tales from vancouver - part one

pictures from my presidents' day weekend/chinese new year weekend trip to vancouver with 17 other singaporeans. it was great fun traveling with a big group of friends from your country. crossing the border was a hassle. we had several scares regarding i-20s, but all were resolved at the end of the day, literally. we stayed at hostelling international, which was surprisingly clean and nice and very good! and we only paid C$20 each per night! a really good deal and very good location too. right in the heart of downtown vancouver.

pictures do the talking again.

on the way to vancouver on the bus. US side. very scenic. just plains and mountains. =) beautiful beyond words.

this picture is a tribute to little ms. sunshine the movie. one of my absolute favorite movies of all time, and of 2006. and i watched it free! haha. in the movie, these sweeping shots of big skies and plains of the US (in the movie it wasn't washington state though, it was the mid-west, en route from alberqueqe (how do you spell that?!?!) to LA), and these beautiful contrasted with the beat-up yellow truck that the family was squeezed into. much like the red car here. =)

my bus partner suzanne! you met her on my first post. she came with me on the same plane. she didn't tour vancouver with us though, she was going to visit her aunt and uncle. this was taken at the canadian-US border, but at the canada side already. we got down the bus to clear immigrations. and behind us you can see the canadian flag flapping in the wind.

welcome to canada. =) and you realize, the scenery is the same. haha.

more plains.

more mountains. and rivers and lakes.

we're in vancouver! outside the bus station, grey skies greet.

from left: yinyin, linda, suhui and me at the bus/train station. i heart my wide-angle lens.

on the train station. this time is the MRT-equivalent. it's their sky-train.

random shot.

the sky-train goes underground too. how ironic.

lunch is served. a really good japanese restaurant just minutes from our hostel. this was recommended by edward, who spent 3 months doing a summer exchange at UBC last year. i had tempura soba with a piece of unagi sushi. yummy.

the delicious spread at my table. i love japanese food.

after lunch we took a walk downtown to explore the city on foot (somehow i love doing that) and to get to chinatown. we walked past the famous pseudo-space needle. it's smaller and shorter and much less glamorous. hehheh.

sights of downtown vancouver.

we're here at chinatown! i think it's quite normal to have that temple-like structure at the entrance of chinatown.

chinese new year cakes at a bakery! it was such a welcoming sight. there were paus and po luo paus and fa gaos and prosperity cakes and all the pastries!

downtown vancouver at night. as night fell we left chinatown and had thin-sliced pizzas at our hostel room for dinner, before going out to join our friends for a chitchat session. very vibrant nightlife. and that's the end of day 1.

yeah. days 2 and 3 will follow soon. it's almost time for bed. tmr's a 930am day followed by studying for 2 tests and 2 assignments due next week at cafe on the ave. i had a blast at the snow patrol concert. it was really good hearing them live. gary lightbody has that scottish charm and the band is good. so were the lights design! i've become very critical of lighting ever since my stint as lights manager for my hall production. 2 bands opened for them, both were not too bad. i love snow patrol's music! and i loved the concert! looking forward to more concerts soon.

ok sleeping soon. today had a good workout at the sports center of UW, aka IMA. played badminton with the guys. aching muscles. but my workout was lost during dinner, where we had pizzas, root beers and chips. haha. so much for working out.

=)