Shiki Sushi

Shiki Sushi is a place i've been to a few times before but it has been a while. I was being treated by my wife to supper so I thought why not try it again.

They have all you can eat during the week so we both went for that and tried things we don't normally try. All the nigiri was very fresh tasting. The asari (clams) in garlic butter was divine. The oyster motoyaki was also delicious. The vegetable gyoza was also tasty. We also had the sunumono salad and I had the seaweed salad. All delicious.

We'd cme back here again. Recommend that for all-you-can-eat, order the next item once you get served an order. That way you're never waiting.

Creekmore's Coffee Cafe

We were recommended Creekmore's Coffee by the owner of Sauna House B&B when we were heading home. The unusual combinations interested us: Yam burrito, cashew wrap...etc.

I ordered the Crunchy Cashew with shredded carrots, cabbage, vermicelli noodles, romaine, cashews and peanut sauce. It was delicious and nutritious.

I also had the Italian sausage and ministrone soup. It tasted very wholesome and they definitly did not skimp on the sausages!

We'd come here again as a cheaper alternative to Cukoos at Coombs farm.

Postcard of the Interwebs - 25 March 2015

Atmospheres of the Solar System: What each planet's atmosphere is made from.

What are the Odds: A great poster detailing the chances of you being you and the odds of it happening.

Sounds from NASA: For your cell phone or whatever.

Quote from Issac Asimov: Excellent words to live by.

Four Agreements: Four ways to be noble towards others.

How to find purpose infographic: Nice way of depicting if you have found your purpose in life.

Cooking with Spices: A great article and printable images of how to use and create with spices.

Tofino - Wolf in the Fog Resterant

Wolf in the Fog is one of the newest resteraunts in Tofino. It has a lounge on the main level and the larger resteraunt in the upstairs area. They are made up of many from the Pointe resteraunt.

We shared charred Humboldt squid, with grapefruit, sprouts, cilantro, and basil. The taste combinations were excellent and the squid was beaten expertly to make it soft and pliable.

The main was also shared and was the French Bombshell made up of scallops, shellfish ‘bourguignon’, black cod, baguette, and endive salad. The sauce in particular was delicious and the shellfish was cooked to perfection. Even the bread was authentically French.

One thing we cannot recommend, except to be shared with four people, was the dessert: the Tofino Blackout. Its description lists it as flourless chocolate cake with milk chocolate gelato. In reality it was multiple layers of different kinds of chocolate. My wife and I could not finish the dessert, it was so chocolaty. Only the second time in my life I was defeated by chocolate.

Tofino

We went up to Tofino last weekend, as we both had an extra day off. The weather was very accomodating.

Some jays were poking around at the Saunda House B&B Bird Lover's Loft.

As always, the breakfasts were filling and delicious!

The surfurs and sea birds were out on Saturday morning.

Lunch at Sobo was delicious with the special vegetable, bean and shitake soup.

This huge slug had a pronounced breathing hole

On the last full day, there were parasailers honing thier craft.

Chocolat Victoria

Chocolat Victoria is a chocalier in downtown Victoria that has been here for over twenty-five years. I only recently decided to check them out and I'm glad I did.

I've tried the Xocolatl (Mexican spicy chocolate drink) and the dense chocolate (very thick European style). Both are delicious and as with all good chocolate, you don't need much to be satisfied.

I also tried thier rare Pure Nacional chocolate bar and it was delicious.

Although they are not accociated with any fair trade organization, many items are single source.

I'd come here again.

Grilled to the Mac

Grilled to the Mac is a local Victoria food cart that serves gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches and mac and cheese sandwiches. I tried the sourdough mac and cheese sandwich and it was delicious. I chose the added Island bacon of course. I'd eat here again.

Dead Beetz Food Truck

Dead Beetz is a local Victoria food truck that was invited by Gottacon staff to set up nearby for the convention gamers.

It had been a while since I had a burger with pickled beets on top so I ordered that with a side of vegetable chips. The first time I had one was in Australia at a Burger King (Called Hungry Jack's down there. I was desperate), in which their version had a fried egg and pickled beets on top. It was deviously delicious.

The burger that I had from Dead Beetz had great flavour and the pickled beet always kicks it up a notch to make all the taste buds smile. The vegetable chips were also good with a mixture of yams, potatoes and beets. I ate here twice over the weekend.

Costumes of Gottacon 2015

Here are a smattering of the excellent costumes and cosplay of Gottacon 2015. For what I did during the convention, see my gaming blog post here.

Art Films...of Art. Tim's Vermeer and National Gallery

In the last while i've seen two art films, of art, that are excellent and enlightening films on their own: Tim's Vermeer  and National Gallery.

Tim's Vermeer is a documentary about a man attempting to recreate a Vermeer using experimentation of optical devices to paint an exact image, as he believed Johannes Vermeer had once done. In particular he wanted to recreate The Music Lesson, seen here. The journey of him discovering techniques to paint exact scenes with no prior painting experience is extraordinary.

National Gallery is a Frederick Wiseman film showcasing the art and life in the British National Gallery. At three hours long it might seem too long but after seeing a film on the Vatican art that was only an hour I appreciate this endeavour much more. Not only did I learn about several famous pieces of art but learned more about how to look at art: history, function, intended vs current placement, restoration. A superb film.