Hello my foreign friends. It has almost been two weeks since my last blog update, and when I last updated my blog, I was getting ready to visit Ottawa and Montréal. And, I must say, I had an amazing trip.
Day 1 of the Trip
So, since that last blog update, I was up at 4:00 am, getting ready to head to the Saskatoon John G. Diefenbaker International Airport. Eventually, I did, and quickly went through security. What I forgot, even though I read it the night before, was that security officials required you to remove your laptop from your baggage and that it would be x-rayed. Since that time, I've been wondering what the x-ray images look like. I was on the same flight with my foreign friend, Larry Chen, who had failed to check in the night before, and was not able to get a seat anywhere close to me. By the time I arrived in Calgary, I was greeted by my foreign friend David Couchman, who had nothing better to do at the time, or because he was waiting for his brother, and decided to come early to greet the minister. Eventually, my cousin Jeannette's husband David came to pick me up, who eventually took me to his house for breakfast. It was great, and I had returned to the airport to go through security, again, by 9:00 am. Going through security in Saskatoon and Calgary were quick, and almost painless. But, before I left to David's house, there was something that caught my eye that I knew that my cousin Tho would love:
Yes, my cousin Tho has an obsession with moving walkways.
So, after a one-hour flight that felt like an eternity, I was ready to board a flight that was three times as long, from Calgary to Ottawa. And yes, I did fly west to fly east. So, the flight from Calgary to Saskatoon wasn't so bad, even if I got "burned" by hot water by a flight attendant by accident. Usually, WestJet's flights offer free soft drinks, coffee or water. So, there was a woman in front of me that was drinking coffee, and somehow, water accidentally dripped on me. As a result, I got a whole can of ginger ale, instead of a glass of ginger ale. As for my flight to Ottawa from Calgary, that was painful, as there was almost nothing good to watch on television, with the exception of two classic episodes of The Simpsons. Other than that, I watched episodes of That '70s Show on my laptop. Overall, it was a painful flight, and I have decided that I dislike flying, as the seats are crappy (and uncomfortable). And, the part that scares me the most is the take-off process. The landing process is scary to me as well, but it is not anywhere near as bad as the take-off process.
Arriving in Ottawa at about 4:20 pm local time, I got my luggage, which took about 20 minutes. Eventually, I it was around 4:45 pm and I decided to head on over to the Hertz car rental office to pick up my car rental. The car I rented was a Toyota Prius (pictured here), although I have no idea what model year it was. What I do know was that the car was purchased from Tony Graham Lexus Toyota, which looks like a pretty cool dealership. Leaving the airport, I set up my uncle Harley's GPS navigation device and headed on over to the Ottawa Marriott on Kent Street. On the way there, I passed Carleton University. By the time I got to the hotel, it was 5:30 pm, after some complications as I attempted to get the adhesive that came with the GPS unit to stick to the car's dashboard surface. After I got that done, I tried to figure out where the aux cable for my Zune would go, but I gave up and started the drive. When I got into the hotel room, I plugged in my laptop and eventually started to surf the Internets.
Now that I was in Ottawa, it was time to get my trip started, right? Since most of the tourist attractions I wanted to visit were closed, I decided to head to the mall. So, I headed to that fancy mall they call St. Laurent Centre, and had Taco Bell food for the first time in a while. After that, I drove around the downtown area for a while, and saw a Loblaws store on Rideau Street. Not having been there before, I decided to go inside. Things already looked grim when I entered their parking lot and realized that I would have to pay for parking. So, I decided to "bite the bullet" and enter the store anyway. When I entered the store, it wasn't as nice I had expected. However, I did find something that I presumed was a myth in Saskatchewan: a Coinstarmachine. And by the end of the night, I was ready to go back to the hotel to sleep in a comfortable king bed.
Now, something you may find interesting is that when I left the mall, I got some dirty looks from young people who were most likely university students. Why? Well, I was wearing a University of Saskatchewan Huskies t-shirt. And from what I understand, there was recently a basketball tournament that was held in Ottawa, and the U of S managed to kick everyone else's asses in that tournament. So, based on what Alex Kowalchuk told me, I'm going to assume that these young people are either from Carleton University or the University of Ottawa, and are bitter due to the fact that the U of S kicked their asses.
By the way, my room number at the Marriott was 1128. Now, during my drive around the downtown area and Chinatown areas, I saw a few interesting things, including a man pushing a little girl around the area in a computer chair, and that little girl seemed to enjoy that ride.
Day 2 (Sunday, May 2, 2010)
Sunday was an interesting day. For some reason, I couldn't sleep. Before I fell asleep, I started to feel bad that I would be missing out on my cousin Tony's sixth birthday. So, having problems sleeping, I woke up once at 5:00 am to use the washroom. I then returned to bed, but had problems sleeping and ended up waking up again at 5:40 am. So, being bored, I decided to head out at around 6:45 am.
So, I left my hotel room and stepped out at around 6:45 am on that Sunday. To start the day off early, since most tourist attractions had not opened yet, I decided to drive out to that fancy suburb called Orléans. Why? Well, no trip to another Canadian city would be complete for the Reverend Huy Dang, unless he paid a visit to a Real Canadian Superstore that he hasn't visited before. So, I decided to visit the store located at 4270 Innes Road, and found a few interesting things within the store, including a section that sells wine, and a separate room for cigarettes. I found that interesting. After visiting the Real Canadian Superstore and still having moments to spare, I drove down the street and stopped by Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse, which was not yet open until 8:00 am. Not wanting to return to the Real Canadian Superstore, I decided to stop at the Walmart Supercentre for some breakfast. And when I entered the McDonald's in Walmart, I was surprised by what I saw, as I thought that those fancy couches were limited to American locations. After that, it was still too early to visit Lowe's, so I went to the store and waited ten whole minutes for the store to open. Eventually, it did, and I entered the store, which had incredibly friendly staff. However, that store was lame and wasn't as cool as I assumed it would be.
And yes, the Real Canadian Superstore in Orléans really does sell wine within its store:
And here is what I mean by fancy couches:
After an hour of visiting two stores that Saskatoon already has and one that Saskatoon doesn't, I headed to Chinatown and walked through eight blocks of the area, and saw a lot of interesting things. To see from the first photo, click here. While walking through the Chinatown area, I saw something quite interesting. Here's a guy riding two bikes at the same time:
Aside from that, I did pay an incredibly short visit to the Vietnamese Buddhist temple on Somerset Street West, and found that it was incredibly small, even when in comparison to Saskatoon's Buddhist temple on 20th Street West:
After walking through seven or eight blocks of Chinatown, it was 9:15 am, which meant that the Canadian War Museum would open its doors soon, right? Yes, it would be a time for excitement. And as I travelled, I have no idea where I went, but as I travelled along Wellington Street, there were a bunch of cyclists (could have easily been thousands of people) travelling along the street, and their destination was in front of the Canadian War Museum. So, I myself paid a visit and was greeted by a friendly girl that had a French accent. While there, I bought myself a ticket to both the Canadian War Museum and the Canadian Museum of Civilization for $18.00. So, I gave myself a tour of the Canadian War Museum and found a few things that were interesting, including a replica of a typical kitchen during the 1950s. However, what was really interesting was seeing Hitler's actual car:
When I first saw the car, I didn't know what to say. But after seeing it with my own eyes for a moment, I began thinking negative thoughts of the place, and Hitler in general, which resulted in me leaving. But aside from that, I spoke to a veteran and volunteer named Hyman (he knows a former judge in Saskatoon whose name I have forgotten), who told me about the Enigma machine, which were invented by Germans to encode their own messages. At the museum, there was a computer with an application that allowed you to unscramble encoded messages, or encode your own messages. I had a little fun with it:
And yes, I understand that teasing my cousin Tho with this was "mean." But then again, he is as big of a jerk as I am. After a visit to the awesome Canadian War Museum, I bought some postcards, and headed back to my hotel, only to find that someone had "busted in" and cleaned it. When I left, the bed was messy, and the washroom had soiled towels. When I had returned, the bed was made, the towel supply was replenished, and even the drinking cups were replaced.
Eventually, I left the hotel again to go for lunch. Since it was Sunday, and I wanted dim sum, I went to the Chinese restaurant I saw in Chinatown, which was called Yangtze, which sucked. Now, although parking on the streets of Ottawa is free on Sundays, I still paid $5.00 for half an hour of parking, as it was impossible to find a spot on the street at that time, so I ended up paying $5.00 to park on some guy's lot for half an hour. To see where I parked, click here. In fact, it seemed so funny to me that it reminded me of that episode of Seinfeld when Kramer and George decided to park their car at a parking lot for $50 a month, only to have George discover a used condom in his car. That episode was respectfully titled "The Wig Master." That episode, like all others, was hilarious! Anyway, why did the Chinese restaurant suck so much? Well, when I came in, the restaurant was busy, which is understandable. But, the service sucked. When I came in, the hostess was screaming like a maniac, and the food sucked, and some of those people pushing dim sum carts around didn't even bother to stop at my table. In the end, I left after trying four entrees, which cost me $17.52 plus a tip I left for $2.00.
After having food at the crappy Chinese restaurant, which had horrible service by the way, it was time to visit the Canadian Museum of Civilization, right? Well, technically, it was. But, I had to return to the hotel, as I forgot my ticket there. So, I drove back to the hotel, went through the annoying underground parking, then went took the elevator to the main lobby of the hotel, and then took another elevator up to room 1128, where I was staying. Then, I went down to the lobby, then took another elevator down to the parked car, and eventually left the hotel.
Eventually, it was time to head to the Canadian Museum of Civilization, which involved leaving town by crossing the river over to Gatineau. Eventually, I did go to the Canadian Museum of Civilization, after going through some construction. However, my visit to the Canadian Museum of Civilization will be unforgettable, as I enjoyed every exhibit there (except the Canadian Postal Museum, which wasn't as cool as I assumed it would be). In fact, I took many pictures. Then, outside, I took pictures of the Alexandra Bridge, which I did not get to drive through, as it was closed to traffic except weekdays from 2:00 pm until 7:00 pm. As I drove through Ottawa, there were a lot of places that were either being renovated, or under construction, and it was kind of annoying. However, during my visit to the Canadian Museum of Civilization, the battery pack in my camera ran out, and I had to head back to the hotel to get a new battery pack, which I failed to bring. So, I "charged" the pack for 30 minutes, and headed back to the museum, and took many more pictures. I truly enjoyed the visit to the museum, and I particularly liked the exhibit that highlighted the history of Chinese people in Canada and their dry-cleaning stores.
And after a "long" day of visiting museums, I was "tired," and hungry. So, being in Québec, it reminded me of something that one of my former sociology professors said about McDonald's. He said that McDonald's locations in Québec offer the poutine on their menus. So, seeing one just before heading back to Ottawa, I decided to stop by and order a poutine, which would delight my cousin Tho, had he been with me. Now, being the evil cousin that I am, I decided to call his home to tease him about the fact that I was eating a poutine from McDonald's and that he wasn't there to enjoy it. As usual, he referred to me as "Stink Huy." Stupid Tho! However, the poutine wasn't that good, and Tho wasn't missing out on much. And at some point during the day, I did drive by the U.S. embassy, and I must say that it is a nice-looking building!
After deciding that I was too tired to go out again, I decided to "call it a day," even though it was only 8:00 pm. So, to relax, I turned on the television and watched a new episode of The Simpsons, which had an interesting opening sequence that I enjoyed very much. I also enjoyed The Cleveland Show too, believe it or not! But as for the one-hour special episode of Family Guy, that was a waste of an hour. While watching television, I got hungry, again, and decided that I was too lazy to go out and eat, so I got up, and looked at the in-room dining menu. In it, everything looked "expensive," so I ordered something cheaper (as Bill Marriott had been raving about them on his blog): the Marriott Burger and French fries. And as it turns out, it was not as great as it looked on the menu. But, shortly after finishing the meal, I got a call from Guest Services asking me how the food was and whether or not I needed a wake-up call. I opted for a wake-up call of 6:30 am, as I had arranged for a tour of the hotel on Monday morning, which would eventually result in a complimentary hotel stay (excluding parking and in-room dining).
Day 3 (Monday, May 3, 2010)
Monday morning was interesting. I met with the hotel's Front Desk Manager named Hiram, and learned that he himself was from South Africa and that his wife is from Brazil, who both enjoy taking their daughter to the Canadian Museum of Civilization. As for the hotel, I went on a tour of the concierge rooms, the suites, the concierge lounge, the recreational room, the banquet rooms, the fitness club and others, and the tour before I knew it, was over. It was a good tour, and the manager was a nice man.
After the tour, I got changed and stepped outside to the fresh air, to start another day of sightseeing.
The first place I visited was the Supreme Court of Canada, which was lame, because it was not open to the public for tours until May 6, the day after I left Ottawa. So, as a loser walking around town, I still decided to visit the building anyway, because I would probably never have another chance to do so. Anyway, I entered the building, and was subjected to a security search similar to those at airports, but I didn't mind it, as I understood why it was important to go through a security checkpoint at the Supreme Court of Canada. So, after a lame visit to the Supreme Court of Canada, I walked along Wellington Street to a place I've wanted to visit for a while: the Parliament of Canada.
As I approached the grounds of Parliament Hill, I saw a fire in a fountain, and I thought it was pretty cool. Then, I saw a "protestor." Then, I got someone else to take my picture. Eventually, I headed inside to get myself a free ticket, and went through a security checkpoint similar to airports, again. After the security checkpoint, I waited in a lobby until 9:50 am, when the tour officially started. When the tour did start, our tour guide's name was Catherine, who walked us through many parts of the building. And eventually, she told us to smell the greatness of the Library of Parliament, but pictures were not allowed. It's a damn shame, because the inside of the library was amazing! Up next, it was time for a tour of the Peace Tower, which was kind of boring. However, the view was spectacular. While I was there, I caught a glimpse of a Conservative caucus meeting that had just finished. While in the Peace Tower, I met a nice couple from the United Kingdom that also enjoyed discussing politics. After that, I viewed paintings of previous prime ministers, including Joe Clark, who looked better in the painting than he did back then in real life. Brian Mulroney looked good too. But what I really enjoyed seeing was the Speaker's Parade, which to my understanding, is rare during tours. Well, I saw it with my own eyes, and I am glad that I did. However, I failed to get a good picture of the Honourable Peter Milliken, Speaker of the House of Commons. After seeing that, I went upstairs to the public galleries of the House of Commons. Before entering the gallery, there was yet another security checkpoint similar to the one I had just gone through. However, this time, they held on to more of your personal items. When I entered, they "held on" to my camera, cell phone, and jacket. As a result, I wasn't able to take pictures of the politicians that I like, which is probably a good thing, as it is a matter of security. So, after the security check, I listened to Liberal and NDP MPs make statements while complaining about the Conservative government. And while sitting there, I did see four cabinet ministers from Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government, including the Honourable Jason Kenney (Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism), Honourable Diane Finley (Minister of Human Resources and Social Development), Honourable Gerry Ritz (Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, Minister for the Canadian Wheat Board and Secretary of State for Small Business and Tourism) and my favourite, the Honourable John Baird (Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities). But I was also looking forward to seeing Tony Clement and Jim Prentice, because they both have such cool names and they are both members of the Conservative Party of Canada. But unfortunately, I was getting really hungry and eventually decided to leave. At that time, Prime Minister Stephen Harper had planned to visit Europe for five days. So, I naturally assumed that he was leaving on that Monday. Sadly, I was terribly wrong, and the prime minister was indeed present during question period that day. Unfortunately, Mr. Harper didn't leave until the very next day. As you can tell, I love Stephen Harper, and would like to meet him someday. I did drive by his house when I was visiting Rideau Hall (which was lame), but it was guarded by RCMP officers for obvious reasons.
After a visit to Parliament, I walked back to the hotel and took pictures of a few interesting things on the way back to the hotel. Eventually, I had a weird craving for food from Denny's, so I made the drive from downtown Ottawa all the way out to Nepean, not realizing that the chain had a location on Bank Street in Ottawa. So, as it turned out, I drove all the way to Nepean... for no apparent reason. But then again, most of you know that I enjoy driving further to get to places that already exist closer to where I just left. Nathan Dutnall, David Couchman and others can back me up on this portion. For example, I like to drive across town to visit the Real Canadian Superstore located at 2901 8th Street East when the store located at 411 Confederation Drive is so much closer. Another example is where I like to fill up my car's gas tank with gasoline. As you probably do or don't know, I like to fill up the gas tank in my car with gasoline from Petro-Canada, which is owned by Suncor. Although there are two conveniently-located locations on the west side of Saskatoon (Diefenbaker Drive, as well as 22nd Street West and Witney Avenue South both have locations), I like to drive across town and fill up at the station located at the corner of Cumberland Avenue South and 8th Street East, just because they have a car wash, and is conveniently located across the street from Westgate Books (it should really be called Eastgate Books), which is owned by Nathan's mother, even though I rarely visit the store.
After a fancy lunch at Denny's, it was time to visit the Royal Canadian Mint, right? Wrong. It turns out, I was distracted by many stores, including a BLOCKBUSTER Clearance Centre that I found while driving along Merivale Road because I was bored. After wasting an hour, I finally decided to head back towards the direction of the Royal Canadian Mint. So, I arrived at the Royal Canadian Mint after driving through some construction zones at around 3:10 pm, and paid $5.00 to enter the Royal Canadian Mint facility. The guy who sold me a ticket looked a lot like Taylor Martens, except with longer hair. However, his name was Eric (probably not Eric Forman), and not Taylor. So, after waiting around the stupid boutique at the Mint for almost twenty minutes and "lifting" a 28-pound gold bar worth $500,000, I also took some pictures of some Olympic medals, as we were only allowed to take pictures of the medals, or the that $500,000 gold bar. Eventually, it was time for a tour, and the same guy who sold me the ticket was the same guy that took me on a tour, along with four other people. I learned a lot, even though I could not take pictures, and the tour guide was funny! He also accepted questions that had nothing to do with the Mint. He also told us some interesting things, including the fact that there was a company that believed the Mint dumped its shredded metals (gold and silver) into the Ottawa River, and eventually sent divers to look for the shredded metals. Years later, as well as $600,000 later, nothing was found, as the Mint recycles the pieces into new pieces. Other things I learned were that there is a department that mints coins by machine (with a rejection rate of 30%), and one that mints them by hand (with a rejection rate of 40-60%). And, he also told us that if we were nice, he would let us hold his gold coin that was worth $2,500, which he eventually did. The whole tour was fascinating, and I met two couples. I got to know one of them, who were living in Toronto. The man was from Vancouver, but his father is from Saskatoon, while his wife was born in Quebec City. Then, there was another couple from Guelph, Ontario, but I didn't get to know them as well. However, that trip was totally worth it. When I left, I was totally satisfied. However, it was past 5:00 pm, and many places I wanted to visit were almost closing. So, naturally, I did what I usually do in Saskatoon when I'm bored: drive around and go shopping. So, I did, and drove through some nice neighbourhoods, with no idea where I went. Then, it was eventually time for dinner, as it was after 7:00 pm and I was hungry. So, my next task was to visit a place that a Twitter user named DontTaseMeBro77 recommended in terms of good steakhouses in the Ottawa area: Al's Steakhouse. Since I was already in the Nepean area, I decided to visit the location on Richmond Road. So, while I was there, I had a salad with ranch dressing, which was good. I then ordered the New York Cut Steak 12 oz Served with 6 oz Broiled Lobster Tail, as it appeared on their menu, along with mashed potatoes, steamed vegetables and served on a "bed of rice." The steak was good, the lobster wasn't as great, the mashed potatoes were excellent, but the vegetables and rice tasted like crap. But overall, I liked it, and would most likely return to the steakhouse if I were ever in Ottawa again.
Returning to the Ottawa Marriott, I was tired, and decided to "unwind" by going for a swim in the fitness club on the fourth floor of the Ottawa Marriott, which has 29 floors by the way. While I was there, I met a nice girl named Bess who had just graduated from the University of Ottawa and had suggested some pretty kick-ass ice cream joints, including one in the Byward Market area that I didn't have time to try. She acted like a concierge desk employee, and was excellent in providing me with relevant information. Of course, I steered it towards a nonsensical direction, and we both ended up discussing schools, the differences between cities that I have been to in Canada, and oddly enough, traffic signals. When I explained how those fancy left-turn arrows on traffic signals in Saskatoon work, she thought it was bizarre, but also stated that she hates LED traffic signals, as they are too bright for her. But I've seen their LED signals over in Ottawa, and they're not anywhere near as bright as they are in Calgary or Saskatoon for that matter (I mentioned Calgary because all of the bulbs they use are consistent, unlike in Saskatoon, whose new traffic signal bulbs are never consistent, and the ones that I don't like, are very similar to those used in LED traffic signals that are actually used in Ottawa).
Eventually, after talking to Bess, I returned to the hotel room, and got ready for bed, as I was sleepy and wanted to sleep, effectively "calling it a day."
I may have visited the Casino du Lac-Leamy at some point too, but it was a bad experience. To sum it up, I came in with $40.00 in cash, turned it into $80.00, and left with $12.50.
Day 4 (Tuesday, May 4, 2010)
Tuesday was a more interesting day, but it was unfortunately shortened, as I overslept. Apparently, I was really tired the night before. But when I woke up, the first thing I did do was shower, pack my bags, and other stuff, as I would check out of the hotel before noon. But before checking out, I decided to go for a walk, as there were letters I needed to mail. So, I walked through Sparks Street all the way to the central post office, and realized that there was a lot to see on Sparks Street. So, I came back to the hotel, and took my camera, and took pictures of the Sparks Street Mall, in reverse order though. While going through Canada's first pedestrian mall, I saw some interesting things, including the back doors of the Wellington Building, where the Office of the Prime Minister is located, and an old-lookingZellers store.
Then, as I walked through Sparks Street, I managed to walk by the Bank of Canada, Canada's central bank, which included the Currency Museum. After getting bored of walking through Sparks Street, I stepped inside to the Bank of Canada, and paid a visit to Currency Museum, which was actually pretty lame. This is the point where I would make a terrible decision as to where I would like to go next. But while walking through Sparks Street, I saw Conservative MP Michael Chong, who recently introduced a motion to reform question period, which is not cool to me.
I could have taken in a visit to another museum or something, but this is where I made a lame decision. I decided to head to the University of Ottawa instead, to check out the campus. I did, and it seemed like a snobby private school for rich and spoiled kids, but this assumption is based on the limited stuff I saw, and my impression of the school is based on Tabaret Hall. For lunch, I had a hot dog and Coca-Cola from a guy on the street selling hot dogs.
After visiting the University of Ottawa, I decided that I would visit Carleton University (I drove by the campus on Saturday on the way to the hotel from the airport), which seemed to be a nice and vibrant campus, but I didn't go inside this time. I just drove through the campus like a crazy bastard. Before I knew it, it was already 12:50 pm, and I decided that it was time to head to Montréal, instead of trying to visit the Canada Aviation and Space Museum or the Canada Science and Technology Museum. By the way, on the way to Carleton from uOttawa, I drove by the Canada Postheadquarters.
After making the decision to leave Ottawa and head to Montréal, I paid a visit to the Real Canadian Superstore on Innes Road in Orléans to buy a light snack and to fill up the car's gas tank with regular gasoline, but only received $0.34 in Superbucks, since they only offer $0.02 per litre, unlike in Saskatoon, where the gas stations offer $0.05 a litre. In total, I filled up and purchased about 17.34 litres of gasoline. I also dropped by a Shoppers Drug Mart store to get myself a free drink with a coupon that I had shared with you all before I left to Ottawa (as well as through Facebook).
By 2:00 pm, I left Ottawa and was headed to that evil city they call Montréal in the province of Québec. The drive there was nice, and on the way there, I drove by a town named Rigaud, which sounded familiar to me. Upon doing some research, I learned that former MuchMusic VJ and actress Amanda Walsh is from there. Eventually, I arrived in Montréal alive, but was stuck in traffic for almost 40 minutes.
By the time I checked into the Residence Inn Montréal Downtown (the girl that checked me in was named Sandi... she was attractive, and her accent was 'sexy'), it was past 4:30 pm, and the first thing I did when I arrived in the suite I reserved was watch television. On the FOX channel, there was an episode of That '70s Show, so I watched it. And on the way to the city, there was a hitchhiker, but he was picked up by the car behind me. I was tempted to pull over, and then have him run towards the car, and then drive away before he could enter, but I didn't. After seven minutes of watching television, I decided to head out "on the town." Being the tired bastard that I was at the time, I was too lazy to get my car, because those valet parkers were scary to me (and I don't like the idea of valet parking in the first place), and decided to walk. So, I didn't exactly remember which route I did take, but I went to this fancy mall called Place Ville Marie, which was adjacent to a building that housed the offices of a company we like to call Electronic Arts. When I entered the mall, there seemed to be a lack of stores within the mall, and there were a lot of fat guys in black suits, wearing mysterious earpieces. Walking around that mall felt weird, but I did see a place of interest: a Dunkin' Donutslocation. So, getting hungry, I decided that I would go for some dinner, and would return to buy some donuts before heading back to the Residence Inn. So, for dinner, I went to this place downtown called Boccacinos and had a burger, and a classic bottle of Coca-Cola, which only turned out to be a 355 millilitre bottle. While at Boccacinos, I chatted with two girls from Nova Scotia that could speak French fluently. Although they were nice-looking, they probably didn't like me all that much. At this point, I started to consider taking French classes.
After dinner, I returned to the mall, only to find that Dunkin' Donuts was closed, as well as the rest of the mall, and I didn't feel like driving to another location. So, I continued walking around downtown and eventually got some ice cream at some Ben & Jerry's location before heading back to the hotel.
Back at the hotel, I met a guy in an elevator at the hotel who claims to have grown up in Saskatoon. Also at the hotel, I did hang out on the 23rd floor of the hotel briefly while waiting for my laundry to finish. Too see a picture, or more, click here. And yes, there was a patio, which gave pretty mediocre views of Montréal.
After the laundry was done, I watched television and "called it a night."
Day 5 (Wednesday, May 5, 2010)
On Wednesday morning, I woke up to find a paper slipped under the door on the floor of "suite" that I stayed in overnight, and I felt slightly "insulted." But then again, who cares? For about $45.00 for the night, I got a suite that includes a kitchen, living room and two beds, as well as free breakfast.
The breakfast wasn't as cool as I expected. I had eggs, sausage patties, and crepes, as well as fruit punch. The eggs were simply bland, the sausage patties were dry, and since I didn't know how to roll up that crepe stuff, I failed at it, therefore making it something that stunk up the joint. As for the fruit punch, it was sweet and it seemed like it had a lot of sugar in it.
After having breakfast, I checked out of the hotel and drove around town. Something I really wanted to do was drive through the Jacques-Cartier Bridge, and I did just that. It was great! After going through the bridge and realizing that I travelled in the opposite direction of where I wanted to go, I made a u-turn at some point after the bridge and I headed to Dunkin' Donuts and bought myself a few donuts. The taste was terrible, and it made me appreciate the donuts from Tim Hortons.
After getting some terrible-tasting donuts, I decided that it was time to leave Montréal. On the way out of town, I saw a trashed apartment building, and was eventually on my way out of town, after going through some tunnels. Eventually, I left Montréal later than I had hoped, due to traffic, again. And when I arrived in Ottawa again, it was already 12:50 pm or so, and I was hungry.
For lunch, I went to this fancy Chinese restaurant located on Ogilvie Road called Mandarin Ogilvie Restaurant, which was admittedly better than that Yangtze restaurant in Chinatown, but the service wasn't much better. And before I left, I told one of the owners that there was a restaurant in Saskatoon called Mandarin Restaurant too, and they weren't surprised. In fact, the lady told me that "a lot of people from Saskatoon say that."
Well, by the time I left the restaurant, it was already 1:20 pm, and I thought about going to the Canada Science and Technology Museum, but ultimately decided not to. My plan was to fill up the gas tank in the car at 4:00 pm, and eventually head to the airport to return the car. So, deciding that I didn't have enough time to take in a visit at the museum, I decided to go visit some stores that we didn't have in Saskatoon, and possibly do some shopping.
But before going shopping, I did something seemingly-pointless, and I will explain later. I drove across the river to Gatineau, found a spot to pull over, stepped outside, and got back into the car and returned to Ottawa to go shopping.
The first store I visited during my shopping adventure was IKEA. That store looked old, and it was smaller. But before I entered the store, I already liked what I saw, as I liked the automatic sliding doors they were using, since they weren't from Stanley Access Technologies. And when I entered the store, I was particularly interested in a fake computer monitor that the store had, but I also took pictures of stuff I did like. Then, I left the store. As I left, I was tempted to buy some hot dogs, since they were only $0.50 each, but I didn't.
Leaving the store, I walked across the parking lot to a Chapters store, browsed through it, since we don't have a store in Saskatoon, and bought something from the Starbucks Coffee location on-site there. The season for Iced Coffee with Milk has apparently returned for the summer, and I couldn't be happier. Remember a number of months ago when I was told it was seasonal?! Yeah, I was pretty "upset." But earlier this month, I was able to have my favourite drink once again, and I couldn't have been happier.
After leaving Chapters, I decided to go to the nearest Shoppers Drug Mart store to get myself another free drink, and I did just that. After that, I drove through some residential areas, and ultimately visited a store that my mom would want to visit if she were in Calgary, or Ottawa, or any city with this store in general: T & T Supermarket.
At the recently-opened T & T Supermarket in Ottawa, I bought different flavours of Pocky that could not be found at the Real Canadian Superstore in Saskatoon. At those stores in Saskatoon, they carry a limited selection of Pocky (mainly strawberry and chocolate). At the T & T Supermarket in Ottawa, they had flavours besides those two, which included caramel milk and milk coffee. And to top things off, they even had those bigger boxes of Pocky, but the biscuit sticks were in "giant form." However, it is important to note that I went to the store because I know how much Andrew Pang loves the stuff.
After visiting the supermarket, I went to a local Toyota dealer just to be able to say that I did. Which one did I visit? Well, I paid a visit to Tony Graham Lexus Toyota. After that, I went to Best Buy and Future Shop on Merivale Road in Nepean, which are both across the street from each other. At Future Shop, I met an interesting Vietnamese employee who said told me that I "don't look Vietnamese." Although slightly insulting, I still found it hilarious. And before I knew it, it was time to fill up the gas tank in my rented 2010 Toyota Prius.
When it was time to fill up, I decided to stop at the Petro-Canada gas station located at 4000 Riverside Drive. My original plan was to fill up, then pay inside, and buy some Krispy Kreme donuts, as they had those donuts at that location. Instead, I paid at the pump, and left, totally forgetting about the Krispy Kreme donuts. Yeah, I felt pretty stupid when I realized that I did that on the plane ride home.
After filling up the gas tank in my rented 2010 Toyota Prius, it was time to return the "sweet ride." And once I did, I once again felt naked. That car was wonderful. Every time I wanted to use it, all I had to do was keep the keys within my pocket. When I wanted to unlock the door, all I had to do was place my hand in the door handle, and it would automatically unlock. If I wanted to use an accessory within the car, all I had to was press the power button. If I wanted to start the car, it was as simple as applying the brake, and pressing the power button. Man, I loved that car, and it helped me with my habit of being lazy, as it somehow made me lazier. The only thing that I couldn't do was make it drive itself without my steering-the-wheel. The only complaint I have about the trip, was my Uncle Harley's crappy GPS navigation device.
After returning the car, I grabbed the boarding passes I printed in Montréal and headed to the WestJet counter, where I dropped off my checked baggage, and lugged my carry-on baggage around. Then, noticing that there was a Harvey's restaurant in the airport, I ate there, for the first time in years, seeing as to how Saskatoon's only location closed a number of years ago. If you remember correctly, there used to be a location inside that store they call The Home Depot, which is located on Circle Drive. The newer store in Stonebridge doesn't have one either. Instead, it appears that Subway has taken over in Saskatchewan, when it comes to The Home Depot.
Eventually, it was time to go through security at the Ottawa International Airport, and this is where the experience soured. When I arrived, there was a long, but fast line to get into the security screening area. As you waited, you were eventually greeted by a young-looking guy wearing a pretty cool-looking uniform that works for the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority. Although I understood why he was there, I didn't understand why he had a yellow highlighter. When it was my turn to present my boarding pass, he just said "Hey bud," then he looked at my boarding pass, marked a line on it and then said "Go ahead."
Once it was time for screening, this is where it got interesting. I presumed that I knew the drill, so I took out my laptop and put it in a bin for screening, as well as my other metals that were within my pockets. Now, when I left Saskatoon and went through security and then arrived in Calgary, left, and then returned, security wasn't as bad. However, it is important to note that in Saskatoon and Calgary, I was wearing black pants, and sneakers. This time, I was wearing shorts, and sandals, and this is where it takes a twist.
Anyway, as I placed my valuables in bins, the guy ahead of me had an iPad. As it turns out, he was lucky enough to get one, but he lives in America and was in Ottawa for business reasons. Anyway, with that aside, I walked through the metal detector, and it went off and I was subjected to additional security screening. As I was being searched, the handheld metal detector only seemed to make a noise when the metal detector was near my footwear, or sandals, as they call them. So, apparently, the sandals had metal in them, somehow. After an embarrassing thirty (approximately) seconds, the guy who "searched" me said, with a French-Canadian accent, "Okay, you can get your stuff now." Although that experience was bad, I decided something funny: the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority has got to be the coolest federal department, ever!
Now, you must be wondering why, and I'm going to tell you why. Well, first of all, when you read the name, it already seems long: Canadian Air Transport Security Authority. And in French, it seems even longer: Administration canadienne de la sûreté du transport aérien. Although I cannot speak French, it probably sounds really cool in French too. My second reason for thinking it's a cool department is because of the department's logo. But more importantly, when it comes to federal agencies, they always have acronyms. For example, the Canada Revenue Agency is known as the CRA, or in its multilingual form, CRA-ARC. However, that is lame. But when it comes to the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority, their multilingual acronym is CATSA-ACSTA. Now, I don't know about you, but I have nonsensical standards... and to me, that seems like an acronym of a much-longer acronym, and that, to me, kicks some major ass. However, this is my not usual standard, as I have a habit of naming things or projects with long names that are so long that you would have to somehow "abbreviate the abbreviations." In conclusion about this agency, if I ever have a chance to work for them, I would certainly take that opportunity, as I like the uniform, since the patch sewn onto the uniforms are huge, and they look cool. And in that kind of job, I would carry my identification around at all times. That way, if I run into someone I haven't seen in a while, and they ask me where I work, I could take out my identification with the awesome logo, and say: "I work for CATSA-ACSTA!" Of course, it would be hard to say that at first. In case you are wondering what their logo looks like, here it is:
Doesn't the logo look awesome? It reminds me of superhero shows I watched as a child.
Anyway, continuing on with the trip home. After going through security, I eventually boarded a flight from Ottawa to Calgary, flying over my final destination of Saskatoon. The plane ride seemed much quicker this time, but that was thanks to the television channels actually showing something decent. On the plane, I watched an episode of The Simpsons, Global National, another episode of The Simpsons, then an episode of Two and a Half Men, and then an episode of Kitchen Nightmares, before switching over to an episode of Everybody Loves Raymond. And before I knew it, a three-hour-and-forty-five-minute plane ride was over, unlike the time I flew from Calgary to Ottawa, when the only good thing on television were two episodes of The Simpsons and two episodes of Family Guy.
Arriving in Calgary, it was -2°C, and snowing, causing my flight home to be delayed. This was bad, as I was wearing shorts, and sandals, with no jacket. But, despite that cool weather, I stepped outside for two seconds, then came back in, and checked through security once again. Why? Well, I'll explain to you, later. This time, security wasn't so bad, and I didn't face the same problem I faced in Ottawa, with the secondary search. However, this reminds me of a time when an African-Canadian woman claimed she experienced racial profiling at the Ottawa International Airport. Now, although it is at the back of my mind, I'm starting to wonder if it was set up that way for me. Of course, I'm crazy. But if it's true, I would be disgusted. However, I have no proof, and am going to stop worrying about that, since it's better to be safe than sorry when it comes to security. However, the woman mentioned in the story was searched by customs agents, and not security.
Anyway, with that "serious" stuff aside, there was a man on the flight from Ottawa to Calgary who was lucky enough to have chosen the seat by the exit row, which gave him more-than-enough room for his legs. Now, on my flight from Calgary to Ottawa, there was a jerk sitting in front of me who reclined his seat, but he just slept during the entire flight, and I just didn't disturb him, because he was probably tired.
Anyway, my flight back to Saskatoon from Calgary was supposed to depart at 9:51 pm. However, since it was cold out, and snowing, my flight to Saskatoon was delayed to 10:31 pm, and I eventually arrived in Saskatoon at 11:40 pm or so, and was greeted by my mommy. Yes, I said "mommy." Do you have a problem with that?
Anyway, by the time I got back to Saskatoon, I was able to say that that I set foot in five different cities over four different Canadian provinces in a 24-hour period. How? Well, I woke up at 6:00 am in Montréal, which was 4:00 am in Saskatoon. Then, I went outside to walk to the valet parkers, and finally left Montréal at 10:55 am or so (8:55 am in Saskatoon) and arrived in Ottawa at about 12:50 pm (10:50 am in Saskatoon). Then, I drove to Gatineau and back to Ottawa. When I arrived in Calgary at around 9:07 pm, I stepped outside and back into the airport. Then, I arrived in Saskatoon before midnight, and stepped outside before midnight. So, between 4:00 am and midnight, I set foot in Montréal, Ottawa, Gatineau, Calgary and Saskatoon. And as for my cellular phone, I can now add more cities to the list of cities where I've used my current cellular phone, which is an LG Shine TU720.
Here is the complete list, so far, from west to east:
Calgary, Alberta
Prince Albert, Saskatchewan
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Regina, Saskatchewan
Gatineau, Quebec
Ottawa, Ontario
Montréal, Quebec
Now that's downright impressive, isn't it?
Conclusion of a Trip
In conclusion, I loved my trip to Ottawa, even if I didn't get to visit every place I wanted to visit. Although I didn't get to visit every place I wanted to visit, I did get to visit all of the places I've wanted to visit since childhood, including the Royal Canadian Mint, Parliament and the Canadian Museum of Civilization. As for the drive around Ottawa, I always enjoyed it, and the traffic signals are generally unpredictable in many places. Although the city isn't exactly small, it does have a hometown feeling similar to the feeling you have while travelling in Saskatoon (by the way, I love 105.3 KISS FM). As for their traffic signals, it is similar to what Saskatoon used to have. Anyway, I loved the city, and I loved the trip, and will be returning to the city in the near future.
Among the places I didn't visit (or take pictures of) include the following:
Canada Science and Technology Museum.
The National War Memorial.
Earnscliffe, the residence of the High Commissioner of the United Kingdom.
The Byward Market area of Ottawa.
The embassies of several countries, including Japan and Kuwait, even though I walked by it when visiting the Royal Canadian Mint.
The offices of the Conservative Party of Canada.
The Canadian Museum of Nature (it was impossible, since the museum is closed for major renovations and will have its grand re-opening on May 22, 2010).
The Canada Aviation and Space Museum.
Although I am disappointed that I didn't get to visit the aforementioned attractions, I am still glad I visited 100% of my "must-see" tourist attractions, according to a list I made up before leaving.
In conclusion, if I ever have to move to the Ottawa area, and it were possible because I have no love life or anything, I would certainly take that opportunity or meet those demands (whichever flips the waffle). But other than that, after this trip, I am now considering two interesting things: taking French classes and a potential transfer to the University of Ottawa (this will most likely never happen, as I have chosen to pursue my education at the University of Saskatchewan).
Anyway, if you read the entire update, you obviously have no life, just like me. But if you really did, I would like to thank you for reading through the entire update and taking an interest in my trip. Other than that, remember not to get ripped by the riptide!
That concludes my blog update about my trip to Ottawa and Montréal, and I'm sure Peter Poorman is looking forward to reading this blog update.
