Whoever said heaven does not exist on Earth, has clearly not been to Vancouver. Or at least they were not into food. Because if they were, Eden would had to be redefined: it would be replaced with this fantastic city on West Coast. Yo.
Coming back from another version of my personal (also culinary) heaven on Hazelmere farms, Vancouver seemed hectic, harsh, rainy and gloomy. No wonder I had to resort to the only places that never fail to give me some love: sushi restaurants, farmers markets, street eats vendors, bubble tea hubs and dingy Chinese groceries with finger lickin good mangoes. And the like. Ahhh, instant relief. By the time I knew it, I was drowning my sorrow slurping pho, waiting impatiently in line at the Chinatown night market, munching on greasy tacos and OD-ing on injera like there was no tomorrow. The hustle and bustle of moving around has more or less prevented me from kitchen experiments of my own, but fortunately there's tons of points around that feel just the same - homey. Cozy. Mine.
I don't care if Vancouver has been apparently ousted from the "official" top ten places on Earth to live. I guess those people also need to redefine the rules they judge on. Or just get a damn good walk along Commercial drive - and hope to survive all the indulgences.
