Saturday, October 04, 2008

Vancouver Birthday Extravaganza!

To celebrate my 30th birthday, I went on a weekend trip to Vancouver, B.C. It was awesome!

The day I got there, it rained a lot. But I was prepared -- I donned my raincoat and went to visit the Sun Yat Sen gardens in Chinatown. These gardens are a replica of traditional Chinese gardens that the scholars used to live and work in.


I walked from Chinatown to Gastown, even though the parts in between were a little scary. Gastown was pretty, but touristy.


This is the Gastown Steam Clock. I don't really know the history behind it. I just thought it looked cool.

I stayed in a Youth Hostel while I was in Vancouver. It was a fun experience, kind of like living in the dorms again! This is my roommate Kum Seong. When she found out it was my birthday, she gave me some organic oatmeal and an organic beet for a present. I will always remember my 30th birthday as the one with the Birthday Beet!

The second day I was in Vancouver, I took the ferry to Granville Island.

Granville Island is an area filled with lots of artists' studios, a brewery, and my favorite, a large farmer's market!



After Granville Island, I rented a bike and rode to Stanley Park. It was a beautiful park with lots of fun trails. Here's the view toward North Vancouver.


And here's me with my bike (picture taken by random tourist).



Later that evening, I got together with some of my online friends. It was a blast -- we met at 6 o'clock and talked until 12:30!

Left to right: Jenna, Jasmine, Kelly, me

The next day was my 30th birthday. I decided that there was no better way to spend the day than to climb a mountain. So I did the Grouse Grind.


The Grouse Grind is a very steep hike up to a ski resort. You can take the tram too -- I took the tram back down. I was disappointed that it was cloudy when I got to the top, but it was still really fun.


Next, I went to see the suspension bridge at Lynn Canyon.

Lynn Canyon was very beautiful. The stream had carved out some really neat waterfalls, and the surrounding area was a rainforest, so everything was covered in moss.

Finally, the morning before I left Vancouver, I decided to go to the UBC Botanical Gardens. I love gardens, so this trip was great for me! As you can see, the colors were starting to turn in Vancouver, which made the gardens very pretty.


That's not all of my pictures, of course. I have some more I will post elsewhere if you want to look.

Vancouver was really great. It's a fun town with lots of good food, very close the Great Outdoors, and yet very cosmopolitan. By the time I left, I was thinking about moving there. But alas, there's that whole job thing...and the citizenship thing....

5 comments:

sv said...

Belated Happy Beetday!

Your trip sounds/looks like so much fun! I worked in Vancouver for 6 weeks one summer and it was such a great city. Man, i would move there in a heartbeat. Maybe that's where we should build our commune?

Unknown said...

what a wonderful trip -- and a great way to spend a birthday!

L said...

I would definitely be a fan of a Vancouver commune. :)

Alpha Monkey said...

Happy Birthday! Your trip seemed like a great way to celebrate your 30th birthday!

I went to the suspension bridge in your picture when I was little. I remember my grandma being really nervous the whole time we were crossing it.

As a sidenote, X-Files was filmed in Vancouver.

L said...

Most "Alaska" shows are filmed in Vancouver, too. (Well, not the reality shows).