Earlier this year, I mentioned that I accidentally found myself in SFU after I missed my bus stop, on a snow day. By the time I reached SFU, it was nightfall and the whole campus was dead quiet. That was despite the fact that we were 3 weeks into the school term.
Fact is, I had visited SFU just a few weeks earlier. It was in the day. And I went there to see the Academic Quadrangle, which I heard was an architectural orgasm.
Getting to SFU
Since SFU is all the way up in the Burnaby Mountain, there are limited ways to get to it. One way was from the west, like how I missed my stop on R5 and hurtled up to SFU.
Another way was from the south, taking a bus from Production Way-University Station. That station was an “interchange” for Millenium Line (Yellow Line) and Expo Line (Blue Line). In fact, it was the last stop on Expo Line, if one were to take the Skytrain from Waterfront Station.
In fact, that was what I did. After my failed attempt to catch a view on Queen Elizabeth Mountain, I took bus 33 to 29th Avenue Station, and took the Expo Line to Production Way-University Station.
That journey took me all the way down to south Burnaby, before the line turned north at New Westminster. It was a detour, to be honest. However, since I had never been to south Burnaby, I thought it would be a convenient way to “see” it through the elevated Expo Line.
Yes, if you are short on time in Vancouver, taking the Expo Line and then changing to the Millenium Line is a great way to see the sights of Greater Vancouver. In 2 hours, you would have toured Metro Vancouver and return to downtown Vancouver.
But I digress.
Brutalistic SFU Buildings
SFU was apparently so big, it had an SFU Transit Exchange and an SFU Transportation Centre.
Wowz.
My bus took me to SFU Transit Exchange, which was on the eastern end of the campus. That offered me the chance to walk the arterial length of the SFU campus before reaching the all famous Academic Quadrangle.
Unfortunately for me, the whole Burnaby Mountain was also shrouded in a thick fog. Instead of seeing the brutalistic buildings in their full glory, all I managed to see were snippets of the building.
The brutalist was softened by the mist.
Academic Quadrangle
Despite being unable to see the full Quadrangle, it was great standing in the middle of the landscaped garden admiring the surrounding shrouded in a mystic veil. Since it was the school holidays, there was barely a soul to be seen. I felt like I was walking through an RPG game, through a post-apocalypse town.
Convocation Mall
By the time I reached the Academic Quadrangle, I was raring to find a washroom. I thought I could find one in the library, which was further west.
To my horror, the steps leading to the Convocation Mall just outside the library were blocked for renovation. I walked up and down the length of the Quadrangle and could not find a way down. Finally, out of desperation, I popped into a lift and… no… I did not relieve myself inside.
By instinct, I went 2 levels down and the doors opened into a canteen.
Yep, I found the much needed washroom in that cafeteria.
From there, it was a walk down a stripped down corridor beside the steps undergoing renovation (because well, the corridor was also undergoing renovation), before I reached the Convocation Mall.
The renovation spoiled the view; I imagined a grander scene when the vast space of the Convocation Mall sweeps up the wide steps leading to the Academic Quadrangle.
Luckily for me, I used the washroom at the cafeteria, because the library was closed.
But I digress.
I know SFU was more than the 2 iconic spaces I visited, but given the fog, there was a limit to what I can enjoy. I retraced my steps back to the Transit Exchange, where I took the R5 back down to east Burnaby for dinner at one of my favourite Taiwanese eatery in Vancouver.
That will be left for another post.
Till then, sing while you can!
Editor’s Note: This article was first posted on Sing in Can blog in 2019. It is now re-posted with edits on Live.Life.Love as SiC has closed down.
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