Squareface @ 31°North

Going…Going…Gone.

I haven’t had time to sit down to reflect, but what I know now for sure is that the past 4 months has been nothing short of pleasant, fun, and wonderful.

Much thanks to my housemates for giving me insight into Canadian culture and helping me with all my needs, and all other friends who made this sojourn so enjoyable I find it hard to leave. Mostly, it’s thanks to the friendly, and always-going-out-of-the-way-to-help Canadians and their pleasant habits.

It’s 2.30am now and the cab I booked will be arriving at 7am. Still, I have not finished packing.

So I have to pack now, blog later.

The next time I blog, it’ll be across the border, down where it’s not as cold.

(Check back tomorrow for the words of this post. Too tired now to think about what to write. But I couldn’t wait to show off pics so here are the pics first haha. as usual, click on pics for slideshow.)

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Very much English, Victoria is a quaint capital that is reminiscent of London, somewhat. Be it the architecture, the way the boats are lined on the river, the entire setting of the place illuminates it’s associations with Englishness. With a small population inhabiting the capital of British Columbia, the main attractions are the Parliament Buildings, the Fairmont Empress Hotel, and Butchart Gardens.

(Click on any of the images to view slideshow)

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whoopdeedoo! Done with all the term papers and exam papers! Although I only took 5 classes when I usually take 9 or 10 classes at Fudan, it sure drained whatever intellect I have.

Down to 3 days in Vancouver/Canada. It’ll be a mad rush of shopping and exploring whatever I can. 1 day on the snowy mountains of Whistler, 1 day with friends to take care of the friend who got injured in Whistler and is now on crutches, 1 final day for crazy gift shopping and final goodbyes.

Then off to the Land of (lesser) Freedom for more wacky mad rushes, like flying from the West Coast to the East after Christmas to join other wacky people to countdown to 2008 in the Big Apple. Then join the chaotic herd at the airport to fly all the way back to the West on the first day of 2008.

My blog entries should be plentiful for the next 4 weeks.

There are times when an acquaintance offers you just what you need at the precise moment that you instantly embrace her as a friend.

I guess I remember help provided best when it’s given in the form of food. Today, close to 2am, just when I was starving and trying to think what I can possibly eat when my food stock is close to depletion due to my impending departure, my housemate knocks on my door and serves me a rice bowl with teriyaki chicken.

Succulent skinless thigh meat atop 2 spoons of cooked chinese rice garnished with her parents’ restaurant’s teriyaki sauce. Just the way I like it:

1) chicken thigh meat, with

2) lesser rice than meat.

(I would have said 3) skinless, but I love chicken skin. She removed it for my cholesterol’s sake :S)

She has just proven that she knows me better than friends who know me for eons. And that I haven’t been as keen an observer/carer as her.

I was touched by a simple gesture tonight.

Ahhh!!!!! There goes my 1 week break!!!

China approves plan to shorten May Golden Week break
It goes ahead with holiday revamp despite fears of drop in tourism revenue
By Clarissa Oon, CHINA CORRESPONDENT

CHAOTIC: Travellers at a railway station in Tianjin during a Golden Week holiday this year. Beijing’s move will help ease the strain on the transport industry during the May travel period. — PHOTO: REUTERS

BEIJING - CHINA has approved a controversial plan to shorten one of the country’s three ‘Golden Week’ national holidays.

And for the first time, it will grant public-sector employees paid annual leave, state media announced last night.

The sudden revamp of the country’s annual holiday system will reduce the number of official days off during the week-long May Day holiday from three to just one.

More importantly, it could cause significant revenue loss for China’s domestic travel and hotel industry in the short term.

In the long run, however, the strain on national transportation and tourism resources during the peak Golden Week travel periods would be eased and ordinary Chinese would be encouraged to travel more frequently at other times of the year, argue defenders of Beijing’s plan.

To compensate for the loss of one Golden Week, three traditional Chinese festivals will be declared public holidays.

Holidays for the Tomb Sweeping Festival, Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival will increase the total number of public holidays in China from 10 to 11.

The proposals to scrap one Golden Week and introduce the leave system were approved by a State Council meeting chaired by Premier Wen Jiabao yesterday.

The new holiday calendar is set to take effect after being approved by China’s annual National People’s Congress, or Parliament, next March.

Singapore and other short-haul overseas destinations favoured by the Chinese may actually gain from this holiday shake-up, travel industry insiders told The Straits Times.

‘We view it positively. Where there were just three peak travel periods previously, this change provides more windows of travel to Singapore,’ said Mr Edmund Chua, the Singapore Tourism Board’s chief representative in Greater China.

China’s three Golden Week breaks fall on Chinese New Year, May Day and the Oct 1 National Day.

Most mainland workers currently do not enjoy paid leave and rely on the Golden Weeks to give them the opportunities to travel around the country and overseas, or simply to take a break from work.

Under the new regulations, employees in the public sector may be granted between five and 15 days of paid leave a year, depending on the number of years they have worked.

First introduced in 1999 to stimulate domestic travel and consumption, the Golden Weeks have become increasingly chaotic as millions of holidaymakers pile into planes, trains, cars and buses and descend on tourist sites during those times.

While some argue that an overhaul of China’s annual holiday system is long overdue, the proposal to scrap the May 1 Golden Week holiday ran into surprisingly stiff opposition when it was first mooted last month.

A group of more than 20 newspapers even took the rare move of announcing a joint motion to oppose the plan.

Travel agencies, hotels and restaurants feared a sudden drop in revenue, while some Chinese expressed scepticism that their employers would honour the government’s plan to introduce the paid leave system.

Officially, the Golden Week breaks are only three days long.

However, as Chinese are required to work the weekend before the holiday, it is normal practice to then take those two days off the following week, making each break last for seven consecutive days.

At UBC, in Vancouver, in Canada. The final 10 days (till my next visit, of course!).

Slowly, I’m trying to cut the strings of attachments.

I’ll always revisit the memories created in this lovely liveable place, and with its people I befriended so easily (you must know how anti-social I was/am in Fudan). It remains on the top of my list of places to live/retire in (if I can afford to).

(And of course, the place to sign marriage papers if someone asks)

Click on the pictures below for pictures of UBC, and other memories in Canada.

Especially you, Shaina Yu Jin Tong.

Just decided to post some random food images for the fun of tantalizing my friend, Shaina, who is starving at work now. Hopefully she will never go on a diet again because, come on Shaina, you and I, we live to eat.

From Canada (the pics, not necessarily the cuisine):

Quesadilla 

Vera’s Burger from Vera’s Burger Shack

Some burger from some restaurant 

Pasta 

From Singapore:

Chicken Wings, Holland Village 

Chicken Wings, Holland Village 

Stingray, Holland Village 

Soft Shell Crab from Geylang dimsum