Day 8 was actually quite wonderful, in the laid back just hanging out with Ryan and Jacqui sense. We didn’t really do much sight seeing or any kind of stuff like that but just basically hung out all day. It was great. We ate lunch at Mongolian Barbecue, which may have been one of the best meals yet. It was similar to the Mongolian BBQs (BD’s as Paul would call it) back in Grand Rapids in the concept of it, but very different in several ways. First of all, it was like a mom and pop kind of restaurant (as opposed to a chain), was made by actual Mongolians (as opposed to college graduates and old high school friends of mine), the bowls were about twice as big, and it was less than half the price. It was magnificent. (Oh and Dave, in honor of you, we made sure to sprinkle lots of sesame seeds on top of the finished bowl)

If you haven’t noticed yet, Ryan, Jacqui and myself really enjoy hanging out while eating. I think it’s our favorite form of congregation. Jacqui and I both decided to put our diets on hold while I was here, so I think we’ve especially been enjoying all the guilt-free eating. And Ryan’s just a skinny bastard with high metabolism.

We then wandered around past countless coffeeshops, partaking of two in particular stores (Bean Around the World and Seattle’s Best) and sat and chatted for a while. Figuring I should have spent more money while I was here (or at least on something other than food), we then perused several shops, from which I once again left visor-less and didn’t really find anything else to buy either. Since I can buy cds and books and such back home, it’s hard for me to justify buying that stuff while I’m here. I feel like I need to get something that I can only get here, which is food and a Canada visor (or so I had thought). But since Canada is apparently anti-visor, and every other cool hat is $65, I continue on without non-digestable souvenirs.

Since I didn’t take any other pictures today, I figured I’d sum it all up with this one.

So we then wandered for a while the wrong direction down a street, trying to get to a restaurant called “Moderne Burger,” we hit up a Dairy Queen for a quick blizzard (which actually is kind of a treat for me since there’s one in Grand Rapids that’s like 20 miles from me) and then headed to a restaurant called Rossini’s, where they have live jazz music nightly. We then had pasta, wine, and jazz music. There are few combinations I enjoy more.

After Jacqui and I got sufficiently tipsy, we headed back to the apartment (where we would no doubt watch several more episodes of The Office), but made a quick stop by the beach to sit on a bench for a little bit. Sitting on a bench looking at the ocean and the mountains at night with my best friends. I guess that really sums up what I came here for.