Al Ben

The other week my company saw fit to send me to Beijing on business. Unfortunately this doesn't mean they flew me in business class - I got to make the flight in economy, between two other guys. Ah yes, I have to lose the window seat every now and then to be reminded that no, I still have not learned how to sleep sitting up. I did have a brief layover in Korea due to being bumped off my original, direct flight, which was interesting. Actually, not really: the Seol airport has exactly the same duty free shops and restaurants as every other airport in the known world. Well, at least the part of the world known by Ben.

 

I arrived in Beijing eight hours after my originally scheduled arrival in enough of a haze to miss the driver I had been so careful to arrange. So I took a taxi. As I got in, I realized this could be the first time in my life I couldn't communicate with someone at all. Zero. I was totally at the mercy of the taxi driver and the few fuzzy Chinese characters I'd printed, which showed the name of my hotel. "Yes", "no", "left", "right", "How YOU doin'?" - nothing would work on a taxi driver with absolutely no exposure to any Western language. Fortunately we arrived at the hotel, evidently with no confusion on the part of the driver.

 

Which brings me to Chinese taxis. This was an experience I must admit I was anticipating with a bit of trepidation. I'd heard the horror stories - drivers who couldn't drive, spoke no English whatsoever, viewed a ride as a great opportunity to cheat Western tourists, and most importantly had talents for strange smells and a penchant for spitting. This image couldn't be further from the truth. I took many taxis while I was in Beijing - usually four per day - and every single taxi was clean. And stink free. And I never heard a driver hock a lugey. I'm pretty sure they never ripped me off. I think this may be attributable to two policies enforced by the government: each taxi has an automatic receipt calculator/printer, and the price for just getting into the taxi is pretty steep by their standards. They make more money by picking up a new client and going one block than by driving in circles for half an hour. I did, however, have one driver (yes, it was a woman :-) who seemed to be driving for the first time and with whom I honestly feared for my life. And I did have another who seemed to be quite insane, muttering to himself and other drivers in a high-pitched voice throughout the 20-minute ride. Of all my taxi drivers, only one made any effort at English, which was kind of surprising with the Olympics so close. Local foreigners seem to get around with a book (like a photo album) full of business cards - they simply flip to the card of the business they want to go to and point. All in all I was quite impressed with the taxis - ubiquitous, cheap, friendly, clean; everything you're looking for. And I really enjoyed the ones with the cages around the driver :-)

 

Well I think I'll stop here for today. I'm old and tired and my writing is getting a bit... strange. I'll try to get back to it tomorrow...

Last weekend the sun was shining, the leaves were turning, and like the summer my friends and I decided it was time to take a vacation from Vancouver. We'd never been to the Sunshine Coast, a stretch of land north of Vancouver accessible only by boat, so it seemed like a good place to go. We woke up at the crack of 9 and caught the 11:20 ferry to Gibsons.

 

The sunshine coast is another beautiful stretch of British Columbia where the mountains meet the water. We started at Gibsons and headed slowly north, stopping periodically to bask on a beach, admire the views, and generally enjoy the trip. The weather cooperated and we were provided an amazingly clear, sunny day. We found a place for a coffee on a dock in a quiet cove and had lunch in a roadside snack shop. You can see our route more or less here: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=&saddr=vancouver,+bc&daddr=egmont,+bc&sll=49.539469,-123.991699&sspn=0.980282,2.993774&ie=UTF8&ll=49.510944,-123.568726&spn=0.980854,2.993774&z=9&om=1

 

We noticed when we disembarked the ferry that the return boats left at 6:20 and 8:20 PM, and decided to try for the 6:20 return. When we made Madeira Park, we decided to continue our tour and opt for the later ferry, abandoning the attempt at making it back to Gibsons by 6. We continued to Egmont and then made the 4km hike to see the Skookumchuck rapids, which are supposed to be some of the strongest rapids around. Tidal flows fill and empty the Sechelt Lake by turns, creating a roiling torrent replete even with whirlpools. Unfortunately the best moment to see the flow was at 4 and we didn't arrive until 6, so we missed the greatest part of the show. After a brief respite and a bit of kelp-watching, we retraced our steps to the car and drove back to catch the ferry, spirits aglow with the wonders of the day.

 

Unfortunately we were not in time for the ferry: we arrived half an hour before the ferry left, but there were already too many cars ahead of us. And it was the final ferry of the day. Suffice to say our spirits sagged at the return to Gibsons, the search for a restaurant open at 9 PM on a Sunday, and the search for a hotel. Spirits were none to high the next morning at 4:45, either, as we rose to catch the ferry, go home for a quick shower, and race to the office....

 

They say it's the journey that's important, not the destination, right?

Well tonight's a first for me. I know there's a show on at 9 and, since leaving work, have planned my evening around watching it. This momentous occasion shows three things:

1 - I like the series House

2 - I'm either getting old or becoming a TV nerd, I don't want to know which

3 - I'm adjusting to the Vancouver social scene

 

~sigh~

The last couple of days have reminded me a bit of what Vancouver is all about and why I live where I live. Last night I went to a pub after work with some friends and had a couple of beers and some typical pub food (in this case, fish and chips). Afterwards we wandered around downtown a bit before heading to the Railway Club to see The Furios, a local Ska band. (http://www.thefurios.com/). They were good and we had a good time, although not enough to buy a CD.

 

Then today I had my Kits refresher course. Slow, lazy morning sleeping and watching the premier league, followed by a bit of a walk. Then in memory of Nico and Mari I grabbed some sushi and ate on the beach while reading a book. The weather was great, if a bit cold. Sunny, clear, breezy, and around 65.

 

Now it's time for a nap.

So... once again I have been remiss in updating my blog. Well. I'm going to use the summer as my excuse: no-one wants to stay inside and update a blog on one of the few days the sun is shining in Vancouver, that's what the rainy winter is for! Actually recently the summer has been turning into winter: the highs are generally under 70 (25) and it has been raining off and on...

 

Well, I guess I'll start where I left off. In July I went with a group of friends to Vancouver Island. The theory is that we should go to places near Vancouver in the summer while it's sunny and warmer places in the winter. We had a four day weekend, I think it was over Canada day, and took off Thursday evening and came back Monday evening. Thursday night was in Victoria and on Friday we drove to Tofino, where we spent the rest of the weekend.

Vancouver Island is a large island off the coast of British Columbia, stretching halfway down the coast of the province all the way down to Seattle. The most notable cities on the island seem to be Victoria, the capitol of BC, and Tofino, the surf capitol of Canada. http://maps.google.ca/maps?ie=UTF8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&q=&ll=49.823809,-122.915039&spn=3.962064,11.975098&z=7&om=1

 

We had a great time on the ferry from Tsawassen and in Victoria. We stayed in the Swan hotel and brewery and bought some of their beer on our way out of town. Victoria is a lovely city filled with cafes, restaurants, shops, and large, English-style buildings. The drive to Tofino the next morning was quite picturesque and some members of our group even saw a black bear! The token Greek was lectured by the Canadians when she decided to get out of the car in order to take better photos.... We stayed in a cabin in the middle of the rain forest outside of Tofino for the next couple of nights. The days were filled with kayaking, whale watching, hiking, wandering on the beaches, eating outstanding fish tacos, hugging trees, and lighting fires on the beach. Nobody had the courage (nor the drysuit) to try the surfing... The evenings were filled with excellent food, barbecues, and the crazy games of the Greek version of the scouts. We reluctantly packed up on Monday and made the drive to Nanaimo for the ferry ride back to civilization...