Gala
Gala Milne Joined: January 4th 2008
Logged in: March 10th 2010
Logged in: March 10th 2010
Travel Blog Posts
August 27th 2008
What would you do if your high ranking 'in-the-know' Chinese friends were able to get your visa extended right up to the 6th of August 2008 - just two days before the ever controversial Beijing Olympic Opening Ceremony - and free of charge at that? Would you a) spend time traveling around China's gorgeous southwestern provinces? b) get one of your best friends to come visit you from nearby thailand and travel together? c) invent job opportunities for yourself as an english speaking camp counselor in China's Northern Heilongjiang province? or d) pack everything you own in a box - ship it back home to Canada - ditch your fast approaching Beijing-Vancouver flight home - and fly last second to Paris, France... ?! After wrapping up a successful month of teaching english to my 40 ... read more
There are 10 Ligers in the world. An animal of unnatural breeding... The result of a copulation between an African Male lion and a female tiger... Mythical creatures, one might think upon hearing their name. However, while on an excurision to the local Yabuli Dongbe Tiger Rehabilitation/ Preservation Park in the middle of nowhere... after feeding a live chicken to some hunger-ravenged tigers, 5 of my mandarin speaking older male Chinese colleagues and I were privileged to meet one of these rare fairytale creatures. A spotted head and a striped back... a science experiment gone right... and this particular case, imported all the way from Korea. Apparently it is impossible to breed a 2nd generation of liger, but this one seemed happy as it licked and ripped the slab of raw chicken meat off the bamboo ... read more
I said a little prayer for you
After some wild flower picking, and a quick jaunt around the “resort” grounds on a brand spankin new red pimp daddy of a mountain bike (owned by the Sun Mountain’s director, Mr. Yue Gong), I am ready to tell you all about Yabuli Moutai and drinking from teapots, eating fresh spring frogs, the value of fish eyeballs, how to say good morning in Russian, what a multi-billionaire looks like (when surrounded by 20 models and a golden shovel), and what it feels like to take a 3 day road trip with a bunch of Chinese people. Trying to Keep Up First of all, lets get something straight. The Chinese international students you meet at SFU might seem like a bunch of no-fun bookworms with their heads buried in their studies, but these are obviously NOT the ... read more
Pit Stop
The last time I ventured out of our Park Avenue apartment to see more of this vast country, I wound up a few borders away, and on a bus to Nowheresville, Philippines. With a new adventure ahead, and a semi-understanding of the unpredictability of the inner-workings of my brain, this made it very hard to pack my suitcase. (Or should I bring a duffel bag? Perhaps a backpack?) I ended up with a bag of 10% papers and pens, 20% clothes, 30% movies, and 50% Ayn Rand styled novels, and my new blue guitar - for I heard rumour that Yabuli was a town with a hole in it’s bucket, and there would be nothing to do but drink wodka wis Wrrussians all the sing-song day. After a stroll through the enormously giganticly huge brand spankin ... read more
Usually when my nose picks up an odd scent, I reach for my scarf or tug my shirt up to my face to protect my body from breathing in the odd, non-descript, often toxic stench. For example, the other day I sat outside a quaint cafe drinking wine with my friend M and her mate, Damien, talking about health and hospitals, when suddenly the conversation erupted in laughter and giggles seemed to escape from the inside and spill all over the table. Health isn't usually such a funny topic, but we noticed that our brains had been temporarily poisoned by the buckets of paint thinner the cafe waitress was dumping onto the sidewalk from ongoing renovations in the cafe. It was fine and funny enough for us, but the stray cat strolling past our legs wasn't ... read more
And there I was. Not on a white sandy beach. Not in a funky Filipino hostel. Not prepping to dive the coast of Palawan in the morning. But instead, sitting on the faded blue seatcover of a lazy old couch in the living room of this Filipino family in the town of Pola. 3 Hours from Puerto Galera, my intended destination, with the sun long gone behind me, and the sound of tropical insects buzzing outside the screen door. Kathy's mother was extremely surprised to see her daughter hop out of the tricycle with a large white girl in tow, but graciously accepted me into her home. I must admit, I was a little stunned to be sitting there. Kathy's 11 year old brother was insanely shy, and although he learns english in school, you would ... read more
Bye Bye Irish Guy!
If I had been able to call my mother at that point, she would have been very very glad to hear I had met some other travellers. In honesty, I was really glad too. I had been feeling a little silly about leaving the safety and comfort of the Chunking Mansion and was happy to meet some more people who made me feel just as cozy. hah! But I guess theres just something inside me that doesn't really like that safe and secure feeling. Something inside that says no! go forth and find adventure! path less taken! path of most resistance! woo! I've always been somewhat of a poor decision maker. This is fact. Sit me down at Denny's and give me 3 options of hambuger/salad, cheeseburger/fries, or pancakes/bacon, and it will take me at LEAST ... read more
Save our Souls
yes yes... hong kong was very nice. met some locals, ate some razor clams, met some canadians, had some pre-st. pat's strongbow at an irish bar, saw a beauuuutiful fishing village and fell in love! (with the village... ), witnessed one of the great monuments of the world on a very quiet day for said tourist attraction... island hopped, coffee shopped, shopped in general... but i couldn't stand to go back to beijing after such a short journey. hong kong has an enourmous international airport and it would be a shame if i didn't visit it at least once! right? With barely any time to think out a plan of action, and acting solely on click-of-the-finger instincts (and annoyance of travel agents and wanting to prove to them that YES! there are air-fare deals out there...) ... read more
sharing with you - some big-sitting-buddha-inspired writings from my day on Lantau Island - She glanced up at the hills that gave shape to the sky above... she notices it in the distance, in a mountain crevass. she was on a buss to see it, but witnessing him sitting there came as a shock. she felt belittled, a bit frightened, and somewhat intimidated. This view was not meant for her. She did not and would never understand its full beauty and wisdom. She was a girl from a small town on an island oceans away. She was not catholic, buddhist, or religious of any sort. And here she was, climbing the hills to witness the world's largest sitting Buddha, on an island far away. The rickety bus winded the hill and hugged the mountain's curves like ... read more
The 24 hour through train arrived at the Hung Hom Train Station about 1pm Wednesday the 15th of March. A new city! Alice and Iris introduced me to the Octopus card, the prepaid debit card of sorts that you can use for ferries, subways, buses, tram lines, and even at 7-11, and sent me on my way. We planned to meet later that night after I got settled into my new place, which sounded brilliant: The Chunking Mansions, located right in the heart of the action on Nathan Street in Tsim Sha Tsui, shopping capital of Hong Kong! This place sounded perfect, especially since most of the hostels on hostelbooker.com were located here - and it had the best (cheapest) prices in HK. One couldn't ask for anything more. The scene outside my mansions boasts about ... read more
