We got up fairly early on Saturday. We were exhausted, starving and caffeine-deprived so we divised a plan to got to Granville Island and have breakfast, then look over the public market there and the crafty places.
It was a pretty quick walk to the dock where Hornby Street ended at False Creek, a wide creek that winds into the city from English Bay. Even though Granville Island, a reclaimed dumping ground, is just across the creek from there, the 3 minutes water taxi rides cost $3 each way (round trip for $5).
The weather was perfect--sunny and about 70 with a little breeze.
We found and consumed some basic breakfast foods and then started to look through the market, eventually buying coffee, smoked salmon, cherries (local), and cheese...and coffee. We also went through some of the craft places and saw some beautiful stuff (especially at the wood coop) but we didn't buy anything.
We took the water ferry back around noon. On the way back we walked through the neighborhood around the hotel to see where all the noise was coming from in the middle of the night last night. We discovered that a bunch of rock/punk/? clubs and really cheap restaurants are located on Granville Avenue, a block or two from our hotel.
At that point we heard some live music being played. We followed the sound to a Drop In center just off Granville that was having a fundraiser. They were selling a cheap dinner and there was a line of people waiting for food. They were mostly young guys, dressed in worn black clothes and looking like they really needed that food. We walked into the doorway of the center where there was a sign that said anyone was welcome as long as they didn't bring syringes, booze, drugs and weren't under the influence. Sally gave the center people a donation. I figured some of these people are Hasting Street regulars.
We took a break in the hotel room for a while (btw, the room is fine but not exciting), then took off for Chinatown. We walked east from the hotel on Howe, then walked south on Pender, not on Hastings Street, the skid row of Vancouver and maybe of Canada.
Pretty soon after got into Chinatown we ran into a celebration of music around the world and saw Taiko drumming, a fantastic set by a man and a woman playing Afro-Caribbean music, and then a Korean women's drumming group. Fun.
We then went to the Sun Yat Sen gardens which was built by Chinese artist and craftsman with materials brought from China. The buildings and gardens were very nice.
Next we wandered through Chinatown, looking through the interesting bins of things in the stores. I think the dehydrated squid and the Geckos on a stick were my favorites. We ate at a not-fancy place that I saw recommended. The potstickers were good and Sally LOVED her soup but my dinner was sort of sweet and bland.
After dinner we went to the Chinatown Night Market. We browsed a while and bought a few small, very cheap things. I got a Guanyin hanging to replace my Guanyin poster that I gave away when I left my last job. We left after we watched some goonyangs do a typical little Chinese kid dance under the close supervision of their teacher.
At some point Sally couldn't stand it and she walked down to Hastings Street just to see if it was bad as everyone said but promised she would only go a block. When she came back she told me it WAS as bad as everyone said. She said there were some street people roaming the street but there were dozens of people crammed into each alley doing who know what. The police seem to have somehow contained this underclass onto one downtown street for the moment.
If you walk a block east of Hastings you're in Chinatown or further north you're in Gastown and there are yuppies and people with big money and million dollar condos going up all over. Does this mean that Canada can now help this population that they've stockaded onto Hasting Street or will these people just be left to rot while being joined by the next generation of drug users and outcasts. I expected more from the Canadian government. Oh well.
We checked the property listings on the way back from Gastown. It looks like a small one bedroom condo can run from $350K up to almost a million dollars (US dollar = Canadian dollar) depending on the location. Who has all this money?
Sally is asleep and I'm almost done here. Stanly Park tomorrow after a breakfast of sweet red bean and winter melon cakes. Good night!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
I suppose I should have said not to wander around Chinatown and East Hastings _at_night_. Glad you're having fun.
I think Hastings Street is the about the same during the day or night. During the day many of the regulars may be hanging around the flop houses where they sleep on Pender and other streets.
Post a Comment