The Forbidden City at Vancouver Art Gallery

I have always wanted to come and look at the exhibits here at Vancouver Art Gallery. It was just fortunate that when I did got my Canadian Citizenship, part of the package was you get a Cultural Access Pass that will get you to lots of places in Canada for free. One of those places is the Vancouver Art Gallery...

They were featuring am exhibit called "The Forbidden City". It was a long line as it was the last day of the said exhibit but it was fun to see the things they use during that era.

* No pictures inside

Art exhibit "Unscrolled"

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THE FORBIDDEN CITY

Vancouver Art Gallery

Downtown, Vancouver

Guinness Book Exhibit at the Pacific Science Center

This year, I decided that we would do creative field trips with the kids and with an annual science pass that we purchased, we will be gearing toward science this year to maximize our purchase. We used our annual membership first, not on our own museum in Vancouver but on a Seattle trip, The Pacific Science Center.

I was excited as the exhibit featured was something I was interested in. The Guiness Book of World Record Exhibit. It ends at February 4th.

We went for the permanent exhibits first as it was our first time in this museum.

Science on a Sphere

All about the planets, Kenzo was more excited with playing the puzzles than learning about them..

Maybe next time?

Puget Sound and Salt Water Tide Pool

Dinosaur: A Journey through time

* A trip back to the Dinosaur Age

There were full sized dinosaurs moving their necks to create the effect of their movements and all the informations for your to read.

 

* A look at the place

 

* The most interesting looking dinosaur of the pack

Pachycephalosaurus- it was actually found in Western Canada and U.S.A.

Kimi and Kenzo enjoyed the Dinosaur prints... 

* Just as big asa a footprint

 

* Kenzo was engrossed with the eggs and how the baby dinosaur looks like

Of course, in between we were able to catch some shows. We caught the show "FIRE"

...and of course, the Featured Exhibit. THE GUINESS BOOK EXHIBIT

* Giant chair makes the kids extra small

* These are made up of toasts with torch. Amazing!

* This is made up of bolts and car parts

* This is made up of matchsticks!

* Family pictorial by the jaw bone

Art Collage made up of ordinary things into extraordinary artwork.

* Stamp Collage

* Penny Collage

* Candy Collage

* PC keyboard Collage

* Telephone Directory Carved to make Art

* Kenzo loved this camel with toys of every era hanging on everywhere

Outdoor was quite a nice walk, you can go from one exhibit indoor or walking by this outdoor waterscapes and going through another door to the exhibit you want to discover next.

* PACIFIC CENTER OUTDOOR

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GUINESS BOOK OF WORLD EXHIBIT

Pacific Science Center

Seattle, WA

U.S.A.

Flaky Pie and Homemade Ice Creams.....

My friend finally took the plunge and decided to try teaching a new class at our neighbourhood.

She will be teaching brownie pizza (moist one!) for the kids and lead the adults to a 3 hour flaky pie and homemade ice cream class.

Instructor Profile: Kimberly is a red seal certified baker and pastry instructor with over 20 years of experience. She has worked with 5 star hotels including, The Sutton Place Hotel in Vancouver known for its Chocolate Buffet. She also worked in Asia for the Shangri-La Hotel and Mandarin Oriental Hotel chains.

Good Luck Kimberly

A Trip to Chinatown and Sun Yat Sen

It was exciting for me to be able to ride the bus with the kids for their field trip in Chinatown. Pretty apt as it was Chinese New Year and this garden is a perfect place to know more about the Eastern culture.

Unlike before, where we just go and look around on our own. The kids are going on a tour to get to know about some interesting facts about the garden and it's features. 

* Sun Yat Sen in stone

There is two Foo Dog guarding the entrance and it always comes in pair. I've always thought that these were lions or dragons but now I know better hehe! 

* Tour guide Wendy explaining that there is a male and female

* Female Foo Dog…

The female apparently differs from the male in one aspect. The female one is doing something quite maternal and you can see that one paw is holding a baby while the male foo dog's paw is holding a globe.

The tour started outside the garden and into the streets of Chinatown...

* Busy streets of Chinatown

* A pair of dragons perched on the street signs

Next on the tour was going to the store where different medicinal plants and herbs were sold as an alternative medicine for different ailments. A strong smell greets you as soon as you open the door. It brings back memories when I used to go to these stores with my dad while I was a kid.

* A tray of sweets in a tray near the entrance

We also passed by lanterns adorning the stores. Red and golds… these are colours you can see everywhere during Chinese New Year.

* Lanterns

* A large abacus. Calculator of the past

* Gateway to another world

A break between tour was the lunch time which took place at Tinseltown Food area of the mall...

* Photo opportunity for the whole 1st graders…

Inside the garden, it was like being transformed to Old China. The garden was in the middle of the house and other areas were placed around the garden.

* Entrance to the Garden

 

 

A bit of story on how the zodiac animal got it's placement...

* Tour guide and Mrs Taylor act out the story with puppets

* Chinese Calligraphy

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DR SUN YAT SEN 

CHINESE CLASSICAL GARDEN

Vancouver, B.C.