To Moose Jaw for Real

Today we went to Moose Jaw. I had to include a picture of main street with all the old buildings still standing. That's part of Moose Jaw's charm. The history is still there; tunnels, possible gangsters, historic murals, old buildings and one thing not so historic, Nits.

Nits - The best Thai food in Southern Saskatchewan. It's a short 45 minute drive from Regina on a beautiful summer day. Moose Jaw is bustling when we arrive at the unimposing restaurant just a block from Al Capone's famous tunnels.

There's nothing special about the interior. Worn and plain would best describe it, full of patrons with one waitress trying to handle it all. Still she smiles and our wait for a cold beer to wash down the hot prairie dust is not long in coming. And the wait for the food is more than worth it as we view the menu that rests between pages that resemble a travel journal, sip beer and watch as the kitchen doors open and close and catch glimpses of herbs being pounded and the delivery boy running to and fro. The food is always worth waiting for. The appetizer is leaves that hint at lime and wrap around peanuts, ginger, coconut and we things we can't identify that results in an explosion of taste. The curry is amazing as in the Pad Thai. As we clean up the last morsel, a couple sit across from us. They are carrying motorbike helmets and looking rather disheveled. Another pair that have taken the highway drive on this gorgeous, hot prairie day to this little town in the middle of nowhere Saskatchewan to enjoy Thai food like you won't find anywhere else, anywhere else but Thailand that is.

And if Thai food isn't your thing, check out the dozen or so murals around town depicting Moose Jaw and Saskatchewan history. Whether you like history or not, they are just plain gorgeous to look at.

Safe travels,

Ryshia

Memories of Hong Kong

Today's post brought back so many memories. It's been a few years since our trip to Hong Kong but I remember it vividly. When I entered Cathay Pacific's contest, 100 reasons you love Hong Kong, all those memories were rather overwhelming. So, I'm sharing my thoughts on Hong Kong. It's a concise version, as outlined in the contest rules, that hopefully gets to the emotional heart of that once city state. And, if you have any altruistic leanings feel free to hop on over to Cathay Pacific's website, peruse the other entries, and hopefully, vote for my entry beginning July 16. http://www.welovehongkong.hk/index.php And if you don't, well, I hope you at least enjoy this short essay. So without further ado....

To the world Hong Kong is the image of economic efficiency. A vibrant, modern city whose secrets are hidden behind the smiles of the old men in China town, behind housewives hanging their laundry on sampans in Aberdeen, behind Victoria Peak rising high in a tribute to nature, and behind the business men striding down the commerce jammed streets.

Hong Kong loves her secrets. When foggy skies hide the heights of the skyscrapers, it does nothing to dim the excited rumble of change that roams through her streets. Secrets are hidden behind frenetic building projects, shopping havens and, at night, a multitude of neon lights. In the sunlight, secrets whisper beneath the umbrellas of elegant women who move in a graceful flow to unknown destinations.

Hong Kong is the world's dynamo but inside this vortex of activity, the old world floats at an easier pace against a backdrop of business and modern technology. That's what I love about Hong Kong, its ability to fold both old and new together into a spicy mix of new ideas and old world customs. Its secrets draw one here again and again - for you'll never really know Hong Kong.

Its secrets make the rest of the world sigh as they take a collective breath and say, some day. Some day they too shall visit.

Here's to you, Hong Kong!

Safe travels

Ryshia

Life is a Fickle Traveling Companion

Today an every day journey was reframed. An untimely death reminded me that life is short and that the days of my life are sliding by with little accounting. That’s how my journey began, fretting about unmet goals and unexpected tragedy. It began with the reminder that it’s possible, even likely, that destiny will decide to cut our life trip short without any consideration to how we might feel.

It’s times like this that make me long for the solitude of nature. So with my dog, Rourke in tow, or was that Rourke with me in tow. I headed as close to nature as I could easily get without adding to global warming and starting up a gasoline engine. Between the highway that skirts the city and the last row of houses, there's a path, overgrown with quack grass, and bracketed by trees and straggling bushes. Nature goes crazy here, in the silence heavy with the roar and rush of traffic that edges the city. Here you can turn off the traffic, take a sweet scented breath of meadow grass and meditate, about life, or about nothing - mostly about nothing.


The picture shows how easily things can be reframed, perceptions changed. I appear to be walking within an arbor of green, lush grass, not on an overgrown path on the fringes of the city.

Today’s journey gives me purpose. No day shall be wasted. That's what I'll do to honor a life unexpectedly ended. I will make good use of the hours left me whether in play or work or just a leisurely stroll in quiet meditation. I will have direction.

To a life with purpose.

Safe travels

Ryshia

"The wise man knows that it is better to sit on the banks of a remote mountain stream than to be an emperor of the whole world."
Zhaung Tzi

What about the Dog?

It takes planning to travel with a dog and sometimes you have to travel without. I've always thoughts kennels were barbaric. So my dogs have never been kenneled. There was always Mom and Dad or friends who would take care of the fur baby. But times change and with the option of never going any where or kenneling looming, I started researching. Apparently times have changed. There are kennels with play times and walk times and cuddle times.


Friday we headed for Calgary and a trial run at a kennel. So with our always amiable Irish Terrier, Rourke, loaded in the back we headed out. The Pet Planet people had assured me that there would be a minimum of six play times a day. Dogs are allowed to run in groups in a fenced yard. If that didn't make my dog nut, dog happy - nothing would. Of course, there was also body massage, hydrotherapy, aromatherapy, pedicures and daycare if we wanted those options. Not this time. It's only a weekend visit. His suite, as it's called, is a four by eight room with cinderbrick walls, to give privacy, and wire mesh doors, wide hall ways and no stacking of suites. I go in with Rourke - it's surprisingly roomie. I can stand upright with plenty of room. He's given a raised bed that looks like a small trampoline. I put his blanket on that with his duck and he's curled up before I'm ready to leave.



How did he make out? Well, he didn't drag me from the resort. In fact he didn't seem anxious to leave the dog play yard - I had to coax him out. He was exhausted but untraumatized. Yep, dog kennels have really grown up. And by the way they don't call them kennels anymore - they're resorts and your dog is on vacation too. And in this case, I think he really was.


Safe Travels

Ryshia







Rourke post vacation

Al Capone is alive and well

Been thinking about a road trip for awhile. Almost went to Nit's yesterday. Nit's is a Thai restaurant in Moose Jaw. Nothing special about the ambience but it has fabulous food. No Canadianized food here, it's the real thing. But it's not just Nit's that's a Southern Saskatchewan icon. The name Moose Jaw is famous - no I'm serious. We once met a group of Americans who were on a journey to see the place called Moose Jaw. They were fascinated by the name. They'd found it on a map and had to check it out. To me it's just the little city with the funny name. I boarded there for a few months while I went to school but back then Moose Jaw was only a small, charming little place. Now it is the home of Al Capone. You heard me right. Since my youth they discovered a labryinth of tunnels under Moose Jaw's Main Street. The tunnels of Moose Jaw are famous and well worth a visit. Interactive tours run daily, hosted by exuberant tour guides who ensure you get right into the action. So whether you believe or nor that Al Capone fled the law, riding the rails until he got to the little town of Moose Jaw - you've got to spend a day in the tunnels, running three steps ahead of a man called Al, dodging bullets and playing a card game or two with a few unsavory characters who may threaten to turn you into fish bait. And, you can end the day with a massage and soak at the mineral spa. Next time I go, I'll write you a story about the day I was there, maybe it'll even be a romance.

Next roadtrip - Calgary. I'm going to a writer's workshop. Stay tuned.

http://www.tunnelsofmoosejaw.com/chitours.asp

Safe travels

Ryshia

Be Prepared

You'd think having gone through Girl Guides so many years ago I'd remember - "Be Prepared". I believe that was the motto. But this week's picture is a good example of not being prepared.

It's rare to find a patch of prairie these days. Most of it has been cultivated or developed in one way or another. Today we found that little piece of heaven. Because that's what real prairie is, heaven. Wild barley and rye tickle your legs, spearmint's spicy scent and imprints of the past whisper on the breeze.

And then it happened!

The camera's battery died.

So this trip all I have to offer is a rather dark photograph of what was really an incredible prairie scene. You'll have to imagine the wild roses, clumps of sage and camomile and the tall grass that hides it all. I remember a long time ago we had picnics and sat cross-legged, unseen by the outside world. I'd take a picture to hold that memory but did I mention the battery?

Be Prepared.

Ryshia

"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeing new landscapes, but in having new eyes."- Marcel Proust