I’m probably inviting more bad drivers here but I wanted to pay homage to the place where I spent most of my life. If you want to get straight to the point, skip to the bottom of this entry.
Richmond. What the hell is Richmond, you ask? It’s literally the biggest Chinatown in Canada, resting on a piece of land that will probably liquify when the BIG ONE hits and wedged in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, Vancouver and a bunch of other cities in Metro-Vancouver.
We have the WORST drivers in Canada, most of them old see-lai’s who probably paid off the ICBC examiners to get their license yet we have the longest life span in the world. Bad drivers + long life span? How does that work?!
We also have a plethora of awesome eats but the lowest obesity rates. What…? Maybe it’s because so many Asians live here.. damn Asians who never gain weight. *envious glare*
My friends and I laughed our asses off the first time we saw this store in Richmond. Actually, our funny brown friend did at first and it became an inside joke.
What sucks ass about Richmond?
- If you have road rage, DO NOT COME HERE.
- There’s absolutely NO night-life unless you count going out for bubble tea.
- Some people are very cliquey and rude.
- If you go to a Chinese store, they will always speak to you in Chinese even if you’re White.
You may be surprised, but there is awesomeness in Richmond. Only one though. FOOD. FOOD!! FOOOD!!!! If you want [Asian] food, come to Richmond! We have a huge variety of drool-worthy restaurants.
- DIM SUM. I never eat dim sum anywhere else in Metro-Vancouver except for Richmond. Hey, it’s full of Chinese people and we make good dim sum. Hyukhyukhyuk.
- Cheap, fresh, all-you-can-eat HOT POT is the shit. The worst thing about hot pot is cleaning but you don’t have to worry about the mess when eating out. Just don’t drink that dark-ice-tea-looking drink they give you.
- BUBBLE TEA. Bubble tea joints in Richmond are like Starbucks around the world.
- Steveston Village. Good fish and chips. Good sushi. The best frozen yogurt at the infamous Timothy’s (it’s right beside the smelly fish store).
- DRUNK FOOD. No.9 is probably the dirtiest restaurant in the world (all 24-hour Asian restaurants are) yet it’s sooo damn good after a night of drinks and clubbing. Screw Denny’s or wherever everyone else goes, I need my MSG!
Things to know when coming to Richmond: NEVER go down No.3 Rd. Only “outsiders” go down that road because they don’t know what they’re getting themselves into.
If you didn’t want to read that then I’ll just get right to the point:
DON’T BOTHER COMING TO RICHMOND UNLESS YOU’RE HUNGRY.
we’ve got a richmond in melbourne, australia too! in our richmond, there’s victoria street, which is full of asian grocers and restaurants, mainly vietnamese & chinese. and when you go into any of these stores or restaurants, the owners can usually speak vietnamese, cantonese and mandarin and if you’re asian, they’ll also address you in one of the 3 languages, lol. and yes, there are a lot of bad drivers on this street too, hehe.
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LOL I’m hungry and I would love to eat dimsum and drink bubble tea. The road rage thing is just like Jakarta, I hate traffic here. And so many bad drivers.
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i really want to go to Richmond! ;p arb, i know, but my surname is Richmond and i always wanted to travel to all the richmonds around the world. some weird kind of pilgrimage
i LOVE Kpop! what do you usually listen to?
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Awesome post Koot! I wouldn’t wanna live anywhere else either! Food is all I need!
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Katy
October 23rd, 2009 |
And bbtea!
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I’ve been to Vancouver once, when I was young. My Dad and I talk about going back again now that I know what I’m looking at and when we do, I’ll def. check that place out. But you know…once you say “don’t go to ___” you KNOW I’m going to want to go there. Seriously, what is it?
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“Bubble Tea” sounds rather cute, whatever it is
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Katy
October 16th, 2009 |
Dude, I can’t believe you live in an Asian country and have never tried bubble tea. Don’t they have it in Japan? I think Princess would love it!
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Scott
October 16th, 2009 |
I’ve honestly never heard of it here. I just looked it up on Wikipedia and it appears it originated from Taiwan. We do get some teas from other parts of asia (like Oolong for example — which is rather popular), but most Japanese drink Japanese green tea.
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Scott
October 16th, 2009 |
I’d love to try it though if I ever get the chance!
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I COMPLETELY agree with you!
And I’m earthquake paranoid so whenver I go to Richmond, its always at the back of my mind. My geography teacher once told me that Richmond would sink like it was on quicksand if our ground was to shake. Isn’t it ironic that our only international airport is placed there?
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Katy
October 16th, 2009 |
I think the sinking thing is a bit exaggerated… the soill would just shift a bit and make all our buildings collapse. No big deal.
But seriously, we always talk about the big one but I never worry about it. When it comes, it comes. The only thing I do when we get warnings is that I back up my computer and pack up my hard drive in something waterproof. LOL.
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one time, this white kid in my french class was like, “big crazy? big crazy WHAT?”
that store needs a noun!
and yeah I never go on No.3
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I just don’t like crazy Asian drivers… I always try to avoid Asian enclaves on the weekends for sure.
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Ko0ty, this is hilarious. Our City is so “terrible” but such a great place. I missed it a lot when I was away for a year! Hahaha.
Also, you’re right. ANYONE who has lived in Richmond for some time KNOWS not to go any where near no.3 road. It’s hell.
HAHAHAHAHA, The funniest post ever about our fine Citay!
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Katy
October 16th, 2009 |
I know right! Richmond sucks major ass but I don’t think I’d want to live anywhere else. All I need is food and a car (to take me out of Richmond).
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I’d like to challenge your statement that Richmond has the worst drivers, LOL. Ontario has worse drivers, especially in Kingston and Greater Toronto Area. In Richmond, if they don’t stop for you, they at least honk to let you know that they’re coming. In Kingston, they don’t even bother honking, they just keep on driving and hope that they don’t hit you. Plus I find that ppl in Richmond at least stop for you sometimes, the ppl in Kingston don’t stop at all. Its almost like drivers in China, just with less cars =____=
I used to think Richmond has the worst drivers… now I’ve seen even worse. LOL XP
I do agree that Richmond is THE place for food. I know people who drive from Coquitlam, or even farther, to Richmond just to eat, so I considering I am a food-fanatic, I feel pretty lucky to live in such a wonderful place ^___^
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Katy
October 16th, 2009 |
Well all city has bad drivers and I only have to deal with Richmond ones so Richmond definitely has the worst drivers to me. I’m sad to admit that my parents are one of those too… I hate being in a car with them when they’re driving because it’s sooo embarassing.
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Lol, my cousin is from Richmond. You may have heard of him, he was recently on that show, The Next Star (he’s 15, lol). I’ve been there a few times. Definitely love the MSG and Bubble Tea.
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Since moving out of Richmond, I’ve noticed there are bad drivers everywhere.. I don’t know which town is worse Richmond or parts of Surrey.
Richmond doesn’t have much of a night life but its better then here (everything closes at 9 if not at 10) But I agree you either got bubble tea or hang out at the airport watching planes.
I feel bad for the business on 3road as they had to deal with the 98B line construction and then the skytrain. And of course I avoid that part of town like its the plague.
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Katy
October 16th, 2009 |
Yeah there are bad drivers everywhere but I live in Richmond so I like to make fun of Richmond the most. Thankfully, I never really have to drive here because I’m only in Richmond on the weekends and my Boyfriend usually drives. I do run errands and stuff though and I don’t think there’s ever been a time where I didn’t get pissed off at another driver.
I remember the first time stepping into a Richmond club… there was nobody there but us.
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Kimm
October 16th, 2009 |
didn’t even know there was a club in richmond.. I’m sooooo out of the loop.
I was there for 28 years.. I still call richmond … ditchmond even though there are barely any ditches around anymore.
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I know what you mean by FOOODDD omg!! Haha Filipinos here are like that too!! And I wish I were like the Asian who can eat anything and not gain weight… gosh
I lose weight SOO SLLOOOWLY T_T
Gash, bad driving is pretty normal here in Manila SWEEARR
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