Yesterday
We visited Quebec city, which was a really nice town though it was raining and freezing at a temperature of 12degrees! In Summer somemore! -.-

Even the rail station looks like a castle, lol.



The famous town!


And its famous castle


More of the town...


And they have many interesting wall paintings too


Today
We spent the day at Mont-Royal; found a famous bagel store. I think I'll miss bagels alot when I come back to Singapore :(


Then passed by a beautiful, secluded park while on the way to Shwart's to eat smoked meat again =p


And then played with the squirrels again! haha, more like torturing though 'cos it thought that we had food but we actually don't


Then we saw a fatter one eating a biscuit - they are everywhere!


On a side note, every night when we take the metro back to the hotel we'll walk pass the red light district - and this is how they warn us of the danger zone

By using red lights! LOL. okay going out to Old Montreal for dinner and walk.. ciao! Can't believe that next week I'll be coming back to Singapore already.. I know that I've said this quite a number of times alr but time sure FLIES!

Look at what my brother did to sheepo. Poor sheepo...



Stuck on the hotel cupboard :(

Anyway being back in Montreal feels more foreign than being in Toronto or USA because EVERYONE around you speaks French. The salesgirl, the cashier, the little kids... you have to say 'Sorry?' before they realize you don't understand the long string of words that just poured out of their mouth. The only french words i know is 'bonjour, merci, bon voyage, marche'. HAHA oh well not very helpful. But gotta say Old Montreal town is really nice. Lovely lovely town, heh.




Passed by a playground and decided to relieve some childhood memories.....


where did i go?


finally a normal picture...


On a side note, this is really really yummy...... I can just drool looking at this pic =P~


Yum! :D The more berries the better.
Suddenly I'm thinking SMU is not bad after all...... at least I have dear Hoying with mua! My twin - we're both Hohos.....

CNN just reported that three suspects have been arrested at JFK airport for plotting to set off explosives and blow up jet fuels and pipelines there; and that one is on the run and they are still finding him. To think that just a week ago, I arrived in that very same airport from Boston! =S Chilling news. Now it's chaos over at the airport, securities tightened, policemen everywhere..

Really thank God that I'm in Montreal now! It seems that New York City is still the main target of the terrorists, after the 9/11 terror attack six years ago. To think I recently blogged about 9/11 too. I really wonder when the terrorists will ever wake up and stop taking innocent lives. =|

Extracted from the CNN website:
"Anytime you hit Kennedy, it is the most hurtful thing to the United States. To hit John F. Kennedy, wow...they love JFK -- he's like the man. If you hit that, this whole country will be in mourning. It's like you can kill the man twice," one of the suspects said during a recorded phone conversation, officials said.

Isn't it chilling?

Let's see. Its June1st already! How time flies.. 14 more days before I return to Singapore. Heard the weather there is crazy; well weather here in Toronto is crazy too. I guess its crazy everywhere.. One minute its sunny and hot, the next its pouring. Anyhow enough of the weather. Its my rest stop over here, because there's not much to see other than Niagara Falls. Slept quite alot today, woke up at 1030am, and then had a nap in the afternoon somemore. LOL, so pig right. But I guess the tireness of travelling sets in after awhile. Now that I've slept so much today I'm pretty awake now o.0

Heading for Montreal tomorrow by train! Pretty excited for it. I've decided, once I've earned enough money I'm going to backpack and travel to California; and perhaps visit Yosemite again. Beautiful, beautiful place. A pity Singapore doesn't have such nature.

I'm pretty nervous for university to start. Ok, very nervous. At the same time excited, but still more of the jitters. Another brand new start, another embarking of a journey. So many uncertainties lying ahead of me - whether accountancy is the one for me, whether SMU is the uni for me, whether the people there I'll get along. Well I guess taking risks is part of life... just hope I've made the right decision. (:

Just some quick updates before I go to sleep , hee.
Hotel Victoria - a much MUCH better hotel than the one in NY
Famished after the flight from NY to Toronto

Niagara Falls
Maid of the Mist - A ship which goes through the Niagara Falls and making us all wet - explains the need for our very BLUE ponchos!


Niagara Falls from the ship ; and the mist which we went through


Pictures of the Falls



 

I went to SEATTLE. Haha, an extremely late post on my visit to Seattle. Looking back now, it was a very beautiful place; gosh the skies were so blue! The highlights were the cruise, Space Needle and Pike Place Market. Here are the pictures!

Cruise


Away from the pier! I just lovee fisherman wharfs.


A beautiful view of Seattle from the cruise. See the space needle in the centre? It looks so tiny here.


I personally like this picture alot. Spotted a sailboat heading towards the city.


Space Needle
We actually stayed pretty near the Space Needle. Here's a view of it from our hotel..


Close-up! See how short I am :(


Went up the space needle when the sun was setting. It was the best time to go up there (: Stayed there 'till dark and the night view was amazing...




The needle at night (:


Pike Place Market


The very first Starbucks store in the world - established in 1971!



Alright that'll be all for Seattle.. home of Blake Lewis! Haha.. anyway I realised I haven't posted any pictures of Las Vegas / Grand Canyon yet! Gosh.. and New York had quite a few attractions, such as the American Museum of National History where I met 'Dumb Dumb'! ;p (only those who watched Night at the Museum would know what I'm talking about..)

Dumb dumb! (failed attempt to smile like the statue..)


And say hi to T-Rex! :D


Ok that's it for now.... am now in Toronto! Great place for shopping, LOL. Perfect weather here too - 21deg. Not too hot nor too cold. And I'll be going to Niagara Falls tomorrow! Can't wait :D Hope weather's good -cross fingers- G'night! (:

Today is Memorial Day here in New York, a day set aside to remember the heroes in America. Coincidentally we visited Ground Zero today - the site where the World Trade Centre fell. It was very overwhelming for me. Although it happened 6 years ago, when I witnessed the sight of the rebuilding site today it felt as if it happened just yesterday. One thing just baffled me - how could any HUMAN do such an inhumane thing? To hijack two planes full of innocent people who have loved and are loved, and with great futures set for them; to strike two 110-storey buildings and kill hundreds of thousands of people working hard inside... that is injustifiable! Our guide told us that usually in a YEAR, 100+ firefighters die rescuing people in NY, however in just those 63 minutes, 300+ lives of firefighters were taken that day. Visiting the galleries, seeing the pictures and videos of victims/survivors and walking around the site of Ground Zero was heartbreaking, especially when one of our guides told us her story of her husband, a firefighter, who sacrificed his life in 9/11. Anyhow, today was a very special day for me in my whole tour of the US.



BELOW: Ground Zero. If you want to know how huge one tower of the WTC is, its twice the height of the black tower on the right, and approximately triple the width.


Memorial for the firefighters


A memoriam of those who died in 9/11. The number of names on the four boards is just overwhelming.


Pictures of missing people ; photos dedicated to family members who died in 9/11 ('Dear Daddy, I hope you are having a great time in heaven. I love you. Love, Kevin') ; 'May your strength give us strength, may your faith give us faith, may your hope give us hope, may your love give us love.'
   

The only building nearby which survived 9/11 - St. Paul's Chapel
 

A very special and beautiful memoriam for the 11 American Express people who died in 9/11 - '11 Tears'. See the ripples of water? They are caused by 11 drops of water from the ceiling to look like tears; and for each person their family dedicate 11 words describing him/her and they are inscribed in the marble.

'A special angel sent by God, loved by all, taken but never forgotten.' - dedicated to Bridget Esposito

I saw this scribble on the wall of one of the galleries, most probably by a child; but it was a strong set of words.

I don't know the hardship
I don't know the pain
I will never understand what you went through
But I will REMEMBER.

It was a tragedy, but I believe there is still hope for humanity in God. And this hope is the only thing that keeps us going on.
Anyway tomorrow I'll be off to Toronto already. New York has been a really interesting place... around 18 more days before I head home; but this experience I'll never forget (:

Well, as you can see from the title, I'm in New York now! And it's summer already, the weather's hot hot hot! Just like Singapore, but not as rainy.. It's a really busy city, full of tall buildings and shopping districts; honestly I'm not very fond of cities as Singapore is already one. Prefer nature and small towns. Anyway shall update a 'lil more on Boston! I'll update on New York another day, but gotta say Steve Cohen's magic show was simply... unbelieveable! o.0 He brings magic to a whole new level. I know you won't believe it, but so far I've been to 6 magic shows!! Magic overdose -.- Thats for having a brother who is crazy about magic. But all the shows were amazing, except the first one in Las Vegas which was disappointing. My favourites are Lance Burton and Steve Cohen. So anyway, here are some photos of Boston!

Boston - Freedom Trail
    <-- Our very loud tour guide

 
Best oysters EVER ;p

New England Aquarium


My favourite penguins! :D






Then we attended the Boston Symphony Orchestra's POP concert which was simply BRILLIANT. John Williams was conductor was that day, and he was the one who composed the songs for Harry Potter, ET, Star Wars, Home Alone, Munich... and winner of numerous Academy Awards. BSO was also the orchestra to play for all these movies. The concert was really nostalgic as they paid tributes to George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and Alfred Hitchcock. Haha, see my brother's album for pictures if you're interested. John Williams even looked into my brother's camera as he took him! Ok it's late now and I've got to wake up early tomorrow for a cruise! G'night (:

Boston is finally.. SUNNY! :D Was so happy alright, everything seems so much nicer; especially the parks. Anyway this trip I visited a number of universities... today I visited MIT and HARVARD! But Harvard wasn't as grand as I thought, instead University of Washington in Seattle was so so much nicer! Omg if I get to go for an attachment at UW I'll definitely grab the chance, this university is so freaking beautiful. Here are pictures to prove it :D

Haha, oh well guess that I should just post up some highlights of my trip... really REALLY overdued ones.

Haha since it's spring here I shall change to a brighter look! (: Isn't it much better than the previous one? Although it's a little too bright for me but my time on the computer is pretty limited, so this will do for now. I still have HUNDREDS of photos to upload but sadly I don't have the time to. I think I can only upload all the photos in Singapore. :( But anyway thanks to all who still keep coming here to my almost dead blog, haha. PLEASE COMMENT!  ;P

Anyway since the last update I was in Las Vegas! Not as exciting as I thought it would be, it was pretty boring actually... because I can't gamble anyway. Only the night scene and the magic shows were cool. Especially Lance Burton. Gosh I'm in love with him, haha. And I didn't expect the weather to be so freaking HOT. The exact opposite of San Francisco! It was a desert out there man, much worse than Singapore! The air was so dry and everytime we walked out of a building we could feel the really hot air. Even the winds are hot, heh.

But nevermind about Las Vegas, because now I'm in BOSTON! But what a rainy day it was, and much much colder than Vegas. Its only 8 degrees here! -.- Now gotta adjust to the weather again... hope it gets sunnier over here otherwise pictures won't be nice..

So far, Victoria and San Francisco are my favourites! :D I would love to go back there again.. and again and again! :D I just can't get enough of those two places. Hopefully Boston would add to that list. Okay.. I think tomorrow's SMU high tea, but I can't go! And anyway I think I will be going to SMU in the end after all......

Ok leaving you with some pictures of beautiful Yosemite in San Francisco!










What huge trees they have o_0

And anyway go visit my brother's blog at http://hozhiwei.blogspot.com for really nice pictures by his trusty Nikon D40. Click Almost Daily Updates and then Exchange to McGill Postlude for them.. Pretty good stuff (:

Hmm realised this blog is pretty dead. And a little gloomy. HAHA. Will do some reformatting of this blog sooooon! Esp the template. It's too black. And I'll most prolly be uploading my pictures into flickr instead because livejournal takes forever to upload.

Now I'm in San Francisco! Tomorrow I'll be leaving for Las Vegas. A little sad because San Francisco has been a GREAT and really fun place. Went to Yosemite yesterday and the guide was really nice (: Hope the Grand Canyon will be as fun. On a side note, I've sprained my ankle TWICE during the course of this trip. First was in Victoria; while walking back to the hotel. And the second was just yesterday during the Yosemite hike. Gosh it was terrible because we had to walk ALOT during this trip. Anyway I think I'll miss San Francisco, like how I missed Victoria. It was really fun sitting the cable and streetcars... meeting all sorts of people.

However this trip made me appreciate and treasure my Singaporean and Chinese/Asian culture more. I'm PROUD to be a Singaporean chinese! Even with all the 'lar's and 'lor's.. that's what makes us UNIQUE! :D However we are constantly being mistaken as Japanese or Korean here -.-

Alright it's 11.50pm here, and gotta wake up early for the noon flight. I want to eat my cheese bagel! Gosh San Francisco has the BEST bagel I've ever tasted. But heard that New York bagels are the best... Can't wait! (: Going to miss San Francisco though :( ok g'night!

Thank God that we're all safe and sound still (:

Sorry for the lack of updates; been either pretty busy touring Victoria, sometimes the Internet is down, or just too shagged to blog about the day. But the last 3 days at Victoria has been a BLAST. Victoria is such a beautiful place, kinda regretted not planning to stay there longer. We haven't explored enough. The skies were exceptionally blue, the flowers vibrantly colourful.. Gosh what a change from cold, wintery Montreal. And the pace of life seems to really slow down there. There were many old folks' homes and huge parks.. no wonder many decide to retire in Victoria. So here goes the eyecandies for the last day I've spent in Montreal; and the next 3 days in Victoria!

Last day in Montreal
We went exploring my brother's school - McGill University


And the classrooms..


After that we walked over to Old Montreal, a very nice place with interesting buildings



Because we were on our way to watch CIRQUE DU SOLEIL! The show was really good (: much cheaper than in Singapore because Cirque Du Soleil originated from Montreal! :D


Then it was off to VICTORIA! :D
On the plane looking down on beautiful Victoria


1st Day in Victoria
We visited the Victoria Parliament Building, where a band was playing outside (and all the pictures are not edited at all! the sky was that blue)



They have this all around Victoria, heh


We then visited the Beacon Hill Park, another beautiful place



And nearby our hotel there was Fisherman's Wharf, an even more beautiful place :D




And we watched the sun set (:

This dog is so cute, kept wanting to sniff me... she's called Milly :D


There goes the sun.... Gosh I still haven't updated about my 2nd and 3rd days in Victoria! I went to the butterfly and Bulchart gardens which had the most beautiful flowers and butterflies.... Oh well shall update tomorrow because I've used up too much time. :(

And now I'm in Seattle... a more cloudy town. Yesterday night was scary, we had false fire alarms and had to evacuate the building at 2.30am in the morning! Everyone was shivering in their pajamas outside the hotel, LOL. What an experience. Alright updates again soon!

Hmm since today I'm back early I shall update about yesterday! Or else my brother will be hogging the computer at night and then I can't update =S Heh we came back to the hotel earlier today because of the gloomy weather.... so here I am! At 4pm Canadian time and 4am Singapore time.. I keep thinking about what time it is in Singapore when I'm in Canada, whether you guys will be sleeping soundly while I'm busy exploring Montreal... and vice versa. Heh. Actually I still haven't finished updating about my 2nd day....

28th April
We also went to the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts for the special Disney exhibition. Really an eye-opener on how they produce the wonderful disney classics like Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland and Fantasia :D Last but not least MICKEY MOUSE haha



We also walked past Dawson college where there was a shootout last year. Seems that shootings are on the rise recently... There was a shooting at the mall in Kansas City just yesterday =S


And this is a very beautiful castle-like building right opposite my bro's apartment


29th April
Sunday! So we went to People's Church for the morning service. They sang songs like My Redeemer Lives so it really reminded me of the good 'ol GB days (:


Next up we went to Mont-Royal, a street full of nice and interesting shophouses


And really cool graffiti, love how they express themselves through art so freely



And you can't get enough of the buildings


Ate at this famous Smoked Meat house. Yummy


Then we walked past a park...
where there were many squirrels!! So cute right? They can be found all around in Montreal..



We then went to this cool place where we could watch movies/films an hour for only $2; Danish Poet was really good I loved it (:


30th April
Today we didn't do much because we had to pack up my bro's apartment, send back 2 suitcases and then back to our hotel... just a relaxing day. And so sad I couldn't join the rest of the Hotbeans for the stayover at Weilin's place! Am very very sad... :(

Our heavy breakfast! And somemore its 3 of us sharing only 2 persons' share. If we keep eating like this I think I'll be severely overweight when I come back -.-


The lovely houses nearby my bro's apartment


And the kids playing at a nearby public school


Alright it's so damn tiring to upload all the photos -.- Shall take a rest now before going out for dinner... leaving you with another photo of SHEEPO! :D

Lazy Sheepo.