*Vancouver Food Truck Reviews*

Vancouver street food has now reached a new level of quality and flavor with the rise of unique and exciting food trucks that can be found all over the city at any time!The food trucks are a great way to eat reasonably priced food on the go in sunshine as the summer rolls in. We spent a week during our photo and blogging class sampling and reviewing a few interesting new food trucks. With the help of the Vancouver street food smart phone application ( http://streetfoodapp.com/vancouver  ) we were able to locate the trucks and their opening times during our two hour class from 1.30-3.20. This is what we found, enjoy! We certainly did :)

Mom's Grilled Cheese Truck

 We absolutely %100 recommend Mom's Food Truck! There are great sandwiches, a nice location and vivacious counter sellers. Mom is there herself everyday and they all like to recommend different sandwiches to try. When you get your sandwiches, you will also get a big smile and decadent food You do not have to wait to get your order. We tried a Mom's classic, which has rich thick cheese and bacon. They can be simple or classic sandwich styles and are served with crispy potato chips and big pickles inside a cone. It was so good we went back a second time and they even remembered us. you can find it most days from 11.30-3pm out side the Vancouver Art Gallery.

The Menu

Mori and Calvin

Enjoying grilled cheese in the sun!

The lovely 'Mom' and amazing server Shirai! So friendly

Kaboom Box 

Kaboom Box sells Sandwiches. We ordered the 'Salmwich combo' (Salmon burger and Poutine).
  Every Tuesday, any combo costs $10! It is chewy and very moist inside. This food is smooth and we can taste the fresh smoked salmon.The seller was friendly, and they explained everything on the menu and he had a smile. When we tried to take a photo, he posed for us. Lastly, this Salmwich is big portion for one person. Awesome value!

Kaboom box 'Salmwich"

 
 Garbanzos

Falafel and fries

Garbanzos sells some vegetarian plates. We ordered the 'Falafel Plate', which costs $7.They use fresh vegetables so it was really delicious. You can really smell the fresh cilantro.However, if you do not like cilantro, this food is not good for you. Also, they use fried garbanzo beans instead of meat. It was a large portion! The woman, seller was really kind. . Additionally, we ordered a wrap, and it was little bit hard to eat.So be prepare to get messy! We recommend this food to vegetarians. Also, this food is good for your health. Pretty great!

Our class in front of garbanzo's with Brazilians Thauan and Victor~

EAT Chicken Wraps
Eats chicken sells different kinds of chicken rolls. We ordered the 'Hoisin Chicken Roll', which costs $8 This food is Chinese influenced. They wrap the chicken in a thin fried pancake, so it's a little bit oily and crispy. But delicious! This truck has peanuts for free so you can eat them while you wait! It was a large portion. The Roll and Wrap are fresh and unique. If you try this food, it will give you a unique experience experience. We recommend this food truck.

Free peanuts while you wait.

Soho Road

Naan Kebabs

Soho Road sells Indian style kebabs. We ordered the 'Butter Chicken and Tandoori chicken (small size) which costs $6.5 per each one. This food tastes very nice because the chicken and sauce were both delicious. It was crispy and little bit oily.The seller was so kind to us, and he had shown us sauce before we ordered it.  It was quite a large portion. If you go with a your friend, it would be best to order the bigger size and divide into 2 people. Then you can save some money.

Butter chicken Wrap

CHAI TEA

                                              Mogu
 Mogu is a Japanese style Sandwich truck. We tried the "Ebikatsu Sandwich" (shrimp). The sandwich has rich shrimps inside a deep fried patty, with vegetables and a special sauce, it tasted so good. And the food truck has very cute. It's price was $8.5. You might have to wait a little time for it. During that time, the sellers talk with you and give you a cup of Japanese tea. The Sandwich size was satisfactory for one person. Maybe it was a little expensive but it was a very rich and delicious sandwich. They have likeable Japanese sellers, and we think that will improve their market.

Shrimp sandwich

  Arturo's 

Mexico to go

Arturo's is a Mexico style food. It's near Waterfront Station. We tried the chicken and pork Taco. The tacos have pork, chicken, tomato, sauerkraut, and some tomato sauce, it tasted a little spicy but had a lot of meat so it was very delicious. Arturo's taco price was cheap, it's one taco for $3. The food truck's owner (Arturo) is very friendly, when you were waiting for the food he would talk about everything and anything with you. The taco size was so-so, but it's enough for for an on-the-go snack. I think you should try it. Then you will want to eat it again.

The class with Arturo

Pork taco

                                                   Aussie Pie Guy

We found the Aussie Pie Guy near I.H. School on Granville St. We tried the cheeky pie (all the other pies were sold out). On the outside it has pastry and inside a rich red wine gravy sauce with mushrooms, carrot mash, rosemary and garlic.It was small portion but it was really awesome. The irish seller gave us lots of friendly information and let us try on some Australian costumes.

Costume time while we wait!

Japadog

Japadog sells Japanese and Korean infused hot dogs. We ordered the 'Kurobuta terimayo', which costs $6.25.It is chewy and smells really great. It is almost the same as a normal hot dog, but a little bit different with .It was good, but it was small portion. Also, it took some time waiting after we ordered food. The seller was really kind, and explained everything on the menu. If you are hungry, you can try good quality hotdogs here . It is not very expensive.

            

Food Truck Rank 

/10

1st> Moms 9.5

2nd> EAT chicken 9

3rd >Kaboom Box 8.5

4th> Mogu 8

5th >Soho Road 7.8

6th> Japadog 7.5

7th> Garbanzos 7

8th> Aussie Pie 7

Gandharva Loca World Music Shop.

We visited Gandharva Loka World Music Shop during our photography class. It's an amazing place on Granville Island. Gandharva Loka is the only music shop in Vancouver that sells music instruments from around the world. It carries a variety of exciting ancient and modern instruments. Also, they have become a hub of musical creativity offering workshops on everything from sound healing workshops to Ukelele lessons for beginners.
Gandharva Loka offers a unique selection of many types of instruments from around the world such as melodic (xylophone), percussive (drums), stringed (violin) and wind (flute) instruments.
    On October 13, 1988, Panchajanya Christian Burri opened a universal music store with instruments from all over the world. "Gandharva Loka" means "the Abode of Celestial Musicians". This Granville Island store is dedicated to the life of musician Sri Chinmoy and his endless message of peace. Sri Chinmoy spent his whole life serving the world community. He believed "music is the mother tongue of humanity", and that through music we can inspire the best in humanity to blossom. Sri Chinmoy played more than 170 instruments; and over his lifetime, wrote more than 15,000 songs, and performed more than 700 peace concerts around the world, including several in Vancouver.

Front of Gandharva Loka World Music Shop

Melody box

Sansula (Round) & Kalmaba (Square)

DJembe

Wind Charms

Moo Box

Pipa

Xylophone

Mouth Harp

Minho sitting on the harp chair

The Gandharva Loka World Music Shop is located on Granville Island in  Vancouver. This store is out side the net loft and in front of  the Public Market.
If you can't find it just call 604 683 7733,  you will find it. Awesome!!!
Address is 1650 Johnston Street, Vancouver

Spring is here...FINALLY!

Spring

 regrowth, renewal, rebirth, life-cycles, new beginnings, awakening, LIFE!

Spring music and Song.

By Calvin Lai



Relaxation and Vitality.

By Woo Youn Hwang (Kate)

Tender Green, worm sun, soft wind.

By Joshua Hung

Exhibition Responses:

         The I.H Bloggers went to the Vancouver Art Gallery a few weeks ago and had the pleasure of seeing two great photography exhibitions. The first was Edward Burtynsky's 'A Terrible Beauty'  which is a collection of large photographs of natural and man-made landscapes that show us the enormous reach of human companies, projects and industries like tailing ponds, dams, factories, refineries, recycling dumps and the impact these places have on our environment. The photographs at first glance look like beautiful paintings but when you get up close and read deeper into them, they reveal the truth about how humans destroy and misuse our natural resources. 
      The second Exhibition is a group show titled 'Out of Sight, New Acquisitions' that focuses on how we perceive and represent what we see in our everyday encounters, for e.g : the movement of the body, a drip of milk into a cup, a bullet passing through a banana ...etc.
           The photography and blogging class were asked to make a photographic response to the ideas, concepts and emotions they felt and saw during both of these exhibitions. These are the projects they came up with.....

You Can't Eat Money

"When the Last Tree Is Cut Down, 

the last Fish Eaten, and the Last stream Poisoned, 

You will Realize That You Cannot Eat Money"

 -First nations proverb

  This project is a photographic response to Ed Burtynsky's 'A Terrible Beauty'. Burtynsky's picture shows the destruction of nature by people, oil spills and industrial disasters. I thought 'Terrible Beauty' has been expressed from the greed of people and eventually they move toward the money. In capitalist society, The worst thing is that people see nature only as a means to make money. 

 But if people destroy all of nature to make money, can you imagine the world without nature? If we don't have any nature then can you eat Money? Obviously you cannot. You might have in great abundance the money obtained by destroying nature. What will you be able to buy when you have destroyed nature?You cannot expect fresh food and water because it won't be natural anymore. However, you will be able to taste the only chemical unknown material that is artificially created by money!I think that we need to wake up and make sure there is no excessive greed other than what is necessary.

                      By Woo Youn Hwang

The Terrible Beauty of Water

    These photographs are a Photographic response to Ed Burtynsky’s  “A Terrible Beauty”, who used a camera to look at this world and tell information from human's great achievements and calamities. this would be very difficult to discover if Ed Burtynsky or someone else didn't use his camera. But I want to try a different mode, that uses a camera to look around at the small picture of my world, that also was different to find. This project that is part of my Water series I took photos in different weather conditions by smart phone. These images of water exist every where, old bucket, drain full of garbage, used balcony, drying ditch flowing with water that looks animated. 

When you see the balcony puddle, that reflects the sky and smells of nature, it can help you to forget annoyances; After rainy old bucket adhere moss and full in water, then breeze blow on water to create a wave, this view would catch your eyes and you would feeling time walking very slow and image anything I can do, in this time; The garbage wash by rainwater in drain, this time you can see through the gap to feel other small worlds full of live, if you see before they are full of garbage you won't believe it was the same drain. 

  Water symbolizes everything, also it's good or evil. The evil, like humans, destroy everything. Then they will become beyond redemption, but always there will remain a tiny opportunity, if you stop it now, then try to fix and keep it, one day, the beauty of world will come again.

By Roger Chen

The Beauty of Ink

glass/water/ blue ink

glass/water/blue ink

glass/water/wine

I would like to remind people.Sometimes we look at  something  beautiful  but pollution happens at the same time.it likes the blue ink presents in the water. To pour wine in the water . It  presented the strong contrast to present the serious water pollution.Why I used blue ink and wine and water to preset this topic , because the material is easy to get and use.
    Pure water is an important resource for life. It is polluted and wasted easily. Everyone has a  responsibility to protect our environment and save water. You must be careful when you use water , if you see someone pollute water you have to do something for it to protect our environment.

By Joshua Hung

Recycling at International House.

  This week, we visited Ed Burtynsky's “A Terrible Beauty” in the Vancouver Art Gallery. There were many amazing pictures, but there were terrible things which they told about humans destroying the earth. It made you feel strong and scared.

   I always see a lot of students, they throw away everything in a garbage bin, but they don’t recycle it. You can see it’s terrible in a garbage bin. I took pictures of garbage bins in I.H. Because you could see bottles, papers and food. There are many recycle boxes in the school, but nobody uses it. Sometimes, teachers tell students to recycle which will be better for the world.

  I want to tell everyone to focus on recycling, don’t forget do it, when we throw things in the garbage. It’s really important.  We don’t want to damage the environment, so we need to protect it. I believe the world can be great.

By Calvin Lai 

Sharing our opinions.....

The Importance of a Good Lunch

       Good Lunch can give people a lot of energy, and then they can work efficiently. For students it's most important. In my survey, I asked some I.H students some questions about their lunches. I found the student’s lunch didn't look good, actually most of them didn't like it at all. Why? One student said: “it’s not enough for me and it's unhealthy". And another student said: "my lunch is not often changed, just once a week I get something different". Now we have some problems. A good lunch needs variety and healthy options (sometimes it would be nice to have food from our home Countries)   

       Noodles are just water mixed with flavored chemicals, they're not nutritious. Sandwiches and simple meals like; rice and meat, two pieces of bread with cheese or JUST a loaf of bread! Canned Foods or packaged food and soft drink or juice also fast food; that isn't a good lunch good at all. It's important to make a fresh lunch and it's cheaper than you spending your money on eating out.

    Balanced diets need regular change and different food. I think a balanced diet; three kinds of vegetables, meat, fruit with different carbohydrates is necessary. Just spend a little more money for your daily nutrition, the health is important for humans, if you don't have health you won't have a future.

                                                                                      by Roger Chen

Fun Places to Exercise in Vancouver

     Vancouver is a beautiful city. Many people like the streets, mountains, ocean and sunshine. Vancouverites like outdoor activities ,some like jogging, snowboarding, skateboarding and more, so I interviewed some people, and they told me some things that are very fun, interesting and good for your health. Many I.H. people like jogging in Vancouver. Hana is an I.H. student, before she came here she was a runner in Japan. Then she kept doing it. She likes jogging in Stanley Park as she feels it has a beautiful view of the ocean and fresh air. Then there is Mily, she is always jogging around the Oak st. blocks. She sees many different buildings and enjoys the streets. She wants to keep slim. Another student is Clair who often jogs in Mundy Park. She always does it in the afternoon every weekend, she said "it's good for her health."

  Skateboarding is very popular in Vancouver, many young people do it very well. One skater told me "he thinks its very fun, very cool and that he has been skateboarding for about 10 years." When I saw him fall down, they always said "That's OK, it's normal, don't worry. If you think it's dangerous, you will be scared of it and always be to careful, than you can't do it well." He told me if you want to skateboard, you can go to the club or join here and you will meet more friends. Skateboarding is really cool and fun. You should try it. They are really funny and friendly people who do it.

By Calvin Lai

Would you share?

   Would you share a house with an unknown? If your answer is not, maybe you are losing a chance to have one of the best experiences of your life! That’s because to discover new habits and new cultures might make a difference in your life.

   It is the best option in Vancouver for who want to save money. The high rent prices made Talya Florian make this decision. There are 10 years that she shared a house. But in the beginning she had bad experiences because some of her past roommates disappointed her. “I didn't feel like it was my house, but their house, sometimes If I had something on the floor, I needed to pick up and clean quickly”, she remembers.

     After all, she finally found another opportunity to find an ideal house through Craigslist (a popular site where people put many kinds of ads in Vancouver). It was thanks to this site that Talya met these special people who she now lives with. “We are like a family, we look out for each other, and we make sure everyone is happy”. There is one year and half she is in this new house. In her opinion the biggest advantage is that she can pay a fair price and choose to live in a house, not in a small apartment, like a little box. “I have a big garden; I can plant vegetables and herbs, make fires, play music, etc.”

    Another option in Vancouver is the I.H Student House (a big house made only for students). There are three weeks that Woo Youn Hwang knew her new roommates. In her country, South Korea, she had been living with a friend for three years. And in this case she knew this girl before. But in her firsts days at the student she had to share a house with complete strangers. She was afraid, because she had no idea who would be her roommates. But now, she has adapted and she has learned from her “roomies” from different countries, such as Brazil, Switzerland, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, etc. “The best thing is all students study in the same school and it's easier to be close with them”.

    Mariana Favorito is a Brazilian student and now she has adopted a different routine in her life; to live with a Korean girl. They rent an apartment in North Vancouver. Despite the fact that there are big differences between them, they are becoming close to each other. “It’s my first time sharing a house, it’s totally different and new for me. In Brazil I have my privacy”, Mariana tells. Frequently they go to shopping together where they share experiences about food. Mariana already tried Korean rice and Kate tried Brazilian Spaghetti.“Now in our apartment there are some Korean customs and Brazilian customs, but we can respect each other”.

     All these situations bring knowledge and personal growth for those who want new experiences. It’s ideal for people who are looking for ways of English improvement. “Now I can learn more English out side of school”, Mariana points. It’s also is a perfect idea for those who want to know how to deal with people; “I used to have a problems with people in the past and I would say anything because I didn't like confronting people, now I’m very open, If I have a problem I talk about it NOW, not later, NOW.
by Tais Gomes

Cell phones; distracting people from life!

   Nowadays, we can see people are using their cell phones every where all the time. I interviewed some I.H students and most of them think cell phones are too distracting.A girl from Korea, said "I cannot concentrate on my work because of my cell phone. I have to send the reply to my friend." A man from Japan has a more serious experience. He said, "One day, I used a cell phone while driving. I couldn't see the car in front of mine so I almost had an accident." Even Cell phone is threatening our lives!We use them for sending messages, playing games, checking Facebook, searching the internet, we are using them when we are alone.        That's why it's easy to look at people who are using cell phones on the bus because we ride the bus alone as well. Almost all of the passengers on the bus are using their cell phones. Most Canadian buses are very quiet. Sometimes it feels a little bit scary. They look like they're not interested in other neighbors. I think I need more time to think about how I use cell phones and to try and separate myself from it more often. YOU SHOULD TOO!!! 
                                                By Woo Youn Hwang