Setting things straight.

Hello, it's the end of mid term exams! Woohoo! Not that I put much effort into mugging for it but at least it's over! There shall be no more worrisome thoughts of how much of the test I shall have to complete to get a passing grade or, whether I have to attempt to get up early to study (though I always end up sleeping in for at least one or two hours). And, of course, I can finally get a good nights sleep. Believe it or not, I actually had mid term exam jitters last night and could not fall asleep. It could be due to the time difference in Vancouver and Montreal too though! Lol!

So, yes, I've been away the last two weeks on my 10 day adventure to the Westlands of Canada, which all in all, completes my tours in Canada: ) It started off with a 7-day tour with the Moose tour, which was undoubtedly the awesomest tour I have ever been on. I guess, part of the thrill was that I actually took the big leap and travelled alone and met new friends there: )) Exchange is all about new experiences huh huh! And of course, there was the rockies. Goodness, so beautiful! Somehow, it's the type of scenary that you can never get used to. The mountains, the snow, the gorgeous lakes and waterfalls, the little tidbits of wildlife here and there... WOW! I'll definitely return to Banff town and stay there for a year to experience the Rockies throughout the seasons and perhaps work there for some keeps, I suppose. When, though, that's another issue. I've met people on the trip who took a year off from work or studies to rough it out in a land they have no clue about. A 19-yr old German girl left behind a boyfriend to come to Lake Louise to work for 6 months.. Two wild Australian girls, one taking time off school and another taking time off her full time job, coming to work at the town of Banff and Kelowna respectively. Another German boy, Thore, who we brand the Nordic god, staying in Vancouver, hoping to get work to keep staying there. I wonder, if I'll ever get that kind of adventure in the next few years to come or will I get stuck 7am to 7am at the audit job, living the next 80% of my life in the office building and forgetting what sunshine feels like. I pray not, I hope. We'll see...

Anyway, it snowed just yesterday's yesterday! My first experience with real real snow! I mean, it did snow in Banff town but the snow flakes were like nothing much, though the wind was much softer than in Montreal where the snow flakes kept blowing into my face. But, it was so so so pretty! I would have stayed outside longer if it weren't so goddamned freezing cold! In any case, it sure is the start of winter. Oli, my landlady's grandson, came running in telling me that it was time to have a snowball fight! : )) Haha! Me, a 22 yr old, against a vivacious 10 yr old. I'll say the odds are running in his favour. There's ice skating too, in time. And, apparently, he can do spins and the likes, while I'll be the one at the corner in disbelief whether the ice is really safe for skating!

Well, more good times to come! New york, new york in the coming week! : )

"In any case, the dust has settled and maybe we're capable of decision."

One day...

I have safely gotten through 2 days of travelling alone and reached home safely last night: ) Without a scratch or violent traumatising experience... Except maybe for the fact that I kept missing meals throughout the 2 days.

So, being a responsible daughter who's using her parents money to go on vacation/ exchange, I return home to send my parents an email to let them know that I'm safe at home and my daddy replies me with an email saying, "Just saw the movie 'Taken'. The message was very clear, 'Don't go wandering in foreign countries alone.'" Sweet eh. Yes, the same ol' loveliest of daddies in the whole wide world who, in my last week in Singapore, before Montreal, told me that I should understand my place in society as a female because he didn't want me to be staying out late and have suppers ever so often. Haha, people always spread concern in the quirkiest ways possible I suppose.

Anyway, the two days travelling on my own was an experience in its own right. The first day was spent up in Brockville, thinking I was going on a 1000-Island Cruise which unfortunately was not the case because the stupid company cancelled the cruise as they didn't have enough people taking it. In fact, I was the only one who registered for the cruise. In the first few hours of travelling alone, I felt like scrunching up into a ball and sit on the road and cry! So, I trudged my way to the tourism office who told me there were other small little sights around Brockville to visit and the loveliest little bakery/ cafe called Taits on King Street W who sells the best, reasonably priced brownies ever! So, with 2 brownies in my system and a good 5 hours or so of stable internet connection and happy skype conversations which made my day, I spent the last few hours walking to the Fulford place and travelling to the jetty with the hairbrained idea to catch the sunset. Unfortunately, it started raining and I stupidly decided to try to hide in a telephone booth at the jetty which was so wrong. Firstly, try picturing me with my backpack squashed in there and secondly, the stupid telephone booth was filled with all kinds of gunk! Lizards poo, spiders, webs, dead insects, you name it, it's there! Eww... In any case, the day spent on Brockville wasn't exactly all that much a waste. In fact, it was a good time to take a break from all that feet aching walks in Toronto and settle in the slow pace of the Canadian lifestyle. Brockville's pace of life is pretty slow and has a mostly ageing demographic and historical sites, like the first ever canadian railway! Plus, I must emphasize, the brownies were totally delicious! Haha!

After that, I arrived at Ottawa for the night at about 10pm and made my way to the HI Hostel, again, clutching a map and pepper spray in my other hand, and this time, passing a homeless shelter where the homeless stood outside. So, putting on my fiercest face, I quickly zipped past it to find my hostel. The hostel is actually pretty cool because it's a reformed jailhouse. I was asleep in cell 4 bed 1, that night! The corridors are a tad eerie, and the doors to the rooms are made of the heaviest metal ever and creak when opened or shut. Even during the day, the place is such a dreary state. The next day in Ottawa was spent walking around the city, by passing byward market, to the museum of contemporary art which had a few nice installations, strolling across the alexander bridge to take a better view of the parliament house and crossing back to take a walk and eat my apple on parliament hill. All in all, a really pretty place due to the fall colors and a city filled with loads of history and the likes. It was good for one day's worth of travelling. But by yesterday, I guess, I was prepared to come back to Montreal and familiarity already. It feels good to be home and less emo.

"We need to forget things faster because then, we'll live life better and move on."

When are you coming home?

Hello, this is an unexpected revival... Haha! I'm on the train right not at 7.05am in the morning, taking a train with VIA Rail Canada, onward bound East to another 2-day adventure, this time, alone! The sun is in the midst of rising but it looks set to be another cloudy day today. The trains actually look like caterpillars because the carriages are all green in color! My favourite, it must be fate! Haha!

The past three days of travelling have been pretty awesome, especially with my two very very adorable, happy companions, Rach and Fi! : )) Loved every moment of travelling with you babes: ) I don't know whether it was the 'my feet are so bloody sore but I'm still gonna walk all the way around Toronto to save money", or the endless string of pop songs sung, the silly things we did (you know what)... But, everything was all good! Happiness! : D

So, just a recap before I forget everything with this muddled brain of mine, I started my trip off, reaching Toronto at 5am in the morning where I walked with my, I swear, 15kg backpack (it felt like it!), looking like a tortise, wobbling down the streets of Toronto, one hand clutching a notebook where I copied out a map of my journey to where Desmond lives, and the other clutching my trusty pepper spray brought all the way from Kuala Lumpur last last summer! Walking into the dodginess of Spadina avenue, it started to get really scary and real that I was on my own and if I had to run, god forbid, I needed to throw my huge mountain smith backpack on the ground at my attacker and run and scream with whatever was within me. Thankfully though, I got to Desmond's place safely and had to call up the poor boy to come fetch me from his lobby! He could barely open his eyes! Thanks though! After the slight adventure, I took my stroll through the grounds of the University of Toronto, being a tourist and snapping photos of the old buildings, and got myself back to the Greyhound station to meet up with the lovelies! : )

We were off to Niagara Falls thereafter on our greyhound with packed fruit loops (of all assorted colors! Tsk) and apple granola bars and smarties! Reaching Lyons Backpackers in Niagara, we were greeted by Patrick, whose idea of a greeting was to stare at us and scare us into thinking we messed up or something! But, he was really nice, afterall. He was just trying to make an impact on us upon first arrival. Wasting no time, armed with the flashies, we grabbed each a ice blended drink from Dairy Queens (stupid, I know when it was below 10 degrees. It was a dare!) got down to the dock to get onto the Maid of the Mist boat! Hell, even when donned with our blue plastic raincoats, we got drenched, especially mine had a whole by the side to start with and I had to go and step on it when I was going up the stairs and made another huge hole at the bottom. I know... Don't laugh! Stupid things just happen to enjoy happening to me. But, the trip was definitely worth it. It's the feeling of the moment where you're in the middle of the Niagara and you hear the sound of the pounding water, feel the flecks and splatters of water on your face and try to search for the Niagara in midst of the rain and mist. It was totally awesome and in-describable! Thereafter, we dragged our soaked jeans and what-nots to Table Rock to visit the Journey through the falls and finally, huddled at Wendy's for some much needed warmth and half-pound beef burgers! The day ended off with some fireworks at the Niagara Falls at night and some well-deserved sleep at 12mn: )

By 6am in the morning, we were up the next day because of my bright idea to catch the sunrise at the falls. So, hobbling again to the greyhound station, we caught glimpses of the sunrise and the falls, said our goodbyes, and caught the bus back to Toronto, the New York of Canada, or so they say. Haha! Deciding to walk instead of take the public transport, we navigated ourselves from CN tower, to Chinatown, up Spadina Avenue to Casa Loma, taking a right turn to the Royal Ontario Museum (I love the architecture!) and trotting down Bloor St W around the shopping district of BloorYorkville and down Yonge Street to catch Sears and the Arts Festival and finally, home along Adelaide St W. Our feet could have died! My leather boots was meant to kill, I swear! But, the day ended off with a sinful delight at Cafe Crepes, having a Specialitie Crepe, filled with Nutella, bananas, hazelnuts and nutella sauce sprayed across it, all accompanied with a Nutella Martini! Yums!

The last day was filled with walking again but breakfast/ lunch at Andrea's place was great! A baked piece of bread, eggs, cheese and sausages, sides with a fruit mix, orange-juice with a fizzy twist and the yummilicious piece of chocolate dessert splattered with gold flakes. Tell me you're not tempted! : ) It was also pretty interesting to see how a typical Torontonian lived. Thereafter, we visited the Bata Shoe Museum along Bloor Street W and walked down Yonge Street to the harbour, taking a boat to Toronto Islands to check out the sunset. We ended the day along Spadina Avenue, singing songs to forget the cold and having a dinner at the Red Room with Chicken Fajitas and a pint of Sangria.

And, that was the Toronto experience for me! No doubt, it did bring up sad and 'emo' memories here and there, as I still try to justify my reasons for the way things have become as they are. I don't understand how he complains though. Toronto is such a nice city but then again, we were 19. We needed to grow up and see the world a little more to have understood our decisions then.

I loved every minute of being in Toronto and kind of wished I could stay a little longer but not today I suppose. It's a city that's worth staying in. Everything's pretty convenient and an Asian would feel right at home there due to the large Asian population there as compared to Montreal. But, I love Montreal a little more though because the people there are much friendlier: )

So, anyway, on my last leg of the Ontario adventure. To Brockville in 2 and a half hours time to catch the 1000-Island Cruise experience and then to Ottawa for the night! I'm pretty sure I'm missing out on my lovely company in Toronto now! Hope they got to their plane on time! : ) Too-da-loos then!

"One day, maybe I'll forget all of it and feel completely numb towards it, maybe we'll come back a full circle, maybe it'll never stop. What do we know, we're only 22. We make impulse decisions, we fall in love and we hurt and get bruised and banged-up. We'll cry and try to think we're okay but is it really so? Do we never stop loving the loved ever?"