Bridal Party: Take One
Pre West Coast Trail
o o Took 10 hours to drive
o May speed by Allan: 147 km/h caught by GPS
o Dan and Clarissa slept a total of 6 hours combined over two days
o Sarah got GPS which was super useful
o Filled up gas twice, Revelstoke & Victoria
o Got chowder & soup on ferry
o Went to Wal-Mart and bought a lot of stuff (flavour water, rope, etc.)
o Wal-Mart was green and had deceiving front
o Went to Mayfield mall for dinner and had Japanese food
o Packed our bags in parking lot changed clothes in food court, and filled up all our water bottles.
o Went to only shell gas station cuz we thought Allan had air miles. He didn’t.
Day 1 – August 16
•· Woke up at 7am, then it started raining
· We left before they went around to charging camp fees.
· Parked at Stan & Judy Medd for $28 dollars/7 days
· Took shuttle bus. Allan quotes, “Drove crazy fast and I almost threw up”
· Went to orientation, which turned out to be the same place we camped the night before. Allan, Clarissa, and Sarah (x 3) tried to poo, but couldn’t. Dan pooed.
· Weighed our packs on a fish scale
o Allan: 44lbs
o Dan: 45 lbs
o Sarah: 41 lbs
o Clarissa: 38 lbs
o Random guy: 65 lbs
· Hike: Gordon River Trailhead (75km) to Thrasher Cove (70km)
· Up and down with lots of roots, muddy, and started raining half way through
· Clarissa acquired a stick from a guy almost finishing. The stick was all the way from Bamfield.
o She found another one later, but then threw it away and regretted it. So she found yet another one later
· Sarah quotes, “Super hard, I thought I was going to die”
· Clarissa wore a tank top and got extreme chaffing and blisters on her back
· A guy from the hike couldn’t find his glasses but it was on his head
· Sarah walked across the first log really slow because she was scared and her backpack wasn’t strapped on properly
· Sarah fell and slid on her bum and got her pants dirty with mud. This was the beginning of her super dirty mud pants for the next seven days
· Arrived at Thrasher cove after 4-5 hours or hiking
· Found a campsite secluded underneath the trees
· We had a “cute” fire that wouldn’t start up, so a guy offered us fire starter, matches, and wood, because we only had enough matches to make our dinners
· The dad, son, and son’s BF gave Clarissa a pink lighter, because they didn’t like pink
· Later, we offered our campfire to a couple who couldn’t start their own fire
· We put our packs far away from our camps, because we were paranoid of bears. That night it rained and Sarah’s pack got wet.
· Clarissa thought the boys were bears because they were scratching and moaning.
· We had macaroni and cheese.
· Dan and Clarissa hate cheese.
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Day 7: Michigan creek (12km) to Pachena Bay (0km)
o Hiking time; 7:30 am – 11:15 am
o Breakfast: granola cereal
o Lunch: tuna pita
o Some parts were muddier than we expected
o We walked crazy paced: 3km/hr
o Saw guardians again from yesterday
o Heard sea lions while on trail
o We made it 2nd, after Solomon
o Bus didn’t arrive until 1 pm, and drove us into Bamfield our original bus broke, so we shared the other people bus.
o Arrived at Bamfield at 5 pm
o Photographer guy hiked 9 km/ hr
o Ride was super bumpy. Clarissa got car sick
o Mont back, had Ruffles chips, lays BBQ chips and rice crackers
o Stayed at traveller’s inn
o Saw a bear on the way home to Port Renfrew
o Tried Priceline but it didn’t work.
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2. Dreams Puerto Vallarta, MEXICO
4. Grand Sirenis Rivera Maya, Akumal MEXICO
5. Iberostar Paraiso Lindo, Playa del Carmen, MEXICO

Yup, I was in shock! I feel so blessed to be engaged to my bestest friend! :) More details to come...with wedding plans and all that jazz!
Mexico. Before your mind instantly brings you to a location where sparkling blue waves wash upon warm sandy beaches, I’d like to remind you that central Mexico is a striking contrast. Different species of cactus, from the traditional looking ones displayed at taco bell to circular flat discs with spikes speckled the landscape. Cloudless sapphire skies stretch from horizon to horizon, like a gigantic canopy covering the earth. I would like to share about a trip 18 of us went to from Dec 26-Jan 5 with Samaritan’s Purse.
our luggage was signaled to a stop by none other than la policia! Fortunately, they were just curious as to where we were headed with so much luggage in a truck, and luckily, Jeremy knew Spanish! A few minutes later we were free to depart.
abandoned them, and some who’s parents are deceased. I’m so grateful for the founders of this orphanage, Marcel and Golye, who sold their own house and everything they had to start up and pay rent for this orphanage. As we got to know the kids better, the contruction got a bit easier because we knew who we were doing this work for, and in the end, that this back-breaking, advil taking labourous work will make a difference.
Next memorable event was the Wong Fu tour at the UC. I don't think I've ever seen that many asians in my life! We were there 45 minutes early & won free pop. Whoo hoo. The movie (A moment with you) was ok, kind of slow, and I agree that I enjoy the music videos more.
This post is dedicated to those who are interested in jewelry such as necklaces, bracelets, and earrings. The making and designing of jewelry with high quality beads, stones, metal and semi-precious gems is definitely a profession that consists of extreme challenge, patience, and creativity. As we inhabit in such a mass production machine obsessed
society today, hand-made jewelry with quality and uniqueness is a rare find. Recently, I stumbled upon a wonderful site Onisha Artworks by a great artist. Known for her gentleness and wisdom, her products (I feel) display and reflect such characteristics when worn. Perfect for weddings, hot dates, and casual wear, I really recommend my readers to check this site out! Oh, did I also mention they are also great gifts!?!
At this point, some of my blogger fans may feel inclined to "punch me in the face", as the pet industry is a multi-million industry in North America, but first let me explain. I LOVE dogs. I fell in love with them the year my fourth grade class researched on the dog unit. While in China, the only reason for us consuming dog meat was due to my extreme curiousity. Noticing the brown mystery meat on the adjacent table next to ours, we were offered one piece of this rather unique smelling meat. Remembering that I have just eaten kangaroo last month, I figure this experience can't be that bad. Was I wrong!! Thoughts of insanely cute puppies (and kids) popped into my head as soon as I nibbled..
..and I repulsively but nonchalantly hid the meat under the turning table. Phew! What an experience of a lifetime. Let's never do that again. So fellow bloggers, what crazy animals have you eaten? Feel free to add onto my frenzy meat eating story...
It was a close call, but thankfully nothing really bad happened.. haha!
And here's the picture of the tall skyscrapers with my cousins. We had a lot of fun hanging out. Thanks for all the time you took to hang out with us! We miss you!
Here's us again in China with my relatives. We went to our "Haun Ha" for four days and visited more relatives. We even went to the abandoned house that my grandma grew up in. Talk about going back to the roots!
BONUS: Can you guess what kind of meat Nate and I are about to eat?? If there are 10 or more guesses/comments on this blog from different people, we'll reveal the answer!!