Last weekend was the long Victoria Day weekend, and by long weekend I mean I just get one day off school (Monday). I initially planned to use the long weekend to catch up on a boatload of studying but things did not work out exactly when I decided to go to Victoria for the weekend to watch the parade. On the Saturday before I left, Shenji from Kamloops decided to come down to Vancouver with his Eastern buddies. The last time I met him in Vancouver some weeks ago, I had to leave him for a few hours to check out an apartment that I might move in to. This time around, at least if I had to abandon him again, he would have friends to keep him occupied. I followed him back to the hotel he was staying and met some of his friends (sorry Shenji I forgot their names except for Randy and Maaya(?). Outside the hotel there was some kind of military march with APCs and troops. I expected them to be participating in the parade but that wasn’t the case. Shenji took a few photos that made it look as if he was leading the soldiers and then we went for lunch in a Korean restaurant, probably the first time I ever had a meal in one. After that, we had to part ways because I had to go meet another friend to buy furniture for my apartment.
On Sunday, it was off to Victoria. Victoria Day is a celebration of Queen Victoria, one of the most revered rulers of the British Empire. There are many places named Victoria around the world, such as in Australia. The Victoria I went to is the capital of the province of British Columbia. Unlike Vancouver, Victoria had this European look to it, with many old buildings dating back to the colonial days. I had been to Victoria twice before so I didn’t take any photos (and also because my camera was out of battery and I did not charge it). The rest of my group was new there, so they spend hours, filling up their cameras with Victoria’s beautiful scenery. The long weekend attracted lots of people to Victoria, there were more buskers than I had ever seen in my life and equally as many artisans and street performers. We visited the Legislature building which had actors dressed in Victorian era costumes and watched a marching band competition. After wandering around Victoria for a day, we retired to the University of Victoria (UVic) where we would spend one night. I must say that their residence was so much better than my university’s. Uvic was and is known for its rabbit infestation. There were so many rabbits all over their lawns and they were all so cute and furry. After spending a few minutes trying to catch some rabbits for a photo, we went to our rooms. The rooms were fully carpeted and resembled hotel rooms. They even provided soap and towels. The residence that I stayed in at SFU did not even have bed sheets. Naturally the rooms cost quite a bit, so to cut it down, we decided to share rooms. I shared a room with my friend Yin, who unfortunately snores. Luckily I was used to loud snoring.
The next day, we watched the parade but due to numerous delays, we only managed to catch the last hour of it, and it was raining during that last hour. After that, we went to museum which was the second time I would visit it. I managed to explore more of the museum compared to my previous visit and I even noticed exhibits that I had not seen the last time, like a collection of Indian pipes with figures in questionable poses on them. At the end of the day, we rushed back to the ferry and despite the hundreds of people waiting to go back to Vancouver, managed to get a spot on the ferry. It was an eventful weekend and even though I didn’t do anything productive, I was glad that I went because that’s probably the only holiday I’ll ever have until Canada Day.
