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October 02, 2023

October 2023

Oh gosh is it windy! My hayfever is totally not liking it. I will do my best to endure but it has been difficult to sit still without a bit of dribble. Ugh. So embarrassing.


Work

I'm learning people only want to do the minimal and get a quick win. Which is good, but you gottta think of the problems that would arise in the long run.


PoGo

I finally have a hundo Hitmontop. Dang! We did it. Painfully.


Dating

Dead silent. Nothing but fake accounts from China always asking how's your day at 6am and how's your weekend on Friday. Yet the will not talk about anything else. Snooze.

====================

CANADA! The trip of a life time.

Montreal
Quebec
Toronto
Vancouver
Victoria
Whistler

!=== 9th October 2023 🦄

 

The aeroplane was late to take off at the Melbourne airport. This meant we arrived late for our transfer in Auckland, and yes, there was another round of security checks. Ugh. The transfer board next to the transfer security queue had information that would make you panic. It stated the gate was open when in fact it actually had not opened. Geez. Sis and I pushed through the queue thinking our flight was about to leave soon. Sheesh. After the mad dash and catching our breath, we found seats to rest our legs.

I did watch several movies on Air New Zealand.


No hard feelings
The bogey man
Teenage mutant ninja turtle
The book club gang
Hypnotic

 

The 12-hour flight was the most painful section of our flight. Sure put pressure on our leg and back. I kept dozing off but did not get proper sleep despite I had my Kmart neck pillow.

Vancouver International Airport was HUGE. All of it interiors and all over the place was some sort of green. The air was a bit stuffy too. Quite humid. They had charging ports on the floor. BYO adapter.

The Starbucks staff were overwhelmed by the sheer amount of visitors descending into the airport. We lined up for the queue, but we had to ditch it as we had to get to our gate before any issues occurred.

At the boarding gate, the Air Canada staff sounded an alarm that we had checked baggage. Ugh. Yes. We do. We are transferring. We were ushered to another boarding staff, who did some tapping on the screen and we were good to go to board the airplane.

It was a BYO food and drink kind of ride. On board, I tried to re-watched some of the movies I had only watched halfway. Ha. I dozed off again.

 

!=== 10th October 2023 🦄

We arrived pretty late after midnight. All our luggage was with us. We headed to a self-service machine to buy our Opus smart card. No problems there.

The air was crisp cold as stepped outside to find our bus. The bus 747 was slow to swing by the Montreal airport. Several people waited longer than us and some gave up and hopped into a taxi. A taxi car would swing by the bus stop frequently to see who would give up waiting for the bus. We stuck by our guns and boarded it at 1:57am. Oof.

We fell asleep as soon as we plugged in our devices. We did not go to the spa in Old Montreal. Too tired. Too cold.

Jean-Talon market was medium in size. It had some gluten-free food on offer. I had macron, canelé, and buckwheat crepes. I bought a box of mixed coloured carrots. Yummy. Sis got maple candy and a maple leaf-shaped glass bottle with maple syrup. Several French Boulanger nearby but no good for gluten intolerant folks. In one, we found blue cheese sausages that don’t require refrigeration. Yay! Travel food. Sis could not resist the pumpkin-faced shortbreads. They chipped easily in the bag. Ha.

Montreal has a few old and small shopping malls. Les Cours Mount Royal was one of them. Much of it was under renovation. The surprise was the Barbie Expo. So pretty. They had a selfie corner. Which Sis loved.

Chinatown was relatively small-ish filled with bubble tea shops, steam bun shops, and buffets. A few murals here and there. There were a few Asian grocery stores and as I recall some in Jean-Talon market too.

Montreal downtown is long. Saint Catherine is a long stretch of road. We went looking for Zenzaimai and it gave us bowel problems. We went in search of the toilet and found Dollarama. Needless to say, Sis fell in love with Dollarama.

Sis came across an anime sculpture-filled restaurant and it only served buffet. CAD$39 pp. Sis didn’t feel like eating that much food. We left it.

Settled for a Mexican restaurant on the same street with three giant sombre hats. Sis had a taco set meal. It came with rice and salad. CAD$15.40. I had buffalo wings. CAD$11.95


!=== 11th October 2023 🦄

Sis was obsessed with Dollarama, especially its Love Heart Canada t-shirts and blames me for not buying it. Ugh! Lame.

Jardin Botanique de Montreal costs CAD$22 pp. We hung outside the garden, we saw a squirrel or two and chased them around. The display of pumpkins outside had no carving art and Sis was disappointed by it. All the more she did not want to go in. We just browsed through the gift shop.

The surprise find was Parc Olympique. We posed on the podium in front of the rings.

Parcs San Gluten bakery staff sold us dodgy food. The staff said the triangle pastry was pork and the crescent-shaped one was beef. Instead, it ended up being a blueberry triangle and the crescent one was spinach and chicken. Ugh. Also, at the counter, the staff wouldn’t accept credit cards when we were about to pay, but he allowed the old French Canadian lady to pay by credit card. Talk about rude!

The walking tour was great. We learnt a lot from Darren. Luckily I didn’t take Sis down Old Montreal. So hilly for one and expensive.

Montreal is huge. Nearly everyone there spoke mainly French. You don’t hear any other language spoken on the street. Not quite multicultural in that aspect. Yet amazing how they maintained the French Canadian language for this long.

We went to Best Buy for a Canadian wall power plug and it was okay priced. Sis got angry and went looking for a bench outside. She was upset about how she could not go into a church to see it light up. I said there was not enough time. We are only here for a short time. We need adapters for the 4-day train trip.

Time Out shopping mall had a huge food court and it had a small section for arcade machines. Young and old enjoyed having such treats at the food court. Sis was in a foul mood. Until she bought some Halloween chocolates in trick or treat bag from Jeff chocolates. Took pics around Meutas via the dias sugar skull display.

The Notre Dame did not light up much on the outside as much as the YouTubers say it did. Just some blue light. Ugh.

We took bus 55 to Saint Viator bagels and boy, they were rock-hard bagels. Sis ordered two plain, but we ended up with 3 plain. Canadian being rude continues. Sis took a bite and did not touch them again. Ugh. I ate my blueberry one. It tasted like sultanas. I would not recommend the place. We could have busted Fairmont bagels but Sis was tired by this point.

She is not used to being awake from morning to evening. She usually sleeps in until 3pm and watches streamers online until midnight.

 

!=== 12th October 2023 🦄

The IGA sold ridiculously long lightning cables for iPhones. We bought some for our folks. I got myself a tandoori chicken wrap. Sis got a plain chicken wrap and only ate half then binned it. What a waste of food.

When we got to the coach terminal, we saw people already lining up to check in for our coach. There were two coaches. Popular. We boarded the second one. Sainte-Foy coach terminal did not offer Opus card top by counter or machine. Ugh. We had to find a taxi.

The taxi drivers REPEATEDLY asked was the hotel address correct. I booked the hotel so I should know. Why would EXPEDIA give me a false address? Come on mate. Dude really didn’t think females had brains. Nuts I tell ya. Canadian being rude continues.

Poutineville in Vieux Quebec staff said they were closed at 8pm but Google has them listed as closing at 9pm. Sis couldn’t stop her wailing about having nowhere to go to eat. More like she was afraid to walk any further. Plus she didn’t wear clothes suitable for winter. Ripped jeans. Really. Even if I had corrected the staff at Poutineville we won’t be served either way. Canadian being rude continues.

We ended up in fine dining BO. CAD 178 worth of Asian fusion food later she felt better. Ugh.

After 10am the buses are slow in the suburbs. There are no trains in the city or in the suburbs. Everyone drives a car here. Also, many would avoid the city centre as it is just a historical centre now. No real need to be there. It serves no function in people's daily lives.

 

!=== 13th October 2023 🦄

Bus 800 to Montmorency Falls was flawless. It delivered us to our destination right. There we paid CAD$8.70 for the entry fee to the parc. Walked along the black bridge to the zipliner station but it was closed for the season. We proceed to the 453 stairs along the cliff face. The view was magnificent. The rushing waters were strong. You can feel the water spraying against your face.

When we reached the bottom Sis didn’t want to walk any loser to the waterfall base. I took my GoPro and proceeded to get close and got sprayed with water and in the eye. Oof. So strong! The GoPro and I were not able to get a great shot. My eyes were heavily soaked.

My jacket managed to dry off before reaching the cable car station. Hooray for Kathmandu! However, Sis was not happy about the piss-poor food options at the snack bar. I told her to buy whatever she liked. However, I can’t eat any as none of them were gluten-free.

She became a little cheerful when she purchased some souvenirs. Then sad again when the staff went for a toilet break from the cable car ticket desk. I said wait and I’ll buy us cable car tickets. When it got up to the mansion the restaurant was closed and no food found any where. Sis was upset yet again. October is the beginning of closed season in Canada and much of their tourist hots spots were closed for service. She was unaware of that as she never research despite she has two enable Internet smartphones.

When we caught the bus back to the city centre and transferred buses. We queue up at the spa but it was full and we were told to go on a wait list. How long they did not say. Sis was growling hungry-angry by this point.

She did not want to eat at the bistro on-site. There was no waiting room on-site or nearby. It was 6pm by the time reached the counter only to be put on a waiting list.

Bus number 1 ended by the time it was 9pm. We had to walk up 453 steps from Old Quebec to Parc de Abraham to get to the green bus 807.

After exiting the parc, and passing a musee, we came across a lit-up Parliament House. Outside the windows were bronze sculptures of significant founders of Quebec. A few other people joined us in taking pics of the old building. Cool. What an unexpected find.

 

!=== 14th October 2023 🦄

The green RTC buses are the fastest in the Quebec metro area. The blue buses are pretty decent but they are infrequent and they finish early.

The New Grand Market (Le Grande Marche) was awesome. They had colourful fresh produce and food that was made on the spot or reheated on the spot. Sis had a slice of pizza and bacon cheese sausage. I had a German sausage. Fresh blueberry juice was a bit sour. Canelé was okay.

The second floor had an event called Festival de Maggie de Quebec. We saw staff dressed as witches, ornaments and decorations, there were boards with stories, live story telling, games, ouija boards, masks, hats, face painting, and books with scary fiction tales. It was magical alright. 

After two transfers from the Marche to the huge mall bus terminal to the Musee Huron-Wendat area, a brown rag doll cat came to greet us in the middle of the street. So cute!

The lobby of the hotel was beautiful. Luxurious looking. There were animal furs with heads intact on either side of the sofa.

After visiting Musee Huron-Wendy’s exhibition. We headed what was directions for the gift store but it was closed and so was the cafe. People were confused by what was there to see or do. Sis and I made our own fun by exploring the trail by the river. We took our boots off to dip our feet in the cold river. Our feet felt refreshed.

The river was cold but it felt good to slip my feet into it. Ah. So refreshing. The rapids were powerful. Sis and I sat on a rock dipping our feet in and out of the freezing but refreshing water.

The hotel staff at the counter ignored us. Served four old French Canadian ladies before greeting me. Sis wants a beaded turtle brooch. Canadian being rude continues. The question remains how authentic was this Musee as it was completely staffed by Anglo-Saxon French Canadians.

We took a stroll into the long room. There we saw REAL animal fur. A fire on a log. I guess, that’s where they would tell stories.

Nearby the bus stop was a few small souvenir shops. Many nice things in there and we were served by a real native. Skilled in several languages. Items were not as overpriced as the Musee/hotel. You can see there is some sort of class system going on here in Canada.

We took the bus back to the Galaries de Captole. They went to Dollarama again. Sis was not able to find her red t-shirt with a maple leaf on it.

Then we went to check out Simon's department store. They had NorthFace at lower prices than Australia. I got myself an autumn coloured bum bag and a recycled metal trio flower ring. There were luxurious gloves too. Sadly, I need fingerless gloves. They had none. Meanwhile, Sis went off looking for a black bikini top. My French is at tourist level best and I was able to make out some of the words on the label. It felt like I was in Myer but only with one floor level worth of stuff.

Dinner at Chez Viator was so-so. The duck poutine was delicious but I got bowel problems when I got home. Sis had fried gnocchi in BBQ sauce. Lol. She said it was salty and the cheese curd was hard.

We walked home on the main road. There we found a 24-hour diner called Royal. The Jean-Cu pharmacy was still open until 9pm. Sis went in search of more souvenirs. I found a 15x zoom mirror. Omg. I can see my pores. I just had to buy it and clean my face. I felt hairy. What a find. Good travel ware. Also, the pharmacy is great for topping up your Opus card too. Great service. Top notch.

 

!=== 16th October 2023 🦄

The hotel kindly arranged a taxi to drive us to Jean Lesange International Airport. The staff at guest services for Air Canada warned us that our aeroplane was late and that we may not make it to the next flight. However, Air Canada will put us on the next earliest flight upon arrival. She told us to try and make the transfer.

Silly me I forgot to empty my water bottle and it was taken away from me at the security check.

The aeroplane was slow and people on board would not allow those who had tight connecting flights to alight first. They all stood up despite the crew mentioning it over PA several times.

 While we waited for the plane to make its way to a gate. I checked my emails. According to my email, Air Canada had instantly moved us to the next available flight. We had about an hour or so to rest our souls. Phew! Gosh, it was a skinny plane. Air Canada Express! The overhead lockers cannot fit carry-on bags with wheels. People had to leave their wheelie bags aside and Porter plane would carry their bags to our destination. The Porter plane flew not far behind us.

Overall, we didn’t have to manually re-book another flight ourselves. This is a pretty good service. It goes to the same airport at least. Save on taxi fares! Sis and I lined up for a new boarding pass for ease of passage.

Sis and I had lunch at Pork and Pickles restaurant at the Montreal Airport. It was yummy. We had buffalo wings and fried pierogi with pork and bacon crisps. Sis had pickles on the side.

Sis and I were appointed separate seats on the 3:30pm flight. Many people were just like us got shuffled on board this flight as well. On board the express plane they gave us complimentary snacks and water. Noice.

Upon arrival at Toronto Billy Bishop Airport. We waited for a taxi. Once we got in we gave him a prepayment of CAD$35 ahead of time, as the traffic jam was bad, and if we let the meter run it would cost a lot more.

When we reached our hotel, we couldn’t make it to our 7pm Zombie Apocalypse session. Instead, we made it to the Legends of Horror session. Oh well. Forfeit a ticket. Sis wanted to dress up before we left our hotel room.

The Casa Loma put up a good show alright. Plenty of animatronics and projection lighting. The most amazing part was it took us through an underground tunnel to the stables. Se ended up in a totally different section and exited in another street. Hee hee.

We had Japanese food for dinner across the street from our hotel.

Note: for a domestic flight in Canada you need to:

a) present your boarding pass at security check and they’ll scan it.
b) at the boarding gate you need to present a photo ID with your boarding pass.

 

!=== 17th October 2023

 Mel our tour guide for the Niagara Falls day the tour guide handed us maple cream cookies.

 Our first stop was the floral clock. We hopped off and quickly took snaps. Followed by maple syrup tasting at a tourist pit stop. Omg! Golden, amber, and dark maple syrup are not the same. They actually have depth in taste. The chocolate and fudge tasting were delicious too. However, our time here was short, so, we stopped tasting and proceeded to the toilet and look at souvenirs.

Skylon Tower sure has the best view of the falls. The Hornblower City cruise was a good starter for the in-person experience of the fall up close. We saw people doing the tunnel walk. However, that’s with another tour company. People were walking down some stairs by the cliffs near the falls. Sis didn’t feel like crossing over a bridge.

The day trip to Niagara Falls is what dreams are made of. It was gigantic in size. Multiple waterfalls. Plenty of activities around it.

Sis didn’t want to play mini golf or pose any more in front of the falls. She only wanted to post stuff on her Facebook. Ugh.

Once we got back to Toronto we hopped on a tram to find an angel above the exhibition gate. Then tools tram to three Dollarama. Farm Boy grocery store isn’t bad. We purchased breakfast food there. For dinner, we had pub food at Pone Mahone.

 

!=== 18th October 2023 🚂

We are about to board the cross-country scenic train!!!

We checked in our luggage at the VIA Rail counter.

Then headed to the business lounge to have hot chocolate. At 8am Meranda checked us in. Colleagues: Michael, and Josh. Dining reservation is organised with Kelly who handed us a card for lunch and dinner. At each breakfast session, we will get another dining card. We are in dining cart A.

Sleeping in Carriage 110. 10L.

Bunk beds.

The dome carriage is nice for a train built in 1950. Not many modern electrical power outlets for everyday users. Those who have booked an AUD$ 6,000 room will get access to a direct power let. Everyone else who booked a bunker will have to charge their device in a washroom. The dining carriage is by far the best-looking carriage of them all. The dome windows are streaky. Adds a level of grey to your images. Regardless of which class you view it through.

When I was able to find a non-streaky window a Latino staff wanted the room to himself so that he could charge his device. He said the room was occupied and that I couldn’t sit there. La Lame. It was not booked for anyone. La Liar!

Anyhow I got my non-streaky images and videos with sunlight beaming through, so there! Ha!

The first part of the trip is done. Just need the Rockies and I can stop filming totally. We have rural areas in Australia too. It ain’t new to anyone.

The dining crew was the sweetest. Kelly, Josh, Bernadette. Melissa our activity officer was super helpful.

 

!=== 19th October 2023 🚂

Eat eat eat sleep
Do puzzle
Sample beer
Not much to the day.

I mean you can talk to people but they have their clicks (closed groups). Besides they have preferred topics of choice and if you don’t match theirs you aren’t of interest to them. Simple as that. I’m not sensitive by that act as Sis is. I’m more like let know if you need me and I might help you but it is not given. Ha. Relaxing is my goal and looking at trees and not talking to people is the way to go.


!=== 20th October 2023 🚂

Sis hates dome talk. I enjoy dome talk. The point of this journey is to learn about the area as quick and briefly as you can without stopping by overnight. Meg did a great job. As Melissa on the first day. It can be hard to get a seat in the dome cars. Highly competitive.

We tried a game of bingo. They’re styles to aim for and not just a straight line. First, it was a letter X, second it was a stamp (I won and my sister says I didn’t but Meg the host goes I qualify as you only need a square of four in a corner - Ha). Some people don’t understand what parameters mean. Other patrons didn’t either. Uh. The postage stamp is a very small square. Where have you been people! Another lady also played bingo in that case. The last pattern was a picture frame recommended by an elderly gentleman. Karen won it on her third board.

Sis says she does care for prizes. It is about that, in the world of law knowing what your parameters are and operating within them successfully. Besides law and games have rules. In the end, I’m a winner out of 3 games. So take that! A few more digits and I could be won in all 3 games. Hee Hee. Close but no cigar. 

The canapés were great. All are served on brown bread. Salmon pate. Beef pate. Zucchini paste. There were some vegetarian options too. The second sitting was late again. Instead of going up and down and taking a peak. We decided to sit and eat canapés until the staff came to activity 2 carriage and yelled out our dinner sitting.

 

!=== 21st October 2023 🚂

I waited for the sun to rise over the trees in the dome car since 5:45am. I saw nothing as it was cloudy. Dang it!

We did stop at Jasper for an hour. Sis and a few others got off the train earlier than me. I dozed off in the dome car you see.

When I heard the announcement over the PA it stated you needed a boarding pass before you can come back on the train. I quickly got dressed and went in search of my sister. I told her to message me before you do such things. Otherwise, you can’t get back on the train. I had access to our electronic copies and paper version of the boarding pass.

 

Sis and I ran around taking photographs and rummaging through open gift stores. Most of the stores were closed. Jasper is a mountain base town. Poor design of a mascot. Plenty of snow-capped mountain views and wooden cabins here. They even have a dark sky festival. Umm. 

On board the train they have brunch offerings. The few who boarded a day ago lost track of time and missed out on brekkie and brunch. Canapés and mimosas as a farewell in activity room number 2. Sis and I stayed here doing puzzles and taking photographs of the Rockies and Frazer River. Which was blue-green from the limestones nearby.

I attended one more dome car talk about the Rockies, Fraser River, and Thompson River.

By the time it is time for dinner. Sis and I failed to complete the train rail puzzle.


!=== 22nd October 2023 🚂

We had our last meal, our last breakfast on The Canadian. Sis and I were seated with French besties. Who is travelling throughout Canada together? One of them managed to tag along with her younger brother on a trip. They only planned as far as this train ride and will wing it for the rest of the trip. Sweet.

We took photographs with Carrie and William our roommates before grabbing our bags to alight the train. The Pacific Center train station was packed with people. Easy to navigate. We will be returning here several times throughout our trip on the west side.

After dropping the bags off at our hotel. We went to Waterfront and Gastown. The steam clock was the best thing there, but no, the Ukraine pierogi restaurant was the highlight of the day. I drank a warm Uzvar (apple and pear mocktail). Tastes like apple crumble. I loved my stuffed mushroom cabbage roll.

Gastown has lots of dog poo, homeless people, drugged and drunk people hanging about. Also, no easy public accessible toilet for families or the disabled. The train station here has no toilet as well. I walked all the way to the Pan Pacific centre to find a working toilet. Sis and I went around to every Dollarama in Downtown near Granville St.

For dinner, we went Delivous Pho. Walked around Yaletown. Then caught bus 6 back YMCA Hotel.

 

!=== 23rd October 2023

Vancouver Public Library - central branch

They have Zoom text and Jaws on adjustable tables from the second floor to the sixth floor. One ClearView magnifying machine and one manual magnifying lamp. The tables are not obvious and that you’d need to seek staff assistance. The children's books were on the basement floor. Plenty of fiction in LOTE. The rooftop garden was awesome. I felt like I was in Rome. The balcony design was curvaceous and tall. Beautiful.

Granville Island. Lots of eat at The Market. Lots of see. Artistic creations and craft beers to be had. Curated gardens. Riverwalk trails. They had a warehouse dedicated to children. We caught a bus to Park Royal Mall. Checked out Simons. Nothing suitable for bro. We had dinner at The Keg. Nice restaurant. Great for outer suburban folks to come and meet up. Paid parking though.

 

!=== 24th October 2023 🛳️

Victoria. Rain Downtown. Nobody sold us daily passes or smart cards Umo. I only managed to buy a sheet of 10 tickets. Each bus transfer costs you another paper ticket.

Tacos for dinner.

Mini golf.

hang out in Dollarama to avoid the rain.

 

!=== 25th October 2023

 Victoria. Whale watching tour with Orca Spirit Adventures company on zodiac ship. Closer to the waters kind of boat. I got sprayed on by the ocean water. So salty. We saw 3 whale tails, 1 teenager whale fin, 1 bald eagle, several seals and blackbirds. Plus several boat houses. Watch a seaplane land in the bay.

The visitor sold us the Umo smart card. Yay! Walked along the bay to Parliament House and went in for a free tour. Sis eyed the gift store. The stained glass windows were the highlights of the space.

We had high tea at the Fairmount Empress. The rooms were beautiful.

We caught bus no. 2 to Breakwater Walk and watched the sunset. We came back to take pictures of the lit-up Parliament House before going home.

 

!=== 26th October 2023

Victoria. Butchart Gardens. Pretty. At the coffee shop, we bumped into Kerry and her friends. They were still in Victoria. They have come to the garden early. Ah. Sis likes to wake up late. Sis was dissatisfied that the garden lacked originality. Using foreign plants. Then she fell in love with the rose carousel and fountain. The sun's shine warmed us up. The gift shop had some nice things.

Carousel fun. Sis was peeved she did not take enouch selfies (pics).

There isn’t much for interaction. Many people come here for high tea and concert by the lawn. We got on the bus and tried to make it to the castle in time but alas it closed at 5pm.

Near Bastion Square were some unique shops. Munro bookstore and Murichie tea shop. We got there before it closed. Sadly, Sis doesn’t understand shops don’t open until 9pm just because you want them to. These shops only operate during daylight. I told her you gotta sleep in less and be out there at 9am to get to all these places. They open at 9am and close at 5pm.

We are at Earls near Bastion Square as Sis hates budget food. They are beneath her. Ugh. My wallet is hurting.

 

!=== 27th October 2023 🏔️

 Whistler.

The coach arrived late. The view was beautiful from the coach as we approached Squamish. You can see the snow caps. The footpath to our hotel was not direct. Not far. But when you are pushing a heavy suitcase up a hill it is challenging. 

I managed to find an elevator that would take you to the next level of the street. It took a bit of digging and I got there. Our room had a fireplace, a small balcony, and a bathtub (which Sis never used, too busy watching Twitch streams).

We had dinner at Mexican Corner. She said the tacos were too soft. Oh wells.

We checked out a few gift stores but they were closing soon. There was a grocery store open. Sis purchased some thick socks with a PAC Man's design.

 

!=== 28th October 2023 🏔️

 

Zip-line time! With Zeek and Emily. While hanging off the cable the view of the mountain and the creek was amazing. These trees holding us up were strong. We saw one squirrel with a white line down it had grey fur. We saw some bear claws against trees. The zip-line zig-zag between Whistler Mountain and Blackcomb Mountain.

We had lunch at D-inn Gate. The meal was charged back to the hotel who gave us $90 credit to use over the time of our stay for breakfast. All because The Raven room was being renovated for winter. Service was slow.

Ka-Ze doesn’t do email booking and the Westin concierge doesn’t take booking. Ka-ze doesn’t open until 5:30pm. We were advised to do a walk-in. The visitor centre advised us to take a taxi to the Squamish Lilwat Cultural Centre or walk. Sis has a bad knee. We were sold a sheet of 10 paper tickets for bus use.

We walked over to the Olympic Plaza in the north village and took a stroll through the Audain Art Gallery.

 

!=== 29th October 2023 🏔️

Trying 10am brekkie. Took forever. There was a free shuttle bus between the mountains. Which the staff at the visitor Center failed to mention. It could have saved us money.

The Squamish Lilwat cultural centre has locals as staff. Totem and canoe were a highlight. Artwork by artists was mentioned. I learned Bill Reid did most of the graphic and sculpture artwork we see around Vancouver.

  

!=== 30th October 2023 🏔️

Time to leave the mountain for the city.

We ate food we brought from the supermarket the night before for our breakfast in our room. Sis wanted to buy one more icon patch. We are running low on Canadian cash. I said no. I need to reserve my energy for the coach ride. Sis got upset.

I just sat by the fireplace and rested my head on the ottoman. Such luxury is wasted on mutters. This room has so many luxurious options.

The coach Skylynx had already arrived at the Visitor Centre. Luckily, we did not dine at D Inn Gate, otherwise, we would have been late. The views from the coach on the way back to Vancouver were gorgeous. The Sea to the Sky ride would have come by this highway.

Richmond

T&T supermarket sold the cheapest bubble tea drink and no cream. Aberdeen Centre was like Paramount Centre. Not huge at all. Landsdowne Centre has the budget stores. Sis had Japadog via their drive-through van. She felt sick later on. CF Richmond Centre has the posh stores. Bus 403 and 410 run on 3rd Street.

We had fun rummaging through the malls.

 

!== 31st October 2023

 

VanDusen botanical garden

Beautiful

Lovely cafe

Good salad

 

Queen Elizabeth Park

Hilly but a sweet view of the city and the mountain.

The Bloedel conservatory had McGraw birds and a pheasant.

 

Bear Creek

Not well labelled.

We managed to find the train and mini golf place. It doesn’t open until 6:30pm.

Sis failed to go to the washroom when we were at the mall. This park only has portable toilet stands littered across the park.

We saw squirrels.

 

Jollibee had great fried chicken and the mash was good. A patron dressed as the mascot. Lol.

 

!== 1st November 2023

 

Stanley Park is HUGE!

Geese

Totem poles. Quite the sight. Each one tells a different story.

Vancouver aquarium. Cafe had staff that did not recall what was on their menu and I had to take a photograph of the menu on the board.

Sea otters

Sea lions

 

They have to close the aquarium early today due to a private event. Everyone was sad about it. You can hear the children whine at their parents that is so unfair I was not done looking at the animals.

 

Sis sussed out Walmart and the Canadian Superstore. We did not purchase anything in the Walmart store. However, we went ham in the Canadian Superstore. Chipotle - Mexican grill for dinner. Pretty delicious.

 

 

!== 2nd November 2023

 

One last time at Granville Island.

CF Richmond Centre

Hang out in the hotel lobby.

 

We had hot food at the Thai Hang stall.

 

Chocolate lava cake at The Lift (restaurant).

 

Our flight was delayed.

We did get to board the plane while they sorted out baggage issues.

 

 

I watched the movie 64, a French film of misfits led by a priest off to build a platform in the lake in Quebec, and forgot to watch Flash's latest movie.

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