Pillow Suites Vancouver

... people further. But really we're all just called to love each other, wherever we're at, warts and all. (Do I sound like a hippy yet? All you need is love....!)

Anyway the next big challenge of the week was deciding what I think of as successful. Our society obviously says it's getting a good job, nice house, filling the house with pretty things (which by the way, I'm very much looking forward to), eating good food (ditto), having ...

... Don, Amy, Tracey and I went into Downtown and hired bikes for the day, first up we went to Stanley Park, the equivalent of Hyde Park, very lovely, beautiful trees with autumn leaves, we cycled around the parameter which was along the water front, all very lovely, with views across the harbour to North Vancouver and the mountains. We stopped along the way for a bite to eat in a very posh teahouse. I had soup with a melted gooey cheese sandwich. We then cycled about ...

Well just a quick update to remind myself how this thing works- I arrived safely today, flight was fine, Tanya met me at the airport and we got the shiny new SkyTrain downtown, then a bus to her house, where i met Anna, another staff member at DTS.

Sleep.

... next station, where the lines weren't as long and they had the passports.

While in line I met several interesting people: an Iranian who was studying Spanish at the university, another guy named Gordie and his elderly friend Wally, and an even more elderly woman from Cuba named Olga. We spent a fun 1/2 hour talking to each other while we waited, and when we boarded the beautiful new train, Olga had adopted me as her friend for ...

Woke up with lots of sun and a desire to get some things done. Cleaned up around the condo and made out a grocery list. Chris insisted it was too much to carry back, so we made a deal. We would take the car if he would drive me to Aphrodite Pies to bring back a raspberry-rhubarb organic pie (I've done it walking before, but it's a good 5 miles and a bit awkward with the pie box). Also, we would have to stop at Sophie's Cosmic ...

... had arrived. Next was Stanley Park Christmas lights and train ride - it was a clear winter night and I LOVED the fairy lights! We had afternoon tea with an English couple called Stan & Margaret. We had met them on the bus a few days earlier - heard my English accent!. What a great couple, they moved to Canada in the 1950's but are still very English. They were very hospitable and it was a cozy afternoon. We know we will see them again. That night we ...

... us for excess weight on plane if we keep this up! Whilst in the city we managed to meet up with Barry, a friend of ours whom we had met a couple of years ago, whilst travelling around Africa on the back of a lorry! It was really good to catch up with Barry. It has been about two and half years since our trip. We went out to a newly opened restaurant called Boneta, just on the edge of the Gas Light district. The meal was good but they seem to think it's very trendy to ...

... to flog off to us later, we made our way down to the tight-ass deck (or as announced in the elevator - "dick wan") we were pleasantly surprised to find our room had a window. When we booked we thought we were only going to get an interior room. For the rest of the afternoon we checked out the ship and what stuff there was to do. We departed about 5pm and we were on our cruise. We had dinner at 6pm (the early seating ...

... wine convention - My Dad would have loved that! There were thousands of different bottles of wine from all over the world to bad I don't drink!! We walked passed the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club and saw some very nice boats very expensive boats and some cute house boats, makes me want one! We came to a corner cross road in the middle of the city and could not work out where we were and then a man came up to ...

... start in Beijing and take in things like Pyongyang (the capital), the Mass Games, the Demilitarized Zone and Mt. Kumgang (supposed birth place of the Korean people and the Kim family). As Westerners you are followed by two minders at all times and are locked in your hotel at night. Sounds relaxing. One of Mel's colleagues kindly lent us a book by a Canadian-Korean who was one of the first journalists to ...