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  • Archive for the 'best of 604' Category

    Best of 604: Local Website Edition

    December 27th, 2007 by Miss604 | 14 Comments »

    This autumn I introduced the Best of 604, in response to a local newspaper’s Best of Vancouver. Sure, my categories weren’t as diverse but I’m pretty free to build upon the Best of 604 at any time, so that’s exactly what I’m going to do.


    Photo credit: Kris Krug on Flickr

    Reading Morning Brew this morning, I saw a link to the 24 Hours’ “24 ways to avoid your family“, which ended up being a list of “Vancouver’s best time-wasting web sites”.

    They included the Katkam, which is a given, Urban Vancouver - a really great compilation on which anyone can write and Translink’s i-move.ca (that if you Google, my site comes up second, with Darren’s first).

    A couple of the suggested reads made me chuckle to myself so I figured the best thing for me to do would be to make my own list.

    Best of 604: Local Website Edition

    Best Webcam that isn’t the Katkam: Numinous
    Best Traffic Webcams and route info: GVRD directory

    Best Site to get Surrey News: Surrey Leader
    Best Site to get Burnaby News: A Burnaby blogger needs to Contact me.
    Best Site to get New Westminster News: Royal City Record
    Best Independent Daily News Source: The Tyee

    Best. Lists. Ever.: Meg Fowler
    Best Mommy blogger: Duck Cake
    Best Marketing Blogger (that gives us free things): Darren Barefoot


    Photo credit: Duane Storey on Flickr

    Best Site for iPhone Users in Vancouver: John Biehler
    Best Gadget Review site: Roland Tanglao

    Local Radio Station That “Gets” It: 95 Crave, from their Drupal website, on-air personality blogs, to Ustream broadcasts.

    Best Socialization and Silliness posts: Net Chick
    Best Local Facebook Guru: Phillip Jeffrey
    Best Concert Posters: ChalkedUp
    Best HDR Photography: Coriolistic Anachronisms and Duane Storey

    Hardest Working Podcaster: Dave Olson (upwards of six different podcasts for your listening pleasure)


    Photo credit: Dave Olson on Flickr

    Best Coffee Resource: Vancouver Coffee
    Best City Development Resource: Pacific Metropolis

    Best New Tech Blog: Techvibes
    Best New Eco-Friendly Directory: happyfrog
    Best New Restaurant Directory: Urbanspoon

    Best New Blog (to me, in 2007) - Commuting: Paul Hillsdon
    Best New Blog (to me, in 2007) - Shopping: The Style Spy
    Best New Blog (to me, in 2007) - Restaurant Reviews: Raul’s “Dining out”

    Most inspirational: Derek Miller and his wife Airdrie. Derek’s living with stage 4 metastatic cancer and blogging every step of the way.

    If you are looking for anything else in Vancouver, try my categories “cheap things to do“, “stanley park“, “food“, “shopping“, “conference” and even “what the surrey“.

    If you disagree with any of my choices, please make your own list (pass it on!), leave a comment below, or send links my way either on my contact form or via del.icio.us (tag your link as “for:miss604″).

    Best of 604: Family Edition Update

    October 17th, 2007 by Miss604 | 3 Comments »

    Last month I put out a “Family Edition” of the Best of 604, focusing on parks, playgrounds and kid-friendly establishments. Having never been to one of the parks I recommended I did so solely on my sister’s advice. She has three kids, 7 years old and younger, so she knows a good park when she sees one.

    Luckily for a reader of mine, the park proved to be all that and more. She tried to take her family to the pumpkin patch in Steveston last Sunday but it was just way too busy, they even told her it would be over 2 hours to get in and that if she had something else to do, she should do it…

    …So, we turned around and I desperately tried to think of something to calm our 3 year old who, at this point, was crying, “Why can’t I go see Corny?” I then remembered a blog of yours in the last few weeks about family things to do around Vancouver and remembered the park in the flight path near YVR that you recommended.

    Flight Path Park - Photo credit: Darren Barefoot on Flickr

    So we zoomed over there, had our picnic and let the kids play. Our 3 yr old had a blast and the day was saved! Thanks - I really enjoy your blog, and saving us from being cooped up in the car with a crying toddler is no small feat!
    [Contact Form Email from Naomi]

    I’m so glad to get such a nice email, and a follow up on the recommendation for the Best of 604.

    On a side note, the Steveston pumpkin patch is mentioned in last year’s “Pumpkin Patch Review“, which was written by my sister - she’s my correspondent when it comes to family-friendly matters, obviously.

    Since I’m getting tons of Google hits from people looking for pumpkin patch information, and the post is from 2006, if you do have any updates, raves or reviews, please leave a comment and let us know, thanks!

    The Best of 604: Lifestyle Edition

    September 25th, 2007 by Miss604 | 5 Comments »

    To continue the “Best of 604″ I’ve put together a hodge podge of some more things I like and would recommend. This isn’t to compete with any other list, this is simply my spin on things as these are people, places and things that I personally find pleasant. With some help I hope to cover a different spectrum, all inclusive of the entire “604“.

    Downtown:

  • Most underrated place to buy fixins for dinner: The Robson Market
  • Best place to get 50% of sunglasses, 20% off jeans, and eat a pot pie downstairs: The Bay
  • Cheapest leisure ice time, if the strike ever ends: West End Community Centre’s “Twonie Skate”
  • West End Ice Rink

  • Probably the best curry in the world (just like the sign says): Mui Garden
  • Best place to watch a hockey game and have your choice of 120+ beers: Fogg and Suds
  • Park that DaveO says is a real gem, with a wicked view - just watch out for biohazardous waste: Crab Park
  • It’s 2am and you’re stumbling home, it’s where you go for food and lots of water: White Tower
  • Alternative to the Harbour Centre’s ‘top of the city’ revolving restaurant: The Empire Landmark’s Cloud Nine
  • Best trail in Stanley Park: Bridle Trail
  • Most handy site when looking up a trail map of Stanley Park: StanleyParkMap.com
  • Best park near downtown that we just don’t get to enough: Pacific Spirit Park
  • Metro Vancouver:

  • Nicest park that has an annual country fair: Campbell Valley Park
  • Best place to visit in Fort Langley aside from going to the Fort cause it’s kinda boring: Aldor Acres Farm (see Jen’s Pumpkin Patch Review) or The Fort Wine Co.
  • Best sketchy breakfast: The Round Up Cafe (RIP The Dutchman) [Map]
  • Best beach outside of Vancouver, yes there’s beaches outside of Vancouver: Crescent Beach … although we really want to check out Iona sometime
  • Freakiest new development: Those condos built on old Woodlands land in New Westminster, eek
  • Something for Surreyites to look forward to: Winterfest 2008, since there will be no First Night
  • Best place in Burnaby that doesn’t involve the words “Metropolis” or “Metrotown”: Deer Lake Park
  • Neatest tourist trap, literally: The Bose Family Farm Corn Maze
  • Brew pub where a girl can get herself a nice raspberry wheat ale: Central City
  • The “Best of 604″ will be an ongoing series, so watch for more posts in this category.

    The Best of 604: Family Edition

    September 24th, 2007 by Miss604 | 5 Comments »

    trophy.pngThe annual “Best of Vancouver” issue of The Georgia Straight left me wanting more and had some of my readers saying wondering just what we’ve done to deserve Nickelback as a top band in our city? Because of this, I’ve decided to follow in the footsteps of the MaGoggy’s and create my own awards, the Best of 604. These are not the things that are highest rated by Zagat or that have the most stars. These are people, places and things that I personally find enjoyable. With some help from John and my sister Jenny I hope to cover a different spectrum, all inclusive of the “604“.

    The “Best of 604″ will be an ongoing series, so watch for more posts in this category.

    I wanted to touch on a ‘real’ demographic and ‘real’ places in and around Metro Vancouver. The first edition of the “Best of 604″ is focused on family. Here are Jen’s recommendations.

  • Best low-tourist, in-park, miniature train experience: Bear creek Park Train (in Surrey) - Really inexpensive and fun for the kids (especially at Halloween and Christmas)
  • Best place to take energetic kids who have been cooped up on a rainy day: Go Banana’s (various location) - Cheap and the kids can run wild for hours and hours
  • Most kid-friendly restaurant where your child’s screaming can be camouflaged by other children’s screams: Montana’s (in Langley) - Wicked kids menu, they can colour on the paper table cloths, tons of families and good grown up food too, really good place to take kids with super friendly staff
  • Best park and playground you probably haven’t been to: Flight Path Park (in Richmond) - The kids love the park by the airport where you can see the planes taking off and landing, it’s free entertainment for hours and hours. There are a few little planes to pretend to fly on, mock runways they can run down and off course real-live jumbo jets flying overhead

  • Photo is property of True Colors Painting Ltd.
  • Best park and playground you may have been to AND there’s ice cream: Rocky Point Park (in Port Moody) - Water park, playground, ice cream, fish and chips, walking trails, who could ask for anything more
  • Best 1-day getaway from the city: Cultus Lake (in Chilliwack) - 1 hour drive East, lots of places to swim, nice picnic areas, nature trails to pick up sticks and discover bugs and stop at the dairy on the way home for some yummy ice cream (it’s all about the ice cream)