Christmas in Vancouver

Charmaine // 25 August 2024

During this period, I was weirdly living a dual life: I spent half my time traveling out and about as though COVID were a distant memory (with friends or for work), or completely entrenched in an antisocial hermit life back home in Mississauga. Fear not, come summer 2022, things on this blog will go back to regularly scheduled programming.

In December 2021, Richard and I went with Henry to his family home in Vancouver. While he grew up in Mississauga with us, and hosted a bunch of our high school friends at their farm on Niagara-on-the-Lake shortly after undergrad, his family has since relocated to the suburbs of Vancouver. I like the thought put into the planned community they now lived in: home addresses are based on a smart grid, where the number of the address is the (Perpendicular street number name)(house number name) followed by the (Street number on which the house is on). For example, 12345 234 St refers to the 45th house on 234th St, which is perpendicular to 123 St. Also, shout-out to Henry's mom for being such a kind host: she cooked for us, set up extra rooms for us (I got to sleep in Mimi's room), and kept the house remarkably clean (e.g., she had us wipe the wheels of our luggage before we entered the house).

On our flight over, we splurged with points and booked business class pods. I felt a bit guilty using points this way, but Henry and Richard are all about it. For some reason, I never use the in-flight entertainment in economy seats, but in pods, I'll always take a gander. I tried watching a show called Jaune Macaroni on the plane, but it turned out to be a French documentary. Not for me!

Asian influence is a lot stronger in Vancouver. All the signage in YVR is in English, French, AND Mandarin. In Richmond, the streets felt like Mississauga but the stores (and big houses) felt like Markham. For example, a Target was converted into a T&T— as evidenced by the red Target balls they covered in green paint. We also hung out with Henry's friend Susan one night. Her house felt just like a Markham Asian home (with two chandeliers and a Japanese toilet), but also had little west coast-isms. For example, her parents own a camper van!

While I was busy working remotely for the first week of the trip, we still managed to enjoy a lot of good eats, activities, and content. The nice thing about working east coast hours on the west coast is that the workday ends at a time that feels reasonable to still get out and do things (weather permitting).

Food scene

• • Katsu San: We came here with Henry's friend Susan. I ordered a variety set with katsu-style shrimp, traditional pork loin, and mozzarella-stuffed katsu. I still prefer the traditional kind though.
• • iTofu: Among many other food places in Vancouver that start with "i-" as though they're Apple-endorsed, iTofu had classic Asian desserts. This place won an award though, so they only provided a 30-minute seating limit (that's shorter than NYC dining limits!). Here, we got a dessert with tofu, soy milk, tapioca, and black sesame and added some ginger syrup. Funnily enough, the bingsu place beside iTofu had all the same tofu desserts and more.
• • DF chicken sando: Henry was very excited to try this place, but he seemed to think a chicken place in Oakland was better. I got the fries and chicken tenders, but they were both too strongly flavoured with black pepper for my tastes. I needed something bland to balance them out.
• • Bella gelato: This place has interesting south Asian gelato flavours. I tried their specialty akbhar mashti gelato (a mix of rosewater, saffron, and pistachio), but found the rosewater a bit overpowering. They also had 99% chocolate gelato, which was well-done since it wasn't too bitter!
• • Vashti Rose: This was another ice cream spot with interesting flavours. I LOVED their chocolate orange ice cream. Their raspberry pistachio flavour was decent, but I didn't like how it had actual pistachio nuts mixed in. Give me just the creamy flavour, please!
• • Matsuzushi: We got $35 omakase here, which felt way more authentic than sushi in Toronto because the owners were Japanese. I forgot to tell them that I didn't want wasabi until halfway through though.
• • Bun Cha Ca Hoang Yen: There was a line outside the door for this place! They're known for their spicy crab-based soup, pictured below. As a bland queen, I just went for their regular old pho (which tasted completely regular).
• • Japadogs: We went for some Japadogs and poutine late at night after ice skating. The gravy and curds here were very meh, but the dog was pretty good! I had actually wanted to get a pastry at H-Mart, but we only had 15 minutes there before they closed. It also seemed like their stock of baked goods was depleted by then.
• • Sushi Garden: Sushi in Vancouver is SO much fresher than in Toronto, wah.
• • Phnom Penh: This is one of the best meals I've ever had. You should normally expect a long wait, but Phnom Penh was miraculously empty when we stopped by on a lark (since Henry wanted to buy some tea in Chinatown)! We only had to wait 10 minutes. The area is quite seedy with sketchy people lurking around, but the food is absolutely worthwhile. I've never eaten anything like butter beef (it's like a beef tartare dish with balsamic vinegar) or the luc lac (which was a type of stir-fried beef). I was also enticed by the lemon pepper chicken wings, but they were a bit more basic (still very crispy though)!
• • Dinesty Dim Sum: Contrary to the name, this place didn't serve classic dim sum. It had Shanghainese cuisine served by Taiwanese owners. It was a bit difficult ordering according to our dietary restrictions (Mimi and Riley had some vegetarian particularities, and I'm a picky eater). I liked the crispy smoked camphor duck (so unique!) and three-cup chicken. The steamed fish and black fungus congee was comforting, although it was the kind where cooked rice is added to soup (I prefer the kind where the rice itself breaks down and becomes gelatinous). The Shanghai noodles and xiaolongbao were standard. The worst dish here was definitely the scallion pancake. Others enjoyed the eggplant, but I didn't have any.
• • Chatime: We stopped here since I had a gift card that allowed me to treat everyone.
• • Green Leaf Sushi: This place is known for its aburi sushi. The scallop and shrimp ones were super interesting and different. The salmon (with jalapeno) and saba oshi ones were standard, but good. The place reminded me of Miku in Toronto!
• • Bubble World: I got a passionfruit calpis here that was far too sweet for my liking. We also got chicken cutlets, fried squid, and (another far too sweet) condensed milk toast. It was fun hanging out here and chatting about our MBTI personality types. It really felt like a classic high school hang out!
• • Sushi California: The cuts here were SO thicc! They're famous for their soy salmon tower with egg and toro sushi, but neither were available when we went. Still, the sushi here was good-value (at just $13 per person) and tasty. Nearby, we stopped at a bakery for milk bread.
• • Honey Doughnuts & Goodies: The doughnuts here were so thick and cakey, kind of like a muffin. I liked the chocolate one, but found the cinnamon flavour too sweet for my liking. Here, Henry was still in his single era and airdropped his number to a gal at the table over. It was funny watching the two girls stare at us, trying to figure out which guy sent the message. This spot had a great view of Deep Cove, North Vancouver. I almost felt like we were at a cottage.
• • Don Oso Mexican food: Per Grace Jin's recommendation, we came here for Birria tacos and nachos. I found the tacos far too salty. We had to leave some room for food that night though, since Henry's mom made us homemade dumplings!

Activity scene

• • Malling: In a true uncanny valley experience vs. Toronto, we went to the CF Pacific Centre. It felt exactly like the Eaton Centre in Toronto, which made sense since they're both owned by Cadillac Fairview. We spent a weirdly long time at Holt Renfrew. Here, I discovered the adorable Chloé Moon Boots (which look a bit like upscale Uggs!). I restrained myself from making an impulse purchase though. During a second visit, we browsed the Super Puff section at Aritzia. It looked much better on some people (like Mimi) than others (like me — I just looked like a giant puffy ball).
• • Stanley Park (Dec 18): Due to the constant rain, we just drove by here. I was surprised to see a Chevron gas station floating on the water. Apparently, it's for small private boats to refuel.
• • Kanaka Creek hike (Dec 19): The next day was beautiful, so we spent an afternoon admiring cool sunbeams and peaceful waterfalls. It was a bit chilly, but mostly clear. Plus, the residual fog actually looked very mysterious at golden hour.
• • Grouse mountain (Dec 19): Rather than skiing at Grouse Mountain (since Richard doesn't ski), we took the gondola up to the top for some ice skating. The rink was touted to be 8000 sqft large, but it felt much smaller than advertised (probably 1000 sqft). The ice was TERRIBLE. We also took a walk around the top of the mountain to look at some festive Christmas lights, but the walk ended up being surprisingly long and perilous. The lines for everything around Grouse Mountain were ridiculously long, and social distancing was thrown out the window. The washroom line in the cafe took longer than the line to get on the gondola back down.
• • Gastown (Dec 20): We drove around here and saw where Twice shot a music video. Then we went shopping, and all bought some clothes at Oak + Fort (70% off!). From there, we walked by the Port of Vancouver for sunset. They had some fun light-up moose here too, just like Grouse Mountain!
• • Granville Island (Dec 21): The Public Market here reminded me of St. Lawrence Market in Toronto and the Ferry building in SF. We spoke at length with Joseph Chiang, who created adorable, award-winning ladybug ceramics. He learned pottery in South Africa, and was overjoyed to hear that Mimi and Henry were learning pottery too. He began making ceramics with tiny ladybugs after he accidentally chipped a piece that he was working on but really liked. He salvaged the piece by adding a small ladybug in the corner, and people loved it! He gave us all ladybug pins for free, and I purchased a pair of fun ladybug earrings, too. We also browsed through artisan goods at Niche Market.
• • Plaza day: December 22nd felt like any other lazy day hanging out in Mississauga with Mimi, Henry, and Richard. We checked out the Adidas Outlet, but they only had weird sizes. Then we went to a bunch of plazas for snacks and food (very GTA-hangout-coded).
• • Dog Mountain / Mt. Seymour (Dec 23): On my last full day in Vancouver, we decided to try snowshoeing for the first time! It was pretty difficult, and we accidentally went off the trail onto the lake. The pics were epic, but this was definitely dangerous. Based on the experience, I would say that I prefer skiing over snowshoeing. It's hard to believe I went to Vancouver in the winter without hitting the slopes in Whistler at all. The danger we endured to get the shot.

Content scene

• • Spiderman: We went to Cineplex to watch Spiderman on a rainy day. The weather actually cleared up right before we went to watch, but we were already committed to the movie. It was good, but somewhat of a shame since I could watch the movie anywhere. Meanwhile, a beautiful golden hour winter sunset in Vancouver is a bit harder to come by.
• • Survivor: I tried to watch the finale one night, but fell asleep. I blame jet lag and waking up early for work!
• • Stay: As resident car DJ, I played 5-6 different songs called "Stay" in quick succession. ...New playlist idea?
• • Spirited Away: We tried watching this movie in the basement (my first-ever Ghibli movie!), but I accidentally fell asleep as soon as the little girl ate the marble. It was impossible to keep track of what was happening thereafter.
• • Baby: One day after dinner, we yell-sang Baby by Justin Bieber in the car (followed by the banelings rendition). Moments like these end up becoming the most fond memories.
• • Single's Inferno: The show had just come out at the time, and Netflix was great at pushing shows through their algorithms. Single's Inferno is best watched with friends, since it's fun to come up with silly nicknames and make commentary from the peanut gallery. Season one also felt so fresh back then.
• • Arcane: We capped off my last night of the trip watching Arcane on Netflix. I'm not a League of Legends person though, so I didn't really pay attention.

Overall, it was a fun trip to Vancouver with easy travel buddies and a local(ish) guide. I hadn't been to Vancouver since 1999, so the trip was novel and refreshing. Thanks again to Henry and his family for being such kind hosts for the holidays!

Trip date: December 15-24, 2021