Saturday, September 12, 2015

Strolling in Steveston

Just before the summer ended, had to go out with my favourite pair of twins (that would be my cousins, of course). It's like the old times, but now we can get to places we want to see - that is, granted that we can get up for those kind of outings d":

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One more fun time in the summer before autumn comes sailing in

August 22, 2015

I can't recall the last time that I went out with just my cousins Shellby and Mina. We have seen each other multiple times from graduation to the occasional Saturday night at grandma's house, but not quality time with each other - it's kind of strange when you think of it, especially that we all live close to one another.

The original plan was to go hiking that morning, but I couldn't get up the time Mina wanted to go (I was too tired for that exercise) - so we did yoga at her place. Before, we use to do yoga outside with the warmth of the sun, however, there was one incident where we practicing and I ended up with about 15 mosquito bite... Needless to say, we are going to do yoga indoors.

After our session of yoga, we got ourselves ready to meet up with Shellby and come up with a last minute plan. While waiting for Mina, I couldn't help myself from seeing this little gem of an item on one of her shelves:

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Sailor Mercury transformation pen!

Don't know where she got it, but it's certainly an incredible find. We picked up Shellby, and she said that she wanted to get fish and chips - that sounds good for three in the afternoon at this point. It's hard to pick a fish and chips place, especially in Steveston village, and when neither of your cousins have a set decision on one. We looked at a few places before picking a fan favourite, Pajo's. When we went there, not a lot of people were down there, which was good for us. And before heading down to the platform, took a photo of these twins:

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From left: Mina and Shellby

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Look at this wonderment of yellow and blue

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Got to turn a corner before ordering

You think ordering fish and chips would be simply getting that, but there were options of fish that you could choose like cod, halibut, or even salmon, and whether you wanted one or two pieces. The menu has changed since the last time I came it, much more simplified, and it surprised me that the fish nuggets were not on it... Or so I thought. Shellby was going to order the classic fish and chips until Mina asked if they had fish nuggets available; and luckily, they did! Not only was it available, but it came out to be cheaper than our order of fish and chips. So we got that with an order of french fries, and I must say, the aroma could make you want to eat the whole thing:

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Deep-fried to golden perfection

Did I mention that the fries are endless? Chatting and catching up with each other is tiring work, you know? We got about three rounds of fries before feeling the oil sweating out of our skin. We then went for a walk around Steveston village, and the fishing boats were on deck today. We checked out what was available in store, and I was actually surprised. The first thing we saw were these sea delicacies, and they were still moving:

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Sea Urchins

It was incredible to see their spikes just moving, and it makes me wonder how they eat, considering you would only eat the insides without needing to actually handle the sea animal. The seller didn't really have much protection for herself, and ended up filling up her glove with water as she dived in to grab those bad boys in a huge blue container box:

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Who knows how many were in there

One of the customers was saying that the smaller urchins have more meat than the bigger ones, which was what one of the customers was requesting for - a word to those who haven't handled sea urchins, there is really no good way of transporting in through a bag, as it'll eventually poke out. It's quite nostalgic to see the variety of fish being sold, reminds me of the times when I would come with my mother to purchase fresh seafood and allowing us an opportunity to feed the ducks with bread crumbs from the bottom of bags of loaves... Ah, those were the days.

There were a lot of salmon available on the boats, but none caught my attention quite like this:

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Lemons and salmon somehow make an eye-appealing display

We also saw tuna, which I thought was quite big, but turned out to be actually small for its size. Mina was telling us how fishing for tuna has made an effect on its size, decreasing its original mass from what it once use to be... Makes you second think what is happening out in the water.

I was most pleased to see one type of seafood for display, mainly because this would tend to be the one item my mother would come and get, and it would be these little ones:

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Shrimp

Not a big fan of the smell, but it's a past-time that I did with my mother. Walking back onto land, we have seem to encounter a few familiar faces. First, there was Janina, a coworker and friend of Shellby and mine, and then Brianne, my friend from Mandarin class. It was one after another, and it was simply a wonderful surprise.

When we walked around Garry Point, talking about where we want to be, exercise techniques, school, and even relationships, Mina saw her classmate from university... I think her friend was on a date. But that's the best thing about Steveston, you're bound to bump into someone that you know.

Then we got back into the village, looking around for another place to kill time after all that walking. There was this fire hydrant that was dressed well for the sun, and I couldn't help myself from capturing this moment:

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Good choice of hat, sir

It was then that Mina wanted to look into a bookstore - it was just there, so why not?

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Let's take a look inside

There was every book you could think of, and I do mean everything! From old text books to self-help guides in subjects I'm not familiar of, they were all over the place. But if there was one book that got us hyped, it had to be a childhood favourite, Where's Waldo? I don't know if they make these series anymore, but it's challenging as ever:

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Where is he?

Shellby messaged our cousin Stephanie to see if she was available, as she lives in the area not too far from where we were stationed. We met up with her to see what she's been up to (she was making gluten-free cookies when she was there) and how's everything with work, personal life, and cousin stuff. She's got a lot going on, and it's well appreciated to see her, even if it was for a few minutes.

To conclude the day, we ended up getting ice cream, which was also another tough decision. In one street, there are three shops that sell different flavours, and who knew which one was good. But the sign at Mary's was a sign, telling us that was had to get ice cream today:

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It was simply meant to be

How appropriate was this? There's three of us, and they were giving us three ice creams for the price of two. We all ended up getting kid's size since we were still full from fish and chips. I got orange creamsicle, Mina got cookie dough, and Shellby got birthday cake, which looked stunning. To commemorate the day, we had to take a photo by the sign (well, at least attempt):

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Selfie style: couldn't be any better

Then we ended the day at grandma's house, watching Filipino programming (our favourite show, MMK Classics) with the rest of the family. Can't believe it's been a while for just the three of us to go out, and hopefully there are new places we can check out - who knows, maybe even a vacation? Whatever it may be, it's going to be a grand old time with these twins :"3

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