CHRISTMAS PARTY !

Catered Lunch !

Christmas Party at The St. Regis

The 2nd Anniversary Christmas Party was held at the St. Regis hotel on a rainy December night. We were welcomed to an open floor of the hotel, where we could tour the rooms and mingle with the hotel staff.

We arrived to champagne and live music by Lee-Wai Yu !

The food was fantastic, all available at the St. Regis Bar & Grill.

My favorite was the pulled pork sandwich; however I did sample some pasta & pizza and both were excellent. I hear the Yorkshire pudding is fantastic!

Thanks for a great evening !

Snow Shoe Nights

Grouse Mountain offers a drop-in every Monday and Wednesday night.
Each week we bundle up in our cold weather gear and hopped aboard the gondola and head up the mountain.

At 7:00pm we take off with 2 guides for a leisurely walk or quick run around the mountain. There are different fitness levels to choose from depending on the mood you are in. Choose the social group, and explore the fresh snow or the run if you want a great work out.

A Taste of Europe

Last night at The Travel Group we had a wine and cheese tasting to represent the ports of call on an Oceania Cruise with Jacques Pepin.

We had cheeses from France, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Morocco prepared by Allison from Les amis du Fromage and matched with BC wines in the European style chosen by Leah from Kensington Square Wines.

We started with Spain and a sparkling wine; the gold winning See Ya Later Ranch Brut. It really worked with my personal favourite, salty potato chips and more to the point a Manchego with cherry compote and Spanish almonds.


Since the cruise spends 2 nights in Bordeaux, France we had a Cedar Creek 2006 Meritage that paired perfectly with a Pierre Robert triple cream and French fig preserve. Based on the number of empties I'd say it was a hit.


Portugal was a whole new experience for us. We tried a Quail's Gate Fortified Vintage Foch with a semi soft sheep milk cheese called Queijos Casa Matias and a cow cheese - Dom Villas. The Quince paste was delightful, especially with the Queijos. The Fortified wine is like a Port. I don't have an appreciation for Port. YET! Sometimes scares me how these things come about and I don't need another wine to love.

Italy was represented by a Sandhill 2007 Small Lots Sangiovese and a Gray Monk 2009 Pinot Gris. For cheese we had a Gorgonzola and Piave Vecchio,a beautiful cheese that I hadn't tried before it was firm and fruity. This one will move onto a regular rotation at The Travel Group's Friday wine down. The sangiovese is a personal favourite.


Finally we had a Fromage frais with honeycomb and pomegranate seeds served with mint tea to represent Morocco. What a combination! It was excellent! I can't wait to try it again. There are leftovers. Always a good thing.

Many thanks to everyone who came, ate, drank on such a dark and dreary night.

A Night at the Pan Pacific

Our hosts for the evening were Karen and Eric, and they filled us with all sorts of
facts and tips on the Pan Pacific Vancouver, as well as all their other hotels. We
started in the Cascade Lounge.

We enjoyed hor d'oeuvres and cocktails in the Cascades Lounge.For some reason I didn't take any photo's of the food!
We enjoyed Crispy Coconut Jumbo Prawns, Sirloin Beef Sliders, Vegetarian Tandoori Samosas, and Prawn Spring Rolls. I highly recommend them all.
They were delicious.

In a spectacular setting, on the 8th floor is the hotels pool.The deck holds a heated salt water outdoor pool with Jacuzzi, sun deck and Sauna.

These internationally recognized white sails are currently being replaced. They will be replaced with a new tension fabric that mimics the specifications of the original sails you see in this picture. The original Canada Place Sails were erected in 1984 as the Canada Pavillon for Expo '86. Canada Place is looking for opportunities to reuse the fabric in innovated ways.

Then onto the main event ! WII !

After a doube and triple bogey on WII Mini Golf we called it a night.

Thanks to Karen and Eric for being such great hosts !

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Kayaking in Deep Cove

After a rainy morning, we chanced heading into Deep Cove for
an evening paddle.

We crossed the Second Narrows Bridge, looked East, to see
a break in the clouds over Deep Cove. The water was like a
skating rink, smooth and sleek.

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Dog Mountain HIke

At the end of a work day a few of us strapped on

our hiking shoes and headed for a hike on

Dog Mountain.

Photo op at First Lake

After a couple of weeks of mid 20'C weather

we were very surprised to see snow

On a clear day, the rocky summit provides nice mountain views of Lynn Peak and Coliseum Mountain, and the outlines of Crown Mountain can be seen in the distance.

Clearly it was not visible the day we were up, but it did clear up for some nice shots

To the South-West, there's Vancouver, with Stanley Park, the Lions Gate Bridge and Point Grey

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A night at the Nat with The Groupies

Vancouver Canadians VS Yakima Bears

The entertainment between innings

The Men in Drag & Sushi Races

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