Vancouver Trip! Pt 6

Walk to Dinner at Minami!
One of the greatest things to do on vacation is trying new food. After our exploration at the parks, we relaxed back at the hotel before dinner time. My sister and I decided which restaurant we were going for dinner.. and decided to have something new, pressed sushi!

Funny thing, since we were using Google Maps, we thought the walk time would be accurate.. but it was a lot farther than expected, and mom was not happy (haha). A 2 km walk to dinner sure worked up the appetite to satiate our hungry stomachs.

So I'll skip the writing, and jump into yummy photos of food!

Vancouver Trip! Pt 5

Lion Gate Bridge and Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge
On the drive through the winding roads of Stanley Park, and missing the entrances a few times, we decided to go explore another tourist location. It was one of the spots my aunt described about a suspension bridge on the side of a cliff with glass floors.

It was quite a drive over the Lion Gate Bridge.. because apparently it was a "Highway" with directional lights hung above [arrow or cross] for which roads were open.

Snapshot out the window on the Lion Gate Bridge.

It was a short drive to one of the tourist bridges, the Capilano Suspension Bridge. However it wasn't the one that my aunt said that would be free. The tickets into the park to just walk over the suspension bridge was ridiculous.. $35 per person for a walk. We were not expecting how expensive these tourist places would be this pricey! So we researched which bridge was the free one and it was in the Lynn Canyon Park.

Vancouver Trip! Pt 4

Vancouver Aquarium and JAPADOG!

On our continuous tour of Stanley Park; next stop was at the Vancouver Aquarium~! It was getting a lot warmer in the afternoon sun but the breeze was very cooling. On the walk up from parking to the aquarium, we saw artists selling their paintings. Sadly was not allowed to photograph, but let's just say, they were stunning, beautiful oil masterpieces.

Up the gentle slopes to the building, was a water wall of a cafe leading to the steps of the aquarium, aquarium gift shop and interesting statue.

It's a Wall-terfall [lol].

Beautiful tribal statue. I believe it's an Orca Whale? I'm not sure.

Vancouver Trip! Pt 3

More of Stanley Park~

Cruising around the park in the car and enjoying the forested cool shade and breeze blowing in from the water's waves. After the short walk, we visited other areas of at the park; another beach area and a park playground. At this short stop, I took the opportunity to doodle in the shade of the towering pine trees.

While my parents and sister wandered around the park, I also took some photos of the beautiful blue flowers at the park. There were a lot of these types of flowers. I think they're hydrangea flowers.. but I love how the blue just vibrated off the petals from the sunlight.

Vancouver Trip! Pt 2

Breakfast and Adventure in Stanley Park
It's an early start, woke up around 6:30 for an early for breakfast before we set out to start the day. We had a breakfast buffet with plentiful fruit, cereals, freshly smoked salmon, apple-chicken sausage and meats, also a minimum range of baked goods and a chef to cook fresh omelettes, waffles and pancakes! A not-too-shabby start.

The first stop of our venturous day was at Stanley Park! It's a very large park with a beautiful view of the lake and you can see Lion Gate Bridge.. as well as walk through many forest hike trails, long walk/bike paths around the whole park. It would take an entire day to go through the entire park so we only made pit-stops at a few locations. And due to the unfamiliarity of the roads, we got lost and just drove around the park a lot. We passed by a kid's water park, beach, and pool park.. and totem park. It's not a bad thing to drive through the park vs walking the park, since parking fees are a bit ridiculous. I understand that the park is tourist location however, wouldn't it be better to have a single payment to enter the park instead of constant charges per hour throughout the park? Just a thought.

Passing by the beach part of the park.

Over the gentle cliff with another water-side hike path.

Vancouver Trip! Pt 1

Flight and Arrival

It's an early morning while getting ready to catch the morning flight to Vancouver. Last minute check-ups on items we have and don't have, feed the hamsters and leave enough food for them for the week, lock up everything.. and out the door we go! We were quite lucky that one of my mother's clients were also flying today and offered us a ride to the airport. Checking in and going through security was a breeze.. and we boarded relatively fast because my sister's handicap priority from her surgery.
---
On board and ready for the relatively short flight [4 hrs]. My sister and I were quite surprised that Air Canada charges for almost every thing now.. even blankets and headphones.. because last time we flew, they were handed out free. And looking at the menu was a mix of "wow this is new" and "holy crap that price".

Upon arrival and after renting out a car, it was quite confusing on the Vancouver roads. The signs and lanes were small and narrow (just like in HK).. even the parking! And speak about parking.. you have to pay for parking EVERYWHERE. Literally. It was also a bit frustrating too since it's the first time using our new GPS and we're on unfamiliar territory. So decision to stop at a nearby restaurant before continuing the search of where our hotel was located.