The adventures of a Chinese guy, his sports car, and an instant pot

I’m going to take a nice long hot shower, and sleep. I’ll slowly add more entries when I am rested.

trust me, she looks a lot dirtier in person. I’ll wash her tomorrow. Sleep now

I was about to skip the Egypt falls site, and drive home early. I’m really glad I didn’t. The pictures does not do justice how beautiful it is in real life. Also being able to see it in person without anyone else around was a very unique experience. However, to get to this site was very interesting. I have to drive two km through some really rough gravel roads, and hike for almost half hour one way down some very steep cliffs. The trail actually had ropes to help you, and trust me, you’ll need it. It was very sketchy, and unfortunately I was very unprepared for a hike. I didn’t have the right shoes, I had no walking stick, I didn’t bring water with me, and I was famished, since I didn’t eat breakfast yet! By the time I was reached my destination, I was huffing and puffing non stop. And that’s just one way! I still have to hike back up to my car! I ended up falling once, and scratched my knee for the first time since I was a kid. But the reward was definitely worth it.

As a finale, I went to visit Inverness Beach boardwalk. It was a nice destination to conclude this amazing trip. By the time I reached this beach, I was no longer huffing and puffing, so I made breakfast/lunch in the parking lot, next to a big stack of lobster traps. I actually took a small momento from this beach as a souvenir for this amazing trip.

I start driving back home shortly afterwards. I stop at the New Brunswick welcome center, and have lunch/dinner at the park.

I’m going to explore Moncton a bit for tonight, and I’ll be headed to Montreal first thing tomorrow.

it’s going to be a few days before I can update this blog again. Apparently the water did more damage than I thought, and it is no longer powering up. Oh well. I’ll figure something out when I get home. I’m updating this entry with my phone. That’s why the formatting might be a bit different. Also, the interface is just so difficult to use!

As predicted, network connectivity left much to be desired, and I didn’t want to burn through my data allotment, since I’ll need it for gps directions getting back home. There were some hiccups however I had an amazing time overall. My preliminary itinerary is as followed

surprisingly, I was able to attack most of this list on the first day. Alexander graham bell site was a nice peaceful location… For me to cook lunch at! Some random guy just approach me and comment how cool it was.

being able to eat at a picnic table was quite nice.

Next I visited the big fiddle in Sydney. Yeah, it is definitely big! But beyond the novelty of having a big fiddle, it wasn’t really all that interesting. However, the boardwalk that was next to it was spectacular.

In between destinations, the highway has many lookout spots for you to take pictures. The view, even from just some random spot, was truly majestic.

the first stop I made after I entered the federal park land was Ingonish beach. Instead of sand covering the beach, it was a large collection of smooth stones covering the whole beach. Walking across it made a very satisfy sound

stillbrook waterfall was my next destination in the park. It was amazing tall! One thing I’ve noticed during this trip in this park is how few people visited these landmarks.a lot of times, it was just me, or one other family behind me. If this was situated in Toronto, parking would have been a nightmare, and there would have been a two hour lineup before I can get to the front.

Macintosh brook trail head was nice. Unfortunately by this time, it was getting late and a big fog was developing over the whole park. It was so thick, I didn’t get safe driving at all.

This picture does not properly portray how thick the fog was!I wanted to search for some accommodations for the night so I can continue the trip, but it would appear this was high season, and all Lodgong was booked up, and the two that was still available wanted extortionate price for a two star property. I actually considered driving back home and finding cheaper lodging down the road, but I decided I really wanted to see Egypt falls the next day. So I just did what any crazy guy does, and drove to the closest grocery store parking lot, pulled out my sleeping bag, and made the car seat my bed for the night.

So I will be traveling to Cabot Trail tomorrow. I have read that cell network connectivity will be spotty at best, so I am not sure if I am able to update the blog in a prompt manner. If I am unable to do so, I will still write that evenings blog, but will need to wait until I get reliable connectivity before I can submit my next post.

I was supposed to be driving to Cabot Trail this morning. However, I decided to extend my stay at the dorm room for an extra day so I can rest up, and better prepare my itinerary for tomorrow instead.

This morning, because I am a car guy, I decided to go to the Steele Wheels museum. It was interesting. It wasn’t exactly my type of scene. Probably more like Jay Leno’s type of cars, if you catch my drift. The presentation was amazing, everything was very clean.

This was the only Mercedes there.

This was the only reference to Subaru in the whole exhibit. No Subaru vehicles at all! Why even bother?

There were some cool cars that I really liked.

A proper 3 pedal DeLorean that is unmolested?! Seriously?

A retromodded Mystery Machine full of LED lights inside. It was fun to look at, but meh.

The most shameful one of all, is the George Barris (Original Batmobile fame) RX7 fake movie car for the Fast and Furious was on display! It actually looks worse in real person! I recognized the livery right away.

The car vinyl work was embarrassing in real life. Nothing looked right, and some of application looks crooked. I’ve seen my fair share of good vinyl work, and this ain’t it!

Seeing this really made me question the curator of this museum, and his/her credentials. I bet they intentionally squeezed this vehicle in between other vehicles so you can’t see the inside and scrutinize properly.

This description plate was so wrong after you watch the video above. This car was NOT in The Fast and The Furious, and Vin Diesel NEVER sat in this car. Who does this research?

Their food court was a lot of fun! If I wasn’t cooking in my car, I think I would’ve had lunch here.

After I went to a Value Village close by. Keyboards were on average about $10-15 each. Why even bother buying used at that point!? They’re delusional. I saw an old PATA hard drive with the words “BAD” prominently written on top. I didn’t bother to find out how much they wanted to charge for that! If I knew I could’ve sold bad hard drives like that, I would’ve been a millionaire many times over by now! I did find an official Cisco console cable for $3.99, which isn’t bad. Not great, but not bad either. It would’ve cost me more to make my own cable.

And they charged tax. hmm.

Right afterwards, I went downtown Halifax. I parallel parked on a steep downhill street. It was quite nerve wracking.

I walked towards the primary branch of the Bank of Nova Scotia, IN Nova Scotia. The friendly security guard told me I was welcome to take pictures inside, but to be respectful, since this is an active bank, and to respect the privacy of the patrons.

Since I still had some time from the paid street parking, I walked up the hill, and checked out the Halifax Citadel. Beautiful view, overlooking downtown from the top.

That pretty much concludes the final day of my stay in Halifax. I drove back to the dorm, and begin packing up. I passed by a Chinese grocery store, and picked up some frozen dim sum for lunch.

The next time I update this blog, I will most likely be on my way to the Cabot Trail.

I went to many destinations today within short driving distance of Halifax.

This is just a small list of the places I went to.

First stop was to the world famous Peggy’s Cove. I thought I’d just go, take a few pictures and leave. I didn’t expect to stay there for so long! There are two parking lots there. One closer to the entrance, and one closer to the lighthouse itself. I parked at the one closest to the lighthouse. The lady at the information desk said I can either walk about 7 minutes there, or just drive there. I chose to walk. I’m glad I did. There was so much to see along the way, and when I finally saw the lighthouse over the horizon, it was very breathtaking. Unfortunately, it was very foggy, but luckily it didn’t impede the view of the lighthouse itself. It actually feels appropriate, since lighthouses are designed to shine a light to cut through the thick fogs to guide sailors away from danger. I actually asked the information desk if the lighthouse is still lit at night. I would’ve loved to drive to see it lit up for a different view, but she said it is no longer. I guess with modern day technology, it renders lighthouses obsolete.

I was told on good authority that the “Tom’s Lobster Shack” by the lighthouse had very good lobster rolls. I decided to break my personal quarantine, and put up with the allergic reaction, and try one. To be honest, I think it was over hyped and underwhelming. The sauce just overpowered any lobster flavor I wanted to taste. I guess I just prefer the Chinese way of preparing and serving lobster. It wasn’t cheap either! But as they say, when in Rome…

Next up was the Swiss Air memorial site. It was very beautiful and serene. I made sure to stay within the roped off path to prevent damage to the environment. Also, by the time I reached the second site, the fog was letting up, and the sun came out in full force!

Next up was Mahone Bay. Very beautiful little town. Lots of visitors. Plenty of cute little shops. Obviously this area is targeting the tourist market

Afterwards, I visited a town called Lunenburg. It’s another cute little town. Apparently, this town was known for early settlers from Germany! Also, the Bluenose II sailboat was docked here. The Bluenose II is famous for being the very same boat that is embossed on the back of the Canadian dime. Unfortunately, the day I arrived, she set sail to a different location. Oh well, it just gives me an excuse to come back next year!

Just beside Lunenberg is Blue Rock. Very beautiful natural shorelines as far as the eye can see.

And by then, it was around 3:00pm localtime. I start driving back to the dorm. I saw that the local Canada Computers was very close by, so I decided to make a detour. I was pleasantly surprised! It’s almost the same size as a typical one in Toronto. However, it seems they either moved, or just opened very recently. Lot of the shelves were empty.

I also so close by that there was a relatively large Chinese themed grocery store. I guess there is a somewhat large Chinese population here.

And for my final destination of the evening, I went by the new Central Library. My goodness, this place was HUGE! And modern! I was very impressed.

Oh, and here is a picture of me cooking dinner in the middle of Graves Island provincial park on my way driving back home. So far, I have not eaten a single meal at any fast food joints like McD or Tims!

I made it back to the residents by 9. I cleaned up, and after I finish this entry, I’m just going to call it an early night. Goodnight everyone!

After dinner at the dorm room, I decided to drive to the Halifax Waterfront Boardwalk. I went during the evening, on a rainy day. The boardwalk was very empty, giving it a very different vibe. I definitely enjoyed it. All the shops were already closed, save for a few of the bars and restaurants.

Afterwards, I went to the Casino nearby. I was very dissapointed. It was very small, nothing special. Not only that, but because it was in a busy part of downtown Halifax, I had to pay for parking!!! It’s a CASINO! Why would I want to pay for parking, in order for me to GIVE THEM MORE MONEY? Rant aside, I walked around, and I was about to leave. Then I discovered the Pedwalk (Pedestrian Walkway) called the Downtown Halifax Link. Apparently, this is like a mini version of the Toronto PATH system where many different buildings are interconected by an enclosed walkway protected from the harsh winter elements.

The walkway was very interesting, especially because I went 10:00PM localtime and everything was already closed. It was like a ghost town.

This would be my final posting for tonight. Very tired. Big day tomorrow. I will be on the road for many hours again! I hope the weather co-operates.

Very rainy day today, so didn’t do very much outside. It gave me a chance to relax and rest up.

I went to visit my friends mother at her apartment for a very pleasant lunch with her daughter. They gave me some good suggestions for different places to visit. Right after lunch, I drove to Lawrencetown Beach. Even with all the rain, there was a lot of visitors to the beach, with a lot of them who are surfers! The stones of the beach was very unique!

I noticed that nobody seems to use umbrellas here. I inquired about this, and was told that umbrellas would be damaged by the wind. So they just don’t bother.

After that, I drove by a seafood store. | have never seen so much live lobster in my life!! He mentioned he can ship live lobster back home for me. Hmm… I’ll need to think about that!

Also, as I was driving back to the dorm, I stopped by a grocery store to pick up a bottle of glass cleaner. Apparently, if you’re cooking in the car, the windows get dirty faster, and will get foggy very quickly in humid conditions…

Somebody sent this to me. I have nothing to say.

Driving from Moncton to Halifax was just a bit over 3 hours drive time. Of course, I took my time, and made many stops and breaks. Once again, I started driving right at sunrise to maximize daylight driving time. I think I crossed the boarder into Nova Scotia approximately 7AM, right after my daily brew of coffee.

I made early breakfast/lunch in a small town just before Halifax by the side of the highway. That was a cool experience. That actually got a few chuckles out of people passing by at the parking lot.

My first landing in Halifax was at Pier 21. I got the see the “In My Yesterday” exhibit at the Canadian Immigration Museum. That was one of my highlights of this trip that I was most looking forward to. I knew that exhibit was ending soon, and I am very glad I was able to see it while it was still in town.

I finished the exhibit at around 1:00PM local time. I reach the part where I dreaded the most, where I have to book accommodations.I looked up hotels.com and everything was in the $300-$500 range per night. Yikes! It’s because this is peak season. I found a university dorm facility being rented out for about $55/night about an hour away. I was about to pull the trigger, but then Murray told me that there is another dorm that is in central Halifax, and just cost a bit more. I ended up booking a University dorm for $242.81 for three nights. I’m quite pleased with that.

I went to the local Costco to pick up some groceries. I thought the Costco back home was bad, the Costco here is like a zoo! I actually spent more time looking for parking than I did grocery shopping!

While unpacking my stuff, and cleaning random stuff, I accidentally spilled water onto my laptop keyboard. If this was at home, I wouldn’t even think anything of it. I have all the tools and spare parts to get things resolved within 5 minutes. Unfortunately, I’m not. Some keys got stuck, rendering my laptop very useless. It was already around 6PM localtime, the local Canada Computers and Best Buy are already closed on a Sunday. So I look up the local Thrift stores, and found a place called Mission Mart. Normally, I refuse to buy second hand keyboards, because of how nasty it is. The first keyboard I picked up off the shelf was for 89cents! Wow. But it was quite grimy amd a little too beaten up for my taste, so I put it back. I saw a nice looking chiclet style that wasn’t too nasty looking for $3.89. Not bad, and I also have lots of sanitary wipes in my car. I also picked up a brand new PD/QC USB-A/USB-C car charger for $1.97, and an extra long USB 2.0/USBA-B cable for another $1.97 from the clearance shelf, both brand new sealed in original packaging. Apparently, the second hand products here are tax free? The total came out to be $7.91. The lady asked if I wanted to round up for donation. Meh, it’s only 9 cents. Why not? I’ve been to many of the mainstream ones like Value Village, and I was never able to find anything interesting, or they would be overpriced. The items at this independent seem to be very reasonably priced.

This is why I prefer roadtrips instead of going on a prepackaged tour with a guide. Having my own car, being able to re-scheduled things on the fly is quite nice.

Oh, I changed the header of my blog to “The adventures of a Chinese guy, his sports car, and an instant pot” What do you guys think of my new slogan?