Eating and Walking in Vancouver

A few weeks ago Micah and spent a weekend in Vancouver.  We wanted to get in some quality time before I took off for Addis.  Unlike most of our trips, we had no agenda.  The things we wanted to do were eat and walk.  It turned out to be perfect weather for both. 

On the way up to Vancouver we stopped at Taylor Shellfish Farm.  We buy their oysters in Seattle but we wanted to check out their farm store on Chuckanut Drive (yes, that’s really what it’s called).

The store is like oyster heaven.  I just wanted to try everything.  We didn’t have our cooler, so we ended up with smoked oyster we could have as a snack with crackers.

On the way to Vancouver, we decided to stop in Richmond, BC for lunch.  We had stopped at here on the way to Whistler and had the best Ramen we’ve had in years.  For some reason Ramen in Seattle is few and far between.  We couldn’t find the place we visited before but we heard good things about Shibuyatei on Sexsmith and Bridgeport road.

We started with the best gyoza I’ve ever had.  Seriously.  It was a pork and shrimp combo. 

We both ended up getting the Larmen (Toyko Style ramen) in the Soy Sauce Flavor.  It was delicious.  Nice and porky with a little sweetness from the corn and pickled mushroom.  Yum, Yum, Yum!  Two huge bowls of Larmen a combo order of gyoza set us back $20 with tax and tip.  Shibuyatei is better than the last place we went to in Richmond and is definitely going to be a regular stop for us when we head to Vancouver or Whistler.

I love driving into Vancouver.  That’s all.

We spent all of our first day at Stanley Park.  I love Stanley Park – it reminds me of my childhood.  We used to come here all the time when we visited every weekend during Expo ‘86.  I am not exaggerating.  We came every weekend that year.  I’m pretty sure I was temporarily a Canadian citizen that year. 

There’s a great path that will take you around the perimeter of the park.  I think it’s 4 miles (or so long).  We leisurely spent the afternoon walking.  It was perfect. 

The next day we spent the morning exploring different neighborhoods around the city.  We also discovered the Labatt’s and Lululemon main offices.  I have no idea what this little submarine is but it was very cute. 

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Micah and I spent the afternoon walking along Robson street window shopping when we happened upon a random Japanese mini mart.  It was in this mini mart I discover what is now my favorite candy bar, the Green Tea Kit Kat.  It was AMAZING!!!!  It anyone is going to Japan and wouldn’t mind picking up a bar or 20 for me, let me know.  I only bought a few bars but I hoarded them for weeks.

One of the things we wanted to try in Vancouver was the famous JapaDog.  Lucky for us, there was a location about 3 blocks from our hotel.  I had the Terimayo (left) which is a hot dog with Japanese mayo, Teriyaki sauce and seaweed sprinkled on top.  Micah has the Oroshi (right) which is a hot dog with grated daikon, a special soya sauce and green onions.  I liked mine but I liked Micah’s better.  I think the seaweed was a little too much for me.

We went on one last walk before we left the city the next day.  Again, the weather was perfect.  We got everything we wanted out of the weekend.  Walking, food and each other.  I love the quick weekend getaway.

Where did you go on your last weekend getaway?