Girls night out! My friends and I have never really taken a trip away together before (Not counting the ones for school) so when A.H. proposed we go to Whistler for a weekend, we all said YES! We decided to go via Greyhound and left in the early morning of February 22nd. We had picked a great weekend to go because it was snowing!




The last time I've been to Whistler was when I was young enough to think driving round and round up the mountain would result in us flying off the very tip when the road ends...haha yes it was a very, very long time ago. Since then the road to Whistler has been redone so it only took about 2 hours to get there. The bus stops right in the Whistler Village. So what did I do first thing when I arrived? I fell off the bus. Haha I'm so clumsy. But it's ok. I only fell hard onto my knees. I had to save the snack foods I was holding! XD

After gathering up the shreds of my dignity and checking our bags at the Holiday Inn, we had brunch at Earls before heading to the Coca-Cola® Tube Park for some fun times! The tube park is located on Whistler Blackcomb and we all bought our tickets ahead of time online (to enjoy a discount), so we just had to trade in our print outs for the tubing ticket to put on our jackets. We bought the 2 hour tickets, which costs $26.10 online.

We had to ride the Excalibur Gondola to get up to the Tube Park then it was a short walk up some stairs.

When we got to the park entrance, we had to wait a little bit (around 10-15 minutes) since all the tubes were being used.

Here's what the tubes look like:


After we got in, there was another line! Turns out the tube lift conveyor was broken! So everyone had to trudge up the mountain manually. The horror! Well many didn't want to do that so left, as the Whistler maintenance crew tried to fix the problem.

It was not fixed by the time we left. But at least we didn't have to wait in line to ride the tubes! And the staff were nice enough to give us a $5 voucher for food or drink to apologize for the inconvenience. Plus, we got a good workout by going up the mountain over and over again. "5 minute hill, 30 second thrill," I said, jokingly. It was more like 10 seconds.



It was really fun though! There are 7 lanes; 1 is the kiddy lane, lanes 2-4 are the slower lanes while 5-7 are the faster ones. I like going fast! You can go alone or with your friends. I like going with friends because you go so much faster! The staff will ask if you want them to spin you. Say yes! It's super fun!  

 L.L. and I were pooped after a few times going up and down! Don't know how M.N. and W.W. got up the hill so fast! The only thing I would have done differently was wearing some goggles. The snow whips in your face when you go down the hill so fast and my glasses were always fogging up.  Grr.



Tubing was very fun and I would not hesitate to go do it again!
   

The Vancouver Christmas Market is an annual fair that opens for a month during the Christmas season near Queen Elizabeth theatre downtown Vancouver. This was the second time I went. I visited last year with my friend M and quite enjoyed it.

There was lots of Groupon-type deals and I took advantage of it. Mine included a free carousel ride. Also this year, with paid admission, you get a re-entry pass valid for the rest of the season!

That's a lot of beer.

There's a lot of food vendors there and of course the food is a bit pricey but this only happens once a year! Time to indulge. We like to try out different things.



Not a German specialty but I tried the Salmon Maple Kabob at Captain Randy's Seafood. I was surprised that it didn't really taste like salmon. It had a smoother consistency but it was delicious.

The Black Forest Meat & Sausages was one of the popular vendors selling German style sausages.





I had originally wanted to get a Bratwurst but ended up with the Barvarian Smokie instead. You get the option of adding sauerkraut and onions in your bun.


Another food vendor I visited was the Soup Meister.

 I tried their Tradition German Potato soup.

It includes a bun and garlic croutons! It was really yummy and great to warm up your tummy in the cold weather.














Besides the food there are a lot of cute Christmas decorations for sale at the market.

 






 These are so soft! Made from llama fur!







There's also live performances!


And the carousel.

The last day of the Vancouver Christmas Market is December 24th! Make sure you visit before then!