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Tag: Pulp Fiction

5 Things Vancouver: Thomas Wong

by Dan
Food & Drink + Travel + Vancouver / February 16, 2010

Thom Wong can be found ruminating on menswear at The Sunday Best (you can find The Sunday Best guide to Vancouver here). He lives in Victoria, British Columbia.

What’s the one place everyone should visit?
There's a park at the corner of Cambie and West Hastings called Victory Square. Standing there is a cenotaph raised to remember the astounding number of British Columbians who have fought and died for Canada. Once a staging ground for labour riots, demonstrations, and general civic interaction, it sits largely forgotten bordering the poorest area in Canada. Chances are, Olympics organizers are hoping you never go there. Go.

Where do you look for books in Vancouver?
This is a particularly timely question since Duthie, a venerable family-run bookstore since 1957, is closing its last store here. I prefer used bookstores to new, since you're more likely to find an interesting read. Pulpfiction is my favourite, but for sheer madly stacked volumes of books you have to go to MacLeod's.

Where’s your favourite spot to eat on a budget?
If we lived in a truly merit based society Truong Giang (392 East Hastings Street), a tidy Vietnamese sandwich shop, would be more popular than Subway. As it is, I'm glad I found it. Perfect banh mi, starting at $3. Also try the large flat noodles.

What’s your favourite bar?
Six Acres by a country mile. Nestled behind the Gassy Jack statue in Gastown, Six Acres is only lacking in an actual bar you can sidle up to. Other than that it's a mixture of great beer, music, and food. (More of a a place to drink than a bar I suppose.)

Where’s the best place for coffee?
It's tempting just to write "anywhere but Starbucks" but it's true. Yes, Vancouver has eleventy billion of them. No, you should not get your coffee there. Instead, find a Caffe Artigiano for better coffee and much better service. But if you're really wanting a true, Vancouver coffee experience, head to Commercial Drive and find Joe's Cafe. The word "characters" was created to describe the people at Joe's.

Thanks Thom!

5 Things Vancouver: Kim Werker

by Dan
Travel + Vancouver / February 15, 2010

Kim Werker is an astigmatic expat blogger, writer, speaker, brainstormer and author of crochet books who's currently working to open source the law at LexPublica.

You can find her at her blog and on Twitter.

What neighbourhood do you live in?
I live in Dunbar, on Vancouver's West Side. Dunbar's southwest of Downtown, and pretty far west, at that. Although it's a fairly affluent residential (read: painfully quiet!) neighbourhood, it used to be a working class 'hood and some of my neighbours bought their houses fifty years ago for practically nothing compared to today's insane housing prices. They talk of the Dunbar gang, and everything. I live very close to Pacific Spirit Park, which is a big forest within the municipality of Vancouver. It has miles and miles of trails for hiking, biking, and horseback riding (there are stables in the city, too). On the rare summer day when it's stiflingly hot, I avoid the overcrowded beaches and take the dog for walks in the shaded forest.

How long have you lived in Vancouver?
I moved to Vancouver in the spring of 2002, so I've lived here nearly eight years.

Where do you look for books in Vancouver?
My favourite bookstore in town is Pulp Fiction. They carry a huge selection of used books, but also new titles, which makes it really easy for me to give them my business. Also, everyone who works there is extremely friendly, and they *know* books, you know? Especially genre.

What’s the most common misconception visitors have about Vancouver?
That it's all scenery. We live in a breathtakingly beautiful city and it's easy to focus on that and to see little else. But people *live* here, and not all of them live well or comfortably or even safely.

What is your favourite building in Vancouver?
This week, I'll say it's the Flack Block at W. Hastings and Cambie, which is where our office is. It's a heritage building that was recently fully renovated and LEED certified. The interior is gorgeous, and we have huge windows that look out over a fascinating intersection.

Thanks Kim!

[photo from Kim Werker's Flickr]