All posts tagged: scenic

Canadian Rockies: The Ultimate Road Trip [Part 2]

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Part 2 of Kittie and Samiha’s Rockies experience in Canada!  Here’s Part 1 in case you missed it. Rockies Heli Canada We also made a stop and did a helicopter ride over the mountains with Rockies Heli Canada! It was a 20-minute ride called the “6 Glaciers Tour” and was simply breathtaking. The views were incredible and it feels completely different when you’re up at over 9,000 ft! We flew over 6 different glaciers and through the valleys, but also over the Cline River. The road you see below there is the David Thompson Hwy, which is another incredible drive that takes you to Edmonton, instead of Banff. Off the David Thompson Hwy and along the Cline River, we stopped near the Kootenay Plains and had a little picnic. It was the perfect spot and gave us a moment to sit, relax and enjoy the surrounding scenery. Banff Banff is home to the famous Lake Louise, but rarely do people talk about Moraine Lake, which is just a few minutes drive away. Both are beautiful …

Boston: Walking through the American Revolution

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It was just after Canada Day on July 1st which happens to fall on a Wednesday and so K and I decided to write off Thursday and Friday to hit the road and give Boston a visit (just in time for 4th of July!).  It was a blisteringly hot day so obviously we stopped for some McDonald’s soft serve 🙂 After about 8hrs of driving we made it just in time to catch the sunset.  Their metro system is very robust and you get pretty much get to anywhere using their transit.  We walked over to South Boston to explore the area and grab some seafood as recommended by our Airbnb host.  Seaport is where you can find beautiful views of the water and about a dozen seafood restaurants . Legal Seafood was a hot spot and for a good reason – they had probably the best outdoor patio lookout.  They charge a pretty penny for it too, but that didn’t stop a line up from bursting past the doors. We skipped it and ate …

Ottawa Photo Diary 2

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Summer in Ottawa is a great time to just roam around discover new neighborhoods and good eats.  Ottawa also does a very good job of keeping their public gardens and trees very well groomed.  I love jogging the canal and just taking in the scenic views. Fraser Cafe – A neat little cafe featuring fresh produce.  I had their Cobb Salad and it was actually so good!  They added small twists of flavor from pickled radishes and crispy chips on top and a light dressing which complimented the crumbles of blue cheese very well.  Great place for a light, healthy meal. I’m quite a fan of LavAzza coffee, their beans produce a really good strong brew and I love using it for making espresso.  They have a cute little cafe on Lansdowne which also serves gelato and some prepared foods.  Iced Americano is my go-to summer caffinated drink and LavAzza makes a really one – none of that watered down crap. Took a stroll down to Victoria Island to check out the views there.  Nothing special …

Summer in the Capital

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Surprisingly, there is a lot of events happening in Ottawa in the summer.  Almost anything you’d normally find in Toronto, there’s something similar (granted, on a smaller scale).  Although, there is one thing that Toronto is lacking – Nordstrom.  I’ve found some great deals on their summer and anniversary sale.  Their built in restaurant, Bazille, is actually a great spot to dine after a good shopping haul.  They have a lovely patio area, delicious food, and great service.  Bonus: the menu is very affordable so you don’t have to choose between that pair of sunglasses or a satisfying dining experience. I like to stick in scenic shots of my jogging routes in all my Ottawa related posts because… I mean, look how soothing this is. Bluesfest – another huge event in Ottawa that runs multiple weeks with dozens of artists coming to perform including the likes of Keith Urban and Hedley and many more in between.  I had the pleasure of attending courtesy of my company.  We had a gorgeous two tiered booth with an open …

Australia – Great Ocean Road drive

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8 hours later we arrived in…Melbourne, Australia!!  Kind of a surreal moment when the captain announced our landing in the place I’ve been meaning to visit for the longest time.  Australia’s seasons are opposite what we have in Canada and despite the fact that it was Spring in October when we landed, the weather was quite chilly!  We had some lovely friends who were gracious enough to let us stay with them for our 4-day stop.  The Great Ocean Road drive was the first on our bucket list and it is essentially a long windy road built right next to the coast of Victoria so you get these amazing beach and mountain views as you cruise along.  Every beach was more beautiful than the next.  The waters were so crystal clear.  We drove a comfortable 3 hours of this scenic route from Melbourne to Apollo Bay.  By the way, Australians drive on the other side of the road… it was actually kind of trippy seeing cars coming from the other direction, but you get used …

Hong Kong [Part 4]: The Peak, Royal Yacht Club, and lots of great city views

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We started the day off exploring a bit of the city core around Central and Sheung Wan.  It’s really interesting seeing the different districts and how buildings suddenly merge from run down to corporate towers.  I think there’s so much character in these streets.  For lunch, we headed to a fairly remote area to dine in a very special restaurant located inside the 中華廚藝學院 (Hong Kong Culinary Academy).  What’s special about this place is that it is a training facility to groom students for a career in the hotel and catering industry.  The purpose of having guests dine at this training facility is to allow the students to get hands on experience dealing with clients.  As such, only lunch is available and there is very limited seating.  Dozens of students dotted the dining area with their manager hovering closely to ensure everything from pouring the tea to explaining the dishes was done correctly.   Guests were required to communicate purely in English to force the students to master the language.  It was a very interesting …