Visit to West Coast & elsewere...

24 July - 10 August 2010

It is summer! For me, the one BIG trip this year is to go to the west coast, which includes Vancouver, Victoria, and Seattle. Thanks to a friend’s wedding, I also had the chance to visit Miami and Trinidad & Tobago. It has been an awesome experience, seeing new things and meeting new people along the way. Here are some snapshots and highlights of the travel:

Vancouver ~ Like many others, I did all the touristy stuffs such as visiting Stanley Park, Capilano Suspension Bridge, and Whistler Mountain. Other than these fantastic attractions, my local friends brought me to experience something that I have never done before, my first outdoor rock climbing experience! They texted me, “Let’s go Squamish Mountain for rock climbing! It’s a must-do in Vancouver!” So this was how I got “conned” into it, haha! It was quite intimating at first, but turned to be an exhilarating experience! The few scratches I received reminded me of those memories.



Victoria ~ I spent a short 2 days in the beautiful capital city of BC. Whale watching was the main agenda. I didn’t hold much hope since it was not always 100% guaranteed, but it turned to be a wonderful surprise (at least for me)! We didn’t have to wait long before we saw a full pod of 10-15 killer whales (also known as orcas) gracefully diving by, and occasionally surfacing for a breather. The “wows” and “ohhs” swung high and low with the intermittent appearance of the orcas. Such beautiful animals!



Seattle ~ I took a ferry to Seattle via Port Angeles, a town that is about an hour drive to Forks, where Belle and Edward Cullen met (for the Twilight fans). Seems like the foggy bleak weather of that region is the perfect breeding ground for the fanged creatures! Seattle is the birth place of Starbucks, so coffee addicts should visit the historical store and buy some priced souvenirs with its traditional logo. The Underground Tour brought me to the hidden and forgotten part of old Seattle in early 1890s. After the Great Seattle Fire in 1889, the city decided to raise the street level to overcome the sewage problems that plagued everyone living at lower part of the hills, and thus created this distinctive underground history.




Miami ~ It was a flight connection in Miami, so I stayed less than 12 hours in this steaming beach city. It is famous for its beautiful beaches, art deco architecture, chic people and many more. Miami reminds me of Singapore, with its slick highways, palm trees, city skyline etc. Everyone is bronze or red, in shorts, or bikini. An interesting observation is that there aren’t any Asians in sight; guess they are not big fan of beach and sun!



Tobago ~ On the contrary, Tobago reminds me of the village lifestyle in Malaysia, the humid weather, familiar palm trees and coconuts, rustic houses, pot holes on roads, slow and easy lifestyle, hens and goats running around, unforgiving mosquitoes, salty sea breezes, simple and friendly people etc. Interestingly, we saved some baby sea turtles and returned them to the sea. The wedding was a cozy gathering among family members and friends, and it gave a perfect closure to my 18-days travel. Tired but happy!



ps: more details and photos to follow over next few weeks, until I get some time to settle down properly and start writing...