LOVE . the symphony of life: Excursion to Victoria Day ONE

ON the second day in Canada, we went to Victoria, a town 3-hour away from Vancouver. It was quite journey to go to Victoria, as it requires us to take 4 different types of transportation. Because of that, we woke early, SUPER early, like 5.30am that morning. First, we took the Skytrain from Waterfront Station to Bridgeport Station (20 minutes), from there, we boarded Bus #620 (40minutes; the bus was waiting for passengers from the Skytrain so no waiting time). Bus 620 took us to Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal, where we took the BC Ferry to Victoria at 9am. The ferry fares is $14.85 one-way and takes around 1.5hr to reach Swartz Bay Ferry Terminal, Victoria.

BC Ferries to Victoria

Once we got on the ferry, we're very impressed by the amenities in it. It has a buffet restaurant, game room, cafe, gift shop, free wifi, study areas, many flat screen TVs, and open deck. It's literally a cruise! Very different from the little ferry I took from Butterworth to Penang or Kuala Muda to Pulau Langkawi :P

Game room inside the ferries

MORNING!!

After much hassle, we reached Victoria at 10.45am. From there, we took bus #71 to downtown Victoria, which was another 1 hour journey. The bus fare was only $2.50, same as for the Skytrain and bus in Vancouver. Again, the bus was waiting for passenger to get off the ferry, so no waiting time at the bus station, which made the whole journey smoother and more enjoyable. Finally, we were at downtown Victoria at 12pm! *We basically learned how to take the public transportation the night before through Tripadvisor. Internet does made thing a lot convenient*

Look at the turquoise blue water!

After check-in at the Green Turtle Hostel where we're staying that night, we headed straight for piggy lunch at BBQ Pig Joint. On a side note, the hostel was owned by a friendly Chinese old man. We didn't expect that since the name sounded like a youthful hostel! The room was only $20/nite/person. Back to the lunch, Canadians seem to like pig a lot! And, they do know how to cook their pork! I had a pork belly sandwich, which is basically 2 slabs of fatty belly meat, grilled to perfection in special BBQ sauce, with a runny-yolk- fried egg on top of it. The belly was so juicy! It's been a while since I ate pork meat with oozing pork fat! Yum! *I know it's high in cholesterol, but once a while, never mind la :)*

PORK BELLY + FRIED EGG SANDWICH ~ YUM!

Pulled pork meal set

After the yummi-licious lunch, we went to walk around the downtown, looking for various attraction points. We went to several churches and a huge 4-storage family home turned castle built by a old coal business mogul back in late 19th or early 20th. The weather was gloomy that day with some rain. We walked in rain for couple hours and couldn't really take nice outdoor pictures. But I did take some of the churches and castle.

One of the old church

Victoria Theater's Exterior

Saw many of the similar decoration because of Christmas -- the birth of baby Jesus

Reached historical Governor's house after 20minutes of walking

Governor's hous

Garden at the Governor's house

Can't go in... it's close.. *disappointed*

A coal mogul house in the past

Real polar bear fur turned carpet that was used by the owner

old-time bathroom

Last pictures before leaving.. it's turned dark even though it's only 4pm at the time

Saw this interesting mural on a building's wall on the way back to downtown

Very European feel...

Personally, I think Victoria has a feel of old London. Though I never been to London yet, the street views and scenery always conjured up the image of London I saw in movies when I was little. Maybe it's one of the important colonial towns back in the days when Canada was British colonies, the building structures, tradiations, cultures, and religions still have heavy influence of the British, which I found very interesting because I rarely sense that in the States which is much diverse in term of culture and people.

After much sightseeing, we walked back to downtown, stopping by at a used bookstore and window shopping at the Bay mall. For dinner, we planned to get seafood at Red Fish Blue Fish but too bad, it was closed. So, we "yelped" and found a 4.5 star restaurant serving Canadian food nearby, called the Clay Pigeon. It was a tiny restaurant but it was full with people. Even though I said it was full, the number of customers were actually less than what we usually see in a "full-house" restaurant in Davis, like around 30 in Canada VS 100 in Davis. I think maybe Canadian eat out less??! So, I got a really traditional dish, garnet yam pie ($16), while Sarah had fried oyster sandwich ($8)! And, we shared fried pig ear ($8) for the appetizer. See, Canadians do love pork! Pig ear dishes are basically non-existent here in the States except in some ethnic cuisine restaurants. My pie was a very down-to-earth meal, very home-cooked meal, some times you'd eat during a traditional Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner. Sarah's sandwich was loaded huge and really fresh oysters! Dinner came to around $40 for both.

Fried Pig Ear

Garnet Yam Pie with broccoli and mashed potatoes as sides

Look at the huge oysters! ~vegetable soup as side~

After dinner, we walked around the waterfront/harbor, taking some pictures of Victoria's night view. That night, we went back to hostel at around 11pm, and went to bed quite early. The hostel room was quite chilly because the owner only provided us a small portable heater.. But, still, we slept like a pig after the long day..