On My Way to Montreal....

As I enter this blog post, I am sat in Vancouver airport awaiting my flight to Montreal, as I head off to attend the Canadian F1 Grand Prix. I am hosting a Dealer event at the Canadian Grand Prix and so looking forward to a fun-packed weekend.

My only concern is where will I watch the all important England Vs USA World Cup match tomorrow. COME ON ENGLAND!

I would just like to thank....

is what I would have said if there was a winner's speech required at my playoff tennis final last night. Sadly, no speech was needed but I did take away the honour of winning the second group playoff in the UBC tennis league.

I have been playing in the league for the last 12 weeks and last night was the playoff finals. I beat two opponents (both 5-1, 5-1) to make it to the grand final and I won this 9-0 to take the title. The prize was simply an hour's free court time on the University courts, but the glory is what I enjoyed the most.

Two Years and Counting

Today is our two year anniversary of our wedding at Poet's Cove, Pender Island.... how quickly times goes by. As I type this I am also staring out of our apartment window at the Vancouver mountains and Stanley Park and so we have come some way in two years. Although I also notice that the weather is poor in comparison to the day we got married; there is no way that Emily or Scott M would get sunstroke with today's rain.

We celebrated our two year wedding anniversary in two ways. Firstly, we spent the weekend on Bowen Island, which is a 25 minute ferry ride away from West Vancouver. A place that I visited last year for a day trip and where, Nancy's grandfather has a street named after him, from when he was the Vancouver Mayor in 1930s. We borrowed a friends holiday cottage for the weekend and enjoyed a very relaxing weekend. The highlights of the trip included a long hike around the local lake, dinner at a little restaurant called Blue Eyed Mary's and a couple of drinks at the local pub. We even had a wild deer visit the cottage's garden for a feed. Bowen Island is very picturesque and the countryside was scenic beyond belief, we certainly felt isolated from civilisation which heightened our relaxation.

Secondly, we have a table reserved, this evening, at the Teahouse Restuarant which is situated in Stanley Park, upon the hill overlooking English Bay. This is a place that Nancy has wanted to eat at for a long time and we just needed a special occasion to be a reason. Not sure it will be the Birch in Woburn, but I'm sure it will perfect to celebrate our first two years of our marriage (with many more in the pipeline). I better sign off and get ready to leave, so here's to the future.

Countdown to the Washington DC trip!

Even though Washington DC ranked ONLY 43rd in the world for the best cities to live, Ross is convinced that it is the best place for fun and entertainment. So at his request and in light of the two challenges having deadlines for the 23rd August, I have created a new countdown clock for everyone's arrival into DC. We can all literally count down the days and hours until the fun begins.

Check out the countdown clock, just underneath the comments section in the right-hand column.

Vancouver is the 4th Best City in the World!

Nancy has been saying it for some time, but now there is real evidence that Vancouver is one of the best cities to live in, in terms of quality of life.

Mercer’s Quality of Living index is completed on an annual basis for 221 cities around the world and the ranking helps governments and multi-national companies compensate employees fairly when placing them on international assignments. The rankings are based on a point-scoring index.

This year, Vienna retains the top spot as the city with the world’s best quality of living, while Zurich and Geneva follow in second and third position, respectively. Vancouver and Auckland remain joint fourth in the rankings. Canadian cities actually dominate the top of the index with Vancouver (4) retaining the top spot, followed by Ottawa (14), Toronto (16) and Montreal (21). Calgary ranks 28 on the overall quality of living ranking. In the UK, London is the highest-ranking city at 39, followed by newcomer to the list Aberdeen (53), Birmingham (55), Glasgow (57) and Belfast (63). Milton Keynes didn't even make the list!!!

The top fifty ranked cities are on this list:
http://www.mercer.com/qualityoflivingpr#City_Ranking_Tables

The May Long Weekend - Victoria Day

This May weekend is a long weekend for us in Canada and all thanks to the Queen of England. This is because today is a Canadian statutory holiday in honour of both Queen Victoria's birhtday and the current reigning Canadian sovereign's official birthday, and is also considered an informal mark of the beginning of the summer season.

Nancy and I have taken the opportunity of the extended weekend for a number of activities and fun stuff. Friday evening involved dinner/drinks followed by a night with Eddie Izzard, as we saw him perform live at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. He was certainly funny as you would expect, but many of the topics were very random indeed. Saturday AM was a morning of cleaning the apartment and watching the European Cup Final, while the afternoon we drove to the wilds of Chilliwack to have dinner with friends.

Sunday was a trip across the USA border to Seattle for a Seattle Mariners baseball game with Scott M and his friend Ryan. Although the baseball match was a white wash to the team from San Diego (score 8-1), it was a enjoyable day out with an awesome view of the field. We followed this up with a bit of shopping at the outlet mall and dinner at a highly-recommended Mexican restaurant.

This leaves Monday free for a relaxing day in Vancouver - all thanks to the Queen!

Another 10K - This Time for Charity

In the last couple of weeks I have completed two 10K runs (Vancouver Sun Run & Victoria Times Colonist) and now I have signed up for a third run on 10th July. The reason is that it keeps me on-track with my run training, ahead on the weight challenge AND I can raise some funds for cancer research at the same time.

The attached link has all the details and so please check it out. As you will see from the link, I’ve joined BC Cancer Foundation’s Underwear Affair - a 10K run to uncover cures for cancers below the waist. It’s not only fun, but it fights cancer. I’ll be just one of thousands of people gathered on the streets of Vancouver this summer in the biggest Affair this town has ever seen!

What can you do about it? You can donate to me - even if it's only a small amount! So please help me in my efforts to raise money for care and cancer research.

http://va10.uncoverthecure.org/site/TR/Events/Vancouver2010?px=1790465&pg=personal&fr_id=1170

The Em & Kris Vancouver Visit

It has been a few days in coming, but I finally found the time to reflect on Emily and Kris's visit to Vancouver in the last week. Let's just say that it has taken some time to come to terms with the empty feeling that has remained, since their departure. Mmmmmm..... anyway enough of that touchy, feelly stuff what did we get up to on their Vancouver holiday.

Well, with the majority of the Friday Night Gang in the same city for once, we certainly made the most of the local bars and restaurants. On the first night in Vancouver, freshly off the plane, we headed to the roof top terrace at the Keg in Yale Town. Everyone enjoyed the good food, awesome views and a very pleasant evening of pickling our livers! One of the major highlights of the Emily and Kris trip, especially for me, was a trip on the Vancouver Harbour Paddle Steamer, in the bright Spring sunshine. Nancy and I never quite managed to get on the boat last year and it continually goes past our apartment building. On the 2.45pm sailing, we had a hour tour of the Vancouver Harbour in great sunshine, albeit a bit a strong cross wind. We took some great pictures of downtown Vancouver, Stanley park,various seaplanes, etc. The evening involved us watching theVancouver Canucks hockey playoff game in a local bar, with some more drinking - much fun was had by all, including a sing-song to Anthony's voicemail!

With our hangovers on Sunday, we had a lazy morning watching the Vancouver marathon runners go past our window and the most it inspired us to do was to get up out of bed and opening presents for Nancy's birthday. Kris and I went off to the golf driving range, while Nancy (as a birthday treat to herself) took Emily to the nail saloon for treatments. Later in the week, Emily, Kris and myself went up to the top of Grouse Mountain via the cable car and then onto the Capailano Suspension Bridge. This was made even more impressive by the fact that Kris overcame his vertigo.... the white knuckles and fake smile were signs of it, but he was very strong and both feats were achieved in style.

Nancy also completed a skydive on Friday lunchtime, as it was cancelled on her birthday due to the poor weather. The weather was perfect with bright sunshine and limited wind speed. We were all impressed with Nancy, as she has a bit of vertigo as well and showed great confidence when getting in the plane and jumping at over 10,000 feet. Check out the numerous photos from the Em and Kris holiday.... a couple of these pictures might even be Shears 2011 Calendar worthy!

Vancouver Sun Run 10K in 57 Mins

Last Sunday was my second attempt to complete a 10KM run in as many weeks and put in a decent time to beat Marlboro Man, Bill Murray and "I'm afraid of heights" Kris in our run challenge.

The key difference this time compared to the previous run in Victoria was the overwhelming crowd that was running with me..... over 51,000 people. As you can imagine I spent a large proportion of the race jostling other runners for space. Apart from one trip I managed to run the whole distance and achieve a decent time of 57 minutes.

Admittedly, this was a minute slower than my previous time but still an achievement. I am convinced I can run 10K faster and certainly break 55 mins, so I will be signing up for a third 10KM soon. Details to be announced.

Check out the photos that Nancy took plus once again she managed to capture video footage of me crossing line. Very impressive considering the number of people around me at the end of the race. In order to spot me, look out for the runner with a bright blue top with a grey runners hat.

Playoff Time for Canucks

At this time of year, the NHL ice hockey playoffs begin and the Vancouver Canucks have made it once again. When I moved to Canada last year, watching the Canucks, on television, in the playoffs was my first experience of ice hockey and the start of my learning curve of the sport. This year, Nancy and I have been lucky enough to see a couple of games live and in person.

We went to see the last regular season game for the Canucks, which was against the NHL team from Phoenix. The arena, GM Place, was packed to the rafters with people including some strangely dressed fans which you can see in the photos. The atmosphere was great and the Canucks won 4-1.... a joy to watch.

At the time of writing, the Canucks have just won game 6 in the series of 7 to beat the LA Kings and reach the next round of the playoffs. The Canucks struggled in part against the LA Kings, but overcame to win through with a game to spare. However, Ross's team Washington Capitals (aka the Caps) are struggling to get past another Canadian Team - Montreal Canadians. The Caps have to play game 7 as the decider! Anyway, thanks to my boss I managed to see the first game of Canucks playoff series in a luxury box suite and I chalked up another great experience watching hockey. GO CANUCKS!

Em & Kris in Vancouver TODAY!

Yes... this pair of drinkers will be touching down in Vancouver today (aka Thursday). I have warned Vancouver Police and the local liquor stores that the Kings are coming to town.... everyone is on high alert for drunken behaviour!

Friday Night Gang reunion here we come.

Challenge On - First 10 KM Run Under My Belt

Today, was the Times Colonist 10KM run in Victoria and this annual event achieved a record turn-out, breaking the 10,000-mark for the number of runners completing the race with 10,850 tallied up by the noon. More than 13,500 had registered. The previous high was in 2009 when 9,484 ran, walked or rolled through the TC 10K.

As competitor 3599 I was one of the many runners with this being my first competitive 10K run, as part of the run challenge. My overall objective was to get through the race without walking and lay down a decent time, which ideally would be under an hour. With so many people at the start of the race, it was difficult to manage my own pace, especially as I was more concerned about not being tripped up by other runners. As the race wore on there was increasingly more space and actually the other competitors kept me motivated to keep my pace up towards the end of the race. I even saved enough energy for a sprint finish, which was heightened by the public address system announcing my name as I approached the finish line. Check out the video that Nancy took which captures my finish and name announcement.

So most importantly, what was my time.... well the unofficial time according to my ipod was 56 mins, 40 seconds. However, the official time according to the race sensor was 56 mins, 48 seconds - see below for the confirmation and also available on the website. Over to the rest of you now.... aka Bill Murray, Marlboro man and "I'm afraid of heights" Kris.











Check out Nancy's finishing line video with my announcement at 27 seconds and crossing the line at 40 seconds.

Curling - First Time on the Ice

In the past I have been a major critic of curling, based on the fact that it is perceived as a boring sport for old people with many connotations related to housework with all the sweeping. However, many Canadians take curling very seriously as a sport and with the Winter Olympics recently bringing the game to greater prominence more people are getting involved.

For those you are unaware, Curling is a sport in which players slide stones across a sheet of ices towards a target area, also known as the house. It is related to bowls, boule and shuffleboard. Two teams, each of four players, take turns sliding heavy, polished granite stones with eight stones for each team. The purpose is to accumulate the highest score for a game, points being scored for the stones resting closest to the centre of the house at the conclusion of each end, which is completed when both teams have thrown all of their stones. A game may consist of ten or eight ends.

Having never been on an ice rink before, this was certainly a night of firsts for me. I was also slightly nervous as Nancy's first attempt at curling, last year, resulted in her going to hospital with a damaged wrist. The evening started with coaching from the Vancouver Curling Club Ice Technician, called Don. He was very obsessed with his ice in an enthusiastic style and provided us with the basics and general insights into curling. We were then released onto the ice for some "rock chucking". It turned out, curling is enjoyable and we all had a right laugh, mainly taking the piss out of each other. My team lost 4-3 and I didn't really help the team, as I never actually managed to get a stone to stay in the target area. Oh well, at least there might be a next time!

Palm Springs & Indian Wells Tennis

Still in catch up mode with the blog and thought that I would write about our recent holiday in Palm Springs, California. One of the benefits of living on the West Coast is that California is within easy reach, similar in flight time as flying from the UK to Spain, but a little more glamorous in my humble opinion. Betty, Nancy's Grandmother has a winter home in Palm Springs and we were privileged to be invited to stay.

To save some cash, we drove across the US border on a Tuesday evening, stayed overnight in the small town 0f Bellingham. Next morning, up early, we took a EasyJet style flight from Bellingham to Palm Springs in about two and half hours. We landed in bright sunshine, clear blue skies and 80 degrees heat.... it was very enjoyable weather for mid March. We only had a few days and we made the most of it with numerous activities including shops, bars, restaurants and dips in the swimming pool. The two main highlights of the trip were the Living Desert, a local wildlife park and a couple of days at the Indian Wells Tennis tournament.

Firstly, the Living Desert was a great experience to get up close and personal with some interesting wildlife. As you can see by the photos we saw a number of animals, including giraffe, buffalo, goats, snakes, leopards, antelope, giant tortoise, zebras and various birds. We also had a wander into the nearby desert and saw the famous San Andreas fault, which is a major tectonic plate of the earths crust.... aka the reason for local earthquakes.

Onto the tennis tournament, for those who don't know the Indian Wells Tennis tournament is the fifth largest tennis event after the four major grand slams. Fantastic venue, stadium and well attended by a huge number of people. We had tickets for two days and managed to see the Mens singles quarter finals, Womens, Mens semi finals and some doubles matches. Although our seat allocation was up in the "bleacher" seats we a great view of the stadium court, plus we managed to swap to closer seats during the event. Highlights of the tennis was watching Nadal, Andy Roddick and Andy Murray play, although Murray was not on best form and lost his quarter final match. Suffice to say, Nancy and I both had an enjoyable time and planning to go back next year for more sunshine and tennis.

The Merc named after me!

After 13 years working for Mercedes-Benz I never thought the company would name a car after me. But it's true... the new SLS was officially launched this month with a price tag of $200,000. It is also the re-introduction of the gull wing design.

The first SLS appeared (pictured here) in Vancouver three weeks ago in preparation for the Vancouver autoshow and I was lucky enough to drive it into our training centre. What a sound from the engine!

I just need to scrap a few pennies together to buy my own.

One Year Anniversary in Canada

A little late I know..... however, 5th March 2010 was officially my one year anniversary of arriving in Vancouver, Canada. Amazing how quickly a year can pass on the other side of the world.

We celebrated this momentous event by having a party with friends, Jessica, Paul, Gina, Stuart and kids. We all had a top time eating and drinking, including Nanaimo bars and ice cream! The main attraction of the evening involved me working how to dress up as an ice hockey player in the fastest time possible. Let's just say I refused to wear the jock-strap and it took me far too long to work out shoulder pads. Many laughs were had at my expense and so I'm sticking to being a tennis player.

Here is me celebrating my final success with a beer... very Canadian!