1067 is one of the best music venues in Vancouver, playing host to experimental jazz and other electro-acoustic offerings. It is underground in every sense of the word, hidden in an alley behind an unmarked door (aside from the faintest scribbling of the address in the top right corner). $5 and a ring on a hidden buzzer gets you in to this amazing spot through a labyrinth of stairs and hallways.

Occupying the historical building of a former B.C Electric Railway terminal, Centre A's gallery space is also located in one Vancouver's oldest and most diverse neighbourhoods-between Gastown and Chinatown. Focusing on their mandate to provide a platform for contemporary Asian Art, Centre A is a great space to explore and visit.

The place to go for a refreshing morning walk. Here you can really see and feel the magic that occurs when the mountains, the city and the ocean meet. Close by is also the Museum of Vancouver which, among other things, holds some colorful displays of the local 1960s hippie movement.

A hidden (almost secret) garden! located off to the side of the Pacific National Exhibition Centre. This little Japanese landscaped garden is not only a quiet sanctuary where one can admire its lake, rocks, and bonzai trees, it is also a commemorative place that serves as a healing reminder of the history of Japanese Canadian internment during the Second World War.

One of those comic shops that just have it right. Good selection, room at the back for exhibitions and talks, small selection of music for sale. I got hooked on “Big Questions” by Anders Nilsen, and he came in for a signing in the summer, I had no idea, just popped by and there he was. I’m holding onto the 90’s and this place has it.