Visual Dairy and Short Story

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Playing on Cordova Bay

         Yes! I woke up to sunshine. I ate breakfast and then Mimi taught us more water sports.

We did kayaking, canoeing, stand-up boarding, and paddling the Hobie Mirage. I love water sports. And this time when I did stand-up boarding I did not fall down, and summer and I paddle way out to the marine buoys. I am so happy with my progress. I wish I could do more of these types of sports in Hong Kong.

Thanks Miss Lau

     I was so happy to see our PE teacher again. She was very surprised that we couldn’t speak Cantonese to her or her family, but her English has really improved, so it was easy to talk in English.   

      Miss Lau emigrated to Canada last year. I have missed her so much! She was a really good teacher who always encouraged me to do my best, and always answered my questions.     

     We went to a park and played with her children. I haven’t played in a park since I went to secondary school.

 It was great fun. Her son James is a fast runner.  We all played hide-and-seek together and then we joined a Frisbee game. Such great fun!

Farewell Party

Our farewell party was so much fun, but I felt sorry for our guests, because it took so long to do our school interview. I felt sorry for our guests, because for almost a half an hour, we had to sit and wait for it to be our turn for the school ceremony. 

I think it would have been better if we just sent in a live video rather than a live chat!  But once that was over with, we could all relax and enjoy our guests.

   
 We had a huge BBQ with them. There was a ton of great food. And Eric cooked great steaks and sausages on the BBQ. They were DELICIOUS! 

After eating we played and sang music together. Danny, Eric’s son, and his girlfriend came over and played music for us. Danny is a professional musician. His songs even play on the local radio station.  Watch this video of his band, ‘Lo Waight and The Rattlesnakes. Danny is the guitarist. The drummer is his brother Ben, who was the audio engineer, who recorded us singing, ‘One Call Away,’ at Fat Dad Recording Studio. 

One of our guests, Zorro, was in our school interview too! Some of my friends posted on Instagram that Zorro and I were in a relationship, but everyone took it so seriously, so I had to answer a lot of embarrassing questions when I got back. And my friends, they still keep creating rumours! ☺

After eating, we had a big party. It was such fun! The music jam was so much fun! Eric’s son, Danny, and his girlfriend are so artistic! They both have great voices! We all sang and had such fun together. I shared my music lyrics with Zorro and Tony. Gradually, people had to go home. ☹

            But Zorro, my rumoured husband, he stayed later, because he still wanted to do some water sports, even though, it was almost dark. So, Mimi showed him how to stand up board and went out with them.  I went out too on the Hobie Mirage. It was such fun to be out on the water at dusk – very beautiful as you could just see barely see stars coming out. Afterwards, we all went back inside and continued to have fun playing music, games, and chatting together.  What a great night! What a fabulous farewell!

Bye Bye Tofino

                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Today, we had to go back to Victoria, so we got up early and packed up our camp and headed to Ucluelet, because we were going to have a seafood lunch at the Floating Restaurant. 

     

       So, I ordered shrimp, but when the shrimp came, it was only shrimp – no rice, no noodles, no potatoes, no drink…no nothing. The shrimp were tasty though, but maybe next time, I should bring a snack \along! Seriously though, Mimi and others also shared their food with me, so I did get enough to eat.

Slumber Party

          It was our last night in Canda, so we wanted to celebrate by having a slumber party.  The slumber party was in my room. We taught Eric and Mimi how to play Wolverine, which is a very popular Hong Kong group game that lots of teenagers love to play. 




We stayed up very late, but because some people were tired, we moved our party to Steven and Billy’s room and chitchatted until 4 in the morning. Then it was sweet dreams until of course Eric woke us up! 

Capilano Suspension Bridge

        
When I was on the Capilano Suspension Bridge, there were a lot of people, so it was difficult to enjoy, but it was good to see my friends getting scared, because I wasn’t nervous at all. 

              Afterwards, we did the Treetop adventure. This was interesting because we actually were walking on a platform built at the top of the trees, but once again, I think we went on the busiest day of the year, because there were so many people that it was difficult to stop and enjoy the views. 

BC Aquarium

    It was very difficult to find a place to park at the BC Aquarium. This is because it is very popular place to visit. The best part of the whole aquarium were the frogs making love. They were not only couples, but many frogs together. The water tank had a place where you could put your head in, so you actually felt like you were in the tank, without the water of course.  🐸

Saying Good-bye

 At the airport, we thanked Mimi and Eric for all their hard work, teaching, sharing and taking the time to make our trip so memorable. If we didn’t have their help and support, we would never have been able to have such an unforgettable experience or head home with such wonderful memories to share with our families, friends and classmates. We gave Eric and Mimi a card where we had all written down our thanks – they both cried! Bye-bye Eric. We will miss you so much!.  Bye Canada. I don’t want to go!!!!! 💖

Vancouver Harbour Dinner Cruise 🥘

 Vancouver Harbour Cruise

Last night in Canada, kind of sad . 

 Tonight, was our last night in Canada, so it was kind of sad. But it was quite an adventure, especially getting there. It was like being in the movie Fast and Furious, because we got caught in a traffic jam, so we had to find a way to get out of it. Eric is very smart, he took us down another road, and they were still a lot of cars on the road, but at least the cars were moving. 

            Tonight, was our last night in Canada, so it was kind of sad. But it was quite an adventure, especially getting there. It was like being in the movie Fast and Furious, because we got caught in a traffic jam, so we had to find a way to get out of it.







Eric is very smart, he took us down another road, and they were still a lot of cars on the road, but at least the cars were moving. We parked and ran as fast as we could to our cruise boat! The staff was standing at the gate, ready to pull up the gate, but we out-smarted them.

 Some of us ran on the boat while some of us walked slowly, so that Eric would have time to pay the parking and get to the boat. Luckily we all got on the ferry and had a perfect dinner!

I wore my new ear rings – BLING! BLING!

Breakfast With the Grizzly Bears

Compared to the black bears in Tofino, the grizzly bears were huge. This was my first time being so close to a bear. It felt like if I reached out I could touch them, but they lived in a secured area, so we were all very safe.

                    I wish the grizzly bears could still live in the forest, but our guide said that both of the grizzly bears came to the mountain when they were babies, because their mothers had been killed, so they have never learned to live in the wild.   Life is so precious. We need to treasure it and the people in our lives.  

    

It was a buffet breakfast with lots of great Canadian foods, like bacon, waffles and pancakes. 

Whistler Mountain

This was my first time to see snow and play in it.  I was surprised that I would still be able to see snow in summer. I was not expecting this at all.  I didn’t join the snowball fight though, because I think that snow hurts and it is cold.  But I did join a rock throwing game to see who could throw a rock the furthest.

 I pretended that I represented Hong Kong and had won a gold medal, like a real athlete.  Also, when I was having my picture taken, it also inspired me to improve my discuss, so that I can place higher in my upcoming competitions.

                                                   # Cheer up Takky

4th Avenue Summer Street Festival

         We were so lucky, because when we were driving home from the Aquarium, we pasted a summer street festival. So, after we had eaten our dinner, we drove back down to 4^th Avenue to take in the festival.

 Bif Naked was playing, and although, I had not heard her before, she is very well known in Canada.  The music was very loud, so by the end of her performance, my ears were ringing.  There were hundreds of people there, so it was very crowded. 

Canadian-American Border

          WOW! I can’t believe I have stood on American soil! When I was on the border, the song, ‘One Step Closer’ kept playing through my mind.  One step forward and I was in America and one step back and I was in Canada.  We had parked our cars in front of a man’s house. This shocked me, because the man was home and looking at us. Eric talked to the man, and he said it was okay, that it happens quite often, because he lives right next to the border. Canadian people are so friendly. 

      Anyway, luckily, the police didn’t shoot me when I stepped on American soil. LOL I hope I get to really travel to America one day!

Victoria to Vancouver

                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Today, we had to go back to Victoria, so we got up early and packed up our camp and headed to Ucluelet, because we were going to have a seafood lunch at the Floating Restaurant. 

     

       So, I ordered shrimp, but when the shrimp came, it was only shrimp – no rice, no noodles, no potatoes, no drink…no nothing. The shrimp were tasty though, but maybe next time, I should bring a snack along! Seriously though, Mimi and others also shared their food with me, so I did get enough to eat.

Our Last Day In Victoria

      
     








Today is a bittersweet day, because it is our last day at our beach house in Victoria, but today we also have a farewell party, which I am very excited about!

   

 We finished all our cleaning by lunch and then we made skits. It was so much fun to help and watch. I didn’t do one today, because I did mine last night with Erik. He taught us how to set up and do these skits, but Daisy added another idea, which makes them even more funny!  Today, Daisy and I were being Linda’s hands and feeding her sunflower seeds. We played a lot of tricks on Linda to make it very difficult for Linda to eat!  

Redlen Technologies

          It was great to be able to tour Redlen Technologies, because this is where Eric works.  This was my first time going into a company and meeting staff and having to introduce myself to them. It felt like I was an intern again. 

Although, I am not too interested in technological things, it was still a good chance to experience and learn more. A big thank you to Eric and his team. 

Butchart Garden

Butchart Garden is full of beautiful flowers and plants. I loved the Japanese Garden the most.  I also loved the air, because it was filled with the scent of flowers.  The air almost had a minty smell. I loved it. 

We worked with rotating partners to do interviews. I was quite nervous about going up to foreign people and asking them if they wouldn’t mind spending time being interviewed. I think this activity was very good, because we had been practicing meeting foreigners in our class time, so we got to put all our skills to good use. 

In the end, I really enjoyed this activity, and it really helped to build up my self-confidence, because everyone could understand everything I said.I did have one embarrassing moment though; Billy and I were interviewing this Japanese family. It was a daddy and mommy with two boys. One of the little boys was shy and hiding a bit behind his dadday, and I was so busy watching him, I forgot to turn on the camera!

Canada Day Celebrations

          When we got back to Tofino, there were Canada Day celebrations going on in the park – a skateboarding competition, so Mimi gave us time to watch for awhile or explore downtown Tofino. I think the skateboarders are so cool and really chilled out! The sport looks so amazing, but I am not brave enough to do this sport, because it is very, very difficult! I know this, because I’ve tried it before!

      Afterwards, we went back to our campsite and played beach games. I loved these times. They were so funny, because we all makes jokes all the time. At one point, Linda became the target, because we kept hitting the ball to her and she would miss, but then, she got back at us, because in the end she had the most amount of successful hits in the game! GIRL POWER! Good playing, Linda! GO LINDA GO! We also met a cute bunny , Bun Bun!

         




     After a campfire dinner, we went back into Tofino to enjoy the celebrations and games. There was a band and everyone was dancing. Eric and Mimi tried to get me to dance, but I wouldn’t, but now I wish I had, because everyone in the community, even little kids, like 3-year-olds were dancing.  But I didn’t want to go by myself, and I couldn’t get any of my friends to go, so I didn’t.  But now, I wish that I had, because it looked like so much fn.  

           This is the first time that I have ever seen a community dancing together. I liked it. Suddenly, the fireworks started and everyone ran toward the harbour to watch the show.  Afterwards, Linda and I regretted not dancing, so Eric took some of us back to dance, while Mimi returned the sleepy ones home.  But when we got back to the bandstand, all the dancing was over and the band was packing up! Grrrr…..and Eric and Mimi invited us so many times to dance. I should have danced at that time. Next time, I’m going to! YOLO. #YouOnlyLiveOnceHappy Canada Day!

   When we got back to our campsiste, Mimi and Eric went to the beach with us to look at the night sky.   When we went on the beach, there was a huge campfire near our campsite. There were lots of young people talking and playing music. Some of them had even brought their dogs. 

       Linda and I really wanted to talk to the locals, so we asked Eric to help us find a topic to start a conversation.  Eric noticed a boy with his dog, so Eric told us to the boy his dogs name. It worked. The boy was very friendly. He talked to Eric, Mimi, Linda and me.  Billy had come with us, but he was taking night sky pictures.  He got some awesome photos by the way!!!  Another local, gave us some marshmallows to eat, and we watched this girl who was practicing flame throwing tricks – very interesting.  After that, we played by the fire and took photos at the beach. 

      







          Then, we joined Billy and he helped us take a lot of beautiful photos under the night sky. Thank you so much Billy! You’re awesome!

 Look at this photo and you will be able to see the lady playing with fire, doing tricks and circles. It was spectacular. If I had the chance to go again to Tofino, I would most certainly want to go to McKenzie beach on Canada Day, so many great people. A place where I can make new friends. 

Hot Springs #Tofino

We had to take a boat again to get to the hot springs. I went to the top of the boat and had a great time. The view was awesome, and it made me feel powerful.

     
I got to sit at the helm and look out at the beautiful scenery. Mimi is up there with me, along with Mary, so I got to chat and meet another foreigner.

Steven came up and joined us because he was getting sea sick when he was inside. I stayed up on top, because I wanted to treasure my time in Canada.

When the boat was docked, we were met by some wild dogs. They were very cute, but unluckily, our boat captain told us not to touch them, so I took a selfie with one of them instead, so I could show you how cute they are and that I really do love them!  I felt sad that they have no one to look after them. They need LOVE too!

The hot springs were crowded, but the water was very warm, so I liked playing in them with my friends. I enjoyed being in natural hot water. It’s quite a different feeling. 

Once we were done in the heated water pools, we needed to leave to walk back to our boat. The hike was through a gorgeous forest.  I loved it! And guess what?!!! It was the easiest hike so far. It was just like a Hong Kong walk. There was a real walking path.