Posts Tagged "travel"
Las Vegas, city of excess
Business pleasure or pleasure?
Las Vegas is a strange place, I think it’s the nearest you can get to what you might imagine a parallel universe to be. An hedonistic alternate reality where society is dedicated to the pursuit of pleasure, and nothing else matters. Big corporations own big hotels & casinos, theatres and night entertainment venues, all designed to separate you from your hard-earned cash in exchange for giving you some great experiences.
I found myself somewhat in conflict at first in Las Vegas; I loathe the incessant commercialism of corporate America, avoiding McDonalds or Disney as much as I can. I hate tourist tat and tourist gimmicks. So by all reasonable logic I should have hated Las Vegas – as the epitomy of everything I think is wrong with the world. But somehow I didn’t. I actually really liked it. And it took me a long time to figure out why.
Read MoreVive la différence!
Surprising and not-so-surprising differences between life in the UK & Canada
On the whole, life in Canada is pretty similar to life in the UK. That was possibly the biggest surprise. Nonetheless, after our first month here we’ve noticed various things which are definitely different from what we were used to back home – some have a big effect and some are just minor differences which you may find interesting. So without further ado, here are 10 things that I’ve found different living in Canada.
1. Groceries and Food
I always thought that with the combination of American mass-market economics and the French food-loving influence, that it would be easy to buy groceries affordably and cheaply here. It was a big surprise to find out that the price of groceries here is somewhat extortionate! For example, a pack of 3 peppers (capsicums) (which works out cheaper than buying them loose) is $4.99 (just under £3) meaning they are about £1 each – twice the price they are in the UK. And cheese is horrendously expensive, varying between $20-$40 a kilogram (£11-£22) meaning a 250g block of cheese similar to those you might buy at home for under £2 will set you back more like £4 here. And that’s for basic cheddar. If you want some nice French cheeses it’s a lot more.
Another thing that’s disappointing is the quality of the food, the fruit and veg is often tired and doesn’t keep more than a couple of days.
Living in a bilingual city
“One man’s fish is another man’s poisson”
One of the things that has been particularly fascinating to me since arriving here is the way that language is used here in Montréal. It is the first time I have lived somewhere truly bilingual. Canada is officially a bilingual country, but Québec is an entirely French province. Some parts, like Québec City, have little difference from France. Montréal though has a fascinating mix of “Anglo” and French, along with many other nationalities, Jamaican and Arabic being some of the most prevalent. It even varies between parts of the city. Notre-Dame-de-Grace, where we live, is a very Anglo area, as are most parts West and South of the mountain. On the other hand, the Plateau, Outremont, and areas East and North of Mont Royal tend to be more French.
On first impressions, you would think that you were surrounded by French speakers, because all the signs, billboards, store fronts and even announcements on the Metro are in French. Most stores and businesses have different names here – Kentucky Fried Chicken is branded here as PFK (Poulet Frit de Kentucky) and Staples is Bureau en Gros (literally “Office Wholesale”). Business owners and restauranteurs will often greet you in French, and when you attempt to respond in French, they will continue to converse with you in French.
Read MoreThe Road To Sepilok
A Short Travel Story
What follows is my entry into the 2008 Telegraph Travel Writing Competition. The brief was to write a short story in a maximum of 500 words about an adventurous travel experience. I’ll let it stand for itself, except to say that it happened while my wife and I were on honeymoon last summer. My wife is called Alex too – which you need to know while reading this or you will get confused!!
The Road To Sepilok
by Alex Bowyer
The fuel light had been flashing furiously for an hour. It was dark now. In 100 miles we’d seen only two petrol stations; our anxiety grew into panic when we found a third one deserted.
Driving across Malaysian Borneo was always going to be ambitious, but we really wanted to see orang-utans in the wild. We hadn’t anticipated this kind of trouble.
“If we run out, who could we call?” I wondered aloud, “I bet there’s no AA here.”
“No,” sighed Alex.
At last the endless palm plantations receded. We’d reached the outskirts of Sandakan.
“Can you tell how far it is?” Alex asked. Her voice was strained.
I checked. “No.” Useless map.
Minutes passed. We drove on.
“Hang on!” I yelled. “I saw a sign.” We must be close!
She pulled over.
“OK, you go and check. I’ll turn around.”
I walked back to the roundabout and crossed the road carefully, invisible in the darkness. Cicadas chirruped loudly in the dense jungle all around. I reached the signpost. It read LABUK B&B – 600 METRES, with a big arrow. I smiled. What a relief! I bounded back, eager to share the good news.
Getting closer, I froze. Four Malaysian youths surrounded the car. Shit. I ran, my heart pounding. Shouldn’t have left her.
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