Sushi at Shiro's

In somewhat of a Christmas Miracle, both my cousin and I were in the same town just after New Year's. Seeing that we're both foodies and gluttons, what better way to celebrate both our birthdays, the new year, Christmas and just seeing each other after such a long while.... than to have some delicious food!

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First though we spent the day doing some touristy spots in Seattle. We went to the aquarium to see some cute sea critters (before we were due to eat some delicious sea critters later that night).

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We ended up all ordering the sushi omakase. It was so much food! First course of white fish, then some delicious matsutake soup in a tea pot and a cold appetizer of grilled salmon belly. Then it was three more pieces of sushi, various cuts of salmon. Then delicious tuna and seared chutoro, and a slightly old fashioned nigiri where the tuna was aged and marinated a bit.

Then it was finished by a large plate of various sushi: anego, uni ikura, amaebi, geoduck, saba, cucumber and  umeboshi roll, and salmon roll. And the most impressive piece on the plate: the tamagoyaki that had the texture of a dense Castella cake. It was sweet, eggy and unbelievably delicious and unlike any tamagoyaki I ever had.

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It took some real effort to finish all that food! I was full until well past the next morning. Each piece was super yummy and each piece was just the right size. Even looking at the pictures now I'm starting to drool...

Christmas in Vegas

I spent this year's Christmas and the few days before New Year's in Las Vegas with my boyfriend. It was mostly random walks through all the hotels and casinos, enjoying the winter displays. I didn't take as many photos as I would have liked, I blame it on the cold and a general end-of-year laziness.

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We also took a day trip to the Grand Canyon. The bus ride wasn't too bad, driver was mildly entertaining and there was an audio guide talking about the history of the area. I mostly just slept since it left early in the morning. There was a quick stop over the "new" bridge to see the Hoover Dam.

The trip we chose was to the West side of the Grand Canyon where the Skywalk was, on Hualapai reserve land.  You are not allowed to bring anything with you onto the glass platform. Partially for safety reasons, mainly so you have to buy the photographs they take of you. They also make you put on little cloth shoe covers to avoid scratching the (already visibly scuffed) glass.

The Skywalk was cool but once I was standing on it, not as scary or impressive as my first impression. The glass did flex a little bit when some people decided to lightly jump.

Ending this post with a picture spam of all the food I ate. (Pictures vary greatly in quality depending on the lighting at the time.)

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Favourite and fanciest dinner of oysters and beef wellington at Gordon Ramsey's restaurant. 

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Memories of Spring

The last few days have been typical raincouver, made more dreary by the rotting, soppy mess (lovely fall foliage in a previous life, just a short month ago) on the pavements. Luckily I discovered a trove of greenery while attempting to clean up my photo folders.


From Rome, with Love

(The last installment of my Italy trip, and only half a year later!)

Finally, it was to be my last day in Rome. It was a day filled with plazas and the famous fountains and statues that inhabited them.

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The early morning had the perfect lighting for all the fountains and statues. The view being marred by the positioning of advertisements.

We started the day at Piazza Navona. The most famous fountain, Quattro Fiumi by Bernini, stands at its center. Two additional fountains lie at either end of the plaza.

Next was Campo de Fiori, a small square with a statue of a philosopher (Giordano Bruno) at the center and inhabited by a market selling fresh flowers, vegetables, jams, pottery, etc. This was another location where public executions used to take place, the aforementioned Bruno being burned alive for heresy in 1600.  

A short walk north-east will take you to Largo di Torre Argentina. This is a depressed square featuring ruins of four temples. The oldest of the temples date back to 101 BC. In fact, these temples were reconstructed in antiquity after a fire in 80 AD. 

Like many ruins in Rome, you start to grasp the true age and history of civilization after the sudden realization that the first restoration works took place in a time unfathomable to us in the distant past. Many current archeological sites in Rome were themselves the subject of archeological explorations and restoration during the Roman Republic, a time we label with the faraway words of "classical antiquity".

Largo di Torres Argentina is also home to a shelter housing a large population of wild cats. All the cats are neutered and a sign noted that adoptions could be made by interested parties.

Next came a few small plazas to see the Fontana delle Tartarughe, and Bernini's Elephant and Obelisk (in Piazza della Minerva).

Nearing noon, it was then off to the famous Pantheon. Built in ancient Roman times, it was converted to a Roman Catholic church in the 7th century.

It was extremely crowded inside and difficult to take a picture of the feat of ancient engineering marvel that is the dome of the Pantheon, or of any of the other tombs and statues about its circumference.

It was, however, much easier to take a picture of a well-dressed horse in the plaza outside. Piazza della Rotonda is also home to another obelisk with some pf the most amusing faces I've seen on sculptures.

Next on this whirlwind tour of famous Roman landmarks was the Column of Marcus Aurelius, located fittingly in Piazza Colonna. Even lame names sound more impressive in Italian.

And then, of course, the uber-famous Trevi fountain. The entire surrounding area and steps down to the fountain were all completely packed with tourists. However with a bit of patience (and some good old Canadian politeness), you can manoeuver down to the fountain's edge, make a wish and throw in a coin over your back.

The next famous Bernini fountain is the Triton Fountain located in Piazza Barberini.

After this point I'm a bit muddled on what happened. All I remember is that we got lost trying to find another plaza and instead stumbled upon a military band performance.

The final destination in Rome, and the conclusion of the trip in Italy, was the Piazza della Repubblica and the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels and the Martyrs, a beautiful church (on the interior) located by the Terme di Diocleziano and right off the Piazza.

The Basilica is home to a lovely organ, with live performances throughout the day (or at least when I was there.) It is also home to a meridian line and sundial commissioned by Pope Clement XI.

And that concludes my trip to Italy! It was a beautiful place full of history, architecture and delicious food. I would love to return again some day and see all the other myriad of places I wasn't able to visit on this trip.

There's so much world to explore and see. I can hardly wait for my next trip!

Wild Hawaii

I first visited Hawaii back in 2012. I was surprised to find that there was a prolific population of feral chicken and cats. I was entranced by these rather majestic strays and dedicated a good portion of my time stalking them with my camera.