GCA III: Square to Gallery to Church to Mall to Hotel

The first day of KH's course marked the first day of my solo adventures (no saunas and bathhouses) in Vancouver. I took a leisurely stroll down to Robson Square, right in front of Vancouver Art Gallery (also known as VAG, yes VAG). On weekends, they close off a section of Robson Street and turn it into an 'urban reef' with three slinky-esque, curvy wooden structures that act as long benches. Perfect to lounge and bask in the sun. Went around taking photos and loitering around the area. Saw the Douglas Coupland art installation out front-- Gumhead: a giant sculpture of the artist's head fully decorated with used gum! The public were welcome to interact with it. One can smell the bubblegum fragrance permeating from it and upon closer inspection you can also spot the flies and wasps buzzing around it. Perhaps I should have paid CAD20 to view his collection at VAG. In case you're a Percy Jackson fan, VAG was one of the filming locations for "Sea of Monsters".











Visited The Bill Reid Gallery of Nortwest Coast Art instead. Bill Reid was Canada's most acclaimed Haida artist. His contemporary Aboriginal art spanned gold, carvings and sculptures. Among his collection, my favourite's the sculpture entitled "The Raven and the First Men". Too bad no photography was allowed. Hate that about art galleries. On my way out, caught sight of some dudes from BDO doing an ice bucket challenge. Ducked into several buildings nearby, namely Cathedral Place and the HSBC Building with its giant magnetic pendulum. Freaky sight. Next was Christ Church Cathedral, one of the heritage buildings in town. The Gothic style church has a great collection of stained glass. And its an Anglican church with more than twenty years of LGBT support. And it was much easier to find a restroom in the church than in the Fairmont Hotel!


Pendulum from William Ng on Vimeo.







My wanderings brought me to Pacific Centre, a shopping mall nearby. Also ventured to its neighbour Holt Renfrew that only served up expensive brands. Quickly exited that place and found myself in Hollister. Same outlook as their sister store A&F, but with slightly cheaper prices. Bought some shirts for KH and myself there. Nothing much else to buy in Pacific Centre, so I made my way to VPL, the Vancouver Public Library (not Visible Penis Line, LOL). Interesting architecture there. Even saw a wedding shoot outside. The groom was kinda cute. Obviously I wasn't there to read. Hehe. But they did have a huge collection of traditional and digital media.











Along Cordova was a famous gelato joint that Kenji pointed out the day before, so I joined the long queue at Bella Gelateria. Didn't like the Earl Grey & Lavender, so I settled with Espresso la Futura. It was pretty good gelato, but the technicalities that made it winner of the North American gelato tournament is beyond me. Also took a look at the Marine Building nearby, a skyscraper full of art deco detailing. At Robson Road, I found another joint that was recommended by Kenji-- Japadog. Japanese style hotdogs. Ate Kenji's favourite, the Oroshi which was pork sausage with grated daikon and special soy sauce. Had it to go and ate it on the stairs of Robson Square, like how the locals do it. Was tired out from my excursion, so I made my way back to Westin. Decided on a different route back to Westin-- along the harbour.















Back in the hotel, I stripped down to my undies and read a book by the balcony, enjoying the cool air and harbour view. At around 5, KH came up with a few bottles of local beer which was great (book + beer + breeze = bliss). Since lunch for me was at 3:00 pm, dinner for me was rescheduled to 9:00 pm. KH accompanied me for lemongrass chicken rice at Pho Express. Huge portion of rice (it's sticky in Vancouver), two eggs and a chicken chop that had no taste of lemongrass in it. But it was yummy anyway.