Everyone has a bucket list and some like to start it after their retirement. I choose to start it early just because I think life is short and nothing will stay the same in the next minute. I also see a lot of my young patients are confined to bed before they can have a taste of life-- this has made me think about what is life. Recently I've read a paragraph about life and I totally agree with it: Life is being happy and no one is responsible for your happiness, except for yourself. And here I am, taking the voyage and explore about the 49th state, Alaska.
Glad to know that our ship will depart from Vancouver, BC Canada at Canada place, which means we can have a lot of fun before we get on the ship. I love Vancouver where you can see greens and flowers everywhere during summer time. You can have the best dim sum in the world as those dim sum pastry chefs from Hong Kong have emigrated to Vancouver before the handover of Hong Kong back to China in 1997. A diverse city with activities that fit people with different age and culture-- which mean a lot more activities you can do!!
We took an early flight from LAX to YVR Vancouver ,BC to make sure that we will have plenty of time to spend in the city. After we landed, we dropped off our luggages with the Princess tour counter at the airport and then we headed to the skytrain station right across the airport. I think LAX should build something like the skytrain here- all you need to do is to hop on the train and it will take you to the heart of the city. We took a train heading to Waterfront.(CAD $7.5. $5 will be added to any train leaving the airport/sea island) If you need to go to Richmond for dim sum like we do, just transfer at Bridgeport station (where River Rock Casino and Hotel is) and take the southbound train to Brighouse-Richmond.
Once you have arrived the Brighouse, the terminal, walked downstair and crossed the street. You will find a bakery store called Kam Do Bakery <http://www.yelp.com/biz/kam-do-bakery-richmond> just right to the Richmond Center. This bakery store is famous for their “Wife cake/ Lo Por Beng”. We bought the egg tart, red bean paste “Sa Yung” (deep fried bread similar to donut but with different bread dough), and Lo Por Beng. Everything tasted so good and I think it’s far better than a lot of bakery in Hong Kong.
Walking toward the north for about 100 meter, you will meet the Westminster Hwy and make a left turn onto Westminster Hwy. Walking for ~ 200 meter, Kirin Seafood restaurant should be on your left (there is a sign of the restaurant in the aisle, the actual restaurant is on the 3rd floor). http://www.yelp.com/biz/kirin-seafood-restaurant-richmond If you didn’t make any reservation on a weekend, expected to wait for an hour. It’s that popular seriously.
 |
| Har Gow 蝦餃 |
 |
| Siu Mai 燒賣 |
 |
| Scallop/Shrimp Squash Dumping 南瓜白玉餃 |
 |
| Deep Fried Crab Claw Wrapped with Minced Prawn |
 |
| 百花釀蟹鉗 |
 |
| 帶子蒸腸粉 |
 |
| Scallop Steamed Cheung Fun |
 |
| Durian Mochi |
 |
| 榴槤 糯米糍 |
We ordered the typical shrimp dumpling (Har gow $4.78), siu mai ($4.78), scallop cheung fun (steamed rice noodle roll $5.25), something called pumpkin dumpling with scallop, shrimp, squash and cilantro ($4.98). We ordered a side order of deep fried crab claw wrapped with minced prawn ($5.95 each) and they are freshly made-to-order. For our dessert, we ordered a durian mochi ($5.99)-- fresh durian with whipped cream wrapped in a thinly stretched mochi-- the BEST durian mochi that we have ever had!!. It’s quite pricey but you pay for what you get. I guarantee you can’t find a better dim sum place in US, not even close. In Hong kong? Hm... I’ve never tried those high end dim sum place in Hong Kong Island but since most of the dim sum pastry chefs have moved to Vancouver, I think the chance of having elite dim sum in Hong Kong might be much lower than in Vancouver.
After lunch, we took the skytrain from Brighouse and it took about 25 minutes to get to Waterfront ($2.5). We knew that there will be 3 ships departing from Canada Place and was told not to come before 2pm due to severe traffic. We were redirected to wait in the convention center next to the Canada Place. After waiting for ~ 2 hours, our number got called and we were finally taken to the US custom followed by boarding the ship.
Phew~ what a long~day. Our ship departed 3 hours later than the scheduled time 4:30pm. We explored around the ship and it was quiet---I guess people just went to bed early tonight after such a long and hectic day. We had our pre-reserved dinner at Vivaldi dining room (7:30 pm) and met our waiter Apollo and his assistant Marco. They are friendly and funny- Apollo said he and Marco are meant to work together-- so that they are Marco-Pollo! We also met our neighbor-table friends-- Marilyn and Kary, who is a retired nurse practitioner and a court officer in the orange county respectively. They kept us company for all the dinner for the rest of the voyage.
 |
| The Vivaldi Dining Room |
 |
| Lobster and Seafood Pate, Dill-Mustard Sauce |
 |
| Frozen Rum-Infused Piña Colada Soup, Pineapple Dots |
 |
Slow-Roasted 5-Star Prime Rib of Beef Natural Rosemary Jus, Char-Grilled Tomato, Loaded Idaho Potato |
 |
| Flourless Chocolate Cake with Double Cream Steeped Berries |
 |
| Warm Passion Fruit Souffle with Vanilla Custard |
 |
| Hazelnut Icecream |
旅程的第一天: 溫哥華.
每個人都有一個”人生必做 的事” 的清單. 有些人喜歡在退休後才開始實行, 我卻選擇現在就一一的把它們實現. 選擇早一點實現夢想是因為本人認為人物事件每一分鐘都在變. 眼前看到的,在下一分鐘未必會出現. 而且看到很多年輕的病人,尚未體會人生便病逝, 令我再三思索人生的意義. 最近看到一編短文,本人深感認同:人生是 為了尋找快樂而活; 除了你自己外,無人需要為你的幸福快樂而負責. 有見及此 ,我便計劃我的第49州阿拉斯加之旅,朝著目標 開始起行.
得知遊輪會從溫哥華出發後令我格外興奮! 這代表我們可以先在溫哥華玩個夠才上船!! 我對溫哥華格外鍾情--喜愛她夏季的時候四處綠草如茵, 花兒滿佈; 喜愛吃最好吃的”飲茶點心” --九七回歸前, 很多香港的點心師父都紛紛移民到溫哥華去, 所以點心都是以傳統方法去製作. 溫哥華有著各式各樣的文化及活動, 總有適合不同文化及年齡的人來參與.
我們一早就乘搭加拿大航空由洛杉磯飛抵溫哥華--這樣才確保我們有足夠的時間遊市中心. 抵達溫哥華國際機場後, 我們把行李交託給機場裡Princess櫃檯的職員處理, 把行李直接送到船上. 我們走到機場對面的建築,走上二樓乘搭skytrain. 我覺得加州應該認真考慮建設相同的交通工具--- 只須坐上列車,便能帶你到市中心的各個地方. 我們坐往 “Waterfront”的列車 (由機場/sea island出發到任何地方到會加上$5加幣, 共$7.5) 若要往南走, 像我們一樣要到 richmond “飲茶吃點心” 可在Bridgeport 站轉車(river rock 賭場亦在此站) -- 到對面月台去乘坐 往 Brighouse-Richmond的列車.
抵達Bridghouse總站後, 往地面(下一層)方向走,然後經過交通燈走到對面. 在richmond center 的右邊,你會看 到金都餅店.它們的”老婆餅” 最為有名. 我們買了牛油餅皮蛋撻, 紅豆沙翁, 及老婆餅--全部都很好吃--甚至比一些香港的餅店還要好吃.
由餅店往北走,大概100米左右,你會看到Westminister hwy. 左轉,走大概200米左右, 在小巷中會找到麒麟海鮮酒家的招牌. 餐廳就在三樓. 若果沒有定位,又遇上是周末, 那你得等一小時了.
我們點了蝦餃( $4.78加幣) ,燒賣($4.78) ,帶子蒸腸粉($5.25) , 南瓜白玉餃 ($4.98, 有蝦,帶子, 南瓜及莧茜) 百花釀蟹鉗 ($5.8一只) 及 榴槤 糯米糍 ($5.99). 蟹鉗 包著新鮮蝦膠來炸, 即叫即製; 糯米糍內有新鮮 榴槤及忌廉- 從未吃過如此美味的糯米糍!! 真的想知道師傅是怎樣製造出 如此薄而有口感的糯米糍皮. 這裡點心的價錢確是有點兒貴,但我覺得這是物有所值的. 我能打賭美國的點心酒家沒有一間能夠比得上麒麟酒家的點心. 香港嘛~~我尚未有機會去品嚐香港最頂尖的食府, 但若果大部份的點心師傅都移居到溫哥華去了, 要找好吃的點心真的要花一點工夫去找了.
午餐過後,我們由Brighouse乘搭往Waterfront 的skytrain ($2.5) ,25分鐘內便到達Waterfront 站. 再由Carl’s jr 出口出站去找 Canada place. 遊輪公司有呼籲叫我們這些自行到達的群眾們(沒有乘坐遊輪公司的接送專車的旅客) 最好在下午二時後才好到達候船室--因為這天,Princess 及Holland america 共有三首船由溫哥華出發. 預計會有9000人須要通過海關, 場面會非常混亂. 我們在下午二時後抵達Canada place, 再轉介到convention center 輪候叫籌. 等了大概兩小時後, 我們終於能夠到美國移民局,過海關登船.
真的是漫長的一天喔!!!!! 我們的船足足遲了三小時才開啟. 由原定的4:30pm, 延遲到下午7:30pm 才離開溫哥華Canada place. 我們四處參觀, 可能是大家都覺得很累,早已回房休息, 所以四處都很安靜. 沒什麼賓客. 我們早已預約好每晚 7:30pm在Vivadi 餐廳用膳. 我們認識了我們的侍應Apollo及他的助手Marco. 他們都很友善及風趣 Apollo說他跟助手Marco 是注定了在一起---因此才有Marco-polo. 我們亦認識到Marilyn 及Kary, 他們坐在我們的隔壁用膳. 他們陪伴了我們所有的晚餐時間, 令旅程生色不少.
No comments:
Post a Comment