My return to Canada could have been easier. Because of all the snow storms, my flight was delayed by more than five hours. Waiting for the departure of my flight, I actually slept for some time on the carpet of the waiting room in which I was at the Honolulu airport.
Then, upon arriving in Vancouver, I was shocked to see all the snow and feel the cold. It felt more like Montreal than Vancouver. After spending months in hot climates, I was confronted with the results of the worst weather in over a decade.
But that was nothing compared to what was to come. When I was in Hawaii, I had the choice to fly to San Francisco or to Vancouver. A friend had agreed to let me stay at his place south of San Fran while he's in Montreal visiting friends and family. My ex-girlfriend also told me I could stay at her place (or even the place of one of her friends) in Vancouver while she was away for the holidays with her new boyfriend. Since the plane ticket to Vancouver was half the price of that to San Francisco and since I needed to go to Vancouver to get my things back and tie some loose ends before moving out of that city, I opted to fly to Vancouver.
But, when I got to her place, my ex-girlfriend quickly came back to me with the encounters I had with bedbugs while abroad. She told me that because there was a risk that my bags were carrying bedbugs, I could not stay at her place nor at her friend's place. She seemed very upset. That I had washed most of my things; gotten rid of the others and placed all the items I had brought back with me from my trip in a sealed garbage bag didn't reassure her. Nor did the facts that I had not been bitten and had not seen a single bedbug (despite multiple inspections of my luggage) since leaving the infested hotel in Australia.
My ex-girlfriend sometimes panics or blows things out of proportion, especially when she is stressed or upset. Rather than try to convince her that my things in the garbage bag did not pose a threat to the salubrity of her apartment, I offered to simply get rid of the bag (or store it outside on one of my friends' balcony).
But, the issue wasn't really about bedbugs. It was about me being around. In a very emotional scene, she told me how my presence reminds her of the past and how she is tired of me being closer than she is comfortable with despite her efforts to push me away by being abrupt or even mean with me. There is something I don't understand in all of this. Then, she went on telling me that my presence was jeopardizing her relationship with her new boyfriend (after all, who likes ex'es hanging around?) and she seemed very distressed. I then told her I would leave rather than cause her strife. She took her keys back and I found myself homeless in Vancouver without my things in the middle of the snow.
Fortunately, a friend of mine was downtown at one of her friends' place who is renting a room. The room happened to be free until January and I found myself a place to stay. The next day, I thought my ex-girlfriend would have calmed down, but I got an email from her telling me that I couldn't stay at her or her friend's place; that she would have a common friend meet me while she was gone so that I could get my things and that I should no longer contact her.
All of this is enough to mess up one's Christmas. All I wanted was to peacefully go about doing my own things in Vancouver before leaving for Montreal in January. Why did she feel compelled to do this to me (and in such a rough manner)? Why was she so emotional during that whole episode? Why end the remaining friendship when I was days from leaving Vancouver? As I mentioned before, there is something I don't understand about all this. I likely never will.
2008-12-27
2008-12-23
Last Day in Hawaii
Today, I went skydiving.
I made a tandem dive with a professional skydiver so I didn't need to know much. It all seemed unreal up until the moment we jumped off the plane and I looked down. The plane provided a reference point which made me realize I was falling fast into a void. For a few seconds, that was pretty scary. Then, it was just falling, but felt more like flying since nothing is close around and by just looking at the faraway horizon and landscape, it didn't feel like I was going down. The wind was pretty intense at that point.
Then, the parachute opened, which gave a considerable jolt. When the parachute was open, I felt a lot safer. Looking down and around, I could see for miles and miles. Turning made me feel queasy. Before I knew it, I was back on the ground and it was over.
Equally enjoyable was talking to the shuttle driver who brought me to the skydiving site. He's some kind of guy on a mission to illuminate people by making them more conscious of their own being.
When I came back from my dive, I made myself more conscious of my own belly by filling it with lots of Hawaiian food.
I'm minutes away from going to the airport to catch my flight back to Vancouver. My flight is delayed because of all the snow back in Canada. I can't believe my trip is ending.
I made a tandem dive with a professional skydiver so I didn't need to know much. It all seemed unreal up until the moment we jumped off the plane and I looked down. The plane provided a reference point which made me realize I was falling fast into a void. For a few seconds, that was pretty scary. Then, it was just falling, but felt more like flying since nothing is close around and by just looking at the faraway horizon and landscape, it didn't feel like I was going down. The wind was pretty intense at that point.
Then, the parachute opened, which gave a considerable jolt. When the parachute was open, I felt a lot safer. Looking down and around, I could see for miles and miles. Turning made me feel queasy. Before I knew it, I was back on the ground and it was over.
Equally enjoyable was talking to the shuttle driver who brought me to the skydiving site. He's some kind of guy on a mission to illuminate people by making them more conscious of their own being.
When I came back from my dive, I made myself more conscious of my own belly by filling it with lots of Hawaiian food.
I'm minutes away from going to the airport to catch my flight back to Vancouver. My flight is delayed because of all the snow back in Canada. I can't believe my trip is ending.
2008-12-22
Hawaii
From the moment I got at the Honolulu airport, I noticed a clear vibe change from Australia and New Zealand. The number of freaks per capita is WAY higher in the USA than in any other First World countries I've ever visited. It comes as no surprise to see so many police officers all over the place in the US. Crime is comparable to what you'd expect from a Second World nation.
Despite being richer than other First World countries, the USA has a noticeably lower quality of life than these other countries. Much of this statement is based on subjective impressions and non-statistically-significant observations on the number of homeless people, junkies and sick people. However, the UN has published a report that seems to go somewhat in the same direction as my feelings.
I spent my first night in Honolulu in a hotel. The second night, I decided to go to a hostel to lower my costs and possibly meet some people. When I saw the freaks in the hostel, I opted against a dorm bed and for a private room instead. Destitute junkies actually live in hostels here because it's cheaper than having an apartment. Some hostels require their guests to be travelers (from at least out of the state) so as to keep indesirable individuals from their premises. However, these hostels are almost always fully booked.
On the street next to the shore of Waikiki beach, I met some Chileans who needed some help to make a phone call. They are in Hawaii on a working holiday visa and had just gotten there when I met them. After I helped them, we exchanged emails. It turned out beneficial for me because two of them went on the island of Kauai and hosted me for two nights in their newfound flat when I visited that island again. Although the room where they are staying is in a nice house, the people with whom they share the place are a bit shady. The owner of the house is a bisexual man with a penchant for young men and also turned out to be a drug dealer. The other people in the house are weed-heads whose relationship with the landlord I dared not find too much about. I hope the Chileans won't get to go through any crap because of the people in the flat where they live.
After visiting Kauai, I flew to the Big Island. There, I went to see the lava flow and went to a thermal oceanic pond where you can swim in naturally warm water (a bit like I did in New Zealand). I also went up a 14000 feet tall snow-capped, extinct volcano. At that height, the atmosphere contains about half the amount of oxygen found at sea level. Mental and physical effort becomes more strenuous.
I also went on the island of Maui. I rented an SUV with the intention of sleeping in it. It wasn't comfortable and I spent a bad night trying to find an acceptable position; trying to ignore people around and breathing increasingly humid and stale air. In the morning, I went to the town of Lahaina where many tried to get me to start the process of acquiring a time-share in Hawaii. Many tour desks will give you free tours or activities if you accept to attend a presentation on time-shares. But, all I wanted was to visit Molokini.
Molokini is a volcanic cinder cone that has eroded over the ages into a moon-shaped island:
Although it looks better on the picture above than when I saw it with my own eyes, it is still one of the best place on this planet to snorkel. On the way to Molokini, many dolphins came to play with the boat I was on. Also, whales swam towards and under the boat. That was pretty cool.
The crater is brimming with fish of all kinds and is carpeted with coral. I wanted to compare the inside of the crater to the outside so I swam up to its edge. Doing so brought me out of the sight of the crew of my boat. That would not be too bad if it weren't for the fact that, once I was outside the crater, strong oceanic currents starting sweeping me away. As hard and fast as I tried to swim in the direction of my boat, I could not fight the currents. For a few seconds, the germ of panic was growing inside me. I felt very small in the huge ocean. Then, instead of trying in a futile and brainless manner to just swim towards my boat and just wasting my energy, I decided to swim perpendicularly to the currents and reach the crater. From there, I could wait much longer than in the ocean for people to come for me. However, I was lucky enough that I didn't have time to reach the crater before a boat came to pick me up. Its captain said he saw me and thought I was in trouble. He also told me a few people never made it back after pulling similar stunts. I was quite grateful for his lift to my own boat.
Back on my boat, I ate some candy to get some energy back. I was exhausted. I didn't feel too freaked out by the whole situation. Even if the boat that came to get me had not been there, I'm confident I would have made it just fine. Still, I thought to myself that there has to be safer ways to brave death. That's when I decided to go skydiving. I'm jumping from a plane tomorrow at an altitude of 14000'.
Despite being richer than other First World countries, the USA has a noticeably lower quality of life than these other countries. Much of this statement is based on subjective impressions and non-statistically-significant observations on the number of homeless people, junkies and sick people. However, the UN has published a report that seems to go somewhat in the same direction as my feelings.
I spent my first night in Honolulu in a hotel. The second night, I decided to go to a hostel to lower my costs and possibly meet some people. When I saw the freaks in the hostel, I opted against a dorm bed and for a private room instead. Destitute junkies actually live in hostels here because it's cheaper than having an apartment. Some hostels require their guests to be travelers (from at least out of the state) so as to keep indesirable individuals from their premises. However, these hostels are almost always fully booked.
On the street next to the shore of Waikiki beach, I met some Chileans who needed some help to make a phone call. They are in Hawaii on a working holiday visa and had just gotten there when I met them. After I helped them, we exchanged emails. It turned out beneficial for me because two of them went on the island of Kauai and hosted me for two nights in their newfound flat when I visited that island again. Although the room where they are staying is in a nice house, the people with whom they share the place are a bit shady. The owner of the house is a bisexual man with a penchant for young men and also turned out to be a drug dealer. The other people in the house are weed-heads whose relationship with the landlord I dared not find too much about. I hope the Chileans won't get to go through any crap because of the people in the flat where they live.
After visiting Kauai, I flew to the Big Island. There, I went to see the lava flow and went to a thermal oceanic pond where you can swim in naturally warm water (a bit like I did in New Zealand). I also went up a 14000 feet tall snow-capped, extinct volcano. At that height, the atmosphere contains about half the amount of oxygen found at sea level. Mental and physical effort becomes more strenuous.
I also went on the island of Maui. I rented an SUV with the intention of sleeping in it. It wasn't comfortable and I spent a bad night trying to find an acceptable position; trying to ignore people around and breathing increasingly humid and stale air. In the morning, I went to the town of Lahaina where many tried to get me to start the process of acquiring a time-share in Hawaii. Many tour desks will give you free tours or activities if you accept to attend a presentation on time-shares. But, all I wanted was to visit Molokini.
Molokini is a volcanic cinder cone that has eroded over the ages into a moon-shaped island:
Although it looks better on the picture above than when I saw it with my own eyes, it is still one of the best place on this planet to snorkel. On the way to Molokini, many dolphins came to play with the boat I was on. Also, whales swam towards and under the boat. That was pretty cool.
The crater is brimming with fish of all kinds and is carpeted with coral. I wanted to compare the inside of the crater to the outside so I swam up to its edge. Doing so brought me out of the sight of the crew of my boat. That would not be too bad if it weren't for the fact that, once I was outside the crater, strong oceanic currents starting sweeping me away. As hard and fast as I tried to swim in the direction of my boat, I could not fight the currents. For a few seconds, the germ of panic was growing inside me. I felt very small in the huge ocean. Then, instead of trying in a futile and brainless manner to just swim towards my boat and just wasting my energy, I decided to swim perpendicularly to the currents and reach the crater. From there, I could wait much longer than in the ocean for people to come for me. However, I was lucky enough that I didn't have time to reach the crater before a boat came to pick me up. Its captain said he saw me and thought I was in trouble. He also told me a few people never made it back after pulling similar stunts. I was quite grateful for his lift to my own boat.
Back on my boat, I ate some candy to get some energy back. I was exhausted. I didn't feel too freaked out by the whole situation. Even if the boat that came to get me had not been there, I'm confident I would have made it just fine. Still, I thought to myself that there has to be safer ways to brave death. That's when I decided to go skydiving. I'm jumping from a plane tomorrow at an altitude of 14000'.
2008-12-13
New Zealand is Boring
New Zealand is a beautiful, but sleepy country. It's like a colder, quieter version of Hawaii. People are friendly and the quality of life is good. But, I'd never be able to live there: it's too boring for me. I need big cities, action and a faster pace of life.
However, I did try to make the most out of my time there. After arriving in the South Island, I proceeded to the North Island. First, I visited Wellington, the capital. Then, I moved on further north to Rotorua.
The scenery on the South Island reminds me of what I imagine the Scottish Highlands to be like. The scenery on the North Island is somewhat similar to that of Hawaii, but looks a bit less tropical. One could say New Zealand is a bit like British Columbia too, because of the weather.
In Rotorua, I saw sites of geothermal activity such as erupting mud pools, geysers, steams vents and a village that has been buried in ashes and lava over a hundred year ago. I also had some wine with a friendly German girl I met that day.
After that, I moved a bit West and rented a car. It was the first time I drove on the left side of the road. It wasn't too bad, but often, I had fractions of seconds when I was thinking to myself "that guy's on the wrong side of the road" or when I felt I should move to the right lane. Fortunately, I never did so. However, I did freak out an old lady who was driving straight from the opposite direction when I turned right without giving her right of way. Basically, what I did is the North American equivalent of turning left onto a perpendicular street when someone's coming at you from the opposite direction. Two-lane roundabouts and the way to deal with them were new to me too.
Anyway, I drove to a beach where thermal springs spew out hot water from under the sand. So, if you dig into the beach, you create your own hot thermal bath. After benefiting from the hot water, I had to find a place to stay the night and found a B&B on a farm.
The next day, I visited a cave complex that has glowworms illuminating its ceiling in a way that makes it look like an underground night sky. Then, I returned the rental car and took a bus to Auckland, New Zealand's biggest city (which is still only about as big as Ottawa). There's not much to see or do in that city, so I decided to fly out of there pretty quickly.
However, I did try to make the most out of my time there. After arriving in the South Island, I proceeded to the North Island. First, I visited Wellington, the capital. Then, I moved on further north to Rotorua.
The scenery on the South Island reminds me of what I imagine the Scottish Highlands to be like. The scenery on the North Island is somewhat similar to that of Hawaii, but looks a bit less tropical. One could say New Zealand is a bit like British Columbia too, because of the weather.
In Rotorua, I saw sites of geothermal activity such as erupting mud pools, geysers, steams vents and a village that has been buried in ashes and lava over a hundred year ago. I also had some wine with a friendly German girl I met that day.
After that, I moved a bit West and rented a car. It was the first time I drove on the left side of the road. It wasn't too bad, but often, I had fractions of seconds when I was thinking to myself "that guy's on the wrong side of the road" or when I felt I should move to the right lane. Fortunately, I never did so. However, I did freak out an old lady who was driving straight from the opposite direction when I turned right without giving her right of way. Basically, what I did is the North American equivalent of turning left onto a perpendicular street when someone's coming at you from the opposite direction. Two-lane roundabouts and the way to deal with them were new to me too.
Anyway, I drove to a beach where thermal springs spew out hot water from under the sand. So, if you dig into the beach, you create your own hot thermal bath. After benefiting from the hot water, I had to find a place to stay the night and found a B&B on a farm.
The next day, I visited a cave complex that has glowworms illuminating its ceiling in a way that makes it look like an underground night sky. Then, I returned the rental car and took a bus to Auckland, New Zealand's biggest city (which is still only about as big as Ottawa). There's not much to see or do in that city, so I decided to fly out of there pretty quickly.
2008-12-07
New Zealand
I arrived in New Zealand last night.
It's a pretty sleepy, quiet place. It's perfect for fans of nature. Urbanites won't find what they are looking for, though. The whole country has a population of about four million people. That's less than the population of Toronto or Sydney.
For 37$ US, I stayed the night at a super cool boutique hotel called Hotel SO that reminded me a lot of the "W" chain of hotels. That's value!
I'm now on the Southern Island. I'm moving up north today.
I toyed around with Google Maps and quickly drew the itinerary of my trip so far. It's fun to visualize the journey like this.
It's a pretty sleepy, quiet place. It's perfect for fans of nature. Urbanites won't find what they are looking for, though. The whole country has a population of about four million people. That's less than the population of Toronto or Sydney.
For 37$ US, I stayed the night at a super cool boutique hotel called Hotel SO that reminded me a lot of the "W" chain of hotels. That's value!
I'm now on the Southern Island. I'm moving up north today.
I toyed around with Google Maps and quickly drew the itinerary of my trip so far. It's fun to visualize the journey like this.
2008-12-06
More on Sydney + Canberra + Melbourne
Since my last entry, I've explored Sydney more, then went to Canberra (Australia's capital) and Melbourne.
I rented a bike in Sydney to explore the inner suburbs of the city. They were all nice: clean neighborhoods with beautiful, liveable architecture. I didn't see any ghetto. I'm sure there are poor people in Australia, but you don't see as much as in Canada (which is a pretty good country to start with).
Australians are known for their sense of humor and business names reflect that. Many of them are clever puns such as "Hits & Myths" (a video rental shop), "Scent from Heaven" (a perfume shop), "Pleasure Chest" (a sex shop), "LawnOrder" (a lawn care business)...
Really, I don't have much to say against Sydney. The city could use one or two more light-rail lines and could be more bicycle-friendly (all the sewer caps are aligned so that bike tires can get stuck in them, there are almost no bike racks, you are not allowed to bike in many parks, you are legally obligated to wear a helmet when biking and the hills are annoying to ascend). Other than that, the only annoyance I've encountered is that the flies in Australia are very persistent. They'll follow you forever and try to enter your mouth and ears. But, when enumerating what's bad with a city, if you only come up with the small stuff I mentioned, it's a sign that the place is pretty good. In fact, I really wouldn't mind living there. The thing that would freak me out the most about living in Australia is that it's so far from the rest of the world and that it requires lots of money and time to get anywhere from there. Living in Australia is living on an island, literally and figuratively.
I had a fillet of kangaroo in Sydney. Pretty tasty meat. It's lean and is best when not cooked too much. I can add kangaroo to the ever-expanding list of animals I ate.
I took a 3 hour bus ride to Canberra. Canberra, like Brasilia in Brazil, is a city that was created from scratch to be the capital of its nation. As such, it's a pretty small and sleepy place. Personally, I think they should have let the capital remain Melbourne.
After spending a somewhat boring day in Canberra, I took another bus. This time to Melbourne. Melbourne is small than Sydney. Sydney is about the size of Toronto and Melbourne that of Montreal. The analogy goes further as Sydney is supposed to be more business-oriented and Melbourne more cultural. For both pairs of cities, that is arguable.
Melbourne reminds me of San Francisco (without the homeless junkies and the hills) because of its medley of architectures and the presence of tramways. It's a beautiful city with a good quality of life.
I still prefer Sydney because it's larger, warmer and has nicer beaches.
I had a second encounter with bedbugs. I went to a hotel and everything was fine for the night. In the morning, after taking my shower, I saw a bedbug crawl on the pair of pants I had put on a chair to wear that day. I caught the bug and showed it to the manager. That earned me 50% discount on my room. The problem is that I spent a whole night in that hotel and that I had left my bags open. Bedbugs are very sneaky and are usually carried on travelers' luggage. Once you get them, they are very difficult to get rid of. The last thing I want is to bring some to where I'm going to stay in Canada. So, I'll have to assume that my bags are infested and wrap them in tightly closed garbage bags once I get back home. To insure the bags and their contents is clear, I will need to place them in freezing temperature for a day. Montreal's weather will do the trick. Items from the bags that I want to use before that (clothes and such) will need to be washed with water hot enough to kill any potential bug.
All this is a pain. I was paying the big bucks in Australia to stay in hotels precisely to avoid exposure to bed bugs after my encounter in Singapore. Well, there is no point for that anymore. I'll go to backpacker hostels to save money from now on.
I'm flying to New Zealand in a few hours. All this traveling has exhausted me. I think I'll need a vacation to recover from this vacation. So, I'm likely to go to Hawaii on my way back to North America to relax and rest.
I rented a bike in Sydney to explore the inner suburbs of the city. They were all nice: clean neighborhoods with beautiful, liveable architecture. I didn't see any ghetto. I'm sure there are poor people in Australia, but you don't see as much as in Canada (which is a pretty good country to start with).
Australians are known for their sense of humor and business names reflect that. Many of them are clever puns such as "Hits & Myths" (a video rental shop), "Scent from Heaven" (a perfume shop), "Pleasure Chest" (a sex shop), "LawnOrder" (a lawn care business)...
Really, I don't have much to say against Sydney. The city could use one or two more light-rail lines and could be more bicycle-friendly (all the sewer caps are aligned so that bike tires can get stuck in them, there are almost no bike racks, you are not allowed to bike in many parks, you are legally obligated to wear a helmet when biking and the hills are annoying to ascend). Other than that, the only annoyance I've encountered is that the flies in Australia are very persistent. They'll follow you forever and try to enter your mouth and ears. But, when enumerating what's bad with a city, if you only come up with the small stuff I mentioned, it's a sign that the place is pretty good. In fact, I really wouldn't mind living there. The thing that would freak me out the most about living in Australia is that it's so far from the rest of the world and that it requires lots of money and time to get anywhere from there. Living in Australia is living on an island, literally and figuratively.
I had a fillet of kangaroo in Sydney. Pretty tasty meat. It's lean and is best when not cooked too much. I can add kangaroo to the ever-expanding list of animals I ate.
I took a 3 hour bus ride to Canberra. Canberra, like Brasilia in Brazil, is a city that was created from scratch to be the capital of its nation. As such, it's a pretty small and sleepy place. Personally, I think they should have let the capital remain Melbourne.
After spending a somewhat boring day in Canberra, I took another bus. This time to Melbourne. Melbourne is small than Sydney. Sydney is about the size of Toronto and Melbourne that of Montreal. The analogy goes further as Sydney is supposed to be more business-oriented and Melbourne more cultural. For both pairs of cities, that is arguable.
Melbourne reminds me of San Francisco (without the homeless junkies and the hills) because of its medley of architectures and the presence of tramways. It's a beautiful city with a good quality of life.
I still prefer Sydney because it's larger, warmer and has nicer beaches.
I had a second encounter with bedbugs. I went to a hotel and everything was fine for the night. In the morning, after taking my shower, I saw a bedbug crawl on the pair of pants I had put on a chair to wear that day. I caught the bug and showed it to the manager. That earned me 50% discount on my room. The problem is that I spent a whole night in that hotel and that I had left my bags open. Bedbugs are very sneaky and are usually carried on travelers' luggage. Once you get them, they are very difficult to get rid of. The last thing I want is to bring some to where I'm going to stay in Canada. So, I'll have to assume that my bags are infested and wrap them in tightly closed garbage bags once I get back home. To insure the bags and their contents is clear, I will need to place them in freezing temperature for a day. Montreal's weather will do the trick. Items from the bags that I want to use before that (clothes and such) will need to be washed with water hot enough to kill any potential bug.
All this is a pain. I was paying the big bucks in Australia to stay in hotels precisely to avoid exposure to bed bugs after my encounter in Singapore. Well, there is no point for that anymore. I'll go to backpacker hostels to save money from now on.
I'm flying to New Zealand in a few hours. All this traveling has exhausted me. I think I'll need a vacation to recover from this vacation. So, I'm likely to go to Hawaii on my way back to North America to relax and rest.
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