Hawaii Day 7 (Honolulu, HI): The Last Day

Today was our last full day in Hawaii. We went out to Pearl Harbor, the Ala Moana Mall, Sam’s Club and Don Quijote.

We got there pretty early and were able to get on a ferry to the USS Arizona Memorial pretty quickly from the standby line. We didn’t have reservations or pay for a tour and we only waited about 30 mins. There was a cost to check our bags but that was it. You’re not allowed to take anything bigger than a wallet and water. They made sure to specify clear water. The memorial is a very controlled environment and you’re given clear concise instructions throughout your time there. It’s pretty quick and they get you in and out. After we went through the exhibits, the gift shop and watched the introduction video that looked like it was meant to be an intro to the memorial. We did things backwards.

After we spent a little bit time at the Ala Moana Mall. Then we went to the Sam’s Club down the street. My mom likes the snacks at the Sam’s Club here. They sell a lot of the same stuff that the convenient stores sell around here at a cheaper price. A lot of it is unique to Hawaii. 

On the way back we stopped at Don Quijote and grabbed a few pre made things for dinner. This time around I noticed some halloween decorations were setup. I’m not sure if they set them up over night or I didn’t notice them last time. 

Tomorrow we have a cab scheduled to take us to the airport. We're also going to try to get some snacks at an ABC Store for the plane, Marugame Udon one last time and haupia pie's at McDonald's before we leave. It's a bit ambitious but I think we can do it.

This trip I got to spend a lot of time with my mom’s halau and her hula sisters. I learned a little more about Hawaiian culture and was able to do some of the less touristy things. It was such a fun experience. Hopefully, we can come back next year. 

Until next time Hawaii, 
Aloha ‘oe. 

Hawaii Day 6 (Honolulu, HI): Shopping at Ala Moana, Marugame, and A Trip To The Water

We didn’t do much today. My mom went to the muumuu factory with her hula sister and my sister and I hung out in the room for a little bit before heading out to the Ala Moana mall and meeting with my mom. We hit a lot of stores that we did come across last time. As much time as I spent there last time, there’s a lot of stuff that didn’t notice last time we were here.

After the mall we headed to lunch at Marugame then we went to the International Marketplace to hit the asian market and a couple of other stores. 

My mom and her hula sister had some lei’s that they had to release back to the ocean so we decided to take a quick trip to the beach. My mom’s hula sister got her lei’s and met us back at our hotel. In the Hawaiian culture, flowers and other vegetation have to be returned to the land that they came from as a sign of respect. A quick google search also tells me that people release their lei’s into the ocean to guarantee a trip back to the islands but I think it has more to do with respect for the land. After, we spent some time at the street market that was happening at our hotel. We went last year and it was mostly the same stuff. 

We headed out to some of the smaller shops on the beach side of the street and spent some time out there before we went back to our hotel for the night.

I can’t believe this trip is almost over. Tomorrow is our last full day.

Hawaii Day 5 (Honolulu, HI): Aloha Stadium Swap Meet, Marugame Udon and A Little More Shopping

Today was kind of a transitional day for us, we moved to another hotel, went back to the Swap Meet at Aloha Stadium and did some shopping

There was only a few more vendors than the last time they went and most of them sold second hand garage sale items. Nothing too interesting or different than last time. We spent way to much time there.

After we checked into our new hotel down the road and went back out to Marugaume Udon, International Marketplace, A couple of ABC Stores and a 7-11. I make a point to stop at longs to get a pair of Local’s. Mission accomplished! 

We ended our day early and are going to try to catch up on some much needed sleep. 

Tomorrow we’re heading to the Ala Moana mall.

Hawaii Day 4 (Honolulu, HI): Polynesian Cultural Center, Two Performances and Don Quijote

Today was the big performance at the Polynesian Cultural Center. We didn’t have to be there until early afternoon but everyone had to get ready. 

The Polynesian Cultural Center is a lot bigger than it looks on the outside. It would take a full day to see all of the shows and explore. This is one of the biggest attractions of Hawaii. Its almost like a theme park. The 42 acre property has 6 “islands” to explore— Hawaii, Fiji, Aotearoa, Samoa, Tahiti, and Tonga. We weren’t able to spend much time there. We had to run straight to the performance once we got out tickets and left to prep for the next performance at the Marriott nearby right after. We did go back for about 15 mins after we finished prepping but  we only had time to rush in for food and get out. On the way back I was able to get haupia pies at McDonalds. McDonalds haupia pies are only available in Hawaii and they’re fried!

After the second performance at the Marriott we packed up and stopped by Don Quijote for food on the way back. 

It was late by the time we got back so we ate and went to bed. Most of my mom's halau are heading home tomorrow. We're staying a few extra days.

Tomorrow we're planning on going back to the swap meet at Aloha Stadium

Hawaii Day 3 (Honolulu, HI): Running Errands,Waiahole Poi Factory and Rehearsals

Today we spent the day with my mom’s Halau. They rehearsed and we ran errands and stopped at a few places. 

We drove around the area looking for flowers to pick for lei’s and stopped at a few places on the way. We went to Longs, Starbucks and the Waiahole Poi Factory, where I got haupia ice cream.  After going to longs I am now on a mission to find a few pairs of Local’s flip flops in my size. I hear they run small.
The Waiahole Poi Factory was a fully functional factory until 1971 and was turned into an art gallery. In the 80’s the kitchen was refurbished and rented out to locals to use as a test kitchen. Later, in 2019 the factory went back to producing hand made poi and traditional Hawaiian food.

Most of our day was spent driving around, collecting flowers. While we were out and about we drove through the Valley of The Temples. The Valley of The Temples is a huge, gorgeous cemetery built on a hill with an amazing view. The centerpiece of this cemetery seems to be the  Byodo-In Temple. The temple was built to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Japanese Immigrants coming to Hawaii.
We came back to the rehearsal site periodically to drop off supplies we picked up and for lunch and dinner.
There were about 5 other Halau’s that participated in today’s workshop. All from the same lineage. Three were from California and two were from Japan.

After dinner they ran through their performance for tomorrow at the Polynesian Cultural Center.

Today was a long day.

Hawaii Day 2 (Honolulu, HI): Iolani Palace, Queen Emma Summer Palace and Nu'uanu Pali Lookout

Today we went to the Iolani Palace, Queen Emma Summer Palace, did a lot of sight seeing and ate a lot.

I didn’t get back to the hotel until late last night and woke up a lot earlier than I needed to. We’ll see how today goes. 

Our first stop today was the Iolani Palace. My mom’s halau chanted a prayer and presented a lei as a sign of respect to the past monarchs of the palace. A representative accepted the lei and chanted a prayer in return. It was beautiful. 

Iolani Palace is an American Florentine palace and was the royal residence of the rulers of Hawaii from the Kamehameha Dynasty until the Kalakaua Dynasty. Each room is filled with gifts that the royal families have received over the years. A lot of us would consider the lavish gifts and decor as clutter but it was perceived as wealth. More clutter meant more money. Our docent took us from room to room, telling us the history and significance of most everything as we went.

Our next stop was the Queen Emma Summer Palace. This palace is much smaller than the Iolani palace, there was only 2 bedrooms, a living room and a common area. This tour is a self guided tour. With a bunch of artifacts on display. Lots of furniture, fine china and jewelry.

Nu’uanu Pali Lookout looks out over the northeast coast of Oahu. This was the site of the battle of Nu’uanu, where Kamehameha took over the island of Oahu. There’s also a hiking trail out here. We didn’t do the hike. 

We headed back to the hotel for a bit before my mom and her hula sisters went to the beach. I was able to get a nap in before we headed out again. I spent some time in the water while they made lei’s on the beach.

We grabbed a quick dinner at an ABC Store and my mom went out to practice with her halau. 
Tomorrow is a rehearsal day for my mom and we’ll be hanging out with her group while they rehearse. I’m not too sure what we’ll be doing.

Hawaii Day 1 (Honolulu, HI): We're here!

Today was an early travel day. We grabbed McDonald’s on the way to the airport and waited around for the rest of my mom’s hula sisters to get there. I’ll be hanging out with my mom’s hula group more this time around, I’ll have more to write about than the last time I came here.

After we landed we got on a rented van and headed over to the flea market at Aloha Stadium. This van is huge! It can fit about 16 people. The flea market takes place right outside of Aloha Stadium and normally wraps around the stadium 4 times. Because it was a week day, there was only about a third of the vendors they would normally have on a weekend. We’re planning to go back on a weekend before we leave.

We made our way to the hotel and stopped at Zippy’s along the way. It was really good. I got a beef, chicken and spam plate. They don’t give you a lot of sauce though, I would ask for extra.

When we arrived to the hotel, we settled in and made our way out to Foodland Farms at the Ala Moana mall. This supermarket is really big and I was told it resembled an H Mart. I spent so much time at the Ala Moana Mall last year and can’t believe I missed it. I also found a Ross that I didn’t come across last time. 

After we got back I met up with a coworker that’s in the area for his honeymoon. I was able to crash his honeymoon for a few hours and we got food and a few drinks… Thanks bro! It was fun.

It’s super late and I might have to be up early tomorrow. We have a couple of tours planned.

Vegas Day 4 (Las Vegas, NV): The Last Day

Today was our last full day in Vegas and it was a short one. 

We took the bus out to Fremont street and went through the casinos and gift shops there. We’re seeing a lot of the same shops and merchandise. Fremont street has an old Vegas feel, Like the stuff you seen in the old mob and gangster movies.

After Fremont street we went to the outlets. I saw a lot of stuff that I wanted but the prices weren’t good enough for me to lug extra stuff home. The outlet mall reminds me a lot of the mall in Pleasanton.

This trip has been a lot of fun. I explored more of Vegas than I thought I would. It was exhausting but worth it. Hopefully I can do this again next year.

I’m hitting the tables in a bit. Tomorrow, we go home.

Maybe I'll explore a little more before we leave.

Blog update! I didn't do well at the tables at all so I went out to explore and grab food. It was storming crazy hard! So much it was raining inside of the hotel next to us. There was water coming out of everywhere and everyone was a little frantic. It was the closest experience I've had to a natural disaster. This was probably the most exciting to happen on this trip

Vegas Day 3 (Las Vegas, NV): Shopping, Snacking and Another Day of Walking

Today we planned to go out to the furthest spot on the strip and make our way back. It took us forever to get out to Mandalay Bay. We weren’t planning to stop on the way out but we did. Today we went to a lot of the discount clothing stores- Marshall’s, Ross and Burlington. We bought some stuff and didn’t want to carry it around so we made a trip back. We were almost there!

We didn’t really eat a full meal today, mostly snacked. We had Chick-Fil-A, Popeyes and Taco Bell. They have Alcohol at this Taco Bell! 

The way back out felt a lot longer than I thought it should be. They don’t have traditional crosswalks around here. Instead, it’s an overpass system and it’s almost a science figuring it out. I feel like there’s always something broken on these overpasses. Either an elevator or escalator, sometimes both, and it’s hard remembering what’s broken or blocked off on the route that you want to take. 

Once we finally made it out to the end we went through Mandalay Bay, Luxor, New York New York, Excalibur, MGM, then headed back and stopped at a lot of the shops that we went to yesterday. That’s a lot more walking than I wanted to do.

We also stopped by a cool Stranger Things Exhibit. It was a store but it was arranged to look like sets from the show. 

I'm heading out to the tables, hopefully I do better tonight.

Tomorrow, we’re getting a bus pass. Lesson learned

Vegas Day 2 (Las Vegas, NV): Exploring, Shopping and Walking

Today we went out and explored what felt like half of the Vegas strip. This will be my first full day in Vegas since I was a kid. We can see an In In out from our hotel and it kinda crazy to see everyone go crazy over it. Call me spoiled but they’re everywhere back home.

We kinda just picked a direction and ran into a block of fast food restaurants. My mom wanted chipotle but they weren’t open yet. McDonalds was open but I guess we didn’t want McDonalds breakfast. We ended up at a 24 hour White Castle. I’ve had White Castle a couple of times before and was never really a fan. It’s not as good as the hype but it’s not offensively bad and it’s one of those things that you have to have every once in a great while to remind yourself just that. My mom absolutely disliked it. 

We started out at the shops around our hotel and made our way all the way out to Resorts World and the lower end outdoor malls around it. On the way there we stopped by a lot of resort malls and mini strip malls. There like three or five of every store out here. Ok, five is kind of exaggerating but we passed by a lot of the same stores in different locations. WE FOUND A ROSS!!!

On our way out we stopped at a casino with a “loose $20 get $20 in free play” promos. My mom ended up winning a few bucks. I lost my $20 and the houses $20.

We stopped by Tacos El Gordo across the street from Resorts World for a snack and this has been my favorite meal on this trip by far! We got adobada quesadillas and the sauces they put on them were crazy good! We might end up there once or twice more before this trip is over. 

The rest of the day was spent mostly walking and looking for things. We’re not going anywhere tomorrow without a planning first to cut down on the walking. No more of this wandering around business, it’s way too exhausting. 

I spent some time at the tables tonight. Still not hot. 

Vegas Day 1 (Las Vegas, NV): Viva Las Vegas!

Today wasn’t a very eventful day. Our flight was late in the afternoon so I spent the morning packing a few last minute things. I had no idea what to expect weather wise. Every other time I’ve been to Vegas in the summer It’s been super crazy hot but there’s a hurricane moving around the area so it might get super rainy in addition to hot. How does a Californian even image what hot, rainy and windy is like? To us it’s either hot or rainy. Can’t have both. That kind of weather simply doesn’t exist for us. I ended up packing it all. When we arrived at the airport our flight was delayed a whole five minutes! I did a little shopping while in the terminal and boarded our extremely delayed flight. I feel like we barely made it in before the storm started.

Vegas is humid right now and it rained while it was 85 degrees out. What is this madness? I’ve experienced this weather before but only on the east coast and it’s still super strange to me. 

We checked into the hotel, explored a bit and I went out and played the tables for a bit. Not doing to hot with the gambling. Like the old saying goes "They gotta keep the lights on somehow."

Canada Day 12 (New York City, NY): The Last Day

Today was our last day on this trip and I have to get packing.

We didn’t dock until early afternoon and our tour wasn’t until two so we had a few hours to walk around. That’s exactly what we did. I wanted to go to Times Square and it was quite a ways away so we tried our best to get off the ship as quickly as we could and started walking. We ended up overshooting Times Square by ten blocks! While out and about I tried to take pictures of all of the theaters. We didn’t hang around long enough to shop. By the time we got there it was practically time to walk back. 

When we got back we had lunch and headed back out again for our bus tour.

On our bus tour today our tour guide pointed out a lot of celebrities houses. We got off the bus at the 9/11 memorial and passed by a few monuments and historical spots but there was so much going on that I couldn’t really hear what our tour guide was trying to tell us. I was able to get some pretty good shots of the city. New York photographs well. The 9/11 monument documents the impact and teaches the significance of the 9/11 events through media, artifacts and the stories of loss, recovery and hope of the ones impacted. It most importantly memorializes those who lost their lives. 

Now that we’re back I’m going to start packing and grab some dinner. 

This has been my first major trip in a while and I had an amazing time. I was able to revisit some exciting places that I haven’t been to in a long time and explore a whole different side of Canada which was nothing like I expected. I had a lot more downtime than I would have liked but it was much needed. I forgot how much I loved getting out there and exploring new places. I can’t wait until I do this again! I already have a few other trips planned before the end of the year but none as big as this one.

Tomorrow morning, we head home.

Until my next adventure, Cheers!

Canada Day 11 (Boston, MA): A Bus Tour, Quick History and Shopping

Today we did an early bus tour around Boston. After breakfast we headed out to the busses and drove by Quincy Market, Faneuil Hall, The Massachusetts State House, Trinity Church, the Public Garden and a high end shopping street. I've been around this area once before in elementary school and I think I actually remember some of these streets.

There’s a lot I could write about the places we went to in Boston. Here’s a few quick facts. Quincy market was a project initiated by Mayor Quincy. The Mayor didn’t want the market to be named after him so the official name of the market is Faneuil Market but the people still call it Quincy Market. The dome of The Massachusetts State House was originally made of wood but was covered with copper by Paul Revere’s copper company because the wood leaked. Almost a hundred years later the dome was plated gold but painted gray during World War II to prevent the reflection from drawing attention to it. The original location of the Trinity Church was on summer street burnt down during the Great Boston Fire and was relocated and rebuilt in it’s current location as a Richardsonian Romanesque church. The Public Gardens in Boston is a botanical garden. This garden is known for its lakes, monuments and the Paget family’s swan boats. There’s also duck statues from the book, Make Way for Ducklings. It’s tradition in this city to dress this cute little family of ducks in seasonal attire. 

After our tour we stayed out longer than the rest of our group and walked around Quincy Market, The Boston Public Market and The New England Holocaust Memorial. I love how the markets are like giant food halls with food, desert, drink, produce and meat vendors lined up. Each stand had its own speciality. 

On our way back to the pier we stopped by a lot of vendor tents lined up along the sidewalk. I really like the culture around here. 

After we got back we had lunch, afternoon tea, lounged around and had dinner. Tomorrow we arrive in New York.

Canada Day 10 (Boston, MA): Immigration, A Witch Tour and A Lot of Walking

Today we're back in the states

We weren’t able to get spots on the tour we wanted so we had the whole day to ourselves and we did the tour on our own. Before we could get off the ship or participate in anything we had to go through an immigration checkpoint. We had until nine to get it done but like I said, we couldn’t really start our day without completing the checkpoint so we tried to get that done early, before breakfast. Everyone else seemed to have the same idea, the station was packed and customs was running late so we left for the coffee bar near by. Everyone also had that same idea, the coffee bar was packed too. We got a text that the rest of our group went to the buffet so we left the coffee bar for breakfast. I had suggested that earlier but nobody listened to me. The buffet was practically empty! 

After breakfast we went back to customs to check in. I’ve done this before with other companies and it always took forever. You would line up according to last name, they would check your documentation and asked you a few simple questions and off you went. This time the process was a lot simpler. The line was long but it went quick. We shuffled through as a single file line, scanned our room cards and showed our passports. We were in and out in minutes. Super simple, super easy!

Since we weren’t able to get on the Salem Witch tour we decided to do it on our own. We took the shuttle off the pier out to the wharf near the aquarium and ordered an Uber. I checked the prices with Lyft and it seemed to be super cheap and I had credits so I ordered a car. Turns out I had entered the wrong address, the fare quadrupled when I edited it so I canceled it and was charged a cancelation fee. We explored other options like a rental car, taxi or public transit. We ended up grabbing an Uber. It was the quickest and most economical way to get out there.

The Salem Witch Museum is a renovated church building and seems to be a very popular spot out here. It was packed! Their tour is split into two sections the first was a very dramatic theatrical presentation using intricate dioramas to tell the stories of the affected and the accused. Both men and women were accused of being witches. We weren’t able to get seats in the middle of the room so we had to sit along the wall facing inward. I feel like we missed out on half of the show because the dioramas surrounded the room and we weren’t able to see the ones behind us. Before the second part of the tour they split us up into two groups, one went to the the second exhibit while the other hung out in the gift shop. The gift shop was packed and it was hard to move around and look at everything. The second part was a walk through exhibit that explained witches in movies, books, media and current day Wiccans. Elphaba is green in The Wizard of OZ because Warner Brothers wanted to show off their technicolor technology. This had such a big influence that witches became associated with the color green. This is quite an interesting spot and worth looking up online.

The shops around here remind me of some of the shops we have in Old Sacramento and San Francisco but with a lot more spiritual merchandise. They also had a crazy amount of Harry Potter and Hocus Pocus merchandise. 

We did a little shopping on the way back and ended up taking public transportation back to the wharf. It was way cheaper than any other way back. I had come out here before with my grandparents and we walked part of the freedom trail. My grandma wanted to go back and walk the whole thing but we didn't get around to it. Maybe we'll come back on another trip.

When we got back, we had a late lunch at the grill and lounged around until dinner. Because we had lunch so late I would’ve liked to have a little more time in between meals but we have an extremely early day tomorrow. 

Today was a lot of fun. We walked a lot.

Canada Day 9 (A Day at Sea)

Today we did absolutely nothing but lounge around and eat. I’m pretty sure you guys don’t want to read about me lounging around between meals and what I ate so we won’t go there. It was pretty much the same routine as our last sea day.

There was the regular lectures, port talks and social gatherings going on around the ship.
Tomorrow we’ll be arriving on our first stop in the states, Boston, MA. I’ve been to the east coast on tour and I’ve been to Massachusetts and Rhode Island once to visit family. This is my first time going for leisure. 

Tomorrow we have to wake up early to check in with immigration and we’ll be off on our first tour. I’m really excited about this stop. I wrote a whole report on Massachusetts in grade school. There’s definitely going to be more in tomorrow’s blog.

Canada Day 8 (Halifax, Canada): A Hop On Hop Off Tour, A Basilica and A Garden

Today started with breakfast at the buffet. Our tour is a hop on hop off tour. A hop on hop off tour is a bus tour that has a set route and stops at selected points of interest that tourists can get on and off at whenever they want and a guide teaches you about the town as you ride from stop to stop. This means you don’t have to get off at stops that you’re not interested in and spend more time at spots that you’re particularly interested in. We arrived for disembarkation before the crew was ready so I attempted completing that sudoku puzzle again. No such luck. I might just give up. We did a complete route on the busses and got on and off at the points that peaked our interests. 

Halifax is a military town and it’s creation marked the beginning of the Father Le Loutre’s War.
Our first stop was St. Mary’s Basilica. This basilica is a gothic revival cathedral with the tallest granite spire in North America. Our next stop was the Public Gardens. This garden is a 16 acre victorian garden who’s main gates only open for the Royal Family.

On our way to the gardens we stopped at McDonalds for poutine. I’m not sure if McDonalds is an accurate representation of what poutine should be but I liked it. The rest of the time out we used the tour busses to get around town and mostly shopped. Halifax has a lot of historical buildings with modern storefronts. It reminds me of somewhere I’ve been before but I can’t quite put my finger on it. On our way back to the ship we passed by a lot of restaurants, fair rides and other amusements. It was like Santa Monica Pier, Boardwalk and Pier 39, all put together. It was quite a long walk, there was a lot to do.

After we got back we had a late lunch at the grill, lounged around, had dinner at the buffet and went right to bed. 

Tomorrow we have another day at sea

Canada Day 7 (St. Lawrence River, Canada): A Day of Scenic Cruising

Today we sailed the St. Laurence River. Scenic sailing is like a day at sea but we sail close to land and a MC announces points of interest and landmarks along the way. 

We woke up at a reasonable hour and ordered room service. We had to rush the room service, it arrived when the room stewards were coming by to clean our rooms. I ate what I could then went up to the buffet for breakfast while our rooms were being cleaned. 

While were sailing there was a lot of activities goin on through out the day. There was a mini golf tournament, product showcases from the onboard shops, jewelry presentations, trivia sessions, get togethers, lectures and port talks. I spent most of the day lounging around.
The ship has a few digital game tables spread throughout the ship and one of the games was sudoku. I was able to complete the easy and medium levels but I couldn’t compete a hard level puzzle. I sat there for what seemed like forever and had to leave it. I even skipped tea time trying to complete that darn thing. I’m going to attempt to complete at least one more time during this trip. I’m determined. 

Tonight was lobster night! This is the first time I’ve had lobster on a trip with this company. I raved about the sushi earlier but the lobster takes the cake. It was amazing!

After dinner we went up to our rooms for the night. Tomorrow we’ll be in Nova Scotia 

Canada Day 6 (Gaspe, Canada): Riding A School Buss, A Store Turned into A Museum and The Indigenous People of Canada

Today we went out on a bus tour and only made a couple of stops. 

After we got up and got ready we had a lot of time before we had to head head out to the tenders to the buses. We actually had a hard time filling this time. Our tour was an early afternoon tour and and we would before lunch was served and we’ll be coming back after lunch was over. This was an awkward time slot. I ordered room service for lunch and lounged around and played video games until it arrived. Room service took a little longer than expected and arrived five minutes before we had to leave so we shoved a crap ton of food in our faces and called the rest of our group over to help us. 

Our busses today were school busses. It’s been forever since I’ve been on one of these. Seats are much smaller than I remember. Our tour took us around the city and we stopped at a store and a museum. Gaspe is quite a large remote town with a small town feel. It’s very secluded and seems to be far away from any big city. Most of the residents order things online and things ordered using Amazon Prime take more than 5 days to get there. 

The Hyman and Son’s General Store was the neighborhood store built in 1864 and is now a museum. We thought it was going to be a gift shop. This also served as the home for the builder of the store William Hyman, the residence was the second floor. 

Our next stop was Site d'Interprétation Micmac de Gespeg, a museum dedicated to the Micmac people of Gaspe. We didn’t have a lot of time here our guide had to squeeze 2 hours of material into a little less than half an hour. I had a hard time keeping up. At the end of the tour we sampled Bannock with maple syrup. Bannock is the Micmac people's version of fry bread. it was really good.

We got back and had lunch at the grill because nothing else was open. It seemed like everyone else in our tour group had the same idea, it was crowded! We didn’t go back out after our tour this time, there wasn’t much within walking distance of the port. 

Nothing much happened for the rest of the day. We lounged around, had a late dinner and went to bed. 

Tomorrow we’ll be doing some scenic sailing. I don’t think we’ll be getting of the ship.

Canada Day 5 (Day at Sea): A Very Lazy Day

Today was our first day at sea on this trip and we didn’t do much so there’s not much to write. This is going to be a short one.

I really wanted to sleep in but ended up waking up earlier than I wanted to. Because we had nothing but time we dined at the sit down restaurant for breakfast. There's no dress code for breakfast or lunch. Service here is a lot slower and the atmosphere is a lot more formal than the buffet. Some guests had to wait 45 mins to be seated. 

We had a lot of time before lunch so we lounged around the ship for a bit. I used this time to catch up on emails, social media and play video games. We opted to dine at the sit down restaurant for lunch too. The menu's at the restaurant are almost identical to the food that they serve at the buffet

While we were at sea there was a lot of things going on around the ship. There was a lecture on the stereotypes of Vikings another one on the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and a Port Talk on the history of Gaspe, Quebec. I didn’t participate in any of that. Today was also that reception for returning travelers that happens every trip. Which, I also didn’t attend this time around. I’ve written about that experience in a few of my other blogs.

Before dinner we attended afternoon tea and went to the show put on by the ship’s resident entertainers. DUETS is a cabaret style show showcasing showcasing some very iconic duets.
After the show we had a late dinner and went right to bed. We’ll be in Gaspe tomorrow where we'll be out and about again and I’ll have a lot more to write about.

Canada Day 4 (Saguenay, Canada): A Pyramid, A Little White House and A Pulp Mill

Today we’re going on a buss tour around Saguenay, Canada. Saguenay is an interesting town. It’s the largest in Quebec and seems to be culturally independent from the rest of the of the country. Most of the population speaks French and most of their education is conducted in the French language. Some students aren’t exposed to formal English instruction until they reach university. Saguenay was created in 2002 when the former cities of Chicoutimi, Jonquière, La Baie, Laterrière, Lac-Kénogami, Shipshaw and Tremblay merged to form a single city.

I ordered room service as soon as I got up and got ready while I waited. This routine is becoming too convenient. I grabbed some coffee on the way out and headed to the busses. Everyone in our group had different tour times so we decided to wait on standby for the early group in hopes that we can go on this tour together. On our way out there were a bunch of circus performers outside the port it was exciting. They interacted with everyone and it kinda felt like we were part of a street show. We were able to get on the same tour so off we went.

On our way to our first stop we passed the Ha! Ha! Pyramid. The Ha! Ha! Pyramid is an art installation commemorating the floods of 1996. This pyramid is made of 3000 yield signs and has the name of the displaced citizens on the back. 

Our first stop was La Petite Maison Blanche. After the floods of 1996 this little white house was the only standing structure and has become a symbol of persistence. It’s now a museum and a park was created around it. I think the surrounding park is much more impressive than the house itself. A little ways up the road was Eglise Sacré-Coeur. This church is a Neo Gothic Roman church. I couldn’t find much out about this church. There isn’t much listed about this church online and we didn’t have a formal guide to tell us anything about it.

Our next stop was a short one at the Old Chicoutimi Pulp Mill. This pulp mill was the largest in Chicoutimi and was known for the quality of it’s output. They played a key roll in Canada’s economy and supplied products to customers as far as Kentucky. 

After we had lunch on the ship we headed out to town. There isn’t much near the port here. Just couple of shops, boutiques and cafés. There was an area that looked like a mini town square where a few vendors sold their wares. It was kinda cute.

We ended our day early so I’m probably going to spend the rest of the evening lounging around  after dinner and probably order room service later. 

Tomorrow we’ll be at sea all day. I might participate in some onboard activities but I normally use those days to catch up on sleep. I’ll let you know how that goes. 

Canada Day 3 (Quebec City, Canada): A Walking tour, Down Time and A Lot of Food

I woke up earlier than I needed to today. Yesterday, room service took quite a while to I ordered as soon as I woke up. Today, they took even longer. Can’t seem to time things the way I want to. Our tour was scheduled for later this afternoon and the rest of our group was put on earlier tours. Earlier in our trip we tried to rearrange our schedules so we were all on the early tour but they didn’t have any room. If you show up to a tour outside of your scheduled time, you can wait on standby and there’s enough room you can join that tour group. So standby it was! We were all able to get on the same tour group but we didn’t have the best seats on the bus.

The bus took us out to Quebec City for a walking tour. In an earlier blog I talked about Montreal looking very European. Well, Quebec City is extremely European. It reminded me of the area around the Prince’s Palace of Monaco. The town we went to was a pedestrian town, with little boutiques, cafes and narrow roads made of cobblestone. You know, like the little towns you see in movies. The main attraction of the city seemed to be the Fairmont Le Château Frontenac which was the only place we didn’t go. Château Frontenac was built on top of what looked like the highest hill in the town which seemed to be visible anywhere you went. A quick google search later on told me that it was a hotel and we probably wouldn’t be able to access the chateau without booking a room.

Our day was actually pretty short day. When we got back we had lunch, headed back out to town to go to the shops that we weren’t able to check out during our tour and lounged around for a bit. We went to tea and I was able to catch a quick nap by the pool before we grabbed some food at the grill right before we met up for dinner. The more down time we have the more we seemed to eat 

Canada Day 2 (Montreal, Canada): A Bus Tour, A Basilica and a Bank

Today I woke up two hours before my alarm went off which wasn’t good considering I didn’t sleep much before. But there I was, up before anyone should be. When one wakes up with extra time the only logical thing to do is order room service! We ordered a bunch of random things, Fried chicken, a fruit plate, a Cesar salad and jalapeño cheddar chili fries. You know, your regular breakfast items. We also went to the breakfast buffet, which had normal breakfast food, after we got ready to go. 

Our tour today was a bus tour that drove us all around Montreal. We stopped at the 

Notre Dame Basilica of Montréal. This Basilica is the first gothic revival church in Montreal and is designated Montreal’s mother church. It’s also considered one of the most beautiful basilicas in the world. I can vouch for that, I’ve been to a few. The lighting in Notre Dame Basilica is amazing and the dramatic design bridges the gap between art and religion. The stained glass windows depict the history of Montreal instead of religious stories, which is not done very often. 

The second stop we made was to the Bank of Montreal, Canada’s oldest bank. This bank almost looked like Gringotts Bank in Harry Potter. It was built with traditional marble floors, gilt molding, stone pillars and had brass and iron gates mixed with modern fixtures and had museum pieces placed thorough out the lobby. The Bank of Montreal also issued its own bank notes at one point.

Before we returned from our excursion we made a mini hike up to Mount Royal Chalet in Mount Royal park. The chalet was built on top of Mount Royal as a project to stimulate the economy during the great depression. It’s a social space with large windows, murals of Montreal during the French regime a cafe. It looks like a great hall that would make a really good event venue. The view of Montreal from the chalet is amazing. 

After we got back we had lunch and headed right back out to explore the city. We came across a lot of the places that we saw earlier this morning on our bus tour. The route the bus driver took around Montreal made these places seem a lot further away. Most of it was in walking distance. We also went back to the area around Cirque du Soleil, obstacle course and the ferris wheel. We walked around the shops and found a few eateries. 

We had dinner at the buffet tonight, walked around the ship for a while, spent some time in the explorer’s lounge and went back to the rooms for the night. We walked a lot today!

Canada Day 1 (Montreal, Canada): An Inconvenient Flight Schedule, Settling In and A Lot of Food

Today I made my way out from Sacramento to Montreal with a layover in Newark. 

We were scheduled on a red eye with no possible way to get any amount of decent sleep. Our first leg from Sacramento to Newark was a four hour flight with a two hour layover and an hour flight to Montreal. With those flights, it’s time to move by the time you get comfy. Needless to say, I’m running on very little sleep so we’re going to get some words out into the blog-o-sphere and go straight to bed.

Once we got to the ship we got settled and headed to get some food as quickly as possible. The lunch buffet was really good. I had prime rib, roasted veggies and mashed potatoes. I was hoping to get a quick nap in but no such luck. I grabbed some coffee and headed out to town. 

Montreal is nothing like I thought it would be like. I’ve been to British Columbia before and expected to be a little like that but nope! I was completely wrong. It’s extremely European and most everyone’s primary language is French. The architecture definitely has a heavy European influence. If you dropped me off in Montreal without telling me were I was, I would definitely think I was somewhere in Europe. 

We were exhausted so we didn’t spend much time out there today and went back pretty early. Back at the ship we unpacked and lounged around before dinner. 

Dinner was something else today. We’ve traveled with this company before and they’ve always had a pretty loose dress code for dinner so I didn’t pack any slacks or button-downs. Welp, not this time around. When we got to the dining room they allowed us to dine there tonight but we won’t be able to again unless we adhered to the dress code. I’ll be on the look out for fancier clothes as we explore more places around here. If I can't find anything suitable, this might be my last blog about the dining room on this trip. The dinner in the dining room was pretty good but nothing to write home about. I ordered a shrimp cocktail of some sort, a Cesar salad and a beef tenderloin dish that I forgot the name of. Everything was good but, like I said, it wasn’t anything to write home about. Earlier, during lunch, we asked about sushi at the buffet and was told that sushi was going to be put out for dinner. There’s always sushi on these ocean liners. So it was up to the buffet after dinner. The sushi this time around was amazing. The salmon was buttery and the texture was perfect! I always end up eating too much on day one.

While we were out and about earlier today we came across the Cirque Du Soleil: ECHO touring group, a ferris wheel, a crazy medievaly-pirateish themed obstacle course and a few other interesting things. Maybe we’ll go back out, explore and find out more about those things tomorrow.