Hola! Hola!

Them pretty cathedral and castle thingums can, like, wait.

The first grub spot we hit was Hernade'z in St. Andrew Square, beside the St. Andrew's Roman Catholic Cathedral.

The interior is very funky and vibrant, with lively Latino music, some real eye-catching artwork (talk about Spanish surrealism! Also some cool Catholic vibes... for geeks, that's a chapel and a Mexican catacomb in one), and two very friendly Spanish-speaking fellas, whom I assumed were brothers and owners of the spot, but don't let the family-owned impression get you. This place was pretty much packed, yet the two never misses a "gracias" or "hola senor".


Since we were on the run to cover the rest of Downtown, we ordered from the express menu (they also had a "slow food" menu, for the patient few). For vegetarian fair, the basics were bean burritos, bean and rice burritos, or the deluxe with guacamole, cheese, sour cream and other goodies. We opt for the second to share, since our sources tell us the serving size is generous.

For three bucks each, it was awesome to say the least! The beans were very flavourful and complimented (melded into, actually) the rice. Bonus, it was topped with a generous amount of microgreens! Yum.

And the portion size? Perfect for sharing on the go. We were filled, but not stuffed, which was good since 4 hours of walking waited upon us. For hungry (and broke?) girls and boys, they have $5 for 5 tacos on the "Slow Food" menu.

Hernande'z
735 Yates St.

Embrace the incoherency...

If I had to eat icing sugar and butter by the spoonful...

Yea, that would be absolutely disgusting.

Now fudge, on the other hand...


My sources tell me Fat Phege's fudge is good, like, very very good. Located in the Market Square, the heart of Olde Victoria, Fat Phege's is a charming little piece of history, much like many other stores in downtown Vic.

The selection of confections and other yummy goodies dazzled me. They even had penuche! However, they were sold by the 1/2 lb. blocks (ranging from $5.50 to $6.50 per 225 grams, weighted on the scale). As much as I wanted to buy the whole store, ending up with 20 pounds of fudge didn't seem like the brighted idea... I had to slap my inner-sugar addict (this 3-feet tall little maniac with pigtails, a maniacal grin, and a diabolical glint in her little eyes) and settled, hestantly, on a lovely block of (surprise) peanut butter chocolate fudge.

Not wanting to wait any further, I almost dashed out the door, but not before the kind little old lady at the cash register pointed me to a bundle of plastic knives. "These'll make sharing easier," she informed. Sharing?

"What sharing?" says the little 3-feet tall sugar-demon. I told the cashier I won't be sharing them, but reluctantly took the damned utensil anyways.

The PB fudge is very creamy... but not as peanut-buttery (Webster, bishplz) as I had hoped. Furthermore, a tad too sweet! I know, I know, I should be complaining when the primary ingredient is icing sugar. I'd liked it a little more salty, maybe with some kosher salt or fleur de sel. The chocolate section was quite alright, because, well, it's difficult to fudge up plain, chocolate fudge. It was very similar to my home-made recipes, so, no-brainer I suppose.

Anyways, I was expecting some sort of gourmet, outta-this-world experience, but I suppose the old-school candy-store experience sufficed.

The website shows their on-site fudge-making, very cool! And they offer mail-orders!

Fat Phege's Fudge Factory
134-560 Johnson Street
Victoria, BC V8W 3C6 Get Directions(250) 383-3435

Embrace the incoherency...

A Nanaimo (or eight, well almost) in Victoria

i'm in ur capitol, eating ur bar.

OK, that's not true.Though we didn't visit Nanaimo, the lure of the legendary desert was too much. I was faithful to Cakespy's guide. To the Olde Time Deli!


Iz gud, I sayz.
Indeed, indeed it was. I found nothing to write home about (how ironic...) though, perhaps because I was never a huge fan of western deserts. Then again, this was also my first Nanaimo. I guess I will have to do a few (an underestimate, we find out later) more testing before rendering the verdict.

The last time I was in Victoria, I by-passed the Victoria Ice Cream & Fudge Factory with much regret, perhaps because then was April. In B.C, April is rarely a time for ice cream, I guess that was the reason in addition to the hurry I was in to browse Johnson St. in a one and a half hour time-crunch. This time it wasn't going to happen again. We came out with 6 Nanaimo Bars. Blimey!

They offered 6 flavours, but only 5 were seen (the cryptic Nanaimo... hmmm). If I remmembered (they were gone in no time, of course) correctly, we had the Irish Cream, Caramel, Peanut Butter, the Traditional (best tied with PB, no more of course) and one more that I don't recall (the mystery sickens...). They made a great snack while we waited for the ferry.

The overall texture and taste was very similar to the one from the Olde Time Deli, but the base was thicker (which I preferred, meaning I had to wash it down with less of the vileness known as black coffee), taking up about half of the bar while the previous, only one-third.

In Cakespy's review, the Nanaimo that "got away" was apparently a blond (what's a classic mystery without one?) from the Bond Bond's Bakery . I had never intended to stop by, but I discovered it by chance while heading down Blanshard. I had already crossed the street but my tingling NB senses dragged me back. Examining the tantilizing pastry case, there were plenty of NB's (brunets, albeit... even a PB variety... tempting) but no sexy blonds in sight! What horror! I inquired, a little desperately at the bakery clerk, and was told there were none...

And Then There Were None...
Right, right, that's enough references to mystery novels.

Bummer! They had ran out.
Sigh...back to the hotel to finish the other six!

Honestly, I didn't eat six of them in one sitting.
Thank goodnessToo bad I'm going vegitan... gotta make up for it, you know.

Olde Time Deli
1009 Government St

Victoria Ice Cream & Fudge Factory
905 Government Street

Bond Bond's: More Than a Bakery
1010 Blanshard Street


Embrace the incoherency...

I missed the party. Also party-goers' Parliament garbage.

Actually, you can't really miss the Parliament's garbage. We pay them to sit and rot daily in the Legislative Chamber. On a lighter note, I'm going to Victoria tomorrow. Will be back to catch the Olympics' Opening Ceremonies and public beatings of Tibetans.


Research, of course, is vital.


Embrace the incoherency...

BC. (C is for 'cookie', that's good enough for me) (actually, no cookies)

BC Eggs
BC Dairy
BC Strawberries
BC Blueberries
Gordon Campbell





Embrace the incoherency...

dub-ya.

I was like, 'fk'n seriously?'
Oh yea, can Ollie stick in some Donald Rumsfeld on Dick Cheney action?

Holy crap did I just type that?
Rummy must be played by Jared Leto and Dick Cheney has to be portrayed by Francisco Bosch in a mini-toga.


What are you talking about? He was born to play fat republicans.
Embrace the incoherency...

who sez i nevr drw wimmins?!: An Informational Timeline.

I have come across many, many people who are bewildered by my reluctance to draw wimmins. You guys are observant geniuses, and this post is for you. Most readers will find this entry mind-bogglingly educational. I apologize.

Some old art dump from 2 years ago.
Conclusive evidences of Lucy drawing wimmins: Confidential and for your (by you I mean the Interweb) eyes only, after the jump.



Before Lucy learned the female anatomy. Timestamp is July, 2006. Take notes, will you?


Lucy is learning the female anatomy through Bram Stoker's Dracula in an English class, March, 2007. Yes, it's indeed a head-scratcher.


And Lucy betters the female anatomy exactly one year after the infamous "Blue Boobs".

Finally, Lucy perfects the female anatomy.



Oops...
Fix'd.

So where is Lucy today on wimmins and the female anatomy?
A thousand words, peeps (pun intended).
Embrace the incoherency...