Interest

Paying my dues now and hoping that the dividends will kick in soon. Actually that's not fair, I'm getting a lot out of the experience though much of it has been difficult. Trying to keep my spirits up about everything though. For example the train that was supposed to get in to Goa (beaches) at 6pm (leaving at 7am), instead was delayed to leave at 11 and didn't get in until 2:30am. Without a hotel room I was forced to figure out the Indian pay phone system, with aid from a rickshaw driver who then took me to the place (with his starting price being 250Rs and after intense negotiation his ending price, still 250Rs. It was the middle of the night so I didn't have much option)

Everyone knows what a lovely day at the beach in the sun is like. Unfortunately I can hardly remember since the monsoons are late this season and it has been raining like mad. Damply I walked about 10 km during a full-out monsoon the entire time, first down the beach, cowering under a leaky shack with some locals, through the fog I saw a crashed tanker 50m from shore, and then climbed around on an old Portuguese fort that apparently offers excellent views. Naturally when I sat down for lunch, the rain stopped. Took a ramshackle old bus back to the hotel for a nap and considered just staying in all night, but my stomach said otherwise so I set off in search of dinner, but wouldn't get far before my journey would take an unexpected twist.

By the Numbers

Caught the #44 Bus at 9am to take Stair #4 down to Wreck Beach off UBC Campus. Saw 1 loose seal pop his head up just off shore two times.

Retreated 400 stairs up Stair#5 to see at least 8 totem poles and 100's of roses in the Rose Garden.

Pushed our way through the 50,000 undergrads to meet 2 of Natasha's physics friends for sushi. Only $7.50 gave me 1 tofu teriyaki, 3 pieces of tempura, 6 avocado rolls and 1 salad (plus I nabbed 2 tempura rolls off Natasha's plate!)
Traveling with 0 companions I scrambled down 470 stairs to see about that many butt cheeks on the "clothing-optional" part of Wreck Beach. After 2 hours I met Natasha for a single long-island iced tea at Koerner's Grad Pub.
Due to 2 swollen tonsils there was 1 Final Fantasy concert canceled, leaving 2 extremely disappointed people (probably many more actually). After 9 Chick'n Nuggets and 1/2 a Sleeman Honey Brown we walked 500 miles, through Yaletown to the water where we witnessed the the 1 time/month bike demonstration Critical Mass roll by that must have had 250+ participants.
A long walk around Chinatown, carefully avoiding East Hastings, turned out to be one giant waste of time as the Night Market season has come to a close. To partially fill the void we split 1 delicious strawberry-raspberry bubble tea, as I shot rapid fire up to 9-at-a-time pearls out of the oversized straw.

Long Island Iced Tea Recipe:
1 part vodka
1 part tequila
1 part rum
1 part gin
1 part triple sec
1.5 parts sweet'n'sour mix
1 part Coke
1 Yummy Drink Altogether