Do you want to experience a slow, scenic river ride in Cambridge? Then, you have to experience punting along the River Cam. We’re lucky to be treated by my cousin Evan on this tour. Thanks Evan!
Punting along the River Cam gives you a view of the different colleges of the University of Cambridge. We used the Scudamore Punting Company for the tour. In this tour, we rode a punt, a boat with a flat bottom. A punt has two ends: the Cambridge end is the flat deck (till) where the punter stands and the Oxford end is the open end where people sit (if you’re in a group tour); it is also where the punter stands in Oxford.
The ride was relaxing. It is also slow-paced, giving you a chance to take lots of pictures of the beautiful architecture of the different colleges of the University of Cambridge.
During our river tour, our punter introduced us to the “Ron Weasley” of punters.
There he is! It must be Ron’s part time job after the Harry Potter series. =)
Writing the name of customers on their cups is a fun culture in Starbucks. There is always a feeling of thrill to get your cup of coffee and know what is your Starbucks name for the day. You’ll never know if your barista will get your name right… or your barista will butcher your name… or he/she might decide to just give you a different name totally.
So here goes the story for my Starbucks name in Madrid. I ordered Gerlie a cup coffee because her coffee at the hotel is not yet enough to wake her up. LOL. It was then our turn so I gave Gerlie’s order. The barista asked for my name, and I said, “Vic, V-I-C.” He shrugged his shoulders. I thought, hmm.. did he find my name interesting? He handed me the receipt and I gave it to Gerlie so she could use the washroom.
Washrooms can only be used using the code printed on the receipt. So… you can only use their washroom if you are a buying customer. Which I think is fair.
I waited for Gerlie’s coffee. I know mine should be first because we were the first among the others that are still waiting for their orders. The second barista then called the next coffee. “Caramel macchiato for…” – (silence) – then said a name that is incomprehensible to everyone. It was a long name. Noone reacted or tried to pick up that cup. He then went back to the first barista taking orders and asked him who ordered it. To my surprise, the first barista pointed at me.
How come did the second barista said a long name and my name is just Vic, a single syllable name. I then grabbed the coffee, sat on a stool at the bar table by the window and waited for Gerlie.
While waiting, I checked what was the name on the cup and I just burst into laughter. Here is my Starbucks name in Madrid:
No wonder why the second barista had a difficulty saying that name! V-I-A-I-S-E!!! So unique eh!? hahaha!
I then showed it to Gerlie. Oh my goodness, that was one of our best laughs in Madrid!!! Awesome!!!
The moment we arrived in Cambridge, the city where my aunt lives, we asked one another the question: “Are you hungry?”
Well, the obvious answer for that is a big, fat YES!!! After more than 24 hours of travelling from Prince George in British Columbia flying to Calgary, then to Edmonton, then to London and driving all the way to Cambridge… we are hungry!!!
So from their house, we drove down to the city centre. We had a mini tour with my aunt and uncle as tour guides. We’ve passed through some parts of the University of Cambridge and they showed us where we’ll be punting, the English version of the gondola river ride in Venice, which we will be doing the next day.
We then parked at the nearby mall wherein there’s a greater chance of having a parking space as compared to the streets, then walked to the restaurant. We chose Wagamama, a Japanese-inspired restaurant that has branches all over UK. Finally, we’ll be able to eat! =)
Gerlie had Chicken Raisukaree which has stir-fried chicken and vegetables in a curry sauce. And she liked it… because it is a curry dish. LOL
For me, I ordered Chicken + Prawn Cha Han – stir-fried rice with chicken and prawns. This a good one!
My aunt had Teriyaki Salmon Soba – grilled teriyaki salmon, soba noodles and vegetables. The grilled salmon on top looks yummy to me but she said that she can cook the noodles better. hahaha! I’ll grade this dish as OK.
She also had these tender pork ribs glazed with barbeque sauce and topped with mixed sesame seeds which she liked this time.
My uncle had a different type of soba. He had the Teriyaki Beef Soba – grilled teriyaki beef, soba noodles and vegetebles. And he liked it.
Based on our orders, I’ll give this restaurant 4 out of 5!!!
September 7, 2014 – The engagement day has finally arrived. It is the first day of the Paris leg of our 2-week vacation.
We arrived in Paris at Gare du Nord, the station where Eurostar trains from London arrive. We took a taxi going to the place we rented. With the limited French words that I have, I told the driver, “Bonjour! Deux deux Rue de Monttessuy.” (22 Monttessuy Rd) I didn’t know that it should be vingt-deux. I said deux twice so I told myself it should be fine. So when we arrived in the area, the taxi dropped us off at 2 Rue de Monttessuy which is around 10 apartment buildings away. Great! We have to walk to the place with our heavy luggages. BUT… I didn’t mind the walk, we have an excellent view ahead.
The Eiffel Tower from Rue de Monttessuy
With that view, I told myself that this location, is indeed, a good one.
Later that evening, we will be having dinner at the Eiffel Tower.
The evening has arrived, everything is set: the ring, the gopro camera, and the phone (where my proposal video is saved), the SLR camera. The food is good, the view is great, the people are well dressed and so are we. We had conversations with the couple on our left and on our right.
It started when I was asked by the lady on our right which I think is on her mid-50s. She asked, “How old are you? You look young.”
We told her our age. I told her, “I’m 27.”
She was suprised and said, “Oh, you must be working in the I.T industry because you’re young and can afford to have dinner here. I can’t afford to eat here when I’m still 27.”
I replied, “No, we’re not. We’re from the healthcare field.” And that’s when she introduced herself as a nurse and her husband as an Internal Medicine doctor. Also, the guy from our left butted in and introduced himself as a pulmonologist. And there you go, you have a medical team seating beside each other talking about whooping cough outbreak. hahaha!
Then, the conversation went back to us. The nurse asked us how long have we been married. I answered, “No, we’re not married yet.”
And she replied, “Oh, there might be something happening tonight!” This was agreed upon by the pulmonologist and the six of us laughed. The conversation then lead into whose paying the bill, etc. She’s a funny lady and we’re all having a good time.
So the nurse and her husband finished their dinner. While they are getting ready to leave, said to the girlfriend, “Be ready for the big question later!” And we all laughed again. They then said their goodbyes and told us to enjoy our vacation.
After a few minutes, the pulmonologist on our left finished their dinner and left too.
We then finished our desserts and decided to have some green tea. The tea that they served us was extraordinary, almost magical, because we are not expecting a tea to be this good! We asked our server if it is commercially available and where to get them. She happily showed us where and even gave us some samples of her favorites (which are also available in the restaurant).
So, I then decided to show her the video that I prepared for the past month. In this video, I compiled the pictures and clips from our travels and made it into a video.
After letting her watch the video, I showed her the blue box, handed it to her, let her open the ribbon, and asked her to hand me back the ring box. I then went near her on the side of the table, knelt on my knee, opened the box with the ring in it and popped the question.
the TRAVEL pill 