The rain continued on our last full day in Vancouver, so we took another stroll through the city, albeit a little wetter this time (so wet, in fact, I had to stop and purchase an umbrella). Today, we decided to check out China Town. It was a fascinating look for me at how a whole other country can set itself up and reside within a small section of a large city. I can see how the Chinese of Vancouver could literally settle in at China town and never have to be without the comforts of their home language, foods, shopping, and lifestyle for the most part. The funny thing is that a lot of the things being sold in the indoor markets we browsed are the same things I find when I shop on Ebeye in the Marshall Islands. With the ease of travel these days and technology, the world really is getting smaller and smaller. So much is imported from Asian countries to the islands, but I never really thought about how far it has come and how similar it would be to what I might find in China before now. I consider many of the things sold on Ebeye third world type stuff, and I know next to nothing about China, but I can only assume they have their third world elements as well with so many people crammed into their country. Even though I still know next to nothing about China, visiting China Town was a bit of an immersion experience in terms of the smells and sounds of their world. The grocery store had bins of food items, spices, meats, etc...that I could not identify due to the signs written only in Chinese, and the places that did speak English had to advertise it on their storefronts because otherwise, you can assume you would have to speak the native language to get around in this part of Canada.
After our excursion to "China," we headed back toward the hotel, interested in finding a good, sit down Chinese restaurant on the edge of town to have lunch only to end up on the other end of the spectrum in terms of food choices. One of the storefronts we passed looked much more upper class than all the others we had been passing since we left China Town, and upon closer inspection, I noticed words I recognized. It said, "The Dirty Apron." This is a well known cooking school and small specialized grocery shop that we had tried to book a couples cooking class at before arriving in Vancouver. Because the class was full, we never made it to the actual deli and cooking school because we had no reason to go, and here it was, right near our hotel! We discovered that they sold sandwiches, soups, and curries, so we headed in for a bite. The garbanzo bean, carrot, and curry salad I had was divine, and we will definitely book a cooking class plenty of time in advance before our next visit to Vancouver. We also had a delicious sandwich with anchovy sauce (which I never would have thought I would like) and a squash curry. Yum, yum! We had a nice chat about weddings, the Marshall Islands, and Vancouver with a couple of young ladies sitting at our table, and then it was time to head back out in the rain. Another late afternoon movie and exciting last hockey game, and the our evening came to a close. Tomorrow is travel day. Time to pack and head back to our life in the islands!
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