2018/2019 Grand Prix Final will be in Vancouver

taz'smum

'Be Kind' - every skater has their own story
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Can't find a thread to put this in

The Chinese Skating Association has informed the ISU that they are unable to host any ISU Event during the 18'/19'season.

'ISU GP of Figure Skating, originally planned to be held as Cup of China in China, preferably to be held in the Republic of Korea on November 2-4, 2018.'

*' ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating (including Pair Skating), originally planned to be held in Harbin/China on September 19-22, 2018, now to be held in Vancouver, Canada, on September 12-15, 2018 :

Shanghai Trophy, originally planned to be held on September 29-October 1, 2018 in Shanghai/China, cannot be replaced and the season 2018/19 edition is cancelled.'

https://twitter.com/hueber_sydney/status/1006531179720380416
 

SamuraiK

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manhn

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I wonder if it will be in Vancouver or a suburb. I can't see a Jr GP at any of the arenas in the city proper. Do all Junior Grand Prix's end on a Saturday? Anyways, my first junior grand prix!
 

manhn

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8 Rinks would be good for me. Close to work and home. It is not a traditional arena with seating all around. I am not sure if that type of thing is required for junior events.
 

kwanfan1818

RIP D-10
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I wonder if it will be in Vancouver or a suburb. I can't see a Jr GP at any of the arenas in the city proper. Do all Junior Grand Prix's end on a Saturday? Anyways, my first junior grand prix!
Last season, all of the other JGP's last year had Thursday for practice, then competition Friday-Sunday.

http://www.isuresults.com/results/season1718/jgpaus2017/index.htm
http://www.isuresults.com/results/season1718/jgpaut2017/index.htm
http://www.isuresults.com/results/season1718/jgplat2017/index.htm
http://www.isuresults.com/results/season1718/jgpblr2017/index.htm
http://www.isuresults.com/results/season1718/jgpita2017/index.htm
http://www.isuresults.com/results/season1718/jgpcro2017/index.htm
http://www.isuresults.com/results/season1718/jgppol2017/index.htm

For Vancouver, it looks like Wednesday, September 12th will be practice, and the competition will be Thursday-Saturday, September 13-15.

Unfortunately, I have to be in Seattle Thursday night, which means I can only get up for Saturday, but that might be worth the trip. I've never seen a JGP, only JGPF combined with GPF.

ETA: If it's at 8 Rinks, then there is metal bleacher seating across one short end of the rink, and people also watched it from upstairs in the concessions area. BC Summerskate is held in August, and one year, overedge drove us to lunch in her car that had been parked in the sun. It took until we got to the mall for me to defrost even though I was still wearing fleece, so, if it's there, and you go, bring a blanket to put on the metal seat, and bundle up like it's January in that unclosed Swiss arena they held Euros in one season.
 

kalamalka

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Last season, all of the other JGP's last year had Thursday for practice, then competition Friday-Sunday.

For Vancouver, it looks like Wednesday, September 12th will be practice, and the competition will be Thursday-Saturday, September 13-15.

ETA: If it's at 8 Rinks, then there is metal bleacher seating across one short end of the rink, and people also watched it from upstairs in the concessions area. BC Summerskate is held in August, and one year, overedge drove us to lunch in her car that had been parked in the sun. It took until we got to the mall for me to defrost even though I was still wearing fleece, so, if it's there, and you go, bring a blanket to put on the metal seat, and bundle up like it's January in that unclosed Swiss arena they held Euros in one season.

kwanfan1818, your links are right but you must have been looking at this year's calendar for days of the week - the JGPs last year (and I went to two of them) were all Wednesday practice, Thurs-Sat competition. No competition on Sunday, and no gala at JGPs. The Thurs-Sat competition schedule has been pretty consistent for a few years.

I really hope it's not at 8 Rinks. It's just not a good venue for spectators, and it's often hard to get seating even for Summerskate.
 

kalamalka

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What's the cost for a JGP?

In Europe, some are free, others have been a fairly minimal cost (in the range of $10-15/day). It's been so long since there's been one in Canada, though, and I don't know at all what the last ones in the US charged. The one I went to in Montreal some time ago was $40 all-event IIRC.
 

barbarafan

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In Europe, some are free, others have been a fairly minimal cost (in the range of $10-15/day). It's been so long since there's been one in Canada, though, and I don't know at all what the last ones in the US charged. The one I went to in Montreal some time ago was $40 all-event IIRC.
I think I went to that one and took in the ice dance...It was 10$ a day...I remember Tessa and Scott running the arena steps over and over for warm up. Before the days of live stream.
 

TanithandBenFan

Author of the Ice and Edge Series
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Thank you! Is it just the gala that is on Sunday or are there competitions?

I found this as confirmation on the website:

The event schedule will be available in the summer of 2018. At this time official practices are scheduled to begin on Wednesday, December 5, 2018 with competition beginning Thursday, December 6 ending on Saturday, December 8, 2018. The Exhibition Gala will be held on Sunday, December 9th, 2018. Competition start times are subject to change up to and including the week of the event. The doors open each day 30 minutes prior to the beginning of the first practice.
 

kwanfan1818

RIP D-10
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Not mentioned is Fisherman's Terrace, which is located in the Aberdeen Centre, a small indoor mall a 5-minute walk from the Aberdeen SkyTrain station. I have friends for whom a pilgrimage to this restaurant for dim sum is non-negotiable on visits to Vancouver. Pink Pearl, which is mentioned in the article, is still on Hastings, halfway between the West End and PNE. Vancouver's Chinatown, which has become a snacking destination, in my experience, is about halfway between the West End and Pink Pearl, if anyone has a day or morning to wander while they're in town.

The mall itself is interesting: there is a two story Daiso that, on the main floor, is a door or two down from what used to be a Lamberghini "showroom" -- maybe two cars fit inside -- and then I think became a Porsche showroom, and now is either a Mercedes or BMW showroom, which says a bit about its clientele. Aside from the ubiquitous cell phone carriers, some food court staples, and maybe a Body Shop, the rest of the mall is full of local business or local small chains.

My favorite food in Vancouver is in three small local chains:
  • La Taqueria, where I had my first meal after becoming naturalized, with vegan, veggie, and fish options: their main location now is across the street from the Broadway-City Hall Skytrain station, but they're planning to open in a larger space with a long bar one block east (on Broadway, the Cambie stop of the 99 bus) by the end of the summer. They also have a location on Hastings on the northeast edge of the West End, one that I haven't been to not far from the Waterfront Skytrain station (the one terminus for all of the SkyTrain lines), and one in North Vancouver.
  • Nuba, which serves Lebanese food. There are a lot of veggie options, but they also make two or three wonderful lamb dishes among their meat offerings. They have restaurants in the northeast West End, on Hastings and where Hamilton and Cambie converge, one about a 10-minute walk from the Main Street Skytrain station, just off of Main Street on 3rd, and another in Yaletown, on Davie, and, one which takes Opentable reservations, on Broadway in Kitsilano, about three blocks from the Macdonald stop on the 99 bus on the way to UBC.
  • East is East/Chai Lounge -- the website plays music. (website). There's one a block away from Nuba on West Broadway (Macdonald stop on the 99 bus), and the other is on Main Street close to the 28th Street stop of the #3 bus, which connects on Main and Broadway, along with the the buses that go along King Edward.* It's a bit out of the way, but is a really nice space. The food is Silk Road fusion and is really good. Their Chai Feast, which is unlimited within reason, starts you off with soup, sides, rice, and small portions of two mains, and you can get more of those or add other dishes a couple at a time for the rest of the meal.
*We've had a few Vancouver-area FSU get-togethers at Locus, also on Main Street just north of King Edward. They are open until midnight Sunday-Thursday and 1am on Friday and Saturday, with the kitchen closing at 12:30am, and they have late-night dining specials.

ETA: And if you don't mind spending a lot of $$$ on Japanese food, a friend and I spent a two-hour lunch at Hapa Izakaya's Coal Harbour location -- not far from the Waterfront Skytrain -- and I now have a new vice: shiso shochu. Also in the West End, I've had really good food at Guu Izakaya: they have four or five locations. People rave about Blue Water, really pricey, but I'm a plain sushi eater, and, for me, it wasn't worth it. Tojo's has long been one of the most lauded sushi restaurants in the city -- it's on Broadway, about halfway between Cambie and Granville -- but I've been hearing some mixed reviews lately, although from people staying in the West End, for whom it was relatively out of their way and highly anticipated.

The epicenter of Little India is 49th and Main -- also the #3 bus, plus the buses that go across 49th -- but there's also the chefier version at Vikram Vij and Meeru Dhalwala's main restaurant, Vij's, at 16th and Cambie (Cambie Village) and the casual version, Vij's Rangoli, on 11th just off of Granville and about two blocks from Broadway (99 bus again). (website). They used to be side-by-side on 11th, but they moved the main restaurant to Cambie Village, and they move Vij's Rangoli into the bigger space. They're open late, and they don't take reservations. (And by poking around the site, I realized they have a daytime restaurant in Victoria, so it's there and La Taqueria's Victoria branch and Red Fish/Blue Fish on my next trip to Victoria! Too much food, too little time.)
 
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I Luv Bulldogs

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Not mentioned is Fisherman's Terrace, which is located in the Aberdeen Centre, a small indoor mall a 5-minute walk from the Aberdeen SkyTrain station. I have friends for whom a pilgrimage to this restaurant for dim sum is non-negotiable on visits to Vancouver. Pink Pearl, which is mentioned in the article, is still on Hastings, halfway between the West End and PNE. Vancouver's Chinatown, which has become a snacking destination, in my experience, is about halfway between the West End and Pink Pearl, if anyone has a day or morning to wander while they're in town.

The mall itself is interesting: there is a two story Daiso that, on the main floor, is a door or two down from what used to be a Lamberghini "showroom" -- maybe two cars fit inside -- and then I think became a Porsche showroom, and now is either a Mercedes or BMW showroom, which says a bit about its clientele. Aside from the ubiquitous cell phone carriers, some food court staples, and maybe a Body Shop, the rest of the mall is full of local business or local small chains.

My favorite food in Vancouver is in three small local chains:
  • La Taqueria, where I had my first meal after becoming naturalized, with vegan, veggie, and fish options: their main location now is across the street from the Broadway-City Hall Skytrain station, but they're planning to open in a larger space with a long bar one block east (on Broadway, the Cambie stop of the 99 bus) by the end of the summer. They also have a location on Hastings on the northeast edge of the West End, one that I haven't been to not far from the Waterfront Skytrain station (the one terminus for all of the SkyTrain lines), and one in North Vancouver.
  • Nuba, which serves Lebanese food. There are a lot of veggie options, but they also make two or three wonderful lamb dishes among their meat offerings. They have restaurants in the northeast West End, on Hastings and where Hamilton and Cambie converge, about a 10-minute walk from the Main Street Skytrain station, one just off of Main Street on 3rd, in Yaletown, on Davie, and, one which takes Opentable reservations, on Broadway in Kitsilano, about three blocks from the Macdonald stop on the 99 bus on the way to UBC.
  • East is East/Chai Lounge -- the website plays music. (website). There's one a block away from Nuba on West Broadway (Macdonald stop on the 99 bus), and the other is on Main Street close to the 28th Street stop of the #3 bus, which connects on Main and Broadway, along with the the buses that go along King Edward.* It's a bit out of the way, but is a really nice space. The food is Silk Road fusion and is really good. Their Chai Feast, which is unlimited within reason, starts you off with soup, sides, rice, and small portions of two mains, and you can get more of those or add other dishes a couple at a time for the rest of the meal.
*We've had a few Vancouver-area FSU get-togethers at Locus, also on Main Street just north of King Edward. They are open until midnight Sunday-Thursday and 1am on Friday and Saturday, with the kitchen closing at 12:30am, and they have late-night dining specials.

ETA: And if you don't mind spending a lot of $$$ on Japanese food, a friend and I spent a two-hour lunch at Hapa Izakaya's Coal Harbour location -- not far from the Waterfront Skytrain -- and I now have a new vice: shiso shochu. Also in the West End, I've had really good food at Guu Izakaya: they have four or five locations. People rave about Blue Water, really pricey, but I'm a plain sushi eater, and, for me, it wasn't worth it. Tojo's has long been one of the most lauded sushi restaurants in the city -- it's on Broadway, about halfway between Cambie and Granville -- but I've been hearing some mixed reviews lately, although from people staying in the West End, for whom it was relatively out of their way and highly anticipated.

The epicenter of Little India is 49th and Main -- also the #3 bus, plus the buses that go across 49th -- but there's also the chefier version at Vikram Vij and Meeru Dhalwala's main restaurant, Vij's, at 16th and Cambie (Cambie Village) and the casual version, Vij's Rangoli, on 11th just off of Granville and about two blocks from Broadway (99 bus again). (website). They used to be side-by-side on 11th, but they moved the main restaurant to Cambie Village, and they move Vij's Rangoli into the bigger space. They're open late, and they don't take reservations. (And by poking around the site, I realized they have a daytime restaurant in Victoria, so it's there and La Taqueria's Victoria branch and Red Fish/Blue Fish on my next trip to Victoria! Too much food, too little time.)

If you want really good but $$$ Japanese food try Miku. Their ebi fritters are one of the best things I've ever eaten. It is located right by Waterfront station.

I think Hapa is ok. Food is decent but service not that great. I work in the office tower above it, so lots of work lunches there.
 

kwanfan1818

RIP D-10
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If you want really good but $$$ Japanese food try Miku. Their ebi fritters are one of the best things I've ever eaten. It is located right by Waterfront station.

I think Hapa is ok. Food is decent but service not that great. I work in the office tower above it, so lots of work lunches there.
We must have hit a good day: our server was very patient with us old people the day we went, and we had hours :) Plus, I'm sure the :nopryde: helped ;)

Thank you for the recommendation for Miku. Ebi is not in my future -- I only eat "kosher" sushi, and ixnay on the omelet -- but the much of their menu looks :swoon:
 

Japanfan

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Ebi is not in my future -- I only eat "kosher" sushi, and ixnay on the omelet -- but the much of their menu looks :swoon:

From Wikpedia:

Odori ebi (踊り海老/躍り海老, "dancing shrimp") is a sushi delicacy of Japan, and a form of sashimi. The sushi contains baby shrimp (Pandalus borealis or Marsupenaeus japonicus)[citation needed] that are still alive and able to move its legs and antenna while being eaten. The meal is prepared quickly to keep the shrimp alive, and when it is eaten the shrimp are usually dunked into sake so as to intoxicate the shrimp, then into a special dipping sauce, and finally quickly chewed to kill it.

The shrimp can be served either whole or shelled with the head removed; the head and shell are sometimes quickly deep fried and served on the side.[1]

I don't want to enter into a debate about the emotional lives of shrimp, but I'll pass, thank you.
 

manhn

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I would not. Driving across either the Oak Street or Arthur Lang Bridge to Vancouver is a pain during the week. And then driving along ritzy Marine Drive to the school sucks too. The only reason to stay in Richmond is if you intend to take transit and your hotel is along the Canada Line (then you take it to Broadway-City Hall Station, then take the #99 Bus to UBC).
 
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I would not. Driving across either the Oak Street or Arthur Lang Bridge to Vancouver is a pain during the week. And then driving along ritzy Marine Drive to the school sucks too. The only reason to stay in Richmond is if you intend to take transit and your hotel is along the Canada Line (then you take it to Broadway-City Hall Station, then take the #99 Bus to UBC).

I was happy I followed @manhn’s advice for Nationals last year. Staying at a hotel on Broadway was much better.
 

potatopie

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I managed to get a ticket in the first row of the West Bleachers- I think it roughly corresponds to Row 12 in other sections. This will be my first figure skating competition so I'm not sure what to expect. Will I be able to see the programs well from my seat?
 
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I managed to get a ticket in the first row of the West Bleachers- I think it roughly corresponds to Row 12 in other sections. This will be my first figure skating competition so I'm not sure what to expect. Will I be able to see the programs well from my seat?

You’ll have a very good vantage point. The bleacher seats though did not look very comfortable at Nationals. It’s literally just bleachers.
 

Cayuse

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You’ll have a very good vantage point. The bleacher seats though did not look very comfortable at Nationals. It’s literally just bleachers.
With only 6 competitors in each event, the sessions will be short. However, you might want to consider investing in a portable stadium seat to give you some back support.
 

kalamalka

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I managed to get a ticket in the first row of the West Bleachers- I think it roughly corresponds to Row 12 in other sections. This will be my first figure skating competition so I'm not sure what to expect. Will I be able to see the programs well from my seat?
Rosaleen and I will be directly in front of you in the wheelchair seating, as we were for Canadians. The vantage point is indeed excellent, but agree with the others about comfort - the bleachers are just bare wood, so you'll at least want something to sit on.
 

potatopie

New Member
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You’ll have a very good vantage point. The bleacher seats though did not look very comfortable at Nationals. It’s literally just bleachers.
With only 6 competitors in each event, the sessions will be short. However, you might want to consider investing in a portable stadium seat to give you some back support.
Rosaleen and I will be directly in front of you in the wheelchair seating, as we were for Canadians. The vantage point is indeed excellent, but agree with the others about comfort - the bleachers are just bare wood, so you'll at least want something to sit on.

Thanks everyone! Just another question about the event- how do the open practice sessions usually work? Do we sit in our allocated seats or can we sit wherever we like?

I'd like to move closer down for the practices but I feel like the turnout for practice (specifically the senior men's event) will be quite high so it'll be hard to find an open seat.
 

TanithandBenFan

Author of the Ice and Edge Series
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Thanks everyone! Just another question about the event- how do the open practice sessions usually work? Do we sit in our allocated seats or can we sit wherever we like?

I'd like to move closer down for the practices but I feel like the turnout for practice (specifically the senior men's event) will be quite high so it'll be hard to find an open seat.

Practices are always open seating. :)
 

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