Declan's blog

Since I moved to Vancouver from White Rock, I have ridden my bike to the downtown a few times. I find cycling the optimal way for city tour for couple of reasons: you could travel over a longer distance than on foot in a given amount of time, and the trails for pedasterians are accessible to cyclists as well - at least  that's the case in the city. You could also ride at your desired pace, stop for a snap shot, or walk a distance and admire your surroundings.

Burrad Bridge is one of the bridges connecting the west side of Vancouver with its downtown core. Looking to the east , and you could see Granville Bridge and the habor for fishing vessels and private motorboats. As a result of the forest fire from the interior BC, a thin smog was covering the city.

The route I had planned for the day was to Stanley Park, but instead of riding around it along the sea wall, I wanted to ride on road and see the Lion's Gate from above.

It was harder than I had anticipated. I had only driven in the park before, and had forgotten the elevation of the cliff overlooking the Lion's gate, standing across from West Vancouver. It was the most challenging elevation that I had ridden, and I was passed by many other hardcore cyclists. But aside from the steepness of the hill, the view from above was much better than the views you'd get along the sea-wall. That is because the obnoxious factory plants on the other side of the park offend your sight, while you see less of them through the trees from above. After riding for two hours, I decided to allow myself indulging my craving for some sweets.

Mocha Torte: "6 thin layers of vanilla sponge and mocha butter cream, coated in chocolate ganache(Sweet Obession, 2010)." That layers of mocha butter cream were not overpowering the vanilla sponge cake, and the delicate pastry body needed that creamy texture of butter to make it rich and moist. It was a sunny afternoon with only myself and another Asian girl as customers. Compared to the French Bakery that I had also begun to experiment, the pastry at Sweet Obession had better apeal to the eyes.

Well, perhaps not particularly with this piece. I have taken on a project of tyring out the pastries and sweets in Vancouver, and will do more detail introduction on some of them in the future.