Hello, I blog!
I share all my sporadic and toilet thoughts in here, because I am random like that.
Grey areas in perception
So, apparently I’ve been taking waaay too much chocolate during the last few days in Vancouver – no thanks to my aunt’s seemingly endless chocolate supply and not to mention how chocolate is really, really cheap here.
It was during two of these chocolate-gobbling sessions where I noticed that there are many ways I can perceive situations, especially concerning other people’s intentions.
Scenario 1
En route to Whistler Mountains with the rest of the family in a rented jeep, my aunt was passing chocolate supplies around as she normally would during a long road trip.
I received a packet of Maltesers (mmm, one of my favourites). In front of me, the younger cousin had just received a bar of Lindt 70% dark chocolate.
A coupla’ seconds later, the younger cousin turned around and offered to trade his chocolate with me.
“Brenda, you want?” he asked, holding out the Lindt bar. “I know that you love dark chocolate!”
I was really, really touched at first – because he remembered that I love dark chocolate more than any other types. (And men in general are really good at forgetting these things.) So I accepted the Lindt bar and began chomping gleefully.
Nomming my chocolate bar and gazing out at the scenery outside, it suddenly struck me that I had conveniently overlooked one fact – that the younger cousin hated dark chocolate, but also loved Maltesers … quite possibly more than I do.
So, there are two ways of looking at this.
A. The younger cousin offered his dark chocolate to me because he knows that I love dark chocolate and that I would definitely enjoy it more than he would.
B. He offered to trade his dark chocolate only because he himself hated it, and wanted Maltesers instead.
Mmm, something to think about.
Scenario 2
A continuation of Scenario 1. So, I’ve finished gobbling up the last bit of the Lindt bar just as the jeep pulled into the petrol station for a gas top-up.
As the younger cousin hopped off the jeep to the convenience store at the gas station for a top-up of munchies, I requested that he help me get another Lindt bar. Ten minutes later, he returned and passed me an extra-large bar of Lindt 70% dark chocolate, two times the size of the standard bar I was munching on before.
So I expressed shock, because I definitely couldn’t finish all of it. “It’s okay, eat it slowly,” was his reply.
Again, there are two ways of looking at it.
A. He bought the extra-large chocolate bar because he knows I love dark chocolate (as in, seriously!) and so, decided to get me a supply that can last me a couple of days at least.
B. He bought the extra-large chocolate bar because it was much cheaper to buy in bulk (or larger sizes), rather than a single, standard-size Lindt bar. So he saves money that way, just in case I end up asking him for even more Lindt bars.
If the above scenarios happened to you, which one would you choose?
For me, I chose option A for both – because despite how the younger cousin has his share of annoying (and occasionally, selfish – but who doesn’t?) moments, I know he really, really, really cares for me a lot and would basically go out of his way to make me happy.
If he is in the mood to, at least. Heh.
Going around Ontario/Quebec, Canada
[Written at 11.04 P.M. (08th June) Singapore time, 2.04 P.M. (09th June) Vancouver time.]
We joined a package tour that brought us around the provinces of Ontario and Quebec in Canada – comprising Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City, Toronto and the Niagara Falls. Quebec City and the Niagara Falls were awesome. Montreal and Ottawa was meh. And I didn’t see enough of Toronto to have any thoughts on it.
The bus that took us around the Ontario and Quebec provinces.
Quebec City
Strongest memory from that place was when I was exploring the lower city on foot. Quebec City is one city where there are absolutely no high-rise buildings around – which means the sky is visible all the time, which is a refreshing change.
And the architecture. How can I forget the architecture?
Streets of Quebec City – Lower Area.
Quaint little streets. Little shophouses a la Switzerland style with souvenir shops retailing knick knacks of all types. And the t-shirts too! How can I also forget the t-shirts?!
I bought me two t-shirts with ‘Fuck la mode‘ screenprinted across it. ‘La mode’ means ‘Fashion’ in French, so the tee literally means ‘Fuck Fashion’. Hahaha. So very true. So very me, too.
For me, the tee has a double meaning. I also interpret the tee’s slogan as also being in a mode where my response to everything will be “fuck, lah!”. Hurhur.
Niagara Falls
Well, the falls were beautiful – I cannot deny that. Plus, it’s awesome to be able to see one of the seven wonders of the world up close, despite getting drenched in the mist (we took a little boat cruise that brought us all the way to the base of the waterfall – which meant everyone on board getting wet) and all.
Niagara Falls – American Side.
But … I personally have a fondness for a different type of waterfall.
For me, big, massive waterfalls don’t quite grab me. I like tall, skinny waterfalls that land on a gradient of rocks at the base, which eventually leads to a little rocky stream with rapids – the type where I can jump in and soak my feet in.
Plus, the fact that my DSLR took a drowning at the Niagara Falls dampened the experience there kinda. Somehow, despite protecting my ol’ camera with my poncho, the spray of the mist was so strong (it was like a heavy rain) that water pooled around the base of the camera and the whole thing got soaked. It went kaput for the rest of the day and is still in the process of recovering now.
The Niagara Falls ARE majestic, most definitely. It was just my personal preference of waterfalls which got in the way and made the Niagara Falls slightly less impressive to me. But I’m pretty sure that it will awe virtually everyone else.
Montreal
Well, I like the culture there – which explains why I got myself a hoodie from one of them souvenir shops that reads ‘I love Montreal’ – but the city itself was blah. It didn’t have anything unique to offer, so nothing stood out.
The strongest memory I have from that place was having the wardrobe door nearly fall on me in the hotel room.
I was in the midst of placing some clothes in the wardrobe when I heard a sudden explosion, followed by a giant screw flying from the wardrobe door towards the hangers. I took a step back in shock, just in time to watch the wardrobe door collapse. It would have probably fallen on me if I had remained in my previous position, so I am thanking my lucky stars I didn’t leave Montreal with a concussion!
Ottawa
Ottawa has an awesome museum. Some parts of its interior was modeled to resemble the streets of Canada in the olden days, which was so realistic you’d feel as if you were there. Plus, the exhibits were categorized such that you can view the museum according to your own interests and preferences.
Exhibition set-ups in Ottawa’s museum.
I am not really a museum person. When I visit museums (especially those in Singapore), I tend to walk around admiring the building’s architecture more than looking at the exhibits themselves – which defeats the original purpose of visiting a museum in the first place.
However, I found myself doing a mixture of both in Ottawa – which is a really good thing because it definitely indicates there is something special about that museum.
On the whole
Notice how I am not exactly gushing about most of the cities or places apart from Quebec City.
Well, this partly stems from the reason why I dislike packaged tours. The schedule is so hectic to the point where you don’t get to see much of a particular place. Five different cities/locations jam-packed into four days (the first day doesn’t count because we were on board the plane most of the time and landed only in the late evening) leaves us with very little time – less than a day on average – at each city. One doesn’t quite have the chance to fully appreciate the beauty of the place at their own time and leisure.
We are ‘released’ at one attraction after another, and usually asked to return within an hour. And the places are usually massive.
Not to mention how the tour company had listed so many sightseeing spots on the itinerary, and conveniently left out the fact that we would only be seeing them from a distance on board the bus. We passed by this particularly scenic harbour spot at Ottawa – with the tour guide happily pointing it out as the bus continued to amble on – and I was like, what?! We are not alighting to take a walk around?! :(
The only place where we were left to explore on our own was Quebec City, and so there was enough time for me to fully experience the place … and ended up loving it. Otherwise, the speed at which we were whisked from one place to another left me disgruntled.
I still prefer free-and-easy travel. Rawr.
I personally believe there are many beautiful aspects of the various cities in the Ontario and Quebec provinces, and my perspective of the places will be unfairly skewed due to the hecticness of it all.
I’d love to return one day and properly explore around – and not be bound to a schedule dictated by some tour company to squeeze every cent out of us. (Look at it this way, admission ticket to an attraction is valid for a whole day – and we were only there for 1-2 hours. Hmm.)
Find Me
