ruthkennedysretirementblog

A Quck Trip to Vancouver

I recently got to spend 24 hours in Vancouver.

We stayed in Yaletown and it was about a two minute walk to the Seawall.

So very pretty at nighttime, especially with the palm trees.

To make the most of our limited time, we got up bright and early in the morning and went to Granville Island. The weather was cloudy and a tad cool first thing in the morning, but ended up being a big blue sky kind of day.

It was a bonus having the ferry ‘taxi’ so close to our accommodation.

After our yummy bagel breakfast we were ready to explore.

A really good market. Lots of people were bringing their pull carts for shopping.

It would have been nice to have gone whale watching or have gotten live lobster.

After exploring Granville Island we went to Stanley park for a quick tour around. It would have been easy to spend a full day there.

Such fabulous views of the city. There were sure lots of cyclists too.

The totem poles were beautiful.

What better way to end our little trip than to watch an entertaining football game, and our team won.

A great way to spend a day in Vancouver.

Cheers

Ruth

Our Forest Dead Wood

There are a lot of dead trees on the property. This large 60+ foot tree fell down this summer. Thankfully it was in the back 40 and not close to any structures.

The trailer is literally in an evergreen forest. From a distance everything looks lovely, but up close not all are healthy thriving trees.

Daryl has been on a quest to remove dead trees before any damage is done. Some of them are pretty darn big and need to be guided in a specific direction.

Even the watching is a lot of hard work:)

And down it goes, of course, it doesn’t always happen exactly as planned. This tree went directly across the top of the septic tank. Thankfully no permanent damage was done. There were no cracks and the crease popped right out.

Once the tree was down, we (Daryl) cut it into firewood lengths and got rid of the branches (that part I did help with).

And then the wood was stacked. By next year it should be dry enough to split. I would like to say I helped with that but…nope. I did enjoy the beauty of the place though.

We have enough wood cut and split to last for an apocalypse!!! But we keep adding more.

Before any work is done we take a long time enjoying our morning coffee.

Cheers

Ruth

James Bond Island and beyond, Thailand

This tour started at 5 AM. Initially we groaned at the early start but it ended up being perfect. We were ahead of the crowds at every stop.

We were early enough to get the sunrise on the ocean.

Our first stop was through a cave to a big clearing.

James Bond Island

We stopped at Koh Panyee for lunch. This is a ‘floating’ village built entirely on stilts.

The football field is the green area. Rumour has it that the youngest player gets to retrieve balls that end up in the water.

We went to the top of a mountain in the back of a truck to get a panoramic view. It is also a campsite.

The next stop was the highlight of the day for me.

We got to go in a kayak through a rock formation to the mangroves on the other side. This was only possible at low tide.

The scenery was amazing. We got to sit back and enjoy.

We ended the tour on Panya Beach.

A perfect ending to our Thailand vacation.

Cheers

Ruth

Phi Phi and Bamboo Island tours

Phi Phi Island tour was incredibly beautiful…but crowded beyond belief.

The boat was packed and seemed small for the 70+ tourists crammed into the seats.

The scenery was very pretty.

Our first stop was supposed to be snorkelling but there were too many jellyfish. There were lots of fish visible from the boat.

We then had a refreshing swim to start the day

There were hundreds of boats, both big and small!

Mayabay is famous for the movie “The Beach”.

We joined the queue back to the boat to go snorkeling.

The scenery from the boat was spectacular.

Lunch was at Phi Phi Don Island. It was very touristy and packed.

Our day ended at a beach. You had to wear a life jacket to go in the water and stay close to the shore.

A full day for sure.

Cheers

Ruth

Thai cooking class, Chiang Mai

We did a seven course cooking class that was rather interesting.

Our first stop was at a market for fresh produce. We didn’t actually have to pick up the food, but received a tutorial on the different vegetables, noodles and herbs/spices.

The market was massive and had so much ready to eat food.

At the school we were greeted with a refreshing blue drink, I can’t remember but it may have been made with the same flower as the mango sticky rice.

The location was unique. It was at the Grand Canyon which apparently is a natural lake inside a former limestone quarry.

Our class had 12 cooking stations. Mostly the food had been portioned. We just had to do the chopping and smashing as we made each dish.

We each got to pick our preferred dishes. The chef did a pretty good job of keeping everybody on track.

The bamboo rice cooker made perfect sticky rice. It was ready when you could flip the ball of rice. There was no sticking!

We even made our curry paste from scratch. That mortar and pestle got a good work out.

The sticky rice was so good! The coconut milk was infused with butterfly pea flowers. Gave the rice such a good flavour and made a great presentation.

Another memorable evening.

Cheers

Ruth

Chiang Mai, Thailand dinner show

We attended an evening of traditional Thai dance and Northern food.

The greeting party gave a little taste of what was to come.

There were low dining tables with spaces underneath for your feet.

The food was really good, and just kept coming.

In total there were nine traditional dances.

This guy was pretty scary.

The four legged friend made the rounds. He was really into eating money.

The final dance.

At the end audience participation was encouraged.

Another fun evening in Thailand.

Cheers

Ruth

Chiang Mai, Thailand Temple Tour

We have taken some incredible temple tours. Today the first temple was about an hour from the hotel, giving us a chance to see a bit of Chiang Mai. After driving up the side of a mountain, we took a gondola to the top.

It was too hazy to see the valley below. However, totally blue skies at the top of the mountain.

In total the tour included three temples. The pictures are in no particular order.

Each temple was incredibly detailed and beautifully maintained.

We also received blessings from several monks “happy, happy, lucky, lucky”.

For me, after a while it was stimulation overload!!

‘Just one more’ group photo by our guide.

Thankfully the tour was in the morning before it got too, too hot. Perfect timing to get back to the hotel and cool off at the pool.

Cheers

Ruth

Ayutthaya Historical Park Thailand

Ayutthaya is a UNESCO heritage site that sits on the ruins of the old city of Ayutthaya. According to our guide, the city was built in the 1200’s, or before. In the 1700’s it burned for a month.

It was about a two hour drive from our hotel and is a major tourist attraction.

There are so many blackened structures and sculptures remaining.

So much history!

We also went to the summer palace.

The gardens were massive and incredible.

Some of the sculptures are covered in gold leaf.

One interesting thing our guide said was that Thailand has tried to keep the peace and be friends of everyone. It is the only southeast Asian country that has not been colonized.

We ended our day with a boat ride for another fabulous meal. My new favorite dessert might be coconut sticky rice with mango.

Cheers

Ruth

Michelin Tuk Tuk food tour

What an interesting evening, first a walk to the water bus, then a tuk-tuk for the remainder of our evening.

Our first stop was to see a Thai sunset.

We then carried on to the food part of the tour. We ate at four Michelin eateries.

The first was a very small restaurant and closed at 7PM. People were being turned away.

We ate crab, an omelet and a rice dish. The taste was very very good.

Next we ate fish ball soup and pork dim sum.

Apparently there are 19 million people in Bangkok. I think we saw most of them in Chinatown.

The third was my favourite. A doughnut kind of thing dipped in a custard. Totally delicious.

The last was a crispy pork dish. By this time everyone was pretty full so we shared the dishes.

Some of the food was definitely exotic. Most every one tried the crispy critters. There were cockroaches, scorpions, worms and so much more.

One more stop at a market before heading back to the hotel.

A very full day.

Cheers

Ruth

Temple tour in Bangkok

On our first full day in Bangkok we started our morning with a temple tour. We saw three different temple complexes. They were incredible in the sheer size and detail.

There were literally dozens of sculptures.

Some of the bonsai trees were 800 years old!

Everything was beautifully maintained.

Just imagine the gold and precious gems! Although our guide told us some of the precious metals and gems have been replaced with just as pretty but cheaper option as they were disappearing.