More about Vancouver

It's a sunny day finally after a week of rainstorm and wet weather. I gradually got my voice back and recovered from the cold. I probably got the cold in Victoria in a freezily cold day.

More about Vancouver!

Vancouver is an uncharming city where I found the residential buildings are almost indentical. Maybe because of the Olympics or the rise of residential market, construction is everywhere. It also takes up one-third of the city centre. And the buildings are simply look alike. Could they look a bit more interesting?

I only had a short stay in Vancouver, so I took the tour guide's advice to go to Lynn Canyon instead of Capilano Suspension Bridge. What he said is "it's free and it's got water below that makes it interesting. Of course, it is not as long as the popular one and I almost thought that I was the only person who went to see that bridge.

It was a cold morning. The Sea Bus is fast, comfy and crowded. North Vancouver seems to be more organized than the city and is more calm.

Yes, it is a small bridge in a country park. It is small but has its charm. There is a waterfall down the bridge called twin falls. I didn't quite remember how many waterfalls that I saw in this trip. Though I'm quite a waterfall fan, I have quite enough of it. I had to check it out anyway.

Luckily, I was lucky to catch the bus and ferry without waiting for long. There was a public market near the Sea Bus Terminal, similar to St Lawrence Market in Toronto. Well I realised those markets look similar in Canada. It's just pity that I was not hungry at all everytime I went there, otherwise I could try out different pastry and food there. So I headed back to Museum of Anthropology in UBC.

Bus drivers are always helpful in Vancouver. As a matter of fact, I just wonder if they're too bored of not speaking to anyone. The bus 44 driver (to UBC) was a bit weird. He was nice but at the same time got his temper. On the way back to downtown, I took the bus with the same driver. It happened that a wheelchair passenger was on board. The bus signage said that passengers should stand below the blue line beyond where the wheelchair passengers sat. So the driver kept asking passengers to move back and back. Passengers were not as co-operative as we are in Hong Kong or China. The driver eventually didn't take passengers in some of the stop and didn't sound very nice to a guy with a backpack. It might be a good intention of the bus driver to follow the rule. Canada is a country where the handicapped and disabled are being respected and given a lot of convenience. It can be a good thing and a bad thing depending on what perspective you take.

Another interesting thing is that people put their bikes in front of the bus when riding the bus. It never happens in Hong Kong or China but again, people having all kinds of interest are given respect and convenience in every means there.

The Museum of Anthropology is fun. Its collection is numerous. Despite some of the collection was stolen, you will still be amazed of how much work they've done to reserve those arts.

There is a group of students having a tour. The guide told the story of how the totem pole was made in the old days. BC is a young place. I would have thought those poles were done by aboriginals but I was wrong. Many of them were quite recent 'coz they only last for 50- 60 years. But the artists create their own stories with the different elements given by others in every pole.

The day was so cold but my day's schedule was tight. My next stop was Stanley Park. There is only one bus going to the park. So after some walks, I passed through some familiar hotels I checked on the internet before and finally found the bus to the park.

The park was huge. It's a home for the black squirrels. A man shared his energy bars with the squirrels. It's always funny to see the way they eat. I seemed to be lost in the park but then I found myself in an aquarium entrance and I walked further to the seafront - the English Bay.

I was told that there will be a triathlon competition over the weekend. Imagine how those participants have to swim in this cold English Bay. The weather was bad and I could hardly see the beauty of the seashore. On my way back to the city centre, I found a geese family spending time with their kids. A biker stopped. We started chatting. I guess there should be two geese family there with their little ones. They're having a good time by the lake. I know I should turn down the biker's request for a drink and continue my way. If I were in Montreal in a sunny weather and were in a good mood, I might say Yes.

My next challenge was to find my way to Vanier Park to see "Twelfth Night". It's one of the programme of Bard on the Beach festival. My unlucky part was just started. I missed the bus and I waited for half an hour and there was simply no bus. I started to change my impression on the bus service in Vancouver. So I walked for half an hour and found a small False Creek ferry to go to the park and walked a long way there.

Of course, I was late but I had to check out the festival. That's all. I will say it's more a modern version of the 12th night but it's funny and made the night quite enjoyable.

The biggest challenge was to find my way home in a dark at 11pm.
I pictured the map in my mind and walked to a big street. I realised that I couldn't take a risk and have to ask someone. I finally spot a young fat guy and asked. We walked along the Burrard Bridge together. It's a long bridge with hundreds of cars driving next to us. It's definitely not a desirable walk. But I made it anyway.

The guy started to tell me stories about his old days as a security guy in a hospital and how he handled media. We reached the end of the bridge and we should walk the different ways but he still stopped me at the corner to continue his story in 10C. He's a bit crazy but I tried to be nice, let him talk for around 15 - 20 minutes and continued my way.

Canadians can be friendly, sociable but I hope they could think about whether it's a good place to talk at all.

That's my most busiest day in Vancouver.

The last day of my trip was easy, just checking out the Granville Island and tried the beer there.

Check out photos here!

The news said Canada economy has been doing good. Some of the Vancouver's sites hire people from Montreal, paying their tickets. Calgary also hires people from Russia and elsewhere. When I had breakfast in the hotel, I talked to a doctor from India. She's got another point of view on Canada economy. She felt that economy was not doing good there. Maybe that is true as compared to Indian economy.