On Monday, July 9, I had brunch with friend Gulshan, originally a Turkish Cypriot.. I have known her now for some four years - she is my hair stylist in Vancouver. Through sharing travails - her and mine - we have become close, and she wanted to introduce me to her family visiting from - Palm Springs! So, on a wonderful sunny summer day, we headed to beautiful down town Steveston, specifically, the No. 1 Diner (yes, another dining recommendation).
From left, Gulshan, Nora, Bella and Mina
As anyone who knows me has already heard, I love diner food. This being Canada, of course, it is not cheap diner food, but it really is quite good.
...followed by ice cream for Bella on the wharf
Friend and colleague Bea and I share July birthdays. It has become a tradition to treat each other to theater (in particular, Bard on the Beach) and dinner for our birthdays, and this year was no different.
We started with a walk on Kits Beach. Below, the view of English Bay and the Vancouver skyline from Kits Beach...
....after which we end up at our now traditional Japanese restaurant, for upscale, trendy, fusion Japanese food. (And no, I never remember the name of the restaurant. In truth, Bea likes it more than I do, and generally speaking, Bea gets what she wants, no matter whose birthday it is!)
And finally, to the theater. A word about Bard on the Beach. This is Vancouver's answer to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, started by Christopher Gaze some 20 years ago. There are two tents, one large and one small, and the plays run in repertoire from May through September. I didn't go for years and years, feeling sure that Bard would pale in the shadow of Ashland. I started going some 5 years ago, and was glad I did. They really do a good job, and some of the actors really do have some chops. However, like theater companies everywhere, they are "tarting up" everything to get bums in seats, so the humour is too broad and the slapstick too over the top for my liking. It accomplishes what it is supposed to do, though, it gets bums in seats.
This time, we were seeing Taming of the Shrew. (Again, Bea's choice - it is probably my least favorite play, possibly beaten only by Merchant of Venice). I must say, for all the overbroad humour, they did a wonderful job. Petruchio and Kate were both marvelous, and the result was it didn't seem like a "taming" at all, but, rather, a marriage of equal strengths, quite a feat given the hateful last speech. As you can see, the stage is open to English Bay and the mountains in the background, always a spectacular settin g (sometimes a bit marred by the sound of planes - or rain - and the cold, but not so this night).
In any event, it was a lovely evening. Bea is a woman with the milk of human kindness running in her veins (as apposed to yours truly, for whom the same could never be said), and it is always a breath of fresh air to be with her!
Anyway, that was Friday night. On Saturday morning, I left early for Seattle. Friend Mariah and I also share a July birthday, and our tradition has recently been to treat each other to a day at the spa and dinner for our respective birthdays. And now we have a recommendation for something other than food. The Olympus Spa in Lynnwood, Washing, just north of Seattle (sorry guys, women only) is a Korean spa with the usual array of amenities, but we always do what we call "the Korean Car Wash (officially known as a salt scrub). You soak in hot tubs for at least an hour, and then get scrubbed and sluiced over every inch of your body (all right, all right, not quite every inch, but pretty damn close!) and sluiced with warm water and scrubbed and sluiced until they just roll you off the table. It is divine, and the only spa thing that I ever indulge in. Five stars, ladies. And no, there are no pictures. I actually would have tried to sneak a camera in, but we are naked but for pocketless robes, and, well, no, pictures don't bear thinking about much less publishing.
And after all that pampering, Mariah's beau Mar joins us for dinner at the Frontier Room a dive in down town Seattle where they serve - well, basically, meat. Specifically barbeque - brisket, pulled pork, barbequed chicken, and ribs of every description. The corn bread, potato salad and cole slaw were all marvelous, but definitely an afterthought.
And yes, we slept well. After all, we had to rest up for the next meal!
I don't think brother Bobbie has yet made an appearance on this blog, so time for an introduction. He is neither Mariah's brother nor mine; rather, he and Mariah have known each other since childhood. Actually, it is because of Bobbie that I met Mariah at all; I met him on a plane going down to Mexico some 35 years ago now, and fell madly in love with him (my gaydar wasn't working very well, what can I tell you?), and on a visit to Seattle to try to cement my non-existent position, I met Mariah - and found out Bobbie was gay! We've all been friends ever since, and if ever "alls well that ends well" described a situation, this is it. Fast forward over 35 years of history; Bobby and partner Gerardo are now living in Puerto Vallarta, but Bobby was up in Seattle, and met us for breakfast at the local cafe on Sunday morning!
(you can see why I might fall for the guy, no?)
The restaurant, called the Baja Cafe, really is just a neighborhood restaurant, but just the kind of thing that flourishes in the neighborhoods of Seattle and we don't find so much (if at all) in Vancouver. Anyway, we got caught up, and laughed, and then went our separate ways, Bobbie to a rehearsal with Arnaldo, the Drag Chanteusse (Bobbie plays the piano, for which he has a great talent), Mariah and Mar to mess in the dirt of their garden, and me to get on the highway to head home!
And, finally, the actual date of my birthday arrives. David and I were great at forgetting birthdays, and generally didn't make a fuss. However, my friends showered me with calls of good wishes, and an actual birthday dinner...
The Three Big Blonds (aka Lesley, Laurie and Nora)
This restaurant really is worth noting. It is called the Trafalgar Bistro, truly bistro like with the exception of its huge desert menu. (Luckily, the desert came only with candle, not with singing!)
For those of you who are wondering, I am 66 years old, and fat though I am, feel better than I ever have, so don't be spending your inheritances quite yet!
Next installment: movie reviews; book reviews; work update; and - dating? Stay tuned....
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