Saturday, August 16, 2014

Vancouver - the Edge of Sketchy

Righto... so from Gastown we headed south along Carrall... Don't head east because a few blocks thataway is Hastings and Main... beary scary area of town... This is just Hastings and Carrall and on the corner there are some drug deals going on... don't look!

And now Mama tells me that she used to work near here back in the olden days! Eeeee.... scary! She says it wasn't that bad... well... at least during the day... Hmmm.... She says there was this really good seafood restaurant nearby and they had the best fish and chips back in the day. So let's go check it out... Right... It looks like The Only is closed... 

Oh and look... broken car glass... Mama... I think we should head outta here!

So... a block south is Chinatown... go figure... Big tourist area just a block from Scary-ville!

There is a beary interesting building here... it is the dark green one with the windows to the right and blue tarp. That is the side view of it... and that's how wide it is!! Apparently it is in the Guiness Book of Records as the narrowest commercial building in the world.

It is called the Jack Chow Building.... (or the Sam Kee Building). It is 4'10" deep at street level... but gets a bit wider upstairs.

Uh-huh... and here we have some tramway tracks to nowhere... so sad!

This building has a copper top which is oxidized green... No wait... Mama says it's actually a steel roof that they paint green to make it look like copper. Weird. She says she used to work there back in the olden days! Wow... that must have been a nice view from up there...

Except she says she didn't work upstairs... it was down here somewhere... Well, that's no view! But back then, all these other buildings weren't there.

These are all new condo buildings. Mama is grumbling about how different things are here now!

Alright... we are now officially out of the sketchy area. This is a Canadian Army Armoury building... home to the British Columbia Regiment - a reserve regiment. And there we go... that's the tour for today! Tomorrow... we will look at some of the modern day "regiments" that "fight" "battles"!! Heh-heh....

9 comments:

  1. Did you get to go inside the tank? Just don't press any buttons! We wouldn't want you to shoot at a local Starbucks!!!

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  2. No, they have it welded shut... I would never aim at a Starbucks... maybe at a Tim Horton's!

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    1. Be beary careful in the sketchy parts if Canada. I didn't know that Canada has drug dealers. The seafood restaurant looks a little....err....dilapidated.

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    2. Oh my, aiming that at a Tim Hortons....my.my.my. I think you need to spare Timmy's just because of the honey donut.

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    3. The Only used to be quite cool... sort of a long, skinny diner style with red stools and booths and everything. Great seafood but that was beary long ago - clearly! OK,I will spare Timmy's because you are right, the honey donut is the best although their hot chocolate is meh.

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  3. So cool thanks for sharing, makes me feel like I've been somewhere this summer, stay-cations suck! The narrowest commercial building you showed made me think of one in my city. You can read about it here http://redtri.com/chicago/step-inside-a-teeny-tiny-popcorn-shop/ and you can watch a video about it here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaKF_ATPYB8 You may note the discrepancy in the size noted on both. Mom thinks the 4' is more accurate. One of her favorite places to go as a kid, she took my brother there when he was a kid. Hummm, come to think of it, I think Scruff and I need a little trip there too.

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    1. Wow!! That's pretty cool!!! That shop is not very wide, and quite deep. The one in Vancouver is quite wide, but not beary deep... Apparently there is one in Pittsburgh that is also super narrow. I think you guys need a trip - definitely!! Or your own reno blog...

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  4. Love your hat and it is good to wear one in summer. Lucky you it is winter here but not too cold. Sad about parts of Vancouver being scary but I guess most cities sadly have those areas. That army tank looks fun to climb on. Did you??

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    1. Hiya! Yes, it is super hot here - 28C... but feels like it is in its 30s. All cities have some sketchy bits I think. Although I hear Brisbane is the best city in the world. Is that true?

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