A Good Day Out

Today we got out from under and spent most of the day out of the house — and it was good.

We started with a real treat, dim sum at Western Lake. The food at that place just keeps getting better and better, its almost magical. And by now we are such regulars that we get fabulous personalized service: little things like the range of condiments to serve with our meal; they know the ones we want.  With a more-than-satisfying meal for two (with a decent tip) at about $25, it is no wonder that they are crowded and with a line out the door at 11:30 on a Thursday morning.

Then, a long bus ride downtown to visit the Art Gallery. We were there primarily t.o see the Grand Hotel exhibit, but we always take in everything on offer.   It was good, for instance, to see some classic Emily Carr; though we were not so impressed by the accompanying exhibit called “Allocthonous Window” staged by Gareth Moore.  The sculptural memories by Martin Honert were also a disappointment. They seemed somehow shallow and their “artiness” was supported only by the gallery’s statement of its value — another inflated phrase.

The gallery is also showing a series of filmed works called Portraits In Time, several of which were quite interesting.  I especially liked Fiona Tan’s Rise and Fall (2009) which was, I confess, the only one I managed to sit through almost in its entirety.

This brings us, I guess to Grand Hotel, a curation of how the concept of the grand hotel has affected modern life, culture, social behaviour, and design.  It was certainly an interesting series of exhibits and included a lot of fascinating historical material (I was especially taken with the story of Conrad Hilton and the Cold War).   The analytical models were intriguing but I would have liked to see more furniture and furnishings. The ever-loving thought it was less than she had expected.

We recovered with glorious soft-serve ice cream in waffle cones at the DQ’s in the Pacific Centre Food Court. She also persuaded me to buy some new summer shirts on sale at the Bay.

What a day!