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Vancouver, Canada

OK so it’s a game night and I made a promise – t-shirt on, downtown location! There ended my planning. I met up with Ryan and we headed off to find a place to watch the game – it was like finding a hotel room in Bethlehem! Innkeepers lined up to tell us there was no room at their inn. We watched the first part from the street where we could until we finally found our manger – a seedy little nightclub near the Waterfront. There we watched and waited for the arrival of a miracle as foretold in the parable of ‘The Canucks t-shirt and downtown location’. And lo, it came to pass! The Canucks won 1-0! There was much rejoicing. There was no gold, frankincense or myrrh but there was beer, wine and spirits!

Once again the party poured into the street, high fives all round. When we’d had enough of all the hype, it was time to chill down in Gastown at Chill Winstons – one of the uber trendy new places that have popped up in my absence making Gastown the place to be. Very reminiscent of Surry Hills in Sydney without the attitude.

We decided to celebrate in style with a three course meal – the third being an incredible deconstructed cheese cake thingy compliments of the house. It seems that sharing your wine with the waiter pays dividends because not only did we get dessert thrown in, we were also able to skip the queue for the bar downstairs. Our waiter had a word with the bouncer and led us down a back way into the bar. Very cool. Again, very much like Surry Hills when you’re related to the owners and staff of the coolest places in town – free desserts, the staff drink straight from your glass and you get to access all areas!

At the end of the night though, I think we proven one thing if nothing else – the fate of the Stanley Cup is resting on my shoulders quite literally. With two games to go, I better not stray too far from the city.

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