San Francisco was just a short stopover for my trip to Vancouver (one stopover included when redeeming Aeroplan points – I highly recommend to Canadians to collect points if they aren’t already!). I was in Vancouver to attend a close friend’s wedding. There was a fairly large group of us from Toronto attending the wedding in Vancouver, so everyday we were occupied with activity after activity – of eating!
I visited Vancouver on numerous occasions when I lived in Portland, Oregon, but usually for short periods of time. During this trip I was in Vancouver for 1.5 weeks, so it was an extremely relaxing vacation – with enough time to take afternoon naps! I visited a few tourist sites for the first time, including Stanley Park.
The beach in the photograph below is English Bay, just walking distance from where I was staying!
Cardigan: 5|48, sz XS
Ruffle Tank: Banana Republic, sz XS
Skirt: H&M, sz 4
Pumps: Cole Haan, sz 7
Sunglasses: Coach
One of my friends and I also went to the Museum of Anthropology at University of British Columbia, unfortunately none of our other friends were interested! The museum is recommended in the book 1000 Places to See Before You Die, so our other friends decided the museum must have been the 1000th place listed (which is not true!). I really enjoyed the museum, it had a lot of interesting collections that I haven’t seen in other museums. I learned that the word “toast”, the expression used prior to drinking, originated from the lower class placing pieces of toast on top of their drinks.
Lace Tee: Talula Babaton, sz XXS
Cardigan: Halogen, sz XS
Wool Shorts: Talula Babaton, sz 2
Pumps: Cole Haan, sz 7
Purse: Louis Vuitton Trevi PM
Does the following sculpture look familiar? Hint: Check the back of your Canadian $20 bill!
Of course we checked out the local stores! Unfortunately, no luck with sizes!
Tee: Zara, sz XS
Culottes: Vena Cava, sz 0
Flip Flops: Havaianas, sz 36/37
Tote: Longchamp
Sunglasses: Coach
And my outfit for my friend’s wedding! I picked up this dress earlier this summer when shopping with Jess from The Little Dust Princess.
Dress: H&M, sz 2
Sandals: Stuart Weitzman, sz 27
My pair of bargain Stuart Weitzman I purchased from Nordstrom Rack years ago!
We went to the Vancouver Aquarium inside Stanley Park. I originally expected it to be very small, similar to the zoo inside Central Park in Manhattan. Surprisingly the aquarium was bigger than I thought, and there were a wide variety of sea animals, including the beluga whales and sea lions.
We also did a downtown food tour with my friend Nelson from BiteMe Food Blog. One of the restaurants we went to was Phnom Penh, a Cambodian restaurant, and it was delicious! It was my first time having Cambodian food. The flavours remind me of Thai and Vietnamese food. The rolls below are stuffed with crab meat. I still dream about this appetizer.
Japadog! Okonomi flavour pictured below. Definitely a must-try in Vancouver!
One of the many Japanese meals that I had. Grilled beef tongue on a hot stone at Kingyo Izakaya. The second pictures includes sashimi salad and tuna carpaccio.
Everytime I visit Vancouver, I go to Guu with Garlic Izakaya.
Naturally being a Torontonian, I have strong feelings of dislike towards Vancouver. The non-stop rain in the winter is depressing, no highways through their downtown core is frustrating to drivers like myself, two of my best friends moved to Vancouver and abandoned me in Toronto after graduating, and there never seems to be anything smaller than medium sizes in the clothing stores in Vancouver! However, I love the Japanese food – definitely more authentic than anything we can find in Toronto. I guess Vancouver…isn’t that bad afterall!
Hope you enjoyed the peak into my summer travels! Check back next week for my vacation shopping haul post!
