Getting off the Rock!

Cafe Medina
My first official "day off" in Vancouver and I thought I would treat myself to the amazing food that comes out of Vancouver's Cafe Medina. Not only does is cousin/brother, Jason, the head chef there but the restaurant is also populated with lots of celebrities. Last time I was there I saw Owen Wilson and there has been appearances by Renee Zelweger, Kings of Leon, the cast of Twilight, etc. So, it's a popular place and not surprisingly. The service is excellent and their food is beautiful and tasty! Check out the food that hit the table when Adam, Alex, Jessie, Ruth and I were there:

Lavender Latte

Also available in: Vanilla, Spiced or Raspberry

8oz. $3.60 12oz. $4.00 16oz. $4.40

White Chocolate Pistachio Rosewater Waffle

Also available in: Dark chocolate, milk chocolate lavender, fig orange marmalade, raspberry caramel, mixed berry compote)

$3.15 per waffle + $1 topping

Seafood Chowder
(Daily Soup - Sampler Size)

Paella (Served All Day)

1 baked egg, curried orzo, Hungarian chorizo, zucchini, red pepper, roasted corn, grano padano. Watercress, avocado and tomato salad.

$12

Les Nouilles 

Chef's daily selection

$14

Les Boulettes

Spicy Moroccan lamb and beef meatballs, roasted vegetables. Houmus, raita. Grilled foccacia.

$14

Granville Island

After our lunch at Medina I remembered why I do love being in Vancouver... because of days like today where you can walk around Granville Island and enjoy the awesome fruit and just the hustle and bustle of the area. Also, the marsala chai at the Granville Island Tea Co. 

  

   

In tune with Purple

After trial and error with the Beats by Dr. Dre I thought that I knew what I wanted. I used the full over-ear head phones in Europe (on loan from my cousin) and I really fell in love with them. The only downfall is that I do a lot of traveling and having huge ear phones doesn't allow you to turn and fall asleep or move really. Also, the big ones (Studio Beats) require AAA batteries to work the noise cancellation and they won't work AT ALL without them. The small ones (Solo HD) look great but after comparing the prices $200-300 I still wasn't sold. Thanks to Cassidy at the Apple Store at Oakridge Center I was introduced to URBANEARS and to these beautiful beasts:

Urban Beats "Plattan Plus" Ear Phones
$59.95 - Available in multiple colours
"Power Purple" only available with Apple Store/Online

Before you go on about all the gadgets I have just LOOK at them and also the price! $60.00 CAD and you get over ear phone, amazing colour selection, compactability (they fold up like the SOLO HDs), a "zound plug" to allow a second set of head phones to tap into what you are listening to AND the cords are fabric to avoid them getting tangled or damaged. These bad boys are PURPLE and are amazing for the price. They aren't officially deemed noise cancellation phones but I've been listening to them while my roomies are chatting and watching a movie and I'm pretty happy with the sound quality. You can't beat it for $60! We'll see how I feel after my 12-day trial period is over but whatever. Oh, last bonus - it has the remote for sound and microphone control - compatible with all iPhone, iPad, and iPods! Awesome. Enough said. Check out this video:

Urbanears Plattan from Urbanears on Vimeo.