Vancouver, et al.: Day 6: Sidney by the Sea and Heading Back to Richmond

These pictures provide a more vivid representation of the day than the brief text below. Di Yin also took pictures. The latter link goes to her first picture from this day (pictures #154). When you see a picture of fried tofu (picture #175), you're done with her pictures for the day. I'll link to the next day's pictures in the following post.

In the morning, I hung out on the University of Victoria's campus and in its library, relaxing, while Di Yin participated in her conference.

Once she was done, we headed north to Sidney by the Sea, a town near the ferry back to Vancouver. The town reminded me of Monterey, complete with fun little stores, artwork such as statues and murals, and, not surprisingly, the smell of the sea. By little stores, in this case I mean bookstores, including one specializing in historical maps and old stuff in general.

After wandering through town and eating a good lunch, we headed to the ferry. We were delayed leaving town because we were distracted by some seals. Luckily, we narrowly made the ferry we wanted--we were one of the last cars to get on the ferry. That's saying a lot, as these ferries are huge! There are three levels of cars, trucks, tour buses, RVS, ... Thus, given their tremendous weight, it's even more surprising that they travel at a nice clip. Incidentally, the ferries are smartly designed: sliding doors between the parking levels and the stairways seal the vehicle exhaust from the interior cabins.

Once in Richmond, we wandered around trying to choose where to eat, grabbing snacks on the way. Eventually (after too long) we settled on Delicious Cuisine (urbanspoon) and had a delightful meal of, as Di Yin says, hakka-style Taiwanese food. Di Yin talked with the waiter, a delightful old man and apparently the father of the chef. The waiter admits his son is demanding, even mean: a perfectionist. As an example, he'd taste dishes before they were to be delivered to customers and, if they weren't up to par, throw them away and do them again. Perfectionism isn't necessarily a bad trait for a chef.