Shangri-La Vancouver Hotel

Each week, I share five fun reads from the web. Let’s see what’s going down on this hump day.

We start our journey with Jeremy Lim, who is now back in business with his blog. The first post of the “reboot” goes over some of his professional happenings, like his recent shift in focus toward Jeremy Lim Music. He also goes into some of the changes happening at Jeremy Lim Photography, plus a brief mention of Aperture Strategy, his “marketing consultancy for creatives.”

For all the local foodies in the audience, Lesley Chang offers up her thoughts from a recent dinner at Forage. It was a special social media type event with people like Marc Smith and Dennis Pang, giving everyone a good sampling of this local menu restaurant. They tried out the charcuterie board, roasted squash perogies, and this great-looking mushroom skillet with bison bone marrow croutons and a 64-degree egg. Forage is most definitely on my “to eat” list.

If you’re looking for a nice “staycation” in Vancouver, you might be interested in what Rebecca Bollwitt had to say about the Romance Package at the Shangri-La Hotel. It’s not exactly cheap at $525, but you do get a very comprehensive package. It includes one night of accommodation in this swanky hotel, as well as a five-course tasting menu at MARKET, an amenity package, valet parking, a la carte breakfast, Internet access and local phone calls. You can optionally add on a couples massage at CHI, the on-site spa too.

Heading outside of the city, we join John Biehler on his recent trip via the Great Canadian TDI Diesel Tour with Volkswagen Canada. They drove from Medicine Hat, Alberta to Vancouver using a few different TDI vehicles to get a sense of their fuel economy, comfort and styling. Much like the Nokia N97 mini Tour a few years back, they passed through Calgary and the beautiful town of Banff along the way.

And finally, we look ahead to the future with some careful retirement planning. Do you know how much cash you’ll need to retire comfortably? Trent Hamm has put together a reasonably straightforward formula to calculate your retirement number. It factors in reduced expenses in your post-employment years, as well as the inflation you’ll have to endure along the way.