Okay Noggin

Holy cow. I cannot believe that the summer is almost over. Where did it go? And I've been so busy, that I haven't been able to write in my blog.

I just got back from a weeklong working holiday in the Okanagan. Although it is only 5 hours away, the weather and scenery are completely different from Vancouver. It was hotter and drier, yet is blessed with ample, green farmland and wineries galore. (Think Niagara fruit belt but with mountains and lakes.) I drove out there with Amber, my work colleague on Tuesday afternoon. Our first meal was dinner in a converted firehall made into a restaurant and wine tasting room. We started out with truffle fries. This was my first experience with truffles. It was subtle and enjoyable. Especially accompanied by the Jackson-Triggs Sauvignon Blanc that was recommended by the restaurant's sommelier. (I know! A sommelier...chi-chi!) I followed it up with a fairly forgettable salmon filet and corn and black bean salsa. I didn't really have much room for desert, but Amber was having it, so I took the plunge and ordered a lemon and lavender cheesecake. Lavender petals were infused into the batter and they also drizzled a lavender flavoured syrup on top. This was definitely the highlight of the meal. And the lavender was grown in Oliver! Nice...

The next three days were a bit of a blur. Three companies, three different towns, the noise of lots of bottles clanking against each other, the smell of fermenting wine and yeasty beer. By the time Friday rolled around, I was mentally and physically exhausted, but I tried to enjoy my last night in Vernon. It was hot, and sunny from 3 to 5:30. But, sometime between 5:30 and 6 pm during my nap, it started pouring rain. I chatted with a German girl in the living room of the hostel while I waited for the skies to clear. Eventually they did and I walked downtown, picked up a Safeway salad and found a bench to sit on while I ate and watched the people walk by and the cars from the car show on parade. They also had a live band which was quite good. At 8 pm, I was cold and exhausted so I made my way back to the hostel for a good night's rest.

The next morning I walked down to Kalamalka lake and sunbathed for about an hour. Then I took the bus from Vernon to Penticton, where Jesse and our high school friends, Ryan Doel and Mike Grover, picked me up from the bus station. Peach Festival crowds meant that we had to wait for over an hour for our food to come. I can't remember if my chicken burger was good or not...I was so hungry anything would have tasted good...After dinner we went to a club called the Blue Mule, recommended by one of the women I did noise dosimetry on at the winery in Oliver, and by a friend of Jesse's who used to live in Penticton. The club itself was nice, but the people inside (not including the 3 boys at my table) were jerks and the DJ was terrible. I also felt oddly out of place, being only one of 4 Asians in the entire club. We could only listen to the same six-song rotation so long, and left after 3 hours.

The next day we waited so long to be served breakfast, that we all ended up with lunch food. I had my favourite meal of the weekend at White Spot, a chicken chipotle quesadilla with black bean and corn salsa and caesar salad. I love chipotle...so smoky and so yummy...In the afternoon we hit the Okanagan beach, went on the waterslides and played mini-putt.

We drove back to Vancouver at a leisurely pace, stopping at wineries, fruit stands, lookouts and landslide sites. I bought a basket of GIANT Okanagan peaches, with which I made a peach and strawberry cobbler...yum!

Unfortunately, the stressful work schedule caught up with me, and I succumbed to a 4-day long cold when I got back to the city. This put a serious damper on our last Frisbee game. Our team will celebrate the end of the season with a BBQ at Jon's place and a night at the Cellar tomorrow night. Good times!

Other news...I am moving out of my apartment on August 31st, and onto Jesse's couch for a week and a half. I have a job interview with Veritox in Seattle on the 1st. Working until the 8th. And flying to Bangkok on the 11th!! I have a lot of reading left to do in preparation for Thailand, but my flight is 22hours long, so I should have lots of time to read...