Best downtown-core location to find sex toys

Scarlet Lingerie Boutique
460 Granville Street
604-605-1601

We all know that a little self-pleasure once in a while (like six times a week) sometimes involves implements of the cylindrical variety. One can only guess that women are buying their sex toys on-line, at private fuckerware parties, or—gasp—at one of those dodgy stores. Sure, there’s always Womyn’s Ware, but for a downtown option, head to Scarlet. Besides stocking the largest boutique collection of La Perla lingerie in Western Canada, owner Atsuko Ohara also carries dildos, erotic books (our favourite: Nerve.com’s Position of the Day series), nipple gear, cock rings, lotions and potions, and all that other sex paraphernalia you never knew you needed or wanted—all while keeping things classy and sophisticated.

Best art studio for expressionist home decor

At Mizzonk Workshop Ltd. (10285 256th Street, Maple Ridge, 604-462-8209), a two-storey, two-and-a-half-hectare forest facility surrounded by trees and an organic garden, you’ll meet Roger Chen and Wan-Yi Lin, cofounders of the unique studio. These graduates of New York’s Pratt Institute create and produce exquisite handcrafted furniture, one-of-a-kind home décor, and limited-edition artwork with playful twists. Their signature piece, “Where Are You?” (a huge white card that is cut into a sea of half-opened panels), questions the viewer’s existence. “Mizzonk” is an invented word. All designs highlight the purity of natural materials and reflect their belief that everything in nature has a purpose. If you can’t make it to the studio, make it to the One of a Kind Show and Sale Vancouver at the Vancouver Convention Centre (October 8 to 11).

Best place to donate used eyeglasses

Your old eyeglasses can have a second life and make a world of difference. Give the gift of vision to a complete stranger by donating previously owned eyeglasses to TWECS (Third World Eye Care Society Canada). It’s a 100-percent volunteer-run registered Canadian charity started by Dr. Marina Roma-March in I995. TWECS collects used eyeglasses and cleans and processes them in preparation for eye-care projects in developing countries. TWECS has been to countries such as Vietnam, Mexico, the Philippines, China, Laos, and nations in South America. The eye teams, made up of 10 to 15 members including eye surgeons, doctors, opticians, and volunteers, provide basic eye care and distribute recycled eyeglasses to the poor. A typical mission can distribute 10,000 pairs of glasses and see more than 500 patients. If you have nothing to donate, you can help process newly arrived glasses in the Burnaby-Lougheed Lions Club basement every Monday at 7 p.m. while you imagine that somewhere out there somebody will see the world clearer.

The city’s best gift shopping

Vancouver City Hall
453 West 12th Avenue
604-873-7000

City of Vancouver Engineering Services (Street Name Signs)
320-507 West Broadway
604-871-6223

If you’re looking for some interesting presents, City Hall can help with a surprising array of goodies to suit almost everyone on your list. Archival photographs like the military “storming” of Kits Beach (a Second World War military exercise) are among more than a million images that illustrate the city’s history, culture, and architecture spanning the 1860s to the 1980s. See vancouver.ca/ctyclerk/archives/photos/index.htm for details. Want postcards, note cards, notebooks, books, old canning labels, and other city memorabilia? It’s all here at vancouver.ca/ctyclerk/archives/forsale/index.htm. If a city street sign takes your fancy, there’s no need to pinch an existing one. They’re for sale at vancouver.ca/engsvcs/transport/streets/signs.htm and are available in metal, plastic, or as a decal. There are stock signs of popular streets or they’ll make signs to order.

Best Burnaby feel-good signage story

When long-time Burnaby Heights shop Helen’s Children’s Wear, established in 1948 by Helen Arnold, closed in 2007, there was plenty of concern that its iconic neon girl-on-the-swing sign would disappear, only to languish in a sign shop, museum, or private collection. Happily, the sign—which dates back to the 1950s—did get back up in its original location at 4142 East Hastings Street. It was altered a little to read “Heights” instead of “Helen’s”, a fine compromise. Engineering complications developed, and the girl on the swing was taken down temporarily last spring, but she’ll be making a comeback soon.

Best place to pretend you’re in Whistler

The Village at Park Royal
West Vancouver

Next year, if you—along with the world—go to Whistler for the 2010 Olympic Games, there will be times you wished you stayed home and watched the events on TV. Road closures, extended wait times, crowds—you’ll wonder what happened to Whistler as you knew it. For those who want the temporary experience of Whistler Village without the three-hour car ride, cross the Lions Gate Bridge and head to the Village at Park Royal. Surrounded by trees and glimpses of the mountains, this shopping area has an idyllic, alpine-like ambience that mimics Whistler’s resort atmosphere. The pedestrian-friendly layout offers easy navigation around both boutiques and big-box stores. After an afternoon of wandering, settle in for a drink. Crossing the bridge back into Vancouver, aprí¨s the Village at Park Royal, you’ll begin to consider the North Shore in a different light.

Stickiest new Vancouver business

Gum Fighters
2960 West 34th Avenue
778-237-6486

It’s a dirty, sticky job, and Vancouver’s Gum Fighters are up to the task, removing unsightly wads of gum from city sidewalks. So far, it’s been a blast since start-up about this time last year, and business is growing. The removal process uses high-temperature steam (requiring just nine litres of water for an entire day) and a nontoxic, biodegradable cleaning agent that breaks up the gum quickly—even really old stuff—so that it can be vacuumed up without disrupting passing pedestrians. Gum Fighters has worked with the cities of White Rock and North Vancouver, property-management companies (many are on maintenance programs), shopping malls, restaurants, and image-conscious stores. Business is growing, one gum spot at a time.

Burnaby’s cleanest shopping-centre biffy

Brentwood Town Centre
4657 Lougheed Highway, Burnaby

Brentwood Town Centre’s washrooms are some of the cleanest shopping-centre bathrooms in B.C. According to powderroom.ca they are, and they’re checked every 20 minutes and thoroughly scrubbed each night. If you’re interested in how other city washrooms stack up, visit the Web site, which maps Canada’s cleanest (and not) washrooms according to visitors’ ratings. Lots are downright odd—B.C.’s best this year is Victoria’s Cactus Club. Abbotsford’s Visitor Centre and its airport both score five stars, as does Simon Fraser University and Holt Renfrew. Vote for your faves or read readers’ horror stories. There’s a coast-to-coast map, too.