I went out for a walkabout with my DSLR in hand today to document the many changes occurring in the city leading up to the 2010 WInter Games. One of the more contentious issue angering a handful of small businesses were the erection of security fences and barricades that went up recently. Designed to heighten security and improve flow of official Olympic traffic with road closures in the downtown core, the fences and barricades also had the negative effect of blocking foot pedestrians from easily accessing the storefronts of some small businesses. Understandably, business owners like Mario Loscerbo of Mario’s Gelati threatened to sue the city and the Vancouver Olympic Committee (VANOC) over these street closures claiming that these closures resulted in a drop in sales.
I faced some difficulty myself in navigating the city streets today when I wanted to walk over to Costco from Pacific Boulevard. Normally, I could cut across BC Place Stadium over to Expo Boulevard but because of the road closures, barricades, fences, and security personnel manning the premises, I was directed to take a detour East along Pacific Boulevard to Quebec Street and walk back West along West Georgia Street to Costco. I decided not to go after all as Costco will have closed by the time I get there.
As I made my way towards BC Place Stadium, I had stumbled upon a large group of volunteers coming and going to and from their orientation. They would later be known as the “Blue Jackets” as they were all given these really cool jackets in blue with the reflective Olympic logo on their backs.
Across the street from the stadium along False Creek were provincial pavilions and houses recently constructed to welcome the world to showcase the diversity of this vast nation called Canada. Among others, there was the Ontario Pavilion with a series of ropes from top to bottom wrapped around the entire façade of the structure, the Saskatchewan Pavilion shaped like a giant air-supported golf ball similar but smaller in scale to the TELUS World of Science directly across, a white cubic structure known as the Maison du Québec which radiated a cool blue at dusk, and the Molson Canadian House with a giant cutout of a maple leaf on the front as its entrance.
On the waters edge, someone constructed a series of balanced rocks and a few Inukshuks. While taking a break here on the jagged rocks, I noticed a Great Blue Heron standing still and silently with concentration. Other photographers and bystanders started to take notice.
Jay joined me a little after with his new telephoto lens and we continued walking towards the Plaza of Nations and further West to Yaletown. Vancouver’s new development known as Millennium Water, better known as Olympic Athlete’s Village during the games came into view. In keeping with the “City of Glass” reputation Vancouver architecture is known for, the Olympic Athlete’s Village will provide accommodation for the many athletes and coaches from around the world and keep them happy with panoramic views of our west coast living.
We continued our walk around False Creek, crossed the Cambie Street bridge, and took the newly installed, but sadly temporary, LRT train called the Olympic Line. The Canadian made Bombardier trains on loan from Belgium shuttled passengers to and from the Olympic Village Canada Line Station to Granville Island on a short five minute journey. Best of all, it’s a free ride! Here’s hoping that Mayor Gregor Robertson will find a way to find a permanent solution in the municipal budget.
It was dusk by the time we got around to the TELUS World of Science which temporarily turned into the Russky Dom (Russia House). A banner above the entrance read “Russia meets Vancouver”. The lights from the city of glass reflecting off the waters on False Creek had Jay and I spending a considerable amount of time trying to capture the sheer beauty of this magnificent city through our glass. Although we’ve both been here a number of times, the city’s nightscape was still breathtaking. We kept shooting and shooting.
The digital countdown clock to the opening ceremony read 5 Days, 22 Hours, 1 Minute and 18 Seconds, yet the overall feeling in Vancouver didn’t seem all that different from the usual. Aside from an increased presence of tourists in the city, the road closures, baracades, fences, the construction of pavilions, Canada Line and the Olympic Line to Ganville Island, the overall fanfare seemed slightly muted for a host city. It’s like we’re waiting for someone to take the covers off for that much anticipated “TADAAA!” moment after which everyone comes out of the woodwork. Perhaps this is the calm before the storm.
This email I had just composed in response to a friends email pretty much sums up what I’ve been doing lately, as well as with my growing hatred and dismay with Canadian politics. So I’m taking the easy way out with this entry by simply cutting and pasting. Here it goes:
Thanks, Kyle!
I sure hope this column will change my perception on this subject and guide me along the abyss of random numbers and formulas to clarity and understanding.
In the mean time, it’s “fish, fish, fish, fish, fish, fish” for me.
To change the subject completely, have you ever played “Settlers of Catan”? I’ve been playing this board game with friends a few times now and I absolutely love it! I want the original version in German which I could get on Amazon.de. There are expansion packs too! I think I’m turning into a board game geek...
The Olympics start in 11 days but we haven’t seen any snow fall this year so far. It’s been wet with temperature sitting at 8 ºC. It’s so bad that we’re now dumping barrels of hay from helicopters from high above to lay the foundation of the slopes of Cypress Mountain and will need to dump man-made snow in time for the games.
Unfortunately, our embarrassing leader of our nation is still in denial of any global-warming effects and is still pursuing the excavation of tar sands in Alberta for short-term economic gain. Once prominent in forging ahead in environmentalism, our Prime Minister finally decided that it was worth flying over to Copenhagen in his private jet at tax-payers expense polluting tonnes of carbon emissions for his royal round-trip flight, NOT to attend the Climate Change Conference, but to attend the Queen of Denmark’s State Dinner, while sending our Minister of Environment to read a short three-minute speech at the tail end of the CCC. That’s our only contribution.
Furthermore, our PM has now prorogued parliament, suspending government activities and terminating bills which were being passed in the house of commons, all because opposition leaders and other members of parliament were getting “too hostile” asking “serious questions about Harpers leadership” and he wanted time-out until further notice.
I hope he meets the fate of a non-confidence vote as I can no longer wear my maple leaf with pride. He is our equivalent of your George Bush. Also re-elected for a second term.
On a brighter note, I just watched The Never Ending Story, Part 1 for nostalgia. Shot in 1984, I got a kick out of the last scene where Falcor, the white dragon, flies over the streets of Gastown, Vancouver.
Snow drift danced along the quiet streets of a quaint American town. Illuminated by the orange glow of the street lights and holiday lights under the cover of night, we meandered, traversed, and aimlessly explored our new surrounding environment.
Welcome to Bend, Oregon. A town known for its craft beer from the taps of Deschutes Brewery, but nothing much else. Imelda, Sam, Serge and I made a pit stop here after a long drive from Vancouver in a Honda Civic. Bend looked different under daylight after emerging from our hotel room. A walking tour of the Old Bend Neighbourhood revealed a lot of history about this place and opportunities for scenic winterscape. Turn of the century heritage homes, Bend High School, and the Bend Public Library were just some of the tell-tele signs of the early days here.
2009.12.28
Crater Lake was our next destination, and quite frankly, the highlight of Oregon. After coming across a spectacular picture of Crater Lake while browsing the webbernet, I was really looking forward to seeing this place with my own eyes. I had high expectations going in, and my expectations were met. As history goes, this crater was formed as a result of a volcanic eruption. When all the magma spewed out of the mountain, it left a hollow void underneath causing the tip of the mountain to collapse under its own weight. But as it did so, it formed a perfect bowl and over time, rain water and snow melt filled the crater forming a lake that is now 8 by 10km in area and 594m deep.
Following our feast for eyes at Crater Lake National Park, we motored down Highway 97 heading straight for San Francisco through the night and into the wee hours of the morning. After coming across a strange and out of place fruit checkpoint at the Oregon/California State Border which was nothing more than a run down shanty with a dude sitting on a folding lawn chair, we made it to a place called Weed. We stopped in to the Hi-Lo Motel Cafe & RV Park on Weed Boulevard for a very late dinner. On the back of the menu, I learned about the mystery surrounding Mt. Shasta and the Lemurians who are said to live deep inside the mountain. The lenticular clouds that commonly form around the peak is said to mask a UFO for which the mountain is used as a landing spot. This small town sure knew how to market and brand itself, playing on its namesake with all things Weed. I should have picked up an “I <3 WEED” pin along with the “I DID WEED” mug.
2009.12.29
We were dead tired by the time we arrived in San Francisco in the wee hours of the morning. We couldn’t check into our hotel until 11 in the morning so we killed the hours at a Denny’s. I stayed in the back seat of the Honda Civic to catch some much needed snoozing before watching the sunrise from the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. To see the sunset rise over the bay was worth the wait and endurance in the cold. We had breakfast in Sausalito, we checked into our hotel at the Holiday Inn on Van Ness Avenue.
Since making plans to go on a road-trip to SF and back, I was looking forward to meeting up with Elle again, a friend I hadn’t seen since leaving Beijing. She studies and lives in the Bay Area with her boyfriend and when we met up at her place, I just had to give her my warmest hug!
2009.12.30
The next day after getting sufficient sleep, we went for a drive to Monterey Bay and Carmel-By-The-Sea. These were areas we didn’t get around to seeing when we were in SF just ten months earlier. We made a pit-stop at an IN-N-OUT burger stand before continuing on through the rolling hills of California.
Prior to arriving in Monterey Bay, I had little to no idea about the history of the area, so it came as a pleasant surprise when I learned that John Steinbeck grew up here. The streets were lined with banners with quotes and passages from Steinbeck’s literary works, most notably from Cannery Row.
Among others, Custom House Plaza was of historical interest in the area that defined the State of California. The Mexican styled building in the plaza built by the Mexican government was once occupied by the Mexicans as a Custom House where taxes were collected on foreign merchants until an American flag was raised on July 7th, 1846, declaring California as part of the United States of America. It’s California’s first historic landmark and its oldest public building.
We had just enough day-light to see Carmel-By-The-Sea after spending the majority of our time in lovely Monterey. We went straight to the beach after driving past a boutique of local restaurants, cafes, bookstores, and art galleries of Carmel. We had spent a lot of time down at the beach long after the sun went down getting creative with long-exposure shots of us posing and painting with light. The results turned out beautifully and we kept taking shot after shot. People started to notice what we were doing and had approached us to observe closely and make small talk. Soon enough, we got to use their children to pose for us to everyone’s delight!
2009.12.31
All refreshed from the beautiful cinderella night before, we left our hotel and took the trolley to Telegraph Hill. We met up with Elle again and did some shopping in Chinatown for fish balls, beef balls, enoki mushrooms, and vegetables in preparation for one of my favourite dishes: spicy hot pot! I was salivating until the time I got to put these tasty morsels into my mouth and taste the flavourful juices that burst inside. It triggered a memory of our time in Beijing.
We visited the remains of the Sutro Baths on the west coast later in the day and eventually found ourselves in the Castro district to ring in the new year by bar-hopping. While on the bus to Castro, Serge got hit on by a flamboyant African American man in his mid 30s who locked eyes with him as he said “Hello” in that unmistakable tone of flirtation. Sam, Mel, and I thought it was funny but Serge didn’t want to entertain.
We all started off with a martini at the first establishment we walked into and after downing that drink, we moved on to the next for more drinks. After visiting a number of different establishments along the main strip ordering up different drinks each time, I was over my limit. That realisation came a bit too late for me, however, when it really started to set in. I couldn’t even finish my beer. Elle and her bf Justin joined us for dinner at a sushi restaurant as I was craving for sushi earlier, but my memory from this point on gets a little fuzzy. I do remember having to politely excuse myself several times from the table to make my way to the loo to purge. Staring down the porcelain bowl was not the way I wanted to end the night and ring in the new year.
Fortunately, I made it out of the restaurant on my own two feet, but not without leaving a bad first impression on Justin to whom I have yet to formally introduce myself in the un-inebreated state. I vow never to mix drinks in quick succession. I also left the sushi place still hungry and craving for sushi.
Under the cover of night and through the illuminated streets of SF, we walked towards The Embarcadero to celebrate with hoardes of others with the same idea. We’re all suckers for beautiful displays of fireworks. The countdown. The text messages. The fireworks. The cheers. HAPPY NEW YEAR!
2010.01.01
Lombard Street had Mel all excited as a new driver. This photogenic zig-zag down a steep hill draws a great number of tourists every year and this was the last thing we did before saying good-bye to San Francisco.
Highway 101 hugged the coastline of the Pacific and offered spectacular scenic spots along the way to Portland. We pulled over after a long drive north to admire the long pebble beach and watch the waves crashing in. We loved playing tag with the ebb and flow of the cascading tides, chasing it when it recedes and running away from it when we see a wave coming in. Surge got tagged really bad as he was taking a photo and didn’t notice what was coming for him. We laughed for a moment but he later showed the ocean that he didn’t care anymore as he went right in - shoes, socks, trousers - with the water level knee high! Now here’s a dedicated photographer.
2010.01.02
Checking into the Hotel Fifty turned out to be a good pick when I used Hotwire.com. It was chic, ultra-modern, and dare-I-say sexy. Recently renovated only months ago, the small attention to detail caught my eyes. In tradition of Keeping Portland Weird, we stumbled upon a doughnut shop called Voodoo Doughnuts. This hole in a wall establishment served all sorts of funky doughnuts with interesting names. I myself went for the signature Voodoo Doll which was a raspberry jelly filled doughnut shaped as a voodoo doll with chocolate frosting and a pretzel stake right through the heart. For giggles, I also went for the Gay Bar which was more-or-less like a cream frosted long-john but stuffed with cream and all the colours of a Fruit Loop cereal on top. Other weird things we found in Portland was the 24-hour coin operated art gallery on street level and a ginormous squid trying to break free from a corner of a building. I like weird.
Much to our delight, we went over to the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum to see the Spruce Goose, a heavy transport aircraft built almost entirely of birch wood. With the largest wingspan and height of any aircraft in history, the Spruce Goose took up the entire hanger. From helicopters to DCs and other flying machines in between, there was much to see and learn at this museum that we didn’t even have time to set foot inside the Space Museum!
2010.01.03
Homeward bound. We checked out of the hotel and made our way to Seattle to see one last thing. I’m not even sure if it was on our list of things to see, but I’m glad we saw the troll under the north end of the Aurora Avenue Bridge. Keep Seattle Weird, too!
