Thursday ; Sunny, 6° C.
This afternoon we went to Hillside Mall for weekly errands. While Joanne shopped at Wal-Mart, I went to Tommy Gun’s Barbershop and got a haircut. Not really my kind of place, but … while searching online for some place to get a haircut I discovered Tommy Gun’s January promotion for first time customers ; a man’s haircut, regular price $38 <gasp>, for $25. After getting a haircut I went to Canadian Tire to get a refund on one of the two packages of wheel well moulding I bought before Christmas. I had only required one package for our minivan.
While walking back through the large mall to return to Wal-Mart I bought a box of Purdy’s Chocolates as a gift for Joanne’s upcoming birthday. I had purchased her a box of Purdy’s Chocolates for Christmas, and had been planning to buy her a box of Roger’s Chocolates for her birthday, but the Roger’s Chocolates store is downtown near the Bay Centre, and … Purdy’s Chocolates store was right in my face today, so … my princess might have to wait until next winter for a box of Roger’s Chocolates.
I am confident she won’t be dissatisfied with my decision. HA HA HA !
Tonight while eating dinner we streamed and watched the premiere episode of DOC, a new TV series. I think it’s made in Canada.
I am finishing typing this at 10 PM, sitting on the sofa. Apollo is snoozing beside me. This is a regular evening routine for us. And for the last few evenings, every evening, he has a dream where he is “running” in his sleep. He is lying on his side, all four legs are “running”, his face is twitching, his ears are twitching, he occasionally whines softly. I don’t know if it is a pleasant dream, he is chasing something, or if it is a nightmare, he is being chased. So as I usually do, I will reach over and pet him until he wakes slightly, and the dream ends.
There we go ! He stretched, and went back to sleep.
Friday ; Sunny, 7° C.
This morning Apollo and I walked around the block with an elderly woman from Saskatoon who is a few doors down from us in the hotel and her snarly little Yorkshire Terrier named Winnie. Fortunately Apollo does not seem to have his Alpha tendencies triggered by snarly little female Yorkies.
After Joanne and I walked Apollo at noon, we headed out for our often postponed visit to explore Canada’s oldest Chinatown here in Victoria. We had the hotel’s shuttle take us to the edge of Chinatown and drop us off at the restaurant Joanne had chosen for lunch today. Fresko One World is a little “hole in the wall” dive run by a young man from Cuba. His food offerings are mostly Cuban and Mexican, but also include specialties from other Latin countries in Central and South America.
I had pozole pollo (poZOlay POYo) (chicken), first time I’ve been able to eat a bowl of pozole by myself, as opposed to just tasting a spoonful of Joanne’s pozole, because in Mexico pozole is always made with pork which I am unable to eat. Pozole is a spicy broth concoction that is somewhere between soup and stew. <late thought> Maybe think of it as a Mexican version of pho. This restaurant’s owner / operator makes pozole in a verde (green) version with chicken and a roja (red) version with traditional pork. The green version comes from using tomatillos to make it and the red version comes from the types of chile peppers used to make it. Common to both is the “pozole”, the hominy (complicated product made from corn kernels) that is the foundation.
Joanne had a Cubana, a sandwich made on a sourdough subway type bun, containing ham (pork), salami (pork), roast pork (!), cheese, pickles, mustard and lettuce. Obviously … not my kind of sandwich !
After lunch we walked to Market Square, adjacent to Chinatown. It’s a two storey open air collection of eclectic businesses (like we had expected to find at Victoria Public Market, but didn’t) around a central courtyard. Many of the businesses were closed for the winter season. We walked from Market Square to Chinatown through Fan Tan Alley, a very narrow walkway between tall buildings on the edge of Chinatown. Fan Tan Alley was filled with a variety of interesting Chinese businesses, and a Chinese Museum which we entered and walked around.
Canada has more than a few distasteful periods in its history, and the treatment of Chinese immigrants (and Chinese born in Canada !) between the First and Second World Wars is one of those ! The despicable treatment of the Chinese by both the citizens of Canada and the Canadian government began to end only when the ugly rascism and prejudice shifted to Japanese Canadians during the Second World War.
We wandered through Chinatown exploring. We found a Filipino bakery and went in! WOO-HOO … just like a panaderia in Mexico. Pick up a large tray and a pair of tongs, and … WOO-HOO … help yourself ! Now … at 8 PM … with hindsight … perhaps twenty-five bucks worth of Filipino baking might have been a bit excessive ? NAHHHH ! HA HA HA !
We continued to wander around Chinatown until we found the bubble tea place that Joanne wanted to visit. It’s name is … The Bubble Tea Place. HA HA HA. We bought a large bubble tea for two … black tea, milk, boba pearls, papaya and coconut flavours, and shared it as we continued wandering around cold and tired. As I was phoning our hotel to send its shuttle to pick us up … <blink blink> … there was our hotel’s shuttle, sitting at a red light. I ran to the shuttle and knocked on the passenger’s side window, and asked the driver to pull over for a moment to allow Joanne to catch up. HMPH … at least I’m still able to run briefly, albeit not elegantly. HA HA HA ! The driver had just dropped off some other hotel guests in Chinatown and was returning empty to the hotel.
Apollo had been alone in our suite for about 3 ½ hours. Good dog, Apollo !
I was still drinking bubble tea when we returned home. HEY ! Apollo likes bubble tea boba pearls ! Who knew ? HA HA HA !
Saturday ; Sunny, 7° C.
Today was a slow day. I walked Apollo upon awakening. We walked him at noon. We walked him at 6 PM. And Joanne walked him at bedtime. Thanks to her new orthotic insoles and orthopedic shoes her Achilles tendonitis pain is slowly diminishing, despite her increased walking. Our hope is it continues to diminish until eventually ceasing.
My cold is over. Hers is as well … if that’s what it was … although she continues to cough heavily, as she has for ten months already.
This afternoon we did quite a bit of online research and planning of exploration and adventures during February and March while we are living at Xanadu Estates near Cobble Hill in the Cowichan Valley, a short distance south of Duncan, B.C.
At 6 PM we went to the fitness centre, swimming pool, hot tub, and sauna to exercise and relax. HMPH ! Must be the weekend ! Pool and hot tub crowded with children and drunks !
Sunday ; Sunny, 6° C.
At 1:30 PM we left Apollo in our suite and headed downtown for a Victoria Symphony Orchestra concert at the Royal Theatre at 2:30 PM. We left that early because we were uncertain whether we would walk or have the hotel’s shuttle drive us to the theatre. It was a chilly day, so we decided to go by shuttle. As a result, we arrived at the theatre a bit too early. No problem ! We wandered around the theatre’s neighbourhood for half an hour or so, exploring areas we have not been to before.
Today’s performance was a pianist / vocalist / composer performing with the orchestra. Almost all of his repertoire was Frank Sinatra’s songs, with one of his original compositions and Gershwin’s Rhapsody In Blue thrown in for good measure. Joanne liked his composition the most, and disliked Rhapsody In Blue. That’s fine, there is room in the world for Philistines. HA HA HA !
I had an ulterior motive for suggesting that we walk home after the concert. Two blocks from the theatre is a local outlet of Beavertails. Joanne had asked for a Beavertail treat as an alternative to a birthday cake this year. Beavertails, originating in Ottawa when we lived there for 16 ½ years (1988 to 2004) are a sweet baked treat, beaver tail shaped slabs of bannock coated with a variety of sweet toppings. Very Canadian. Very French Canadian, actually. Apparently they are quite popular with Americans when cruise ships headed to Alaska arrive in Victoria’s Inner Harbour in the summer. “Taste Of Canada” !
Victoria’s Beavertails outlet is closed Mondays and Tuesdays so today was the last opportunity to buy Joanne a Beavertail for her birthday. Not surprisingly, it did not last until her birthday on Tuesday, it was consumed within minutes of our arrival back in our suite. HA HA HA !
Also … our route home took us past Roger’s Chocolates, so … we went in and I bought another box of chocolates for her. I had already bought a box of Purdy’s Chocolates as a birthday gift, so the Roger’s Chocolates will be for Valentine’s Day. Good thing there is a safe in our suite where I can safely lock the boxes of chocolates away. HA HA HA !
We arrived back home at 5:30 PM. Apollo had been alone … quietly we assume / hope … for four hours. Good dog, Apollo !
We have just returned from walking Apollo (at 7 PM). As we meandered down Kingston Street, in the dark, behind our hotel … <blink blink> … a deer wandered across the road in front of us and disappeared into the bushes behind our hotel’s outdoor parking lot. Well … that seemed unusual for this densely populated a neighbourhood !
Well … I just did my weekly investments summary update. HMPH … the stock market was generous again this week. Been a lot of that lately, n’est-ca pas ? ! ?
Monday ; Sunny, 7° C.
Today was a slow day, by design. Our noon walk with Apollo included walking to James Bay Thrifty Foods to buy buns and tomatoes. In the afternoon I worked on planning and costing next winter’s accommodations here on Vancouver Island.
Tuesday ; HAPPY 71st BIRTHDAY TO JOANNE
Sunny, 7° C.
The front page story of this morning’s newspaper was about how this has been the sunniest and driest January in Victoria’s recorded history ! How fortunate for us ! Two bad we spent ¾ of January in our hotel room due to illnesses.
This afternoon we drove to The Gorges area and explored. We are very likely going to spend next November and December at the Robin Hood Inn in The Gorges neighbourhood. We parked in Gorge Park and went for a long walk with Apollo along the Gorge Waterway. Then we drove around checking out other smaller parks and shopping areas nearby.
At 7 PM we left Apollo in our suite and walked to Old Spaghetti Factory on the other side of the Parliament Buildings and the Royal BC Museum, for Joanne’s birthday dinner. I had purchased two Christmas promotion gift certificates for the Old Spaghetti Factory. Food was very good, service was good, albeit slightly flawed, prices were reasonable, made even more so by the discounted Christmas promotion gift certificates.
As soon as we were back in our suite at 8:30 PM Joanne was eager to get into her box of Purdy’s Chocolates. It’s your birthday … you go, girl !
Wednesday ; Sunny, 7° C.
Today we started preparing to “move” on Friday, from Royal Scot Hotel & Suites in downtown Victoria to Xanadu Estate, in old growth forest outside the village of Cobble Hill, about an hour north of here in the Cowichan Valley.
Joanne did laundry. We packed stuff and loaded it into the car. We have more stuff than when we arrived two months ago ! More clothes, more shoes, Christmas gifts … chocolates galore ! HA HA HA !
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