monkeycrap's Diaryland Diary
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Canada trip - Day 1
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To me, there's a certain kind of weird delusional effect that comes with travelling. A deceptive chicanery that clouds your mind courtesy of a bite by the travelbug. That of things not appearing to be what they are. Biting into an apple from NTUC supermarket constitutes a mere after-dinner snack. An apple bought from a public market at Hastings Street, however, is a crimson sphere of bliss that reminds you that to be sinking your teeth into it at that very place, at that very point in time is well, bliss. Blessed bliss. That it's something out of the ordinary, something that's not routine. It's the same with life, I guess. Circumstance is crucial.
Surreal. That's how I would describe this trip. It started as a pipe dream, grew with increasing wanderlust (as well as with carrie's constant urging to 'come and visit') and ended up a reality. Didn't expect it to happen, really didn't.
Day 1 - First bite of the apple
Something told me to take a break from watching my in-flight movie, Capote, and lift the flap of the plane window up. The sky outside was gorgeous. A dark and indistinct ethereal ocean below, meeting a yellow strip of cloud highlighted by the sun, causing the point of contact to hue into a horizontal golden shimmer. The slice of cosmic kueh lapis then proceeds to gently caress the greater sky and this picture of beauty goes on for eternity. Flashback to days in Tekong, where during our morning runs, we would see planes taking off from Changi in the distance. Mental note at that time: I should be on that plane, regardless of where it's heading. Mental note in the plane: Role reversal is sweet. The movie was pretty good. Especially loved the quote at the end, which is incidentally what is inscribed on Truman Capote's epitaph. "More tears are shed over answered prayers than unanswered ones." Something like that la.
Touched down in Tokyo for transit. Had a 2 hour wait, so strolled around the airport terminal. Went into the bookshop, to the japanese magazines section. It's like being in some parallel universe, with the same kind of stuff and content I'm familiar with, but means of communication's in some code that I'm unable to decipher.
Plane then flew from Tokyo to Portland, and I had to transfer to yet another plane, a small 30 seater, to get from Portland to Vancouver. I know, talking about the flight itself hinges on massive swakooism, but really, it's the best flight I've ever been on. In the distance, the Canadian Rockies. In the mid ground, snow capped peaks of Mt. St.Helens and Mt.Ranier, like chocolate sponge cakes with generous garnishes of frosting. In the foreground, agricultural land, houses with garages, highways with cars, very much like one of those styrofoam model social studies project thingys we did as primary school students. All cities look good and problem-free from the sky, I guess. Arrived in Vancouver at around midday, met Carrie at the airport. Proceeded to meet her parents, Aunty Serene and Uncle Ricky, my hosts for the duration of 17 days or so, and 2 people who I would grow to like so much over that same few days.
Was enrolled in one of Carrie's Guided Tours of UBC(University of British Columbia), where I was introduced to every block of every building of every street of every faculty. Well, almost la. UBC has this rustic charm about it, a very Hogwartsy-temple-of-knowledge kind of feel surrounding it. They still use blackboards and chalk there. Adds to the Harry Potter aura. Looked up in the sky a few times to check for flying broomsticks. Didn't see any.
Carrie's half day guided tour also came with an exclusive visit to the Museum of Anthropology, where we took the time to painstakingly study and make careful, detailed analyses of the subjects exhibited:
I was totally asstatic upon seeing the exhibits.
Went for a delectable korean dinner of bibimbap, which is basically rice, with good stuff on top, and you mix it all up to get, well, rice with good stuff. But the rice is mixed with the good stuff, so the good stuff is together with the rice instead of on top of it, so you get...the point, basically.
Proceeded with Carrie and her brother, Kenneth, for karaoke, or what the Koreans call noraebang. It's not part of the 'things to do' section in the Lonely Planet guidebook, but like what Paul Theroux, one of the greatest travel writers ever, said when he gave a talk in Singapore, "It's never the country but the people." And I fully agree. The selection of songs were mind-bogglingly aplenty, ranging from Peeleepino oldies, to current punk hits. Thoroughly enjoyed myself singing, and listening to Kenneth rap his way through Linkin Park's 'In the end', which, ironically, he didn't get to the end to, requesting instead to cut the song short and move on to the next one. I guess in the end, it doesn't even matter.
Also, Carrie's heartstirring, soulful renditions of a few Korean songs, 2 of which were stuck in my head throughout the whole 18 days, and even now as I'm typing this entry. The theme song from 'Sorry I love you', whose title when loosely translated means (correct me if I'm wrong) 'Snowflower'. The other song's called 'Because I'm a girl', by Kiss. In fact, if I were to compile an OST for this entire trip, it'd be made up of songs sang during our 3 noraebang sessions.
Canada Trip OST
1. Snowflower - Theme from Sorry I love you
2. Kiss - Because I'm a girl
3. I believe - OST from My Sassy Girl (the song which started the k-craze in Singapore, and the only Korean song I know how to sing)
4. Enrique Iglesias - Bailamos (everyone in the family started moving to that song)
5. ABBA - Dancing Queen (first song that Uncle Ricky sang)
6. Suede - Beautiful Ones (eh Carrie, my Brett Anderson imitation not bad hor..)
7. Neyo - So sick (Kenneth's fav)
Sang till past midnight, rushed back on the skytrain to Broadway, missed the last bus, called a cab to take us back. Cabs in Vancouver are amazing. The numbers on their fare meter ah, never stop running one, like physics experiment stopwatch like that. The meter jump one time, my heart also jump one time. Very costly. I think the only time when people take cabs in Vancouver are when they're late for an appointment. Or in our case, noraebang time lapse.
Let the rhythm take you over, Bailamos!
2:07 p.m. - 2006-05-21
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