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This place is truly magnificent. What is it?

This is the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden. I was there bright and early one morning, taking everything in and listening to half of a public tour given by a really well-spoken volunteer. I’m still extremely hazy on a lot of facts, but I will be dropping by again in a week’s time (for free yay) so I’ll be paying closer attention then. In the meantime, here are some photos of the beautiful garden and random facts that I remember.

Everything from this garden is from China except for the water and… the trees? Something along those lines.

The garden is near Downtown (and obviously by Chinatown), thus the buildings.

The roofs have some kind of funky story or something behind it. I can’t remember now.

There’s a Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Park on the other side of the Garden, which is free while the garden is not. Needless to say, the garden is way more interesting than the park.

The difference between the garden and the park is that the garden is basically all imported from China (except for the water and some plants I think) and the park is more western and doesn’t contain all of these unique things.

These rocks are really funky too. All of them are different and sometimes reveal various pictures according to what you see. Do you see George Washington on this rock?

What about this? What do you see? Cool, eh?

Some pretty huge fish live in the ponds of the garden. I wonder if they’re from China too…

And of course there have to be a few little turtles roaming around as well.

The inside of one of the rooms.

This hallway’s really interesting. Just on the other side, there’s a hallway exactly like that. The reason for the back-to-back hallways? It all depends on whether you want to walk in the sun or in the shade, and if it’s raining, if you want to walk under the rain or on the dry side.

I believe this is called a moon gate. The funky designs around the gate have no nails or glue or anything attached to them to keep them in place. They’re just designed to fit in properly and stand the entire thing up.

If you look past the moon gate, you’ll see a railing and a little area where you can sit. If you lean back on the railing (which is at a 45 degree angle), it’s really uncomfortable, but the point of the railing is not so you can lean back on them. If you turn your body to the side and rest your arm over the railing, it makes a perfect portrait shot. Photographers love that pose and the railing is the perfect place for a shot like that.

And there you have it, the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden. Everything I could remember plus a bunch of photos jumbled up into one blog post.

Upcoming…

This funky crazy modern looking building recently finished construction. What is it used for? (And if you didn’t know, Stanley Park, that 1 000-acre clump of trees, is to the right.)

I actually don’t have a picture of the actual vehicle that I’m riding on, but this is the Big Bus, the supposed “best way to discover Vancouver”. The buses come in as a half-convertible or as a double-decker and stops at many of Vancouver’s attractions, including Stanley Park, Granville Island, and Gastown.

Another “bus” that is meant for tourists to Vancouver and that again I do not have a photo of is the Vancouver Trolley. These trolleys replicate San Francisco’s cable cars, only they run on gas and wheels, not tracks and electricity.

After having ridden on both of these meant-for-tourist buses (twice each), I have to say that the Vancouver Trolley does more justice than Big Bus. Both have commentary, but Big Bus has automated lady and man voices, which the drivers often get wrong (as in the automated voices are talking about something we’re not even passing, woohoo).

With the Trolley, the driver is usually the commentator, which just shows that not only does the driver know where to go, but knows what he’s talking about too. It makes the experience a bit more personal as well, and not constant “Welcome to Big Bus!” after every stop and start.

In any case, both of these buses have over 20 stops, with the Vancouver Trolley having even 2 lines depending on where you wish to go (Downtown core or all the way down to Granville Island) and tickets are valid for 2 days. Tickets are uberly expensive, which doesn’t come as quite a surprise, and visitors are allowed and encouraged to hop off the buses anywhere along the routes and simply hop back on after.

Following are photos of various places I passed while mainly on the Big Bus (as I was on the half-convertible, or “Cabriolet” as they call it).

The Olympic clock in front of the Art Gallery, counting down the days and hours and minutes and whatever else until the 2010 Olympic Games (and Paralympic Games I should add) in Vancouver.

This is the Art Gallery (the building with the pyramid stairs and Roman-looking columns). The Shangri-La (remember that?) can be seen in the background on the left and I believe the green roof building next to the Shangri-La is the Fairmont Hotel. I can’t be 100% about that though. I’ll need a few more staycations to see everything Vancouver has to offer.

This is while I was cruising along the Burrard Street Bridge, wind blowing in my hair, sitting in the Cabriolet, living the high life. Right. The bridge in the distance is the Granville Street Bridge and the buildings should be part of Yaletown (which is a part of Downtown if you didn’t already know).

And here’s the oh-so-famous-oldest-part-of-Vancouver Gastown. These streets are made of cobblestone (I love it) and the funky streetlights make it known that this is Gastown. I have absolutely no recollection of ever being in Gastown before doing the Tourism Challenge. Some Vancouverite I am, eh? (Although I do have New York relatives who’ve never been to the Statue of Liberty. Hm.)

Here the Harbour Centre is in view from Gastown’s Water Street (I still don’t really know what’s so special about this street). OH! You can see the Big Bus on the very bottom left corner of the photo. And the awesome streetlights that look like Lego pieces.

Ah, you just can’t get enough of Gastown. There’s something magical (and supposedly freaky at night) about the area. Here is the Gastown Steam Clock, which is indeed a steam-powered clock. It was actually built to cover a steam grate and is supposed to puff out steam although I didn’t see much steam coming out of its ears. Supposedly the clock still works even though I did not take that photo at 10:02am. More like 4:01pm. Here you can see another Lego-like streetlight.

A better-ish view of the streets of Gastown. The road there doesn’t look very cobblestone to me, but I know I’ve passed other roads made of cobblestone.

Upcoming…

This photo just shows a tiny portion of the entire place. What is it?

So this is the Telus World of Science, more commonly known as Science World. BC Place is shown to the left (the one with the white roof).

The only reason they added the “Telus” and flipped around the “Science” and “World” is because Telus donated a whole whack of money to them a whole bunch of years ago. The name of the building is now “Telus World of Science”, but everyone still calls it “Science World”.

Science World is actually a not-for-profit organization that features lots of displays and interactive exhibits. Oftentimes, there will be featured topics on random things. There was a supposedly really cool one last year or the year before called Body Worlds, which showed dead people’s internal organs and whatnot. I found it kinda boring.

In Science World, way up by the dome, there’s an OMNIMAX Theatre. It’s like a regular theatre except for the fact that what you see makes you feel like you’re actually there. The many speakers are behind the screen and the visuals extend way up to the ceiling, as if there’s no real end to the screen. The realistic feel can sometimes make people feel dizzy.

Now, before I answer the question from my last post, I’ll ramble about the different things I saw first. I have to say that I actually never expected to see any real animals at Science World. Granted, I don’t go there very much (maybe once in a blue moon), and all I really knew was that there were all kinds of puzzles and an OMNIMAX Theatre.

This is the entrance to one of the exhibits. Already, I’ve forgotten what was in there. Most likely puzzles and fun interactive games and such. Eureka!

No, it’s not a real beaver. At least, not a living one. I would’ve flipped out if it was. I believe the whole beaver topic was a feature as they were showing a film called “Beavers” in the OMNIMAX Theatre. Apparently, it was the first OMNIMAX film they ever showed, which was 20 years ago.

I actually didn’t see Beavers when I went to watch an OMNIMAX film. Instead, I saw one called “Roving Mars”, which talked about the two rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, going to Mars in search of water and dig into rocks and whatnot. It was really good to say the least.

An absolutely adorable guinea pig! The fluffy stuff in the foreground is the second guinea pig, all snuggled up in his little glass box of a home.

Hm. I saw a snake too. I do believe it was just the one, all curled up inside his precious hollow rock/cave.

And here’s Mr. Turtle, slowly making his way through his log tunnel.

Ah, and the tarantula. I just had to get a close-up of him. Except that he’s dead. I know this for a fact because he was in a little glass case that could only fit him and he didn’t move a millimetre the entire time I stared at him.

And here’s the skeleton. The frog skeleton. Cool much? My jaw dropped when I saw it because it looked so COOL!! So delicate, so fragile. I’ve never seen a skeleton like this before. Have you?

Upcoming…

Not a great picture (although perfect for the question), but do you know what I was riding on?

Of course, Benjamin Cip, the cutey white animal was a horse!

Meet Barry and Jack, the 2 lovely horses that led me on a 1-hour horse-drawn tour around Stanley Park.

The Stanley Park Horse-Drawn Tours go around Vancouver’s 1000-acre Stanley Park. A professional guide narrates and highlights places such as Deadman’s Island, the Lions Gate Bridge, the Girl in a Wetsuit Statue, and the Rose Garden.

You get to sit on a horse carriage (which kinda looks like a house) that can seat up to 20 people and mosey along the chilly park. Yes, even on gorgeous days, wandering around the park surrounded by trees, trees, and more trees can get pretty cold, which is why a nice lap blanket is provided for your warmth and well-being.

Ah, my front row seat on the carriage. Now, I’ll try my hand at educating you on what I know and/or learned from this exotic tour (granted, this tour was weeks ago, so my memory will be tested as well).

This is a not-so-great picture of Deadman’s Island on the left there, but that’s about the same as my knowledge of the island. There’s some sort of museum called the HMCS Discovery on the island. It’s the brown-ish building with white windows in the picture. This island was apparently a battleground where hundreds of people were killed. The only other thing I know is that there have been nighttime security guards that claim to have seen shadows of men who weren’t supposed to be there. Freaky.

The Lions Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge that connects Vancouver with the District of North Vancouver, the City of North Vancouver (yes, they’re both different), and West Vancouver. I don’t remember ever being on the bridge, but the times that I’ve been close to it… well, it looks pretty scary. The bridge is like a hill for cars.

There have been times where I’ve seen seagulls on her head. This is the Girl in a Wetsuit Statue by the Stanley Park Seawall. People think the statue is a mermaid, but she’s actually just wearing flippers, thus “Girl in a Wetsuit” and not “The Mermaid”. She’s been sitting on a rock in the Burrard Inlet since June 9, 1972 (almost 37 years!).

Oh, the beautiful Rose Garden. It’ll most likely be even prettier in the next month. Most people pass the Garden when they enter and exit Stanley Park. I pass by this every week while going to and from the Aquarium. In full bloom, the Rose Garden showcases beautiful colours and flowers and makes for a great place for photo shoots and weddings among other things. I had a photo shoot here 2 months ago with a large group of my friends. Unfortunately, nothing had bloomed yet, but awesome pictures still turned out.

There were many other highlights during the tour, but those were the ones I actually had photos of, and photos enhance descriptions and explanations.

Canada Place, a hint of the Harbour Centre, and other skyscrapers make up the skyline of Vancouver beyond the Stanley Park trees. The sidewalk area just past the grass is the Stanley Park Seawall and stretches for 8.8km (5.5m), circling the park. Both Canada Place (somewhat) and the Harbour Centre will be featured in upcoming Exploring Vancouver posts.

Upcoming…

What kind of skeleton did I see at Science World? (No, not a human one.) Stay tuned to find out!

Contrary to what I said in my previous post, I won’t be doing my Tourism Challenge blogging mania in 3 days. There’s just too much to write about. Instead, I’ll be blogging about 1 or 2 (sometimes maybe a few more) attractions each time. Today, I’ll start with what I had left off with in the last post.

So what was that gleaming blue building soaring up into the sky from my previous post? Title kinda gives it away, eh? Well, Anny Chih was right; the building was indeed the Shangri-La!

The Living Shangri-La Hotel and Residences in Vancouver is the only Shangri-La in Canada as of now and was the first in North America. It is part hotel, part office space, part condominium. Opened in September 2008, the Shangri-La is currently the tallest building in the city at 659ft (201m) with 62 stories.

Personally, I find nothing spectacular at all about the Shangri-La. It’s overrated. It doesn’t even look like a hotel. Normally, you would find some sort of cul-de-sac looking half-roundabout for the taxis and cars and whatnot, yes? Well, the Shangri-La is on a big street (W Georgia) with cars zooming by (noted by the photo below), so there’s really no room for that. And unless there’s a secret side entrance that I don’t know about, the entrance I saw didn’t scream, “Look at me!”

The entrance was a mere revolving door which opened into what looked nothing like a hotel. I mean, sure, it’s only part hotel, but it’s still part hotel. Shouldn’t it at least look like one?

To add to the non-hotel look, it had some funky Chinese herbal or some kind of Chinese-y smell in there. Not all that pleasant. I mean, sure, I’m Chinese, but I’m whitewashed enough to not enjoy every last bit of Chinese goodness. (I have no idea if that made sense; I just put down whatever popped into mind.)

I dunno. I was disappointed. The Shangri-La just wasn’t as spectacular as I thought it would be.  It wasn’t as seemingly glamorous as people made it out to be. The rooms are supposedly awesome and modern, but if that’s the case, then the entrance just doesn’t do it justice. I mean, we all know that first impressions are important, right?

Upcoming…

Can you guess what this animal is? Shouldn’t be too hard.

If you’re looking for New Moon “set” PICTURES, keep scrolling.

NOTE: The post below is purely based on my opinion. I rarely ever (or maybe never) write opinionated blog posts but because the subject of this has been labelled “big” and there have been many debates and whatnot, I just feel the need to rant. You can choose to agree with everything or agree with absolutely nothing, but remember that this is just my personal opinion. And if you’re going to leave a comment, please no inappropriate language (or subtle inappropriate language) or it will be deleted.

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Whoever leaked it out that DT would turn into Forks High School for a week, what the hell were you thinking? But whatevs, right? It’s been leaked out onto the Vancouver Sun and just about every Twilight fan site there is. Watcha gonna do about it.

Since this is all out into the public now and the “Untitled Sports Movie” is now “New Moon”, I feel that there’s no point in keeping things a secret myself. After all, they already filmed the cafeteria scene(s) today which caused the shutdown of the entire cafeteria and turned that hallway into a dreaded traffic jam. And they just had to leave a wonderful crack in the doors for those 5 ginormous wires which in turn led to the halted traffic.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I find it cool that a big blockbuster film chose my school to be their high school. For once I’m actually proud of going to DT, but give me a break.

First of all, these dudes have got to learn to scheme better. If you’re gonna lie to the entire school and tell them that some untitled sports movie is gonna be here filming next week, why hand out a release form to the art students that says “New Moon” all over it? And what’s the point of telling them, “If anyone asks, tell them it’s an untitled sports movie.” Yeah well, this is most likely what happened:

A: “Hey, guess what? We got this release form thing from art for that movie they’re filming here next week. And the teacher said, ‘If anyone asks, tell them it’s an untitled sports movie.’”
B: “Oh, sweet! I just have to tell everyone else!”

Score! All of DT now knows. Don’t they know that teenagers love to gossip?

And did it ever occur to anyone that they said “Untitled Sports Movie” for a reason? Although I have to say, they probably knew that we would figure it out eventually, and the “Untitled Sports Movie” was probably just a way of prolonging the secret.

But what makes this situation worse? DT students telling students from other schools who then leak it out to total outside people. I had Googled a search last week to see if there were any leaks that filming would take place at DT and indeed there was one on Twilight Lexicon. Some girl from DT leaked it out, which sparked an insane “debate” if you will about how it’s great and how it’s stupid. Then, last night, I Googled the exact same thing and what do you know, some “insider” goes babbling to the Vancouver Sun about how DT is the new Forks High School. Of course, by morning, almost 20 results came up on Google with basically the same article the Sun had about “FILM CREWS AT DAVID THOMPSON SECONDARY”.

Dude, if you’re gonna leak it out, why not leak it out after it’s over? That way you can brag about how everyone else missed the big trucks and tents and trailers parked outside and how you got to see the foyer and cafeteria all dressed up. But of course, everyone wants to be the first to know and to let it be known that you were the first to know to everyone, right?

Then, there are the other inconveniences and problems that occurred at school. (Don’t think that just because some big shot movie’s being filmed at DT means that the students have it so good.) Our cafeteria got closed down today because of filming. They covered up our beautiful murals in the foyer which supposedly will wreck the murals after the wallpaper’s torn off. And they apparently took power from a class with guest speakers the other day. Oh I’m sure the guest speakers were so pleased with us.

Now, don’t go thinking that I hate the fact that Spunk Ransom and Kristen Stewart and all the rest of them are at my school. I don’t. This is probably a great opportunity for DT to perhaps get more students enrolled and maybe open up future filming possibilities. The thing I hate the most is the fact that some people are that insanely obsessed that they’ll go to a filming location and stand there for so bloody long for what, catching a glimpse of someone?

And if you think I’d rather not have outside people know anything so DT people can have the stars to themselves or whatever, think again. We have classes to go to. I mean, I was “fortunate” that today was the day that I have like 2 spares, so I walked around checking out the filming area, but really, there’s nothing to see after 5 minutes. Okay, so New Moon decided to film at DT. That’s great, but if they were filming in some other school I would not skip class and trek there for some famous people I probably wouldn’t get to meet.

I like the Twilight series to a certain extent, but what happens when people discover new filming locations? They flock there like mad shoppers on Boxing Day. I did not want crazy fan girls at my school trying to get a glimpse of Spunk Ransom or Taylor Lautner, but what do you know. There they are, walking around INSIDE my school acting like they belong. If we’re not even allowed to go into other schools when we have Pro D Days and whatnot, what makes them think that they can just waltz into this school just because they’re filming a movie here? There could be a real intruder for all we know and no one would call out the bloody Code Red. Of course, there are the moms with their teenage daughters and friends and the 30-somethings who stand outside of the cafeteria on the lawn for hours upon hours hoping to see someone famous.

Do they have nothing better to do than to stand outside where they’re filming for hours on end hoping to see cast members who if they are even remotely visible will have crew hold out umbrellas to avoid being seen by exactly THEM? That’s exactly what seemed to happen after school as I was passing by the outside of the cafeteria. A cast member (perhaps Spunk Ransom or other) tried to make his way into the cafeteria with an umbrella held out to the side so he wouldn’t be seen. I mean, give it a rest.

Alright, so whatever happened to privacy around here? Actors may be famous, but they’re still people. Just like you’d probably like some privacy every once in a while, so would they. What’s the real point of meeting them? They’ll “know” you for 2 seconds, write down your name for the autograph as if you are the nobody that you are, give you a hug, take a photo, and move on to the next person. Let’s face it. Celebrities only like you, the fans, because you’re the ones that give them their paycheque. They jumble you up as a group; they don’t look at you as an individual. They don’t give a rat’s arse about you otherwise. Then, when you become the crazy diehard stalker fan, you’re just another person who can’t give them their privacy and has to stalk them everywhere they go which is why they avoid you too.

There’s a reason why famous people and us nobodies don’t live in the same world.

Well, everything’s got its pros and cons, right? In any case, for those Twihards out there who just won’t give it up and who don’t live anywhere near Vancouver but long to see something, anything New Moon related, I snapped a whole whack of pictures from last week to today. If you wish to use them for your own blog or what have you, please ask, don’t steal. Remember, everything’s copyrighted.

Oh, and I did happen to see Stephenie Meyer today at lunch.

Enjoy your virtual “tour”.

Hm… Untitled Sports Movie, right?

The crew wallpapering the foyer mural… parts of that mural now is just wrecked from the wallpaper.

Here comes the salad bar…

The trees outside the cafeteria… the day before filming.

Now everything’s blocked.

That’s the outside of the staff lounge, which they’re using as a classroom.

One of the displays in the foyer. Forks Spartans.

Another display in the foyer.

I’m gonna guess that those are extras having fun in our tennis courts.

That’s actually a parking lot.

This is artwork from DT students themselves (thus the release form).

Continuous wallpapering in the foyer. It’s the big chunk where the guy in the white is standing which has to be re-done. Elsewhere has damage as well.

And there you go. Good-bye DT, hello Forks High School…

Normally, Vancouver doesn’t get much snow if at all during the winter season. However, December of 2008 was different. We had about 3 weeks of continuous snow, which obviously caused chaos well… everywhere. I can’t even count the number of times I went outside to shovel the never ending amount of snow. Day and night, night and day…

Here are some pictures of that unusual winter weather.

The creepy, very dangerous icicles on the side of a house at the end of the block.

A fresh dump of snow just outside my house. Oh great.

Some nice bare trees. That’s how thick the side street roads were. I can’t even begin to explain how many cars I saw get stuck.

Just a random shot of the pretty trees.

I thought this was kinda cute. Funny how the seagull’s in focus. But look at those scary icicles just waiting to fall.

Snow is, unfortunately, scheduled for tonight and tomorrow, but hopefully, it’ll just be tonight and tomorrow. I’m sure everyone is totally 100% sick of the snowy winter we’ve had. That includes me.

A photo of Science World that I took has been selected for inclusion in the sixth edition of the Schmap Vancouver Guide.

“Schmap is a leading publisher of digital travel guides for 200 destinations throughout the United States, Europe, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. … The innovative technology behind Schmap Guides lets end users publish schmaps (to share trip itineraries, local reviews and more), and powers a popular range of Schmap Widgets, syndicating more than 6 million maps a month – together with content and event schedules for travel, sports and concert tours – to a fast-growing network of websites and blogs.” – from the “About Schmap” portion of the site

Schmap Vancouver Guide – Science World Picture
My picture should be on the right hand side.

The picture can also be found on Flickr.

I actually snapped that shot on the SkyTrain heading home one day.

As a volunteer of the Vancouver Aquarium, I have had the privilege of going to the underwater gallery of the beluga pool bright and early in the morning and getting up close and snapping some shots of Qila and her calf!

I can’t even count how many times I’ve been to the Aquarium in the last 3 months — too many to count! Not really, but I have gone around and taken plenty of photos, which I’ll post up here. You can also see them on my Flickr photostream.

For those that don’t know, Qila gave birth to a baby girl on June 10, 2008, @ 4:28pm. She was in labor for approximately 3 hours. Her calf was fighting an infection near her tail about a couple of weekw ago, but has since fully recovered and gotten nice and plump! She’s filling out her fetal folds (like wrinkles) and is discovering more of her wonderful skills!

Now, my pictures aren’t all nice and pro, but I tried my best.

Good bye 2007, and hello 2008!

2007 was indeed one rocky year; it had its ups and its downs, but I ended the year 2007 on an up. I went to the VanDusen Botanical Garden with a couple of friends last night because one of my friends wanted to check it out and write a review on it for school.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have a tripod–the glue that holds all nighttime pictures together–but a few of my pictures turned out non-blurry. Most of them, though, were a bit blurry.

Here are 2 of the pictures that came out from a steady hand.

My friends and I had a hell of a good time last night. No, we didn’t stay out til midnight to watch the fireworks, and we didn’t party like mad, but we used the advantage of free bus and train rides to go all over the place. After the garden, we traveled to the mall, which was closed, but there were still people in there. After that, we took the train to Broadway to grab a bite, and finally we all went home, exhausted.

So that was my so long to 2007, and here awaits 2008!

Hope you enjoy the new year and stick to your resolutions!