Sooooo...I'm back home, and the rest of the guys are still on the way back. Judging from the frequency with which they updated before...you guys have long to wait to hear from their most recent fiascos.
Meanwhile, I have here three videos I thought I'll upload.
The first two shows the process of us devouring the mussels at PEI. I mentioned 4 or 5 minutes in the video, but in the end we timed it and it was actually 2 minutes, 58 seconds. That was for our 4th bucket too.
The third video is a picture of the Atlantic ocean in all its majesty. Obviously, it was much more breathtaking and vast when you're actually there.
Enjoy!
Jenny
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Newfoundland - Part 2 - Jenny
Crazy weather. We just outran the tornado that ravaged Ontario and we're enjoying the continuing sunshine in St. John's. Finally - I have reached St. John's and we've just taken a photo at Mile One.
Along the way, I picked up some interesting souvenirs. The pink toilet paper that I've been searching for is finally in my posession - from in Levis - SuperC supermarket. Levis is just a short seabus ride from Quebec.
I also bought some stuff from PEI from the Anne of Green Gables chocolate shop. My favourite are the round rocks I picked up on the shore of Northern Newfoundland that I intend to paint on later.
We were originally going to stay in Pippy Park campgrounds tonight, but the tent field is just that - a field. In order to get a private area (with a rocky pebble floor), we'd have to pay close to $40 per night. Luckily we are able to get rooms at the Sheraton here with Candy's starhot prices. $60 at an excellent hotel with free internet, pool, and clean sheets! The choice was easy.
Anyway, it's dinner time here now and after dinner we intend to visit Signal Hill - the most Easternly place in Canada.
Ttyl~
Along the way, I picked up some interesting souvenirs. The pink toilet paper that I've been searching for is finally in my posession - from in Levis - SuperC supermarket. Levis is just a short seabus ride from Quebec.
I also bought some stuff from PEI from the Anne of Green Gables chocolate shop. My favourite are the round rocks I picked up on the shore of Northern Newfoundland that I intend to paint on later.
We were originally going to stay in Pippy Park campgrounds tonight, but the tent field is just that - a field. In order to get a private area (with a rocky pebble floor), we'd have to pay close to $40 per night. Luckily we are able to get rooms at the Sheraton here with Candy's starhot prices. $60 at an excellent hotel with free internet, pool, and clean sheets! The choice was easy.
Anyway, it's dinner time here now and after dinner we intend to visit Signal Hill - the most Easternly place in Canada.
Ttyl~
Friday, July 10, 2009
Newfoundland - Jenny
Tonight I had liver and grilled onions, finished with a smooth cup of tea with milk and sugar. Yum.
We are camping now at the KOA in Gros Morne, Newfoundland. Much better than last night's sleep in a car. First one foot went numb, and then the other.
However beautiful our camp site here is, there is one major drawback. THERE ARE SO MANY BUGS HERE!!!
Today was sunny here with wisps of clouds, and we caught a glimpse of a sunset that just sort of glowed purple and gold. We picked up some smooth rocks - Candy got one that was straight as a rod and thin as a finger (the strangest rock we've ever seen).
There was a dead frog that was rolled over in the dirt and a gigantic dragonfly that got stuck to our bumper, but that was it for wild life. We stopped by after our breakfast this morning on a strawberry farm and got a really good deal. $3.88 got us two baskets full of Newfoundland strawberries (no strange hormones added to these...). I remember once more why I loved strawberries as a kid - these are the berries of days of old. On top of the good price, it was also all you can eat as you pick. My hand was stained red.
Although it just hit 6pm in Vancouver, it is now 10:30pm here in St. John's. I will pass the computer onto Ben and see if he will update. Soon I will be back home and then I will post up the photos then.
Talk to you all soon!
We are camping now at the KOA in Gros Morne, Newfoundland. Much better than last night's sleep in a car. First one foot went numb, and then the other.
However beautiful our camp site here is, there is one major drawback. THERE ARE SO MANY BUGS HERE!!!
Today was sunny here with wisps of clouds, and we caught a glimpse of a sunset that just sort of glowed purple and gold. We picked up some smooth rocks - Candy got one that was straight as a rod and thin as a finger (the strangest rock we've ever seen).
There was a dead frog that was rolled over in the dirt and a gigantic dragonfly that got stuck to our bumper, but that was it for wild life. We stopped by after our breakfast this morning on a strawberry farm and got a really good deal. $3.88 got us two baskets full of Newfoundland strawberries (no strange hormones added to these...). I remember once more why I loved strawberries as a kid - these are the berries of days of old. On top of the good price, it was also all you can eat as you pick. My hand was stained red.
Although it just hit 6pm in Vancouver, it is now 10:30pm here in St. John's. I will pass the computer onto Ben and see if he will update. Soon I will be back home and then I will post up the photos then.
Talk to you all soon!
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Unexpected free internet!
Hi everyone,
I haven't updated on the blog since the second day of our trip. Anyway, many things have happened, I'll just start from the most recent experience, which was today.
First of all, I have to start by giving God the credit. He's kept us safe, and He's been so great to us. We weren't suppose to go on this ferry until tomorrow early in the morning. The ferry tomorrow morning is delayed from 8:30am to noon. As you can obviously tell, we will be behind our schedule. So, we prayed, and asked the terminal staff if we can get onto the ferry tonight, and they told us we have a chance, we just have to wait till someone calls in to cancel the reservations for the ferry. Fortunately, we got on without waiting for too long.
Right now, we are on the ferry to New Foundland. We're suppose to be on this ferry for 6 hours. I am extremely hungry. We just finished a game of Monopoly, clue, slap jack, cheat...and now Jenny and I want to relax, so we're on the "sitting" area of the ferry, it's kind of like a plane, with comfortable couch-like chairs in a row. We unexpectedly found free internet on the ferry, its awesome. There is music from the bar right beside us right now. (sorry if I don't make sense, it is pretty late locally, and we are kind of screwed up because of the constant time changes as we go toward east)
For dinner we had Louisiana Chicken from Mr. Sub, the only "real" food on the ferry.
For the last two days, we're camped. Two days ago, we were at Rockwood campgrounds, New Brunswick. That park is said to be even bigger than Stanley Park. At night, Jenny and I saw a deer. It was really tall and very skinny. Although it was pretty dark, we could still see its pretty deer figure in the dark, and recognize it as a deer. We saw about 7-8 deers on our trip so far. We haven't seen any mooses so far, I'm looking forward to it, just pray we don't drive into one.
The most of the trip had been a blast. I've seen so many new things, learned to "cope" with one another, and tolerate one another.
We miss showers and personal hygiens, but the only thing that we havent' missed is great food. Yesterday, we had all you can eat mussels, seafood chowder, salade, dessert, and one lobster. It was absolutely delicious. The locals (PEI) only eat 3 buckets of mussels between 4 people, but the four of us ate four buckets without any problem. We were going to order the fifth bucket but they had to close because in the East coast, they mostly have supper houses.
Anyway, Wei has to use the lap top now, so let me just tell you something quickly. My favourite city so far is Montreal, andmy favourite province so far is PEI, it is so beautiful, the soil there is RED, it's gorgeous. Gotta go!
MOOMOO
btw we had icecream at COWS!!!
I haven't updated on the blog since the second day of our trip. Anyway, many things have happened, I'll just start from the most recent experience, which was today.
First of all, I have to start by giving God the credit. He's kept us safe, and He's been so great to us. We weren't suppose to go on this ferry until tomorrow early in the morning. The ferry tomorrow morning is delayed from 8:30am to noon. As you can obviously tell, we will be behind our schedule. So, we prayed, and asked the terminal staff if we can get onto the ferry tonight, and they told us we have a chance, we just have to wait till someone calls in to cancel the reservations for the ferry. Fortunately, we got on without waiting for too long.
Right now, we are on the ferry to New Foundland. We're suppose to be on this ferry for 6 hours. I am extremely hungry. We just finished a game of Monopoly, clue, slap jack, cheat...and now Jenny and I want to relax, so we're on the "sitting" area of the ferry, it's kind of like a plane, with comfortable couch-like chairs in a row. We unexpectedly found free internet on the ferry, its awesome. There is music from the bar right beside us right now. (sorry if I don't make sense, it is pretty late locally, and we are kind of screwed up because of the constant time changes as we go toward east)
For dinner we had Louisiana Chicken from Mr. Sub, the only "real" food on the ferry.
For the last two days, we're camped. Two days ago, we were at Rockwood campgrounds, New Brunswick. That park is said to be even bigger than Stanley Park. At night, Jenny and I saw a deer. It was really tall and very skinny. Although it was pretty dark, we could still see its pretty deer figure in the dark, and recognize it as a deer. We saw about 7-8 deers on our trip so far. We haven't seen any mooses so far, I'm looking forward to it, just pray we don't drive into one.
The most of the trip had been a blast. I've seen so many new things, learned to "cope" with one another, and tolerate one another.
We miss showers and personal hygiens, but the only thing that we havent' missed is great food. Yesterday, we had all you can eat mussels, seafood chowder, salade, dessert, and one lobster. It was absolutely delicious. The locals (PEI) only eat 3 buckets of mussels between 4 people, but the four of us ate four buckets without any problem. We were going to order the fifth bucket but they had to close because in the East coast, they mostly have supper houses.
Anyway, Wei has to use the lap top now, so let me just tell you something quickly. My favourite city so far is Montreal, andmy favourite province so far is PEI, it is so beautiful, the soil there is RED, it's gorgeous. Gotta go!
MOOMOO
btw we had icecream at COWS!!!
Ferry - Jenny
So much to update, so little time with free internet!
3G isn't always available here - sometimes it's the expensive Edge that's available, so the times we have to update are scarce.
Apparently, after being on this ferry from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland for 4 hours, I have finally realized that the internet here is free.
We originally intended to go on this ferry first thing in the morning instead of tonight, but delays caused the ferry we were supposed to board to be 3 hours behind. Instead of going with that option (which would make us miss the fjords altogether), we prayed real hard and ended up on an earlier ferry. Actually it was quite epic getting here.
Last night we camped by Twin Shores on PEI. Awesome. The beach has very fine red sand, so pretty , soft, and clean. But red!
We also visited a local supper house. All you can eat mussels, seafood chowder, bread, salad...and it comes with a 1lb lobster too. We got our money's worth ($29 per person) by devouring until they ran out of mussels. Literally. We had 12 pounds of mussels at one sitting.
We also went and got our own clams from the red clay shores, but we got too full with mussels to eat clams. We are also sort of getting sick of lobsters...some crab would be a nice change. Their scallops and salmon here are cheap too.
Food is obviously our highlight here - the accommodations are a bit less wonderful. Tonight we might very well have to sleep in a parking lot. We arrive on Newfoundland at 2am (5.5 hours ahead of Vancouver). We've camped the last 2 nights and the clothes I wear to sleep haven't been washed since 2 weeks ago. The car is funky.
We're piled so high in the car that you literally cannot see the floor in the passenger seats. We've got rolls of tissue, coolers, old clothes, chip bags, beverages, books, newspapers, bags of shoes, sleeping bags....we keep our tents to each side like giant round doors.
Newfoundland is my final destination for this particular trip - I will soon return home (amazingly, it will only take me 5 hours or so to fly, after traveling more than 7000 km in a car with 3 other people, spending up to 14 continuous hours driving on long empty stretches of highway - 5 hours is nothing). We drove 30 minutes to get a restaurant the other day and it seemed like the blink of an eye.
So far, the best places in Canada are in the Maritimes. Beautiful, different, serene...and delicious.
3G isn't always available here - sometimes it's the expensive Edge that's available, so the times we have to update are scarce.
Apparently, after being on this ferry from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland for 4 hours, I have finally realized that the internet here is free.
We originally intended to go on this ferry first thing in the morning instead of tonight, but delays caused the ferry we were supposed to board to be 3 hours behind. Instead of going with that option (which would make us miss the fjords altogether), we prayed real hard and ended up on an earlier ferry. Actually it was quite epic getting here.
Last night we camped by Twin Shores on PEI. Awesome. The beach has very fine red sand, so pretty , soft, and clean. But red!
We also visited a local supper house. All you can eat mussels, seafood chowder, bread, salad...and it comes with a 1lb lobster too. We got our money's worth ($29 per person) by devouring until they ran out of mussels. Literally. We had 12 pounds of mussels at one sitting.
We also went and got our own clams from the red clay shores, but we got too full with mussels to eat clams. We are also sort of getting sick of lobsters...some crab would be a nice change. Their scallops and salmon here are cheap too.
Food is obviously our highlight here - the accommodations are a bit less wonderful. Tonight we might very well have to sleep in a parking lot. We arrive on Newfoundland at 2am (5.5 hours ahead of Vancouver). We've camped the last 2 nights and the clothes I wear to sleep haven't been washed since 2 weeks ago. The car is funky.
We're piled so high in the car that you literally cannot see the floor in the passenger seats. We've got rolls of tissue, coolers, old clothes, chip bags, beverages, books, newspapers, bags of shoes, sleeping bags....we keep our tents to each side like giant round doors.
Newfoundland is my final destination for this particular trip - I will soon return home (amazingly, it will only take me 5 hours or so to fly, after traveling more than 7000 km in a car with 3 other people, spending up to 14 continuous hours driving on long empty stretches of highway - 5 hours is nothing). We drove 30 minutes to get a restaurant the other day and it seemed like the blink of an eye.
So far, the best places in Canada are in the Maritimes. Beautiful, different, serene...and delicious.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Poems
These are my poems thus far. Not great poems, not good poems, but stuff I wrote while on this trip. Forgive!
Sunset on the Prairies
At a certain hour, the egg broke
and sun-yoke spilled,
piercing the horizon
leaving behind
the hour of God's handiwork -
Now brilliant azure and smokey lavender
burn clear across the blue.
Now the deer crosses home,
and tractors turn back on their rural routes,
their drivers stomachs grumbling of supper
and the long hard day beckons to sleep.
The sunset lights up one end
of the sky, and on the other
the moon calmly watches
and lights her stars
like evening candles,
one by one.
- Saskatchewan, June 30th.
Cold Morning in Manitoba
The cold consumes
even in July.
The morning starts with white
layers of breath, frosted windows,
white clouds like a gauzy haze.
The sun and the light,
diluted by the vastness.
On this flat land the wind
wakes first and sweeps away
the dusty light, sweeps
the land clean of warmth.
- Manitoba, June 30th
Rainy Day on HWY 17
When the wind howls, the metal
rattles, the windshield wipers
refuses to lift, to move,
to go against the sharp
needle-point rain that
comes bearing down like
a storm of bugs.
The black asphalt ground,
the grey steel sky
mirror each other and
merge on the tip
of the lonely highway.
There they kiss and jealous trees
lean away. They sway
and we sway
in the car.
The highway loops around,
curves and undulates,
trying to escape - and us,
we get blown like a little moth
caught in a storm.
- Ontario, June 30th.
Sunset on the Prairies
At a certain hour, the egg broke
and sun-yoke spilled,
piercing the horizon
leaving behind
the hour of God's handiwork -
Now brilliant azure and smokey lavender
burn clear across the blue.
Now the deer crosses home,
and tractors turn back on their rural routes,
their drivers stomachs grumbling of supper
and the long hard day beckons to sleep.
The sunset lights up one end
of the sky, and on the other
the moon calmly watches
and lights her stars
like evening candles,
one by one.
- Saskatchewan, June 30th.
Cold Morning in Manitoba
The cold consumes
even in July.
The morning starts with white
layers of breath, frosted windows,
white clouds like a gauzy haze.
The sun and the light,
diluted by the vastness.
On this flat land the wind
wakes first and sweeps away
the dusty light, sweeps
the land clean of warmth.
- Manitoba, June 30th
Rainy Day on HWY 17
When the wind howls, the metal
rattles, the windshield wipers
refuses to lift, to move,
to go against the sharp
needle-point rain that
comes bearing down like
a storm of bugs.
The black asphalt ground,
the grey steel sky
mirror each other and
merge on the tip
of the lonely highway.
There they kiss and jealous trees
lean away. They sway
and we sway
in the car.
The highway loops around,
curves and undulates,
trying to escape - and us,
we get blown like a little moth
caught in a storm.
- Ontario, June 30th.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Awake!
Le Gasp, It's 1:51am right now at Ottawa (which means it's 10:51pm for you Vancouver folks)
and the fire alarm went off at our luxurious Sheraton Hotel.. Needless to say we all needed to evacuate to the lobby while the alarm rings incessantly at our ears while they figure out why it's a false alarm. Good thing though is that Sheraton has free internet, at least at this location, at the cafe/lounge area so I can update this..
Hum hum dun- like Jenny stated we've been on the road everyday for over 7~8 hours everyday. I didn't know how incredibly taxing it is to do NOTHING.. I feel so..caged. Doing nothing but munch on snacks and sleep is.. well it's gross :S I long for some SUN and some physical activity! >.<
Well we've came a long way to Ottawa but we still have quite a few more weeks to go.
My entry date for Van-city is scheduled at July 22nd.. so until then.. I'll update all of you on this blog.. ciao
and the fire alarm went off at our luxurious Sheraton Hotel.. Needless to say we all needed to evacuate to the lobby while the alarm rings incessantly at our ears while they figure out why it's a false alarm. Good thing though is that Sheraton has free internet, at least at this location, at the cafe/lounge area so I can update this..
Hum hum dun- like Jenny stated we've been on the road everyday for over 7~8 hours everyday. I didn't know how incredibly taxing it is to do NOTHING.. I feel so..caged. Doing nothing but munch on snacks and sleep is.. well it's gross :S I long for some SUN and some physical activity! >.<
Well we've came a long way to Ottawa but we still have quite a few more weeks to go.
My entry date for Van-city is scheduled at July 22nd.. so until then.. I'll update all of you on this blog.. ciao
Ottawa - Jenny
I suddenly have a sense of deja vu...somehow this moment stands out very clearly to me. However, I don't think I've ever done this quite this way before...
Right now it is past 1 am in Ottawa and we are at the Sheraton Ottawa Hotel. We had dinner downstairs. Strangely enough, compared with the meals we've had for the past two days (which were home cooked), this "gourmet" meal doesn't taste as good.
Last night and the night before we slept in cabins in the wood. Except for the fact that we got bitten by mosquitos (actually, just the girls), things went quite well. We grilled corn on the cob and made stew, which contained real steak, veggies, lots of different spices, and egg (the Chinese way).
The night before that we BBQ'ed more steak and cooked rice (we brought a rice cooker) and had a great meal as well.
There is not much to pine for, except for one thing. THE SUUUUUN!!!!
We left Vancouver behind, hoping to be baked. Unfortunately, the moment we left Saskatchewan this giant rain cloud that spanned three provinces would not let up. It has poured and poured and poured and God is trying to teach us all a lesson in patience.
But mine is sorely running low. I need some sun soon, or I'll wither away.
Tomorrow we will explore Ottawa for a little bit, check out the market, and then we will go and head over to Montreal. After 26 hours of driving in three days, suddenly a city that's 1.5 hours away seem extremely close.
The videos we took are hilarious, we will show when we get back. As for the poems, I will post them later as I am almost out of time on the net.
Talk to you all later!
Right now it is past 1 am in Ottawa and we are at the Sheraton Ottawa Hotel. We had dinner downstairs. Strangely enough, compared with the meals we've had for the past two days (which were home cooked), this "gourmet" meal doesn't taste as good.
Last night and the night before we slept in cabins in the wood. Except for the fact that we got bitten by mosquitos (actually, just the girls), things went quite well. We grilled corn on the cob and made stew, which contained real steak, veggies, lots of different spices, and egg (the Chinese way).
The night before that we BBQ'ed more steak and cooked rice (we brought a rice cooker) and had a great meal as well.
There is not much to pine for, except for one thing. THE SUUUUUN!!!!
We left Vancouver behind, hoping to be baked. Unfortunately, the moment we left Saskatchewan this giant rain cloud that spanned three provinces would not let up. It has poured and poured and poured and God is trying to teach us all a lesson in patience.
But mine is sorely running low. I need some sun soon, or I'll wither away.
Tomorrow we will explore Ottawa for a little bit, check out the market, and then we will go and head over to Montreal. After 26 hours of driving in three days, suddenly a city that's 1.5 hours away seem extremely close.
The videos we took are hilarious, we will show when we get back. As for the poems, I will post them later as I am almost out of time on the net.
Talk to you all later!
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