Anni Adventures

I got to visit yet another escape room recently. This time I went to a place I haven't been before, adding to the ever growing list of places I've been to. This time I was going for University of Waterloo Vancouver alumni's Spring Social. Because most of the executives work downtown, we had to go with one that was downtown. Thus, Smartypantz. Smartypantz was conveniently located a five minutes walk from the closest skytrain station and was central to our needs. We booked for their Thirst for Murder room which was rated to be a bit more challenging.

What was interesting about this escape place is that to enter the building, you had to say the pass-word. Ours was "snowman." Once they've determined that you have the correct password, they buzz you in. The moment you walk in you really notice the smelly of the old building. It was something I wasn't too fond of. Up the stairs and into the place, it was well decorated with interesting decor, which really suited its going theme. The employees were very helpful and enthusiastic. Their waiting room had some puzzles that could get your brain going. 

Once our whole team arrived, we were led to our escape room by an actor that really immersed himself into his role. another thing to note is that all the doors have their themes decorated onto them. You could tell a lot of care went into setting this place up. The actor went through the plot with us and then left to allow us to work our escape. We were given an hour and two hints for our mission. I won't go into mechanics, as not to ruin it, however there were three rooms. It was very immersive. Definitely different from other escape rooms I've been to. There was more hands on actions required and less numbers and locks, which was refreshing. Our group managed to escape using our two clues and having about 10 minutes left to spare. Immediately after finishing, I was a little confused since I thought there would be more to it. It did feel a bit short. There were aspects which we found a tad confusing, and their clues were given through a walkie talkie that made understanding a bit difficult through the static of the radio. 

In the end, we took a celebratory picture for successfully escaping our room before we went on our way. I look forward to trying their other rooms, but perhaps only if they have a promotion. 

I've heard a lot of good things about Lockdown Escape, but have never decided to go since they never seem to have any specials. But it seemed that we are almost out of options BUT this. We decided to skip the easier ones and jump straight into a more difficult one, given that we're seasoned players already. Each of the rooms at Lockdown Escape are an hour long and you are given two hints for the entire game. 

The location is easy to find with ample parking spots. We got there right at the time when we were suppose to start, but the staff was very accommodating and didn't seem to mind. Their waiting area isn't that big. There's only two or three benches available for you to sit at. After we paid and put our phones, bags and whatnot away, we were oriented through a short video, which was very well done. 

We selected the Prison Detective room. This is one of those that you start off handcuffed. Right off the bat, I liked it already. While I won't go into details and spoil the room, I will say that we quite liked the mechanics of the room. It isn't all locks, which can get old real fast. There were also moments where we were Wow'd by what we had to do. However, there were clues that were misleading and parts where we got ahead of ourselves. Ultimately, this is our first official fail in over 15 games. We got stuck on the very last puzzle of the room for over 10 minutes, which in our opinions wasn't done well. But that aside, I quite liked this place. It had mechanisms not seen in other places. I definitely look forward to seeing how their other rooms pan out.

At the end of it all, we got to take a picture with a themed backdrop for our room.  I highly recommend trying this place out, but perhaps if its your first time, try an easier room.

We had some really nice weather over the weekend and decided to ease into our climbing season with something simple. after much deliberation (not really), we chose to hike to Norvan Falls! It is a relatively easy hike, with minimal elevation change. It is about 14 km round trip. Vancouvertrails website estimated it to be about 5 hours round trip. Since I had work in the afternoon, We decided to meet up early (7:15 am early) and carpool up. after delays here and there and getting lost without my GPS, we arrived at Lynn Headwater around 8:50. The boards around the start of the hike estimated the hike to be 6 hours! That set some nerves off, as we were worried we may not make it back in time, however, we took it with a grain of salt. Since we knew these are always horrible estimates.

























The hike starts off as part of Lynn Loop and since we were headed north along the water, it was easy with minimal elevation. We reached the top of the loop in about half an hour to 45 min and took a short water break before continuing on to Norvan falls. The latter half was more technical with 3 or 4 small ridges/valleys to traverse across. It was a lot of roots and rocks but still, I would consider it easy. We made it easily to Norvan falls in an hour and a half. We spent about half an hour or so taking selfies and having a snack. The falls was breathtaking. It is not as big as Shannon falls, however locally, this is the next best thing, and you can even get close if you wanted to. 



The hike back was just as fast, however we were starting to notice the fatigue and hunger kicking in. Besides enjoying the hike, it was a nice opportunity to catch up with close friends and having interesting conversations, such as who would last the longest in a battle royale situation. Hint, I would probably be the first to go. Hahaha. 

Now that the first hike is checked off, I'm looking forward to a season full of interesting and technical climbs. My goal is to at least do the Lions Binkhert this year as well as Black Tusk up in Whistler. Stay tuned!