straysheep

I've given up starting off by saying that this will be a quick post because it never ends up that way. It is late (1:11 am) and I'm blogging on the laptop in the hotel room since I'm sleepy but not *that* sleepy yet. I went out with Candy and her friend who also happens to be in Montreal tonight - we went to eat chicken sharwma (like a gyro, but Lebanese) based on another friend's (a local) recommendation - it tasted okay but the place was a hole in the wall and Candy felt a bug drop on her arm, it turns out there were lots of bugs hanging upside down on the ceiling, EW!!! We were at the intersection of rue Crescent and Maisonneuve (sp?) which is the area where all the tourists party. ... read more

Blogging on the train from Toronto to Montreal on Microsoft Word. We went with the comfort (nice way to say economy) class so there’s no wifi like the Via 1 class - see, I can go cheap when I have to! ;) It certainly feels like it, with all the jostling for seats and masses of bodies boarding the train - I thought train travel was supposed to be civilized! I had a run-in with a mother who tried to shove past me and a crowd of people to get double seats on the train for herself and her daughter which didn’t help. If she had asked I would have gladly moved aside since as she said, “mothers should be with their children”. Anyway, we went on the marathon Chinese tour yesterday, starting with the casino ... read more

This entry is short and sweet since I spent too much time uploading and sorting photos from my camera :p Recap of what we did today: - Sleep in until 11:30 except Candy has a lunch date with her mentor at noon - EEK! Mom and I went to soak in the hot tub while Candy went for lunch, and I watched the Brazil-Ghana game. 3-0 Brazil! It's unfortunate Ghana had to meet Brazil and lose instead of another team, they were utterly charming and kicked USA's butt which is another plus - fantastic first showing! I still can't find a nice Brazil shirt that fits to buy, boohoo =( And I wanted to put a flag on my car but the World Cup's over when I get back meh. - Went shopping on Queen Street ... read more

Hello world, My day of stairs consisted of: 1. Climbing up and down a very narrow and scary winding staircase at Casa Loma (a mansion aka "castle" built in the early 1900's) to reach the top tower with a great view... but I went weak in the knees about halfway up when I realized how many flights there were and how small the steps are. 2. Walking down the stairs from the CN Tower revolving restaurant to the observatory deck and experiencing the glass floor... you can look about 50 stories down through the glass beneath your feet... AHHHHH!!! 3. Walking up (well, elevatoring up) three floors to find a vending machine that isn't out of water or broken. I finally called housekeeping for a toothbrush for my Mom and asked where I could buy water ... read more

Good evening, or should I say good morning since it's now 12:14 am Toronto time? I should be in bed by now but it's only 9:14 Vancouver time so I'm NOT sleepy and very refreshed after a shower... I love the shower here at Sheraton, it has hot water and a high pressure showerhead, just what my body needed after a delayed flight stuck in the middle of three seats. Travel Lesson #1: Hold on to your boarding pass and passport for dear life! We were boarding the plane and the passenger in front of us dropped his boarding pass through the small gap between the plane and the end of the corridor from the boarding gate as we watched in horror!!! They let him on since he passed the boarding gate already, but imagine the ... read more

Yes boys and girls, I'm home! =) I forgot to "remind" people I was coming home and it was funny talking to people today haha!!! I guess it goes to show how fast three weeks passes by... now that I'm back, it feels so easy to slip back into routine. But it does feel like something's changed, and I finally see what people mean with the cliche about travel opening up horizons and getting you to grow (mentally, not necessariliy sideways from all the food!). In three weeks I have travelled from a communist country to an overcrowded consumer-centric city to a culture alien to me with its emphasis on the group rather than the individual. There are still many, many things to mull over in the following days... so thank goodness I don't have to ... read more

Hi all, Long time no blog! I finally have a high speed internet connection at Candy's friend Ken's place, so I'm very very happy :D I'm tired now so I'll just do a short entry and more tomorrow. Still reeling from culture shock in Tokyo, we've been spoilt in Shanghai and Hong Kong since we took taxis everywhere in Shanghai since it was cheap, or were driven around in my Dad's SUV, and the Hong Kong MTR/subway system is the best I've seen: bilingual, well-designed stations so passengers can transfer from one line to another just by walking across the platform, and little blinking arrows on the line map that tell you which line and direction you're on as well as the next stop. Amazing. Then we arrive in Tokyo and it takes two hours and ... read more

Exhausted today so I'll keep the blog short... it turns out the relatives I stayed with last night have broadband and I could've connected the Powerbook to upload pics but I didn't have it with me so too bad :p Took some good ones the last couple of days which of course I'll share later on... looking forward to and dreading developing all the photos and the effort I have to put into making a nice photo album - it'll be a fun project but I just like whining haha. Was terribly impressed by th HK Airport as usual, and it seems to have improved with a Starbucks and foreign currency exchange kiosk right out of customs even before the arrivals meet-and-greet with family and friends! They also had several information centres along the way but ... read more

Hi all, Have been busy with packing up etc to post earlier, so I'll try to wrap up Shanghai before moving on to Hong Kong. The second last day we visited the Jinmao Tower, one of the tallest buildings in Pudong (eastern district of Shanghai). We took the elevator up to the 54th floor and found ourselves in the Hyatt hotel lobby - turns out the hotel actually starts on the 54th floor! We enjoyed some coffee, a creme brulee which tasted like Chinese egg custard (!), and Candy had the Shanghainese noodle stir fry (seung hoi choh chow in Cantonese) which was ok. We were there for the view and to gawk at the tourists there as well, and it was fabulous looking down on the city. Unfortunately when we were about to leave we ... read more