Category: Vancouver 2014

[The Intense Summer] VANCOUVER DAY 15 (Part 2)

7/25/2014

< Continuing from PART 1 >

After getting a set of Minnie Mouse ears (a steal at $3!) and a short-sleeved alligator kigurumi, I was suddenly overcome with an urge for bubble tea. So back to the food stalls we went.

This stall probably ranked first for the drink stall with the largest lineup, but, nonetheless, I'm glad we waited for the amount of time that we did. The wheat germ bubble tea was indeed amazing.

[The Intense Summer] VANCOUVER DAY 15 (Part 1)

7/25/2014

For my last day (or rather night) in Vancouver, my second aunt took me to the Richmond Night Market.
(Among locals though, it is simply known as the 'Night Market'.)

The Night Market is only open during the summer, and since it's quite common for me to visit within the period of time that it's open for, I usually make it a thing to bug someone to take me every year.

You could, of course, just take public transit. But having to fumble with a ticket while lugging large bags whatever-you-happened-to-buy home with you doesn't quite sound like my idea of fun. Plus, there's always parking if you go early.

Rewinding back a couple years though, there used to be two night markets in Richmond: one that retailed cheap, and poor quality goods in addition to involving parking a substantially far distance away from the market, and one that parking within close proximity but very few retailers.
A little while back, the former closed down; the only active night market now is known as the Richmond Night Market and is located right outside the Bridgeport Skytrain Station / River Rock.

[The Intense Summer] VANCOUVER DAY 14

7/24/2014

So today I set off on an adventure to travel to as many places as possible via SkyTrain, and return home before lunchtime.

Well, I guess it wasn't exactly like that.

My plan was simply to go out for a bit and be able to make it back in time for lunch with the grandparents.
But as BC's Translink system would have it, bus/SkyTrain tickets are only valid for a measly hour and a half transfer period (tickets back home are valid for a good two hours).

So hopping on the Canada Line to Waterfront from Aberdeen, I was able to reach Oakridge in less than 15 minutes, and run in to buy a Butterscotch Pecan muffin and Low-Fat Cranberry Blueberry muffin from mmmuffins for my grandparents and return back to the SkyTrain terminal in approximately 10 minutes.

[The Intense Summer] VANCOUVER DAY 13

7/23/2014

My trip to Crystal Mall on Wednesday had intended to be a short one, but my original plans didn't end up following through as nicely as I had hoped.

The day had started off on a rather dull note, with a few grey clouds more than the day before and not a ray of sunshine in sight. I hopped onto the bus umbrella-less, but realized that it had started raining slightly when I reached the Metropolis at Metrotown bus terminal some forty five minutes later. At that point, rain had yet to become a concern of mine.

My second realization was that Crystal Mall wasn't as close to Metrotown as I had initially thought. And only after spending a good 15 minutes of trying to pinpoint my exact location on Google Maps and rerouting was I able to find myself where I wanted to be.

Something I noticed while walking along the streets bordering Metrotown was how bleh the stores appeared. It seemed as if everything that existed outside the malls belonged to a completely different world; Burnaby wasn't as glamourous as I had once though after all.

[The Intense Summer] VANCOUVER DAY 12

7/22/2014

Fulfilling her promise to me from last summer, my third aunt took me to the Vancouver Aquarium to get a glimpse of dolphins, beluga whales, frogs, teeny tiny jellyfish, and more.

I found it to be pretty packed for a Tuesday since standing spots for the dolphin show were slightly hard to find unless you got there 15 minutes in advance, but it wasn't bad at all according to my aunt.

[The Intense Summer] VANCOUVER DAY 11

7/21/2014

Vancouver has, arguably, the best summer weather in Canada - and I say "arguably" since there are periods of time when the city experiences nothing but chilly temperatures and nonstop rain.

But today was one of those perfect summer days: sunny, with a nice breeze.
So even though the trip to Cattle Cafe involved a 25-minute walk from Richmond Centre, I didn't mind it too much.

I was somehow able to time the walk perfectly, and met up with my grandparents in the parking lot adjacent to the plaza just as they pulled into a parking spot.

I ordered a Neapolitan Spaghetti and iced milk tea, while they ordered Chinese noodles with different soup bases and Horlicks/hot milk tea. Since I had been dying to try out the restaurant's shaved ice during my last visit (but ultimately ending up not ordering since I was already full), I opted for a mango shaved ice with coconut jelly, grape jelly, and grass jelly for toppings!

Though it couldn't possibly compare with the mango shaved ice we tried in Ximending (which used mango-flavoured ice instead of regular ice with mango milk syrup poured on top), it was still an awesome icy treat for a summer day.

Later on we went to Parker Place and Yaohan.

[The Intense Summer] VANCOUVER DAY 9

7/19/2014

Woot! What an eventful day!

While most of the afternoon was spent helping my third uncle's family with a garage sale, I was very fortunate to be able to attend the MiniComi artist gallery market held at Olympic Village, even if it was only for an hour.

But let's begin with garage sale photos!
(By the way, this garage is still going on tomorrow - Sunday July 21st - so check it out if you're in the Richmond area!!)

[The Intense Summer] VANCOUVER DAY 7

7/17/2014

I'm not quite sure if I should call my fourth day back a productive one or not.

At 9:30 AM, I walked through the doors into my usual Vancouver hair salon. And somehow, I remained there until 3:30 PM.
And I was only there for a slight trim, to get highlights done, and get a hot oil treatment.

But apparently bleaching my hair first was necessary to achieve the highlight colour I wanted, and according to my hairstylist, the process had to be repeated twice.
While the term already sounded quite frightening, the shock became more realistic when she peeled back the tin foil pieces to reveal eerily white streaks. (O _ O)

At that point, the numbers that appeared on my watch informed me that it was already nearing noon. Yet I couldn't go for lunch yet since she would start colouring my hair soon. (Soon, as in approximately 20 minutes later.
Instead, lunch had been a somewhat cold bowl of leftover broccoli soup. Breakfast had been a super greasy pineapple bun from the bakery next door and a Java Chip frapp. (Super healthy, I know.)

The colouring took another I-don't-know-how-long, but in the end, I walked out with a subtly purple streaked-mane that was (almost) devoid of split ends.

[The Intense Summer] VANCOUVER DAY 6

7/16/2014

Our third day back was, again, another day dedicated to nothing else besides food.

My parents wanted something quick and simple for lunch, so they stopped by a Thai restaurant for curry and sweet and sour pork, dragging me along with them.

Me, being the late-riser that I am, had just woken up at that point and decided against ordering anything. The waitress, obviously unaware of my circumstances, proceeded to give me strange glances when I whipped out my digi-cam despite not having chosen anything off the menu.

Later that evening, my parents had scheduled a large family dinner at The Jade.

[The Intense Summer] VANCOUVER DAY 5

7/15/2014

On our second day back from Asia, my third uncle took us out to Taiwanese food.

Why anyone would name a Taiwanese stir-fry restaurant the slang Japanese term for "seriously" or "very", I have no idea.
But then again, Taiwan embraces Japanese culture very thoroughly (maybe that why?).

<<Previous

[The Intense Summer] VANCOUVER DAY 15 (Part 2)

[The Intense Summer] VANCOUVER DAY 15 (Part 1)

[The Intense Summer] VANCOUVER DAY 14

[The Intense Summer] VANCOUVER DAY 13

[The Intense Summer] VANCOUVER DAY 12

[The Intense Summer] VANCOUVER DAY 11

[The Intense Summer] VANCOUVER DAY 9

[The Intense Summer] VANCOUVER DAY 7

[The Intense Summer] VANCOUVER DAY 6

[The Intense Summer] VANCOUVER DAY 5

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