Getting Mutombo’d

When researching the host site for blogs, I looked into the issue of being blocked, and found that WordPress.org was allowed in most places! It even has a Chinese version of the site, so I’m like “Sweet! I can use it in China.”. Then, once arriving in Shanghai, I fired up my laptop with a bunch of things I wanted to write about, just to find that….. http://www.WordPress.COM is blocked. W T F?
For those of you who don’t know, WordPress.com is the watered-down version of WordPress.ORG. That’s like, letting your 7year old  play with guns but not allowing it to read Harry Potter.

This is what I think of your blocks.

I figured a way out, and got mobile internet! You know that feeling, when your internet is down and you get highly irritated even though once your internet recovers, you don’t use it anyways? Thats how it was for me…… for 5 days….

Categories: General | 4 Comments

Day 12: Vernon

Time to say farewell to the Rockies! You were cool….

Some RANDOM lake on the side of Hwy1

Now we took a couple hour drive back into Beautiful British Columbia and into the city of Vernon. Here’s the final leg of our trip out west, and we wrapped it up by doing nothing and staying in the Okanagan Valley, the Niagara of BC (or is Niagara the Okanagan of Ontario?). We got a forest cabin, which compared to our previous stays in HI-Lake Louise and HI-Jasper, made everything look extra luxurious!

We had Pho Fusion, which had surprisingly good pho in a stripmall, and waitresses that were dressed like they were working Earl’s? Strange, but good pho is good pho! There’s not much to “see” in Vernon, but a relaxing stay is definitely good to have!

Categories: Canada | 8 Comments

Day 11&12: Jasper

This was a day off, taking a quick stroll around Jasper town and watching the Euro 2012 semi-final against Portgal and Spain at the Jasper Brewing Company. There weren’t many football fans in the area, but the atmosphere was still pretty good, and so were the beers! Jasper is a really neat town, and it’s less commercialized and developed but provides a place for you to keep in touch with nature a lot more compared to Banff. Continue reading

Categories: Canada | 2 Comments

Day 10: Lake Louise + Columbia Icefields

The day started at 4:10am, as we wanted to reach Lake Louise to catch the infamous sunrise. Weather hasn’t been with us, as we’ve stayed two days in Moraine Lake waiting for sunset, but the clouds just won’t give way! It was a frosty 5C, and it was already bright out by 4:30am. Sunrise is expected at 5:39am, but we thought we’d be early than later! Soo…. we waited for about an hour waiting for the sun to rise.

On a side note: Moraine Lake, located in the same park as Lake Louise, actually has a nicer view! The water is pristine, and it is surrounded by mountains on three sides! Continue reading

Categories: Canada | 2 Comments

Day 7&8&9: Golden + Canmore + Banff

Living without internet for the past two days (and being devastated by 6hr drives and 11km hikes), we’re back to promote the West Coast =P

Day 7: Golden -> Canmore

Our day began with a white-water rafting trip down Kicking Horse River in Golden. The rains were pouring in the morning, so the river was running quick and high! The rafting trip was cut short because one third of the river had to be closed as it was too dangerous, and also, the rafts were just going TOO fast so the trip that usually lasts 1.5hrs was only 1hr long…. And the scary part is, the next day after we went a 50-yr old woman died while rafting down the river under similar conditions….

Arriving in Canmore, the quaint city had tremendous scenery and a lot of wildlife. After checking into our hotel and laying down, a family of 4 bears just wandered outside our windows, minding their own business! T H A T I S C R A Z Y ! ! ! That began the day long journey of wildlife viewing in and around Banff. We also saw elk grazing outside a Tim Hortons, beside the Bow Valley parkway, and some strange animal that had a monkey face and a beaver tail….

Day 8&9: Banff National Park

Banff definitely lives up to the hype. With over 1600km of trails, mountains overlooking the region and wildlife everywhere you look, it has such a majestic peace to it, it’s hard to describe. We drove through the Bow Valley Parkway (seeing elk, bears and more elks on the highway). We took a 11km hike up and down the Johnson Creek, all the way up to the InkPots. And to recover enough protein, we had a nice steak dinner to cap the day off!!! It didn’t help the recovery fast enough though, as I’m still a bit sore 🙂

I won’t say much, I’ll just show everyone some pictures….

Now, 4hrs to sleep before waking up to catch the sun rise over Lake Louise!

 


Categories: Canada | 4 Comments

Day 6: Trans-Canada Highway + Golden

Departing 8:40am PST, arriving 7:50pm Mountain time.
Over lunch, we made a quick stop over Kamloops BC. The 5th largest city in BC with a population of 90k, we managed to find an awesome brunch place.

Friendly staff, vegan-friendly all day breakfast!

I have to say, the Trans-Canada (Hwy 1) drive up isn’t as nice as Sea-to-Sky highway, but the rockies definitely have some crazy scenery, and even crazier people! If you look hard enough at the cliffs and rocks, you may find some tiny specs of rock climbers!!!! On our way, we enjoyed the scenery of the road, blue sky, and rockies cutting through the sky…..and this

Super Mario Kart!

Arriving at Alexa Chalets past Golden, BC (what an awesome name for a city!), we are setting sail tomorrow morning for white water rafting down Kicking Horse river!

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Day 5: Whistler

I can’t emphasis enough how JEALOUS we are of the BC people – you can enjoy sea to sky all within 2 hrs drive! No wonder people are willing to take a 20% pay cut to work here!!

Whistler is a paradise for all outdoor activities – YES I MEAN ALL!!! You can do rock climbing on the cliffs, alpine skiing/snowboarding/mountain biking all season down the snow mountains, kayaking in the quaint lakes, jogging in the forests, bear watching right in your backyard, and so many more! Seriously, what else can you ask for?!

We aren’t no cowards – so we ziplined-across the peaks like Mr. Tarzan, and hopped all over the trees like the monkeys!

While in Whistler, we also checked out the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Park…..and since it was summer nothing interesting was open…. except the biathlon gun range! Guns go pew pew pew!!
Hit 4/5 and 2/5 respectively, and that’s  150m laps for each miss!!

After working up such a sweat, we took the sky-to-sea highway back to Vancouver…and stopped by for a famed favorite… J A P A D O G
I’d have to say…. it just works! Nicely grilled buns, savoury sauce over the dogs… definitely worth the hype!!!

Categories: Canada | 4 Comments

Day 4: Whistler

Let me get this straight… an short drive along “sea to sky” highway from Vancouver, I can get to the city of Whistler? Where I can do the following:

1) Play golf
2) Snowboard down Blackcomb + Whistler
3) Mountain bike down Whistler
4) Get within 150metres of a black bear cub…..while on the balcony of my resort?

… come on Ontario…. come on…

zip line down Cougar Mountain!

Categories: Canada | 2 Comments

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