What to do on the weekend?

Guess what? INTERNeX is going to Vancouver Island 🎉and we’re beyond excited! On our trip we’re visiting Tofino and Victoria.  One thing’s for sure it’s not going to be boring. First we’re going to take the ferry over to Tofino – maybe we’re lucky enough to spot whales and dolphins. When we arrive in Tofino we’ll discover rainforests, waterfalls and giant trees. On the second day everyone can decide themselves if they want to join one of the tours (e.g. whale and bear watching, kayaking, surfing) or just enjoy the day in town, maybe check out some cute coffee or souvenir shops. If the weather allows it we’re going to have a beach campfire, of course with lots of marshmallows and a lot of stories from the recent days. On day three we’re heading to Victoria where we can enjoy the beautiful harbour by night. On our last day we’re going to stroll through the city and visit the most popular sights of Victoria. In the evening we’re going to take the ferry back to Vancouver. So stay tuned for our blog post on Monday to see how it went!

If you can’t join the trip to Vancouver Island there are still lots of things you can do, for example visit the Shipyards Night Market in North Vancouver. You can discover local treats and artisan businesses and maybe find something you never knew you needed. 😉 After your shopping tour on the market you can go through the variety of food offered there. While you’re eating you’ll be entertained with live music and you can even get some drinks in their beer garden. The Shipyards Night Market is right in front of the SeaBus station at Lonsdale Quay which – by the way – gives you an amazing view of the Vancouver skyline.

Our next recommendation is going mini golfing. You can practise this activity whether the weather is good or bad. There are outdoor Mini Golf yards e.g. at Hastings Street, Keefer Street or Seymour Boulevard. For the indoor Yards there is one in Elmbridge Way which is kind of cool because it’s black light Mini Golf. This activity starts at 6 CAD and you could combine it with some drinks or snacks as well. 🙂

We hope you’re enjoying your weekend as we’ll do 🙂

Cheers,
Anna & Chiara 🙂

How was the weekend?

What is better than two days of weekend? Right, three days of weekend! We definitely enjoyed the long weekend with lots of fun activities.

Friday evening some of us came together to start the weekend properly. We played some games and had some really good conversations. What did you do on Friday?

On Saturday there was the Holi festival🎉. Sadly none of us got a ticket for it but we still went to the Town Centre Park in Coquitlam. Have you ever been there? It’s definitely worth going, the park is beautiful! On that day there were three different food trucks. Some of us tried the food and had some drinks. Luckily we were able to see the people throwing colours in the air and the coordinators taught traditional Indian dance performances. After we enjoyed the beautiful weather and the festival we all became hungry and decided to grab some burgers. We found a good spot not far away from the park and stilled our hunger. We all learned something new as we wanted to pay cash: you can just leave the money on the table, instead of giving it to the waiter like in Germany. Fortunately the waiter clarified the misunderstanding.😉

After the actual weekend event with the sold out tickets for holi festival didn’t go as planned. We decided to do another weekend event on Sunday. We went to the largest night market in North America, the Richmond Night Market. The weather switched the whole day from sunny to cloudy. It seemed very dark but luckily there was no rain. After we entered the market we were surprised by the variety of the booths and the mass of people there. First we checked everything out to have an overview of the offered food🍱. As you might all know this was not an easy decision! Everybody grabbed their food and met at our table to eat together. After a little dessert we decided to go through the rest of the market and visited the gaming booths. At about 10pm we went to the train station together and went home. To sum that up we can definitely recommend visiting the Richmond Night Market with its interesting food and entertainment options

On our third day of the weekend some of us visited the Vancouver Lookout. After we bought the tickets we took the elevator all the way up. The elevator there is a special one because the front door consists of glass, so you can enjoy the view of the city the whole way up – not really suitable for people with fear of heights. The view on the top was amazing and the weather was great. After we walked around we headed back down. In our opinion Vancouver Lookout is also worth visiting, so go check it out when you have a chance. 🙂

We’re excited to hear more about your weekend at the upcoming Pub Night tomorrow!

Cheers,
Anna & Chiara 🙂

What to do on the weekend?

Yippie, the long weekend is knocking on the door! 🎉 And there is so much to do in Vancouver!

Our first recommendation is going with other INTERNeXers to the Colour Fest which is part of the Holi Festival.
You don’t know what Holi stands for? That’s no problem, we’ll explain it to you!

“Holi is a Hindu festival that has been celebrated since ancient times. The Holi Festival is celebrated as a way to welcome in spring, and also is seen as a new beginning where people can release all their inhibitions and start fresh.”
You throw coloured powder in the air to represent the bright colours of spring and the bonfire from which Prahlad was saved.

The event will be on Saturday, May 20th in Town Centre Park, Coquitlam. There will be music, dance performances, a certain colour zone and multicultural food trucks (We’re sure there’s something for everyone). It starts at 5pm and ends at 8pm.

We’re also visiting the Richmond night market on Sunday. It’s the largest night market in North America and offers over 110 food baths from different countries! So there is a huge variety. 🌯🍱🍜

Another thing to do to take advantage of the great weather is kayaking☀️. There are a lot of good places where you can rent a kayak, for example at Deep Cove, Jericho Beach or the North shore. Renting a single kayak costs about 45 CAD for 2 hours, a double kayak about 69 CAD. Some of them also offer guided tours where you can enjoy the most beautiful spots around.

If you’re interested just go on their website, search for a free time lap and feel free to book it!

Last but not least our third recommendation for this weekend is going to the Aquarium🐠🦦. It is Canada’s largest aquarium and is located in the beautiful Stanley Park. Besides just watching animals there are different touch pools where you get the opportunity to get hands-on with giant sea cucumbers, green anemones and starfish. If you want to visit this beautiful place you have to reserve tickets online. The prize of the ticket depends on the day you want to go there. It costs between 39 CAD (during the week) to 48 CAD (on the weekend). If you’re a student with a valid proof you’re able to get a discount for about 5 CAD.

Hope to see you on the weekend! It’s going to be a great one. 😁

Cheers,
Anna & Chiara 🙂

How was the weekend?

As expected the weather was a blast! It went up to 31 degrees with loads of sun, so of course we took advantage of it.

On Friday we explored more of the beautiful Vancouver, created some social media content for you and enjoyed the great weather. Stay tuned for what’s coming next😉

Saturday morning started calm when we met at the English Bay Beach. After a bunch of INTERNeXers came together we started preparing the beach volleyball field and set up the net. After that ‘hard’ part was finished we just built two teams and finally it was time to play😎. At first we just played around for fun and explained the rules for those who haven’t played yet. As soon as everyone got used to it we started playing our first little match while actually counting the points. All we can tell you is that it was a very close match😉 and that everybody had fun. After that intense match we took a short water break in the ocean where we went for a swim to cool down from the heated game. One thing we have to mention: the water was super cold but at least refreshing. We continued to play a few more rounds but as the time passed by we all got really hungry and decided to grab some food. Luckily there are enough options close to the beach 😍. We decided it’s gonna be a Burrito day. Some more friends and former INTERNeXers joined our group and we decided to switch and explore Sunset Beach. We brought some snacks, drinks and of course a good mood with us. Then, we spotted the perfect place to settle down and enjoy the sun. We also brought some German culture to Canada and played a typical German  card game with an inappropriate name. We definitely used the sunny weather for a perfect beach day and collected some really good memories, but also a sunburn😬.

Now let us tell you more about our weekend event at Lynn Canyon. First of all we definitely have to mention: It was a success. For us it felt like a little school trip 🚌 because nearly half of the group already met on the bus on the way to our meeting point. With a group of 12 people we started the adventure and walked the trail. Our first stop was the Twin Falls Bridge which has an amazing view over the waterfalls. We continued our hike with beautiful nature, the sound of the waterfalls and a lot of stairs. Next destination was the suspension bridge which was so stunning but very crowded, followed by the highlight of our hike: the 30 ft pool. As fast as we dipped our feet in the water they came out again. Yes, that’s how freezing cold it was! Some of us were brave enough and did some cliff jumps (tbh there are bigger and smaller rocks to jump off😉). We did an open end event so everybody had the opportunity to stay there, go for another hike, or do whatever they wanted to do. Most of us decided to go home, so we took the same bus and our fun ‘school trip’ came to an end.

We definitely recommend that beautiful hike. What about your weekend? Let us know more about it at the upcoming Pub Night this Wednesday!

Cheers,
Anna & Chiara 🙂

How was the weekend?

This past weekend INTERNeX went to Art Vancouver and it didn’t disappoint. We started by gathering at the Convention Centre where the event took place. Inside we saw lots of exhibitors with their unique art pieces. It was amazing to see so many different styles and motives from nature, to neon and glitter, to portraits, places, photography, details, sculptures, simple structures, abstract art, to different textures. The artists were mostly sitting near their work which made it easy to ask questions about their process, journey and art. They were super open and loved to answer all of our questions, we even got invited to stay at one artists house in Zimbabwe. 😉 I enjoyed the diversity and the Programme the show offered. We listened to a very interesting Panel Talk about AI Art, found out that AI is actually over 20 years old, but now trending with things like chatgpt 4. The artists voiced some opportunities but also some concerns regarding the progress of AI technology. What’s your take on that? Do you find it rather helpful and interesting, or do you see some dangers with it as well? After the talk we grabbed some coffee and tea at their little bar and wandered along more fascinating art until the grand finale of the evening – a masters art competition! Eight artists were given a topic and a mystery box of supplies to create their painting within one hour, that’s pretty wild! We as the audience were allowed to then vote for our favourite painting. The topic just got revealed while they were on stage and it was ‘magic’. I loved how different and creative everyone interpreted and executed this theme. Some people just used their hands and a foam brush or spatula. One artist got really creative and hung a cut off prop foot out of silicone on her painting. 😀 It was definitely the highlight of our visit and I would recommend everyone to come watch the competition next time! 🙂

Another thing I’ve tried for the first time this weekend was forest bathing. Let me explain it a little bit. We went to Pacific Spirit Regional Park with a guide specialized in Forest Bathing and it was all about slowing down, de-stressing and spending some time in nature engaging all your senses. First we listened to our surroundings, we focused on what we can smell and then walked around paying attention to different movements in the forest as well as different shades of green before exploring nature’s textures through gently touching trees, plants, moss, rocks etc., without disrupting the environment of course. In the end we were told to find a spot off the trail close to a tree and just sit still for 10 minutes, trying to focus on our surroundings rather than on our thoughts. It was incredible what I noticed compared to when I just go for a walk with a friend. I heard lots of different birds chirping, including a woodpecker. I saw caterpillars and everything just seemed very peaceful. To top it up we had some herbal tea and snacks before ending our experience.

If I’m not wrong the concept comes from Japan where lots of people were so stressed out that some even collapsed at their desk at work. The minister of forestry had the idea to take them out into the forest for three days, no cell phones just connection to nature and the benefits were mind blowing. Now this concept is starting to gain more popularity in other parts of the world as well and I understand why. It felt truly good to reconnect with nature, to slow down, notice everything around in a different way than before. I think it’s very important to go back to the roots every now and then and escape the busy city life, so if you have been caught up in work lately or seek some peace, I recommend you try this out some time. 🙂

How was your weekend? What did you do? Let me know all about it next Pub Night!

Cheers,

Laura 🙂