Wednesday, June 27, 2007

24-27 June Updates - Toban Experience

24th June - arrived in a little bitty town called Minaki via train. Population 100.
Joined a local trip called Toban Experience. The van will drop me of in various places.
First stop is a little resort called Minaki Yurts. The host/hostess were great people. Had a fantastic time with them - boating, cycling and kayaking. And they have fireflies (a few blimps) near a lake next to their place.
Met one of their friend, a lady named Jane who stayed overnight there. She invited me for lunch at her place. Spaghetti, meatballs and salad. Yummy - homecooked meal.

25th: The next day, Toban van picked me up (only me this time) and dropped me off at Falcon Beach - 2 hours away from Minaki. It's a horse ranch with cabins. And I had 1 whole cabin to myself (can sleep 6) - only problem is the weather was lousy - windey, cloudy and it rained.
Did you guys read about a tornado in Manitoba?
Well , I saw some of the damages - ripped trees and roof.
BTW - I don't quite like the horse ranch - swarms of flies (lalat). The cabin was great but not the ranch.

26th : In the afternoon, Toban picked me and dropped me off at Grand Beach (sort of grand cos Manitoba is landlocked and no seaside). Was the lake was grand, beach has nice wonderful white sand. But the wheather in around 10 degrees, cloudy and windy.
The Sand Motel was a motor lodge. At CN35 a night, I had the whole place to myself. The manager or boss (?) Tyler was very nice - he let me borrow a bicycle to cycle around the little resort town of Grand Beach. Population - quite low....since it's not a weekend and wet, windy day.

27th: This afternoon, Toban picked me at 4.30 and Winnipeg - here I am. Sitting at the HI hostel computer terminal at 10.45pm, updating emails and blog. BTW - even Korean noodles tasted good after 3 days of bread and western food.
Will be walking around Winnipeg's Chinatown tmr for some Asian food:)
(sorry no pics - cannot find the USB port in the computer terminal)

11 comments:

Foodies said...

You must have miss Asam Laksa and Chao Kuay Teow already???? Sound like adventure alone in Canada ... Have fun!

syloke said...

Why sound like not many tourist? Can find nasi lemak & roti canai there?

nsping said...

Aiyo, Foodies & SY, do you really have to be so specific & remind her of her fav. M'sian food? Cruel....!
Li Por, the name of these places don't sound English to me. Do you have any idea what/where were their origin? Just realised I know very little about Canada, these places are all new to me. It is really a far far away land. Thanks for blogging, so I get to know more about Canada now.
Saw the footage of the Manitoba tornado on TV the other day. Didn't realise you're so close there, luckily you're not there at that time. It looked scary!

Li Por said...

Hey - no worries on food. Plenty of Asian stuff every where. Would you believe my sis-in-law cooked assam laksa for me? Yup. And I had 6 Vietnamese meals - mostly the pho soup, Korean dinner and Thai padthai. Plus had Chinese fastfood in Portage Mall - chow fun, mixed vege and sweet sour pork for lunch yesterday. So?
Most of the biggie supermarts have asian stuff like Lee Kum Kee sauces, Thai, even Malaysian flavours but it costs 3 times here.

Li Por said...

Shee Ping - you know Canada has lots of First Nations (Red Indian tribes). They used quite a fair bit of their names here, like in New Zealand. Of course, I am going to smaller not so popular areas, not like Toronto, Niagara Falls and Vancouver:).

Foodies said...

Shee Ping,
I am just teasing her. I am sure Li Por know how to find good food whenever she goes.

Foodies said...

Looks like you are really venturing into the frontier like the pioneer have done before. Really admire your gut!

syloke said...

She like food, she will jalan-jalan cari makan. SP, you know she asked me to book bagger Chicken 2 days after she come back. Makan - plan 2 months ahead.

Chun Lim & Sook Fun said...

Time really fly, you have been travelling for more than a month now. How is the feeling?? You think still can come back and start 9-5 work huh?
Taking about food, hmmm...
It is durian season again here. Just took some last week. They were from tanjong sepat in johor or seremban i think. Not bad and cheap. Can find durian there??

Li Por said...

I know - it's been 6 weeks now on the road. Longest I've ever been away from Malaysia:). Would you believe it? I saw a dried-out durian (from Thailand) in the supermarket in Toronto. Also mangosteen,rambutans,lychees but cost its weight in gold. They have coconuts too - old ones.
Yup - will wait until I get back to eat durians & rambutans and mangosteens... BTW - it's cherries, strawberries, peaches and nectarines season here. These fruits are fantastic - am trying not to convert from CA$ to RM but for Ca4-5/kg, it's not too bad.
I've tried a type of pear called Forelle - it's delicious.

trudy wu said...

Hi Nicole,
Just finished browsing through your blog( second time I open since you left) ....wow, amazing.Glad you are having a wonderful time, I do envy you. Must be hard to draw you back to Malaysia, Huh?