will i am's delayed diary

Truth be told, our schedule for the second part in Vancouver was a bit fluid. Based on a recommendation from our hosts, we visited Granville Island. Took a bus ( she even taught us how to cheat! But we didn't do that. Actually wantend to buy the tickets on the bus, but since we didn't have any coins, the bus driver just gave them to us FOC! ) and subsequently went by foot. Nearly went the wrong way as the signage was quite bad. Doubled back from on top the bridge and walked under it instead. Along the way, we asked directions from a woman who was luckily going the same way. Started off at Net Loft, a place where the local art writers from Emily Carr University sold their wares. Most of the shops weren't open, so we had a simple breakfast at Net Loft Cafe first. Wandered in Net Loft and then the Public Market. Fantastic selections of fresh produce, arts and craft. Interesting to note that all the fruit sellers spoke Cantonese. Then went to RIP and the Kids Market.

It was the day to head back to the city, so we got up earlier than usual and checked out. Drove back to Banff to have breakfast at Melissa's Mistake , a famous breakfast place in town. We went for the weirder items-- crab and asparagus omelette and eggs benedict with chorizo. Surprisingly, the potatoes came grated, like noodles. Pour over coffee was bottomless but wasn't that great ( expected I guess ). Their large pancakes are quite popular too. Before leaving Banff, we had time for a few more tourist attractions like The Hoodoos, a weird rock formation that looked like a huge termite nest. With one hour left in our schedule, we squeezed in the Banff Springs Hotel. Took a look around the luxurious and historical hotel ( 1888 ) and then continued driving to Calgary to catch our flight out to Vancouver. Returned our rental and took a look at the final reading of the odometer-- 900+km, not bad at all. Fast food at Chick-fil-a was lunch and a pumpkin spice latte from Starbu

Stanley Park's a huge ass park, definitely bigger than Nicky Minaj's power-upped booty, so I decided to give it a revisit. On my first day, I went to the counter-clockwise direction, so I went to the clockwise direction instead. A different segment of the Seawall that is more rocky, a perfect place for rock stacking. Actually walked 8km that day, pushing myself from the second beach till the third beach and finally turned back at Siwash Rock. Unfortunately, during that excursion to Stanley Park, I dropped my monopod's smartphone extension. KH sulked for a bit. Hehe. But all was not lost as we could still use it with my digital camera. I walked back to English Bay and made my way to Denman Street for an early lunch at Hokkaido Ramen Santouka , bypassing the long queues. Sat next to a studious looking nerd at the counter and slurped our noodles in unison. Compared to KL, Vancouver's version is better and I had correctly chosen the Shio Ramen that best showcase

On the second day of my solo Vancouver excursion, I chose to go to Davie Street, the gay area of Vancouver. Just a few weeks before, they had a big pride event there and I heard that 100,000 revellers attended. Once again, I slowly strolled out from the hotel. Some elevation on certain stretches but definitely walkable. The first landmark I came across was English Bay Beach. There was a cute art installation at Morton Park nearby, called "A-maze-ing Laughter" by Yue Minjun. A cheerful bunch of bronze sculptures. Took some pics, then walked down to the beach to spy on some shirtless hunks. Too little, too far. On Davies Street, I kept my eyes peeled for signs of gayness. A little rainbow flag here, a splash of colour there, a hairy-chested Superman sticker in the window, and some left over Pride decorations in the window. Other than that, they had pink dustbins and pink bus stops. That was about it. My gaydar wasn't even pinged a whole lot. But quite a big concentration

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&q