2010 Winter Olympics: Russia Sochi 2014 House

It is now about one week since the end of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

It's so unusual to see the city calm down after having a party atmosphere for 2 straight weeks. Like almost everyone in Vancouver, I had gotten used to the non-stop Olympics coverage, especially on television. After the Olympics had ended I kind of didn't know what to do with my new found "free time" after work because I had gotten used to coming home and then watch or following the Olympics. For the first few days after the Olympics I kind of felt an "Olympics withdrawal" symptom.

This was the first time that I really gained an in-depth knowledge of the winter games because so many of the events were shown on primetime. Next time if I ever get a chance to buy tickets I will know which events to buy tickets for, Sochi 2014 anyone?

Anyways this post is about my visit on Feb. 24, 2010 to the Russia House (a.k.a. Sochi2014.ru WORLD Russky Dom), the pavilion that the Russians had set up in Science World. They spared no expense at transforming the entire Science World into their own pavilion.

This is the view of Russia House from the lineup. The line moved quite quickly, we only lined up for 15 minutes.

2010 Winter Olympics: Qualifications Hockey Game, Switzerland vs. Belarus

On Feb. 23, 2010 during the 2nd week of Olympics competiion I attended the qualifications playoff game at Canada Hockey Place (GM Place) where Switzerland played Belarus. The winning team which was Switzerland would go on to play the United States in the quarterfinals and ultimately lose to United States and the United States would ultimately lose to Canada in the Gold Medal game today.

The game last Tuesday started at 12:00 pm. I was unlucky that I got the 12:00 pm tickets because if I had gotten the tickets to the 4:30 pm qualifications game I could have been the Canada vs. Germany game.

I went with my uncle and we walked from my house and over Cambie Bridge to the security checkpoint for Canada Hockey Place. Near the security checkpoints there were all these "Inukshuks" (logo for the games) built on the side of False Creek.

2010 Winter Olympics: 5 Hour Wait to Touch Olympic Medals

The Royal Canadian Mint set up a pavilion in Downtown Vancouver at a Simon Fraser University conference building during the Olympics where the public had a chance to touch the Olympic medals that were being handed out to victorious athletes.

I had wanted to go during the past weekend but there were too many people so I thought that lining up Monday morning on Feb. 22, 2010 would be a good idea as there would be a shorter line because it was the start of the work week.

I was totally wrong. I went with my mom and I budgeted a wait maximum wait time of two hours but it turned out that we lined up for five hours just to the priviledge to touch, give gloves on, the Olympic medals for ten minutes!

We started lining up at 10:30 am. This was the scene at 10:30 am.

2010 Winter Olympics: Visiting Pavilions on the Weekends

Last weekend on Feb. 19, 20 and 21, 2010 I went with my family to check out some of the free pavilions that various governments and organizations had set up for the Olympics.

On Friday night we visited the pavilions located near the Concord Pacific lands in Southeast False Creek.

This is Molson Canadian Canada Hockey House sponsored by Molson brewery where for the low price of $99.00 per night, you can enjoy watching "the game" inside a tent with complementary food and beer.

2010 Winter Olympics: Day 3, Victory Ceremony, Downtown Atmosphere

Last Sunday, on Feb. 14, 2010, on the 3rd day of competition of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. I went with my family to participate in the Victory Ceremony at B.C. Place Stadium.

The weather that day was more like spring than winter.

We started by walking to downtown because it was about an hour walk from our house and we didn't want to ride the congested transit system.

While walking across Cambie Bridge we passed by the Olympic Village.

2010 Winter Olympics: Highly Expensive Tickets Finally Arrived

Yesterday I received a phone call from Purolator (courier service) at 11:00 am informing me that my overpriced, highly expensive 2010 Winter Olympics tickets had arrived.

I ordered two hockey tickets to the semi-finals and four victory ceremony tickets. The hockey tickets cost me $80 each and the victory ceremony tickets cost me $22 each.

What is unusual for the upcoming games is that they are going to present the medals in a "victory ceremony" each day I think at the 60,000+ seat BC Place Stadium in Vancouver and on each night they will also have performers that represent the different provinces of Canada. I guess I was lucky in that the day that I will be going to the victory ceremony, British Columbia's Nelly Furtado will be performing.

The tickets come with an "Official Spectator's Guide" and according to the guide, when you show your ticket within Vancouver, you will get free access to transit for that day.

Golden Ears Bridge Opening

On June 15, 2009, the Golden Ears Bridge had a public opening where people could walk across the bridge. The bridge had been in construction since 2006, for 3 years.

This was the first new bridge to be built in the Vancouver area since the Alex Fraser Bridge back in 1986. An interesting aspect is that the bridge was built using the public-private-partnership financing model that was lead not by the provincial government, but by TransLink, the local public transportation authority.

When we got there, we parked at the parking lot of a movie theatre and boarded free shuttle buses to the bridge.

It took 30 minutes to walk across the bridge and another 30 minutes to walk back across.

Canada Line Technical Tour

Today I had the opportunity to ride the Canada Line as part of a tour that was organized by the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of British Columbia (APEGBC).

We started at 12:00 pm at Waterfront Station and we rode the train from Waterfront to the YVR-Airport station. Although the train stopped at a couple of stations, we did not have the opportunity to explore any of the stations other than the Waterfront station where we first boarded the train.

Once the train arrived at the airport, it just backed out and we were on our way back towards downtown.

One observation that I had was that the trains were really quiet and smooth (at least compared to the existing SkyTrain cars where you can't even listen to your personal music player without turning up the volume to maximum).

Another complaint that I had was that at Waterfront station, the Canada Line station is not directly connected to the existing SkyTrain station so that means to transfer between the two lines, you would have to walk across the old train station atrium and have to exit and enter the "Fare Paid Zones" two times. This could be a potential problem when faregates are finally installed.

Other than that, it is very exciting to see a brand new underground subway system being built to places that people actually want to go to.

As someone who has followed this project from the days of the "RAV Line" back in 2002-2003 when the project was killed and resurrected by politicians twice, I can't wait until it finally opens to the public on Labour Day this year.

Canada Line Operations & Maintenance Centre Tour

Last week on May 19, 2009 I had the opportunity to visit the Canada Line (new automated rapid transit system linking Vancouver, Richmond and the airport) operations and maintenance centre.

The system has been under construction since 2005 and is scheduled to open on Labour Day (first Monday in September) Sept. 7, 2009.

The trains are all made in Korea by a subsidiary of Hyundai, the Rotem company and is not compatible with the current SkyTrain system in Vancouver. The two systems do not interconnect.

For more information please see the Canada Line Wikipedia page.

Inside one of the three maintenance bays.

White Chrismas 2008 in Vancouver

Merry Christmas.

For the first time since 1971, every region in Canada has a White Christmas. I think the last time Vancouver got so much snow was in 1996. Yesterday on Christmas Eve, the snow kept falling all day and I had to plow the snow three times or else it would have been unmanageable. In the afternoon alone, more than 6 inches fell. It had been snowing for almost a week here, which is pretty rare since it almost always rains in December.

The result is the following:

Received My Official 2010 Winter Olympics Lanyard

It's the 24th of December and it is still snowing. So much snow that I had to shovel the snow two times already today. But the main reason for this post is to show the Official 2010 Winter Olympics lanyard that I received via the mail today.



I am quite disappointed in the quality of the lanyard, especially when VANOC (Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee) charged $23 for it. It didn't even come with any standard packaging. It just came in one of those cheap plastic sleeves which street market DVD vendors use to sell pirated DVDs in. From looking at the plastic holder, I am also surprised at how big the size of the tickets will be.

Nanyang Trip: Departure from YVR International Terminal "West Chevron" Wing

On May 1, 08 my family and I departed from Vancouver on a 3 week trip to Nanyang (Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei).

This is the first day of the trip, the departure from Vancouver International Airport to Singapore via. a 3 day stopover in Seoul, Korea on Singapore Airlines.

Coming to the airport 3 hours before departure time allows a lot of time for wandering around at the airport.

All the ticket stubs from the planes we boarded during our 3 week trip.



The following are pictures from the International Terminal Building at Vancouver International Airport (more commonly known by its aviation abbreviation "YVR") and the newly opened (July 2007) "West Chevron" wing for international departures that only passengers can enter.

The Canada Line trains in testing (due to open in 2009) providing direct access to Richmond and Downtown Vancouver via rail transit.

Vancouver International Airport + New "Link Building" Expansion

Here are some pictures of Vancouver International Airport (more commonly known as YVR).

Here is the progress of the new Link building. It is supposed to bridge the Domestic Terminal and the International Terminal as well as being the entry point for passengers arriving via transit from downtown Vancouver on the yet to be opened (2009 scheduled to open) Canada Line (A fully automated railway system).

Both the Link building and the Canada Line are being ready for the 2010 Olympic Winter games in Vancouver

From the outside:

Vancouver Chinatown: A Pictorial Walking Tour

Today was the "Chinatown Festival" so I decided to check it out. There was a walking tour run by volunteers which cost $5 per person and the most interesting thing is that they bring you inside to see the Chinese Associations.

All pictures can be view at full resolution, click and enjoy!

There are 3 parts to this post.

Part 1: Chinese Canadian Military Museum

Part 2: Inside the Chinese Benevolent Association

Part 3: The Streets of Chinatown

Here is the Google Map showing the places I visited:





Direct Link to the Google Map for full size viewing


Part 1: The Chinese Canadian Military Museum

It is located on the 2nd floor of the Chinese Cultural Centre Museum building, and almost not advertised outside at all. Its VERY small, only ONE room. I don't even think a lot of locals know that it exists. The museum commemorates the Chinese people who volunteered to fight for Canada in World War II despite the fact that they were denied citizenship by the Canadian government.

Link to Official Museum Site

Vancouver Skyline

If there are any regular visitors left...this page is not dead, I still got lots of stuff to upload. Just busy with work and sometimes lazy.

Vancouver skyline from east to west.

Building with clock, City Hall:



Ball building = Science World:

Pictures from My Alma Mater (UBC)

From the Rose Garden at the Northern End of the campus:

Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics Countdown Clock

Here are some pictures of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics countdown clock that I took in February but was too lazy to do anything until now.

Interesting fact: Because there are so many hoodlums (aka. crazy special interest groups, "anti-poverty group") here that oppose the games, this is the only Olympic countdown clock that requires a security guard to be present 24 hours a day. Despite that, it was still vandalized a couple of weeks ago...

The clock is located in a square in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery, which was once a former courthouse.

Dec. 23, 06: (Formal) Education Finished...Also Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

On Nov. 23, 06, my university education came to a close after 4 years of academic hell and 1 year of "easy" (compared to engineering courses, 3 hours a day of language courses + 1.5 hour one way commute is not hard) study abroad in Japan.

Some pictures from the ceremony, it was approximately 1 hour long, and started at a weird time at 1pm on a Wednesday. Even the graduatation ceremonies at UBC seem like they are mass produced like the courses.