VBNF Blog

Thanks to Alisa Choi Darcy, President of Quoteendquote, cross-cultural strategy Inc., who invited many of the media and VIP to join a one day tour to visit Fort Langley and the Greater Vancouver Zoo. It was a sunny day and we were gathering at the Pacific Center to take the tour bus to Fort Langley as our first stop via North Vancouver.

Media and VIP for the tour.

VBNF Presdient, Alex Au-Yeung and Mayor of Langley, Mr. H. Peter Fassbender

I have not been to the Pacific Center Mall for the last a few years and it was changed a lot. It now has many new shops with beautiful renovation. Vancouver has changed quite a bit within the last few years. Unless you go there to experience it, you wouldn’t know all the changes inside the buildings. Of course, there are many new high rises you wouldn’t be able to miss.

On the way, we can see the construction going on at the Port Mann Bridge. It was a mess. You have to ride carefully and need to know where you are going. Otherwise, you will miss the exit.

I went to Fort Langley a few times about 25 years ago. It was a small town with a few historical buildings. In those days, we only want to go there for lunch. They had a popular brunch in one of the restaurant by the fort.

This time, we now learned that Fort Langley is getting much bigger and there is a special place we went to so you can see some of the historical buildings and the inside. We were greeted by the Mayor of Langley and his associated with Tourism Langley and other sponsors. They have arranged an opening ceremony for the old coin displays by the Mayor of Langley and Mr. Jianzheng Gao, Consul of the Consulate General of People’s Republic of China in Vancouver.

 They served buffalo meat soup, salmon and some homemade biscuits. I never have buffalo meat soup before. It was good, no wild taste and it was soft and tender. I had two servings. We then went to one of the buildings at the Fort to see some of the old stuffs.  It was great to know that British Columbia got its name from the young Queen Victoria.

We then went to a special tent which was set up to showcase the product and services of the four sponsors, Tourism Langley, Capilano Bridge, Honeyview Farm and Coast and Mountains. They even have samples for us to take back. What a treat!

By the time we leaved, we were saluted by gun shots. That is the way they treat the special visitors in the old day. I guess we are the special bunch. I got a pretty good shot with my camera when they were firing.

Our next destination was the Greater Vancouver Zoo in Aldergrove, which is on 264^th Street. I went there a few times in the 80’s. There were not a whole lot of animals then and now, they have built many attractions and have a good collection of animals for the family to enjoy. We took a train ride around the zoo and a bus tour close to the animals. It was fun.

After the tour, we went back to the café area and had some pictures with the eagle and owl.

Want to see what we did, visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zezq42V5MAk to see our picture show.

Many countries including US and Canada issued warnings against travel in Egypt, Causing the tourism industry to collapse for the short term and expected to last till the end of this winter season. All Tourist Sites such as Egyptian Museum, Saqqara and Giza Pyramids in Greater Cairo, usually overrun with tens of thousands visitors, stood empty for over a month, Same thing in all other sites including Karnak temple and the world famous Valley of the Kings.

Egypt’s uprising emptied the hotels, but most Egyptians expect the recovery to be quick and the revolution to boost business in the long run.

Download full report here