Ginseng, red spawning salmon, and more!
Getting up at 6:15 AM today wasn't easy: one of my fellow night people (Danielle) assures me that it's still annoying even if you do it every day for school / work! We managed to make it on time to our meeting place, but encountered confusion when neither of the two existing tour buses had our names on their roster lists! Then we thought we missed our tour bus since one exited the parking lot as we were pulling in: I was thinking, "Dude, I didn't wake up early for THIS!" A few minutes passed: some Chinese guy who reminded me of a younger version of Kelvin's dad came up to us, and asked if we were Katie and Leslie. (that reminds me: why do I still have Kelvin's sister Karen on my birthday card list... or Lauren?!) Katie's close enough to Kitty, so he led us to a grey ten-seater van: yay for intimate Chinese bus tours? He told us that he was Alan, our tour guide / driver, and he seemed pretty cheerful for that time of day... but then I guess you have to be! He's married to a white woman, and has fun with the tours. We picked up more people at Chinatown and Crystal Mall... I was NOT in the mood for conversation, as all I wanted to do was sleep! I am SO not a morning person AT ALL, and that's why I was quiet! (normally, I won't talk to people a whole lot till maybe 10 or so)
One of the ladies on the bus tour was one of those REALLY bossy domineering types: I instantly disliked her for some reason, and was proven right when she spoke for everyone on the van AND insisted on her own way. (Tour guide: "Okay, last chance to go to the washroom! Who wants to go?" Her: "Nobody! We're all fine!" / Tour guide: "Okay, how about we leave at 9 tomorrow morning?" Her: "No! 8:45 is good enough!" / Tour guide: "Okay, is it too cold for anyone? Let me know!" Her: "No! Everyone is just fine!" Speak for yourself, lady... or I'll PEE ON YOU!) She proudly boasted that all her friends loved travelling with her because she was so efficient (yeah sure...), AND her homemade health food with rye and stuff was the best! Uh, I can see the benefits of a healthy diet and exercise, but to monitor your own sister's food intake / making her exercise for two hours a day while she's visiting you for six months from Taiwan?! Recipe for instant resentment, anyone? She says she gets her iron (only found in red meat) from multivitamin pills... if I were her poor daughter, I'd seize every opportunity to go to my friends' houses and gorge on their junk food! (none of that stuff in HER house!)
She even boasted about this: "My sister was X number of pounds when she came, and now she's lost 30 pounds... I expect her to lose 20 more in the next couple of months so she can fit into medium-sized clothes!" Her sister was also on the tour with us, and I must say that it was a GOOD THING she didn't understand a word of English! Then this lady kept going on and on about how refined sugar and stuff was JUNK (while we were going to eat at Tim Horton's and KFC): she'd packed a homemade lunch for each day with plenty of fruit for three people since her husband (who was nice enough) was there too. They ate in the car, and she told us a few times that she was IMPATIENT and HATED waiting for people! Sometimes I'm that way too, but I don't proudly announce it to all and sundry. Nor do I ask perfect strangers their weight while talking about my special foods... I wanted to tell her that it was none of her damned business! *rolleyes* (I know a few people who are on special diets due to various health issues, but they don't make it a point to criticize everyone else's food choices OR the stuff at Chinese buffets!) She even told us that she believed gay people were that way because they had too much estrogen or womanly hormones! I don't think such a theory could EVER be proven scientifically, but I didn't say so to her either. Basically, the annoying woman tried to force her choices on everyone else! ("You know, I get up at 5 every morning for work... you should try it! It'll make you into a morning person and cheerful!" WHATEVER!)
There was an East Indian girl on the tour, who owns a newspaper business. She reminded me of someone I knew in high school (Seema?), and seemed pretty nice. Her friend and another couple who were friends with Bossy Lady and her husband rounded out the tour roster. The husband of the couple could have been an older version of Kelvin's dad, and Bossy Lady's husband could be an older version of John and Luke - these two little kids at church. These people were quite nice and helpful when I had trouble negotiating the high exit from the van... actually, the bossy lady's sister was too. Remind me never to take tours again for that "exit" reason, haha. For some reason, the people thought I was my mom's sister! HAHAHA, no.
The first real stop was Sunmore ginseng factory... we did pass through a town named Dallas, haha. I got a LOT of free bookmarks, postcards, order forms, and English information sheets on ginseng. The stuff is pretty cool, and we got free samples of ginseng tea / ginseng pieces / honeyed ginseng / ginseng honey. My mom bought a LOT of stuff... there were these cute bear-shaped jars for the honey! Since I figured that Jeremy might appreciate this stuff because he's an Asianphile, I got him the free stuff too! Corey requested ginseng, so he'll get those things... it'll have to suffice! The ginseng was pretty expensive stuff... you do eliminate the middleman, but still. For example, a six-pack of 20-gram jars of ginseng powder is $99!
Then it was on to the real reason we took the tour: the Adams River salmon run. Seeing the red spawning salmon and the white dead salmon (they don't eat for 18 days!) was pretty cool, although I had trouble in the wooded trail. I got a few rocks from the beach (Corey had requested one), and two smooth polished rocks from the gift shop, along with a couple of postcards. When I went into the gift shop, I thought I recognized Maisie, this woman from church... then I dismissed it. But then she said hi to me and asked what I was doing here: she was there with her sister and some colleagues on another bus tour. That was interesting, heh. We tried some bannock and went through some of the information tents... I also told my mom to stop talking about a certain subject, but of course she didn't respect my wishes. I need to find a way to train her, haha. Corey had also requested salmon, but all the salmon he'll get is on the postcard from the gift shop! (that stuff is expensive, too!)
After that, we had dinner at a Chinese restaurant. (I got DRAGON zodiac paper as a souvenir, and someone read palms!) Bossy Lady was in her element, criticizing the food and saying that her party would just eat something separately from everyone else. Fortunately, saner heads prevailed and we all shared a few dishes. Then we went to the hotel in Vernon (I should tell Henrik about this), where I amused myself by showing Mom a few things from the RIPLEY'S book that I brought along: people suspended by meat hooks, Monsieur Mangetout (who eats cars and other metal), someone with 2000 acupuncture needles in his head, someone else with 24 pincushions in his face, someone who stuck a spear through his tongue, etc. After that, I found the business room, where I've been checking my email and TRYING to catch up using the high-speed Internet! I don't think it'll work, particularly as my mom's come in and demanded I go back to the room right away and sleep. I'm old enough to make my own decisions, but to minimize her stress levels, I will. Sigh... later!
One of the ladies on the bus tour was one of those REALLY bossy domineering types: I instantly disliked her for some reason, and was proven right when she spoke for everyone on the van AND insisted on her own way. (Tour guide: "Okay, last chance to go to the washroom! Who wants to go?" Her: "Nobody! We're all fine!" / Tour guide: "Okay, how about we leave at 9 tomorrow morning?" Her: "No! 8:45 is good enough!" / Tour guide: "Okay, is it too cold for anyone? Let me know!" Her: "No! Everyone is just fine!" Speak for yourself, lady... or I'll PEE ON YOU!) She proudly boasted that all her friends loved travelling with her because she was so efficient (yeah sure...), AND her homemade health food with rye and stuff was the best! Uh, I can see the benefits of a healthy diet and exercise, but to monitor your own sister's food intake / making her exercise for two hours a day while she's visiting you for six months from Taiwan?! Recipe for instant resentment, anyone? She says she gets her iron (only found in red meat) from multivitamin pills... if I were her poor daughter, I'd seize every opportunity to go to my friends' houses and gorge on their junk food! (none of that stuff in HER house!)
She even boasted about this: "My sister was X number of pounds when she came, and now she's lost 30 pounds... I expect her to lose 20 more in the next couple of months so she can fit into medium-sized clothes!" Her sister was also on the tour with us, and I must say that it was a GOOD THING she didn't understand a word of English! Then this lady kept going on and on about how refined sugar and stuff was JUNK (while we were going to eat at Tim Horton's and KFC): she'd packed a homemade lunch for each day with plenty of fruit for three people since her husband (who was nice enough) was there too. They ate in the car, and she told us a few times that she was IMPATIENT and HATED waiting for people! Sometimes I'm that way too, but I don't proudly announce it to all and sundry. Nor do I ask perfect strangers their weight while talking about my special foods... I wanted to tell her that it was none of her damned business! *rolleyes* (I know a few people who are on special diets due to various health issues, but they don't make it a point to criticize everyone else's food choices OR the stuff at Chinese buffets!) She even told us that she believed gay people were that way because they had too much estrogen or womanly hormones! I don't think such a theory could EVER be proven scientifically, but I didn't say so to her either. Basically, the annoying woman tried to force her choices on everyone else! ("You know, I get up at 5 every morning for work... you should try it! It'll make you into a morning person and cheerful!" WHATEVER!)
There was an East Indian girl on the tour, who owns a newspaper business. She reminded me of someone I knew in high school (Seema?), and seemed pretty nice. Her friend and another couple who were friends with Bossy Lady and her husband rounded out the tour roster. The husband of the couple could have been an older version of Kelvin's dad, and Bossy Lady's husband could be an older version of John and Luke - these two little kids at church. These people were quite nice and helpful when I had trouble negotiating the high exit from the van... actually, the bossy lady's sister was too. Remind me never to take tours again for that "exit" reason, haha. For some reason, the people thought I was my mom's sister! HAHAHA, no.
The first real stop was Sunmore ginseng factory... we did pass through a town named Dallas, haha. I got a LOT of free bookmarks, postcards, order forms, and English information sheets on ginseng. The stuff is pretty cool, and we got free samples of ginseng tea / ginseng pieces / honeyed ginseng / ginseng honey. My mom bought a LOT of stuff... there were these cute bear-shaped jars for the honey! Since I figured that Jeremy might appreciate this stuff because he's an Asianphile, I got him the free stuff too! Corey requested ginseng, so he'll get those things... it'll have to suffice! The ginseng was pretty expensive stuff... you do eliminate the middleman, but still. For example, a six-pack of 20-gram jars of ginseng powder is $99!
Then it was on to the real reason we took the tour: the Adams River salmon run. Seeing the red spawning salmon and the white dead salmon (they don't eat for 18 days!) was pretty cool, although I had trouble in the wooded trail. I got a few rocks from the beach (Corey had requested one), and two smooth polished rocks from the gift shop, along with a couple of postcards. When I went into the gift shop, I thought I recognized Maisie, this woman from church... then I dismissed it. But then she said hi to me and asked what I was doing here: she was there with her sister and some colleagues on another bus tour. That was interesting, heh. We tried some bannock and went through some of the information tents... I also told my mom to stop talking about a certain subject, but of course she didn't respect my wishes. I need to find a way to train her, haha. Corey had also requested salmon, but all the salmon he'll get is on the postcard from the gift shop! (that stuff is expensive, too!)
After that, we had dinner at a Chinese restaurant. (I got DRAGON zodiac paper as a souvenir, and someone read palms!) Bossy Lady was in her element, criticizing the food and saying that her party would just eat something separately from everyone else. Fortunately, saner heads prevailed and we all shared a few dishes. Then we went to the hotel in Vernon (I should tell Henrik about this), where I amused myself by showing Mom a few things from the RIPLEY'S book that I brought along: people suspended by meat hooks, Monsieur Mangetout (who eats cars and other metal), someone with 2000 acupuncture needles in his head, someone else with 24 pincushions in his face, someone who stuck a spear through his tongue, etc. After that, I found the business room, where I've been checking my email and TRYING to catch up using the high-speed Internet! I don't think it'll work, particularly as my mom's come in and demanded I go back to the room right away and sleep. I'm old enough to make my own decisions, but to minimize her stress levels, I will. Sigh... later!
Labels: 2000, alan, bookmarks, corey, dallas, danielle, dragons, gay, henrik, jeremy, katie, maxed-out tags limit, postcards, salmon, school, sleep, stupid idiots, taiwan, tim, vernon
posted by Flami at 12:15:00 AM
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