36: GOVERNMENT

Parliament - taken in the early morning, about ten seconds before they turned the lights off.

And my favourite building on my favourite street (Government St) in Victoria:

35: PIZZERIA PRIMA STRADA

Amazing Neapolitan pizza at Pizzeria Prima Strada. I had the Margherita pizza with Mozzarella di Bufala and added prosciutto on top. Oh my god I have to go back! All the reviews I had read and everyone I had asked about this restaurant raved about how great the pizza is, and they were right.

I worked off the calories afterwards when I went to Ken and Kay's apartment to play Just Dance 2 on their Wii. It was such a good workout. Ken and I entertained Kay with our Russian dancing to Boney M's Rasputin as well as our duet to Girlfriend by Avril Lavigne (which led to us watching Avril's Mandarin version of Girlfriend on youtube - check it out, it's worth it! I can understand her saying she wants to play.)

34: HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!

My cousin gave my family a big loaf of halal bread last night (I'm not really sure why), so I packed it in my bag and brought it with me to Victoria. It's now sitting on my hotel room desk. I guess I know what I'm going to eat for breakfast tomorrow!

12: ROOM SERVICE

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11: COASTAL CELEBRATION

Aboard the ferry to Victoria.

85: VICTORIA SUNSET

I finished work at 6:00 and had time to kill before my 7:45 shuttle ride back to Vancouver. There was nowhere to store my stuff in the bus station, and I didn't want to just sit there,  so I ended up walking around downtown, carrying my travel backpack with my SLR in hand. However, I must not have looked touristy enough for one man, because he asked me for directions to a restaurant.  I totally knew where Nautical Nellie's was though, so I was able to point him in the right direction.

84: SHUTTLE RIDE

I woke up at 6am to catch the 7:30 cross-water shuttle heading to downtown Victoria. It arrived at 11:30 and I had time to eat a second lunch (I had my first lunch on the ferry) before heading to work for my 1:30-10 shift. I called for a taxi to pick me up after work, but it never came. I called the taxi company to ask what was going on and they said,  "The driver came and left already. He picked someone else up and thought it was you!" Wow, thank you Yellow Cab.

14: HAVING MY DUCKS LINED UP IN A ROW

A large number of ducks congregate outside one of the hotels near downtown. There were a lot more ducks than what you see in this picture, but some had waddled away after I tried to get too close to them (one of the consequences of having a lens that doesn't zoom).

A conversation that took place today:
Old lady: What ethnicity are you?
Me: I am Chinese
Old lady: Wow, you have such a beautifully shaped face. And wonderfully shaped eyes and nose.
Me: Um thank you!
Old lady (leaning closer): But you're not my type. Don't worry!
Me: ....?????...
Is not being an old lady's type a good thing or a bad thing?

13: MESSAGE ON A STEEL TREE

'You who lift a penny from the gutter & with the same hand point out stars, find me.'

I found this sculpture on the corner of Broughton and Government streets, and this phrase is taken from Carla Funk's poem called 'Hide and Seek'.  Carla Funk is Victoria's first Poet Laureate and I want to email her to ask what this means. It's too bad I can't find her email address anywhere.

One thing about being sick while being away from home, is that my only source of hot water is the coffee machine, therefore making all my hot water taste like coffee.

12: VICTORIA LIGHTS

Victoria (this street, anyway) is so pretty at night!

11: AT THE FERRY TERMINAL

I will be in Victoria for the next 4 days.

This photo was taken at the ferry terminal from behind a window, when it was raining pretty hard. I was sitting in my seat, looking out the window and waiting for the ferry to arrive, when all of a sudden, I saw something black and oddly-shaped walk past me. I blinked and looked again...it was a black horse! More specifically, it was a horse costume being worn by two people who were wandering around the ferry terminal. As they walked by, I could hear the person who was the backside of the horse complaining about how he couldn't breathe. Poor guy.