Travelog for: Dolly

I thought it was about time for a shot with the flags in Abby's front yard.

Today Abby's mom took me to see Chinatown on her lunch break.

This is the Gate of Thousand's Happiness, built to commemorate the new millenium.



One of these lions sits on each side of the gate.  They are the protectors of the gate.  They each have a ball in their mouth which symbolizes prosperity.



This building holds the world record for the narrowest building in the world.  It was built by a man known to Vancouverites as Sam Kee.  At one point he owned more land in the area, but the city demolished his building to widen the road, leaving him with a strip of land just under five feet in width.  Rather than sell what remained of his property for practically nothing, Sam had another building built, one that fit into the strip of land.  For years the building belonged to a silk merchant, but now it's leased by an insurance company. 





This bell, called the West Han Dynasty Bell, is in Chinatown to commemorate Chinese history in Vancouver and marks the first Chinese settlement in the area.  It was a gift from Vancouver's sister city, Guangzhou in China, and it was modelled after a bell found in Guangzhou.

Today a new TV arrived, Desmond, from the Netherlands.

Today Abby needed to take her grad dress to the dry cleaners, so everyone tagged along in the hopes that she would show us her town.



This is the Maple Ridge clock.  The horse symbolizes the protector of the valley.  It represents a beast that fought for Mother Nature against those who were hurting the environment, but was gravely hurt in the process.  Mother Nature set up the clock as a reminder to not hurt the environment.



This is the local court house.



City Hall







Desmond wanted to visit the library, so Abby took us there.



This is the ACT theatre, the back of which I saw last week.



This park is behind city hall.  I wanted to see the gazebo closer up, but there was a couple taking wedding photos and Abby said that we shouldn't disturb them.



This is the World War II memorial in the same park.  On it are the names of everyone in the town who fought in world war II.  On the back is World War I.

Today I visited the local recycling depot.

Happy mother's day, scherilyn!

We celebrated with a special lunch at a local produce store.





There was barbequed BC salmon in special sauce, coleslaw and a bun, with peach juice...



And chocolate cake with fruit and custard on top for dessert.



Then everyone had to check their raffle tickets, but nobody won anything.



We went exploring and found this boat, just sitting on the ground.



So, everyone posed in front of it.

Today Abby and her sister showed me Vancouver.

We took the Skytrain there.  It is an automated train that runs every five minutes or so, and it travels on tracks that are raised high above the ground.

Us toyvoyagers shared a seat.



We got off the Skytrain and the first thing we saw was Science World.  It is an interactive centre for families and it teaches all about different types of science.  Inside the dome there is a huge IMAX theatre.  The building is reminiscent of EXPO 86.





Where all the cranes are will be the Olympic Village in less than two years.





The water you see behind me is called False Creek.  It's called that because it's not a creek at all, but more of an inlet.



This is one of many mini ferries that carries passengers for a small fee to different places along False Creek.



Behind me you can see BC Place (left) which is the football stadium, home to the BC Lions, and it is where the opening ceremonies of the Olympics will be held, and GM Place (Right) which is the the hockey stadium, home to the Canucks.



From here you can see some of the mountains to the North of the city.

We visited the main branch of the Vancouver Public Library.  It's nine floors of books and study spaces.

This monmument is dedicated to Terry Fox.







This is an example of some of the older architecture in Vancouver.



This hotel is in a bit of a triangular shape.



Vancouver is a crossroads for many immigrants.  Often when they arrive they build churches and other buildings in the same style as they are used to.  This church is built in the Gothis style.



I have seen the War memorial at Victory Square before, but not up close.



This is the Sun Building.  It was originally owned by the Vancouver Sun, the local newspaper.  When it was built it was the tallest building in Vancouver.  The offices were up top and the printing presses were down below.  There are nine statues of women around the building, symbolizing the nine Muses of Greek mythology, and the roof is made of copper.  It has been climbed by Harry the Human Fly and Houdini escaped from a straightjacket suspended from the roof.

Next, we visited Chinatown.







This building is the oldest in Chinatown.  It's being renovated to become condos, but they are going to keep the overall look the same.  All the floors were built at different times, and were all built in teh style at the time, so each one it a little different.  It was built by a man for his family.  He had lots of children and they all lived and went to school here.  This is also the first place in Canada where Mandarin was taught at a high school level.



In Chinatown there are many benevolant societies.  These were created to help Chinese who were descriminated against or had no where to stay find houses and jobs, and provide general support.  They were organized according to last name.  This is the Wong Benevolant Society, and it is the biggest because the last name Wong was the most common Chinese name at the time.



This is also a benevolant society, but it is home to three last names.  The Chins, the Wings and the Chungs decided to build one building housing all three because there were not enough for one building each.  Each name received one floor, which is why the building is so tall.



The is the Sun Yat-Sen Building and it was the Western headquarters of the Kuomintang, the opposing party to the Chinese Communist Party.  Sun Yat-Sen was the party leader.

We visited the Sun Yat-Sen garden.











I noticed a funny sign.  Turns out the 'C' is just hidden.



Can you see me hidden in the bamboo?



If you look closely, you can see a heron in the willow tree behind me.



I decided to look for other animals.

A Canada goose



A turtle



And what would a koi pond be without koi?

After a long day, it was time to take the Skytrain home again.

Today we visited Lynn Valley Headwaters.







Abby held tightly onto me when she took these pictures.  Wouldn't want to be swept downstream!





We decided to check out one of the trails, and Abby siggested hiking up to the peak of the mountain.  I had some initial misgivings, but when I realized that Abby would carry me and I wouldn't have to do any walking, I agreed.

The path started off innocently enough...



But soon became really steep and rocky.



We stopped for a snack of rhubarb dipped in sugar part of the way up.





This is called a haystack boulder.  It's really big, and was carried here by  a glacier.



This is a tiny version of an inuksuk.  Inuksuk are a part of Inuit culture; large ones are used as waypoints.  You can build one by stacking rocks on top of one another.



Look at the size of this tree!  Abby's sister is holding me in her hand.



We ate a lunch of grapes, strawberries, bread, cheese and hard boiled eggs.

Look!  A tiny bit of snow!  I accomplished a Life Mission!



And more!







This is where we turned around. (Note from Abby: my sister and I apologize for not making it to the top, but we were not equipped to be walking on snow)

Today was the first day of Abby's rugby provincials.  and I went along to cheer her team on.







They won their game which means that the worst they can do is top eight in the province!  There are three more days of this, so I'll try to take a few more pictures in that time.