little. yellow. different. A weblog by Ernie Hsiung

Two Things I’ve Learned From Eating Alone in Vancouver

1. This is the first time I’ve eaten out alone. Well, okay, the first time I’ve eaten alone that isn’t a fast food restaurant or a burrito truck or coffeehouse, but an actual restaurant where the point of the institution is to sit there with someone else, eating food together. Eating out has always been a social activity for me. I don’t go to bars alone, don’t go to movies alone and have never gone to a nice restaurant alone before. And yet, here I am, taking blurry camphone photos of myself while the two Japanese girls in the school uniforms roll their eyes at me.

   For one reason or another, I thought it would be more difficult than it actually is. As I end up more and more in strange cities where I know very little people, I figure I should start getting used to this feeling; being strangely alone, but not necessarily lonely. (Or is that the other way around?) Now all I have to do is be able to stand hanging out at a gay bar by myself and I’m all set.

2. Someone told me that even the bad sushi in Vancouver is great sushi. THIS IS A BOLD-FACED LIE, especially if you go to that one sushi house on Main Street and Broadway. Bacon-wrapped scallops should never be in a bento box. EVER.

Why would you go and ruin perfectly usable scallops by wrapping them in bacon?!?

Bacon is the least japanese food ever.

“Now all I have to do is be able to stand hanging out at a gay bar by myself and I’m all set.”

I need to learn that one myself… I never seem to last more than 30 min before I cant take it anymore and just leave.

There is bad sushi in Vancouver? O_o My favourite place to eat sushi there is Kichi Sushi on the corner of Howe/Robson. They will take care of all your needs.

Wow–I think it is like, you know, so cool that you travel to all these cities where you “know very little people!” I don’t think I’ve even ever MET one–though of course I’ve seen them in fantasy movies & Austin Powers.

A long time ago, at age 9, I decided that if no on wanted to do something with me or they couldn’t, I would go anyway. So, at age 9, I figured out how to scrounge up bus fare and take the bus to the beach, all by myself, with a book, a packed lunch, and a towel. As soon as I could drive, I started to go to Hollywood for shows, as no one in my suburban high school would be caught dead or alive at a punk gig. So on and so forth.

I now like eating alone and traveling alone. I also like social eating and social traveling, but if no one wants to come out to play - f*(k ‘em - I will have fun anyway. Just take a good book.

Good luck in Vancouver, Ernie!

Ernie, you’ve got to a place called Shiro on Cambie and 14th. Yeah there’s lots of construction there. Yeah it’d be hard to find parking. But it is the best bang for your buck for Japanese food. Good luck here in Vancouver!

There’s total bad sushi in Vancouver– but I think it gets the “sushi abounds” reputation because so much of it is pretty good. I have had great sushi in a mall. (The sushi place at Oakridge, the mall on Cambie & ~40th, is shockingly good.)

no bad sushi in vancouver? do you not remember the buffet place we went to with all the asians and figured we could be cheap and only have 2/3 of the ppl pay and then rotate out as the others smoked outside? we weren’t hallucinating that night from the alcohol or whatnot, my friend, it was the maguro that tasted like feet.

Hey, you’re never alone with twitter!

\me is disturbed by how true that rings…

There’s an infamous breakfast spot with a gay owner down the street from the gayborhood . It’s one of those places where you go to be insulted. Me and my friends weren’t prepared for the experience, but when we loosened up we had a lot of fun. I wish I could remember the name; it was one of the best - or at least memorable - breakfasts I’ve ever had.

I used to rate restaurants based on a) if they had a TV visible to much of the place, and b) if the host/hostess was savvy enough to sit me facing the TV when I was by myself.

Now anytime I’m traveling for work, I keep a book handy for nights I’m not out with coworkers. It feels a bit weird at first, but it can be great to chill at a decent restaurant and unwind.

alex: that’s The Elbow Room. I love it!

LOL I remember how hard it was to get used to doing things alone in a strange city… now I wish I could again there’s a lot to be said for that kind of freedom: knowing you can explore when and where you will without restriction. Loads of fun. Even eating alone can be such a wonderful experience! Glad you are finding some of the joys in this

They may not belong in a bento-box, but that doesn’t stop bacon-wrapped scallops from being tasty.

I can do ANYTHING alone as long as I’m armed with one of two weapons: a book or a notebook.

With a book, I can pretend to read or I can really read. Many books have been my friends when no one else would be.

With a notebook, I can write my thoughts, draw a picture or just pretend to write while I watch people.

A book says: leave me alone.
A notebook says: come over here and look at what I’m doing.

People are infinitely curious, especially when they think you’re writing about them. Use it to your advantage.

Enjoy this lovely relationship. You get to be with yourself for the rest of your life.

I don’t like eating alone either. The problem mostly is just you feel like everyone is watching you even if no one is. I’ve eaten alone (never in a nicer restaurant) a few times and I always feel self conscious.

I feel the same about movies too. I don’t watch movies alone. I’ve only watched a movie alone once… That was because I was supposed to meet up with someone to watch it and things got confused and eventually I couldn’t reach him at all, so I said “f this, I’m watching this movie with or without anyone.” I went watched the movie. Wasn’t bad at all, but I felt weird doing it.

Yes, yes… good for you eating alone - you are the man, sir. Now: what were you saying about Japanese girls in school uniforms?

Congrats! That’s an accomplishment! Or so my friend says. I went to Salt Lick in Alberni, alone, for dinner, on a Friday night. I couldn’t have picked a better night to eat by my lonesome! But it felt really good to think, that Hey! If no one wants to go out out for steak with me, I can still go.

I’ve had really bad sushi around Vancouver. And I’ve lowered my standards when I’m very hungry. They were awful.

Next experience: watch a movie alone. Then, you can test the waters on your own at a gay bar. =D

LOL, I was waiting for that comment about school girls in uniform! Took only (let’s see…) 12 hours and 5 minutes!

Congrats, you managed to find the worst sushi place in the entire city on your first try. You’re lucky you left with your intestines intact, Kishu is infamous. It’s too bad that a few blocks away, there is one of the best sushi places in the entire city: Toshi’s, at 16th and Main. If you’re still around, go check it out asap. Hopefully your opinion of the city can be salvaged.

Lol@John. I actually didn’t expect ANY comments about that on this blog. Not sure why.

you know, you could have just emailed colene or i… i’m sure either (or both) of us would have loved to eat sushi with you.

it’s ok ernie, i ate by myself at the Space Needle by the window, and the waiter didnt come to the table for 15 minutes because he thought i was waiting for a date. traveling for work sucks esp. because of the eating alone part.

Wow, flashback–
I remember years ago, when I was waiting tables in some cheap dive, this man came in by himself, and sat there reading a book with dinner, over a glass of wine.

I made a crack to my coworkers how his next step would be to go home and make a pass at himself.

Mean!

Haha, one of my favorite things to do, once a year or so (or when the memories fade, it’s like a tequila binge) is take a huge book to a relatively good buffet restaurant and spend the whole evening there reading and snacking!

It’s awesome! Except when you realize you can’t stand up and feel like puking. That’s the part you have to forget before doing it again.

I can’t do the table-for-one thing either. Movies, no problem; gay bars, if I’m in the mood. But eating alone at a restaurant freaks me out. I’m glad you challenged yourself to get out.

Bacon in a Bento Box! It could be a hit song!

Haha! With respect to Point no. 1:
Welcome to my world! Eating alone in a strange city, self-photo taking, jeered at by Japanese school girls - is like my bacon and eggs! I’ve grown to love it.

With respect to Point no.2:
I’ve never been to Vancouver to eat sushi. But it probably beats eating at a London sushi bar where you stand a chance of being poisoned with Plutonium-210 by the Russian ex-KGB

i can eat alone in a restaurant if its lunch and if i have a book or something to read. or if the restaurant is casual, i can eat alone.

if it’s a fancy type of restaurant at dinner, i don’t think i can eat alone.

” in strange cities where I know very little people”
Hey- invite them- little people get hungry too.
Good luck in Vancouver.

bacon is just pure rank.

good luck in vangroovey. smoke up. go earthy. surf. ahhh. vangroovey.

Movies for me are no problem, for a long time that was the only way I’d get to see a movie in the theater. But I only go alone to matinees; I would feel self-conscious going to evening shows by myself.

I eat alone all the time. Books are the key.

The worst place ever to get sushi is at a beach stand during the Festival of Lights (the fireworks thing in August). I know, I should have known, but I was just a stupid(er) kid back then. Who was I to know its horrible effects?

It’s not very handy, but if you’re ever passing through Ladner (Vancouver - Richmond - Ladner - Tsawassen - water), try out Go Go Sushi. Very good lunch boxes for cheap prices.

Nosy Question:

Are you left handed or just happen to have the camera in your right hand?

Bacon-wrapped scallops are the ambrosia of the gods, and how is bacon “not japanese”?

Anyway, just get outta there asap. Canada will bring you back on better terms when the time is right.

Thanks.

lol @ “BOLD-FACED LIE”

hahaha, main and broadway was my “hood” a few years ago when i worked there.

It’s nice to hear you reference something i know about since all i remember is SF references.

There’s tons of bad sushi in van but there’s a few key places you can get to. Pho’s where the party’s at if you like nammer noodles.

I prefer to eat alone, with a good meal and a good book. But then again, I don’ t have very many friends. A good book will trump most of the friends I have, except for the very good ones. If I put a book down for you, you’re a very, very good friend.

[…] A couple of months ago, I had written a blog post where I had announced I was leaving Yahoo! to pursue an opportunity in Vancouver. Maybe if this website wasn’t so public I would go into some of the details; instead, I’ll simply say that lessons were learned, photos of myself sitting alone in restaurants were taken. Once it became obvious that I wouldn’t be moving to Vancouver any time soon, there was a lot of moments working from Internet cafes and watching television at home. (Did you know Bob Barker isn’t on The Price is Right anymore? Or that Rosie O’Donnell was once on The View? I KNOW!) […]