My obligatory photo at a Canadian sign in Victoria, BC
Two weeks ago, after four days of long and daunting time at work, I started my 6-day trip to Vancouver. I knew I was lacking sleep, and still tired from the days I worked, but I looked forward to this trip for the reason that, I am eager to see Remy; my very dear friend in Connecticut that moved to Canada in 2013. Another reason is that, I am also excited to explore Vancouver. They say it is wonderful.
My flight from Orlando to Dallas was an early flight. I had to wake up at 230AM as my flight leaves at 530AM. With the unpredictability of the airport lines at TSA, I had my friend Bhin brought me to the airport instead of Bob and left early. It was a smooth three-hour flight. Dallas was cloudy and overcast. Little that I know, this was also my preparatory to Vancouver weather 😉. The four-hour flight to Vancouver went fast as I slept mostly. The last thing I knew I was already queueing to the Canadian immigration and customs.
As I exited the airport, I finally met Remy once again. As I said, she’s one of my few good friends back when I was still working in Bridgeport. As a new nurse coming from the Philippines in mid 2000s, Remy helped me navigate the challenges of working overseas. She is among the many individuals that made an impact in my nursing career. She’s my house mate, my shopping/outlet buddy, (along with Irna and Ulyn); our “mother away from home” as she gives advice to almost each one of us like our true Moms. She is that one friend that you don’t see often (literally 10 years!), but when you finally reconnect, it all feels like yesterday.
After the meet and greet at the airport with her and his husband Ruel, we left and drove around the city. We were headed for lunch first. While driving, I noticed immediately the strong east Asian presence around; at one point I joked, “are you sure I am in Vancouver and not Seoul?” They both agreed. As we parked the car, we walked in at Cloud 9- Chinese restaurant. I remembered right away that Chinese cuisine is Remy’s go to food😂. It brings memories of what we were a more than a decade ago- the window (or actual) shopping in the malls and straight to the Chinese food in the food court for a three course tray- good times!
Canada Place, Vancouver BC
Science World and Canada Place. Once done with lunch, we headed to the city proper. We walked around Science World while waiting for Remy’s daughter Daniela. Science World Vancouver is a nice place, there are so much things to do- I saw group of people playing volleyball, kids at the playground, and rowers and kayakers even its 40degrees! it must be great to be here during summer. This center overlooks the beautiful False Creek. While admiring the sceneries, I am also mentally studying what to do after dusk with my camera. When Daniela arrived, she took us to the commuter train and headed to Canada place. Walk around a bit more, then to the Korean restaurant to eat dinner. Yes! this is the second asian place in a span of four hours! By the time we were done, it was past 9PM, (which means midnight in the eastcoast time) and as much as I’d like to stroll more, I was too tired from the past four days of working and my early travel, so we decided to head home and called it a day.
The following day I woke up early since I was in the east coast time. This is my day 2. When I came out of my room, Remy was making breakfast, so I decided to chat with her as she cooks in the kitchen. After we ate, she and Ruel took me to a tour around their town. Coquitlam is quite a unique town. It is too big of a town but small enough to be a city if this makes sense. It reminded me of Lake George area in the Adirondacks with the big body of water. We walked at Port Moody Marina. I took the opportunity to take photos of the board walk and the lake. The forecast was once again cloudy and thirty percent rain, so after a few shots I put away my camera and we headed back to the car and rested at home.
Lunch with Remy’s family.
We planned to go to Sea and Sky Gondola and have a quick hike at Squamish. When Daniela arrived from work, we didn’t waste time and headed out right away. For some reason, as she drove the highway, I felt somehow sick. I felt like someone punched me in the gut and a cold wind blown my face as I feel nauseous. I asked Daniela to drive in a nearby exit as I needed to get out of the car. I was having a full on “Bridesmaids crisis.” For those who never seen the movie, what I was referencing and experiencing at that moment was similar to what all the characters were experiencing at the bridal shop after they ate at the Brazilian restaurant. Yes, exactly! Daniela pulled over the side of a busy traffic, there I was vomiting shamelessly, on the side of the road. Probably my most unforgettable experience of Vancouver. 😂
When we arrived at the park, I was too weak to get out. I didn’t want to ruin the plan; so with all my strength, I got out of the car only to vomit the second time around. I saw the faces of concerns from all three of them. At this point, I decided to no longer go and ride the Gondola. They wanted to cancel too, but told them to go and I will wait in the car to rest my stomach. I made few trips to the bathroom and a couple more episodes of vomiting while they were gone. When they came back, I was debating to be sent to the ER- I knew then I was suffering from Acute Gastroenteritis. But of course, as any stubborn nurses, I didn’t- because it was Friday and it was the weekend!
We headed back home. Remy, as usual became the mother once again and cooked some hot fish soup while I took a nap. I woke up as she knocked on my room saying that dinner was ready. I only took a small amount of the broth and stuck with drinking my Gatorade. I stayed for little chats and headed to bed after a while. Tomorrow was another day.
Remy and I at the top of area of Stanley Park overlooking the other side of Vancouver.
Light Point Lighthouse and Stanley Park. When I woke up the following day, as if nothing happened except the fact that I was hungry. I did eat breakfast, but very cautiously as I did not want to experience what happened the previous day again. When we were all set, we headed out. The drive was short this time. The road was winding with beautiful view of course. Our first destination was the Light Point Park. No expectations; but when we parked our car, the facade reminded me of one of the hiking areas in Yosemite. The walk to the lighthouse was a mile, and it was funny to see and hear Remy say that this was her first major hike (laugh out loud!). Her daughter Daniela and husband just both laugh.
The park and the lighthouses were beautiful; just like those in Cape Cod. Too bad that the lighthouse was not accessible like the ones from the Cape. After some personal photo shoots, we walked through the trails that brought us to the beach side where you can see the Vancouver skyscrapers- which by the way, is equally admirable. After about little over an hour of roaming around the park, we decided to drive within the area for lunch. Asian food for lunch? Anyone? Hahaha. We decided to eat Japanese cuisine (I was still nervous on eating just anything at this time though) and once we’re done, we headed to Stanley Park.
We began our sightseeing on the top. This time it was overlooking the opposite side of Vancouver (the first area we went to earlier this morning). Vancouver is growing now on me; indeed this is a beautiful city. I can understand now why they say it is wonderful even when it rains a lot. After some time, we headed down the lower part of the park. There we saw the Vancouver Rowing House- which is a Marina that overlooks the tall buildings of Vancouver. I’ve been noticing that there were so many commercial shipping vessels too, then I remembered (as I worked in a forwarding company in early 1990’s) that vancouver is one of the busiest ports in North America. We also saw some totem poles on the other side of the park. Monumental poles commonly seen in the Pacific Northwest. When we were done, we headed to our hotel to check in and put our bags. Then headed to Wooden Fish, a Vietnamese restaurant for dinner (Asian dish again of course!). When we headed back to the hotel, we had one final look of Vancouver at night. 🙂
the marina at Vancouver Rowing house that overlooks the high-rise buildings of Vancouver
We Woke up early on our day 4 as we had a 7AM reservation for the ferry ride to Victoria Island. As we drove towards Tsawwassen ferry station, we were greeted by a very colorful Vancouver sunrise. I was hoping that this will be the case throughout our stay in the island, but it wasn’t… Ho-hum. The drive was an hour trip, it gave us ample time to see the fullness of sunrise, have a cup of coffee and just waited until we boarded. The ferry ride reminded me of when we go for a day trip in Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts. I suddenly miss living in Cape Cod. The ride was fascinating. There were little islands on both sides; with houses and no people around (as I didn't see any). Obviously, these must be summer homes. As we docked and started offloading from the ferry, there I see the uniqueness of Victoria Island. I am impressed. Vancouver is really wonderful!
The Harley Castle, Victoria BC
Our first stop was Hatley castle. This architecture is interesting as it is part of the school, the Royal Roads University. On our way inside the premise we saw runners as there was a road race that moment. We were redirected to park our car elsewhere as the lower ground parking was not available. Once again, Remy had a good hike with the steep hill😬. We didn’t get to see the inside as they are only open for tour from late spring to end of summer. The castle ground though was beautiful enough to admire. It was pretty much a tour only by ourselves as there were no other visitors that flocked the castle. Perhaps being early, and the rain had helped too. If I was too slow because I take a lot of pictures, I think Daniela broke my record as she spent so much time taking photos of mostly every corner of the castle🤣. At the bottom of the Royal Roads University was a picturesque view of the water. This is really a beautiful place.
It was almost noontime when we headed to our hotel and checked in. We put our bags down and headed back outside again to eat lunch. Finally, we had Canadian/American Food! When we were done, we walked the quaint Main Street of Victoria, going in and out of every novelty shops while admiring the town. The rain started to pick up once again, and we all got tired so we decided to head back to our hotel and napped and rested.
Victoria Parliament after sunset. Victoria BC 03/12/2023
When we woke up it was already dark. Remy and her family were reluctant to go out again. But I have a mission- I wanted to photograph the parliament at dark with lights. While they were deciding what to order for dinner, I went out. As I walked the street of downtown, the rain was pouring too. I was hoping it would stop totally but it only did briefly. This was when I took the opportunity to photograph the Victoria Parliament and the other landscapes like the Fairmont Hotel’s reflections by the water. Shortly after, it rained again. It was then I decided to call it a night and just go back to the hotel to spend time with Remy and her family.
On our last day in Victoria, the sun finally showed up; atleast for couple of hours. We went to the local diner for breakfast then did the self-guided tour of the inside of the Parliament. It was nice to see what is inside and learn about the Canadian Parliament. The highlight of my day was a photo of myself and the late queen’s portrait ( sadly King Charles is still not in any of the official portraits). After our tour, we went back to the hotel, and completely checked out and started our journey back to Coquitlam.
When we got home it was almost dinner time. I started packing my bags and once done, had a wonderful home-cooked dinner with Remy’s family. I am so happy and blessed to see my friend Remy once again. I am grateful for the warm hospital her entire family showered me during my stay.
I can’t believe that my six day trip to Vancouver went so fast just like that. Although it was mostly wet during the entire time I was here, I still smile even when it rains.
the reflection of the Fairmont Empress Hotel. Victoria BC, Canada 03/12/2023