Mövember

I thought I would update you with a photo I took recently for Granville Island Brewing’s Movember contest. Please vote for it here!

I will be keeping it for another few days until the Gala Parté then making another video!!

Granville Island Brewing

I love Granville Island Brewing. They make some pretty fantastic beers, and I love beer. They offer the standard fare with a Pale Ale, Lager, Amber Ale, IPA etc, however, where my love affair with them really blossoms is with their seasonal beers. From the heavy, heart-warming Merry Monks Doppelbock, to the oh-so refreshing Raspberry Wheat Ale, and one can’t forget the Rogers Chocolate Stout and there’s also my favorite beer, that keeps me warm on those cold winter nights, the joy-inducing, neck-tingling deliciousness that is Lions Winter Ale.

Recently I entered a photo contest with GIB wherein people were asked to show GIB how they were enjoying their beer over BC Day long weekend, here’s my photo:

With that, I won the contest! My prize was said to be valued at $150, and they weren’t kidding! My prize pack consisted of the following:

- A GIB ringer-tee
- Two GIB mugs
- Six GIB Robson Street Hefeweizens
- A GIB frisbee
- A GIB lanyard
- A deck of cards with beer facts and history
- A tour & tasting gift certificate for four
- A $50 giftcard for the store

They even wrapped it up all pretty like!

GIB’s next limited release is out October 1st, and it’s a lovely Pumpkin Ale. I was fortunate enough to ge to sample it this time last year, and I’m really looking forward to it again. Worth checking out while you can. It is definitely good to be here!

LOCAL

I went to Local Public Eatery in Kits last night after I won a $25 giftcard from their Facebook fan page and had a lovely dinner.

I have been to Local a few times before and was blown away by their nachos. They’re pretty expensive, at $18, but did not fail to impress, with the seemingly never-ending supply of cheese, beans and pulled chicken. My girlfriend and I were unable to finish them in a single sitting.

Last night I had the Fish n’ Chips, which was really good.

It’s a pretty nice place and in a great area, but if you’re going to venture down there, don’t drive, the parking in the area is horrendous, and the restaurant only has 3-4 parking stalls.

They have a pretty good beer selection too, and Beck’s on tap!

ps. LOCAL’s fries are the only fries I’ve ever had out of the fridge the next day that have tasted good.

Granville Island Brewing’s Raspberry Wheat Ale

Through my connections on twitter, I got an invitation to the launch party for Granville Island Brewing’s Raspberry Wheat Ale:

Our raspberry wheat ale combines malt, water, hops, yeast and fraser valley raspberries to create a light wheat ale with a crisp and distinctive raspberry finish. Raspberry Wheat Ale can be enjoyed on its own or paired with a variety of fresh fruit dishes, fresh salads, chicken or light meat. It is a must have for summer evenings or a picnic in the park.

It’s a pretty delicious beer that goes down super easy and almost tastes just like juice for adults. Granville Island is also donating 50¢ from every bottle sold to women’s cancer research, so I strongly recommend either making it to a signature BC Liquor Store, or the Brewery store soon to get some, you won’t regret it.

Original Joe’s

There is a restaurant chain in Alberta and BC called Original Joe’s. I had gone to my first OJ’s in Lethbridge and quite enjoyed it there, so I was pretty excited to see that one would be opening near my house. My friends and I have been there several times and it has been pretty good, until the other night. We received pretty bad service and I wrote in on OJ’s website to complain, here’s my story:

My four friends and I went to OJ’s tonight after a hockey game to have a beer and some food, we arrived shortly after 8:45, ordered some drinks which came quickly enough, then put our food orders in just around 9. Our order consisted of a side order, two appetizers and two meals, so we were pretty surprised when the first two meals came out at about 9:35 and the rest of the meals taking about five more minutes to make their way out.

This may have been expected if the server was the only one working, which she wasn’t, or if the restaurant was really busy, which it wasn’t, so the least we could have expected was an apology for the food taking so long to get out, but we didn’t get that either.

We have been going to OJ’s at Sands Plaza every now and then since it opened a few months back, and have always received good service, so tonight was a little off-putting, especially when the waitress came out into the parking lot after us and asked if we had all paid, presumably since her tip wasn’t as large as she would have hoped it to be. I’m hoping that if we decide to go back again that we’ll get a bit better of a reception.

It has been close to two days since I sent that in and, I still haven’t heard anything from anyone about the situation. For someone who works in the customer service industry, I am aware that customers are the reason you get a paycheque every two weeks, I don’t expect a free meal for all my friends, but a simple apology would be nice for such horrendous service. So I don’t think I’ll be going back anytime soon

Since I posted this, someone has replied to my email in a very kind and courteous manner. I am not quite as perturbed anymore.

Crave

Last night, I went for dinner at Crave on Main St. at 23rd Ave, an enjoyable meal in a really cozy setting. The restaurant only has about 10-12 tables, so it feels pretty homely. I had the rigatoni, which was served with such tender beef short rib, and my friend had the mussels, which she said she thoroughly enjoyed.

I would definitely recommend checking out Crave if you’re in the area, the meal was great, the atmosphere was great and the prices aren’t too bad either.

Canada Day!

Yesterday was Canada Day and I celebrated my country’s birthday by starting the day working, not the most traditional of celebrations, but it was only a four hour shift and was soon over. The rest of the day was spent preparing our house for my mom’s birthday party/Canada Day barbecue.

There were a lot of people that came to the party, lots of faces I remember from my childhood of my parents’ dinner parties, and one couple that particularly stood out as I spent an Australia Day at their house many years ago with Land Down Under by Men At Work, basically on repeat.

My two friends, Anna and Sean, also came to the barbecue and invited me to go with them to English Bay to watch the fireworks that were going to be at 10:30pm; I decided to go along and we made our way to a windy Jerico beach. The fireworks were not all that impressive and I’m thinking that’s what Zinedine Zidane was thinking as well since he hurt his back while watching the fireworks and has put his exhibition match on Saturday night into doubt. I think he was likely trying to leave early like we were.

All in all it was a good Canada Day, spent with friends, beer and food, fireworks could have used more pop though.

Slo-Pitch

My brother plays on a Slo-Pitch team, and last night I went out to watch his game.  I used to play baseball when I was growing up but I stopped after grade seven, probably because I wasn’t very good, but also I preferred playing soccer.

I umpired baseball for a few years after I stopped playing, but this became quite boring as watching baseball, standing for the entire game, without beer or all the snacks that go along with baseball, isn’t really baseball at all, it’s work.

Last night was really fun though, because it had all those elements that distance it from work, the beer, the snacks, but what I found to be the single thing that makes baseball most enjoyable, the company.  Baseball, much more that other sports, is very social and laid back, it makes it so much better when you’re watching with people you enjoy being with, the heckling, the spitz and the beer just add to the fun.