Without question it may be said of Vancouver that her position, geographically, is Imperial to a degree, that her possibilities are enormous, and that with but a feeble stretch of the imagination those possibilities might wisely be deemed certainties.
A. N. Homer
Cost
| Dwelling | $729 |
| Food | $634.59 |
| Entertainment | $25 |
| Transportation | $202.87 |
| Total | $1591.46 |
Days
April 27 2019 – May 18 2019
21 Days
dwelled
We stayed at an Airbnb:
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/29482018
What’s interesting here about housing is that rent is significantly cheaper (from some quick craigslist searches and the locals we spoke to) than owning. Also its very evident that foreign investors and money has taken over the real estate in this city :).
ate
As usual we ate out quite a bit. Vancouver is a haven for asian cuisine, particularly Chinese Dim Sum. Its also safe to say you really can’t go wrong with seafood, especially oysters which were surprising cheap if you go during happy hours. Although Vancouver to locals is considered a more expensive city, to us it seemed cheap for two reasons: (1) After living in SF, everything seems cheaper and (2) USD when writing this post was quite strong 1:1.34 (USD:CAD).
4/28/19 – Dim Sum at Spring Garden Chinese 
4/28/19 – Burger at Triple Os 
4/30/19 – Watermelon Bingsoo at Snowy Village 
5/1/19 – Wings & more at DD Mau 
5/1/19 – Apple Cheesecake at Charisma 
5/3/19 – Fish n Chips at Celines 
5/4/19 – Chef’s Mutton at Biejiang 
5/4/19 – Lamb Special at Biejiang 
5/7/19 – Flight at Brassneck 
5/9/19 -Oysters at Harbor Oyster 
5/9/19 -Lobster Poutine at Harbor Oyster 
5/9/19 -Flight at East Van 
5/11/19 – Mixed at Rangoli 
5/12/19 – Goulash at Kozak 
5/12/19 – Dessert at Paramount 
5/17/19 – Boba and Cheesecake at Mr. Mustache 
5/16/19 – Fish and Rich at 
5/15/19 – Chicken Katsu Curry at Saboten
did
Drive around burbs to north Vancouver
The first thing we did since we had a rental for a few days was pretty much drive around most of the city and suburbs. We were quite lucky with the weather … of the three weeks we were there, only had two cloudy / rainy days. Rest were absolutely beautiful.
Bloedel Conservatory
5/4/19 – Scenic view from Bloedel Conservatory
Bloedel is touristy but worth visiting since its free (except the birds conservatory) and also had an amazing view of thew city. Although some spots are touristy, in general all of them really weren’t crowded or required much wait at all … love that about this city.
University of British Columbia
Its becoming a trend as well to visit some local campuses (mostly cuz Avi wants to :)). Wish my campus was this nice…
Cypress Mountain Hike
5/5/19 – Trainhead 
5/5/19 – Short stop enroute 
5/5/19 – Viewpoint 
5/5/19 – Enroute 
5/5/19 – Summit 
5/5/19 – Olympic sigil at entrance
Had to get at least one hike in, and this was definitely worth it. Views were the best so far in the stay and also quiet a good work out since the snow wasn’t all melted.
Stanley Park
5/18 – Lake 
5/18 – Beach
This park is very well known and an amazing place to spend a few hours walking, biking, hiking, or chilling. Probably the most crowded place we visited in Vancouver, the views are completely worth it.
Transport
Majority of time we used public transportation (Buses and SkyTrain) and it was extremely easy. Two weekends we rented a car for convenience and for hikes / area we wanted to get to. Still extremely affordable. No Uber or Lyft here so you’re stuck with whats available, however the city has quite good coverage so it wasn’t that big of an issue. Oh also, sometimes with mixed and matched Car2Go as well.
Recs.
Vancouver thus far has been one our favorite cities. It really has something for everyone and the best part is it doesn’t feel congested or overcrowded. Asian food was the main highlight along with the outdoor activities. Also couldn’t have asked for better weather.
Would have loved to do more challenging hikes but ran out of time to get to those. Also, heard great things about Vancouver island, however the high cost of taking a car and ferry there, we decided to pass.
