Sunday, Live At The Storyeum

Shaula has now joined the in-crowd at her school: we bought her a pair of wheel shoes Friday similar to these, except the wheels retract rather than pop off. They are the rage among kids of all ages.

I have some safety concerns, but given that Shaula's pretty adept on her scooter and ice skates, and we're not letting her take the shoes to school, she should be okay. As of today, she's still klutzing around.

We had dinner at Taisho. I think Shaula didn't care much for the tuna sashimi as I ended up eating nine-tenths of it. The service was lacklustre and the Chef's Box "B" was cold, so no more visits there.

My knees grew weak Saturday and I bought another La-Swiss watch. We were headed to Kerrisdale for the spring "Kerrisdale Days" which features a sidewalk sale, outdoor bands, pony rides, free balloons, popcorn and carousel ride. But it began to rain, so, surprise surprise, we ended up in a mall, first Oakridge Centre, then Richmond Centre.

Let me state outright that I avoid Oakridge whenever I can. Yesterday was an exception. The place has changed. There's a beautiful, just beautiful Tommy Bahama store where Club Monaco used to be. I looked around, balked at the $145 short-sleeve shirts, and left. Nearby, signage on two boarded-up storefronts announce the impending arrival of BCBGMAXAZRIA and Coach. Abercrombie and Fitch left years ago, but I'm sure they'd survive as a tenant with the recent influx of higher-end stores. Zellers is the odd man out. I also checked out the new La Coste store but left in a hurry from sticker shock.

We had lunch at Richmond Centre. I bought some clothes at Sears, and then the watch, pictured above. Super big face with a broad black leather band. Macho man material.

On Sunday, I walked 14 laps at the track, still nursing my calf. That's a 400 calorie burn. Betty, Matthew, Shaula, and my brother and I went to Storyeum Gastown. The British Columbia Live Underground show (live performers, impressive underground stages) was okay; "a little too musical and corny" was how my bro' described it. Worth seeing once. The Dinosaurs in Gastown exhibit was small. At $15 adult admission, probably disappointing for some, but Matthew and I happen to like dinosaurs. The life-size animatronic T. Rex was definitely impressive. The thing is huge, one T. Rex thigh could supply a small banquet, and it sure had one large bung hole. Pictures were allowed, but I unfortunately left the camera in the car.

It's hard to put myself in Matthew's little shoes, being an adult and no longer capable of being awed by such things. I hope it has a lasting impression on Matthew, perhaps steer him to the sciences.

The gift shop had "authentic" dinosaur teeth, meaning in this case, cast from a real fossil find. See picture above. I asked the Dinosaurs in Gastown host whether they had gingko tree fossils, favourite food of many of the gargantuan plant-eaters, on display. They didn't, only ferns and horsetails, but he did say that there was a live gingko across the corner from the steam clock. We checked it out and then went to Starbucks.