Sports, Food, and the Apprentice

More musings and general updates…

• The Ryder Cup was on last weekend in Newport, Wales which is only about 20 minutes away. I wish I had checked about tickets earlier, because by the time I thought of it the even was sold out. I’m not normally into watching golf on TV, but the Ryder Cup is different – it’s a rare chance to see team golf, where the players win points for their nation (Europe vs USA). This team aspect makes it so much more engaging, with the crowds much more into it and the players (especially the partnerships) showing camaraderie and energy rarely seen in golf. Fantastic!
• Baseball playoffs and hockey season starts this week, proving that October is the best month to be a sports fan. For me, this is aided by our subscription to “ESPN America”, the US Sports companion channel to ESPN UK. ESPN America shows lots of live baseball and hockey, and from what I can tell, they only have two advertisers (American Airlines and a poker site) – the rest of the ad breaks are promos for their other shows. If you watch a tape-delayed game, they condense the breaks so it’s almost like watching sports with no advertising. Woohoo!
• Our whole family misses the King Mongolian Grill in Port Coquitlam, which is a little restaurant back home that essentially does make-your-own stir fry’s. From my extensive research, there is nothing around here that is similar, although apparently London has places of that ilk. Another rarity is cheap sushi. Sushi can be found quite readily, but it is generally quite a bit pricier than the plethora of offerings in Vancouver. On the plus side, you can find Indian restaurants at every turn here.
• Once a week Rachel and I go out for a lunch date, which coincides on the day that the girls have school dinners (the school serves hot lunches every day, so we let Connie and Heidi have school dinners once a week). Given that we don’t have as many babysitting options here, we’re not able to go out in the evenings very often, so these lunch dates have been a nice way of making up for that. Most weeks feature a nice meal out and a walk through different parts of the city. We plan to visit as many of the varied dining establishments as possible.
• Unlike the USA, The Apprentice TV show has really caught on here, and a new series started this week. Playing the role of Donald Trump is Alan Sugar, former chairman of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club and self-made megalomaniac. Everyone on the show refers to him as “Lord Sugar”, which I just can’t get over – it sounds too much like “Lord Vader” to me. Apparently Sugar really is an honest to goodness Lord, but I prefer to think that he isn’t and just makes everyone call him that, in true Trump fashion.
• We’ve planned a short trip to Germany for later this month to visit my Gran. She’s 96 and still going strong! This will be my first opportunity to proudly present my newly-acquired German passport.
• Happy Canadian Thanksgiving to everyone – we shall be celebrating with a proper turkey dinner tonight!