This will be short.
The Olympics are over, everything is getting torn down at the international broadcast center, and Vancouver is quickly reverting back to its non-Olympic form. We have just one more day left, and then it’s flight time back to Atlanta.
I wanted to just take a moment to say some (quick) final thoughts. This has been an exhilarating experience, and I truly hope you all have enjoyed reading about it and seeing it from afar as much as I enjoyed experiencing it in person. The goal with any story like this is to try to take the energy, excitement, and atmosphere of the event and bring it to your television set or computer. It’s a tough task, especially with an event as broad in its scope as this one. I hope you all enjoyed the stories and moments, and I am thrilled to have had the opportunity to bring them to you.
In a few days, I’ll be back at work at WXIA, and you can continue to follow my work through my Twitter account: MattPearlWXIA11. In the meantime, thanks so much for following along with our Olympic coverage — it was our pleasure to provide it!
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I have meant to write a blog every time I visit a Vancouver Chinese Restaurant, as per the mission previously detailed in this blog entry.
And I have fallen off.
Maybe it’s because, every time I eat Chinese food, it’s either at the end of a 13-hour workday or in the middle of a 13-hour workday — ergo, not much time or energy to be writing blogs about cuisine. But there’s a brief window now, as I’m waiting to receive the feed of my 1-on-1 interview with USA Women’s Hockey silver medalist Angela Ruggiero. So here’s a quick rundown of where I’ve eaten so far:
Fisherman’s Terrace: I profiled them in the first blog. Since then I’ve been back for dim sum, or a special lunch-type meal filled with delicious, unique, smaller dishes. The food’s so good I’m planning on renting an apartment in their kitchen. NINE out of ten forks
Red Star: This restaurant’s key advantage is that it’s connected to our hotel, so it’s a short in door walk away. I had a beef dinner that was quite hearty, too hearty in fact considering how late in the day I was eating it (10 pm). Definitely a strong showing, but not Fisherman’s Terrace level. SEVEN forks
Sea Harbour: The only real dud of the trip. They were sold out of half the dishes by the time I got there (this time only 8:30 pm), and I wound up ordering a chicken dish that was far plainer than I had anticipated. Perfectly fine, but not at the level I had heretofore witnessed. FIVE forks
Hot Pot One: So, I have a little story about this one.
I ate dim sum Hot Pot One Sunday morning, before departing to meet the family of Elana Meyers at the airport. Between the airport meeting and live shots later that day, I had a lot on my mind. And as a result, I committed a bit of a boo-boo.
I left my credit card there.
Luckily, the restaurant is close by the hotel (noticing a theme there?), so I was able to hop back the following night. And sure enough, they not only hung onto the card but called up the Credit Card Center and reported it had gone lost. I was so touched I stayed for dinner, where I experienced the curiosity known as the Hot Pot.
Hot Pot?
Naturally, my first image took me back to those things they don’t let you have in college dorm rooms. But this was a little something different.
A Hot Pot set-up involves a giant wok-sized (but not a wok) contraption filled with a boiling broth of your choice. You order the broth and whatever meats and vegetables you like, and then they bring out the Hot Pot and your ordered ingredients … raw.
Now I was cool with the raw vegetables. But the raw beef slices I ordered? A little odd — or, at least, that’s how it looked.
But then I learned how the whole dinner works. You cook the slices in the Hot Pot broth one at a time, so every slice is piping hot when you eat it. It also bears the taste of whatever broth you chose, which creates a truly unique eating experience and a delicious meal!
(Could this ever catch on in the States? I doubt it — we’re generally not really fans of paying to cook our own food. We’re more of the “I’ll-pay-you-and-you-make-the-dinner” variety.)
And the servers were so friendly to me — they walked me through the process and even gave me free red bean soup for dessert — and yes, I know that sounds like an odd dessert choice, but it was actually quite sweet and quite good.
Of course, at meal’s end, I called up my credit card company to find the card has officially been deactivated. So there’s that. At the end of the day, I’m walking around Vancouver without a working credit card … but of course, if I hadn’t left it at Hot Pot One, I don’t know that I would have gone back for dinner.
So, in the end, I’m pretty happy with the deal. EIGHT forks
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Here’s when I knew my Olympics trip had gotten truly surreal: when I visited the Today Show Thursday morning, and I wasn’t awestruck at all by the Today Show.
Don’t get me wrong — it was still cool seeing all the Today Show anchors up-close, and it was still wondrous checking out their phenomenal Vancouver set atop Grouse Mountain. But I was there for one purpose, and it had nothing to do with Matt, Meredith, Al, Ann, or Natalie.
It was all about Elana Meyers.
Georgia’s lone born-and-raised Olympian was just nine hours removed from winning a bronze medal with the USA-2 women’s bobsled team. She was also running on no sleep — not unlike myself, incidentally, after again incurring the mockery of the hotel staff for requesting a 2:30 AM wake-up call. (Quick side note: it’s never a good sign when someone who logs hundreds of wake-up calls a day tells you he “noticed that one” when he saw what time you requested.)
But Meyers certainly wasn’t complaining; amidst the non-stop adrenaline rush, she was living her dreams — and the Today Show was part of that. “Oh, that was amazing,” Meyers told me a half-hour later. “It’s funny because me and Erin [Pac, her bobsled pilot] watched the Today Show every day in Park City while we were training, like, ‘Look at those people — those Olympians! That could be us!’”
Thursday, that *was* them. So was driving two hours south to Vancouver, doing boatloads of interviews, and then driving two hours back to Whistler to stand on the podium and officially receive their bronze medals.
In the broadcast center, Ted Hall and I kept marveling at how the one Olympian representing our state — considered a longshot to even finish in the Top 10 — found her way to a medal and the podium. For me, it was an even wilder feeling because I had covered Elana’s run to the Games since October, when it wasn’t even assumed she’d be here. I first interviewed her in Lake Placid back in October; I got to observe her during practice, and she didn’t exactly scream Olympic-ness. She mostly hung in the background, listened to music in her headphones, and just kind of chilled. She didn’t seem overly intense or focused; then again, that’s not really her style. And, as she would tell me later, one of her best strengths was her ability to not take everything too seriously — to stay loose and relaxed even in the tensest of situations.
The next time I saw her, she again seemed like an Olympic afterthought — even at the Olympics. I interviewed her at the Medals Plaza in Whistler Village. We were surrounded by hundreds of people; she was wearing her Team USA gear … and no one recognized or came up to her. She was virtually anonymous, despite standing one quick gondola ride from where she’d eventually compete and win a medal.
But if those externalities told the story of an afterthought, Elana was about to tell her own story. Teaming with Erin Pac for the USA-2 squad, they stood in second place through the first day of competition and then held strong to finish in third at the end. They were the top American finishers on a stacked squad, and they were the top non-Canadian finishers — and keep in mind, the Canadian sledders had extended access to the Whistler track while everyone else received limited runs.
Quite simply, this was a phenomenal achievement.
Getting to know Elana and her family over these past few months, I have been so impressed at how tight-knit and supportive everyone is — not just of Elana, but of everyone in the family. Needless to say, it’s celebration time for Team Meyers — and it’s absolutely well-earned.
And maybe somewhere in there, she’ll be able to get some sleep.
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For just two days, I wish I could be back in Atlanta.
I’m not homesick, and I’m certainly not tired of Vancouver. There’s just something big going on Monday and Tuesday that I wish I could see with my own eyes.
Back in December I received a wonderful opportunity to follow a young local woman named Courtney as she flew to Los Angeles to meet an older man named Scott — a man whose lived she had saved a year earlier.
Scott was battling leukemia, had undergone chemotherapy, and had been placed on the bone marrow registry. Out of the 13 million people on the registry, Courtney was the only perfect match.
She donated, and she saved Scott’s life. On the weekend I followed them in December, Courtney and Scott got to meet each other for the first time.
Tonight on 11Alive News at 11:00, you’ll be able to see their story.
I learned so much from talking with and watching these two, but I think more than anything I came away with a renewed belief in what we as individuals can accomplish. I mean, Courtney’s bone marrow donation was a relatively simple process — much easier than the invasive surgeries of the past — and in taking part, she may have added years to Scott’s life. It’s inspiring because it’s so easy, and you can’t tell me one person can’t make a legitimate difference when you see the effects of what she did.
Courtney, meanwhile, continues to make a difference. Since her own donation, she has become extremely active in expanding the bone marrow registry list; she has organized several bone marrow drives, one of which will take place this Tuesday at Discover Mills Mall. I encourage you to attend and, more importantly, sign up; I have done it, and I only hope that one day I can be someone’s else perfect match and give the same gift that Courtney gave to Scott.
And in the meantime, I hope you get as much out of watching their story as I got from doing it.
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When I tell people back home the hours I have been working on this trip, they almost universally gasp.
When I actually take a moment and count the hours up in my own head, I internally gasp.
Sometimes it’s best just not to think about that stuff.
I don’t think a day has gone by yet where I have worked less than 10 hours; on average, they run about 12-13. Meals generally consist of scarfing down food at your workspace, hoping not to spill it on your tapes or computer, and in my case I spend several hours a day lugging around a 20-pound camera, a nearly-as-heavy tripod, and a definitely-as-heavy equipment bag.
Oh, and for three weeks, I won’t have a single day off.
And yet, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t having an absolute blast.
This is one of those assignments where you know exactly what you are signing up for when you accept it. You know the days are going to be long, the free time is going to be short, and the days off are going to be none. But you also know you are going to have an amazing, unique experience and receive access most would crave. On Saturday I sat in the cockpit of a float plane — a plane that docks like a boat and takes off from the water — and got straight-ahead views of a perfect Vancouver sunset. On Friday I kayaked in Deep Cove, the world’s southernmost glacial fjord, where the trees are both plentiful and phenomenal. Since I have been here I have touched a gold medal, interviewed both celebrities and tremendous figures, and seen some of the most gorgeous views imaginable. I did it all for free.
And on top of that, I get to produce stories that bring the Olympics to people that aren’t there. If folks in Atlanta are able to get something out of my stories — get a feel for the electricity in Vancouver right now and the beauty that surrounds this city — then I feel I have fulfilled the privilege of this assignment.
I guess it’s not totally free — see the physical prices listed above — but it sure feels like a vacation even as I’m working.
On some nights the exhaustion sets in. And when it does I simply turn around as I’m heading out the International Broadcast Center, look behind, and see the Olympic Cauldron lit up on the platform over my shoulder.
And then somehow my energy just comes back.
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People watching said Evan Lysacek choked up when I asked the question.
It was a simple one. Something I often think of when watching these athletes in the Winter Olympics here in Vancouver.
I think of it because I know how hard my kids work to reach a certain level of success.
My 17 year old daughter is in Dalls, Texas right now for a national championship in competitive cheerleading. Her team won it last year, if they do well this year they’ll be on ESPN again and get an invitation to compete in the World Championship in April. For her to reach that level takes serious dedication.
I’m proud when she reminds me that she can’t go to a movie with me because she has to practice. We ask her after each season if she wants to quit, she could get a job, have more time with her friends if she would just give it up. Each year the answer is “no”. It’s worth it to her.
As I sat with Evan, the thought hit me that he must have been asked that question his whole life. “Do you want to quit so you can have a life”?
Me: “What have you given up to win that gold medal”?
Evan: after a brief pause and a catch in his throat—”Everything”.
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Absolutely stunning.
That was the view over and over and over again as I drove to — and then checked out — Whistler Mountain. It’s where the major skiing events are being held during the Olympics, and it’s a beautiful mix of green and white — snow-capped mountains and trees smothering the area.
Take a look:
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Ted Hall and I have a little side competition going here at the Olympics.
We’re calling it “The Bingo Card”, and basically it’s a contest to see who can spot the most NBC personalities while we’re here in Vancouver. We all work in the same building; we all eat in the same commissary. And so, the game is on — who can fill out their Bingo card the fastest?
And just between us, I’m cleaning Ted’s clock.
It’s not even fair — mainly because I spent the early morning of Day 2 here behind the scenes at the Today Show. Since I’ve been here, I’ve spotted Matt Lauer, Meredith Vieira, Al Roker, Ann Curry, Lester Holt, Natalie Morales, Bob Costas, Al Michaels, Dick Ebersol, Tom Brokaw, Maria Menounos, Scott Hamilton, Jimmy Roberts, Cris Collinsworth, Kristi Yamaguchi, Kenny Albert, Leanne Gregg … and there’s more, but that’s all I can think of at the moment.
All Ted’s spotted is the guy from Chuck.
That’s not true — Ted’s seen quite a few as well, but usually a day or two after the rest of us.
Sample conversation:
Ted: “I just rode down the escalator with Brian Williams.”
Matt: “Sorry, bud … I saw him eating lunch yesterday.”
Ted: (clenching fists) “I can’t win!”
All kidding aside, it’s funny because I really don’t get starstruck much — and I’m not really starstruck in this case either. I mean, Ted and I are in the same profession with these folks, and we have both interviewed enough big names in our careers that it doesn’t overly shock us anymore. But it’s still pretty interesting to see how different some folks look in real life.
And, let’s be honest, the whole thing’s kinda fun, too …
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Publicly, I am here to cover to Olympics for 11Alive and a handful of NBC affiliates across the country.
Privately, I am on a separate mission.
The Vancouver area has the third largest Chinatown in North America; many say the area where we’re staying, the city of Richmond, has a particularly amazing collection of Asian cuisine.
If I haven’t mentioned this before, I love food. LOVE food. And I really love Chinese food. REALLY LOVE it.
Last night, after getting off work “early” at 9 PM, I found myself with a rare bit of “down time” (read: two hours before going to sleep). So I began a side mission: to find the best Chinese restaurant in the Vancouver/Richmond area.
My first taste? Richmond’s Fisherman’s Terrace, recommended by no higher authority than the mayor of Richmond himself, Malcolm Brodie. It didn’t hurt that the restaurant was right across the street from our hotel — and open till 10 PM.
And even at 9 PM, it was quite busy.
I found it amusing that a restaurant this highly regarded was on the third floor of a shopping mall. But I soon discovered, location be darned, this place was absolutely for real.
I ordered the minced chicken and cream corn soup to start, then ordered the sauteed sea bass with vegetables as my main course. The service was a bit slow — it took about 20 minutes for the waiter to come by to take my order – but the food made it all worth it. Delicious, exquisite, savory — these would all be words to describe it. In fact, they might not even do it justice.
As time permits, I will continue to sample other Chinese restaurants in the Vancouver/Richmond area. But let’s just say this: it’s gonna be tough to top my first stop.
Fishermen’s Terrace: 9 out of 10 Forks!
My dish, only after 2/3 of it was eaten because I just then realized I should photograph this exquisite meal ...
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As a fan, this is where I get excited.
I have some great access out here in Vancouver, but I don’t have clearance for the actual Olympic venues themselves. We can’t film them, period, and since Ted and I are doing more “slice-of-life” stories, we generally don’t have any need to interview the actual athletes.
So when it comes to actually watching the events, we’re just like you — watching ‘em on TV.
(One difference: in our broadcast center, we have access to about eight different Olympic stations and feeds … which, all things considered, is still pretty darn cool …)
But having a front-row seat in front of the television doesn’t diminish any of the joy in actual watching the events. Take tonight, for example. The press room practically burst out in applause when Apolo Ohno blew past the competition in a preliminary speed skating heat.
That’s right, a preliminary heat.
Sometimes when a guy is that good at his sport, it’s spellbinding to watch no matter the circumstance. Another example: Jen Heil in the women’s moguls. The point is, the Olympic Games bring the world’s best to the same stage; they do it in a variety of events; and sometimes, the best times, they allow you to watch greatness unfold.
Which is all a grandiose way of saying: they’re a heckuva lot of fun.
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THE SCENE: 10:45 PM, Thursday night, 2/11; a hotel in Richmond, BC. A lone reporter places a call to the front desk …
Me: Hi, I’d like to request a wake-up call for tomorrow.
Front Desk: OK, what time, sir?
Me: 2 AM.
Front Desk: (laughing out loud)
(15 seconds later …)
Front Desk: (still laughing out loud)
END SCENE.
(By the way, isn’t it funny that when I actually need to write the phrase “laughing out loud”, I *don’t* shorten it with LOL … discuss …)
When you’re on an assignment like this — on-site at the Olympics for three weeks — moments like these are going to happen. And usually, if you’re getting up as early as 2 AM, there’s probably something pretty amazing waiting for you when you do.
In this case, that was definitely true.
My executive producer and I went up to Grouse Mountain, where we were given behind-the-scenes access at the Today Show. It was their first show from their brand-new Olympic set, and we followed along the whole time. Between breaks in the show, I conducted interviews with just about all the main players — Matt Lauer, Meredith Vieira, Ann Curry, Al Roker, Natalie Morales, as well as executive producer Jim Bell. And, in perhaps my favorite moment, I filmed two performances by — and then got the chance to interview — Michael Buble.
The whole thing was a whirlwind — moving from outside set to inside set, from indoors back outdoors, from one interview to the next, all in a span of two hours. We were both pretty much surviving on adrenaline; I had worked 14 hours the previous day and only got three hours of sleep, so energy was somewhat at a premium. But when you’re running around on a set like that, it doesn’t take much to sustain that adrenaline and enjoy the heck out of what you’re doing.
In short, it was a blast.
Here’s a link to the story: http://www.11alive.com/video/default.aspx?menuid=149#/Behind+the+Scenes+of+the+Today+Show/66385658001
And check out my Twitter page for photos!
As for me, I woke up today at 7 AM — still pretty early, but it feels like I slept till noon …
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This right here is the real deal.
Japadog is one of the most popular restaurants in Vancouver — and it’s a street-car vendor serving hot dogs.
I kid you not.
Oh, and did I mention the hot dogs aren’t just hot dogs? They’re topped with all sorts of Japanese sauces and condiments; it’s quite gruesome — until you eat it.
I’m a believer — although this photo was taken *before* I ate the hot dog. Afterwards, I was in that rare state of culinary satisfaction — thanks to an all-beef frank with onions, nori (the seaweed in sushi), and teriyaki sauce on top.
It’s the good stuff, attested to not just by me but also by world-renowned “famous people” Steven Seagal and Ice Cube (who, by the way, seem ripe to star in a CIA buddy comedy together, no?). And the folks in Vancouver love it — the main location has lines down the block, and the secondary one (the closer one to me) is picking up steam as well.
The video story aired on The Daily 11 @ 7; when it appears on the web, I’ll let you know!
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(First thing’s first: “photo essay” in this case means an amalgam of haphazardly collected pictures … please don’t set the bar too high …)
Greetings from Vancouver! Ted Hall and I arrived at the airport a couple of hours ago; we are now at the hotel in Richmond, getting ready to take the train into downtown Vancouver. A few highlights from the day so far:
See that car clock? That's what time I left for the airport this morning. Needless to say, there was a lot of sleeping on the plane ...
The view of Vancouver as we fly in ...
Our first stop? The Vancouver Zoo & Archaeology Center ... oh no, wait, this is STILL THE AIRPORT ... so cool!
I don't know what this is; all I know is it was hanging from the ceiling and almost bit me ...
Aaaaand jackpot ...
Hello from Vancouver! It took Ted and I all of 30 seconds to locate our first mounted police officers in Canada ... always enjoyable, and quite friendly to boot!
There you have it, folks! The first half of our first day in Canada … we’ll keep the updates coming!
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One of my former co-workers in Buffalo is very fond of the following expression when someone leaves for an extended period of time: “This isn’t goodbye; it’s more like, ‘See ya later’!”
(I actually think she stole this from an episode of Fresh Prince of Bel Air – go to 3:35 in the clip – but that’s besides the point …)
Anyway, it’s with that sentiment that I thought about what I am going to miss while in Vancouver for the Olympics. It’s not “Goodbye” to Atlanta for sure; it’s only a three-week “See ya later”, which means the things I’m going to miss are more impulse-based than anything else. If I was leaving for good, I’d talk about the people and the greenery and the wide variety of neighborhoods in Atlanta. But I’ll see all these things — and people — again pretty shortly.
In the meantime, here are the Top 5 Things I’ll Miss About Atlanta during these three “See ya later” weeks (assuming I have time to miss anything, what with how busy we’re going to be out there …):
5. The Hawks — Full disclosure here: I am an NBA nut and a Hawks season ticket holder. While I’m gone, one of the hottest teams in the NBA will take on the Heat, the Mavericks, and three other opponents at the Highlight Factory. The only upside? The March/April schedule is even better, with the Lakers, Spurs, and Cavs all coming to Atlanta.
And, of course, at least I’m not missing the playoffs …
4. Waffle House — Perhaps this is a strange choice to see for Atlanta lifers (or those who live in the suburbs), but I have been hooked on The House ever since I moved here ten months ago. It’s a great, tasty stop when you’re on the go, and I’ll miss it, even while enjoying the sure-to-be tremendous cuisine in Vancouver.
3. 11Alive — Yes, score one for the home team here. Let’s just say this … without giving too much away, we have some great stories lined up for February and during the Olympics.
(OK, enough shilling … moving on …)
2. The DeKalb Farmers Market — It’s one of the area’s hidden gems (if you can call a place constantly swamped with customers a hidden gem). Talk about Olympic-like: I have never seen so many foods from so many different cities and nations under one roof. I’ll miss this place immensely.
And the #1 thing I’ll miss about Atlanta while I’m gone:
1. The people! — OK, I know I said I’d only mention the people in more of a “good-bye” setting, but I must include them here. Take it from someone who’s spent most of his life in the North — Southern hospitality is beautiful and very real, and I have appreciated the warm welcome I have received throughout my first year here in Atlanta. I’ll miss it for the coming three weeks … but I’ll be back.
This will be my last entry before departing … see you in Vancouver!
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It’s four days till Ted Hall and I depart for Vancouver.
And right now is the worst part.
(”Worst part” is, of course, strictly comparative; even the worst part is still a heckuva lot of fun …)
I have had the privilege to travel quite a bit for my job, and the most stressful time isn’t the travel itself — it’s the prelude to the travel. It’s making sure you have all the necessary equipment, all your bases covered at home, and all your collective ducks in a row before your bags are packed and there’s no turning back.
And that’s usually for a 2-3 day trip to another state; this is for three weeks in another country.
It all gives a somewhat uneasy feel to these next few days. For the past few weeks, even though the trip has been drawing near, I have been so jam-packed with work that I honestly haven’t had much time to think about it. Now it’s time to focus and prepare — I’m Santa-like in my making of lists and checking them twice, and I have already marked roughly 20 different errands I need to run before Wednesday.
But amidst the housekeeping, there’s also extraordinary excitement.
There’s the anticipation of all the great stories I’ll get to cover; there’s the desire to explore the Vancouver area, which so many folks have told me is absolutely beautiful; and, of course, there’s the exhilaration of knowing we’ll be right in the center of the extravaganza that is the Olympics.
There’s also a certain non-work assignment that I am looking forward to fulfill: the request submitted by friends, family, and co-workers to “pick me up something from the Olympics”. A few days ago, one of my co-workers cornered me in a dark crevice of the newsroom and took out his wallet; as I stood there perplexed, he started thumbing through his cash and finally snared a $20 from the pack. He then gave it to me and said the following:
“This is for pins.”
Pins?
“Yes, Olympic pins. I want as many as this will buy.”
I will do my best.
And of course, I am looking forward to keeping everyone informed throughout the Games. Ted Hall and I each have Twitter accounts (@tedhallnews & @MattPearlWXIA11), and we’ll be blogging all month long. It should be terrific.
In the meantime, Santa’s gotta get back to his lists …
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