April 27, 2016 by Rae

Impressions of Moab, UT

Moab didn’t make a very good first impression because of the insane cost of accommodation in the town. I expected a hoity toity resort town like West Yellowstone where even McDonald’s jacks up its prices. But my experience in Banff taught me that even such towns can be full of good surprises.

Moab is basically a swell in the highway, with most of the businesses along the main street. In the shoulder season, driving around town hasn’t been an issue, including making copious left hand turns onto the main street and finding parking. But I can imagine that in the height of the summer season, traffic and parking must be difficult.

The town is nothing to look at, from what I’ve experienced. What makes it special is its backdrop of red hills in one direction and snowcapped mountains in the other. The architecture is very ordinary. I didn’t feel a strong urge to take any pictures. I could be in Anytown, USA.

Two very positive things have stuck out for me.

First, the locals are incredibly friendly and welcoming. I’ve been to so many resort towns where the locals seem to resent the tourists that run their economy. Everyone in Moab I’ve spoken to has been very kind, very helpful, and very welcoming — genuinely so.

Second, I can afford to eat out in Moab! I have no idea if prices go up during the summer, but right now, in late April, there is something for every budget. Regular old diner food is exactly what I’d expect to pay for the quality and portion I got at the Moab Diner. Pad thai at Singha was a little pricier than I normally pay, but not significantly so. The only reason I had an expensive meal there is that I splurged on the beer.

Tonight, I had dinner at Sabaku sushi bar, a real splurge only because I’m cutting my stay here short and saving on accommodation. I have had sushi literally all over the US and Canada, in big cities and small. Who would have thought Moab would have really excellent sushi at average prices? $22 before taxes and tip got me two rolls (one large, one small) and a miso soup. If I had been in less of a mood for a splurge, I could have stuck to the happy hour menu and had even more food for the same price or spent less. I sat at the bar and watched my sushi-ya prepare my meal with real care and attention, so it wasn’t just dinner, but an experience.

I didn’t spend much time at the grocery store, but the few things I bought were very reasonably priced, including three large Fuji apples for just 99 cents. Other stores do jack up their prices, though. I priced trekking poles at Pagan’s and the ones I wanted were $20 more than the cheapest price I found online, so I passed.

It’s a shame accommodation in Moab is so terrible. At least, there’s the Lazy Lizard. Even if you’re not a hosteling kind of person, please consider them first as they are the only accommodation in Moab that keeps its prices reasonable while still trying to provide a lot of value. I’m not happy to be in a hostel, but I can separate that from my experience here, which has been very positive. My cabin is very comfortable and conducive to a good night’s sleep (comfy bed, dark, quiet, warm) and the ladies’ bathroom is spotlessly clean. I resent paying 39USD and not having my own bathroom, but they could charge as much as 60USD or even 75 a night for the cabins and still have the best bargain in town!

I’d say that Moab really hasn’t made that much of an impression on me. People don’t come to the area for Moab, but rather for all the outdoor experiences around.

Fun fact: sixteen years ago I worked at a bookstore and a guy came in asking to order a book on mountain biking Moab. After the order was put through and he’d left, the owner turned to me, wide-eyed, and asked, “What’s a Moab?!” I can’t believe I remember that!

April 2, 2016 by Rae

Not the Best Day to Go to the Movies

If a movie has “Batman” in the title, you can bet I’ll be interested in seeing it. So I decided to head to town today to see “Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice.” I decided to try the Cinemex at Insurgentes, next to the Soriana, as that was by far the easiest theatre to get to. But I had a sneaking suspicion they don’t have subtitled movies since the website wasn’t clear on that subject. There was a 1:20 showing there and a 2:30 showing at Cinepolis in Gran Plaza, so if I struck out at Insurgentes, I had plenty of time to get to Gran Plaza.

I left home around noon, didn’t have to wait for a lancha, and the bus stopped at a red light at the corner of Juan Carrasco was heading to Plaza Ley, so I was making record time until that point. But traffic on Juan Carrasco and then Ejército México was really heavy, so it was rather a long ride. I got off in front of the Pemex at the corner of Insurgentes and then hoofed it to the Cinemex, the equivalent of a block or two away. Sure enough, they only have dubbed movies. Oh, well, it was worth a try!

The walk to Gran Plaza wasn’t long, only about 2.5KM, but getting across Ejército Méxicano was scary! Insurgentes was busy, but there was a sidewalk the whole way, so the walk ended up being okay even if traffic was heavy. I got to Gran Plaza with a full hour to spare before the movie started there, so I went off in search of lunch.

After some wandering around, I found a food court. In my limited experience with Mexican food courts, they all offer Chinese, sushi, Mexican, and pizza, with some adding in a salad and sandwich place. And you know you’ve been in Mexico for a while when the Chinese and sushi are satisfying instead of being disappointing. The trick for Chinese is stick to rice since Mexico apparently hasn’t figured out Asian noodles and will serve you spaghetti instead. And the trick for sushi is to accept that the “soy sauce” will be sweet and citrusy, there will be cream cheese, and forget about ginger. Even though I had sushi a few days ago, that was the most appealing option and something I really haven’t had much this winter (this was only my third time since I got here!). I went through an extensive menu and settled on their ‘special California’ roll, with it being special because the outside had masago (fish eggs), a treat I haven’t had in ages. At $68, this roll was their best deal, too. I was amused when I was handed this lobster with my receipt. It vibrated to let me know my food was ready!

I don’t do popcorn at movies, so I decided to have a Thrifty’s ice cream for dessert since there was a stand right there in the food court and I still had 30 minutes to kill.

At about 2:15, I headed to the cinema. I had a thought en route about the last time I went to the movies here. I had made a note in my post about the seat I had chosen then. So I referred back to the post and was reminded to ask for a seat in the H row. What would I do without my blog to remind me of stuff?! 🙂

And then, it was time for the movie, which was rather disappointing. I’d gone in “cold,” having only seen the trailer and no spoilers, which was a mistake. I should have seen “Man of Steel” first for context on the Superman side of the movie. I really enjoyed the Batman side, but the Superman stuff left me cold. I’m glad I saw the movie and would see future movies in this universe that feature Affleck’s Batman, but I would have been annoyed if I had paid a Canadian price for my ticket. But at the Mexican price of $43, it was worth taking a chance.

I came out and once again wasted too much time and energy trying to get out of Gran Plaza. They really need better signage to the one exit on Reforma. I headed up to Mega, noticing that traffic down Reforma (heading towards Centro) was at a standstill. I realised that getting home might be tricky…

Mega really isn’t my first choice of grocery shopping destination, but it was the most convenient. I picked up a few sundries, including veggies to make a stir fry when I got in. And I’m embarrassed to admit I had to get more hummus…

It was still light when I came out and there were no taxis… I waited and waited, then decided to cross the parking lot to Rafael Buelna and see about a bus instead. No buses either. There was tons of traffic and loads of people because of that motorcycle rally, so I suspected that public transportation wasn’t going to be very difficult to find in that part of town. Thankfully, I didn’t have an unmanageable amount of shopping, so walking was an option. But it was going to get dark fast. I stood at the corner of Rafael Buelna and Reforma for a bit trying to decide what route to take that would be more likely get me an appropriate bus or, ideally, a taxi fast. I think that last year I would have been concerned faced with such uncertainty as to how I’d get to the embarcadero, but I was fine tonight, just annoyed with myself for not having taken this into consideration when I planned my day.

As I was mulling that over, I saw a pulmonía heading my way! I couldn’t see if there was anyone inside, so I waved at it. The driver pulled over. Crisis solved! 🙂 I expected to be quoted $100 for the ride today (normally $60-$70) because of the traffic and he said $80! I made sure to say that I was only accepting that price because of the traffic. He said, “Of course! Normally it’s $60 but this will take a while!” I assured him that the price hike was fair and we headed off down Reforma. It was moving fluidly by this point, but traffic was heavy and I could have walked faster!

After a few minutes of not really getting anywhere, the driver asked me how well I know Maz. I replied, “Well enough to know that we should head towards Juárez and take Gabriel Leyva.” He gave me a thumbs up sign and replied, “Exactly what I thought! Hold on!” He took me on a dizzying route of side streets to reach the corner of Deportes where you turn right to go towards the water, but we went left. We chatted as we whizzed along and he asked me if I’d like to go out sometime… If I wasn’t three weeks to departure, I would have said yes. But I don’t see a point in entangling myself with someone when I’m leaving for good so soon. Shame. I suspect I won’t have a hard time meeting a special someone when I’m settled in Mérida and ready to start thinking about such things…

The lancha was leaving the dock when I arrived, but it came back for me. On board, I met an American fishing boat captain who is picking up a load this evening and had a few free hours. I gave him some Isla tips about taxis, beer, restaurants, and the lancha. He seemed very grateful to find an English speaker who could assure him that he wasn’t going to get murdered or kidnapped walking around Isla after dark. I told him that concern is very valid these days on the outskirts of Maz, but not on Isla!

It got properly dark about halfway home from the embarcadero. Isla does have some streetlights, but I take the back alleys to get home and many of them were in pitch darkness. I know my way around and I rather enjoy these quiet dark hours… as long as I don’t wake up a dog. Once one starts barking, they all do!

I got in and set to work making that stir fry even though it was super late. I threw rice in the rice cooker and then got the veggies washed and chopped in record time. They were done at just about the same time as the rice, so I threw in some of the chicken I picked up yesterday as well as some sauce and voilà! It was more work than I’d been in the mood for, but was worth it, especially when paired with a glass of crisp cold white wine!

March 30, 2016 by Rae

El acuario de Mazatlán (Aquarium), Redux

My friend Sue is leaving on Friday and hadn’t been to the aquarium yet, so I proposed that we squeeze in a visit this week. Thankfully, she found some time to do so! I really enjoyed the aquarium last year and looked forward to seeing how it had, or hadn’t, changed this year.

We met at the embarcadero on this side around 9:30 and grabbed a pulmonía since we would have had to walk fully halfway to grab a bus.

The admission price had gone up from $100 to $115. I thought $100 last year was decent value so I assured Sue that as long as we got in at least one show, we’d get our money’s worth.

The biggest changes I noticed were the addition of sharks and the deletion of most of the tortoises as well as the ostrich. There were also extra shows. We were able to take in all four, and they were in rapid succession! The aquarium was packed and you could only attend a show if you had the right coloured ticket.

We did a tour inside before the first show. The big skeleton was labeled this year and as it turns out, it’s a grey whale.

I liked how all the bones were labeled to show the similarities with humans.

I liked the detail of this pelican skeleton with a fish in its beak.

Iguana with a long tail.

Sharks.

Lion fish.

I was hungry and these guys looked delicious.

Seahorses.

This guy looked a little deformed…

We went outside after so Sue could get a sense of the gardens and zoo pens. Crocodiles:

Deer.

We headed back inside for the first show, called “buceo,” which means dive. It was a quick thing of a guy going into the “shark tank” and swimming with the fish. He got hold of the shark and took it around for everyone to get a good look. He was quite entertaining and I learned a few things about sharks that I have, of course, forgotten already. 🙂 The audio was echoey and difficult to understand so I’m glad there was lots of visual entertainment!

We then went back out and passed these beautiful black swans. Hmm. I don’t think they were there last year!

Sue’s highlight of the day was the tiger. We did a special trip back to his pen before heading home.

I then showed Sue how to get into the two aviaries where you can walk around.

We were impressed by what the animals were fed. Lots of fresh stuff.

Imposing pelican.

Ducks. I suddenly remembered that I got bitten by a duck when I was in Scotland. I do not recommend the experience. It didn’t break the skin, but I did get a big bruise!

Magnificent peacock. They are starting to grow on me.

Very chatty parrots.

I think this was a prairie dog, or relative thereof.

The next show was about predators. We saw snakes, lizards, and a variety of birds. I wanted to volunteer to go hold a boa, but I was way too far up in the crowd to be a viable candidate. 🙁 This one was a lot of fun even if I couldn’t understand a lot of the information presented.

I liked the owl. The Spanish word sounds like their call, bújo.

A sign that I spotted before going into the parrot show. “If at night you cry for the sun, you will never see the stars.”

Sue helpfully volunteered me at the parrot show. Here I am doing the chicken dance.

And attempting to dance La Macarena (that takes me WAY back!).

But I was rewarded with getting two hold TWO parrots! Blue guy on my shoulder, red guy on my head (sharp talons, both of them!). I had a red macaw when I was a kid. This was a cute show, with the parrots doing a few tricks.

Next stop was the sea lion show, for which I didn’t get any pictures for some reason. While entertaining, it was nowhere near as long or as good as last year’s show, probably because they had to pack in more viewings. I would have been disappointed if that was all we got to see today, but when you add this show to the other three, we really got a lot of value for our tickets!

Sue went to see the tigers one last time and I spent some time with the snakes, iguanas, and and frogs. I’ll spare you the pictures. 🙂

Except of one of the meals… Again, I was really impressed by how well fed the animals are. I do have an issue with the idea of zoos, but they are a valuable tool for education. I think the Maz aquarium does a satisfactory job of taking care of its critters, with clean cages, toys, human interaction, and a good diet.

We headed out around 1:00 and went up to Avenida del Mar for a sushi lunch! Sue doesn’t do raw fish, but was very open to cooked Mexican-style rolls. We split chicken teriyaki, a Miami roll (crab, cream cheese, mango), and a California roll (shrimp, cream cheese, cucumber). The server assumed we’d want the larger versions of the rolls, so there was a mountain of food! Since it’s a cool day and we were coming home straight away, I took the leftovers. I was pleased that Sue really enjoyed her meal since I’m always nervous about taking someone to eat sushi, even when I have no intention of passing the “real” stuff off to them. Even with the error of our rolls being super sized, we only paid $175 each, and that was with a very generous tip. I much prefer eating this stuff with another person since we can get more variety.

It was a great day out with a good friend. Thanks for coming along, Sue!

January 9, 2016 by Rae

Finding the Shortcut

Lazy Saturday here in Maz.

I had the first massage of my life yesterday and between that and a giant glass of wine, I got to bed early and slept almost ten straight hours! The massage was fantastic, with the guy obviously knowing what he was doing because he applied just enough pressure to loosen the muscles without causing me pain. I was warned that I’d be sore today but other than feeling it a little in the neck, I just feel better today. I’ve had a bad kink in my back for ages and he got rid of it. Needless to say, I’ve booked him again! I like that he comes to your house with everything he needs, including a fresh set of sheets for each of his clients that day. My riding pals recommended him and now I know why.

It was very cold by tropical standards this morning, only +10C, so I wasn’t in any hurry to get up and only did so when the call of coffee was too loud to ignore. My house was like an igloo, so I bundled up before getting the water on. I love these cooler mornings because they are super quiet. I didn’t even hear the water guys, but I know they passed since there was a new bottle waiting for me at the curb. I don’t bother waiting for them like I did last year, instead putting my $10 on the bottle and setting both on the curb before going to bed. The other day, I only had a $20 bill so I taped it to the bottle and when I went to get my new one the next morning, there were two $5 coins sitting by it. I love that the honour system works here.

After coffee, I got dressed (including a cardigan even though it was already starting to warm up!) and went to the bakery to get a breakfast treat. I got in and promptly made another coffee to go with the pastries! Chris, Juan, and Mike got me some Veracruz coffee beans when they were here and I started on those since I was running low on my Rico beans (I would have done a run for those today had I not had this extra half pound the guys got me!). I normally buy the dark roast Veracruz and these were a lighter roast, but they still had tons of flavour and made a really good cup of coffee!

I spent some time doing bookkeeping and other online tasks, then decided to go for a walk in Maz since I haven’t been across in a week. There was absolutely no purpose to the trip other than to get exercise, so I decided that I would try to find the shortcut from Gutiérrez Nájera to Ejército Mexicano and then continue on to the aquarium to check out something in that area.

The shortcut isn’t spectacular, but it would save me ten minutes roundtrip when I go to Scotiabank and there are days when I need those ten minutes. Plus, the shortcut is through a quiet residential area rather than super busy avenues. I’ve tried to find it before, but none of the streets are marked, so I missed my turnoff. I still got to Ejército Mexicano, but through a more meandering route. The first turnoff, that from Gutiérrez Nájera was easy (it’s right across from the Red Cross (Cruz roja) building), but the first left wasn’t. On Google Maps, it really looked like turn left just before the street I’m on takes a sharp right.

So when I got to that corner, I looked around for landmarks before reaching for my phone when a lady asked me what I was looking for. I replied that it was a street called Josefa (it actually has a much longer name, but that was the first part of it). She told me it was a little further ahead. I continued another block or so and came to another fairy large cross street, so I figured I was there. Nope, the lady was behind me and said one more! There wound up being a little mercado on the corner, so I’ve got a good landmark. That brought me exactly where I expected to be, on Ejército Mexicano at the Instituto Mexicano de Gastronomía (Mexico culinary institute), so I’ve got a good landmark for the trip back.

I crossed Ejército Mexico and continued on Ángela Peralta, which terminates at Avenida Rotarismo. I crossed that road and was then on Calle Rio Baluarte, which would take me all the way to the aquarium while paralleling Avenida del Mar. I’ve done this route many, many, many times in taxis!

So here’s a map of what would end up being my 10KM walk:

I went around the block at the aquarium to check out the Bosque de la ciudad (city forest), known as the lung of Mazatlán. It butts up against a lagoon and there are major development plans for the area. It boasts kilometres of walking trails but, really, right now there isn’t much there.

Many things are forbidden, including walking your pets:

It’s a good thing I read the papers here or I would have wondered what these guys were doing with that Christmas tree!

As it turns out, this is where Maz residents drop off their trees after the holidays. They are turned into mulch!

The lagoon is rather pretty:

Lots of trees, sand, and children’s play structures.

I read an article in the paper the other day about how there is a jaguar living in the Bosque de la ciudad. I didn’t see it and am glad of it since the article made mention of how its living conditions are ‘not ideal’, although it is treated with dignity and provided with care and adequate food.

After a bit of poking around, I headed out to Avenida del Mar in search of lunch. It was my third time looking for food before 1PM in that part of town and my third time having a very hard time of it. I turned towards the Golden Zone and walked for a bit before giving up and deciding to walk back towards Centro until it got to 1:15 (it was 12:50 when I turned around) and then get on a bus for a part of town where I knew I could get a meal at that hour.

I had no sooner passed Avenida de los deportes (on which is located the aquarium), when I found an open restaurant… which just happened to serve sushi! I think the walking gods were looking out for me. 😀 I can’t remember the last time I had sushi!

They were doing a brisk takeout business, so I knew I was in a good spot. I ordered iced tea, which had an unusual and delicious flavour (and came American-style with free refills), and sat to peruse the very huge and intimidating menu.

I started with an order of two octopus nigiri. They were only $35, so I knew I wasn’t going to get much octopus on them. They wound up being a giant ball of rice with cream cheese (what is it with Mexicans and putting cream cheese on everything?!) and very thin slices of super tender and fresh octopus. Perfectly adequate for the price, but, like all sushi restaurants in Maz that I’ve been to, I could have done with some real soy sauce to dip them in. I don’t know why sushi restaurants don’t have real soy sauce when it’s such a common and easily obtainable ingredient.

As my main, I decided to forgo any attempt at finding an authentic Japanese item and went with the ‘Miami roll.’ The eel sauce (not made from eels, but meant to be served on an eel roll!) that came drizzled over top was a disappointing flavourless syrup, but the rest of the roll was fantastic. The centre was cream cheese (LOL), avocado, cucumber, and real crab (not that fake crab-stick crap), and the outside had mango slices and both dark and light sesame seeds. Again, I could have done with a little real soy sauce to cut the sweetness (or at least some pickled ginger), but it was still very yummy!

Total for lunch with a tip was a very reasonable $150. I’d go to this place again, but with a bottle of soy sauce stuck in my purse! Get this, though, I didn’t make a note of the name and I can’t find it online! Thankfully, I know it’s just a little ‘south’ of Avenida de los deportes, so I’ll be able to locate it again.

I then headed home, going back to Rio de Baluarte and retracing my steps from there to firmly cement the shortcut (pitiful as it is) in my mind.

My favourite part of living on Isla is the lancha ride. I always enjoy it. Sometimes, I find the bit from the embarcadero in Maz to wherever I’m going is a bit of a drag and wish it had better bus options, but I never mind the boat part of the commute.

So that was my Saturday. Hope you had a good one as well!

September 26, 2015 by Rae

A Day In Moose Jaw (and the Western Development Museum)

I made a rather spur of the moment trip to Moose Jaw today. I just couldn’t stand the idea of another day at home just doing busy work, so late last night, I headed to Trip Advisor to see if there were any museums in Moose Jaw I hadn’t seen yet and found the Western Development Museum, which, as a bonus, was on its last weekend of a traveling exhibit about the Franklin expedition, a topic of interest to me. It has been seven years almost to the day since I visited Saskatoon’s Western Development Museum!

I set off around 8:00 this morning and after a couple of stops in Assiniboia, made it to the museum around 10:00. It’s very easy to find, being the only turnoff between the TransCanada and Thatcher Drive, plus there’s lots of signage. The museum’s name only hints at what is on display inside. In fact, I found very little on western development per se, and rather lots on transportation. In fact, this used to be the Moose Jaw transportation museum.

You could spend hours in this museum with its warren of rooms if you read every placard, but I was there about 90 minutes, only reading up on things that caught my eye.

The Franklin exhibition was a bit small, but still interesting. It focused on the forensics of what happened to the expedition team members and how Arctic survival has, and has not, changed since then. Definitely not an exhibit I would have driven 300KM roundtrip for, but it definitely added value to my $10 admission fee.

Here are just a few things that caught my eye in my wanderings:

The museum’s drab exterior belies the treasures within.

I miss these old phones that had style!

First models of smartphones.

Rather scary looking fella!

Snowbird planes.

Homemade plane. Such a tiny cockpit!

Lots o’ planes!

Telex machine (I’ve always wondered what they look like!).

Love the midnight blue paint job.

Ambulance.

Early snowcat.

Autoboggan.

Model T.

All the difference SK license plates over the years.

Just a small smattering of the many cars on display.

SK is “home of the RCMP”

I wish I’d lived in the ’50s just for the cars!

Car and wonderful trailer.

Look at the woodwork! This is the bunk.

Dinette.

Kitchen area and tons of cabinets.

Even the ceiling is lovely.

Dinettes really haven’t changed much!

I love the bay windows at the front and back.

More lovely cars.

Old ambulance!

Interior of the horse-drawn ambulance.

Loved the colour on this one.

Electric trolley coach.

Streetcar.

The exterior of the trolley car shows that it wasn’t a bus, but rather ran along electric wires.

Found the Hogswart Express!

Caboose.

Work for $1.50 a day building the railroad… but give up three days’ wages for room and board.

Cozy bunk in a carriage.

And here’s a kitchenette area.

See the typo? Bottom right.

Unusual colour.

I WANT THIS CAR.

See how the doors open upwards?

“The only car for a lady.” *snorts*

Apple II computer.

My childhood.

Iron lung.

Prosthetic limb made from 2x4s, a door hinge, and and rubber tire! The point of this was that the man lost his leg because he couldn’t afford medical care and that Medicaid saved future Canadians from things like that…

My neighbour Caroline called me as I was wandering through the final exhibit, needing computer help that I couldn’t provide over the phone. I told her I’d be by when I got home and asked if she needed anything. She had an order for the Bulk Barn. I hadn’t specifically planned to go there, but I was going right next door to the Dollar Tree and nearby to Walmart, so I had a good excuse to go in and buy some nuts! So that was my next stop.

Then I went into Dollar Tree, which I still can’t believe exists in Canada! I was able to get everything on my list for it and even some of my Walmart things, plus a bunch of other things I only realised I needed when faced with them, like a sleep mask! I actually used one of those my first summer in Yukon, but accidentally donated it to someone. I couldn’t get my bedroom on Isla dark enough last year, so that’s the easiest solution. I also got a big tub of ear plugs, but I hope that I get used to the noise this year because sleeping with ear plugs isn’t particularly comfortable.

After, it was time for Walmart, which was chaotic as it appears that they are expanding. There were a lot of people and it was a very unpleasant shopping experience. I didn’t linger, but I loaded up on things I need that are literally twice the cost in Assiniboia and/or that I can’t find in Mexico. It was most of the shopping trip I would have done in Nogales or, more likely, Benson since I don’t like the Nogales Walmart. I also got a bunch of Rubbermaid totes that are $19.99 each at the Home Hardware in town and only $9.99 at the MJ Walmart!

Then, I was beyond ready for lunch and headed to DK Sushi. There was quite a crowd there today and they mixed up my order with another table’s. I got my sushi, no problem, but instead of two pieces each of yam and crab tempura and two dumplings, I got the yam and a double order each of crab and shrimp tempura! By the time the mistake was realised, it was too late, of course, to give the order to the correct table. I cancelled the dumplings and said that I would do my best with the seafood, but there was no way I could eat it all, not with all the sushi I had before! This is what was left over when I’d had my fill!

It’s an all-you-can eat menu, so there was no extra charge for all this food, but the waste was a shame. I actually took most of the batter off of what I did eat so I could have more seafood, but I can only eat so much!

After lunch, I walked a couple of blocks over to the Salvation Army and decided that I won’t be going back. It’s just not as good as the one in Assiniboia and has a lot of crap. I almost bought a tee-shirt for $5.75 that had a huge stain under the armpit. $5.75 for a used tee-shirt! I did pay that for another one that still had the label on it, though, and got good deals on a few other things.

I headed back to my truck, with the plan being to take it to Kal Tire to have the wheels retorqued, as per their instructions. As it turned out, the Moose Jaw Kal Tire is on the same street where I park my truck when I go for sushi (Fairford), just a couple of blocks past the Safeway. Talk about convenient! They were able to do the work right away and it took all of five minutes. I had to have the wheels retorqued after 100 to 150KM and was already at 175KM, so I didn’t want to wait to get back to the Assiniboia Kal Tire.

My final stop was Safeway for a bathroom break and to grab a cold drink from Starbucks since it was super hot out. I like their passion tea, which has no caffeine, and I always ask for it unsweetened. But dang, it’s pricey up here compared to in the States! I took a sip and must have made a face because the barista laughed and said, “Do you want sweetener after all? It’s really tart, isn’t it?” Actually, no. I thought that she had messed up and added syrup to it! So it doesn’t taste the same up here as it does in the States either. But it was still a very refreshing treat and one I was glad to sip on as I returned to my oven. I mean truck.

At the last minute, I decided to pop into Giant Tiger to see if there was anything interesting, but came out empty handed. Then, it was time for the drive home, which always feels like it takes less time than the drive to MJ. I stopped in at the grocery store in Assiniboia for drinking water and cereal, which was on mega special. They have opened up the new entrance and it hints at big changes when the renovations are done…

When I got in, I went to C&C’s to give Caroline her Bulk Barn order, have wine, gets lots of canine and feline love, and troubleshoot her email issue. It wound up being very easy seeing as it was a ‘Gmail is programmed by morons who think that alienating their users is the way to get them to switch to other Google products’ issue with Thunderbird that I troubleshooted for myself recently (hint allow ‘non-secure’ apps). Caroline was rather impressed with how quickly I sorted that out, but she has no idea how many hours I put into it at my end!

Then, I went out and helped her and Charles try to get Charles’ motorcycle into his new barn, but the slope into it is too steep so we gave up. I wound up exerting a lot of energy and muscle. So between that and the walking, I should sleep well tonight!

That was my Saturday. Hope y’all had an equally lovely one!

A Life By Design

"Sometimes in life, we reach to a right place by departing from a wrong port with a wrong ship!" ~ Mehmet Murat Ildan

Sushi

Impressions of Moab, UT

Not the Best Day to Go to the Movies

El acuario de Mazatlán (Aquarium), Redux

Finding the Shortcut

A Day In Moose Jaw (and the Western Development Museum)