Tibet - One Year Later...

During all of my recent job interviews, the topic of my travels has 99% of the time led off every conversation. When I tell people the places I've been, the one that most people ask about is Tibet. It is still hard for me to fathom that I traveled to this remote region of the world a year ago today. 

I had the opportunity to go because of my Dad. After he had heard that I quit my job so I can go traveling, he thought it would be a good bonding experience to take me to Tibet and also experience some other parts of Mainland China. 

Our journey started in Western China, in the dusty city of Shining. Like most of the China that I experienced, it was a city of extremes: 

- a large populous, but many abandoned buildings due to over construction, 

- a diverse ethnic mix, but visible factions between ethic Chinese and the Central Asian minority groups that first populated the region,

- and modernization but with issues with social traditionalism and the treatment of women as second class citizens. 

Shining stuck out as a collection of metal surrounded by incredible geological wonders and nature's most stunning backdrops.  It was here that we experienced the way the Chinese countryside functions - having been stuck in a traffic jam for almost 4 hours and watching the locals force their way around the jam on the one stretch of road leading back to the city.

The trek to Lhasa was also one of breathtaking scenery mixed in with a total kick to my comfort zone's gut. Crammed into a coffin-style bunk (stacked three bunks high with two columns per room) the 24 hour trek up several thousand meters of elevation caused dizziness, shortness of breath and a total lack of any personal space. The best challenge was the struggle to use a squat toilet on a fast moving train where the previous users have been less than careful with their aim. One experience with that, I told my gastrointestinal system that we were going on a full shutdown mode to avoid another traumatic experience with the loo.

Stepping off the train and onto the platform at Lhasa, the blast of fresh air was like no air I've ever breathed in before. Clean. Crisp. Wonderful. Not realizing that I've been breathing at twice my normal speed because of the lack of oxygen, the walk to the tour bus felt like a brutal 5k run uphill.  

Over the next two days, I would spend time during the day wandering alongside the town folk of Lhasa, visiting some of the holiest sites in Buddhist culture and observing some of the strict military presence used to remind the Tibetan people, that someone else owns you. But the Tibetan people, mindful that they are not fully free, have very little cares in the world and are among the most happy and friendly people I've met on my year abroad. A mix of not knowing what else there is beyond their borders and a simple style of life, they greeted you with a familiarity that is hard to explain. In the market of the Johkang Temple, stalls would be bookended by military police posts, there to guard against any protesters ready to immolate themselves and cause embarrassment to the Chinese government.  But the shopkeepers go about their day, as if the guards didn't exist, perfecting their craft, peddling their art, bargaining with passersby interested in taking home a piece of the local culture.

The next seven days were ones that tested my physical endurance and my comfort zones to an extreme. We stayed in not so great accommodations, some without warm water or heat, some looked like the place you saw in the movie Hostel, and all with very little entertainment in and around the area. During the day, we would spend hours in a 4x4 trekking to the highest peaks and then down to flat desert all in an eight hour period. The high point (literally and figuratively) was being at base camp Everest and seeing this monstrous tip of rock sticking out of the ground and being left breathless at the sight of it (and the fact that there was little to no air). The lowest of lows was when one of the cars in our convoy of vehicles hit a small child who ran into the middle of the road. We don't know what ever happened to him - his aunt scooped him up, and ran off to their hut. The image of his wailing mother, collapsed at the doorstep of their home still gives me chills today.

We ended the trip in Shanghai - completely the opposite of what we experienced in the previous 12 days - a city that went from squalor to splendor in 25 years. Shanghai was where my other half of my family was from before the Civil War torn millions of Chinese families apart. Walking down the same streets my grandparents walked down when they were children, I wondered how they would have reacted to the changes and how emotional it might have been if they had experienced that.

My two week trip in China with my Dad was the start to repairing years of a strained relationship. It is always hard to travel with family members and at the time, I kept seeing my Dad as the same guy he's always been - this annoyance that just would not let me be an adult. I was short, I was brash, I was rude on various occasions during our time together and I'd constantly kick myself for being such a child. This was a gift that I was able to experience this trip of a lifetime, and I was a complete dick in the way I was showing my gratitude. But my Dad continued to be the patient man he always is, and looked past my behaviour while looking for nothing else but a closer relationship in return.

Tibet forced me to learn a lot about how I was living my life in Toronto.  How selfish I was, how I had misplaced many priorities which chasing after others that really are not all that important, and how I had been using my "independence" as an excuse for building proper relationships with my family, with friends and with partners. Tibet kicked off a year of self-discovery and reflection that I doubt any other destination I have been to this year would have been able to force out of me. The remote area, the spiritual presence, the lack of a busy lifestyle all made me sit and think, and think, and think...nothing else but that.

I thank my Dad for the chance to see the world's most amazing views, I thank the Tibetan people for their hospitality and I thank whatever's watching over me for keeping me safe and for guiding me through a once in a lifetime adventure.

What a difference a year can make.

Croatia Sailing - Eat, Sleep, Swim.

It is about time that I tackled my European adventure posts.  I am still pouring over the 2000+ photos that I took on my two months abroad in Portugal, Spain, Croatia, France and the UK and I am still not done.  (Sigh, life is hard.)

With this daunting task ahead of me, I thought I should at least attempt a blog about one of the countries I've visited.  Croatia wins as it is where I took the least amount of photos.  There are two reasons why I only took about 200 photos on this leg of my journey.  First, I was paranoid about getting my camera submerged in water, and well, when you're on a boat, that fear is constant and real.  And second, I was asleep on the deck of my sailship for most of my time in Croatia getting an awesome tan.

I was literally glowing from the amount of sun in the Adriatic.

Croatia didn't start off all that well.  My flight into Zagreb from Barcelona was delayed and by the time I got into the alphabetically last of the world capitals, it was 10pm and the sketchy bus from the airport took me to an equally sketchy bus terminal in central Zagreb.  I'll be honest, daytime Zagreb is just as meh as nighttime Zagreb.  I was warned about this from several friends who've been to this Balkan country that the capital is nothing to really write home about.  What I did appreciate was the Viennese architecture that was prominent throughout the city.  When the Balkans were absorbed by the Austro-Hungarian empire, the Archdukes used their influence from Vienna to try to mold Zagreb in the same fashion.  Having lived in Vienna in 2005, it brought back some nice memories of my strolls down Mariahilfestrasse - it was the only way to brighten up my opinion of the Croatian capital.

Really cool clock at the Zagreb Cathedral.

Perhaps I'm being too harsh, there are some highlights like St. Mark's Church and the town centre, and the best museum I've seen in a while called the Museum of Broken Relationships.  My official travel opinion is that Zagreb is good for a pitstop, one day is good, two max.  Anymore than that and all you'll find yourself doing is drinking.

It was tough to get through the huge tourist crowd at St. Mark's Cathedral.

An exhibit at the Museum of Broken Relationships.  I want this clock.

The real reason I decided on Croatia as a destination on my European adventures was that I booked a sailing trip along the Dalmatian coast on the advice of my friend Sandy.  She has always wanted to do a cruise in Croatia and suggested the Busabout tour to me.  After a lengthy train ride, which included a four hour delay due to a fire on the track (which we then went through after the fire was put out and got me to thinking how safe the track was after it had been on fire for four hours...anyway) and an amazing conversation with Pavel, a seminary student, 34 years of age, (we talked about politics, the church, and reality TV for eight hours nonstop), I got into Split.  Pavel was kind enough to show me where my hotel was in the city and without his help, I would have been seriously fucked because this place was so well hidden that I needed to solve the Da Vinci Code to figure out where to go.

My cruise took me on the following itinerary:

Split -> Hvar -> Mljet -> Dubrovnik -> Korcula -> Macarska -> Omis -> Split

Finding the boat on the first day was quite the task - there's a billion fucking ships in this harbour.  Being the competitive person that I am, I turned this into a mini-The Amazing Race challenge and ran around with my luggage trying to find my elusive boat.  I finally stumbled across the Busabout boats out of sheer luck and was covered in a layer of sweat from the 15lb backpack I'd been lugging around. Resting in the air conditioned cabin, I had a chance to meet some of the other people on my boat including Jacinta, who happened to be the person I ran into on the dock and gave instructions to on how to find the boat.  (She later explained that she was a bit freaked out over the fact some random Asian man was directing her to her boat just on first impressions.)

The beautiful Split Harbour. 

The underground market in Split.

Our first stop was Hvar, known as a party destination for all Busabout cruises.  Having docked in the early evening, we didn't get a chance to wander around much.  That evening, we all went out to drink at a bar where they specialized in lemon vodka shots that were prepared by the patron putting on a helmet (worn by countless thousands of others and had never been washed) and the bartender slamming the shot glass on the stupid patron's helmet causing mild concussion.  I had two and I wasn't sure whether or not I was drunk or suffering from double vision.

Hvar Harbour at Sunset. 

Hvar at night.

Mljet was a nice break in between Hvar and Dubronik.  Everyone was nursing a bad hangover except for us old farts (we called ourselves The Breakfast Club because we were the only ones who showed up for breakfast everyday.)  One thing I would never want to experience on a boat is a massive hangover as the only recovery would be to hang your head over the railing and puke the entire day.  Mljet had an amazing national park which surrounded a large green salt lake but getting to it was about a 25 minute hike.  Naturally, we were all gross and sweaty from the hike and as a result, jumped into the water as soon as we were done with our photo shoots.

Turquoise waters.  I wanted to stay here forever.

Dubrovnik is really a must see city.  Walking along the old fortress walls provides the best view of the coastline and the entire Venetian inspired city.  The terracotta tiled roofs provided a cool colour contrast between the blue waters of the Adriatic.  We happened to be here at the opening of the summer festival in the city and as some of our boatmates found out the unfortunate way, they stumbled right into the middle of a school performance as the stage was just the village square they just so happened to walk across.  The were booed.  The rest of us found this hilarious as we were all hammered from the 3 litres of house wine at dinner which cost less than the bottled water.

I'm not sure where I am...

A coastal city in Italy?  No, it's Dubrovnik.

We were then off to Korkula which I'll be honest, I was glad we were only there for one night.  There really wasn't much to see and the only interesting part was that we were taken to an old castle turret that was turned into a bar.  Now the climb up to the top was interesting as it was up a narrow ladder that girls, if you decided not to wear underwear that night, you'd be giving everyone behind you quite the show.  If you didn't get a view climbing up the ladder, the view from the top was fantastic - as you can see from the sunset photo below.

The Croatian sunset - this was about 10pm. 

The Castle Bar.

Markarska left quite the impression because I had the best lasagna of my life here.  Down the main strip near the beach, there is a restaurant called Orca - it was well worth the 20 minute walk to get there, I really should have ordered another slice.  After our meal, we descended into the Rave in the Cave - a club called DEEP.  The inside of a cave was turned into a bar and filled with all sorts of neon lights.  It was a cool experience, but because of the intense heat, you were literally dripping in sweat after five minutes on the dancefloor.

Ravers in the Cave.

Omis was our last port of call before heading back to Split.  To be quite honest, at this point of my trip, I was starting to look forward to Paris.  I was tired of the boat and needed to be on land 24/7.  And I was running out of laundry.  In Omis, we woke up early (cough, 7am early) to climb to the fortress.  40 minutes of climbing resulted in several people puking along the way (they raved too hard in the cave the night before).  This was perhaps the only day I saw more than 7 people at breakfast - when we returned we were all starving for food.

The view from the top. 

Yes, I conquered this hill.  Still super dark.

Our last night in Split was pretty tame.  The group of us that hung out together were not in the mood to get wasted and all decided to have a good meal, walk around the city and bring some drinks back to the boat and have a good chat before we all went our separate ways.  I contemplated staying up all night as we finished our talks at 1am and I had to be up at 430am to get to the bus station to catch the early morning shuttle to the airport.  I implore you - if you ever have an option of taking an early morning flight out of Split, DON'T DO IT.  The bus station was super sketchy as drunk people filtered out of one of Croatia's largest clubs - Imperium.  And if it wasn't the drunks, it was the homeless people.  Thankfully, I made friends with a couple of Americans who were of the same mindset to gang together in order to make it to our bus stop that was down an alleyway with no lampposts.

Regardless of how it ended, I had a blast in Croatia.  While I wouldn't recommend a tour like this to people of my age, I would certainly say that if you have a wealthy friend with a yacht who invited you on a cruise along the coast of Croatia, that you should take them up on the offer.

As a follow up to this story - it was only a few weeks ago that Anderson Cooper was vacationing with his boyfriend along the coast with their friends Kelly Ripa and Andy Cohen when news broke that Anderson's BF was photographed kissing another man in Central Park.  That must have made for a very awkward boat ride.

Croatia from the port hole in my room.

One thing I do miss is the Croatian sunset.

Celebrating Three Anniversaries that Changed My Life

There's something refreshing about the beginning of September.  It's the beginning of the school year  and having been a geek all my life, it was always something I looked forward to.  It's the beginning of fall, my favourite season, especially in North America; the air is crisp enough to wear a jacket (I have an unhealthy obsession with jackets) and sleeping with the windows open requires that extra blanket so you don't catch a cold.

This September marks some important anniversaries in my life.  One involves gaining independence, one involves a loss and one involves a journey of discovery.

It was ten years ago this September that I packed up a minivan full of my possessions, drove down the 401 past hundreds of farm fields to a small city called London, Ontario.  Here, I would attend an amazing university, the University of Western Ontario.  Here is where I would gain independence - no one was accountable for my grades, my bills or how I lived my life except for me.  While there's not much of that Orientation Week that I remember (most likely due to the copious amount of alcohol that was consumed), I remember meeting a floormate who would turn out to be my roommate for the remaining three years and still an incredibly good friend today.  More friends were gained along the way, some were lost, but overall, I was lucky enough to meet some fascinating individuals, some of whom I have had the great fortune of traveling with on my trip around the world.

It was two years ago this weekend that I talked to my grandmother for the last time.  Having battled lung and bone cancer for over a year and a half, she died shortly after collapsing on her way back to her room at the hospital in Los Angeles.  Luckily, I was fortunate enough to have planned a trip to visit her that Labour Day weekend and had a nice chat before she passed.  It was my grandmother that really encouraged me to reconnect with my father's side of the family.  It could have been guilt from all of the mean things that were said and done during my parents' divorce, but her one message to me throughout the entire time she was battling her illness was that I needed to patch things up with my dad.  If it wasn't for her urging and what I believe is her continued guidance on the matter, it wouldn't have led me to where I am today.

And it was six months ago today that I quietly sipped on a gin and tonic while watching Toronto disappear from my window as I sat on my midnight flight to Taipei.  Half excited, a quarter drunk and the remainder anxious, I had no idea what was in store for me in my year off.  I had left a comfortable life for the unknown and having always been the person with a plan, not having one made me feel empty and lost.  It never occurred to me that I was pretty empty and lost all along, even with my plans.  What I was missing was family and having had the chance to be with my dad's side of my family 24/7 for two months made me realize how much I needed these people in my life.  It also marked the start of an incredible journey that would take me to new places I had never seen before like Tibet, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Portugal, Spain, Croatia and Scotland.  I've experienced some great moments like celebrating with thousands of Spaniards on La Ramblas after their Euro Cup win or taking a dip in Loch Ness while the sun blazed down on us sipping whiskey on the beach.

This weekend has certainly been a time for reflection - this perfect storm of anniversaries have made me appreciate that saying, "everything happens for a reason."  Within the last six months, I've learned a lot about my strengths and weaknesses - these next six months will be about how I take that knowledge and determine what I want to do moving forward.  May more eureka moments occur, and may more truths shed light on paths that need to be followed.

A week in Tokyo

Japan has always occupied a parking spot in the curiosity section of my brain.  I have snippets of memories from when I've lived and visited the Land of the Rising Sun before but they are incomplete snapshots of what I am sure were incredible experiences.

I've been to Japan twice in my life.  The first, was when I was four and my father was studying at Yokohama university.  During our year there, I picked up on Japanese pretty quickly and it was a shame that I lost it all when I immigrated to Canada and English quickly trumped both of my previous languages.  That was also the first time I went to a Disneyland, met Mickey Mouse and bought his alarm clock, of which still functions to this day (a clear testament to Japanese engineering).  The second was back in 2005.  At that point, I was still a pissy little shit when it came to dealing with my dad after a decade of having a shaky father-son relationship.  He treated me, my stepmother and aunt to a trip to Tokyo and Ito, of which I sulked most of the way through because I was with my father.  When I look back on that trip now, I wince at how I ruined the trip for myself and likely for those who went with me.  This also shows that when you're 22, you still are not mature enough to act like an adult sometimes.

So when my uncle offered me the chance to go with him to Tokyo last week to help him out with some business he had to do there at the Do-It-Yourself Trade Show in Chiba (just east of Tokyo), I didn't hesitate to say yes.  With only a few days of commitment to the trade show, the rest of the time, I had to myself to wander the streets of Tokyo.

Just when I think I haven't gotten enough of temples and palaces, there's always room for more.  Senso-ji and the Meiji Temple were both on my must see list in Tokyo.  Both are Old World Japan monuments nestled in the hearts of Tokyo's busy neighbourhoods of Asakusa and Harajuku, respectively.

Senso-Ji Temple.

I've been to Asakusa before on the trip back in 2005 - a charming little district with the Senso-ji sheltered by the Kaminarimon Gate and a long path of small souvenir and snack shops leading up to the temple.  These tiny stores sell anything from cell phone cases to those annoying dangly cartoon characters that hang off said cell phone cases and one of the weirdest items, and ear wax picker.  The food is fantastic - mochi cakes and waffle biscuits are all made to take the form or the large lanterns that hang from the gates leading to the temple.

The temple is a hive of activity.  People stand in front of the large incense burner and wave the smoke that billows out of the furnace all over their body for good luck.  There are fortune cabinets all around the exterior and interior of the temple.  Give the metal tin a good shake and a stick with a number comes out.  That number matches a cabinet holding your fortune.  As with all fortunes, the user should really try not to buy into every word - I will apparently have good fortune at my current job and love life...neither of which I have at the moment.

Shake the metal tin, get your fortune stick
and get your fortune out of the
matching drawer.

The Meiji temple is a slightly different experience from the hustle and bustle of Asakusa.  This temple is surrounded by an expansive park with walkways the size of boulevards and trees as tall as apartment buildings.  On a sunny afternoon, it is the perfect escape from the blazing fireball in the sky.  (In fact, the weather during the week I was in Tokyo was so hot, I thought I was somewhere in the tropics.  It truly lived up to the promise of being the Land of the Rising Sun.)

I had the fortune of listening in on a performance of the Tyko drummer in the temple - with each strike of the large bat (I swear it was larger than a baseball bat) on the vat sized drum, the boom reverberated in your organs as it spread out across the courtyard and out into the gardens.  I wish I could share with you some photos and video of the event, but I was quickly stopped by a security guard to let me know that no pictures were allowed - quite the surprise in a land where everyone has their camera on them at all times.

Moving away from a taste of the old world to a completely new world attraction, I headed to the SkyTree communications tower to take a look at the tallest structure in Japan and the second tallest in the world - opened just in May of this year.  From the base, it looks like a microphone for Godzilla to sing karaoke into.  As much as I wanted to go up to the top to look at the skyline, there was an hour and 20 minute wait for it as a shipment of mainland Chinese tourists got there before we did.  I shook my fist in anger and decided to save it for another trip.

The Skytree.

I ended my adventures around Tokyo in the shopping district Ginza.  On the weekends, the street turns into a pedestrian thoroughfare, so it's neat to walk down one of the busiest streets in Asia or sit on one of the many tables and chairs set out for tired shoppers.  Ginza is the Land of the Rising Department Stores and luxury goods as far as the eye can see.  However, due to the recession, some mainstream brands have entered including the ever popular UniQlo which takes up a 12 story retail environment that made me slap down some cash when I really shouldn't have.

Finally, a trip to Tokyo is not complete without some delicious Japanese food.  I really just gorged myself on noodles and sushi the entire time I was there.  I did make it to some restaurants, but nothing beat the $8 - $10 CDN you can spend and get a feast at the local supermarket.

All this from the supermarket for $8 Canadian.  That's some good eatin'.

So with all of these fun experiences, I plan on heading back to Tokyo in December with my friends Shelley, Marc and Jean to check out the nightlife the city has to offer...and also to get up early the next morning to see what the world famous fish market is like :D.

Olympics "I Believe" Song on repeat

I remember the first time I knew anything about the Olympics was in 1992.  I was in the 2nd grade and our gym teacher had us run around the gym pretending we were Olympic athletes.  Being the precious kid that I was, I decided being a spectator was my contribution to the "games."  

Even as a young child, I wasn't much into doing anything really physical.  I couldn't even dig in the sand without distain.

Then Lillehammer 1994 happened and I paid more attention to these games as Canada actually medals in the Winter games.  This was the year that Elvis Stojko unleashed the dragon and made figure skating two shades less feminine than it really is.  And my grandfather was very much into hockey, so I watched the tournament with him, and even though Canada won Silver, it was one of my favourite memories of childhood as I was able to spend so much time with my grandpa.


Through the years, Atlanta, Nagano, Sydney, Salt Lake, Athens, Turin, and Beijing were always fun to follow, but I never really LOVED the games until Vancouver 2010.  This time Canada was the focus of the games, and I was determined to go and experience the fun.  I was lucky enough to get tickets to the Gold Medal Men's hockey game, gambling on the fact that Canada would be in the finals.  The country was slow on the medal count, but the games finished like a fairy tale ending.  An overtime goal by Sidney Crosby to capture Men's Gold, the Canadian Olympic Team set an all time gold medal record by a host country at 14 gold medals, and some incredible tales of triumph from athletes like Joannie Rochette, who lost her mom before she was to skate, made you tear up like a 40 year old single woman watching Titanic for the fourteenth time on a Friday night with her cats.

Going buckwild after Canada wins in overtime.  One of my best moments of life ever.

I'll admit, for a time after Vancouver 2010, I was in a funk.  I wanted to turn on the TV to watch ANY sport that involved three medals at the end.  It could have been Olympic speed knitting and I would have watched.  I was so obsessed with the Olympics, I had the Nikki Yanokovski "I Believe" song playing on repeat on my iPod as I walked to work and pretended to move in slow motion like the people in the montages on CTV.  It made for a slow walk to work.

Just in case you haven't had enough of it...

So, when London 2012 crept closer, and I realized that I would be in Europe for the summer, there was no question that I would stop by this city to enjoy the games.  Thankfully, my friends Alex and Sandy have conveniently moved to this city, so free accommodations mean cheap Terence can spend more money on booze.  (And trust me, I have).


The Opening Ceremonies
After a day of walking around the city with Sandy and our friend Laura, we went to Canada House in Trafalgar Square to see what it had planned for the athletes.  We were disappointed to find that all they had for us were pins (we took them nonetheless) and they directed us to the Maple Leaf bar in Covent Garden.  We were joined by Alex, Phil (another friend from uni) and Phil's friend Jamie and we celebrated the Opening Ceremonies with at least 400 other Canadians crammed into the bar.  There were several moments of SHHHH! to try to listen to what was happening.  Other moments of laughter at the British sense of humour including:


- Free health care promotion (an obvious F you to Mitt Romney who was visiting and made some rather silly comments about the Olympic games)
- the Queen jumping from a helicopter with James Bond
- Three dozen Mary Poppins flying into the stadium


And of course, cheering for the countries as they marched into the stadium.  We cheered the loudest for Canada and Team GB, but as we got drunker and drunkier, we started clinking our glasses for Team Swaziland and Uzbekistan...haha...who comes up with these names?


Speaking of drunk, one of the highlights of the bar, was this couple from the West Coast.  The wife got hammered and started hitting on Phil and Jamie.  She tried with Alex, but Sandy shot her some Asian cuteye and she backed off.  They still stole our seats that we had occupied since 5pm.  Lesson learned, don't be nice.


However, we were unceremoniously all kicked out right before Sir Paul performed and people were losing their minds.  Very unCanadian like behaviour was displayed and we all went home with a bitter taste in our mouths - or perhaps that was from the vomit after nine pints of Strongbow.


Day 2 - 3m Women's Syncronized Springboard Diving
Our only ticket to the games was to the diving event at the aquatics centre on Sunday.  We were lucky enough to get seats to this event - little did we know that we'd be watching Canada get it's first medal.  It started with Canada doing really well, and in true Canadian style, we lost the lead and China, being the powerhouse they are, won Gold.  We were sitting in the nosebleeds but I truly believe our cheers reached all the way to the platforms 4,000m below us.

This is with 55mm zoom.  We were still super far.

Alex, Sandy and I wandered around the Olympic Park afterwards and it's massive and quite impressive.  The weather was bipolar, so we got waves of sunshine followed by a lightning show and a downpour back to happy sunny skies within a matter of an hour.  Mother Nature must have been watching the Joannie Rochette story with her cats.


The Olympic Park is located in London's East end, notorious for being the shady part of the city, has been refurbished to be the most sustainable Olympic Park ever.  The stadium, Aquatics centre, Velodrome, football and hockey fields are all located in this park.  A big wildflower field also serves as a live TV venue for those coming in and out of other events.  Alex wore his Union Jack and I wore the Maple Leaf flag.  The spirit of the games made the Olympic Park into a grown up version of Disneyland where everyone was smiling and greeting people with "hello, how are you?" or a "woot!  Canada!!!"  The Olympic volunteers were so happy, I think they inhaled a bag of happy gas before starting their shifts.  Here are some selects from the Olympic grounds:

Wildflowers are present all around the park.

The orbit - telecom tower and observation deck.

Very Polka Dot Door.

The Velodrome.

One Eyed Monster Mascot.

The Stadium.

Jump for the Olympics!

We don't have any more tickets to any of the other events, but with the controversy of the empty seats at the venues, we might get another chance to go!  If not, anyone up for Sochi 2014?

One bite at a time - Eating my way through Europe

There's a scene in the movie Eat, Pray, Love, where Julia Robert's character, Liz, makes a simple Italian meal for herself and plants herself on the floor of her Roman flat, where she spends an entire afternoon just savouring each bite of her food.  This scene is significant to me for two reasons - the first, is that I just finished reading the book on my European travels (Sidebar: did anyone else find it really hard to get through the India part of the book?); and the second is that I had several of these EAT moments in Europe.

Don't get me wrong, I really liked the movie, but I can see how people were pissed that so much was missing from the book.  Definitely a rental.

From my acorn-fed jamon in Barcelona to the lasagna I had in Markaska, Croatia, to the (several) cheese and wine combos in Paris, I've gained two new friends - I've named my lovehandles "Carbs" and "Consequences."  (Those "C" twins are so evil.)

I stare at this photo when I'm hungry.  It's the way of encouraging myself to write a lot of award winning books, gain the income to hire the chef that made this award winning lasagna, and hire a trainer to work off the weight I'll gain from eating this for every meal, everyday.

I've had a great time in Europe so far - besides the excellent food, I've experienced so much in the past five weeks that have opened my eyes to the fact that I am still as not as well traveled as I hope to be, that there are still things I need to work (cough...communicating my feelings...cough) and that I can really get used to this life of just wandering from place to place and not doing anything.  Now if I can only find a way of making income out of doing nothing...


Traveling has also given me a couple of story ideas to tinker with and hopefully that will result in the income that will allow me to travel some more, which will result in more story ideas and more income...you see what I'm getting at here?  Sigh, it is hard not to get ahead of yourself when you have this much time on your hands to just dream.  (Insert the Bob Sinclair Love Generation song from the Lotto Max commercials here as I dream about my next vacation.)


There are several highlights of this trip (besides the food - wait, I said this already) that I can't wait to start blogging about in my following entries - they include:


- celebrating Spain's Eurocup win in Barcelona on Las Ramblas and watching people drunkenly climb the lamp posts and praying they didn't fall to their deaths, 
- meeting a seminary student on the train from Zagreb to Split, Croatia and talking to him about everything from politics to religion to Croatian reality TV for about four hours as our train was delayed by a fire on the track (no, not dangerous at all),
- waking up every morning to the sound of the Adriatic waves splash against our boat and then jumping into the clear blue waters after breakfast on my Split - Dubrovnik cruise,

Life is hard when you have to jump off a boat everyday.

- the most random Sunday I've ever experienced which included a Tim Burton-esque circus exhibit, followed by running into a random Brazilian drum band and random carnival rides that made my friend Lindsay and I sick.


Each place I've visited in the last five weeks have left quite the impression.  Portugal was a friendly destination where surprisingly everyone spoke English with you, because they are probably tired of foreigners butchering Portuguese or speaking to them in Spanish.  Spain was incredibly hot and a great place to meet interesting characters on our Trafalgar tour - including some older Aussies and New Zealanders who insisted that the Spanish speak English.  Croatia was relaxing after three weeks of bus tours and an eclectic mix of young Australians - there were only Aussies on this part of my travels, I was quite the minority as an Asian Canadian (or Canasian).  And well, Paris, it was all about living the life of a Parisien, so much so that I was even getting annoyed with the tourists and saying my "Pardon!"s with an annoyance that would make any local proud.


What makes life so great at the moment is that my European adventures are not over.  There's still the London Olympics and Scotland and all of its foggy glory left to experience!  


It's not hard to keep saying to myself - fuck, I'm so glad I decided to take this break.

Final Day in Hong Kong

It's very comforting to know that there's always a Starbucks near with wifi, a cool beverage and comfortable seating to rest your weary, walked to death feet.  Surprisingly in Hong Kong, where everything else is super cheap, especially the food, a Starbucks Iced Coffee is just over $3 CAD.  But hey, for a small reminder of home, it's kinda worth the deal.


I decided to have a bit of a quiet day considering how much I've done over the last three days in Hong Kong and Macau.  With my flight being midnight (and of course, this time, I am sure of when my departure time is...), I had pretty much a day to kill, and it was time to explore a bit more of the Kowloon side of this city.  

It's no surprise that the day has been perpetually cloudy (see the exhibit above).  It's been pretty much like this for the entire time I've been here.  However, walking along the Avenue of the Stars this morning, having this cloud cover really helped because in this climate, you can either fight the humidity or the sun, not both.  The Avenue of the Stars is located on the Kowloon waterfront with a gorgeous view of Hong Kong Island.  Hong Kong, the Hollywood for Asian cinema, has its own mini walk of fame with the most famous icon being that of Bruce Lee's statue - in honour of the king of Kung Fu cinema.  My advice, get there early - like 8am early as tour groups start rolling in around 930am and to get a clear shot of the statue sans mainlander tourists, you're looking at at least a 10 minute wait if you want them to clear out.

Hiya Bruce.

After the stroll along the promenade, it was time to visit Kowloon park, located conveniently beside Tsim Sha Tsui (or TST) station.  This park is so big, it even has it's own McDonald's stall selling iced drinks and ice cream.  Smart.  

Kowloon Park Art Piece.

I saved the afternoon for museums as they were in close proximity to one another and all had free wifi and air conditioning.  There are three points of interest here:

- The Hong Kong Museum of Art
- The Hong Kong Space Museum
- The Hong Kong Cultural Centre


If you're stuck for time, the latter two can easily be avoided.  The Space Museum was ancient with exhibits from when I was a child visiting the Ontario Science Centre for the first time.  I guess it's a commentary on our progression as a race on space travel.  We've stalled in our progress to put people into space.  With the shuttle program coming to an end last year, it's so sad that the passion we had for space travel when I was a kid in grade school has started to fall by the wayside.  

The HK Space Museum - a sad commentary on our progressions with space travel with horribly dated exhibits.

My walking tour ended with a stop at the Kowloon docks where you can catch a ferry to HK Island, which used to be the main form of transportation before the MTR, now it's mostly a tourist pursuit.  At the docks, you'll find the HK Cultural Centre - a quick pit stop for air con and then head outside to take a photo with the famous clock tower.  Sneak in one more photo of the view of HK Island.  It's worth it.

Clock tower.

I've seen that Junk ship before at Stanley Point!

I've been really impressed with this city - four days was a perfect amount of time to take in the sights, sounds, tastes and the nightlife.  It was great to meet up with friends that I haven't seen in a while and even better navigating a city (well, two if you count Macau) solo but feeling like you were a pro.  I guess I'm a bit seasoned now traveling on my own.  A friend once asked me, "doesn't it get lonely being a solo tourist?"  It does get annoying at times that no one is there to take a photo for you, but what I love about being by myself in a foreign place is that I dictate everything - where I go, at what time, what I eat, what I spend.  Nothing makes me happier than being a super control freak on vacation.


Of course, there's always a downside to every place you visit - HK is the less hygienic cousin of Singapore, with random water droplets falling down on you as you roam the sidewalks (just don't think about it, and if one gets in your mouth, it's time to take that Immodium).  HK is a good place for only a couple of days - not an extended stay unless all you want to do is shop.  And there are some social problems that you notice that get to you - including the shocking amount of seniors who pick out of garbage cans and beg on the street.


I'm lucky I've gotten to see some of the major ports of call in Asia like Taipei, HK, Singapore, KL and Saigon.  Each have their own personality, grit and polish.  Of course, I'm biased when I say that there's no place to me that beats Taipei.  It truly has become my home away from home.


This ends my Asian journeys for now, until I go to Japan and Korea with a few friends in the wintertime.  Can't wait to see what Tokyo is like in the winter.  So for now, zai jian Asia and hello Europe!

Ni Hao, Macau!

This is what it looked like when I left Hong Kong this morning.  Having gotten up at an ungodly hour (6am) to catch the 830am Turbojet into Macau, this sudden downpour was not making me a happy traveler.  Looking at the forecast for Macau as I left the harbour, there were calls for thunderstorms.  Fuck.


The good news was, once we had reached Macau's ferry terminal, the downpour was merely a light drizzle.  Being light on my feet, the goal was to make it to immigration before the mainland Chinese tourists got there (Remember boys and girls, when going to Macau, you must bring your passport).


The port is a wealth of information - not only can you get a great map that highlights a historical walking tour of the main peninsula (see my recommendations from that walking tour below) but the money exchange desk is not busy at all and gives a better rate than on the HK side.  All you need if you're doing one day in Macau is approximately 300 - 400 Macau Petacas (approximately $50 CAD).

After hopping on the bus, head for the southwestern part of Macau's main peninsula (the other two parts of Macau are not worth going to unless you're visiting family or want to gamble because that's all that's there.  You'll start at the Ama Temple (highlighted above).  Get there early as the Chinese tourists are all there as of 930am and take the best photo spots, as again, highlighted above.  This temple is actually older than the city of Macau itself and houses all three main Asian religions in here as inspired by the people who lived in the area.

Macau's rich naval heritage comes from a combination of the Chinese and the Portuguese.  Throughout the city, you'll find artwork, like this Junk boat above on the pavements.  There are stars, moons, fish, mermaids.  

The Jesuits make quite the mark on this place as they were the initial people who colonized the area for the Portuguese.  They were also responsible for educating the local population (thanks to one Jesuit Priest named Marco Ricci).  They then converted everyone to Catholicism and the impact of that are found throughout Macau as one famous church after another (most dating back to the 15th century) can be found.

The Portuguese are also responsible for the colourful facades and the Mediterranean style architecture found in places like the Senado Square, now mostly a shopping district, it was the cultural centre of old Macau.  Here, you'll find tourists up the ying yang, but locals also congregate and shop. 

After Senado Square, head to Macau's landmark photo - the Ruin's of St. Paul's.  Built in the 1600s, the cathedral, the largest in all of Macau was destroyed by a fire.  Only one side of the building was spared which has miraculously now been turned into the most popular tourist destination of the city.  Don't forget to go in and walk up the walls - here's the view of the Macau Skyline from the other side.

After all that walking around, it's best to have some time to think.  While it's not on the historical tour path, the Jardin Luu Lim Ieoc is a must go destination.  With a large coy ponds and several pagodas to rest, it's a perfect break to mark the last quarter of your trip around Macau.

The coy pond in the Jardin.

Tourist Tips and Tricks:

- Take the ferry from Kowloon's China Ferry Harbour Terminal - with Turbojets leaving every half hour, and taking only an hour to get there, this is a really convenient way of getting to Macau.  The cost should be about 166HKD or $25 CAD

- On the boat, take the time to fill out the immigration cards (offered at the concession stand).  Do one for both Macau and for your return to HK since you can't get up to take pictures anyways.

- Once you get to Macau, go to the departures floor to check the times for the return ferry.  Make sure to leave before 530pm, as that is the last ship to leave at the daytime rate (saves you about $2 or $3 CAD)

- You can also change money on the departures floor.  Better to do it in Macau than in HK as it's a better rate.

- On the ground floor, you'll find a Tourism Office with free maps - take the blue covered "Macau Tourist Map" with a photo of the Ruins of St. Paul's on it.  It's a smaller map than the other one (green cover) provided and it has a great historic walking tour route.  

- Stick to the Macau peninsula for the sights - there's nothing really to see across the bridge on the other side.

- Take the # 10, 10A or 28B bus to your first destination on the walking tour - Ama Temple.  This was a great walking tour guide as it allowed you to go to the furthest point and walk back from there.  There are some points along the way that you don't need to see - here are the ones I found to be the best.

Terence's Walking Tour (with timing):

(1) Ama Temple (10 minutes by bus to get there - 5.20 MPC to get there)

(2) Maritime Museum - right beside Ama Temple

(3) Moorish Barracks (5 min walk uphill from Ama)

(4) Lilau Square (5 mins)

(5) St. Lawrence Church (7 min).  You'll want to go inside, you can't take pictures, but it's still cool to see.  Take a water break here as well.  The heat gets to you.

(6) Dom Pedro V Theatre, St. Augustine's Church (4 mins)

(7) St. Joseph's Seminary and Church, Sir Robert Ho Tung Library (1 min)

A devout parishiner prays before Mary at the Seminary.

(8) Senado Square (10 mins) - take a rest here.  There's a Starbucks for some much needed iced coffee and air conditioning.

(9) Holy House of Mercy, Lou Kau Mansion are all near Senado Square - mostly photo ops

(10) St. Dominic's Church - go inside and take photos (5 min)

The alter at St. Dominic's.

(11) Ruins of St. Paul's (10 mins) - stop by Koi Kei Bakery for Portuguese egg tarts.  2 for 14 MPC or $2 CAD.  Honestly, I don't like egg tarts and I couldn't stop eating these.  Buy some for breakfast the next day.  Also, go up the face of the side of St. Paul's - great picture of the city below.

Mmm...egg tarts.

(12) Na Tcha Temple and Old City Walls (2 mins) - right beside St. Paul's and a quick photo op.

(13) OFF THE TRAIL - Casa Garden, Protestant Cemetery (20 mins roundtrip back to St. Paul's) - you can forego this part if you want.  It was okay, just some rich guy's house.  Take a rest at the gardens for water.  No need to stop for a washroom - you've sweated out all of the liquids.

(14) Mount Fortress - right beside St. Paul's - you'll want to spend at least 30 mins to an hour here admiring the view of Macau.  There's plenty of benches to rest your already tired feet.

Ready...Aim... The view from atop Mount Fortress looking at the Hotel Lisboa.

(15)  Jardin Lou Lim Ioec (20 mins from St. Paul's) - a great place to sit by a pond and reflect and take in the soothing sounds of the crickets and secada beetles (I dunno if that's what they are called, but maybe I'm just thinking of Neil Sedaka...who knows).

(16) Tap Seac Square (5 mins) to admire the old colonial architecture.

How can you not love buildings with this much colour and personality? @ Tap Seac Square

(17) Cross the street to catch the #8 or 12 to the Macau Cultural Centre (3.20 MPC or $0.50 CAD)

(18) Walk across the street after getting off the bus and go to the two photo op points of the Science Centre and the Kun Iam Deity statue.

(19) Walk back to the same bus stop to catch the number 3A, 10A or 12 back to the Harbour to leave (3.20 MPC)

Stop 18 - The Macau Science Centre.

Kun Iam looking upon the city of Macau.  She thanks you for walking about 20 full kilometres today.

All in all, this tour took me from 10am - 130pm to complete.  Not bad for almost 4 hours of continuous walking.  Bring a 2L bottle of water - I drank it all by stop 16.  The turbojet does not take you back to Kowloon Harbour, rather, the Macau Harbour on the HK side.  

Macau is a must see - and a great way to collect a stamp for your passport.  Easy and fast to get to, super cheap if you're just going to walk around and take in the sights!  You don't even have to book a hotel!