Singapore Comic Con!

To promote how geeky I actually am:
SINGAPORE TOY GAMES & COMIC CONVENTION

This was heaven!  Well as close as I could get, here in Singapore.  Actual heaven would be comic con in San Francisco.  But this was still amazing to see!  There were so many toys that I had seen before:

Tokidoki

Dooodolls

And there were some toys that I had never seen before:

Sticky Monster Lab from Korea

There were some great toy displays:

There was also some amazing artwork by both famous and non-famous people!

Artwork by obviously famous people.

David Llyod, Artist of the above was going to be present at this convention.

There was even the artist, Phil Ortiz (artist of The Simpsons Comics) "Simpsonizing" people for a mere $50 per person!  Janette was very excited to see him!

And this is me with the Simpson family :)

I am alive!

Firstly, I must apologize for my lack of posting.  Once I explain you will understand why I have been absent for so long. 

My last post was about....Brunei, well before that was about my first job here in Singapore.  My job kept me very busy and posting was just not able to happen because of it...............................

Well that job is officially over.  It was over shortly after my first event.

Sadden by my now unemployment... But wait!  Not all faith is lost!

I got another job offer the same night as my first event.  

Yeah!!!!!!


I was offered a job at the largest hotel in Singapore (don't quote me on that, but I am sure it is damn close to being the biggest hotel), Marina Bay Sands (www.MarinaBaySands.com).  It has a Sky Park on the top and it towers over the downtown core of Singapore.  I will be the Events Coordinator for Technical side at the hotel.  I will be working out of an office in the Convention Centre. 

As for updates, that is about it for now.  I will be enjoying some unemployment time till I start work again.  They said I will start as soon as my work visa comes in.  It should around the end of December.

Random Stuff:

On December 10th, Jenn's colleague, Rob will be speaking at COMIC CON!!!!!!!!!!

I am super excited because everyone knows how much I love geeky things like clomic books, graphic novels and superheros!  I may even purposefully wear geeky clothing just to fit in!  Please remember that I do not wear geeky clothing....right?

Jenn and I are getting ready for our upcoming trip to Krabi and other trips that are in the near future.  Because all of our trips happen on the holidays, we have to book far in advance.  We try to every thing (accomadation and flights) handled a few months in advance.  We are looking into Sri Lanka right now for Febuaray.

Jenn wants my hair to grow out like Ramona Flowers on Scott Pigrim:

Do you think I can do it?  I am not so confident.  I got used to having short hair!  Also short hair in Singapore is nice because it is so hot here!

Well... 

Yes, I am alive and I will be sure to keep you more in the loop from now on!   

Brunei Trip

Hello!

Please go to mine and Jenn's travel blog www.jtdotheword.blogpot.com to check out Jenn's really awesome write up of Brunei. 

Thanks so much!

News and randomness

Breaking News!

I got the job I wanted! I will be working for a company that organizes corporate events. Their events are insane! I did a working interview with them on Saturday and it was a family day for 3000 people! Crazy! It is a full time position and I will get some medical benefits as well!

Randomness!

I was inspired by Ellery's Million bad drawings blog and CSI: NY.

Best wishes!

Palau Ubin VIDEO

This is our Palua Ubin Video!

Palau Ubin - Singapore from teen chan on Vimeo.

Cambodia

Another lonely plane ride... but this time, I was meeting Jenn’s good friend, Ed (I call him Big Guy). My plane route was Singapore to Siem Reap to Phnom Penh. I had a car from the guesthouse I booked with to come get me from the airport. When I got to the guesthouse, all I wanted to do was sleep because I had to leave my place in Singapore at 3 in the morning. I had no sleep the night before because we went out for some frog legs, Thai food and beer!

I waited for Ed for what seemed like forever, but then he finally showed up! He said originally that we would be getting to Phnom Penh at about the same time, so waiting for him was unexpected. He told me that while on his bus ride, the time that they got to the Cambodia-Vietnam border, the border was closed and they had to wait a few hours till it opened, and that was why he was so late.

That afternoon we headed to the S-21 Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. Tuol Sleng was the main jail during the Khmer Rouge regime. It was a place of torture and death. There were thousands of pictures of those that were imprisoned there. I read that they wanted to keep records of everyone so that the Khmer Rouge leader, Pol Pot, could read all the information. Out of the thousands that were imprisoned there, only seven had escaped.

That night we went to the night market and got some beers.

The next day we headed to the Killing fields, with our new buddy, Vicky. She was going there as well and so we all shared a tuk-tuk. She was telling us about her travels and her crazy experience in Nepal. Let’s just say, get a guide! While at the killing fields we watched a video and followed a family that had a tour guide. The killing fields were where they took the prisoners of Tuol Sleng. Before the Khmer Rouge, the killing fields used to be a Chinese/Buddhist cemetery. There were holes in the ground all over and those holes were the mass graves. They had built a beautiful memorial with the bones of those found in killing fields.

Later that day we headed south to Sihanouk Ville. Sihanouk Ville is amazing, quiet and quaint beach town. We arrived late and headed straight to bed. The next day we went to the beach for some noodles for breakfast. After hanging out on the beach for awhile and I made a new friend, his name was “Red, White and Blue Boy”. He gave me a red, white and blue bracelet, and we were the best of friends... he loved to stare at me while I read my book. Then we rented scooters! We booted around for while and stopped at a lovely, British owned pub for lunch. Ed got chicken and mash potatoes and those potatoes were AMAZING! I had Lok-Lac, again. Eventually I had that dish, about five times during the whole trip. I really like beef and rice ;) That night we headed back to the beach for some good bbq and drinks. We had an amazing $3 bbq seafood dish, which included BARACUDA, shrimp and squid, some rice and salad. Nom nom! Then we met some people while eating and hung out with them for the remainder of the evening. The girl that we met (she reminded me of Kerry Paterson), later she threw up on me because she had two “sandwich”* drinks and didn’t know that it take 2-3 hours for “sandwich” effects to kick in when you ingest it. Great night, other than getting puked on!

*Please watch How I Met Your Mother for sandwich reference

Then we took a bus back to Phnom Penh, where we shot guns! Ed and I shot an AK-47 and Ed also did a machine gun! They even let us purchase coconuts to use as targets to shoot at! Super fun!

Then we went to Siem Reap. On the way to Siem Reap I watched a lightning storm, it was beautiful!

The first day in Siem Reap, we checked out the temples and they are beautiful! Absolutely amazing. I loved the temple with all of the faces. That night we headed to the restaurant that Janette and Rob recommended, Touiche Restaurant. The owner picks you up in his old French war jeep! We ordered some delicious steaks and cheap beers! After we headed out to go exploring and to have some more beers! We found pub street! It was perfect, exactly what we were looking for! We went to Angkor What! Pub and we ran into some travel friends of Ed’s and met some people who were on tours. I went into the bathroom to relieve myself and when I got out of my stall, there was someone who looked strangely familiar! It was Judy! We had emailed back and forth a few days before because she knew I was in Cambodia. We drunkenly stared at each other for a couple minutes and then realized who the other person was! Good ol’ drunk times! We drank and hung out for a couple more hours then headed back to our guesthouse.

The next was a very early day. My aunt Dina, put me in contact with a group called Caring for Cambodia and they help children with schools. Whether it is getting them into school or providing materials for them in school, these guys do it all! They are helping 7 or 8 schools, and one of them is a high school! We joined Meghan and Ciara for the first day of school celebrations! There was a parade the children took part in and speeches for the parents. The speeches were to help parents understand what the goals and aspirations of the schools and Caring for Cambodia are. The speeches were mostly in Khmer, but it was still pretty awesome!

That night we went out with Judy and her roommates at her hostel. Delicious and not expensive dinner, I enjoy some Cambodian Amok curry. We had a wonderful night out with some dollar margaritas and I think I made a few new friends that night.

The next day was a little dull, but I think Ed was coming down with something and I was missing Jenn a little too much to bear so it was nice to have a quiet day.

Then I headed back to Singapore dark and early. I headed to the airport and hour before I wanted to because I have my watch set on Singapore time which is an hour ahead of the rest of Southeast Asia. I got to read my book; First they killed my Father by Loung Ung. Then Judy and I enjoyed each other’s company all the way home!

Desperate: need to figure out what this song is!

Hello Loyal Followers!

This is a cry for help! Jenn and I have been watching the Nat Geo Adventure channel a lot recently. They make their own commercial promoting the shows that they play. Of course, they play mine and Jenn's favourite, Departures. There is a commercial with a beautiful song as the music. We cannot for the life us find this song, or event the commercial online. If you can find the song, that would be awesome!

Here are the lyrics:
"today we walked, in melting snow"
"stayed (hid) inside making fire and tea"
"when I met you, I was wondering (wandering)"
"(have) you seen many worlds since then"

() means it could be that word instead

T-shirt

My friend, Ellery designed a shirt and it is awesome! Here is the link to it!

http://threadless.com/submission/298281/Robot_Party_In_My_Tummy

First Photo Project

So because Chels took a lot of photos of Alex doing a cartwheel at the Sand dunes in Mui Ne. I thought it would be a good idea to put them together.

I first was thinking of putting all 14 pictures together in a row. Then it ended up being two rows of 14. I know these are super small, but still cool. Hopefully the next project will be bigger.




Then Jenn showed me how to put them on top of each other.



I just sent them to Alex as a little present. She said she made the one with all of them on top of each other as her profile pic. I am glad she likes them!

Vietnam: Love is in the air

After the epic plane ride from Vancouver to Singapore (13hrs to Hong Kong + 4hrs to Singapore), I was ready for another trip. After only four days in Singapore, I was to see two of my best friends from grade 5 and 8, Chelsea and Alex. This was the longest Jenn and I have been separated. I was excited and scared. Super excited to see Chels and Alex, who I had not seen for almost a year because they left in October 2009 to travel on a 1-year-plane ticket. I was scared to leave Jenn all alone.

I saw Alex and Chels leave Vancouver in October and after being apart for over ten months I got used to not seeing them; however, being with them 24-hours a day for ten days, I didn’t get sick of them, nor wanted to part from them. I started to miss them the second I left them in Bangkok, Thailand.

I flew from Singapore to Ha Noi, the capital of Vietnam. After getting totally ripped off by a cab (that did not looked like a cab, also in Vietnam, never pay over 10 dollars USD for a cab ride), I surprised Chels and Alex in the lobby of our hostel. They couldn’t see me coming, so when I came up to them they had no idea it was even me!

After many hugs, smiles and laughs, we dropped off my stuff and got something to eat. I kept having a surreal feeling, because I couldn’t believe that I was seeing Chels and Alex... and was in VIETNAM! We spent the next day organizing the next couple of days and walking around Ha Noi. We caught up a lot. Talked and talked! I could barely pay attention to where I was because I was enjoying catching up with them so much! I had not seen them in almost a year! Before they left I was used to seeing them almost weekly! We went to see the water puppets in the afternoon. It was a great show! It was full of culture and stories about the river that bred life into that area. There was just one problem; the water in show didn’t help the fact that I had to pee so badly!

The next day we hopped onto a very nice bus in the rain to go to Ha Long Bay! We booked an overnight boat tour to take us around Ha Long Bay. The land… water... scape in Ha Long Bay is amazing. I call it the “thumbs up” mountains, because they look like thumbs sticking up out of the water. It reminds me of the landscape my Dad and I saw on a river boat tour in Guilin, China. We first went to a cave that was a hospital during the Vietnam War. It was beautiful inside. There were lots of structures that looked like things: Buddha, frogs, figures (or a penis). They had concreted the ceiling which I had never seen before in a cave, I forgot to ask my guide when that had happened to see if was for tourists or the war. After the cave we did a twenty minute kayak ride. Alex and Chels were both not thrilled with it, so I stayed in the kayak while they each took a turn. It was beautiful getting up close and personal with some rocks and locals that were around. There was lots of boat traffic around want it was scary (just like all the traffic in Ha Noi). After the kayaks we headed back to our big boat for a swim and to jump off the top of the boat! That was awesome!

After Ha Long Bay we headed north to Sa Pa in the mountains. We were in Sa Pa for two nights. It took a ten hour train (worst beds ever) and an hour mini bus ride up the mountain to get there from Ha Noi. Once there, you realize that you are out of the city. It is still busy, but not even close to what Ha Noi was like. The next day we got onto (I, nervously) scooters, because these three village ladies were taking us to their village in the hills just south of Sa Pa. We trekked up a hill to get to one of their houses. We ate lunch together and they showed us their home. They had a TV and one light bulb! Their stove was a hole in the ground near their bed, and their kitchen had no appliances in it. There were somethings made of concrete and that was about it. It was an amazing experience.

After such an amazing experience, I was pumped up on life! So pumped I decided to order us the “special hot pot” for dinner. I was feeling edgy and wanted to celebrate with what I thought was going to be seafood hotpot and SHRIMP spring rolls. We get the hot pot and the spring rolls. The hot pot is full of offal. There was liver, intestines, and fat pieces. There was absolutely no seafood. Alex was so disgusted she had to discard every last piece of liver. Then the SHRIMP rolls were actually SHIRM rolls (yeah for dyslexia?) which was fried egg wrapped around carrots and onions. Those were pretty good, but not what we thought they were going to be. At the end of the meal Alex was laughing so hard she was crying. Alex is still laughing about this entire situation still.

The next day, we took a mini bus to train, train to Ha Noi, train again to Hué, then finally bus from Hué to Hoi An. This was one (plus a bit) day of travelling. Hoi An was really neat. We didn’t do much there except get clothes. Hoi An is famous for custom clothing. Every store is called a “cloth shop” where they custom make the clothes you want. Just give them your measurements, and a picture of what you want and they will have it made when you want it. I suggest staying at least two nights if you want to get clothing made because they need a solid amount of time to make it all. Vietnam is a “last-minute” kind of place enough as it is, and if you want them to do a good job of it, then give them as much time as you can so they can do a good job. There were also some dishes that are specific to Hoi An. There is a noodle soup, that has croutons, deep fried wontons that has a pineapple salsa on top (my favourite), white roses that are like dim sum with pork and there was this wrap thing that was really good, it was like a salad roll back home! On our one day there, we went to see My Son, which is a place of ruins. It was made by the Cham people of Vietnam, and then their structures were used as shelters during the Vietnam War. It was a cool site to see, but when you go there, make sure you booked a tour guide; you won’t get any information if you don’t. It was a beautiful place, and rich in history.

Then we took a bus to Ne Trang. Ne Trang was cool, very tourist-ty. We hung out at the beach and tried to have a BDO/BNO (Big Day Out/Big Night Out). It didn’t work out so well. We were too tired from the nights before, but we did go to a restaurant, that was one of those places where you can barbeque your food and it was amazing! Best meat I had in all of Vietnam. It was supposedly own by a Canadian too ;)

The next day we took the bus to Mui Ne. Mui Ne was hands down my favourite place and I thought it was the most beautiful place in Vietnam. It was a beach town, but much calmer than Ne Trang. It was the first place where I saw Hammocks, I never got to sit in one, but I was super tempted to buy one. There are beautiful sand dunes in Mui Ne. We saw the white sand dunes, which are supposed to be the biggest ones. They look like the sand dunes from the Sahara Desert. It was awesome. We actually met up with a guy we talked to in Ha Noi. He was the one that convinced us of visiting Mui Ne. We rented two scooters for the four of us and headed to the white sand dunes. It is a beautiful landscape of white sand dunes with the water in the far background. I definitely suggest to NOT rent the magic carpets from kids, it is kind of a rip off since you have to be super light in order to get any sort of speed going down the sand dune hills.

That night we had probably the biggest BNO we had all trip. Well, the girls had a pretty big one in Bangkok later (the Ping-pong show), but still it was big for me. We had some pre-drink drinks which involved quite a few card games. Then we headed to a nearby club. It was pretty dead when we got there and the dance floor was empty. After trying our hand at getting the party started, unsuccessful we went to the bar for some drinks. Then the breakers came out to play. They were great, doing their tricks and moves, it was awesome. Then they pulled Chels and Alex on stage and the party got going. It was a great night! It was weird to see the Vietnamese straight breakers grind with each other. I think being from North America, where bro-mance is only high fives and “wrestling”, the bro-mance in Vietnam (and probably the rest of the world) is much more physical than what I am used to, in North America. It was different and weird to me, but I still think it was cool that bro-mance exists.

The next day we got onto a bus (our last bus) to Ho Chi Min City, also called Saigon. We were in Saigon for a couple hours before we had to catch our flight to Bangkok. But it was a very eventful two hours. Alex forgot her suits on the bus and went on an adventure with the nicest man in Vietnam to find them. He drove her around and used his cell to try and locate this bus that had her suits on it. Chels and I were sitting at a coffee shop and it was a huge surprise when she came back with a smile on her face and suits in her hands. Hilarious. That was the second time she forgot those darn suits on a bus.

Our flight to Bangkok was so short, well it felt short. Alex and I had an amazing conversation, so the flight felt super short.

In Bangkok, we stayed in this really nice hostel. We had our own bathroom with super awesome air conditioning. On the first day Chels was going to get hair extensions and since Chels has been to Bangkok before Alex and I wanted to go see the floating markets. We did this HUGE run around with taxis and tuk-tuks, eventually figuring out that the markets are only open till noon (it was just about noon when we figured it out) and they are an hour and a half outside of town. And we also found out that this super big and awesome market is only open on the weekend (it was Monday). It was a disappointing morning to say the least. Then we headed back to the hostel to figure out what we wanted to do next and we forgot that we didn’t have our room key. So we went to meet up with Chels. Her hair extensions were looking great. We did this whole back and forth thing for awhile (back and forth to see Chels) and then finally she was done. That night Chels and Alex went to see a Ping-pong show. I thought that a ping-pong show was a table tennis match. They informed me that I was wrong and went without me. I felt uncomfortable and didn’t feel right about seeing things rammed up vaginas like ping-pong balls, razor blades or see darts shoot out of them. They had a good night and I passed out peacefully that night and barely heard them come in the door. The next day we went shopping at MBK mall. It was awesome there! You could barter and make deals and they have cameras that are super cheap! I want Jenn and I to buy the camera we want there because we might be able to get it for super cheap. But we would have to make our way to Bangkok to get it and it wouldn’t have a warranty. So we might end up getting it in Singapore. Then we went to meet up with Alex and Chels’ friend they met in Laos. We hung out at his pool on the roof and in his VERY disgusting apartment. Then we headed out for a BNO at... a street... known for partying... but I cannot think of the name of the street... hmmm... well we went there and had pad thai for the first time! It was good, not my favourite pad thai but good nonetheless. We partied for awhile and met more of Alex and Chels’ friends (one of them a girl, I think has/had a crush on Alex, oola-la)! Then we had some delicious pancakes, which are like roti prata with sweet toppings on them and called it a night.

The next morning was the sad good-bye. We all hung out for about half an hour saying how much we were going to miss each other and then I had to head out to the airport. The second I left, it felt weird not being with them. I started to miss them that quickly. I still miss them now. They are off gallivanting in Europe now and I am so happy for them. I love them so much and seeing them is probably going to be one of the highlights of this year. They inspired me to travel more, break out of my shell and grow. I love them so much (all of this love stuff is why I titled my post “Love is in the air”).

And that concludes my ten day trip to Vietnam!

Best wishes and until next time!

Pictures will be posted in a few days.

New Blog/Patience

Hello!

Just to let you know, Jenn and I have a combined travel blog.

www.jtdotheworld.blogspot.com

We will talking about our travels there.

I will still talk here. Just they will be different!

Also, please be patient I will post photos and information about my trip. Just give me two more days!

Best wishes!

Adventures!

Hello from Hoi An, Vietnam!

I have been h-core traveling with Chels and Alex for 6 days now. We have showered over the northern part of Vietnam. I landed in Ha Noi then we headed to Ha Long Bay. Came back to Ha Noi and then up further north into the mountains of Sapa. Then we took two trains (21 hours of train) and bus(4 hours) to get to Hoi An. We just got in last night and tonight we will be heading to Nha Trang. After that, we will go to Mui Ne (I think, plans change hourly) then down to Ho Chi Min City. Then up to Bangkok, Thailand for a couple days and then back to Singapore for me. Chels and Alex will be heading to London, England the same day I leave for Singapore.

So far this has been an amazing experience. Yesterday I had my first realization about how good I can make this year. Which I intend to do. I was a little sad before but I think that this trip with two best friends has re-vamped my drive to really explore the world.

Details soon.

YOG - Youth Olympic Games

The last two days I have enjoy some of the events happening around town/island because it is the first ever Youth Olympic Games. I had no idea about them, until two weeks before arriving in Singapore, when a friend of mine told me about them.



Yesterday I watched the free sailing and windsurfing competition. Sailing had two races that day and it was for qualifying for the finals the next day (today). I think it was the same for the wind surfing.



I was sitting next to the family of the Canadian female sailor. She was the only Canadian sailing in this games, there was no boy Canadian sailor. There was also only a Canadian female for the windsurfing as well. I thought that with Squamish and Jerico on our doorsteps there would have at least one boy representing!



Today I saw the track and field events. I bought a ticket the other day (ticket prices range from S$10 to S$30), picked it up yesterday and was at the event nice and early at 8:30am.



When it all got underway, you would be watching about seven competitions at once: Boys Javeline, Girls Shotput, Girls High jump, Boys/Girls 1000m, Boys/Girls Steeple Chase, Boys/Girls 100m, and Boys Long jump (which did not finish due to excessive rain). That was pretty much the order in which I watched them. It took about 3 hours for them to get all through that!



The crowd was full of school kids! They were so loud! They were screaming and stomping around. They also came in waves, I think because they could only sit for so long. It was nice for me when some of them left because it got a little quieter and their was less stomping (to disturb my photo taking). But I think it was more fun for the athletes that way.



It has been really fun watching the Olympics again. It reminds me of home when the Vancouver 2010 Olympics were on. I love the Olympics and I love living in the same city as the Olympics twice in one year! I think only a few a people can say that! Seeing all of the flags (mostly Singaporean) hanging off baloncy's and windows is always a cool sight to see!



All of these images you are veiwing were edited by your's truely. I am learning how to use photo shop and this is a first time effort. Enjoy and look forward for many more to come!

Actual Singapore Updates!

Hey there guys and gals!

Now I have time for my actual Singapore updates!

If you want to read Jenn's version of the flight and first getting here, check out her blog at:
http://jennyt3d.blogspot.com/

And I shall continue from where Jenn left off!

We met up with Rob and Janette for lunch and went to an underground mall. There are supposed to be lots of underground malls around and it feels like the entire city is connected via this underground mall (not really, but pretty damn close)! We ate some yummy Taiwan food at a fast (ish) food place. Jenn enjoyed a Singaporean classic of chicken and rice. But it was honey chicken and rice. I enjoyed a fancy pork and mushroom soup. NOM NOM NOM NOM!

Then the four of us headed to the new and modern SKY PARK! It is built on top of a 56 story hotel/casino. There was a POOL up there! An INITITY pool!!! It looked awesome (and expansive). But it was still cool to see Singapore from above! Took some photos too! (To be posted soon)

Then we walked around this expensive looking mall for awhile. Then when I convinced Jenn that we should take up Rob and Janette's invitation for dinner, we headed over to.... well I don't exactly know where this is place is but we went for LAKSA! Laksa is coconut soup! It was delicious and we didn't even go to the "most famous" one! I think that if there was a Laksa dedicated restaurant in Vancouver, it would be very popular! But it must be cheap food, drinks and atmosphere! None of this fancy-smacy, hoidie-toidie crap. But now that I said that, if any of you smucks make a restaurant like how I just said, I demand royalties!

Then today Jenn had her first day of work. I took her to work on the hour and a half MRT ride. We are in Chinatown and where she works is on the East side of the island and it is an epic MRT ride.

After she went up to work, I went across the street to enjoy some coffee at the market that was there. The coffee beans here (what I am about to tell is information I read off the back of menu) are coated with sugar prior to roasting and it adds a very distinct flavour. Very sweet and woody flavour. I like it :)

Then went to a market near our place to get Jenn some vegetables and some other things, but the market was closed. So I enjoyed some dumplings in soup and read during the afternoon.

More to come!

I am going to go join the Olympic fever (once again) as I am going to watch sailing tomorrow and track and field on Wednesday!

Then on Thursday I am off to Vietnam/Cambodia to meet up with Chels and Alex (who I have not seen for almost a year)!!!!

Singapore!

Hello!

I know I have blogged very little about moving to Singapore, but I have moved here now.

I am so excited for all of the things that Jenn and I will see and experience. I am very excited to see the person I will become after all this... :)

I will blog more soon. I am very distracted right now!

Best wishes!

Secret Admirer

I have a secret admirer.

I will start from the top. A few days ago, I came home after purchasing a graphic novel from the local comic book store. When I was entering our building, there was a nice young man buzzing to get in. I just waved my phob and we were through the door and up the stairs. He noticed the shopping bag I was carrying and that I had purchased something from the local comic book store, so he inquired. I had bought "Lost at Sea" by Bryan Lee O'Malley (the writer/artist of the Scott Pilgrim series). We talked about the new Scott Pilgrim movie coming out while walking up the stairs. He was going to apartment 402 and I was headed around the corner to my apartment. We said good-bye and that was that.

Then the following day, there was a note sitting near the fire extinguisher in the hall. It said:

"My friend likes the cute attractive comic book girl, please contact 402" (but the "cute" was crossed out)

I was flabbergasted! I couldn't believe it! I thought that that was adorable. For you straight girls who like comic book geeks, he is pretty good-looking and very nice.

The following day I left a note saying:

"To friend of 402, this cute comic book girl likes other cute comic girls"

Jenn and I had a good laugh about the whole situation. And, sorry I forgot to take a photo of the note! But this story is still pretty cute and funny!

Sold my beloved

I love you Toby!

Charlie Winston Review!

So much energy!

Venue @ Vancouver @ Tue, Jul 6, 2010

Favourite moment: When he walked through the crowd and climbed up the bar to the second floor balcony.

Setlist: I don't remember. But he played "In Your Hands" as the first and last songs of the evening.

Opening act(s): Henry And The Nightcrawlers

I think he was having as much fun as the audience was. He was interactive, engaging and so much fun! I had a blast. He also demonstrated his vocal range.... impressive. An amazing performer and a beautiful song writer.

Amazing. Enough said.

MOAB!

Day 1

We are off! Out on our world-wind adventure of heading to Moab, Utah and back! It was absolutely exciting to go to Richmond for some Timmy’s breakfast and get lost on our way out of Richmond.

Then we stuck in the riveting border line-up. It took us an hour to get through that line.

Jenn decided to be a man and not have a map. She just wanted to write down the directions from her I-phone (I have no idea how that thing works) and hopefully get there. Not having a map, made me feel nervous. I like knowing where I am and what direction I am headed it. I am not too much of a fan of getting lost, because it is a waste of gas.

We have only gotten lost once when Jenn told me to turn off and we were four miles too early. That’s when I got my road map! Very exciting for me! Now we are nearly 500km into Washington State and still over an hour away from the Oregon state-line.
Driving through the landscape has been changing every half an hour or so. It is getting flatter, and flatter! I miss my mountains and ocean already! The winery country is very beautiful though!



Day 2

I forgot to mention, that yesterday I saw wind turbines for the very first time! Because I have never seen them before they look very alien to me, kinda like the were made by aliens or that they don’t belong on this planet.

Our first night was spent in Boise, Idaho! It was surprisingly a really cool city. There was all of these pubs, and mom-and-pop kinda shops. We stopped by a cute little coffee shop this morning. It was a much bigger city than Jenn or I thought it would be.

We found the Cabana Hotel. The first room we went into scared the crap out of us. The room was facing a back street, door was very flimsy and it was dark because there were not outside lights on that side and the lights didn’t work inside the room. Jenn was the one that had to go talk to the hotel guy. He was trying to offer Jenn a room with two beds and questioned why Jenn wanted a room with only one bed. It made us laugh because we don’t know if it’s ok to be gay there. While at the hotel we were looking through yellow pages to find one of the places that had been featured in “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives” show to have something to eat. We discovered that our hotel had free wireless, while skimming through these booklets. So we just found all of them online. It was awesome! Jenn was also able to do some of her career stuff as well.

We went to a place that was on the show, but when we got there we were told that the kitchen had closed an hour early! I was really disappointed. Jenn made me feel better though by buying me a hot dog and saying that we will definitely visit one in Salt Lake City.




This morning while looking for a coffee place, we saw tons of old classic cars. There was a giant line of them to get into this little area of the city centre. When we went to get coffee at the little coffee palce, they said that it was for father’s day. Happy Father’s Day! It was also funny, at the coffee shop one of the girls recognized that I was wearing my Tegan and Sara sweatshirt, and so we thought that if she recognized them then they must be ok with gay people there.

We have finally arrived in Moab! I am enjoying the late night cool air while Jenn has another plays on her stupid Iphone again!

We stop in Salt Lake City for lunch and the Capitol building there was magnificent! It was huge and on top of a giant hill! The rest of the buildings there were very beautiful as well. It was only weird how wide the roads were. We enjoyed some food-age at the Macaroni Grill. It was delicious and the bread and dip they serve you right when you walk in is delicious (it’s a olive oil and vinegar dip).

Driving into Moab we saw a few of the places where we want to go biking and hiking. When we checked into our campsite, one of the managers here was giving us a ton of tips on where to go and what to see! He was really friendly and they seem to run a really nice campsite here.

I like the campsite a lot! It reminds of a campsite my family and I went to when I was really young. It was in a place called Christina Lake. I don’t know where that place is, but I had an amazing time there.



The red rock here is beautiful! The colours and textures are spectacular! It’s great! I am quite excited to not be driving tomorrow and really enjoying our trip!
Driving with Jenn has been really fun. We get along so well when we aren’t lost. When we are lost though, I think it’s a pain for both of us. It’s funny and it makes me laugh. I love her so much!

Quote from the day: “K-O-A campsite: Knock out cool! We should tell all the tourists that! We should totally patent that!” – Hick-ish gas station attendants in Moab.



Day 7

Yes I know, I forgot to write for almost the whole time we were in Moab.
First night in Moab we went to.... wait after talking with Jenn we didn’t go anywhere because she had to make an important phone call at a specific time, due to the time zone change. I made some lovely hot dogs in the fry pan and we went to bed. We discovered that not having the fly on the tent made the tent nice and cool. Later we discovered the disadvantages to having no fly on the tent!
The next morning we tried to sleep in and then headed to Arches National Park. It is the most beautiful park I have ever seen. If you have seen any commercial or movie with a red rock background in it, it is probably filmed there. So gorgeous! We discovered quickly how hot it gets and saw as much as we could before we headed back to the campsite for lunch. We walked to the Delicate Arch Viewpoint, and saw the Balanced rock and we drove around the park to get our bearings. Since it was so hot we decided to walk around town and try to fix the bbq I brought. It was missing a piece. We couldn’t fix it. So we got some briquettes for the provided campsite bbq.



Day 8

Sorry, I got distracted because I had to drive and navigate the rest of yesterday.
So...continuing...

We also walked around the “downtown” area of Moab. It is one street. We also checked out the rental place where we were renting bikes for the next two days.
In the late afternoon we headed back to Arches. We saw the windows and the Double Arch. The windows are really cool because you can walk right into them. Then from far away, you can see them both beside each other. Then we hiked over to the Double Arch. The Double Arch was the coolest Arch of all the Arches we saw. It was made from water pouring onto rock, and then it gets degraded down or breaks down and then the sides remain. Then under the sides the rock degrades/breaks and only the arches remain. See the pictures, they are amazing!




For dinner I made some skewers and potatoes! Nom Nom Nom!

The next morning we went to get the bikes from Poisoned Spider Bikes. The bikes were “Daisy” and “Dr. Octagon” (those were the names of the bikes, teehee)! I had “Daisy” and she was a beauty! I think Jenn was a little jealous of how cool mine looked. We headed to the Bar M loop. It was recommended as a good first-time-to-Moab-ride. It was about 6 miles out of town, so we headed there.



On the Bar M loop, we felt it was really easy. But there were some loops off of the main loop that were a little more difficult. We did one loop backwards by accident because we were getting confused by the signage. Then there was the most difficult loop, the “Circle O loop”. It was the first time that day that we road on slick rock. There is lots of the red rock to ride on there (that’s what Moab is famous for) and that was our first taste of it. It is very technical riding. Jenn was having blast riding on it, I could tell. I, on the other hand, was having a more difficult time and was getting very frustrated. Jenn was really good about helping me and giving me some tips so that I don’t destroy myself. We were starting to get really hot and there was a serious lack of shade because it was high noon. Thank goodness there was a cut through trail that led us back to the car. It was a tough ride back to the car in the heat.

We got back to the campsite and enjoyed some much needed pool time and a shaved ice treat (we got one every day we were in Moab).



That evening we headed to the Moab Brewery for some drinks and foodies. We got the sampler which consisted of ten, two once beers for five dollars. It was fun to try all the different beers of the region. Jenn got a little buzzed from it all. She ordered a burrito, and she said it was quite tasty and I got the bbq’ed Tip steak with onion rings. The meat was cooked perfectly, nice and tender and the bbq sause was so good. We were both surprised to have such good food.

The next day we decided to head to another trailer, I think it was called Lower Marrimac and M...something trail (also called Lower M & M). We got out there and started biking along and came to the head of the trail and there was a sign that said there was high potential for major rock falls in the area. So we decided to head to the famous Slickrock practice trail.



It was an amazing trail. It was on the red rock like Circle O but not really as technical as the Circle O portion from the Bar M trail. We had a blast! The view was amazing and we were glad to try the most famous trail in Moab. It was 2.3 miles around the loop and we completed it in about an hour and half. Jenn was beaming, she was so happy we did it. I called her the best girlfriend ever, because she is 
Then we dropped off the bikes and headed to the pool.

The guys recommended a trail called Porcupine Trail, which is a downhill trail and you have to take a shutter to the top and have your car at the bottom. We said if we ever come back we will do that trail.

That evening we headed into Arches Park again to see some rock art that was carved into the rock by natives years ago, it was called Wolfe Ranch. However, the trail that leads to it was closed for whatever reason. We were mad because that was the second thing that day that we were not able to do. So we headed south along the Colorado River to find some more. We found some and they were really cool. We took a bunch photos, climbed on a rock and I got a bad bug bite on my finger. I swelled up so bad that Jenn said I should get some antihistamine.

I had a restless sleep that night because of that stupid antihistamine!



The next morning we got up as early as we could and headed out to Arches for the last time to do the 3 mile hike into the Devil’s Garden to check out the Double O Arch and the Dark Angel (it was Jessica Alba in disguise). The hike was super awesome! We hike on the top of ridge and it was like we were walking on top of everything, nothing was higher than us and we got to look down to see everything. Devil’s Garden was awesome because it had the most amazing red rock, canyons and valleys. There was two ways to hike the trail and we hiked the main trail on the way into Devil’s Garden and hiked the “primitive” trail on the way back. Oh, I almost forgot, we saw the famous Landscape Arch which had a landslide in 1991, that went right under the arch and destroyed the visitors’ walkway that lead to right under the archway. That was the last of Arches National Park for us!

That afternoon we drove north on the scenic highway along the Colorado River. It was gorgeous up there. We stopped at a place that was supposed to have rapids, but I think the water level was too high to have a lot of rapids. There was just the really fast current. On our way back to Moab we stopped at a hotel/winery. It had a free movie museum, which featured all of the movies that have been filmed in the area. Moab has had the longest running film commission in the world.

That night we made some amazing steaks and potatoes. We packed up the car so we would be able to get up and leave the next morning.



End of Trip (Yes, I’m home)

The next morning was the start of the three day road trip home. We headed north towards Salt Lake City. They have crazy traffic around that city so we decided to eat at a place called “In & Out Burger” that was just outside of town. In & Out is supposed to be this American famous fast burger place. The burgers weren’t half bad, but the fries were not good at all. I don’t think that that batch was fried long enough.



Then we headed out to the Bonneville Salt Flats. They were soooooooo flat! Scary flat! It was cool to see and touch it because I will probably never be around that area again in my life.

Then we headed back to Boise. We love it there. It is such a cool city! We went to the Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives place that I wanted to go to last time. It was delicious! We had these lamb sandwiches and the lamb is grown locally and it was so good! Best lamb sandwich I have ever had!

Random quote from road trip portion:
“Ménage trois-ck” (there was a truck that was pulling two other trucks but they hitched together as if they all doing each other from behind)



The next morning we headed out to Portland, Oregon. I LOVE Portland! It is the coolest, trendiest and hippest place I have ever been too! Oh, while trying to find a hotel, Jenn and I saw Tim Robbins checking into a hotel. Yeah, he has a couple Oscars and is the main character of the best movie of all time: Shawshank Redemption. Yeah, no big deal! We ate at a fresh oyster bar and they had the best oysters I have ever had! So good! Portland looks like it has its own culture of food, music and fashion. Also they have events every week! They have a Saturday market every Saturday and lots of concerts. Their scene looks pretty sick! We went shopping for a bit and went to the best book store on the planet: Powells. So awesome! They sell new and used books! They had floor to ceiling selves full of books and the store was huge with a coffee shop in it!

The next day was to head home! We went to the outlets first of course and bought some stuff and then went straight to the border for home!

It was an amazing trip and I wouldn’t have it without Jenn, as she is the one who had the idea to go there and booked the whole trip. I love you baby girl!

Mumford & Sons Performance

AND WHAT A WONDERFUL PERFORMANCE IT WAS!



Last weekend (the before the one that jsut happened) Jenn and I had tickets to the sold out show: Mumford & Sons. We didn't go to the free show that was earlier that day but I heard from friends that that show was amazing as well.


Doors opened at 8pm and the opener didn't go on until about 9pm. The are called "The Middle East" from Queensland, Australia. They were wonderful. There were so many members to this band and each member had a wide variety of talents. Some of them were switching instruments or playing multiple instruments at once. Sometimes the had almost the entire band singing. There are I think eight members and five of them were vocals. I really enjoyed the female vocalist/piano and the long hair (with no beard) vocalist/guitarist voice. This band has the most hair I have ever seen in a band. Every single member has has to their shoulds or a beard. So lots of hair. Some of their songs were a little wierd but a couple of them were amazing.

Two of my favourite songs that they performed are featured on their myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/visitthemiddleeast

Great performance by The Middle East. Thank you for sharing your gift!

Mumford & Sons. That was hands down one of my all time favourite performances by any band I have seen live. Absolutely amazing. They were funny with their banter. Their energy during the performance was incredible. They played a Neil Young song and they were scared that they were going to die (here in Canada). They also played new songs that were a little different from their regular stuff. It was just all around an amazing performance. I had so much fun. I was dancing and singing and having a good ol' time!

The venue was also great. It was at 560 Club on Seymour. It was small but very modern. A little over priced for drinks but nothing too bad. Amazing place! I hope that this place turns into the new Richards on Richards. Perfect size and atmosphere!

If you want to check out this amazing band: http://www.mumfordandsons.com/

Thank you Mumford & Sons for becoming part of my life, I am truely grateful that I got to see you up close and personal before you became so popular that the closest I would be able to get to you is row 101 in some big fancy stadium.