Day 90 - Vancouver
Tuesday, November 09, 2010
Saturday 6th November
Of my three days in Vancouver, I have two week-end days and one week-day. The week-day will be dedicated to getting a SIN (Social Insurance Number), setting up a bank account and finding a phone plane, whilst my week-end would be dedicated to - SHOPPING!
I was supposed to have started work in Whistler on the 15th of November, which would have given me 10 days to acclimatise, shop, and set myself up, but I had been requested to start a week early, thus leaving me with only 3 days to achieve this all. Considering I have been in Asia for the last three months, I am not equipped for Canadian winter conditions at all! And, all of the 'essentials' (i.e. shampoo, conditioner, soap) have just run out, so I need to replenish them all!
The day started with breakfast at the hostel. The free buffet breakfast was luxurious and very American - bagels with cream cheese, toast, scones, etc. I had wholemeal toast (healthy) with cream cheese (not so healthy) - but hey, I'm in North America so I need to blend in! (Ok, I admit, I did take my vegemite down with me but I didn't use it!)
The shops in Vancouver open later than in Australia - 10am on a Saturday - so I did a loop of Robson Street (the main shopping strip) whilst waiting for them to open, wearing in my new boots. There were some amazing stores - like a chocolate shop whose whole window display was different flavours of toffee apples! (Toffee apples dipped in chocolate with marshmallow and nuts, for example).
My first stop was Zara, the British store that is all over Asia yet hasn't found its way to Australia. I had a big list of things to buy, and unlike at home I couldn't dilly-dally about buying things (I never impulse buy normally). I'd told myself that if I liked it, and it was 'on the list', then buy it. (Ski clothes I'd buy in Whistler, using my staff discount, but I needed things like tights, socks, jeans, long sleeve tops, jumpers, a nice outfit, winter coat etc as well as nail polish, make-up and so on.)
At Zara, I purchased a puffy, knee length winter coat and a long sleeve cotton top. One annoying thing here is that the price shown is without tax. So you may think you're getting a bargain, but then add 12% on top of that! (A combined federal and local tax). Second stop was to Levis for some jeans. Now, I have not worn jeans in about 3 years. In fact, I don't even own a pair of long pants. For me, I don't feel feminine unless I'm wearing a skirt/dress with tights/stockings and heels. My body just isn't made for pants.
I'd read in Asia that Levis had a new concept in store - rather than define jeans by their size (i.e. 10, 12) and cut (bootcut, skinny), they also introduced a 'curve fit'. The Irish girl (also on a working holiday visa) who assisted me was brilliant. I told her exactly what I needed, and what my body shape was, and she grabbed me the styles I should try - and they all fit and looked good! I was soo worried about buying pants, so to buy two pairs of jeans in the first store I looked at was brilliant. To top it off, they were cheap - costing me $150 for the two pairs, not bad for Levis).
At American Eagle Outfitters, I scored a boyfriend blazer, long and black (as opposed to the one I had made, which was silver and short). It looked great with the dress I had on, and I figured I could wear it with a pair of jeans as well for dressier occasions.
Along Robson Street I continued (OPI nail polish found - in Australia it's $20 a bottle, here less than $10 - and I even got a top and base coat at 2-1!) until I got to the Pacific Centre, where I'd found Nine West the previous evening. I took a pitstop for lunch (tacos - Mexican food is everywhere!) before continuing on. I found a great department store called "The Bay", where I scored the make-up I desperately required. They had a great department full of Canadian winter clothes (i.e., supporter clothes for the Winter Olympics), including the famous red gloves. I was so tempted to buy things but I had to concentrate on the task at hand!
After almost 7 hours of shopping (when you HAVE to buy clothes, you force yourself to try on anything that looks good - and even stuff that doesn't!), my weary feet dragged themselves back to the hostel, where I promptly fell asleep at 5pm. I didn't mean to, but I was soooo tired - and of course, I woke up at midnight and couldn't get back to sleep. Daylight saving ended at 2am, so I lived through that hour twice, eventually getting back to sleep at 2:30am. I awoke again at 4:30am and that was it - I listened to the person in the room next to me snoring and watched the sunrise (breakfast wasn't until 8am and the shops didn't open until 11am, so I had hours to kill!)
One interesting thing about my room: I share an ensuite. To use it, I unlock the door on my side, enter the bathroom, and lock the door on their side (then, vice versa on the way out). Only a toilet and shower is in there - sink and mirror are located in my room. Odd concept!
Of my three days in Vancouver, I have two week-end days and one week-day. The week-day will be dedicated to getting a SIN (Social Insurance Number), setting up a bank account and finding a phone plane, whilst my week-end would be dedicated to - SHOPPING!
I was supposed to have started work in Whistler on the 15th of November, which would have given me 10 days to acclimatise, shop, and set myself up, but I had been requested to start a week early, thus leaving me with only 3 days to achieve this all. Considering I have been in Asia for the last three months, I am not equipped for Canadian winter conditions at all! And, all of the 'essentials' (i.e. shampoo, conditioner, soap) have just run out, so I need to replenish them all!
The day started with breakfast at the hostel. The free buffet breakfast was luxurious and very American - bagels with cream cheese, toast, scones, etc. I had wholemeal toast (healthy) with cream cheese (not so healthy) - but hey, I'm in North America so I need to blend in! (Ok, I admit, I did take my vegemite down with me but I didn't use it!)
The shops in Vancouver open later than in Australia - 10am on a Saturday - so I did a loop of Robson Street (the main shopping strip) whilst waiting for them to open, wearing in my new boots. There were some amazing stores - like a chocolate shop whose whole window display was different flavours of toffee apples! (Toffee apples dipped in chocolate with marshmallow and nuts, for example).
My first stop was Zara, the British store that is all over Asia yet hasn't found its way to Australia. I had a big list of things to buy, and unlike at home I couldn't dilly-dally about buying things (I never impulse buy normally). I'd told myself that if I liked it, and it was 'on the list', then buy it. (Ski clothes I'd buy in Whistler, using my staff discount, but I needed things like tights, socks, jeans, long sleeve tops, jumpers, a nice outfit, winter coat etc as well as nail polish, make-up and so on.)
At Zara, I purchased a puffy, knee length winter coat and a long sleeve cotton top. One annoying thing here is that the price shown is without tax. So you may think you're getting a bargain, but then add 12% on top of that! (A combined federal and local tax). Second stop was to Levis for some jeans. Now, I have not worn jeans in about 3 years. In fact, I don't even own a pair of long pants. For me, I don't feel feminine unless I'm wearing a skirt/dress with tights/stockings and heels. My body just isn't made for pants.
I'd read in Asia that Levis had a new concept in store - rather than define jeans by their size (i.e. 10, 12) and cut (bootcut, skinny), they also introduced a 'curve fit'. The Irish girl (also on a working holiday visa) who assisted me was brilliant. I told her exactly what I needed, and what my body shape was, and she grabbed me the styles I should try - and they all fit and looked good! I was soo worried about buying pants, so to buy two pairs of jeans in the first store I looked at was brilliant. To top it off, they were cheap - costing me $150 for the two pairs, not bad for Levis).
At American Eagle Outfitters, I scored a boyfriend blazer, long and black (as opposed to the one I had made, which was silver and short). It looked great with the dress I had on, and I figured I could wear it with a pair of jeans as well for dressier occasions.
Along Robson Street I continued (OPI nail polish found - in Australia it's $20 a bottle, here less than $10 - and I even got a top and base coat at 2-1!) until I got to the Pacific Centre, where I'd found Nine West the previous evening. I took a pitstop for lunch (tacos - Mexican food is everywhere!) before continuing on. I found a great department store called "The Bay", where I scored the make-up I desperately required. They had a great department full of Canadian winter clothes (i.e., supporter clothes for the Winter Olympics), including the famous red gloves. I was so tempted to buy things but I had to concentrate on the task at hand!
After almost 7 hours of shopping (when you HAVE to buy clothes, you force yourself to try on anything that looks good - and even stuff that doesn't!), my weary feet dragged themselves back to the hostel, where I promptly fell asleep at 5pm. I didn't mean to, but I was soooo tired - and of course, I woke up at midnight and couldn't get back to sleep. Daylight saving ended at 2am, so I lived through that hour twice, eventually getting back to sleep at 2:30am. I awoke again at 4:30am and that was it - I listened to the person in the room next to me snoring and watched the sunrise (breakfast wasn't until 8am and the shops didn't open until 11am, so I had hours to kill!)
One interesting thing about my room: I share an ensuite. To use it, I unlock the door on my side, enter the bathroom, and lock the door on their side (then, vice versa on the way out). Only a toilet and shower is in there - sink and mirror are located in my room. Odd concept!
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