We're back from a week's vaca in Vancouver (^_^) Stayed with my brother and his family in their new home and they showed us around. I will try to upload all ... well maybe not ALL but most of the photos (I have almost 3K of them) soon because I think they will better show off the places we went to instead of me describing them (not much of a writer). But here's what happened:
July 3, Friday - Left NJ and arrived in BC via Houston before midnight. Good thing there were no delays although they goofed at the airport. We were supposed to board at gate 102 but their monitors said it was 120. So all passengers were at gate 120. Then at boarding time, they announced that they made a mistake and that it was in fact going to be at gate 102 (0_o) Aside from that, all went well. That photo is of a big wooden sculpture in the arrival area of the airport. No idea what it means. Even my brother didn't know what it was. My brother and one of my nephews (M) came to pick us up. Didn't sleep right away when we got to their new house. I think we went to bed before 3am. Finn slept in one room with one of his cousins (G) who's 2 yrs older than him.
July 4, Saturday - First stop for the day is the Richmond Olympic Oval. The Speed Skating competition for the 2010 Winter Olympics will be held here. Then my brother and his family had a party to go to for lunch so the 3 of us hung out at the mall and had lunch there. Finn bought a bunch of DBZ toys at this anime shop. After lunch, we all went to the Fisherman's Wharf. Too bad we weren't able to come back to this place to buy fresh fish to grill at home. We then had some bakudanyaki from Tenku (^_^) This is one street food I would like to have here. Sooo good! It's like a gigantic takoyaki with different flavors ... mmmmm. After that we went to the night market. Bought myself 2 anime 1000 pc puzzles and Finn bought a Super Mario lanyard for his DS.
July 5, Sunday - Had lunch at a mall then went to the Aquarium. They had a new baby dugong so there was a special viewing. We were also able to touch a green anemone. Aside from the usual aquarium stuff, they also had a small area with monkeys and birds and sloths. We were lucky to see a sloth eating (^_^) After the Aquarium we went to Stanley Park, and then had dinner at Mr. Pickwick's. We were fortunate to have Mr. Pickwick himself as our chef. Fish and chips were delish!
July 6, Monday - Had fun at Science World in the morning. There was this game called Mind Ball where you strap something to your head and it measures your brain activity. The game is to push the ball towards your opponent by clearing your mind! I lost my game to Jojo but Finn was so good at it his chart was almost flat! He won the game against G (^_^). After that we had street food for lunch from JapaDog. Yummy! I wish this was available here along with the bakudanyaki. Then we went to Canada Place and walked around the area. Before heading home we stopped by Granville Island to go to the Kids Market. We weren't kinda in a hurry coz they were gonna close at 6pm. Looked at some boat houses before heading home.
July 7, Tuesday - Cried my eyes out watching the Michael Jackson memorial in the morning (T_T) Had take out for lunch and just ate at home and didn't go out (good thing coz my eyes were really swollen). Rest day!
July 8, Wednesday - Drove to the port to take the ferry going to Victoria. Cool experience with the organized car-to-ferry process. Had breakfast at the ferry cafeteria. Trip was around 1.5 hrs. When we arrived in Victoria, we decided to look for a hotel. We were so lucky coz we found in downtown that's fully equipped with a kitchen including cookware and tableware! All for the same price as a basic room at a hotel that's a bit far from downtown. Here we didn't need to bring the car and worry about parking since everything is walking distance (^_^) Had lunch at The Old Spaghetti Factory and then went to the Miniature World. I love this place! I love miniatures (^-^) Took tons of photos here. Then we walked around to see the shops. Had ice cream at Rogers. OMG, love their Mystere flavor!!! Why aren't you available here!!! Really, it was so good! Mystere is a dark chocolate ice cream with 70% cocoa ... mmmmmmmm. For dinner, Finn requested 7-11 :P hehehe. While we were walking back to our hotel, there was a street performer and so we decided to watch for a bit. Then he asked for a kid volunteer and Finn was chosen! His task was to catch one of the diablos (chinese juggling thingy) in his net. He did successfully and got $5 for helping him out (^_^) Woohoo! He was very happy about that.
July 9, Thursday - We went to the petting zoo in the morning. I didn't realize how cute goats were, especially the kids! We stayed quite a while there coz we were all waiting for the kids to climb up our backs =P They kept eating our jackets too. One chewed on my hair, one nibbled on Finn's ear, and then my finger when I intervened ... hehehe. Back to the hotel to clean up after that adventure, checked-out, then forgot where we had lunch. Butchart Gardens is out next stop. This is such a beautiful place! Took tons of photos here again (hence my almost 3k of photos). Really gorgeous flowers! And amazing landscaping! You have to see it to really appreciate the work done to this place. Back to the ferry after the gardens to go home.
July 10, Friday - On the way to Whistler, we stopped by Shannon Falls for lunch, then played by the stream. Stopped at Tantalus overlook and took this picture. So picturesque! Wonderful snow-capped mountains. Then Whistler itself is a quaint little place. It feels as though you're walking inside a theme park much like Disney with all the cute little shops and pedestrian only streets. Lots of outdoor activities here from mountain biking, skiing, even rafting. Whistler by the way is the venue for the Winter Olympics in 2010. So of course we visited the Olympics Store. Lots of cute items and there were big plushies of the four mascots on a sofa ... photo op! So we just walked around till it was time to leave in the evening.
Had dinner at McDonald's on the way back. Here's something I found out that's very interesting. Did you know that in their condiments section, you'll find vinegar beside the ketchup and mayo and other stuff? They actually dip their french fries in vinegar! I tasted it, it wasn't bad. But I find it odd, don't you? Oh well. I bet you're gonna want to try this one the next time you buy fries =P. Let me know what you think.
July 11, Saturday - Our last day. Had to pack so Jojo and I stayed behind while the rest, including Finn, went to a picnic with others. Before heading to the airport, we stopped by Tenku again for some bakudanyaki. This time, Jojo and I each had 2 (^_^) The chili mayo and their special for the day which was the sweet chili. I prefer the chili mayo but they're both good. See how big it is? That is a regular chinese take-out carton ... and the bakudanyaki fills the box! Mmmmmmm. I miss it so! When we got to the airport, we checked-in and then had coffee at Starbucks with everybody before saying our goodbyes.
Thank you so much to my brother and his family for letting us stay with them and for showing us around (^_^) Till next time!
