Iona Beach Park

On this hot, sunny Sunday we cycled through the Richmond countryside to get to Iona Beach Park. Initially, I was unimpressed, because the "beach" was really just a lot of sand covered with seaweed. We decided to bike to the end of the 4km jetty, which turned out to be pretty cool because that's where we finally saw the start of the ocean, with views of Tsawwassen and Horseshoe Bay. Then I started getting nauseous, probably due to the sun/dehydration/biking right after eating, so we took the train home. It still ended up being a 35km bike ride!

Who knew there were farms with tons of horses right beside the airport?

Long Beach and the Oregon Coast

Our hotel was at Long Beach, Washington, which is at the very southern end of Washington. Our hotel had free bike rentals so we took advantage of that and went on a ten mile bike ride in the morning along the beach. That was great fun.

We then headed down to Oregon to the town of Astoria, which is pretty hipster. It's like a mini-Portland. Someone had sheep in their backyard, and even the beer is served in mason jars in this town.

Further south on the Oregon Coast, Ecola State Park has beautiful views of Cannon Beach.

As we were looking at this, Leonard asked if I wanted to go down to the secluded beach, which involved a trail for "experienced hikers only", and I said no since I wasn't even wearing proper shoes. I thought he was upset because he became quiet and didn't take any photos of this gorgeous view, but little did I know what he was actually thinking...

He then led me to this picnic table off to the side of the viewpoint, got down on his knee, and proposed! I'm now an engaged woman!  And what a wonderful place for him to pick.

We then headed off to explore Indian Beach and Cannon Beach.

What a great day!

A Bike Ride & A Road Diet

Leonard and I biked to Metrotown, where we had Chinese food at the Crystal Mall and then spent some time in the Burnaby Public Library (where I even opened up a Burnaby library card!). On the way home, we stopped by Le Marche St George, a cute neighborhood cafe on St George Street. I enjoyed a bowl of Paris Fog - the equivalent of a London Fog, but with a Paris tea made by Harney & Sons. It was hot and delicious, just what I needed on such a cold and windy day.

And then Leonard showed me a Road Diet. This is an example of one, where the road is significantly narrowed at the cross walk. It has two uses: to make cars drive slower, and to help certain people like children and the elderly cross the road in a shorter amount of time, both of which increase pedestrian safety. Some of them even have special drainage to help with flooding on rainy days. There were more things about road diets which he showed me but which I have now forgotten. Yes, this is what we talk about on our dates!

Winter Bike Ride

It was the second day in a row where I didn't have to work and it was sunny, so Leonard and I went for another bike ride. This time we went downtown and around the seawall at Stanley Park, stopped at Third Beach to enjoy the sun and sand, and then biked up to Finch's for my favourite sandwich of all time in Vancouver (yes, it beats the porchetta sandwich at Meat and Bread in my books) - the pear, blue brie, proscuitto, and walnut sandwich. Nom nom nom!

One sandwich wasn't enough for Leonard since we had just biked 20km, so we went to Save On Meats a few blocks away for an after-lunch poutine...

...and then I biked home, showered, and then went to Burnaby for dinner and bowling with work friends until late. Phew! Another very full day, and 40+km biked in the past two days. Now that's what I call a good weekend.

An Active Valentine

I had to work closing shift on Valentine's day, but I had the following two days off instead, which was even better because the sun finally came out! Leonard and I started off with a bike ride over to Commercial Drive, where we picked up sandwiches from La Grotta and dessert from Fratelli's, then we went to Burrard View Park in the Hastings-Sunrise area to eat our lunch. It was my first time biking since September, and I felt VERY out of shape, as I was huffing and puffing up little hills! Then we biked to The Wilder Snail, a coffeeshop in Strathcona. I've never been in that neighbourhood before, and I always assumed that it would be a bit shady since it is close to Chinatown and the downtown east side, but I thought it was a very cute area with cool houses.

We biked home afterwards, but the activities weren't over yet! We hopped into my car and headed over to Home Depot to pick up cleaning supplies (ie. big sponge and a squeegee) and then to Leonard's place to pick up his mop and pail, and then we went back to my place to clean my car, which badly needed to be washed. I sponged while he hosed down the car, and it was surprisingly fun.  Who knew a car wash would be such a good bonding activity.

Then it was time for a lovely dinner at Diva and the Met  in the evening followed by two episodes of Mad Men. It was a very full day, just the way I like it.  Exercise, fresh air, sun, good food, wonderful company, good tv, clean car - what more could I ask for?

Biking around Siem Reap

Wipeout

A picture of my wipeout from Jason's Gopro. My body is now covered with bruises (15 on my last count).

Hehe best part was when Allen (my manager) told the new girl at work that I am tough and got into a barfight. "Yes!" I said. "I got into a fight and someone punched me in the stomach!" I then lifted up my shirt and showed her the bruise I got from falling onto the handlebars. The new girl's mouth was agape and she was like, "WOW! I can't believe you got into a fight!" :O   Hehehehe.

Mountain Biking @ Whistler

A.k.a. the most dangerous activity I have ever done (including skydiving and bungee jumping).

I don't think I really understood what mountain biking was, when Jason and Hugo invited me to come along with them.  I have never gone mountain biking before, and I was just not prepared at how steep, narrow, and curvy the trails were. The whole time I was going down, I was thinking about how I didn't want to die... Pretty much if your bike skidded off the trail you would hit a tree and/or roll down the side of the mountain!

I fell once on a green run, but I was fine and barely felt anything because it was just to my side. We did the greens three times, and by the end of it I was pretty confident. We then went onto a blue run and it was so much fun. There weren't as many curves but there were tons of little slopes and hills, which meant that we went much faster and higher, but it felt safer to me because the landings were straight. It was the turns I was really worried about anyway.

After lunch, we went back on the blue run we had gone to the first time, and I fell right in the beginning. This time, I flew over the handlebars and landed face first and on my stomach, on the gravel. I was so thankful for the helmets they gave us, because I would have a scarred face right now instead of a little gash on the chin. I remember thinking, "Uh oh, my face is going to hit the ground. My chin just banged against the ground. My stomach just hit the ground. I can't move! But I should yell out that I'm ok so they'll know I'm still alive." Jason actually thought I was unconscious until he heard me say that I was ok, just because of the way I landed and wasn't moving. My shoe even came off in the fall! I was thankful that it was the one time I wasn't in the back of our group, because Jason moved my bike off the trail, grabbed my shoe and put it on my foot, and had me roll to the side, just as a big group of bikers came down and passed us on the narrow trail.

What he said he saw happen was that I had gotten a bit of height and landed on a gravelly spot, tried to correct the position of my bike, and that made me slip and fall. I had only had the wind knocked out of me and was otherwise fine, so I just rode down more cautiously the rest of the way down, and felt well enough to go up for another blue run.

The next blue run was fine, except at the bottom when I again had my bike slip on some loose gravel. This time, my handlebars had turned around so they were protruding up, and I landed with my stomach right on the handlebar. I felt like someone had just punched me in the stomach. I knew I had to move my bike as fast as possible, so I quickly got up and moved my bike to the side, but couldn't move anymore after. I was in so much pain and shock. I was lying there in agony, until a random lady offered to help bring my bike down and Hugo came to collect me.

I ended up having to sit the rest of the afternoon out, just because I had lost my confidence and my stomach was in pain (it has a big handlebar-sized bruise now) and I was so tired from all the adrenaline, lack of sleep, and the alcohol from the night before. I even cried in front of a stranger! Since I had wiped out at the bottom, everyone at the gondola and chair lifts saw me. I was sitting and grimacing while waiting for the Jason and Hugo to finish their runs, and an older man came up to me and said "I saw you crash! Are you ok?" I replied with, "IT HURTS! I LANDED ON THE HANDLEBARS! WAHHHH!" with tears coming down my face. Hahaha it was not my best moment. The man then pointed to his protection and said, "And this is why you should wear body armour!"

Honestly, I thought this was the most dangerous and extreme thing I have ever done in my life. Skydiving was nothing compared to mountain biking up in Whistler! This was four hours of being scared for my life. Although it was fun and gave me the hugest adrenaline rush, I knew in the back of my mind that making one wrong turn or slipping up could mean a serious injury. I don't know if I could ever do it again, just because I have a fear of falling now. I would have to be wearing some serious body armour if I were to do it again.

At the end of the day, the guys turned to me and said, "You were amazing. We don't know any other girls who would have been able to do this. You kept up with us until your big wipeout!" Amazing, or CRAZY? Anyway, my once-white shirt has now turned brown because I kept falling onto my stomach. And I ate lots of dirt today. It was definitely an epic day.

As an example of what we did today, here is a picture of Jason getting a bit of air during the blue run:

207: TANDEM BIKING

Tandem biking around the seawall! But not without eating our way through downtown first..

First, tacos at La Taqueria:

Next, scrumptious pear & brie sandwiches at Finch's:

And finally, some good old Guu:

102: PIZZA, GELATO, AND BIKING

What is better than a day full of eating and biking in the sunshine? Not much, except maybe a day where I find out that I've won the lottery, but that hasn't happened yet...

First, I biked with Jenny from my house to Nicli Antica, a pizzeria in Gastown which serves Neapolitan style pizza. I had the Bianca (extra virgin olive oil, parmigiano, roasted garlic, roasted onion, oregano, and gorgonzola) and it was soooooo good. Jenny had the Diavola (pomodoro, parmigiano, fior di latte, sopressatta, basil, chili oil) and that was good too.

Then we went to Bella Gelateria (whose owner attended Gelato University in Italy), where I had Philippine mango sorbetto (tasted exactly like Philippine mangoes), and Jenny had a chocolate cake from Giovane - both places are located by the Fairmont Pacific Rim. We sat underneath a cherry blossom tree to enjoy our treats.

I didn't realize there were so many bike lanes set up downtown. I know a lot of people don't like Mayor Gregor Robertson's expensive bike lanes, but I applaud him because how are you supposed to attract people to bike more, if they feel that it's too dangerous bike on shared roads? I feel that the perception of being able to bike safely on the streets is so important in getting people to commute by bike. It was my first time biking on the separated bike lanes on Dunsmuir as well as on Carall street, and I really enjoyed them. If I lived and worked closer to downtown, I would bike all the time!

Then it was time to bike the grueling way home, but not before having some fun with our bikes.

What a beast day - I live FAR AWAY from Gastown. As in very very south Vancouver. And Jenny biked all the way from Richmond!

332: WELCOME TO KHONG ISLAND

I LOVED LOVED LOVED Laos. Let's just say that the trick for me to love a place is to have low expectations. I didn't think much of Sicily before I went there last year, and I ended up loving it. The same goes for the country of Laos.  Before I left, I was incredibly excited for Cambodia and felt neutral about going to Laos, but now that I am back home I would say that I would definitely want to go back if I had the opportunity to do so.

The moment we crossed the border from Cambodia to Laos, it felt like we were in a richer country because of the better roads and toilets. I had always assumed that Laos was poorer than Cambodia, but it is actually the opposite. The Lao locals seem better off than their Cambodian counterparts, and I think it could be because it is a Communist country.

The south of Laos is known to be one of the most laid-back places in the world, and we spent the afternoon cycling around Don Khong, one of the 4000 islands in the area. Our $1 bikes were heavy, and the breaks didn't work, but it was such a joy to bike around the countryside and watch people work on the fields. Satellite dishes are the thing to have in this country - everyone, even those living in little wooden shacks, has one!

We had drinks at a restaurant as we watched the sun set over the Mekong River. My drink of choice? Oishi green tea! I drank that green tea almost every day of my trip.

We left before the sun dipped below the horizon, but we underestimated the time it would take to go back to our guesthouse. As we rode back, it started getting harder and harder to see all the potholes on the road - there were no lights on the street!

What was even worse though, was that we started getting bombarded by bugs. They splattered against our bodies as we rode our bicycles -  I ended up getting them in my eyes, my nose, my ears, my mouth, and all over my skin. The bug in my eye was the worst. I could feel it in there for the longest time before it eventually got absorbed into my body...

By the time I got back to my room, I was covered in bug juice. I even had bugs down my shirt!

317: BIKING

Biking makes me happy. I wish I wore gloves though because it was FREEZING. I biked down to South Granville and the bike ride doesn't seem as hard as I thought it was. Only half of it is uphill...the other half is a breeze!

293: UNDERNEATH THE MAPLE TREE

I went for a bike ride today, and I had two separate cyclists start conversations with me while I was biking. The first man asked me about the gears and brakes on my bike. The other man, who I conversed with as we biked past 20 blocks, asked me if I was from China. Why do middle aged Caucasian men always ask me if I'm from China?!

Anyway I was loving the colorful leaves on the grass so much that I had to stop biking so I could take pictures. It was my first time using the "vibrant" mode on my camera.