June 28, 2007 | Tips from Us >
Vancouver, Professional & Spectator Sports
Find more information about Vancouver - Professional & Spectator Sports
David Beckham and the Los Angeles Galaxy will be playing our Vancouver Whitecaps on October 3 at BC Place in Vancouver.
Get your pre-sale tickets first by using promo code Cobi.
June 28, 2007 | Tips from Us >
Vancouver, Theatre & Performing Arts
Find more information about Vancouver - Theatre & Performing Arts
It's the annual Vancouver Jazz Festival. My friend Abdulla invited me to go see and hear Zapato Negro, an Afro Cuban, Latin jazz band at the Cellar restaurant and Jazz club. They were fantastic. The Cellar is a great place for a meal and some good music. They have all kinds of great musicians all the time.
The cellar is located at 3611 West Broadway, a 15 minute cab ride from downtown. But what I would do is take the afternoon to stroll along the beaches of Kitselano to Jericho Beach and walk to the Cellar for some dinner and great music. You can cab it home after.
February 12, 2007 | Tips from Us >
Vancouver, Festivals & Events
Three years from today (February 12), Vancouver will be the focus of the world when the 2010 Winter Games start. To mark the occasion, VANOC unveiled a countdown clock in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery today at lunchtime. It was packed with people so I couldn't get too close yet, but it looked very nice from a distance. Every day when I walk by it on my way to work I'll be reminded that the excitement of the event is only 1096 days or less away.
July 18, 2006 | Tips from Us >
Tofino, Surfing & Watersports
Find more information about Tofino - Surfing & Watersports
After watching the video Jeanine submitted last week, I started searching YouTube for more videos we can post on this blog. When searching for Tofino I can across the video below by
Planet Smashers, a Ska band from Montreal who dedicated a song to the surf culture in
Tofino. Enjoy!
April 13, 2006 | Tips from Us >
Victoria, Hiking
Find more information about Victoria - Hiking
A couple of years ago I had the opportunity to hike the famous West Coast Trail on Vancouver Island. For one week we were completely disconnected from everything. Just 75KM of nothing but rain forest, beach and the most awesome scenery imaginable.
We hiked the trail from Port Renfrew to Bamfield (south to north). It's supposed to be a little easier because you're still fresh when you do the hardest part first. Others argue it's better do start north so your pack is lighter near the end. The trail leads you along the ocean shoreline, either on the beach, or up on the cliffs. So the only climbing is up and down cliffs. This often involves wooden ladders, some very high and steep. And because you're in a rain forest, you have a fair chance you'll get (you got it) RAIN. That makes the ladders a little more challenging but after climbing a few of them we got the hang of it. we just took our time. We got our fair share of rain during the trip, but it didn't bring our spirits down at all. The scenery and the experience of being in the middle of nowhere made it all worth while.
You're allowed to camp almost anywhere so you can isolate yourself from all other hikers if you like. We chose the safety of the bigger campsites, equipped with bear locks and outhouses. We're not the most experienced multi-day hikers so we liked to stay close to people who knew what they were doing better than us. The bear locks in particularly are very useful because a couple of times we had to hang our food up in a tree to make sure the bears wouldn't get to it. And performing this activity in the dark and rain is not ea
March 22, 2006 | Tips from Us >
Vancouver, Art Galleries & Artists
Find more information about Vancouver - Art Galleries & Artists
Don't be surprised if you're walking around in Vancouver and you see a man hanging off a cable as in this picture (by
CharlieBrown) I pulled of Flick. It's the filming of X-men 3 last year. This is one of many movies that was shot in Vancouver. The TV and film business is booming and Vancouver and movie and TV sets are everywhere. Especially the
Vancouver Art Gallery seems to be a favorite spot. So keep an eye out for the little "crew" signs, large mobile dressing trucks, large lights and flying men on cables during your next visit. You might even spot a celebrity.
March 15, 2006 | Tips from Us >
Vancouver, Wineries & Vineyards
Find more information about Vancouver - Wineries & Vineyards
Spring is slowly making it's way into Vancouver so it was time for my first gelato of the season. There are lots of great places to get ice cream and gelato and picking a flavour is always is a challenge for me.
So when I visited La Casa Gelato, I was in for the extreme challenge because La Casa Gelato offers over 200 flavours of gelato and ice cream. Reading all the labels can take a long time but it's fun to see al the different flavours. There are the everyday vanilla, chocolate, lemon and such. But they offer flavours that range from interesting such as Guinness Draft or Pear Gorgonzola to very interesting such as wasabi or garlic. They offer free samples so you don't have to commit to anything to try it.
La Casa Gelato is located somewhat off the beaten path in a bit of an industrial part of town at 1033 Venables St (view on Google Maps). But it's but near Commercial Drive, where you can, among other things, enjoy other Italian foods.
February 13, 2006 | Tips from Us >
Apex Mountain Resort, Skiing & Snowboarding
Find more information about Apex Mountain Resort - Skiing & Snowboarding
The ski and snowboard season has been very good in BC so far and it's only mid-february. After riding in Whistler a few times and a weekend in Sun Peaks, my wife and I crossed off our next resort in BC. We flew into Penticton and about 45 minutes by taxi later we arrived in Apex. Apex is smaller than some of the other resorts but that doesn't mean you'll run out of things to do. The information on HelloBC sums it up nicely.
We had ski-in/ski-out at the the Apex Mountain Inn & Spa and the gun barrel pub was next door. The snow is excellent right now and the runs vary from easy to very challenging. We also spent a great deal of time in the new terrain park.
We took the Sun Bus back to Penticton instead of a taxi and saved ourselves a few dollars. Now that I'm entering this blog from my Hotel in Penticton it has started snowing again so I assume a layer of fresh powder will ensure this season of powder will continue.
February 04, 2006 | Tips from Us >
Vancouver, Arts, Culture & History Tours
Find more information about Vancouver - Arts, Culture & History Tours
I watched a very cool short film featuring some of Vancouver's landmarks on an Air Canada flight recently. It's created with stills and put together in an unusual but very interesting way. I wrote down the name and after a bit of Googling I learned that the film was made by Guy Roland from Vancouver. He used a digital camera and a PC over two years. The film won the
Zoom In Awards. If you like to see Vancouver a little different, you
you can view it here (Quicktime).
October 04, 2005 | Tips from Us >
Vancouver, Wildlife Tours
Find more information about Vancouver - Wildlife Tours
When visiting the
Capilano Suspension Bridge and/or
Grouse Mountain, make sure to stop at the
Capilano Salmon Hatchery. It's right in between these two two attractions and it's free! It's a great way to learn about the lifecycle of Salmon. I spent an hour there with visitors from out of town last weekend and it was fun cheering on the Salmon at a special viewing area as they make their way up the river.