My buddy was in Vancouver today. For approximately five hours. He was actually on a layover, flying fin rom South Korea at 11:30 a.m., then flying out to Montreal at 4:30 p.m. Factor in the wait time at customs, travel to and from the airport, extended hilarious greetings/farewells, and that left us with closer to 150 minutes.
After picking him up, I have him a choice of lunch selections: brunch, dim sum, sushi, or food trucks. Surprisingly, he elected to go with the latter. At first, I figured we’d swing by the winter farmers market that usually boasts a half-dozen food trucks, but a quick check of my food truck app (Yes, I have a food truck app) revealed a food truck fest taking place downtown. Perfect timing! We could go down, grab a bite, then have a plenty of time for a hot chocolate!
The food truck fest featured over a dozen food trucks – and an enormous crowd of hungry diners…
It was a pretty big turnout – that got even bigger between the time we placed our orders and the time we picked them up.
From the Roaming Dragon truck: Pork belly with pickles in a steamed bun with rice balls, and their version of the ubiquitous Vietnamese sandwich, the banh mi. All great, but that bank mi was outstanding. I can’t say enough about the importance of fresh bread!
Akemi had the chickpea and puffed rice salad from Vij’s Railway Express. It was a little disappointing only because we tried it once before and loved it. This time, it was overpowered by the heavy dressing.
My buddy had a chicken naan that he had to wait twenty minutes for because the naan truck ran out of naan bread. No, really.
Once we were done, we hopped into my car and headed over to Bella Gelateria where we treated my buddy to ice cream (I highly recommend the rum and raisin!) and, of course, some hot chocolate (full report to follow).
After that, there was just enough time to drive back to my place so that my buddy could check out the house and pretend not to be frightened by Lulu –
Before jumping back into the car and heading back to the airport.
All in all, a visit both pleasant and highly efficient. Next time my buddy comes to town, I’m going to try break our record and wrap things up inside of two hoursQ
Three more episodes to go before we reach the end of Stargate: Universe. Akemi is cautiously optimistic about checking out Atlantis once we’re done, based on all of your recommendations. Will she like it? Or will it be another Girls?
That sounds like it was a great (if short) time! It’s amazing what you can pack in, so to speak, in a couple of hours. Hopefully your buddy (is his name actually “Buddy”?) had fun, too. That bank mi looks great, although I’ve never had one. It would be pretty hard to beat Japadog, though.
I think that Akemi will love Atlantis. Who wouldn’t? Crazy people, that’s who. I *am* curious to see what Akemi thinks of SGU’s final episode. We might need a video of that! 🙂
Oh, and for all you nature lovers like me out there, I just found this on HuffPo. At least SOMEONE is reporting real news out there.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/23/deer-farts-on-camera_n_4653026.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular
Hey Joe
I’m sure Akemi will love Atlantis. Looking forward to it, in fact I just may watch along.
Elminster
*googles “girls”
*wonders how a TV series is the first google hit for such a basic word
*thinks about the far future of the internet and wonders if the TV series will always be the first hit
*thinks about the past of the internet and vows to count my blessings if it is
Back to the question, I vote that she’ll like Atlantis. How much weight does my vote get in whether she likes it?
*wonders how you got me to google “girls”
I have yet to eat at a food truck.
Lulu is very fearsome. Even though she’s only about as big as Ziggy’s head I’m pretty sure he’d be terrified. 🙂
How does a naan truck run out of naan bread?
Atlantis is such a fun show! I think Akemi will like it.
Trish
i tried to google the bank mi & i think it’s spelled banh mi. just pointing that out for anyone who tries to google it & get banks in michigan.
looked up bella gelateria online, now i want gelato.
Hey Joe
Is Buddy by any chance Lawrence? If so, how is he and Mel doing?
Elminster
Looks like you made “food’ use of your time with your buddy. Sorry for the pun?Was that even a pun? Let’s just say you made good food use of your time. Anyway I am all in on Atlantis, how can Akemi NOT like it.
article in the local paper today noted that my city has elected not to allow food trucks in. Apparently they can’t figure out how to classify them. “somewhere between a restaurant and a carnival” was the way they put it. The fact that there is interest in bringing such trucks in would make it logical to come up with some ordinances to let them in, while maintaining some quality control. Guess that’s too hard for the local politicos.
Akemi will definitely love Atlantis. It’s going to be fun to see what she makes of Sheppard’s mean streak, Rodney’s quirks, Teyla’s ferocity, and Ronan’s ….well, it IS Jason Mamoa….
So jealous. I had to work all day today but I really wanted to get down to the street food fest. ;_;
Lawrence!! …right? Didn’t you once say he is your oldest friend? I remember thinking, “he’s not old!”. Anyway, he is looking great. That’s a pretty fun layover.
Atlantis. Yeah!! 😀 Akemi will love it!
Lulu is fierce! and brave!
We have two food truck gatherings a month now, one on third Fridays and I think the other one is first Tuesdays. I had fried lobster on a stick from these people last time & I wasn’t really impressed: http://www.cousinsmainelobster.com/
And, this magical food truck app you mentioned- is it classified information or can you share the name with your readers? ; )
I think she’ll like it, rodney will annoy her though. 🙂
@Ponytail
I was sorry to see that Tara deleted her blog, she always had great posts.
She has a Twitter account too, but I think she never stated why see stopped blogging.
Any idea why?
Oh Darn! I have a long weekend and not sure what to do. I could have jumped a plane, hopped a train and walked downtown looking for a job…No, wait that was someone else. But, I could have been there by noon. Need to find the app. Is it at Apple’s store? But no complaints, I am running over to Bangkok for this coming weekend–Fresh Fish, etc. Maybe dine with the street protesters?
I am not sure, but I think Akemi might have the feeling at that end as if one were at a restaurant and the waiter pulls the plate away before she was finished. Hope, she enjoys the remainder. I am now watching Atlantis and would enjoy her perspective on the episodes. I currently am up to Hunter where Tayla loose her lust for Shephard replaced by younger rustic urbanite. Perhaps it is because they both enjoy wearing Leather pants. One intersting facet of the ep. is all the night shooting. You may not sense at first but in the first scene if you look in the back ground you can see the bright illumination. Is that were the Kraft table were at?
You forgot your buddy’s name, didn’t ya?
Ya know, that’s an early warning sign of dementia. 😉
das
I think she’ll love Atlantis…
@ Christian – Not sure why she stopped (and Joe ain’t telling), but she always said she didn’t have too much to talk about. She would not post anything for weeks. I think she realized how much dedication it took and was always in awe of Joe and his blogging longevity record. She was looking for a new place, so maybe if she moved, she took the opportunity to stop. Too bad. She is a multi-talented artist – actor, writer, fine arts.
Akemi’s choice would be mine as well. That salad looked awesome!
You are very brave leaving the airport with “Buddy”. I’d be afraid of something going wrong so that I’d miss my plane. You know, such as, a traffic jam, a sudden but unexplained bridge blowing up, a Tsunami…
My cats will not eat cat treats….stupid cats.
Aww Lulu is a lover not a fighter, ask Ivon.. Glad you got to visit with Buddy on the fly thru. also happy to see no snow on the ground to muck up your plans. Where is your snow anyway, do you get very much of it in the winter>?
I agree with the fresh bread, can make or break any sandwich/meal. More chocolate please, loving all the yummy pictures, thanks.
I think the caption on the Lulu picture is, “But you promised me you’d bring Ivon home????”
Glad you had a great time catching up with Buddy. It’s all about quality of time and not quantity.
Hey @GForce You were commenting about someone using your name in the title of their business. Look at the bottom of my son’s school page as a community collaborator: GForce Fitness! Needless to say I got a good giggle today http://includingkids.org/