27, 28 Aug

Did not go out on 27 Aug. We spent the time discussing where to go in Vancouver. Booked our hostel on 27 Aug and arriving in Vancouver on the 28 Aug. It was a last minute kind of thing to go to Vancouver. We were quite bored staying in Victoria and since we will be here for a long time, we must as well go to Vancouver for 3D2N before going back to school.

Taking the bus to Swartz Bay was really tiring. No car means hard to travel in Canada. We had to change bus and the bus bay was Royal Oak Exchange. This was the place where we missed our last bus on our way home from Butchart Garden and had to take a taxi with 2 other people. We realised that the bus schedule was actually correct, all along, we have been waiting at the wrong bus stop, the bus that we had to take back home was actually at another corner. Anyway, we learnt out lessons and reminded ourselves that on our way back, we won't be making a stupid mistake.

Please click on the picture below and expand it so that the picture will look so much clearer.

From Swartz Bay, we took a ferry to Tsawwassen ferry terminal. It was a 1hr and 35 min trip. So we sat in the open deck and enjoy the breeze and view. Although we were cold, but we refused to head back in as the view was so marvellous. At a point in time, we could not even see any land, just a long stretch of blue. Got off the ferry and took a very long bus trip down to our hostel, Hostelling International Vancouver Central. Bought a daily pass at $8 from a vending machine. Travelling by bus to places is really long. I think it took us a total of 5+ hours to reach our hostel. We left at 9am and arrived at 2 or 3pm. We got confused trying to find our hostel (still not use to the roads and signboard) but we still managed to find it with the help of a map.

There were no one but us in the room. Later in the night, 2 other backpackers came in. It is cheaper to sleep in a dorm room, just have to ensure we have to take care of our stuff. Luckily, I bought a lock with me. Apparently, we need a lock for our lockers, if not, we can always buy one(waste of money) at the counter.

After leaving out stuff, we headed downtown and got lost again. We wanted to go to their national library. Apparently, my landlord said that we could take pictures there. Yes.. The building is really beautiful and artistic. All the buildings in Vancouver has some style. Seriously, I think Singapore needs more talented architects. Compared to Vancouver, the buildings in Singapore are so much like lego buildings, not much curves. Maybe it is due to our weather, so we cannot afford to have too many glass buildings(Green house effect). Took some photos of the inside and outside of the building.(Starting from the 18th photo)

Then, we went to China Town and Gas Town. Seriously, China Town was a disappointment. My memory of China Town when I was primary 5 (came to Vancouver before)was full of hustle and bustle. The place looks so boring and quiet and sleazy. At around 4+, drunkards, weirdos were coming out from the alley. Basically, there wasn't much stuff to see in China Town. Even our landlord warned us about not staying too late in China Town as it will be quite dangerous.

Gas Town was like some tourist places. Selling those Canadian souvenirs and the only interesting thing was the steam clock. When I saw it, I was like, "oh yah, I remembered seeing that in primary 5 and it was nothing that impressive." That's why I couldn't even remember that I did see that small little steam clock.