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

First words out of my mouth when I saw my sister in law…

“OH MY GOD! YOU LOOK LIKE A PLANET!”

“Are you sure you aren’t having twins?”

Yes. I know. I have a gift.

So I started driving westbound again after staying at my Aunt and Uncles for a bit. I made a pit stop at Banff national park. Now I understand why everybody says I have to stop there at least once in my life. The mountains were amazing!

I primarily focused on checking out Lake Louise and Moraine Lake. Scheduling restrictions did not allow me to visit any more than those for the day. I will have to make it back one day!

I drove almost 9 hours today. Luckily I didn’t have to drive to the two lakes from the Banff central info office. I decided to take their shuttle bus instead, to allow me to rest a bit. Unfortunately, that backfired. Their fleet of crappy school buses that they used had awful shocks and suspensions. That, combined with my fatigued state gave me a nasty headache for much of the later half of the trip. I rushed to grab an extra large cup of Tim’s, and things cleared up for a bit afterwards. Sadly, near the end of the drive two hours before we arrived at our destination for the night, it rained, again making the drive much more difficult than it should have. I should be arriving at my brothers house sometime by tomorrow evening.

Wow, Calgary has changed so much over the years. I remember when I visited my Uncle 20+ years ago, there was only one Chinese restaurant, and the parking lot was a gravel pit road. Their newly built Public Library in downtown is so beautiful. Too bad it was closed for the holidays.

I was able to escape from family gatherings for today, and just explore downtown on my own. I think among all the different central downtown cities I have driven to, Calgary has been the cleanest and most vibrant so far.

Oh, and I had more beef. A hell of a lot more. There goes my diet. lol

I went to the New Horizon Mall today in Calgary. It was like walking into a brand new Pacific Mall in Toronto. Despite the mall being opened back in mid 2018, it feels like over 80% of the stalls are all empty. The underground parking lot had half of it being cordoned off to be prepared for a haunted house event for Halloween. What kind of mall can afford to have half their parking lot roped off for two plus months?!

Then I drove across the street to Cross Iron Mills Mall. What a day and night difference! I could not find parking at all, and inside was like a zoo! The decor felt much more modern compared to West Edmonton Mall.

Oh and I ate more roast beef at another relatives house today. This is getting kind of silly…

Alberta is the beef production capital of Canada. The first night I arrived at my Aunt and Uncles place in Calgary, they made us massive t-bone steaks. It was sooo good!

The next day, they made beef kebobs. And we went to have all you can eat Chinese buffet for lunch. I think in the span of two days, we had more beef than I have all year. There goes my diet!

Mr Regular was right. If you drive a BRZ, other Subaru drivers will consider you as “One of Us”. As I was driving towards Calgary, I had a fully modified STI drive by me, giving me the peace sign! I realized, after driving for the past week or so, I haven’t seen any of the twins on the highway. I guess most people don’t think the FT86 makes a great roadtrip vehicle! LOL

I can’t wait to start driving to Vancouver. I was told the mountain passes are quite fun! I’ll be sure to load up the Initial D sound track before I tackle the hills! Stage 3 OST obviously!

Wow, this city is big, with a weird street arrangement. Drove around downtown, Chinatown, City Hall, and spent some time at the West Edmonton Mall. I agree it is quite big, but I got the feeling that it was a little overhyped, and found things underwhelming.

I will be driving to Calgary tomorrow, and visiting some relatives. Luckily, it is only a 3 hour drive. I hope to spend a few days visiting some famous parks, etc.

Originally I was planning to make a stop over at Saskatoon first, before heading to Edmonton. I decided to skip Saskatoon, and instead make a stop over at Oyen, Alberta. My Grandmother and Mom arrived in the mid 70s, and landed their first job here at a restaurant in this town. The old restaurant has long been closed, and an A&W burger join opened in its place. My mom was able to find a local who was eating at the restaurant who remembers the old restaurant, and her old brother (who owned it).

I also stopped right outside the Saskatchewan and Alberta signs right outside the border, and took some pictures. It felt quite surreal standing outside these signs taking photos standing outside the highway.

I just realized, I have been driving for 10+ hours today! Thank goodness for Android Auto and Google Maps making my roadtrip so stress free!

Petunia! You thought I was about to say something else, right? You have a dirty dirty mind! Don’t worry. So do I…

There is a 2 hours difference compared to Toronto. I thought with driving, I can ease my body into getting used to it, minimizing the jetlag. Nope, I guess I am getting older, and I am having a hard time staying away even at 8PM local time.

I checked into a local hotel, had some local Chinese food, and will probably call it a night. The Chinatown here is smaller than the one in Winnipeg, believe it or not! I originally wanted to drive around downtown, and head to the local Casino to check things out. I guess I won’t be going. Didn’t take many interesting pictures, so don’t have anything to post. Sorry about that.

Took a lazy day today, and stayed an extra day in Winnipeg. Drove around Portage St, went to University of Winnipeg, did the usual touristy stuff. Went to Chinatown, and tried their local cuisine. Don’t waste your time! lol

It looks like it will be raining tomorrow again. The show must go on, so I guess i’ll just keep driving to Regina like that. Wish me luck!

On a side note, I have several phone numbers being forwarded to my main cell phone for this road trip. What is up with all these duct cleaning ads lately? I received 4 of them today. It gets annoying. They’re all spoofed numbers too!