Groupon Vancouver: 2 Thumbs Up!

I have a new love: Groupon!

Each day, Groupon Vancouver offers a new “cool thing to do” at a discounted price, often saving you about 50%. You purchase the “groupon” from their site and take it to the vendor for the discount.

Last week I bought a groupon for Epic, the Vancouver Sustainable Living Expo. Tickets were normally $15, but we got tickets for $5 each!

The process was so simple:

1. Sign-up for their daily email notifications.
2. When you see an email that tickles your fancy, click to purchase it.
3. You can then print the groupon or access it through their free iphone app and show it to the vendor.

Since Groupon Vancouver started in April 2010, they have offered discounts for local food, yoga, conventions, art, and so much more. They have groupon sites for many large North American cities and have been featured in the Wall Street Journal, CNBC, CNN, Wired, and so many more media outlets.

In case you haven’t figured it out, I am now a huge Groupon Fan (I’m a Groupon Groupie)! I look forward to getting my daily groupon and can’t wait to see what I’ll save next time!

Get the Groupon Daily Deal now, and enter your email in the top left corner to subscribe.

White Christmas: A perfect substitute for real snow in Vancouver

The Arts Club Theatre Company performance of White Christmas: The Musical (Image: Arts Club Theatre Company website)

It’s too warm for a white Christmas in Vancouver this year, but the stage musical of Irving Berlin’s White Christmas at the Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage is a great substitute for real snow! The Arts Club Theatre company did an amazing job and I had an amazing evening.

White Christmas Synopsis

White Christmas is about 2 army buddies (Wallace and Davis) trying to help their old army General, now a struggling inn-keeper in Vermont, save his Inn and lift his holiday spirits.

They are joined by the Haynes sisters (Betty and Judy) , an up-and-coming singing duo who are the sisters of another old army buddy. Together they plan a large broadway show in the Vermont Inn to attract people to Vermont and save the Inn and the General.

Along the way Davis and Judy try to set-up hopeless romantics Wallace and Betty, but they resist. White Christmas: The Musical is a story of romance, friendship, and loyalty in the spirit of Christmas. You’ll leave the show singing “Sisters” or “The Old Man” for days afterwards!

My Review: A+

I went with my family to this live show and had an amazing time! If you ever watched Bing Crosby’s version of White Christmas, you’ll love the stage version.

The actors all seemed to have a genuine good time on stage, and it showed! Their tap dancing, acting, and the sets set the scene well. The audience is also often encouraged to join in the singing of “White Christmas.”

One warning though: be prepared to have either “Sisters” or “The Old Man” in your head for days after!

Stanley Theatre Parking

If attending an evening performance at the Stanley Theatre, park along 12th or Hemlock streets because its free after 6pm (whereas it’s not free until after 8 on the other nearby streets). I arrived just before 7pm for the 7:30 performance and there was lots of street parking available here.

Unfortunately all 45 shows of White Christmas at the Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage in Vancouver are sold out (except for single tickets). If you can get your hands on a ticket, or find one in your stocking next week, you can “count your blessings instead of sheep” knowing that you’ll have an amazing evening (or afternoon).

Read more reviews, audience comments, blog coverage, and downloads for the Arts Club Theatre Company performance of White Christmas: the Musical.

Travel Tip: Explore City Attraction Passes

Tourist Attraction passes like the ones for Vancouver and San Francisco, are a great value!

I am always on the lookout for ways to save money when I travel. I’ve found that city tourist or attraction passes are usually an excellent value. Here’s how they work:

How City Passes Work

First, you purchase the pass online, from a travel agent, or through a tourist information office. The prices vary widely depending on what’s included. Most recently I bought a Go San Francisco Pass and it included over 50 attractions and a 7-day pass cost about $160US.

You will then be given either a ticket booklet or a chip card which you then take to the listed attractions and you get in for free (or a discount, depending on the card). For example, the Southern California City Pass includes admission to 4 major theme parks and they give you a booklet of tickets to present for entry in the park, whereas the Go San Francisco Card gives you a wallet sized chip card that you scan for admission to each attraction.

Getting the best value

Research the available passes for the city or region you are visiting before you go:

1. Make a list of which included attractions you want to or have the means to visit (some are outside of town and require a car to visit).
2. See how much it would cost to visit these attractions individually and compare that to the cost of the card.
3. Check the validity dates of the pass you want to get. You may have the option to choose how many days you want the pass to be valid for, or it may give you a timeframe for the number of days your pass will be valid (from first activation).
4. Make sure that you have time to fit in all the attractions you’re planning to visit within the validity of the card.

Some city or attractions passes may include free public transportation. If not, see if that city offers a daily, weekly, or special tourist transit passes. Even if their transit system seems complicated, after one or two rides you’ll get the hang of it (if not, I’ve found people are usually pretty helpful if you ask for directions).

City & Attraction Pass Websites

Here is a list of some city and attraction passes throughout the world. I’ve only listed a few, so feel free to add some of your favourite passes below and let us know what you thought of them! I’ve italicized the passes I’ve personally used.

• Smart Destinations (Blue Ridge, Boston, Chicago, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Maui, Miami, New York City, Oahu, Orlando, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Toronto).
• Smart Visit Solutions (Melbourne, Sydney, Tasmania, and Vancouver)
• City Pass (Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Hollywood, Huston, New York, Philadelphia, San Fransciso, Seattle, Southern California, Toronto)
• The London Pass (London, England)
• Paris Museum Pass (Paris, France)
• The Dublin Pass (Dublin, Ireland)

Happy Travels!

Book Review: One Red Paperclip

"One Red Paperclip" is an amazing and inspiring read.

Inspiring! Earlier this year I read the book “One Red Paperclip.” It is the true story of Kyle, a man from Belcarra, BC (near my hometown of Coquitlam, BC), who decided to trade a small, red paper paperclip for a house…Well, not directly.

Getting a house was his ultimate goal. He started with a lonely, red paperclip from his desk, and traded it for something slightly better. Then trading that for something slightly better… and so on, until he traded to a house. He started seeking trades through Craigslist (my favourite classifieds site) then later started his own website so people could see the current trade and make offers. He was also invited to many radio and TV shows to share his story.

This book is simply an amazing read. I remember hearing about this guy several years back. Then while browsing a book store in Sydney, Australia I found his book and HAD to buy it. Not only was the premise of his idea amazing, he was also from my hometown (well, two cities over, but close enough). He also wrote about making a trade at a 7-11 convenience store in Vancouver, and I knew the exact one he was talking about.

I was so hypnotized by his story that I read the entire 2nd half of his book in one sitting. I envied his adventures and felt inspired to start my own trading mission (I never did, but I was still inspired).

Click on the link below to get a listing of bookstores that sell Kyle’s book. This list is straight from his website.
One Red Paperclip: How a Small Piece of Stationery Turned into a Great Big Adventure

I highly recommend this book for anyone looking for any kind of inspiration. This book gets 5 stars:

WriterGal Uses Flight Centre for Travel Bookings

WriterGal's winning entry in the Flight Centre Photo Contest

A few weeks ago I entered a US Travel Photo contest through Flight Centre. Yesterday morning was the last day of the contest and I was announced as the winner!

I have booked many vacations through Flight Centre including an Intrepid Travel backpacking adventure in Cambodia and Vietnam (through a Sydney, Australia branch), a European cruise and EurRail Pass, and many flights. They always make it easy to book travel.

I’ve found it helpful to do some research before I visiting Flight Centre. Look up information on flights, accommodation, and activities so you can present that to your agent and they can help you either book those, or find similar (or better) ones.

Yes, I recommend Flight Centre to others. Other than using BCAA for the occasional booking, I usually book through Flight Centre.

PS: If you like travel, check out the Flight Centre blog for some exciting stories, news, and adventures.

Great Customer Service: Blenz Coffee, Davie & Bute

Most coffee shop barista’s are friendly. I had an exceptionally friendly one at Blenz Coffee at Davie & Bute in downtown Vancouver yesterday.

After ordering my coffee from the Barista, she commented on my necklace (a blue, blown glass heart pendant). I mentioned that I got it in Venice. She said “Oh, that must be Murano Glass right? I loved Venice.”

After ordering my coffee, I sat down to wait for a colleague to arrive. It was slow in Blenz at the time. Since I had about 10-15 minutes before my colleague was to arrive, I casually asked the Barista when she was last in Venice. We each shared memories from our respective trips, between customers who came for their coffee.

Fifteen minutes later, my colleague arrived and we were still chatting about Europe!

Examples of Great Customer Service

During my time in the Blenz coffee shop, I noticed 3 great examples of exceptional customer service:

1. Friendliness: The Barista was very friendly and made a successful attempt to relate to her customer (me).
2. Attention to Detail: She saw a “regular” customer walk in and started making his coffee right away.
3. Attentiveness: When a customer would enter the store, she would turn her attention to the customer and give them her undivided attention.

I’ve seen similar examples of great customer service at other coffee shops before. I mention this as a specific example that stands out from the rest. I’ve noticed some customer service staff attempt “small talk” with customers, but it often seems forced or fake. The conversation yesterday seemed genuine and I think we both enjoyed listening to each other’s stories.

Thank-you to the barista at the Blenz Coffee on Davie & Bute in Vancouver. I enjoyed chatting with you!

WriterGal Guest Blog on Granville Online

WriterGal (Ashley Mikulik) was a guest blogger for Granville Online on Tuesday. The Online editor of Granville Magazine asked if I would like to be a guest blogger and post my article about Richmond Country Farms on their website.

Of course I said YES!

Here is the article posted on their site: Granville Magazine Vancouver.

Below are some photos from the market. Enjoy!

Casual Portraits @ Ambleside Park

Do you think the camera hates you? I used to think that, then I had Vancouver Photographer Dan Doan (@DanDoan on twitter) take some casual headshots of me at Ambleside Park in West Vancouver.

I was totally impressed. They turned out really good, although there were a few that I’ll save for my private blooper reel. My goal was for a casual shot that I could use as a bio picture for an upcoming guest bog post on another local website (I’ll post the link when it’s up).

Here is a sampling of some of the best photos from that afternoon:

You can post your praise of Dan’s photos here, or you can follow him on Twitter (@dandoan). Be sure to say you found him though the WriterGal Blog.

Country Farms Richmond: The Best Local Produce

We love food and cooking with fresh produce. My favourite place to get local produce is Richmond Country Farms (north end of Massey Tunnel in Richmond, BC).

Country Farms has spoiled me so much that I absolutely detest buying produce at the local grocery stores. The fruits and vegetables at this local market are fresher, less expensive, richer in colour, and in most cases larger than their supermarket counterparts.

…Plus, most of their products are locally grown (within the Lower Mainland or BC)!

Mushroom Comparison

The other day I desperately needed mushrooms for some stuffed mushroom caps. I bought them from the local supermarket and they were small, and somewhat bruised. Yesterday I went to Country Farms and they were much larger, whiter, and fresher than the supermarket ones. They tasted a million times better too!

Local Produce Prices

The prices at this market are also very good. For example, I can usually fill 1-2 cloth shopping bags with fruits and vegetables for between $10-15. Quite often they have 2 large bunches of spinach for $1, and yesterday they had 3 large bunches of the largest green onions I’ve ever seen for $1 and truckloads of Sweet Corn at 3 for $1.

I try to go at about once a week. Yesterday, I bought some Okanagan Cherries and I made a fresh cherry pie. Despite a minor incident with the knife I used to remove the pits from the cherries, it was VERY good!

Please go check them out on your next produce shopping trip. You’ll see why I’m excited about them!

Country Farms in open from 9am-8:30pm every day from about April to December. www.countryfarms.ca

Review: District 9 – Aliens Love Cat Food!

District 9 is without doubt, the most original and funny movie I’ve seen in ages. The storyline was unique and the little alien facts were original (and funny). It was 1hr 52min of hypnotizing entertainment.

District 9 Plot

• Aliens are stranded on earth and humans segregate them into a slum area now known as District 9 (hence the movie title)
• Humans and aliens don’t get along well
• Humans decided to evict the aliens and move them to a remote location, far away from humans
• While serving eviction notices, Wikus van der Merwe (our staring character), becomes infected with an unknown alien substance, and things start to change…

…Oh yeah. Humans can understand the alien’s language, and they can understand English

Vancouver Connection to District 9

Did you know that Vancouver has local connections to District 9? Two of the special effects companies working on the film were Imagine Engine and The Embassy, both Vancouver-based companies.

Who Should See District 9

EVERYONE! I would honestly recommend this movie to practically everyone!

I was expecting an aliens vs humans type shoot-em-up film with little storyline. Instead, it had a clear plot, characters I could emphasize with, and great special effects. Yes, there were still guns and exploding body parts, but it was very well done!

It was also very funny! The main character, who was a bit of a geeky guy, ended up running around like an action hero by the end of the movie (and it was believable)!

What did I learn from this movie?

1. Aliens love cat food!
2. When evicting aliens from their homes, be careful what you touch.
3. By consuming alien blood, some believe you gain their power.
4. The derogatory term for aliens (well this species anyway) is “Prawns.”

Who should NOT see District 9

If you hate the sight of blood, get dizzy too easily (it’s filmed like a documentary with a shaky camera), or don’t like the F word used a lot, perhaps this is not your cup of tea.

Recommendation:  (5/5 stars)

I’d love to hear your thoughts on District 9. What parts did you find hilarious? What did you like/dislike about the film?