Chinese gangsters

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[youtube=SFsLxKirTFg]

We thanked Bob and Pat for their wonderful hospitality and caught a ferry for Vancouver. Unfortunately the journey was foggy so we didn't have great views. We made our way into the downtown core and popped into a McDonalds to avoid the rain and wait for Mum and Dad to arrive. The city felt like London, not sure if that was because it was busy like London or because of the rain.

We met Mum and Dad and checked into a nearby hotel. Well kind of, they never asked about Nic and I so we stayed for free. Best scam since Neil Armstrong's fake moon landing. That night we walked around the business district and had a big feed of Chinese. We didn't eat in chinatown though as the local papers reported hostile gang warfare and the death of one of the leaders that day - Hung Van “Scarface” Bui. Bui, had well-known drug-trade affiliations and had survived the previous summer’s gangland-style slayings at a chinese-vietnamese restaurant where he was shot 6 times!

After a humongous feed at the hotels free breakfast, we strolled down to the port area. From here we walked along the waterfront to Stanley park. The famous park kept us occupied for a good half day. From huge sunflowers to colourful totem poles, frisbee competitons to eagles nests. On our way back to the hotel we walked through the gay village. I didn't see Dafyd from Little Britain.

We were in town at the right time. A huge fireworks celebration was on. Three countries competed over three nights to try and put on the best display. We, along with thousands of others, witnessed China's impressive display. The port area was full-to-bust with people. It was worth it though, the fireworks were spectacular and China beat off the USA and Canada for the title.

The next morning we said our byes to Mum and Dad and made our way back to Calgary. It was now time to look for jobs to pay for all our globetrotting and galivanting.

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