Vancouver
We took a last-minute trip to Vancouver last weekend and I have a junk food hangover so here is a list:
- Cupcakes on Denman
- acrylic thick and thin yarn at Daiso, chopsticks too
- London Drugs and/or Shoppers Drug Mart: Labello lip gloss, sugar Coca-Cola, Mitchum Roll-on (25%!), La Roche-Posay Effaclar K, ketchup potato chips, Cadbury Mini Eggs (for a CA/US taste off), and a Kinder Egg
- took a look around Stanley Park, so sad
- failed to do: eat a donut at Tim Horton's, shame on us
- failed to find: pink grapefruit Mentos, though we did find sour green apple and peach
- Cupcakes on Denman
- acrylic thick and thin yarn at Daiso, chopsticks too
- London Drugs and/or Shoppers Drug Mart: Labello lip gloss, sugar Coca-Cola, Mitchum Roll-on (25%!), La Roche-Posay Effaclar K, ketchup potato chips, Cadbury Mini Eggs (for a CA/US taste off), and a Kinder Egg
- took a look around Stanley Park, so sad
- failed to do: eat a donut at Tim Horton's, shame on us
- failed to find: pink grapefruit Mentos, though we did find sour green apple and peach
is there a difference between american and canadian mini eggs? i love me some mini eggs ... at least the canadian version. :)
Comment by michelle — February 19, 2007 @ 11:34 am
I'm not sure yet, but I'll let you know.
Comment by megan — February 19, 2007 @ 11:39 am
I can buy Kinder eggs at the Bosnian grocer not too far from me. Love them! I'm buying them as a gift for all my staff this year.
And there are Tom Horten's in Columbus, OH. And I gotta say, I'm not so impressed. Maybe they're different in Canada but in my experience, a glazed Krispy Kreme is the best. Especially if it is still warm when you get it. Holy crow is it yummy!
Comment by Cinnamon — February 19, 2007 @ 12:27 pm
It's ok that you didn't find the pink grapefruit mentos in Vancouver, because they sell them right here in Seattle! I just bought some at Bartells downtown and they are just as delicious as described!
Comment by Clara — February 19, 2007 @ 12:56 pm
yay!
Comment by megan — February 19, 2007 @ 1:18 pm
mmm, i've got some pink grapefruit mentos in my purse! they are yummy.
Comment by jeannette — February 19, 2007 @ 1:21 pm
What was sad about Stanley Park? I haven't been there in ages, but I recall it being lovely. What's changed?
Comment by Petra — February 19, 2007 @ 1:22 pm
A lot of large trees blew over in a recent storm, there are patches of bare sky where there used to be thick forest. And so many trees came down in one spot that they broke the sea wall so part of the walking and bicycle trail is closed. While the roads and paths are clear they are bordered by fallen trees that have been moved out of the way. There are splintered tree stumps showing in a lot of places. It will take a while to recover.
Comment by megan — February 19, 2007 @ 1:55 pm
Wendy's has some kind of weird stake in Tim Horton's - I'm not sure what it is, but yeah, all over Ohio, they've pretty much put in Tim Horton's next to Wendy's. I don't know about elsewhere (they hadn't done it in FL when I still lived there). This is partly because Wendy's world HQ is in Columbus; even aside from that, Columbus is so statistically average that companies frequently tend to use us as a test market. The Tim Horton's situation isn't a test-market thing - they're pretty entrenched here.
And Tim Horton's is decent, but really more for sub-Panera goods than necessarily for stuff you'd get from a donut shop. Their coffee isn't as good as Dunkin Donuts', for example, but they have good soup and sandwiches, and inexpensive little strawberry tarts in the summer.
Comment by miranda — February 19, 2007 @ 3:06 pm
Tim Horton's is hugely popular, but they're not really known for the quality of either their donuts or coffee. So I'm sure that Krispy Kremes are better.
Just FYI... Tim was a professional hockey player with the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Buffalo Sabres. He died young when his sports car went out of control while being chased by the police. His partner bought off Tim's wife, I think for $1 million, and then turned the coffee shops into a multi-billion dollar enterprise.
I'm not a fan of Timmy's, but it has the virtue of ubiquity. When you're driving at 2 am on a deserted Canadian backroad, and can't keep your eyes open, there will be a Timmy's up ahead. Guaranteed!
Comment by Richard — February 19, 2007 @ 3:15 pm
Last spring I was lamenting to some friends from the UK about one of the few Dairy Queens around here closing down. They didn't quite understand -- the ice cream wasn't that good, the stores aren't that comfortable, what is there to be sad about? Dairy Queen for me isn't about the ice cream so much as the childhood nostalgia. It was the place we'd go for a special treat in the summer or after a pee-wee sporting event, or later with boyfriends when we were old enough to drive. The Dilly bar isn't a sublime taste, but it's the one I remember and it remains a favorite ice cream treat of mine.
I've always assume Tim Horton's was like that for Canadians.
Comment by megan — February 19, 2007 @ 3:50 pm
Ack! Effaclar K! I ran out of my one sample and just did a search for it *this* morning.
Comment by Jane — February 19, 2007 @ 4:10 pm
Tim Horton's is kind of like that for Canadians Megan, I think particularly the Eastern half of us (we didn't have too many of them out West here for a long time). Recently (I'm not sure how recently) the chain was bought by Wendy's so it actually isn't a Canadian company anymore, which explains why they're popping up in FL, though most Canadians still have a strong patriotic knee-jerk reaction to Tim's and their ads would have you believe they're about as Canadian as it gets.
Anyway.
It was great to visit with you. I hope you guys had a great time overall and look forward to visiting next time we're in Seattle!
Comment by emira — February 19, 2007 @ 4:24 pm
No, no, reread: they are not popping up in FL, to my knowledge. :) Columbus, OH, headquarters of Wendy's. I used to live in FL, and I was saying that before I came to Columbus I had never seen a Tim's, because Wendy's *hadn't* yet expanded Tim Horton's that far south. But Columbus is full of them; there's a Tim's every few miles.
If they are popping up in FL, I don't know about it.
Comment by miranda — February 19, 2007 @ 4:53 pm
I noticed that you're researching elliptical machines. I went through that whole process 3 years ago. If you're looking in the almost-thousand dollar price range, I hate to say it but you're better off just spending the $2-3,000 on a health-club quality machine (precor). We were in the same boat and looked and looked and looked. We got the precor and it is fantastic. We don't have much disposable income, but it was worth in in the long run (in fitness and burned calories!) Sorry to butt in but I wanted to give you my two cents (I'm a researching freak when it comes to a big purchase.) I love your site!
Comment by nicole — February 19, 2007 @ 6:04 pm
Ooh, Daiso -- so fun!
My husband took me there last time we were in Vancouver, and it was amazing! I have a super cute hot pink lunch bag with a white rabbit on it from there.
Also: when you work right next door to Tim Hortons, the novelty wears off very, very quickly.
And I *heart* mini-eggs, too.
Comment by allana — February 19, 2007 @ 6:16 pm
LOVE lego star wars!! My husband is a big SW nerd and collector, and I am a somewhat closet nerd. But as a kid I loved legos, so he buys all the sets (that aren't too expensive) for me and I put them together with glee. The video game rocks-- they blow up into a million lego pieces...so cute!! I play while eating my mini eggs. And-- Cadbury IS different in the US (made by hershey), I'm not sure about Canada.
Comment by drcarrie — February 19, 2007 @ 7:12 pm
You're going to LOVE the Effaclar K.
Comment by Kappy Liu — February 19, 2007 @ 9:03 pm
I'm amazed that you can't find pink grapefruit Mentos. They are so GOOD!
Comment by Christina — February 19, 2007 @ 9:32 pm
I happened to find the mentos at O'Hare airport on Sunday! They are v. tasty.
Comment by Kristin S — February 19, 2007 @ 10:09 pm
http://www.us.mentos.com/cgi-bin/SoftCart.100.exe/scstore/c-Flavors_of_the_World.html?L+scstore+amml3415+1172018238
Comment by Bonney — February 20, 2007 @ 7:39 am
effaclar K? but your skin looks blemish free!
I'm planning on going up to Canada sometime this year, so very interesting to see what gems are waiting across the border.
also, very sad about lack of Dairy Queens. One just closed nearby, but we still have one in Maple Valley - across the street from a Shakey's pizza (another dying franchise).
Comment by michelle — February 20, 2007 @ 8:28 am
ah mentos flavors sweeping the globe! the grapefruit ones are kinda like 'BLEH...hey, wait, these are pretty good'. I've blogged about them this past summer, feel free to pop by and see my take on them. plus there were strawberry yogurt ones !
Comment by rai — February 20, 2007 @ 11:20 am
Daiso is great. :)
There is a smaller one (but still fun!) on the metro level of the Westlake Center here in Seattle. It opened not too long ago.
Comment by Karen — February 20, 2007 @ 11:22 am
You went to a Canadian drug store and didn't get tylenol 3s?
Comment by vespabelle — February 20, 2007 @ 12:53 pm
I know! Nope, I didn't get any special medicines, I'm way too chicken.
Comment by megan — February 20, 2007 @ 1:04 pm
I live in Van. Need something? I'll send it to you (reasonably) because I get 1/2 off shipping rates at work. Maybe we can trade? Maybe I can overnight you a Timmy Ho's donut.
Comment by Jill — February 20, 2007 @ 8:38 pm
Jill - we'll talk in about a month when I run out of lip gloss :)
Comment by megan — February 20, 2007 @ 9:07 pm
I'm from Vancouver, and I am so glad you went to Daiso... such a fun place!
Comment by Alice — February 22, 2007 @ 2:31 am
Vancouver rules, Tim Horton's drools!
Comment by Maria — March 4, 2007 @ 8:57 pm