Vancouver, Greatest City on Earth?

Back to North American time!

I went to Vancouver after hearing so many good things about it. It's green, it's clean, and it's ranked as one of (if not the #1) top cities to live in. It is considered, without exaggeration, the best city on Earth. Canadians are known to be nice and I had already experienced Toronto and Montreal, so can it really top those two cities? With ten days' worth of stay, I was about to find out.

So much greeeeeeeeen

Vancouver facts: 
1. Vancouver is named as one of the top five cities in the world for quality of life and it is the first city to be the top-ten of the world's most liveable cities for five consecutive years.
2. Vancouver is one of Canada's warmest cities in the winter. The homeless and the desperate flock to the city for this reason, creating an area dubbed 'zombieland' where they linger.
3. Ninety-three percent of the electricity used in Vancouver is generated using sustainable resources such as hydroelectric power. You can see efforts with side roads built for cyclists and abundant bicycle rental stations all over the city.
4. Diversity - minorities make up 50% of the population here, Chinese making up 30% of the entire population.

I stayed at a very trendy spot in downtown, in the same building as Hermes and Tiffany's. During the hotter days I could sit out at the balcony with a fresh watermelon juice and herb chicken so I can eat while staring down at the shoppers and hotel guests.

The end of my building block

Stanley Park was only a 20 minute walk away from our place, which we did not take much advantage of. It was named the best park in the world in 2014 by Tripadvisor, so I had to check it out. It's surrounded entirely by water which in the past was frequented by whales and dolphins, but nowadays they only exist in the aquarium.

Surrounded by water

Geese are much more common than squirrels

So greeen

Facing the mountains where the Winter Olympic was once held

I made my own food for the most part, thanks to the great variety of seasonal, organic grocery options they had. The seafood had to be arguably the best!

But of course, I did go out to eat a few times. We went out for various options such as steaks, Indian, Thai, but my two favorites both happened to be Asian-fusion and consisting of seafood.

Market at Shangri-La Hotel is a swanky, luxurious restaurant with dishes created by the renowned chef Jean Georges. I've been to the Michelin 3 star restaurant in New York, which I was floored by, and tasted his more casual dishes in Bahamas many times. They have similar foods here including my favorite, tuna/avocado tartar which is always amazing.

We tried the tasting menu, which was definitely Asian inspired and the most interesting out of all of them. They were very small portions.

We added the tuna though, we craved it so badly!

Interesting combination of beets, oranges, and white chocolate

Cucumber soup with raw shrimp sashimi. Very fresh, though not exactly my favorite texture.

Crab dumplings! Delicious.

The white sturgeon, usually reserved for making the luxurious caviar, makes an appearance here as a Thai curry topping.

Lamb, awesomely prepared and buttery soft.

And the dessert, fresh fruits and sorbet with different meringues. Super healthy and light!

Miku by the waterfront.

I was originally against the idea of sushi, since we had just come from tasting the best in Japan and would most likely be disappointed. But I grudgingly came along since they insisted it's more of Japanese fusion and the fish is great. The tables were completely booked on a Monday night upon arrival, so that was good news.

Boyfriend and his friend

And guess what. The food was amazing! I kept hearing that the price is on the high side, though it's honestly worth it for the quality you get. We got fried chicken (random, but it's SO good), house made pickles ($7 for some pickles is pricey, but I love pickles and had to try them), and amazing rolls that were definitely not seen in Japan. It's about $25 for odd looking square rolls, but the salmon and shrimp rolls that were seasoned, smoked & seared were not your average sushi. Japanese are all about pure ingredients that are raw and uncontaminated by other flavor, whereas the sushi here was a flavor explosion.

Chicken and picklesss

We also ordered king crab roll, which was everyone's favorite. 

Desserts are also great and the server went in length to describe its process, which takes two days to make!

If the food hasn't convinced you yet, come for the modern and bustling atmosphere. Most of the seats are facing the harbor view and the outdoor balcony seating gets packed.

Dining area

View

Bar

After dinner, you can walk around along the harbor. It's fully lit up and you can see the mountains across the water on clear days. It's rather quiet and absolutely beautiful - and I can agree that it's an awesome place to live in.