We have made a big boo boo. We can't fit all my stuff into my suitcase. Having difficultly trying to squeeze everything! What to do! Sigh!!!
Option one is just to pack as much as is we can into the bags we have.
Or option two is to leave the goodies behind.
Or option three get another suitcase and just be prepared to pay for overweight luggage.
I think we will be going with option three. Man oh man. It is a little bit stressful right now, as we have to pick and choose what are the essential items to bring back home. I am not planning to leave my new clothes behind. I am even contemplating with the idea of chucking out my old pair of shoes and replacing it with a new pair.
It's nearly 9pm and still packing. Not too sure what the end result will be. But hopefully we will be ok. Tomorrow is an early start. Leaving at 6am.
Later.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Niagara Falls....
Today was not exactly the best day to go to Niagara Falls. It is 3 hours drive from Scarborough and I slept most of the way there. When we arrived it felt really really cold. Nearly 5 degrees, with the drizzling rain and wind did not help either.
Despite the bad and gloomy weather, the view was still spectacular. The falls are so amazing to look at. Watching mother nature at its best. We were able to the tunnel where we could get up close to the fall. And see it spraying and the water coming down. It was so interesting seeing how strong the current was and the amount of water that falls. Each time that I see it, even if nothing has changed, I still enjoy seeing the falls.
There is not much to comment or write about tonight. Maybe photos to post, but for this post I will have to give the photos a miss till I get home. Because tonight I will be preparing to pack.
Only one more day in Canada and it is time to head home. Tomorrow is packing day, where I have to look at all the items I have bought some how squeeze them all in. I haven't gone overboard. I just have very little space for the items I need to pack.
It is slowly hitting me that I will have to say goodbye to my Grandparents and my dad's family. I think sometime in the future I will be planning a return trip to visit them. Preferably in the summer this time. It has been such an enjoyable trip, not because of the shopping. Just this time we have been able to interact a bit more, chat a bit more and get to know each other too. I mean yes we did come every four years and one would assume we would know each other. But at the time when we were younger, we didn't take notice of what we did and who we met. Being older now we see things differently and take more notice of our surroundings.
So this is where I end my blog for this trip. Not to say it is the end of my blog. I do have a tendency to not blog as much or at all when I am home. We will see....
Despite the bad and gloomy weather, the view was still spectacular. The falls are so amazing to look at. Watching mother nature at its best. We were able to the tunnel where we could get up close to the fall. And see it spraying and the water coming down. It was so interesting seeing how strong the current was and the amount of water that falls. Each time that I see it, even if nothing has changed, I still enjoy seeing the falls.
There is not much to comment or write about tonight. Maybe photos to post, but for this post I will have to give the photos a miss till I get home. Because tonight I will be preparing to pack.
Only one more day in Canada and it is time to head home. Tomorrow is packing day, where I have to look at all the items I have bought some how squeeze them all in. I haven't gone overboard. I just have very little space for the items I need to pack.
It is slowly hitting me that I will have to say goodbye to my Grandparents and my dad's family. I think sometime in the future I will be planning a return trip to visit them. Preferably in the summer this time. It has been such an enjoyable trip, not because of the shopping. Just this time we have been able to interact a bit more, chat a bit more and get to know each other too. I mean yes we did come every four years and one would assume we would know each other. But at the time when we were younger, we didn't take notice of what we did and who we met. Being older now we see things differently and take more notice of our surroundings.
So this is where I end my blog for this trip. Not to say it is the end of my blog. I do have a tendency to not blog as much or at all when I am home. We will see....
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
City of Toronto..
It's already Tuesday. Only two more days left in Canada and we go home on Friday morning. A bit of sadness is starting to show, as we will be leaving our Grandparents and won't be seeing them for a few more years.
Today's plan was to go shopping in Toronto Eaton Centre. The above photo is what it looks like inside. It's pretty big and lots and lots of shops. My aim for the rest of the trip was to try and find some nice boots. Just plain black boots. I went into one shop and tried on this pair. They were ok, but I was seriously doubting if they were worth $150. The sales lady was quite funny. When I was wearing them she told me the boots were made in Canada. I was so stunned, because these days what isn't made in China. I checked inside the boot to see if it was made in Canada. To my disappointment it said "Made in China", so I asked her what part is from Canada. She said the leather. Pfft! I really find that hard to believe. When I told her the shoe says made in China, she gave me this big story of how shoes were made in Montreal and now recession and this and that. It really had now put me off purchasing the shoes.
There was an Esprit store too, which had sales everywhere. I met a salesman, who happened to be from Melbourne. He picked up my accent straight away. Went I went to the cashiere, one of the sales lady told me I had made him home sick. What were the chances hey, bumping into an ozzie in a Esprit store!
Later on we watched a baseball match. I have never watched on live, and the seats we had were not close to the players either. The teams we were watching were the Blue Jays vs Texas Rangers. Baseball is almost like cricket. Ok from my point of view they seem similar. As they can have games going for up to 5 days!! The game was pretty intense as it each time were on a tight score.
During the game, an incident happened. One of the referees was smacked on the head by a bat by accident. The huge display screen went to a default screen. And everyone was so quiet watching to check if the guy was ok. He was down for nearly 10 minutes before they took him off the field. It was pretty scary. As no one knew what was going on. It happened so fast. I didn't see what happened myself. I just saw the guy lying on the ground face down. I just overheard other people's conversations of what had happened.
I really enjoyed this baseball match. The atmosphere was entirely different compared to the basket ball game we saw last week. In this velodrome, you could watch the game from your hotel room or watch it dining at a restaurant. As it was connected to the building. It looked pretty cool from afar seeing people dinning and watching the game.
It is now after midnight. And I have caught up with my holiday adventures. I am going to bed now. nyt.
Today's plan was to go shopping in Toronto Eaton Centre. The above photo is what it looks like inside. It's pretty big and lots and lots of shops. My aim for the rest of the trip was to try and find some nice boots. Just plain black boots. I went into one shop and tried on this pair. They were ok, but I was seriously doubting if they were worth $150. The sales lady was quite funny. When I was wearing them she told me the boots were made in Canada. I was so stunned, because these days what isn't made in China. I checked inside the boot to see if it was made in Canada. To my disappointment it said "Made in China", so I asked her what part is from Canada. She said the leather. Pfft! I really find that hard to believe. When I told her the shoe says made in China, she gave me this big story of how shoes were made in Montreal and now recession and this and that. It really had now put me off purchasing the shoes.
There was an Esprit store too, which had sales everywhere. I met a salesman, who happened to be from Melbourne. He picked up my accent straight away. Went I went to the cashiere, one of the sales lady told me I had made him home sick. What were the chances hey, bumping into an ozzie in a Esprit store!
Later on we watched a baseball match. I have never watched on live, and the seats we had were not close to the players either. The teams we were watching were the Blue Jays vs Texas Rangers. Baseball is almost like cricket. Ok from my point of view they seem similar. As they can have games going for up to 5 days!! The game was pretty intense as it each time were on a tight score.
During the game, an incident happened. One of the referees was smacked on the head by a bat by accident. The huge display screen went to a default screen. And everyone was so quiet watching to check if the guy was ok. He was down for nearly 10 minutes before they took him off the field. It was pretty scary. As no one knew what was going on. It happened so fast. I didn't see what happened myself. I just saw the guy lying on the ground face down. I just overheard other people's conversations of what had happened.
I really enjoyed this baseball match. The atmosphere was entirely different compared to the basket ball game we saw last week. In this velodrome, you could watch the game from your hotel room or watch it dining at a restaurant. As it was connected to the building. It looked pretty cool from afar seeing people dinning and watching the game.
It is now after midnight. And I have caught up with my holiday adventures. I am going to bed now. nyt.
Rain rain go away....
Monday's weather has been slightly unwelcoming. Rain, rain plus the wind was not very nice. It was so cold that you really didn't want to step outside unless you had too.
I think either due to the weather, food or lack of sleep I am developing what I call an internal pimple. You know the ones that grow inward and don't grow out and you can't kill it. Well there is on stuck on my head. And it seems to be getting bigger and bigger. My brother calls it a tumor. And it sure looks like one. Actually it is pretty embarrassing. As my family members keep asking what is that lump on my face. I really can't hide it at all. And I want it to disappear before I go back home. But I have this sad feeling it is going to stay on my face for a while.
I went to watch my niece ice skate. It was so funny at this ice rink. There was the little ones just learning to skate so the seating area for watching was empty at the time. When it came to the next lot of kids, it was like a huge mothers meeting. Most of the mothers were either Korean or they spoke Cantonese. There was so many mothers, it was just crazy!! But sitting there for almost an hr and a half. I started to feel really really cold. I mean I looked like a huge snowball wearing 3 jackets and I could slowly feel the cold seeping into my jacket. Afterwords when my niece had finished skating she asked me what is that lump on my face. I tried to change the topic by saying it was a bruise. But she wanted to have a closer look to see. Man I hope this thing dies off my face soon. It looks bad.
I think either due to the weather, food or lack of sleep I am developing what I call an internal pimple. You know the ones that grow inward and don't grow out and you can't kill it. Well there is on stuck on my head. And it seems to be getting bigger and bigger. My brother calls it a tumor. And it sure looks like one. Actually it is pretty embarrassing. As my family members keep asking what is that lump on my face. I really can't hide it at all. And I want it to disappear before I go back home. But I have this sad feeling it is going to stay on my face for a while.
I went to watch my niece ice skate. It was so funny at this ice rink. There was the little ones just learning to skate so the seating area for watching was empty at the time. When it came to the next lot of kids, it was like a huge mothers meeting. Most of the mothers were either Korean or they spoke Cantonese. There was so many mothers, it was just crazy!! But sitting there for almost an hr and a half. I started to feel really really cold. I mean I looked like a huge snowball wearing 3 jackets and I could slowly feel the cold seeping into my jacket. Afterwords when my niece had finished skating she asked me what is that lump on my face. I tried to change the topic by saying it was a bruise. But she wanted to have a closer look to see. Man I hope this thing dies off my face soon. It looks bad.
Peaceful Sunday
It was just an ordinary day for Sunday. We hadn't made any plans at all. I went to church with Dad. It was the same church. Followed by the usual Yum Cha across the road. This place, gets packed so quickly. Without a reservation you have no hope of getting in!
Afterwords we went to this large asian grocery store called T&T supermarket. I am not too sure what it means, but it was massive inside. And the variety of food you can purchase is more than what I could purchase at home. The best part about it was that everything was fresh. The breads, meat and fish. You could by almost everything and anything at this store. Some things I had my doubts about, like frozen turtle. I like turtles so seeing one in a frozen packet was a little bit sad. The greens were looking really nice too. All green and fresh. I have noticed one thing in Canada, which takes after America. This is that everything is bought in bulk. For some strange reason there is no such thing as a small portion. Everything is like in a huge size, as if your going to hibernate and never return to the outside world again.
To end my evening was a game of marjong. This time I think I had lost my winning streak. And adopted the losing side. Not only did I not win, but in most cases I gave a tile to the person who was about to win. I only won twice, but it wasn't enough as my tokens in my box slowly by slowly were become less and less. I lost $1.80. My lesson has been learned!! Not to play on a losing streak.
Afterwords we went to this large asian grocery store called T&T supermarket. I am not too sure what it means, but it was massive inside. And the variety of food you can purchase is more than what I could purchase at home. The best part about it was that everything was fresh. The breads, meat and fish. You could by almost everything and anything at this store. Some things I had my doubts about, like frozen turtle. I like turtles so seeing one in a frozen packet was a little bit sad. The greens were looking really nice too. All green and fresh. I have noticed one thing in Canada, which takes after America. This is that everything is bought in bulk. For some strange reason there is no such thing as a small portion. Everything is like in a huge size, as if your going to hibernate and never return to the outside world again.
To end my evening was a game of marjong. This time I think I had lost my winning streak. And adopted the losing side. Not only did I not win, but in most cases I gave a tile to the person who was about to win. I only won twice, but it wasn't enough as my tokens in my box slowly by slowly were become less and less. I lost $1.80. My lesson has been learned!! Not to play on a losing streak.
Say Tai Chiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii....(or Say Cheese!)
Saturday is our family photo shoot day. This time we were going to do it at home this time. Not in a studio like the last lot of family photos. It's funny seeing how much we have changed in each of the group family shots. The last family photo was taking when I was maybe 7 or 8 yrs old. And now I am 22. There will be a huge gap between these photos.
This morning was going to be test of patience for all family members, especially the little ones. For Grandma and Grandpa, they will be smiling for about 1 hr. As we all alternative between each family group. I think by the end of each photo shoot your smile progressively becomes either more stiff or turns into a frown. As you can only genuinely smile for so long that your cheeks start to hurt. And you also hope each time the camera lights flash that your eyes are open and you haven't blinked. Instead of saying Cheese...we said Tai Chiii!! Which I think made us all smile a little oddly!!
To finish off the evening we headed to a fancy restaurant. The meals were nice and I got to try this asian kebab/wrap. I am not too sure what it is. It just was really tasty. We didn't take any photos as the queue just to get in was about a 15 minute wait and when the food came out we just gobbled it up!
This morning was going to be test of patience for all family members, especially the little ones. For Grandma and Grandpa, they will be smiling for about 1 hr. As we all alternative between each family group. I think by the end of each photo shoot your smile progressively becomes either more stiff or turns into a frown. As you can only genuinely smile for so long that your cheeks start to hurt. And you also hope each time the camera lights flash that your eyes are open and you haven't blinked. Instead of saying Cheese...we said Tai Chiii!! Which I think made us all smile a little oddly!!
To finish off the evening we headed to a fancy restaurant. The meals were nice and I got to try this asian kebab/wrap. I am not too sure what it is. It just was really tasty. We didn't take any photos as the queue just to get in was about a 15 minute wait and when the food came out we just gobbled it up!
Update on Friday
Oops....I have neglected my blog, so I will have to quickly summarise each of the events which have been happening through out my holiday so far.
Friday was going to be a busy day as we were preparing for the banquet dinner to celebrate Grandad's I think 90th birthday. Quite a mile stone I reckon. It was to be a big celebration full of fine dinning and lots of family photos.
In the morning, we had to grab a few items for the evening. My aunty decided to go to Yorkdale mall, since she has never been before and I was the tag along. Not that I minded when it comes to shopping. Yorkdale mall was huge. Very spacious, lots of shops, but very xpensive. It wasn't like Bayview mall less classy, but the there weren't many sales at all :( . I had put two pairs of shoes on hold at a particular shoe store. I went to scope them out thinking I could be going home with two brand new pairs of shoes. To my disappointment, seeing them a second time round I decided not to purchase them. The boots were not leather and I didn't want to splurge $160 on shoes that are not made properly. The little blue shoes were in bad condition and didn't seem worth the $150 anymore. Sigh.... But.....I did find some nice clothes at this store called H&M their originally from the UK. They have some nice clothes in there and heaps cheap deals. Everything I bought from there was less than $25! By the time we finished shopping and splurging on ourselves, we were running out of time to buy the decorations for Granpa's dinner.
The hours past quickly and it was time to get ready for dinner. After all my shopping I had many outfits I could choose from!! The dinner was lovely, the food was so nice. We had in total 10 dishes per person. Soup, abalone, duck and many more dishes!! And yes we had heaps and heaps of family photos. Each family member with their photos with Grandma and Grandpa. When we were taking our photos, it made me feel a little bit sad, because is the last family dinner we will be having together till our next visit to Canada.
Friday was going to be a busy day as we were preparing for the banquet dinner to celebrate Grandad's I think 90th birthday. Quite a mile stone I reckon. It was to be a big celebration full of fine dinning and lots of family photos.
In the morning, we had to grab a few items for the evening. My aunty decided to go to Yorkdale mall, since she has never been before and I was the tag along. Not that I minded when it comes to shopping. Yorkdale mall was huge. Very spacious, lots of shops, but very xpensive. It wasn't like Bayview mall less classy, but the there weren't many sales at all :( . I had put two pairs of shoes on hold at a particular shoe store. I went to scope them out thinking I could be going home with two brand new pairs of shoes. To my disappointment, seeing them a second time round I decided not to purchase them. The boots were not leather and I didn't want to splurge $160 on shoes that are not made properly. The little blue shoes were in bad condition and didn't seem worth the $150 anymore. Sigh.... But.....I did find some nice clothes at this store called H&M their originally from the UK. They have some nice clothes in there and heaps cheap deals. Everything I bought from there was less than $25! By the time we finished shopping and splurging on ourselves, we were running out of time to buy the decorations for Granpa's dinner.
The hours past quickly and it was time to get ready for dinner. After all my shopping I had many outfits I could choose from!! The dinner was lovely, the food was so nice. We had in total 10 dishes per person. Soup, abalone, duck and many more dishes!! And yes we had heaps and heaps of family photos. Each family member with their photos with Grandma and Grandpa. When we were taking our photos, it made me feel a little bit sad, because is the last family dinner we will be having together till our next visit to Canada.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Morning News!!
It is almost 10am Friday (Canada time).....who would of thought shopping can become a dangerous activity. Yesterday, after purchasing our snow gear, we had planned to go to Yorkdale Mall. Unfortunately, our cousin who was driving us, said there wouldn't be enough time and we went to Bayview mall instead. Last night when we were eating dinner, we were watching the news and they were talking about Yorkdale Mall. It turns out there was a shooting. How crazy ey. What were the chances that one decision of choosing to not go there was for a good reason with out us knowing. I kept thinking how lucky were to change our mind. As we could of been the victims or witnesses of the shooting. It just seems as though so much has been happening over the week. That it really hits me that no where is safe these days. This is the first time I have heard a shooting in the local malls. Now I am not too sure if I still want to go Yorkdale mall, but I did out a pair of shoes on hold. There is no rush, there's always next week. But maybe I will just stay away from the shops for a little while. The wallet needs a rest.
Last night, after dinner I was planning to do some blogging when I was asked to play Mahjong. This time the game was slightly different. I've never played a proper game before. All the games I had played were always with supervision or with someone guiding me. This time I was playing against my Dad, Grandad and Aunty. Grandad takes this game pretty seriously, so there were no jokes nor easy ways to win. I had to play for myself and teach myself how to be a bit more strategic. The game is so addictive. After one round you want to keep playing. I know I sure did. I didn't take notice of the tokens we had to hand out after each round. I just wanted to keep winning. When the dice came to me I think this was the third or fourth time round. I started to win almost 4 consecutive times in a row. Winning streak!! I couldn't believe my eyes that I was picking up the game really quick. But at the last round I lost and had to forfet 80c. If I hadn't won I would of suffered. But yeah it was fun. Now I am ready for another game!
At the moment there is nothing planned for the day. But tonight we are going to have a fancy dinner with all the relos. And maybe tomorrow there will be a photoshoot. It will be nice, because the last lot of the family photoshoot was when I was 10 years old. So I think our family photos definately need updating!!
Cheerio!
Last night, after dinner I was planning to do some blogging when I was asked to play Mahjong. This time the game was slightly different. I've never played a proper game before. All the games I had played were always with supervision or with someone guiding me. This time I was playing against my Dad, Grandad and Aunty. Grandad takes this game pretty seriously, so there were no jokes nor easy ways to win. I had to play for myself and teach myself how to be a bit more strategic. The game is so addictive. After one round you want to keep playing. I know I sure did. I didn't take notice of the tokens we had to hand out after each round. I just wanted to keep winning. When the dice came to me I think this was the third or fourth time round. I started to win almost 4 consecutive times in a row. Winning streak!! I couldn't believe my eyes that I was picking up the game really quick. But at the last round I lost and had to forfet 80c. If I hadn't won I would of suffered. But yeah it was fun. Now I am ready for another game!
At the moment there is nothing planned for the day. But tonight we are going to have a fancy dinner with all the relos. And maybe tomorrow there will be a photoshoot. It will be nice, because the last lot of the family photoshoot was when I was 10 years old. So I think our family photos definately need updating!!
Cheerio!
Snow gear on special!!
Evening, yet another day of shopping. I think my blog is starting to sound a little bit on the repetitive side. We went cruising around the streets looking for cheap snow gear!! We found so much stuff and at a pretty good price.... I was able to purchase some wrist guards, gloves and new pants!! Plus the bonus of the sales rep, giving us a bit of a discount on already reduced good! Yay!! I can't wait to use my new gear in August!!
We went to another shopping mall, called Bayview Plaza. It wasn't anything like the other shopping malls I have been too. As I looked around I noticed that people were very well dressed and even the boutiques were pretty pricey. Not to mention the snobbishness from some of the sales reps as I entered the stored. I know I wasn't exactly dressed with $$ signs on me. But I would of thought a decent hello would of been nice.
It's funny, in some of the stores it seems as though as you pay so much for the items they are selling, that you are almost paying for the service you too. In one shoe store they were selling their own cookies and water bottles!! Crazy isn't it. Also the staff were really well dressed. The men were wearing suits. Not to meantion the customers were pretty dressed up themselves. I felt so out of place. But not to worry, in the end it all comes down to one thing. Money! Once they see the plastic, all the sales reps will be inlove with you!
I have also noticed everyone likes to eat big portions of food. Especially fast food. Low price, but large portions. Yesterday when we were at the outlet I ordered a normal KFC wrap thinking that it would be normal size. To my surprise it was almost as long as 30cm!! And the plates were huge!! What I thought was a large size, is like only a medium or a small size. Meals here come as extra, extra large!! I couldn't believe my eyes!!
We went to another shopping mall, called Bayview Plaza. It wasn't anything like the other shopping malls I have been too. As I looked around I noticed that people were very well dressed and even the boutiques were pretty pricey. Not to mention the snobbishness from some of the sales reps as I entered the stored. I know I wasn't exactly dressed with $$ signs on me. But I would of thought a decent hello would of been nice.
It's funny, in some of the stores it seems as though as you pay so much for the items they are selling, that you are almost paying for the service you too. In one shoe store they were selling their own cookies and water bottles!! Crazy isn't it. Also the staff were really well dressed. The men were wearing suits. Not to meantion the customers were pretty dressed up themselves. I felt so out of place. But not to worry, in the end it all comes down to one thing. Money! Once they see the plastic, all the sales reps will be inlove with you!
I have also noticed everyone likes to eat big portions of food. Especially fast food. Low price, but large portions. Yesterday when we were at the outlet I ordered a normal KFC wrap thinking that it would be normal size. To my surprise it was almost as long as 30cm!! And the plates were huge!! What I thought was a large size, is like only a medium or a small size. Meals here come as extra, extra large!! I couldn't believe my eyes!!
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Bargain hunter round 2!!
Today I went shopping yet again. I can already foresee what activities I will be getting up to during these two weeks. Which also means that my photos will become a near minimum, as I invest some time and money into shopping!!
This time my cousin took my brother, uncle and I to a clothing outlet. Similar to DFO in Homebush. When we arrived at the shopping complex and the first shop you see is called "Outdoor World". Inside is like living the outdoors. So much effort was put in with all the decorations. You should see the weblink for photos. There are ornaments hanging from the ceiling with stuffed animals, fishes swimming in the tank and many other crazy things. As you exit out of the shop you enter the other outlets inside the mall. There are so many good deals here!! And yes I went on another shopping spree. This time I bought two pairs of shoes. I went to the Adidas shop and found these funky pair of shoes. They were reduced to $50 and I had a further reduction and only paid $31.50! Bargain, bargain, I kept on saying in my head!! I went to this other store Jacob, where I found this really nice Jacket for $20, but as I tried it on the button came off. I didn't want to lose this item. So I placed the lose button in my pocket and asked her to reduce the price. So it was reduced to $17.99, plus tax $20.33. I bought a few more items and I felt proud of my bargain hunting. It sounds like recession has done my wallet a favour!! All these cheap deals makes it seem cheaper to shop here than HK. There were crazy $1 in some shops.
I was there for about 2.5 hours and by the end of it I was dead. Normally I am a bit more fitter than this, but for some strange reason shopping here takes it out of me. I am now yawning as I am typing this!!
I have this theory, that shopping often makes you tired not just from walking around, but carrying the shopping around. It was like another form of weight lifting. But even better about 3 - 4 on each arm. I think I have started my new form of daily exercise.
Seeing these good deals now makes me sigh and wonder how the heck am I going to fit my shopping back into my suitcase. Originally I thought I wasn't going to shop much. As a few years ago when I went to Canada, before recession, shopping here was so expensive. I couldn't buy anything. Now some of the clothes here are cheaper than home. Like I have bought a pair of jeans for $22.59 CA = $25 AU. Man, so I got two pairs of jeans for almost $50!! There are so many good bargains here. It makes it seem as though the clothes are more expensive to buy back at home.
It is now 9.30pm. I think I will go now and have an orange.
This time my cousin took my brother, uncle and I to a clothing outlet. Similar to DFO in Homebush. When we arrived at the shopping complex and the first shop you see is called "Outdoor World". Inside is like living the outdoors. So much effort was put in with all the decorations. You should see the weblink for photos. There are ornaments hanging from the ceiling with stuffed animals, fishes swimming in the tank and many other crazy things. As you exit out of the shop you enter the other outlets inside the mall. There are so many good deals here!! And yes I went on another shopping spree. This time I bought two pairs of shoes. I went to the Adidas shop and found these funky pair of shoes. They were reduced to $50 and I had a further reduction and only paid $31.50! Bargain, bargain, I kept on saying in my head!! I went to this other store Jacob, where I found this really nice Jacket for $20, but as I tried it on the button came off. I didn't want to lose this item. So I placed the lose button in my pocket and asked her to reduce the price. So it was reduced to $17.99, plus tax $20.33. I bought a few more items and I felt proud of my bargain hunting. It sounds like recession has done my wallet a favour!! All these cheap deals makes it seem cheaper to shop here than HK. There were crazy $1 in some shops.
I was there for about 2.5 hours and by the end of it I was dead. Normally I am a bit more fitter than this, but for some strange reason shopping here takes it out of me. I am now yawning as I am typing this!!
I have this theory, that shopping often makes you tired not just from walking around, but carrying the shopping around. It was like another form of weight lifting. But even better about 3 - 4 on each arm. I think I have started my new form of daily exercise.
Seeing these good deals now makes me sigh and wonder how the heck am I going to fit my shopping back into my suitcase. Originally I thought I wasn't going to shop much. As a few years ago when I went to Canada, before recession, shopping here was so expensive. I couldn't buy anything. Now some of the clothes here are cheaper than home. Like I have bought a pair of jeans for $22.59 CA = $25 AU. Man, so I got two pairs of jeans for almost $50!! There are so many good bargains here. It makes it seem as though the clothes are more expensive to buy back at home.
It is now 9.30pm. I think I will go now and have an orange.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Bargains!
Good afternoon, my legs are tired and sore. I think the title of my blog sums up what my blog is about.
First things first. This morning, I wanted to post a letter in the letter box. At the top of the street, there was a grey box, with the Canadian post symbol. I assumed this must be a postbox.
I circled around it and even tried to pull this handle. To my mistake, this wasn't a post box at all. I must admit I probably looked like a lunatic. I kept on walking along the street thinking that maybe I would find a post office in the local stores. As I was approaching near the end of the street I saw the local postman delivering mail. When I called out to him, he accidentally thought I was the resident of the house I was in front of. I asked him if the grey boxes I saw were letter boxes. He told me I was mistaken and I have to find a red letterbox. When I asked him where the nearest one was, he took my letters from my hand and offered to post them. I hope they arrive to their destination.
I carried on walking to the local shops after my letters were posted. I walked past this drain area and down towards the bottom I saw, well I think it is a ground hog. It was big, brown and had a flat tail. No it wasn't a squirrel. I am sure of it.
As I approached the ground hog hoping to get a better photo, it kept on running and hiding in it's little hole.
It was a funny little thing. I wanted to get a photo of it, but the little thing wanted to keep well hidden away from me. I gave up in the end and carried on heading towards the shops.
I saw my first McDonalds, it was a very small one. I took a few photos of it.
I noticed as well, on the McDonalds symbol there is a maple leaf. It looks so cool.
It was interesting this McDonalds when I compare it to the ones back home. The play area is indoors. I guess that is because it gets that cold, I very doubt any child would be able to with stand 0 degrees weather!
My next exercise adventure was shopping in Scarborough Town Centre. It is a small shopping complex, and I figured that we wouldn't be spending too much time there. It was alot of fun shopping, because there were so many sales!! It was great. Bargains everywhere!! I bought pants, tops, shirt and a pair of jeans. I had bought 7 items and spent $146!! I think I did pretty well here!! I was proud of my shopping trip!! My legs are really tired. Not from walking around, but having to carry two jackets the whole complex. I think the worst thing about shopping is you need your jackets when you leave the complex. But inside they crank the heating up so much that you almost die of heat exhaustion. It was really funny when I was shopping, when looking at the different currency. It isn't too different to home, just when it comes to coins they have more than we do. At one store it was the first time I was buying something so I was curious to know how much tax. When I asked the girl how much are these with tax, after answering my question she asked "How is the weather in Britain?". I politely told her I am from Australia. I must've sounded really funny ey. Then she asked me "Are you in your fall?". I couldn't quite understand her with her accent, as she was partly french. I thought she was asking about affording, or falling?? Then it hit me, fall = autumn. DUh!! Yeah, bit slow with all the terms!!
I also saw this interesting package in Sears. Canadian Wild Moose Droppings!! Check em out!
The shopping here is particularly good, and the prices are not too bad even if you compare it to the oz $. I think some things almost work out slightly cheaper too. I think there will be a few more days coming up of shopping.
Good news....i found an sd card reader!!
First things first. This morning, I wanted to post a letter in the letter box. At the top of the street, there was a grey box, with the Canadian post symbol. I assumed this must be a postbox.
I circled around it and even tried to pull this handle. To my mistake, this wasn't a post box at all. I must admit I probably looked like a lunatic. I kept on walking along the street thinking that maybe I would find a post office in the local stores. As I was approaching near the end of the street I saw the local postman delivering mail. When I called out to him, he accidentally thought I was the resident of the house I was in front of. I asked him if the grey boxes I saw were letter boxes. He told me I was mistaken and I have to find a red letterbox. When I asked him where the nearest one was, he took my letters from my hand and offered to post them. I hope they arrive to their destination.
I carried on walking to the local shops after my letters were posted. I walked past this drain area and down towards the bottom I saw, well I think it is a ground hog. It was big, brown and had a flat tail. No it wasn't a squirrel. I am sure of it.
As I approached the ground hog hoping to get a better photo, it kept on running and hiding in it's little hole.
It was a funny little thing. I wanted to get a photo of it, but the little thing wanted to keep well hidden away from me. I gave up in the end and carried on heading towards the shops.
I saw my first McDonalds, it was a very small one. I took a few photos of it.
I noticed as well, on the McDonalds symbol there is a maple leaf. It looks so cool.
It was interesting this McDonalds when I compare it to the ones back home. The play area is indoors. I guess that is because it gets that cold, I very doubt any child would be able to with stand 0 degrees weather!
My next exercise adventure was shopping in Scarborough Town Centre. It is a small shopping complex, and I figured that we wouldn't be spending too much time there. It was alot of fun shopping, because there were so many sales!! It was great. Bargains everywhere!! I bought pants, tops, shirt and a pair of jeans. I had bought 7 items and spent $146!! I think I did pretty well here!! I was proud of my shopping trip!! My legs are really tired. Not from walking around, but having to carry two jackets the whole complex. I think the worst thing about shopping is you need your jackets when you leave the complex. But inside they crank the heating up so much that you almost die of heat exhaustion. It was really funny when I was shopping, when looking at the different currency. It isn't too different to home, just when it comes to coins they have more than we do. At one store it was the first time I was buying something so I was curious to know how much tax. When I asked the girl how much are these with tax, after answering my question she asked "How is the weather in Britain?". I politely told her I am from Australia. I must've sounded really funny ey. Then she asked me "Are you in your fall?". I couldn't quite understand her with her accent, as she was partly french. I thought she was asking about affording, or falling?? Then it hit me, fall = autumn. DUh!! Yeah, bit slow with all the terms!!
I also saw this interesting package in Sears. Canadian Wild Moose Droppings!! Check em out!
The shopping here is particularly good, and the prices are not too bad even if you compare it to the oz $. I think some things almost work out slightly cheaper too. I think there will be a few more days coming up of shopping.
Good news....i found an sd card reader!!
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Bludgy Monday!!
Easter Monday and what a relaxing Monday it is. As each day passes I am slowly adjusting to the time. This is a good thing, because it means I won't be getting so tired so quickly. I think I am starting to enjoy blogging. I know one thing which is lacking in my blog is images!!! Please be patient, they will come all in good time.
Today, I didn't have anything planned. I slept well, maybe too well. I spent half the day sleeping, which meant the rest of the day was going to be short. I went to Scarborough Town Centre. It doesn't look the same from when I was last there. It is similar to our Westfields back at home, but much smaller. Maybe more like the Centro shopping malls. I remember when I was last there, they had these interesting attractions in the shopping mall. There was a balloon that went up and down and some other floating device at the other end of the mall. Unfortunately, due to the renovations they have taken them away. It is kind of sad for me, because each time I went to this shopping centre I always sit there watching it and this time I wanted to take a photo, only to find it just a slab of concrete from the remains of the attraction.
Looking at the fashion, the clothes are similar to home. Prices are almost the same, maybe a little bit more expensive with tax and currency. I just had a quick browse through all the shops. But I think tomorrow or later during the week I will have a proper browse. It was pretty busy in the mall. Lots of people bring easter monday. I think they have better and longer opening hours compared to back home. Weekdays is from 10.30am - 9pm, which I think is good, it is almost like our late night shopping on Thursday, but this is every weekday. I didn't buy much at all. Just things I needed. I am saving up for a proper shop. I must say this is the best time to go shopping for winter clothes. So many sales!! Bargains everywhere!! As the new stock is spring wear is coming in. It seems as though that it is working in my favour.
Later on the afternoon, I thought I could take my cousin's dog for a walk. He has an Australian Sheepdog. Sounds weird right, an Australian dog in Canada. Her name is Sunny, she is a very tame dog compared to mine back home.
I thought she would be a good dog for walking. But things didn't work out they way, as I had hoped. When Sunny and I were walking, we approached the crossing. I noticed she started to pull back and I thought maybe by tugging her forward would help. Nuh-uh. As soon as I turned around in the direction of Grandmas home, she pull me all the way there. I guessed, Sunny being older and wiser may have mistaken me for stealing her and taking her away from her owner. As soon as she got into the house she completely avoided. Sad ey. I meant no harm, but dogs I guess never want to be taken away from their owner from their view. Since failing walking Sunny, there was another option. My aunt has two pugs, which I am not a real fan of, but I really wanted to go for a walk. The pugs names are Quintin and Rocky. I think their names suit them.
Before I headed out the door, I was given one condition "Make sure they don't pee on each other". I thought that was a bit absurd, but I soon found out why I was told to keep and eye out. You see when one dog pees, the other (both being males) become naturally territorial and one will pee on the other dogs pee. Now with out them both realising they will just pee on each other. Funny isn't it.
Walking the pugs was a breeze, except for the fact one of them did a poo!! They were pretty obident and I never realised how easy it was to walk two small dogs at the same time. They can run too, but I got worried their little bodies may not be able to take it. I wanted to avoid having to carry them back home. Being small dogs doesn't neccessarily mean they are light dogs. I walked down to Woodville Square. I think I called Woodvilla Plaza in my previous blog. But I got it wrong. I will pop down there tomorrow morning to just see what is there. It's really small, but the good thing about is that it is within walking distance.
It is now 10.30pm at night. Time for bed. Good Night.
Today, I didn't have anything planned. I slept well, maybe too well. I spent half the day sleeping, which meant the rest of the day was going to be short. I went to Scarborough Town Centre. It doesn't look the same from when I was last there. It is similar to our Westfields back at home, but much smaller. Maybe more like the Centro shopping malls. I remember when I was last there, they had these interesting attractions in the shopping mall. There was a balloon that went up and down and some other floating device at the other end of the mall. Unfortunately, due to the renovations they have taken them away. It is kind of sad for me, because each time I went to this shopping centre I always sit there watching it and this time I wanted to take a photo, only to find it just a slab of concrete from the remains of the attraction.
Looking at the fashion, the clothes are similar to home. Prices are almost the same, maybe a little bit more expensive with tax and currency. I just had a quick browse through all the shops. But I think tomorrow or later during the week I will have a proper browse. It was pretty busy in the mall. Lots of people bring easter monday. I think they have better and longer opening hours compared to back home. Weekdays is from 10.30am - 9pm, which I think is good, it is almost like our late night shopping on Thursday, but this is every weekday. I didn't buy much at all. Just things I needed. I am saving up for a proper shop. I must say this is the best time to go shopping for winter clothes. So many sales!! Bargains everywhere!! As the new stock is spring wear is coming in. It seems as though that it is working in my favour.
Later on the afternoon, I thought I could take my cousin's dog for a walk. He has an Australian Sheepdog. Sounds weird right, an Australian dog in Canada. Her name is Sunny, she is a very tame dog compared to mine back home.
I thought she would be a good dog for walking. But things didn't work out they way, as I had hoped. When Sunny and I were walking, we approached the crossing. I noticed she started to pull back and I thought maybe by tugging her forward would help. Nuh-uh. As soon as I turned around in the direction of Grandmas home, she pull me all the way there. I guessed, Sunny being older and wiser may have mistaken me for stealing her and taking her away from her owner. As soon as she got into the house she completely avoided. Sad ey. I meant no harm, but dogs I guess never want to be taken away from their owner from their view. Since failing walking Sunny, there was another option. My aunt has two pugs, which I am not a real fan of, but I really wanted to go for a walk. The pugs names are Quintin and Rocky. I think their names suit them.
Before I headed out the door, I was given one condition "Make sure they don't pee on each other". I thought that was a bit absurd, but I soon found out why I was told to keep and eye out. You see when one dog pees, the other (both being males) become naturally territorial and one will pee on the other dogs pee. Now with out them both realising they will just pee on each other. Funny isn't it.
Walking the pugs was a breeze, except for the fact one of them did a poo!! They were pretty obident and I never realised how easy it was to walk two small dogs at the same time. They can run too, but I got worried their little bodies may not be able to take it. I wanted to avoid having to carry them back home. Being small dogs doesn't neccessarily mean they are light dogs. I walked down to Woodville Square. I think I called Woodvilla Plaza in my previous blog. But I got it wrong. I will pop down there tomorrow morning to just see what is there. It's really small, but the good thing about is that it is within walking distance.
It is now 10.30pm at night. Time for bed. Good Night.
Monday, April 13, 2009
My first Sunday
On Sunday morning at 4am I couldn't sleep. My body was confused thinking it is about 6pm Sydney time. It doesn't feel like sleeping at all.
I planned to go to church with my relatives in the morning. I was expecting a small church. I guess that is because I have only been attending small ones. But this morning, the one I went too was huge. This building is so big, it is almost the size of a small shopping complex. The building has about 3 levels including a basement.
There is a library, information desk, gymnasium, staff rooms, sermon rooms about 3 that I know of and study rooms. It's like university!! When I arrived it seemed so chaotic with so many people coming in that there is policeman at the front overseeing the traffic.
Inside the car park there were people directing the traffic for parking.
They have so many people attending that a school bus has been hired to help those to get there from the far away places, because there is enough space to park. Amazing isn't it.
One of the bigger rooms can fit I think up to nearly 1000 people. The room I was in for the English sermon had nearly up to 100 people. So you can imagine when we all finish for lunch there is so many people trying to get out. I took lots of photos. I even took a picture of the map of the building.
You will be so amazed to see how big it is.
Afterwords I went for yum cha. It was a big line up from this mornings service. The food was great. It's like I never left home being here in Canada. We decided today would be a perfect day to head out to the shopping centers. Only to find out that most of them are shut during this long easter break. There was one shopping centre open with in my local area, which was Pacific Mall. As we headed down there we noticed the traffic was becoming quite bad. There was a car accident. We passed it along the way, a car had turned over and police were diverting traffic. Following from that as we were trying to get home, we passed another car accident. What were the chances of two car accidents happening from less than a mile from each other. This time a bus had slammed into the car. Whether someone was hurt or not I am not sure. But it certainly didn't look good at all.
In the evening I headed off with my dad, brother and cousin to a basketball game. It was just a play off. They teams didn't make the finals, so they were just playing against each other. It was so much fun seeing a live game. Totally different atmosphere compared to watching footy live. We went to Air Canada Centre, and inside it was heavily commercialised. The stadium was the home ground for the team the Raptures, who where versing 76ers.
They gave out so many good prizes. They have this things called Fanapaloozas (sounds funny doesn't it). I think that is how they spell it, Here is just a little list of the good giveaways; free petrol vouchers, t-shirts, team jerseys, basketballs (I think this could have knocked you out of it came straight at you), sweat towels (clean ones), mascots, shoes, blue ray dvd players, truck hire vouchers, digital camera and one week trip to Cuba. I wish we had these kinds of prizes when we watch footy games.
Below are some photos from the game.
During the game there was an announcement if the home team(the Raptures) were able to score 100 points, ticket holders are entitled to a free pizza the next day. My first thought was this seems like an unreachable goal. But to my mistake I was wrong. The score was 109 -102. The Raptures one, which is a good thing, because most of the people in the stadium were Rapture fans!! So looks like I am getting a free slice of pizza tomorrow!! YeahA!!
To finish my evening we ate at Bier Market. The food was great and the restaurant was lovely. The live band, not so good. The singer was a little bit out of tune and a bit winey!! But yeah it was a great evening.
I planned to go to church with my relatives in the morning. I was expecting a small church. I guess that is because I have only been attending small ones. But this morning, the one I went too was huge. This building is so big, it is almost the size of a small shopping complex. The building has about 3 levels including a basement.
There is a library, information desk, gymnasium, staff rooms, sermon rooms about 3 that I know of and study rooms. It's like university!! When I arrived it seemed so chaotic with so many people coming in that there is policeman at the front overseeing the traffic.
Inside the car park there were people directing the traffic for parking.
They have so many people attending that a school bus has been hired to help those to get there from the far away places, because there is enough space to park. Amazing isn't it.
One of the bigger rooms can fit I think up to nearly 1000 people. The room I was in for the English sermon had nearly up to 100 people. So you can imagine when we all finish for lunch there is so many people trying to get out. I took lots of photos. I even took a picture of the map of the building.
You will be so amazed to see how big it is.
Afterwords I went for yum cha. It was a big line up from this mornings service. The food was great. It's like I never left home being here in Canada. We decided today would be a perfect day to head out to the shopping centers. Only to find out that most of them are shut during this long easter break. There was one shopping centre open with in my local area, which was Pacific Mall. As we headed down there we noticed the traffic was becoming quite bad. There was a car accident. We passed it along the way, a car had turned over and police were diverting traffic. Following from that as we were trying to get home, we passed another car accident. What were the chances of two car accidents happening from less than a mile from each other. This time a bus had slammed into the car. Whether someone was hurt or not I am not sure. But it certainly didn't look good at all.
In the evening I headed off with my dad, brother and cousin to a basketball game. It was just a play off. They teams didn't make the finals, so they were just playing against each other. It was so much fun seeing a live game. Totally different atmosphere compared to watching footy live. We went to Air Canada Centre, and inside it was heavily commercialised. The stadium was the home ground for the team the Raptures, who where versing 76ers.
They gave out so many good prizes. They have this things called Fanapaloozas (sounds funny doesn't it). I think that is how they spell it, Here is just a little list of the good giveaways; free petrol vouchers, t-shirts, team jerseys, basketballs (I think this could have knocked you out of it came straight at you), sweat towels (clean ones), mascots, shoes, blue ray dvd players, truck hire vouchers, digital camera and one week trip to Cuba. I wish we had these kinds of prizes when we watch footy games.
Below are some photos from the game.
During the game there was an announcement if the home team(the Raptures) were able to score 100 points, ticket holders are entitled to a free pizza the next day. My first thought was this seems like an unreachable goal. But to my mistake I was wrong. The score was 109 -102. The Raptures one, which is a good thing, because most of the people in the stadium were Rapture fans!! So looks like I am getting a free slice of pizza tomorrow!! YeahA!!
To finish my evening we ate at Bier Market. The food was great and the restaurant was lovely. The live band, not so good. The singer was a little bit out of tune and a bit winey!! But yeah it was a great evening.
We have touched down in Ontario, Canada
We land in Canada at Saturday 5am and it was 0 degrees outside. It was was definetely colder than Sydney weather for sure. We all felt the exhaustion from our flight. But getting out of the airport and going through customs, as well as picking up our luggage made us all a bit sluggish. Before we left the airport I saw this police man riding on this 3 wheel vehicle. It's really strange. It's not a scooter, but it is like those two wheels attached to something like a long stick. But this one is different it has three wheels and a police is riding it. I thought policeman were supposed to be fit?? I asked the man if I could take a photo of him but instead he asked if I wanted a photo on it. Of course I said yes to that!
Here is a photo of what it looks like.
My Aunty and Uncle picked us up from the airport. The drive to Grandmas house was lovely. It was early morning drive, and it was nice to see the sun rise and see a bit of Ontario.
We arrive at my Grandparents house, in Scarborough and everything looks the same from when I was last here. It hits me, as I get older and bigger the house that I once thought was a big house is now getting smaller. Everything I see was in the same position as last time. It was almost like I never left. It was nice to see all my relatives and for them to see how my family have changed from when we last saw them. I must say my Granparents are doing well for their age. Still active and healthy.
At about 2pm I head down to the local store. Woodville Plaza to buy my toiletries and necessities. We pop down to this shop called the Shoppers Drug Mart.
It is the biggest pharmacy I have ever seen and opened till midnight. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it. Later on that afternoon jetlag hit me. I tried so hard to stay awake to adjust to Canada time. But it was becoming a challenge for me to keep my eyes open from the 2 day flight. I decided to have a nana nap. It took me like 10 minutes and I would out like a light.
Later on that evening my family, relatives and granparents headed out to a Chinese resturant for a family dinner. It was really nice. Just to see everyone and catch up with them. We ate so much food though. I think by the end of this trip I will have a food belly!!
Here is a photo of what it looks like.
My Aunty and Uncle picked us up from the airport. The drive to Grandmas house was lovely. It was early morning drive, and it was nice to see the sun rise and see a bit of Ontario.
We arrive at my Grandparents house, in Scarborough and everything looks the same from when I was last here. It hits me, as I get older and bigger the house that I once thought was a big house is now getting smaller. Everything I see was in the same position as last time. It was almost like I never left. It was nice to see all my relatives and for them to see how my family have changed from when we last saw them. I must say my Granparents are doing well for their age. Still active and healthy.
At about 2pm I head down to the local store. Woodville Plaza to buy my toiletries and necessities. We pop down to this shop called the Shoppers Drug Mart.
It is the biggest pharmacy I have ever seen and opened till midnight. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it. Later on that afternoon jetlag hit me. I tried so hard to stay awake to adjust to Canada time. But it was becoming a challenge for me to keep my eyes open from the 2 day flight. I decided to have a nana nap. It took me like 10 minutes and I would out like a light.
Later on that evening my family, relatives and granparents headed out to a Chinese resturant for a family dinner. It was really nice. Just to see everyone and catch up with them. We ate so much food though. I think by the end of this trip I will have a food belly!!
Leaving Sydney
It's 9am. I am about to finish my packing before my family and I set off to international airport for our flight to Canada. This has been a trip I have been looking forward too. I remember when we booked the flight it seemed so long ago and now it is just a few hours away. It's funny, when I go on trips I always feel like finding ways to document the trip. So I have decided to pick up blogging.
We arrive at international airport and it looks allot different from the last time I was there. Not much food outlets though, which is disappointing. I ate this cold tandoori chicken wrap as a late lunch. Cost $7.50. Was it really worth it? Nuh uh. I don't think so.
It is now about say nearly 12pm and heading towards customs. Man we have plenty of time to kill before our flight, but as we head into customs we get a shock at how long the queue is. I mean I understand it is the Easter long weekend and we are entitled to our holidays. But only 3 counters open with about say over 40 people are looking very flustered wanting to pass through customs asap. It took us about half an hour. It's no wonder people say Sydney airport is bad. I mean the queuing time is ridiculous. (Pardon my English and spelling mistakes, but I am typing in a mad rush at the moment).
We past through customs. Next stop is security. Times have sure changed since 9/11. I didn't realise that you weren't allowed to take a bottle of water and any forms of liquids has to be taken out of the bag before going through the x-ray. Crazy hey. It wouldn't surprise me if one day we will have to empty out our bags before going through x-ray. We had two bottles of water, and when it came to security, there were two choices. Drink the water to keep the bottle or dump it in front of them. At the time of the checking, I really didn't fill like sculling down 600ml of water. I dumped my bottle and Mum didn't want to throw out her little bottle and drank the whole lot.
After that interesting experience the next stop was duty free. It's like a shopper’s heaven especially the alcohol. Geez, cheap as chips I'll say. I think we were so surprised by the price we plan to make a trip there on our return. I bought these bean pillows for the flight. I have seen so many of these pillows at the Easter show. And they were selling them for 2 for $20. Bargain!
It's now time for us to board our flight. My brother and I checked in ok. But my mum and dad had a seat change. They were upgraded to business class. So we made a swap with them. I know that probably sounded selfish, but we offered them to stay in business class. But they decided to let me and my brother experience it for the first time. It was definitely nice sitting on business class for the first leg of the trip. 8 hrs of delicious food, drinks, luxury and movies. After experience business class I don't think I was prepared for economy for the 2nd half of the trip.
Lucky there was heaps of in-flight films to watch. I watched this film called Sweeney Todd. I thought it was supposed to be a musical an interesting film. It was quite gruesome. Made me feel a little bit ill after watching it. There were so many films to watch!!
We touch done in HK airport at around 9.30pm (Friday), which is about Sydney time 10.30pm Friday evening.
After walking around time flies and it is about 11pm. Time to have some dinner. There is not much open around the airport. Everything is about to shut. We were just lucky enough to be able to grab some dinner at this takeaway before they closed too.
It wasn't long till all the shops were shut and the place became as quiet as a mouse. The only people about were the cleaners, security and passengers waiting for their flight. We had about two hours to kill. We walked around the airport, used the internet and took random photos to amuse ourselves. We definitely were acting like true tourists here. The photos will come at a later stage. They are all the camera and I left my cable at home.
We board our flight at 2am. I can tell you now, 14 hrs on a plane is a long time and it really baffled me how I managed to keep myself occupied. It was a good thing it was an early morning flight, which meant that sleep and movies would be my best friends to help me get through the flight.
I think Cathy Pacific has a good selection of films, movies, games and even tv programs. I watched a fair few films, but I kept in mind to save some for the trip going home. There were so many crying babies on this flight though, but lucky they fell asleep at the right times.
It was a very long flight and I knew with all the time differences and lack of sleep will hit me in my early days of the week.
We arrive at international airport and it looks allot different from the last time I was there. Not much food outlets though, which is disappointing. I ate this cold tandoori chicken wrap as a late lunch. Cost $7.50. Was it really worth it? Nuh uh. I don't think so.
It is now about say nearly 12pm and heading towards customs. Man we have plenty of time to kill before our flight, but as we head into customs we get a shock at how long the queue is. I mean I understand it is the Easter long weekend and we are entitled to our holidays. But only 3 counters open with about say over 40 people are looking very flustered wanting to pass through customs asap. It took us about half an hour. It's no wonder people say Sydney airport is bad. I mean the queuing time is ridiculous. (Pardon my English and spelling mistakes, but I am typing in a mad rush at the moment).
We past through customs. Next stop is security. Times have sure changed since 9/11. I didn't realise that you weren't allowed to take a bottle of water and any forms of liquids has to be taken out of the bag before going through the x-ray. Crazy hey. It wouldn't surprise me if one day we will have to empty out our bags before going through x-ray. We had two bottles of water, and when it came to security, there were two choices. Drink the water to keep the bottle or dump it in front of them. At the time of the checking, I really didn't fill like sculling down 600ml of water. I dumped my bottle and Mum didn't want to throw out her little bottle and drank the whole lot.
After that interesting experience the next stop was duty free. It's like a shopper’s heaven especially the alcohol. Geez, cheap as chips I'll say. I think we were so surprised by the price we plan to make a trip there on our return. I bought these bean pillows for the flight. I have seen so many of these pillows at the Easter show. And they were selling them for 2 for $20. Bargain!
It's now time for us to board our flight. My brother and I checked in ok. But my mum and dad had a seat change. They were upgraded to business class. So we made a swap with them. I know that probably sounded selfish, but we offered them to stay in business class. But they decided to let me and my brother experience it for the first time. It was definitely nice sitting on business class for the first leg of the trip. 8 hrs of delicious food, drinks, luxury and movies. After experience business class I don't think I was prepared for economy for the 2nd half of the trip.
Lucky there was heaps of in-flight films to watch. I watched this film called Sweeney Todd. I thought it was supposed to be a musical an interesting film. It was quite gruesome. Made me feel a little bit ill after watching it. There were so many films to watch!!
We touch done in HK airport at around 9.30pm (Friday), which is about Sydney time 10.30pm Friday evening.
After walking around time flies and it is about 11pm. Time to have some dinner. There is not much open around the airport. Everything is about to shut. We were just lucky enough to be able to grab some dinner at this takeaway before they closed too.
It wasn't long till all the shops were shut and the place became as quiet as a mouse. The only people about were the cleaners, security and passengers waiting for their flight. We had about two hours to kill. We walked around the airport, used the internet and took random photos to amuse ourselves. We definitely were acting like true tourists here. The photos will come at a later stage. They are all the camera and I left my cable at home.
We board our flight at 2am. I can tell you now, 14 hrs on a plane is a long time and it really baffled me how I managed to keep myself occupied. It was a good thing it was an early morning flight, which meant that sleep and movies would be my best friends to help me get through the flight.
I think Cathy Pacific has a good selection of films, movies, games and even tv programs. I watched a fair few films, but I kept in mind to save some for the trip going home. There were so many crying babies on this flight though, but lucky they fell asleep at the right times.
It was a very long flight and I knew with all the time differences and lack of sleep will hit me in my early days of the week.
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