Dec
27
On Christmas day we drove up to Billabong Lodge to join the Tavakoli family (my brother in law’s family). They have a log cabin in Hope which is about 2 hour drive from Vancouver. It was a little hard to get up early in the morning after the dinner (that involved a bit of boozing) at Marina’s the night before, nevertheless, we made it just before lunch time. There was Diane, Ata, Aaron, Maria, little Ayden, and Brigid.
It was a perfect day to open Christmas presents under the tree with the snowy view outside the window. Little Ayden was so busy opening up presents from everyone, since he’s the only child around in the whole clan, he was definitely spoiled rotten. He is really cute and so sweet plus he’s such an affectionate child that loves cuddles and kisses from everyone and has an amazingly big heart for such a tiny person.
 
 
Little snowflakes were falling down from the sky but it wasn’t as cold, it was dry actually so we had a little play outside the cabin and Saj made what you can call a teddy-bear-wannabe-snowman. Haha actually, I think he did a really good job. We went for a walk along the hills and went on top of the hill which has the most beautiful scenery of snowy mountains, pine trees and houses that were covered in snow. It was so serene…
 
I couldn’t think of a better way of spending Christmas in Canada, here we are thinking that we’ll be all alone this Christmas but it was definitely far from it. Diane and Ata prepared a huge meal for all of us and I learnt some basic cooking tips from Diane while Christmas music was playing in the stereo, accompanied with a glass of red wine. They made this scrumptious roast beef, roast chicken, roast ham, cauliflower cheese, and baked potatoes with pumpkin. We played cards, played poker, watched movies, made a snowman, Saj made the most gigantic snow ball (I swear that thing could kill a small child if it rolled on them), made snow angels, played snow fight, went tobogganing (in which Aaron almost had an involuntary vasectomy due to some loose branches:P) and we went and played some more…
 
The next morning, we woke up to 10 inches of snow and it snowed quite heavily during the morning, so the boys started to plough the snow away from the front yard and the cars. Another relaxing day to play more games and watch even more movies. That night we had the most delicious kebob that Ata made for dinner.
 
Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end… Saj had to work the next day so we had to drive back home after dinner. What can I say? Even though we are far away from our families, we had a great time spending Christmas with the Tavakoli family as they always treat us like their own family.
And as for the White Christmas as opposed to 41 degrees Celsius heat? I’d ask myself this very question… Do I hear myself complaining..? Nah.. I don’t quite think so…
Dec
24
 So much for worrying about being lonely this Christmas as both of our families are in Australia and probably were having a shrimp on the barbie with nice cold aussie beers…
 
Thanks to my dear friend Marina and her family for inviting us to their house on Christmas Eve. She came up to my cubicle one day at work “Hey Tash… what are you gonna do for xmas?” I was like… hmm dunno yet, well we don’t have anyone here so probably just stay at home. She said to me “you have to come over to our place on Christmas eve.. I’ll ask my parents but I’m sure they’ll be happy to have you over. Rodrigo and I were by ourselves last year and it sucked, I can’t let you experience that..!”. Bless her little heart… She’s a really sweet girl and oh how much am I going to miss her smile and our girly chats 
 
So we spent Christmas Eve with Marina and her family who are from Brazil, so not only did we learn a little bit about their culture but also got to experience the delicious food. They made this really yummy roast ham, rice with turkey and cheese, eggplants, and potato salads. We had loads of fun especially playing the Secret Santa game after dinner “with the slight twist”. Unlike the traditional Secret Santa rules, we were allowed to steal another person’s gift to put it in a nutshell. I think we laughed a little too hard when we saw the facial expression after a gift was stolen from someone… It was definitely the season to be jolly!
 
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Obrigado to the Silva family for being our surrogate family and for allowing us to celebrate Christmas in their tradition… The excitement was a little too much for some…
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Dec
23
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Season’s Greetings to all our friends and family including those back in Australia… while you guys are sweating your asses off in 38 degree heat we’ll be doing snow angels in 2 feet of snow…! We miss you all and would like to wish you a Merry Christmas and have a safe new year…
…you all better behave, otherwise you’ll be begging for presents from the jolly fat man…
Lots of Love From…
Dec
10
 
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On Friday night, Saj surprised me by taking me to “Bright Nights” in Stanley Park. It is basically a charity event that is funded by Vancouver Park Board and BC Fire Fighters to help the burn fund and the burn survivors with their families. More than a million beautiful twinkling colourful lights brighten up the forest in Stanley Park, the admission is by donation and there is also a train ride too. The waiting line was so long so we decided not to go on the train but to donate the money instead. There are a few windy pathways that you walk along through the forest and they have little houses on each side with their own themes; There was a gingerbread house, Disney house, Mr and Mrs Claus’s house, snowmen and candy canes were everywhere, accompanied by live Christmas music and of course the reindeer and the sleigh ride. The aromas of roasted chestnuts and organic popcorn were enticing and there were even farmyard houses too, in which you can pet the farm animals such as donkeys, cows, pigs, goats, bunnies and guinea pigs… That was just the icing on the cake! I petted this gigantic size bunny, about 3 times bigger than Jasmin, and he just sat there and enjoyed the attention from people… I think the donkey was tired of all the attention as he tried to chew his way out of his stable…Â
 
I do realise that this may not be as exciting as it sounds for some people, but my husband knows how much I love Christmas and the whole thing that comes with it!… it definitely made my night twinkle.. It was a very simple gesture, and it didn’t have to involve a lot of $$$…
 
 
…and although by the end of it we were frozen to the bone, knowing what’s underneath it all that made it so special… ~*
Sep
06
This Labour Day long weekend Tash and I decided to do a spontaneous trip to Seattle to unwind after a stressful few weeks. We left early in the morning after dropping the dogs off at the kennel just to make sure we didn’t get stuck at the border for 4 hours! Our timing was great and we didn’t have to wait long (due to some sneaky maneuvers that I’ve learnt)…
We arrived and checked into our hotel and made our way to the University Village Mall and spent most of the day checking out the shops there. At night time we strolled over to the Space Needle which is an icon of the city and checked out the surrounding areas. There was a festival called Bumbershoot so most of the area was fenced off and they had rides and free concerts all weekend.
Sunday morning came and we headed out to the Pike Place markets… also known the Public Market Center which overlooks the Elliott Bay waterfront in Seattle. The Market, which opened August 17 1907, is the oldest continually-operated public farmer’s market in the country. It is a place of business for many small farmers, craftspeople and merchants. Local farmers sell year-round in the arcades from tables they rent from the Market on a daily basis, in accordance with the Market’s mission and founding goal: allowing consumers to “Meet the Producer.”
The highlight of the market has definitely got to be the “flying fish”. It has become a tradition for the fishermen to display their catch on a bed of ice and when a customer orders a fish, the group chants out the order and then one of the fishermen throw the fish and the guy at the register catches it and wraps it up for the customer. This has become a popular show for tourists as they gather around the front of the shop waiting in anticipation for the next order of “flying fish”…
Later on that day we went to a shop called Fry’s… its an electronics superstore and all I have to say is MY GOSH IS THAT PLACE HUGE! its about the size of 5 Best Buy’s put together AND SOME! The range of stuff is amazing and you’re definitely bound to find what you’re looking for I must say they have plenty of very cool gear in that shop… I was like a kid in a candy store…! In addition to that we dropped into the Seattle Premium Outlets and checked out the summer sales…
All in all it was a nice weekend away… The movie title “Sleepless In Seattle” should really be “Sleeping in Seattle”… I found the city is very different to the likes of Vancouver, LA, NY etc… don’t get me wrong I’m not comparing the actual cities… Seattle is very quaint… I just found that there wasn’t many people around and you don’t get that “vibe” of it being lived in like those other cities other than the popular tourist spots. I guess it’s partly due to the fact that downtown living isn’t as dense in comparison…
Until next time…!
Aug
29
At the start of this month we went out to Cyrus’s family lodge that has been named “Billabong Lodge” which is located about 2 hours east of Vancouver in Sunshine Valley. The hand built Morgan log cabin can be hired out and is the perfect holiday retreat… Cyrus’s dad has spent a lot of time renovating the basement and the interior. I couldn’t get over how homely and cozy the cabin was… The large “farm style” kitchen counter is the perfect place for large groups to chat over a meal and being nestled in the hills with surrounding trees you always get a visit from the local fauna like rabbits and chipmunks. During winter time the place is covered in a blanket of snow and the Manning Park Ski and Recreational resort is not far away.
 
 
The whole gang spent the long weekend there and we tried our luck at some fly fishing for trout at one of the local lakes. Cyrus wasn’t having much luck (probably because he was fishing in a recreational lake with so many people) and even tried to stack the odds in his favour by adding more than one lure to no avail!!Â
This region is the perfect place to have a bbq, picnic, go for a swim or just get away from the busy lifestyle of the city… You know that you’ve achieved that when you lose you cell phone reception!! *note to self* make sure you know how to get there because you can’t call up for directions!!!
For those of you who are interested in checking it out, you can make bookings at www.billabonglodge.com . Its definitely a trip worth making…
Jul
04
Seeing we had a long weekend coming up we decided to do a roadtrip to Portland, Oregon. There were a few motives behind this trip… The first; Tash’s old kindergarten friend (Cindy) from Indonesia lives there so she wanted to visit her, and the second (probably the real motive) was the TAX FREE SHOPPING!!! We went with Tash’s sisters’s family and her mom and soon we were crusing the I5…
We set off early Saturday morning and headed over the border and stopped in Tulalip just outside of Seattle. This is where all of the major brands like Banana Republic, Nike, Guess, Sony etc have their factory outlets. The minute we parked in the parking lot I could see the look in Tash’s eyes… She was like a woman possesed hypnotized by the sale sign and promise of retail therapy!
I came across the Ecko Unlimited Outlet factory where I ended up spending most of my time… I’ve always been a fan of the brand Ecko Unlimited which is designed by Marc Ecko. For those of you who don’t know, it’s a hip hop clothing label that was established in 1993 and is renowned for it eye catching graffiti prints and and urban styling. I love the styling and admire the work that goes into each design.
Once we finally managed to drag the ladies away from the shops we made our way through Seattle and finally arrived in Portland. It is a very quaint little city situated on the riverside. Everyone was friendly and I couldn’t believe how tidy the city was. The area we stayed in could be likened to Subiaco with its cafes and restaurants with small boutique stores scattered along the strip.
We spent the day walking up and down the waterfront, and took some time out the have a splash in the water fountain with the kids. Only after we finished playing in the fountain, did we read the warning sign that stated the main jet is strong enough to throw a fully grown man!!! Oooooops….Â
The next highlight of the trip would have to be the Apple store. This weekend, the US saw the launch of Apple’s Iphone. After much hype and endless waiting, the product was finally released and they were selling like hot cakes. Apple has been very smart in their marketing ploy; because if you walk into any of their stores they have about 20 fully functional phones on display for you to play with and experiment. They even have data plans and phone service to trial the quality of their services! While I was mucking around with the phone I decided to try the SMS feature. I hit reply to the last message that was in the phone and typed “are you there yet?”. At this time I didn’t realise that the phone was actually “live” so when I hit the send button I got a reply back:
“Yeah man… I’ve left the country and I’m not coming back until this Iphone BS blows over…”
I found this pretty hilarious because I can imagine how many people are going to get prank calls and bogus sms’s due to the free access that Apple is providing for these demo units.
Everytime we go the US, Nia always tells us to go and try The Cheesecake Factory. So this time we made a special effort to go there. The venue is very glamorous and I would say it is like an upmarket Cactus Club. The food was quite nice, but the cheesecake was definitely the main feature of the whole meal… The variety was endless which made it hard to decide and by the end of it all I decided on a classic… plain New York cheesecake.Â
 
The Roadtrip was fun, but I think travelling 600km each way for just a weekend was a bit much… We definitely need to spend more time at the destination because by the end of it all we needed a holiday to recover from our holiday! I learnt two things from this trip…
1. Never travel by car to anywhere that crosses the US border on a weekend where both Canada AND the US are having a public holiday unless you want to spend you weekend sitting in your car while you wait to cross the border… We ended up spending nearly 5 hours on the way home
2. If you’re doing “Tax free shopping”… make sure you buy enough stuff to justify the distance travelled to take advantage of “Tax free shopping”! By the time you calculate how much you save on taxes, and factor in the cost of petrol… make sure you’re saving money by the end of it! I don’t think we did nearly enough shopping to justify the distance travelled!
All in all it was nice to hit the road and see more of this large continent… until next time…
Are we there yet…?
Mar
17
A couple of weeks ago I had a pleasant email from my old boss Murray from STA Travel that he was coming over to Canada for a few days as he went on an agent famil trip. Unfortunately the group didn’t make a stop in Vancouver so Saj and I decided to meet up with him in Whistler. I was feeling a little home sick at that time so I was excited when I found out that he was coming over and never thought that it would be happening so soon.
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We met up with him on Saturday night… and what’s new, it always involves pub and drinking. It was perfect actually because it was on St. Patty’s day and there was a nice crowd everywhere. We partied from the Hilton to Tommy Africa’s and finally got home around 3:30am!
It was so good seeing you again Muz, you are so funny and I do miss working with you! J
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Cheers to the good times for now…
Feb
06
“How come everytime you come around,
My London, London bridge wanna go down like,
London, London, London, wanna go down like,
London, London, London wanna go down like..â€
Ok enough about “Fergie Fer and me love you long timeâ€.. when we went to London, luckily nothing “went down” as such… Everything was great despite the cold winter chill.
I loved London when I was there 4 years ago and still feel the same way this time we visited again. I always think that European cultures, people and joke suit me more than any others, I guess in a certain way it’s very similar to the Australian way. I mean don’t get me wrong, I love other places as well but Western Europe is amazing, I guess what I love the most is the structure of the city. The distinct European architecture such as the cobble stone lanes, narrow little villages, the medieval castles/churches, buildings, etc.
I know not many people don’t really like London due to the crowdedness, dirtiness, people being rude, and the weather is miserable. However, despite of all that, to me the city has so much character, lots of old little cafes/pubs, markets, the underground tubes and buses are so efficient, and not forgetting the live musical plays in theatres.
We saw The Phantom of The Opera in Her Majesty’s Theatre. Hands down it was the best play I’ve ever been to. The tickets were a little pricey, but it was worth every penny. The story was about a Phantom (like a ghost) that lived behind this Paris opera and he fell in love with this girl called Christine who was one of the actors that played in his opera. I’ve never seen such an amazing play.. I loved it so much that I bought the CD and I think Saj might be sick of the songs by now coz I constantly play it… 😛
Well, London was our last stop before we headed back home and we made the most of it by doing a lot of the major sight seeing, we visited The Big Ben, London Eye, London Aquarium, The Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, Harrods, and Tower Bridge to name a few. We also visited Saj’s aunty Sharmini that lives in London, she took us to the Saturday market, shopping centre and had a home cooked meal for lunch. We had a great time spending our last day with her and hope to see her again soon.
Well, good things must come to an end and after spending 5 nights, we were ready to say goodbye to London and headed home and start repairing the financial damage that we’ve inflicted over the past 6 weeks traveling! 😛
I love traveling, it opens your mind and you learn so much about people, cultures, and places. As a former STA Travel adviser, I would say…
“We know because we go…â€
Feb
04
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I love Paris every moment,
every moment of the year…
I love Paris,
why?
oh why do I love Paris?
Because my love is near…
Bonjour! Paris was one of the best cities I’ve ever been to. There isn’t a single thing that I don’t like about Paris, although there is a big language barrier and I’ve heard bad things about french people, we never came across one rude person, in fact, they were all so helpful and friendly. We only gave ourselves 3 nights in Paris and wished that we could stay longer.. much longer.. a cause de je’t tomber amourex de Paris.
I love the language, I did do a french course in Perth almost 2 years ago, but I’ve pretty much forgotten all of it now since I had never practiced it. It would have been handy if I still had it with me when we were there.. It spun me out to hear the indian and chinese people speak French when we went to restaurants.
On our first day, we went to see the famous museum, yeah you know it.. The Louvre, where the movie Davinci’s Code was made. It was huge and to really see most of it inside, it will take you about 3-4 days. We saw the Mona Lisa painting and I was quite surprise of how small it actually was. Well it proves that in this case, size does NOT matter as that small painting was protected by an 8cm thick bullet-proof glass and had about 5 guards surrounding it. Outside the Louvre is this beautiful open area surrounded by detailed architectural buildings, water fountains and little cafes.
Although the weather was cold and rainy, it didn’t stop us from going places such as The Notre Dame, Ile de La Cite (where we ate escargot for the first time), Place de La Concorde, Champs Elysees, Moulin Rouge, Arc de Triomph and of course.. Le Tour Eiffell (The Eiffel Tower). As usual, Saj took some really impressive photos of these sites and I’d like to share them with you.
We were so lucky to have met a lovely French guy, his name was Jean Philippe (we called him JP) in the tour that we did in Amsterdam. So we met up with him again on our last day in Paris. He took us to Montmartre which is definitely my number 1 favourite place in Paris. Montmartre consists of a very artistic Parisian village located on a slightly steep slopes with narrow streets and lots of cute little bistros, shops and galleries. There were a lot of artists that offered to draw a portrait of you for approx. EUR10-25. But what I enjoyed the most were observing the artists created the beautifully hand-painted canvases of the colourful cafes and bistros around. I could stand there forever watching…
There is a catholic church perching at the top of Montmartre called Sacre Coeur (or Sacred Heart). It was the most beautiful church I have ever seen. We all strolled along Pigalle (Moulin Rouge) and Champs Alysees at night and we all had dinner near our hotel which was in St Marcel. JP was such a great host and we all talked for hours! The whole day just wasn’t enough and after midnight we were all tired and had to say goodbye to him. Thanks a lot for making our trip sweet, we surely had a great time meeting up with you and until next time we see again…
Au Revoir for now…