Summer Vacation August 2007, Days 12-14 Miami

The final leg of our trip was a 2-day stay at South Beach Miami. It was more out of convenience than anything since that was our port for the cruise.

Miami is a beautiful city with tropical weather and georgeous beaches. The city has a very relaxed atmosphere and a beach lifestyle. There is a heavy Spanish and Cuban presence. We stayed in South Beach in the middle of the Art Deco district. It was a real treat for me to see so many Art Deco buildings all in one area.

Most of our time in Miami was spent at the beach, the pool, or just strolling along the pedestrian friendly streets. The main strip was Lincoln road. This pedestrian only street reminded me a lot of Las Ramblas in Barcelona. It was lined with shops and cafes on either side and the middle of the street was pedestrian only with even more cafe seating. There were hostess' at the front wooing you to come in as you walk by. It felt much more like a european street than something in America. These sidewalk cafes were busy from 11 in the morning till late at night. It's amazing how lively this patio culture is even, in the 90 degree heat and humidity. We visited one of these cafes but opted for the air conditioned inside seating instead.

Being away from Vancouver for 13 days now, we severly missed good Chinese food. I don't mean fake "Chop Suey" and "Lemon Chicken". We wanted the authentic stuff that we can get in Vancouver and Richmond. We asked around for the best in town and came upon Miss Yip's. This neat little restaurant just off of Lincoln road was designed in a 1950's Hong Kong Tea House style complete with bird cages, hand-drawn posters of celebrities of the day, and a collection of soya sauce, hoisin sauce, and chilli sauce bottles. The hostess and severs were caucasian so this made as a little doubtful of the authenticity of the food. As we sat down and scoped out the partially open kitchen, we were relieved to find asian cooks busy at the back. The food came after a short wait and I'm glad to say Ms. Yip did not disappoint. Since we were in Miami, Cuban food was a must-try. Again we asked for the best around the area and we were guided to Bella Cuba, a small restaurant on Washington and Lincoln. We were not impressed with the service nor the food.

It was obvious that Miami (or at least South Beach) was a place for the wealthy. In our short 2 day stay, I saw 4 Ferrari's, 1 Lamborghini, and 2 Bentleys on the road. We also noticed that the prices for food and drinks are probably double that in Vancouver.

After an initial day of browsing in the hot and humid streets, we retreated to our hotel pool on day two. The pool was beautiful and fully equiped with a pool bar, servers with Mojito's on hand, and even passed out slushies and ice cream to everyone at the pool. Most of my time was spent playing in the pool with Katelyn and Deon as Janey and Amy basked in the sun.

The next day was going-home day and as the plane touched down, Iwelcomed Vancouver like a dear old friend. I miss you.

Summer Vacation August 2007, Days 4-11 Caribbean Cruise

The main event of our summer vacation was a 7-day western caribbean cruise on board Royal Caribbean's Freedom of Seas cruise ship. This ship is fairly new and it's maiden voyage was May 2007. At 160,000 tons, it is currently the largest ship in the world. We were lucky enough to have about 80 people that we know on the same cruise. They were all family and friends of family. Large groups always make cruising a lot more fun.
Besides the standard amenties found on other cruise ships, this one also has a mini-golf course, a full size basketball court, a 3-storey high shopping promenade, the largest climing wall, a kid's pool and waterpark, a kid's adventure camp/sitting service, an ice-skating rink, a fitness gym with a boxing ring and more gym equipment than any other that I've seen on land. It even has an artificial surf park called the Flowrider that creates a 5' high wave so you can boogie board or surf on. The Flowrider was an absolute blast and it kept me busy for the first 2 days. This ship was so large, with so many things to do that by the end of our cruise, I still have not explored all areas and amenities of the ship.

Our itinerary was the Western Caribbean route which includes Labadee Haiti, Ocho Rios Jamaica, Georgetown Grand Cayman, and Cozumel Mexico. The first day or two was a bit of an unknown because Hurricane Dean was on the same route as ours. Fortunately Big Bad Dean did not wreck as much havoc as anticipated so we were able to stay our course.

This is our 4th cruise so you can't really call us experts, but we're no noobies either. Our first 3 cruises were with Carnival Cruise Lines so naturally, we made comparisons between Royal Caribbean and Carnival. I think overall, Carnival gets my vote.

This ship was larger than our previous Carnival ship and has more amenities, but the service and fun-factor on Carnival was better. We found the dining room food and staff on Royal Caribbean could be better. The food was good on some days and not on others. Our servers was not as attentive as they should be. Even on the 6th night, he still could not remember who ordered what. Also, one thing that I did not like was how they would push food on you. They would bring out extra entrees and desserts even if we didn't ask for it. For some, this would be great, but most of the time I was just too stuffed to eat another bite. Yet for me, I felt guilty because there was so much food being wasted. I really wonder how many starving countries we could've saved if we just took what people were not eating in the buffet and dining rooms of the cruise ships.

Besides the food, another important feature of cuise ships were the events and shows. The shows on board the Freedom are unique and the stage is amazing considering the limited space of a ship. The magic show was unbelievable, the ice-skating show was awesome, and the parade shows and stage on the Promenade mall was definitely a sight to see. Although these were quality shows and are unique to this ship, for some reason, we like the events and the planning of Carnival more. It felt like there was more to do and it was more fun.

Part of the fun of cruising is visiting different port-of-calls. Here are my first impressions of them in the order.

Labadee, Haiti:
This area is actually owned by Royal Caribbean and is used as a private resort for their cruising guests only. It boasts pristine beaches and lots of sun activities. Besides that, there's a small market where the locals sell their handi-crafts. We didn't do much here accept hang around the beach.

Ocho Rios, Jamaica
This town was hit by the hurricane, but most of the buildings survived. We saw some bent trees, but nothing major. The town seems poor and not as advanced as what we're used to in North America. We didn't do much here accept a local van-tour and some shopping. It was uneventful and the tourist sights are a rip-off. It seems like they have a secret deal with the cruise ships, because once we said we were from Royal Caribbean, they pulled out a separate pricelist and quoted a ridiculous admission. And they would not budge on this price even though our group had 18 people.

The locals were friendly and I love their "Yah Maan" to every sentence. I guess it's their equivalent to Canadians saying "Eh". I learnt that they were once a British colony and gained independence in the 1960's. Most of them were brought over during the slave trade, hence the majority of them are black. The actual native people are not like the stereo-typical Jamaicans at all.

Being in Jamaica, I just had to learn about Bob Marley. Our driver tells us that he's a Rastafarian and that's why he wears the big hair net. Did you know that Rastafarian is a religious movement which believes that a black person will never receive fair treatment in a white person's world; thus a "back to Africa" movement was started. Bob Marley is definitey the king here, similar to what Elvis is to the Americans.

Before leaving, we were sure to try out their Jerk Chicken. It was better than the ones I had in Vancouver. I washed it down with a local Red Stripe beer; sitting in a very hot and humid local cafe. It's time to get back to the air-conditioined comfort of our cruise ship.

Georgetown, Grand Caymans
Out of the 4 port of calls, I liked this city the most. It was tropical, but not poor like Jamaica. The city was orderly and clean. A little history lesson now. It was accidentally discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1503. He was returning to Europe from his las voyage to the Americas when a freak wind pushed him off course near two tiny, low-lying mounds of earth. He named the islands "Las Tortugas" after the multitude of sea turtles that he found there. On later maps, the islands were labelled the Caimanau, the Carib Indian word for "crocodile". The name "Caimanas" refers inaccurately to the iguanas native to the islands, not crocodiles. The islands remained unsettled due to pirate raids until the 17th century. The Caymans were magnets for buccaneers such as Sir Henry Morgan and "Blackbeard" Edward Teach. Myths about fortunes buried here by pirates endure, although little has been discovered. We were tempted to search out the great Jack Sparrow, but time did not afford us that adventure.

The Cayman Islands were territories of Jamaica until 1962 when Jamaica gained their independence. The Cayman Islands decided to remain as British subjects. I wonder if this is why it appears more advanced and prosperous than Jamaica?

This port is especially memorable because we got a chance to snorkel and swim with Stingrays. They actually swam right up to us and we were able to feed and pat them. I even kissed a Stingray, twice! The locals say kissing a Stingray brings 7 years of good luck, so I should be good for the next 14 years. It was definitely an experience of a lifetime.

Cozumel, Mexico
This city is actually on a separate island east of the mainland. It is not as prosperous as North American cities, but better than what I had envisioned of Mexico. We participated on a city tour that included a snorkelling break. The water here is amazingly clear, more than those at our Grand Cayman snorkelling site. There was more fish to see and we were able to feed them. It's amazing how whole schools of fish come at you once you release the food. It's clear that they are used to human interaction.

The town was beautiful with some brightly painted buildings and murals. We asked for a recommendation for a local mexican restaurant and it did not disappoint. If I had to choose, this would be my 2nd favorite port.

The last days of a cruise is always mixed with emotions. As much as I didn't want the fun to end and the food to stop, I was glad that we're heading home. I think a 7-day cruise is the perfect duration. My last cruise was a 14-day itinerary and it was a little bit too long.

For those of you who haven't tried cruising or think that it's only for old folks, definitely try it yourself. There's so many things for everyone and every age group to do that you won't be disappointed. But as an advice, I would choose the newer and larger ships which tend to have more amenities. This would make it really feel like a "resort at sea".

Summer Vacation August 2007, Days 1-3 New York City

New York has always been on my must-see list, however I did not have many expectations before arriving. This is partly because I was too busy prior to the vacation (like always) to have time to expect anything. The only pre-conceptions of New York was what I gathered from movies and media. My pre-conceptions were pleasantly mistaken.

I did not see the dirty, heartless, graffiti filled New York that has traditionally been portrayed. Instead I saw a beautiful, bustling city full of history, culture and pride. I saw kindness and friendliness. Many times, there were people on the street that openly offered their assistance to us; and this is without us asking for it. They aren't friendly in a soft, Canadian sense, but in their own New Yorker way which I have never seen in other countries. Because I have never been here, I cannot compare to pre-911. However, I do suspect the now historic event has changed their attitude for the better.





New York city has a lot of culture; not just in the arts, but also their architecture. Being an older city, alot of the buildings were of early 1900's architecture. This is a delight because I appreciate old architecture and buildings in this era is not as abundant on the west coast. Thank God for digital photography, because I've taken way too many photos of the buildings.


New York is rich in sight and sound and it's true that even if I did not sleep, I would not have been able to visit all the sights. In my short 3 day stay, we managed to visit some of the main stream tourist sites: Empire State Building, Chrysler Building, Ground Zero, Rockefeller Centre, Times Square and a "viewing" of the Statue of Liberty from Manhattan's Southport harbour. I also did one of those Hop-on, Hop-off Bus Tours on the last day. The bus tour was better than I expected because it was an effective way to get a quick glimpse of the city, plus the tour guide naration was especially informative. It's the Coles Notes version of travelling. If I can do it again, I'd do the bus tour first then pick and choose which sights I would want to explore.






One of the more "off-beat" experiences was watching Maroon 5 perform live on the NBC Today show at the Rockefeller Plaza. The show started at 7:00 in the morning and I managed to convince Janey to wake up with me at 5:30pm. What a trooper! The trade off was I go Outlet Mall shopping with her the next day.


I did not get a chance to experience the culinary side of New York because I did not get a chance to do research prior to the trip. Plus I didn't have a local friend like I do in my other travels.

If I get a chance I would be sure to visit New York again. Even though we've seen alot of the sights, it's one of those cities that I would like to experience as a local. Each local food, frequent local places, and really know what it is to be a "New Yorker".