I’ve never visited Canada before. There were a few family trips to Seattle when we considered taking a drive up, but it never happened. But now that my brother Ken is studying in Vancouver, there’s a greater excuse to visit.
My mom flew to Vancouver with Ken to send him off, and has already visited once since. Then out of the blue, I got a text from my dad in our family chat saying that he was taking off for Seattle and would be visiting Vancouver after his business trip.
Um, hello, I’m the one whose currently unemployed and has time to travel — tfti?? ಠ_ಠ Jkjk. I wished my dad a safe flight and casually joked that I wanted to tag along — wink wink nudge nudge — and before I knew it, my mom had booked me a flight with her miles.
With that, I was off for five days in Vancouver, during which I visited five places, though you could probably hit up all the same places in less than five, but it’s nice not having to rush, ya know?
Queen Elizabeth Park
Before setting off for Vancouver, I got a few recommendations from my Vancouver native friend Louise, one of which included Queen Elizabeth Park. Having looked up all the recommendations and their locations, I decided to pop by Queen Elizabeth Park upon landing in Vancouver, since it was on the way from the airport to Ken’s apartment. I only had my backpack and a small duffel on me, so it wasn’t too much of a nuisance.
I pattered around the airport, found the metro stop, and took an educated guess in purchasing my ticket. Just as I swiped through the turnstile onto the platform, I got a text from my friend Grace, to whom I gave a heads up about my trip and who is attending the same university as Ken (but she’s doing the grad program and Ken is still an undergrad). She checked that I knew how to ride the metro, do my transfer, and get to Ken’s apartment, which is only a block away from her own — bless her!
Without any hiccups, I made it to Queen Elizabeth Park. I planned a circular path around the park, but kept darting off course and lost my place a few times. I started at the Rose Garden, wandered over to the fountain at the Plaza, snuck into the Bloedel Conservatory (there’s an entrance fee, but there’s a gift shop outside the ticketing booth, so I hung out around there and zoomed into the conservatory for sneaky pics), stopped by the “Love in the Rain” sculpture by Bruce Voyce (“[celebrating] the shelter that love brings and the union that it forms”), and weaved through the Quarry Gardens.
By the time I found my way out of the park, my backpack and small duffel were starting to feel a little weighty, so I looked up the nearest bubble tea shop, hunkered down at Chatime, and then, rested and recovered, hopped on a bus to Ken’s.
Gastown
I decided to spend the next day in Gastown, a neighbourhood recommended by Louise. But before heading out, I grabbed breakfast at Virtuous Pie, located near Ken’s apartment. There’s one in Gastown as well, but it opens later and was further; I thought that fueling up at the nearby location would be a better idea. Plus, I couldn’t wait to dig in because I had heard a lot about it from Steph x Happy and Healthy 96, and Louise had recommended it as well.
Virtuous Pie specialises in vegan pizza and ice cream. For more vegan recommendations around Vancouver, I would definitely recommend checking out Steph’s Instagram.
When I arrived, it was completely empty. I mean, who has pizza for breakfast? Me, apparently. No regrets! This is living! I happily tucked into my Super Funghi pizza, consisting of cashew mozzarella, herbed potato cream, wild mushrooms, truffle almond ricotta, and arugula.
Full of pizza, I braved public transportation and made my way to Gastown. My first stop: the Vancouver Police Museum + Archives, which I had found as I was looking up low-budget things to do in Gastown the previous night.
Museums are good for low-budget trips because they take up a good part of your time for a flat rate (the Police Museum is only $10 with student ID!) and offer you a unique, worthwhile experience. Also in the area was the Vancouver Art Gallery, which I noted as a destination if I had more time to kill and wasn’t yet tired of walking (I didn’t end up having time for it). I tried my best not to build my whole itinerary around food.
The main thing that attracted me to the Police Museum was the true crime exhibit. After all, it was October when I visited and I was (and still am) on a true crime podcast binge. But before that exhibit, I learned about how Vancouver’s first police force was created after the Great Vancouver Fire, how to identify counterfeit bills, the history of traffic through law enforcement, and that bingo was the deadliest game (a poster was literally titled “Bingo: The Deadliest Game” or something along the lines of that) (quite a few old people died getting hit by cars when they left their late night bingo games).
Finally I got to the true crime exhibit. I was one of few people in the museum, and we were spread out across the exhibits, only bumping into each other when we walked between exhibits. At the true crime exhibit, few whispers slipped out of speakers shaped as phone receivers, placed at every artifact; the voices were only supposed to be heard when you picked up the phones (a quirky little interactive aspect of the exhibit), but I guess the speakers weren’t isolated enough. It was creepy…
The first crime I looked at was The Kosberg Murders, in which a 16-year-old boy axed his whole family in their sleep. The axe was on display and you could see the blonde hairs still stuck to it (the poster at the exhibit pointed it out). My heart raced the whole way through the exhibit, and I clutched my hands tightly to my chest. Around the corner of the exhibit was a model morgue (at least I hope it wasn’t real), and the next exhibit over was the autopsy room with real brain samples on display. I rushed through the rest of the museum and all but ran out.
It was also at this moment that Grace texted me to say that Gastown wasn’t the safest neighbourhood to be in at night (we were texting to coordinate meeting later that day).
Thankfully, next on my itinerary was Soft Peaks Hand Crafted Organic Milk Ice Cream. I had planned for this to come up next on the itinerary because I was making my way across Gastown westward, which meant that Soft Peaks was next up, and because I thought it’d be a good place to rest my feet after walking around a museum. Soft Peaks turned out to also be the perfect place to rest my weary soul after that frightening exhibit.
I got myself a Green Forest (organic milk ice cream with matcha powder, red bean, and condensed milk) on a cone for the photo — usually I just get ice cream in a cup because it’s less stressful than a cone — and sat around to charge my phone until my heart rate returned to normal.
Right across Soft Peaks was this flatiron building for Hotel Europe, which some article mentioned as an Instagrammable location, though I am a bit underwhelmed. I walked by to get a photo just in case I changed my opinion and then carried along my merry way.
That same article mentioned the Gastown Steam Clock as an Instagrammable location, and that one I’ll give it, though my shot itself is underwhelming. I love Becky x Milk Bubble Tea’s photo of the Steam Clock in her Vancouver recap though!
Before I made it to the next stop on my itinerary, I stumbled upon Michelle’s Import Plus, a quirky souvenir shop, and Smart Mouth Cafe, where I saw some people sitting outside having afternoon coffee. I really wanted to sit out there for some afternoon coffee myself, but I was running tight on time!
My last stop in Gastown before meeting up with Grace was The Paper Hound Bookshop. Admittedly, I didn’t find any books that interested me, except for some classics and children’s books to collect (which I resisted), but the little bookshop was so charming.
There was a poetry vending machine, and though I don’t usually use vending machines (I see them as a money suck), I put in two quarters to see how the machine would work and so that I could say something about it other than “the vintage design was cute.” A poem came out, folded up as a 3D rectangle (perhaps to simulate a cigarette packet?), opening to reveal a plainly printed poem by a non-local poet. However, it seems that the poem was read at the Dead Poets Reading Series at the Vancouver Public Library.
Other treasures in the bookshop were the cabinet of banned books (To Kill a Mockingbird was included amongst others) and photo albums filled with photos found in books.
I didn’t know this at the time, but The Paper Hound is located on Book Row, “the stretch of West Pender between Richards and Homer [which] has the highest density of bookstores in Vancouver” (more info on The Paper Hound’s website).
Just in the nick of time, I rushed over to meet Grace in the West End neighbourhood (just west of Gastown, which, if you recall, I was making my way across westward — great planning Audrey, I know) for a snack at Meet Fresh, a Taiwanese dessert shop.
My family loves Meet Fresh and there’s one near our home in Beijing that we often go for dessert. I got the same as I always get: signature hot grass jelly, consisting of tapioca, kidney beans, and mini taro balls over grass jelly soup.
Grace caught me up on what I missed about her life in graduate school, and I learned that she was having her toughest academic semester yet! Before coming to study, Grace had visited with her parents to survey the area, and they spent every night listing out new restaurants they wanted to try and spent every day trying them out. She thought she would be able to continue that lifestyle in grad school (to a lesser degree of course), but alas, here in the city with me was the first time she had been out in the city for fun since school started!
By the time we finished our desserts, it was dinner time but we weren’t yet hungry. We decided to hop on the bus toward her apartment and get off somewhere in between for dinner if we felt so inclined. And indeed we were inclined.
For dinner, we had Taiwanese food at Orange Corner. The oyster omelette I got was pretty good; it’s hard to find good Asian street food outside of Asia, so this was greatly appreciated. Before leaving, I bought bubble tea in a “beefcake” bottle (it’s actually called “beefcake” on the menu), because, well, just look at it! How could I not?? It costs more than a normal cup of bubble tea and it contains less bubble tea than a normal cup, but it’s fun and you can keep the bottle ( ื▿ ืʃƪ)
Thoroughly exhausted by the previous day’s antics, I was fully prepared to spend the next day inside, waiting for my dad to arrive from his business trip in Seattle, and whisk me and Ken away to a hotel for the weekend (I had crashed at Ken’s the first night and Grace’s the second night).
But first, breakfast! Grace took me to Doughgirls before her first class, telling me how she would always smell the delicious baked goods on her way to class, but hadn’t yet gotten around to going in and trying something out for herself.
I got an egg salad sandwich and Grace got a ham and cheese baguette. I also got an almond cookie with raspberry jam and a peanut butter cookie to-go to share with Ken. The sandwiches were good but average; I think you’d be better off trying an exciting pastry! I loved the almond cookie. The part under the raspberry jam was a little soggy, but I had eaten it later in the day, so perhaps that was only expected. Ken’s favourite of the two was the peanut butter cookie.
University of British Columbia
After breakfast, Grace headed off for class and I went to chill at Ken’s. An hour or so into chilling, I got a text from my brother saying that he forgot he needed to return a library book that he left in his room. Since I wasn’t up to anything, I volunteered to return it for him so that he wouldn’t have to go back and forth after class.
I looked up the library on Google Maps and figured out that I needed to catch the UBC bus to the “Unloading Only” stop. When the bus left the stop before mine, nobody pulled the bell, so I pulled it, nervously reaching across my neighbour, anxious to get off at the right stop. When the bus stopped, everyone got off. It turned out that “Unloading Only” was the last stop, which probably could have been extrapolated from the stop name, and I didn’t need to pull the bell. Not only did I pull the bell, but I invaded my neighbour’s personal bubble to do so. They must have thought I was a weirdo noob heh… WELP.
After navigating my way to the library, I texted Grace about being on campus, and it turned out that her building was near the library, so I walked over to meet her. From there, we popped by the Rose Garden, where Grace sometimes eats lunch, the Asian Centre, and the Nitobe Memorial Garden.
That was only a small part of campus, but soon I had to leave to welcome my dad to Vancouver and meet him at Ken’s apartment. Whilst waiting for Ken to finish his last class, we hung out at the Blenz Coffee nearby. When Ken got back, we packed, stopped by Orange Corner for dinner, and checked into our hotel.
Stanley Park Seawall
Our hotel was located just by Stanley Park, so my dad suggested spending our first day together biking around the park. I was nervous about biking somewhere I was unfamiliar with, plus having my camera on me could potentially make it more difficult, so I suggested walking instead. Little did I know, there was a whole bike path alongside Stanley Park’s walking path.
The Stanley Park Seawall is long, so I would definitely suggest biking instead. It was also coooold, so making your way around the seawall quick is nice. If you want to stop for a photo, simply stop to do so. The route is scenic so it’s only expected; passerbys won’t be annoyed as long as you don’t block the whole path.
The walk seemed to stretch forever, and Ken and I started feeling cold, tired, and hungry. We kept asking Dad where the food was, and he kept saying we could take any exit. When we finally paused to consider an exit, there didn’t seem to be any food nearby (according to Google Maps), so we did a little more thorough research to find an exit near food. There was one around Lions Gate Bridge supposedly, but we missed it, probably because we were distracted by taking photos. And so, it was onto the next exit, which was a bit of a walk, but what could we do? A cliff was blocking us from civilization.
Finally we made it to food at The Teahouse in Stanley Park. “The Teahouse” sounds like a humble name, but it was fancy and a bit pricey. But after a long walk, we would take any shelter we could get. The most heavenly feeling was coming in from the cold to sip on a hot cappuccino.
If you read my October recap, you know that that cappuccino was the best cappuccino of my life, by a long shot. To reiterate what I said in the recap, the texture of the cappuccino was so smooth, and I’ve never had another cappuccino like it. My dad always drinks cappuccinos and he agreed that this was the best he ever had. I have no idea how they got the texture of their cappuccino so smooth, but everyone in the world needs to start making their cappuccinos like that. I thought long and hard about whether this was actually the best cappuccino of my life or if I was just especially welcome to it at the moment since I had been walking in the cold for god knows how long, but no, it really was the best cappuccino of my life — the smoothness was undeniable!
We also got complimentary bread served warm, and I definitely could have filled up on just that, but I held back from asking for another plate to save room for my actual lunch. I got fish and chips — the fish was pretty average but the chips were delicious.
Warmed and rested, we continued along the Stanley Park Seawall until we made it all the way along the peninsula. Then I planted myself in the hotel and didn’t get off my butt the rest of the day. Well deserved I think!
Capilano Suspension Bridge Park
The previous day we walked around Stanley Park along the Seawall; the next day we drove through Stanley Park to get to the Capilano Suspension Bridge Park. To make the most of this drive from our hotel, I introduced Dad and Ken to the Potterless podcast. I explained it to Ken first, and then started to explain it to my dad (“It’s a podcast about…”) when he cut me off and said, “I know, I read your blog” LOL. If you don’t know, you should read my September recap ヾ(｡･ω･｡)
Dad and Ken agreed to me playing the first episode of Potterless in the car, but the GPS estimated to drive to only be ten minutes. However, we kept missing our turns, so we did end up managing to get through the first introductory episode and start the second before getting off the car. Unfortunately, Dad and Ken weren’t great fans of the podcast.
My friend Kristy recommended the Capilano Suspension Bridge, and it wasn’t until we arrived that I knew it was a whole park! The entrance fee was a hefty $47 for adults and $35 for students, but if you come with a UBC student, the whole party gets 15% off. Furthermore, UBC students (and BC residents) get an annual pass for the price of one day’s regular admission (so, for example, Ken can now go back and visit whenever he wants the next 365 days for free).
Entering the park, we tagged along a guided tour. One thing I remember from the tour is that the current owner of the park bought it from her father and used to serve ice cream there when she was younger, and another thing I remember from the tour is about story poles. You might be familiar with the Hollywood totem pole, but the preferred name is “story pole,” the reason being that “totem pole” has a religious implication, but really, the poles just tell stories — no hocus pocus! They can also be used to convey information, such as what clans reside past those poles and whether people are welcome through.
Following the tour, we nipped into the Cliff House Restaurant to have some lunch before exploring the rest of the park.
After lunch, we popped by the Cliff Walk before walking across the Suspension Bridge, since the Cliff Walk was right by the restaurant. The Cliff Walk is also a bridge, but it’s not suspended, so it’s less shaky; if you’re scared of the Suspension Bridge, this might be a good alternative.
The Suspension Bridge looks empty and moody on Instagram, but it was crawling with tourists when we were there (a Sunday afternoon). There are rules about taking photos when the bridge is crowded (namely, don’t, or at least be considerate), but I was too busy keeping my balance anyway. I didn’t feel unsafe; I just didn’t want to bump into other people. Apparently a tree had fallen on the bridge during a storm and the tree snapped but the bridge stayed intact, and apparently that fallen tree is still laying there. The bridge can hold seven times people standing shoulder to shoulder all the way across the bridge, so no worries about security there.
Once on the other side of the park, we decided to walk the Treehouse Adventure, a series of bridges through the trees. On their website, this activity is described to offer a “squirrel’s eye view” haha, love it.
My favourite part of the park was the pond with the spherical lights hung overhead. I noticed that there were lights all around the park and later learned about Canyon Lights, a “winter celebration of lights” for the holiday season, beginning November 24th. The lights span across the Suspension Bridge as well!
We only spent three hours at the park, including lunch, which was less time than we expected, didn’t have anything planned for the rest of the day, and decided to keep it that way. Our time in Vancouver was to enjoy each other’s company and not to race through Vancouver after all. We drove back to the hotel to park our car, walked to The Bubble Tea Shop for some bubble tea to go, went back to the hotel to chill, and then came out again for dinner at Ramen Danbo, which had a super long line, which means super deliciousness, duhh.
The first thing I noticed about Vancouver was how many Asians there were — a lot! Which meant, lots of good Asian food! Grace told me that her parents, who don’t speak English, could navigate around the city themselves in Chinese and they enjoyed every bit of it.
The second thing I noticed about Vancouver was how it was bursting in oranges and reds. Even just walking down the street of Ken’s apartment felt like walking through an arboretum. Vancouver does autumn right!
I’m thankful for my family, thankful that they can pull off last minute plane tickets for me and that they are always there for me. I feel refreshed being around them and being in the lush city of Vancouver.
These five days in Vancouver were a stark contrast from how I’ve been living in Philly post-grad. In Philly, I’ve been cooping myself up, afraid to spend money, afraid to go out, afraid to enjoy life until I feel like I deserve to once I become a more productive member of society working a stable job. (October has been better, mentally, and I’m working on keeping that momentum through November, but it’s been a journey.)
But if you think about it, during five days in Vancouver, I only spent money on food, a museum ticket ($10), a poem ($0.50), and a park ticket ($35). And yet, I had such full experiences. Vancouver has shown me that there are low budget ways to get out there and enjoy life, and that there are things to do besides cafe crawl, so I challenge myself to find these things in Philly as well.
Have you visited Vancouver before? What are some low budget ways you enjoy yourself in your own city?
PS: 2 days in okinawa, 4 days in portland, cambridge university botanic garden