Why, hello! I’m Chelsee, the other half of We are not Martha, it’s a pleasure to meet you. 
Sorry I’ve been so MIA! Let’s just say I’ve been at my apartment in Boston once (for about 8 hours total) in the past 2 weeks. Thank you Sues for picking up my slack
Last Thursday I flew out to Seattle-more on this later!-then headed up to Vancouver Friday afternoon to soak in all of the Olympic glory for the weekend. I went with my friends Corey and Chuck and it’s safe to say I will be back…the city is phenomenal. And I absolutely looooove the Olympics so it was wonderful to actually be a part of all of the crowds and hype. And since they were being held in our neighboring country, I figured it was an opportunity that I shouldn’t pass up!
Check out this photo I snapped on my flight from LA to Seattle… Go USA!
Before I get into talking about the weekend in depth, I want to say the biggest most gigantic thank you to Maurice from Vancouver is Awesome. We follow each other on Twitter and I had been tweeting about my upcoming trip to Vancouver, which is where he lives. He ended up sending me the most well thought-out list of shops, restaurants (all price ranges, different parts of the city, different cuisines), and scenic areas around Vancouver for great photo opportunities. I’m not kidding when I say he knows everything. The list not only included the names of places but he listed websites, phone numbers, and addresses. Dream come true. He even answered my questions about Lululemon! Man’s a genius and I highly recommend finding yourself “a Maurice” for any vacation you plan. So helpful to know where the locals hang!
First up, Friday night! We got to the city and were starving so we scoured the list and decided to head to Guu, which Maurice described as Japanese Izakaya food, very casual, usually jammed with exchange students and foodies alike. Sounds kinda perfect to me. And it was. There was a little bit of a wait, but once over, we were seated at a large table with a young couple from Canada. They were finishing up their meal and gave us some suggestions on what to order (octopus balls, anyone?!). The couple actually ended up staying for about an hour after they finished eating just to chat with us! Nice people make the world go round, yes?
We ordered a slew of goodies to share. Our favorite was the Maguro Steak (Ahi tuna-yellow fin- sashimi steak marinated in garlic, soy sauce and sake). You know when you go out to eat with friends and when everyone takes the first bite you kinda look at each other to see everyone’s reactions while slowly chewing because it’s thaaaaat good. Yeah… that was the Maguro Steak.
We also ordered the “Korokke” Mushed potato, onion, ground pork croquette with tonkatsu sauce.
The octopus balls are below, closest to the front of the photo… they were unusually delicious!
At the end of the meal a bowl of frozen grapes arrived at our table. YUM.
Not only was the food here divine (and very reasonably priced!) but the people who worked here were engaging and very helpful, especially considering the chaos brought upon by the Games. Guu is not just “guuu’d” it’s guuuuuuuuuuuuuuu’d!
Guu: 838 Thurlow Street, Vancouver, B.C. V6E 1W2 TEL: 604-685-8817 – Downtown
After dinner at Guu, we headed to the streets. They were flooded and I mean that in the most literal way possible. Jam packed with people out celebrating and dancing. News anchors, camera crews, flashes, horns blowing. I was even on a Canadian news station for a hot second. No big deal… want my autograph Oh, and it was raining… and not a single soul cared.
Still not sure how we made it down the entire street with crowds like this!
We even made some friends along the way and ended up hanging out with them the whole night! Vancouver teachers, Andrea and Jess, showed us the ropes 
Once Saturday rolled around we were all up and ready to go bright and early. We didn’t want to miss a beat. Our first stop of the day was to Stanley Park. To me, the key to a successful city is some decent green space… and man oh man, does Vancouver have that in Stanley Park! We ended up walking almost all of it, which was great exercise. Jumping pictures are also a great form of exercise. And as long as Corey is present, he’ll make you do a jumping picture with him… HA!
Vancouver skyline…
Team Russia! By the way, I saw this Russia jacket in one of the department stores in Vancouver and it costs nearly $500. eeeek!
After walking, jumping, and sightseeing, we set our eyes on “THE LIST” and decided to head to Congee Noodle House, which Maurice described as “The best congee and standard Chinese (Cantonese) food restaurant within close proximity to downtown- comfort food, very casual setting”. We decided to split a bunch of the dishes since, typically, that seems works out best and gives everyone an opportunity to try more off the menu.
The menu was filled with well over a hundred options to chose from. My favorite was the beef with bok choy and rice. Dripping with goodness and such a clean flavor. If we hadn’t had such a great dinner planned I probably would have eaten the entire bowl of this by myself
Ginger and green onion dumplings…
Congee Noodle House, 141 E Broadway, Vancouver, BC Tel: 604-879-8221
We did some serious wandering around the city after lunch. Since Lululemon is based out of Vancouver I decided it was necessary to pay a visit to their Robson Street location. Yeah… that was a lose/lose. When we got there, the store was packed and as we were leaving there was a line to get in! Apparently the world doesn’t play around when it comes to good workout gear!
For dinner that night we went to Vij’s, a magnificent Indian fusion restaurant. It was on “THE LIST” and almost every person from Vancouver who we ran into told us we had to try it. Apparently it’s known as one of the best restaurants in the city. I now know why. Outstanding and extremely attentive service with spectacularly flavorful dishes… spicy and divine! The wait was almost 2 hours, if not a little longer, and they don’t take reservations, but we were prepared for this and heard it was worth the wait. As we hung out for a table, servers walked around offering passed appetizers so that definitely held us over nicely.
We ordered the Mutton Kebobs with Bengali style curry, Garam masala sauteed portobello mushrooms in porcini cream curry, Wine Marinated Lamb Popsicles in fenugreek cream curry on turmeric spinach potatoes, and Beef short-ribs in cinnamon and red wine curry with warm greens. The portions were perfect, we even had a little leftover.
After dinner we strolled around downtown some more and checked out the flaaaaame. Let me tell you a little something… It was unreal to see this in person.
Finally, there was Sunday afternoon. You know, that little USA/Canada hockey game. The game that ESPN viewers ruled more exciting than this years Saints/Colts Super Bowl.. which is saying a lot! Now, I’m a big sports fan, but I’m a football/basketball kinda girl and hockey ranks lowest on my list. Watching this game… in Canada… during the Olympics… kinda made me dig the sport a lil’! The Canadian hockey fans are INTENSE (think Red Sox fans but on the strongest possible dosage of an already really strong prescription drug). As we sported our USA t-shirts, they had a good time with us, all in good fun, of course. Then, when the US tied the game with, what, 30 seconds left… we had a good time with them For some reason, I really thought it was going to be a hostile environment but everyone was just having a great time and enjoying one another!
After the game was over we hit up a souvenir shop and some Starbucks to go and we were back on the road to Seattle…
Thanks again to Maurice for helping us navigate and to all of the residents of Vancouver for sharing your beautiful city! Congrats to Canada on the hockey win and all of your fancy medals, because you were such greats hosts, you deserve it
…GO WORLD!
[Chels]
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How awesome to be in Vancouver during the Olympics! I’m totally jealous. I watched just about every competition there was on tv and really got into things. Maybe a little too much. Speed skating made me gasp out loud WAY too many times.
And the food all looks so so so yummy. Mmmmm.
Wow, your trip to Vancouver really does look awesome! Great photos and great food. This is my first visit to your blog and I love it. I especially enjoyed reading about your friendship and “meeting” you both.
I was up there, too!
Oh wait, you don’t know me.
Introduction: I’m Jessi. I read your site through my feed reader. I don’t think I’ve ever commented, but for once, I could relate to the stories and recognize some of the food, so I was compelled to stop by.
It sounds like you had a fabulous time. And isn’t the food simply amazing??
omg, so amazing!!! glad you had a fab time
Looks fantastic! You didn’t miss much though by passing on Lululemon. They used to make great quality gear but the value’s gone down over the years.The pants are a great fit, but the material…meh. They piled after just a couple washes. Food looks amazing!
I am so jealous!
Such an amazing trip!! The hockey game must have been insane! And that food….I especially loved the look of that Indian place! So great Maurice helped you out =)
Looks like you had a GREAT TIME!!! How could you not have fun travelling the oh so lovaeble CP- hahaha….Looking at all those pictures of food made me HUNGGGGGGRY!!!!!! I am so happy you dig Indian food! I love it too!!!!!
Looks like an awesome time, and the food looked great!!
Your trip looks like it was fantastic!!! I can’t wait to hear all the details. The food all looks amazing too, i never would have thought about eating octopus balls!
looks like you had a fabulous time! LOOOVE takoyaki (the octopus balls)!! totally doable at home in an aebelskiver pan!
How cool!! I’ve always wanted to visit a city during the Olympics! Glad you enjoyed everything!!
Bookmarking this great post – we’re headed to Vancouver this summer and those look like some great eats!