January 8, 2007 by PK.

Alright, now on the final installment of my epic trilogy of my trip to Canada….now thinking back, I really should’ve just written it each day. But then who cares, I’m sure no one’s following my blog on a daily basis anyways.

I woke up the next morning (the third day) at around 7am. However, no one else was waking up. I eventually asked if anyone was actually gonna snowboard. I was actually thinking about going snowboarding again. My body did recover about 70-75 percent, so I wanted to push my body a little bit more again. I was thinking either I go snowboarding myself, and a little with my brother, or take lessons one more time. But then no one else was going. My brother could, but he didn’t want to go the whole day with me since I’m no where near his level, and I guess I don’t blame him. The other guy is still sick. He did snowboard the day before for half a day as he felt a little better, but then his cold gotten worse after that. So he decided to just sit it out completely. It sucked for him, but I completely understand. It’s what happened to me on my trip to Tahoe two years ago. I was getting over a cold and I just didn’t want to snowboard to make things worse, especially when I know I was just gonna keep falling half the time anyways. I could barely snowboard at that time. Well now I’m a lot better. The thing with my snowboarding is that I’m just afraid of speed. My brother is the type that will push himself a little beyond, and just fall to learn. I’m the opposite. I need to be in control as much as possible. Of course I fall too, but I will not push my speed further than what I feel comfortable falling on. So I have to wait until I feel the board more before I even attempt to straight faster. But I’m getting there…it just takes a little longer I think.

Well, for the third day then, finally we ended up not going snowboarding. So we went to the concierge table and asked them what is there to do around here in Whistler if we don’t want to ski or snowboard. She was of course telling us today’s one of the best day ever to snowboard. We are like…yeah we know…and it’s true…it was perfect. It’s been snowing, and the sun was out for a bit. I wished I took more pictures. But between snowboarding and having to lug the camera everywhere…I just didn’t want to break anything. And besides, while I was taking lessons, it was kinda hard to take pictures when I’m just trying to keep pace with everyone else there. I should’ve taken pictures of the glaciers, but then I left my phone camera at the hotel the second day.

At the concierge table, she told us about ziptrek and snowmobile…as the stuff that we’d probably be most interested in…she didn’t think we’d be into dog sleds…which I think is cool, but just not what we are looking for. I actually already saw these two things a brochure I got at the sushi restaurant. We looked through it a little before going to the table, but now she gave us a price. It was a little pricey, but we decided finally to just go with the snowmobile. I didn’t want to do the ziptrek. It was pricey, and for only 4 runs….and it was like I don’t really care. With the snowmobile…hey…at least I get a helmet…and I can say I’ve rode on a snowmobile….it was just so much cooler. We went and took the 3 hour adventure tour. There were a few choices. There was a scenic tour that’s a little easier going. But she recommended the adventure one since we looked like that type…adrenaline junkie…haha…no so much me…but my brother and his friend. I was just along for the ride. But with machines, I can go much faster and do push a little further.

We then headed to the meeting place and then took their van to their base where the snowmobiles were at. It was so cool getting on one. But that first second was pretty difficult. I got the last one in the line of 5 vehicles with six people…one couple shared one, plus the instructor. I was gonna take the camera up, but then just thought it was too heavy for me to carry for 3 hours since I’m just still kinda tire from yesterday. Well, the first part of the ride was the most difficult. I was trying to get a sense of the vehicle. The bumpy road did not help at all. It’s because it’s used so much down near the base, the snow becomes very bumpy. And the people ahead were all moving pretty fast. I needed a few minutes to get a sense of what I can and can’t do. And of course I am more on the cautious side of things. So thorughout the whole thing, I just felt like I was trying to play catchup. We finally made a stop at a nice little viewing area. It was very nice out there. I took a few pictures with my camera phone. It turned out alright. I need to fix it up a little better. Then we had a minor switch of snowmobiles. My brother wanted to ride with his friend. They took the back two. I took the one in front of them, and then the other two groups/individual took the first two behind the guide. We headed down and to another side of the mountain.

My mobile was behaving a little weak. It wouldn’t really pick up speed sometimes even when I press full throttle. But I kept going. This time it was a lot better. I was really getting a hand of the thing and pushed further and faster. We then pulled over to the side at this place where someone had accidentally drove their snowmobile off the side of the road…down a cliff…It wasn’t too far down, but it was steep. They were figuring out how to get it out. Our guide stopped for a moment just to make sure everything was alright. We were just about to leave when my motor will not start again. I tried to restart it, but it wouldn’t work. I had the guide come over to check it out and he couldn’t start it too. We found out it was out of gas. So he had to call the base to get some gas out here. Apparently someone forgot to check the gas. The guide couldn’t do it as he usually does cause he was the driver this time. So someone else forgot about it. Well, I wasn’t too happy, but it was a great view up there, and it also gave us a chance to help the people who had the mobile stuck hanging off a cliff/creek like place out. Just as we pulled the stuck snowmobile enough for it to drive back up the cliff, the gas person arrived. Well, not with gas, but with another snowmobile for me to switch. We continued our journey.

We got to a little cabin in the mountains and had lunch. They served us hot cider…which was very nice, and sausage hotdogs. The cabin was bought from the set of a Silvester Stylone’s film, one that bombed and never made it to the theatre. I forgot which one was it. I commented that I guess they needed to make their money back somehow. It was a nice little cabin…with just one major room. One man was there operating it…mainly to cook for us who are traveling up there. There’s no electricity or running water. It was just what it was, a cabin. Lunch was a nice little break. We then continued. We got a little bit more time from the base because of the gas issue. Though in the end, it was all the same cause we were speeding across the mountain. But this allowed the tourguide to take us to some hidden forest trail. It was just absolutely amazing.

We got out to some flatter more longer passages, and we were flying across the mountain here at close to 100km/hr, which is about 60miles/hr. It was insane, on a snowmobile. I was standing and driving at that speed, with the wind blowing snow at me, and the ice/snow that’s coming off the ground from the vehicle hitting my face, even through my helmet….WOW!!! That was one of the most amazing experience of my life. It was totally worth the really high price for that experience. I really wasn’t sure when I was coughing up $200 for 3 hours. But then after that…it was totally worth it. Though I will never do that again if I had to pay that price…it’s a once in a lifetime experience. I mean I would love to do it again…but only probably if I buy my own cabin and snowmobile. Or maybe if that doesn’t happen, in the distant future when I have kids…to take them on that. Otherwise, I’ll probably pass. Anyways, it was just so much fun. I really did have an amazing trip. That night we went down to the village…one to get the sick roommate out…two, to buy some souvenirs. I bought a few small items here and there. I bought a little 2010 winter olympic mascot glass thing. It’s pretty nice. I like it. I couldn’t however find a nice beanie with whistler/blackcomb on it that I liked. I really wanted that. And I also kinda wanted a nice board sticker, but didn’t find one that I wanted. I was gonna go back down to look again after dinner, but it was a little late, and I needed to pack. We needed to leave at around 3am.

Now that drive in the morning was INSANE. And I really mean it this time. I volunteered to drive. I felt like since I really didn’t do much on the way up, and just left it to the other three, I decided to drive down. Boy that drive was crazy…CRAZY. It was snowing pretty hard, and I had a near zero visibility. I couldn’t tell at all which way was the road turning beyond maybe five feet in front of the car because of the snow. Luckily at first I followed a snowplow. It was nice, though a little way too slow. I was like I will never make it down on time if we kept this pace. Well, the snow plow finished after about 15 min and I was there in the front of a line of about 5 cars. I couldn’t see anything. I couldn’t really pull over to let someone else lead as I didn’t want to get stuck in the snow, or off the side or anything. So I just kept going. I never concentrated this hard in driving in my life. Luckily my brother’s friend sitting next to me stayed up with me and there was a nice GPS for us to us because of my brother’s other friend. They really got some nice things. So I felt same to just keep driving. Well, after about 20 min to 30 min, we came up behind a bus who was following a snowplow. I felt a little relieved to at least get some temporary visibility. I can see the road better with the cars in front. But I know the snow plow will pull over soon. I just wasn’t sure what the bus will be doing. I was worried it will be going just as slow as the snow plow and that will be really bad for us. We would’ve been so late. But then after another 5-10 mins when the snowplow pulled over, the bus took off. I mean it was going an average of 60km in the snow. That was fast. I was having a little trouble following it. But I was not going to let the bus out of my site. I knew it was the best way for me to get off this mountain in this weather condition. With the bus, I could see a lot more up front, and I could go faster then with me in the front of a line. So I just kept following that bus. I had a feeling it was one of those express bus from whistler to the airport, and so I guess it was very experienced with this road. I followed that bus for 1.5-2 hours. We gotten to places where it was raining instead of snowing because it was 1 degreee Celsius instead of 0….but I decided not to pass or anything and just follow….boy was I grateful that I did that. Cause we kept going in between rain and snow. The bus was pretty fast anyways, so I felt like it was alright to just follow it. Eventually I made it out to downtown Vancouver. I still followed the bus as it exited the same exit as me. I guess it really is trying to get to the airport. But I finally lost it at a light that I didn’t make as the bus did. But it was alright. We had to get gas anyways, and at that intersection was a gas station. We pulled over, got gas, and the other driver took over, since he rented the car. He got us to the airport eventually. But if I were to follow that bus, and somehow parked near the bus, I so would have went down and like thanked the bus driver for leading the way. It was such an amazing experience driving down that mountain pretty much blind. The whole trip was just one amazing experience after another….So did I say the trip was just amazin….!!!!!! WOW!!!!

Alright…so that was my whole trip….oh wait…there’s more….at the airport…HAHA….

At the airport….we checked in at about 640 when our flight was 750. We got there a little late. In fact, one of my brother’s friend’s flight was at 735. We were pushing it a little. The website said we should be there 90 mins before our flight. After we checked in, we had to go through custom…boy that line was long….really long…it was all twisted and stuff, and went out from the custom room through the duty free shop, and out to the main hall, and still twisted it’s way down the length of that place….a couple of times….We thought he was not gonna make it. But in the end, it was all good. Well, actually, my flight got delayed. I was actually with my brother and his friend’s flight. We were delayed till 915 because our plane had a mechanical failure….so they are getting us on a different plane…one coming in from calgary. Well, we didn’t leave the airport until 945. We got to LA at 1230. But by the time our packages got out, it was 130. On top of that, my brother’s friend had a major migraine attack up in the air the last 30 mins of the flight…and boy was he in pain. I felt so bad for him this whole trip. Nothing went right for him. It just sucked. I felt even worse that I had such a great time up there. Next time I guess.

Well, this finally concludes my trip this last five days. I really enjoyed it and thank all the people that made it possible….haha…mainly my brother and his two friends. I had an amazing time. I learned a lot and have grown as a person too. I did some reflective self discovery…perhaps I’ll go into that in more details at a later time. Anyways, I am off to a great start for 2007. I have an audition tomorrow…so I’m really doing well. I had one last tuesday before I left…and one right away since coming back…it’s really nice. Thank God for everything that he has given me. I really do thank God for this trip and everything else. I really do love life more and more.

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January 8, 2007 by PK.

Now…the second day was just insanely crazy for me. We woke up again at around the same time. I was again debating whether to take lessons or go on my own. I decided to take lessons again. I figured it’s $50 more than the regular lift tickets. Though the instuctor didn’t teach that much, but for about $10/hour…someone to push me a little and give me a few pointers…and to go down with a few other people at around my level…it’s not too bad.

So when I got to the lesson place, this time they already started testing people. But luckily I was there yesterday and the same instructor happened to be there too. He took me again, as well as two of the other people who were also in the class yesterday. We actually got pretty lucky, cause no one else joined in. I guess we are a little more advanced now. Finally we are about to head up Whistler mountain by the gondola. But the line was really long, and I’m talking about the one for the ski school. I guess it was because we waited a little bit for perhaps a few more people that never materialized. So instead we decided…more like the instructor decided to take us up to Blackcomb instead. We went up the blackcomb excalibur gondola, then transferred over to the excelerator. Then we boarded a little way to the glacier lift. Dude by the end of the ride, I think it took about 30 mins or so to get to the very top, we were a little over 7000ft. We were above all the trees and stuff and pretty much at the glacier. The instructor kinda wanted us to see that. I guess it was cool that we were up there…but it was insanely difficult. It was a blue run coming down for the first part. It took us near an hour just to get down that initial 1000ft to the Crystal hut. It was crazy. The wind was blowing really hard and it was snowing. My googles started to fog up really bad and I couldn’t see anything. I finally had to just take them off and go with nothing. I was having such a hard time initially. I guess I just wasn’t anticipating something this crazy right away, especially right after yesterday. I figured it would be something a little more incremental. But it was just go, go, go…from there on. I guess it was a really good experience for me to just get into it and go for it. It was just amazing to be up there. There were just some crazy areas near there. There was a very narrow horseshoe pass that was hard for me to navigate through. If we went off to the side, it would be pretty darn difficult. We would probably end up at some black diamond down the hill. It was crazy. So I was being very careful as I kept going. I almost did hit some skier, but managed to fall away from them. It was just crazy hard because of how narrow it was. I just couldn’t believe it was the first thing we did. The instructor said it’s the easiest…and I thought it would be a green run. But it was a blue run. And up at Whistler…unlike in Mt. High, a green run is already pretty hard, especially up at that altitude. It was just so crazy, but cool. It was just such an experience.

Anyways, we finally got to the crystal hut, so we stayed there for a little bit to gather ourselves together a bit. Then we came down a bunch of different ways. I though it was all green, but now check back at the map, and trying to remember coming down, I highly doubt everythng was green. I remember coming in and seeing the sign to the Excelerator Chairlift. But looking at the map, from the direction we came from, there are only blue lines over there. So we went down in combinations of blue and green. No wonder there were places that were just too steep for me to try to turn there. I guess I shouldn’t feel too bad then. It was just so hard at times. But I guess that’s how we actually did get down by about 1pm. Otherwise, looking at the length of those green runs, I can’t imagine to have gotten down that quickly. Well, it was still a lot of fun.

Then we stopped for an hour for lunch. I had soup again, but not mushroom. We went to a different place. I had corn chowder. It wasn’t as good as the mushroom soup, and cost a tad bit more. But in the end, it still a good break. All that time I was just thinking to myself how the heck am I going to make it up and down whistler in an hour after lunch. We had to get back to the bottom at 3pm. I really wanted to just stop and go back and rest, but I refused to let that happen. So I guess it was up to whistler afterall.

Now, that ride up the Whistler was long, and standing there did not help me out at all. It was going a little bit slower than usual because of the high wind…so that didn’t help either. But finally we made it to the top and it was here goes nothing. A little way down, we lost the girl who was with us as she made a wrong turn. We were really worried cause she may end up at a completely different part of the mountian. But then she was smart enough to find her way back and we met up with her closer to the bottom of the mountatin near olympic station. Well, we all got down safe and sound. But I was so out of energy by the end. It was really an insane ride for me. I have never done so much exercise in my life in such a short period of time. I think these two days I’ve done more exercise then a whole years worth of exercise…in terms of actual officially doing something. I don’t count taking that minute of exercise here and there. So it was just crazy for me. When I finally got back to my hotel via the lift…and then walk across a slope…I was so tired. I was fully concentrating on how to get over this pain as quickly as possible. It actually did work. I was recovering really quick. I had a cramp in my right leg so I drank the soy milk that had a lot of calcium in it. It really helped. The cramp went away pretty soon. I was eating a lot…pretty much constantly to give my system the resources to rebuild itself. I’ve never concentrated in my body’s recovery like this ever. It was really amazing. But I did feel like an old man…along with another friend there. We were like two old man aching at every movement we made. I finally went to sleep near midnight.

Now onto Part III…

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January 7, 2007 by PK.

So finally, here’s the blog for my trip up to Whistler for the last five days. I really should have kept this up thoughout the week, but I decided I’ll just write one big one at the very end.

Well, I went up to Whistler/Blackcomb with my brother and his two friends. I know, I kinda felt like a tag along, but somehow he just manages to persuade me to go, without really even trying to. Nonetheless, I was up at Whistler, and I did have a blast. In case if you don’t know where that is, it’s a two hour drive from Vancouver. This is where they will be having the 2010 winter Olympics.

We arrived in Vancouver on Wed, the 3rd. Well actually, I arrived at Vancouver at noon and waited 3 hours for my brother and his two friends. It was an interesting experience waiting like this at the airport. I pretty much sat there all alone for three hours, ate lunch and got on my laptop. I love my macbookpro. Eventually everyone arrive at 3, more like 330, and we were off to Whistler. You know, this trip was a very rare experience for me in terms that I really didn’t have to do much. I didn’t have to figure out any of the logistics…aside form buying my plane ticket and getting to the airport, I pretty much enjoyed the ride for the most part…until the end. I’ll get to that later.

After a nice 2+ hour drive, and a grocery/dinner stop, we arrived at the Marriott at Blackcomb mtn. It was a really nice resort hotel, right next to the slope. In fact, we literally walked out of out hotel and boarded our way down the slope to the day lodge at the base of blackcomb mtn. The best part, it was free. My brother’s friend is a platinum member there, with like an insane amount of points. So we got the room using his points. That night, we rested for the next day.

We woke up at around 7am that morning. Unfortunately, my brother’s friend who had all the points was sick…and still am…so he couldn’t ski…he ski’s, not board….an unfortunate fact…haha. Nonetheless, the three of us still went down to the base to get our lift tickets. It was an amazing day out. It was lightly snowing, but most of the day was pretty clear. I decided to take lessons that day since otherwise I’d be pretty much all alone that day. I also could use a little bit of lessons….I learn a little better that way…with someone telling me stuff, and giving me a little push. Well, that and there’s just no way I could keep up at all with my brother and his friend. Well, lesson was great. I learned to connect turns together. Not very well, but at least I can do it. I’m also able to pick up a little more speed. That I think is my biggest obstacle on the snowboard. I’m really afraid for speeding up too much….and to be faster than what I’m absolutely comfortable with. So it takes me a little longer than most people in order to move up in ability level. The lesson was in two parts…We boarded from 930 to 1130 on the really bunny slope to learn how to turn. We took an early lunch…which I highly recommend for people who ever plan to go…and plan to eat lunch at the lodge…my brother ate back at the room. I decided not to cause it was just too difficult to find the group again if I left. Eating a little earlier helps avoid the later crowd at the restaurant…and also the line back up the slope. Anyways, I had a mushroom soup…which turned out to be really good. It had all sorts of different types of mushrooms in the soup which was much better than what I hoped for. After lunch, we took a few more runs from a little bit higher…still a very easy learning slope to get better at turns. At the end of the day at around 2pm, we came down the slope on our boards on a green line. I had a few falls, but it wasn’t all too bad for me that day. I went back to the hotel to meet up with my brother and the others and rested there. That night, we decided to hit the town and check out what’s there. We ended up having sushi there. It was not too bad. Of course I think we have really great sushi here in LA so it was hard to live up to the standard…that and we are up in the mountains where things needs to be shipped further. Though they are closer to Alaska. After dinner, we pretty much headed back to our hotel room and rested. Well, my brother and his friends played world of warcraft and warcraft III for the most part…watched some canadian TV, and I played the sims 2 and then eventually went to bed.

To Part II

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