Ever since "Whip-It" brought derby to people who otherwise would've had no reason to know about it,…read morethe sport has been tearing up tracks all over North America. With leagues popping up all across Canada, in small towns and big cities alike, it's getting easy to see great derby anywhere. If you live in Vancouver, then you're lucky enough to have your very own league to cheer for. The Terminal City Roller Girls have been around for just over 5 years, expanding and growing at an incredible rate. Just this year they added a fourth house team and secured multiple dates at the PNE Forum, a slight step-up from Minoru Arena in Richmond and Kerrisdale Arena in, where else, Kerrisdale. With a DIY, yet professional feel, this non-profit player run organization manages to bring a broad spectrum of fans to their bouts. A mixture of tongue-in-cheek sass and incredible athleticism, the Terminal City Roller Girls have something for everyone to cheer for. The Bad Reputations - Sporting Teal and lightning bolts like it's going out of style, these Joan Jett inspired rockers are the defending champs, three years in a row! This season, everyone is talking about who's taking down the trophy. If the Bad Reps have anything to say about it, that conversation will end real quick. The Faster Pussy Cats - If you like your victims scratched to death, cult classic films from the 70's and sequined purple hot pants, then the FPC are your team. Just remember, whether in the stands or the beer garden, FPC fans cheer from the Litter Box. Public Frenemy - The newest addition to the TCRG roster, Public Frenemy is coming straight ouf of Compto...er...Vancouver. With orange, green and attitude, this hip-hop inspired crew comprised of rookies and select veterans will have you twisting your head to keep up with their speedy jammers. Riot Girls - Camo? Tanks? That shoot? Smoke? Trash can lids and baseball bats? I think the description should be fairly self-evident. The Riot Girls are not a team to be messed with. Fresh off a rebuilding year, the Riot Girls are going to be an exciting team to watch this season. And as if THAT weren't enough, the TCRG also has their travel team, the All-Stars.

My first bout was the free exhibition they did at Robson Square at the end of last summer and I was…read morehooked! But since the season was over I couldn't get my fix... until now. Last night's season opener at the Kerrisdale Arena with the Faster Pussycats v Atomic City (from Tri-Cities, WA) and the Bad Reputations v Riot Girls was the most exciting sporting event I've ever been to. The Bad Rep/Riot Girl grudge match was a rematch of the past two championship bouts and the crowd was electric. Derby is back with this real (not staged), competitive, action packed, player owned and operated league!

* Geekalicious * We…read more now divert you from the regularly scheduled program of hole in the wall dining spots to a geeky event that was a lot of fun. Finding the location was amusing. Only a competition like this would give these instructions to tell you how to find the competition, "You can view the location by entering the coordinates 49.268046,-123.250881 on Google Maps." That just made me chuckle. But the sad thing is that it worked! (Now the only question is how to enter that location onto Yelp maps. Hm......) The teams, which came from schools across Canada designed and built robotic vehicles that operate on their own without human guidance or control to go through twisting obstacle filled courses that are only marked with orange cones (Photos: http://www.yelp.ca/biz_photos/NSfN9bsW2-uyahqRmqocPw?select=duvjcqagjkWakH2djxD8Pg and http://www.yelp.ca/biz_photos/NSfN9bsW2-uyahqRmqocPw?select=XzQ9xIwTehiuLk6GvHtjMw). The robots have to sense their environment and decide what to do to get through the course. Pretty amazing technology when you think about it, considering some of the teams did an amazing job at it. This is the stuff future automated cars is made of! The robots seem to take on their own personality, including one that just always wanted to turn right whenever it reached an intersection - even when it was supposed to go straight. The whole crowd was cheering for it when somehow it finally went straight on its last attempt. It was amusing in a geeky way. And I admit - I enjoyed it! This particular stoplight (Photo: http://www.yelp.ca/biz_photos/NSfN9bsW2-uyahqRmqocPw?select=Nls1xMWoGKlVTzSli9OXxQ) was particularly challenging as the robots (you can see one of them in that photo) have to sense if the light is red or green and only proceed on a green. Amazing that they did in many cases. The crowd was filled with spectators cheering on the various robots and teams, and it was a fun geeky event for all! I'll likely try to go again in the future - it was really fun! We now return you to your regularly scheduled hole in the wall reviews.....

With the full gym, pool, lockers, and cafe, it's no wonder why the Village People sang praises…read moreabout this place! My sister and I went on a short trip and wanted to make sure we stayed in shape while away from home. We came in fully expecting to pay a few bucks for day passes but we were pleasantly surprised with a free pair of 12 day passes! The gym itself had three full squat racks. THREE! My sister and I had no problem finding a free rack. And of course it had all the other things typical to a gym-- free weights machines etc etc. But what did it for me was the full kettlebell set! I love kettlebells and was ecstatic to be able to do my kettlebell exercises at the YMCA as well. After our workout, we had yummy protein shakes as recovery drinks. Perfect end to a great gym session. I recommend this gym to anyone who's going to be visiting downtown Vancouver for any amount of time.

I used to work here and absolutely loved my time. It's so wonderful you have a full fledged gym, a…read morefamily development centre and a daycare all in one building. The facility itself for the gym is great because there are a lot of machines you can use as well as good selection of classes to access as well depending on your needs and preference of working out. And for those parents that needed some socialising time could come by the family development centre to either be there with their kids for the programs or drop them off for child minding if they needed to use the gym.

Rob is 10/10 as well as the whole front desk. So grateful for the team being amazing & the pb & j…read moresmoothy is gas

The front desk staff are very nice and polite, but unfortunately, they seem to be poorly trained. I…read morehad to speak with three different people just to get a clear answer about how the membership freeze works, and even then, no one was able to properly explain it.

I have attended most fitness clubs in lower mainland, and paid hundreds of dollars on personal…read moretraining. The mentorship, I have received from Bob and his trainers from Suggarrays boxing both in Vancouver and New West has been like non other. For a low bi weekly fee, I was able to have unlimited one on one personal training sessions with experienced coaches, who have trained in the sport of boxing for many years. Their world class environment, made me feel like I belonged, and I was able to learn key boxing fundamentals inside a real boxing ring. Having 24 hour access was so convenient, I was able to train on my own time, and would recommend this gym to anyone who is looking for a place to train, and to learn new skills both beginner and intermediate. I would highly recommend this gym to all my family and friends!

I've been going to this gym for many years and it's a great place to learn boxing. The instructors…read moreare friendly, precise and really passionate about teaching. The place is clean and has all the equipment for a complete workout. Safe and friendly atmosphere especially as a woman wanting to workout alone.

Came here with my gf in order to get our private tour of the Canucks stadium. This is the same…read morevenue where the mens hockey games for the 2010 Olympics are being held. Our hour long tour was quite impressive and went from the uber exclusive upper club levels in the stadium all the way down to the ice and to the team's dressing rooms. Probably one of the best designed hockey stadiums that I've been to considering that no matter where you sat you had a full view of the ice. If you're in town and the Canucks are playing I'd recommend grabbing a game or two for some awesome on ice action.

The drop in ping pong program is unsupervised so one waits until a game on one of 5 tables gets…read morefinished so standbys can play winners. But the players aren't forthcoming when there game ends and they simply keep playing indefinitely. Hence a new comer is left sitting around w/o any recourse as the front desk just tells you to wait your turn. But that turn never comes up. Other community centers like Killarney have well managed ping pong programs that are supervised and insure newcomers get to play. Don't waste your time here

Beautiful and well maintained venue. Lots of activities and amenities for all ages. Staff are very…read morefriendly and welcoming. Washrooms and water fountains located inside with some seating in the area (both indoor and out). Limited parking in the area, with some paid meter parking nearby the park.

the west end community centre on denman is one of those neighbourhood gems that is much bigger and…read moremore spacious than it first appears. from the outside, it may look like a typical community recreation centre, but step inside and you quickly realize there is a whole little ecosystem happening under one roof. there's an ice rink, fitness centre, dance studios, squash courts, pottery spaces and a variety of community programs that bring people of all ages together. it feels less like a single purpose facility and more like a gathering place where the neighbourhood comes to move, learn and connect. i was there for an adult beginner ballet class under the guidance of maria, our ballet instructor. the goal was simple, to learn the basics and hopefully move through life with just a little more grace and elegance. we worked through the foundations of ballet: pliés, first position, rond de jambe and relevés. movements that look effortless when performed by trained dancers suddenly become a lesson in concentration, balance and body awareness when you're the one attempting them. the class moved between posture exercises, stretching, jumps and technique work. each movement seemed deceptively simple until you actually had to hold the position, engage the right muscles and remember all the little details. while focusing on my relevé, i could hear bass thumping from somewhere next door. not exactly the soundtrack i had imagined for ballet, but somehow it added to the charm, a reminder that this wasn't a polished, intimidating studio, but a real neighbourhood space filled with people pursuing their own interests. and that's what makes this experience so appealing. there's something wonderfully approachable about learning ballet in a community centre rather than a formal dance academy. around you, people are shooting hoops, working out, taking classes and going about their evening. it's a little busy, a little chaotic, and completely authentic to the neighbourhood. the dance studio itself is bright, clean and spacious, with large mirrors and ballet barres running along the walls. there's plenty of room to move, practice and slowly build confidence. i may not be preparing for the nutcracker or swan lake anytime soon, but there is something satisfying about learning a skill that is built around posture, strength and elegance. now the big question remains...when do we get to wear the pink tutus?! until then, it's one plié, one relevé and one small step toward moving with a little more grace.

Some people i have grown to know at this gym have stopped coming because of certain hippy types…read morethat don't believe in deodorant, soap and water on a daily basis. They make it extremely unpleasant for the rest of us. After 20 yr going to the westend cc will not be renewing yearly in January because those same stinky guys have also a problem with essential oils and these are same guys that don't rinse before coming into steam, have had a problem or two with them because they exfoliate in the steam, they don't rinse or they pour water on the steam sensor but the lazy Filipino attendant is buddy with some of them so favours their unacceptable behaviour or homophobia even which is asinine considering it's the westend. This gym has gone down hygienically as well and the maintenance guy is just standing around chitchatting.. what a horrible and disappointing turn for this gym

My husband had been to an escape room before but our daughter and I had never been to one. The…read morethree of us tried one together at EXIT in Vancouver, on West Broadway. They have different escape rooms to choose from. There are different themes for the rooms, and different levels of difficulty. We were given 50 minutes to escape the Escape Room. If we wanted help, they would stop the clock on the 50 minutes and come in to give us some hints to help us move forward with solving the different puzzles. We called for help several times but in the end, we weren't able to solve all the puzzles. We did make it 70% of the way though, and we had a ton of fun in the process! We got to snap a photo afterwards, holding up these signs with different phrases on them. While everyone contributed something to the problem solving process, I was the one who solved most of the puzzles so I chose a sign that read "Carried the Team" on it! Service: Good Parking: Paid parking on the streets Location: 309 West Broadway, Vancouver

We had a great time as family, service was friendly and prompt, the room was a bit old but all…read moreclues were functional. Each participant should have a flashlight though... our room was completely dark and we had to share them...