These little things...

 

This is my personal map. Feel free to see where I have been in North America :)  Just click on it!

 

Day 5 (continued) – Abbotsford, BC 

I went to the US State of Washington! 

We came back to Abbotsford on Sunday afternoon. Godfrey, Rose and I were catching the plane at 7.30 pm. So we still got some time to spend in Abbotsford. Thanks to the Dimitri, the German volunteer in Abbotsford who showed us around.

 Abbotsford is a small city in southern BC. It’s a fact that some people here got one part of their garden in Canada and another part is in the State of Washington in the USA. Dimitri took us to the border… hehehe… Rose and Godfrey didn’t do illegal crossing but it wasn’t for Dimitri and me :p. Dimirti and me did illegal crossing with the US patrol there. Hehehe… We just put one foot in the US and one foot in Canada :p It’s very interesting because when you drive from Abbotsford airport, you see the road signs saying speed limit in km. but if you drive a little bit and you see the sign in the US side, it says speed limit in mile! So It’s kinda cool for me. You drive on Canada street and next 20 meters you can wave at people on the other side of street in the US.

 We really enjoyed our stay in BC and hope I can go back again!

Day 3- Hope, Beautiful British Columbia 

Today my main purpose of BC (British Columbia) trip started. I and another MCC workers and volunteers in BC and Alberta (AB) went to Camp Squeah in Hope. It was about 1.5 hrs drive from Abbotsford.  

The retreat’s theme was focused on Eco-justice and God’s creation. We spend the weekend talk and sharing stories about God’s creation. We also had a wonderful time at night to light the fire and talk to each other. We spent our Saturday afternoon walking, hiking and visiting. We walked from the camp to the Fraser River. One guy from Germany brought some fishing tools but so bad that there was no fish J. It was so memorable weekend cus I met nice people here and I got to play hockey! I played hockey on Friday and Saturday night. It was fun but my legs still stiff. Hehehe… 

We left the camp on Sunday afternoon

 

Day 2- Alone in Vancouver

 I spent most of the day alone. I left Surrey in the morning and traveled to Vancouver by sky train. Most pictures from today are pictures of the things I saw because…u know… I traveled alone. I now realize that I am a good map reader J.

 I bought a day pass for public transit. I started my day by walking on a chic and cool street, Robson Street. This is a paradise for shoppers. It is filled with nice shops, restaurants and cafes. It’s similar to Rodeo Drive in LA. I went there with my cool t-shirt that says “Shopping makes me feel better”. Then I took off for North Vancouver. I took seabus! It’s something like ferry but bigger and nice. I spend few hours in North Vancouver having lunch at Lonsdale Quay and took some pics at Water Front Park. So bad that I was alone L

 I took seabus back downtown Vancouver and continued my journey on skytrain (very similar to what we got in Bangkok). I went to Metro Town, the second largest mall in Canada. I wandered around for 1.5 hours and decided that I’d better go back to Gastown to get some souvenirs. So I took skytrain back to Gastown. The miracle happened here in Gastown. I unexpectedly met my friend in a souvenirs shop! We were supposed to meet in the morning and tour Vancouver together. Unfortunately, she was late so I just left and checked in at a youth hostel. But now we met again!! Such a miracle! Now you see that shopping is not too bad. So if you lose me, find me in a shop J.

 I decided to check out from the youth hostel ( I already paid L) and stayed with Gisele in her hotel. We went out for dinner at Japanese restaurant and met my big boss at her hotel. My boss was in Vancouver for a workshop. So three of us went out that evening and watched hockey game in a nice and cosy pub. SO bad that Vancouver lost but Calgary won!!

 We ended our evening by having a short walk on Davie street (paradise for gay and lesbian :p ) and English Bay. It was very nice at night at the Bay.

 

Day 1 – Vancouver in Spring 

Green green and green!!!!! Flowers are blooming. The field is filled with Tulips, Daffodils and Dandelions.  

My first day out in Vancouver was such a lovely day. We drove from Surrey late morning to Downtown Vancouver. It took us about 1 hour (we got lost). There were four of us Ivepers – Eko from Indonesia, Mweemba from Zambia, Gisele from Brazil and me). We started our day by Granville Island tour. This is a lovely island where there are free market, shops and restaurants there. There is a port for yatch and ferry. We walked around a little bit then we headed to Chinatown. We had lunch Chinese food in Chiatown. You wouldn’t believe what I got from a small shop in Chinatown. They had sweet fish (Pla-Waan) from Thailand!!! I was so surprised and happy. It was only 99 cents. So I bought one pack of sweet fish and dried longan (Lam Yai) as souvenirs from Vancouver Chinatown. My Indonesian friend, Eko, loved it so much. Vancouver Chinatown is the second largest Chinese community in North America.

 After fulfilling our stomach, we walked around Chinatown and then we drove downtown. The parking fee here in downtown area is highway robbery. We paid 12 bucks for 2 hours L.We walked along the water front. We smelled fresh air from the Pacific Ocean with a gorgeous view. It was a lovely day with sunshine and nice weather. I was so lucky that I didn’t get any rain while I was in Vancouver.

 Then we walked to Gastown. This street is filled with souvenirs shops, cafes and restaurants. The landmark of this street is the Steam Clock.

 After wandering in Gastown, we continued to a must-go Vancouver spot, Stanley Park. It’s such a lovely place. We can see downtown Vancouver and sky scrapers. And the highlight (for me) is the beach! I went to the beach and felt the breeze from the ocean. There is also a bridge there that you can cross to North Vancouver. It’s something like Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco