Thoughts beyond my life & my travel - Bel

My bathroom never smelt so great till I broke the perfume one day. You may be searching for the best air fresher for your room but the perfume is simply the best but I'd prefer I smell better than the bathroom.

One of the downside of living in the downtown is the loss of privacy unless you close your curtain all the time. Apartment buildings are so close together that you can probably say hi to your neighbours when you open your window. The reflection of the glasses may reveal more secrets of your personal life. Are you naked walking around the house? You neighbour may know. Are you really doing some housework? Your neighbour can tell, too. You may notice someone standing in front of the windows one night. Are they watching you or are they checking out the view outside? It's a mystery. Or someone is flashing a torch light, what are they thinking about? That's city life. You can be annoyed by it or love it.

Are you having central obesity problem? Then you shouldn't work in Japan. Its government tried to control people's weight by means of law. Your waistlines will be measured on a regular basis to see if it's over 33.5 inches (men) or over 35.4 inches (women). It may not be central obesity with such measurement if you are big but that is the new rule. We should watch out our belly more!

I met so many medical professionals from Thailand this week. They were doctors, pharmacists and nurses. Doctors are arrogant here. A journal said doctors have learnt not to admit something they do not know. That hinders the dissemination and spread of evidence medicine. Maybe it's the personalities of Thai people or they don't speak English very well, I've found that they're pretty humble. I never spoke to doctors who gave me so much respect, so I'm glad to see some friendly healthcare professionals from our neighbouring countries. Maybe their skills and medical knowledge are as good as their attitude. After all, Thailand has become a medical capital in Asia

More and more high-speed trains were announced in China. The latest was the one departing from Beijing to Tianjian at the speed of 350km/h max. It will take less than half an hour to go from one city to another, shorter than taking subways from the West of Beijing to its East. When I was searching the news on the web, I realise China actually has trains to Osaka or Kobe in Japan. It takes two days crossing the ocean. I never see a train crossing from one side to the other side of the ocean. It will be a more interesting this than seeing coaches being transported in a ferry.

It was calm last night but I could see the strength of the wind through the windows. Rains were bending all directions, following the wind. It's a typical typhoon morning with so less traffic on the roads, almost like the midnight hours. Less trees were blown down this time but it's not hard to notice some bus stop signs were being blown down. Well, I hate to go to uni in such a weather but today's lesson was more relaxed mainly talking about sex statistics and health data. What if you don't have a mirror when you're on the road? Interesting to see someone using the video camera function of his cell phone as a mirror to check out how his hair looks. Maybe it's our future mobile mirror.

I never smoke and didn't ever try at all. I went to a convenience store one day and found the new warning for the cigarettee packing. It is quite interesting - not only "Cigaretee kills" but also accelerates ageing of skin . Warnings are more creative these days, check out more variety of warnings .

I had a surprise call from mom, bringing me soup to my place. I mentioned to her what my colleague suggested me to prepare the soup which is good for my throat. Though the receipe is simple, the Chinese medicine ingredients kinda bother me. How could I buy those dates from the Chinese medicine store and that Chinese medicine he mentioned. Forget about it. So, here I found the "comfort soup" in my kitchen. I never like Chinese soup but I feel a bit touched with what she did. She also brought me extra preserved, salted tangerine which is good for throat problem. It's almost like someone make chicken soup for you when you get a cold. I hope the placebo effect does work this time even if the soup doesn't work. Talking about food, I hate to see some people promote anoraxia on website and promote the concept of " thinspiration " or even aspire to be so bony. Sure, I agree it looks better to be thin but not that extreme and it's definitely not a choice of life ...

Someone named "Rain" as the best New Zealand movie. This movie was played at the last day of the New Zealand Movie Festival here. To be honest, I was a bit disappointed. The two little actor and actress were doing good and some of the scenes were beautifully shot. But it seems like missing something and the story is not unique at all. I will say Piano is still my favourite New Zealand movie. Wish that Jane Campion has another great movie.

I never appreciate the taste of caviar but I may not have tasted the best caviar that made me change my mind yet. Interesting that a Japanese man created a more "friendly" version of caviar by using teh squid ink. It's only around HK$70 a box, more than 10 times less that the real thing. I look at the pictures on the news and it looks quite real. Of course the chef can tell but I may not tell the difference. Someone can fool me with that maybe. Interesting for the day to spend time reading some much on the newspaper.

I saw a sad movie called "A Girl Like Me: The Gwen Araujo Story". How could it be possible that three attackers were found not guilty killing the innocent transvestite Gwen. That wasn't happened in the old days but it's in the 80s and 90s in the US. Ironically a conservative country like Thailand will have "pink restrooms" for transvestites in a secondary school. It made sense 'coz female will probably find it embarrassing for them to share the same bathrooms while they may be assaulted by the boys when using the male toilets. "The signs on the doors depict a human shape split into half a male in blue and half a female in red." according to the news. It's surprisingly that more than 200 of the school's 2600 students considered themselves transvestites. It's time for us to respect people with their choices of lifestyles and who they are.

I felt that Brad lost his energy after most of the people were gone. We, a small group, continued our last day's tour on a Greyhound bus with another driver. I couldn't even remember his name but he really enjoyed talking a lot. The day started with a stop in a farm in Peachland where we had a touristy wagon tour. The farm raise few sheeps and mainly apples, peaches and other fruits. It makes those fancy apples with different "tattoos". Not only the lucky characters are "imprinted" on the apples but also companies' logos. Basically you could tailor make your design and logo for the apples. We tasted the super sweet ciders and ice apple wines but I think I prefer regular table wines. But I found the dried cherries great and could make a very good snack. It's a brief stop but we've seen more tourists from tour groups. We reached Mission Hills winery which was located on the other side of the river. I had been to a few wineries around Niagara area...

I continue to recall the fourth day of the tour. It's an easy day. The tour bus drove back to Kelowna via Vernon. While some of us including me checked in the hotel. Most of the group stayed on the coach and would return to Vancouver on the evening. I said farewell to the driver while some said farewell to the guide as Brad will stay with few people left. Around 10 people left including guys from Toronto, the English couples and the Mexican mother and daughter, etc. The guide in Chinese tour always emphasized how much tips we should pay and collected tips from each of us at the end of the tour but the practice is a bit different in the West. The guide always say that they don't rely on the tips but appreciates the tips. I overheard a young lad at the back said, "do you have enough tips in thig group, Brad?" Of course Brad couldn't hear that. I remember a female tour guide collected the tips with her hat. But for this tour, most of us put our tips into the pockets ...

The 3rd day of the tour was really a day to see Banff. I still pondered whether to try out the hot spring until Brad said it's the "tourist soup" in a swimming pool. Haha, am I part of the soup? Oh, I don't want to be a part of it and besides, why do they build the hot spring with some thoughts? Not just simply a swimming pool. Look at the hot springs in Japan and China. They've got smarter architecture, so I skipped being a soup but still looked for good soup. The sightseeing day started with a gondola ride in Sulphur Mountain next to the hot spring. I rode the way up the Mountain with the Chinese family. They're like a Cordahi family, free of them, a daugher who is in early 20s and a couple. I never recalled myself travelling with my parents after I studied in the university so I was always surprised how kids are so close to their parents. Maybe we, the Chinese, are more subtle in our emotion and never showed we care for our parents. After the ride, keep wal...

The 2nd day of the Banff trip was the most exciting day. We went to see Mount Robson, the highest rocky in Canada. It looks great but may not be as speculator as the other rockies. It's where I realised that the Chinese family from Australia actually spoke the same language as me. They're a bit excited and told everyone "we speak the same language." Oh my, I was a bit embarrassed. They had a long journey too, went to Hong Kong to see some relatives first and ocntinued their trip in Canada. We took a walk around the town of Jasper, a small town, to pick up 10 additional people and lunch. The train station doesn't look like a train station at all. Don't mix up with the Whisters Mountains in Jasper and the one in Vancouver. These Whisters Mountains are part of the Rockies and are signature backdrop of Jasper town. We didn't go to Morraine Lake. A disappointment but it's still frozen,so we went to Maligne Lake instead. Lakes in Canada are always so big th...

Banff had been the place I longed to see. I always saw a picture of people enjoying the hot spring there and I secretly wanted one if I was there but eventually, I didn't do so. I'll let you know why, so start reading here. I went to the gathering point as indicated. All I could see was a Grayline Coach, so I tried to find a guide and asked. It's not that easy to spot out who the guy was but eventually, I found it and knew that's the tour I joined. So the tour comprised 29 people joining either 4 or 5 days' Rockies tour. As long as it reached Jasper, an additional 10 people joined the tour bus to see Banff. Of course, everyone expects such a tour should have mainly old, retired people but there was also a group of students who enjoyed their time at the back of the coach and were dying to see the Rockies. What else in the group? A straight couple and a lesbian couple who are in their twenties. A "gay" couple - well, I realised that they are not a couple lat...

I only spent 1 night 2 days in Victoria. It's probably around 9 or 10C in the morning. I started to feel a bit unwell and very tired. I met the English couples again when taking the bus to Victoria. That's the bus where many tourists took to go to Victoria as it's more simple and easier. They went to see their nephew in Victoria and do some sightseeing. We spent hours talking on the bus and the boat. There were similiar coach service in the UK where the coaches drive to the ferry and disembark. They told me once many people were killed when there was a rainstorm and many coaches were thrown to the sea. It's a rainy day but we're safe. Victoria is bigger than I thought. You know, the guidebook always said you could walk to everywhere in Vancouver and Victoria. But I was quite tired of walking at the time I was in Victoria. People in Victoria are less friendly than in Vancouver. That's the first impression. It's more like a British town - the parliament, the g...

It's a sunny day finally after a week of rainstorm and wet weather. I gradually got my voice back and recovered from the cold. I probably got the cold in Victoria in a freezily cold day. More about Vancouver! Vancouver is an uncharming city where I found the residential buildings are almost indentical. Maybe because of the Olympics or the rise of residential market, construction is everywhere. It also takes up one-third of the city centre. And the buildings are simply look alike. Could they look a bit more interesting? I only had a short stay in Vancouver, so I took the tour guide's advice to go to Lynn Canyon instead of Capilano Suspension Bridge. What he said is "it's free and it's got water below that makes it interesting. Of course, it is not as long as the popular one and I almost thought that I was the only person who went to see that bridge. It was a cold morning. The Sea Bus is fast, comfy and crowded. North Vancouver seems to be more organized than the cit...