GreaterVancouverFoodie

I live in a beautiful so called Gulf Island in the Salish sea on the stolen unceded land of the Snuneymeux and possibly other indigenous nations between Vancouver Island, Greater Vancouver, the so called "lower mainland", and Northern Washington State. But I'm a city guy, and after a few weeks of the excellent but very Canadian local food, I have a craving, a need for city food from around the world. Lucky for me, I can walk to our little Island ferry. take a 20-minute ride and grab a shuttle to the fast ferry which takes me in an hour and 15 minutes right to the centre of one of the best cities in North America for  authentic, everyday-normal-people food from around the world, especially the Pacific rim: neighborhood joints, downtown hangouts, suburban gems, food trucks and street stands, food  of the kind that the sorely missed late Anthony Bourdain celebrated: the Greater Vancouver Area. 

Today, I got off the ferry at 4:30 pm at Canada Place near Stanley Park, for a three day visit,  for a reason worthy of the city where Greenpeace began, a 5 hour university workshop on climate disasters and 2 days later,  helping with the Vancouver fall 2024 Fridays for the Future's Fall Climate Strike, founded by Greta Thunberg , 7 long eventful sometimes inspiring often disheartening years ago. This is tough, often thankless work. I need hearty city food. 

But I'm faced with a bewildering glorious conundrum. How can I get some great city food without wearing myself out before the skytrain trip to my friend's place way out in Burnaby ahead of tomorrow's 8:30 am workshop. And then something magic happens, typical of this place. Right in front of the Skytrain Station, the Japadog stand is back at least for today, after a years long Covid hiatus. 

 As I order my Terimayo dog with double seaweed, another even holier miracle. proof that the foremost celebrity patron of unexpected wonderful city food has been on this very spot, enjoying this very food, a decade or more ago, taped to the front of the cart: