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Tourism Vancouver
In no particular order, where I would take out-of-town guests to wholly experience (in my opinion, of course) "Vancouver" or what it's known for. Of course, probably not all of these places in one trip, and some depend on the season/weather.
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35 Places
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Reena’s 5-star review: If I meet any tourist who is planning on going to Capilano Suspension Bridge (CSB) , I just get this immediate urge to persuade them to come to Lynn Valley Suspension (LVS) instead and save their $30 or whatever it cost these days to cross the touristic, commercialized, over-priced, and over-crowded version. Not just because LVS is free, but it's so much more naturistic (which is clearly a word I just made up!) and thrilling! It's exactly how a suspension bridge should be. CSB is 3x as wide and loses its thrill based on that. Plus, I swear there are 100 ppl trying to cross it at once. Instead, LVS I don't think more than 20-30 can cross it at once. There is also a very nice hike at LVS where you can go down to a river bed and splash in the water if you want. The entire area, because of the forest, is quite cool and refreshing. Make sure you breathe deeply to get the most of this fresh air! -
Reena’s 4-star review: Mmmmm blueberry slush with pearls... I love this place, but it's second best (in terms of bubble tea) for me compared to Pearl Drops in Burnaby. The biggest thing I dislike about this place is that they use coffee mate powder instead of milk. However, it proved useful yesterday since I was with someone who is lactose intolerant. The best part about this place is the pearls are always of perfect squishiness consistency and perfect sweetness. Anyway, it was still great and it didn't disappoint me yesterday. I love it! I had the pineapple green tea with pearls after I heard someone else ordering it. Maybe it would be nicer with real pineapple juice? But I don't think this place is known for its use of fresh ingredients...(i.e. powders and coffeemate)? -
Reena’s 4-star review: I love walking through and sampling random things and buynig cool ingredients. I usually buy pasta from Duso's here when I go since they have such interesting shapes and such. I also love looking at the beautiful flowers they have. Last time I bought some very nice, perfectly ripe black plums from SunFresh (?) and made some yummy bread pudding out of it. Sometimes, or else they used to, have a vendor selling awesome copenhagen pastries. Overall, it's a treat for me to come here. -
Reena’s 4-star review: The tour was great and my first introduction and only to beer making. I love the little taster round at the end. And sometimes there is even extra beer leftover making it a happier experience! On a more serious note, if you're lucky enough to catch the brewmaster during the tour, you can ask extra geeky, food science-y questions like about their water filtration system and why it's needed etc. They're pretty knowledgeable. Note: get food with your taster round if you're driving. -
Reena’s 4-star review: I love the ferries! Especially the modern, up to date ones. I like that there are shops on board that don't sell junk only! I bought my favorite pair of funky silver earrings from there. And the view outside is amazing. On the other hand, the food is horrendous and a rip off. Cafeteria breakfast for $9? Well I would settle for horrendous on the ferry if I'm starving, but what about the portion size. This was a measly breakfast. Why can't you put a bit more eggs!? Half a scoop is 1/4 of what the picture shows the dish to have. :( -
Reena’s 4-star review: I love the aquabus! I wish I had a need to use it more often but I don't often go from downtown to granville island, and when I do, I'm driving. But nevertheless, it's awesome! And not toooooo expensive. Though, it would be as good as it gets if it were covered under the same transit fares as the seabus. But then again, it's a private company, so can't hate.
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Reena’s 5-star review: After reading L. C.'s review a couple months back, I was determined to go and get an almond croissant. I tried once in late March, but alas, they had run out. So went early this morning (8:45am?) and sure enough they have some. Took my croissant at the pier with my maple latte and sat and indulged on my not-so-low-cal breakfast. Mmmmmm that almond croissant was sooooo good. It was nice and crispy on the outside, soft and buttery on the inside with the almond paste too. It was a really nice almond croissant and I will be back to get some more. Satisfaction. check. -
Reena’s 4-star review: I love walking in here during the odd day that they have art exhibits in their main area. It makes for a good break from the rain/heat/sun/wind. And a lot of the pieces these students create are really cool and interesting to ponder over with a friend. And A+ for being free. -
Reena’s 4-star review: I'm still a fan, but this last time I went, it seemed their fries were quite/overly crispy and much less potato-y in the inside. I like more meat on my taters. -
Reena’s 5-star review: This is a review for only the food section because that's where I roll! This has to be as good as it gets in Vancouver because this is the only place I know that you can find a huge variety of Asian street food at such low prices! I think I spent in total $10 for my dinner and dessert. $14 if you include my bubble tea. Actually, my stomach has limited space and I didn't get to eat as much as I would have liked. :( So I know I have to make another visit.. and I shall. But for now I ate: Korean spicy rice sticks/cake, hurricane potato fries (korean street food--super cool to watch!), pineapple green tea with coconut jelly, seafood balls, corn on the cob with cajun spice and garlic salt, and car wheel cakes with nutella in the center. I was quite content with this selection of food. I almost did burst. I need to go back for a viet sub.. and satay, bubble waffles from the Indian guy from China, and more corn on the cob because that was friggin' yummy! The thing that made this over the top for me was that on the walk from the car to the night market there were so many blackberry brambles so we kept stopping every 50-75 feet or so to eat some delicious blackberries right off the bushes!! -
Reena’s 4-star review: Great university with a lot of brilliant minds at work. Awesome active life, super easy to get involved in anything if you put yourself out there. The campus is indeed gorgeous during a sunny day. We've got: -the Museum of Anthropology, -a Rose Garden, -Nitobe Japanese Tea Garden, -Botanical Gardens -UBC Farm... Plus a lot of films and TV shows are/have been filmed here including, but not limited to, The Butterfly Effect, 88 Minutes, Smallville, Psych, Supernatural, Try Seventeen... Educationally, the first two years of your Bachelors will most likely be tough because typically class sizes are large, and it's hard to get advice about anything from advisors (if you're in Sciences--but Land and Food Systems has the best undergraduate advisors) but once you get through it all, it's a breeze after that. Well, unless you're studying something hard like Chemistry. UBC has a lot to offer, so if you're considering studying here, be sure to check out all your options. You may discover a new found love for a subject you never knew existed (like food science!). -
Reena’s 5-star review: Went back again for the wings! I brought my best friend visiting from France here and her and her bf were really impressed--with the wings and the beer/wine. We tried a sour cherry ale, peach ale, and the dark chocolate porter. I was amazed at how smooth the porter went down, considering I don't like dark beer. -
Reena’s 4-star review: I have to deduct a star because the coffee is not so great.. I had a latte this afternoon and the espresso tastes like cigarettes. :-( However, their cookies and muffins are still great! And the chocolate cupcakes are awesome too. -
Reena’s 3-star review: Good place to go when you want to stop somewhere for a quick pint, or pitcher. Prices of pitchers are fairly reasonable. Food is standard fare, nothing too impressive. Be sure to ask them what their seasonal brew is because last time she didn't tell us and we missed out. -
Reena’s 5-star review: This is my favorite bakery for Chinese pastries and buns. The coconut and BBQ pork buns are so soft and grabbable (I like grabbing buns!). And the coconut buns aren't too sweet. There is a lot of traffic here so you can be sure your buns will be fresh. Their egg tarts are delicious too when they're fresh. My other favorite thing here recently are their fruit tarts. You get 8 of them for $3.75 and they're simple and awesome. The tart shells are lined with chocolate and filled with custard and whip cream with a piece of fruit on top. It's a great deal! -
Reena’s 5-star review: Still lovin' it! -
Reena’s 4-star review: I came here for dinner with a bunch of co-workers, one of whom was Caribbean and she said this place was quite good for Vancouver. The ambience of this place was quite fun and social. It wasn't too upscale or anything, but it wasn't too kitschy. The food itself I found to be quite nice. We ordered plantain chips for the table which were quite tasty. I had the drink called Sorrel which is a carbonated hibiscus drink with spices in it. It was very nice! I also ordered the West Indian Goat Curry because of its traditional-ness. But instead of rice I ordered yamfries and they were the best yam fries I'd ever had. They were hand cut yams and they were nicely golden brown. I wasn't the biggest fan of the jerk wings. But maybe I just don't like jamaican jerk. The outdoor seating seems great for a Summer Night's dinner. I shall be back, for at the very least, plantain chips! Oh and their drink list is quite large! Much bigger than their food menu.
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Reena’s 4-star review: I've been going to Toyotomi now for more than 3 years! They're great! Okay, I will admit, it's not the best sushi I've had (see my review for Oysi Oysi), but their food is of very good quality, sushi is always fresh, and the service is excellent. Actually, they would be the best sushi place for me except I feel that they have too much rice on their rolls. But it's not awful by any means. Actually, their spicy tuna sashimi is really nice, fresh, and perfectly spicy. As Claudia mentioned, they have creative rolls with cheesy names. Their tempura is nice and they serve complimentary edamame to begin with. Toyotomi is definitely one of my few favorite sushi places, because not only is their sushi good, but they have great service, and most importantly, they are clean!!!! I have never had an allergic reaction to anything I'm eaten from Toyotomi in the last 3 years and that's because they don't cross contaminate their salmon with other things! And this was before I even told them about my allergies. (I'm highly allergic to salmon and use this to test cleanliness of sushi places). So yay for Toyotomi! I hope they stay in business for a while to come because they sure know what they're doing.
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Reena’s 4-star review: I still really like this place, but I think their california rolls would be better if they had cucumber in them. So in actuality, I'd like to give them 4.5 stars. I'm glad I had the chance to go here again! They also make great dynamite rolls! And were pretty quick with service. The sashimi was quite fresh. I love it! -
Reena’s 4-star review: This place was so fun! As Natalie C. mentioned they shout out the orders to the chefs to start cooking. We got to sit right at the bar and watch the chefs cook everything as they shout everything! It was so much fun and amazing watching them cook and guessing which order was ours. It's quite the hustle and bustle. We really didn't end up conversing so much at dinner, so tip: if you ever need to go for dinner to discuss something important, this isn't the place. Good thing that wasn't us. The only qualm I had about Guu was that most of the stuff was deep fried or really greasy. My favorite was the tuna sashimi. It would have been great if there were more fresh items like this or just less greasy items on the menu. Or maybe I didn't really see them all. The items were quite interesting and innovative though. -
Reena’s 5-star review: Oh my!! What a gorgeous hike without the same level of strenuousness, or as far as Squamish Chief! It took us about 3 hours, but at this time of the year and on such a warm sunny day, we were not expecting there to be packed snow/ice on the trail still, The trail markers make it fairly easy to follow for the most part, except for a few spots. There aren't that many signs pointing the way so you pretty much need to know where you're going, check the website or ask the other hikers if you're confused. I loved every moment of this hike though, even when I did fall into ice holes or fell flat on my face in the mud on the way back. The view was well worth it! Go on a sunny, clear day. -
Reena’s 5-star review: We went rafting with these guys this past weekend and everything was great. Especially the staff. They had a great sense of humour but were definitely serious when safety is in question. We had such a blast down the Canyon rafting tour and it was great for first timers and experienced rafters alike since we were a mix of both and we all enjoyed the trip thoroughly. For $85 (when you have 7-14 ppl in the group), you get all your equipment, a 3-hour-long rafting trip, and lunch included! It was definitely a good deal. I think I just became addicted to river rafting and will have to come back. -
Reena’s 4-star review: It gets 4 stars only when it's not crowded... which is usually only on weekdays either earlier in the morning or quite late before closing. And definitely not during the holidays. It gets 4 stars for sort of being a one-stop shop. You can get your groceries there, even your asian groceries! Bread, cookies, clothes, shoest, bathing suits, lingerie, birthday cakes. Whatever. Even there is a cheapy store like winners and a dollar store or two. Plus all the high end stores like Boys Co. and BCBG Max Azria. Plus we're getting a Sephora in the fall!! Watch out MAC! And, as I discovered when I had guests in town visiting, it's a good place to go to duck out of the rain when your guests don't like museums. Did I mention you can also go to the movies here? -
Reena’s 5-star review: I stopped in to pick up some picnic food--a variety of salami and cheeses with bread. Took them to Alice Lake in Squamish for a picnic lunch and it was definitely some of the best picnic food ever. SO delicious! -
Reena’s 4-star review: This lake is gorgeous and peaceful! Cute little ducks swim on by. It's a nice hike easy through some meadows from near the Bowen Island Ferry Terminal, probably about 45 minutes or so. If you bring a picnic lunch, this is the perfect place to stop and enjoy it. -
Reena’s 4-star review: Definitely a Vancouver gem! It is less crowded than other Vancouver gems like Granville Island. And they have a lot more fresh seafood available as you can guy it right off the boats. Sometimes, they even have festivals going on with local products and artwork being sold. There were so many things I wanted to buy, but alas, I don't have the space for it all. There are a lot of good local eateries in this area! If you're visiting Vancouver, and it's sunny, this place is not to be missed! -
Reena’s 5-star review: Exciting on a clear day, and pretty much the only place in Vancouver a tourist can legitimately go for a view of the city and the mountains. Unless, of course, he's staying at the Shangri-La or the Sheraton Wall Center on the higher floors (or something similar). I have to admit though, when I was younger and had friends visit, we'd just take the elevator ride up, pretend we were going to the restaurant, and then go back down just to get the view. Vancouver is a beautiful city! -
Reena’s 5-star review: Did you know that if you are a post-secondary student, you can get a VSO access pass for free that allows you to go to most VSO performances in the best available seat for only $10????? That IS the best concert deal in town, as the website advertises. I happened to stumble on this and then decided to go to a VSO Pops series concert: A Century of Broadway. That is definitely the best $10 I ever spent on entertainment! The music was amazing, and I love the Orpheum! The VSO is really a group that can play anything. We got to listen to songs from famous musicals in the early 1900s all the way to Wicked and Phantom of the Opera. Fantastic!!! -
Reena’s 5-star review: Ditto to what Simon K. said. This is a symbol of a time in Vancouver when it was the liveliest, friendliest, and proudest. It's nice to see it and remember those times. :) -
Reena’s 3-star review: This review is for the snow tubing and sledding area only. We came here on my sister's last weekend in Vancouver to have some fun with our little cousins and play in the snow. I've been snowtubing at Mt. Seymour (see: http://www.yelp.com/biz/mt-seymour-north-vancouver-2#hrid:wSGV0nrNJ10wDinI23WU6g/src:self) and it was much more thrilling and the view was a lot nicer. Cypress's snowtube slope wasn't very steep or long. On top of that, they only had 4 lanes going, when I swear Seymour had more. And the pulley wasn't working for part of the time. The younger kids couldn't go snowtubing so they were in the sledding area. It is a smaller hill, but we went down it a few times and it was much more fun and exciting than the snowtubing hills because you go down faster. Unfortunately, Seymour doesn't have a sledding area for younger kids, which is why we ended up at Cypress. Next time, we'll know.
