Ok, so most of you know that The Sophisticate went to the Dominican Republic for her cousin's wedding last week. And I was cat sitting and hanging out with the boy while he was in town. As if that wasn't busy enough, I missed going to the gym for 7 days and I was really grumpy when I got around to picking her up from the airport.

I pull into the airport and up to the 'immediate loading zone'. I've just talked to her and she is at the door walking out. Young, cocky parking guy comes and starts yelling at me to 'keep moving along'

The car was not even stopped yet, just a rolling stop.  Looked behind and there wasn't that much going on behind me but no biggie, circled the airport. (Now keep in mind YVR is International but not like SFO or LHR or JFK in size, so circling takes 5 min).  Pull up again and the guy starts cursing, jumping up and down and banging on my trunk - this time I'd been stopped for maybe 10 seconds, a full stop.  So I rolled down my window and said, seriously, she's AT the door, I need to STOP for her to get her bags in and this is a loading zone - an EMPTY loading zone at that?  And he says -you argue, I'm gonna tow your a$$.  (Wow!  Uhm... ok... circle again).  This time I paused at the Petro Canada at the base of the airport ramp and a woman was soliciting a man to get her husband for her "I hate airports and I can't stand being yelled at". I sighed and kept going... this is insane, she's OUTSIDE and he won't let me stop and get her!

So, this time as I circled, I got The Sophisticate on the phone and I say, ok STAY on the phone and walk up to the cocky guy and say, SEE that car? I'm getting her to STOP so she doesn't keep passing me and I don't freeze to death.  By the time I got back around though, I decided to vertically pull over infront of the cab lane and into the handicapped space.  (there was no cars behind me and I was quite afraid I'd get into an altercation with the attendant)... Took less than 2 min to get her ONE bag in the trunk and keep going and all I have to say is... the Vancouver-Whistler 2010 Olympics are less than 80 days away and I have lived in several major cities with international sporting events, from the Confederation Games to the Winter Olympics to the World Cup... and if this is how the first contact with tourists will be, VANOC and Mayor Robertson better be ready to do some major damage control ... and the airport, please teach your staff that they are the FACE of the city.  and if it's a rude, offensive, cocky face - that's the taste you're giving tourists.

With that I'm also going to say... the US/Internationals arrivals/Departures Parking guys (always guys) are REALLY polite, always wish me well, smile, etc.but the ones on the Canadian side are cocky, rude and I'm just... I'm done now.  Clean up your act people. I'm FED UP.

-The Diva

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Continue reading "YVR and Parking Attendant Rudeness- Are we ready for the olympics?"

3790 Canada Way
110
Burnaby, BC V5G 1G4

(604) 430-1600

This is one of my favourite restaurants in the greater vancouver area... but it gets a 3/5.

Here's why...

Food
- AMAZING... great flavour, great texture, great aromas, appropriate
portions.  You can taste the individual spices as they play on your
tongue - so well done!

Be advised, their "mild" is more "medium"
and "medium" is kinda hot - this coming from a brown girl who loves the
spicy means that even I get a runny nose and I eat my food with
hotsauce regularly!

If you want bigger portions, get take out -
the ones in the restaurant are appropriate for one person as a meal or
two to share if you get 2 dishes, but not for those who have a huge
appetite.

Ambiance - Amazing ...comfortable, good music, sometimes the hockey game is on.

Service
- I've been coming here for 5 years, and I know the servers and owners,
but, they are always slow.  They forget to bring the bill, they forget
to ask if you want tea at the end, and now that they have changed their
name, they are charging 1.50 for hot water.  Infact, with new name,
prices have gone up.  I appreciate extra time to hang out and chill,
but when it's cold, I want to be asked if I want chai!

-The Diva

Neighbourhood: Burnaby Heights

4010 E Hastings St
Burnaby, BC V5C 2H9

(604) 677-1489

tomyumthairestaurant.com

This is my absolute favorite hole in the wall takeout thai place. I've eaten in once, but with 15 min prep time, I love calling ahead, picking up dinner and curling up at home since the heating is a bit chilly in the winter and the floors are slippery with my heels!

Favorite dishes? Tofu pad thai - soooo yum... Green curry, Panang Curry, the green bean with chicken (can't remember what this is called) and the broccoli with chicken in peanut sauce. Don't love the cashew chicken as it's got too many carrots and you can see from my other reviews I'm annoyed easily by cheap filler veggies.

Service is always good and this is one place where they know you by face and phone # -- "oh you're the sweet girl calling" ...

have yet to get a freebie for repeat business, or have them get my name right on an order, but they get the food right, and it's DELICIOUS every time...

Lose a point because I WANT to eat in, just the ambiance is too cold in the fall/winter/spring, and I haven't tried it in the summer yet.

I'm here twice a month though, so this says something

4/5

-The Diva

Continue reading "Tom Yum Thai (Burnaby) - Restaurant Review"

The Diva and her guy went to see this on opening night and did a review for their good friend cshel at Lafayette Online. Here's a copy of the review for your perusal

The Time Traveler's Wife

Rating: ** stars out of *****

The Time Traveler's Wife is a movie adaptation of Audrey Niffenegger's book of the same title. The movie centers around the relationship of Henry, a time traveller, (played by Eric Bana) and his artist wife, Clare (Rachel McAdams).

The plot was disjointed and not developed. For example, in the beginning of the movie, we are introduced to Henry's relationship with his mom and also his newfound awareness of his 'ability' to time travel - though his mom plays an integral part in his life, we don't hear enough about it through the movie or see her except for two brief scenes. On the other hand, immediately after telling himself (Henry is both age 6 and 20 in the same scene) that he is a time traveler, Henry materializes as an adult, naked in a library, moments later, meeting his lifelong love. Knowing she's been waiting for this moment for years, we have to wonder why she is so startled and unprepared!

Though the romantic relationship between Clare and Henry is the main plot, you never know if the chicken or the egg comes first. The first time they meet (in Clare's life), she is 6 and he is an old naked guy in a bush. This just screams creepy pedophile. Was that the intent? The sad part of this is that we realize very early that Clare has lived her whole life dreaming about Henry and has been in love with him since around age 8.

Additionally, the back and forth time travelling attempts to develop this relationship, but results in a boomerang effect leaving the guy sitting next to us saying 'huh, what? I don't get it' a lot - and the girl on the other side gave up and started talking on her cell phone.

Same guy - when Eric Bana bares his butt says "Ohh, a$$!" only to pause and then clue in "WAIT, that's a DUDE!"....

With that said, the friendship between Gomez (Ron Livingston) and Henry becomes one of the most touching subplots of the movie - and we come to admire the maturity and sacrifice of Clare and Henry's relationship as it develops and she becomes both creative and patient. What's missing is the opportunity to escape into the plot and buy into the romance. We've both seen McAdams and Bana play deeper characters and bring more to the screen than they were given the opportunity to with this flat script. So sad.

Overall:

She says: Too short, too undeveloped, didn't cry nearly enough, but atleast Eric Bana has a cute butt!

He says: She can drag me to it, and I'll survive but it would have been nice to see more of Rachel McAdams


~The Diva & her Guy

Categories: Greek, Mediterranean

Neighborhood: Morningside Heights

544 W .113th Street
New York, NY 10025

(212) 865-1011

Went to symposium with my boyfriend, our old friend and my bf's sister - our first time 'hangin out' so to speak. The Saganaki was pretty amazing, and the souvlaki looked great. I ordered a grilled chicken - was it lemon chicken? that had no lemony flavour. Now I have to caveat this with an "I eat lemons as a side dish", so when I want lemon chicken, I want YUMMY sour flavour. The Sangria was watered down and had limited flavour, but that's ok since I'd been on cold meds for the 2 weeks prior. The babaganoush (sp) was ok, nothing splendid, but the atmosphere made up for it all...

The menu LOOKED cool, but did not help my foggy head when trying to read. The cartoony/newsprint was just painful!

All in all, I'd go again...but with the wealth of choices in NYC, not sure it would be soon!

3/5

-The Diva

Continue reading "Restaurant Review: Symposium (Near Columbia University, NYC)"

I'm not so high maintenance anymore, I have way too much makeup, too many clothes, ok - not enough shoes or purses... but ultimately, my wishlist is pretty simple....

1. a new ipod - ok lost mine in 2007!
2. a new camera -also lost in 2007!
3. travel $. Gosh I spend a lot of money on travel. Travel paraphaenilia too - passport holder? a mini kit of stuff I always need...?
4. flowers...framed pictures....
5. A new flat iron? Haven't really replaced mine with a good quality one since it broke.
6. happily ever after

ok and stuff like the harry potter dvds, stargate dvds, sappy movie dvds.... maybe twilight, I might get into it yet...purses, maybe....shoes....This diva has gone from HM to happy - so it isn't so much in the stuff, just in the happy....

Wishing you happiness, love and light

The Diva

Today was an incredibly emotional today --

First, I'm incredibly saddened today as several hundred of my former colleagues, coworkers and friends found out they will lose their jobs when eBay closes it's Vancouver center over the summer.

Second, this week I also celebrated the 15 year anniversary of 2 of my very close high school friends passing away. Third, I met some wonderful clients at work who reminded me how to do "much" with so little - and finally, with the upcoming Mother's Day weekend, my dad finally said, "It's been almost 5 years since your mom died, can you please go through her clothes..."

As I was going through my mother's clothes, I found a gorgeous shirt that my grandfather, her father, had given her when she was pregnant with me... and it occurs to me that in our lives, we have so much loss. Loss of jobs, loss of life, loss of support -

The Canadian Mental Health Association considers Job Loss to be one of the most traumatic life changing moments, a crisis equal to death of a family member or divorce. Job Loss can lead to senses of isolation, feelings of shame and an overwhelming challenge to your 'identity' - I should know, I lost mine in November. That loss can lead to a challenge filling your social circle, financial and family stress and even depression. It's ok during this time to feel overwhelmed and not know what to do.

For those of you that don't know, my 9-5 these days is as an Employment Counsellor - so I can honestly offer you some practical advice.

1) The most important next step is to make a plan. What do you know about the current situtation? Peter Drucker once said that "the most effective [people] are the ones who draw strength from their network, their friends, colleagues, superiors, subordinates and the situation..."

2) Fill out your EI as soon as you're legally able - draw out the important dates on a calendar, not to remind you of your loss, but to keep you on track.

3) Don't wait, and start looking. Use the outplacement services if you're
lucky enough to get them. Use this time to consider retraining and
complete career exploration. There are programs through Services
Canada that are free of cost to Canadian Citizens and Permanent
Residents. Look into and research these, and ask for help.

4) Renovate your resume. There are a lot of unemployed people out there, it's critical that you stand out amongst the candidates.

5) Talk to your network. You never know who may know of a job coming up

6) Breathe. Feel. Take care of yourself. We're fortunate to live in a country where we have social services. Lean on your friends and family, know that it WILL be ok.

From my world to yours...

-The Diva-

2910 Stevens Creek Blvd
Ste 110
San Jose, CA 95128
(408) 246-0304

He says:

My girlfriend says the Drunken Noodles are the best she has found on the west coast (SF, Seattle, Vancouver) and the best outside of Thailand. The yellow curry and cashew chicken were also excellent. The spring rolls had absolutely no oil residue at all and were stellar.

Definitely a place to go again.

5/5

She says:

I know John already reviewed this place for both of us, but they're new - and I have to do another one for them just because I know how hard it is to get a new business started

Atmosphere:
Loved the lighting, the comfy tables and the decor - so super ambient, perfect for date night or a casual dinner for a group of friends.

Food:
Appy Sampler: Prawn Springroll - my favorite, Veggie springroll - also very good. Both had no oil residue and were so fresh and crispy. Chicken Satay - perfectly tender, didn't stick to the skewers. Crabcakes - only dissapointment as the texture was a bit pasty. Sauces were amazing also.

Yellow Curry - never my favorite curry, I'm a green curry girl through and through, this was perfect and light and yummy!

Drunken noodles - I believe the boyfriend quotes me as saying - of all the Thai restaurants I've been to outside of Thailand (and this is in Vancouver, Seattle, San Francisco, the Bay area - basically up and down the west coast, and all over Asia) - these were hands down the best Drunken Noodles I have ever ever had. Kudos! I was hesitant to order because they can be greasy or just yucky soggy but they were PERFECT.

Cashew Chicken - I've seen this done badly so many times with too many filler veggies... but this was nice, with lots of fresh and appropriate flavors, really well done.

Service:
The owner was very attentive and came to check on us several times. I know, we were the only ones in there, but she was prompt, courteous and super nice, thanking us and giving us a discount and takeout menus so we could come back again or take out.

5/5

-The Diva

Continue reading "Siam Fine Thai Cuisine (San Jose, CA): Restaurant Review"