Saturday, July 11, 2026

Day 8 - Grouse Mountain + Cleveland Dam

some days there's music in the air
some nights you're hanging by a prayer
when your mind is racing as you're lying awake
but we'd never trade it just to play it safe
cause baby, maybe you and me
we were born to dream
Born to Dream - Young Gun Silver Fox

Gosh, that song lyric, I feel it a lot, even though I'm not as acceptant as the song. Every trial and tribulation cuts deep for me that I don't want it, though perhaps the soul really needs it, you know personal growth and what not. Anyways, I was leaving the night of day 8, but I still had time to do some things. I went to Tim Hortons again for breakfast. I chose their breakfast sandwich this time because it has an egg in its entirety and a donut for the side though I had difficulty choosing which donut because there's many interesting ones. I've actually never been to Tim Hortons in Singapore and I'm sure the donut selection here is not as varied as in Canada, but I do want to try them, hope to get there soon. The tea that day was good too, that I was like yeah Tim Hortons, I approve.

I was really making use of my last few hours in the room and only left nearing check-out time. First destination was Grouse Mountain. I had booked the ticket and was going to take the free shuttle from Canada place. What I didn't know was the line for the shuttle was hella long. I may have to wait for the next shuttle in half an hour :( Apparently people waiting for the shuttle was given a token for a seat inside the bus. A lady then returned her tokens back to the staff because her full group was not there and it was just nice there was a single one left for me, or so I thought. I got on the bus, walked all the way to the back to find there's no empty seat! You generally cannot stand on this kinda bus, but the bus was already moving. So there I was stunned and standing. A lady noticed me (this lady was a bit stern at me earlier because I was walking in front of her when I actually arrived after her) and offered her seat. I said no, I couldn't take it because this lady was way older than me. She was like I could sit at my husband's lap. Then her husband got up and insisted I took his seat and I felt so so bad, like I cannot, but he insisted. There was also another girl who wanted to give up her seat but it was this man who insisted on giving his seat. I felt so bad. I noticed there were other young guys around us, but it was this older gentleman who's being the real man. I really felt so so bad. I was looking at the map checking how long more the bus ride would be. Halfway I asked him if we could switch. I may have looked like I was going to cry that he said it's okay and he put his hand on mine. Man, I felt really really bad. When we arrived I thanked them profusely, but I don't think it's enough. I felt really really bad.

To get up Grouse mountain, you take the gondola. The reason why I was visiting it was because in this place you could see grizzly bears. They have two of them, but when I was there I could only see one, Grinder. I was quite glad to be able to see him because apparently this is not guaranteed. The other one, Coola, was hiding in an area with trees and I didn't see him at all in my time there. Then in the later part of the day, Grinder went hiding too. So it's possible you go all the way there and do not see any of them. I was quite lucky that Grinder was quite active. He went to the water and then floated and chewed on a log. Here's some pictures of him, interrupted by a tiny squirrel I saw.

There are actually other things you can do in Grouse mountain like ziplining and Grouse Gravity Coaster, but you pay for this separately and I didn't do any of them. I did watch the free Lumberjack Show performance where these dudes demonstrated all kinds of lumberjack things like felling a trunk while standing on a plank, carving using a chainshaw, climbing, and trying of get the other one to fall while balancing on a log in water.

Also another thing that's free is the chairlift. I was like scared looking at it, but at the same time felt compelled to do it, because again you cannot be defeated by fear. I saw some people working on the chairlift so I thought it didn't work, but it turned out some section was under maintenance and the other section was working, so I couldn't get away from it. There weren't many people queuing for it and I got the whole chair for myself and God help me, I was so scared. I don't think it's the fear of height, but it's the fear of dying violently and I did not want to fall. I felt so exposed that high up that I didn't dare move. I needed to hold the metal bar in front of me, but it was super cold. I switched to hugging my bag but I didn't feel safe - maybe to be more exact, I didn't feel like in control, not like I can control anything, so I was back trying to hold the cold metal bar. It was actually moving quite slow and there's no big wind. Even when it's obvious we're climbing up, it was rather smooth. The other people on the chairs were like enjoying themselves. Going down, there was a girl on her own who sat in such a relaxed posture checking her phone. There was a group of young bros behind me (seemed like between 16-19) who were chatting happily (another bros conversation that didn't interest me), laughing, and making bird noises. Meanwhile, I was just there trying to keep it together. Two experiences came to my mind. One was when I did something like this with Dewi in Sentosa back in 2008, even then I was like please no wind and no sudden movement. Dewi was like fine throughout. The second one was the chairlift in Capri. That one is really a single chair, you have to do it on your own. I may have blocked out every memory of going up, but I remember being scared going down and Mau turning back to look at me because she didn't believe I was scared and when she saw me she grinned because I was really freaking out. I wish I have become better at this, but no, but I did it and I made it. There are many times in my life where I wonder why I am alone doing things. I don't have the answer to that. All the things I conquer, do they mean anything? I do not know. Is there a point? I do not know. Maybe I should just focus on the blessing. Yes I was alone experiencing all these, but the experiences are really unimaginable blessings - who would have thought I get to do all these things I have done. Anyways when I arrived on top, the view of Vancouver in the far distance was nice. The young bros asked me to take their pictures - they called me miss :D I think in Singapore speak, they meant auntie. There's a big wind turbine on top and the view of the mountains around were nice too. Look at the chairlift in this picture below that I had to endure.

I managed to get up but it didn't lessen my fear when I had to go down - oh my God! Again I sat on my own. I don't know which one is worse, going up or down. Both are as scary. There were a few stoppages going down and I was not relaxed at all while waiting, but again I made it and I was fine *sigh* After the whole chairlift thing, I watched Owl talk which wasn't as interesting as I thought it would be because there's only one owl. I tried to see the bears again, but they were' not visible. There's BeaverTails in Grouse mountain, but even that was rather disappointing. It's a small branch and they do not have the full complete flavours. I settled on hazelnut since there's no maple and I had that before leaving. It's nice to see the bear, but I don't think Grouse mountain is that worth it. Many things to do in Grouse mountain require separate ticket as well, so you may end up spending a lot.

My next stop was to visit the Cleveland Dam and Salmon Hatchery. Took the local bus to get there. It's great that you can paywave your way in Vancouver public transports. It was quite a walk from the bus stop to Cleveland Dam. Kinda nice to see families just hanging out that Sunday, eating in the parks and their kids playing. I saw the dam, but it wasn't that interesting for me and then I think I saw an arrow to the hatchery and I went to follow that sign. I wasn't sure if I was going the right way, but I just walked and it was a nice walk, among the trees. The only bad thing was that it was going down down and I knew the back up would be a pain. I arrived in the Coho trail and it was nice. There's the Capilano river. There's people fishing; I don't know how they got down to the river. There weren't that many other people. So I followed the trail and it's a loop and it was really really nice. Then after I finished the loop and crossed the bridge, I went to the hatchery. By this time, I was already tired so I didn't really read all the explanation boards. Through the glasses you could see many baby fishes, I couldn't remember what kind of salmons they were. I didn't really spend a long time there. I like the walk so much that I chose to do another trail, Second Canyon trail. The trees around are Douglas-firs and it was really nice. At the end of the trail, the view of Cleveland Dam was really nice. You know, I should have spent more time here instead of Grouse Mountain. This walk is free and it's just so nice with all the trees and quiet. Hope I get to explore this area more if I get to Vancouver again.

Then I had to get back, but before I did that, I walked a bit more at the top of the dam. The last picture above was when I looked down the dam's wall. For pictures from the day, you can go here. I think I was doing good on time. I have the bad habit of not wanting to go early to the airport - I had written about this. Still, I checked with Google and its AI wanted me to be there 3 hours early - is it seriously a thing now? The AI was freaking me out and rushing me to get a move on. I literally had to tell it, you need to calm down. I can't say I like AI. In fact the idea of it annoys me. At this point it is scary that it can replace many things that we do, but I also have to admit that I used it a lot in this trip and I am embarrassed about it. There is the way it "talked" to me that made me feel a little bit like it cared? It was asking me to update it when I reached Lonsdale (all these things I visited are in North Vancouver), I guess it wanted to give me an update on time as I get off the bus, get on the SeaBus, walk to the hotel, get on the Canada Line train. I ignored it asking me for updates, but yeah I cannot think anyone in my universe who would like an update of where I was like that. There's also like a sadness perhaps or maybe it's reality grounding me - the way the AI "talked" to me felt like some sort of care given, but it's not physically there with me, so whatever problem and issue I might face, it's still me alone having to deal with it. So I realize the nothingness (if that's the correct word) of it. I don't know if I'm making any sense.

Anyways, I heeded the AI freaking me out. I didn't even eat in Lonsdale. I got off the bus, got on the SeaBus, went straight to my hotel to get my luggage, and went to take the train (correctly) to the airport. I wasn't sure what the security and immigration check line in the airport would be like, so I thought okay might as well be early and I arrived over 2 hours before flight. There's no line to drop the luggage. There weren't that many people for security check as well. My bag did have to get scanned twice because somehow the scan showed nothing the first time, but it's all good the second time around. Then it turned out there's no immigration check when leaving Canada. So all the possible queue and wait I was worried about was a non-issue. I ate a bit in the airport, but I was quite tired from the walking that day that I didn't do much else. I was quite sleepy in the plane, did doze off a lot, but I did finish all the episodes that I hadn't watched of Pluribus and I completed season 1, looking forward to season 2. I now have this nervousness about going to the lavatory because what if that one time I go, there's a sudden scary turbulence, but I did anyway because period came and I needed to take care of that and also it doesn't seem right to sit all the way for over 15 hours. All and all everything was good and I arrived in Singapore safely. This is the last post about the trip. I thank God always for being my protector. Every trip is a good trip. I quite like Canada. I thank God that somehow we completed another adventure. I really do not take this for granted.

:) eKa @ 8:59:00 PM • 0 comments

Sunday, July 05, 2026

Day 7 - Stanley Park + Granville Market + Lonsdale

she's always trying to find another place to go
cruising to the music on the radio
and they'll try to understand her but they'll never know
Madison - Drugdealer

I finally got a day where I could wake up late in Vancouver. For breakfast, I went to the nearby Tim Hortons and ordered their loaded box combo to go. I didn't realize the loaded box already had two hash browns inside it that I chose hash brown as my side - should have chosen the donut :( I chose tea as the drink. They asked me if I wanted a brewed one; I said yes and they put cream and sugar and I think they call this double double and gosh that tea was good. I was like darn Tim Hortons, you make good tea. So I got all that back to my room. I can't say I like the loaded box much. I don't think they do scrambled eggs well. I tend to eat rather plain so I also didn't enjoy all the sauces much. It's a big portion that I didn't manage to finish it all.

After breakfast, I needed to go and start the day. I already planned and studied about cycling in Vancouver and yet that day I was still rather nervous about it, despite of my cycling success in Banff (all the pain from that day was completely gone). You cannot be defeated by fear though, so off I went. I got to the bicycle rental store at around 11 AM and unlike in Banff, they got me out quite quickly and here I did a mistake. I didn't take a moment to make sure all were okay. The helmet they gave me was too big that it was like falling out of my head often throughout the ride :( Then they also didn't teach me how to use the lock; I was like dumb you, sigh. At least here they could put a basket in the bicycle though. The street in front of this bicycle rental store was so crowded with traffic and people that I confided to the staff, it's so chaotic out there, and asked how to get started. He instructed me to walk the bicycle first until the junction, turn right, then I would find the start of the dedicated bicycle lane. It sounds easy now that I had done it, but I was pretty much blanking out on his instruction, I just recalled walk the bicycle first. The customers in front of me were these three Indian bros and they were setting off not long before me. This was perhaps one of the reason why I didn't check all my equipment first and quickly set off, I wanted to follow them. They led the way correctly and I was thankful.

I started with the dedicated cycling lane near Canada place. The dedicated part was actually what assured me that I could do this when I was studying for this, but darn I was a bit wrong. The place was so touristy and people were walking in and out the lanes that I felt like I needed to be careful more. My braking skill is not graceful at all, I couldn't just suddenly brake. Even when I wanted to stop to take pictures, I was rather awkward. Anyways, the people were watching all the little planes landing and departing from the water. They were interesting. The floating platform with a structure that has Chevron logo on it is where I think the planes get their fuel. The day was overcast, but luckily there wasn't any rain.

Following the cycling path brought me to Stanley Park. It's nice that these paths are all connected, so it's all safe, but you really need to watch out for people walking and crossing in. This is an example of the path I was on in Stanley Park.

The path is on the outer perimeter of Stanley Park so I don't really know what's inside the park. It's also one way which means that you cannot just turn and backtrack. I was so consumed in trying to figure out if I can cycle safely that I didn't really study and plan to do things inside the park. I didn't even take a deeper at the map the bicycle rental shop provided. It was actually quite useful. When I stopped (awkwardly), it was to take photo, and it was made more awkward by the helmet falling off my head :( By luck I stopped at one point and then I saw that there seemed to be many people on the other side of the road. So I walked my bicycle and crossed the road and found that's where the totem poles are. The bicycle rack was full and there's no point of me using it because I didn't know how to use the chain lock given to me anyway. So I just put my bicycle next to the full bicycle rack unlocked. Luckily it was okay. There are other sculptures near the totem poles if you walk out a bit. The totem poles themselves were very interesting though my pictures of them were rather blurry - I do not know what happened.

Other things seen on this cycling path after I left the totem poles are the Girl in Wetsuit sculpture and the Lions Gate Bridge. When I saw the Girl in Wetsuit sculpture, it reminded me of the Copenhagen's mermaid which I'm sure many people think too.

Looking at map, it is rather sad that I didn't explore the inside of Stanley park because there seems to be quite a lot of interesting things in it - maybe one day I'll get a chance to go there again? I just followed the cycling path in front of me and I knew that I had left the park when it's looking more crowded with people. There was a time where I literally stopped because there's this clueless guy tourist who wandered into the cycling lane and was like taking his time and then a guy behind me came and was like saying loudly it's a cycling lane! People walking in and out of the cycling lane really made me nervous. Anyways, one of the things I saw from a distance after leaving the park was this A-maze-ing Laughter sculpture by Yue Minjun.

Then a problem came. Initially I had thought, could I cycle to Granville market? I could not. I studied it, checked Google Maps, but on the day I just couldn't figure out the way. Based on the Vancouver cycling map I got, I also couldn't understand if the cycling paths are connected all the way there. In the map, the path was like on top of another, what does it mean? I do not know. I ended up just following the path in front of me. I passed by George Wainborn Park, David Lam Park, saw the sphere of the Science World in the distance, all the while thinking how do I get back?!?! I didn't study the important part. I knew I didn't want to go to Science World and I didn't want to cycle aimlessly. I finally stopped and checked Google Maps on how best to get back. Hornby street gives the most direct line, so off I turned and got there. My Vancouver cycling map told me that there's a part where it's a steep uphill and yes I couldn't do it. I walked the bicycle. Embarrassing? For sure. There was a guy in a bicycle who turned to look at me - yes, I see you dude. In Hornby street the cycling lane is separated from the car lane so it's safe, no worry there. After that section where I had to walk, I could cycle the rest, but because I wasn't fast (by design), I stopped at every junction because I met a red light. It gave me time to rest and see things. I saw that there's a protest happening in Robson Square (if I'm not mistaken). I don't know what the protest was for. The flags were not Palestinians, so my guess was for Iran. At that time I didn't know the different version of Iranian flags, so I really don't know what it was for. Was it to stop the war? I did see one Israeli flag, so maybe it's to support regime change? Anyways, I reached the end of Hornby street, now what. I decided to still go straight to this small park which I already walked through the morning before on my way to my day tour meeting point. I was met with some stairs going down, oh my God! Thankfully God heard me even before I went full on panic and I saw a ramp by the side, so I could walk the bicycle and at the end of the park I turned right and I got back to the bicycle shop easily. Thank God!

I still wanted to go to Granville market, so after I dropped off the bicycle I figured out a bus to get there. The bus stop wasn't clear so I had to ask a staff at the Waterfront station. The Granville market area was happening. I don't know if it's because it's a Saturday. I would be so confused if somehow I had made it with a bicycle. Because there's so many people, I actually didn't explore the surrounding area much. I went to the market and it was packed with people so that's not comfortable at all, but I have to admit there's so many interesting food in the market. I wanted to try a lot and after going here and there and got turned off by the many people I decided on pies, but which pie? So many interesting options. I went with banana pie which was good, but the meringue did have an egg smell which I didn't quite enjoy (and I actually love eggs) so I didn't finish the meringue. I found a seat outside and ate it there. After that, I decided to just leave. I could not handle the crowd. Granville market is something that I would like to explore again if I'd be so lucky to be in Vancouver again.

After I was back in Waterfront station, I decided to take the SeaBus accross the water to North Vancouver. I didn't really explore much actually. There's the Lonsdale Quay Market which has less shops than Granville and way way calmer. Maybe it was busier in the morning, it was quite late when I got there. Then I walked around the area, the pier.

Then I decided to go for dinner. The place where I wanted to go to is kinda away from the quay and a walk up a slope. They made me sit in at the bar. There were other people around me and suddenly these strangers made conversation with each other and the staff shucking oysters at the bar and I was just listening about their lives, kids, schools. I chose lobster mac and cheese and when it came I had to make sure it was correct because that was not what I expected. Just googled the place again and only now I realize they put mac and cheese inside " ". It was really good all the same. After that, I decided to just go back across the water. Back in my side of Vancouver, I walked a bit around the area where I started cycling that morning. I didn't see any plane taking off, but there were a few landing. I could also see some mountains covered in cloud.

Last stop was Gastown. I wanted to get some stuff for myself and check out the clock one final time. I was leaving the next day so yeah things were ending. I also stopped to take pictures of the pink alley before I went back to my hotel, just as a final thing to do. There's also some last pictures of the pink alley at night from my room. Vancouver has been interesting. For pictures from the day go here.

:) eKa @ 12:45:00 PM • 0 comments

Monday, June 29, 2026

Day 6 - Victoria + The Butchart Gardens

but I traveled a long way
and it sure took a long time
to find you, yeah, but I sure did find you
... and He blessed my soul ... yes, He did
I Found You - Alabama Shakes

I love that song a lot and I wonder if it would ever apply to me, but at this age I think we have to be realistic it may not. Anyways, I felt quite blessed on day 6, so let's have that song on. Day 6 started early again. I was taking a day trip to Victoria and The Butchart Gardens and this involved taking 1.5 hours ferry ride back and forth from Vancouver to Victoria, so the day was going to be long. Meeting time was 07:05 AM. Breakfast for that day was the Lee's donuts which was okay I suppose. The donuts I got were more cake like which was a bit much perhaps for an early morning, but I finished the two I got. I got to the meeting point and there were already many others waiting. Most were like retiree couples. I wasn't in the mood to socialize so I just hung around the periphery. We got picked up and I got a seat for myself and I thought good, but then we picked out one last couple and since most of the seats were taken, I ended up sitting with a guy and I was like urgh :( The guy was like saying, I won't make any trouble. I wasn't the friendliest I suppose, well I'm not a morning person and I really wanted to sit alone, so I guess I just nodded and gave a weak smile (if I smiled at all).

Somewhere along the way, he tried to make conversation again and was like, how is it going so far. I was like, actually I'm still very sleepy, but then this somehow got us to start talking. They're from Arkansas, just outside Little Rock if I'm not mistaken. Obviously I couldn't point where Arkansas is on a map and I think I told him this and I googled it on the spot :) He and his wife were going to do a cruise to Alaska and I said I was planning to go to Alaska last year, but I didn't, and I'm avoiding America for the time being. He said he got it and then he continued, well we just tried to tell people we're not that kind of Americans - meaning MAGA Americans. He happened to wear a red hat and I wanted to joke, okay let me check your hat real quick if it's MAGA :D but I didn't. He was quite interested about Singapore when I said I live in Singapore. I wonder if these people's exposure of Singapore is from Crazy Rich Asians. He was like the food is great right and I was like, food, err ... okay I'm Indonesian, I would say it's better in Indonesia. I did try to give a better impression of Singapore though and I was saying yeah if you have a chance go there, there's nothing like it, because that's true. I've been places and Singapore is kinda one of a kind, but then forgive me because I also said something like, it's soul crushing but there's nothing like it. Geez, I cannot help myself. I know there will be some Singaporeans out there who will be up in arms with my statement. This might be a split opinion. Well I hope it's a split opinion, I hope there's not like only 30% of people in Singapore who disagree with my statement. Anyways, the guy's name is Kevin. His wife is Christina. They have 2 kids, their son's leaving home for college soon and their daughter is 12 who likes K-pop (man, I am amazed of this K-pop influence). He speaks lovingly of his family. Somehow to me he looked a bit like Mike White, but at the same time because he wears glasses, he also brought to my mind The Minions Kevin. That car ride on the way to the ferry terminal in Vancouver was the longest time I spent with Kevin because after that Kevin and Christina wanted to sit together; this kinda caused a bit of chaos to the rest who had to change seat. Our conversation was short, but I cannot explain it, it's like we just formed a connection, like we're just locked. Like you and me, we friends. It would take a cosmic miracle for me and Kevin to meet again. I already forget his face and I will not recognize him if we meet on the street, but if somehow we do, I think it'll be like, I got you. It's so weird, really weird, but at the same time because I'm quite anti-social, it feels really really good that I could make a connection with people. Believe me, I don't take this for granted. To have it happen so fast, based on so short interaction, well I'm just amazed. I hope it's not just me feeling this way, but I don't think so. When we arrived in Butchart Gardens, he gave me a high five as I got out of the van, just because. I don't know what his wife thought - is it weird? Yeah somehow these two weirdos connected :D

Anyways, back to the trip. The van parked at the lower compartment of the ferry. Kevin said it reminded him of a film he saw. I wrongly said Inception; only much later I realized it should be Tenet instead. We all got out of the van and dispersed. It would be weird if I hung around Kevin, so I just went my way. The ferry has like a cafeteria and the breakfast food looked good. It's crowded though with all the passengers. Since I already ate, I didn't bother. I did get a hot chocolate if I'm not mistaken. I think I just walked around and stood outside, but I didn't really take any photo on this ride to Victoria it seemed. As we're approaching Victoria, we're told to get back to the car. This is where we did wrong. I was waiting at the lift as instructed by the guide and all our travelling companions were there too. Then somehow they decided to go down to the parking area themselves. I was like, Kevin, do you know where we're going. We did not and it was like the blind leading the blind and we're lost in the parking lot. I regretted not being a good Asian who followed instruction and waited for the guide :D At some point this Kevin and Christina went different ways. I do not understand why they did not stay together. I chose Christina, because Christina looked like she's more determined and can solve problems and Kevin looked more like the type, we'll just see as we go. Took some scrambling but I spotted the guide and I was thankful for that. Then it's up to Christina to figure out where Kevin was and get him back :D

When we got into Victoria, the guide was telling us about the area a bit. He was telling us as we're passing Chinatown, there's the oldest Chinese Temple in Canada, as well as the most narrow alley in Canada. Now we're about to get some time to spend in Victoria and I did not plan at all what I was going to do. So when I heard all that, I was like so interested. The guide dropped us not near Chinatown though. We're dropped by the Royal BC Museum. I forgot how much time we got, maybe like 2 hours and I thought I could do it. Google put walking time around 15 mins or so and I could walk and so I did. Passed some interesting shops on the way there, but I was focused on the goal. When I got to the temple as Google indicated, I couldn't find it. I was like what, where?!?! I had to ask Google back where the entrance is and the AI was like saying yes indeed it's not obvious. What I was seeing was like a row of shophouses and Google indicated the door to take and I found it. When I opened the door immediately I saw stairs. When I started to get in and walked up, the door opened again and I heard some Indonesian. What are the odds?!? I turned and was quite happy to be speaking Indonesian and I asked them if they're going to the temple. I told them it seemed we needed to take this stairs. Perhaps they were a bit hesitant, but they indeed followed suit. The temple's name is Tam Kung Temple. When I got there, there's an old uncle caretaker who didn't seem to speak English - see him a bit in the picture below. I was a bit surprised of the temple. It's actually just a room, not very big at all. You paid / donated 2 dollars to visit. I wanted to pray and saw the sign it's 10 dollars, so by pointing and all, somehow the uncle understood me and he got me the joss sticks set. Then he proceeded to light the candles and joss sticks for me and basically led me to the sequence of altars. It's a bit much to be receiving this treatment because I felt like I'm a bother for him (he also moved kinda slow), but at the same time I understood. This is a small room and he needed to make sure all are placed correctly lest there'll be fire. In fact it was really on my mind, like I cannot imagine this temple having as many joss sticks as the temples I usually go to. Even in the temples I usually go to, both in Indonesia and Singapore, there would be caretakers who take out the joss sticks from time to time because they do not want the joss sticks to suddenly catch fire if they're all crowded together.

Except for the main altar where it's on a table, the rest are on the floor. There's one of its balcony too and the last one was the Kitchen God. I know because there's a small write-up in English next to the altar. Seeing it, I was so touched because my house has a Kitchen God, so I immediately thought it's the sister God or perhaps brother God to be more correct and my mind was like thinking is it like a portal, does the Kitchen God at home see me now? It almost like I could reach and be there at home. After this the uncle indicated for me to hit the bell and drum three times each. I was a bit embarrassed doing this. Mind you, the Indonesian group was there watching me, but I followed whatever the uncle said. Then came the burning of the joss paper. This totally skipped my mind. I didn't think of it at all because the temple is just a small room. Even in a normal temple, this part could get me nervous. I like to see a straight line from where the candle is to the usually pagoda-shaped furnace. I like to be quick, almost to a run. When I was a child, I'm pretty sure there was a moment when I wasn't quick and the paper was burning a lot that I was scared that I dropped it on the ground and it didn't reach the furnace - this is bad. There were also moments when I was scared so I didn't want to light the paper too much on the candle that the fire died when it reached the furnace - on cases like this, I could only hope there's other burning joss papers in the furnace to help mine. So when the uncle handed me the joss paper, I was like, what, how?!? Trust the process I supposed. So I lighted the joss papers on the candle by the Kitchen God and then the uncle opened this little red door on the wall and so that's where the small furnace it. It's so so interesting. Here's a photo that I tweeted at Bluesky, it's the Kitchen God on the floor. You can see the drum and bell and the little red door on the wall is where the small furnace is.

It was truly a touching moment for me. It's because it's very rare that I go overseas and I found a temple where I could pray. There are churches and I do spend time to say a little prayer in some of them, but a Chinese temple that I could understand, that's familiar to me, that is rare. Of course that's because I usually go to Western countries. The only other places where I had prayed in Chinese temples were in Hong Kong and Taiwan with the parents. In Japan, the prayers were not quite the same. So all this, this experience that God had given me, that's so unexpected, it's just so so precious. After I finished, I asked the uncle if I could take some pictures, he said yes. The Indonesian family already went down by this time. I googled the temple as I'm writing this and I found out they recently had a fire :( It seemed there's a lot damage. I hope the uncle is okay. The news said the main deity statue in the main altar is okay despite of the fire. I am a bit sad and stunned that for such a historical place, the temple is just a small room on the upper floor of a building. I guess it goes to show that when you're so far away from your root, some things perhaps couldn't take hold and flourish as much. I hope the restoration of this temple after the recent fire would go well and the temple will get better. I said thank you to the uncle and then I left. Back on the street, the Indonesian family was still there and I chatted with them a bit more. It's the parents with some other family or friends visiting their daughters who are studying in Vancouver and they're taking that day to go visit Victoria on their own. I knew where I wanted to go next, so I said my good bye.

Where I wanted to go next was Jam Cafe which is visible from the temple. Jam Cafe is a popular brunch place, like it's a recommended place to go in Vancouver and I already kinda thought I was going to go there the next day being that it's not so far from my hotel. It's not super ideal though, the next day being a Saturday, that would mean I had to get up early so that I didn't have to wait long in the queue. I hate queueing for food. So it was kinda like a fortuitous blessing that the Victoria branch is nearby, like how lucky! There wasn't any line when I was there and it wasn't overly crowded but they still put me at the bar counter, which was fine, it wasn't filled with people. They have savory and sweet dishes and all of them are very interesting and it's not easy to choose. I should most probably go with savory considering what I had already eaten thus far, but somehow I couldn't. I chose the cinanamon bun pancakes and look at its beautifulness below. It's three stacks, I don't know how they did it with the cinnamon swirls in the pancakes. Look at the very generous maple butter. I was a bit unsure if I was going to like the cream cheese icing, but it all worked well together. They were really really good. I couldn't finish it though, it's too much and I did feel sad that I couldn't finish it because it's so good and the chance of me having it again is low.

I still had quite a lot of time to get back, so I didn't have to rush. I didn't explore the Chinatown, but I did go to the narrow alley. It's called Fan Tan Alley. There's actually shops in there, but I didn't go in any of them. Then I reached the harbour where there's many boats. Then I explored the area by the British Columbia Parliament Buildings where there's the Knowledge Totem Pole - the frog below is part of it. Can I just say I like totem pole and I love things that get chosen into a totem pole. I just googled, I didn't realize that a totem pole is from one single log, not separate items being stacked together. The artists making these are amazing. Then since our meeting point is by the Royal British Columbia Museum, I explored its small garden outside while waiting to get picked up.

Our last stop was The Butchart Gardens. I read a lot of nice reviews about the garden, but when I was there I felt like it didn't live up to my expectation. I thought this is no Keukenhof, but when I had finished seeing everything I realized this garden has its strong points too. There's a sunken garden and a Japanese garden. The landscape is more varied, so it makes it quite interesting. This is also where I finally saw blue poppies (see below). I have to say they're not as what I expected. I thought it would be darker blue, not baby blue. It's not my favorite colour of poppies. Then there's the tall trees, the redwoods, the beech. There's a dock with boat; I don't know where the boat ride would take you. There's a carousel for the kids. I like that we're given a plant guide booklet that shows the pictures of the plants / flowers and their names, though I didn't go hunt for each of them. I guess in the end, I do like this garden afterall. It was quite nice exploring it.

On the ferry back, I made sure to take note where the van was parked and the way to get there. As I recall, the cafeteria was closed. I chose to spend my time outside. Tried to find a quiet spot and didn't really find it. I found a place to sit, but there was this lady who I think was practicing Spanish on the phone and she was kinda loud :( It was very windy which made it chilly and after some time she thought of it too and she took her small dog inside. I didn't get my peace and quiet though because behind me there were some bros sitting and I have to say, I do not enjoy bro talk. I didn't realize it would be rather banal to me. To be fair if they have to sit through girl talk, they may feel the same. There was nothing offensive, thank God, but there were things I found really boring. A guy was saying he was like in a bar or something in Thailand and was rather invested on the UFC fight playing on the TV and thought it was live and only after he realized it wasn't and he was disappointed for being so invested - okay ... I guess in a way it's good that these bros have friends, what with the male loneliness epidemic kinda thing. They too finally moved inside, so I did get some peace and quiet. I took some pictures on this ferry ride back. I didn't seem to take any on the way to Victoria, I'm not sure why. I must have spent time outside as well, but I just didn't. Anyways, we passed other ferry and our ferry would sound its horn when it happened. You know, I just realized that this ferry trip between Victoria and Vancouver crosses the US water on some parts.

We arrived in Vancouver at 8 PM something. A couple in the group asked to be dropped off at some street which I found out was very close to my hotel, so I followed suit. Turned out that couple was staying at the same hotel. I said my goodbye to Kevin and Christina. It would have been nice if we had talked more, but I was rather shy. Anyways, the sun was still out, but I didn't want to go far or take too long for dinner, so I went straight to the nearest Burger King. Now, I stayed in a hotel that's nice. I don't think it's a shady neighbourhood, but I told you about the very visible homeless people in Vancouver. On my way to Burger King, there's this homeless man about to take drugs by the corner of the block of my hotel. You might be asking, how do you know it's drugs, do you know what you're seeing? What I was seeing was this man having an aluminium foil on one hand and a lighter on the other hand. On this aluminium foil was substance. It was off white, not pure white, which made me wonder what it was. Truly the whole thing was fascinating to me. I have never seen a person taking drugs in real life. I've only seen them in movies or TVs - not Singapore one, taking drugs is highly censored; not sure what the censor is like in Indonesian cinema. This was about to happen live in front of me and I was so so curious. I have so many questions, even now. What is the substance? How much does it cost? Is it easy to get? How do you afford it? How do you do it? How fast do you feel the effect? I wanted to watch it, but obviously I cannot. I couldn't take pictures and I had to keep it moving. Fascinated might be the wrong word and perhaps it's wrong to have this much curiosity, but I was truly fascinated and curious. I wonder if all the many sirens I heard in Vancouver were all the paramedics trying to help people who overdosed.

Anyways the Burger King was having the Mandalorian meal thingy. I had the chicken fries, onion rings (its breading was different than Singapore one), and a blue shake which I didn't know what, it was very sweet though. The staff asked if I wanted a crown with that, I said no. Perhaps I should have said yes; I could have worn it while eating in my living room. It was a good end to a good day - sitting in front of the TV, eating all the junk food. The day was really good. The many unexpected blessings, the serendipity of it all - God blessed my soul indeed. For pictures from the day go here.

:) eKa @ 9:37:00 PM • 0 comments