While i know we are fast approaching the end of March and spring is just around the corner, i suddenly remembered that i haven’t finished uploading the photos of my Christmas in Vancouver. So why this post is terribly delayed, i thought it would be nice to show you all how my first every Christmas in Vancouver went.
Christmas 2012 in Vancouver was filled with house parties with friends and families, where eating and drinking was non stop. While this is not as common in Hong Kong, due to the limited living space in most households, I was beyond thrilled to enjoy such a joyous holiday with so much love, joy, and laughter. The greatest thing was also getting to meet a lot of new people via BFF’s friends and families.
We went to BFF’s brother’s new flat for an early Christmas dinner and a giant Christmas tree covered in all silver decor was standing beautifully in the living room, and i could not take my eyes off it. Another detailing i really liked was this giant mirror with this white frame that was laying against the wall next to the Christmas tree. I’ve always dreamed of having a mirror like this in my future home.
Over the weekend before Christmas, we decided to go on a road trip to the states for some shopping at the premium outlet. BFF’s parents came along where her dad volunteered to drive us there. He warned us that it was a grueling 3 hours drive in the snowy weather, and with BFF’s rusty driving skills due to not driving for almost 4 years in Canada, we accepted his kind offer.
As we drove on the high way, i noticed the spectacular view of these mountains that were covered in snow and an endless row of trees that stacked beautifully together. It was an absolutely breath taking view.
I have heard about Tim Horton’s cafe for the longest time and i have been meaning to try their coffee and pastries on this trip of mine. So when we dropped by a Tim Horton’s cafe for breakfast prior to our road trip, i quickly decided to get a hot latte and my fave cinnamon bun, which I must say, was a good kick start for the day.
Upon arriving to the premium outlet, my eyes could not stop looking from left to right and back to forth. All the well known designer brands such as Coach, Michael Kors, Burberry, Ralph Laure, Juicy Couture, Kate Spade, and etc were confined together within the premium outlet, where they were stacked to each other from shop to shop. It was quite overwhelming as we only had around 3 hours to shop but we managed to stick to our schedule, and drove into the night as we headed back to Vancouver. One of my favorite purchase was my Kate spade iphone case and Michael Kors rose gold watch.
After spending so much time with friends and families, my 2 BFFs and i decided we needed a girls night out with nobody but us three only. We went to the Cactus Club cafe, which is situated in the English Bay. It has a nice wooden design both from the outside and the inside. I really like the earthy tones and contemporary style of the interior decor along with the dim lights. It’s a great place to chill with friends or with your other half.
Now don’t even get me started on the cocktails. Their cocktails tasted really fresh and BFF explained that it’s due to more access to fresh resources in Canada. Whereas in Hong Kong, i noticed that most of the cocktails i tried are normally sweet. I started with a Flirtini, where it’s name was derived from the American series, Sex and the City. My second cocktail was the Cohiba, which was just as nice, and it had a really nice flavor of mixed berries to it, very refreshing. For main course, i ordered their creole steak and prawn in cajun spices, which was served with mashed potato and veggies. I wasn’t too impressed with the steak as it was more on the dry side.
Ms. C and I were also introduced to try Japa Dog, which is a Japanese style hot dog. I though that this was a pretty interesting concept and so we off we went to to find our Japa dogs. We ordered two flavors to share, the Kurobuta Terimayo and Oroshi. I absolutely loved the Kurobuta Terimayo with the teritaki sauce, it was delish! The Japanese staffs were also super friendly and helped us to take a photo with their Japa dog food stand.
We also managed go out on Christmas Eve for some lovely Japanese dinner, where we took it nice and easy. The sashimi served was really fresh and the sake was totally divine!
Towards the end of trip, we did some of the things that we hadn’t managed to do, such as exploring around BFF’s neighborhood in Coquitlam, as we seemed to never wake up in time during day time to see the area, thanks to the late chit chats til 5am! There was one night where a friend drove us around Coquitlam to track down Christmas lights and decorations on people’s houses because i’ve never seen this in my entire life, apart from the time when i saw it from the movie “Home Alone”. We did our last minute shopping in Robson Street and wandered around down town like a proper tourist, and kept looking at street names and maps for directions.
As i had to catch an 11:30am flight to fly back to Hong Kong, my last day in Vancouver was not for long. BFF and Ms. C had already taken off to Toronto the day before to spend New Years Eve there, and so BFF’s dad had offered to give me a lift to the airport. It was a bittersweet good bye as i was not ready to leave Vancouver just yet. But i know that i will be back some day, hopefully in the summer time.
Have you ever spent Christmas in another country and what were your most memorable moments there?
One early morning, I spotted these oat cookies with honey nut and bought them to add to my snack drawer at work, along with my other Fauchon goodies and a sakura green tea sachet from Japan. Received a beautiful Tiffany & Co. jewelry bowl from a dear old friend, who i’ve not seen for over a year. She missed out on my 30th last year due to her hectic family business, and i was beyond touched when i found out she had this gift for me all this time. My Tiffany necklace and bracelet are already nicely placed in the bowl, just where they belong. Beauty products on my work desk for those emergency dates/night outs where in need to freshen up instantly, such as spraying on Jo Malone’s Nectarine Blossom & Honey cologne. And hand cream and anti-bacterial hand gel are always a must for hygiene purposes.
