Category: 2008

West Edmonton Mall – Edmonton (Part 7)

The Former Largest Mall in the World – West Edmonton Mall

High Level Bridge – Edmonton (Part 4)

What interests me in riding a High Level street car? First, it will be a first time experience and second my curiosity started on the things that I may be able to see while riding a High Level street car.

Riding a High Level Bridge street car was the first thing I did that day. Before I went to Jasper Terminal which located in Jasper Avenue, I called their customer service and I did inquire how I will be able to buy a ticket. Similar to my other adventure tour in Edmonton City, I brought my map and figured out how to go the High Level street car station. The station in Jasper is located between 109Th and 110Th street in Jasper Avenue. I decided to walked from 104Th street to 109Th street. While on my way, I realized how many establishments exists in Jasper Avenue and I understood why the avenue is famous in Edmonton. Then I continue walking, I thought that I will be having a short walk since I thought that it was just few meters away but I made mistake on estimation, it was quite too far.

When I arrived at the station I did not see a street car and because of that, I thought that the street car left already. But I checked my watched and the time was still early. I tried to find a small building that will serve as ticketing station, but the station that I saw are open place with few waiting chairs and the High Level street car trail. I wondered that time, “Where I will buy my ticket?”. That question in my mind had been answered when the High Level street car arrived. Some of the tourist went out the street car Then, the tourist guide went out too. The tourist guide was also the one who will collect our payment for the ride. Well that explains why there was no ticketing station because there is no need for it.

Next thing I was aware was I was inside the high level street car and the tour started. First, we passed the Legislature building. Then, we passed North Saskatchewan river, three tunnels, the Fort Hill, C&E Station Museum until we ended at Strathcona Terminal. What I like best on this rides, was the time when we were at the top of the bridge and below is the North Saskatchewan River. The view was wonderful. I see Edmonton in different angle. And the bottom of street car trail was a bridge passing by a real cars and other vehicles. The feeling was different and a little bit exciting while on top of the bridge.

High Level Street car

Inside the street car
Edmonton View from High Level Street Car

North Saskatchewan River

Another Angle for Downtown View
Kinsmen Park
North Saskatchewan River from high level bridge
River Valley Road beside North Saskatchewan River
Legislature Building from high level bridge

The street car will be on its way to Jasper Terminal. And because of that I decided to get out myself of the street car at the station near in Legislature Building for my next tour.

That ended my experience in High Level street car with a quick tour.

Downtown / City Center – Edmonton (Part 2)

Downtown was the place that excites me when I was on my way to my hotel from the first day I arrived in Edmonton. I planned to go out that night after I checked-in to my hotel at Crown Plaza which located in downtown and rested for a few hours.
Edmonton Downtown (mixed photos)

When I heard the word downtown, the impression to me was that this is a place where most of the people go. This means that this is a busy place. I went outside the hotel to walk around the downtown at past 9PM. That night I saw City Centre Mall, Bell Tower and other shopping store. But to my surprise, most of the establishments were closed and I did not expect it. I was surprised because downtown looks dull to me that night and I saw few people around. I cannot stop myself to compare this place to cities we have in Philippines. Weekend made the cities busy too. There are lots of people outside, malls are open until 11 PM. When I was in downtown, I was a little bit shocked. Since mall were closed that time, I had difficulty to find a restaurant that I can have my dinner. I stopped at the front of Bell Tower and decided to take a cab and asked the driver to drive me to the nearest open restaurant. The cab driver brought me to a Chinese restaurant. I was glad because I can eat rice. The driver waited for me and he drove me back to the hotel. First night, was not that pretty much excited but I have a lot of time to enjoy Edmonton.For almost two months of staying in Edmonton, one thing that I can say about downtown is, it is a busy place during weekdays but dull or I can say ghost town during weekend. Weekdays because most of the offices are located here and lots of people are working here.When I met my colleague at work, I had a chance to dine in different restaurants in downtown. The following restaurants are Co co di,Haweli, Sherlock’s Homes and Kids In The Hall Bistro. I had a chance to eat at Courthouse Cafeteria too. There was another place where my colleague used to eat. I can’t remember the name now. It is located in the food court. All I can remember is the name of the owner. They call her Amy. I just like to mention it here because, there is something especial in this eatery. Since it was located in a food court, there are other diner near in Amy’s eatery but to my surprise, most people or I can say all people are falling in line with Amy’s eatery while none will be seen in other diner. Sometimes I pity the other eatery because competition to dining business does not really exist. It is like monopolizing the dining business in that place.Few days passed, some of my colleagues walked me around the Citadel, Canada Place, Sir Winston Churchill Square and City Hall. One thing that I noticed in places in downtown. There are connected ped ways to each building structure. And I learned that its purpose is not to go outside especially during winter season.

Canada Place
Shaw Conference Centre

Magnificent Fountain at the front of City Hall

City Hall

100 St

I was lucky when we visit City Hall, the reason was I met one of the councilor of Edmonton City. But unfortunately I did not bring my camera to have a picture with him.

I admired the city hall because it has a great and distinct structure of the building. It has a pyramid glass ceiling and impressive fountain at the front of the building. I remembered that one time, when I planned to stroll again at the downtown, I witnessed a high school graduation event in city hall.

Most of the prestigious hotel in Edmonton can also be found in downtown like Fairmont Hotel MacDonald, The Westin Edmonton, The Sutton Place Hotel, Crown Plaza Chateau Lacombe (where I stayed during my first five nights in this city), Courtyard by Marriott and a lot more.

Fairmont Hotel MacDonald

The condo unit where I stayed is along 104Th street. One Saturday morning, I was surprised when I went outside, there is a market along 104Th street. And people are coming by. Then, I realized after I checked some of the features of Edmonton downtown guide, that 104Th street is what they call city market. I did look around and found a lot of stuff being offered, plants for gardening, foods and souvenir stuff

Bell Tower at Downtown Edmonton

104 St

Grant MacEwan College

102 Avenue

102 Avenue from The Bay Mall

102 Ave corner 102 st

During my last day tour in Edmonton which happened last June 7, 2008 – Saturday, with my buddy at work. I had a chance to see what is inside the Shaw Conference Centre. During the time we went there, there is ongoing convention and to my surprise Shaw Conference Centre is vast and huge place. And like to add also that I cannot forget that my buddy and I tried to ride the slant elevator just for the experience. Well the ride was cool.

When I was strolling around downtown, I met few Filipinos at the front of City Hall. Unlike me, they are in Edmonton for contract working. They were also new in the city that was why they were also touring the place. Because of them, I had a chance to have some pictures of places in downtown with myself. I was really thankful because I met them.

TELUS Plaza, what can I say in this place? Of course, TELUS Tower is great and I like the open plaza, where you can just sit there and enjoy the beauty of the place. But there is one place that I really like, I don’t know what they call on that part of the plaza, most people do smoke in this place but I like the view, because I can see North Saskatchewan river and the panoramic view of south part of Edmonton. It was a really nice view.

Telus Plaza South (2nd Highest Building in Edmonton)

I also had a chance to see the Little Italy. A place where buildings and houses looks like of course in Italy during my unplanned tour in Edmonton together with some friends I met at the church.

Another experience I had in downtown is watching ball games. How can I forget my first ever ball game that I watched in my entire life. I am not really a sports person but when I found out that David Beckham will be visiting Edmonton and will play football game, I bought a ticket and watched his game. I went to Commonwealth Stadium after the office and I had this experience where the LRT station are full of commuters, this was the first time that I saw a lot of people inside the LRT station, because my previous experience most of the time especially during weekend, not so much people riding the train. These people will watched Beckham games. Based on what I heard while inside the stadium, the people dropped by to watched the game was reaching 35000 and for me that was significant number. During the entire game, people are yelling of Beckham games, especially women. They loved David Beckham.

I can say that I have a lot of things that enjoyed in downtown, lots of places that I had been, and a lot of people who I met. And I think this ends my story at Edmonton Downtown.

Telus World of Science – Edmonton (Part 1)

Maybe the people who read this might say “Are you a kid?”. And one thing that I will respond to is a smile. Telus World of Science is a museum where most of the kids and children go. The word science itself is enough to say that it’s a museum to educate children most of the time but adult like me will also benefit to this kind of place. For me, any museum is fascinating, because I know that I will be learning something or I will be discovering something in this place.

Inside the EPCOR Environment Gallery

I visited Telus World of Science last May 30 2008, Friday. I came from the office, then I went home to the condo unit where I stayed and I took a bus to go there. Since I was never been there before, I used my Edmonton Map (it was actually an ETS – Edmonton Transit System map). I found that there was a mall before the museum – its Westmount Centre. I took a bus from downtown to Westmount station and I rode another bus to Telus World of Science. Well, discovering a way to go to somewhere around Edmonton was one of the exciting experiences I had in this city.Since I visited the place during the weekday, there were few visitors inside the museum. And most of the visitors I saw were children together with their parents. I went to the counter and inquired how I will be able to get a tour inside the museum. The officer explained to me, then, I paid a ticket and one of the crew did a brief orientation. I have a map and it helps me to find myself where I am. First, I went to EPCOR Environment Gallery where I discovered where Edmonton is getting the source of their electricity. Next was Allard Family Gallery where I found the “Body Fantastic”. Then, the next thing I did was watched an IMAX movie “MUMMIES – Secrets of the Pharaohs”. Last but not the least I did was, I went inside the Margaret Zeidler Star Theatre (Canada’s largest planetarium dome theatre) where I experienced a 3D star and laser light shows. I am a frustrated dreamer of being astronaut, and when I was able to see the show, all my dreams of being astronaut are all coming back to me.

Main Entrance
Telus World of Science

Before I leave Telus World of Science premises. I also found observatory with lots of telescopes RASC (Royal Astronomical Society of Canada) Edmonton Centre. And I was lucky because I was able to view one of the star named Acturus using one of the huge telescope and I saw a wonderful star that looks like a planet.

One of the Telescope from Observatory

All I can say was I really had a great time visiting Telus World of Science. If I will have children someday and I will be given a chance to go back in Edmonton, I will definitely bring my kids in this place.

Edmonton – Silent Capital City of Alberta

Two things I will never forget in this city. First, the people I met and second, the places that I was able to visit for a short period of time.

When I informed by my boss in Manila that I will be sending in Edmonton for training there was a part of me that was unhappy. Why? Because I never heard the name of this city. I never knew that this city was existed. I wish I had been assigned to Vancouver or Toronto, because these two cities are well-known to the whole world. But, it was not my wish that should be followed. It was work that was why I was sent in this city.

I arrived in Edmonton City International Airport at past 6PM or almost 7PM last April 26, 2008 and it was Saturday. I never got a chance to walk around the airport. Once I was out of the plane I looked for my luggage and find a cab that will drive me to Crown Plaza hotel where I stayed for my first five nights.

When I got myself out of the airport, I was excited because I was curious what Edmonton looks like. Along the way, I saw some snow at the side of the road which indicates that winter season just recently over. I saw some oil company buildings and structures and I learned from the cab driver that Edmonton has a lot of it. I also noticed that Edmonton is somewhat a flat place, no mountain or even hills. I also thought that the airport is just near in the city center but it’s not. My excitement decreased when I see nothing for a while aside from a flat land. Few minutes passed again, I saw houses and small buildings which was a sign of community. I was more thrilled when I saw buildings and towers which was a sign of being a city.

I knew to myself that one day was not enough to experience this whole city. I took all my time to go around the whole Edmonton which became an interesting place to discover.

Here are the highlights of Edmonton City that I found while staying here for almost two months.

Capilano Suspension Bridge and Park

I just like to create a simple blog about Capilano Suspension Bridge and Park which located in North Vancouver, at the province of British Columbia in Canada. Why I admired this park? I admired this park because I like the look and feel of a forest with a sense of tourist friendly. Why? Basic reasons: abundant tall trees, different kind of plants and of course the cold green color of the forest. And why I said it is tourist friendly? Because it has a friendly trails to trek which I knew built for the tourist.
Capilano Suspension Bridge and Park Collage

Entrance

Friendly Trail

While inside the park I found Totems and the area is called as “Spirit Stage”. Based on Canada history, Totems are important to the First Nation people in Canada.

 
Totems at Spirit Stage

Next to Spirit Stage is the popular suspension bridge (although this is not the original suspension bridge built before). It was renovated for the safety of the travelers like me. My favorite part , jumping while crossing the suspension bridge, the feelings were mixed like jittery, breathless yet exciting. Before I forget to mention, the river under the bridge is the Capilano River.

Capilano Suspension Bridge
 
Capilano River

During my visit I discovered that there are plenty of small and narrow suspension bridges inside the forest, these bridges are connected to one another using trees, they called it “Treetops Adventure”. I enjoyed walking in the Cliffhanger Boardwalk and I liked looking at the flowing river – the view was extraordinary. I also found some small swamps inside the park, these swamps made me remember that I am inside the forest. Not to mention also, I did not miss the Canyon Lookout to glanced the Capilano River in a different angle. Visiting this place was really worth for me since I love forest.

Treetops Adventure

Cliffhanger Boardwalk
Capilano River from Cliffhanger Boardwalk
swamp inside the forest

I like buying souvenir stuff that was why I enjoyed the shopping stores located inside the park and I bought post cards. There are also coffee shops and restaurants inside the park, they kept myself glutted.

I highly recommend to visit the park to anyone who loves nature.

Notes:

1. Plan to visit Capilano Suspension Bridge Park ? Check more details here.

Address :
3735 Capilano Road
North Vancouver, BC
Canada V7R 4J1

Tours : There are lots of tours available that offers the visit in the park and it can be combination with other tourist spot too.

Not on tours? : The park offers free shuttle bus coming from Vancouver Downtown. For more details, please check here.

2. Directions

Using Bus

From Downtown, take bus #246 and get off at Stop#54391 – NORTHBOUND (NB) CAPILANO RD AT WOODS DR.  Then take, bus#236 and get off at Stop#54304 – NORTHBOUND (NB) CAPILANO RD AT 3600 BLOCK.

Using Seabus

Take the Seabus from Waterfront Station, to Lonsdale Quay Station. Then take, bus#236 and get off at Stop#54304 – NORTHBOUND (NB) CAPILANO RD AT 3600 BLOCK.

For more details visit, Translink.