|
| Canada + Alaska trip - part 2Yes, one month later, I'm continuing our journey through this wonderful trip! I'm sorry about the long delay.
So, after visiting the nature of the Rockies, we went on to visit the urban cities of Vancouver and Vancouver Island. In order to get to Vancouver Island, we had to take a ferry from Vancouver and went to our first stop: Chemainus.
The ferry
Group picture
HuiMin and I doing homework :p (more like writing postcards)
Chemainus is a very special town because its walls are filled with Murals. The murals are actually painted by famous artists and when their colours fade, the artists come back and repaint them. Here are a few examples, and mind you, there were a lot!
The most important mural because of the natives.
Chemainus
In Chemainus, there's also the world's smallest luxury hotel which has only 1 room. It's said to be really nice. :)
 
Then we went to Duncan, the land of Totem Poles, which are traditional wood carvings used to worship gods.
Duncan
A description of each Totem Pole
  
Totem Poles
Then, from there we went to Victoria, which I find was the nicest city among all. It is really pretty! See for yourself, and let me know what you think.
The legislature building
 
Sunset
 
Street entertainment along the harbour.
The glorious sun
 
Relaxing on the grass
The empress hotel and the harbour
Then in Victoria were some beautiful gardens. Early in the morning, my parents, my aunt, the Wong parents and I walked a few minutes to the Beacon Hill park where we had a relaxing morning walk before starting the day.
      
After that, we followed the group to the Butchart Gardens which is absolutely breathtaking!! The way the landscaping is done and how they match the colours are just wonderful. So yup, we ladies went crazy!
                      | | |
| Canada + Alaska trip - part 1Yes I know, this is very much delayed, but I have finally sorted all the pictures and specially selected a few to best depict my recent 3 week holiday before coming back to Malaysia.  I will be dividing it into 3 parts, and in this first part, I'll tell you about our visits to the Rocky Mountains in British Columbia, Canada.
The BEAUTY of God's Creation
My holiday started in Minnesota, where my whole family and the Wong parents gathered in my oldest brother's little double story home. We came from all directions, the South (me), the East (my 2nd brother) and the South East (my parents). It was a long-awaited family gathering as we had not been together as a family for about 2-3 years!  It was really great to be together and we all (9 of us) traveled 4 hours north to Bemidji where we united with HuiMin (Wong's daughter) to celebrate her graduation. Unfortunately, I do not have any pictures to show at this time as they are all with my brother, so we shall wait till August when he comes home.  However, if you are very eager to see them, please feel free to go here: http://chewkinyan.multiply.com/photos/album/52/Chicago_and_Minnesota
So, continuing on, my parents, the Wongs and me left Minnesota for Vancouver where we joined a bunch of Malaysians for the Rocky Mountains tour. We set of early in the morning and traveled around British Columbia in a bus, going through different National Parks where the Rocky Mountains live. The scenery is breathtaking and it reminded me yet again of God's greatness. The snowcapped mountains are huge and small, so still, but yet if you stare long enough, you can somewhat sense that they're alive and growing.
 
So anyway, we visited several towns on the way as we traveled and hopped from place to place each day for a week. First stop, we visited a Ginseng Factory. Apparently, it's the only place that manufactures North American Ginseng. *shrugs*
 
Then we stayed overnight in Revelstroke and cam-hored.
  
Then we visited the Athabasca Glacier and played in snow! We even threw snow balls at each other. Mind you, the people I traveled with were not very young, that made it all the more fun! hehe
   
Aunty Yoke throwing a snowball at me
Some of the people (L to R): U.Andrew, A.Yoke, HuiMin, Daddy, Mommy, A.WaiKam (my aunty) and me
My parents making sure they're warm...
 
A snow coach, specially used to transport people to the glacier. Check out the HUGE wheels.
Then we visited Bow Falls, and the Banff Springs Hotel, which is said to be haunted and very very very expensive.
The hotel
Bow Falls
Then we visited Sulphur Mountains and we "hiked" up with a cable car.
   
Then we visited Lake Louise, which is my favourite lake!
    
Then we visited the Emerald Lake, named so because of its colour.
Then we visited the Natural bridge, called so because the rocks naturally formed a bridge.
  
We also visited a historical site called the Last Spike. It is at this point that the Canadian Pacific Railway workers nailed in the last nail and connected, as they constructed the railroad from East and West.
If you look hard enough, you'll notice that the middle nail is gold, that's the "last spike".
Then we visited a bee farm and bought interesting honey.
 
Then we visited a winery and tried wine, it was my first time trying icewine, and ooo...it's REALLY yummy!
 
Flying around the world.
Summerhill Estate Winery
 
Icewine..yum...but the price isn't as yummy. hehe
The pyramid where they keep their wine, it is said to be the best way to keep wine.
So those are the highlights of our one week through British Columbia. Throughout the trip, we were driven around by John, the bus driver, and entertained by our tour guide, Frankie. They were fun, so that was good.
 
This was our travel group:
Well, that's all for the first part. Next up...Vancouver and Alaska.
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me k? 
| | |
| Wow, it's been a while huh? Sorry about not updating! Life has been hectic, and honestly, I don't really remember all the crazy, frustrating, and wonderful things that have been happening lately! Time has passed by in a flash and because I never write in my journal anymore, it's hard to recall!  There isn't much time to even absorb everything that's going on. 
Nevertheless, here are some pictures of major things that have happened this semester.
There was 5 days of traveling with the Ozarks Chorale through Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana. It was a great experience!! The best part was having the opportunity to stay with different host families every night! Met many interesting people, it was exhausting but super fun! 
This picture includes only a small portion of the choir, we're the Chamber Singers.
I also made a day trip to Hot Springs, AR with 10 other people. It was good to get out of small-town Clarksville! We shopped, played mini-golf, drank spring water from a fountain, and played hacky sack for the first time with some locals (totally random, but that's what made it special )!
The locals whom we played hacky sack with.
Mini-golf
Then, there was the one day trip to Eureka Springs, AR. This time around, we visited some interesting sites. First was the Thorncrown chapel which is made out glass and some metal bars. It was very modern and quite interesting.
Then we visited the Christ of the Ozarks.
Well, the semester is nearly over and I can't wait to finish up with finals next week and head over to Minnesota to spend time with my family! And then California (hopefully) and then...H-O-M-E...
SEE YOU SOON!
| | |
|  | Currently Watching
Amazing Grace
By Ioan Gruffudd, Romola Garai, Benedict Cumberbatch, Albert Finney, Michael Gambon
see related |
A Perfect Day in an Extraordinary WeekHello all,
I have been greatly blessed this week, and I thought that it would be nice if I shared it with you.
Last week was for some reason extremely hectic, tiring, and very exhausting for me. The weekend went by in a flash with the Mathematics competition and the Extreme Makeover weekend camp at First Baptist Church. I had fun and they were nice experiences, but this week has just been wonderful!
Nothing very special happened, but I experienced a day that I wish was my everyday...if only... here is how it went:
It started off with going for classes, as usual...bla bla. Then the Chamber Singers (a singing group that I'm a part of) sang for the Retired Teacher's Committee, I enjoyed this cause I enjoy singing.
So then, I spent an hour with God (which is something I've been trying to do everyday, honestly, I think this is making a big positive difference in my mood ).
After this, I went to the library and worked on my homework for 3 hours, with a few breaks in between that involved eating chocolate .
At 5pm, I went for a dance workshop which was a special event by Carlota Santana, "the keeper of Flamenco". She taught us some basics of the Flamenco, which is a Spanish dance art. It was only an hour, but I had a lot of fun and it reminded me of how much I miss dancing.
Flamenco Dancers
Carlota Santana, "the keeper of Flamenco"
After dinner, I went to watch "Amazing Grace" and it was a good movie. I found it interesting that I had never heard of William Wilberforce before, and once again, I realized that Malaysian education had once again disappointed me. While students around the world were learning about slave abolition, I was learning about Islam...but oh well, I consider it gained knowledge nonetheless.
That concluded my perfect day. As I mentioned, it was not very "special", but for some reason, I enjoyed every single minute of it.
Thank You, Lord, for your JOY.
I hope you had a great week too...
| | |
|
|
Thank you all for your caring messages. I'm feeling much better now! 
