Birds, Watch Out!!!

So I was sitting in the living room this afternoon when I heard a sudden "BANG!!!"

I looked up and saw nothing but the huge glass sliding doors and the view of the beach behind them. Then I looked out into the patio and saw a pigeon on the ground. It looked confused and disoriented. I realized that it must have flown into the glass doors. Poor bird!

I've only been in the Caribbean for 3 days but I already feel at home. Back in the Philippines, my house is just like this - it has a lot of glass windows and glass doors giving us a nice big view of the mountains, the sky and the sunset. And like this house, a lot of birds often fly into these glass windows and doors. My mom would get upset every time this happens because the poor birds get injured (and some of them die).

She decided to put a sign up on our glass window, "Birds, Watch Out!!!"

It worked.

Caribbean Trip

I'm officially on vacation in a tiny Caribbean country called Turks and Caicos.

Yesterday, we played with kites on the beach. When they said kites, I thought we were flying small diamond shaped kites like we have in the philippines. Booooring! Apparently, North Americans have bigger and better kites. Ones that can drag you across the ocean if you stand on a board. It was intense.

In the evening, we went to a conch restaurant. A conch (pronounced /konk/) is a saltwater snail or its shell. Most of us have never had conch before, so of course, we all ordered conch for dinner. Sauteed conch. Curried conch. Deep fried conch. Stir fried conch... And it was only after we devoured all this conch when the cook comes out to ask us, "so how did the endangered species taste?"

With a full mouth, I nodded to let him know how good the conch was before I realized he said "endangered species." It turns out that conch is endangered in 95% of the world's places. The Turks and Caicos belongs to the 5% where it isn't endangered...where it is actually farmed. Still, I felt awful. They should have had a sign out there that warned people that they are about to commit a crime against humanity... or conchity. I would have ordered shrimp.

Me and Kate at the conch restaurant

The Conch

Today, I had margaritas for breakfast. It wasn't technically breakfast since I woke up at noon. So it was more like lunch, and it was a damn good lunch. I headed off to the beach in the afternoon for a swim and to make sand castles. I did not complete my task so my castle ended up looking like porn material.

Kate and Andrew had left for Calgary today, so there's a few less people left. Still, it's a big clan so the rest of the trip should be pretty interesting. I'm looking forward to my first new year's eve in the Caribbean. I think we are having a bonfire tomorrow.

xox,

Katrina

Tubing Doesn’t Equal Death After All

Date: December 26, 2009

Today’s challenge: tubing. Location: Mount Seymour. Contender: Me.

How did I get tricked into doing this? For those who do not know what tubing is, it’s sliding down a snow-covered hill on a tube (think lifesaver). The “right” way to do it is to lie on your belly and go down face first. You can go up to what I think is super lightning speed, and there are no helmets nor any protective padding whatsoever involved. It's just you, the tube and death.

I stood there for maybe 15 minutes trying to decide if I should do it or not. I already paid for my $16 pass, so maybe I should do it. But then, something tragic always happens to me when I'm trying out new things so I wasn't ready to die just to save my $16. So I ran back up the hill and escaped successfully despite Ben's attempts to capture me back.

Yes, I'm a wuss. I used to be adventurous. I used to love the outdoors. I used to love 5 to 10km runs. I used to go mountain climbing. I used to jump off cliffs for fun. I used to crawl into underground caves which made most people feel claustrophobic and paranoid about never finding a hole out. I used to be such a fearless person with an i-can-do-anything-but-will-never-die attitude... up until I met my even more adventurous fiance. I am traumatized by my attempts at keeping up with him.

The past year, I've done downhill skiing (a.k.a. injury-collecting), canoeing (a.k.a. rowing non-stop for 8 hours to get back to land), scuba diving (a.k.a. inhaling lots of water) or wake boarding (a.k.a. drowning). I enjoyed trying out all these activities for the first time, but is it too much to ask to space them out properly? I can do only one near-death experience per year, thank you very much.

So back to the tubing issue. Should I do it or should I not do it ? Like I said, I wasn't ready to die for $16, but I was ready to die to keep my pride. My friends were already making fun of me and I just couldn't let this go on. I gathered enough courage to go back to the hill. I kept telling myself that it was going to be fine. Even kids were doing it so it must be safe. Just when I was starting to feel brave about it, I saw some first aid troops heading towards the hill. Apparently, two people collided with each other and had to be carried out in a stretcher. Great! Panic mode kicks in again.

In the end, I finally did it. But I kind of cheated. I didn't start at the actual "START" line. I walked past that line and started tubing down where it said "SLOW". I didn't care that the little kids were giggling at me. What do they know? When I reached the finish line, the staff gave me a bit of an applause.

Challenge completed. Bruises gained. Pride maintained.

A Very Weird Christmas

The Kenyans came for a Vancouver invasion last night. Eric was scheduled to come in at around 7pm, while Kevin was arriving closer to midnight. So we planned to have our Christmas eve dinner and drinks at the airport while waiting to collect the last Kenyan.

But it turns out that all restaurants in the airport shut down during Christmas eve. In fact, almost all of Vancouver shut down. So we spent most of christmas eve wandering the city like lost puppies. Eric didn't seem to mind. He just flew in from Saskatchewan where the temperature has been -30 celsius the past two weeks, so he loved that snow was nowhere to be seen in Vancouver. He was jumping and laughing like someone who has been granted parole after a decades of imprisonment.

We were lucky to find that the Keg Restaurant was still open. It was 9:15pm and the kitchen was closing at 10, so we quickly ordered some food and drinks. I ordered a top sirloin steak... medium (brown on the outside and pink on the inside is perfect) and some heavenly double baked potatoes on the side. It was a perfect Christmas eve dinner. I devoured everything in minutes...

After dinner, we then drove back to the airport to pick Kevin up. As usual, his flight was delayed due to snowstorms, but I didn't mind waiting at the airport and watching people leave or arrive from all parts of the world. I saw an extremely long line of filipinos and their big balikbayan boxes, waiting to board a philippine airline flight to Manila. We - as a people - never travel light, and it occured to me that I could possibly fit in one of those ridiculously huge boxes and get home for free.

I saw some Chinese couple getting off an airplane. They were wearing shorts and slippers, and I was silently giggling at the thought of them walking out the airport in the middle of winter.

Kevin finally arrives and I felt extreme happiness that I am spending christmas with people that I love. Sure, I'm not with my family but the Kenyans are my favorite people so I won't miss this for anything. We went back home and showed them around our apartment (which took about 30 seconds). We were all sleepy yet we ended up staying up until 3am just talking and catching up and laughing. I went to bed and realized that my cheeks hurt. I haven't laughed so hard in a while that my facial muscles have had little practice in the laughing department. For the first time in weeks, I had a restful sleep and happy dreams, instead of the usual they-are-coming-to-get-me nightmares.

I woke up Christmas morning with sounds of the guys opening their stockings. Finally! I can legally open my presents, which have been taunting me the past few days. Ben got a wine fridge and a Star Trek movie from me. The Kenyans got watches and dress shirts. I got the best present from Ben - a tablet and pen!!! I am soooo excited.

Tonight, I am having my margarita while the guys are having beer as we wait for Christmas dinner to finish baking - lamb, potatoes, salads and creme caramel. It's definitely a way different christmas - no lechon, no huge christmas tree, no family... but it's still awesome.

xox,

Katrina

Oooh... It's Christmas!

It's 2:45am on December 24th, and I could hardly sleep. Maybe it's the Starbucks earl grey latte that's keeping me awake. Or maybe it's the fact that it's already Christmas eve on the other side of the world, and I am lying here awake...wondering what festivities my family and friends on the other side are up to.

I've spent holidays with my family every single year since I was born... up until 2007 when I moved to Canada on my own. Now, I dread the holidays. I used to look forward to coming home to familiar and happy-to-see-me faces each year, but now the holidays are a period of uncertainty. I'm never sure where I will be spending the holidays, or whom I will be spending them with.

The big question on my mind is always, "Will I be getting lots of love this year?" And by love, I mean overwhelming attention from a hovering mother who never ceases to ask questions about my life and adventures in Manila, or my academic successes, or my odyssey to build a successful career in a foreign land. By love, I mean excessive feeding by a grandmother who thinks I am fat but that I should eat even more. By love, I mean being spoilt by aunts and uncles with gifts and unnecessary material things. By love, I mean lots of bonding with my sister, brothers, cousins and the oh-so-reliable strawberry margarita.

Two years ago, I asked myself, "Will I be getting lots of love this year? That year, I spent Christmas in Banff. I braved the ski slopes in an attempt to impress my boyfriend's family and almost killed myself in the process with one too many face plants. It was my first white christmas, my first christmas away from home, and my first christmas with a boyfriend's family. Yes, I was scared. But yes, I did get lots of love... and turkey... and gifts!

After an awesome christmas, I flew to Montreal to have an even more awesome New Year. I went for a week-long AIESEC conference. And by conference, I mean serious business during the day, and serious parties during the night. I ended up welcoming the new year with 400 friends who were strangers to me just days before. So yes, I was indeed surrounded with lots of love.

Last year, I spent Christmas in Calgary and the New Year's in Saskatoon. Lots of love in both places.

This year, I will be spending Christmas in Vancouver - my new home - and will then fly out to the Caribbean for New Year's. Hey, it's the Caribbean. Who won't feel the love?

As I write this, I realize that three years in a row, I'm all over the place during the holidays. I haven't stayed in one single spot. It makes me think of myself as a nomad. Maybe I'm trying to make up for all those holidays before 2007 spent in the same place. Or maybe it's because I now consider myself a citizen of the world... I am never certain about where I will be, but always certain about getting much love wherever I go.

To all the strangers that I have met the past couple of years and who have become my friends and my family, you know who you are. Thank you for all your love, especially during the holidays.

xox,

Katrina

P.S. It's been a while since I've posted something on this blog. In an attempt to make it less pathetic, I've decided to write more frequently in 2010.

A Series of Stop-Overs

On my way out to Asia last May, I made a series of stop-overs in Vancouver, Pender Island and Victoria.


Vancouver
It's on the number one spot in this year's list of best cities to live in. Ben and I flew out to Vancouver, got a car rental at the airport and drove out to Granville Island for lunch. We met up with Kate (Ben's younger sister) and some friends, had some beer at the Granville Brewery, and ate some delicious sushi by the dock.

The view was breathtaking. Beautiful buildings lined up the shoreline, and there were numerous boats and yachts sailing on the bay. The sun was out, and so was everybody - from the locals to the tourists, and street performers to ice cream vendors. Everybody's in high spirits. It was so nice that I didn't mind the pigeons trying to steal my sushi. It's definitely my favorite place in this city.

Walking back to the parking lot, I felt the stress from work slowly starting to leave my system...until we discovered that somebody had broken into our car and taken all of our luggage, except mine (probably due to their enormity). The stolen items included all of Ben's stuff - clothes, shoes, his camera, his new ipod, foreign currency and gifts for my parents - as well as Kate's stuff. The worst part was that she had all of her pictures from her recent Europe trip saved in her laptop.

The good news is that Ben got a job offer from a Vancouver firm that same afternoon. Karma is awesome.


Pender Island
We visited Pender Island for Ben's parents' 60/30 party (i.e. their 60th birthdays and 30-year wedding anniversary). We stayed in a cabin that overlooked the lake, where we spent some time canoeing and kayaking. In a span of 3 days, I met a million Waddingtons from across the world - the United States, Scotland, Turks and Caicos, and some other places in Europe. I tried my best to blend and mingle, but oh my goodness, I could not catch up with the accents. However, I definitely was able to catch up with their appetite for food and wine.


Victoria
Thanks to the Granville thieves, the only thing Ben had left were the clothes on his back. So we took the ferry to visit Victoria for a day of shopping. It's a very pretty place. It's right by the water, like Vancouver is, but the atmosphere is so different. You can find beautiful old buildings and fancy new restaurants all on the same block. There are lots of commercial establishments yet the place doesn't seem busy at all. Many people are strolling the streets in an "I'm in no hurry at all" pace.

We found an alley called "Waddington Alley" so I took pictures of it. If I am marrying Ben, then I would probably become a Waddington at some point in the future. And it would be cool to have an alley with my name on it.