Our Chinese New Year Trip to Vancouver (VERY PICTURE HEAVY)

I am finally back after taking a one week break from the blogsphere. It has been a bittersweet week for us here in the House of Platt; we had an amazing trip and a great family time in Vancouver however, little tyke came down with a high fever and a horrible case of cold on our second day there.

We departed the island on Saturday morning and arrived Vancouver by noon. It was a gorgeous ferry ride and I had a great time taking a few lovely scenery shots. The best part? I didn't get sea sick. Oh yes, I love the ocean but gawd damn, do I ever get sick in a boat. I swear I wanted to jump off a speedboat during our island hopping trip at Phuket, Thailand. By the end of the trip, my face was as green as the Incredible Hulk.

Vancouver is without a doubt a beautiful city however, like every other city in the world, everything goes up, up and up. As soon as we entered the city, my first thought was "Well, this is not much different from Kuala Lumpur...". The biggest difference that I noticed was how clean the streets are. Kuala Lumpur on the other hand, is quite dirty. It's unfortunate but majority feels that it's okay to litter wherever and whenever they see fit.

After checking in, we took a very quick stroll around Chinatown but quickly headed back to the hotel as little tyke started to show signs of a cold. We had a great dinner at Moxie's where the food was great and our server was even more amazing. I can't quite remember her name (Alyssa?) but she was quick, very friendly and made us felt welcomed.

Departing Nanaimo by the ferry

That house is on its own island and is up for sale. Jessie Island located in Nanaimo is going for CAD2,775,000 (check here). Does anyone have an extra few million to spare that you can generously loan to me? I promise I'll only take 10 lifetimes to pay you back.

Gorgeous mountains view throughout the ferry ride.

Vancouver traffic starting to get on hubby dearest's nerves...and we only came off the ferry not too long ago.

The next morning, little tyke woke up with a cough and a mild fever so we quickly headed out to a pharmacy to get some medication. After giving him the medication, we head out to the parade and watched till almost the end of it however, we had to leave quick because the crowd was just pure madness. I swear hubby dearest was about to pound on someone if we didn't leave immediately.

Little tyke got worse during mid afternoon and we decided to stay in the hotel for the rest of our trip except for a quick dinner at Fatburger (and omg, the burgers were soooo good!). We didn't manage to see more of the city but nevertheless, we definitely had an amazing time.

One last rehearsal before the parade starts.

This was on the tank.

On the left is T&T Supermarket and it's a little Asian market heaven for me. I found everything I need and more in there!

We had front row view! Oh yea!

I love how bright and vibrant their costumes are!

Much respect to the veterans.

I think they are the Shaolin monks and these guys can easily kick your arse to the moon and back.

These dancers with scarves were gorgeous!

And the bagpipers have never looked this cool, ever! I've always wondered if they wear something to hold everything in place or do they let everything hang free and easy...?

And here comes the po-po! 

It was amazing to see this old ambulance making an appearance.

Those darn sheep remind me of the stupid game that I am playing, Hay Day. Guess I am the bigger fool for playing it...

Here comes the beautiful people, Mr. Canada and Miss Canada. 

Chinese New Year will not be complete without lion dance!

I love it when different cultures come together.

The scouts made an appearance too and I have no idea how long and how much dedication it took that person to achieve that many badges! 

Setting off the fire crackers.

I believe they are dressed as deities.

I have no idea who they are meant to be...apparently my Chinese cultural knowledge is limited. Shame on me. 

I took close to three hundred pictures over the weekend and it took me a very long time to narrow it down to which pictures to share on this post. I do apologize if this post took forever to load, I tried very hard to limit the pictures to a very selected few but I want to share how beautiful the parade was as best as I can.

Below are few more pictures that I took on our way home, yes, more pictures. Eeekkk! 

I am honestly blessed to be given the opportunity to start a life here. Canada is without a doubt one of the most beautiful countries that I have ever been/seen/known, the scenery is just stunning and breathtaking.

Waiting to board the ferry.

Little tyke with full blown cold and high fever.

They said a picture paints a thousand words and I hope I managed to share our Vancouver trip with all you lovelies.

Again, many apologies for the huge amount of pictures but I hope some if not all of you enjoyed it. Till next post, many hugs and hope you had an amazing weekend!