Corona Update #10 - Support Your Local Businesses!

The playgrounds are closed but you can still walk by the beach.

It's not all bad!

We have good news in BC - our infection rate of Covid 19 is less today than it has been for almost 3 weeks. There were still some deaths, which is so unfortunate, but there is cautious hope. There were 29 new cases today (compared to over 50 each day the previous 3 days) and there are a total of 1200 cases.

Meanwhile, we are doing our best to support local businesses - which here in Kelowna means groceries, restaurants, and wine (although that's all that seems to be open).

This past week, we we notified that our first wine club case was ready from Synchromesh. They are in Okanagan Falls and I was emailing the wine club guy, Andrew, about pick up times as we live in Kelowna. Lo and behold, he offered to deliver the wine to my door since he lives in Kelowna! Similar to my experience with Niche Winery, Synchromesh seems to be so grateful that we are giving them business. Makes you feel special!

By the way, we had a bottle of their 2019 Thorny Vines Vineyard Riesling ($28) last night. It is similar to a German Spätlese Riesling - wonderful apple, pear and apricot aromas and off dry  - maybe even a bit sweeter. But such acidity! A wonderful wine! It would have gone well with a spicy dish, a strong, hard cheese, or something very savoury but we had it on its own and savoured its flavour. At less than 8%, there were no sore heads in the morning!

On Wednesday, we ordered from Soy Asian Fusion restaurant which is practically across the alley from where we live. My wife and I both ordered their yakisoba because it tastes just like the yakisoba that we ate in Tokyo 36 years ago when we met.  And I'm not worried about Covid 19 in the food. The experts are saying that you are much more likely to catch it from the person handing the food over  rather than from the food itself. And the owner made sure to spray down and wipe the debit machine before I paid.

Speaking of which, I found shopping for groceries not so bad in person. We have been trying to order online from Superstore but when I made the order on Tuesday, the first open time was two weeks later! In the meantime, we have gone to our local Lakeview Market where the crowds are small and there are big plexiglass sheets in front of the cashiers. Not many shortages of things, either (besides wipes). We also went to Save On which was happily dead on Friday night. There are still shortages of toilet paper and paper towel but we were able o find a lot of baking goods such as sugar and yeast which wasn't available a week ago. We used the self checkout and staff made sure to spray and wipe the whole area between each customer.

On Friday, we also picked up wine from Le Vieux Pin in Oliver. They have a good system. We paid for our wine online and then drove down there. We phones on arrival in their parking lot and our wine was delivered to a table outside, Then we went to the table and took our wine and put it into the car.

On the way back to Kelowna, we stopped in at Alchemist Distillery in Summerland. We got a free (by donation) bottle of hand sanitizer and a bought a bottle of their amazing Green Frog Absinthe ($50). The owner joked that I needed to drink the absinthe and use the sanitizer to clean my hands - but that you could conceivably do it the other way around! I was very pleased with the fact that they are giving out sanitizer.

Today, our daughter and her dog, Nebbi, stopped by and we went for a walk by the beach to the Manteo Resort and back. It was busy, but people we still very respectful of each other's bubble. At the end of the walk, we had a marvellous coffee and a fantastic churro from Ki'bok - which, like Soy Asian Fusion, is just a stumble away from our condo. Ki'bok is run by two wonderful sisters and I was happy to see them open.

Tonight, we are trying to keep the economy afloat by ordering dinner from Bouchons, one of my favourite restaurants in Kelowna. For $60 you get a dinner for 2 including appetizer, main and dessert. Can't wait for this one!