SpongeG
05-17-2007, 01:49 AM
TRAVEL FEATURE: Wanna see the aliens eating lobster gelato?
15.05.2007
ANENDRA SINGH
The smell of freshly brewed coffee and myriad hot breakfasts waft into my plush Fairmont Hotel gold room in the heart of Vancouver.
It's a spring morning and the temptation is to pull the blanket over my head and snooze, considering I arrived late in the Canadian city.
One of six New Zealand journalists on a trip to British Columbia (BC) to promote Air New Zealand's direct flight from Auckland to Vancouver from November to March, I had overnight been chundered on by a female colleague whose stomach slammed the doors to some lavish helpings of food in the premium economy class.
Then there was the brainstorming session with the US Immigration officers at the San Francisco Airport to contend with.
Somehow the banal sounds of a city waking from its slumber is like music to the ears.
It's my first trip to anywhere in the northern hemisphere and I'm keen not to miss a beat.
All the signs were there at the Vancouver International Airport - huge banners and placards reminding visitors that the city is in the throes of preparing for the 2010 Winter Olympics.
We meet British Columbia Tourism wallah Tom Ryan, who reminds me of actor Harvey Keitel in his role as Winston Wolfe in the 1994 film Pulp Fiction. Nothing's a problem for Mr Fixit Ryan. He'll get you out of any messy situation.
The day's overcast but Ryan assures us it'll be fine. He's spot on as we take to the streets of Vancouver to sightsee.
The main shopping thoroughfare of Robson Street is a hive of activity amid road workers and the cacophony of early-morning rush-hour traffic but Ryan is as cool as a cucumber, weaving his way in and out of tight situations on right-hand-drive roads.
Remarkably drivers are laid back and courteous. In two days in Vancouver I only heard one irritated motorist honk at a jay walker.
The Lonely Planet guide, courtesy of Air NZ, warns of 170 days of rain in a year in the city. A brolly tucked in among ironing boards, spare bedding and linen in the hotel rooms' wardrobes is also a tangible reminder, so I invest in a souvenir beanie that Canadians call toque (pronounced tuke) to cover my bald head.
I need not have bothered. The clouds clear and we head off to the east side that is a growing concern for city fathers having to find a place for the contingent of drug addicts and beggars harassing tourists.
"Even a quarter will help. They all add up," a woman says to a colleague, taking a deep drag on a cigarette. Sensing the scribe isn't going to contribute to her habit, the woman spitefully adds: "You could charge it to your credit card, if you like."
Our inquisitiveness disturbs Ryan, who emphasises that Vancouver is not free of the common ills plaguing other cosmopolitan cities.
"We can't develop on the west side because of the ocean and we can't in the north because of the mountains. The south is out because of the US. We can only grow in the east and up," he says.
Chinatown, one of the largest in North America, has some funky smells but the fresh vegetables, seafood and assortment of dried fruit and meat provide a visual feast.
A lofty ride on the glassy lift of the 50-storey VancouverLookout at Harbour Centre gives us breathtaking 360-degree views of the city, including the covered stadium that will stage the opening ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.
A young female guide, with a difficult-to-pick Czech accent, points towards the horizon where sleepy mountains form a bluish backdrop.
"Mmm ... that's where BC shares border with Washington," she says with a chuckle.
It's mid-morning but an excited Ryan insists we take a giant step from the lookout tower, which American astronaut Neil Armstrong opened in 1977, towards an out-of-this-world La Casa Gelato, an icecream parlour that boasts "the only place in the world with 218 flavours".
"Mr Gelato" Vince Misceo makes a cameo appearance to enlighten us that icecream was originally made from rice.
The flavours are mindboggling including such zany ones as salmon chocolate, taro, curry, lobster and balsamic vinegar. I wish parents good luck in helping children make up their minds.
I savour little spoons of many flavours but stop short of salmon and lobster.
"Lime sorbet is my favourite," an affable Misceo reveals after much insistence.
Stanley Park, about 10 minutes walk from Fairmont Hotel, is next on the agenda. The 405ha inner-city park offers nature trails, picnic sites and zoological gardens bordered by kilometres of seawall for pedestrians and cyclists.
A cannon blast around 3pm near Hallelujah Point is sure to wake up the most apathetic of visitors.
The scars from the aftermath of a storm in November are still visible.
A half-hour drive towards North Vancouver offers another glimpse into the diverse flora and fauna of the Capilano Suspension Bridge and the effects of the storm.
The bridge, which has been around since 1889, sways 137m across a canyon and 70m above a river.
If you have vertigo don't look down.
A douglas fir, weighing 42,184kg, lies sprawled on the forest floor. A ranger says it took five weeks to lift the storm-toppled giant off the bridge.
Totem poles, akin to what we saw earlier at Stanley Park, crop up along the paved pathways. A group of mostly "First Nation" ( indigenous people) carvers display their craftmanship.
On the way back through Pendrell Street, on the west side of Vancouver, Ryan stops outside the flat where special FBI agent Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), was abducted in Fox Television's The X Files critically acclaimed drama.
Later, sending postcards proves a little challenging at a 7- 11 dairy downtown. English is not the forte of a young oriental man behind the counter.
In many ways it's a testimony to a diverse cultural environment with foreigners comprising almost 40 percent of the four million inhabitants. Chinese, Taiwanese, Filipinos, Vietnamese and Japanese dominate with predominantly Punjabis, Britons and Australians making up the rest.
Friday night the city starts pumping as the young and restless take to Granville Street with its trendy restaurants, seedy 25c peep shows and upmarket nightclubs.
If an icecream parlour offers more than 200 flavours then brace yourself for this one - a pokey but tasteful shop along Denman Street in the West End boasts just as many varieties of condoms. Some brazen souvenir hunters among us sniff it down but the shop has closed.
The trendy Pacific Palisades Hotel downtown, with Art Deco-theme rooms, offers "hip to be green" services and 50 per cent discounts on car parking for hybrid vehicle owners.
Such diversity also opens up a smorgasbord of food, regardless of whether it is รข la carte eat-outs such as the Cin Cin (pronounced Chin Chin) with its award-winning cuisine or the myriad takeaways and coffee shops.
It is a ritual to pay waiters, hotel porters and taxi drivers a tip. In restaurants it works out to 17 per cent of the bill.
For shopaholics, it pays to know that a GST and PST (provisional services tax for helping build Winter Olympics infrastructure) will be levied, although a visitor can reclaim the PST at the airport after filling out claim forms.
A refreshing shower and fresh clothes later we head off for Cardero's Restaurant overlooking the city's waterfront.
The ice hockey fever takes hold of Vancouverites on a Thursday. Work comes to a halt about lunchtime as flag-toting Vancouver Canucks fans besiege just about every waterhole in town.
The clinking noise of wine and beer glasses mingled with big screen TV commentaries fill bars, hotels and restaurants but the Canucks go down once again in their bid to lift the elusive Stanley Cup.
But the day, as they say, is the winner. How can it not be? Portly snowcapped mountains provide a majestic backdrop to a stunning sunset. My fellow journalists grapple with the menu but for once I'm decisive.
"It's the juicy wild salmon baked on a cedar plank in a wood-burning oven for me, thanks," I say to the waitress sporting that infectious Canadian smile.
* Anendra Singh flew to Canada courtesy of Air New Zealand and was a host of British Columbia Tourism.
:banana:
http://www.hbtoday.co.nz/localnews/storydisplay.cfm?storyid=3734267&thesection=localnews&thesubsection=&thesecondsubsection=
15.05.2007
ANENDRA SINGH
The smell of freshly brewed coffee and myriad hot breakfasts waft into my plush Fairmont Hotel gold room in the heart of Vancouver.
It's a spring morning and the temptation is to pull the blanket over my head and snooze, considering I arrived late in the Canadian city.
One of six New Zealand journalists on a trip to British Columbia (BC) to promote Air New Zealand's direct flight from Auckland to Vancouver from November to March, I had overnight been chundered on by a female colleague whose stomach slammed the doors to some lavish helpings of food in the premium economy class.
Then there was the brainstorming session with the US Immigration officers at the San Francisco Airport to contend with.
Somehow the banal sounds of a city waking from its slumber is like music to the ears.
It's my first trip to anywhere in the northern hemisphere and I'm keen not to miss a beat.
All the signs were there at the Vancouver International Airport - huge banners and placards reminding visitors that the city is in the throes of preparing for the 2010 Winter Olympics.
We meet British Columbia Tourism wallah Tom Ryan, who reminds me of actor Harvey Keitel in his role as Winston Wolfe in the 1994 film Pulp Fiction. Nothing's a problem for Mr Fixit Ryan. He'll get you out of any messy situation.
The day's overcast but Ryan assures us it'll be fine. He's spot on as we take to the streets of Vancouver to sightsee.
The main shopping thoroughfare of Robson Street is a hive of activity amid road workers and the cacophony of early-morning rush-hour traffic but Ryan is as cool as a cucumber, weaving his way in and out of tight situations on right-hand-drive roads.
Remarkably drivers are laid back and courteous. In two days in Vancouver I only heard one irritated motorist honk at a jay walker.
The Lonely Planet guide, courtesy of Air NZ, warns of 170 days of rain in a year in the city. A brolly tucked in among ironing boards, spare bedding and linen in the hotel rooms' wardrobes is also a tangible reminder, so I invest in a souvenir beanie that Canadians call toque (pronounced tuke) to cover my bald head.
I need not have bothered. The clouds clear and we head off to the east side that is a growing concern for city fathers having to find a place for the contingent of drug addicts and beggars harassing tourists.
"Even a quarter will help. They all add up," a woman says to a colleague, taking a deep drag on a cigarette. Sensing the scribe isn't going to contribute to her habit, the woman spitefully adds: "You could charge it to your credit card, if you like."
Our inquisitiveness disturbs Ryan, who emphasises that Vancouver is not free of the common ills plaguing other cosmopolitan cities.
"We can't develop on the west side because of the ocean and we can't in the north because of the mountains. The south is out because of the US. We can only grow in the east and up," he says.
Chinatown, one of the largest in North America, has some funky smells but the fresh vegetables, seafood and assortment of dried fruit and meat provide a visual feast.
A lofty ride on the glassy lift of the 50-storey VancouverLookout at Harbour Centre gives us breathtaking 360-degree views of the city, including the covered stadium that will stage the opening ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.
A young female guide, with a difficult-to-pick Czech accent, points towards the horizon where sleepy mountains form a bluish backdrop.
"Mmm ... that's where BC shares border with Washington," she says with a chuckle.
It's mid-morning but an excited Ryan insists we take a giant step from the lookout tower, which American astronaut Neil Armstrong opened in 1977, towards an out-of-this-world La Casa Gelato, an icecream parlour that boasts "the only place in the world with 218 flavours".
"Mr Gelato" Vince Misceo makes a cameo appearance to enlighten us that icecream was originally made from rice.
The flavours are mindboggling including such zany ones as salmon chocolate, taro, curry, lobster and balsamic vinegar. I wish parents good luck in helping children make up their minds.
I savour little spoons of many flavours but stop short of salmon and lobster.
"Lime sorbet is my favourite," an affable Misceo reveals after much insistence.
Stanley Park, about 10 minutes walk from Fairmont Hotel, is next on the agenda. The 405ha inner-city park offers nature trails, picnic sites and zoological gardens bordered by kilometres of seawall for pedestrians and cyclists.
A cannon blast around 3pm near Hallelujah Point is sure to wake up the most apathetic of visitors.
The scars from the aftermath of a storm in November are still visible.
A half-hour drive towards North Vancouver offers another glimpse into the diverse flora and fauna of the Capilano Suspension Bridge and the effects of the storm.
The bridge, which has been around since 1889, sways 137m across a canyon and 70m above a river.
If you have vertigo don't look down.
A douglas fir, weighing 42,184kg, lies sprawled on the forest floor. A ranger says it took five weeks to lift the storm-toppled giant off the bridge.
Totem poles, akin to what we saw earlier at Stanley Park, crop up along the paved pathways. A group of mostly "First Nation" ( indigenous people) carvers display their craftmanship.
On the way back through Pendrell Street, on the west side of Vancouver, Ryan stops outside the flat where special FBI agent Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), was abducted in Fox Television's The X Files critically acclaimed drama.
Later, sending postcards proves a little challenging at a 7- 11 dairy downtown. English is not the forte of a young oriental man behind the counter.
In many ways it's a testimony to a diverse cultural environment with foreigners comprising almost 40 percent of the four million inhabitants. Chinese, Taiwanese, Filipinos, Vietnamese and Japanese dominate with predominantly Punjabis, Britons and Australians making up the rest.
Friday night the city starts pumping as the young and restless take to Granville Street with its trendy restaurants, seedy 25c peep shows and upmarket nightclubs.
If an icecream parlour offers more than 200 flavours then brace yourself for this one - a pokey but tasteful shop along Denman Street in the West End boasts just as many varieties of condoms. Some brazen souvenir hunters among us sniff it down but the shop has closed.
The trendy Pacific Palisades Hotel downtown, with Art Deco-theme rooms, offers "hip to be green" services and 50 per cent discounts on car parking for hybrid vehicle owners.
Such diversity also opens up a smorgasbord of food, regardless of whether it is รข la carte eat-outs such as the Cin Cin (pronounced Chin Chin) with its award-winning cuisine or the myriad takeaways and coffee shops.
It is a ritual to pay waiters, hotel porters and taxi drivers a tip. In restaurants it works out to 17 per cent of the bill.
For shopaholics, it pays to know that a GST and PST (provisional services tax for helping build Winter Olympics infrastructure) will be levied, although a visitor can reclaim the PST at the airport after filling out claim forms.
A refreshing shower and fresh clothes later we head off for Cardero's Restaurant overlooking the city's waterfront.
The ice hockey fever takes hold of Vancouverites on a Thursday. Work comes to a halt about lunchtime as flag-toting Vancouver Canucks fans besiege just about every waterhole in town.
The clinking noise of wine and beer glasses mingled with big screen TV commentaries fill bars, hotels and restaurants but the Canucks go down once again in their bid to lift the elusive Stanley Cup.
But the day, as they say, is the winner. How can it not be? Portly snowcapped mountains provide a majestic backdrop to a stunning sunset. My fellow journalists grapple with the menu but for once I'm decisive.
"It's the juicy wild salmon baked on a cedar plank in a wood-burning oven for me, thanks," I say to the waitress sporting that infectious Canadian smile.
* Anendra Singh flew to Canada courtesy of Air New Zealand and was a host of British Columbia Tourism.
:banana:
http://www.hbtoday.co.nz/localnews/storydisplay.cfm?storyid=3734267&thesection=localnews&thesubsection=&thesecondsubsection=
