The first night at dinner, we learned that you really do need to order an appetizer, soup/salad, and entree because most of the portions were not all that big. The good thing is, that gives you a chance to try even more foods, which is great! First up was always the appetizer. There were always three to four options on the menu for appetizers. The portions were usually very tiny, but always creative and interesting. Most of the options included some kind of seafood, which I was definitely a fan of!

Crusin’ appetizer photo adventure:

My school district’s last day in 2011 wasn’t until December 23 and by that point, it was practically already Christmas, which made things all a muck. And now that all those Mexico entries have been written and shared, my [room 329] entries are finally making a comeback.

On December 23, my class (like pretty much every class in the school) made gingerbread houses, or rather, graham cracker houses. So even though these pictures are at this point over a month old, they’re just so cute I thought I’d share them with you anyway.

Making of the gingerbread houses

Working hard

Final product #1

Final product #2

Final product #3

Final product #4

My parents and I have tried a large number of breakfast/brunch type restaurants and Elijah’s was by far the best. We walked in and were greeted by rows and rows of incased bakery goodies which smelled delicious. The wait staff were polite and fast. The restaurant space was huge and there was an empty room that looked like it could be used for parties or such functions. I ordered a “Reuben, Reuben, Reuben”. It was delicious; the pastrami was juicy and tender, the rye bread was crunchy, and the sauerkraut was the best I’ve ever tried. My mother ordered an omelet that came with a bagel and tasty hash browns. She really enjoyed the omelet. Now everytime she eats an omelet she compares it to Elijah’s. I know we will definitely be returning to this delicatessen.

Welcome to Elijah’s!

Reuben, Reuben, Reuben

Omelet

After arriving in Seattle, getting some good eats on the way through Vancouver, and also chomping down on some Italian in Whistler Village, we were more than ready to hit the slops.

Finally atop the mountain, we spent the next three days in the cold, carving the trails. The first day was not as cold and there was no new snow, but the first night it snowed about four inches, which was great! It flurried a bit the second day too and cleared up in the afternoon, and the third day was sunny all day, which made for some great views. There are actually two mountains there, Whistler, and Blackcomb, and they have a gondola that goes between the two. Although I came back bumped and bruised, it was a pretty good trip. Can’t wait til I can go back!

Ticket booth

Going up

Let’s go!

Ice skating rink in Whistler Village

View from peak to peak gondola

Gondola record!

View down the valley

Olympic rings from 2010

Dumplings (with ramen)

Sliced oranges

orangutans

While in Whistler we really only ate out for one meal because we brought food for breakfast and lunch and we ordered in pizza one night so we could watch the Patriots game. We found a pasta place in Whistler Village called Pasta Lupino. The place was small but busy so it was a good sign. All of the entrees came with a soup or salad. I chose the moroccan soup with garbanzo beans. The server said that it had a strong cinnamon taste but it wasn’t that strong to me — overall, it was still good. I also had the spaghetti with a ground beef bolognese which was also pretty good.

Vancoover is known to have some pretty good Asian/Chinese food so even though it was late on the way up we decided to take the opportunity and stop for a snack. We found a plaza with some restaurants and circled so we could see wich one had the most people inside. We found Pearl Castle. The place was pretty busy and was open until 1 a.m. We tried the fried squid, spicy chicken, and beef hot pot. The food was good but the service sucked. And since it was busy, we were seated in the corner. Oh well, at least the food was good.

Welcome!

Spicy chicken and side dishes

Fried squid

Beef hot pot

This past weekend I took a trip to Seattle then drove over the border to Whistler to do some snowboarding with some friends. It was my first time in the Pacific Northwest. The weather was rather peculiar according to the locals because it was sunny when I arrived and snowing when I left, which is rarer than the sun being out in Seattle. We didn’t spend hardly anytime before hitting the road and we got back late at night so I didn’t get a chance to do any sight seeing except in the airport. Guess that means I’ll have to go back to check out the city.

Weird ladder art

Fish in the floor

Not sure what this is!

Red bench

100 years old! (or 101 now)