Prince George: Treasure Trove Casino

Shawn and I were going out of our minds with boredum this evening so we decided to head out for a bit. We went to the mall, wandered around aimlessly and then on our way back home made a quick detour to the Treasure Trove Casino.

I withdrew a $50 from the ATM which had a ridiculous service fee of $1.75 and we proceeded to wander around. Honestly we weren't there to be gamblers, we were just bored and neither of us had stepped foot in the place before.

So we played a cheap slots and both of us were down. After about 30-40 minutes and down about 30-40 dollars we were on our way out the door when I decided to throw my last $10 in to a $0.25 machine. I kept hitting max bet which was $0.75 per play and on the second last hit before I would have lost it all I got three full bars across.

So 45 minutes in the Casino left me down $2.75 (most of which was the ATM service fee).

The Casino in general is nothing special, it's mainly slot machines with two texas hold'em tables and a variety of other table games (about 12-15 tables in total).

Prince George, BC, Canada

As most of my readers probably know already, after I returned back to Canada from my year long vacation I headed up to Prince George, BC, Canada.

I have some wonderful friends up there who opened their home to me while I was getting back on my feet after decimating my entire savings.

I got up there in the middle of January 2008 and ended up leaving in April 2008. Though it was nice staying with friends I can't say that I really enjoyed my time there.

There isn't a lot of IT industry which is my primary background and I found myself installing security, cable and communications infrastructure in new homes. Unfortunately things didn't work out with that job and I ended up quiting around two months after I started. After hearing about some family problems down south in Vancouver and finding work difficult I decided to make the move back to Vancouver.

Below are a few pages, mostly related to restaurants while I was in Prince George. I found the service industry severely lacking and wanted to try and get the point across to the city of Prince George by drawing some attention to the fact. I find that people get so used to the poor treatment that they after some time fail to realize the substandard service because they think it has become normal.

1. Treasure Trove Casino
2. Vaisakhi Parade 2008
3. Clean up the VLA (Prince George Ghetto)
4. A VLA Crack House
5. Kalo Donair
6. Ricky's - Prince George
7. The Carmel Restaurant
8. Huskey Diner
9. Prince George Service Industry
10. Sledge Hockey Tournament
    

Prince George: Vaisakhi

Vaisakhi - Parade
Originally uploaded by kden604.

Today I attended the parade and festival celebrating Vaisakhi for the Sikh faith. I've posted more pictures on my flickr page with the parade pictures.

Despite the recent cold snap in weather there were several hundred parade participants who braved the -10C to celebrate Vaisakhi. Everyone gathered after the parade at the CN Centre parking lot where lots of food and hot beverages were served out.

There was quite a few public speakers and a really excellent explanation of what exactly Vaisakhi is and a summary of the creation of Khalsa.

I had the opportunity to speak to several of the local Sikh gentlemen who not only expanded on the speech but told me a great deal about politics in regards to the temples.

Down south in Surrey you might have heard about how some Sikh members had photographs displayed in an idolizing manner to some men allegedly connected with the Air India bombing. This has caused some strained relations between some political figures who want to disassociate themselves with that aspect of the festival.

If you speak to the average Sikh however I think you will find that there is no support of violence or malice held to anyone and that any true Sikh who takes their spirituality and religion to heart wouldn't be a part of any violent act against any person.

I had a really enjoyable time at the festival and despite the cold weather it was quite a good turn out of people though I thought that there was an under representation of non-Sikh's at the festivities.

I think these type of events are good to help people understand other religions and help build that multicultural family that is Canada.

Prince George: Clean up the VLA

I've seen quite an influx of people that have come to this website because of the recent post regarding a crack house in the VLA. I would like to recommend that people start taking a proactive approach to reducing crime in their neighbourhood.

Why not send e-mails to both City Hall, the Prince George Citizen, and contact Crime Stoppers Prince George.

Some areas of Prince George really need to be cleaned up and if everyone sits by passively saying "yeah this neighbourhood has really gone down hill" then nothing will change.

Think of the benefits of having a good neighbourhood:

1. Sense of trust in the community
2. Safety on the streets
3. No broken glass and needles laying around
4. Reduction in theft and petty crime
5. Increased land value for home owners

These are just a few of the things that could change for the better. I don't think people should have to be worried about if they can park their vehicle on the street because of fear of vandalism or theft.

If you see people with five couches and two and half cars on their lawn then get the city by-law enforcers to force them to clean it up. Eventually it will get cleaned or the tenants will be forced out.

Do you have other problems that you think need addressing about Prince George? Leave a comment and lets get these problems addressed.

Prince George: Kalo Donair

There is a small Greek place tucked in to the corner of a strip mall at 542 E Central Street which I think is quite worthy of visiting. It was a Donair kind of day and Shawn, Raquelle and I decided this was the place.

The two staff were really friendly and engaging and the food was excellent. What really did it for me was their Triple X hot sauce which was amusingly presented to me with a crossed heart and a warning of its power.

I ate the entire donair and it was great, very tasty and the sauce was really delicious. On my hotness scale I would give it no more than 7 out of 10, but it was extremely flavourful. After all, what is the point of eating the hot and spicy if it doesn't have a great flavour to match its heat.

I told the staff if they bottle it, I would buy some and I meant it. If you enjoy a nice moderately hot but flavourful spice head over to Kalo Donair and try it out. A Large donair is $7 including tax.

Prince George: Ricky's Restaurant

This Saturday Shawn and I ate breakfast at Ricky's at 1515 Victoria Street. I would say that it is certainly in the top two or three places we have done breakfast so far. It's clean, it's got a friendly staff, regular coffee refills and good portions of food.

I think that if you look at the parking lot of Ricky's on most weekend mornings you will see that it's consistently booked up. If you don't want to wait for a table I suggest you arrive prior to 9-930am, especially on Sundays.

OMG - More Snow

It's April 10th... It shouldn't be still snowing. But here I am in Prince George, and there it is falling from the sky.

Prince George: Carmel Restaurant

This weekends breakfast spot was Carmel Restaurant at 1538 Hwy 97 S in Prince George and it looks we are on a good streak. Another great meal with a friendly staff, good portions and constant refills on the ever important coffee.

The place was packed and there was a few people waiting for a table but the service remained at a high level. My buddy Shawn said the food there is always excellent, and the lunch and dinner specials are even better than breakfast.

Thanks for the great service!

Happy New Years

Just a quick note to say happy new year everyone! Welcome to 2008!

I haven't been posting in the past month or so, just taking it easy with family and relaxing. The blog will resume semi-normal posting as of the middle of January (approximately) after I move up to Prince George, BC, Canada.