A Family Trip To Japan

With my elder son travelling to Japan with his competitive gymnastics team and Team BC, we decided to go to Japan too. That way, if something happened, we could be close at hand to support. I’m happy to report that all went smoothly and we did not meet him in person once during the entire trip (9 days) so we were free to have our own adventures with the Lightning Kid.

Trains and Transportation

Tokyo has 2 airports, Narita and Haneda. We flew in with All Nippon Airlines from Vancouver to Haneda. Though we landed in the evening, we opted to try and get out of Tokyo right away to our first destination, Nagoya. My wife did a lot of research through Japan Travel groups on Facebook, and it was funny how people get used to using Japanese names for things, especially trains when those names don’t mean anything to you if you haven’t been to Japan. For example, we took the Keikyu line to Shinagawa, and a Shinkansen straight to Nagoya. The Keikyu is a commuter train from the airport (run by Keikyu Railways), Shinagawa is a station that serves the Shinkansen – Bullet Trains! After about 3-4 days we started using these names in casual conversation too. Bullet Trains can go up to 320 km/h, and if you take a Nazomi service, it will make fewer stops (express) and definitely hit those speeds. We rode these between Tokyo and Nagoya, between Nagoya and Osaka, and from Kyoto to Tokyo. Every Shinkansen ride seemed to need 2 tickets per person, which we found odd. It seemed like the best way to get tickets right was to use the counters staffed with people, not use ticket machines.

Bullet Train (Shinkansen) arriving at the station

We tried to visit a Dinosaur Park on the outskirts of Nagoya and had to use a local train. Unfortunately, we got on an express train which overshot our station and forced us to backtrack – we were lucky that a local woman with good English skills overheard our dilemma and set us straight. The dinosaur park wasn’t even open, but we had such beautiful weather that just taking the Lightning Kid to a playground was a pleasant experience.

The other kinds of trains we made use of were subways and monorails. I usually found I could buy a ticket from a machine that had an English interface (when selected) by picking the line and station I wanted to get off at. It was important to hang onto tickets as you can’t exit a station without running your ticket through a machine. One time I made a mistake, and the gates blocked us until I could correct our fare with the ticket taker. Getting around by subway was very convenient; there were a few times it was very crowded but having such a cheap way to get around was a blessing.

Also worth mentioning in this section was that on 2 occasions we shipped our luggage to the next destination/hotel rather than trying to lug it through train stations and onto the train. This is common practice in Japan apparently, and worked well (keep your receipt/paperwork!); you might have to repack a few things so that you have the most important items upon arrival as it can take an extra day for your stuff to arrive.

Onsen

Some of my favourite things on the trip were Onsen – public baths that we had access to in both hotels and ryokan (traditional hotels with smaller rooms where you can sleep on mats on the floor). Onsen have set rules – most notably you go nude, though they are separated by gender. The tubs were wide and shallow with a single step down the bottom. You could dip your feet in first, sit on the first step to put your lower body in the water or get your whole body in, provided you could recline in a semi-lying position.

Some Onsen had saunas, some had cold plunges, but they all had little sit-down shower stations for washing before and after. Each station had a bowl that you could fill and dowse yourself with. Bowls were also next to each tub (hot or cold, indoor or outdoor).

I brought the Lightning Kid with me, and I found that children are generally welcome to come, with the understanding that the Onsen is a quiet space for relaxation. An interesting note is that people with tattoos are often not allowed in Onsen. Luckily, that didn’t apply to us.

Accommodations

We stayed in The Nikko Style Hotel in Nagoya. It definitely had a stylish vibe, with a lounge decorated with spacious bookshelves. The room was definitely one of the more spacious ones we had in Japan, though we had to share one bed. We did find it odd that we had to book the Lightning Kid as an adult at age 12 in a lot of venues, though obviously, we weren’t going to get him a separate room. We found king-size beds generally big enough for 3.

This room had another 2 twin beds, but we thought it would be more fun to sleep like this.

In Osaka, we stayed in a Ryokan – a more traditional form of lodging. The room was mostly one living/eating room with only a table and mattresses that had to be fetched from a closet. The Ryokan included dinner and breakfast with traditional set meals and the Onsen in the basement was very artfully decorated.

Our Kyoto stay was at the Granbell Hotel – Kyoto; which had a great speakeasy-type subterranean entrance and a nice bar and Onsen. It was very close to the train station, though a lot of nearby restaurants were closed early.

Our stay in Tokyo was at the Candeo in Roppongi. This hotel had a rooftop Onsen and provided loungewear that we could wear to and from the baths. It took me a day or so to realize that the bathroom floor was sloped and thus I sometimes felt a little disoriented going in there.

Sights and Attractions

In Nagoya, we visited a science museum – the Lightning Kid went to a playground while my wife waited in line for entrance tickets and engaged in play with a Japanese boy. The museum had dinosaur exhibits, as well as sections devoted to biology, physics and technology.

Later that day we visited Nagoya castle and were treated to a live samurai and ninja show.

The castle was quite scenic with its gardens and moats, especially with fall colours and bright sunlight.

There was also an inner palace within the castle/fortress grounds. The tour of this was rather crowded, but seeing the interior artwork and design was interesting.

We tried to find and go to a Dinosaur Park on our second day in Nagoya, but it ended up being closed so we spent some time in the sunshine at a playground.

On our first day in Osaka, we got a Ninja lesson at a Ninja Cafe. We got to don ninja costumes (with belt and headband), then got lessons in using shuriken (throwing stars), a blow gun, and finally some sword techniques. We also got lunch and drinks in the package, it was tremendous fun for the whole family.

Our afternoon in Osaka was spent exploring the Shinsaibashi Shopping area and Dotonburi Street (fun fact: on the flight home I watched John Wick Chapter 4 and was able to identify Osaka based on sights from Dotonburi Street before Osaka was identified by the movie characters).

At night, we went to an art installation created by a collective known as teamLab that they set up in the Botanical Gardens. From the website: “teamLab’s art project Digitized Nature explores how nature can become art. The concept of the project is that non-material digital technology can turn nature into art without harming it.”

Some Images from teamLab Botanical Garden Osaka

We visited a place called Spa World that had Onsen and other bathing options from around the world, but navigating their ticket system with regards to the built-in waterpark with waterslides proved to be too much for us to really enjoy any relaxation.

For our day trip in Kyoto, we ventured to Aramayashi, which had multiple attractions in a mountain village setting – first off was a Monkey Park! There was some climbing involved, and we saw a few of the native Macaques (the only species of monkey in Japan) on the way up, but that was no kind of preparation for the number of monkeys we’d find ourselves surrounded by at the summit! There were strict rules about engaging with the monkeys – avoid prolonged eye contact, hide any food you have on your person, and keep your distance.

In Tokyo, we started by fulfilling a promise to the Lightning Kid that we would rent a dog and take it for a walk. We chose Sumire from Dog Heart, who was a gorgeous golden retriever, but she had her own ideas about how far she wanted to walk so it was a bit of a struggle; I ended up deferring to her ‘local expertise’… we ended up also paying to have an extra half hour with the smaller dogs in the pen. There were miniature French poodles and a beagle among other breeds of dogs and some couldn’t wait to jump in your lap and be petted.

Later the same day we made our way to Harajuku, but those adventures are culinary in nature, so you’ll have to see the next section! We’ve always enjoyed seeing cities from the water, so we found a small river cruise we could take that ended at the Odaiba Marine Park.

There was a beach and playground at Odaiba, as well as a mall and a replica Statue of Liberty. We did some shopping but did not visit the animal cafe which had otters, toucans and capybaras.

Food

Due to a late arrival on our first night in Nagoya, our first meal in Japan was food from a convenience store on one of the train station platforms: Pringles, sandwiches, waffles and Pocky (my fave!). The Nikko Style hotel had options of western breakfast (french toast or omelette-based platters) or a Japanese breakfast. It wouldn’t be the last time I had to find a way to like fish in the morning…

Japanse style breakfast at Nikko Style Hotel.

That evening we made a point of trying to find a Gyoza (dumpling) based restaurant and lucked out thanks to some recommendations from the hotel staff. We actually sat with a Japanese family and made friends using broken English and even more limited Japanese. The Lightning Kid even tried a fermented drink called Calpis.

Breakfast and dinners in Osaka (at the ryokan) were set meals – no a la carte. Our first dinner was 5 different courses and despite a written description, we often didn’t know how close we were to being finished. Our breakfast involved poached eggs, and tofu and grilling our own fish over an open flame.

There were two occasions, the first in Aramayashi (a beautiful mountain village outside Kyoto) where we had to navigate a different eating experience. You purchased tickets for the food you wanted from a machine, then handed them to a server from your table – the food is still brought to you at the table when it is ready, but the aisles stay clearer of servers this way. It was difficult to gather an entire order for 3 people before starting to press buttons and pump coins into the machine. Once we ate Udon dishes this way, the other time Ramen.

Ordering food from a machine in a restaurant.

The Ninja cafe where we got our ninja lessons had passable food, but nothing special – my meal was a curry.

Dotonburi street is a marvel of food, but we actually stuck to eating meals at restaurants rather than grabbing random eats. We may have to correct that if we visit again in the future!

We tried to find a Tonkatsu (fried pork cutlets with a BBQ sauce) restaurant in the Harajuku district, but Google led us to a place that was closed. We wound up wandering around till we found a restaurant with Italian cuisine! It still had a Japanese spin on the pasta dishes and we found it to be delicious. Unfortunately I didn’t record the name of it and my Google Timeline wasn’t any help tracking it down. The other thing we found in Harajuku was a “candy factory” that specialized in Cotton Candy…. look at the size of those things.

Exploring the different types of Japanese food remains an incomplete quest; I’d like to get to know Ramen better and maybe some Izakaya…

Conclusion

I love Japan! In the period leading up to our trip, I didn’t have a lot of time to get invested in a detailed itinerary, so I just wanted to know that I would be able to relax and get a taste of what the country was like – and all my expectations were exceeded.

November 7, 2021

Summer Adventure: Tennessee and the Smokey Mountains

This post is another throwback to coping with the pandemic and lockdown. Ontario had nothing going on in terms of camps or activities, or at least not when you could plan for the summer, and the kids were long overdue for some adventure, and the adults needed their alone-time.

We had researched FlipFest and its sister event NinjaFest; a competitive gymnastics, and obstacle course/ninja warrior camp respectively, that are held in Crossville, Tennessee. We enrolled the kids for mid-July and plotted how to get there. The land border was closed into the US, while flights back into Canada had their passengers diverted into Quarantine hotels (which could only serve to help spread the virus by concentrating at-risk travellers into small spaces), so the workaround was to fly there and drive back.

The Drive Down

My car was shipped across the border from Niagara Falls, Canada to Niagara, NY, and we flew on 2 helicopters to meet it.

Each flight was only 7-8 minutes long, but the chopper could only seat 3, so we needed 2 flights. The car left on a truck ahead of our scheduled flights. After clearing customs, we hopped into the car and drove till we got hungry in Erie, PA, and had some pizza for lunch.

Then we drove on to Cleveland West- I booked mostly Holiday Inn Express and Suites on this trip since I’m an IHG rewards member. Unfortunately, the pool at this hotel was under repair/maintenance of some kind, so there was no fun reward for the kids being patient in the car. Instead, we found a SkyZone Trampoline Park. We found a nice Italian restaurant in a shopping village.

From the Lightning Kid YouTube Channel

On Day 2, we made our way to Lexington, KY. Our timetable getting to Tennessee was not an aggressive one, because none of us were sure how well we’d fare with the long drive. I’d made it to Kentucky in a day on a road trip in my twenties, but travelling with a family (never mind one that is recovering from lockdown blues) is obviously different. Before hitting the road, the Lightning Kid and I did a little geocaching – whenever there’s time and we’re in an unfamiliar area, it’s worth checking if there’s anything nearby to be found.

After some driving, we decided to try our first Chick-Fil-A at Columbus’ Polaris Fashion Mall food court. I’ve got to say, their chicken sandwiches were overhyped – I don’t think we’ve been missing that much in Canada. On the other hand, we gorged ourselves at a Cheesecake Factory once we reached Lexington.

The third day was the 4th of July. We tried Sonic and their killer milkshakes for lunch en route. We had We got a Holiday Inn in Newport, TN, and went to see the sequel to Boss Baby (Boss Baby: Back in Business) in a theatre – in Ontario, they still weren’t open. We had dinner at a Cracker Barrel and tried Okra for the first time while trying to distinguish between Chicken Fried and Country Fried – if we figured it out, I’ve since forgotten it. Once it got dark, we were able to see a few fireworks from the hotel windows.

Tennesee Family Time

Having arrived in Tennessee, we stayed at a ‘Glamping’ Camp Resort, and our first night was spent in a Treehouse!

We spent the day in a fairly relaxed manner, swimming in the pool, playing Cornhole, as well as eating Barbecue and ice cream. We took some time to check out Gatlinburg, which is quite the tourist trap – I had the verse from Johnny Cash’s ‘Boy Named Sue’ running through my head: It was Gatlinburg, in mid-July, and I’d just hit town, and my throat was dry… I thought I’d grab myself a brew… We drove up to Ober, which was just closing, so we didn’t get to try much in terms of activities. In winter it’s a ski resort, which kind of blows my mind that people can ski in Tennessee. We slept well in that treehouse and were sad to have to leave it.

The next day we used the Gatlinburg Trolley Service to go into town and had a long wait in line to ride a chairlift to the top of Anakeesta, a local theme park.

We were highly unused to crowds at this stage, and since standing in crowded lines is part of any theme park day, we were a little unnerved and unable to fully enjoy the experience. It was a hot day, and the Lightning Kid took to a splash pad we found near the top after lunch. He and I were going to take a coaster ride, but the wait times were too long. The kids did enjoy a cat-walk play area, but I didn’t get pictures. Still, it was a great view of the Smokey’s and we opted for a bus ride back down to the bottom.

Once we got back to the Campground we had to check out our Safari Tent, thankfully it had a portable air-conditioner as the canvas walls weren’t breathable and the summer heat was on!

We were in this Safari tent for two nights. The second day was spent with more swimming, Cornhole, and searching for breakfast. We grilled sausages by the fire for dinner. We really enjoyed the community feel of our campsite, and it was so nice watching the boys make friends.

The next day we checked in at another campsite, this time in a cabin. The Jellystone Park in Pigeon Forge. Pigeon Forge is Dolly Parton’s hometown and where Dollywood is found. We didn’t make it there; as we were still a bit wary of crowds (and expenses) from being tourists in Gatlinburg, but I’d encourage anyone and everyone to look into Dolly Parton’s biography because she is fascinating.

The Jellystone campground had a fun jump pad/ trampoline that the boys got to use to warm up their skills prior to their sleepaway camp (which was the purpose of this trip).

Our final destination as a a family of four was Crossville TN. Checking your kids in to their first sleepaway camp can be a little nerve-wracking. Shark Boy did a couple of overnights with Beaver Scouts, and sometimes at a friend’s or grandparent’s place. The Lightning Kid had only done overnight Beaver Scout camps with me as a leader. They were both anxious, and so were we leading up to it, but the check-in process at Flipfest was so encouraging and we were so happy to see our kids be able to interact with peers again that there were plenty of smiles (brave smiles, but smiles all the same) around.

My wife and I headed back to our hotel in Crossville with nothing to do but enjoy the peace and quiet. For about an hour, when we got a call from the camp! We were terrified that the Lightning Kid was not fitting in somehow – the fear of the special needs parent, or at least, fear #437 – but it ended up that Shark Boy had twisted his ankle. We spoke to the camp director and we came to the consensus that we wanted to wait and see with some icing, rather than rush to a hospital. In the end it ended up being the right move, since he was training at full capacity within a couple of days, having taken one day to treat the ankle lightly.

After that, we were able to have a couples weekend (which actually took place on a Monday/Tuesday) in Nashville. We stayed in a beautiful hotel called the Bobby. Unfortunately not every amenity was in full swing (e.g. rooftop pool, rooftop bar weren’t operational during the week.

Our first night in Nashville made it hard to find the barbecue that Tennessee is famous for – the line-ups and crowds were a bit much for us. It was exciting to hear live music come out of every bar though.

We had better luck the next day and reserved at Puckett’s Grocery Store early. We spent part of our afternoon at the Johnny Cash Museum. Some of my favourite parts were listening to all the great artists that have covered the Man in Black over the years (did you know Miley Cyrus did a live cover of A Boy Named Sue?). We’d been listening to Johnny Cash a fair bit on the drive down as a Tennesse music primer. Seeing him act in some TV shows and movies was a hoot too (he seemed to like to play the villain).

At Puckett’s, I tried a flight of Tennessee whiskeys and I’ve been on the lookout for a bottle of George Dickel‘s ever since. There was great BBQ, and live music from an artist named Troy Kemp managed to stoke an appreciation for country music in this heart of mine.

The next day, we left the urban environment of Nashville behind (though hopefully not for the last time) for a bed and breakfast in a more picturesque area, and not so far from the Flipfest camp (just in case). The Garden Inn Bed and Breakfast had a nearby trail with some nice lookouts (especially the aptly named Bee rock – the large bees kind of scared us off extending a sunset walk beyond a certain point).

We were able to do some nice hiking by Falls Creek Falls State Park. I actually used the waterfalls themselves to cool off after a tough, hot hike down. We added a little more walking and tried the suspension bridge with some trepidation.

Another day went by and suddenly we were picking the boys up from camp. They had a wonderful time, apparently their favourite part was the ‘Blob’ – a giant inflated pad which launches one kid up and into the lake when another kid drops onto it from a height. They had campfires, dance nights, and loads of other fun, and they’ll be begging us to go back next summer, I’m sure.

The drive back was through Lexington and we stopped in Cincinatti. From there to Detroit and across the border thanks to the negative PCR test results we got from a CVS in Crossville. We got home and spent 2 weeks quarantining which was difficult, but probably worth it in the long run.

October 4, 2021October 3, 2021

The Move to British Columbia Part 1 – Scouting Mission

The pandemic has been hard on everyone, and while I won’t get political, some health measures were especially hard on our family.

Education and schooling in Ontario have been profoundly disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. From March 14, 2020, to May 15, 2021, Ontario schools have been closed for 20 weeks total, longer than any other Canadian province or territory.

We were very lucky and privileged in so many ways. We have a house with a backyard and pool which made the isolation easier to bear, our internet connection was reasonably stable, and there’s a member of the household (me) who is tech-savvy enough to troubleshoot issues as they arise. My wife and I were able to work remotely and both avoid infection and make sure our kids attended remote classes.

Still, we suffered. The constant multi-tasking and hybrid prioritization of being a teaching assistant on top of being a parent, playmate and a real job took its toll. The kids lost ground on their academic education, but so much more in terms of socialization. Making friends, taking turns, sportsmanship… I don’t even like to think too hard about all the intangibles, soft skills and experiences they missed out on. None of this is unique to our family, but the Lightning Kid has special needs, while Shark Boy is a Provincially-ranked competitive gymnast (with no place to train except our basement), so our family might be more of a rare case.

Another way my family might be rare is that we are willing to think outside the box (and honestly we have the privilege and means to make ideas a reality). We looked outside our own backyard and realized it didn’t have to be this way. While we considered moving to Germany (where we have roots and family) or even Finland (which sounded nice at one point when the ideas were at their most fanciful stage), British Columbia presented something desirable without too much culture shock or legal red tape etc.

And so we booked a flight to Vancouver during last week of school to look into some schools that might be willing to take our boys on. We also had appointments at Gymnastics facilities that had a Men’s Competitive program for Shark Boy. Combining those prospective lists kept us mostly around Langley and Abbotsford, which are in the Fraser River Valley, inland from Vancouver.

White Rock

The trip took about 10 days, with the better part of a week staying in a corporate hotel in Langley. We kept up with remote work and school from the hotel room, though I occasionally retreated to the business centre for increased peace and quiet. Due to the time difference, the kids would be done school at noon local time, and I could wrap up work in the early afternoon. So our first afternoon was spent visiting a school in White Rock (Surrey). The kids needed to get reacquainted with how to behave in a school, but they were wide-eyed at seeing halls, gyms and lockers again. After the tour, we took a trip to the beach. White Rock is home to the longest pier in Canada, and it was lovely to be by the ocean and eat ice cream. Driving to the shore involved roads like the ones you see in movies that take place in San Francisco. I have a recurring nightmare of losing control of a car while driving on steep and twisty roads, so this was a good way to face my fears. The area near the shore is lovely but looks like a neighbourhood where people really care about appearances and property values and such. The tide was high and we saw someone in the water so we thought we might try swimming the next time.

Abbotsford

We visited a lovely school and a gymnastics facility the next day in Abbotsford. Abbotsford had that familiar feel of a suburb that is a commuter/satellite community of a larger metropolis. While Shark Boy was in his gymnastics tour (the try-out wouldn’t be for a couple of days), the Lightning Kid and I had an opportunity to geocache and explore a great playground nearby, which led to this video:

Delta & Langley

Delta is an interesting neighbourhood in that the proximity to the water should make it a little fancy like White Rock, but it seems to serve fishing, transport and industry. Shark Boy liked the gym there just fine, and the Lightning Kid fooled around in a skate park (without skates)

We headed back inland to see a school in Langley Township. It was situated in a gorgeous area with quite a view.

After many attempts, we were able to get a table at an Olive Garden, which hasn’t existed in Ontario for some time. So we enjoyed our dinner, as it was something of a rare gem.

On Friday, back in Langley by the hotel, I managed to get a run in around the local area. The hilly terrain did not make it easy! I called it a ‘Funky Fartlek’ because I played around with speed and sprints.

Saturday meant no school or work, and we still had a try-out at the Abbotsford Gym in the afternoon, so we took the kids back to White Rock to see the beach. Unfortunately, the tide was out, and I had no confidence in the safety of swimming further out, so we fooled around in the tide pools and looked at crabs.

We capped off the Saturday with a trip into Vancouver and up to Grouse Mountain. We got a look at a Grizzy Bear and a lovely dinner at the mountain top restaurant called Altitudes Bistro.

Victoria

With our business on the mainland concluded, we used the rest of the weekend to travel to Vancouver Island. The Ferry was an interesting experience, albeit there was a lot of waiting and pandemic restrictions made it less fun.

We had a beautiful hotel in Victoria. The pool was especially enjoyable. It also had theatre room where we watched the movie Cruella (the hotel provided Disney+ Premium Access), and a rooftop marshmallow roast.

Victoria is a beautiful city. We checked out a school that held a majority of classes outdoors and a gymnastics facility that was starting up a built-in high performance school.

We flew from Victoria airport on a propeller plane to Vancouver, and from there back home, having completed our mission to gather information on what our lives might look like when the next school year started. How that turns out, will be the story of another post.

January 23, 2020January 22, 2020

Hawaiian Cruise With NCL Pride of America – Part 1

Since our Disney Cruise 2 years ago, we wanted another Disney experience, and the intention was to visit the Aulani resort; unfortunately, it was entirely booked up for Christmastime by September so we decided to stick with Hawaii and try our luck with cruising again.

Arrival in Honolulu – Hilton Hawaiian Village

We flew into Honolulu with a pleasant, direct flight from Toronto and checked in to the Hilton Hawaiian Village. It’s a huge resort, and our room in the Rainbow tower had a lovely ocean view. There are several swimming pools and access to the beach as well as a sheltered lagoon where stand up paddleboards can be rented. I’m going to try and hold back from complaining about how expensive everything was throughout these stories, as this seemed to apply to Hawaii in general. Let me just say that Starbucks was the most reasonable breakfast option, and it wasn’t that reasonable.

Rainbow in Waikiki — So many rainbows in Hawaii… this one had the most intense colours I’ve ever seen.

Scuba Dive

The day after arriving I went on a 2 tank dive with Aloha Scuba. This was quite possibly the best dive I have ever been on, and while I always regret not being able to get good photos of my dives, this was the day that made me vow to get a GoPro before my next dive. The first dive was the Nautilus reef off Waikiki beach. The reef is beautiful, and I seemed to have a talent for spotting Moray eels, in fact, it was the first time I saw one swimming in the open rather than poking out from a hole in a reef. We had discussed the common hand signals for wildlife found in the area, and the one for dolphins struck me as weird – you point to your ear. During the dive, I found out why; you hear dolphins squeak before you see them. They were beautiful black and blue and seemed to fly across our field of vision like a flock of birds. This dive was about 45 minutes at a depth of approximately 54 feet.

The next dive site was a wreck known as the YO 257, though we managed to look at another called San Pedro on the same dive. Our dive group managed to co-star in the cellphone videos of passengers aboard an Atlantis Submarine tour – if you were on that vessel, the dork doing an underwater floss dance was me. In addition to getting a great up-close view of the vessel, I was within 15 feet of a white tip reef shark and I saw a trio of beautiful eagle rays. Apparently a tiger shark has been seen nearby, but I’ll tell you I was fine missing out on that. We spent 24 minutes at a depth of approximately 95 feet. The divemaster was very generous with advice on controlling my buoyancy and being more efficient with my energy which leads to less air use and longer dive times, but I was still the first one low on air. We snacked on fresh pineapple between dives and on the way back, and I’d recommend Aloha Scuba to anyone who is diving the Waikiki Beach area.

Last Night In a Hotel…

Once I got back to the hotel, I took the boys swimming in one of the hotel pools. We found the water cold, but we didn’t care too much since we’re Canadians just happy to be able to swim outdoors! I took Shark Boy to one of the little tuck shops and sprung for a little ball that we could play catch with; it served us well on every subsequent beach we visited. We had a long wait for service at our dinner restaurant and the jet lag was kicking in. The Lightning Kid fell asleep at the table while I waited for dessert, and my wife and Shark Boy went back to the hotel room to watch a fireworks display. I was still waiting for dessert when the fireworks went off and nearly scared me to death – hearing fireworks without seeing them isn’t really fun in my books. I still managed to enjoy a night-time walk on the beach with Shark Boy though.

That same Jet Lag had us up early and to the beach after breakfast, but not for too long because we were checking out and boarding by noon. We tried to game the ideal boarding time – the sooner we arrive, the sooner we can take advantage of food we’ve already paid for, but by coming later, I wonder if we could have avoided the longer line-ups to clear security etc.

The mood on board was very friendly and festive, and it wasn’t long before we were enjoying the feeling of the seas rolling beneath our feet. We managed to book almost every excursion we had wanted on board that evening in spite of being shut-out of them when trying to book online.

Port of Kahului on Maui – Day 1

Our first excursion was to board a catamaran and snorkel the famous Molokini Crater and a site known as Turtle Arches. The cruise was operated by the Pacific Whale Foundation (which is apparently non-profit) and it made considerable effort to be environmentally friendly including providing reef-safe sunscreen and controlling/reducing garbage. The guides were fun and friendly (especially with kids). They provided extra floatation gear including pool noodles or vests or whatever you were comfortable with. At Molokini, the Black Triggerfish were the most friendly fish; even though you are not permitted to feed them, they live long enough to remember when they would get fed and swim right up to snorkelers. I think we also saw Yellow Tang and Parrotfish.

Turtle Arches was the second stop on the catamaran cruise. We were enjoying the snorkelling but weren’t seeing any turtles, and we were about to return to the boat when Shark Boy said he had seen one; I was skeptical because the last near-sighting turned out to be a rock. Sure enough, not 50 feet from the boat’s exit for snorkelers was a giant sea turtle – it must have been at least 5 feet in diameter. I was able to dive down and get a side view of it (from a respectable distance, we are not to disturb them), and while I was telling another family about where to find it, I noticed it coming to the surface for air! They are really magical creatures – those black eyes seem to exude this calm wisdom.

When we got back to the ship we had some downtime and put the kids into the onboard kids’ club called Splash Academy. Shark Boy was a little underwhelmed by it at first; as the week went on he found it improved because they had more ‘active’ activities, though I suspect it was also because he started making friends. He also expects to be given free rein instead of being roped into structured activities (on the Disney cruise of 2 years ago, the kids club had video games and screens if he didn’t want to participate). My wife and I enjoyed a date night at the onboard Churrascaria, where you are served select meats (usually from a skewer) until you turn a little card over from its green to the red side to say ‘No More!’. The kids club called us just as dinner started to let us know the Lightning Kid was falling asleep (again). I had asked if he could just lie down on one of their mats but they apparently reserve that space for active play and couldn’t accommodate that. Still, I refused to leave our date just as it was getting started and asked them to manage him till we could finish – what else are we paying for except for them to keep our kids safe for a little while?

Port of Kahului, Maui – Day 2

Our second excursion was a Rainforest and Waterfall Hike. I’m very happy that our family has evolved into hikers over the last year or so – all we needed was for the Lightning Kid’s legs to get strong and long enough! A bus took us on part of the Hana highway till we reached the trailhead – apparently, the trail is on a private farm property, but the owners allow hiking tours because they are “hippies”. We hiked through the rainforest and learned about the local ecology – Hawaii seems to be dominated by invasive species (at least when you look at it from an evolutionary timeframe – a few thousand years ago even the wildest parts would have looked entirely different). We saw the Bird of Paradise flower, bananas, and other plants.

The most amazing botanical sight was the Mimosa Pudica or ‘shy’ Mimosa. This plant actually shrinks and ‘shies’ away when touched.

Of course, we are a family of action! So the best parts weren’t plantlife, they were the waterfalls where we got to cool off with a swim! We visited 3 distinct locations with waterfalls and pools to swim in. On some, you could climb the rocks and jump in.

Back on board, we took time out to find out how to navigate the ship’s internet plan. Internet access is limited by time and not usage (megabytes) and you have to formally log on and off to stay within your time limit. There didn’t seem to be very flexible options to increase or adjust the access so for the most part, we stayed offline. Our date night dinner was in the Italian Restaurant – I think this was the best food of the entire cruise but somehow I got too full to finish. I must have filled up at lunch – overall the food was excellent and varied on the Pride of America.

Stay tuned for Part 2 where we visit the Big Island of Hawaii and Kauai.

April 25, 2017April 24, 2017

Active Family Travel – Easter Weekend in Mont Tremblant

After getting priced out of a lot of ski resorts for March Break, we opted to put the kids in local camps for that week, and make our winter/spring family vacation take place over an extended Easter long weekend. We opted to stay in Canada this time and selected Mont Tremblant. We had skied there as newlyweds with my wife being pregnant with Shark Boy years ago.

It seemed like a good plan, especially once we had excellent accommodations locked down and saw how much money we were saving by going late in the season. Our first snag was that the convenient local airport didn’t have flights from Toronto past the very beginning of April. The second was that shuttle service from Pierre Trudeau Airport in Montreal was expensive and not ideal for our flight schedule. Renting a car (I upgraded all the way to a Dodge Durango to make sure we could fit our skis in) proved the smartest option.

By the time we landed, picked up the car and had dinner, it was dark, but still, driving through the mountains was enough to get me excited. Our condo was at the bottom of the ‘Village’ right across from the Westin, and had two bedrooms (including a king sized bed in the master bedroom) and a pull-out couch so the boys could sleep separately.

On Good Friday morning, we grabbed breakfast from the Au Grain de Cafe, and then got the kids dressed for their ski lessons. We opted to put the Lightning Kid in a ‘Mother Nature Camp’ where the morning would be dedicated to learning to ski, and the afternoon would be in a daycare-like environment. Downhill skis and boots are still pretty heavy for his legs, and it’s been slow going getting him to get the hang of it. Shark Boy was in a ski camp for both Christmas and March Break holidays and he’s gotten pretty good – to the point of being able to use poles, although we hadn’t been able to secure a pair of his own yet.

Once the kids were squared away, my wife and I stopped for an extra coffee and a treat (which became the daily ritual) before going back to our room to get our own ski gear on, and trudge back uphill through the village to the gondola and get our own skiing done.

Both Friday and Saturday were nice, sunny days, and as skiers from Ontario, we’re not too fussy about snow quality – we were just happy to be there. All we are really looking to do on these trips is spend some time in the simple pleasure of sliding on snow without worrying about anything more than keeping our skis beneath us.

Shark Boy’s favourite runs were ‘La Crete’, ‘Tascherau’ and ‘Dynomite’. Mine were ‘La Traverse’, ‘Toboggan’ but of course, I have to give an honourable mention to my namesake…

It rained on the Sunday, and though Shark Boy lasted the whole day, we got pretty miserably wet. Luckily, we paid a visit to the water park known as AquaClub (which also had a fitness centre which I did not take advantage of). This place has various pools with a tarzan rope, a small slide and a little cliff to jump off of. Both boys did everything, though the Lightning Kid always simply jumped into the water by releasing the rope before his swing could start.

The one day we didn’t swim after skiing, we rode a little open gondola called ‘Cabrio’ from the bottom parking lot to the top of the village and back. And up again, and down again. And up again…

We were very satisfied with the ski school overall. Lunches were provided, and Shark Boy really liked his instructor, who had tall (though true) tales from all over the world. I personally would have liked to see the Lightning Kid get more runs in on the bunny hill (served by a magic carpet), though I understand that when the kids get tired, forcing them into it is not going to yield good results or a positive attitude toward snow sports. He had 3 different instructors, and they were all warm, friendly and great at teaching the skills.

On the Monday, I got an opportunity to ski with each of my sons individually. I took Shark Boy for a run from the top of the mountain to the bottom before his lesson. I should point out that though I claimed we’re not fussy about snow quality, the warm weather generated some heavy slush that really wore on your legs after a while and didn’t always yield optimal technique. Still, I had a lot of fun skiing with Shark Boy and was so impressed that he stuck with me (not skiing too far ahead or afield) without me having to yell and shout.

At the end of the day, I took the Lightning Kid out, and promised him a ride on the chairlift. I had scoped out a route of green runs from the top of the one chairlift that is accessible from the bottom and was trying to be optimistic that my back would hold out for the entirety while I held him between my legs. Sadly, his tickets didn’t include lift access, and though it was the last day and last runs of the year, rules are rules, I guess. I took him back to the magic carpet to see what he had learned and what he was capable of.

He’s getting the hang of putting his skis into the snowplow/’pizza’ position, and according to the instructor reports he can do some stops and control his speed a little. He’s also fully independent on the magic carpet, so we’ll call the endeavour a success overall.

FOOD

I figure I’ll call out some of our favourite meal experiences separately rather than try and enumerate them all chronologically in the main story.

Pizzateria

The first night’s dinner was going to be a kid-friendly one. There were two pizza joints within reach, one small and at the bottom of the village, the other larger around the midpoint of the climb to the top. The kids chose the latter. Pizzateria is decorated like a log cabin, and the pizza has a homemade, authentic style I really liked.

La Savoie

I grew up with both fondue and a home Raclette appliance, and we’ve also gotten one as a wedding present that we’ve never used. Raclette is a kind of Swiss cheese that you melt over potatoes or just about anything else you can think of, and it’s delicious. We haven’t dared to try eating something like these two Swiss delights for fear of the kids’ pickiness (and how their unruly behaviour poses a safety risk)… until now. Shark Boy was lured in by La Savoie’s menu because it offered Salami as one of the options for dipping or melting cheese over. We were really surprised at how well the boys took to the experience, and the restaurant service made the kids feel more the kids feel more than welcome.

There’s an element that melts the cheese onto a plate below

Creperie Catherine

Sweet crepes for breakfast! Shark Boy and I had their ‘Grand Maman’ which was loaded with ice cream… a bit much for breakfast. The Lightning Kid had a Nutella and banana crepe and the results speak for themselves….

Le Q.C.

I picked this place for lunch date, just the grown-ups. They had an interesting selection of tartares; my wife’s tuna was delicious. Great cocktails too, I had a Dark and Stormy which was like a Moscow Mule only with coke, and my wife had a maple syrup based cocktail.

Samurai Pub

Great sushi, well presented, funky vibe. Another great lunch date. I didn’t partake of the Sake Bomb… maybe next time.

While ski vacations seem to be a lot of work in terms of planning, logistics, packing and lugging gear, when they’re done, we’ve always enjoyed them and grown closer as a family while living the life of adventure that we’ve always dreamed of.