3 posts tagged “vancouver”

Hi everyone, thank you for the birthday wishes... it is indeed my 21st birthday today (or, yesterday in Australia). I'm sorry I haven't been keeping up with the blog; it's because I've hit Vancouver, and I don't really know what I can say to make you love this place as much as I do. I know a lot of you aren't North America people, and some were slightly baffled by why I decided to come to Vancouver when I could go to far-flung climes unknown, but the thing is, I love it here. And I could live here. And I haven't yet found the words to convey that. But hopefully eventually I will.

Anyways, other places we have been:

- Calgary, Alta.
- Golden, BC.
- Panorama, BC.
- Victoria, BC.
- Seattle, WA.
- Chilliwack, BC.

And rest assured, accounts of those will follow at some point.

Also, at the end of April, term ends here, and I am heading off travelling again, via: Seattle, Chicago, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Boston and Salem (in that order), then back to Vancouver, possibly via LA, and home. I get home currently on the 1st of June, but I'm going to change my flight most likely, which means it could be the 31st May, the 1st June, or the 2nd June.

But definitely, DEFINITELY before the 3rd June, which is Elise's birthday!

Ciao for now... I haven't forgotten this blog and I swear I'll update it again soon.

Look! Only one day after my previous post, I RETURN to continue my GRIPPING NARRATIVE.

SAN FRANCISCO.

• 

  Suz and Natalie, HARDENED CRIMINALS
  As I believe I'd mentioned, after our delicious breakfast Mary, Natalie and I hopped in Mary's SUV and drove up to San Francisco. I'd expressed a desire to go out to Alcatraz, so that was what we did first, hopping on a ferry and going out to see the island. It was great--very creepy, and the audio tour (I am sporting the sexy headphones in one of the pics) was excellent.
• I was feeling kinda ill again (not nauseous, though), so after our visit to Alcatraz, we
  

  Alcatraz Prison
  went down to the pier (um... the famous one), and sat down for Clam Chowder in a cute little restaurant. It was excellent--I am not sure if I've had Clam Chowder before--I probably have--but this was very good clam chowder. I also ate a lot of bread.
• After that, we walked up the street to the tram turnaround place. Um... the San Francisco trams, when they reach the end of the line, they literally turn them around on a but turntable, with two guys pushing it. It's pretty cool.
  
• We sat around and chatted for a while, then walked a little way up the street to the Ghirardelli (sp?) store. Apparently it's a pretty famous chocolatier, although I'd never acually heard of it. At the door, the lady was giving away free samples of their dark chocolate + caramel range, and apparently I am veyr nondescript, because she kept on offering them to me. I figured it would be impolite to refuse, so I accepted, like, three
  

  View from Alcatraz.
  free chocolatesbefore she finally twigged that it was the same person. Woo!
• I bought a small thing of chocolates for my hosts in Seattle, and then we headed back to Mary's place. I was dead tired, and all I wanted was a rest. Alas, this means I did not see San Francisco as extesively as I could have even in the one day I had, but I'll definitely go back there sometime and visit properly.
• At Mary's place, we watched the episode of Supernatural I'd missed whilst travelling, since she had it on tape. That was awesome.
• Around 8pm, Mary packed me lots of food for the trip, and we drove back to San Francisco, because I was getting back on the Coast Starlight to Seattle. The train was (big surprise) about two and a half hours late, but the shuttle coach to the train station was ontimeish, so I bid farewell to Mary and Natalie, thanked them profusely, and hopped on the shuttle in San Franfisco that took my to the rail station in a town about a half hour out. Then I had a long, boring wait until the train FINALLY decided to show around midnight (it was supposed to come in around 9.30, I think).

NOCAL, OREGON AND WASHINGTON, OH MY.

• 

  Snow in the mountains, northern California.
  I hopped on, and dammit, was stuck with an aisle seat. Nonetheless, I managed to sleep like six hours (i told you I was tired), and when I woke up, I grabbed my stuff (my
  

  Crater Lake, Oregon (I think).
  suitcase was checked again, so i only had carryon stuff) and headed for the lounge car I mentioned earlier. The one with the powerpoint. Yeah.
• The train hadn't made up any time during the trp, so we were still running several hours late, and I got to see some of Northern California spinning past.
• I chowed down on all the food Mary had provded me with, sandwiches, diet coke, fruit, fruit bars... it was awesome. When all that was done, I headed for the snack bar and chowed down on their food. Also awesome, albeit microwaved.
  
• I claimed one of the powerpoints and plugged my laptop in, proceding to marathon most of the first season of Heroes. Periodically I had to wrangle with a stupid train person (stewardess?) who kept telling my to unplug my laptop so people could use the powerpoints. There were two, I was only using one, and only when the battery ran right out. Nobody was using the other for most of the time. Nonetheless, she kept telling me to unplug and I KEPT EXPLAINING that there was no need for me to do so because a) "there's a free plug" "but if people see your laptop
  

  Prospect from a speeding train, somewhere in N. California or Oregon.
  plugged in they may not realise" b) "IT'S NOT ACTUALLY PLUGGED IN RIGHT NOW" c) "I need to charge my laptop too, you know". Cue vast amounts of eyerolling, but oh well.
• At some point, we crossed into Oregon, and the trip continued at a slightly lower altitude and with less snow. I really have no idea when we crossed over into Oregon, except we were still running about two hours late, and I think it was around midday.
  
• There are a bunch more photos from the train trip uploaded. All in all, it was a pretty amazing train ride. It was frustrating how late it ran, because I was being picked up in Seattle, but if you are in no hurry, I highly recommend it. The trans are well-appointed. They have sleeper cars, which I believe are quite excellent and include two meals in the dining cart, but the seats are actually quite large and spacious, recline a lot and are fairly easy to sleep on, and the lounge car is brilliant.
• The trip up from LA to Seattle is roughly 34 hours, which I did as 9 hours from LA to San Jose, and then 24 hours from San Francisco to Seattle (it takes about an hour by train to get from SJ to SF), and I'd do it again.
• Anyway, eventually, it got dark again, around southern Washington, I think, so I didn't get to see much of that state, but honestly, once it got dark I went back to my seat and napped until Olympia anyway. At Olympia, my seatmate got off, and I phoned my hosts in Seattle to say I'd be in around 11.30pm rather than 9.30 as previously expected. Fortunately, they are night owls. Family friends, who lived in Brisbane for a while and were helped out by my parents.

SEATTLE.

• It was, by this time, late evening on the 5th of January. Ian picked me up from the train station and took me back to theirs, and I crawled into bed and slept until like 10am.
  
• The next morning, Arian (Ian's partner) dropped me into downtown Seattle (well, to the Space Needle because I wanted to see it again). I wandered around that area, surprised by how familiar it looked (considering it's been six years since I was there last), then hopped on a shuttle downtown and wandered around the shops. I had to buy sheets for my bed at college, and I figured it'd be easier to do that in Seattle. I also went down to the Wharf (which, again, I recognised and it was crazy--kinda like going home) and had some food, wandered aorund Macy's and Nordstroms (found Brass Plum on the top floor and almost bought some stuff. Again, I RECOGNISED the Brass Plum section of Nordstroms). Arian had said it'd get dark around 5pm and given me directions to get back to theirs by bus, so I hopped on one and found my way back, bus then a bit of a hike, without too much drama.
• There was no-one home when I got back because Ian had gone skiing with their son, their daughter was with a friend, and Arian, as I discovered when she got back about ten minutes later) had taken their dog for a long walk.
  
• Anyway, everyone was going to be out that night, so I got the house to myself. I settled in on the couch downstairs and watched A Good Woman, which was interesting but I kinda wish I'd watched Scoop instead.
• Ian and their son got back at some point and fed me dinner (WOO), and then I went to bed.
• In the morning, Ian dropped me back to the train station, which was where my coach up to Vancouver departed from. I was panicking a little about whether I had all the documents to get into canada, because I didn't have proof of funds and I'd looked on the consulate website that morning and they'd been a bit ambiguous about whether I'd need them and in Australia I'd decided I didn't, but oh NO what if I did?
• Ian wasn't particularly helpful, being all, "well, if it happens, you can come back here, but you should be fine... right? here's my mobile number, just in case... I know sometimes customs officials can be a bit funny about these things, but don't worry, you should be okay. Probably. Right?"
• They did lend me a quilt though, woo! We have to supply all our own linens (bar a pillow) at college, and I was so not digging the idea of buying a quilt.
• Anyway, off went the coach, and I bid farewell to my beloved city of Seattle, but I'll be back down there once, hopefully twice, before I leave North America, so I don't mind too much.
• The coach ride was... well, coachy. At the border, they got us all out with all our bags and sent us through customs. The customs guy was directing people who needed clearing across to immigration. He asked me my purpose, I said study, he asked for my study permit, I said I didn't need one (I don't), he said, ok, off you go. I was like, huh? I don't need... to be stamped or something? Uh, apparently not.
  
• Baffled (he hadn't even asked to see my letter of acceptance to UBC) I snuck back into the immigration line (what?? I wanted to do things right!) and asked the immigration officer about it and explained I'd thought they might be interested in, you know, the proof that I had a place to study or whatever. She said they'd cleared me for six months in Montreal and I was fine and she didn't need to see anything else.
• So, all that worry for nothing. I need to stop panicking about immigration. I keep vastly overestimating their care factor. I did the same thing entering the USA.
• Anyway, we hopped back on the coach, and an hour and a half later, arrived in...

VANCOUVER.
(I know, FINALLY)

• I have to admit, I was not entranced by my first sight of the city, but in my defense, I was tired and cranky and had just been on a three hour bus ride. I hopped in a taxi and we headed for UBC proceded to get very lost driving around the campus looking for Place Vanier. I should explain, there are two residences at UBC that have meal plans etc: Totem Park and Place Vanier. The others (eg Marine Drive, Fairview and Gage Towers) all have kitchens. I'd opted for a meal plan out of sheer laziness (shhh), which turned out to be a decent idea, because the meal plan food is actually pretty awesome. And if I were cooking for myself, it would be coffee and instant mac&cheese for every meal.
  
• Anyway, the taxi driver managed to find Totem Park, and I was like, NONONO that is not MY residence (already keying into the rivalry between Totem and Vanier on which I will speak more later, no doubt). So he called a friend who drove UBC more often and the friend directed us to Place Vanier.
• I thanked him and paid and probably left him an inadequate tip (I DO NOT speak tipping, and what's more, I
  

  My room! Note sad bare walls, and also already-established state of mess.
  OBJECT to it) then headed into the commonsblock and checked in. They told my my building and room numberand sent me off with a key and a mailbox and an orientation package. Thank GOD, only two of the buildings in Vanier have lifts, and mine is one of them. I was NOT in the mood for bag-drag stairclimbing. I probably would have thrown a tantrum.
• Anyway, I found my room, and proceded to mess it up as much as possible, then wandered down to investigate the food options, which, as I said, were impressive. I made my first Vanier friend, a Mexican girl named Lis who was also on exchange, and we had dinner together, then I went back to my room and SLEPT A LOT.
• That was the Sunday. The Monday morning at 9am I had my first class.
• Oh yes, they throw you in the deep end.
• My first class was Canadian Literature in English, and it was, well, classy. Very similar to Australia. We had to discuss what made up Canadian Identity, though, and since I'd only been in canada for, oh, THREE DAYS I was a little stumped and said as much. The class was very understanding. :p
• My second class was Governance of Canada (yes, my MWF timetable is a BARREL OF LAUGHS) which is simultaneously difficult and easy. On the one hand, it's a first level class (that I get advanced credit for, WOO), so all the stuff about "what is politics" and "this is how the Westminster system evolved" is child's play for me. On theother, the actual Canadian aspects, I know absolutely nothing about. Who was the last Prime Minister? I have no idea. What are the parties? No clue. What do Canadians vote for? Beats me. What are the major issues? God, please just ask the next guy.

So now I am in SUNNY VANCOUVER (/sarcasm), I'm going to take a break and pick up the narrative later. Watch out for GALA Orientation, more FOOD, some TOURISTING and BUYING OF CLOTHES, and a bit more whining about classes. I KNOW. RIVETING.

Yes, hi everyone, I am alive and well and livin' it up in Vancouver, British Columbia, CANADA WOO.

Since I am anal-retentive about doing things in order, it may be a while before you get to find out about my Canadian hijinks, but for now, enjoy the rousing tale of New York, New York, with Montreal, New York (AGAIN) and Dallas to follow shortly!

NEW YORK

•    After I flew in, I met my parents and brother at JFK, as their flight from Australia had got in around the same time as mine. They had Slight Baggage Issues, in that apparently the bags had to be driven from Australia; they took long enough to emerge onto the carousel.
•    Eventually, we got into a taxi which conveyed us to the apartment on Manhattan (W 70th St; right near Central Park). We got there to discover that the apartment had no elevator and we were on the 4th (top) floor. I was slightly underwhelmed with joy at this as Tessie (the bag, in case you’d forgotten) was had clocked in at 27kg for the flight across the Atlantic, and I subsequently had to haul her up all four of those flights of stairs.
•    We had a New York Style (or what I’m going to assume is New York style) pizza for dinner, which was huge and basically tasted like someone had spread bolognaise sauce over the base and covered it with cheese. It was frankly delicious. As soon as I get home I am making Pizza Bolognaise. Every night.
•    The following day (and it was quite late by the time we got to the apartment, so this was our first full day of doing anything, and, for those playing along at home, the 21st of December (it’s been a while since I’ve provided an actual concrete date).  Had proclaimed it for myself a lazy day, because as Elise will affirm, at this point we hadn’t had a single day off from mad touristing, and I was quite frankly exhausted, even notwithstanding the fact that I had spent three hours in the airport and eight hours on a plane the previous day. This day, in the morning, I managed to update the blog to I think Paris? Thus maintaining my admirable standard of being between one and two weeks behind!
•    After a lazy morning, however, my cohabitors were keen to be out exploring the city, and the first thing that popped up on their list was the Museum of Natural History, which was actually just down the street. I went along, avid touristing being by now hardwired into my brain, and we enacted stereotypes by splitting up along gender lines: Dad and the Bro went off and looked at animals and dinosaurs, whilst Mum and I headed for Peoples of the World and the gemstones.
•    We also watched a show in the planetarium—Cosmic Collision—which was very fancy and narrated by Robert Redford (iirc), but also made me motion-sick.
•    That night, we watched Supernatural in its home timeslot of 9/8C, on the CW (which is, imo, the most amusing channel on American TV; c.f. later comments about Yule Log!). It was a repeat, but I hee! hee!ed anyway.
•    Having had Pizza Bol for dinner the previous night, we had the more traditional Spag Bol for dinner the second night.
•    The third day (we’re talkin’ the 22nd, incidentally), we caught the subway to Chinatown and had Yum Cha (aka Dim Sum) for brunch.
•    Then we walked from there through Little Italy and down to Park (I think) Ave, and eventually found 34th St  and Macy’s, which was huge and absolutely packed, it being two days ‘til Christmas. Ihadabitofashop and bought a top and a pair of jeans, a bag, and a whole ton of toiletries since I had either lost or run out of shampoo, conditioner, cleanser and moisturiser.
•    That afternoon, I did laundry woo.

NEW YORK PART 2
(Helpfully broken up for less frighteningly long blocks of text)

•    The next day, Christmas Eve Eve, the 23rd, and a Saturday, we caught the subway down to eyeball the Statue of Liberty, which looks really kinda weeny from the end of Manhattan Island. I believe it looks less weeny if you get up close to it, but I wouldn’t know, having not actually managed that. After our touristic stairclimbing activities in Paris, I am actually quite city-panoramaed out.
•    Then, we headed back to the area around 23rd St, and had lunch in an All American Diner Whee! I had a buffalo burger not actually because I was being nauseatingly touristish and trying the weirdest thing on the menu, but actually because we had had buffalo steak way back in Madrid on the tour, and it had been delicious. I am a total convert.
•    After lunch, I bought that puffy jacket you may have noticed in some of the later photos. It was from GAP, US$29.99, and has been an absolute lifesaver, because it is so so warm.
•    Anyways, we got home from that at around 3pm, then around 4.30pm, my lovely friend Nathalie, a New Yorker born and bred, came and met me at the apartment. She took me to a restaurant called (iirc) Gyuu Kaku, which was a Japanese restaurant where you order meat and veg and sauce, then you grill it yourself on a grill in the centre of the table. Nathalie prevailed upon me to try Gyuu Tan (cow’s tongue), which was very tasty but has a slight squick factor (but was nonetheless very tasty), and I had some chicken and some zucchini too. For desert, I had… s’mores. Which, for my Australian and consequently unenlightened readers, basically comprises a graham cracker (a wheat sort of cracker that tastes vaguely like digestive biscuits but has a more crumbly texture), a square of chocolate, and a toasted marshmallow. So anyway, I ordered the s’mores, and they delivered to me four graham crackers, four squares of chocolate, four marshmallows, and a toasting fork, and I then proceeded to roast my own marshmallows over the Japanese-style grill.
•    We had to hurry along, though, because that night, the family and I were seeing…. THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA at the Majestic Theatre, on Broadway. Nathalie took me back there, getting impressively un-lost.
•    The staging was absolutely spectacular (although, apparently, they haven’t actually changed it since the musical was first performed in the eighties, and speaking of which…), THE MUSIC WAS SO FABULOUSLY EIGHTIES ELECTRO-ROCK. I adored it.
•    The most notable difference between the musical and the recent film was that the Phantom was acted very, very differently. Very differently.
•    Afterwards, we waited around for Nathalie to come retrieve me again. She’d gone to a friend’s house, and was gonna come back so she could take me back to hers for the night. While we were waiting, The Producers let out across the street, and I had a minor celeb sighting, of Tony Danza, hose name you may no know, but you’d know his face (as I, indeed, did).
•    

Anyway, Nathalie came back, and we caught the subway (which became the abovegroundway somewhere after Manhattan), and her mum and uncle came to meet us at the station.
•    Then, we stayed up until all hours watching silly videos on YouTube. I showed her a couple of clips from the Chaser (the “Ad Roadtest” of the Nicorette ads… “no Gary no!” and “First in the USA”), for lols.
•    The next morning, we got up quite late (by my standards, anyway), and I played The Sims 2: Pets (because I hadn’t tried it before) on Nathalie’s computer while she slumbered on. TS2:Pets was pretty boring, so we went and had breakfast (Nathalie’s mum made PANCAKES), and then I watched Nathalie play this playstation game called Guitar Hero where the console is actually a guitar thingie and you have to try to play songs of varying difficulty.
•    We headed back down to Manhattan and met up with one o Nathalie’s friends for a relaxing afternoon of shopping and wandering and drinking of coffee and more wandering. I boughta couple of books, and then around 4.30pm we headed back to the apartment and Nathalie and I had a PHOTOWAR (hence all the pics of her I uploaded).

CHRISTMAS (STILL IN NEW YORK)

•    New York really failed me by now snowing. In fact, they had a snow free December, and the temperatures were in the balmy high 50’s to 60’s range (FAHRENHEIT not centigrade!).
•    Malcolm and I were the first up, of course, so we turned on the TV and sat down to watch the Yule Log. The CW, one of the American networks, actually broadcasts someone’s hearth with a log crackling away merrily in it for THREE HOURS on Christmas morning. With a soundtrack of Christmas Carols. On Christmas Eve I think they had a docco on it called something like, “The Yule Log: A Log’s Story”, which I sadly did not watch.
•    Around midday, we went for a good long walk, across Central Park, along 5th Avenue (the swanky bit), then down to Times Square and back around to our apartment. It took a couple hours, but the New Yorkers were out in force, and it was really enjoyable.
•    For dinner, we had turkey, then we turned in quite early, because the next morning, Mum and I had an early flight to…

MONTREAL
(coming soon!)