These events took place on the first week of August 2010.
It took me nearly 24 hours to travel from my apartment in Montreal to my hotel in Hong Kong. Nothing much to say about my arrival day in Hong Kong as I went to bed pretty quickly. I did notice that, unlike in North America, metro cars are all seamlessly connected, giving the impression of being in one long, infinite metro. Also, women have different fashion and some look pretty nice. One was talking to a gweilo (White man) on the metro who was telling her bullshit about not being a shallow man who can just hook up with any woman he just met in a bar because of his values and health concerns. To me, it was clear the reason this guy can't pick up women in bars is because he's just a plain loser. If he were in North America, he would never have the chance to talk to a quality lady like the one he was addressing on the metro car. I guess being White and exotic in a foreign land does have its advantages.
The next day, I went to the Hong Kong office of the company I work for. I'm officially on vacation, but I got to go away for one month in exchange for agreeing to work a reduced amount of hours during that time. It's a win-win: I get to travel longer and my company gets to keep me to take care of urgent issues while I'm gone. I figured a convenient location to work from would be the company's office. It would give me a feel of what it is to work in an Asian city and a chance to meet distant co-workers who actually did email me previously for work-related issues.
The Hong Kong office is small compared to the Montreal one, but has just been recently expanded. Thus, I got to benefit from having "my own" cubicle. I also got to meet big bosses of the Asian division of the company. The view from the office is on a dense urban forest of condo and office towers. I had lunch with co-workers, who told me about aspects of our business in Asia, about the local culture and about what to see and do in Hong Kong. After lunch, a few of the people in the office burped shamelessly. I thought it was funny because no one would dare do that in North America, especially in such tight quarters where everybody can identify the perpetrator of such bodily noises.
Then, I went to the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology because I was interested in one of their programs. The university is in the New Territories, relatively far from Hong Kong's downtown core. It has a campus in a picturesque location, but its buildings - like most of Hong Kong's - are drab and uninspiring, looking aged and cheap.
Having obtained information about the program of my interest, I headed further into the New Territories to Sai Kung to eat some sea food. Many restaurants are competing against each other in Sai Kung. All display the live fish and various animals they offer. Some also threw horseshoe crabs on the ground so that they could crawl around and lure customers in. It worked for me as I was looking to eat something different. However, I soon discovered that the horseshoe crabs are nothing more than marketing devices and that actually eating them is not something the restaurants intend you to do. When I asked how much it would cost to eat one, I was told it would be 300 Hong Kong dollars (roughly 45 Canadian or American dollars) and that only a minute amount of meat could be drawn from this creature. So, I opted for more "traditional" protein instead.
After dinner, I headed to Lan Kwai Fong for some drinking and to take in the cheerful spirit of the partying masses of expats. In LKF, the wise thing to do is to buy alcohol at a 7-Eleven and drink on the streets.
The next day, I went all over HK island and Kowloon. Amongst others, I entered the infamous Chungking Mansions. Come evening, I went to Lamma Island, about a 15-minute ferry ride from Hong Kong island. It felt like being in a completely different country. Instead of the busy, hurried pace of the city, the place was filled with a tropical resort ambiance. People lazily having fun and enjoying life in a leisurely way. Walking in this unlikely little paradise was much fun. Beautiful lanterns, local fauna, the sights and sounds of calm night bliss... I decided to make a hike of it and go all the way to the other side of the island. This took about an hour and a half. I was almost at destination, when a dog blocked my way in a very dark point of the path. I almost didn't see it. But when I did, I noticed it was looking straight at me with expectation in its eyes and a somewhat confrontational attitude. I'm not sure exactly what the dog wanted, but I felt threatened. I looked around me to see what I could do about this situation. I saw and picked up a 2x4 that was lying next to the path. Just that was enough to make the dog flee. Moments later, a local saw me with the beam in my hands and said not to worry about dogs here. The Lonely Planet guide says otherwise. I didn't take chances.
I had dinner at a restaurant on the island while waiting for the ferry back to HK island to arrive. When I took it, I went on the upper deck under an awning to admire the night even though it was raining, windy, and more comfortable inside. I enjoyed just being there in the night, on this small stretch of sea half a world away from home.
2010-10-17
2010-03-14
The Games are Over
Been busy lately. Didn't take the time to write about the rest of my Olympic experience.
Here are the highlights...
Good weather graced Vancouver. I even got lightly sunburnt from walking in the warm winter sunshine of that city, which is normally rainy in February.
My friend from Montreal who wants to buy property in Vancouver arrived. We went to Toshi's together. The food is always good there and I suggested she try the oysters as they gave me a nearly religious experience the first time I had tried them there. Everything went well except that later that night, my friend discovered she is allergic to oysters. She ended up being all red, full of rashes and throwing up. At one point, it looked serious enough to consider a trip to the hospital. But once the food was out of her system, things got fine.
The next day, we both went to an Olympic hockey game. It was the men's semi-final, pitting the US against Finland. The Finns got their asses kicked real bad. In the first period, the Americans scored six goals. The Finns managed to score one in the last period. Not the most entertaining match ever. Nonetheless, I can now say I've attended an Olympic event! Later, the Finns would manage to get the bronze medal in hockey. Following the match, we walked around Vancouver and went to eat at Guu. I missed the atmosphere and food at this favorite place of mine.
Saturday night, I hung out with two friends from Montreal: Grace and Ling. The streets were filled with people. Although, because of the light drizzle, it wasn't as crazy as the previous night. One group of people was particularly funny. They were a hodge-podge of persons gathered through the encouragement of Decentralized Dance Party. They added to the general happy chaos reigning on the streets of Vancouver.
Another group of people who grabbed my attention was girls having a pajama party behind a shop's window. I'm guessing this was a kind of publicity stunt. A few people gave in to their voyeuristic instincts to look at pretty girls playing strip poker publicly. One guy next to me gave them something to look at, too. Yes; he whipped out his schlong and rubbed it against the window for all the ladies to see.
The following day - Sunday the 28th of February - was the most intense day of the Olympics. Not only was it a beautiful week-end day outside, but it was the day the US and Canada would face off for men's gold in hockey. I watched the match on TV (and I never watch any sport on TV). It was one of the best matches of the history of that sport. The teams were of comparable strength and skill; the action would constantly move from one end of the rink to the other; the score was always tight and the excitement more than palpable. Canada was leading 2 to 1, but after having swapped their goaler for an extra player on the ice, and 24 seconds before the end of the third period, the Americans managed to tie the score. The tension was really high. The game went into overtime and would be won by the first team to get a goal. Sydney Crosby, became Canada's national hero when he scored. The crowd entered in pure jubilation and the whole city, if not the whole country entered in a frenzy of pride en joy. The men on the American team looked like they were thinking about suicide. I can only imagine what they felt like, but they nonetheless gave a terrific performance.
If the streets of Vancouver had been crazy in the past weeks, it was nothing compared to what they were after Canada's win in men's hockey. I've never seen so many Canadian flags before. I've never heard so many people sing "O Canada" before. Vancouver was turned into a sort of Canaday Day party on steroids, with Halloween elements thrown in for good measure. People would climb lamp posts, would honk madly, would shout, sing and dance. Many were dressed in red, some actually wearing flags as their outfits. Some were costumed as athletes. Some didn't make any sense but were just damn funny (inflatable sumos, people on stilts, an East Indian playing the bagpipe, etc.) It was something to be seen and experienced.
I had dinner at Zakkushi on Denman that evening. I highly recommend this Japanese grill diner. After dinner, I just soaked in the energy from the joyous crowd until around midnight.
The next day, Vancouver was a lot more calm. The games were over and they had been quite eventful. Not only did they have the usual sport competitions, expressions of support and manifestations, but the also went further than usual on the dramatic side. For the first time in Olympic history, an athlete died while practicing his sport at a competition venue. Joannie Rochette, a figure skater, lost her mother days before her Olympic performance. As in a movie, that didn't stop her, but instead gave her that more reason to perform. And perform she did: beating her personal record, she managed to get a medal. Of course, during the games, countless records were broken. And so were the hopes of a Canadian athlete of finishing first in men's 50K cross-country skiing. After giving his best for nearly three hours, he finished second a mere two seconds behind the gold medalist. To fall behind by two seconds after giving yourself out to the point of breaking for three hours in front of the world has just got to be devastating. And that's how the American hockey team seemed to have felt after the most epic hockey game ever in which they lost the gold to Canada. But, one man's hell is another's heaven and Canada was given the sweetest win it could ever hope of getting. A perfect end to a brilliant streak of triumphs where Canada raked in 14 gold medals in total, the highest number ever won by a single nation in all the Winter Games. Hell, it even makes me feel patriotic to some extent and I normally can't be caught giving a damn about such vain things as national pride.
But all good things come to an end and I headed to the Pacific Central train station to catch a bus that would take me to Seattle, where I would take a plane back to Montreal. It reminded me of the time I lived in Seattle and would take the bus or train every week-end to Vancouver.
Crossing the border was made fun by our Korean-born bus driver. He told us that the Americans were too poor to buy garbage cans or to have toilets in the border post. He obviously was making fun of the Americans' ridiculous misplaced obsession with security. There was an American journalist sitting not too far from me and she was outraged to hear the guy talking like that. She insisted on letting people around her know that her country had enough money to buy garbage cans and hire people to pick their contents up. For a journalist, she didn't seem to have a firm grasp of sarcasm. The bus driver also told us that we couldn't take fruits into the US; not even banana peels or apple cores. He told us not to put banana peels or apple cores into the bus' garbage bags because the garbage bags was meant to cross the border with the bus. He said we had two choices: we could either eat our banana peels or declare them upon which the customs agents would confiscate them and eat them themselves. I should have given that driver a tip for making me smile that much. He's got the right attitude. To paraphrase the old adage: if life throws bananas at you, you make a banana split.
Once in Seattle, I visited my old workplace and saw my old amazon.com co-workers. After that, I went to Uwajimaya to buy Japanese plum wine to bring back home and I had dinner with Heng and Pathoum who came all the way from Everett to see me. Later, I took the fairly recently-built light rail train all the way to the airport and caught my flight back to Montreal.
Getting back to Montreal made me feel like I do when I visit second world countries. Compared to Vancouver, Montreal is dirty, aging, haphazard, poor and ill-mannered. Of course, it's not quite Paraguay, but I don't see anything holding me back to my hometown. What my trip to Vancouver made me fully realize is that I can remotely work from anywhere. So, after I take some more time to figure a few things out, I might just become a world rambler, a citizen of the Earth with no specific address who just roams the planet in search of adventure and making the most of what little time I have in this life.
Here are the highlights...
Good weather graced Vancouver. I even got lightly sunburnt from walking in the warm winter sunshine of that city, which is normally rainy in February.
My friend from Montreal who wants to buy property in Vancouver arrived. We went to Toshi's together. The food is always good there and I suggested she try the oysters as they gave me a nearly religious experience the first time I had tried them there. Everything went well except that later that night, my friend discovered she is allergic to oysters. She ended up being all red, full of rashes and throwing up. At one point, it looked serious enough to consider a trip to the hospital. But once the food was out of her system, things got fine.
The next day, we both went to an Olympic hockey game. It was the men's semi-final, pitting the US against Finland. The Finns got their asses kicked real bad. In the first period, the Americans scored six goals. The Finns managed to score one in the last period. Not the most entertaining match ever. Nonetheless, I can now say I've attended an Olympic event! Later, the Finns would manage to get the bronze medal in hockey. Following the match, we walked around Vancouver and went to eat at Guu. I missed the atmosphere and food at this favorite place of mine.
Saturday night, I hung out with two friends from Montreal: Grace and Ling. The streets were filled with people. Although, because of the light drizzle, it wasn't as crazy as the previous night. One group of people was particularly funny. They were a hodge-podge of persons gathered through the encouragement of Decentralized Dance Party. They added to the general happy chaos reigning on the streets of Vancouver.
Another group of people who grabbed my attention was girls having a pajama party behind a shop's window. I'm guessing this was a kind of publicity stunt. A few people gave in to their voyeuristic instincts to look at pretty girls playing strip poker publicly. One guy next to me gave them something to look at, too. Yes; he whipped out his schlong and rubbed it against the window for all the ladies to see.
The following day - Sunday the 28th of February - was the most intense day of the Olympics. Not only was it a beautiful week-end day outside, but it was the day the US and Canada would face off for men's gold in hockey. I watched the match on TV (and I never watch any sport on TV). It was one of the best matches of the history of that sport. The teams were of comparable strength and skill; the action would constantly move from one end of the rink to the other; the score was always tight and the excitement more than palpable. Canada was leading 2 to 1, but after having swapped their goaler for an extra player on the ice, and 24 seconds before the end of the third period, the Americans managed to tie the score. The tension was really high. The game went into overtime and would be won by the first team to get a goal. Sydney Crosby, became Canada's national hero when he scored. The crowd entered in pure jubilation and the whole city, if not the whole country entered in a frenzy of pride en joy. The men on the American team looked like they were thinking about suicide. I can only imagine what they felt like, but they nonetheless gave a terrific performance.
If the streets of Vancouver had been crazy in the past weeks, it was nothing compared to what they were after Canada's win in men's hockey. I've never seen so many Canadian flags before. I've never heard so many people sing "O Canada" before. Vancouver was turned into a sort of Canaday Day party on steroids, with Halloween elements thrown in for good measure. People would climb lamp posts, would honk madly, would shout, sing and dance. Many were dressed in red, some actually wearing flags as their outfits. Some were costumed as athletes. Some didn't make any sense but were just damn funny (inflatable sumos, people on stilts, an East Indian playing the bagpipe, etc.) It was something to be seen and experienced.
I had dinner at Zakkushi on Denman that evening. I highly recommend this Japanese grill diner. After dinner, I just soaked in the energy from the joyous crowd until around midnight.
The next day, Vancouver was a lot more calm. The games were over and they had been quite eventful. Not only did they have the usual sport competitions, expressions of support and manifestations, but the also went further than usual on the dramatic side. For the first time in Olympic history, an athlete died while practicing his sport at a competition venue. Joannie Rochette, a figure skater, lost her mother days before her Olympic performance. As in a movie, that didn't stop her, but instead gave her that more reason to perform. And perform she did: beating her personal record, she managed to get a medal. Of course, during the games, countless records were broken. And so were the hopes of a Canadian athlete of finishing first in men's 50K cross-country skiing. After giving his best for nearly three hours, he finished second a mere two seconds behind the gold medalist. To fall behind by two seconds after giving yourself out to the point of breaking for three hours in front of the world has just got to be devastating. And that's how the American hockey team seemed to have felt after the most epic hockey game ever in which they lost the gold to Canada. But, one man's hell is another's heaven and Canada was given the sweetest win it could ever hope of getting. A perfect end to a brilliant streak of triumphs where Canada raked in 14 gold medals in total, the highest number ever won by a single nation in all the Winter Games. Hell, it even makes me feel patriotic to some extent and I normally can't be caught giving a damn about such vain things as national pride.
But all good things come to an end and I headed to the Pacific Central train station to catch a bus that would take me to Seattle, where I would take a plane back to Montreal. It reminded me of the time I lived in Seattle and would take the bus or train every week-end to Vancouver.
Crossing the border was made fun by our Korean-born bus driver. He told us that the Americans were too poor to buy garbage cans or to have toilets in the border post. He obviously was making fun of the Americans' ridiculous misplaced obsession with security. There was an American journalist sitting not too far from me and she was outraged to hear the guy talking like that. She insisted on letting people around her know that her country had enough money to buy garbage cans and hire people to pick their contents up. For a journalist, she didn't seem to have a firm grasp of sarcasm. The bus driver also told us that we couldn't take fruits into the US; not even banana peels or apple cores. He told us not to put banana peels or apple cores into the bus' garbage bags because the garbage bags was meant to cross the border with the bus. He said we had two choices: we could either eat our banana peels or declare them upon which the customs agents would confiscate them and eat them themselves. I should have given that driver a tip for making me smile that much. He's got the right attitude. To paraphrase the old adage: if life throws bananas at you, you make a banana split.
Once in Seattle, I visited my old workplace and saw my old amazon.com co-workers. After that, I went to Uwajimaya to buy Japanese plum wine to bring back home and I had dinner with Heng and Pathoum who came all the way from Everett to see me. Later, I took the fairly recently-built light rail train all the way to the airport and caught my flight back to Montreal.
Getting back to Montreal made me feel like I do when I visit second world countries. Compared to Vancouver, Montreal is dirty, aging, haphazard, poor and ill-mannered. Of course, it's not quite Paraguay, but I don't see anything holding me back to my hometown. What my trip to Vancouver made me fully realize is that I can remotely work from anywhere. So, after I take some more time to figure a few things out, I might just become a world rambler, a citizen of the Earth with no specific address who just roams the planet in search of adventure and making the most of what little time I have in this life.
2010-02-21
Second Olympic Week
During my second week in Vancouver, I met a few friends and we updated each other. All had interesting stories.
I went to a victory ceremony with one friend. During that ceremony, the always funny-looking Shaun White from the US was given a gold medal for snowboarding. Also, Christine Nesbitt (a Canadian), got a gold medal for speed skating. Being a Canadian, she got the crowd going crazy when she accepted her medal. After the ceremony, I had dinner with my friend and we talked about Life (career, love, cities...) until 1am. I thought she looked better than ever and was disappointed when she told me she now has a boyfriend as I wouldn't have minded at all to be hosted in her Yaletown condo...
The next day, I had lunch with some old co-workers from Nexon in Gastown. I then visited the new game studio where they now work. After that, I went in the Oakridge area of Vancouver to check out a guest house for a friend who'll be staying in Vancouver for a month to look for a property to buy.
Given that the friends at whose places I thought I would be staying in Vancouver after my time at my first host's place sort of flaked out on me and given the fact that I didn't want to overstay my welcome at my first host's place, I decided to move to the guest house. My property-buying friend will be staying for a month and by including my stay as part of her reservation, I get to pay for the time I stay at the monthly rate rather than at the daily rate.
Guest houses are one of Vancouver's secrets. There are basically houses owned by a family in which people can rent rooms or suites. One can easily rent a room for under $40 a day (even during the Olympics) in guest houses. The reason many people don't know about them is that they are run mostly without permits and whatever revenue they generate goes undeclared. Most of them cater to newly landed immigrants from China. If a guest house has a website, it is likely to be in Chinese only. Google "family guest house" Vancouver or family house hotel Vancouver and you'll find the sites of a few that have English versions. The one where I'm now staying is conveniently located next to a SkyTrain station and a shopping center; offers free Internet and cable TV and has all the amenities you would expect to find in your house. It website is located at http://www.linsinn.com/ . Use Google Translate to understand what it says.
After checking out the guest house, I went back downtown to walk a bit with a friend around Stanley Park and then eat some Japanese food. Then, I took the SkyTrain all the way to the suburb of Surrey to attend a free Sam Roberts concert. When I got there, the show had already started, but the best songs had yet to come and it turned out to be a great concert. The crowed was very much enthused and the sweet smell of weed was all over the place.
After coming back downtown, I walked a bit on Robson and Granville streets. The streets were PACKED. I've never seen Vancouver that excited and exciting. It felt like a Canada Day party gone out of proportion. People drinking on the streets, shouting "Go Canada!", flaunting they stuff or just walking around to "bathe" in the crowds.
I met two girls that were very suggestive in their way of dressing and their attitude. I had a few drinks with them and then walked around downtown with them. They were funny, but not nearly as funny as noticing guys' stares in their direction and blatant sexual interest in them. Life as a sexy girl must have many benefits.
Speaking of lovely ladies... Vancouver is chock full with them. Not only is there a dazzling variety of Asians, but the Caucasian girls here make me renew my interest for white girls. Amazing blondes, slim anglophones, fitness enthusiasts and rich ladies from all over the world visiting for the Olympics. People in Vancouver are not afraid to wear shorts and flip-flops all year round. So, it comes as no surprise that despite this being February, the array of tight leggings and bare legs I saw in the past two weeks beats months of Montreal's "Winter Collection".
Not only is Vancouver a city I enjoy living in, but it also provides all these beautiful, educated and affluent women. Maybe Vancouver truly is my destiny.
At any rate, this Saturday, I met some more friends and we basically wasted our time waiting in line for events we never got to attend (the venues were full). Then, on Sunday, I had a Nippo-Korean all-you-can-eat experience at Shabusen on Granville street with John (an Amazon co-worker) and his wife. Then, I walked some more downtown and came back to my place to rest a bit.
I went to a victory ceremony with one friend. During that ceremony, the always funny-looking Shaun White from the US was given a gold medal for snowboarding. Also, Christine Nesbitt (a Canadian), got a gold medal for speed skating. Being a Canadian, she got the crowd going crazy when she accepted her medal. After the ceremony, I had dinner with my friend and we talked about Life (career, love, cities...) until 1am. I thought she looked better than ever and was disappointed when she told me she now has a boyfriend as I wouldn't have minded at all to be hosted in her Yaletown condo...
The next day, I had lunch with some old co-workers from Nexon in Gastown. I then visited the new game studio where they now work. After that, I went in the Oakridge area of Vancouver to check out a guest house for a friend who'll be staying in Vancouver for a month to look for a property to buy.
Given that the friends at whose places I thought I would be staying in Vancouver after my time at my first host's place sort of flaked out on me and given the fact that I didn't want to overstay my welcome at my first host's place, I decided to move to the guest house. My property-buying friend will be staying for a month and by including my stay as part of her reservation, I get to pay for the time I stay at the monthly rate rather than at the daily rate.
Guest houses are one of Vancouver's secrets. There are basically houses owned by a family in which people can rent rooms or suites. One can easily rent a room for under $40 a day (even during the Olympics) in guest houses. The reason many people don't know about them is that they are run mostly without permits and whatever revenue they generate goes undeclared. Most of them cater to newly landed immigrants from China. If a guest house has a website, it is likely to be in Chinese only. Google "family guest house" Vancouver or family house hotel Vancouver and you'll find the sites of a few that have English versions. The one where I'm now staying is conveniently located next to a SkyTrain station and a shopping center; offers free Internet and cable TV and has all the amenities you would expect to find in your house. It website is located at http://www.linsinn.com/ . Use Google Translate to understand what it says.
After checking out the guest house, I went back downtown to walk a bit with a friend around Stanley Park and then eat some Japanese food. Then, I took the SkyTrain all the way to the suburb of Surrey to attend a free Sam Roberts concert. When I got there, the show had already started, but the best songs had yet to come and it turned out to be a great concert. The crowed was very much enthused and the sweet smell of weed was all over the place.
After coming back downtown, I walked a bit on Robson and Granville streets. The streets were PACKED. I've never seen Vancouver that excited and exciting. It felt like a Canada Day party gone out of proportion. People drinking on the streets, shouting "Go Canada!", flaunting they stuff or just walking around to "bathe" in the crowds.
I met two girls that were very suggestive in their way of dressing and their attitude. I had a few drinks with them and then walked around downtown with them. They were funny, but not nearly as funny as noticing guys' stares in their direction and blatant sexual interest in them. Life as a sexy girl must have many benefits.
Speaking of lovely ladies... Vancouver is chock full with them. Not only is there a dazzling variety of Asians, but the Caucasian girls here make me renew my interest for white girls. Amazing blondes, slim anglophones, fitness enthusiasts and rich ladies from all over the world visiting for the Olympics. People in Vancouver are not afraid to wear shorts and flip-flops all year round. So, it comes as no surprise that despite this being February, the array of tight leggings and bare legs I saw in the past two weeks beats months of Montreal's "Winter Collection".
Not only is Vancouver a city I enjoy living in, but it also provides all these beautiful, educated and affluent women. Maybe Vancouver truly is my destiny.
At any rate, this Saturday, I met some more friends and we basically wasted our time waiting in line for events we never got to attend (the venues were full). Then, on Sunday, I had a Nippo-Korean all-you-can-eat experience at Shabusen on Granville street with John (an Amazon co-worker) and his wife. Then, I walked some more downtown and came back to my place to rest a bit.
2010-02-16
The Games Are On
Last Friday, I went to a venue with large screens to see the opening ceremony. To get the privilege to stand in the rain to look at those screens, I had to wait in line for an hour. And that's because I'm lucky. Some waited over two and a half hours and did not even make it in.
After two hours of watching the ceremony, I got tired and exited the venue to join an old co-worker and some of his friends nearby.
The next day, I walked around the downtown area some more and went to see the Olympic cauldron with its flames near the convention center.
I got tired of Vancouver's winter weather (rain). Ever since I got here, it has been raining. The city has been constantly enshrouded by thick, dark clouds. Imagine, in the middle of the afternoon, your camera will automatically turn its flash on when you take pictures outside. Wet and depressing.
On the other hand, I've never seen Vancouver so busy. For Montrealers out there, imagine a bunch of events in numbers surpassing the Montreal Highlights festival and crowds like you'd find during the Jazz Festival. Bars, stores and restaurants strategically located are making a killing. I even saw people lining up to go inside a liquor store on Robson Street.
On Saturday, the gods were with us and we got a gorgeous, sunny day in Vancouver. The weather hovered near 15 degrees Celsius. I went to Chinatown to see whatever activities were happening there due to the Chinese New Year. I didn't see much that changed my life. I then basked in the sun for a good hour wearing no coat in this charming park. I then walked all around False Creek to look at the various pavilions. I tried the new streetcar to go to Granville Island.
Then, I met this Mexican girl. She wanted to "hook up" because it was Valentine's Day and she's going back to her country soon. I felt bad, but I had to turn her down even though this would have been so easy. There was just no connection nor attraction. Mark this down as another crappy Valentine's Day, for the both of us.
After that, I went to Richmond for "the biggest Chinese New Year celebration this side of Beijing". I saw a traditional lion dance, martial arts demonstrations, singers and fireworks. One kid doing a martial arts demonstration busted his knee while not landing correctly from a jump. He must have felt awful. First, to bust a knee is never cool. But to do so in front of a humongous crowd is even worst. I bet he's scarred for life.
I met an old Amazon co-worker and his wife at the celebration. We talked a bit and they brought me back to where I'm staying.
Every night, there are fireworks in Vancouver for the Olympics.
Going around all over the metro area like this makes me re-discover just how beautiful this city is. I don't want to go back to Montreal. I feel more at home here. It's quite possible I'll move back to Vancouver. Remains only to figure out when and under what circumstances...
After two hours of watching the ceremony, I got tired and exited the venue to join an old co-worker and some of his friends nearby.
The next day, I walked around the downtown area some more and went to see the Olympic cauldron with its flames near the convention center.
I got tired of Vancouver's winter weather (rain). Ever since I got here, it has been raining. The city has been constantly enshrouded by thick, dark clouds. Imagine, in the middle of the afternoon, your camera will automatically turn its flash on when you take pictures outside. Wet and depressing.
On the other hand, I've never seen Vancouver so busy. For Montrealers out there, imagine a bunch of events in numbers surpassing the Montreal Highlights festival and crowds like you'd find during the Jazz Festival. Bars, stores and restaurants strategically located are making a killing. I even saw people lining up to go inside a liquor store on Robson Street.
On Saturday, the gods were with us and we got a gorgeous, sunny day in Vancouver. The weather hovered near 15 degrees Celsius. I went to Chinatown to see whatever activities were happening there due to the Chinese New Year. I didn't see much that changed my life. I then basked in the sun for a good hour wearing no coat in this charming park. I then walked all around False Creek to look at the various pavilions. I tried the new streetcar to go to Granville Island.
Then, I met this Mexican girl. She wanted to "hook up" because it was Valentine's Day and she's going back to her country soon. I felt bad, but I had to turn her down even though this would have been so easy. There was just no connection nor attraction. Mark this down as another crappy Valentine's Day, for the both of us.
After that, I went to Richmond for "the biggest Chinese New Year celebration this side of Beijing". I saw a traditional lion dance, martial arts demonstrations, singers and fireworks. One kid doing a martial arts demonstration busted his knee while not landing correctly from a jump. He must have felt awful. First, to bust a knee is never cool. But to do so in front of a humongous crowd is even worst. I bet he's scarred for life.
I met an old Amazon co-worker and his wife at the celebration. We talked a bit and they brought me back to where I'm staying.
Every night, there are fireworks in Vancouver for the Olympics.
Going around all over the metro area like this makes me re-discover just how beautiful this city is. I don't want to go back to Montreal. I feel more at home here. It's quite possible I'll move back to Vancouver. Remains only to figure out when and under what circumstances...
2010-02-12
Olympic Fever Starts Rising
I did lots of walking around downtown Vancouver. Went back to many places that have some significance to me. Although, one could see the Olympics were coming, the city wasn't as bustling as I expected.
Then, Thursday night, I went outside to see the Olympic flame makes its way in downtown Vancouver. So many people were outside waiting for it.
I got to see it from pretty close. People were definitely excited. As soon as the flame would be past a group of people, they would start following the runner. By the time we got to David Lam park, where the flame was to reside, the crowd was huge.
After a cauldron was lit with the Olympic flame, there was some music, some fireworks and visuals.
Today, I haven't gone out yet, but I know there is more action going from the constant buzz of the helicopters ahead.
I'll head to the Yaletown Livecity venue in David Lam park for the opening ceremonies in a few hours.
Vancouver is shedding its sleepy nature for a while!
Then, Thursday night, I went outside to see the Olympic flame makes its way in downtown Vancouver. So many people were outside waiting for it.
I got to see it from pretty close. People were definitely excited. As soon as the flame would be past a group of people, they would start following the runner. By the time we got to David Lam park, where the flame was to reside, the crowd was huge.
After a cauldron was lit with the Olympic flame, there was some music, some fireworks and visuals.
Today, I haven't gone out yet, but I know there is more action going from the constant buzz of the helicopters ahead.
I'll head to the Yaletown Livecity venue in David Lam park for the opening ceremonies in a few hours.
Vancouver is shedding its sleepy nature for a while!
2010-02-10
Back in Vancouver
I landed in Vancouver Tuesday night. I quickly felt a poignant mix of emotions. I was sad to have left this city in the first place but glad to be back. Many memories came to surface. Hints of couldas, shouldas and wouldas. I took the new SkyTrain line straight downtown and arrived to the apartment of the first friend to host me during the Olympics. It's in the West End, close to where I used to live. The nostalgia was mixed with curiosity for all the new things, including a crazy dancing set of spotlights in place for the Olympics.
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