wish I had been able to enjoy the night a little more but between being over excited to see everyone and a quest to get as drunk as possible as quickly as possible to forget a rough week of work, I ended up drinking my way out of the night by 1. In fact I went back to my hotel and spent a good hour and a half vomiting. I’m pretty convinced I had border line alcohol poison. Welcome to Vegas, Simon’s stomach.
More to follow.
After a quick stop over in Seattle we made our way to Vegas. Once we landed we were all in way too much of a rush to get the party started. First thing we did was buy sodas from a vendor and fill them up with vodka from the duty free. We took a quick cab to the Palms, dropped off our stuff and met with the rest of the dudes from Ontario. It was great seeing them all, especially Adam considering it was his stag.
Mike Scime had done a sweet job of setting up a limo to pick us up as well as bottle service at the club once we got there. We went to a club called Tryst at the Wynn Casino. I wish I wasn’t so shallow and vain but I must admit I did get a kick out of skipping the line, walking right into the club and finding six bottles of vodka waiting for us.
I wish I had been able to enjoy the night a little more but between being over excited to see everyone and a quest to get as drunk as possible as quickly as possible to forget a rough week of work, I ended up drinking my way out of the night by 1. In fact I went back to my hotel and spent a good hour and a half vomiting. I’m pretty convinced I had border line alcohol poison. Welcome to Vegas, Simon’s stomach.
More to follow.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Squamish road trip
Me and Christy took a road trip to Squamish, these were some of the things we saw.
With it less than a year away from the olympics this strip of road is going to grow in importance. One nice thing about it is it only takes an hour and fifteen or so but it feels like you're really out there.
Posts about my trip to vegas coming soon. Sorry for the delay, life has been busy.
With it less than a year away from the olympics this strip of road is going to grow in importance. One nice thing about it is it only takes an hour and fifteen or so but it feels like you're really out there.
Posts about my trip to vegas coming soon. Sorry for the delay, life has been busy.
Monday, January 26, 2009
back in the game
Okay, two weeks to catch up on. Sorry to the 5 people who actually read this thing.
Anyways last weekend Christy and I went to the SPCA to get a cat. The funniest thing about the SPCA is that beside every animal they have a fake name they’ve given them as well as a hilarious write up of the animal from the perspective of the animal itself. I would be lying if it didn’t have any effect on the cat we ended up choosing, but it totally did. There was one cat in particular we had our eye on who’s name was “Captain”. His write up was so awesome I copied it from the SPCA to write it down:
AHOY! Attenion all potential forever families, this is your captain speaking…..
Are you looking for a dashing and debonair guy? Then look no further. I am a gentle and smart cat who would just love to find a safe and kind Port of Call for my very own. I love to be touched and brushed and the only thing sweeter than the open seas is a warm lap to curl up in. Come aboard and fall in love. Anchors Away!!
Given the awesome name and the awesome write up we decided to pick up the awesome cat. Right from the get go the signs were good. On top of the fact that he looked a ton like my awesome ex-cat Jeff, even while we were taking him out of the cage at the SPCA he was super chill. He panicked a bit in the car (he actually pooped the box. This was the first time I realized we just got a cat with the stinkiest poop in history) but once we got home he was nervous for about 30 minutes then was hanging out chilling with us all. Before you know it Captain, aka Capadonna, aka big daddy butt stink was pretty much running the roost. The people at the SPCA said he was a stray but it’s hard to believe because of how normal and social he is, plus he’s totally house trained. Perhaps they grabbed him off the street when he had snuck out of the house for two seconds or something. Plus he has some pretty hilarious knock knees so I can’t imagine he would’ve lasted too long in the wild.
That night went out to a party for a friend from work who got a new job in Montreal. Despite what the pictures look like I did have an awesome time. Speaking of which, when did I get the thousand foot prison yard stare? I think my default face is a scowl. I got to work on that. To nail the point home, someone on facebook uploaded a picture of me at a hardcore concert when I was 17 (Im the kid in the far right of the picture). Looking at this picture I realized a few things about myself:
1. No wonder I had no interest in playing contact sports in high school. Look at me! I was an SLF.
2. I remember part of the fun of being straightedge and going to all these shows was how dangerous it all seemed. Angry kids getting together listening to loud angry music sounds like trouble right? Ten years later and the thought of a bunch of mid-pubescent kids NOT drinking and NOT doing drugs seems a lot less dangerous.No wonder the straight edge revolution never took over the world like we all thought it would. It just took over my right leg instead.
Besides taking advantage of a shoe sale, the rest of the week was unfortunately spent being sick with the flu. Thankfully, the weather coordinated with how I felt so I didn’t seem to miss much.
This weekend the weather was way more awesome. Saturday was filled with a bunch of obligations to work and writing classes and stuff but Sunday held up pretty awesomely. To start, me and Christy met her mom for brunch at the restaurant down at the Granville Island hotel. On our way down we saw this poster. Now I ask you, did the owner of that cat really need to put the third point down? Do you think there’s anyone who would be like
“Well, I found a black and white cat with one ear and a squawky meow, but you know what? His character isn’t that cheeky. It’s more sassy. Must not be the same cat.”
After that, said “peace” to el capitano, drove through downtown, over the lions gate bridge, pulled out my steelhead tackle and my home made fishing gloves and finally got to spend an hour fishing at the cap. Unfortunately the water was super ridiculously low. I tried a bit higher up the river but all the rocks were super slippery and dangerous. While I was near the top I saw a dude from the fisheries drop off a summer run steelhead in the pool I was standing at. Awesome! After giving up on the fishing early I still wanted to take advantage of the clear day so I drove up the mountains and checked out some parks I hadn’t seen before. When I pulled off the road and walked up to the park I was pretty blown away by the view.
On the way back into town I stopped at famous noodle, a noodle soup place where they make the noodles fresh right in front you. After that me and Christy headed down to meet up with Scott and his Australian girlfriend at an Australian bar for “Australian day”. The place was packed with Aussies and people pretending to be them. It was rowdy, rude and loud, basically what I was expecting from a room full of Aussies. The weirdest thing of the night though happened in the bathroom. It changed my view of Aussies forever.
While waiting in line to pee a guy in front of me in the urinal said “Oi, now it’s gunna cam out the otha end mate”. Then he walked over to the toilet stall yelled “Get out mate.I gutta shet!” So a freaked out looking dude comes out of the stall and this guy runs in. 2 seconds later he blasts a super loud stinky fart. Everyone in the line went “Ohhhhh!” but right after, the guy goes “Wait until you smell it mates. I’ll have you all runnin’ fore the door!” What was so weird about it was that the Aussie on the can and the Aussies in line kept going back and forth talking about the guys poop. Like the entire time I was in the bathroom. What kind of people do that? I’m never listening to Midnight Oil again.
With all that said, good weekend. Back in the swing of things again and I’ll start updating this thing again more often. Peace out.
Anyways last weekend Christy and I went to the SPCA to get a cat. The funniest thing about the SPCA is that beside every animal they have a fake name they’ve given them as well as a hilarious write up of the animal from the perspective of the animal itself. I would be lying if it didn’t have any effect on the cat we ended up choosing, but it totally did. There was one cat in particular we had our eye on who’s name was “Captain”. His write up was so awesome I copied it from the SPCA to write it down:
AHOY! Attenion all potential forever families, this is your captain speaking…..
Are you looking for a dashing and debonair guy? Then look no further. I am a gentle and smart cat who would just love to find a safe and kind Port of Call for my very own. I love to be touched and brushed and the only thing sweeter than the open seas is a warm lap to curl up in. Come aboard and fall in love. Anchors Away!!
Given the awesome name and the awesome write up we decided to pick up the awesome cat. Right from the get go the signs were good. On top of the fact that he looked a ton like my awesome ex-cat Jeff, even while we were taking him out of the cage at the SPCA he was super chill. He panicked a bit in the car (he actually pooped the box. This was the first time I realized we just got a cat with the stinkiest poop in history) but once we got home he was nervous for about 30 minutes then was hanging out chilling with us all. Before you know it Captain, aka Capadonna, aka big daddy butt stink was pretty much running the roost. The people at the SPCA said he was a stray but it’s hard to believe because of how normal and social he is, plus he’s totally house trained. Perhaps they grabbed him off the street when he had snuck out of the house for two seconds or something. Plus he has some pretty hilarious knock knees so I can’t imagine he would’ve lasted too long in the wild.
That night went out to a party for a friend from work who got a new job in Montreal. Despite what the pictures look like I did have an awesome time. Speaking of which, when did I get the thousand foot prison yard stare? I think my default face is a scowl. I got to work on that. To nail the point home, someone on facebook uploaded a picture of me at a hardcore concert when I was 17 (Im the kid in the far right of the picture). Looking at this picture I realized a few things about myself:
1. No wonder I had no interest in playing contact sports in high school. Look at me! I was an SLF.
2. I remember part of the fun of being straightedge and going to all these shows was how dangerous it all seemed. Angry kids getting together listening to loud angry music sounds like trouble right? Ten years later and the thought of a bunch of mid-pubescent kids NOT drinking and NOT doing drugs seems a lot less dangerous.No wonder the straight edge revolution never took over the world like we all thought it would. It just took over my right leg instead.
Besides taking advantage of a shoe sale, the rest of the week was unfortunately spent being sick with the flu. Thankfully, the weather coordinated with how I felt so I didn’t seem to miss much.
This weekend the weather was way more awesome. Saturday was filled with a bunch of obligations to work and writing classes and stuff but Sunday held up pretty awesomely. To start, me and Christy met her mom for brunch at the restaurant down at the Granville Island hotel. On our way down we saw this poster. Now I ask you, did the owner of that cat really need to put the third point down? Do you think there’s anyone who would be like
“Well, I found a black and white cat with one ear and a squawky meow, but you know what? His character isn’t that cheeky. It’s more sassy. Must not be the same cat.”
After that, said “peace” to el capitano, drove through downtown, over the lions gate bridge, pulled out my steelhead tackle and my home made fishing gloves and finally got to spend an hour fishing at the cap. Unfortunately the water was super ridiculously low. I tried a bit higher up the river but all the rocks were super slippery and dangerous. While I was near the top I saw a dude from the fisheries drop off a summer run steelhead in the pool I was standing at. Awesome! After giving up on the fishing early I still wanted to take advantage of the clear day so I drove up the mountains and checked out some parks I hadn’t seen before. When I pulled off the road and walked up to the park I was pretty blown away by the view.
On the way back into town I stopped at famous noodle, a noodle soup place where they make the noodles fresh right in front you. After that me and Christy headed down to meet up with Scott and his Australian girlfriend at an Australian bar for “Australian day”. The place was packed with Aussies and people pretending to be them. It was rowdy, rude and loud, basically what I was expecting from a room full of Aussies. The weirdest thing of the night though happened in the bathroom. It changed my view of Aussies forever.
While waiting in line to pee a guy in front of me in the urinal said “Oi, now it’s gunna cam out the otha end mate”. Then he walked over to the toilet stall yelled “Get out mate.I gutta shet!” So a freaked out looking dude comes out of the stall and this guy runs in. 2 seconds later he blasts a super loud stinky fart. Everyone in the line went “Ohhhhh!” but right after, the guy goes “Wait until you smell it mates. I’ll have you all runnin’ fore the door!” What was so weird about it was that the Aussie on the can and the Aussies in line kept going back and forth talking about the guys poop. Like the entire time I was in the bathroom. What kind of people do that? I’m never listening to Midnight Oil again.
With all that said, good weekend. Back in the swing of things again and I’ll start updating this thing again more often. Peace out.
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