I think this trip was one of the quickest and most fast-paced trips I’ve ever been on. It was also grueling to plan, since the tour company kept changing the dates based on the availability of the tour. I almost gave up altogether because it was a mess trying to figure out which days I needed off from work. (Just ask my supervisor how many emails I had to send her with ‘Sorry’ in the title.)

Usually when I plan a vacation I set up a fairly rigorous schedule. However, Chinese bus tours are probably 10x worse than anything I can conceive. Our morning wake up calls were at 5, 6 a.m., which meant we were on the move from the crack of dawn. We usually had around 45 minutes or less to eat and do any sort of sight seeing. It was seriously intense. I had forgotten the feeling of riding on a bus for 2-3hr stretches at a time (not to mention not knowing when the next washroom break will be). If it wasn’t for the fact that I have no money Chinese bus tours are so cheap, I probably would have never considered it.

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With that aside, the actual sight-seeing portion was really good. They really packed a lot into our itinerary for three days. On the first day we took the bus towards Niagara Falls to cross the border at Rainbow Bridge. The bus had gotten there early, but it still took us THREE HOURS to get across. I was so hungry by the time we finally stopped for lunch!

Our first real stop was at the Empire State Plaza in Albany, NY. Since it was a Saturday, most of the offices were closed. We didn’t make it in time to go up to the observation deck, but I did snap some photos of the New York State Capitol, the Cultural Education Center and the EGG Center. They also had quite a bit of art on display inside the plaza itself. It was a short stop, but at least we got to stretch our legs for a bit.

It took another three hours to reach Boston. Originally we were planning on having dinner in Chinatown, but because the restaurant was overbooked, the bus ended up dropping us off at Quincy Market. (Quite a relief for you, right Tammy? Hehe.)

Quincy Market was very lively and there were lots of people gathered around watching the street performers. Since I got there early, I ended up grabbing a table outside at Wagamama with a great view of the nighttime crowd. Tammy came a short while later and we both ordered our food. Everything was really yummy! Great choice Tammy. (^_-)

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The second day we started our morning in Cape Ann. Our whale watching tour was suppose to start at 9 a.m., so we were already on the boat a half hour earlier. I don’t usually get seasick, but I was a little apprehensive since the whole ride would take four hours. Luckily the boat wasn’t very rocky and we had great weather that morning.

We saw our first whale, a Minke whale, about an hour and a half into the trip. Later on when we reached the Stellwagen Bank Marine Sanctuary, there were a lot more sightings. We saw a baby Humpback whale flapping its flipper about 2 meters away from the boat, then we saw a group of 4-5 whales in the distance. It was pretty amazing seeing all these animals out in the wild. By the time we started heading back, I was beginning to feel a little seasick, so I spent the rest of the time napping it off in the cabin on the lower deck.

After we returned, we had our lunch nearby. My mom and I went to a diner across the street from the harbour. In case anyone ever goes to this diner in the future:

Keep in mind they give you huuuuuge portions. I wish I took a picture of the food, but it didn’t occur to me till afterwards. We ordered two meals (one chicken caesar salad, one chicken and broccoli pasta) and ended up with two trays FULL OF FOOD. My pasta alone could have easily fed the two of us, much less having an additional side salad, a stick of garlic bread and a pita wrap. We ended up sharing our food with other members of our tour group because we didn’t want to waste it. I was really stuffed from lunch and it put me straight to sleep on the bus ride to Salem.

I kind of groggy when we arrived in Salem, so I think I missed some of the introduction from the tour guide when the bus pulled up. I wasn’t really sure what to expect out of Salem except for the handful of episodes I’ve watched of Days of Our Lives. (Note: I don’t think their Salem is that Salem. LOL.) I didn’t really find that there was a lot of see in Salem. There was your typical Wiccan/Witchcraft kitschy souvenir shops. The only store that was really cool was the costumes shop. Aside from that, it was a pretty quiet area. I’m sure the town is much more livelier when it’s closer to Halloween.

After leaving Salem, we went back to Quincy Market to do some shopping, as we only had time for dinner the night before. There was so much food inside the market I wanted to try, but I decided to settle on a scoop of gelato. It was an astounding $6 US!! I couldn’t believe how expensive it was. The crowd was starting to thin out closer to 6 p.m., so I grabbed some souvenirs before we hopped back onto the bus.

Later on, the bus took us to Harvard and we did a mini tour of the campus. Everyone on the tour immediately beelined towards the statue of John Harvard. His statue seemed pretty ordinary until you take a closer look at his feet - his shoes are just gleeming from the shine! Afterwards, the bus strolled through MIT and passed along Harvard Bridge and Beacon Street before finally stopping at Chinatown for our lobster dinner.

Our dinner was at Hei La Moon Restaurant. I can probably summarize dinner in one word: messy.

We had to eat at a round table with other people from our tour group. There were ten of us squeezed into one table. The waiters instantly served us with soup and lobster. With ten lobsters at the table and ten pairs of dirty hands, it got messy fairly quickly. For some reason they decided to serve all the dishes at once, so there was absolutely no room on the table with dishes piled in the centre and the lobster shells overfilling our plates. It was so difficult trying to eat neatly!

Dinner overall was pretty average. The dessert at the end was probably the worst I had ever eaten. Soooo watery!! After we left, my mom and I decided to follow these two girls from our group to hunt for dessert. We ended up at ‘The Juice Bar’ and got take out to bring back to the hotel. Nothing like having a late night snack. =P

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Day 3 was another long one on the bus. Our wake up call that morning was set for 5 a.m., however the bus wouldn’t be stopping for breakfast until close to 9 a.m. Thank goodness I always have an emergency food stash. Hehe.

There wasn’t much to do on the bus except to doze off. We finally made a stop at Waterloo Premium Outlet close to noon and had a couple hours to eat lunch and shop. Later on we got back into the bus and drove for another two hours to the duty free shop before heading back across the border. The wait was much shorter and we were back home around dinner time.

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I guess in short, I really enjoyed Boston. Three days really wasn’t enough time to see everything. I wish I had flown instead taking the bus! I felt like I only caught a small glimpse of everything I wanted to see. It’s a city I’ll definitely visit again when I can travel on my own. =)

I went back to Guu Izakaya last night with my sis and my friend Lisa. Backtrack a few months ago when the lineup took TWO HOURS. Well, luckily this time the wait was only 10 minutes. I guess with so many summer festivals in T.O. this time of year, with this weekend being the Taste of the Danforth (a huuuuge Greek fest), the wait at Guu was shortened dramatically. I was very happy!

We didn’t get a bar seat this time and ended up at a table by the door. I missed seeing all the cooking action! I didn’t bring my SLR with me, so the food shots taken from my phone didn’t turn out so well. It really doesn’t do the food justice because everything was a lot yummier than it looked.

With three people this time we ended up ordering a lot more food. (Not because I’m a greedy eater or anything…)

Sashimi Salad
Hotate
Oden Assortment
Maguro

Ebimayo
Yam Fries (the only thing I wouldn’t recommend; it tasted à la papier)

Okonomiyaki
Yakiudon
Cheesecake

Hotate has easily become one my favourites. The oden was really good too. Cheesecake this time was Mojito flavoured. I’ve never had a mojito before, but the cheesecake was delicious. It was a fun evening altogether. I’m glad the day turned out better than the morning. (I dropped half my breakfast on the floor as I was getting ready for work.) Nothing like yummy food to get the day turned around.

\ (^_^) /

刈谷市デレゲーション!

The delegation from Kariya, Japan came last week for their visit to Canada. In case I haven’t mentioned this on here before (or did I on another blog…?), but I was busy helping out with preparations for their visit. I really have to thank Yuka for responding to my SOS email. I was in charge of preparing name tags and compiling a list of free events to visit that week. Aside from other typing duties, I was also asked to translate the itinerary into Japanese.

(@_@;)

Thankfully that’s where Yuka stepped in.
手伝ってくれてありがとう!

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Tuesday afternoon I drove straight from work over to City Hall for the welcome reception. It was a short meet-and-greet, as I’m sure the delegates were a little jet-lagged from the long flight. Everyone was really nice and I was able to introduce myself in Japanese to a few of them.

There were other activities planned during the week, including a tour of City Hall and a trip out to Niagara Falls. However, with work getting in the way, the only event I was able to attend was the Farewell BBQ (送別会) on Saturday.

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We couldn’t have asked for a better day (or a better spot) for the BBQ. Even though it was sticky humid during the week, Saturday was by far the nicest day. There were picnic tables and lawn chairs set up outside, along with a crafts table in the center. The delegates prepared origami and other handicrafts to share with us.

All the ladies were dressed in yukatas, while some of the men wore their happi coats. One of the delegates, who I’ve named ‘Balloon Man’ (later known as ‘Tora Man‘) made me my own monkey on a banana tree. Hehehe. All the delegates were so thoughtful and I received many presents like mochi-shaped erasers, stationery, candy and a uchiwa. Plus the location was gorgeous. If I had a backyard that overlooked a river, I would never want to leave!

The actual BBQ part was great too. Our Chair prepared so much food for everyone. I ended up piling my plate and sitting down with three delegates who were around the same age as me. I was really grateful they made an effort to include me in their conversation!

After dinner the delegates got ready for their performance. I didn’t know what they had prepared to sing for us, so I was really surprised when they broke out in a rendition of ‘O Canada’. It was really cute! Then we sang, ‘If You’re Happy and You Know It’ and once more in Japanese.

幸せなら手をたたこ ♫♪

Then it was the dance performance. I missed out on dancing the Tanko Bushi at school last year. More like I missed a quarter of the semester. I was really happy to take part in it this time around. Of course, dancing in someone’s secluded backyard is ten times better than dancing in the middle of the hallway at school!

Overall it was a very fun evening. By 9 o’clock the sun was starting to set and we had an amazing view of the sunset.

I’m so glad I had the chance to help out with this year’s delegation. While I wasn’t able to host this year, it was still fun being able to participate in some of the events. Hopefully next year I will be able to visit Kariya when it is our turn to send a delegation. It’ll be the 30th anniversary next year!

ヘ(^-^)メ(^o^)ノ

When we got off the flight, I immediately noticed how different Hilo is from Honolulu. First of all, the airport was practically empty! It has a completely separate vibe altogether. There’s less people on the island, less stores, less touristy areas, and less roads not covered by lava. Hilo is much more relaxed than Honolulu, almost to the point where you’re wondering why people are moving so slow! Unfortunately for us, it was in that same slow-paced manner that we had to wait for the rest of our tour group to arrive on two later flights. =(

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Our tour guide, Sharon, was really good at keeping us entertained during the ride. On her way to pick up a couple from our tour group, we passed through a stretch near the eastern coast named Banyan Drive. Banyan Drive is known as Hilo’s Walk of Fame, because many of the banyan trees were planted by famous celebrities, including Babe Ruth, Cecil B. DeMille, Amelia Earhart and Richard Nixon. The bus later passed through Queen Lili’uokalani Gardens, which has one of the largest Edo-style Japanese gardens outside of Japan.

Our first real stop of the day was at Rainbow Falls in Wailuku River State Park. As the name suggests, the 80-foot waterfall is known for its rainbows, although we weren’t lucky enough to see any that day. After our stroll through the falls, we made a stop at the Mauna Loa factory. If you’re like me and refuse to buy ugly Hawaiian shirts as souvenir gifts, I recommend shopping at Mauna Loa because they sell these -

Macadamia nuts! We actually bought about two cases of macadamia nuts the day before at one of the ABC Stores back in Waikiki, so we already had more than enough to bring back home. The only good thing about stopping by the factory was all the free taste-testing we could try! We also took a self-guided factory tour while we were there, but there wasn’t anything to see through the windows as the machines were turned off.

Later we piled back onto the bus and drove off towards Kalapana. In 1990 when Mt. Kilauea erupted, lava flow destroyed most of the town. During our stopover for lunch, we were able to walk over part of the land that had been covered by lava. The lava also formed a new coastline. As we made our way near the coast, the hardened lava was replaced by a black sand beach. It was a pretty stunning sight.

Lunch was really nice too. The shop had a really great spot about 500m from where the edge of the lava flow ended. My love of fish has grown in Hawaii, especially after eating this grilled Ono. So yummy!

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After Kalapana it was off to the Volcanoes National Park. I must admit I wasn’t all that impressed seeing the volcanoes. I was expecting some spectacular display of lava to be spewing out from the top. However, I was told that apparently it would be quite dangerous. LOL.

Anyway, as we pulled into the Thomas A. Jaggar Museum, we didn’t see any lava coming from the top of Mt. Kilauea. However, from the Halema’uma’u Crater there was plenty of smoke billowing in the center. One thing I learned about the National Park - depending on which side you are in, some parts are luscious and green, while other parts are dry and barren. Steam vents were another discovery Sharon explained to us. As rainwater is warmed by the rocks in the ground, it rises up as condensation through fissures. These then become stream vents, or as Sharon called them, ‘facial spas’.

We went to another lookout point towards the end of the day where we saw people hiking towards the center of the crater. Then we made our way to the Thurston Lava Tube as our last stop in the park. Lave tubes are formed when lava travels beneath the surface and form tunnels when the rock below cools down. The Thurston Lava Tube is situated at the bottom of a tree fern forest, so it was like walking through a rainforest to get down to the entrance.

We stopped by Akatsuka Orchid Gardens before returning back to the airport. I was a little annoyed that we ended up on the last flight out of Hilo from everyone in our tour group. That meant we had to kill an hour and a half at the airport! (We were already there for an hour that morning!) There was absolutely nothing to do at the airport, so we ended up grabbing a bite to eat at the only restaurant that was opened. Afterwards, we had to go through the toughest security checkpoint for an International Airport - all of six airport staff! LOL. The airport felt more like a large hotel lobby (furnished with hideous sofas) than it did an airport!

The flight back wasn’t bad, but I was really tired by the time we landed, since it was a long day. We had to wait for our free shuttle to take us back to Waikiki. The company that arranged our shuttle was called Reliable Shuttle. Towards the end of the night, everyone ended up calling it ‘Unreliable Shuttle’ because they made us wait 45 minutes to load up enough customers before they would take us back to Waikiki. When we finally got moving, there were actually too many customers, so I ended up having to squish in the back with three other people. I vote they change their name permanently!

When we got back to Waikiki we were a famished, so we went to the quickest and most convenient place to eat - ramen-ya. There’s almost as many locations in Waikiki as there are ABC Stores! It was a great late night snack.

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The next day was our flight back home. We finished packing our suitcases and took one last trip to the beach. Then we went and explored Kalakaua Avenue. There’s some great hotels along the stretch, as well as the Fort Derussy military reserve towards on end. As we got to Ala Moana Boulevard, we stopped for lunch at Todai. Then for good measure, we went karaoke again. Hehehe. How I miss that karaoke place!

Our shuttle came to pick us up around 5 p.m. and we headed off to the airport. It was pretty early when we got there so we had lots of time to spare. However, we soon found out that Honolulu Airport is pretty lousy. Half of the shops inside were closed!! There was only one restaurant open within a 10-minute walk towards our gate, so we grabbed something to eat before we boarded. I took a great shot of the empty airport right before we got to our gate, so this will stand as my last memory of Hawaii.

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I’m glad I can finally wrap up my Hawaii travels. We had a great week there and I really enjoyed being on the beach taking in some sunshine (although my tan has long faded). I don’t think I’ll ever forget the sunset to mark my 25th birthday. It was too beautiful for words! I hope my macademia nut supply will last, or else I just might have to fly back and replenish my stash!

While we packed lightly for our day at Pearl Harbor, I was annoyed we weren’t allowed to bring any handbags inside. I wasn’t even allowed to bring my camera bag due to so-called ’security measures’. (Or is it really a ploy to rip you off $3 for storage?) I only realized halfway through the day how not having my bag with me really sucked - my sunscreen was inside the bag!!! @_@

The moment we got inside the visitors center we lined up for tickets to the USS Arizona Memorial. It’s the only free attraction at Pearl Harbor. Our tickets were for 11:40 a.m., which meant we still had some time to spare, so we decided to buy tickets to both the USS Bowfin and the Battleship Missouri.

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The Bowfin was the closest one, so we saw it first. It used to be customary to name submarines after fish, so the name ‘Bowfin’ was taken from a predatory fish found in the Great Lakes. We were given an audio guide at the entrance and had to follow number signs stationed throughout the submarine to listen to the corresponding commentary. It was pretty neat seeing the living quarters, the kitchen, the control room and the torpedoes at both ends. It was cramp for space inside and I really had to watch my head as I moved from one room to the next. It’s hard to believe that the Bowfin was once operational!

After we made our way back to the visitor’s center, we grabbed a quick bite to eat at the cafeteria and toured the museum. Then we headed off in the other end towards the Contemplation Circle to get in line for the USS Arizona.

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It was close to noon by the time we walked over. The sun was right above us and I soon gave up on searching for what little shade there was in the Contemplative Circle. If only I had more pockets I could have packed the sunscreen! I ended up trying to shield myself with my jacket. Shoulders starting to get burnt already. =(

Finally we got loaded onto the boat. The ride was short, lasting only five minutes or so. As we approached the USS Arizona Memorial, the exterior looks exactly as it does in postcards - White and pristine, floating on top of a sunken wreckage. The outline of the ship is visible from the surface and one of the turrets still remains above water. At the end of the hall, there is a marble wall which lists the names of the 1,177 people who lost their lives that fateful morning in 1941. It’s kind of surreal when you see it in front of you.

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After making it back to the visitors center, we took a shuttle towards our last stop at Pearl Harbor - the USS Missouri. Known more commonly at the ‘Mighty Mo’ or the ‘Big Mo’, this was the last battleship built by the United States. It was also the site where the Japanese surrendered to the U.S. The battleship itself is massive. It took about an hour to tour the inside of the ship as well as four levels of decks we were permitted on. Aside from seeing the plaque which commemorated the surrender of Japan to end WWII, we also saw the spot off on the starboard side of the ship where a Japanese kamikaze pilot flew right into the Mighty Mo. A dent still marks the spot to this day.

After touring the remaining areas of the ship, we headed back towards the shuttle and got dropped off at the entrance. We picked up our bags at the locker storage and I was finally reunited with my sunscreen! I practically slathered the whole bottle on myself. =P

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It was nearing 3 p.m. and we had to wait for the bus to take us back to Waikiki. Between the wait and the actual bus ride, it took more than an hour to get back. I was already a little hungry by then. Luckily I had scoped out a McDonald’s the night before so I knew exactly where to go to grab a bite to eat. (I know the importance of establishing landmarks based on places to eat. LOL.)

This was what I wanted desperately to try:

The McTeri Burger!

I’m pretty sure these can only be found in Hawaii, where aside from Spam, teriyaki sauce is apparently in abundance. Hehe. It was super yummy! I vote that they make these available worldwide. =P

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After filling our tummies, we ended up taking a bus to this store. Does the sign outside look a little familiar?

Hehehe. Donki!! I nearly lashed out at the stupid bus driver when we were making our way to the store. HE TURNED OFF THE AUDIO ANNOUNCING ALL THE STOPS!! By the time I realized we had gone too far (I’ve only been on the route twice at most), we were already 5 or 6 stops past Donki.We had to backtrack our way by foot and it took an extra 20 minutes to get there. I could have murdered him! $%#!%@^*$!!

Anyway, we made it inside Donki. It’s not quite the same as I remembered it from Sapporo. It felt more like a Japanese version of Costco instead, hehehe. Of course, being in the States, especially in a tourist area, the markup was unavoidable. While it was fun walking down the aisles looking at what they sold, it wasn’t all that fun taking our items to the cash register. =(

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Back in Waikiki we decided to splurge on dinner. We ended up at a Japanese restaurant two blocks from our hotel, Odoriko (Odoroki, as I kept calling it). The lady taking our order assumed we were Japanese at first. I tried making my order in Japanese, but apparently my Japanese wasn’t very convincing, so she ending up taking our order in English. T_T

We ordered the ahi poke for our appetizer. Poke is a traditional Hawaiian dish of raw fish salad. I had a chirashi bowl as my main course, while my sister had the sushi selection. Everything was really yummy. The cutest little Japanese boy was seated at the table next to us. We made funny faces at each other during dinner. He was a messy eater and kept splattering his food all over the table (most of it ended up on the floor). His poor mom was on her hands and knees picking up the mess!

We had to call it an early night after dinner. Our wake up call the next morning was set at 5 a.m. Our Big Island tour is coming up next!