Richmond

I pretty much had one goal this past weekend (yes, I'm going to write about my weekend today because work gets so crazy that I never have time to do it on the actual weekend) . . . get a hurricane potato! I'll save you the suspense. I was successful in doing this, but since the boyfriend and I had to wait all day for the night market to start, we also did some adventuring around Richmond on Saturday.

First off, we decided to try and find the Ikea. Mostly because Ikea stores are really cool and sell really cool things. This one wins though because it was on Sweden Way. One thing that didn't make it out to Vancouver with me was all my little containers that I pack my massive lunches in. I've been using plastic bags and feeling terrible about it, so it seemed like a good idea to grab some. Actually, we decided to grab two sets, one for each of us. Oops. We didn't really think about the fact that we would have to carry them around for the rest of the day . . . at least they were empty? Also, we unfortunately didn't get to have any Ikea meatballs because the employees were on strike and the restaurant was closed. Sad!

Then, we went down to the mall in Richmond. It was just like home! Not that it isn't fun to pretend to be all classy and shop on West 4th or Broadway or Robson Street or at Pacific Center, but I still like normal malls.

Finally it was time for the night market! The only thing I remember about the last time I went (many, many years ago) was that I bought socks. Lots and lots of cheap socks. There's also three night markets to choose from (all of which I assume sell cheap socks and hurricane potatoes). Since we were in Richmond, that narrowed it down to two to choose from. Since we're cheap, we chose to go to the free one, which was actually pretty close to the Ikea. It was the opening ceremonies for the International Summer Night Market, so when we arrived, there was a big stage set up with VIPs on it and a whole, roasted pig and a ton of cupcakes. After the introductions were done and the food was moved, dancers came up to do a lion dance. About halfway through, we saw a man walk up carrying a head of iceberg lettuce hanging off the end of a stick. I thought this was pretty funny and couldn't wait to see what was going to happen with it. A little while later, he handed off the stick to one of the VIPs, who went up and teased the lions (dancers, not real lions) with it. I thought that would be the end of it, but one of the five lions grabbed at it and then started ripping apart the lettuce and spewing it into the audience. It was AWESOME. We also saw these hilarious balloons with legs. They were excellent.

After this, it was finally time for the hurricane potatoes! I'll let the picture below show you how I felt about them. It's pretty much the BEST WAY EVER to eat a potato. Even the ketchup was tastier than normal!

After our long day out in Richmond on Saturday, we decided to take it easy on Sunday. We took a walk around the neighbourhood to pick up some slushies (mmmmm!) and I didn't even complain about my sad little legs . . . on the way there at least. I also tried to take some pictures of flowers that were clearly trying to evade my camera. And we saw a hobbit house! This is number two that we've managed to find. There's only three in the city, so we're close to a bingo.

Definitely a fun weekend. I'll be working hard until the next one!