I set my alarm for 5:30 and started getting ready for the day as quick as possible to not disturb anyone. Hohyun slept in for as much as he could. We decided to relax and not be so rushed in the morning since the drive was going to only be a couple of hours. After he got up, we packed our stuff and moved it into the car.

While we were booking the place, there was an option to pay a bit extra to have a nice breakfast. I didn’t want to pay extra at first, but the breakfast combo included a drink, so I agreed. The restaurant/café (The Living Room) was pretty nice and located right next to the reception desk. Since it was so early in the morning, we were the only ones there. The lady working there was really nice and thoroughly explained everything to us. We took one of the tables, set up our electronics, and enjoyed our lovely breakfast.

The drinks were also fabulous and were a great way to start the day. I decided to send a postcard (the first one!) to my manager from Whistler as well, which was a bit of a challenge since I didn’t know where he lived. We stayed at the restaurant for a while and left after I was done for the day.

Both of us knew people that lived in Vancouver and wanted to see them if possible. My friend Gabe (who lives in Vancouver) figured out that I was coming to Vancouver, and he invited us to join him and his friend at Kitsilano Beach later on in the evening to chill, grill some steaks, and catch up. Hohyun had a couple friends from university as well that he wanted to meet up with, so we made plans to meet with both of them that night. We also wanted to see Kits as well, so this worked out perfectly. The drive to Vancouver was really scenic, which I thoroughly enjoyed. After having been in nature/small towns for the last bit, it was really bizarre for us to see and be in a big city again.

We drove straight to our Airbnb, which was located really close to East Hastings. We told our friends where we were staying, and they all answered with “Why did you book there?” and ‘Be sure to lock your car doors at night”. At the time of booking, we didn’t realize what went on in East Hastings, but after driving by it, we realized why our friends told that to us. The place was an apartment with really stunning balcony views (which is why we booked it) and was pretty clean and proper. It also had a laundry machine, which I was in dire need of since I hadn’t done laundry in over 2 weeks.

We settled in, got changed, and got groceries at a nearby store. We figured that we’d cook a few of our meals given that we had access to a full kitchen and also to eat healthier things. Afterwards, we decided to head to Kitsilano Beach. We drove Josh (one of Hohyun’s friends) as well and planned to meet his other friend Justin there. We went to Costco to pick up some chips for the beach first (Gabe was bringing the steaks), then went. Finding parking at Kitsilano was a nightmare and it really seemed like everyone and their mother was there. I got dropped off first to go meet Gabe, and even finding them was a bit difficult because of the number of people there. His friend Samson was also there, and we sat and caught up for a bit while enjoying Samson’s steaks. Hohyun, Josh, and Justin (who arrived a bit later) joined us and we ate a bit before we left.

We went to a restaurant nearby (LOCAL Public Eatery) for some drinks and more food. It was pretty packed there too, nad I think we were honestly lucky to get a table at the time we went. I ordered a Ceasar salad (was trying to be healthy), which was served as follows:

Josh and Justin came over to our place afterwards to see it and to spend some more time with Hohyun. I decided to get ready for bed since I had to get up for work the next morning and left them alone.