It was a sad ending to the search for Japanese tourist, Hiroko Kinugasa, 68, who went missing on Thursday, April 8, after she was last seen dining at the Altitude Bistro on Grouse Mountain at around 6:30 pm. Her body was found on Grouse Mountain near a ski run on Saturday evening, just two days later.

Hiroko Kinugasa

All the facts won’t be known until an autopsy is done, but a preliminary coroner’s report stated that she appeared to have died from exposure after venturing into cold and stormy weather with no outdoor winter gear. The police are scheduled to release the details of her death after they have had a chance to review all the information with the Coroner’s office today.

Some aspects about this case appear to be a bit bizarre. The staff at the Bed and Breakfast she was staying at, for instance, said that she had planned on going snowboarding at Grouse Mountain that day, even though her return flight to Japan was scheduled for the same day. Well, all I know is that if I were planning on flying to Japan that day, I wouldn’t have had time to do anything else except wait to catch a ride to the airport, wait in line to check in, and then head into the gate for my flight. So I can’t help but ask, why did she go to Grouse Mountain? She was actually reported missing by her family that same evening after it was noticed that she had missed her flight.

Some people have drawn parallels between this incident and one that happened back in May, 2005, when an American businessman named David Koch got lost while hiking in the Grouse Mountain area. Despite a massive search that included tracking dogs and helicopters, he was found dead 12 days later, and the cause of death was deemed hypothermia. Supposedly, he was able to survive for 6 whole days out in the elements before succumbing to the cold.

David Koch

For me, this reminded me more of something that happened in Whistler in April 2008 with 25-year-old Ai Ito, also a Japanese female who was snowboarding. In her case, she had gone snowboarding alone in Whistler, and for some reason, decided to go out of bounds by herself near the 7th Heaven run on Blackcomb Mountain. Unfortunately, the consequences of her actions proved fatal, as she was somehow unable to get back out of a basin she had fallen into, and she froze to death.

Ai Ito

Ai was only reported missing 3 days later when she didn’t show up for English language classes. It was only then that the search for her began, but of course, it was way too late already. I remember this story well, and remember hoping for a happy ending for her and her family.

The Whistler Search and Rescue blog has an informative article about this tragedy, including a map that shows where she was found in respect to the ski run. Also, you can read the full story about the search for Ai Ito at Canada.com.

Hiroko, David, and Ai all appear to have been happy, adventurous people who really enjoyed living their lives, even though their lives ended way too soon. I’m sure many people have been and will continue to be affected by their stories, and they have no doubt helped others not to end up in the same kinds of life-threatening situations.

It was just a few years ago, back at the end of 2006, that Vancouver had one of its worst windstorms in recorded history. I remember not really noticing the wind too much, since I was indoors for most of the day and all night, but the next day, I was really amazed at the amount of devastation shown on the news. Stanley Park was hit especially hard, with more than a thousand old growth trees either knocked over, roots and all, or broken. Some of those trees had actually been standing strong in Stanley Park for hundreds of years, but were no more. It took months to clean up the mess after that, and some areas of the park were closed to the public for quite some time.

Well, just a few days ago, on Good Friday, Vancouver got hit by another massive windstorm–the strongest since the 2006 storm, but not nearly as damaging. I really felt it this time, too, since I was out walking around downtown, and there were times when the wind stopped me in my tracks and tossed me around a bit.

The winds gusted to more than 100 km/h, forcing the cancellation of BC Ferries sailings, and temporarily closing Lion’s Gate Bridge, Stanley Park, and the causeway. According to various news sites, more than 30,000 people lost power around the Lower Mainland, and more than 100,000 on Vancouver Island.

The next day, I was surprised to see quite a few large branches that had been ripped off trees in my area. I took a few pictures of them to help show how bad the damage was in some places.

This tree branch knocked over a section of fence

Same tree from another angle

Another one right across the street. Luckily, the hedge was the only thing that got crushed.

For more information about this windstorm, and some great photos, I recommend checking out the following links:

• Global TV for info and pictures about the 2010 windstorm
• Venture Vancouver has some good info about the 2006 storm
• Some Flickr photos from the 2006 storm

The Old Spaghetti Factory in Gastown was one of the first restaurants I went to when I first came to Vancouver in 2003. I used to love going there for the old style atmosphere (is this grandma’s kitchen or a family restaurant?), and for the huge, affordable meals that left me stuffed to the max by the time I left.

Well, today is their 40th Anniversary, celebrating the opening of the original Old Spaghetti Factory restaurant in picturesque Gastown, and for today only, they are offering their 1970s menu to all customers. What that means is that you can get almost all your favorite spaghetti meals for as low as $1.75 each!

The full meal deals

To give you an example of how good a deal this is, let’s take one of the menu combos that I usually order that is listed under the “It’s all included” box, which looks like this:

Remember all our entrées include: Minestrone Soup or Crisp Green Salad with choice of Ranch, French, 1000 Island, Blue Cheese, House Italian or Low-Fat Oriental Sesame dressing; OSF Classic Sourdough Bread with Whipped Garlic Butter; Spumoni Ice Cream; Hot Tea or our own blend of Coffee. “It’s all included” means added value for a complete meal at one low price. SUBSTITUTE SMALL CAESAR SALAD OR SPINACH SALAD IN PLACE OF GREEN SALAD....$1.50; SUBSTITUTE CLAM CHOWDER OR FRENCH ONION SOUP IN PLACE OF GREEN SALAD ....$2.25

What a lot of people I take there don’t realize is just how much is included with the meal that they are going to order, even though it’s listed plainly in this box above the entrées.

Now, out of their 23 menu items listed under there (all the way down to the kid’s menu), the one I order most often is called the Manager’s Favourite, which is a big plate of spaghetti with a choice of any two of their sauces. Your choices for sauces are:

• Tomato sauce
• Rich meat sauce
• Spicy meat sauce
• Clam sauce
• Mushroom sauce (contains several button mushrooms)
• Browned Butter and Mizithra Cheese, a la Homer

I like to get the spicy meat sauce and the browned butted and Mizithra Cheese, a la Homer sauce together because it’s such a nice contrast. The spicy meat sauce is just a bit spicy, and the Mizithra Cheese sauce is just loaded with flaky cheese and butter (yummy!).

After ordering your meal, you can expect to get a nice, fresh bun of bread before long with two kinds of butter: regular and garlic butter. Try not to make the same mistake that many make, and almost fill yourself on the bread before you even get started.

Following that, you usually get your soup or salad, followed by your main course (in my case, the Manager’s Favourite plate of spaghetti). If you have enough room at the end, you can then order your ice cream, and don’t forget about the coffee or tea that is also included with your meal!

Anyway, that sounds like a lot of food, doesn’t it? Well, it sure feels like it was a lot after you’ve finished it. But can you believe that the whole cost for all of the above is just…

$10.95!

The 1970s menu

As I’ve already mentioned, The Old Spaghetti Factory has a promotion or special today to celebrate their 40th Anniversary. They have brought back their original 1970 menu, complete with 1970 prices. That means you can get one of these great meals for as low as $1.75. Consequently, the meal that I usually pay $10.95 for, today is…

$1.95!

If you have a chance, you should really check out their 1970 menu online. If you go to The Old Spaghetti Factory – Gastown’s 40th Anniversary, you can read all about today’s event, and you’ll also be able to click on an image there to see the original 1970 menu. As you’ll notice, not much has changed in 40 years (except for the prices).

Oh, it looks like they didn’t have soup included in the meal on the 1970 menu. Oh well, who’s complaining? I’m sure I can stick with a salad this time if it means saving $9.00 on the cost of the meal.

One more thing I should mention is that all revenues from today will go toward a good cause. On their website, it says:

We are proud to donate all revenue from these Spaghetti Entree’s to the B.C. Professional Fire Fighters’ Burn Fund.

You can find The Old Spaghetti Factory in Gastown on Water Street, just a couple of blocks past the Steam Clock, right after Abbott Street. If you are not familiar with the city, here is a map to help you get there.

I remember they had this giveaway last year, and I was skeptical at first when I heard that Denny’s was offering their Grand Slam breakfast for free, so when I went there with my girlfriend and sat down, I was expecting some kind of a catch. To my surprise and delight, however, there was none — you don’t have to buy anything, and you are not limited by table (if you go to Denny’s with 6 people, all 6 will get a Grand Slam).

Today, Denny’s is doing it again. If you go to any participating Denny’s restaurant today, between 6:00 am and 2:00 pm, all you have to do is sit down and ask for the free Grand Slam. Of course, you shouldn’t be a total cheapskate. How about at least ordering a coffee, as well, instead of just asking for a free water to go with your free breakfast.

This is what you get... for FREE!

A few days ago, I decided to head out of downtown to check out what all the fuss was about surrounding the new Olympic Line streetcar.

In case you’re not familiar with what this streetcar is all about, I’ll give you a bit of information. It is basically some kind of demonstration project that aims to extend the transit system during the Olympics, mainly between the Olympic Village Canada Line Station and Granville Island. I was surprised to hear that the streetcar is on loan from Brussels, Belgium. It is free to use now, and will continue to be free during the Olympics and until March 21, 2010.

To get on the streetcar, I first got on the Canada Line in Yaletown and got off at the Olympic Village Station. It was very easy to find the Olympic Line streetcar stop right behind the Canada Line station exit. People were already beginning to gather around the stop, waiting for the streetcar to arrive from the Granville Island stop. I didn’t have to wait too long.

The sign at the Olympic Village stop

Inside the streetcar. It's quite narrow.

The streetcar runs very quiet, and looks like a train on the inside, except it is quite narrow, with single seats facing toward the middle on either side, and hand straps for people to hold onto. I can imagine people will be packed into this thing like sardines during the Olympics.

It took less than 10 minutes to get to Granville Island. It was actually quite a relaxing ride.

The Granville Island stop

From the Granville Island stop, it then just takes a few minutes to walk into the Granville Island area. You’ll walk under the bridge, the same way as when you go by car or get off the bus and walk in.

Walking from the streetcar stop to Granville Island

Some possible future routes and stops for these streetcars include many key areas of downtown, including Waterfront Station, Stanley Park, and Yaletown.

From the City of Vancouver website

For more information about the streetcar demonstration project and proposed future routes, I recommend checking out the following links on the City of Vancouver website:

• http://vancouver.ca/engsvcs/transport/streetcar/index.htm
• http://olympichostcity.vancouver.ca/gettingaround/publictransit/olympic-line/