Dragon beard candy and the stick-on-bra

Here are my feet in Grandview Park on Commercial Drive this weekend. The picture was taken post-afternoon nap in the sun. Christine and I were quite worn out from apartment hunting in Burnaby, and were sleepy from our delicious luch at Cafe deux Sol. Christine is starting a job in Burnaby at the beginning of next month, and she found a beautiful basement suite moments from the skytrain station (important information for me, because it means I can come and visit her easily).

We sat at the very front of the skytrain like dorks, and pretended we were on a roller coaster. I maintain the hypothesis that very soon, when I have become more familiar with Vancouver, I will look back on these early days and wonder at the amusement I got from riding public transit.

In the evening we phoned up Ali, ate some delicious supper with strawberry wine, and went to the Richmond Night Market. Going to the market was kind of like travelling to another part of the world. Almost all of the vendors were Asian, and they are selling a plethora of household goods, some useful, like shoes or tea, and others questionably useful, such as swords and costumes for your pet dog. Not the kind of market we are traditionally used to seeing in Canada. The most surprising item for sale was the stick on bra, which Christine is inspecting in the picture. There were at least 3 stalls selling these bras, and the sales women insisted that they were very popular and wonderful.

Also at the market we watched a peanut-catching-in-mouth contest on the stage, and ate dragon beard candy. It is an ancient chinese candy that is traditionally only eaten by the emperor. Its fine, sugary strands are rolled up into a ball with roasted almonds inside. We discovered that it's best to put the whole thing in your mouth at once or you get a mess of sugary powder and nuts down the front of your shirt.

Oh, and I did a bit of school work this weekend. Just a bit.