Just twenty-one miles from the US-Canada border in British Columbia, the Fairhaven, Washington (USA) community was established in the late 1880’s; it became one of three cities [the other two being Whatcom City and Sehome] that formed Bellingham, the largest city of Whatcom County, Washington —famous for Vancouverites to do their US outlet shopping (think lower tax)….
Category: Travel
London Heritage Farm, Richmond B.C.
Along the Fraser river by the coastline city of Richmond (British Columbia) stands the London Heritage Farm— a historic site complex consisting of a farmhouse, family barn, heritage and herb gardens, memorial rose garden, hand tool museum; with antique farming equipment, chickens, Honey and Blue Orchard bees (with picnic tables). In the farmhouse is a tearoom…
On A Given Sunday
This was my Sunday as a visiting body part. Usually I’m able to catch up with services of my home church, CCF (Pasig) via livestream when I am away from Manila but on this particular day, I wanted to see my teacher and dear friend, Heidi, so I went to her home church, CCF Vancouver. A…
Thanksgiving Dinner from Granville Island Public Market
Granville Island Public Market is a food lover’s paradise. With fifty main retailers and over a hundred more rotating day-vendors selling local and international artisanal foods (and crafts), a wide international selection of delicious cooked food and ingredients for what you want to cook yourself, it has practically everything you need in a market. And more. Just…
English Bay
How many cities can say they have a beach park downtown? Well, Vancouver can… here at English Bay Beach (among other beaches around the city). From the late 19th century, the legendary lifeguard, Joe Fortes, taught Vancouver residents how to swim right on this beach. In 2015, some 2700 liters of cargo ship oil spilled into the…
Stanley Park
In 2014, Stanley Park National Historic Site of Canada [yes that’s its official name] got ranked “Top Park in the Entire World” by TripAdvisor [based on] consumer reviews. For about 130 years, it has been designated as “green space.” The land on which the park stands was home to First Nations (indigenous) people until 1858 when…
Gastown Stroll and L’Abattoir Dinner, Vancouver
Since 2009, Gastown has been a National Historic Site of Canada. It was the nucleus from which the whole city of Vancouver, British Columbia grew. Its name was derived from the “founding father of Gastown,” a Yorkshire seaman, “Gassy” Jack Deighton, who opened the district’s first tavern in 1867. His statue remains among the post-Great-Vancouver-Fire historic buildings…
Bowen Island Photography Hike, British Columbia
Still part of Metro Vancouver, Bowen Island is an island municipality in Howe Sound, a network of glacier-produced narrow ocean channels between bodies of land northwest of Vancouver. From Vancouver, you can take the BC-99 Northbound bus to Horseshoe Bay and take the 30-minute BC Ferries service to Bowen Island. The aisle to open water,…
Coal Harbor Morning Hike
“Nice bike!” a man on a bike hollered as he rode past! I was the only human within earshot so I soon realised that I had been hiking on the bike lane at Coal Harbor! Whether a straightforward “Out of my way” or a sarcastic “nice bike” was better, I learned to be mindful of…
Queen Elizabeth Park, Vancouver
Queen Elizabeth Park is one of the top go-to places for Autumn leaf-peaking in Vancouver. It used to be a forest with salmon-spawning creeks, making it a favorite hunting ground for bears, wolves, and elk. In 1870 when Europeans settled here, they got rid of the wild animals, cleared the forest, and built pathways on the…
BUTTERFLY IN THE SPRING 