I recently went on another trip over to the Vancouver area, and while it was a considerably shorter trip than the one I made back in the summer, I thought I would still share some of the things I did while over in Rain City.

My flight was early in the morning so the Calgary International Airport was nice and empty.

For those who have never flown during the cold winter months before, the planes actually have to be “de-iced” before taking off!

The flight itself wasn’t very long, just over an hour, which at first sounded fine and dandy.

Interestingly enough however, I felt that it was too short. I’m usually accustomed to being able to at least take a nap while on a flight, but not this time!

It was still long enough for me to at least snap a few shots of the sunset though.

I couldn’t help but think of Fight Club while reading this…

…but no matter, I had arrived at Abbotsford!

Now my sister and nephew would be arriving almost an hour after me, so I thought this would be a nice time to explore around Abbotsford Airport since I had never been here before. Unfortunately, it is a very tiny airport. Like, tiny. There’s five gates, two of which I believe are international, one baggage claim area, two cafes (one before security and one after), and about ten terminals for people to check it. Well then, good thing I brought my DS.

From this point on, the rest of this post is going to be pretty random. We didn’t really have anything planned for this trip so I’m just going to go ahead and mash it all together here.

First up is Little Sheep Mongolian Hotpot located in Richmond!

As you can see, we ordered quite a bit of meat.

I don’t think I’ve ever been to a hotpot place that serves ikayaki (grilled squid on a stick). Oh well, oishii!

This is also the first time I’ve ever had hotpot for lunch…

…but no matter, we were hungry!

Of course I couldn’t not post any car pictures, so here you go!

A surprisingly clean MX-3 Precidia. I used to want one of these and they are pretty hard to come by in good shape these days.

Also in the Aberdeen parking lot was this crazy looking pink EG Civic. Just another day in Richmond.

That being said, yes I was at Aberdeen! This mall is pretty much a must on my to-do list every time I visit the Vancouver area…

…and you may have noticed that there is a bit of a trend as well. After grabbing some delicious Beard Papa’s, we headed over to Gacha Gacha Hobbies & Toys to see what they had to offer this time around.

Holy crap did I ever want Takumi’s 86.

The popularity of Pokemon seems to have blown up yet again with the release of the latest X and Y series games.

A mini sushi bar!

I still remember when I accidentally bought a $400 Gloomy Bear here a few years ago. I say accidentally because there was an error with the pin pad, but thankfully they fixed it!

After Gacha of course comes Daiso! If anything, I come to Aberdeen just for this place.

After all, it’s not often I get to stock up on $2 (and up) Japanese supplies!

I should mention that I was there just a week after Chinese New Years, so there were still a few things setup around the mall such as this gigantic fortune cookie…

…as well as these happy looking guys!

We also made a quick stop by the International Buddhists Temple which as ever was absolutely full of people.

While the first to light the incense seemed nice and cozy…

…it was actually pretty chilly out. Yes, that is a nearly frozen goldfish in the water.

With that done, it was off to Steveston…

…where we headed for the Fisherman’s Wharf!

While I have been to Steveston in the past, I have never wandered down here before.

Come to think of it, why haven’t I come down here before? I love sashimi!

There were plenty of fresh fish for sale here from tuna to sharks!

There was also lots of uni (sea urchin) which is best ate as fresh as possible.

This is about as fresh as it gets!

Unfortunately we didn’t buy any uni to eat, but we did buy a few sharks and manta rays!

No, we weren’t chopping them up and making shark fin soup for dinner, but rather setting them free back into the ocean.

This is apparently a Vietnamese tradition for TET (Vietnamese New Years) to release an animal back into the wild which in turn grants you good luck for the rest of the year!

Needless to say, I have never done anything like this before. The only exception might be when my sister and I had a pet humming bird for a week, but that’s a story for another time.

I do love sharks though, so setting them free sure felt good!

The last thing you’d want in an area that’s filled to the brim with fish, overweight birds that can’t fly anymore.

I came across a few new flavors of Pocky and Prez that I have never seen before, such as Rum&Raisin…

…and wasabi flavored. If you like wasabi, great! If you don’t like wasabi, then I’d suggest staying away from this for forever.

With the short trip done, it was time to head back over to the snow covered land of Alberta. I’m sure I’ll be back here soon enough.

After all, I do love Vancouver!

PS – Thank you WestJet for letting me into the cockpits of the planes! You guys are awesome!

-brandon.

Click HERE to view the full photo set on Flickr.