Monday, September 29, 2008

Travelling around Japan


on the train

Hiroshima to Beppu to Mt.Fuji and back

Puchasing the Japan Rail pass before coming to Japan we felt we had to get our moneys worth and see as much as possible, so after spending a few days in Hiroshima which is near the bottom half of the main island of Japan , we journied to Kyushu, the most southern island. It is a spa town surrounded by mountains right near the ocean. Yes it was on the ocean front however the ocean front was surrounded by heavy industry which was a major eye sore, one can't even imagine going in the water or near it for that matter.

Mark was bitten on the foot by something, a bug of some sort. The pharmacist said it was a "small mosquitos like insect" which I later looked up to find that it was a "knat". So his foot was red and swollen and he couldn't walk very fast. So the kids and I went for a walk the first day to explore the ocean front. There were these huge ugly looking cockroach like things crawling around the mounds of hidden garbage (I say hidden because there is a large cement wall along the ocean front and you can only see the garbage if you look over). Artemis screamed her head off and refused to go near the area. End of walk.

So where is the spa part of this equation? After having explored a bit the first day in the blistering high humidity, and it was only minimal exploration as everyone was knocked out by the heat and the travelling to the location and the fact Mark could not walk and generally we were all feeling a bit under the weather (talk about this later), the next day we woke with much renewed energy. Although everyone else slept like a bunch of logs on a beach, I was awoken several times by the incredible show of heavy torential rains, ongoing thunder storm battles and vibriant lightening displays. Needless to say when we all get up the next morning, the air was fresh and cool and we were ready to explore the area.

Artemis was keen on seeing the monkey habitat close to the town, famous in the area. I was reluctant as I dislike zoos of any sort but we found out that the monkeys were from the the area and that they were not caged in any way. So off we went. All of us were very pleasantly surprised as we walked amongst thousands of Japan Macaque Macaca Fuscata. Babies, teenagers, parents, elderly monkeys all roaming freely on their habitat of Mt.Takasaki, now a protected area and a huge tourist attraction. Of course a major high way runs along the bottom of the mountain so monkeys do not travel to the water often anymore. They are residents of the mountain coming and going in a park like area where tourists can ohh and ahh about how cute and intellegent and human like they are.


Posing with the Boss


Next off to find the hot springs in the mountains above the town. We choose a one location which had multiply experiences, starting with a hot sand spa. Its like being on a hot beach and burying oneself in sand, very relaxing. Boys and Girls were split for the bathing area where one could walk around in their birthday suite exploring differnt hot pools indoors and outdoors. After an hour or so we all met in the common area completely renewed and relaxed. Even Caleb enjoyed the pampering.

Took a day to get back to Kisarazu where we are staying with my girlfriend Satomi. She wanted to spend a few days away with us so the next day we hopped into her car to drive to Mt.Fuji. Satomi has had some problems with her eyes, operation that did not work so having to do it again next month, which gives her problem seeing while driving so Mark took the wheel. He did a fantastic job making his way around the crazy streets of Japan and driving on the opposite side. We were very spoiled at Mt.Fuji staying at a lovely hotel which to Artemisis delight supplies Japanese bathrobe, slippers, towels and all other toiletries your would possibly need. The dinner was really the high light for everyone. Very Japanese style, dressed in our bathrobes


Mt.Fuji feast - delicious.


Japanese bathrobes


Turning Japanese

The beginning of October brings us back to Satomis for more visiting of old friends. I will not be able to see everyone while we are here, just too many people. It is also tiring for the rest while I reminisce with friends in Japanese. Oh well, they are learning some language, culture, eating lots of great food and really becoming comfortable in Japan. Kids will write soon about their impressions.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Kyoto

September 23
The first week of our journey has past. It seems like we have been travelling forever in one sense and completely have no idea what we are doing in another. Being the impatient person that I have been, because I am working on patience and slowing down, I expected everything to fall into place easily and smoothly. However it has only been ONE WEEK. So I am saying that we are doing extremely well. Working on the computer has been a challenge that we will learn to adjust to as we move from city to city. The challenge being inability to connect to the Internet so that Caleb can get started in his schooling and to check any email. Challenge to organize ourselves from day to day. We have entered into the journey with no plans, purposely. When I am able to let go and allow things to flow as we desire, things go well. As soon as I get stressed out about any issue, things do not seem to go as well. We arrived in Kyoto a few days ago. To all my Japanese friends amazement we arrived in Kyoto without a hotel room. Both of us had spent some time on the Internet while in Tokyo trying to find a room but could not locate anything suitablely priced or easy to book. So we just decided to feel what it is we wanted and to allow it to happen. We wanted a comfortable, reasonably priced, well located place. Arriving in Kyoto we went straight to the Tourist Information. She proceeded to show us the ONE place she had available. There is nothing else she said. Mark felt uneasy about booking it as it left us with little choice. So we headed to the place we had initially wanted to go, Kyoto informaton centre located on the 9th floor of the station building. Here we found a very friendly information officer who found an inexpensive, well located, comfortable room to stay in. While we were booking the hotel, the kids were anxious to find an English bookstore as both of them had read the 2 books they brought with them - so we sent then on their way, alone, to some unkown bookstore. Once done booking we went to locate them, assuming there would be a big bookstore we would easily find. Instead, we found ourselves in giant shopping maze with thousands of people, and no sign of a bookstore. A slight feeling of panic went through both of us. Had we gone too far? Been to free? The Kyoto train station is immense. We asked a girl at a kiosk where the bookstore was, and she was not sure, but thought there was a small one somewhere at the end of the maze. Hmmm... not the news we wanted to hear. We walked around for a bit, but saw nothing. A little more panic set in. We asked someone else, who knew of the large bookstore we were told about at the information booth. We took an elevator up, turned the corner, and there they were, our two kids waiting for us. The kids had searched the store, went back upstairs to information booth, and not finding us, they went back downstairs to wait at the bookstore. They're brilliant!
We realized we had better make some back-up plans and emergency procedures for the future but more importantly we realized that we have to trust each other and just know that we are connected at all times.
We arrived at the hotel in the late afternoon just before the rain started to come down in buckets. There was no shower in the room so we proceeded to the public bath for a wash up. This may sound bizarre, however the public bath was lovely. There is one for men and one for women. It is a large comfortable open tiled room with shampoos, creams, shavers, towels. There are separate little stalls for each person to wash up. After cleaning yourself you proceed to the large hot bath to luxuriate and relax. Upon returnig from this experience you are both invigorated and relaxed. We all just loved it.

Lots to do and see in Kyoto, hundreds of temples, monuments etc. After exploring one temple for 3 hours, the largest in Kyoto, the kids and Mark had had enough. Spent the day riding around on bicycles with a volunteer student from the local university, leading the way, and after the temple tour and lunch, we headed to the cool river running through the centre of the city. There were large stepping stones placed across the river, some in the shape of turtles. Kids and Mark splashed, walked around and even dunk their heads. Was the water clean? A major river running through the middle of this massive metropolitan city? Yes said the student, just dont drink the water... Everyone bathed once we returned to the hotel but it seems that the splashing in the river was the hi-light.
Lianna

Kyoto

September 23
The first week of our journey has past. It seems like we have been travelling forever in one sense and completely have no idea what we are doing in another. Being the impatient person that I have been, because I am working on patience and slowing down, I expected everything to fall into place easily and smoothly. However it has only been ONE WEEK. So I am saying that we are doing extremely well. Working on the computer has been a challenge that we will learn to adjust to as we move from city to city. The challenge being inability to connect to the Internet so that Caleb can get started in his schooling and to check any email. Challenge to organize ourselves from day to day. We have entered into the journey with no plans, purposely. When I am able to let go and allow things to flow as we desire, things go well. As soon as I get stressed out about any issue, things do not seem to go as well. We arrived in Kyoto a few days ago. To all my Japanese friends amazement we arrived in Kyoto without a hotel room. Both of us had spent some time on the Internet while in Tokyo trying to find a room but could not locate anything suitablely priced or easy to book. So we just decided to feel what it is we wanted and to allow it to happen. We wanted a comfortable, reasonably priced, well located place. Arriving in Kyoto we went straight to the Tourist Information. She proceeded to show us the ONE place she had available. There is nothing else she said. Mark felt uneasy about booking it as it left us with little choice. So we headed to the place we had initially wanted to go, Kyoto informaton centre located on the 9th floor of the station building. Here we found a very friendly information officer who found an inexpensive, well located, comfortable room to stay in. While we were booking the hotel, the kids were anxious to find an English bookstore as both of them had read the 2 books they brought with them - so we sent then on their way, alone, to some unkown bookstore. Once done booking we went to locate them, assuming there would be a big bookstore we would easily find. Instead, we found ourselves in giant shopping maze with thousands of people, and no sign of a bookstore. A slight feeling of panic went through both of us. Had we gone too far? Been to free? The Kyoto train station is immense. We asked a girl at a kiosk where the bookstore was, and she was not sure, but thought there was a small one somewhere at the end of the maze. Hmmm... not the news we wanted to hear. We walked around for a bit, but saw nothing. A little more panic set in. We asked someone else, who knew of the large bookstore we were told about at the information booth. We took an elevator up, turned the corner, and there they were, our two kids waiting for us. The kids had searched the store, went back upstairs to information booth, and not finding us, they went back downstairs to wait at the bookstore. They're brilliant!
We realized we had better make some back-up plans and emergency procedures for the future but more importantly we realized that we have to trust each other and just know that we are connected at all times.
We arrived at the hotel in the late afternoon just before the rain started to come down in buckets. There was no shower in the room so we proceeded to the public bath for a wash up. This may sound bizarre, however the public bath was lovely. There is one for men and one for women. It is a large comfortable open tiled room with shampoos, creams, shavers, towels. There are separate little stalls for each person to wash up. After cleaning yourself you proceed to the large hot bath to luxuriate and relax. Upon returnig from this experience you are both invigorated and relaxed. We all just loved it.

Lots to do and see in Kyoto, hundreds of temples, monuments etc. After exploring one temple for 3 hours, the largest in Kyoto, the kids and Mark had had enough. Spent the day riding around on bicycles with a volunteer student from the local university, leading the way, and after the temple tour and lunch, we headed to the cool river running through the centre of the city. There were large stepping stones placed across the river, some in the shape of turtles. Kids and Mark splashed, walked around and even dunk their heads. Was the water clean? A major river running through the middle of this massive metropolitan city? Yes said the student, just dont drink the water... Everyone bathed once we returned to the hotel but it seems that the splashing in the river was the hi-light.
Lianna

Friday, September 19, 2008

Posting pictures and sending email

We are having problems accessing our email so pleaase write to us on this blog or at travellallplanes@yahoo.com and we are presently not able to upload pictures! Very frustrating. I guess this hotel restricts it somehow.
Love ya
Lianna

First Week in Japan

20 Sept, '08

Quick update: now in Tokyo, and leaving for Kyoto tomorrow. Staying at the Dormy Inn, and there are amazing baths, etc. in the hotel: they have lotions and potions and hot and cold, indoor and outdoor public baths for guest. And it's not an upscale place ($180 for the night in Tokyo, which is good).
We were all very excited to be in a typhoon today, but it looks as though it has passed up by!
Yesterday we went to a Summo match!!!!! It was amazing. Met Eriko for dinner (an old friend) at a very cool Tokyo restaurant. Ran around the Tokyo train system yesterday - no crushing crowds as the day before (read below), thankfully.
Weather is warm, humid, and comfortable.
Today we will bang around Tokyo and do some shopping and eating.
Internet access is not going to be steady, so please be patient with these posts.
We are all doing great!


18 Sept, '08

Thursday morning, around 9.
Went to Tokyo yesterday. We are at Satomi's house in Kisarazu, which is about an hour outside of Tokyo, in the countryside. Getting to Tokyo was easy by train, and took us about 80 minutes, as we did not feel like paying the extra money to take the express train.
The train ride was enjoyable and comfortable, although quite long by the time you get into Tokyo, as there are many stops, and it gets increasingly crowded the closer you get to the city.

We got out at Tokyo station, which is in the centre of the city and the centre of the business district. We walked from there. It was hot humid and sunny, but quite pleasant. We got in around 11 a.m., so there were not that many people in the streets.

Hungry, we stopped at one of the thousands of tiny noodle shops. There are photos of the various dishes they make. When you have decided what you want, you go to a small vending machine, select your dish and pay for it. Most were around 3 - 5 dollars. Once you pay you take the ticket which is dispensed from the machine and give it to the cook. He then prepares your dish. There are a few places to stand and eat, or a small downstairs, which was like a fridge, with small tables. It was all very delicious and fun.

After that we headed out. There are drink vending machines almost every step of the way through the city, with cold drinks for about 1.20 Canadian. The drinks are water, coke, other types of soft drinks, and many many kinds of ice coffee in cans, and ice tea in bottles. All yummy. We had lots of them throughout the day.

Whether the Canadian dollar is strong now, or the Yen weak, or both, I'm not sure (there are 100 Yen to the dollar), but I have a news flash: Japan is no longer very very very expensive. Actually, the prices are pretty much the same as in Vancouver: 5 Gyoza for 3.50; a big bowl of Ramen for 6 - 8 bucks, etc.

We walked around the Japan central bank area, where there were many businessmen in dark suits and white shirts, and many little alleyways with cute noodle shops, sock shops (must be a big thing to get new socks), 7-11s etc. Went into a very high-end department store, with formally dressed greaters. Inside, little shops like Tiffanys, Cartier, Louis Vuitton, etc. Very nice, but couldn't find anything I liked.

Our main goal at that point was to walk to the Akihabara, which is ground zero for the electronics and gaming world. Lots of big big big stores with many floors all selling electronics. Everything from small parts to duty-free computers. But not many deals. Caleb was in heaven, as there were many multi-story video game malls, where you pay a buck and play very cool video games.

After that we took the train to Harajuku, which is the funky fashion area. This was amazing! Very cool clothing and styles, with many people walking around in absolutley outrageous outfits! There were girls dressed up as Anime characters, although I'm not sure which came first: the girls dressing like that and the animators copying them, or vice versa. Hats are very popular, and very funky, with big fur hats and Uggs and Ugg-like boots being very in right now, despite the heat. Also black socks pulled up over the knee with high boots or high heels. All just very bizzare and very cool. We had a blast there, and avoided the temptation of the many crepe sellers. We gave Lotteria a try, which is a Japanese burger chain. It was great! From there we walked to the designer street, around the corner, which is all about Chanel, Lauren, Dior, etc. We went to Kiddyland, which is 6 stories of cutesy stuff like Hello Kitty, anime characters, a whole floor of Charlie Brown stuff, and much much more.

We walked around until we ended up at the famous --- square, where hordes of people cross the 5 cornered street at the same time, with people walking every which way for about a minute, only to clear out just in time for the cars to zoom by. There is a Starbucks right there, and we went to the second floor for a bird's eye view of it all. By this time it was dark, and the fabulous lights of Tokyo lit up, with the sounds and crowds continuing.

Hungry, tired, and wilted, we went to the train station, not realizing we were going to get caught in a classic Japanese tradition of being squeezed onto a commuter train. No time to get food, we all ran to a kiosk, with the locals, and quickly plucked some stuff from the shelves. I had a onigiri, which is basically a triangular blob of rice, with some stuff in the centre, and seaweed around it, which was enought to last till we got back.

We stood in line for the train, and squeezed on at our stop. Not too bad we thought, although we couldn't really move our arms, and Caleb was stuck behind Artemis's hair and kept trying to blow it out of his face. She was laughing hysterically, which was not good in the crush of it all, and the heat, as it was very hot, but thankfully the air con kept the temperature bearable - but just. Next stop, there were lines of people wating to get on. "Not this train" I thought, remembering all the buses which passed me by in Vancouver as I waited in the rain to get home. Wrong I was. People just face their back to the crowd on the train, and PUSH! They all got on, and we all squeezed even more. Everyone was very quiet, almost as if holding their breath. It was not possible to move your arms or legs, but just hold on and wait for the next stop. Cell phone conversations are not allowed on the trains at any time, but people check their email and play games constantly on the highspeed Japanese phone network, which allows for easy Internet access. However there was no room to do even that. The next stop came and the doors opened, and suddenly there was a great wave of people leaving the train. We had to hold on to avoid being swept off. Relieved, we thought the crush was over, but not quite. Another horde got on, and we were squeezed again for another few stops, until the crowd thinned out enough to breathe. It was a pretty intense experience, and we were all happy to have had it.

When we got back to Kisarazu Satomi came to pick us up. It was 9, and we were all sweaty and hot. We went to MaxValu, the local grocery store (many things here are written in English, but pronounced in a Japanese way. All store names are written in English, with the most bizarre names. We ran around MaxValu buying sushi, gyoza, drinks, Japanese bread, which is a small loaf of squishy white bread cut into super thick pieces, so there are only 4 pieces to the loaf! Everything is highly packaged, and the entire store is filled with brightly coloured miniature food items. So an entire bag of crackers, with a box inside, with an individually packaged cracker inside that.

All in all, it was a great day, and we all finally slept pretty much through the night.



16 September, 2008
Japan, Cheeba Prefecture

We finally left North America yesterday (sort of, having crossed the international day line, it was really two days ago!), Sunday, 14 September, after celebrating the Bar Mitzvah of two very special guys, Jesse and Noah on Saturday. It was a wonderful affair, and we are all very happy to have attended.

Our JAL flight was on a 747, and we were on the top deck! A great flight: great food, excellent seats, and fun interactive gaming center which included a dozen or so movies, video games, music, etc. The 9 hour flight went by pretty quickly and comfortably.

We arrived in Tokyo at 4 p.m. the next day and were greeted at the airport by Lianna's high school friend Satomi and her family. Japanese immigration was very fast and easy.

The weather here is warm and humid, and it's all very different! Went to a Japanese food store yesterday afternoon, and it was filled with these fun and colourful Japanese products.

Satomi's house is about an hour from the airport. It's quite a good size, and we have a bedroom for the four of us. Satomi made a great dinner, and we all fell asleep around 8 p.m. local time. Unfortunately we were all up at 3 a.m! We all fell back asleep at some point, except Caleb, who stayed up to finish off a video game on his PSP.

Today we are taking it easy and have not yet ventured from the house. We'll go out for lunch at some point and walk around a bit.

Observations to date:
- they have lots of cool cars with many many more models shapes and styles than we have
-

For those who had lost track of our travels, here is the timeline for the past few days:

After Lianna and I returned to Sutton from travelling to Ottawa (to get our Chinese visas), New Brunswick (to visit Catherine), and then Quebec (to travel and take it easy) we went to visit Myrna and Brahm in St. Donat.
We then spent a few final days in Sutton, and left Montreal to return to Vancouver on Thursday, 11 Sept
in Montreal we ran around, meeting Myrna Brahm Mel Farla Ellie for lunch at Snowden Deli
Got some French books for the kids
Went to the Westmount lookout - on the way spotted Mel and Farla taking uncle Sam for a walk in the park! Stopped there and said hello. Have not seen Sam, who is 98, in about 4 years. He looked good!
Almost missed our flight, as there was a huge traffic jam getting on to Decarie (what else is new)
In Vancouver we went to Monty and Betty's house (Lianna's brother and sister-in-law), as they are out of town (thanks guys!)
Couldn't find a place open to eat at 9 a.m!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! but thought of many we would like to have gone to in Montreal - and they were open!
Spent Friday getting the kids' school books for the year, and making the necessary arrangements with their on-line teachers, getting traveller's cheques, etc.
Met Ir and Ray for dinner. Went to Hon's, and were fortunate to have had a great meal, as it was our last in Vancouver!
Saturday was the Bar Mitzvah at Or Shalom. A beautiful affair. Then went home, packed, and finished with the party in the evening.

Stay tuned, more to come!

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

A few days in Vancouver - then off we go!

September 14
I am writing from the plane on the way to Tokyo. We just had a whirlwind of 3 days in Vancouver where we completed some of the last minute details. I was very happy to know that one of our cats, Pepper, was going to stay in our friends place for the year. She has settled in and that has taken a load off my mind. The other cat unfortunately ran away a few weeks ago. That has been hard for all of us as we love her dearly. She may still return, who knows. Meanwhile we know that she has found somewhere she can settle.

We spend Friday attending to the schooling programs for the kids. Caleb will be doing Grade 8, a full load of interesting courses, all offered online. We left the Vancouver Learning Network, the section of the school board responsible for distance learning, with an arm full of books however. That freaked us out a bit. As soon as I got in front of the computer, I managed to rid ourselves of everything. First of all the Science book was all available online, the socials text inforamtion was all provided by the instructor online and we photocopied the few pages he needed from the books for the English portion.

Artemis is also enrolled in a distance learning program. The councillor working with her is very excited for us as he has travelled backpacking extensively around the world. We came up with all sorts of interesting projects for her to work on over the year. How are we going to actually get any home work done? We hope to spend a few hours in the mornings. There will obviously be times when doing anything will be impossible and there will be times when we are more settled somewhere and the kids can spend some time catching up. All in all I think its going to be fun as much of the course material they have will be related to places we are going and things we are doing.

The main reason for us heading back to Vancouver for a few days however was to attend Caleb's 2 best friends Barmizfah. All day Saturday we celebrated with them. It was a very touching event that we are extremely happy to have been a part of. Noah and Jesse have been around our family and home for years, it was an event not to be missed. Although Caleb also wants to have a Barmitzfah once we return, I think being a part of his friends has solidified any fears he may have had about taking part in his own.

So we are off on the International portion of our adventure, not to return to Vancouver for a year. We are all travelling with small backpacks, scaled down to the bare minimum, we have various electronic devices to keep us in touch with everyone and most importantly we are eager and excited to be embarking on this amazing adventure.

Lianna

Monday, September 8, 2008

Visiting in Quebec and Out of Body


Kids searching for Frogs


september 7, 2008
Over the last week we have been visiting Marks family. We have enjoyed some great sunshine and swimming in his mothers pond in Sutten. The past few days we spent North of Montreal at St. Donat with his Uncle Brahm and Auntie Myrna. The have a country house in St. Donat which they drive to every Friday afternoon, spend the weekend and then return to their condo in Montreal on Monday. We did some major shopping in Montreal prior to going to St.Donat picking up rain coats, new walking shoes and sandals, travel blankets and other such small travel items we need. Otherwise making lists of things that need to be done before we leave to Japan. This includes organizing our computer files, researching our trip in China, pakcing and making lists of contents and getting the kids enrolled in online schooling programs through the Vancouver Learning Network in Vancouver.

Highlights include:
*Sitting around the Simcox (Gissa and Steves pond )pond on a hot summer evening drinking wine watching the kids follow frogs in the pond
*Having a delicious brunch of bagel, smolked salmon, cream cheese and other items at Aunt Myrnas and Uncle Brahms country home with cousins Sid and Elli
*Shopping in Montreal barely being able to contains ourselves, Artemis and me, from buying all sorts of wondering things. Saw an incredible statue in the business district which exemplified all human emotions in the Universe.

I had an Out of Body dream last night, Sept 7, and an amazing realization about dreams. In the Out of Body I realized while in my dream that I didnt have to be in the situation I was in if I was conscious. I said over to myself "You can become conscious". As I did I also felt that I wanted to be in a very safe beautiful place and suddenly I softly fell under the most beautiful cherry blossom tree.

Your dreams are very much based on your emotional state in reality. If you have a frustrating day that effects you emotionally or an angry day or you experience any strong emotion, that will come out in exagerated action in your dream. And when you are in the drteam state you can change your action through chainging your feelings, and very quickly in a dream state. If you want to be in Paris, feel it, if you want warmth and security, feel it and it will materialize instantly. I am going to do more research on how this works in both reality and dream states.
Lianna


Gissa and Steves dog Bella flying through the air

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Coffee in Edmonston New Brunswick

Mark and I have spent the past few days travelling around New Brunswick. We left the kids at his mothers house and took off to visit our friend Catherine in New Brunswick. We had not seen her for 7 years so were very excited to catch up.

Catherine lives on 6 acres of land overlooking the rolling hills of Southwest NB. She has access to neighbors land all around her and 20 minutes walk away is a pristine lake which she swims in from April to October, as long as it is not frozen.

First night we had Lobster, of course. What a treat and so delicious that we had lobster again the next night, which was so delicious and in such quantity I think I have had enough lobster to last me for quite a while.

Catherine has also been working on "Creating her Own Reality" after reading the book and watching the movie "You Can Heal Your Life" by Louise Hay. Mark recommended it to her at the beginning of the year. We had some wonderful conversations with her. There have been so many incredible changes in her life and our lives that have enriched us beyond our expectations and as we all continue to work on our beleifs and how they affect us in this world, we experience more and more the exuberance of life.

Highlights of NEW BRUNSWICK
*Whale Watching in the Bay of Fundy - we saw a humpback whale 30 feet from the boat, diving numerous times and a number of smaller Binky whales.
*Eating Lobster and listening to Mark talk to the lady selling lobster. Her first reaction to Mark when he asked if they had any lobster with 3 claws (they were selling lobsters with one or two claws) was just priceless.
*Spending time with Catherine who grows all her own vegetables, lives with 3 incredible dogs, cans tomatoes, makes fresh pesto, upholsters her own sofa and runs the math department in her area with passion.
Lianna


Drinking a mug of cafe o lait in NB.

Buying our first airline tickets

Lianna and I went to Ottawa to get our visas for China. The kids stayed with my mother and Steve in Sutton.
We started off by waking up at 5:50 a.m. (Luckily I woke up automtically, without an alarm, as I was supposed to get up to put on the alarm, which didn't happen) to pack. We didn't really feel like packing again, so we just took all our stuff!
We were supposed to be at the Chinese embassy by 11 if we wanted our visas the same day - which we did. The reason the visas were so rushed was because the kids had to have their passports to fly to the states. Se we had to wait till we met them in Vermont and returned to Canada. Montreal does not have a Chinese consulate. And with time being tight, we had to drive them over to Ottawa.

As it happened, we left Vermont with an emotional good-bye to Lianna's sister Risha, Shabbir her husband, and their three kids Dyami Zara and Tohan, and FORGOT THE PASSPORTS!!!! Halfway to Montreal from their place in Vermont Lianna remembered the passports. Big decision: go back or have them couriered. We opted for the latter, which worked out.
So L and I were of and running, on the road by 6:30-ish. All was well: we stopped for coffee after the bridge, which wasn't too bad.

By the time we get to the embassy, it was 10:45. We walk in and there's a big line, one wicket open, and at least 11 people in front of us. As we wait in line we hear the lady ask everyone for hotel reservations and return tickets. Knowing full well we had neither, we waited fatalistically, and when we get to the front 45 minutes later, she askes us the same thing, to which I say, "no". and she sends up packing.
Demoralized, disoriented, and determined to get in, we head to my friend Sheila's place for lunch.

On the way, through these tight narrow, one-way Ottawa roads packed with cars, I spot an adventure travel store, with a large sale sign in the window. I make the spontaneous decision to go in there (we'd just listended to the Seth CD on just that topic!), and sure enough, they sell Osprey backpacks!! The very ones I had tried to hunt down in Vancouver for months, to no avail! AND, they have the exact models we want, and they are on sale, and they have exactly the right quantity - we take the last 3! I also buy a pair of Keens, which I'd been searching for for months having actually purchased a pair and then returned them some days later - and got a pair of great pants, and Lianna got a pair of shorts. In short, total success.
I intuitively know I have to ask the guy there for a good travel agent for China, as we realize we have to step this up a bit visa process up a bit.
We also realize that we have not really tackled the issue of tickets and visas head on, so this was the time. Well the guy did know a travel agent, and apparently before he HAD to recommend one, as the owner of the store owned it. But he reocmmended another, just behind his store. Went there and after some very good information (about safaris and possible ticket purchase problems) was given a great tip: go to Chinatown and have a Chinese travel agent arrange it. So we did.

First place we stopped: dud. Second place, third floor up, way in the corner, visible - barely- from the street as we drove by. Lots of parking. Go up. Golden. She'll do the visa for us and make all the necessary arrangements with hotels etc. So we're in baby! She also gives us a better deal on our ticket than the first travel agent, so we book our first plane ticket! Vancouver - Tokyo - Beijing.
We leave on 14 September for Tokyo Japan! Over to China 8 October, overland to Tibet, then to Nepal.
Mark

Monday, September 1, 2008

The Lovely East Coast -Visiting Family

We spent a few days in Vermont visiting my sister at her new summer lake home. It was a fabulous place to chill and catch up on the much needed sleep. Mark even slept in until 10:30 in the morning which is something I have never seen before. The weather was also incredible and we all managed to create tan lines in only a couple of days. My sister and her husband have just completed this summer building their mansion. Its stunning, colourful, has a gorgeous lake view, what more can I say.
After a day of waterskiing and frolicking on the lake, Sunday August 13, we packed up from Vermont, to drive to Sutten, Quebec, Mark’s mothers (Gissa and Steves) place.

About an hour or so out of town from the lake mansion “Where are all the passports?” came to mind. We had managed to take everything, done a check and double check of every room in the house and still we managed to leave the children’s passports behind. I immediately called my sister to have them couriered to couriered. Big realization about the absolute necessity of organization and creating a list of everything in each of our bags and then checking that list everytime we leave a location. We are going to be travelling with a small back pack with few items, most of them important. Once we get the backpacks, and the final packing is complete, the list will be a priority for each one of us to create. So far the kids have been in New Jersey - Caleb left his sandals and Vermont- we left their passports.

Gissa and Steve just completed having a pond dug in their backyard. They live on 25 acres of land in the Eastern Townships of Quebec so plenty of space to have a pond. And what a POND! It is like a small lake. Just gorgeous. Fresh springs coming out from the ground, pristine trees all around, at least 100 m of length. And to top it off, there are lots of frogs jumping around everywhere. We even spotted a blue one the other day while we were in the middle of a massive croquet game (a tradition when we are visiting).

The kids have spent the past summers at Gissas and Steves for at least 2 weeks and they were not about to give that up just because we were going travelling for a year. They also insisted that Mark and I were not to interfere in their visit and traditions. So Mark and I packed out bags and left for a quick trip to Ottawa. Time to get Visas, airline tickets and to do some real shopping.


Lianna