Of Mall-Trains and Potato Fields

Vancouver must be the rain capital of the world, I'm convinced. (Actually, Wikipedia says it's Cherrapunji). In any case, it's great to be here if all you want to do is watch TV (like me); but if you actually want to enjoy some of those famous outdoors-y activities, well, a lot of the times, it's a no-go.

Um, no, because it's pouring cat, dogs, and all sorts of other farmyard animals out there.

Like the cool kids that we are, Nat and I headed to our largest mall, Metrotown. It has a Winners AND a Zellers AND a Superstore AND a movie theater AND a Bay AND a Sears, and basically everything. Ah, shopping heaven.

You may have noticed that despite my proclaimed obsession with fitness, there has been precious little of anything in the way of running and/or exercising for the past few days. One of the reasons is the disgusting flood-like weather going outside. The other ... my general inner laziness. No worries, workouts will resume when I head back to Montreal. But today, I was fully prepared to do some cardio-shopping. Apparently, other people had a different idea.

Yes, there was indeed a train to take people around inside the mall. An amusement park and shopping center, all in one! And you don't even have to get up! I was prepared to wax eloquently on the decline of exercise in North America to Nat, but she was saved from that fate as my scorn/slight interest/amusement was all but forgotten as soon as I found a shoe store.

Source

As soon as I see/smell/sense shoes, I'm like a kid in a candy store. Or ... a girl in a shoe store? (that must be a metaphor all on its own now ...). But alas, my quest for the elusive perfect black boots shall continue another day. I did however cap off my day of cardio-shopping by buying some more workout clothing. Because you can never have too much neon spandex in your closet.

Of course no day would be complete without a mild disaster. Despite living in this city for oh, 11 years, we somehow managed to get lost. Apparently, one wrong turn on the freeway and you're driving through a post-apocalyptic landscape of potato fields and trash-compactor sites.

But thanks to Nat's trusty iPhone, we were iSaved and I wasn't even kicked out of the car.

Yet.