Happy Birthday Sweet 16

Today was my youngest (and most favouritest) daughter's 16th birthday.  We went out to the Heart & Soul cafe in Dunrobin for breakfast. On the way home we stopped in a large parking lot and she had her first go at driving the car.

Equipment for Antarctica

Exactly 4 weeks today I will be boarding the Silver Explorer ready to sail the Drake Passage to Antarctica.  Silversea sent me a packing list filled with all sorts of "necessary" items, like thermal underwear, thick fleeces, etc.  Then I found out it is only going to be about 0 degrees on the coast of Antarctica in February (that's high Summer down at the South Pole).  I manage in Ottawa in much colder weather than that without thermal underwear!


Anyhow, some equipment is a must.  Nordic walking poles - for when I'm trekking across the ice during our landing excursions, waterproof binoculars, waterproof packs for keeping stuff in - including my sea sickness medication for the Drake Passage (I'm not generally sea sick, so touch wood I will not need it).  I even took the photo of this stuff with my nice new waterproof camera....

Christmas is coming

So here we are at the end of November.  Trying to get in the Christmas spirit.  Tried to order some stuff on-line using the Thornton's web site.  Virtually everything on their website is broken.  Also, despite the fact that I was paying with a credit card with a billing address, they wanted me to phone them (internationally) to confirm I was over 18.  What's that about? If I'm a teenager with access to my parents' credit card they're not going to be able to tell any different by talking to me on the other end of a phone. No wonder they are going bust. 

Then tried to book into the Breakfast with Santa at Petit Bill's Bistro, only to find it was sold out. 
 




Not doing very well so far, so paid on-line to go to the "Gift of Lights".  This is a 2km stretch of road about 5km away which is decorated with lights.  You pay $20 for the car to go through - it's for charity.  So I figured it would be about 5 minutes to get there, 5 minutes to go round and 5 minutes home.  About 1.5km from the start we hit the traffic jam of cars waiting to get in.  It was stop and go for the next 45 minutes just to make it to the entrance.   Then stop and go all the way round - then took the long way home to avoid the traffic jam - out nearly 2 hours altogether.   It was a nice display - don't know if it was worth waiting in line 45 minutes for though.

Snow

20th November, and it's here - our first snowfall of the winter.  I was hoping it wouldn't stick as it is not actually freezing today, and it was more sleet than snow when I got up.  But as the day wore on more and more of it came down and it started piling up. I can only keep my fingers crossed that it will be warmer tomorrow and it will all melt.

Still this weather makes me a little more in the mood for shopping for my Antarctica trip.  The cruise company have given me a huge packing list encouraging me to bring all sorts of things from thermal long johns to nordic walking poles.  I'm not sure how cold it actually gets in the Antarctic peninsula in what is summer down there.  Somehow I'm thinking their summer might not be as cold as an Ottawa winter, in which case buying all this thermal underwear is probably overkill.  Still, better safe than sorry.

Women with brooms

It's kind of unusual to say that I sit next to someone at work who competes in a sport at an international level.  But my cubicle neighbour and team-mate, Ling, is out in Korea this week competing in the Asia Pacific Curling championship, as a member of team Hong Kong.    I think the top 3 countries from the AsiaPac championship will go on to the World championship.  Sadly that's likely to be the big 3 of China, Japan and Korea, and probably won't include Hong Kong.

That said, Ling has a lot to be proud of.  She and her partner were playing in the mixed-doubles - and recorded Hong Kong's first ever win at the AsiaPac championship.  Currently in the women's competition, her team have won 2 of their 6 matches. Not too shabby at all given the big countries they are up against.

If only I were sporty enough to compete at an international level.  As it is I can barely walk up 2 flights of stairs without being out of breath....

At the movies

Yesterday, one of my favourite film stars: Olivia De Havilland, turned 100.  They don't make films like they used to.  That said, last night Bridie and I went out to see Benedict Cumberbatch in "Doctor Strange".  Very enjoyable.

It was Bridie's last day with us yesterday, so we went out for coffee and cakes at Macaroons & Madeleines in Westboro, then to the movies, then to Cyrano's for dinner.  We also bought some pastries at the coffee shop to have for breakfast this morning.  Yum!

Took Bridie to the train station this morning to put her on the train to Toronto - she will be flying back to the UK from there.

The weather in Ottawa is apparently "unseasonably warm".  But it seems absolutely freezing to me after Hawaii!

It's not over til it's over

Disembarkation this morning. Or should I say yesterday morning (I've been on the go for a whole day now).

We took the tour of Pearl Harbor, as that included drop off at the airport.  So the bus picked us up right at the pier and our luggage stayed on the bus until we were dropped off at the airport.  Saw a few sights around Honolulu on the way to Pearl Harbor, including the capitol building (one of only 11 without a dome). 




The Arizona memorial was very moving.  Oil is still leaking from the ship at the rate of a gallon a day. A drop of oil will bubble up to the surface and then dissipate.  They call them "black tears".

We were dropped at the airport quite early and no Air Canada people were at the desk, so Bridie and I played cards for a while.  There were no shops before going through security so there wasn't much to do.  By the time the Air Canada reps turned up and we could get checked in, most of the shops the other side of security were already closed for the day also (our flight didn't leave until 10pm).  Fortunately one of the 2 shops that were still open sold Honolulu Cookie Company cookies, so I was able to stock up before getting on the plane.  There was no working wifi in HNL airport either, so I couldn't even log in and do a blog entry.

Didn't manage a lot of sleep on the flight from Honolulu to Vancouver.  There seemed to be a large number of young children sitting all around us - most of them spent the entire flight wailing and refusing to go to sleep. 

We're now sitting in Vancouver - where the wifi works, waiting for the flight to Ottawa.  It's going to be a long day.  Once we land in Ottawa I have to admit that my vacation is officially over. :-(