RoadTrip Complete!

So, I am back from my epic American road trip! I've been back for a while, honestly, but I have been hella busy with school and work and all those adult things that everyone hates. I am going to be doing individual posts for most of the stops, but as a short, bullet point overview:

• Dallas has a really great gym
• San Antonio Lone Star Boots are HUGE
• San Antonio  Natural Bridge caverns are amazing, and somewhat terrifying
• Galveston is pretty
• NASA is AMAZING. 
• Alabama HATES me
• New Orleans is exactly as everyone says
• DragonCon was so amazing, but poorly planned on  my part, but still awesome.

I'll try and get some posts up soon, but, to tide you over, here is part 1 of a video I took in Fossil Rim Nature Centre. Its sorta like Canada's African Lion Safari. Part 2 is on my YouTube channel, so feel free to check it out.

Also, there may be more Throwback posts, but I don't have any ready at the moment. I guess we shall see?

Throwback Thursday-Toronto Boat Cruise!

Another throwback post to Toronto! Now, I don't know about you guys, but I LOVE Groupon for fun activities to do in new (or re-visited) cities. They can also be a lot of fun for locals who want to try something new and interesting, but don't want to invest too much into the activity.

For Toronto, we met up with a friend from Korea, who lived in Vancouver, and moved to Toronto (and is now back in Vancouver again) who we try to see regularly. She is always down for just about anything new, so we took a tall-mast boat tour of the Toronto harbor! 

The price was pretty decent ($15 or so per person), the tour lasted an hour, and they had music, fun activities, food and drinks available for purchase, and some great views of the Toronto skyline. There are sunset tours, and a dinner tour available as well, but this basic tour is the cheapest option available. 

I don't know if they have any more groupons offered, but the website for the company is http://www.tallshipcruisestoronto.com/  and its a great way to feel like a pirate for an hour!

Thar she blows! The beautiful ship in the Toronto harbor 

                                                                                                                                                                       

View of the CN Tower from the boat dock-or maybe the boat? I don't remember

How pretty is this boat?

Set sail!

View of the skyline, not far out

That's better, right? A nice view of the Toronto skyline, early afternoon

Don't forget that Toronto has an island! 

The weather got a little grey and windy away from the protected harbor

A little bit of fog, but no rain

A vanity shot of the CN tower. She looks so pretty!

Vancouver PRO/AM Fit expo

I had the opportunity to go to the FIRST Vancouver PRO/AM bodybuilding competition and fitness expo. This is the first of a new Olympia qualifying competition, so a lot of big names came out to see the expo, or compete. It was cool, because there was a lot of amateur competitors there as well, so I got to see what some of the local ladies and gents look like. 

The event was the weekend of July 25-26, but I only went on the Saturday. It was actually quite a small event, but it was pretty busy, what with it being the first of its kind.

One of my favourite moments was getting to see some of the champions. Like, Flex Lewis. And Dana Lynn Bailey. Mostly DLB. Seriously. I couldn't go near her-I was both in awe, and terrified I'd embarrass myself. Which I would have. I'll have a video of some of her talk on my YouTube later!

And Rich Piana. Now, if you don't know, yes, this man is on steroids, and he promotes the CAREFUL and PROPER use of them. Despite that, it still takes a LOT of work to get, and maintain, being this big. If you feel the need to talk about how big dudes are all on steroids, or some shit-don't. if you really can;t stop yourself, go somewhere else. I don't want to hear it.

And he is fucking huge.

They also had some pretty cool demonstrations, although  most of them I didn't get pictures of. There was belly dancing, pole dancing, powerlifting, and other lifts. We watched this girl basically giver herself an aneurysm. Well, not actually, but after she got these 5 plates (just under 225kg) up, she gave herself a nose bleed. We decided to leave after that.

And one of the cool things about the expo was all the free samples we got! Don't get me wrong, we bought a bunch of stuff too. Although I forgot to buy protein, which is awful, since I'm actually about to run out. There were also lifting competitions for the guests to win prizes, like shirts or shaker cups. One of my friends had to win me a Pharmafreak tank top because my finger makes me still kinda gimpy. Its so close to being healed, but so far.

Diamond Head Hawaii

When you go to Hawaii, you have to expect to spend a lot of time outdoors. There isn't much to do inside-not even shop, as many of the shops are outside. So, once that realization that outdoors is most of the time, you'll look to see what there is to do, and, one of the most popular-and fun-things to do is hike up Diamond head Crater. The crater is an almost perfect circle, and formed as part of the processes that make volcanic hot spots-of which Hawaii is one.

We walked from our hotel in Waikiki, but there are several buses that go to the base of the crater, which will cut the walk by an hour, if you want to do that. The hike took about an hour, not including the walk from Waikiki, but a lot of that was waiting for people as some of the walkways are quite narrow and do require some patience and care. It is not in the least dangerous, unless you are supremely drunk. There is a small fee to get in, but its only $2.00USD, which is hella cheap, considering the upkeep required. There is also a nice little shaved ice truck, and recommend the lime flavour!

I HIGHLY suggest going bright and early, before too many people get there and either a. get in your way or b. ruin your awesome pictures!

This is the base of the mountain and, if you're driving, the way to the parking lot.

It seems like a state park thing to have rules, doesn't it?

This is the entrance into the crater, where you will walk along the road (its safe!) to go into the crater proper.

Our little bear had to get a photo-yes, he came with us!

Part way up the mountain!

Looking back into the crater-looks like a grassland desert, right?

This is the view from the top, looking towards Waikiki, with Honolulu proper in the background. 

The beach and the ocean! It was so pretty, the pictures don't do it justice! 

Seriously guys, if you do go, Diamond head is a for sure thing to add to your to do list in Hawaii! It can be done by everyone-unless you are in crutches or a wheelchair. But, old, young, out of shape-it might take a little longer, but it is totally doable!

Honolulu Hawaii

I told you guys that I was in Honolulu for my secret trip-and here we are! I was there for 8 days, in, I think, the best hotel we could have got. We got an upgrade to a full 1 bedroom apartment, because we were staying so long, and it worked out really well. This is the view:

Nice, right? It was close to everything-the beach, jogging path great food, and Ala Moana, which is the giant outdoor shopping mall. We had our own full kitchen, bedroom and bathroom, and the maids came in to clean our dishes-which is perfect since it was vacation time. 

This was our first day at the beach-but not our last by far! See how pale we still are?

There are statues all over Honolulu and Waikiki that celebrate some of the prominent Hawaiians. While Hawaii is part of America, it is important to remember that Hawaii has its own culture outside of America. 

I didn't get to surf at all, which may or may not be a good thing. Bad, because its surfing, and I've never done it, but good because I didn't kill myself. Doesn't mean I can't appreciate how awesome these boards are though!

These little guys were waffles, filled with the most delightful creams! They were from a small Japanese bakery in Ala Moana. 10/10 recommend 

These guys are also from a Japanese bakery in Ala Moana-but a different bakery! Also hella tasty-and so cute!

I posted the video of this on my YouTube channel. It was a performance of traditional Hawaiian luau dancing and singing. It was really well done, and entertaining. This show is 3 days a week, and totally free on Waikiki beach. 

Aloha!

I have touched down in Honolulu, Hawaii, which, for those interested, was the secret mystery vacation I mentioned both on Twitter and my last YouTube video. If you didn't see it, there are links all over the place!

So, my next few blogs will be about my time here in this beautiful island in the Pacific Ocean. Look forward to it!

I already went for a jog this morning, and it is so so nice here.

xox

Fan expo Vancouver 2015

For the second year in a row, I managed to hit up some of Fan Expo Vancouver! Only a week after Emerald city made for a busy as hell comic con run, but it was a lot of fun. The nice thing about the one here in Vancouver is that it is still pretty small, so its much less chaotic. The downside is that, sometimes, the guests are less than super impressive. And more likely to cancel (*cough* Karen Gillian*cough*)

Anyways, the big draw for me was seeing Jennifer Morrison, who plays Emma Swan on Once upon a Time. She was funny as hell, and I recorded a smidge of her talk. They SAID no recordings but a little one doesn't hurt right?

Did you go to Fan Expo? Are you going to the one in Toronto-which is the big one? Let me know in the comments!

Hair was on point. So was my Loot Crate shirt.

The Delorean, from Back to the Future. I think it was here last year too.

I wish I had this much time on my hands. Like, for real.

I think this was for charity?

Jennifer Morrison. She moves around a lot.

So, i assume you don't know these guys by sight, but the fellow is Brad Swaile, better known as Light in Death Note, and Gohan in Dragonball Z. The lady in the middle is Veronica Taylor, best known as Ash (and his mother) from Pokemon, Sailor Pluto from Sailor Moon Crystal, and April O'Neil on TMNT

Have you watched the cycling anime? WAY better than I was expecting! Little cards are great for all the travelling I do too!

One of my fave, top 10 animes for sure. If you haven't watched it, drop everything, and start. Its amazing. Seriously. Go.

Also drop everything and run to get the Rat Queens comics. As long as you are into badass babes, who put the sexy back into wholesale slaughter. Hannah is my spirit animal.

New deadlifting socks! Now I just need to deadlift more often

And, obviously, I needed the Boba Fett dress. I mean, who doesn't?

Emerald city comic con 2015

You know, this is one of the comic cons I go to the most, I think. This has to be, what, my 4th? maybe? Something like that. I go so often, and I am always impressed at Emerald City. The sheer amount of panels, the guests, the gaming, the availability of STUFF, the size, and the accommodation of people-be it kids, new families, gender-fluid bathrooms, quite zones and what not are all spectacular, and probably the most inclusive of all cons. Seriously, they had gender free washroom facilities-how awesome is that?

We only went one day, due to finances and time constraints from school, which sucked, but it was still a great time. We got there when it opened, and stayed for a full 12 hours, staying to watch the AMAZING cosplay contest. I really need to u my cosplay game, by the way. I have two in the works right now, and I want to do one for Hannah from Rat Queens, which, by the way, if you haven't read, you NEED to.

My outfit for the show, and showing off my swanky badge

The opening to Anthony Daniels panel, which was introduced by Grant Imahara. The video was exactly what you would expect-a compilation of C3PO in all the Star Wars films currently released. 

Anthony Daniels himself-he is such a sassy man!

Display, not cosplay.

We even had a visit from R2D2!

I NEED that Yoda picture.

And this one. Actually, I just really need a lot of art.

The R series builders were in the house, which was awesome to see.

This Thrall cosplay was AMAZING and was this guys first BIG cosplay project. He made the entire thing, from the muscle suit, to the mask, EVERYTHING. He won both his category, and the overall.