View from the 25th Floor

View from the 25th Floor, originally uploaded by Tim McDonald.

Had the Shaw cable guy around this evening to connect my cable TV and (more importantly) internet in my new apartment.

Took the day off on Thursday to move into the new place at the other end of town. This time, I'm on the 25th floor with, I reckon, a better view. It will be great when summer finally comes around. The picture above is a panorama of the view from my balcony that was created from five photos joined together on the computer. If you click on the photo, you'll go to the picture on my Flickr page and will be able to view a much larger version. When you look at the larger version, you'll also see where the software didn't quite get it right.

I'm now at the west end of downtown Vancouver near English Bay (the bay in the photo). Just past the building is the Stanley Park. The apartment isn't as nice as the Yaletown one, but it's much cheaper (half the price) but is unfurnished. All up, I think I'll save about $500 per month here after accounting for furnishing the place and monthly bills (the Yaletown apartment was furnished and included internet, cable TV etc etc). As a bonus, two of my mates from work also live in the building.

The area around is a lot older and a little bit 'grottier' than Yaletown but has pretty much everything I need on within a five-minute walk: Safeway, McDonalds, Starbucks, Dentist, bottle shop, Japanese restaurant, Indian restaurant, London Drugs (supermarket/electrical/computers/ chemist). There are also tons of restaurants within a 10 minute walk. One thing of note, is that the West End is the heart of Vancouver's gay and lesbian community. I was only made aware of this AFTER I signed up for the place, though the pink bus shelters and rainbow flags along Davie Street (the main street by my building) should have given it away. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Besides, I much prefer it to the yuppies in Yaletown poncing around wearing their rectangle glasses carrying a coffee (grande half-decaf soy chai mocha latte extra hot) in one hand and their bloody poodle in the other. Wankers.

Furniture-wise, starting to build up again- now have a bed (from Ikea) and a TV (37" Viewsonic LCD). Need to get a couch, though the styrofoam blocks that protected the TV are doubling as an ersatz couch for the time being.