vancouver, part 1: the adventures

I recently made a trip out to Vancouver to visit a bunch of people, including Rosemarie, Chelsea and family. It was a very mixed trip, as I travelled with my mom but stayed with Rose. Tiff was also visiting Vancouver during the same time, so we got to hang out a bunch while on the West Coast too.

One of the more exiting things we did is go outdoor rock climbing!! Rose and Rob, her boyfriend, took us to Lighthouse Park in West Vancouver to climb. Us referring to myself, Tiff, and her friend Warren. I had never been outdoor climbing before, so I was grateful for our group. It was a good mix of seasoned climbers and newbies like me. I never did see the lighthouse, but that is okay by me. I had much more fun climbing right by the water, beautiful!

At Lighthouse Park

Rocking Rose's sushi helmet, designed by her sister, Kat

Outdoor rock climbing!! So awesome!!

The next two days I did some pretty touristy things with Tiff. We went to Granville Island, and saw some pretty neat artists at work. But the best part, of course was the food at the public market. But I'll talk about the food later.

Hanging out in some hammocks in a hammock store on Granville Island

She convinced reluctant me to spend $4.50 on a ferry across False Creek. I wanted to walk and save the money but by the end of the day my feet were so sore that I did not regret paying for the short boat ride.

We also went to Yaletown and Gastown, as per recommendations. Though they were nice neighbourhoods, and some cute places and nice restaurants, there wasn't actually much to do there. There were lots of nice restaurants in Yaletown, but we had just eaten on Granville Island. So instead I played tour guide and brought Tiff to the Vancouver Public Library, and the Olympic flame. We also saw BC place and Science World but only from afar and didn't walk any closer. Poor poor feet, so sore. There are lots of exciting looking buildings in Vancouver, that's for sure!

Vancouver Public Library

Tiff and I at the Olympic Flame

At the steam clock in Gastown

The next day with only one thing on our itinerary, we had a rather lazy day and only got up after lunch. Unfortunately, after bussing for nearly an hour we discovered that most of the shops in Punjabi Market are closed on Tuesdays. But we got Indian food, which was mega tasty!

On Wednesday and Thursday I went on a roadtrip with my mom to Seattle! It was lots of fun, and we definitely want to do it again. Shopping without the boys is so much less stressful!! We bought a lot of stuff, 'twas awesome. I got a Coach wristlet, work clothes, new sports bra, new shoes, and more.. We stayed the night with one of my mom's old friends from her university days. She hadn't seen him in about 16 years, and his wife even dug up an old photo from the last time we saw each other! I was such a cutie! Hehehe!

They have a very large house with super cool things like a custom grand piano from Japan that plays itself, a fancy projector home theatre and lots and lots of other instruments. All three kids are music whizzes.

The next day we went downtown Seattle to see some of the major tourist spots in as quick a time period as possible. We went to the Pike Place Market, saw the gum wall at the Market Theatre, went inside the first ever Starbucks (it still uses the original logo!) and drove past the Seattle Library. Rob told me that it was built inside out, so it makes a lot of sense on the inside of the library, but the outside looks like a mess.. Or an architectural masterpiece, depending on how you view it.

Seattle Public Library

Colourful gum on the gum wall

We then proceeded to shop some more. YEAHH!

My last day in Vancouver turned out to have great weather. It started out rainy, but cleared up and got sunny real quick! I met up with Chelsea downtown, and got to see her in her home turf! Awesome! (Funny story: I got lost, which is embarrassing cause I generally have a good sense of direction. Also, to make it even worse, I was in the right spot all along, but walked somewhere else because I thought I was at the wrong place, and then had to go all the way back.) We walked to English Bay and just chilled around there and Yaletown, before heading back downtown again. I met her friend Jess too. We ate, walked, talked, shopped, and just generally had a very relaxed and nice day.

Stanley Park

Chelsea wanted to stand in a fountain.. so she did.

In the evening, I met up with Rose and we saw an SFU grad dance show. It was... interesting. It was actually really cool to see, as it was more movement than dance. Which I definitely find very fascinating. It was more of a mix of dance and theatre (uhh my two faves!). Afterwards, we went to Rogue for drinks and dessert. It was a hot, hot date.

More about the food in my next post! I figured this post was long enough as it is, haha.