Over the weekend we finally made it out to the new-ish Medina, the sister cafe to Vancouver’s much loved Belgian establishment Chambar. I’ve been there before for a take-out coffee and waffle and wanted to go back to try the brunch.

We had to wait 20 minutes outside in the cold for a table, along with about 10 other people. While we were waiting, we darted across the street to look at Provide, a swish home store where the nice man made us espressos on his European sourced Nespresso machine, and it was actually quite good. What’s more, he reassured us that people regularly wait outside in the cold for food at Medina for up to 2 hours and always tell him it’s worth the wait.

After we finally were seated in the back room (the layout is like Chambar; there’s an extra room in the back), the big decision was figuring out what to order. Duck sausage cassoulet? Fricasse? Tagine?

We decided on the Oeufs Cocotte (Baked eggs on smoked black cod, asparagus, lemon roasted potatoes and goat cheese with shaved fennel and onion salad) and the Jambon et Fromage (Braised pulled pork, morbier cheese, cherry compote on toasted fruit and nut bread. Belgian endive, pecan and watercress salad), seen here:

Both items were amazing. The Oeufs Cocotte is light, baked and fluffy perfection. The Jambon et Fromage contained the tastiest braised pork ever (and I’ve been to a lot of BBQ joints).

In fact, I think overall this could be the best brunch you can get in Vancouver. And yes, it’s worth whatever wait you have to endure. It’s a little on the fancy side, but if you’re looking to take someone out for brunch or even just coffee, this is the place I would recommend. Try a waffle for dessert – they’re small!

It’s located at 556 Beatty Street. Open until 5 pm on weekdays and 4 pm on weekends. Closed on Mondays.

One of the things I remember most from my grandparent’s house is a Chinese New Year motion lamp my grandma used to set up in the window every year. It kind of looked like this. She’d put it in the front window and turn it on at night and there would be a blurry scene of lighted up goldfish swimming around and around the lamp.

Basically, a motion lamp is a light with a picture shade with a little fan on top that spins around it – the heat from the light bulb makes the shade’s propellor spin (or so I’ve been told). You can see some great ones here.

Last week the neat blog Dinosaurs and Robots did a post on some cool motion lamps they found at an antiques show featuring trees and a forest fire (they shot video and added sfx which you can see on that page as well).

Reading that got me thinking about my grandma’s lamp, which unfortunately is broken and somewhere in my parent’s basement. I contemplated trying to find it and repair it, as I like to put up decorations for Chinese New Year. But that was going to be a real hassle. Then, in a weird coincidence, whilst I was at the 21st Century Flea Market at the Croatian Cultural Centre (whoa, was that place packed) this weekend, lo and behold…an amazing two-tierd Chinese New Year motion lamp for sale! After seeing it and wandering around, I realized I had to have it and after some bargaining it was mine. And now it sits on my dining room table and it’s hours of mesmerizing fun.

The interior lamps are both hand-painted. One features a night boat scene of Hong Kong (I think):



…and the other a flying duck scene:



…and the bottom is hand-painted too:



The entire lamp is almost 2 feet tall and both levels light up and spin – in different directions.

Here’s a couple of videos – unfortunately you can’t see much scenery detail but you’ll get the idea:





That’s it for me for Chinese New Year decorations this year – I don’t think I have room in the house for any more anyway.