Fun fact - Mountain Equipment Co-Op is formed in Canada

Morning went to Eau clair market and Prince Island Park. Played dai-dee there. Also bought bread to feed the animals, only to see a sign in the park later that tells people not to feed animals (in case that they get dependent on human).

Broke off with the group later while at downtown. More freedom that way. Went to the beautiful Devonian Garden located at the top level of Devonian Shopping Complex. It is a transparent-ceiling-air-conditioned indoor garden that comes with its own birds and pond (yes, there are fishes in there for you to feed, and several coin-based fishfood dispensers conveniently located nearby...). There are people sitting around eating their lunches, reading books, or simply enjoying the calm that abounds so abundantly in that serene garden. Tres Bien.

Shopping! Bought a Gore-Tex jacket at CAD$150, the biggest expense paid out for my stay in Canada till now. But it was only 150/340 that of Wenzheng’s jacket. Why? Cos my jacket is the Youth’s version (but it fitted me snugly! Does that mean I am YoUtHfUl??) though same in design and intricacies as the adult version. Drool over it at http://www.mec.ca/Products/product_detail.jsp?FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=711437&PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=522039&bmUID=1094527314793
Also bought a nalgene bottle at CAD$7.25. This one has a bigger mouth than my bigger-capacity green nalgene bottle. Hope it doesn’t talk so much.

Fun fact - Calgary was home to the Blackfoot

Went to visit Tyrell Museum to see dinosaur bones and such. There’s such a wide collection of bones there any dogs will salivate at seeing them. Also went along the North to South Dinosaur Trails that led to many badlands and superb sceneries. Recommended tourist place. Endorsed by Frank.

Had dinner at a Chinese restaurant in Calgary. Superb 5 course meal at 3 course prices.

Fun fact - There are no more buffaloes jumping down in Head Smashed-in Buffalo Jump

Went to visit Head Smashed-in Buffalo Jump (google for it!) located near the town of Fort MacLeod. Err... not my cup of tea, but must admit that it would be interesting to those who are interested. Wanted to have a buffalo burger to complete the experience, but did not manage to squeeze in one for lunch. Had some other burger instead.

Went to Lethbridge after that to sightsee. Wanted to visit the cornfield maze at Robinpick Berry Farm and get ourselves silly-lost inside, but it was closed. Went to Helen Schuler Coulee Centre, a centre that leads to several small coulee trails, mainly a nature-touristy place. It turned out to be an uninteresting hike in an uninteresting park-grassland. Perhaps we went there too late (4+pm), but it wasn’t good. =(

Fun fact - Calgary means 'clear, running water' in Gaelic

Today went back to Calgary and had a Viet dinner along uptown 17th Avenue. Later went to Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC) to look see look see for camping stuff and jackets and bagpacks. Wenzheng bought a super expensive GoreTex jacket (MEC Zenith Jacket (Men's)). He’s flying off in the middle of the night, so won’t be seeing him for long long time.

Fun fact - Calgary is building up for Olympics 2008.

Ice-walking today! First time walking up snowy mountain (Athabasca Glacier). Very shiok experience. Also found out how dirty snow can be. There were a lot of sediments on the snow that accumulated from impure melted top-layer snow. Happy day.

Witnessed two elks happy crossing a road and a driver happily running over one of them (it died, by the way) tonight. What a happy day. We didn’t talk much that night, as we each pondered over how all of us would die one day and other such happy stuff.

Fun fact - Calgary is second only to Toronto as the home of major Canadian Corporations

Today went up all the way to Coliseum mountain, a truly scenic mountain standing at 2040m, that gave a 360 degree view of the surroundings. The way up was filled with perils as we had to circumvent the mountain on its steep (think 45degrees) rocky (think very rocky) slopes near the top, where cold wind (think very cold strong wind... wenzheng and I were singing ‘Cold wind blows’ army song...) blows continuously. Up on the top seemed to me another world that was quiet and untouched by civilization. Not much animals found at that height, less a group of sparrows (are they sparrows? Must be some high-flyers...) and a goose-like animal that shied away on seeing us. Superb place, I tell you, if you ignore the cold winds and freezing balls in your pants. You might want to google for pics (up here) if you don’t want to spend time hiking up this mountain to see the views.

Fun fact - Calgary is the entrance to the Rockies Mountain

Today was at Lake Mouraine. It was drizzling slightly and misty up at the mountain on the way up the mountain to see the valley of the Ten Peaks. Had to backtrack when almost at the peak. On the way up, we were stopped short on the path by the presence of grizzly bears. Too bad that we did not sight them (some other lucky idiots ahead of us saw it.)

Fun fact: Vancouver was first inhabited by the Salish people

Joel (our tour guide) picked us up in the morning and we had a fantastic time at Lake Louis. Wenzheng and me pia-ed all the way to the end of the trail leading to the Plains of the 6 glaciers, and saw Abbott pass from a great angle. Being the first time I went so high and saw vast stretches of glaciers, I realized my relative insignificance and ignorance in comparison to everything else out there. I need to see more things to put myself in perspective.

I have said this once and I will cut-and-paste it again. Wenzheng is a REALLY great guy. No wonder Eu and Garry missed him so much. Had a great time with him as a fellow tourist/hiker/roommate/++ in the Rockies. And if you are wenzheng, you still owe me CAD150 or SGD196.

The walk up was definitely great. And though the walk down was freezing cold, it was an experience I cannot forget. The vast mountain plains, the flowing rivers, the muddy delta at the bottom, the postcard X-shaped sceneries of the mountains in the river (google for Lake Louis photos or go principal.mst.edu.hk/ rockiespic1.htm). And Wenzheng is a very fit walker. Had a hard time catching up with him, though he was wearing slippers (slippers in the cold mountain? He’s mad!) and I was wearing army boots. He’s good.

Fun fact: Vancouver is Canada's 3rd largest city

Just added google ads and stuff to my blog.

As this is a post-written blog (of more than the next 10 days), I can’t remember exactly approximately what just happened but but you may see me having some special powers to comment about what will happen the following next few days. All the stuff written here is based on a meticulously recorded record of expenses recorded over the next few days. Hmm. Damn bad English I know, but excellent Singlish I hope.

Woke up damn bloody early today and went to the airport to catch our early morning flight to Calgary. First time taking domestic flight and wasn’t checked for my passport. West Jet has some uber funny crew for the flight from Vancouver (YVR) to Calgary (CLG). Super hilarious execution in the normal mundane safety announcements and information about the emergency exits. You have to be there to see it. Too bad you weren’t there, so there. You might want to google on more information about the safety announcements about their detailed 10-step explanation on how to put on your seat belt, their demonstration on how to blow up the safety vest blah blah...

At the airport met Wenzheng for the first time. REALLY great guy. No wonder Eu and Garry missed him so much. Had a great time with him as a fellow tourist/hiker/roommate/++ in the Rockies. And if you are wenzheng, you still owe me CAD150 or SGD196.

You must say that Eu has an eye for bargain cos the Best Western Suite that he got for the group’s stay is simply fantabulous. Slightly higher than Hostelling International’s (google on their prices?) price, you get hotel services, personal kitchen (with stove, microwave and fridge) , 2 bedrooms (one with TV), a hall (complete with big TV, sofa bed and cable modem)… Dudes and dudettes, what more can you ask for?

Went to walk around uptown and downtown for the rest of the day and visited the interesting places around Calgary. Visited the Calgary tower but did not go up cos no money. But we did visit the Glenbow Museum where they have some interesting displays about the First Nations (dunno what’s that? Google it!) and the minerals in Alberta…

Tomorrow we are going for the True North Tour’s Rocky Express Tour (Want to know my whole itinery? Google it!) and it didn’t turn out to be as good as we want it to be because of the bloody cloudy and rainy weather. Oh yah. Next time do google for the weather before going for any outdoor activities. =(

Fun fact - Vancouver Population::2.1 million

Nothing much doing today. Went to Airport to fetch Jiayun/zhiqing/yanying and dumped all their stuff at our place. Mainly a logistics day with a dinner at Hon’s Wonton House. Tomorrow we are going to Calgary to attack the Rockies.
Oh yah, at night also went to make phone call at the same place near our house (read yesterday). Lucky never see the person selling any other stuff there.