Lesson learned. Need more days in Disney!!! Aug 2010 (NEW 1/20-COMPLETE)

[Pyrate_Pryncess]

REBECCA!!!

I'm gonna be in Buffalo soon!!! I can't come into Canada though.....No passport

You need to find me on Facebook! Ill message you my details!

 

[YukiPhnx]

I'm gonna be in Buffalo soon!!! I can't come into Canada though.....No passport

You need to find me on Facebook! Ill message you my details!

Aww, I don't have facebook! You can PM me here though.

I've been thinking of making a trip across the border soon too!

How's your move going?

 

[Pyrate_Pryncess]

Aww, I don't have facebook! You can PM me here though.

I've been thinking of making a trip across the border soon too!

How's your move going?

Ugh! The move is going HORRIBLE!

We had a hold up with AJs Medical issues and we are still waiting on "paper orders" so we can schedule the movers! We are supposed to leave in 25 days!

We aren't prepared anymore. No packing is done yet or anything. We sort of lost our "oomph" with the delay! Oh well. We will get it done in time (hopefully).

 

[Cat0727]

Great update of Montreal, Yuki! The city looks so charming. My dad's going there for Memorial Day weekend so I'll have my feast of pictures for a while. My boyfriend's interested in going now so we'll see!

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Yuki! You came back while I was on my trip! Good to see you back. We had similar - "where are we" experiences in Victoria and Vancouver - we decided Canada is puzzling! I'm loving your Montreal report! Don't forget I'm doing my TR!

Rosie, Black Pudding scares me! My dad used to hunt duck, so kind of common to me.

 

[YukiPhnx]

Great update of Montreal, Yuki! The city looks so charming. My dad's going there for Memorial Day weekend so I'll have my feast of pictures for a while. My boyfriend's interested in going now so we'll see!

Oooh, how cool! You'll be seeing a lot of pictures. There's something to take a picture of at every corner!

Yuki! You came back while I was on my trip! Good to see you back. We had similar - "where are we" experiences in Victoria and Vancouver - we decided Canada is puzzling! I'm loving your Montreal report! Don't forget I'm doing my TR!

Rosie, Black Pudding scares me! My dad used to hunt duck, so kind of common to me.

Tammie! Glad to see you're home! Haha, some towns in Canada are very confusing, ie Waterloo. I'm pretty sure I've been to Vancouver and Victoria at least once, but we went with a tour group so didn't have to worry too much.

Yum...I could go for some duck now..

 

[Kellybelly777]

Checking in! Sounds like you've been awfully busy, my friend!

Montreal looks amazing! I'd love to go someday

Looking forward to hearing more about disney! I need something good to focus on for the next 34 days until SUMMER VACATION!!!!! Not to mention... guess who's only 42 days until she's back at the world?

Can't wait to read on! Your TR always cheers me up

 

[YukiPhnx]

Checking in! Sounds like you've been awfully busy, my friend!

Montreal looks amazing! I'd love to go someday

Looking forward to hearing more about disney! I need something good to focus on for the next 34 days until SUMMER VACATION!!!!! Not to mention... guess who's only 42 days until she's back at the world?

Can't wait to read on! Your TR always cheers me up

KELLY!!!!!!!!!!!! So happy to hear from you!!!

School just started again for me....phooey. But hooray for your return to the World!!!! I can't wait to hear about it! I'm so jealous...

Montreal is a great place to visit. Just gorgeous. If you ever come up here though, you MUST drop by Toronto.

I'll get back onto my main TR soon as I finish this one up. I'm putting out an update tonight.

 

[PennyLane1084]

We love the roof of this Holiday Inn.

Me too.

Here's the front door from the back of the room.

For some reason this pic with McDuff sticking out of the bathroom CRACK ME UP. I busting out laughing here at work. I was sort of like "this is a really nice room - MCDUFF!"

They also had free wifi, and a computer here we can use!

WOW!!! I've never seen a hotel that has a full computer in your room. This is amazing! Holy Cow!

On top of all that, they served a complimentary hot and cold breakfast in the morning. Now, can you guess how much all of this cost?

A whopping....$70/night!!!

This place was VERY highly reviewed online. The price was INCREDIBLE. We were more than satisfied with our room and our stay here. The service was amazing. It was in a great location. I would definitely stay here again. I also highly recommend it to anyone planning a trip to Montreal. Hotel Le Dauphin Centreville Montreal.

Wow Yuki, You guys got a deal and a half. Nice work!

Also, I'm listening to DIS radio and they are playing the Country Bear Jamboree IN JAPANESE!!! THIS IS SO AWESOME!!! Just had to share my joy with you. Thank you so much for recommending DIS radio. I can't believe what I've been missing.

 

[YukiPhnx]

For some reason this pic with McDuff sticking out of the bathroom CRACK ME UP. I busting out laughing here at work. I was sort of like "this is a really nice room - MCDUFF!"


WOW!!! I've never seen a hotel that has a full computer in your room. This is amazing! Holy Cow!


Wow Yuki, You guys got a deal and a half. Nice work!

Also, I'm listening to DIS radio and they are playing the Country Bear Jamboree IN JAPANESE!!! THIS IS SO AWESOME!!! Just had to share my joy with you. Thank you so much for recommending DIS radio. I can't believe what I've been missing.

Haha, I didn't even notice Andrew had McDuff there until after I took the picture! I also really love it. It's such a classic "shat bricks" picture, haha

Yeah!!! It's incredible that the room had a computer! We were very happy with it.

Oooh, that song must be new, I haven't heard it before. I just love having it in the background while I work. I'm glad I could share something awesome with you!

 

[jecskc]

Loving you TR ..... can't wait for more ....

 

[YukiPhnx]

Loving you TR ..... can't wait for more ....

to my TR!! So happy to have you here!

 

[YukiPhnx]

Hey guys!! At this point, I'd like to take a vote.

I want to know how many of you would like me to finish the Montreal TR so I can get to the Disney one already.

And how many of you would like me to get on with the Disney one already and I can finish the Montreal later.

I keep wanting to work on the Disney one, but then I remember I still have the Montreal one. Gosh, I'm not very good at this huh? Well, lesson learned for my next TR!

Thanks everybody for sticking around!

 

[debsters41]

Hey guys!! At this point, I'd like to take a vote.

I want to know how many of you would like me to finish the Montreal TR so I can get to the Disney one already.

And how many of you would like me to get on with the Disney one already and I can finish the Montreal later.

I keep wanting to work on the Disney one, but then I remember I still have the Montreal one. Gosh, I'm not very good at this huh? Well, lesson learned for my next TR!

Thanks everybody for sticking around!

Hi Yuki! Long Time Lurker here! I vote for both!! I love your trip reports, and as much as you inspire me, I think that I cannot do the Pirate's league. You looked fabulous but I think 40 is a bit too old

 

[jenbear123]

I'd like to hear more about Montreal but at the same time would like to hear more about your Disney trip. Whatever inspires you just go with it!

 

[YukiPhnx]

Hi Yuki! Long Time Lurker here! I vote for both!! I love your trip reports, and as much as you inspire me, I think that I cannot do the Pirate's league. You looked fabulous but I think 40 is a bit too old

Hey Debbie!!!!!!!!! I'm so glad I was able to lure you out of your lurkdom, somewhat. Pirate's League was SO much fun and if I didn't love attention so much, I doubt I would've gone with that face... Haha, thanks for thinkin it's fabulous! Andrew thinks it looks like I got drunk and passed out while people doodled on my face...

Fun fact, my last laptop's name was Debbie! And I used to call her the debster too, haha

I'd like to hear more about Montreal but at the same time would like to hear more about your Disney trip. Whatever inspires you just go with it!

Ok Jen, your comment has inspired me to finish up Montreal. Update coming right up!

 

[YukiPhnx]

Montreal pt.5a

This post will be heavy on pictures, which I know you all LOVE. Most of the time, it was just too darn cold to write anything down, so I'll have to rely on pictures to tell my tale.

Our second day started off bright and early at 9am. Haha, that would be considered sleeping in at Disney! Ok side note, I just realized that I don't think I've ever slept in past 9am on vacation, except for those 2 days at Disney. My family has always been a "go go go" type of vacationer even when we weren't with a tour group that makes us wake up at 6am EVERY DAY. Even back in China when we didn't really have plans for that day but we had to get up for dim sum anyways cause Chinese people wake up at ungodly hours.

Guys, I miss kindergarten. Ok, moving on!

Our plan for today was to visit the Montreal Biodome, eat at a famous 24hr poutine place (will explain what this is later) and catch the Planetrium show we missed last night. Our original plan for today was the Biodome in the morning then the Musuem of Architecture in the afternoon, but the cold kind of defeated that...Will explain more later (again).

So we both attempt to pry ourselves out of the most comfortable bed we've ever slept on. They had an ipod alarm clock in the room which I docked Fanta on and we were waken up by the sweet sounds of Darren Criss from GLEE seeing Teenage Dream. Ahh, sweet bliss.

We get dressed and head down to the FREE breakfast at 9:30am. I wish I had pictures, but the breakfast room was a tiny little space that looked like a regular kitchen+dining room in a regular house minus the stove. It was a very intimate space and I just didn't want to alarm the other people by taking pictures of them. I mean, it wasn't of THEM, but they would definitely be in it and some people have a problem with that.

It had a great spread of hot and cold foods though. They had different kinds of toast, a toaster, bagels, other baked goods, oatmeal, hot water, coffee machine, a mini fridge filled with yogurt and cream cheese, 3 kinds of juice, 3 kinds of cereal, bowl of fruit, hard boiled eggs, and a hot pot of breakfast beans.

I had toast with cream cheese, coffee, a bit of the beans because I've never tried breakfast beans, an eggs and some cranberry juice. I regret not getting more beans cause it was really yummy! Andrew just had cereal, organe juice, yogurt, coffee, and a banana. I know how much y'all wanted to know about this.

For a free breakfast, it was very good.

We left for the Biodome around 10am (lol, I'm just looking at my notes now and I accidentally wrote "10pm") and got headed for the subway. Here's Andrew and McDuff all ready for another day of adventure!

Here comes the car!

It took us 45mins to get there. It looked a lot closer on the subway map... There was no confusion at all getting off this station. Since it's a big attraction, there were signs around. This station is also kind of remote looking, so really, you step outside and you can see there's only the Biodome, the Insectarium and a theatre around.

We thought the name was interesting cause in English, it's Silvercity.

That little blue arrow sign is for the subway.

The Biodome is that big round dome there.

It's a lot bigger in real life.

Um...I know you can ride an elevator um this thing to get to an observation deck. There's an Insectarium and stadium and stuff. Sorry but I didn't do much research on this other place.

Heading in!

Ok, I don't think I've mentioned this before but it seems that most of Montreal don't clear the ice off their sidewalks. Walking ANYWHERE was a strenuous task of watching where you were stepping to make sure you don't slip and fall. I would think they would at least clear the walkways around big attractions, but nope. In Toronto and Waterloo (can't vouch for anywhere else), you get a fine from the city if you don't clear the sidewalk outside your house!

After we bought our tickets and headed into the Bio part of the dome, we realized how steamy hot it was, so we decided to check our jackets after all. When we came back to the entrance, there was a giant group of Chinese tourists probably part of a bus tour that was there. We were going to head in ahead of the group because they still had to get something done, but the tour leader stopped us and asked us where we were going...lol, it was kind of funny. We told him we weren't part of the group. I don't blame him. We all look alike.

So once we entered, we see this little display.

Not sure what it was for, but it was cute.

The first ecosystem we entered was the tropical one, which explains why it was so steamy hot. I wish I had videotaped this place. It was incredible! Unlike anything I've ever seen. The animals were very close to you with no nets and birds were just flying around and walking the paths that the people were walking on.

We also spotted this sign.

Is he up there?

Nopes.

Andrew and I have a strange fascination with sloths...I accidentally bumped into some other people trying to look for this sloth. Alas, it was not meant to be. Next time sloth!

This is the bird that was wandering around on the path.

You can tell it liked the attention.

These two birdies were very cute together.

Oh look, it opened its wings!

Oh my gosh, it's a capybara!!!

They're SOOOO cute!!!

I hope you get a sense of how close these animals are. No zoom was used in those photos.

Hey, maybe the sloth is up THERE.

This place is just fantastic. I would say it rivals Disney in terms of the theming.

It's my favourite flower, Bird of Paradise!

Hm...I think Andrew missed the point of me wanting a bigger picture of the ecosystem.

Continued in the next post.

 

[YukiPhnx]

Montreal Pt.5b

In a little nook, there was teeny little creature out on a branch, grooming himself. We took a LOT of pictures but was never able to get a good one. Extremely cute thing it was. This took all the zoom I had.

You get the picture.

After the bushy part, there was this little cave tunnel you go through, but the walls were lined with glass and on the other side of the glass was half a cave FILLED WITH BATS. Just flying around and towards the glass, and hanging from the cave ceiling. We tried to get a good picture, but it was so dark in there.

I could've spent over an hour just watching them. I LOOOVE bats. I've never seen them so close like that! I mean, I've seen the AK ones, but those ones are hardly ever flying. These little ones were just fluttering all over the cave. Adorable little things!

I wonder if I would make a good bat.

Duffy wants to be a bat too.

We stepped out of the cave and entered another warm area. Oh no, this croc wants McDuff!

Aww, it just wanted to hug him but didn't have any free arms. It's ok, I forgive you.

I noticed there were a lot of arts students around, just sketching the animals.

Aww, they're just laying there. Although they WERE more active than the ones on Safari in AK.

These two were just so sweet. It seemed most of the birds on the branches were in pairs.

Hey, there he is again!

Total show off this one.

It was extremely amusing watching this little baby trying to catch him.

We then entered into the northern ecosystem. Probably the Boreal forest part.

This is one of those interactive info screens, but it crashed.

As soon as entered the wooded area, we saw this active little guy. Man, I REALLY wished we could've videotaped him. ADORABLE.

It looks like he's saying, "Leave me alone, mom!!"

There was a glass separating us, but we were still very close.

We then met this little hedgehog up in this tree and wondered how it got there.

It was just lounging around, taking a nap.

We came across a part that showed up a linx habitat. I've always loved these felines because of their ears and their little bob tails. We had a hard time getting a picture of him/her because there were bars behind the glass that separated us. We were trying to figure out how to focus on the background.

Here's one of the failed attempts.

I'm not sure how he did it, but he finally got it to work!

Hee, cat butt. Andrew's pretty good at getting pictures of animal butts.

Gorgeous eh?

The next one was a watery ecosystem I guess? There were some fish, but I was mesmerized by the anemone. Like Nemo, I have a hard time pronouncing it.

From the top!

And starfish too!

Continued in next post.

 

[YukiPhnx]

Montreal Pt.5c

This next ecosystem was just a giant room with a cliff side, TONS of seagulls and a large pond/lake thing. It was beautiful.

Oh yeah, McDuff wants in too.

He also wanted to try out this telescope, which turned out to be just a metal tube.

See? We're totally two halves of a whole. If you look at what I'm holding in my right hand, you'll see my awesome Disney D&B wristlet that Danica (ZeroToHero) helped me get!

Puffins!!!

This was my first time seeing them in real life.

This one was such a show off, swimming upstream.

Hey ladies, look at what I can do. *paddle paddle*

Um...are these a breed of puffins...? Or just grand puffins?

Not sure...

SO MANY PUFFINS!! I wanted to take one home.

Hey, these are just like in Happy Feet!

Apparently, they were molting.

When they're molting, they just stand around.

I guess this boogeying one didn't get the memo.

Hey, you looking at me?

Sheila's MY girl! So you better go home!

That's not what she said LAST NIGHT!

Hey, how'd you guys get up there?

So yeah....we spent quite a lot of time watching them. The ones that weren't standing around waiting for their feathers to molt, they played in the water. But there was something strange going on that we couldn't capture with the camera.

Pengiun 1 wanted to go in the water. Pengiuns 2 and 3 came over for a drink, and blocked Pen1's way. Pen1 backed off a bit, but tried again, but Pens2 & 3 chased him back. Pen4 shows up and wants to get in water too, but doesn't like Pen1 either. So then all 4 fight and Pen5 sneaks into the water while no one is watching.

That's pretty much the end of my Biodome pictures. They had a little dino exhibit on the bottom floor but nothing too interesting. This didn't take more than 2 hours, and we took our time too. Still a lot of fun.

Narwhal! Narwhal! Yes, I'm thinking of that song.

Look, McDuff made a new friend!

McDuff VS The Raccoon. Don't tell McDuff, but my money's on the big one.

On our way out, we found this HILARIOUS.

Why only american coins? Could this machine REALLY tell? How many American visitors do they get here?

Coming up...Just how good is this poutine anyways?

 

[englishrose47]

Great Montreal Update !!The whole place looks fascinating !!!!