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2018 in Reflection (Part 1) - Vancouver, Canada
7 years ago
General
With little over 2 weeks left of 2018, I feel like I am at a good point to reflect on the year; and it's been a good year, definitely one of the better ones.
The beginning of the year was quite uneventful for me from what I can remember, picking up in May where I flew back out to Canada again to spend a couple of weeks with
Phoenixrage16 and 
Lampshadeheadman in Vancouver which was wonderful. Vancouver was full of things to do and see, very green and close to nature through parks and gardens, full of diverse foods and flavours and so easy to get around. I easily recommend Vancouver as a holiday destination to anyone who would like to go and explore a city, gardens and food as opposed to sitting on a beach all day getting a tan.
My recommendations for Vancouver are:
- Go to Stanley Park and walk around the whole circumference. Take your time and take in the views of Downtown and sea of Yachts, North Vancouver, the Totems, Lions Gate Bridge, the west side which reminds you of how important sea freight is for the city filling the horizon before looping back around to the Lost Lagoon.
- Visit the hipster but gorgeous buildings of Gas Town and the Steam Clock.
- Take a tour at Granville Market with Vancouver Foodie Tours for one of the most informative but delicious experiences I have ever had in my life! You must try the original honey glazed doughnut at Lee's Donuts! It is simply the best doughnut in the world! (so impossibly light but sweet and delicious!) and try the Marsala Chai Tea at the Granville Island Tea Company Ltd!
- Try London Fog tea if you love Earl Grey, Vanilla and Cream. I don't know why I've never heard of it before but it was amazing and, especially with the name, it defiantly needs to be more popular over here in the UK! (Or even just exist over here)
- Walk along to the Vancouver Maritime Museum. Me and Volcan stumbled across this weird shape building and an old yellow submarine outside with no intention to go inside; but I am oh so glad I did as it was such an interesting an informative museum which's main feature is the St. Roch ship, Franklin Expedition and Northwest Passage opening up a whole new area of interest for me!
- The Museum of Anthropology is very out of the way of everything, sat in the University of British Colombia campus, but is defiantly worth the visit. If you come to Vancouver, this is a must see attraction, I regard it as one of the best museums in the world as the sear volume of exhibits and variety blew my mind. At first glance you would see that it focuses mostly on the peoples of Canada, most notably the Hadia people with well preserved originals and amazing recreations of their own possessions, but has an unbelievable collection or weapons, armour, idols, art, models, masks... everything from any corner of the world. Reaching from the Inuits of the north to the revolutionary costumes of Latin America. Portugal's "The Last Supper of Lucifer" to Indonesian ship models. Ancient Egyptian, Mycenaean and Byzantium jewellery to South African bottle cap art. This museum will inspire anyone love countries, cultures and history.
- For those who love Gardens, the Vandusen Gardens are a must see blooming with colour and curiosity everywhere you go, however one of my most magical moments was walking through a rough trail parallel to Rhododendron Walk between the bushes and trees in awe of all the colour, only to end up under the trees in the dark, before turning a corner and being bathed in pink and golden light under the canopy of the most beautiful pink Japanese cherry blossom tree. It was so simple but the wash of colours and light looking up from bellow was just awe inspiring, I tried to take a picture but it is contained to the edges of it's boarders. You really do need to be there to appreciate the simple beauty of the blue sky, pink blossom, golden light, red flowers, green leaves, dark brown bark... A true rainbow of nature.
- For bird lovers the Bloedel Floral Conservatory is sat in Queen Elizabeth Park and allows you to get so close to nature's most beautiful, cute, graceful and smart creatures with parrots, pheasants, canaries, tits and songbirds. Don't worry about this building being too hot inside; it's actually pretty cool. Once you're done with the beautiful birds, you then have the rest of the park to explore from it's quarries, love locks to rose gardens. And if you are lucky like me, you might meet humming bird, coming within arms reach.
- And finally, the best Ice Cream in the world. Rain or Shine Ice Cream is located on Cambie Street [annoyingly] half way between King Edward and Broadway-City Hall metro stations but always seems to be busy but for good reason, this small shop with the yellow sign serves the best ice-cream in the world! They make the simple waffle cones in front of you and have a vast array of unique and interesting flavours including London Fog, Malted Milk Chocolate and Blueberry Balsamic. I had the Honey Lavender and instantly regretted it; knowing that I will never taste heaven again.
As stated before... I recommend Vancouver, Canada, to anyone who wants to anything other then sit on a beach all day getting a tan and would happily go again to see what else it has to offer that I missed (and also to taste those heavenly doughnuts and ice cream again~ ...you know what... I might just book a flight just for to try them again~)
Stay turned for part 2 featuring my trip to Singapore!
The beginning of the year was quite uneventful for me from what I can remember, picking up in May where I flew back out to Canada again to spend a couple of weeks with
Phoenixrage16 and 
Lampshadeheadman in Vancouver which was wonderful. Vancouver was full of things to do and see, very green and close to nature through parks and gardens, full of diverse foods and flavours and so easy to get around. I easily recommend Vancouver as a holiday destination to anyone who would like to go and explore a city, gardens and food as opposed to sitting on a beach all day getting a tan.My recommendations for Vancouver are:
- Go to Stanley Park and walk around the whole circumference. Take your time and take in the views of Downtown and sea of Yachts, North Vancouver, the Totems, Lions Gate Bridge, the west side which reminds you of how important sea freight is for the city filling the horizon before looping back around to the Lost Lagoon.
- Visit the hipster but gorgeous buildings of Gas Town and the Steam Clock.
- Take a tour at Granville Market with Vancouver Foodie Tours for one of the most informative but delicious experiences I have ever had in my life! You must try the original honey glazed doughnut at Lee's Donuts! It is simply the best doughnut in the world! (so impossibly light but sweet and delicious!) and try the Marsala Chai Tea at the Granville Island Tea Company Ltd!
- Try London Fog tea if you love Earl Grey, Vanilla and Cream. I don't know why I've never heard of it before but it was amazing and, especially with the name, it defiantly needs to be more popular over here in the UK! (Or even just exist over here)
- Walk along to the Vancouver Maritime Museum. Me and Volcan stumbled across this weird shape building and an old yellow submarine outside with no intention to go inside; but I am oh so glad I did as it was such an interesting an informative museum which's main feature is the St. Roch ship, Franklin Expedition and Northwest Passage opening up a whole new area of interest for me!
- The Museum of Anthropology is very out of the way of everything, sat in the University of British Colombia campus, but is defiantly worth the visit. If you come to Vancouver, this is a must see attraction, I regard it as one of the best museums in the world as the sear volume of exhibits and variety blew my mind. At first glance you would see that it focuses mostly on the peoples of Canada, most notably the Hadia people with well preserved originals and amazing recreations of their own possessions, but has an unbelievable collection or weapons, armour, idols, art, models, masks... everything from any corner of the world. Reaching from the Inuits of the north to the revolutionary costumes of Latin America. Portugal's "The Last Supper of Lucifer" to Indonesian ship models. Ancient Egyptian, Mycenaean and Byzantium jewellery to South African bottle cap art. This museum will inspire anyone love countries, cultures and history.
- For those who love Gardens, the Vandusen Gardens are a must see blooming with colour and curiosity everywhere you go, however one of my most magical moments was walking through a rough trail parallel to Rhododendron Walk between the bushes and trees in awe of all the colour, only to end up under the trees in the dark, before turning a corner and being bathed in pink and golden light under the canopy of the most beautiful pink Japanese cherry blossom tree. It was so simple but the wash of colours and light looking up from bellow was just awe inspiring, I tried to take a picture but it is contained to the edges of it's boarders. You really do need to be there to appreciate the simple beauty of the blue sky, pink blossom, golden light, red flowers, green leaves, dark brown bark... A true rainbow of nature.
- For bird lovers the Bloedel Floral Conservatory is sat in Queen Elizabeth Park and allows you to get so close to nature's most beautiful, cute, graceful and smart creatures with parrots, pheasants, canaries, tits and songbirds. Don't worry about this building being too hot inside; it's actually pretty cool. Once you're done with the beautiful birds, you then have the rest of the park to explore from it's quarries, love locks to rose gardens. And if you are lucky like me, you might meet humming bird, coming within arms reach.
- And finally, the best Ice Cream in the world. Rain or Shine Ice Cream is located on Cambie Street [annoyingly] half way between King Edward and Broadway-City Hall metro stations but always seems to be busy but for good reason, this small shop with the yellow sign serves the best ice-cream in the world! They make the simple waffle cones in front of you and have a vast array of unique and interesting flavours including London Fog, Malted Milk Chocolate and Blueberry Balsamic. I had the Honey Lavender and instantly regretted it; knowing that I will never taste heaven again.
As stated before... I recommend Vancouver, Canada, to anyone who wants to anything other then sit on a beach all day getting a tan and would happily go again to see what else it has to offer that I missed (and also to taste those heavenly doughnuts and ice cream again~ ...you know what... I might just book a flight just for to try them again~)
Stay turned for part 2 featuring my trip to Singapore!
