Races, Ramen ... and Riots

What a week! After the intensity of the past seven days, I can safely say I am all hockey-ed out and looking forward to a relaxing off-season. There is not a doubt in my mind I'll be back on the bandwagon next season though, after all, I just spent $30 on a Canucks shirt.

While the drama of the past 24 hours is still fresh in my mind, I think it's best to reflect on the now infamous riots first of all. You know, prior to Game 7 I was really beginning to embrace hockey and coming to understand just how much this team and the individual players are worshiped by a city whose overall commitment, I must say, is phenomenal. I was actually quite prepared to write an entire blog post (with supporting images) on how amazing the city is for embracing their team the way they do. Of course there will always be those annoying fake-fans that think it's okay to boo (uh, it's NOT OKAY TO EVER BOO YOUR TEAM, IN ANY CIRCUMSTANCE, PERIOD!) but all in all, I am confident I have gathered enough evidence over the past three months to state that hockey unequivocally runs through the veins of Vancouver. And now the sad part ...

Don't worry Mum - I got these from Google!!

Typically (in all previous playoffs matches), the Canucks fans that filled the streets (between 80, 000 and 350, 000) during playoffs were good sports - clearly, as there was never a riot before we lost Game 7. We'd lost games during the playoffs before, yet people were generally pretty peaceful on the whole. I must say I wasn't surprised to hear of the riot because Kristen had already warned us about a similar riot erupting in 1994 post playoff loss. So of course everyone knows now what has happened and although I'm technically only an adopted resident it makes me really sad to see this beautiful city portrayed in such an awful way - as a result of the actions by a very small minority who I have no doubt were not true Canucks supporters in the first place. Would it have made an ounce of difference if we'd won? Sadly, I think these losers would have turned up to start a riot regardless of the outcome although the media would probably then have portrayed them as scorned Bruins fans instead! Now these poor Canucks fans are in the depths of identity damage control. I feel really sorry for them. I mean, we can't all be perfect Lions fans, but Canucks fans are okay too!

Honestly, I've lived here long enough (I know, three months is not long) to have come to the conclusion that 90 per cent of the city is high 100 per cent of the time - clearly that explains why everyone is so nice - so my question is simply: where were the pot smokin' hippies last night?

End rant.

Before the start of the game... clearly!

Hockey commentator Don Cherry & his Game 7 jacket! (He's known for his fancy jackets)

Clearly enjoying the festivities - Wine? Check. Steve's Beer? Check!

In other, more peaceful news... last weekend we decided to immerse ourselves in some Asian culture (honestly, didn't even plan it ... just turned out that way!) and head off to the Dragon Boat Festival (#33. Dragon Boat Festival) in False Creek. We spent a gorgeous Sunday morning sitting on the banks of the river watching hundreds of people take part in the Dragon Boat Races. Best part? The tasty Asian food stalls they had lined up (oh, and the views weren't so bad either!).

Racing ...

Steve LOVES dragon boat racing...


BUT NOT AS MUCH AS THIS GUY!!

Worst part? This child -

When Devil child & vuvuzela unite!

To be fair (on me) the child did this non stop for about half an hour. I only took a little footage so the mother didn't think I was some creepy person taking footage of her child ... which, let's face it, I was.

After we'd had enough of dragon boat racing and the child had annoyed me almost beyond the point of no return, we ended up back home (after detouring through the Canucks Official Team Store to buy our shirts - Steve got Bieksa #3 and I got Kesler #17 although I wanted LaPierre just because he has a cool name) and decided it was time to knock #34. Kintaro Ramen Restaurant, Denman Street, off our long list of things to do. Check. Well, one piece of handy advice no one has ever given me - there's nothing more nerve-wracking for a Caucasian than preparing to use chopsticks in a restaurant full of Asians. Oh, the pressure! Thankfully no one appeared to harshly judge our chopstick skills or lack thereof. And the Ramen was delicious! Thank goodness it was - we had to line up for about 30 minutes just to get a seat!

Mmm.. Miso Ramen.

This weekend we're off to Victoria for another of Steve's long course triathlons. Should be fun because Dave & Missy are coming along too and we might even fit in a little whale watching on Monday - looking forward to it!