REPOST: Victoria Island

One of the local tours we followed when we were in Vancouver were to Victoria Island BC. Victoria Island is a beautiful island surrounded by historical landmarks and beautiful architecture buildings. We were given only approximately 5hours to explore the island. We have only limited time but too many places and things to explore. Many of the other tour members decided not to visit the museums but to just walk around the island. Our tour guide, Tony suggested us to go for high-tea at a very luxury international hotel 'Fairmount Empress' as the hotel is famous for their high-tea. Me and my sister decided to not waste our time sipping english tea, hence we visited the Wax Museum located at the inner harbour, which is just 5minutes walk from the city centre.

Tony brought us for a brief tour before letting us walk on our own. He brought us to a small fountain place where it is nicely decorated with statues and flags. In front of the fountain stood a big black rectangular box. He also briefly explained to us the story of the box. He said, 10 years ago, a few people came up with an idea to gather what they have in hand at that time, put it in the box, lock it, and bury it. Then, 10 years later, open back the box and compare the technology and differences between the material they put in 10 years ago and 10 years later. I peeped in and saw some really really old school telephone, typewriter, and a newspaper dated the date they gathered and buried the box. At that very moment, i had this urge to break the box and steal the telephone because it's so unique and so vintage!! It's very hard to be able to get 1 of those design nowadays, even if i can, it'd be very expensive and not 100% original.

The Victoria Island Wax Museum was alot of fun. The museum was divided into many categories - Famous politicians and royalties, Inventors, Moviestars, Fairytale characters, and many more. Inside the fairyland, there is this small dark room where 'The Torture Chamber' signboard hangs at the entrance door - not deadly, but the 3D way. Inside the 'chamber' were shown how prisoners were tortured back in the old days, what kind of criminals get what kind of punishments. We did not stay long for the room gave me a cold eery feeling. The walls were painted black and the lights were red, and scary voiceovers to complete the whole 'dead' feel. The minute we pushed the exit door, we were greeted by bright happy colourful scenario - Fairytale Land. I like the concept of this wax museum; not only they use the basic recorded voiceover to introduce the character, they also robotised some of the characters to make it look more lively. I'm not sure if other wax museums have the same concept for this is my second trip to a wax museum, my first was 11years back, in Singapore. So, you can't blame me if i sound like a jinjang k?

Surprisingly, everyone went back to the tour bus earlier than the time scheduled. Maybe because there's nothing much to venture and see about when we were only given such limited time and walking distance. (We were only allowed to walk around the city centre). After visiting the wax museum, did a little shopping, walked around the city centre, sat down and starbucked, we looked at the time "What?! Still got time?? Where shall we go now?!" Luckily when we walked back, majority of the tour members was already sitting inside the bus with "I'm so bored can we go now?" look.

After visiting Inner Harbour and the city centre, we then went to Butchart Garden, which is also located somewhere in Victoria Island. I'll blog about that soon. If you love flowers, you will love my next post. =)

Victoria Island Parliament Building.

I don't know why at that time i didn't take a picture of the things inside the box and only took this not-clear-at-all picture. But, can also lar har..


Fairmount Empress Hotel - beautiful

City centre

The presidents of United States

The Royalties

Queen Elizabeth

Me with Prince William and Princess Diana *hehee* perasan - Princess Diana doesn't look quite her though.

Albert Einstein

The genius phone inventor - Alexander Graham Bell

Mahatma Gandhi

The most noble Mother Theresa

This is Terry Fox. He is considered one of Canada's most noble hero because he ran for the Marathon of Hope with one prosthetic leg to raise fund for cancer.

OOooohh... look! It's Pinocchio and Jimmy the cricket!!

Snow White - She's one of the robotised wax doll. Her stomach was made moving up and down as if she was breathing.

Cute little Red Riding Hood and the evil wolf - i like their wallpaper though. =)

EEEeee.. can see her pantie... white colour one.. =p

SUPARMAN!!~ So ngam i was also wearing red and blue, which make me SUPARGIRL!!

Jesus's last supper. *Amen*

The wax heads are seriously really scary. They also managed to make business out of it - pay them money to let them make you your own wax head like the ones in the picture. And then stuff it into your luggage bag and bring your own head back home. wtf

And now i want to end the post...

THE GRUESOME WAY!! WAKAKAKA!!~

REPOST: Canada & Alaska trip Part 2

As i promised, in this episode, i will be bringing you all for a stroll at Stanley Park and Chinatown. My dear tour members, let's go!!

First stop - Stanley Park. This park is one of the many parks in Vancouver. Why is it so different from the others you ask? Because it's the largest park in Vancouver and one can't be able to explore the entire park in a day time. Thus, you might also need to drive from point A to point B as walking will be a long distance. Another reason why Stanley Park is a must-go tourist spot is because you can overview the whole of Vancouver city's skyscrapers. I went there twice - once with aunt Yen, and the other with the tour group. I love the environment there. Clean fresh air, clean place (you can hardly see any rubbish on the floor), and alot alot of woofies!~ Majority of the joggers there will be accompanied by their bestfriend - woofie. The owner jog on his own and the woofie following behind. Wherelse teenagers will usually come in a group and cycle together; either you rent or you bring your own. 6 seaters bicycles are also available for rental, convenient most for families. Have you ever ridden in a 6 seaters bicycle? I haven't, but i enjoy watching those people riding it. It looks like they were having so much fun, and yet struggling between laughs and balancing the bike. It needs alot of team work and cooperation to get this bike rolling.

This park has an amazing ambience, be it the people, or the city sights. Birds are happily chirping and playing around freely - flying or on ground. They are not afraid of the people as they know they mean no harm. I also sighted a few wild gooses walking around the park, looking for food. They, are also free to roam about carefreely. Joggers will sometimes feed them bread too. How nice. Aunt Yen told me that one time, a China national actually caught some of those gooses and brought it home for DINNER. In the end, he or she was caught and fined. wtf. After visiting Stanley Park, for a second there i did thought that i WILL actually pick up jogging IF there's such a nice pollution-free park here in KL.

Let us not stop here. I will give you guys all the time you want to view the pictures i took later. We shall now proceed to our second destination - Chinatown.

Erm, there's actually not much to introduce about this place. There's nothing unique nor special about this place as every country has a Chinatown, including our own. Or it is better known as Petaling Street. BUT!! Vancouver's Chinatown is a very peaceful, clean, and pirated-friendly place. No pirated branded bags, NO pirated DVDs, and NO uneducated DVD sellers hurling bad words and nasty things to shoppers and passerbys. Walking along the streets, i see shops selling dried seafood, Chinese clothing, antiques, and many many Chinese restaurants. Therefore, Aunt Yen said that local Chinese will not shop or eat in Chinatown because the prices are extremely expensive, and the food are not so nice compared to those individual Chinese restaurants open outside of Chinatown. She also mentioned how the angmohs will order when they're dining in one. "When you dine in any chinese restaurant here, DO NOT order Chap Choy (mix veggies) as it is only 'specially' cook for angmohs. They'll always and only order 'Chap Choy'. That's the only food they know how to order. It taste horrible but the angmohs love it!" Me and my sister had actually dined a few times in several Chinese restaurants, and we did noticed how the angmohs next to us ordered "One Chap Choy please." Laughed like shit. So, put it in mind readers. If you happen to dine at a chinese restaurant in ANY western country, DO NOT ever ever order 'CHAP CHOY', because the moment you eat it you'll go "CHOI!! What kind of food is this??!!" Hahaha!~ Ok, syok sendiri. =p

Enough nonsense for today. Let us put on our imagination cap now and enjoy the pictures below while i need to go figure out where to bring you all to next. =)

Stanley Park:

The tourist attraction - Stanley Park Horse Drawn Tours. I didn't go for it because my uncle has a car thus we don't need the horsie's service.

Cute but smelly little horsie

The picturesque view of Vancouver City from the park:

Beautiful mother earth's creations - bright sun, strong trees, colorful flowers, and a butt-wagging goose??

Totems are one of the traditions amongst Canadian Natives. Each totem represent a different tribe - you can see the differences through the carvings of the totem. Every single animal or individual carved on the totem has their own meaning. Normally the character carved at the most top represent the god they pray. There'll be more pictures of totems soon, because they are just everywhere!!

Other views of Stanley Park:



Lame-O Chinatown:- There was nothing nice to capture at Chinatown that we just simply took a few shots outside the restaurant we ate and headed straight to Robson Street a.k.a SHOPPING PARADISE!!~



On the way to Robson Street, we passed by this town where they have this special attraction called 'The Steam Clock'. Once the long needle strikes twelve, the clock will.. erm.. steam. Wait, i'm making it sound obscene. Ok, i meant there'll be smoke coming out from the steam clock. People will gather around the clock and wait for it to steam (i'm sounding obscene again). They'll go Oooo... and Wowww.. and AAhhh.. and then walk away when there's no more smoke coming out from it. Weirdos.

The Mighty Steaming Clock..

Wonder why i'm missing?? Try and notice the picture above; there's a green shop behind it, then you'll know where am i. =p


LOOK!!~ I know this is not related but i just wanted to say I SPOTTED A FERRARI like it's such a big deal when it's not. I saw many nice sport cars here in Vancouver that are not available in Malaysia, like the Honda Civic 2-doors. I'll SO immediately buy it if they have it here!! Seeing all these beautiful cars made me think and miss my dear even more. He'll absolutely love it here as it'll be a paradise for him. The cars are cheap and more variety, more Mustang cars, and NO bumps on the roads nor even holes, unlike the road condition in KL - disastrous, and the bumps - unorganized.

Canada & Alaska REPOST part1

Around this time last year, me and my sister were whisked away for a 3weeks holiday trip to Vancouver, Canada and go sailing on a luxury cruise to Alaska. My repost on Vancouver will be just a brief one as i'm just doing my best to recall back my memory there because i didn't keep a journal on that. Alaska will be a complete detail one.

Me and my sister went a week earlier over to Vancouver and stayed at my aunt's house while waiting for the rest of the tour group from my dad's company to come down. During this week time, besides following my aunt out for shopping spree, we also managed to take a little of our time and join the local tour there to sight some tourist spots in Vancouver.

The journey itself to Vancouver was butt-soreful as we flew 8hours to Taipei Airport from KLIA just to transfer to another flight which took us another 18hours to reach Vancouver. Altogether we had sat for almost a whole day inside the plane. Luckily it was China Airlines, and the seats were pretty comfortable. Imagine sitting for 24hrs in AirAsia - i would rather not go, seriously.

We met up with my aunt and the whole family and spent alot of bonding time together as the last time we saw them was probably when i was 11? Staying in a relative's house is so much better than staying in a hotel. Save cost, and much more cosier. We were given an allowance of $5000 to spend there, and we hardly need to fork out on food and accommodation. Pure raw hard cash to spend only on shopping - sweet!! The weather was still pretty cold although it's slowly turning to summer. I prefer hot than cold, i can't freaking stand cold!! There's actually something good about staying in a 4 season country - you get to change your wardrobe according to the season. Four different wardrobe for each season. COOL!!~ *Shit! I just drooled on my laptop!*

Canada is the first western country i ever travel to. I was pretty excited and nervous about this journey. "How's the culture there like?" "Are the people there friendly?" "Will i have any hard time communicating with them?" The most crucial question was "Will i have enough time to shop?!" Before i flew, i did alot of research on it; where are the tourist spots, which shopping malls has what kind of shops, the weather, etc. I wanted to be self prepared and not going there with an empty brain. Upon reaching there, it took me a few days to adjust myself accordingly to their culture and lifestyle. Buckle up even though you're at the back seat, and i always ended up walking to the driver's side (still thought i'm in Malaysia), always leave tips if you eat in restaurants, have to say 'Pop' instead of 'Soft drinks', if not they won't understand you, then you actually have to bring your own plastic bags or recycle bags when you go for your grocery shopping in the supermarket, and many many more.

Overall, after spending 2weeks time there, i seem to have fallen in love with Canada. The country is so peaceful, so relaxing, so clean, the air is fresh, the people are so friendly, so polite, and so self-disciplined. Did you know that there's NO barrier or anything for you to slot your train card into before you walk into the terminal and wait for your train? NO guard to check your ticket or your seasonal card if it's still valid, or IF you even have a ticket with you. They just put a machine there where you can buy the ticket and that's it. You're free to go and board any train you want. BUT the people there will still buy their tickets, or renew their pass if it's expired because they're well-educated. Imagine if they apply it here; there'll be ZERO transaction in the ticket machine and every train will be pack with people. Because why must they bother to buy a ticket when there's nobody to check and they can just walk through like that??!! Cases of robberies will be more than ticket sales. Trust me. I will pick Vancouver as my number 1 country to migrate to one day.

So, part 1 of this repost will be a brief introduction on my relatives, there will be more sight seeing pictures in part 2. Enjoy~~

Taipei Airport - will never miss a chance to starbucks wherever i go.

Me and my sis, inside China Airlines

Don't know why but there were alot of Indian nationalities on board that night. 90% of the passengers. And the whole plane smells like.. i don't know... curry??

VANCOUVER!!!! WE ARE FINALLY HERE!! MY ASS REALLY NEED A BREAK!

Say hie to my aunt Yen and her daughter Ming Chee. Honestly i found it slightly hard to hear her speak the first 2 days. Maybe it goes the same to her too.

My sister's nanny, we call her 'suk po'

This is what her house looked like from outside. It's a 2 storey high with a basement and a car park @ garage. It's a pretty huge place for just a family of 4. There are 6 rooms, 1 dining hall, 2 living rooms, 1 kitchen, 1 garden, and there's another 3rooms and a living room in the basement. Can play hide-and-seek the whole day and nobody will be able to find me. Really.

The guests living room.. Oh yea, do you know what's the best part of this house? Majority of the furnitures come together with the house and it's all built in!! I SO want to migrate to Vancouver


This is the family room where family members will hang out here after dinner or whatever it is to chill out and enjoy some family time together watching TV or do whatever they want to do.

I like the fireplace. So warm and cosy. The only place you want to be when it's freezing outside. Make a cup of hot chocolate and read a nice book or watch a nice show on your favourite couch and go "Ahh.. this is life"

The more high tech fireplace doesn't need a chimney because it's electronic!!

Kitchen baybeh..

Most houses in western countries has this thing called the dry storage room. It's where you keep all the dry food because they normally buy it in large quantity because they doesn't need to go to the supermarket so frequently.

Our "hotel" room. Hahaaha! Looks sad but it has the family feel to it.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is my aunt Linda. She and aunt Yen migrated over to Vancouver when i just a small kid.

The cousins - I've already introduced Ming Chee, the girl and the boy standing behind are aunt Linda's children. I hardly talk to them because, erm.. I just don't. And i've even forgotten their name. Sorry. Ming Chee is a very bubbly and talkative person whereas aunt Linda's daughter is the opposite. She's like the very emo type of person and she's a CHINESE who hates CHINESE and wished she was born an angmoh.. wtf!?

Ming Chee, the silly cousin sister

They had a house party to celebrate our arrival~~ All the dishes were cooked by themselves and no take-away was required.

A small part of the Loh family.


Look what i found!!! An original black and white photo of MY DAD in his early twenties! Pure antique. My dad will surely kill me if he finds out i put his picture up in the net. God bless me!

Next stop, we will be visiting China Town and Stanley Park - the largest park in Vancouver. Stay tune for the next update. =)