English Bay with Mak Long

Mak Long arrived the day before yesterday, and today is the start of Mak Long’s first weekend with us in Vancouver. Seeing as it’s such a nice day outside (quite warm actually, the warmest this year), we decided to take a bus to the English Bay. We had to take 3 buses there – the 99, the 22, and finally the 6. It took us a little over an hour to get there. It was SOOO hot outside, but the kids were in good spirits. A passer by laughed when the minute we stepped out the bus, Melur said, “Where’s the beach?” It was just down the street, maybe 100 yards.

We made our way down the street, along a colourful row of shops. English Bay is a little on the posh side, a nice neighbourhood, with touristy type shops and hangouts. We passed by this really interesting looking ice cream parlour, which caught our eye. Today was looking like a really good day for ice cream. The beach was packed! I think there was a memo going around that said “Go to English Bay today”. We brought our kites. We thought it’d be nice to fly it for the first time this year, by the beach. But with all the people hanging around, and the wind being somewhat unsteady, we decided to put the kites away and have lunch.

Lunch at English Bay

After lunch, we made our way towards Stanley Park. Stanley Park is really big, so we made it to the edge of the park, and stopped to take pictures. Wish you were here Mommy!

Walking to Stanley Park

After hanging out for about an hour, we decided to make our way back. We headed to that ice cream parlour, but the line was so long, it extended right to the main road. We didn’t feel like waiting in the scorching sun, so we took the bus back. But we managed to call Mommy and decided to rendezvous at our current favourite ice cream place – Dairy Queen.

Ice Cream at Dairy Queen

We arrived before Mommy, and right before the crowd came in. When Mommy arrived, the line here was also extending outside. Fuh! Everyone wants ice cream on a hot day. We ended up buying seconds.

Ready to Go Home

And that was pretty much our first Saturday with Mak Long visiting us from Malaysia. We took the bus back home. The kids were pretty tired, especially Melur. I wonder what else we’ll do now that Mak Long is around…