Sunday, February 01, 2009

Tinseltown, Downtown and Mosaic



Wow, what a day we had! First of all, we woke up to a bit of snow on the ground which I couldn't believe cos it was sunny and bright yesterday!! Luckily, we were staying indoors for most of the afternoon as we headed over to Tinseltown to check out the CNY festivities. It wasn't as busy as we thought it would be even tho it was still quite busy but today was Superbowl Sunday, I assume that many people were attending their own SS parties. We met up with Jes and Jas at Tinseltown and we walked around a bit but there wasn't much there, there were vendors all over the mall like the Chinese night market but not as many vendors nor the variety of vendors. After walking through and not finding much, we decided to head into downtown for some serious shopping. I did not expect to pick up as many items as I did! Wow! I got a lot of great "end of the season" deals, Kay got a pair of flats at UB for $5, I picked up a couple of winter jackets by ONLY for less than $100 each at Spank Clothing on Granville, a pair of Miss Sixty pants for $91 (reg $229) and a monk & lou skirt (in house label with classic and sophisticated pieces in neutral palettes) for $27 (reg $69) at Plenty! I know it seemed a little extreme that I picked up so many items but they all fit me perfectly and at such great prices, I could not resist or pass them up. At least I didn't buy any more shoes! After our shopping spree at PC, we decided to head over to Robson street and was shocked to feel how freezing cold it was outside. It seemed that downtown had their own Lunar Festival at the Vancouver Art Gallery, the Taiwanese Lantern Festival was being held there with their own mini night market and even tho it was still raining (freezing rain), there was quite a crowd and how could you pass up those lanterns? So pretty and bright. We took a few photos and looked at all the displays and didn't end up buying anything even tho the nite market food stalls were tempting. Jess and Kay decide to head back to B's condo while Rhoda, Jas and I headed towards Robson street. After walking down a couple of blocks and getting distracted at Plenty (picked up my monk & lou skirt), it was time to head over to Mosaic at the Hyatt Vancouver for dine out. The restaurant is quite nice with renovations done recently, the customer service was awesome, and the food was pretty good (except the steak was a bit dry). The staff was very tentative and came by to make sure we were doing alright and if we needed anything. By the end of our meal, the restaurant manager came by and ask how our experience was, I had to voice my concern over the steak as we had ordered it rare and when it came to us, it was rare but not juicy so that means the steak might have been previously frozen or it's not good quality beef. After we got our bill, she gave us a whole chocolate cake to take with us, oh no! A whole chocolate cake?? It is very rich and sweet but oh so yummy! Excellent customer service and I think I might consider dining there again but I probably will not order a steak again. It was a great dinner and it was so awesome to spend it with Rhoda and Jas. (more photos on flickr)

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