Monthly Archives: November 2014

Black Friday

Never underestimate the power of Black Friday shopping frenzy even in Canada. I think it’s only starting a few years ago that Canada started it’s own Black Friday deals to attract Canadians to stay in Canada to shop instead of going across the border, keeping $$ inside. Canada only usually have big discounts on Boxing day but Black Friday, at least you can shop for Christmas presents. With the high USD to CAD $$, not worth shopping in the US this year.

It is not a holiday here on Thursday or Friday but there was a lot of people up and early to line up at the store to get the deals. It was my day off so I was sleeping in, went to Target to get the game I want, got there around 10am, and it was already all gone. Geez, and the place was packed along with the mall. Seriously??? Don’t you people have to work?? Sometimes, the amount of discount when factoring in the hours you have to take off from work, it is really not worth it.

Sansotei Ramen

Warm up from a cold night with a bowl of hot ramen. Still my favourite ramen place in Toronto. And I still keep getting the same one – Tonkotsu Ramen – creamy tonkotsu broth topped with sliced pork belly, black fungus, marinated soft boiled egg and green onion. My only complaint is we were seated right at the entrance so every time someone came in / out, the cold breeze was not pleasant.

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Sansotei Ramen
179 Dundas Street West
Toronto, ON M5G 1Z8

Sansotei Ramen on Urbanspoon

Peru – Lima

Last day in Peru, kind of sad and kind of want to go home. I do miss home after these 2 weeks, I miss my bed, my pillow, my hot shower. We spend the morning packing our things and checking out. Our flight isn’t until 3am so we have a lot of time remaining in this city before we need to head to the airport.

We first walked along the boardwalk to Barranco. We thought we were lost as there were some streets that were pretty sketchy, good thing it was still broad daylight. We reached the main square in Barranco and to the famous Bridge of Sighs. The only thing was that the bridge was close for construction so we couldn’t walk on it, and the area around was also under construction so there was not much to see. We were a bit disappointed. Oh well.

We decided to look for the restaurant we wanted to eat last night … it took some time to find and with help with a security guard that lead us to the restaurant. It was there we found out the restaurant had already changed hands. This is already the 3rd restaurant that the tour book said it existed and it already closed or moved (and we already have the latest edition). I need to write a letter to the editor! We ended up eating at the new restaurant, it was fancy at a hotel. The meal was pretty awesome. The bread was warm with balsamic vinegar butter, first time trying it. We got ceviche, baked scallops and a seafood rice. They were all very delicious. Lovely meal here, glad we took the time to find it.

Limaa

We ended up with the rest of the day hanging out at Larcomar. From walking around, to chilling at Starbucks and then watching a movie. At Starbucks, I was dying for a coffee since I only had one cup in the entire 2 weeks I’ve been here. They had a Christmas special – cranberry latte – we don’t have that flavour in Canada so I tried it. It was really just a latte with cranberry bits on top, but at least it was a new flavour. We sat there for awhile people watching. Then we decided to watch a movie, something in English of course. We picked Interstella – it had Spanish subtitles but in English. Their movie tickets are so cheap, works out to $6 USD and we were watching it in a more pricey theatre. And they have pre-picked seats selection. They don’t let people into the theatre until 10 minutes before the movie .. and because it was pre-selected seats, people came in late which was annoying. The theatre screen is not as big compared to our cineplex here, the size is like our smaller independent theatres. But it was still good. I didn’t know what the movie was about so was watching it blindly. It was a good sci-fi movie and coming from a person who doesn’t like these kinds of movie, it means it is good. It was sad and I cried throughout the movie … hahaha 😥

After the movie, we headed back to our hotel to grab our bags and headed to the airport. The taxi ride was quicker than expected as not much traffic at this time. Inside the airport, it was almost midnight but there must be a lot flights that fly out in the middle of the night because the airport was packed with people! We found out our flight was delayed by an hour so we are not leaving till 4am, OMG! I was so sleepy but can’t really sleep as the chair was not that comfortable. But the waiting area around the gate was mainly Canadians so we felt safe dozing off to nap and not worry that our belonging were going to be stolen. The flight was delayed because it was snowing in Toronto so they were delayed departing here to Lima. When we finally board, I can finally sleep for good, it was on and off sleeping as there were too many interruptions. I was glad to be home. It was a great 2 weeks away in Peru, but back to reality.

Peru – Lima

We spend our last few days here hanging out in Lima. We mainly explored around the districts of Miraflores, Barranco. There is a mall, right by Pacific Ocean – Larcomar – it’s a huge complex with restaurants, shopping and entertainment. The mall is very Americanize with many American & European stores. We didn’t do any shopping but it was a nice area to hangout to see the ocean view.

We then walk along the coast on the broad walk up to Parque del Amor (Love Park). This park was designed with Gaudi’s influences, when I stepped into the park, it was like a smaller version of Park Guell (of course the benches were not build with the comfortable arch). There are a lot of people jogging and exercising with personal trainers … this is where the rich people who can hire trainers live. Miraflores has much more classier people and more European people compared to central Lima. There are nicer condos and living environment, this part is more of a developed city.

Mirafloresa

We also visited the Choco Museum – it was so small compared to what we thought it would be. There was a chocolate making class going on but we didn’t feel like doing it. So we walked around the store and the small factory corner where they are making chocolate cubes. We ended up buying choco tea which is the shells of the coca beans, the tea has a taste of chocolate. It tasted good when they were giving a sample to try.

And then we were walking around the streets in the centre of Miraflores, different street markets, department stores and lots of restaurants. Their department stores is like “The Bay” or “Macy’s”, it has different brand names inside the store, of course, it is more expensive there.

Our little adventure began when we were trying to find a restaurant to eat, we had a list and we were looking for it, we were on the right street and found the unit but we waited … there were no signs at the restaurant and no one was inside. It didn’t seem right so we headed to another restaurant on the list. We went to the location that was on the map but it wasn’t that restaurant. We asked people for directions and they said the restaurant is another 15 minutes away… it didn’t seem right either so we headed to the 3rd one on our list (luckily, we had back-up). We finally found this restaurant but then, it doesn’t open until 8pm and it was only 7pm. So we had to wait outside for an hour (and it was getting chilling at night) so it was annoying. I was hungry and cold so this place better be good.

Close to 8pm, there were already a lot of people waiting by the door. This place must be good if they only open 3 hours at night, and there are so many reservations made. Luckily, with no reservations, we were able to sit by the bar side to eat. If we have wait, I would be so mad and we would be eating KFC for dinner. We ordered 2 dishes – a scallop & sea urchin ceviche, and a grilled trout on top of rice. The bread was pretty good too with olive oil as I was starving. The dishes were delicious, it was worth the wait, not disappointed.

Peru – Nazca

The bus was delayed, we were suppose to arrive at Nazca around 6:30am but we didn’t get there till after 7am. We met up with our driver and tour guide and off to our first stop. Cantalloc Aqueduct – there are about 30 to 50 underground channels that were constructed about 1500 years ago, bringing water from rivers higher in the valley to the centre of their civilisation in Nazca. The trenches were dug and lined with stones and covered by wood from local trees before being rebuild. These aqueduct have paths that spiral down to the level of the running water so they are able to access the water and also  to clean or repair the structures in case of an earthquake. Pretty cool what they can build that many years ago.

Next we headed to the airport for our flight over the Nazca lines. We waited for awhile before we board the flight. The plane was the small flights that holds 4 people and 2 pilots. It was the first time I’ve ever been on a small flight, I don’t know what to expect. Once we took off, I was ok but then when the pilot started zig-zagging around to one side to another so that both passengers sides can see the lines, I started to feel sick. Let’s just say, after awhile, I couldn’t really look down to see the lines, instead, I was worrying about if I’m going to throw up. The other couple with us started throwing up, and I tried to turn away as that might make me start as well. I was able to see a few of the characters in the lines, it was not that easy to see from above as the lines are very narrow and the sand was light and with the sun shinning on it, it was hard to make out the shapes. There were 12 different shapes at the Nazca lines, I was able to see about half of it. After about a 30 minute flight, we headed back down to land, I was so happy because I wanted to get off. I’m just glad that I didn’t throw up.

Once we got off the plane, we had to sit and rest for a bit. I was ok after a few minutes but my friend was not. She ended up sitting in the car for the rest of the tour while I went out to sightsee which was too bad. Next, he brought us to a ceramics workshop to see how they make pottery. Their technique was shape the pottery, colour it then baked it to shape. This is different from the common method of shaping, baking then colouring.

Nascaa

Our last stop was at the Chauchilla Cemetery. Archeologists have uncovered a number of graves, tombs and mummies here. You get to see some bleached skulls with bones, even entire mummies that are scattered in the desert sand, and in the tombs. Even though these have been left for hundreds of years ago, the mummies are still in excellent condition. It was so hot walking around the desert cemetery, sweating but the good thing is at least there were some shades on top of the tombs. Finally, he dropped us at the bus stop as a final destination. We were early for our bus and there were no empty seats at the earlier one so we find a fast food joint and order a cold soda and sat there for an hour. We were so hot, and there was no a/c of course so the coke was the only way to cool down.

Finally, we boarded our bus to Lima, another 7 hour bus ride. I felt asleep majority of the ride. We got there pretty late in Lima, the taxi to Miraflores was more expensive then we thought. The driver of course kept saying he knows where our hotel is as he was trying to get our business. Once we got into the car, he didn’t know where our hotel was, he got lost, had to stop and ask for directions, useless, we were already so tired but took us a long time before we finally arrived at our hotel. Our final destination before we head home, at least we don’t have a set schedule tomorrow so we can sleep.

Peru – Colca Canyon

Another early morning, up at 5am, breakfast at 5:30am, this is no longer a problem for me as sleeping in an ice room, you can’t sleep well. Surprisingly, the breakfast at the hostel was not bad, warm bread, fresh mango juice, cheese & ham. We stole some bread for our lunch today. We headed over to Cruz del Condor to see condors crossing. It all depends on luck to see if we see any. There were some people there, including some professional photographers all set up getting ready to take the shoot. I was walking around different areas to see if I have any luck to spot the bird. There was one sitting on the rocks and there was a few flying over the crossing between the mountains. But with my point and shoot camera, I couldn’t capture any good flying shots.

We were there for an hour or so and then headed off to walk around the canyon. It was a magnificent view with the high mountains and blue skies. The road was very bumpy and rocky. There was this tunnel – which literally, they just dug a hole, it was so dusty with sand and dirt and there were no lights in the tunnel. Also, it was only one lane so we had to wait until it is clear before you can drive through. We stopped in a few small towns – Maca, Yanque, Yura. They are all very similar, there is a main square with a church and market stalls. As we headed back to Arequipa, we saw it was snowing in a section of the mountain. It was all of sudden, you feel this cold air and snow started to come down. And then after a few minutes, it was sunny and hot again … the strange climates in the mountains.

Colca canyona

We got back around Arequipa around 5pm. We had a few hours to kill before our overnight bus to Nazca. We were chilling at a cafe upstairs by the square. We then headed over for dinner at Zig Zag. It was a fancy restaurant with mainly tourist visitors. They are known for their grilled meats so we tried it. It was 3 different chunks of meat – alpaca, beef and pork. The meat was ok, not as impressive as the reviews said. We had better steaks and alpaca.

We went to board our bus at the bus station. The taxi ride was sketchy, we had no idea where the bus stop was but the driver was driving away to the suburbs, and for the first time, the driver was a white guy, all the other times, it has been a Peruvian guy. The bus stop was sketchy itself, we first had to get our boarding pass, then we had to check in our luggage and we had to pay a departure tax. They don’t have any signs that says we need to pay, if I didn’t ask the desk where to board, she would not have told us that we need to pay the tax first. After we check in, we sit inside the Cruz de Sur lounge before they call our bus to board. We got the VIP seats which was at the bottom floor, very spacious seat, the seat can recline to 180 degrees, a lot more room compared to even business class on the plane. This was the first time I slept straight through, a good 7 hours of sleep finally.