V For Victoria

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.

Spring Into Action

The set they set up (no pun intended). The very first scene they shot (I think) was a bunch of soldiers stepping out of a truck...now I understand just how much work film making is...
The helicopter doing the aerial filming...I'm guessing this scene would go into the opening credits...

At last winter's chill is almost over. It’s starting to rain more often now, so I’m taking that as a sign that spring is almost here, if not here already. In about 4 weeks time, the semester will end and I will finally move to a (rented) place of my own. Since my last entry, I have bought a new computer; it’s a Dell XPS M1530 and even though it wasn’t as powerful as my old Acer, it was certainly cheaper and of a much better quality. It was also considerable lighter, making it easier to carry around.

I have also applied for a transfer to UBC (University of British Columbia) mainly because it offers a better, more prestigious brand name, and it was a much better university overall in terms of quality and facilities. I do not have much hope that the transfer will be successful because I actually applied past the deadline but if it does, I can look forward to a better life over there. Interestingly, UBC still has the information from my last application, so I’m hoping the processing would not take very long.

I visited UBC for the first time some weeks ago for their Festiva Celebration. It was a weeklong celebration of international culture with performances and games. I only attended the last day of the event but even that blew me away. I knew SFU would never authorize such an event. Just watching the performances made me realize how much better UBC was compared to SFU. I would have put pictures up, but I forgot to bring my camera. I actually carry my camera with me every day but for some reason I forgot to bring it on that day, when I actually needed it. The International Office at UBC was more independent and less interested in making money, so unlike SFU. Furthermore, in UBC, the International Students have their own building called the International House where they can have club meetings and even cook their own food because it has a kitchen. In SFU, all the International Students get is a lousy lounge with a pool table and broken pool sticks, a few saggy sofas and no kitchen. The ‘lounge’ even has security cameras in it, ensuring that those who do choose to hang out in there have no privacy. I actually found out recently that it took years for SFU International to even provide the lounge and only after receiving tons of complaints from International Students.

Just a few days ago, there was a major flurry of activity because a movie was bring filmed at SFU. Actually only several scenes were going to be filmed here, but even so, everyone was curious. The movie was “The Day the Earth Stood Still” which was a remake of a movie made a long time ago. The set here at SFU was a military base- Linwood Military Academy. Quite a fitting choice of location considering the fact that SFU looks like a prison. On their first day of shooting, lots of people crowded around the set (probably hoping to catch a glimpse of Keanu Reeves who was supposed to be in the movie). Whether he was actually in that scene I never found out but I did take a couple of pictures. It was exciting to see the actors in military uniform and all the pseudo-military hardware being loaded on to the set. They even brought half tracks but sadly, no tanks.

That’s it for the end of winter, and judging by how late this entry is, the end of spring is also just round the corner.

On the Road

Us three guys, Lyndon the Chinese fellow, and Xavier the blond Frenchman

In the museum, in front of a statue of some native, probably Nootka (if Age of Empires 3 got their facts right)

The reggae buskers performing, a bit blurry though

The Legislature building, kinda makes our own Parliament building look absolutely Soviet-ish

The company on the ferry, en route to Vancouver Island

For the past 2 weekends, I have sacrificed valuable study time (not that I would have used it anyway) to go on more trips with the International Club. This entry would be for the first trip- to Victoria, a historic city that is also the capital of British Columbia. I know not many Malaysians are aware of this, in fact very few are even aware of the capital of Canada. I still remember asking people what they think it was and I got answers ranging from Montreal to Toronto. Anyway, I made quite a last minute decision to go to Victoria, so last minute that I only called to confirm on the very day itself- at 7.45 am (we were supposed to meet at 8.30 am). It seemed fortunate that I called because the contact person for this trip had overslept and only woke up when I called her. As I had not informed anyone else that I was coming and with the contact person still in her bedroom, I decided to take a chance and head for the meeting point, hoping that the rest of the company would not have left yet. Despite arriving almost 45 minutes past the arranged time, I was relieved that they were still waiting. It turned out that the company consisted of only 4 people (myself included). We decided to wait at the SFU downtown campus for the contact person (Kelly) to arrive. Being a girl, we estimated that she would take quite some time to arrive. One of us, Xavier was really displeased with all this waiting, as he had arrived early- he was already at the meeting place at 8 am. By the time Kelly arrived, it was almost 11, so we wasted no time catching the bus to the ferry terminal.
The ferry ride was about 2 hours long. Fortunately for us, the weather report was wrong that day (they predicted stormy weather and it was quite sunny) and we spent quite some time on deck admiring the scenery and taking photographs. By the time we arrived at Victoria, it was already late evening. We spent some time taking photographs of some of the city’s famous attractions like the Legislature building and the Empress Hotel. While Vancouver was the more modern, bustling city, Victoria still had its colonial appeal. It really looked very British- indeed a fitting appearance for the capital of a province named British Columbia. We would have gone on a tour of the Legislature, but as ill luck would have it, it was closed on the very weekend that we were in Victoria. After we exhausted ourselves with pictures, we turned our attention to accommodation. We were supposed to stay at a hostel for the night and our coordinator, Lyndon had assured us that they would have room (that’s what they told him anyway over the phone, so he hadn’t bothered to make reservations). To our dismay, they did not have any rooms available for guys, only for girls. As Kelly was the only girl among us, she was able to secure a room at the hostel, while the three of us guys had to take a room in the nearby Strathcona Hotel. Although it was almost double the price of the hostel, it was fairly cheap (comparatively to other hotels) because the three of us shared a room and split the cost.
The next day, we began our tour of the city. Our first stop, or rather the first of the two stops that we only had time to make, was the Royal British Columbia Museum. Well, it was way better than our own Muzium Negara, but otherwise nothing that impressive. Just the usual natural history stuff and some Native American art displays. They did have a special exhibit of artifacts recovered from the Titanic (that cost us a little extra) but that wasn’t too impressive either. The only memorable part of this trip was when one of the museum people pretended he was a survivor of the Titanic and told us a really engaging story that kept us all mesmerized (now that’s how a museum should be run). After the museum, we explored Victoria’s Chinatown (yes it seems that Chinatowns are as abundant as Wall marts now). It was fairly small, not as fancy as Vancouver’s Chinatown. I did catch some reggae buskers performing, and they were good. After that, it was time to go back to the mainland. Although we were lucky to get a discount for ferry tickets for our journey to the island (for some unexplained reason), we didn’t get any for the return trip. This time, we stayed inside the ferry because it was cold and rainy outside. Although I spent quite a fair bit on this trip, I was glad that I went for it.

A Walk to Remember

Group photo near the suspension bridge (obviously)

A very good poster that I saw in Chinatown

The gorge behind me

Forest behind me

Big white rocks behind me

That's a chipmunk not a squirrel

Now that I have been in Vancouver for almost 3 weeks, I have come to know more people and visit more places. A week ago, I joined the International Club for a trip to Lynn Valley, a scenic park in the North Shore of the city. It’s most famous attraction was a suspension bridge spanning a massive gorge. That was the second time I went to Lynn Valley, the first time was with my residence mates but that trip wasn’t that fun because I didn’t really know anyone back then so it was quite boring for me. I didn’t actually sign up for the club on Club Day so it was by chance that I got their email telling people about the trip. I was supposed to meet them by the waterfront at half past twelve, but I underestimated the time needed to travel. Efficient as it is, Canada’s public transportation system was not on time, so I arrived about 10 minutes after the arranged time. I was really hoping that they would still be there as I had not informed anyone that I was coming and I also foolishly forgot to note down the contact numbers. Fortunately, I wasn’t the only one late, so the group was still there when I arrived. It was almost one when we finally left. On my last trip, we went directly to Lynn Valley by bus (rented school bus), but this time, we would take the Seabus to the North Shore then take the regular bus to Lynn Valley. The appropriately named Seabus was actually a ferry. The ride was fairly short, only about 20 minutes long. After that it was a short bus ride to Lynn Valley.

Upon arrival, Lyndon, our group leader suggested we head for the picnic area, so we could sit down and have lunch. The way he said it made me believe that it was merely a short walk, but it actually took almost 2 hours to get there. Along the way, we paused to take photographs and gawk at the plants and trees around us. I was surprised that there were not many birds in the park, considering that it was more of a natural reserve than a park (natural reserve meaning that animals like bears and cougars do live here). Eventually, we arrived at the picnic area where we had lunch. One of us, Lily, was a smoker but she forgot to bring matches for this trip, or that was what she thought at first. Eventually, she found 2 matches in her bag and we all got a chance to read her cigarette box. It was “Peter Jackson” flavor, and we all had fun trying to read the words on it in French. Xavier, another one of our party, was French so he showed us the proper way to pronounce them. We also discussed about the SFU Student Services, which was horrible compared to UBC (for the uninitiated, SFU stands for Simon Fraser University- my university, and UBC is the University of British Columbia- the other major university in Vancouver). We talked about how SFU overcharges students for certain services like orientation, how they try to make money out of anything possible and how their student services really suck when compared with UBC’s. Yup, I learned a lot of things that day. Lyndon used to do volunteer work for UBC, making his comments credible. He was also very displeased with SFU’s International Office because of their lack of activities for international students, which was probably his main drive to start the International Club.

As the day drew to a close, we decided to end our little hiking trip. We stopped by the Suspension Bridge for a group photograph before heading back. Lyndon the drew from his wealth of experience working for the British Columbia Tourism Board. Dinner was typical HongKee food- that means it was just tolerable. It was amusing watching those who were unfamiliar with Chinese food struggle with the chopsticks. Xavier was exceptionally hilarious because he was holding a chopstick in one hand and a fork in the other. After dinner, we parted our ways but promised to meet up again for the next meeting, and the next outing…to Victoria (capital of British Columbia).

Brave New World

At last after what seems like eternity, I finally have the time to sit down and compose about my first 3 weeks here. It seemed like a sad moment as I left Kuala Lumpur but I had my mom for company, at least for the first 2 days that is. The trip to Hong Kong was uneventful apart from the fact that the plane was delayed for about an hour because of a missing passenger (the crew had to move out all of his/her luggage- for security reasons of course as it could be a bomb- who knows?). By the time we arrived in Hong Kong, we only had about 3 minutes to make the connection flight. Thank goodness for those Hongkees. Their attendants showed up just as we exited the plane, all eager to guide us to the appropriate check in desk (we were not issued our boarding passes back in Malaysia), then it was off to the plane for a grueling 14 hour flight to Vancouver. The Cathay Pacific plane wasn’t particularly comfortable but I did my best to endure it. The quality of the in flight television was so bad that it looked worse than the lowest grade of pirated DVDs. Still I did manage to watch 300, for the first time. Eventually it was touchdown in Vancouver. My granduncle was there to meet us so we immediately left for his luxurious apartment by the waterfront. During the trip back, I was struck by the politeness of the Canadian drivers (in contrast to the morons that Malaysian drivers are) and the fact that they turned their lights on during the day. We eventually arrived in my uncle’s house where I would spend the first two nights. The next day we left to go shopping for supplies at this huge mall appropriately called Metropolis. It was way bigger than One Utama but unlike the latter, parking was absolutely free.

Fast forward to move in day. I signed up for their week long orientation so I got to move in early. My room is scarcely bigger than Harry Potter’s cupboard but I got a nice view of the Vancouver skyline and well, it is my room- I don’t have to share it. The only room shared by everyone is the washroom. There are simply too many things to go into detail here, so I’ll just briefly summarize what happened so far. On the first night, there was a sort of carnival with games and prizes and a live band. I wasn’t interested in the band but I managed to win a toy doggy (I love stuffed animals). Other events of interest include a scavenger hunt, where we had to go downtown and take some creative pictures (probably a gimmick to familiarize newbies with the city), a hypnotist who was really amusing, a games night (I played Pictionary) and what else, campus orientation. I was extremely pleased that this year's orientation theme was Highland Scottish. That meant wonderful Scottish music with fiddles and bagpipes (there was even a bagpipe player to open the ceremony). The best part was when they gave this lively tune as the orientation staff ran past the gathered students. Nice! The campus is really huge; it takes at least 15 minutes to get to class. Even with the tour, I still found myself lost on the first day of classes.

The international committee organized events for international students to get together. The first was a complimentary boat cruise. Well, it was only about 2.5 hours long but we got a good view of the city. Apart from water, the only drinks on board were alcoholic drinks, which were not to my liking. Still, the cruise was fun and so was the next event. All the international students were divided into groups led by a veteran mentor. On our first night, we chatted until it was really late, each of us telling the rest a bit of our country and how it compares to theirs/Canada. I of course, shared some Malaysian jokes- the famous racist ones. The sort that involves the Malaysian, the Singaporean, etc. One of the most memorable events was when I visited one of my friend’s rented basement. Not only was it cooler than my own crappy room, but it was more worth it for the cost too. The three of us attempted to cook dinner, but we forgot to turn on the exhaust fan so the smoke alarms went off. We eventually got dinner ready, not exactly a gourmet feast, but (burned) fried eggs and microwave macaroni and cheese was fine with me. After dinner, we decided to borrow a movie from the owner to watch on the huge projector TV in the basement. It was hard to decide what to watch, as each of us had different tastes in films, but eventually my two friends settled for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. I just agreed having grown tired of choosing, despite the fact that I’ve watched that movie a gazillion times. So that’s basically what happened in the past three weeks. Too bad I don’t have that many pictures to accompany this post. Will remember to take some soon.

The End of Cameron Highlands

Just came back from Cameron Highlands after picking up my sister from her church camp. This would be my third visit, following my own church camp about three years back and my first visit a long time ago (which I can barely remember). Despite not remembering almost everything that happened to me during my first visit, I can tell by the photographs and the way my parents complained that the highlands have changed a lot since then. It is definitely hotter, due to the lack of trees that are being cleared to make room for high rise apartments (all of which have the same type of roof design) and the ‘slicing’ of hills to make more roads. The way up was winding as usual, along the way we stopped by to look at some wares sold by the ‘orang asli’. These include some wild honey and some weird looking plants, one of which resembled a brown furry ostrich egg. We didn’t buy anything because we planned to do so on the way home. We passed the first town , Ringlet that reminded me of Thailand’s Chiang Mai (minus the king’s portraits but with Daulat Tuankus aplenty). Nothing to see there. In Tanah Rata, the next town, there was more activity, due to a permanently held ‘pasar malam’ (yes it’s even there during the day time). Unlike the vegetable markets that the highlands are famous for, this market sells mostly plastic stuff, like pirated kids toys. Then all the way up to the top of the hill. We passed cactus point, which we didn’t visit, as I heard from a friend that all the cacti she bought in the highlands died when she got back to KL. Plenty of markets, nurseries, and fruit stalls, so many that the road was totally congested.

We stayed at the Equatorial Hotel which strangely, was below their usual standards. The building badly needed a fresh coat of paint and the interior was very plain. The room had two televisions but one of them had a faulty remote whereas the other had a battery missing (from the remote- who would steal a battery is beyond me). Luckily it was just one night. The TV did not have Star Sports, so I missed the F1 race on Sunday. Meals were very expensive (considering the fact that they were not included in the package), especially the dinner, some kind of steamboat special, made with ‘sup tulang’ (bone soup?). We spent most of Saturday exploring the highlands before turning in. First we visited a tea plantation, where the roads were so narrow that only one vehicle could pass through at a time. The plantation, owned by BOH, was fairly well maintained and impressive (following Malaysian standards). Next, we checked out the other resorts available in the highlands and my parents realized what a mistake it was to choose the Equatorial. First we visited Strawberry Park, part of my dad’s project last time. Looked good on the outside, but we don’t know how it is inside. Then we checked out an expensive resort just opposite a golf course. Expensive at first glance before we realized that it was actually cheaper than the Equatorial as all meals were provided.

On Monday, we went shopping in the markets and bought several flowers, plants and vegetables (you can’t leave Cameron Highlands without buying some of the local produce). I just admired the cacti, and wondered whether they would still be capable of growing once the highlands warmed up too much. Close to lunchtime. we picked my sister up from the place she was staying (same place that I stayed). Went to this tea shop for lunch, it looked English, but was actually run by Indians, really religious Catholic Indians (they got Jesus stickers pasted on their windows). Finally before we left, we paid a visit to a Healthy Strawberry Farm (yes that is what it’s called). I noticed that the strawberries were no longer planted on the ground but on benches. Hmm, must be some new, energy conserving, profit multiplying method. We took the new road back to KL, which was supposedly less winding than the old one. Unfortunately for my parents, all hopes of buying ‘orang asli’ products were dashed because it was pouring with rain all the way back to KL. There was also a massive traffic jam because of the road works (with non-existent workers). What an end to a pathetic and sad trip to Cameron Highlands. At least I got to see it in it's glory days , that is during the early 90s.