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Published: August 6th 2007
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Hi everyone,
So sorry it has been ages since our last entry we have been a little hectic...mostly trying to find somewhere to live again as you will see as you read on.
So since we put our last blog page up as some of you are aware the place we were in sold so we had two weeks to be out. That was on Thursday the 31st and in that time we have not been able to find somewhere else...so back to the hostel. We thought we would try a different one this time as we felt we were beginning to come part of the furniture in the other one! The one we chose is probably nicer but it has a club right underneath it so on the first night we stayed on the first floor and the floor was actually vibrating with the base- not much sleep that night! It also doesn't have a full kitchen just microwaves, so the menu was limited to canned soup and salad!!
It is really difficult being a couple trying to find affordable accommodation over here. The cheapest option is usually share accommodation, which couples fit into the same category
Face Masks
The aboriginal people of Canada used masks for ceremonies and a number of other reasons. Each is different and dependent on the era. This one was really striking! as pets (i.e. no couples or pets)!! Emma mentioned to a work colleague that we were looking for a place to live and she came to the rescue. Her boyfriend is overseas for a month so we are able to stay at his place and pay him some rent for a couple of weeks and then we should be moving into one bedroom apartment we are subletting (people rent out their places whilst they are away on holidays over here) for a couple of months. So that means we would be living in Vancouver until August 13th so in that time hopefully we can save some $ to travel around Canada a bit more. It is a relief to be out of the hostel and to not be feeling 'homeless' as it gets quite frustrating trying to find somewhere and the hostels are not cheap this time of year (private room was costing us between $75-95 a night!)
Karl has continued to slog it out concreting, whilst he hasn't had another day finishing at 10pm he still is working pretty long hours and Emma has a 5 week temp assignment which so far has been pretty cruisy and pretty
Large Scale Sculpture
These were all carved by hand of course. Some of the older ones the paint has worn off and can only be see by infrared but this one still is quite colourful. good money for admin ($18 hour- the maximum you can earn in admin over here is $20).
Anyway....we have managed to do a couple more touristy activities such as going to the Museum of Anthropology located at the University of British Columbia which was really interesting. The photos say it all really.
Also last weekend it was actually hot here! We couldn't believe it, it was like Brisbane weather. The people were loving it too, the 'beaches' were packed with sunbathers lining the sand (well what resembles sand anyway!!) and grass, playing beach volleyball, swimming, etc. The photo here doesn't even capture a third of the people that were there but it gives you an idea anyway.
Also went to the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Gardens located near China Town. They were pretty amazing too. They were constructed in 1986 and cost $5.3 million with another wing opened in 2004. It is a pretty small garden but there are so many different elements within it and so much detail. It was really interesting learning about all the aspects and their meanings.
We also decided to make the most of the great weather and went for
a game of 'pitch and put' golf in Stanley Park. It was a slow game as they were plenty of other golfers/hackers that had the same idea but we managed to get through the 18 holes (well we skipped a couple of holes to get in front of the really slow ones). Karl was a little worried that Emma would be hitting into trees or the other side of the course from her warnings but she managed to keep it within reasonable distance and whilst she did not par any holes it was a lot of fun anyway.
Lastly before we go Emma has a story that will probably be more for the girls to relate too... (hope you find it as funny as I did).
So....I have been in need of a bit of a trim and colour but of course need to be on the cheap travelers budget so for the first time I bought a colour in a box and gave that a whirl. So no probs there apart from getting all over myself!
So with the new colour I had been scanning for a cheap cut that didn't look too dodgy and walked
past a hairdressers that had a sign saying '2nd Anniversary Sale $25 Haircut (and in small print shampoo and blowdry included)'. It was downtown and looked ok so I thought I couldn't go wrong- hmmm how naive!
As I sit down after my shampoo and conditioner (which I wasn't sure if I had any hair left as the owner was so rough) I was reading a blown up article near my chair about the man cutting my hair/owner and as he is fluffing about cutting my hair I am reading it and it refers to him as a barber from Lebanon. This is the point where I think oh my god what have I got myself in for here, he is not even a 'hairdresser' it is at this point I notice the odd way he is cutting my hair but I thought oh well- long hair how bad can it be?! Then it came to the blowdry- well he had no idea he put no product in it and started using his fingers which felt like he was ripping the hair out of my head I won't go into too much detail but basically it was obvious he
had no idea and it looked crap. On further inspection I realised that in cutting my fringey bit (they call fringes 'bangs' over here) he had managed to cut it different lengths and some bits underneath are about 3 cms long- don't ask me how he managed this I still have no idea! Luckily it is hidden by the longer bits as otherwise it would be so obvious and ridiculous looking.
When it came to paying he charged me $30 saying that included the shampoo and blowdry (when the sign clearly said all included $25) so I thought bugger you then I am not tipping you (you have to tip hairdressers at least 10%-15% here) which I don't think he was too happy about, nor was I mind you!
Anyway I thought it was all pretty funny- hope it wasn't a had to be there moment and you get a giggle out of it too. The joys of traveling! (Laura, tell Pia our hairdresser about this and tell her I miss her!!!)
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dave
non-member comment
hi
hi karl and emma. love your journal.though it makes you appreciate australia sometimes.works going well getting enough jobs of my own touch wood been out in the boat ..love it..moreton is great take care ...dave.