2 Jay’s Café, 81 West Pender Street, Vancouver, 1989

“These Snakes are loyal friends who can keep the friendship for life. But they are sensitive to critique. If hurt, they will never forgive and never forget. They love deeply, but with this comes deep jealousy as well.”

Nineteen-eighty-nine was, according to the Chinese zodiac, the Year of the Snake. That particular year was also associated with the element of wood, according with the characteristics listed in the quote above. I spent Chinese New Years Day in Vancouver’s Chinatown, taking in the sights, including a visit to Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden.

Among the usual photos of dancing lions and people relaxing in the garden, this morning, in the kind of yellow plastic box issued with developed Kodachrome slides in the ’80s, I found the image above. The cafe is gone now.

A 1975 photo by Greg Girard shows the address to the left of the cafe housing the Arco Hotel. Here, 14-years-later, 83 E. Pender is occupied by Chan’s Tours Inc. The brick building — a narrow, 6-story two-bay commercial-residential high-rise — was built in 1912.

For a while, having just returned from a stint in Toronto’s giant commercial photo studios, Vancouver looked quaint and friendly.

Nine months later I’d meet my future wife. She’s a goat. I’m a dragon. No-one could out-snake her in the loyalty department or be less jealous.