Can you believe it’s already winter? With the year coming to an end fairly soon, let me put together another one of my season overviews… After that packed summer I had, by comparison here’s my hibernation-ish last quarter of 2024.
Filipino Feasting
For my birthday, my family gifted me a dinner voucher for a Filipino restaurant in Vancouver. It was such a coincidence, because I had been looking at Kulinarya‘s menu for quite a while and had mentioned it to friends months ago. We didn’t get around to going there as our summer winded down and we moved to a new apartment, but early October we invited our friends to join us and experience a bit of my Filipino culture. We had some planning to do for our group’s Friendsgiving weekend, so why not do that over a delicious meal?
And it wasn’t just a dinner. We went for a Kamayan meal, a traditional communal dining experience, where food is artfully arranged on banana leaves and shared without utensils. It’s also known as boodle fight, as this way of eating has its origins in the Filipino military. Soldiers shared meals this way in spirit of camaraderie and equality. I had to do some research to figure out where this term came from, but it seems “boodle” refers to food, and “fight” symbolizes the fun, competitive feel of grabbing the food with your hands, making sure you get what you want 😉
It really was fun to all eat with our hands and see everyone get really into it; grabbing a bit of rice from here and finding some vegetables and seafood over there, and asking your buddy 2 seats over if you can have that last delicious piece of grilled meat… I must say, everything was absolutely delicious, and the flavours certainly matched what I am used to from my mom’s cooking. Big fat stamp of approval! I can’t wait to go back and try more of their food.
Friendsgiving
After being MIA (short trip back home) last year for Thanksgiving, this year was truly special. We booked an incredible Airbnb on the Sunshine Coast with a group of 8. It was a display of both impressive team work and of our shared love for food. The first night, we transformed the massive dining table to a snack feast. Boards and boards of deliciousness. See for yourself below.
On night two, the guys were responsible for dinner. They cooked a fantastic seafood paella. We all looked… rather interesting, as they had picked ‘funny’ as the dress code for the night. If someone had wandered in on us, they would have thought they were high. Munching on rice and mussels were a mime, a Spanish Señorita, a female Salvador Dalí, a shopping bag, a mine visitor, a Hawaiian, the Joker in a purple suit, and Hot Mess Tarzan. Tell your imagination I said you’re welcome!
On night 3, it was the ladies’ turn, and we spent 4,5 hours working on our carefully planned out Thanksgiving dinner. Our dress code was fancy, so everyone was looking dashing ✨
Things ‘quieted down’ from here. I took a (second) three-week Change Management course which took lots of time reading and working on assignments after work. I had my remaining wisdom teeth taken out (not fun). So I was mostly cooped up inside for a bit there. Just before my final assignment, it was a long weekend. We drove out to Pitt Meadows to walk around the marsh in that area. It was nice to get some nature time before diving back into making my deadline.
Tyler Hilton at the Biltmore Cabaret
You know me, I love concerts. Tyler Hilton came to Vancouver on 20 November and of course I wanted to go! I’ve seen him live in Amsterdam in 2013, The Hague in 2016, and Amsterdam again in 2018. Aside from that, for many years I saw him on my favorite tv show, One Tree Hill, as the gruellingly annoying Chris Keller. This November, I saw him just as himself, a dad of two now, and soon to be Canadian citizen! Anienke joined me as I enjoyed the songs from my teenage years until now. Of course, grabbed a CD from merch to add to my collection.
Binging through winter
Since moving to our new apartment, it’s been nice to make it cozy in here and ease into fall and winter. With more time spent at home, I’ve been enjoying my books and shows. Here’s what we’ve been binging on:
Shows
- Silo | Apple TV+
- Outlander season 7B | StackTV on Prime
- Only Murders In The Building | Disney+
- Loot | Apple TV+
Books
In my attempt to beat my own record of 16 books in one year, I’ve been trying to finish a few books I had lined up. Really enjoyed these reads the past few months:
- Dinner for Vampires: Life on a cult TV show while also in an actual cult by Bethany Joy Lenz (mindblowing!)
- Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus (also a show on Apple TV+, next on my binge list)!
- Gut: The inside story of our body’s most underrated organ by Giulia Enders (who knew poop-science could be fun and engaging to read)
- Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice from Dear Sugar by Cheryl Strayed (also beautifully made into a television show on Hulu)
If you have any book tips for me, please let me know, so I can start building my list for 2025.
Whistler: scandinave spa
We haven’t been skiing yet, but we did drive up to Whistler at the start of December to tick off a different bucket list item.
The Scandinave Spa in Whistler was an absolute delight. The way there was such a nice start, too – it had been a while since I drove the Sea To Sky Highway. Even after living here for two years, driving there is just magical. It’s ridiculously beautiful. It doesn’t get less jaw-dropping. The view of this snowy mountain top reminded us that it’s winter now.
It was a little bit overcast/foggy at first when we arrived, but the clouds disappeared, and while sitting in hot baths and saunas we enjoyed the views over gorgeous snowy mountains and blue skies.
Running
With limited daylight hours and winter temparatures, it’s a bit challenging to get out and run, but I have gotten back my routine and am working on being able to run a casual 10K at least once a week. From there, it’s building up further to 21K, and eventually… 42K. In May, I’ll be running my first full marathon! I have lots of work to do, both in terms of building up my long distance runs but also getting my abs and back in shape to be able to keep myself upright for hours on end 😮💨
I’m both intimidated by it and excited for it. But Vancouver will pull me through it – I mean, the views as I run through the city and/or around Stanley Park do really add to motivation. The photo above was False Creek at 4.18PM on 2 December, just before it got really dark soon after. I ran back over that bridge you see in the distance, and hit 10K again for the first time since early September.
And now? Now, we pack… Homebound for Christmas and New Years! 🤗
P.S. Don’t worry about me, winter really doesn’t get that cold in Vancouver.
