Vancouver, BC (Day 3) Went to the Vancouver Art Gallery today and saw several different galleries. Georgia O'Keeffe was really special. Since I am not an Art History major, so I won't even try to explain everything, it would just cause more confusion. Her art work is controversial, some said that her works excessively expressed the human sexuality while a lot of her work is mostly abstract. There were other exhibits, but I won't even try to explain everything since, again, I am not an Art History major. Overall, the experience to the Art Gallery was great. I would want to see it again when it displays in either San Francisco or San Jose. I also met with Charles, it was really nice to see him again after a year and half. We had a great time catching up since the TTT 2006. We met at a Starbucks on Robson and Thurlow. Rumor has it that you'll usually find some famous stars who would pay a visit there. Sadly, no star sighting today, but the good news is it was great catching up with Charles and hopefully we can meet again either in Vancouver, Bay Area or even Taiwan sometime again. Afterwards, I visited the campus of UBC (University of British Columbia). I thought it was a pretty campus, due to time contraint, we had to come back to Downtown Vancouver area for dinner since it was dark and cold. For the New Year's Eve dinner, we had Malaysian Cuisines, Mee Gerng and Bagutae (I am not sure if that's the correct spelling for it). They had good food, and I thought since it is not everyday that I'll have Malaysian Cuisines, it was worth the time and money to try some. Since there were no fireworks law in Vancouver, so we could not find any fireworks, but the people in Downtown area were really into the party mood. Even as I am writing this, there are a lot of people outside. I am heading back to California tomorrow, winter and New Year in Vancouver has been a really interesting but fun experience. Happy New Year!!!!

Monday, December 31, 2007

Vancouver, BC (Day 2): Taipei Style! The weather is much nicer today in Vancouver, I actually saw the Canadian sun peeking through! In the morning we had breakfast at a restaurant on Bute and Davie Streets. (aka, Gay Village) The BC Omelette was pretty good. It has eggs, ham, cheese and a few veggies, along with potatoes on the side. Afterwards, we went to English Bay and checked out the view, it was gorgeous!!! I really enjoyed it! Again, pictures on Facebook later when I am back in US. I met up with Aaron for lunch. It was nice of him to come downtown to meet with us before he had to go work. We ate at a authentic Korean restaurant. I had the Kimchi Tofu Clay Pot, Aaron had the Seafood Bowl with rice. It reminded us of the Korean Dram (Da Chung Jin) I am not sure how to pronounce it in Korean tho.... Although the meeting with Aaron was short (too short), but it was still nice to catch up with him since TTT 2006. Oh by the way,.... thanks Aaron for treating me the lunch. It's my turn when you visit me in California or we meet up in Taiwan. Spent part of the afternoon power-nap since I felt a bit tired. I did managed to do sightseeing around Vancouver on my own, Taipei-Style! (Taipei-Style: My own term for a lot of walking, and taking public transit, including Rapid Transits) On foot, I visited Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Park, Chinatown, Coal Harbor, hop onto the SkyTrain to Metrotown Shopping Centre. The Shopping Centre reminded me of Taipei 101 Shopping District and Valley Fair. It is HUGE!!! I think it is either the same size as Valley Fair or bigger! It is very crowded since they are still on Boxing Week Special. For dinner, I met up with Michelle, she took me to the mountain of Burnaby so I can act not only as a visitor, but a 100% tourist.(Lots of picture taking... again, pictures on Facebook when I am back to US) We caught a Coyote and I acted as a CSR (Crime Scene Reporter) we drove by the scene of an accident BEFORE the paramedics arrived, so Michelle decided to stop the car at the gas station while I took some pictures. It looks like people in the cars were okay, but it sure served as a reminder that no matter where we are, Safety First! We then went up for some night scene in Simon Frasier University. It was cold up there, a bit snowy + black ice. However, the view was GREAT!!! For dinner, we were at a Taiwanese Cuisine place where I had a Spicy Beef Noodle, Beef "Stomach" and Pork "Intestine" and she had Shao-Lung-Bao. It sure reminded us of great times in Taiwan! Boy! The beef noodle was REALLY spicy! Thanks Michelle, for treating me for dinner tonight! I am so touched that everywhere I go, my friends has been so nice to me... MAN!!! I am spoiled by knowing a lot of great people in life. Not sure if it is allergy or a mini-cold, but my nose is itchy and runny, I plan to take some Advil Sinus, hopefully it will get better in the morning. What is your new year resolution?

Saturday, December 29, 2007

Vancouver, BC (Day 1) The first day in Vancouver was relaxing after a rather interesting start at SFO. My flight was scheduled to take off at SFO on 8:20am and arrive in YVR (Vancouver International) at 10:47am, but it was delayed for almost 2 hours because of the following reasons as told by the flight attendant: 1. Missing First-Officer and a replacement was here, but he went to the wrong Terminal (He came directly from Seattle) 2. Flight Attendant team was formed at the last minute 3. A kid wanted to go to the bathroom during taxi After all these, the flight safely arrived, unfashionably late, in Vancouver at 12:08pm. We took a short walk on Cole Harbor and then took a long walk in Stanley Park. The view was incredible! I think it would be an ideal place for a date (wink wink hint hint!) Afterwards, we walked around the Robson St. and window shop around and checked out the "Boxing Week Sales"; very similar to The Black Friday in US. Lots of Japanese, Koreans, Chinese, and I even passed by a few Taiwanese if my hearing is correct. We went to White Spot for lunch, they had pretty good hamburger. I had their BC Burgers and IT WAS GOOD!!!! Although I usually doesn't like fries, but they do have good French Fries. I also had a Fruit Flan for a snack after the walk in Stanley Park. For dinner, we at at a Japanese restaraunt for Japanese style fried noodle. It was pretty good and we got 40% for each order, so not bad! Hopefully I'll be able to meet up with some of the TTT people in Vancouver and have a mini-reunion. It would be good to see them after 1.5 years. Well, time for some rest and plan for something fun tomorrow. I'll post more tomorrow. Also, I'll post pictures when I am back in US.