Today I joined a meetup group of maybe 14 people for their Wednesday morning 10.6km walk around the…read morelake. A fantastic easy leveled trail that is more tree covered than lake bordered. Quite enjoyable. I've been advised that cyclists aren't allowed on the trail however dogs on leashes and horses are. (We didn't see any horses today although there was at least one pile of horse manure and a few horseshoe prints on some of the trails). Some notices posted on bears being in the area though. I will definitely be back. Today we walked the 10.6km in 1 hour 41 minutes.

I love languages, and at UBC, I took a Swedish course. I fell in love with the language (I also had…read morean awesome teacher, which played a big role in loving Swedish so much), so when I graduated from UBC, I wanted to continue studying Swedish. Unfortunately I was only able to complete one year of Swedish due to the timing of my graduation, and I couldn't take the second year Swedish class after I graduated because the course was only offered during the day, which interfered with having to work. However, I found out that Swedish (and the other Nordic languages) was offered at the Scandinavian Community Center, and took some classes over the years. The teacher was nice, but the quality of the instruction was nothing compared to UBC. But it was definitely better than nothing, and the price was very reasonable. The last time I took lessons at the Scandinavian Community Center was years ago, probably 2013. I'd love to take more lessons, but taking transit there is a nightmare. The community center is in the middle of nowhere, and there are two busses you can take from Metrotown Station, the #110 and #144 buses. The bus ride is quite long, 20 to 30 minutes (because they take these meandering routes), the timing is such that they arrive way before the class starts or minutes after it starts, and the two buses leave Metrotown within minutes of each other, so you miss one, and you miss both. And in the evening, the timing doesn't align with the class's end time, so you either have to leave class early or wait for half an hour in the dark, at an unlit bus stop, that's just a bus stop sign stuck in a ditch on the side of a super busy highway. Perhaps things are different than when I took lessons, but back then, to walk to and from the bus stop to the center (which was at night, as the class starts at 7pm and ends at 9pm), there was no sidewalk so you had to walk on the side of a busy highway and hope a car didn't hit you. It was particularly terrifying when it was pitch black (there was no lighting) and raining. I'd love to give the Scandinavian Community Center more stars, and I'd love to take more Swedish lessons, but the location is horrible and not reasonably transit accessible, and the instruction is only so-so, so not worth it for me to make the trek.

Today I attended a German Meetup.com group function here…read more Sadly this location offers little shade in the amazingly awesome day we had, so sommerfest attendees were left to their own devices with very limited seating and poor bathroom markage. Needless to say the beergarden setup was akin to a cakewalk game.

Great option for watching and/or producing programs. The James Cowan Theater seats 285 and has…read moregreat sight lines. The small Studio Theater is more intimate. This is an older building, but well-kept. The grounds are beautiful, as is the newer atrium annex.

À beautiful place to take any sort of art lessons!…read more The place has multiple theatres and studios asking with a ton of classes to choose from. All the work displayed on the walls are from students and is routinely changed so there is always something inspiring to look at! Really love this place I honestly thought that it was a much newer building than it actually is! Good design transcends time. The amount of talent that comes out of here is amazing

They are extremely hard to get a hold of, and don't answer questions and we can't even book a time…read moreto see the venue after I asked them. 3 weeks of sending emails back and forth and they're on vacation and never can get a reply from a real person and instead just long email thread that spanned 3 weeks. I made a mistake booking this venue.

From the owner: We specialize in weddings, memorials, birthday parties and about anything you'd need a venue for!…read moreBeautiful space for all of your venue needs!

I follow a bunch of foodie groups on Facebook and someone posted about a Pavlova class that they…read morehad taught at Maillarville Community Centre. I saw the photos and it wasn't just a regular pavlova but also a pavlova roulade. So when someone else piped in and asked where was the class held, and when would the next class be happening, I clicked on the link right away and signed up for it. If it weren't for this class, I wouldn't have even known that this place existed. It's quite a small community centre but a very nicely maintained one at that. The facilities are very clean and modern. The cooking class itself reminded me of some of the after school cooking classes that I had registered our daughter for a few years ago, back in her younger days of elementary school. The teacher did all the work and the children might have gotten to take turns at helping to add ingredients every now and then but it was basically the teacher doing it all, taking care of the parts that involved oven or stove, and then the children would get to taste some of the final product. Not like the more expensive classes I later sent our daughter for at Little Kitchen Academy where every child got their own separate work station with their own separate ingredients and their own separate equipment including their own stovetops and ovens. The instructor for this class likes to improvise a lot. While we were handed a sheet with a basic recipe for Pavlova on it, she made a lot of modifications and didn't measure things precisely. She demonstrated both a regular pavlova and a pavlova roulade just as what had been posted in the foodie group where I had originally learned of this class. There were steps where the pavlova should have probably stayed in either the oven or freezer a bit longer for optimal results but since the class is only 2 hours long, she brought things out sooner so that we would all be able to actually eat the pavlova. While the product we ate wasn't at its best, it was still very tasty so I can imagine that once I try it out at home and give it the proper time required, it should yield even better results. Overall, it was a very good class, and very affordable too. For anyone who sees other cooking classes offered at Maillardville Community Centre, I'd recommend signing up for it. Price is good and instruction was good too.

A small community centre suitable for booking small get-togethers…read more We came here on a Sunday afternoon for a birthday party with about 40 guests. We didn't need to use the kitchen facilities as we ordered huge trays of Chinese takeout. They provided folding tables and chairs. Lighting was good, and the facility was clean, albeit showing its age. This centre is surrounded by ample parking on the streets. There's a big church across the street which may make parking more problematic during Sunday mornings. Overall, a decent venue to rent for small to medium-sized parties.

I had a celebration of life for my husband and it was done so beautiful! The food was so delicious…read moreand the staff were incredible and their service was amazing ! It was so easy to work with the manager who took care of everything . Thank you so much for the support you gave us

Food was good and was refilled on a regular basis. Service was excellent. Experience wonderful.read more

I have heard nothing but great things about this location for weddings so I was very happy that it…read morewas available for my upcoming wedding. Donalda was so easy to deal with and very helpful in the booking process. The location price is a little on the high side but for everything that you can do here it's worth the cost or at least that is what I am thinking at the moment. It's wheelchair accessible and you can have your wedding outside, reception inside and pictures taken in the park area surrounding the location. I am looking forward to seeing what we can do to revamp the place for the wedding. UPDATE: This place was beautiful for my wedding. We were able to have the wedding outside and the greenery just added to the ambience. I would definitely recommend this to any bride. The place is pricey but worth it.

I will be describing the setup of the wedding I attended, so you guys can have a visual of how…read morethings fit. The venue was able to fit around 8 round tables that can seat 8 people per table, not including the long table for the Wedding Party of about 9 by the front, or as you enter through the doors, it would be to your left. Now, to the back, or to your right as you enter, is where the photobooth was set up by the wall. The DJ was set up in the very corner, beside a small bar that was set up right by the kitchen entrance. Infront of the kitchen entrance, a dessert table was set up by the wall, where the cake cutting was also done. Games were done by the front & the dance floor was done by the back, which by the way will be a bit crowded if you will be having that many people at your wedding/event. The food was served to the tables throughout the event, which by the way were all delicious! The kitchen staff/servers were on their toes, refilling drinks at the tables & are quite courteous, if I may add. For restrooms, I don't know about the Mens, but for the Womens it has 3 stalls, 2 sinks, 1 hand dryer, paper towel dispenser, and it is CLEAN.

Had a Mary Kay event here last week and in all my years of living in New Westminster, I have never…read moreactually stepped foot in the door. Not even when I was planning my wedding. The best part of the venue is it's location, inside Queens Park. It's beautiful and a little off the busy ball fields. However, it's stifling hot in there even with all the doors open. I was thankful that I had a seat close to the balcony or I would have been a sweaty mess. The inside is very nice and I look forward to when my friend has her wedding there in September however, it wouldn't be my number one choice for a venue in the summer because of the heat.