Tag: Vancouver

Goodbye DayZ—Hello 7 Days!

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Hey all,

During the Steam summer sales I finally got 7 Days to Die. I also made a bunch of my friends get it too so we’ve been playing every now and then. And I must say… it’s loads better than DayZ.

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Before getting DayZ, I was super excited and curious about it. A survival game that forces you to interact in a way that may come close to how you would in an actual apocalypse? Sounds fun! You must make sure you have food and water, and that you’re healthy and dry—all while fending of zombies.

Now both 7 Days and DayZ are in their alpha stages but here’s why I like 7 Days a million times better: for a game that’s charging people for their alpha, 7 Days is actually playable. Don’t get me wrong, they both have their bugs, but your experience with 7 Days is going to be a lot smoother.

In terms of the actual game, 7 Days also requires you to ensure your character is well fed, healthy, and there’s also a sprint bar. But food is a lot easier to consume (no need for the can opener in DayZ), and water is more common. Starting a fire to boil the water, crafting weapons to defend against zombies, creating locked doors—all these components work well in its alpha stages. When you die, you lose everything on your “belt”, but not in your backpack. 

DayZ frustrated me to no end because when you die, that’s it. You lose everything and start completely from scratch. While I first thought that was cool, I soon realized how overpowered the zombies in DayZ were, and alongside players who are all looking out for themselves, as well as the million other ways to die, you can see how starting from scratch is a real turn off. 

In 7 Days, if you die, you will be respawned in a random area of the map—much like DayZ. However, the map is smaller, making it less tedious to meet up with your friends. I remember when my friends and I would basically spend half (if not more) of our time trying to meet up in DayZ. Doesn’t really make for exciting gameplay. It felt like I bought Hiking Simulator for $30 instead. 

I really do enjoy 7 Days’ land claim block system, as well as the ability for your progress to be saved on a server so your locked chests and houses can be returned to. I also like the crafting system in the game. DayZ had pre-generated structures that you could not add or subtract from (also the zombies phased through the walls and floors…but I mean, it is still in alpha, so not going to judge them too harshly on this).

Our shelter for the night :)

Our shelter for the night 🙂

Maybe the “hardcore” zombie survival game that is DayZ just isn’t for me, but I honestly found 7 Days to Die a lot more enjoyable and fun to play with friends. At one point we had taken shelter in an abandoned house and started to set up base there. Suddenly some dude’s head popped into view through the window. It took us about 5 seconds to realize this was not one of us (you can’t actually see the names above people’s heads until you’re sufficiently close, and characters currently look a lot like each other), but by then the guy had opened fire on everyone in the room. Since we had about six people to his one, we took him out but were quick to fortify our temporary base with land mines.

Trying to break into some dude's locked house with a staircase made of furniture. Professional burglars here.

Trying to break into some dude’s locked house with a staircase made of furniture. Professional burglars here.

If I had to recommend one or the other, I would definitely suggest you get 7 Days to Die. It’s slightly cheaper too! 🙂 

– Karen

Friday at The Narrow Lounge

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Hey Vancouverites,

If you don’t live in Vancouver, this post may not be very useful to you. But I mean, if you’re going to come by for a visit, keep reading!

Yesterday my friend and I met for dinner at this wonderful little place.

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There are no signs hinting at the fact that this isn’t an abandoned, sketchy alley of some sort. As you can see, I was quite hesitant to go down the stairs since I still couldn’t actually see the restaurant itself at this point.

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Adjusting to the darkness inside from the gorgeous sunny day I had just ditched in favour of this this place, I was blind. I heard someone say “Hello there!” to me inside, and I responded with “Hi… I have a friend at the patio?” She told me to go straight then turn left. I did that, following the light from the back of the dark bar area I was in. Turning left, I realized I had entered an abandoned parking lot. Very confused.

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But then I saw that to my right there was a little closed off area! And then I finally found my friend.

The Narrow Lounge is a neat little secret. Their decor is very unique, and their indoors and outdoors space gives off very different vibes. You can order beer by the buckets, or have they whip up a nice cocktail for you! Their food was also very good. I was starving by the time I got here and I ordered the pulled pork sandwich with potato wedges. My friend had the chicken taco (“Everything about these tacos tastes so right.”). If you’re looking for a new, neat place to eat, I’d definitely recommend at least going to The Narrow Lounge at least once!


The Narrow Lounge Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Later on, maybe due to my complaints of being very full, my friend suggested we walked to the cinemas instead. Since the lounge was located near Main and Terminal, it meant we could have a lovely walk around False Creek to get downtown. I think it was that walk that suddenly made me think about how gorgeous Vancouver is. Walking by Science World also brought back memories to when my parents got a family pass for us when I was about 7 years old. I want to go back so bad. I don’t care that most of the things in there are designed for younger kids. I want to play with all the neat sciencey contraptions!

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– Karen

Our all. Our honour.

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“We are all committed to giving our all.

This is your team, and it’s our honour to represent you.”

Yesterday I went to my first MLS game and it was amazing. I honestly didn’t think I would like it that much, but I did. How much do I know about football? Almost nothing, other than my dad’s incessant explanations every time he’s watching soccer on TV. He’s a huge fan and I never got into it. But he gave me a quick run-down on how the sport worked before the game yesterday and I headed off to experience the Vancouver Whitecaps vs Seattle Sounders game. He covered quite a lot in very little time and that was impressive.

The game was all sold out and my friend and I had been trying to get tickets for weeks. It wasn’t until 2 days before the game that we finally managed to snag a pair of tickets—and really good ones at that! Look at our sweet view!

2nd row! And this angle was pretty sweet.

2nd row! And this angle was really good imo.

What made the game for me? Firstly, we realized that the Whitecaps are actually pretty good. I guess that would explain why the game that we went to was the 7th sold out game they had this season. Secondly, the Southsiders. For those of you who don’t know, the Southsiders are a group of Whitecaps fans. Honestly if I had to describe them I’d call them a group that jumped straight out of Tumblr (where crazy dedicated fans live). They have a whole section to themselves during games and I can see why.

Southsiders whipping out Vision Vancouver's rainbow flag at the beginning of the game.

Southsiders whipping out Vision Vancouver’s rainbow flag at the beginning of the game.

 

They have synchronized cheering and dancing, as well as lots of props (flags etc.) that they whip out to applaud on the Whitecaps. Watching the Southsiders was half the fun! We got seats that were pretty close to them and would constantly peek over to see what new antics they had going on. They kept spirits and the mood up the entire game. That’s two hours of jumping, cheering, and shouting!

This was how close we were to the Southsiders!

This was how close we were to the Southsiders!

If you’re going I’d definitely recommending finding a spot where you can see them. But if you’re a new fan I’d recommend you take some time before you get tickets to seat in the Southsider’s section. You won’t be able to add to their cheering and will look out of place. Also sitting in the Southsiders section means that you’re not sitting at all. You’re standing the whole game. Families with small children will have to beware!

The game itself was lots of fun. It was a match for the Cascadia Cup, which is fought between Seattle, Portland and Vancouver. There were so many intense moments I was literally on the edge of my seat with my fingers tugging at my hair. It was great fun to shout at the referees with the rest of the crowd (the refs basically gave the Sounders a point…) and people were friendly overall. The game ended in a tie 2-2. Now my friend and I are hoping to get tickets for upcoming games… decent pairs of seats for the July 5th game are already sold out. So if anyone has price-friendly tickets in a good spot give me a shout!

– Karen

 

 

Let the holidays begin?

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Hey guys,

One main issue of ending exams early: no one else is free to hang out because they’re all studying.

Because this term I took quite a few courses that did not require a final exam, it meant that I was let off early during finals season. But don’t get me wrong, I worked my butt off during the term with papers every week!

Anyway, I will be starting my co-op position in May, meaning this latter part of April will be my only summer holiday that I’ll be experiencing! Super excited to start working (some of you seasoned job goers will probably be laughing, but let me enjoy this feeling before it gets old) but at the same time a little torn because it will be the first summer in which I’m not just lounging around. I suppose last year I was also interning in Hong Kong, but being in a different city feels different than doing co-op in your home city. But then again, I’m working in Yaletown! Such a beautiful part of the city that I rarely go to!

I’ve been doing everything that I did not have time for during the term, as well as being on the lookout for events that people can actually go to. This included Fan Expo Vancouver! Tom Felton finally graced us with his presence after cancelling on the convention two years in a row. I also got to see Billy Boyd and Michael Rosenbaum, and although I was never really well acquainted with their work (sure I’ve seen Lord of the Rings, but that doesn’t make me an expert on Billy’s works. Never seen Smallville, but I do know Lollipop Chainsaw in which Michael was the main male voice actor), but they were so witty and good at controlling the audience. Hats off to them! Was a pleasure to be at their panel!

 

I also got to go to EXP Bar for the first time! Always wanted to go, but somehow never found the right group of people to go with. They serve HUGE bowls of popcorn and their food ain’t half bad! Loved the clever names on the menu. If you’re into anything geeky, nerdy, gaming related—go. I personally couldn’t have alcohol that night because I had to drive, but they have a large selection with equally clever game/pop-culture inspired names. They show streams of League of Legends games there, as well as other things (RWBY’s Black trailer was played while I was there, and Jessica Nigri, who happened to be several tables over, requested they play an episode of Reboot). We went on a day that was really busy so our wait for a table was about 1 hour.

I also did archery. That was… harder than expected. Ha. Ha. Ha.

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I wonder what I’ll be blogging about this summer amidst working? I guess we’ll see 🙂

– Karen

Game of Thrones night at Storm Crow

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Hey guys!

So tonight I went to Storm Crow Tavern for a Game of Thrones season 2 premiere thingy they were doing! I did a post about Storm Crow a while back, but I haven’t been back for quite a while. They’ve upped their game in terms of decor, and the board game selection tripled/quadrupled in size! If you’re into geeky stuff, definitely go check them out. They’ve probably got something on the wall catering to any fandom (I know there’s a Doctor Who wall, Game of Thrones stuff scattered throughout, Star Wars, and today I saw a Minecraft pickaxe). Even if you’re not particularly into a certain game or TV show, it’s still great to admire the effort they’ve put into curating and decorating their walls! Also, they’ve got the best selection of board games in Vancouver (there are about five sets of Cards Against Humanity, and plenty of Settlers of Catan amongst many others). Beware that certain games are missing parts to them such as their instruction booklet or game pieces.

Their menu also grew quite a bit. I remember when it was just a one page piece of paper, and you had a choice between four main dishes. Now you’ve got pages of food to cater to all your cravings. Their drinks menu has seen a similar growth.

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The Romulan Ale we ordered.

Now on to Game of Thrones night. They will be hosting a Game of Thrones episode showing every Sunday for the next while. Today, we had some games such as trivia, and a quick contest. Prizes such as tickets to a Game of Thrones improv show and $25 gift cards to Storm Crow were given out.

Season two!

Season two!

Here’s some tips on what you should do in order to actually get seats at the pub. My friend and I met at 5:00PM and then got to Storm Crow at 5:30PM. They put out a sign saying that the 6:00PM showing was full and that we could put down our name to see that 8:00PM showing. So we did that. We were told to come back at around 7, but it took a good half hour for the first showing’s patrons to exit the establishment. People tried to wait in line outside, but soon realized that they were only letting in people who were on the reservation list. Keep in mind that they did not take reservations before their first showing filled up, so I’m not sure how the future Game of Thrones showings will be like! As we were part of the later 8:00PM show, we were allowed to stay afterwards. The earlier people had to clear out as soon as their showing was done. Nonetheless, it was fun to watch the premiere with a group of other people who were into the show! The first episode did a great job to re-establish the character’s stories after our break from them!

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CAH with friendly strangers 🙂

After the episode ended, we moved on to playing board games. We ended up asking two other groups of people to play with us. We settled on Cards Against Humanity! All in all, it was a fun night! It’s quite a bit of hassle to secure a spot at the pub, but I’d definitely do it again some time in the future. Hopefully for the season finale?

– Karen