What was supposed to be a lovely passenger cruise ferry between Osaka and Busan taking 16 hours took more into a 28 hour ordeal. I awoke at 5am from the ship moving abruptly. Realizing that no one was panicking and the ship wasn't sinking, I went back to sleep. Two hours later, I stared out of our window and noticed that our ship wasn't moving... and would not move for another 10 hours. Our Panstar ferry was involved in a minor collision with a smaller vessel and the Japanese coast guard had to be called to inspect the damage. In an [View Full Entry]

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3 bored law students on break itching to hit the open road + 1 borrowed car = experiencing an authentic Montana high school rodeo. We didn’t particularly have a destination in mind for our roadtrip as the general area of Montana was good enough. We weren’t sure if Sam would make it across the border as he had an incredibly old Hong Kong passport and an expired Canadian passport with no current proof of citizenship. Truth be told, we were half convinced that Sam would be rejected at the border or denied entry on the way back. Miraculously/sadly, neither happened. [View Full Entry]

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After my disappointing introduction to Norway, I found Bergen absolutely incredible and it could do no wrong despite its abnormally frigid weather that caused me to hide indoors at the guesthouse reading the trashy romances. I'm not sure whether it was the charming painted wooden houses with its funky colored doors built upon narrow non-grid like winding streets or if it was the layout of the city with its houses built in steps on the hill side each with a great view of down below and the harbour. The city was great for a casual stroll down at the harbour [View Full Entry]

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For various petty stubborn reasons, I found Oslo unappealing and basically unenjoyable. My one token museum visit consisted of going to the NationalMuseet in Oslo famous for containing one version of the Scream painting by Edvard Munch. I was irritated to discover that all personal articles including small purses had to be checked in. I will admit the museum has a basis for their paranoia - the painting was stolen in the 90s and recovered a few years later. Seriously though, are middle aged ladies with their small purses the prime candidates for hoisting a painting? I almost missed viewing [View Full Entry]

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I figured if I was coming all the way to Finland, I might as well go to Estonia. For many, its an easy day trip that takes anywhere from 1 1/2 hours on a hydrofoil boat or 3 hours on a cruise type ferry. I think there are a fair number of Finnish people who enjoy making this trip for the cheap cigarettes and well, duty-free alcohol available here. I was relieved to find that the prices are similar to canadian standards. A good bench mark is always Mcdonalds and five dollars cdn will get you an extra value meal [View Full Entry]

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I thought it'd be a great experience to take the ferry from Stockholm to Helsinki. Instead of being just a means of transportation, this ferry service has become a mini-vacation of sorts for many Europeans with many options for the traveller including bars, buffet restaurants and of course, shopping. Through this, I''ve managed to encounter a group of Europeans that I would not normally have encountered on the streets of the cities I've been visiting. The vacationers (mostly senior citizens or middle aged folk) stock up on duty-free booze like it was going out of style tomorrow. The duty free [View Full Entry]

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Alas, this entry is not nearly amusing as others but this is my travel update as of current. The small but bustling city of Malmo Sweden located in the area of Skåne is only a half hour away from Copenhagen by train via the Copenhagen Kastrup international airport. For my first jaunt into Sweden, I have nothing to prove for it (except for shopping and a belly full of bad Swedish fast food meatballs and mashed potatoes) as there are no customs formalities between these two countries and therefore no new stamp to add to my passport. The bridge connecting [View Full Entry]

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Denmark, the country of socialist values, liberal ideas and an inherent notion that no one should think better of themselves. Copenhagen is the second stop on my trip visiting my friend Piet, a fellow traveller I met 5 years ago in Arequipa, Peru. I had the not so bright idea of cramming in as many museums as I could into one day, knowing that scandinavian prices, including museums, are more expensive and well, they were free on Wednesday. The museum list included the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Nationalmuseet and Statens Museum for Kunst. After reaching museum overload rather quickly into the [View Full Entry]

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Alight here for the Piccadilly Line to Cockfosters... Mind the Gap... Please stand clear of the closing doors. Those are great first impressions of London - a city composed half of tourists and ex-patriots and the other half of Londoners. Tourists flock in droves to London to check out the famous Picadilly Circus, Leicester Square and Buckingham Palace among other top attractions. Having been to London previously, I endeavoured to check out the quirky areas I didn't get a chance to see previously. The theme of my sightseeing activities this time around has been markets. Portobello Market - [View Full Entry]

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So this blog isn't located anywhere exotic but I thought I would divulge more on the fine aspects of Alberta including its winter and well, Burger Baron. One of the great past times of a childhood winter is building snowmen. Usually, they're of the scrawny variety as 7 year olds can't really lift giant balls of snow well. Some poor kid's scarf is stolen to adorn the snowman and a thin tree is stripped of its branches to give the snowman some stick arms. On my way down the street from my house, someone has taken it upon him/herself to create [View Full Entry]

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