Holiday without Danny - Flowers, Food and Other Observations

Okay, final post on my trip and I'll go right back to Danny. I just need to get it out of my system.

One of the things I really like about Canada and the US is that people can do what they like and be respected for it. The following two shots are taken in Vancouver.

In this shot, the guy did these "paintings" on the sidewalk completely in chalk, as in blackboard chalk! (The white bucket is for "contributions". )


In this pic, the guy crouched down is a spray paint artist. He is a degree holder with a full-time job as an IT engineer. (SMRT is you're reading this, I think we should pay him to do up our trains.)


And it's not just Canada.

In Alaska, our bus driver was a Masters student who lectures part-time at the university. He likes being a bus driver as it lets him interact with people which is a nice balance to research and books. Can you imagine someone with a Masters degree doing that here?

Again, on the train, our waitress was a recent uni grad.

I can't imagine any family here allowing their children to taken on jobs for which they are way over qualified. Somehow, it's seen as "beneath" them to do "menial" jobs. Our service sector here doesn't get the respect it deserves and it shows in the attitude of the staff.

Sad.

* * *

Another thing to love - flowers and scenary! The weather allows a vast variety of flowers and plants.

These flowers were in the Butchart Gardens in Canada. Don't ask me what they're called. I just take photos.

The rest were taken in Alaska. I thought this photo was quite nice but hubby doesn't think so. I guess the flag pole could be a bit shorter. Anyway, this was in Denali National Park.

These were taken on a track through a part of the rainforest.

Alaska was just entering Autumn when we went. Obvious, yeah?

It rained a lot in Alaska
This is so Smurf!

* * *

The people we met in Vancouver and Alaska were wonderful! We could be at a street corner studying a map and people would come up and ask if we needed help. Drivers on quiet roads would happily let us cross even though they had right of way (and hubby and I were jaywalking).

And cashiers and waitresses would have a quick chat with you. At no point did we feel like outsiders. It all added to the great time we had there.

The one thing that wasn't so great was the food. It was mostly bland, bland, bland. The burgers and steaks had little or no seasoning, Japanese gyoza was made with chicken, and even this Chinese restaurant that our originally-from-Hong-Kong guide recommended needed more garlic and soy sauce at the very least.

And for the record, I prefer our MacDonald's apple pie to the US MacDonald's.

Oh heck. I even prefer Brewerk's mac & cheese to the one I tried in Alaska. I ended up dumping a fair amount of salt and pepper on it.

My only memorable dish was this lavendar-something-cotta. First time I ever had a dessert that tasted like flowers! So super yums I had it twice!

When we came back, we made a beeline for Crystal Jade and Penang Place. Next stop - Newton.