Showing posts with label holidays. Show all posts
Things To Do in Vancouver This Christmas Season
Christmas is a
Christian holiday that celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. No one really
knows the exact date of his birth, but most Christians celebrate Christmas on
December 25. On this day, most people go to church, where they participate in
special religious events. During the Christmas season, they also exchange gifts
and decorate their homes with lights, Christmas trees and mistletoe.
Christmas is
one of my favorite holidays because I like how families and friends gather
together and have delicious Christmas dinner and spend time with each other. I
always enjoy spending time with my families and friends. So I have made a list
of activities that I will be doing during the holiday season. You can also go
to some of those events and get into your Christmas spirit!
Bright Nights at Stanley Park
It’s nice to
go with your family and friends to check out millions of twinkling lights
sparkle at night in Stanley Park. For seeing the lights, entrance fee is by
donation, meaning that you can pay what you are willing to pay. The money goes
to the BC Professional Fire Fighters'
Burn Fund. You can also buy a ticket ($6-11) to ride on the train
for an experience of lights and live music. It opens from November 27
to January 4 (Closed on Christmas Day). This event is definitely on my
winter activities checklist. I love looking at beautiful lights and sipping hot
chocolate with my friends.
Get a Real
Christmas tree
If you live in an apartment (like me), you probably aren’t allowed to have
a real tree. However, if you are lucky enough to live in a single house, why don’t
you get a real Christmas tree? There are plenty of places around the city to
get a real tree and have fun decorating it:
·
St. Stephen’s United Church at 54th and Granville Street,
Vancouver
·
November 28 – December 21. 7 days a week 10 a.m. – 9 p.m
·
Lord Byng High School parking lot at 3939
West 16th Avenue, Vancouver
·
December 4 – 18
·
Monday to Friday from 12:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.; Saturday and
Sunday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
· Eagle Ridge United Church at 2813
Glen Drive, Coquitlam
· November 28 – December 21
· Monday to Thursday from 12 p.m. – 7 p.m.; Friday,
Saturday, Sunday from 10 a.m. – 9 p.m.
·
All Saints Anglican Church at Royal Oak and Rumble,
Burnaby
·
November 28 – December 21
·
Monday to Thursday 12 p.m. – 7
p.m.; Friday, Saturday, Sunday 10 a.m. – 9 p.m.
·
Lonsdale Quay – East Plaza 123 Carrie Cates Court, North
Vancouver
·
November 28 – December 21
·
Monday to Thursday 12 p.m. – 7
p.m.; Friday & Saturday 10 a.m. – 7 p.m.; Sunday 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
·
Prince of Wales Secondary School at
2250 Eddington Drive
·
November 30 – December 21
·
Monday to Friday 12 p.m. – 7 p.m.; Weekends 9 a.m. – 9
p.m.
·
Corner of Marine Dr. and Taylor
Way, West Vancouver
·
November 22 – December 23
·
Monday to Friday 12 p.m. – 8 p.m.;
Weekends 9 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Go For a Walk
and Check Out the Light Displays Around the City
There are many amazing
light displays around the city. Some places you should check out are: St.
Paul’s Hospital, Harbour Centre, Canada Place, Jack Poole Plaza, Robson Square, Trinity Street Christmas Light Festival in East Vancouver. They have amazing light
displays there.
Going to the Christmas Market is the number one thing to do on my holiday
activities checklist. There are over 50 unique vendors, beautiful
lights and delicious food. This is the 5th annual Christmas Market
in Vancouver. People love going there. It is back again in the heart of
downtown at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre Plaza– 650 Hamilton Street,
Vancouver
November 22 to December 24, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily (11 a.m. to
6 p.m. on December 24)
Come to the VanDusen Garden (5251 Oak Street) this holiday. Enjoy drinking
hot chocolate while walking through the beautiful light decorations. Take
photos with Santa and enjoy holiday treats!
Wednesday, December 10
to Sunday, January 4. Closed on Christmas Day
Going ice
skating in winter is a must. There are lots of rinks in Vancouver. But my favorite
one will always be the Robson Square Rink (800 Robson Street (Robson &
Howe)). It is in the busiest section of downtown. If you own a pair of skates,
then good news for you, you get to skate for free! Just bring your skates, get
changed and have fun! But don’t worry if you don’t have your own skates.
Rentals are available for only $4. One thing you need to remember is that they
only accept cash. So don’t forget to bring some cash! There is a concession
stand right beside the rink. They serve many snacks and drinks.
· Sunday to
Thursday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
· Friday and
Saturday, 9 a.m. to 11 p.m.
· Christmas Eve,
December 24 – 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
· Christmas Day,
December 25 – Noon to 5 p.m.
· Boxing Day,
December 26 – 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
· New Year’s
Eve, December 31 – 9 a.m. to 11 p.m.
· New Year’s
Day, January 1 – 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Volunteer/Donate
Don’t’
forget to give back to the community. There will be lots of events happening in
your neighborhood. Why not taking time and volunteer? Check with your community
centers, soup kitchens or food banks. Enjoy your holiday by helping those in
need!
Do you have some old clothes lying around in your wardrobe;
do you have some canned food hiding in your cabinet? Donate these stuff to the
people in need. Your donation can make a difference in someone’s holiday.
Also, don’t forget the animals! Check out the animal
rescue centers. Help out or donate. Let the animals have a happy holiday as
well!
Get a Job
Christmas is approaching and that means shops are going
to have sales. It will be a good time to get a job at the retail shops. They
will be looking for employees to help out during the busiest time of the year.
Earn some extra $$$!
- Lu
Thank You!
Thanksgiving is a holiday where, according to Wikipedia, Canada "celebrates the harvest and other blessings of the past year." It's a time to be grateful. But what should we be grateful for? We need to be grateful for the blessings that we receive on a daily basis. Below is a list of unsung heroes that we need to be thankful for:
- soldiers and police who sacrifice/sacrificed their lives for our safety
- construction workers that work their bodies off for the best of the community
- farmers who work endless hours to keep food on our tables
- teachers who give knowledge to the learning people
- bus drivers who take us to where we need to go
- media content producers to keep us entertained
- programming geniuses who produce and/or maintain social networking sites to keep communication alive
- friends who are there with you in every step of the way, and parents and family who look over and love us unconditionally
Of course, these aren’t all the people we should be thankful for. There are more on the list, and if I listed them all, then this blog post would not end. Personally, I’d like to thank you for reading this post, and being a part of the VANITY Blog family. Thank you for being an awesome person!
If you see someone who you think we should all be grateful for because of their actions, why not give them a simple "thanks buddy for being so cool" compliment? Because of these people listed above (and of course, there are many more), our lives are made easy.
I've got one question for you: who are you thankful for? Comment down below!
With gratitude (and then some),
Jose
Homemade Holiday Treats!
Hi Everyone! Christmas is fast approaching!
I found some Christmas themed videos from YouTube and I think that they're really cute and awesome, so I wanted to share one with you guys!
I know a lot of you are planning to cook or make some homemade foods over the holidays, so I'm sharing Bethany Mota's "Easy & Yummy DIY Holiday Treat Recipes"!
-Bam
I know a lot of you are planning to cook or make some homemade foods over the holidays, so I'm sharing Bethany Mota's "Easy & Yummy DIY Holiday Treat Recipes"!
-Bam
My Christmas Jam
Hello fellow Homo sapiens! I, a self-proclaimed person who has a good taste in music, want to share my Christmas playlist!
These are
the songs that I play when it’s December or at the Christmas dinner (That’s
right, I’m the DJ in the house). It is a
mixture of different genres: from up-beat to classic and of course to blues
#foreveralone
Did I just
use a hash tag? Anyways, let’s get to the playlist. In no particular order of
favoritism, here it goes:
10. Rockin’
around the Christmas Tree by Brenda Lee
No one can
resist this classic song. And thanks to the commercial of JOE, this song is
stuck in my head. It is catchy and we know what catchy songs do to us...
ROCKIN’ around the Christmas tree...the bathroom, the kitchen and even on the
sidewalk.
9. The
Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire) by Nat King Cole
Aaah ... Nat
King Cole. His Christmas songs are the ones that make you want to sit on a sofa
with all lights dimmed, have a coffee and be nostalgic about life. Play this
song if you have your grandparents in the house...they’ll love it.
8. Have Yourself a Merry little Christmas by Frank Sinatra
Like fellow
Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra is one of the best crooners of not just Christmas
but of all time. Can you imagine how sad this song really sounds? Just read the
title. Anyways, there are covers of this song which I really like such as
Christina Aguilera’s and Judy Garland’s
7. All I
Want for Christmas Is You by Mariah Carey
I’m pretty
sure that this is one of the songs that never get old during Christmas. It will
be impossible not to hear this song in December, whether in the mall or in your
own house. I memorized the lyrics not
because I intended to but, because it’s ridiculously overplayed (Admit it. It goes
the same for you). Nevertheless, this up-beat song surely brings out the merry
in Christmas.
6. Silent
Night by Boyz II Men
The definition of acapella. The classic
Silent night is covered by many artists but one thing that remains is its
solemn essence. I like this song a lot because it just shuts up all the noise
in the world (Pun not intended) you know, when you play it, it lurks in the air
and turn everything into a melody to soothe your ear.
5. Baby It’s
Cold Outside by Joseph Gordon Levitt and Lady Gaga
WHAT? This
exists? Yes! I just found out today as well. I was looking for Zoey and Will’s
version but this showed up. After I played it, sorry folks, but this is now my
favourite version. It is adorable how they switching the role making the boy
who wants to go because of fear his parents might scold him!
4. Little
Drummer Boy by Harry Simeone Chorale
Let’s admit
it, we don’t really know the other lyrics to this song aside from the RA-PU-PUM-PUM
bit. No? Okay it’s just me then. This one is probably one of my favourite
Christmas songs sung by a chorale. And thanks to Peter Griffin for staining the
memory of this song (If you don’t know what I’m saying google Family Guy’s
version of this song)
3. Santa
Claus Is Coming To Town by Bruce Springsteen
OH you
better watch out you better not cry! You better not pout I’m telling you why,
Santa Claus is coming to town. 1) You sang this while reading it and 2) This is
mostly the part where you know the lyrics. I LOVE this song. It has the u-beat rhythm that makes you sing
along no matter where you are or even if you’re sad. (‘Cause Santa is coming
;))
2. Ave Maria
I did not
put any artist because there are a lot of varieties of Ave Maria (Personally, I
like Pavarotti’s) This song is played in a lot of occasions Christmas, funerals
or even weddings. Nevertheless, Hail the Holy Mother Mary.
1. O Holy
Night by Christina Aguilera
I know I
said this list is in no order of favoritism but, this one has to occupy the
first place. Fall on your knees indeed, this song gives goose bumps. Regardless of who the singer is, I love this
song or should I say poem. This truly captures the soul of Christmas. Everyone
is united and adores the Holy Night.
So that’s
it! I tried to make it even with blues, classic and up-beat! Hope you enjoyed
the list!
Happy
Holidays everybody!
-Anonymeh
“Geronimo”
- The Doctor
