GCA II: Lord Stanley & Lord Kenji

In the Morning

Warning: Photo-intensive post ahead!

On the first morning in the Westin Bayshore, I finally took a good look at the room (was too tired the night before). Not only did they have a Starbucks (they have a crazy Starbie culture) coffee machine in the room, the TV channels also had py per view gay and straight porn. And the view of the harbour was fantastic. On one side was the luxury glass and steel condominiums, on the other the yachts and the sea. Lovely to hear the seagulls in the morning.

Room with a View

What's Your Fancy?

Westin Bayshore

Essential

We had one free day before KH commenced his induction course, so we went to the nearest attraction which was Stanley Park. There was no free breakfast with the room, so we ate at Blue Tree Cafe which was also the closest option. Nothing to shout about, but it was cheap and fast. On our first morning we had a good trial run with the selfie stick that Moonlight Piggy suggested we bring. Coal Harbour provided much photo opportunities with its boats, yachts and seagulls. The Seawall was also beautiful, providing kilometre after kilometre of scenic coasts. It's divided into two paths, where the pedestrians are separated from the 'wheeled', i.e. cyclists and roller-bladers. Walkers have no direction constraints, but those on wheels have to adhere to the counter-clockwise direction to avoid collisions. Caught some major rays on that day walking to Beaver Lake (no beavers or pussies spotted) and back. Benches are located along most of the seawall and many people 'adopt' the benches. Adopted benches are easily recognized by personalized plaques on it normally containing witty anecdotes and dedications.

Morning Run

Lovely Walk

To Stanley Park

Orca

Birds of Leisure

Leaves of Light

Lumberman's Arch

Lord Stanley

Stanley Park Beauties

Rested in the hotel for a couple of hours waiting for KH's ex, Kenji. Yes, I spent quality time with my predecessor. It was his off day, so he could bring us out to lunch. He gave us many food choices, but we ended up with Japanese, something that Vancouver has no shortage of. Kenji and his significant other, Ashton brought us to Miku, a famous fusion Japanese joint in town. It was situated near Canada Place and our table had an amazing view of the sea. Those two could really eat. They ordered a lot, a lot of food. A great way to experience Miku's Aburi style sushi that's basically flame-seared. In my opinion, the stranges item was the Aburi Chirashi Tart that was like a huge tower of pressed rice layered with spicy tuna, avocado and other assorted seafood. So stuffed and Kenji's sweet tooth motivated him to order three large desserts. My favourite was the Cherry Cassis Slice for its sourness! LOL. Perfect after so much carbs. They were amazing hosts and insisted on footing the bill. And from my observation, Kenji and Ashton were great together. Sugar and spice and everything nice. Too cute-sy to imagine as they would chatter with each other in anime voices!

Starters

Aburi Sushi

Fish Roe

Aburi Chirashi Tart

Coconut Mousse

Green Tea Opera

Cherry Cassis Slice

Ashton had a dentist's appointment, so he left after lunch. Kenji stayed back to bring us jalan-jalan around Canada Place (with its Five Sails and touristy Canadian Trail) and Vancouver Convention Centre with its huge raindrop sculpture (The Drop by Inges Idee). Around the area was Vancouver Harbour, a perfect place to watch the seaplanes! Kenji had to leave for a wedding dinner, so we had dinner by ourselves at Kintaro, a ramen joint on Robson. The cold led us to look for ssomething hot and soupy, so ramen was the perfect choice. Unfortunately, we had to queue. I went with the miso Ramen while KH tried the cheese ramen. Imagine grated cheese and a big slice of cheese in your noodles. KH couldn't accept it, but surprisingly I had a better liking to it. Overall, not bad but the interior was like Hell's Kitchen. Steamy! That steamy feeling continued right up till bedtime! Guess that ramen was digested faster than usual. :D.

Raindrop

Canada Place

Five Sails

Sea and Air

Digital Orca

The Olympic Cauldron

Miso & Cheese

Comments

Twilight Man said…
I love your beautiful photos. You always take better photos overseas. Strange Willy!
I wonder whether this Kenni is the same guy in my mind who fled from Singapore to Canada.
J said…
Gorgeous! I have a dream of waking up to a view like that one day. Sigh...
Anonymous said…
ain't weird you were hanging out with KH's ex? and blegh! they don't even have asian gay porn?
Anonymous said…
Logo whale?
-Vc
William said…
@Twi:
Better light and views overseas perhaps. Kenni?

@Hdaran:
Make it happen.

@Anon:
Not my first time meeting him and he's nice. No Asian porn. Guess they couldn't get a good subscription deal.

@VC:
Logo of?
TZ said…
Your pictures make meet miss Canada so much...
Derek said…
Great first day in Vancouver

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