On the morning of the 24th, I had a great breakfast cooked by Cheri. There were a number of guests around the table - an older couple from somewhere in the deep south of America (who talked a lot about farming things), and a couple of German guys who were very polite and unimposing.
The food style out here in BC seems to be very eclectic, and there seems to be a trend towards fusing mexican food with traditional breakfast items that strikes a really tasty twang. The variation of that that Cheri was cooking was a form of enchilada omlette stuffed with cheese and tomatoes and came with salsa etc. She cooked it in a large pan in the oven, and it was really tasty. It probably didn't help that I felt stuffed full from having returned so late at night only to gorge on some of the left over cookies.
I spoke with Cheri - as I had the previous night - regarding my accommodation predicament for tomorrow night, and I think she had been unsuccessful in her pinging of her network. I felt surprisingly at ease with myself, and she only added to that saying that no-one would let me go without a room. I thanked her for her help, and as the morning wound on I went through my now-clockwork routine for decamping from bed and breakfasts in preparation for departing. There is something nice about having to impose a certain amount of discipline on yourself when travelling. Arranging your bags in such a way that the items you need most are accessible, and you have solid ways of managing things like dirty laundry (which may not see a washing machine for whole week) and other stuff. This is in stark contrast to living a static existence at home, where you have to carry nothing with you.
The schedule for today was a mixture of pressing urgency and lingering uncertainty. In the urgency department, the morning begins as it means to go on. I have to make my way to the Chocolate Lily from Stonehaven in order to synch up with Karen and/or Rob, then I plan to see if I can leave the wheeled case with John at Mickey's Kits Beach Chalet until my arrival there on the 26th (2 nights away), then make it up to my Ice Hockey match Quarter final at Canada Place for 12:00pm, and then occupy myself once that ends up until the time that I need to get across the city to go to the Short Track Speed Skating session at the Pacific Coliseum out east of the city.
So I set off from Stonehaven at around 10am, and took a bus all the way to Pender street. It might have been a 26 or something, from Deep Cove straight to the center of Vancouver.
There, I got the trusty 22 down to Maple - the time now was approaching 11 something. When I got to the Chocolate Lily, I went to knock on the door. They had a note out saying they were in the Suite at the Front - the Linden - and also instructions for a German couple that I think were checking out. I found them there, and I got a look around in the Linden. A big suite with about 4 separate rooms, there was a newly installed kitchen (with "an oven big enough for a Turkey"). It looked great, and not that much more money than the Laurel in the scheme of things. The German couple arrived and we shook hands, said hello, talked olympics for all of 1 minute. They had a plane to catch, and I had a match to get to.
I hustled out of there and lugged my bag to John's place (Mickey's Kits) 5 minutes away where - having called him from the Laurel - I was able to get him to be there to take in my bags. He too had things to do for his next lot of guests. Apparently, B&B owners don't like one nighters. They can get away with only servicing the rooms properly every two or three nights, and here I am the third night in a row living as a one-nighter. John of course never mentioned this, and he was an extremely friendly, great guy with lots of knowledge and very helpful. I explained I needed to get to the match, and he told me I could get I think a number 4 bus from up the hill. I didn't choose that though - too risky on my schedule. So then, running only on fumes and an urgent need to be in the center of the city, I went and stood at the bus stop by the Chocolate lily. I was joined by the German couple and - soon - a load of people with many many bags. I wanted to make sure I got the prime spot on the bus, but once I saw how many busses were passing the stop completely full and unable to take more passengers, time started to move very quickly. Soon enough, it was quarter to 12, then 5 to 12....
Eventually, this day from hell yielded a bus that had room, and I made a point of piling on first. I was gripping olympics tickets, so I didn't need to pay. It always amazed me how pleasant the locals were to people like me who had multiplied the population of their city probably by two, and made it twice as hard for them to do their daily commutes. People were really friendly, and always accommodating.
I sprinted from the other end all the way down - can you believe it - the wrong part of Vancouver to get to my match. I wound up near Canada Place instead of at BC Place, and if you look at a map of vancouver you'll know it's a long bloody walk. Never have I been so confused. Fortunately, I knew this was happening quickly and managed to turn it around to get to the venue about 20 minutes late. It was really odd as I arrived at my seating area, because as I made my way past some people to get to my seat, I thought I recognised them. The lady even expressed familiarity to me, but I couldn't really place her so carried on past. I took my seat, and sure enough as I looked over I recognised the two younger people with her. They were the two people who were being leered at by a couple of drunken bozzo's sitting in front of them at the hockey game last night. Unmistakeable. Nice to see some familiar faces, but not quite the coincidence I had with seeing the Taxi people in the subway.
The match today was USA - a veritable global super power in ice hockey - vs Switzerland. I was told the match started well, with Switzerland and the US facing off. Problems then started to appear in the second period (roughly when I arrived) when there was a string of penalties caused by the Swiss. Most of it was just rough play, with really the Americans starting it all. It was only after the 4th player was off the ice for Switzerland and was about to come on the ice that - during the power play - the Americans scored their first goal 2 minutes into the 3rd period.
The Third period was defended well by the Swiss. The room was alight with Swiss fans, and others joining them, shouting what sounded like "Up Suisse" - the same chant we had at the Curling! As the third period end got nearer, the Swiss were sensing the writing on the wall - to progress any further, they needed all the help in the world. So they fielded their goalie. That's right - he left his goal, and came out onto the ice as a 6th player. And what do you think happened?
The outcome of the game was nothing the swiss would write home about to their families. The Americans took advantage and in 1.5 minutes, a puck was swishing the back of the Swiss net. All they could do was watch. According to the game record, the goalie went straight back into net for the last 12 seconds of the game. A humiliating blow against a team that played pretty well, and had tremendous support in the venue. I was cheering for them, and I felt that goal about as deeply as any of the Swiss people watching.
From the Hockey to the Short Track, there really is no sport that gets the blood pumping as much as this one. I prickle with excitement when I think back to each of these sessions, admiring the cat-and-mouse nature of the sport, and the tenuous grip each athlete has on the ice amongst a throng of pointy elbows, each one poised to burst one-anothers bubble at a stroke of a shoulder.
We started well with the women's 1000m heats, but this soon turned laughable. The first three races carried three DSQs, with shambollic performance all round. The Canadian women seemed strong, but in amongst the carnage of each of the first races, it seemed daunting to make headway through the morrasse. The excitement in these races boils up from the fact that they only have on the order of 6 or 7 laps to get it right, and the sprint finishes are always a mixed bag in the womens game. Most of the finishes are abundantly obvious as to the winners, and I think on this day the field was filled with low ranking participants.
Next up was the Men's 500m heats. This was going to be a blazing inferno, because we've got Charles Hamelin - world record holder, world number 1 etc. - here to show us how it's done. And the 500m races are a blink-and-you'll miss it affair, so speed, strategy and cunning are all part of the tapestry. The first three races got off to a good start, with each being won hands down by the Koreans. Hats off to an American skater, who plunged out quite hard but still put in his time of just over a minute - Everyone cheered him through. The 4th and 6th races were the real screamers, though. Up came Charles Hamelin, who put in a scorcher of a time with 41.4 seconds - the fastest of the night so far. He breezed to his finish on a wind made of Canadian fans screams. The next race saw a frenchman win, and the 6th race saw one of Hamelin's counterparts - Francois Louis Tremblay - set a new olympic record of 41.39.
As I watched this spectacle, I was of course joined by my now-obligatory ringside buddies - the people I had sat next to the last two events. Apparently, the reason we were always meeting like this was simple - the guy lived in the UK, and bought his tickets from Sportsworld.
We discussed the races, and I think we could see what was about to shock everyone in the stadium coming long before the third race of the night even started. Our conversation piece surrounded the controversial topic of how the Koreans got so damn good at Short Track Speed Skating. Our conclusion was some sort of magical tea. It almost proved right.
The women's 3000m relay carnage was about to begin, and the intensity was almost unbearable. They run two races - Final A and Final B. It really isn't possible to give commentary on STSS relays after the fact. Suffice to say that the Koreans and Chinese put in a superb-looking performance, with Canada a close third in Final A. The usual screaming helped propel the Canadian women into Bronze, with Kalyna Roberge the undoubted star of the team. You can instantly see ground being gained with her on the ice - a true talent. Again, I will eventually post my videos of the finals onto this blog.
When you get the opportunity to see your country medal at all at the Olympics it is a really nice moment, especially on home soil, and especially when you haven't been back for so long. It didn't matter that I hadn't been to Vancouver really at all ever, and to sit here was a truly fantastic experience, especially when the sport is such an exciting one! But what was the holdup in announcing the winners? We thought it might have been the usual deal - things take time. But there was a lot of toing-and-froing of officials back and forth, and a lot of blue korean uniforms around. What was going on?
Then there was an announcement I couldn't really hear, but I remember myself on video afterwards sounding elated that - at that moment - the Korean team being DSQed from Gold medal position. Holy Shit - Canada got Silver! Amazing!
I left the rink and headed out onto the concourse. People were filing out of the building less efficiently this time, and I seemed to be following a different path. I was walking and chatting to a guy about the races, and we cut through a cordon from a lower pathway onto the sidewalk where we noticed many people were coming from. When we got down to where the busses were, there was a transit official telling us on the pavement to go all the way back and join with the people who were on the lower pathway. The people emerging from the lower pathway in front of us were technically the beginning of the lineup, and we weren't allowed on the busses. I thought to myself this was wrong, and I said to the official "Look at all these people coming up this way. Are you going to tell all of them they cannot get on the bus?" He said that was exactly what he was going to do and things started getting a little tense. His enthusiasm for fighting the world soon abated, and although I felt targetted for questioning the policy for getting on the bus, I managed to sneak my way onto the second bus they had and managed to get back relatively quickly and unscathed.
After a long day, who wants to go back and eat microwave Kraft Dinner for supper? I needed a chill out, and decided to explore the many places to eat near the Chocolate Lily. My choice was guided after talking to Karen - I would eat at the Octopus Garden just around the corner.
I felt chilled out and elated about Canada's surprise success at the cost of Korea. I entered the Garden and was greeted by a nice Japanese lady. I decided to sit at the bar where others were sitting, and soaked in the atmosphere. There are many Octopus shaped things, and many Japanese touches. The owner - Sato - is a really nice guy who hovers around behind the scenes, in more of an overseeing capacity but also making many nice things. He was very conversational, and I was in a really good mood, trying to enjoy my last few days here.
I ordered the Olympic Sushi - a stack of sushi roll pieces in the shape of an inukshuk. I also had plum wine, and jasmine tea. There were photos of many stars coming and eating here, including Steven Segal, I'm sure there was an ex-american president. Various others who are famous, but I forget who they are.
The food was really good and fresh. I had trouble eating the large pieces of sushi with chop sticks, but that just shows what a pleb I probably am with chop sticks as opposed to a reflection on the suitability of the food for eating with this tool. I really enjoyed the place, and got into conversation with the people around me about the olympics. Everyone was really friendly, and I will definitely go there again on my return to Vancouver. I recommend Octopus Garden to one and All!
And on that note, I went back to the Chocolate lily and crashed out in bed.
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