HomeDiagramsDatabaseMapsForum About
     

Go Back   SkyscraperPage Forum > Photography Forums > My City Photos


Reply

 
Thread Tools Display Modes
     
     
  #181  
Old Posted Oct 13, 2018, 9:07 PM
Klazu's Avatar
Klazu Klazu is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Above Metro Vancouver clouds
Posts: 10,182
Nice weather over this past Thanksgiving weekend provided a good chance to be out and about. We chose driving all the way to Maple Ridge to enjoy some trails along the nice little Kanaka Creek.



There is a bunch of lush trails around the area where the creek merges with Fraser River.















Further upstream there are even more trails around Cliff Falls which are not so impressive to see.









Weather has been fairly dry up until now, so Kanaka Creek water level was low.







From Maple Ridge we drove to our favorite Krause Berry Farms over in Langley to see some big pumpkins and also enjoy warm apple waffles.







Reply With Quote
     
     
  #182  
Old Posted Oct 23, 2018, 4:25 AM
Klazu's Avatar
Klazu Klazu is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Above Metro Vancouver clouds
Posts: 10,182
View from an apartment along Vancouver's Broadway corridor.

Reply With Quote
     
     
  #183  
Old Posted Oct 29, 2018, 12:29 AM
Klazu's Avatar
Klazu Klazu is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Above Metro Vancouver clouds
Posts: 10,182
After having to move out from our Metroplace penthouse, we decided to make Downtown our temporary home as we continued to look for a new home (which we have now found). Last time we went through such period, we took a small and cheap 1BR apartment in Yaletown, which we didn't really enjoy. With that learning, this time we decided to invest a bit more into a nice furnished unit that we have enjoyed during these 5 months.

So, we ended up moving into Trump Tower. I was curious to see if living in such a luxurious building would be any different and we made a nice east-facing 1BR unit on the 32nd floor our home. You can see the unit somewhere there in the middle of the building in below picture.











First 22 floors in the building are occupied by the 5-star Trump International Hotel & Tower. Both hotel and private residences have separate entrances and elevators, which are the fastest I have been on in this town. They will whisk you on the 32nd floor in ~20 seconds with ease. They are also super-reliable and I have not seen one being down during the last 5 months. I may also add, that they are beautiful with dark glass walls.





There are 63 levels on this building, which makes Trump Tower the second tallest skyscraper in Vancouver. Floor numbering extends all the way to 68 with the three penthouses (unoccupied AFAIK) being two floors in height.



Our 1BR unit is 640 sqft in size. That is fine for a temporary home in the city and larger units quickly double in price.





Build quality and appliances are all top-notch and more high-end than you normally find in a new tower. Everything is also only 1-year-old. In this unit the kitchen is small, but still practical.







Electric curtains help to make the unit private despite an office tower next door. The only two complains I have about the unit is that walls are very thin and one can hear sound from neighboring units. This is surprising and unfortunate, as a lot of young people live here and there are parties. Fortunately security team has been effective in calming the noise, but it can be somewhat frustrating.

Another issue at least in our units has been pot smoke, which travels from one unit to another. As we have been told, the problem has something to do with how the air circulation has been set up, but also the small window vents allow smoke from outside enter the unit. We have been unfortunate to have frequent pot smoking neighbors and this has been annoying us a few times.



I really love the bathroom which look very nice and feels like living in a 5-star hotel. Nice job there.



View from the 32nd floor is okay, although neighboring buildings require one to be above the ~38th floor to have truly open views. Since one is located at the epicenter of Downtown Vancouver, blocked views are to be expected unless you live on one of the top floors.













All building amenities are shared with the hotel. The gym is top notch and never busy, but the specialty is the pool which is located inside the Drai's night club. It's a slightly odd setting to be swimming, with (not loud) music playing at all times.

Since us moving in, the night club has closed down due to some security issues. As far as I know, they are now in process of converting the space to some kind of lounge space. It is slightly shame that they couldn't make the unusual concept work and I have to wonder what partying at Drai's has been like?











And there you have it. Trump Tower has been a nice place to live for 5 months, but I am also super happy to be moving out in couple of weeks.

It was interesting to see how "the 1%" lives and the building has a lot of things going for it. I still have to say that the building doesn't feel all that welcoming, and people rarely greet you in the elevator. I have a feeling that a lot of the residents are newly rich, which is backed up by the dozens of flashy cars inside the parkade. The number of Ferraris...

I could never afford to live in a larger unit in this building and if I could, I would likely check out other towers before settling in here. As it stands, I am happy to soon enjoy much more lebensraum back in Burnaby.

I hope you enjoyed the small tour of the building!
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #184  
Old Posted Nov 1, 2018, 3:14 AM
Architype's Avatar
Architype Architype is offline
♒︎ Empirically Canadian
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: 🍁 Canada
Posts: 11,930
Very nice Klazu, but it's funny how they eliminated all the floor numbers ending in "4", but not the ones beginning with "4".
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #185  
Old Posted Dec 9, 2018, 12:15 AM
Klazu's Avatar
Klazu Klazu is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Above Metro Vancouver clouds
Posts: 10,182
Quote:
Originally Posted by Architype View Post
Very nice Klazu, but it's funny how they eliminated all the floor numbers ending in "4", but not the ones beginning with "4".
Some buildings omit those too, however few years ago a law was changed to require all new buildings to have all floors correctly numbered, so the problem is going to be fixed going forward. It has been the most stupid thing and the funny thing is that the group of people that are supposed to be superstitious about it, find the whole thing stupid as well.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #186  
Old Posted Dec 9, 2018, 12:15 AM
Klazu's Avatar
Klazu Klazu is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Above Metro Vancouver clouds
Posts: 10,182
Bright Nights in Stanley Park is a fun annual family-friendly Christmas event in Vancouver.









Local firefighters put up altogether 3 million Christmas lights every year.









Our last visit was back in 2015 and the weather was very cold. Nothing a cup of warm Gluhwein couldn't fix.











There are also few buildings one can enter, one being where one can visit Santa.









One of the specialty features is a ride on the Christmas Train, which has a small fee but is worth it.









As a free event, Bright Nights is definitely worth the visit, although it is often busy and parking is hard to come by. Around 200 000 people visit the event every year and I can certainly see why, as it was a fun night out.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #187  
Old Posted Dec 14, 2018, 3:46 PM
red-paladin red-paladin is offline
Vancouver Moderator
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Burnaby
Posts: 3,626
Have you considered attending/photographing the Lights and Lafarge Lake in Coquitlam?
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #188  
Old Posted Dec 15, 2018, 4:27 PM
Evo5Boise's Avatar
Evo5Boise Evo5Boise is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Boise, ID
Posts: 1,340
Thank you so much for the tours. Excellent pictures. I love me some Vancouver. I've been there several times, though it has been several years now, and I dearly want to return. My wife has never been to Vancouver (or such a city of it's stature) and I really want to take her soon. When I return with her I definitely want to take the time to find some of these hiking trails, much like the ones you showcased.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #189  
Old Posted Dec 16, 2018, 11:37 PM
Klazu's Avatar
Klazu Klazu is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Above Metro Vancouver clouds
Posts: 10,182
Quote:
Originally Posted by red-paladin View Post
Have you considered attending/photographing the Lights and Lafarge Lake in Coquitlam?
I did that last year. Definitely worth the visit, as it is free!


Quote:
Originally Posted by Evo5Boise View Post
Thank you so much for the tours. Excellent pictures. I love me some Vancouver. I've been there several times, though it has been several years now, and I dearly want to return. My wife has never been to Vancouver (or such a city of it's stature) and I really want to take her soon. When I return with her I definitely want to take the time to find some of these hiking trails, much like the ones you showcased.
Thank you for your kind words. Hopefully you will find your way up here soon again!

For hiking, there are two great sites with trail information:

https://www.vancouvertrails.com/

http://vancouverhiatus.com/
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #190  
Old Posted Jan 20, 2019, 1:51 AM
Klazu's Avatar
Klazu Klazu is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Above Metro Vancouver clouds
Posts: 10,182
Fantastic Saturday in Whistler two weeks ago. Mountains had been dumped by an incredible 104 cm of powder the previous day which made for the deepest powder we have ever experienced in Whistler.

Knowing that it will be busy, we arrived in Creekside already at 7am. Even this early there were few people before us and by 8am the line-up had grown to be 300-400 people. Better arrive early on powder days!



Conditions up on the mountain were amazing with powder anywhere. It was hard to remember that the season started off pretty bad in November.







Some people waited for an hour for Harmony Express to open after avalanche control wrapped up after 11am.



The entire Harmony Bowl was ungroomed and snow was really a meter deep. It was powder heaven and actually really hard to ski.









It was a busy day in Whistler but with such condition certainly worth it. They have had a great season so far and this might have been one of the best day ever.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #191  
Old Posted Jan 27, 2019, 2:08 AM
Klazu's Avatar
Klazu Klazu is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Above Metro Vancouver clouds
Posts: 10,182
I recently moved to a new place in the same area and now have a great view of Burnaby's other two skylines - Brentwood and Lougheed. Both of these town centers have dozens of residential towers going up in the next few years and here is a snapshot of how they look like today.

First up some new development in Brentwood area.





Brentwood's new town center is already standing tall and there are 8 more towers going up around the new mall.











Here is a panorama of entire Brentwood.



Looking to the east, one can see Deer Lake and Burnaby Lake, as well as the quickly changing Lougheed skyline. There are over 40 new towers planned for the area with a dozen under construction!







I hope you enjoyed these views. More to come in the future.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #192  
Old Posted Jan 27, 2019, 4:38 AM
OhioGuy OhioGuy is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: DC
Posts: 7,649
Very nice views!

And I’m so jealous of your proximity to Whistler. A good friend was out there for the past
week for Gay Ski Week. He usually flys out there from the US East Coast twice each winter. He loves Whistler. I hope to make it out there in the next year or two.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #193  
Old Posted Aug 11, 2019, 10:30 PM
Klazu's Avatar
Klazu Klazu is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Above Metro Vancouver clouds
Posts: 10,182
Reminded by yesterday's accident I wanted to post some photos of our first visit to Sea to Sky Gondola in Squamish.





Ride up takes 10 minutes.







Sea to Sky Highway along Howe Sound.



Upper station is located at altitude of 885 meters and the deck offers amazing views.











Another attraction is a 100 meters long suspension bridge.







Sky Pilot Mountain at 2,031 meters is the tallest mountain in the area.



There are several hiking trails to explore and Al's Habrich Ridge Trail is one of the best.













View from up top is even better and makes for a perfect place to have a picnic.





Three peaks of the popular Stawamus Chief Mountain.



Town of Squamish below.





Beautiful Squamish Valley.



Trail was nice but very muddy.



Lots of people waiting to download the gondola.



Reply With Quote
     
     
  #194  
Old Posted Aug 15, 2019, 1:46 AM
Klazu's Avatar
Klazu Klazu is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Above Metro Vancouver clouds
Posts: 10,182
Couple of weeks ago, we spent a weekend Harrison Hot Springs camping in Sasquatch Provincial Park. During our trip I realized that this was only my third time in Harrison during the 7.5 years we have lived here, which is strange, as it is really a really nice town and it is not that far from the city.



The road to the campsite runs along the beautiful lakeshore.



Our campsite was next to Deer Lake which is pretty small. The muddy beach didn't invite anyone to be swimming there, even though it was very warm the whole weekend.



Our major activity for Saturday was climbing the Campbell Lake Trail which also has a nickname Harrison Grind due to how steep and tough it is. Be extra careful in case you run into a sasquatch while hiking!









Halfway view towards Mount Cheam in Chilliwack.







For the most of the hike there are no views, but up on top there is a small lookout.





Phew! After a five-hour hike, we were finally back at our car and hungry for some lunch. Fortunately there are lots of food options in Harrison along the lake shore. It was busy with people as in July they also have an Arts Festival on every weekend.







Harrison Lake has a nice sandy beach with incredible vistas, however water is super cold even in middle of summer. We only dipped in briefly which was very refreshing!







Our weekend in Harrison Hot Springs was excellent. I have yet to dip in the hot springs themselves and there are also few other hiking trails we want to do, so we should be returning there soon again.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #195  
Old Posted Aug 16, 2019, 12:25 PM
Evo5Boise's Avatar
Evo5Boise Evo5Boise is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Boise, ID
Posts: 1,340
I love this thread!! Thanks for keeping it updated.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #196  
Old Posted Aug 16, 2019, 12:47 PM
Centropolis's Avatar
Centropolis Centropolis is offline
disneypilled verhoevenist
 
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: saint louis
Posts: 11,866
british columbia is an absolute stunner.

__________________
You may Think you are vaccinated but are you Maxx-Vaxxed ™!? Find out how you can “Maxx” your Covid-36 Vaxxination today!
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #197  
Old Posted Aug 18, 2019, 3:14 PM
Nightsky's Avatar
Nightsky Nightsky is offline
Illustrator, editor
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Malmö
Posts: 3,690
Great pictures of Vancouver! Never seen gocart on a ship before. Are you Swedish (considering the name)?
__________________
Website about my travels in USA and Europe:
http://www.worldtravelimages.net

All my diagram drawings - more than 700!:
http://skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?14670510
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #198  
Old Posted Oct 20, 2019, 6:08 PM
Klazu's Avatar
Klazu Klazu is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Above Metro Vancouver clouds
Posts: 10,182
Last night the fog rolled in, blanketing all of Metro Vancouver. The tall towers of Brentwood could still pierce through the fog.









Also Metrotown got covered by thick fog but being on a hill, buildings could still be seen.



Downtown got also shrouded by the fog as it moved more towards west.

Reply With Quote
     
     
  #199  
Old Posted Oct 30, 2019, 4:11 AM
Zepfancouver's Avatar
Zepfancouver Zepfancouver is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2017
Location: Vancouver
Posts: 1,730
A Crescent Moon Sunset this evening

From Anchor Point 1
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #200  
Old Posted Dec 1, 2019, 5:13 AM
Klazu's Avatar
Klazu Klazu is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Above Metro Vancouver clouds
Posts: 10,182
Burnaby's Brentwood being blanketed by the morning fog.







Metrotown staying mostly above the fog as usual.



Also Edmonds is waking up to a new day. Spot Surrey Central in the background.

Reply With Quote
     
     
This discussion thread continues

Use the page links to the lower-right to go to the next page for additional posts
 
 
Reply

Go Back   SkyscraperPage Forum > Photography Forums > My City Photos
Forum Jump


Thread Tools
Display Modes

Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 10:27 AM.

     
SkyscraperPage.com - Archive - Privacy Statement - Top

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.