5 Top Places to go in Vancouver!

Vancouver is such a fascinating city, while I like London more, the feeling of going to Vancouver has always been great, before my flight to Vancouver, I am always excited because it is always such:

• a refreshing change from the old, historical, full-of-tourists London
• a much needed break after the crazy spring term in Imperial (in second year for Spring term, I had 2 Mastery Tests which needed 80% to pass, and a formal final exam for Programming, given that I had only 1.5 weeks to prepare for that since I had already planned my holiday earlier, in addition to the exam madness, I had 5 other subjects which came with coursework submission almost every week)
• MOST IMPORTANTLY, to see my boyfriend (in case you didn't know, we started of just 3 months before we parted for studies in different countries)

If you are fortunate enough to visit this amazing city, do take an effort to visit the following places:

1. Stanley Park

If you have really limited time in Vancouver, a visit to Stanley Park is definitely a must, especially during Spring or Summer. I visited Vancouver during Spring, where I got to witness cherry blossom, and they were absolutely breath-taking. I've even heard of someone saying that the cherry blossoms in Vancouver might be comparable to what you would get in Japan! That is really interesting. So, if you do not have the chance to visit Japan during the sakura season, Vancouver might be a good alternative (if you happen to be in North America or something...)

Myself trying to take a picture with the pretty white Sakura

Stanley Park is massive, it's one of the biggest parks in North America, and walking around the park would take you hours. The best thing would be to rent a bike else where or near the park, and take your time to cycle through the park. Signs are everywhere so you don't have to worry about getting lost (yes it is THAT huge). Being very adventurous, I sort of dragged my boyfriend to try a cycling path that looked very dodgy, which seemed to lead us into a forest or something... Half an hour later we finally managed to get ourselves out of the cycling trail, and realised that it was one of the hardest cycling trails in the park. AND YES, we CONQUERED IT--- by lugging the bikes with us, instead of riding them. 

Me lugging my bicycle up the hill. It might not look steep here, but it really is.

And yes, I am usually walking ahead of him, probably because I am too impatient, or I can't trust his sense of direction, or he is just being a very caring boyfriend who wants to protect me by watching my back...

Even after our two visits to Stanley Park, I am not quite sure if we have covered the whole park. Maybe, it is always good to leave something uncompleted behind, and that would be your reason to be back. ;)

Just one of the very pretty sights of Stanley Park

Picture says it better: I was definitely enchanted by how beautiful cherry blossoms can be

Along the eastern side of Stanley Park

2. University of British Columbia

My boyfriend used to study in UBC, and I am sure that during summer time, the Rose Garden would be absolutely stunning. As I visited him only during Spring, I only have some pictures of the cherry blossoms in the campus itself. Coming from a university right in the city of London, I do not have a university with such a large campus, with greenery around. Even the libraries are really beautiful, unlike the library at my university... Most importantly, they don't try checking your student pass, which in other words, it would be much nicer for people to visit instead of having to apply for some sort of Visit Pass or something from the university.

Our favourite favourite picture!!! All credits to the awesome photographer, who painstakingly took so many pictures for us. Taken at Place Vanier in UBC

You could also visit Wreck Beach in UBC, apparently a popular clothing-optional beach in the campus of UBC and watch sunset there.

There is also Japanese Garden in UBC, which I clearly enjoyed the place. 

Remember to drop by Irving Library to have a glimpse of the pretty library. I don't mind spending whole day studying there lol!

3. Queen Elizabeth Park

I find QEP much manageable compared to Stanley Park. I think they both are pretty, it's just that QE Park is smaller and slightly more walkable than Stanley Park.

Unfortunately weather in Vancouver during Spring could be really unpredictable, so it started raining heavily when we were at Queen Elizabeth Park. Quite a shame, but the park was still really beautiful, and it felt good to be the only few people in the park - you feel like you have got the whole park to yourself! So peaceful that you get all the positive energy from the beautiful surrounding!

4. Fairmont Hotel

You might even get more English here. Imagine having an afternoon tea without burning your pocket? A proper Afternoon Tea in London could easily cost you £40-50 per person. So when I saw the voucher of getting an Afternoon Tea in Fairmont Hotel at CAD $70 for two, we both grabbed the voucher!

The experience was amazing, and it was definitely one of the most posh afternoon tea that we would ever had!

I would love to be back again, anytime. The service and the food were impeccable. 

5. Richmond

Being an Asian at heart who genuinely loves oriental food, I just have this thing for Richmond. I really like coming to this place, to get a feel of hawker centres and shopping malls. Richmond is such a Chinese suburb that you even get signboards in Chinese only, no English.(seriously I saw many signboards while travelling on the tube/metro)

You get cheap food in huge portion.

For example...

Another of my favourite would be the beef noodle from Chef Hung:

The list doesn't just end here... Granville Island, Downtown Vancouver, Kitsilano Beach, Capilano Suspension Bridge and so on...

But those five places are definitely those places that I would strong recommend to anyone. :)

Little Act of Kindness in Singapore: Getting an umbrella when it rains?

A few years back in Singapore, I loved going for a stroll after dinner-- probably to give myself a break before starting my revision for A Level, and also to spend time with the person who had a special place in my heart at that period. (to boyfriend, if you are reading this, note that it is only AT THAT TIME)

So one day, we went out for a stroll after dinner as usual. And at that time before coming to UK, I didn't have the habit of checking out the weather forecast, or even looking at the sky to see how would the weather be... (can't be bothered at that age?)

Just 10 minutes after we left our hostel, it started pouring. It was literally POURING, the very heavy rain that you normally get in Southeast Asia and you get drenched very soon after the rain starts.

Very luckily, there was a bus stop nearby and we just ran towards the bus stop and waited there. We didn't know what to do... Maybe just hope that God would suddenly have mercy in us and stop the rain...

Suddenly, a lady came to us, and passed us two umbrellas. She GAVE the umbrellas to us, unconditionally. I could see that the van that she was on had a logo of a church, but she didn't try to preach to us-- she was just giving the umbrella to us, and other poor pedestrians who were caught in the rain as well.

I was really touched. I tried asking how could I return the umbrellas to her, and she just told me to pass on the umbrellas to other people in the future.

Thank you to the random lady for the umbrellas, for the unconditional help. I would always remember that. Umbrellas could be something symbolic, but I would always remember your kindness. I would pass on the kindness that I've received to helpless people else where. (But whenever I approached tourists who seemed really lost, they normally kindly rejected me T__T, because I look like a con-woman?)

After getting the umbrellas, we continued strolling around our hostel under the heavy rain...

On our way back, I saw my two best friends, each holding two umbrellas. 4 umbrellas in total. 2 for themselves, and the other two... were probably for us.

They told me that since it was raining, they were worried that we might be trapped outside. Hence, they were out searching for us to pass us the umbrellas.

To date, I am still in touch with the two girls who passed us the umbrellas. And I am thankful to have them two in my life.

Picture taken during A Level in Singapore.

A Little Act of Kindness in... Rome!

Whenever I heard people talking about Rome, they often complained about the prevalence of pickpockets at crowded and touristy areas. I even read from a travel book that a man almost lost his wallet as two Gypsy girls approached him and one of them lifted her shirt to show her bare breasts, but the man was conscious enough not to stare at the pair for too long and managed to keep his belonging intact. True story or not, I am not sure but I definitely read this from a book. The author might have exaggerated quite a bit (?)

Most importantly, on my train from Pisa to Rome, I even overheard some other locals (I presume) telling the tourists to be careful as Rome is a "City of Robbers". I was like..."what the hell?"... I then approached some other Italians in the same train cabin and they were smiling and telling me that it's not that bad. Oh well, that was quite assuring? x.X

After hearing such stories, I did what I could to make sure that my things won't get stolen. Placing a lock on my bag, putting my cash in the deepest pocket inside my bag, and distributing my cash at different places... (p/s: i didn't place my cash in my bra or in my socks, if you are desperate, you could do that. Or if you like having something touching your stomach as you move, you can get those traveller belt which I think is useless and uncomfortable)

Fast forward the story a little...

My boyfriend and I went to this famous Italian pizza place (can't remember the name, maybe is Buffeto?) and there was already a queue. As I joined the queue, I started talking to a guy in front of me. (My boyfriend went to have a look at the pizzeria. )

The conversation was something like this...:

Me: Hello, do you speak English? (Because quite a few of them don't!)

Italian guy: Yes...? (He wore a pair of glasses and he definitely looked very educated!)

Me: Oh great! Is it your first time here?

Italian guy: No.

Me: I see. Do you have any recommendation?

Italian guy: Probably the most basic pizza? Margarita?

Me: I often heard people saying about a type of pizza which has an egg within. Have you heard about it?

Italian guy: Huh? Probably it is best to have the most original one...

(And my boyfriend got back at this time, and they introduced themselves to each other)

... ...

Alright, so his name starts with M, and I would use "M" from now onward since to me it would be more respectful...

M then asked us about the life in Singapore since he considered doing an MBA in SMU, Singapore. And he told us that he had an interesting Italian friend who worked in China as someone who just has to be chauffeured to go to clubs and parties (show his face). And that is his JOB!!!!!

After some interesting talk, it was finally our turn to be seated! Eventually we had dinner together as it was always nice to talk to new people and I like the idea of talking to a local as he is definitely more familiar about the place than us! 

While we were having our delicious pizzas, we found out that his girlfriend is in US. Being in a long distance relationship is definitely something in common between us and M! We even recommended him to use FaceTime instead of Skype because Skype video calling is so crappy. :P

When the bill came, we wanted to pay the bill for all of us but he was quicker than us!!! He was really kind and bought us dinner, because he said that we are his guests. We wanted to get him some desserts or drinks after that but we just parted ways. Nevertheless, we added each other on Facebook and we are still in contact! He is coming to London with his girlfriend and I definitely look forward to seeing them both.

Thank you M, for being such a nice and friendly host. You definitely make our trip in Rome a very very memorable one. And... I shall look forward to seeing you guys soon in August!!

A little act of kindness in Hong Kong

When I just finished A Level, the mad rush for university application started.

-SAT exam (which I definitely screwed up)
-Application to over 5 Liberal Arts Colleges (I was out of my mind and probably wanted to throw myself out of my comfort zone--the exam-based UK education system that has nurtured me for the past 17 years)

-HKU, HKUST university application 

-many other scholarship applications

-Aussie uni applications 

.

.

.

I was so mad about studying in a Medical School at that time, and so when the invitation for a face-to-face interview came, I booked the Air Asia flight to Hong Kong in an hour (of course with the consent of my dad) and prepared to go to Hong Kong for the interview! On top of that, the whole week in April was very eventful,  I had a scholarship interview on the day right before my HKU interview, and after HKU interview, I had a trip planned to Laos to visit my friend. That was quite a bit of madness.

Everyone who has seen me would say that I have a babyface, i.e. I look younger (and gullible?).

Thinking about the time, I still don't understand where did I get all the courage and a slight hint of foolishness to go to HKU for the interview.

Why "foolishness": Because all medical interviews for HKU would require the interviewee to have knowledge of Cantonese, and I didn't know Cantonese at all ( I speak Mandarin at home and I don't watch HK dramas). I just genuinely hope that my passion to get a place would warrant me a place in HKU...which obviously, I failed.

So I took a bus to KL from my hometown, then took another bus from KL Sentral to the airport, then boarded the morning flight to HK! 

Being an inexperienced newbie in travelling independently, I didn't do any research about HK (wasted time in such a happening country!!!)
I just prepared some notes for my interview, found out how to get to the place from the airport and that's it.

After the interview, I decided not to take a cab back to the city but a bus instead. All I remembered was the bus speeding as it got down on a hill. OMG that was scary, almost like a roller coaster ride without the seat belt on, and I was sitting at the very front row! The people around me were just grim-faced and couldn't be bothered. From then I had the impression that the people are cold and unwelcoming, and I felt really lonely as I was there.

I got off at Central, and found my way to the main street. I felt really lost at that point, seeing the huge crowds of people on the street. 

I did not know what to do...

Where can I get food? (I am not even concerned about how good is the food...)

How can I get back to the airport?

Where is the nearest MTR station?

I tried speaking to the locals in Mandarin, and they just didn't understand me. I felt really down.:(

At this point, a very kind lady reached out to me. She noticed me as we were crossing the road, and she knew that I was feeling lost.

She recommended me some places for food, and even told me how good the food would be.

She let me tried the most famous egg tart in HK

She even offered me a ride to the airport, which I rejected because I prefer to spend sometime exploring the place.

I was really, really touched.

After so many years, being a much seasoned traveller, I still could remember her very kind act. 

That reminds me to always reach out to tourists who seem lost as I walk in London.

That reminds me to always remain humble and help out the less fortunate ones.

That reminds me to do my research before going to a new place, i.e don't be so stupid and naive.

I felt the need to get back to her, but I am not sure whether she would get freaked out by me... Should I?