Vancouver Trip - Day 3 and 4

Day 3

On day three, we got up early-ish and headed over to the University of British Columbia to see the Museum of Anthropology.  It has a stunning location - looking over the pacific ocean on a cliff.  It also has a magnificent collection of first peoples arts and artifacts.  I loved the grand hall with the massive totem poles.  It’s worth the journey over.  

After the museum, we had lunch at the revamped restaurant, Refuel, in the Kitsilano part of town.  Refuel used to be a fine dining establishment called Fuel, however, they closed down and reopened in a more casual vibe.  We had my favorite meal of the trip there.  The place was not too crowded and we were able to interact with the waiter and one of the chefs quite a bit.  I had the amazing soft poached eggs with tomatoes and fresh ricotta as well as a glass of BC wine.  Again a lovely light white.  Stephen had their buttermilk fried chicken with a biscuit and watermelon - which was pretty darn good.  The place is very sparse in its decoration, but the staff are lovely.  The website says that they are attempting to serve honest food in a relaxed atmosphere.  They are succeeding.  I would highly recommend going there.  

In the afternoon, we went to the wedding, which was beautiful, and then had a break.  We decided to check out this tea place we had seen downtown, the Urban Tea Merchant.  This place has a fantastic selection of teas from The O Dor.  We had an afternoon tea service.  While nibbling on macarons and chocolates, we sipped a Gyokura Tokywa and Fen Xie.  We liked them so much we bought some to take back home in these nifty tins.  The tea sommelier, Reza Nasooti, was wonderful.  If you go, strike up a conversation with him!  After the tea, we headed to the wedding, which was at the Vancouver Convention Center.  The Convention Center has an amazing view across the harbor and is extremely green in design (it even has a green grass roof).  It was stunning.

Day 4

On our last day, we only had the morning.  We drove over to East Vancouver to eat dim sum at Sun Sui Wah.  We had specifically targeted this spot because it was supposed to have carts!  Alas, there were no carts.  There was a very large, crowded dining space filled with happy diners.  We ordered very unceremoniously from a flip book with pictures and descriptions.  Overall the quality was very good and the place was hopping by the time we left.  If you’re craving dim sum this might be a good spot for you.  

I really enjoyed Vancouver; can't wait to go back...