Image: miss604

Spinnakers sits on a huge piece of land overlooking the harbour – their property includes the Brewpub, as well as a number of Guest Houses (they operate like a B&B for these) we also had a chance to tour. I was expecting, for lunch, that we’d all just be ordering off the menu. Not so! There was a huge meal planned, with 5 courses of food, 3 wine pairings, 3 beer & chocolate pairings, and liquor and cheese pairing to finish off. Crazy!

The lunch started off with a plate of cheeses & fish, followed by a salad, mussels, clams, and pork & risotto (miss604 has great photos of each dish). If you’re thinking this doesn’t sound like food a pregnant woman should be eating, you’re right! After the plates started coming out, we had to ask that a special meal be prepared for me – I got to eat a cheese-less salad and a mushroom & chicken pasta. Most of the ingredients at Spinnakers are local or organic, and the herbs are even partially grown on their guest house properties!

While I did miss out on all the fantastic wines and beers, I did have a chance to enjoy the O de Vie, a mineral water that bubbles up from an aquifer 225ft beneath the brewhouse. Delish. And I have to say I probably wasn’t the only one who felt spoiled after such an elaborate lunch – ok, everyone else probably felt it more than I did, what with all the wine & beer consumed, and the fabulous service we had while there!

Spinnakers, as Canada’s first purpose-built brewpub, has a long history of making beer. They produce at least 10 types of ale (no lager) on-site, and take great pride in the process. I know Ianiv had a couple of glasses of their Nut Brown Ale, with the Hefeweizen being a crowd favorite as well.

Sadly, I didn’t have a chance to try their Malt Vinegar, and I swear I mentioned that several times after I left there. Note to self: when pregnant, satisfy cravings! I’m going to need to go back sometime for their fish & chips so I can have one of their naturally brewed vinegars!

Not making the same mistake twice, we stopped at the Spinnakers giftshop on our way out to load up on cookies and toffees and more of the truffles that were served with the beer. Why not, right?

Since this wasn’t our first trip to the museum, we concentrated on the Treasures: The World’s Cultures from the British Museum exhibit, which will be on show until September 30, 2009.

Images: Royal BC Museum

This exhibit contains 309 objects on loan from the British Museum, including a complete mummy that’s never been unwrapped. The whole collection is meant to span human history, from early axe heads and the development of creative forms of expression right up to ‘today’. I could do without the most recent stuff, but I thought they had some great items on display. I’ve always been fascinated with archaeology (even took a course in University, if you can believe it!), and with Egypt in particular.

After spending most of our time in this exhibit, we made a quick trip into our favorite part of the Museum, the Natural History and Modern History galleries.

As parents-to-be, we were conjuring up images of taking our family to the museum. It’s only too bad that it’s not in Vancouver, as we could imagine spending many weekends going through the exhibits each year. These galleries, in particular, offer something very tangible to young kids – being able to walk through the HMS Discovery or the city street… amazing. I have a few memories of being there as a kid and I just loved it!

Later in the day, we wanted to return for one of the IMAX shows, but we weren’t able to walk back quickly enough to make the showing we wanted. Instead, we had a nice nap before heading out for dinner.

After our trip to Sea Cider Farm & Ciderhouse, our bus took us to check in at
Coast Victoria Harbourside Hotel & Marina. The hotel is located about 5 minutes walk from the main city center in Victoria, which was a nice place to be. Aside from the easy walking distance, they also have a hotel shuttle that can take you, or pick you up, from wherever you want to go in the city. As you can see, we had an amazing view from our room!

As if the cider weren’t enough for one day, just 30 minutes after checking into our hotel, we headed out for the 15th Annual BC Wine & Oyster Festival, which was being held at the hotel. Apparently, the website for that festival is already down (permalinks, people!), but it was a great event and very well attended.

Obviously, being pregnant, I wasn’t able to drink any of the wine or to eat any of the oysters. Well, I’m not an oyster fan anyway. But I did come along to enjoy the view, chow on some cheese (yay, they had pasteurized brie!!) and partake of the chocolate fountain. Ianiv hasn’t been drinking much either in the past several months, so he didn’t go crazy with the free alcohol. I think he had a couple of beers (yes, they had beer there too!) and maybe one glass of wine. If you go to the festival in another year, definitely take the time to read up about the beer and wine beforehand so you know what you want to try – so many choices!

Credit: miss604

At the Tsawwassen BC Ferries terminal, we met up with a tour guide who took us through the Market where we all stopped for some much-needed coffee (at the Salt Spring Coffee stand, not the Starbucks one, of course. Mmm, mocha).

We were supposed to be sailing on one of the new Coastal ferries, but the schedules were flipped and we ended up instead on the Spirit of British Columbia. I don’t know if it’s because this is a Victoria-bound ship, but it’s not a class of ship that I’d known in my many years of traveling to-and-from Vancouver Island (way back when I used to live in Courtenay). Our itinerary had us down for a “buffet lunch” and I was pretty curious about that – were they going to put us in a private room, or what? To my surprise, I found out that several BC Ferries ships now have a special Pacific Buffet, in addition to the normal cafeteria area and snack bar. We sat down to a lovely brunch before heading out for a “BC Ferries Photowalk”, even catching a brief glimpse of some whales. Ianiv even had a little Marilyn Monroe moment. Cute.

On our way back from Victoria today, I also had a new experience – the Seawest Lounge. For those of you who spent endless hours sitting in noisy areas trying to read… it’s like a lovely little haven. The lounge, which you have to pay to go into, sits at the rear of the ship. There are sections with tables as well as a series of chairs that recline a bit (picture me there with my feet propped up on my suitcase). There’s also some pastries, coffee and things of that sort to munch on. A very relaxing place to be after a long weekend of activities!!

After we got to Victoria, we boarded another bus and headed to a Cider farm… more on that in another post!!

Our trip will begin on Friday, starting out at the Coast Hotel in Vancouver and taking us aboard the new Coastal Celebration ferry to Victoria. Our weekend will include a number of organized events, as well as some free time. Some of the things we’ll be doing include:

• Sea Cider Farm & Cider House
• 15th annual BC Wine and Oyster Fest
• Royal BC Museum
• Victoria Harbour Ferry tour

Our trip is made possible with transportation and accomodations provided by Coast Hotels and Tourism Victoria. We’ll also be having some of our meals supplied, including breakfast at the Blue Crab Bar & Grill as well as a lunch at Spinnakers Gastro Brewpub. We’re also being given a "Harbour Holiday Pass" courtesy of the Tartan Group.

For every dollar the Chip’s Not Dead Yet charity run raises, Chip Wilson will match that amount up to $150,000! “When sick kids get better they run, play, and most of all they appreciate the fact that they’re alive. What if we all did that?”

A couple of months ago, Ianiv & I had a chance to tour the BC Children’s Hospital and to learn how charity dollars are put to work. It was an eye-opening experience. A hospital for kids has to be prepared for premature babies as well as adult-sized 18-year-old kids… that takes a lot of equipment and a lot of specialized knowledge and care. Imagine buying not just one bed size (like in a regular hospital), but many sizes. Same goes for all the equipment – just look at the various sizes of blood pressure cuffs pictured to the right! So, though BC Children’s Hospital may fund-raise a lot, and may do well in those efforts, consider that the Hospital is more than 3 times as costly to run than a regular hospital!

I had honestly never thought of all of the complexities involved in treating sick kids. The hospital staff – who were amazing! – have to know how to not only treat these sick kids, but also to care for their emotional and developmental needs as well. That changes with each age group. The BC Children’s Hospital shared with us how important it is to have parents involved with their child’s care, although the ICU had no room for parents to sleep with their children. The hospital is far too small for the needs of the entire province. A new hospital is being developed, but it’s a few years away.

One of the things that shocked me most was to learn that doctors who specialize in treating kids actually get paid less, on average, than those who treat adults. Obviously, with so many more adults in the world, it’s more “profitable” to treat them – though treating kids takes a great deal more specialized training. This fact isn’t really related to the Hospital’s charity needs, but it stuck with me.

If you haven’t yet signed up for the Chip’s Not Dead Yet charity event, you can do so here! There are also some great prizes to win, as well as a fun-day filled with music (Daniel Wesley, A Current Swell, Armchair Cynics, and Run GMC.) and more! Don’t want to run? Try the Couch Potato Wave!

Ianiv & I sadly won’t be in town for the event – we’ll be in Victoria – but it should be a great event if you can go!

Check out the full set here.

Tonight Rebecca (miss604) and I are sitting up in the press booth for online media with a bird’s eye view of the performance at GM place. We’ll both be liveblogging – me here in this post, and Rebecca here. The eTalk red carpet event has already started and the stadium is slowly filling up. CTV will be broadcasting the event live in BC starting at 5pm and one-hour delayed across the country.

Performances tonight include Sarah McLachlan, Bryan Adams, Serena Ryder and more. Stay tuned for updates!

4:54PM – The crowd is getting psyched for the Junos The stadium is almost full.

5:00pm – Nickelback kicks off the Junos with a bang. Literally. The place fills with fireworks, smoke and a bang as they begin singing “Something in Your Mouth”. The crowd goes wild, the place just alive with camera flashes. And the set ends with a swash of flame.

5:05pm – host Russell Peters takes the stage doing a couple of dance numbers, including some awkward break dancing.

“Seriously folks, I know this is Vancouver. But what’s with the grow op on stage?”

It’s true, the stage is a mix of industrial with the lush greenery in trippy colors, a hint to Vancouver’s “other” reputation. Russell takes some time to greet some of the stars, from Bryan Adams to Divine Brown, whom he gropes over a bit.

5:10 – KD Lang and Buffy Sainte-Marie present the award for Songwriter of the Year. And the winner is… Dallas Green! His thanks go out to everyone “who has ever tried to write their own song.”

5:15 – Sam Roberts Band, winners last night of Rock Album of the Year, take the stage to perform “Them Kids.” Video:

5:20 – Hedley take the stage to present for Group of the Year. And the award goes to Nickelback! Too bad for Great Big Sea, but I’m glad they took the time to thank the fans and thank Vancouver. ;)

5:25 – There’s a brief about the Gala Night winners, then we move on to presenters Deborah Cox, Sarah Slean and Kreesha Turner who are presenting Rap Recording of the Year. The winners are Kardinal Offishall, who also won Single of the Year last night.

5:30 – Sarah McLachlan takes the stage to sing “U Want Me 2″ and looks phenomenal! Just stunning in her cascading dress. Fantastic.

Check out the video of Sarah:

5:40 – Russell Peters and Michael Buble have a cute comedy sketch back stage. But it’s a pretense to introduce the Honourable James Moore, Elise Estrada and Aaron Pritchett who are presenting New Artist of the Year. And the Juno goes to – Lights!!

“I didn’t get into this to win awards. I got into this to write music… it’s really great to be recognized on such a massive scale.”

5:45 – The Stills are performing “Being Here”. It’s a performance without too much in the way of showy things, but it was a strong set.

5:52 – after another look at some of the winners from the Gala Awards Night, we move on to another performance by City and Color (Juno Winner Dallas Green) and Gord Downie. They’re performing “Sleeping Sickness”. Fantastic job!!

5:58 – Bob Rock takes the stage to induct Loverboy to the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. There’s a video presentation about their success then the 4 band members take the stage.

“Wow… home town. Home country. Canada! Never to be forgotten.”

Saying thanks in English and in French, the band gets a little more time on stage for each of them to say their thanks.

“We still get to play these songs 30 years later, and that’s something”

They also pay tribute to their bass player, Scott Smith, who died in a boating accident in 2006.

6:12 – Crystal Shawanda performs “You Can Let Go” with a grand piano, followed by Divine Brown singing “One More Chance” with a strings section and Serena Ryder picks up the pace with her guitar for “Little Bit of Red”. I love her – she’s been my favorite artist in person for 2 years running. So cute.

6:19 – Tara Oram, Nikki Yanofsky, and Pepsi Super Fan Ali Furgala present the Juno Fan Choice Award to… Nickelback!

“This is a good one… this is the one for us… this is why we still don’t have a real job. All because of the fans. Thanks very much!”

6:26 – Musicounts PSA. We learned last night that this program is in need of greater support, it may be only renewed for 2 more years!

6:30 – Simple Plan perform their hit “Your Love is a Lie” to a very satisfied crowd. They worked it! They headed out to the crowd, singing to the fans, shaking hands, going all over the stage for their performance. What a job!

6:35 – Russell Peters goes into the crowd to talk to some sports stars. As a means to introduce Melissa Hollingsworth & Jeremy Wotherspoon, who in turn introduce Bryan Adams!! Bryan sings “Walk on By” with Kathleen Edwards. Amazing!!! Their voices together are like silk.

6:43 – Feist and Jim Cuddy take the stage to present for Artist of the Year. Tough competition! But it goes to Sam Roberts!!

6:50 – Elvis Costello and Diana Krall take the stage to present for Album of the Year. What a lineup for that one! But in the end, only one group can win… and it’s again, Nickelback!

Mom gets thanked first this time around, “I have to thank my Mom… for giving birth to half the band,” its joked. Oooh, and the shut-up music cuts off their thanks.

6:55 – Great Big Sea take the stage to close out the swho with their performance of “Gallows Pole” along with Workman & Eccodek. It’s a fantastic set, lots of drumming and movement on stage.

6:59 – Russell Peters appears briefly to close the show, then Great Big Sea return to close out the credits. Tune in next year as the Junos head to St. John’s Newfoundland & Labrador.

Hope you enjoyed the show & the live blog!!

June 20, 2009 will mark the second year for this crazy charity race. The race day is a one-mile uphill race that draws out some of the world’s best runners (for the generous winning prize) as well as superheroes and bridesmaids. That’s right – it’s a theme race! There are several “theme waves” to the race – from the Pooch Parade to the Superhero Half Mile or the “fun” High Heel Dash.

The race was set up to benefit BC Children’s Hospital Foundation. Chip explained how creating a race like this had the potential to raise a great deal more awareness and funds for the hospital than simply him donating each year (though Chip will match entry fee contributions up to $150,000). The goal of the race is to raise $1 million annually in perpetuity. And Chip is taking social media into heart as part of the strategy to get there. Memelabs is working with them on their social media strategy, including a contest for best “theme wave” idea.

Last night we had the chance to bounce some ideas off of Chip and his team about how social media could help build buzz for the event – it was a great discussion to be a part of. There’s so much we can do to leverage our “influence” online towards positive things like this race. It was a fun opportunity to offer ideas about how new technologies can enhance the entire experience before, during and after the race. I look forward to seeing what comes of it.

If you’re interested in being a part of the race, you can register for $30 (cheap!) and can kick-start your own fundraising efforts now. Whether you take part in the race seriously, sign up for the family wave, or just go to the fun zone for the street party, it’s a great local event to keep in mind for the summer.

The event will take place on June 20th on West 10th in Point Grey. Stay tuned to the CNDY Twitter for more updates.

As Buzz notes:

Virgin 953 is all about doing things differently. Pushing your boundaries. Getting you through the boredom of life, over the edge and into the goosebumpy goodness. You might even call it a popgasm.

Virgin 953 is very similar to how the radio station has always been, with the same demographic and music styles. There is a fancy new schedule, some new programming, but overall it’s still the same great radio station.

The launch party on Thursday was over the top crazy! If you can imagine a naked man (yes, naked, and flown in from LA), a tattoo artist, a woman with a snake, servers in crazy tutus, and people being set on fire… well, that was the long and short of it. Toss in some food and an open bar, and it was quite the party!

Check out our photo set here.