Maggie and I have safely arrived in Las Vegas and boy are we tired.  Lol it didn’t start off well and we almost missed our flight, I told Maggie we should have left the house earlier but she kept insisting it wasn’t necessary so we ran from customs to the appropriate boarding location.

The flight itself on Sunwing airlines kind of sucked (no entertainment) but meh still better than Air Canada.

After we landed we got our luggage and went to The Signature hotels by MGM Grand but was too early at around 10 am so we gave them our bags and walked the strip.  That was gun the hotel is a bit odd the strip so that isn’t ideal but meh that’s how it goes.

Right now Maggie is taking a nap since we walked ~13k steps in 6 hours, yes our feet are sore but it was worth it.

Unfortunately i upload most of the photos i took with my phone as the pics are larger than 4mb.  Here is what I can show and I will update this later when I return to TO with more pics.

Maggie and i are going to meet a colleague that I worked with in the US for dinner tonight and that should be a lot of fun. Natasha is great and it’ll be nice to finally meet her.

Can’t wait tomorrow I’m going to the gun range to shoot some automatic weapons!

To celebrate our upcoming anniversary, Maggie and I booked a trip to Las Vegas! My mom will look after Brandon for us while we’re away woo, it’ll be nice that it’s just the two of us. Not sure what we’re going to do down there yet, but I’m sure we’ll figure it out. 🙂 I think this will be my first real vacation in like 8 years or so, god it’s been too long but someone has to work.

Hehe I asked the guys if there are any good gun ranges I should visit, yeah I have my own real guns but I can fire automatic weapons down there! I’d also like to see the Cirque de Soleil’s O as I hear it’s the best.

Exciting times ahead!

So Maggie will be taking her parents to Cuba on Feb 14th returning Feb 19th. I’d absolutely love to go as I’m jonsing for a vacation (um I think it’s been 5 years since I’ve gone away) however I have two [b]very large[/b] campaign launches on Feb 18th and it’s my responsibility that they get off the ground without any issues. While I do have staff under me, this is something I can’t delegate, it’s just too important. 🙁

During that time Brandon will be staying with my parents and I’ll be living the life of a bachelor hehe… Um I guess that means a lot of instant noodles and TV time which would be a nice change from my usual routine.

Sigh I wish I could go with them but at the earliest, I could only go on the week that Maggie’s dad goes back to China. Oh well whatever that’s how life goes right… Maybe I’ll buy myself something to keep me happy, hmm I have been eyeing a pair of Peltor Comtac III’s or the MSA Sordin Supreme Pro-X. 😉

Well after taking things easy the last week I guess it’s time for an update on how the cruise went. Overall it was enjoyable although Norwegian is definitely a cruise line for the older generation. The NCL Jewel is a very pretty boat but it does not have as many amenities as Royal Caribbean. Seeing as how it was my cousin Douglas’s first cruise, my sisters and I wanted to make sure he had a good time and all in all I think we succeeded. 🙂

I’m not going to get into many details, rather I’ll post some pictures to show you various things we did. Unfortunately on day 4 of the 7 days cruise, I came down with strep throat and that essentially ended my vacation. 🙁

Anyway here are some pictures I hope you enjoy, I definitely enjoyed taking them. 🙂 I wouldn’t go on another NCL cruise again, it’s just a bit too slow for me. If you haven’t gone on a cruise, it’s definitely worth a trip, they really treat you like Kings and Queens! 😀

Hello from the Norwegian Cruise Line ship Jewel! 😀 Yes there is internet access here and it’s costing me $0.75 US a minute to post this but it’s worth it.

Overall the trip has gone well, it’s not quite as fun as the previous cruise on Royal Caribbean however this boat has its nice points too. There is too much to cover and I don’t want to blow all my money on internet so here are a few images of me and my family enjoying ourselves. 😉

Heh just kidding, I haven’t touched my PSP. 😉

Anyway I’ll be back on Sunday and will post a larger update then…

Heh well on Sunday April 22nd I will be leaving to go to Miami at 7AM to go on a cruise. 🙂 It’s a Sun family type of event and should be fun. We’ll be going on the Norwegian Jewel sailing to the West Caribbean and it’s an 8 day, 7 night trip. Anyway I don’t think I’ll have internet access (although the boat does offer WiFi support and I’m bringing my laptop) so there won’t be updates for about a week’s time.

You can bet I’m going to have a good time, I’ll take a lot of pictures and upload some here when I get back. 😀

To say that I enjoyed the China trip is a huge understatement, simply it was awesome. Since it was the first time I am visiting the country and meeting Maggie’s family, we decided early that we would spend most of our time in Changchun. During the lunar festival, family is suppose to stay together so what better way to get to know the in laws right? 😉

On the other side of the world China is very different from Canada and I wouldn’t say it’s better or worse, just different. I guess I’ll summarize what I enjoyed and what I was appalled at…

The family structure in China is much stronger/better than in North America. Here brothers and sisters are realistically no closer than good friends. In China not only is the immediate family close, the extended family also sticks together like glue. Maggie’s cousins spend a ton of time together (and with the elder generation) doing various activities (from Mahjong to playing cards, dinners and just “hanging out”). I don’t know about you but I can count the number of times I spent with my cousins in the past year on one hand.

Despite being well off even by North American standards, Maggie’s parents are very modest! Most other Chinese in the same situation would flaunt their money to others and it was nice to see that her parents have a bit more class.

Her whole family was very open and supportive of Maggie marrying a Westerner. Yes I’m of Chinese origin but truth be told, I’m pretty much as “White” as you can get. I know that they realistically have to welcome me since Maggie and I are already married but the feeling was very sincere. That was something I really worried about on the flight over. 🙂

Heh, Maggie will tell you that I’m not a shopper but I have to admit, shopping in China was a lot of fun! A designer pair of pants that cost $80 Canadian here would cost $80 RMB over there. With the exchange rate right now at around 1:7, that means you can buy a lot more stuff! =D The grungy counterfeit malls (yes I know it’s wrong) were also a lot of fun to shop at. It was an adventures to walk through those halls because I really did not know what to expect. The quality of the wares varied greatly, the really cheap stuff was very poor, most of the stuff looked like it would fall apart within a month and I found the spelling mistakes very humorous. The higher quality counterfeit clothing were more expensive but surprisingly quality of the goods was also very high.

Like clothing food is also very cheap in China and even Western restaurants. At McDonalds, a combo would run around $21-25 RMB which after the conversion rate is around the $3 CDN mark! The same food is half price, I guess when the market is so large, prices can be lower. Also Fast Food joints are visited mostly by the upper class since the food is still relatively expensive compared to traditional Chinese restaurants.

As for the bad, well there are quite a few points…

First China is very dirty and as a quasi environmentalist I was sad to see all the garbage and pollution. When I got out of the airport in Beijing the smell of smog and soot was very apparent. Littering is a big problem in China and the amount of trash that is on the streets was sad to see. Many of the lower class would collect garbage since recyclers pay for goods. It was almost disgusting to see how the trash piles up in the poorer areas of China but I guess it’s a way to provide for one’s self.

The driving in China is absolutely crazy. At first I thought everyone was lousy but then changed my opinion to Chinese drivers are actually very good. In North America, the space between cars tends to be 30-60 cm but in China where people are super aggressive, cars can be within 5 cm of each other! China is also road rage hell with people flashing lights and honking horns all the time. Also, cars have the right of way and pedestrians better watch out when crossing the street! Oh btw no one in China wears seat belts and I got odd stares when I buckled up.

China is under major redevelopment and it is sad to see how the government is tearing down all the old buildings. For instance in Beijing 500-700 year old court yard houses are being demolished for high rise condos. Walking through these ancient areas, I could not help but feel a sense of loss that these beautiful buildings are being torn down. Urban sprawl is a major problem in virtually every Chinese city, and we think we have it bad in Toronto.

Public transit is not very well developed overall in China which I guess should not be much of a surprise. That meant that rush hour is pretty much from 7AM in the morning till 10PM. 🙁 Maggie’s home town of Changchun does have a small light rail service but it is no where large enough to be a viable alternative to a car.

There is more to China than what I have written obviously and I found it difficult to write down my thoughts. I guess I’m still upset at the Canadian Embassy for screwing up Maggie’s visa. This should also say a lot, I enjoyed China so much that Maggie and I are seriously considering moving there in the future.

Anyway if I can think of more you can bet I will post my thoughts. 😉

I guess I’ll start at the beginning. Back in December before our trip to China, Maggie applied for a multiple entry visa by mail, unfortunately she sent the wrong type of payment and her application was sent back to us. No problem we figure, we’ll just take care of it in Beijing we thought, she had done it before and things went smoothly.

Our first day in China we went by the Canadian Embassy only to find out that they’ve changed the application process. There is no longer same day service and applications take 5-8 business days to go through. Still not a problem since we were going to stay in China for three weeks right?

The second day after we arrived at Changchun, Maggie sent out her visa application to the Canadian Embassy. They received the stuff on January 25th and instead of sending the package back to the alternate address in Changchun (as stated), the geniuses sent it to our Toronto address via what they call diplomatic courier which is to take 4 weeks!

As you can guess that’s a major problem, Maggie and I are in China and her passport was on its way back to Toronto. The officials at the Embassy are proud to boast about their “2 day” turn around time for e-mail/fax communiqué but none of my 5 emails or 3 faxes was answered. Also keep in mind that there is no voice line to the immigration department (understandable, there are probably thousands of applications per year), the only way to open a dialog is through e-mail or fax.

Since Maggie did not have a passport, we were forced to drive to Beijing from Changchun and that took about 10 hours. Perhaps we should have done it sooner but with five days left in our trip we got to Beijing and found out the horrible news.

At first, the Canadian Embassy denied they ever received the package and that was as far as Maggie could go. After looking up the tracking on the package, we could see that her application was accepted via EMS (China Post) on January 25th by station 20. With this new information, I decided to talk to the embassy directly, as a Canadian citizen I guess I have more sway and they can’t ignore me.

Heh this time around I was allowed into the embassy and when I spoke to Victor Kok (a CSR) at the visa center, he admitted they did receive the package. There was no explanation to why the previous rep told Maggie they didn’t get it.

You’d figure in 2006, a developed country like Canada would keep computer records but the information about Maggie’s visa application was logged in a book with only one line. I was obviously upset and asked for the name of the employee that sent Maggie’s application to Toronto instead of Changchun and they couldn’t deliver.

Finally after about half an hour of going in circles, I got upset. I decided to complain about the level of service Maggie and I received. At the consulate services, I was passed around a few different departments like a hot potato and hit a dead end trying to contact Ms. Pascale who is suppose to be the head of some visa department. I was not allowed to see her in person, I could only contact her via a telephone in the general lobby. Not to much surprise, Ms. Pascale was not there (or perhaps she just wasn’t picking up the phone) so I asked the receptionist for someone else. The only other person who could help me was on vacation…

I went back to the consulate services and told the supervisor there (Julia Jing) that I was fed up (at the time, I was running around for around 4 hours) and would not leave until I talked to someone who could help me or answer some of my questions. After about another 30 minutes of waiting (because she was “making calls”), I was told to go back to the visa center (where I started) and this time I was met by Ms. Erin Brouse.

Right from the get go Ms. Brouse was abrasive and defensive about the whole situation. I guess it’s understandable, I was visibly upset at the whole ordeal (which I think I have a right to be) and she was actually quite threatening. Is this how a servant of the Canadian people is supposed to act? She was able to give me a bit of information including a diplomatic package tracking number but conveniently forgot to give me information on how to actually track the package!

Their working day finishes at a nice 4:30PM and I was basically forced to leave empty handed. To make matters “better”, the visa center is closed to the public on Friday’s so I essentially have to leave Maggie in China without knowing what to do!

I am extremely upset and at everything and you can bet I will scream to everyone in Canada. I have already contacted my MP as well as the office for the Minister of Foreign affairs.

An interesting tidbit, the staff at the visa service center are rude to everyone including other Canadian citizens. I spoke to two other Canadians and they told me they were getting nowhere as well.

When there is more to this story, I will update.

Refuge for Canadians? Yeah right…