We had a lazy morning, just had a bagel each and watched some YouTube.
We eventually got ready and decided we wanted to go out for the day. We hopped in the car and googled to find somewhere fairly close to go as its long weekend, therefore all places places to go will be very busy, so we found somewhere a little different.
We drove for about 30 minutes to get to Steveston.This is a fairly small, former fishing town in Richmond.
We arrived and eventually found some parking. We had a couple of plan for whilst we were there, but we didn’t really know anything about the place.
Coffee, Of Course
We started by finding a coffee spot. We found a really nice, and cheap, place called Rocanini Roasters.
Curtis had a flat white and Kim had a mocha.They were both pretty good, but not the best we have had!
Former Tram
This town used to have a tram system that ran through it.
We went rright across from the coffee shop and there was the tram they used to have!
We walked along the tracks and came to a small forest walk, so we partook in that for a bit.The town is quaint but also a bit built up in some areas, though a lot of the older buildings are still around.
Waterside Walk
We walked along the side of the water for a while, just for something to do.We got to a point and wondered if we should continue as it didn’t seem that there was much going on, but we then saw a cool old building in the distance so wanted to investigate.
Former Fishing Area & Living Quarters
We stumbled upon the former fishing area, where there were living quarters and multiple buildings, which could be entered, which were used during this time.
This was a museum area and was actually very interesting.
The first building we entered was a building for both hanging nets as well as making things, such as steering wheels for boats.
There was many older artefacts still around and in good condition, as well as a lot of machinery.
We moved on from here to the living quarters.
All of these are segregated, so there were the likes of a Japanese house and a Chinese house.
These were all pretty small for the amount of people that would have lived in them.
Boat House
We finished off in the boat house, which had a few different uses but was used most recently to store and build boats.
We looked around and saw lots of things along with boats, such as a few ddifferent workshops, such as the engine workshop and the blacksmith.
Ice Cream!
We walked back and had previously spotted an ice cream place, so went and got one there.
Kim got salted caramel and chocolate and Curtis had whisky coffee.
We sat outside and had our ice cream and just chatted about our day!
After our ice cream, we got back into the car and drove home.
Hockey Gear
When we got home, Kim vacuumed the car whilst Curtis got his hockey gear ready! He has a team scrimmage tomorrow, which he is very excited for!
Kim went out to get some things from the shop and then when she got back she began to make dinner.
Sweet Chilli Wedges
We have been discussing having sweet chilli wedges for a few days now, so we finally decided to today, and it was an excellent choice.
We ate some dinner, drank some wine and watched some TV. A fun day all around!
We decided on visiting the pharmacy museum today. We heard someone mention it the voodoo museum the other day that they’d been to the pharmacy museum, so we thought we would have a look.
We got the bus to the city and then walked from there. It was warmer today, but there was a breeze which helped.
We got to the museum and when we walked in, we were instantly struck with the smell of ‘old stuff’.
We later found out that the building was occupied from the 1700s by a pharmacist and then later was taken over by another pharmacist, before it was not used for a while and then bought and restored by the local council.
There was two floors of artifacts, namely tools and medicines which were used in the 19th century.
Something interesting was that all the liquids or solids within the bottles and jars are the actual substances that they say they are. This is particularly harrowing when the majority are alcohol or narcotics based, including opium and heroine! Some are even poisons.
We toured around by ourselves for a bit and then had a guided tour by the curator for around 45 minutes.
During this time, he explained about the history, what was used, why, side effects and all kinds of gross things, but also incredibly informative and interesting.
An old soda machine, used to make medicine taste better. This is why we have soda today!
Towards the end of the tour, Curtis got incredibly warm and ended up fainting, which was dramatic for everyone around us! He was all ok though, Kim managed to catch him and he wasn’t any worse for ware. All part of the fun and games!
Cafe Beignet, Again!
We wanted a coffee and a bit of food, so we went to Cafe Beignet again, but a different one. This one was much older and had a great look about it. There was also a man singing there, which helped with the ambience.
We shared some Gumbo, which is traditional soup made with chicken, rice and sausage…absolutely delicious!
Curtis had a key lime pie and we got some coffee too.
It doesn’t look great, but tastes amazing!
Admin Time
We headed home after here, once we had a short walk around. It was too hot and we didn’t really fancy doing anything more.
We got back home in record time, catching the transport perfectly! It took us just 15 minutes or so.
We got back and both had some admin to complete, so it was good to get that done.
We ate the remainder of yesterday’s pasta and were still hungry.
Luckily, we’d been told by our host about a few food trucks which were congregating by the library, just a block away.
Food Trucks
We got to the food trucks and there were just a couple there, so nothing much to choose from.
We each got a crepe in the end. Curtis got a cinnamon one and Kim got a cookie butter one. They were actually great and from the crepe truck called Crépes á la cart
After this, we came home, chilled out and also planned what we will be doing tomorrow.
We had breakfast and got ready for the day and then had a quick video chat.
We had to speak with someone we are looking to briefly live with in another location, just to show we are who we say we are and so on.
We had a good chat and seems it was successful, so we should be heading there soon!
WWII Museum
There isn’t much to say about this, other than the fact we took the bus to the WWII museum. This museum is the #2 thing to do in the whole of the US according to TripAdvisor, so we had to take a look.
The museum wasn’t that big and we did get student tickets which saved us a little money.
It was an alright museum, but not as amazing as the reviews had said.
French Coffee
We really fancied some French coffee and pastries.
We walked 6 minutes to a highly touted French cafe called French Truck Coffee.
The coffee was excellent and the foid was too. Curtis got a big croissant and Kim had a muffin.
We said to ourselves that we would walk there, which would take just an hour, but we got outside and were warm so we went for a scooter ride instead.
We got to the museum and noticed a sign outside which said it was closed on Tuesdays, which was not ideal.
We saw the gates were still open to the gardens, so we went into them and had a look around.
We got to the entrance of the actual museum and there were security there who said we had to leave. Turns out that the gardens were closed too!
Coconut Grove
We changed up our plan and walked to the rail station nearby, paid our $2.25 ticket each and boarded the train.
We only went one stop but it saved us 20 minutes of walking.
We quickly burned those saved 20 minutes when we walked way past our turning and had to turn back again.
We walked through a fairly nice area and got to CocoWalk in Coconut Grove.
This is a street with nice shops, restaurants & coffee shops.
We walked around a bit but weren’t too impressed. We wanted a snack and found a taco place which was just $3 per taco, so we got one each and continued with our day.
We wanted a coffee and we saw Starbucks but decided to go somewhere different, which was a mistake.
The place was called Blanco gelato and it was all organic etc.
Kim got a mocha coconut iced coffee and Curtis got just an iced coffee.
Kim’s was very small, expensive and just a thick sludge, but was tasty. Curtis had iced milk with a tiny bit of coffee and, again, expensive. We were quite disappointed.
We got back in time to shower and relax a little and then at 18:30, Curtis had another interview scheduled.
As what seems to be a common theme, the interviewer never called, and no emails were returned.
So, after another wasted 30 minutes, we grabbed our steak from the fridge which we bought earlier from whole foods and made an average dinner.
The steak was delicious, a really great slab of meat, but the sauce we bought wasn’t good and overpowered the meal. Curtis also over seasoned the meat a little.
All in all, could have been better, but it’ll do!
We watched TV for the evening and ate a dessert each. Kim got a chocolate pie and Curtis got a lemon meringue pie to devour too.
We were going to take public transport down to Mountain View this morning, but that would take 2.5 hours, so we changed our mind and decided to take an Uber, which took about 1 hour.
We got to the Computer History Museum, expecting to spend an hour or so here, but we were wrong!
This museum was very large, with about 20 sections in it. This was actually a really interesting museum, if not a bit technical.
This museum was about the first 2000 years of computers and technology.
Lunch
We got very hungry after our few hours in the museum, so we went on the hunt for food.
We found a 7-Eleven and thought it would be cheap to get something from there.
Curtis got a sandwich and Kim got a wrap and we bought a drink each and some crisps and chocolate.
We sat and ate our food and then walked onward.
GooglePlex
We walked down the road before we hit a few Google buildings.
We didn’t book a tour with a tour group as it was over $500 each for it!
We did however walk around the Google campus, as you’re able to do there, seeing the Google bikes, Google employees everywhere and all the Google buildings!
There are over 60 buildings owned by Google in just this area.
Android Garden & Store
We walked a bit further down the road to the Android Garden and Merchandise Store.
The android garden is a staple thing you’re meant to go and take a photo of when you’re there, so we did just that.
We looked around the store and just had to buy something, so Curtis bought a Google t-shirt!
Uber Home
We left here and took an uber home. It wasn’t too far from rush hour, but it took about 1 hour to get back.
Once we got back, Curtis watched the remaining 2 periods of the Leafs game and then we headed out for dinner.
Dinner
We took a bus for 20 minutes down to a shopping mall we didn’t know existed where there was a lot of food options including a food court!
We got a bite to eat here at Panda Express, which is a fast food chinese place. We got Shanghai angus steak and orange chicken with fried rice. It was terrific and just $10.50.
We had to pay for the bus this morning, which was a change from yesterday!
We got into the centre and went straight to the actual first ever Starbucks.
We waited in line to get into the store and before long, we got in!
It is a little tight and crowded and you cannot sit inside, but we got our coffee and headed back outside.
We sat and had our coffee on a bench with a great view of the mountains!
Museum Of Pop Culture
We next planned to go to the Space Needle, so we walked towards it.
Once we got there, we got some good photos of the space needle and then realised we didn’t have enough money on us to go in, so we’ll have to do it another day, but we did have other plans anyway!
The Space Needle
Instead, we went to the MOPOP (Museum Of Pop Culture).
This has all things from video games to movies of different genres to TV shows and also music.
There were a few different sections within the museum and the first we came to was the Sci-Fi section, with a brief stop off at the video game area!
Video Games
We played a few indie games and it felt like we were right back in the UK at EGX!
Sci-Fi
The science fiction section had mostly costumes that had been worn for science fiction characters, such as enemies from Doctor Who, the hoverboards from Back To The Future as well as Star Wars and Star Trek items.
Star Trek Weapons
Horror
We accidentally went through to the next area which was the horror section.
It was similar to the Sci-Fi section, but with horror. There were a lot of props as well as things like the costume from Friday 13th.
There was an area which had fake dead people wrapped in sheets and hanging, which was quite creepy!
Fantasy
We moved on upstairs to the fantasy area. This spoke about movies and games based in the fantasy genre, the big two it mentioned being Harry Potter and Lord Of The Rings.
There were more items on display from both of these films, as well as other items.
Pearl Jam
There was a whole floor on the band Pearl Jam, from Seattle.
We had not heard of them, but we enjoyed reading about them as well as looking at their memorabilia.
We left the museum after this and found somewhere delicious for lunch.
Just before we left for lunch, we found the International Fountain, which is just a big fountain which is synchronised with music.
We went to a place named Michou.
This place was fairly busy when we arrived but it was an Italian style deli with a lot of, large, sandwich options.
Curtis got a roast chicken & chipotle sandwich and Kim got a beef and cheese sandwich. Both sandwiches were delicious, so we ate those up and then got out the way.
We walked down to the cinema to watch the film Fighting With My Family.
Neither of us realised this was based on a true story and then when Curtis realised who it was about, it all made sense!
We really enjoyed the film, actually. We aren’t sure how anyone from any other country would understand it as it has a lot of British humour and slang, but it was good for us!
We now have a logo! This logo is on the blog as our logo, as well as on Google Chrome tabs. We are really excited to have a logo and we hope you like it, too!
Royal BC Museum
Today, we went to the Museum to have a wander around. The weather was much milder today, too, so we didn’t have to wrap up super warm!
The museum is split into many, rather large, sections. The first section we went to was a temporary exhibition for widlife photography.
Wildlife Photography Temporary Exhibition
The exhibition began with photos from children aged under 10. These were incredible, considering the age of the photographers!
There was then photos from children 12-14 and 15-17, which were, again, amazing.
This was a decent sized room which also had photos of incredible natural wonders and incredible close shots of predators.
Mammoths & Fossils
The 2nd area was mammoths and fossils. The mammoth re-creation they had stood out the most with its incredible size.
The, rather large, Mammoth
We had a discussion on the size of a mammoth in comparison to elephants and Kim had said it was the same size as a African elephant and Curtis thought it was much bigger, but, with the help of Google, we confirmed that Kim was correct.
Weather & Climate Change
We entered a small area discussing the effects of climate change and a well known heatwave in Kelowna 2003, causing fires and multiple houses were destroyed.
After the weather facts, we entered the forest animals section, which included many facts about bears, elk, deer and more, as well as their habitat and their ways of life.
A Deer
The Sea Mammals
Just out from the forest area, there was the sea mammal section. This area primarily showed the difference between the sealion and seals, as well as the true scale of a sealion, especially in contrast to a seal which looks very small beside it.
Sealion Compared To Seals
Birds
We then came to our least favourite section of the museum, which was the birds section. This only included ‘regular’ birds such as ducks and swans, but there was a bold eagle, though, which looks incredibly majestic.
Floor 2 – The First People & Becoming BC
The second floor was based around the ‘First People’ of British Columbia as well as ‘Becoming BC’ which is all the history of BC from 1700.
First People
Languages
The first area on floor 2 that we arrived at was a room filled with many columns with speakers in them with ‘hello’ and ‘how are you?’ in each of the 36 indigenous languages of British Columbia. These languages often had odd sounds in them and some interesting letters, too.
After learning of the languages of the First People, we moved into a tall room with many totem poles in. These were mainly used as decoration around houses, but the carving usually had some meaning or significance.
After the totum poles, we walked through a re-creation of a standard home of the First People, which was a simple wooden shack with seating and a fire in the centre.
Tools, Clothing, Masks & Weapons
The next few areas were largly displays, but these were of crafts, tools, weapons, masks and clothing of the First People.
Masks were not too dissimilar from totum poles, in which they all had different meanings.
The clothing was fairly simple, but could often be heavy and uncomfortable due to it being made of bark or heavy threads.
Tools aren’t too dissimilar from what is used today, but just more basic, as you would expect from the time frame, and the same goes for weapons and hunting equipment.
Treatment of the First People
Later in the exhibits, it explains the history of ill treatment of the first people, once the non-indigenous became powerful. This was hard to read, but an example was a law to stop traditional dances being performed as well as traditional celebrations.
Small Pox
Small pox was the cause of a lot of the First People population dwindling. Over 1/3 of the population were killed by small pox (around 20,000 people) whilst the people in charge of the country were unwilling to help. There was a couple of walls of writing explaining the timeframe and what happened, which was incredibly interesting but also hard to read.
The Past 100 Years in British Columbia
After the hard hitting history of the First People, we moved onto the past 100 years of BC.
This room included multiple easy-to-read yet informative boards regarding the history of BC, starting from the 1800s.
There were multiple glass displays showing items from each era, including a 1990 section, which we found facinating as it was when we were young. It was amazing to hear children saying “what is this?”, “That’s not a computer!” & “That’s a big phone!”.
An Old Town
The last area of the museum was styled like an old town. We were able to look around the town and see through the windows, but we could also enter some places!
One Angle Of The Old Town
We entered the old style movie theatre which was showing Charlie Chaplin, which we watched for a bit.
After this, we walked up some stairs into a recreation of an old hotel, which was incredible and felt just like a hotel.
We took a look at the remaining areas of the old town and then left the museum, having gained in knowledge and had a great time!
Another Section Of The Old Town
The museum was just $17 and we would highly recommend!
We got a starbucks on the way back as a reward for taking in a lot of knowledge!
We walked back to the apartment and got ready to go out for dinner.
The Steamship Terminal
Linda was kind enough to take us for dinner to celebrate our 2nd wedding anniversary!
The restaurant is an old Steamship Terminal, hence the name. This is the former customs building for the steamship and it is now both a Starbucks and a restaurant.
Linda had mentioned the steak, so we all just had to get one!
Curtis got the filet with whiskey crab sauce and shrimp and Kim got just the filet.
Filet Steak With Crab, Shrimp, Mashed Potato & Asparagus
We loved our steaks, but Kim’s was a little too rare.
We left here and walked Linda home and then we went out for an evening stroll and some dessert.
Dessert
We had been scouting a chocolate place for a while and decided to get dessert there today.
They do a ‘sweet poutine’ which isn’t even really poutine. This is basically churos with ice cream, marshmallows and melted chocolate. This was the perfect amount for us to share and then walk back to the apartment.
We woke up together at 07:30 and Curtis took Kim to work as her car is in the garage.
Once Curtis got back from dropping Kim off, he had some breakfast and a coffee and relaxed before showering.
Curtis then drove over to the rental house to meet up with his family.
After getting to the house, everyone got ready and then they all headed out to the War Memorial Museum. Once they got there, there was no free street parking, so they had to pay for the underground parking.
The museum tour started with a Maori experience, which was a story of how New Zealand was founded via traditional Maori song and dance, including the Haka at the end!
After that display, they spent a couple of hours walking around the museum. There were all different exhibits, but the best sections were the WWI & WWII sections which were informative and had a lot of memorabilia.
The building itself was incredibly grand also.
They went to the volcano section at the end and went into a simulation of a volcano/earthquake. This was a little disappointing as it was a long wait for a tiny shake of the room and the lights turning off.
Once the museum was all done, they went to the cafe and got some food and coffee. Curtis had a cappucino and some ham and cheese macaroni.
After lunch, they made their way back to the house and then Curtis went an took some chocolate to Kim at work.
After relaxing for a bit, Curtis went back to Kim’s work to pick her up.
Once we both got back to the house, there was fajitas waiting for us, made by Lisa! We ate these and then drove down to New Lynn to quiz night where Curtis’ family joined in and met Danielle and Josh, also.
We came second to last again, which is perfect, and we all had a great time. They also have new desserts so we had to try those. Curtis had a tiramisu and Kim had a Sundae.
We came home and went right to bed…We were very tired!
Curtis had a very busy morning and before he knew it, 11:00 hit!
Curtis showered, did one load of laundry, ironed and emptied the dishwasher before chilling for the rest of the day.
Both of us;
When Kim got home, we went to Glenfield Mall to get some food from the food court! We normally wouldn’t think of eating there but we saw a Japanese donburi place there last time so we had to try it out!
We got a bowl each where you get a choice of vegetables on top of rice and two meat choices too.
We both had the same vegetables (sweetcorn, peas, green beans & carrot.
Kim had two types of chicken and Curtis had lemon pork and soy chicken.
We took this home (along with a doughnut) and sat in front of the TV for the evening and watched a lot of TV! It was a great night.
Mr & Mrs Hale 