Life and times of Craig on Planet Earth: Craig and B go to Vancouver BC Nov 17-19

What a year! since Hong Kong I have been super busy and working a lot of nights and weekends. It was time for a weekend get away.

B and I took off for Vancouver BC on Friday for the weekend.

We made great time to the border and breezed through the check in 10 min, then about 20 miles out of Vancouver, we got stuck in a massive back up. We sat for about 40 min before we finally got out of that mess.

We found the Hotel but could not find the parking entrance! We drove around it three times before parking and asking at the front desk. The entrance was about 20 feet from the car! LOL!

The Shangri-La Hotel was fabulous! We felt right at home back in Hong Kong! LOL! it's very Chinese and very efficient and well managed.

We headed out for dinner and we took a short cut down a dark side street and a SKUNK ran across the street and sidewalk in front of us! I was too in shock to even think about getting a picture. Seattle smells like skunk for an entirely different reason!

We found a Thai restaurant. It was ok. Everything was different that US Thai restaurants. After that we thought we would grab a beer at the Keg, which is connected to our hotel and looks brand new and very fancy. It's on the second floor so we took the escalator and there are two doors, the Restaurant to the left and the Bar to the right. We were not sure but a hostess came out side to help us. She said there is a wait for drinks. We said, no thanks and left.

The next morning we were treated to a fabulous breakfast at the Hotel restaurant, which is highly rated. B had a dim sum basket and I had an omelet. It was great.

We headed out to find Queen Elizabeth park. Neither of us had ever been there so it was the agenda. It's the highest point in Vancouver city and had some nice views.

Then we found Granville Island market. SUPER TOURISTY. We had lunch there and it was not that great. We found some fun shopping items for birthdays and Christmas though.

Back to the Hotel. We hung out at the hotel for a while then went for Dinner. We wanted Chinese, and according to Yelp, the best place in Vancouver is at the Trump tower. We went to the next best place!

We found a place called ChongQing on Robson. Highly rated. We walked in and it's a hole in the wall, bright cafeteria lighting, not one piece of art on the wall and a paper menu. I whispered to B, I think we got played...

We ordered a bunch of stuff and it was FABULOUS!!!!!!! yes! finally the meal we came here for! We will be back to this place next time.

After dinner I was determined to get in that new fancy Keg. We walked right into the bar and it was the fanciest bar I've ever seen . Everyone was in full suits and black dresses. I felt like were in Hollywood. In fact, I bet stars do come here as they do make a lot of movies in Vancouver. We turned and walked out.

The last day came. I got up early and put on my rain gear and headed out to my pilgrimage to see the Olympic Cauldron from the 2010 Winter games. It was NASTY, raining and winding, rain blowing in my face.

I got there, and to my disappointment, they were setting up a holiday fair there. I couldn't get close. I walked around the perimeter and got some shots the best I could.

I came back and dried off and then we went back to the hotel restaurant for breakfast. Again, amazing food and a great tea they serve.

After breakfast, we went to a tea store called TWG. The worlds greatest tea. I bought a 25 dollar box of green tea, 15 bags. OUCH. however, it really is good.

On our way home, I wanted to see the Richmond Oval. It took all we could to find it, and a pit stop for a bloody Caesar to get there. It was lame. The gift shop had nothing Olympics related. Ok let me stop there. It was lame for ME. I wanted Olympic nostalgia. They had other plans. They turned it into a multi use rec center with hockey programs, basketball courts a full gym, day care center and more! It was impressive and very busy. They did have an Olympic museum but we chose to skip it, no gift shop and they featured interactive games which we were not really interested in. Maybe next time.

on the road for home . Border was even easier on the return trip. We made great time and had a great trip in Hong Kong West.