Glenbow, Metropolitan Grill & Wa’s Japanese in Calgary
Feb 16
Glenbow (a museum) on Stephen Street sounded interesting for a visit, as one of the features was an exhibition of the street photographer, Fred Herzog.
Fred Herzog was a Canadian immigrant from Germany. He took a lot of nice Vancouver street photos in colour.
The generation of our parents would love and miss those days by looking at these photos.
We can appreciate the neon on Vancouver’s streets – it was really cool and bright.
By the way, it sounds like he referred to the “so-called holocaust” in an interview with the Globe and Mail and it became controversial…
Stephen St in Calgary:
Glenbow:
University of Calgary:
Where is everybody? Indoors? It’s a Saturday morning, but no people hanging around?
When we entered a mall, we found some.
A metal horse. This was here when we were here 6 years ago:
My hubby joining in the conversation:
Late lunch at the Metropolitan Grill:
Calamari was good and the salad with real chunks of smoked salmon was really good!
Metropolitan Grill (403) 263-5432 Stephen Avenue, 317 7 Ave SW #150 Calgary, AB
Walked down the 4 St, peeking in shops.
Central Memorial Park:
A weird crow tower in front of Shelf Life Books:
We took a rest at our hotel and then went for dinner @ Wa’s Japanese.
I was actually looking forward to having ramen, but at this moment, I wanted to have udon. They’ve got a variety on the menu and the service was good. We’d love to come back again.
Wa's Japanese (403) 277-2077 1721 Centre St N Calgary, ABTagged with: Fred Herzog, Glenbow, Metropolitan Grill, Wa's Japanese
The Coup in Calgary
Feb 15
We went to Calgary.
Last year, we passed by a few times, but we hadn’t made any actual visits to the city for 6.5 years!
This is 6.5 years ago:
We stayed at the same hotel, Best Western, this time as well. I remembered the hotel when we got there.
I caught a cold just before this short trip. So I was making uncomfortable noises… very bad.
Why would you go on a trip when feeling sick? Well, it was already planned and we were looking forward to it, and this trip could be the last trip before having our BB. So why not? We departed Edmonton praying my cough would go away soon…
The weather was nice and so was the drive. In Japan, we have highway stations. It’s a rest area with toilets, gas and snack/souvenirs along the major highways. There is no such thing in Canada, even though the distances are so vast, compared to Japan! There are a few towns or gas stations along the way, but too few. We have to drive off the major road to get to a small town to get what we need. It’s sometimes 2-3 kms away. This is important as I need to go to the washroom often in my pregnant condition and my hubby also as he is a coffee lover.
We packed a lunch from our fridge-left-overs and when we finished eating, we arrived in Calgary! It’s about a 3-hour drive (it’s 4 hours if there is snow on the road or a snowstorm).
I think Calgary has a similar temperature to Edmonton’s, but on this day it went up to 12 c degrees! So warm!
We went to the Consulate General of Japan in Calgary to pick up the official translation of my Japanese driver’s license. A lady at the counter explained the related matters in details for me. It was a nice visit.
That was the only thing that I had to do in Calgary. Now we were free here for 2 days. We spent time hanging around the city.
This night, we went to a organic restaurant, The Coup, for dinner.
They have a bar area too. Beer is also local and organic. We arrived at 7:00. It was already full.
We had some drinks and an appetizer at the bar until a table got available for us.
My hubby’s beer on the left, and my mint lime lemon iced tea on the right.
This was great. The dip which looks like a snow man consists of some beets, peas, and soft nice cheese on the bottom. I didn’t read the ingredients, so I’m not too sure what they are, but it tasted very nice and healthy. The presentation was also cool. We really liked it.
We moved to a table and ordered mains.
The place was really dark and I couldn’t photograph my hubby’s dishes. Too bad! He had a soup of the day and the grazer burger (some kind of tofu burger). He said it was really good too.
Mine was beachfront hot pot, which I had already decided to have by looking at their website before coming to the restaurant. The soup was coconut and tomato soup. So I was imagining a thick laksa-like soup, and it was like that. The vermicelli was a bit so-so, but I liked that it had a lot of root veggies as its topping. It made me so warm. We got really full!
He was happy! And of course me too as you can see. Happy together!
The Coup (403) 541-1041 924 17 Ave SW, Calgary, AB
Got an Alberta driver’s license!
Having said that, it’s a temporary license.
The temporary one was issued right on the spot at the counter. Yay!
My Japanese license was taken away.
The required items to apply for an Alberta driver’s license are:
- Permanent Residency
- A Japanese driver’s license
- Official translation of the license (issued by Consulate General of Japan)
- Proof of address
- Fee $91.80
When I read someone else’s blog a few years ago, the fee was $65. It’s so quick to go up!
I also read some webpage that said they used to require a small test. But it’s stopped now.
I got a picture taken without a smile. The license will be sent to me in about 2 weeks.
To have a Japanese license translated into English officially, you have to apply for it at the Consulate General of Japan, and it costs $26.
If you apply by post, you need to send a copy of your passport, 2 copies of your driver’s license along with the original, the application form, a money order of $26 and a registered envelop for it to be returned.
I forgot to put my actual license when I sent it, but they said it was OK on the condition that I come and pick it up and show it at the counter. So I didn’t need to send it by post. Thanks!!
The provincial capital of Alberta is Edmonton, and the Consulate General of Japan was here before, but somehow it moved to Calgary… It’s about a 3-hour drive from here. They accept the application by post as well, so I did it that way. At first, send them a letter to ask for the form with a envelop for it to be returned. Then make a money order of $26 at your bank. It cost $7 to make it at RBC. Quite expensive. If you want them to send it back once it’s done, you need to include a registered envelop for it to be returned. Small costs pile up… They sometimes come and visit Edmonton for convenience, so you can use that service as well. As we were going to Lake Louise and could drop by, we went there and picked it up. I got the official translation finally!
I’m expecting and its winter now and the snow & ice are quite dangerous. So I’m not going to drive unless it’s necessary, but it’s nice to have a Canadian driver’s license.
My Japanese driver’s license was taken away, but it will be returned to the Consulate General of Japan after 4 or more months (not 100% of the time). After confirming, I need to go there again to take it back. In Japan, we don’t have birth certificates or other IDs with us. So driver’s licenses are very important for us. Sounds like it’s only for Japanese. Others won’t get them back. We are so lucky.
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