Trans Canada Expedition - Day 22

Aug 04, 2013 – Day 22

Locations: North Ridge Inn – Edson, AB; West Edmonton Mall & Fantasyland Hotel – Edmonton, AB

To avoid repeating the previous motel’s complimentary breakfast mistake, we had made a system of one group go eat while the others pack, another eat while the others load up their luggage. It worked wonders. There was no crowd, no complaints, although the choice of breakfast is another issue. Quickly and quietly, we left the motel. With new seating arrangements, we drove all the way to Edmonton. Since today was a Sunday, we couldn’t go get the glass windows fixed nor could we get the tires fixed. So we stayed at West Edmonton Mall for the entire day. Everyone got into groups again, and had their own fun. We bought our own lunch. Some went ice skating. Some went to the amusement park. Some went to watch a movie. Some went shopping. Some went to the bookstore to read. Billy decided to buy a few park passes and give out to any students he saw. Those students whom Billy saw and received passes had extreme fun in the amusement parks. We were supposed to be back to the parked cars by 7:30pm, but unbeknownst to us, the mall closes at 6. At first, we wanted to head to Lloydminster or another town out of Edmonton to stay for the night. After much thought, we got six rooms at the 5-star hotel (called Fantasyland Hotel) next to the mall, and had our graduation dinner at a restaurant (called Tony Roma’s Grill and Steakhouse) instead of having it back in Toronto. It was a blast. The steak was delicious; the hotel, fantastic.

We would like to congratulate Mickey, Justin and Kathy on promoting to Yellow Shirts! And another congratulations to Crystal on promoting to Orange Shirt! YAY!

Mich F.

The day after experiencing some rather strenuous hiking is the day which we call the REST DAY. Leaving the Northern Ridge Inn with a bit hiccups from the administration stuff, we drove safely to West Edmonton Mall again and did something we missed last time. Firstly, I went to grab some food and helped Owen buy a 1L water bottle that cost more than it should be (because it is West Edmonton Mall’s Atmosphere). Then, we headed off straight to the ice-skating area to try out something that I have not done before. Yeah, ice-skating… The reason why I went ice-skating is because I heard that Marco learnt the ice-skating skills after paying $11 for unlimited-time ice-skating last time. This time we purchased a family pass with a cheaper price. We had Jennifer, Crystal and Kendra as the ice-skating experts, as well as me, Alvin and Owen as the novices. Once we purchased the family pass, Crystal foretold us that there would be a lot of fun today.

In fact, I came here partly for fun, partly for learning new things, partly for challenging my courage and patience. I have never touched ice-skating or roller-skating before, so obviously I was just a newbie spending the first hour literally walking on the ice, like a panic chicken or something, just trying my best to grab the feeling of moving upon the ice. That experience gave me a lot of pain and nervousness though – after my first trial, I found my pair of skating shoes lacking protection on my ankles. That’s why I spent so much time just to experience the balance between both feet. Later on, Vingi joined us. Even though she (claimed that she) has not been ice-skating for 10 years, she still helped me + taught me how to wear the skating shoes properly. (Mom, Vingi just did what you usually do to me right before I left home for school every morning. What a coincidence!)

Crystal and many other ice-skaters told me that once you fall down, you will be able to grab the feeling even quicker. In other words, they wanted to stress that we should let our esteem go off and do not be panic. After a lady had demonstrated me on how to literally push your legs left and right in forward motion but going forward still, I just followed her movements. Her movements are as smooth as silk, but she just did it so gently and easily. I saw Crystal and Kendra skating so quickly, but not that gently, hence I could not figure our how to skate properly until the lady demonstrated in front of me. When I was learning it, I saw many of the Monticle members (including Billy and Michael the Senior) passing by and just staring at us, watching us how we ‘chicken-hand-duck-feet’(鸡手鸭脚). Even I knew they were staring at us (not necessarily teasing us), so as many other visitors of the mall, I just ignored them. I did not care about how they look at us. As I am wearing the Monticle shirt, I will try my best to preserve the reputation of Monticle. Ha, you might say that I am a bit too strict or serious here. But, I just do not want to create any dirt on Monticle – in other words I will not give up and try my best to learn it.

It is just a rest day, cooking mama (I got that appellation when I became obsessive with cooking in Hudson’s Hope, or more precisely, when people saw me stirring a pot of mash potato like I was doing some tai ji exercises). Being too nervous will also kill yourself too! Anyway, I ended out not falling off for a single time, and I managed to learn the skills. When I come back to HK, I might start to be obsessive with ice-skating in Festival Walk, haha. Later on, we headed to the Galaxy Amusement Park with the sponsorship of Billy. We got that privilege because we were placing ourselves in a spot which is so recognizable. Billy saw us, so he handed all nine of us tickets to the amusement, with 3 extras. We played two roller-coasters with each twice. One is Mindbender, another one I forgot. The first one really scared the xxxx out of us – it literally could bend your mind because it made you impossible to lay your head and neck straight when we encounter 360 degrees loops! The second one was comparatively mild, but still it did make me feel hyper as the cart itself could spin while travelling forward. We felt so dizzy right after the first run of each roller-coaster, but still we played twice for each. Can’t believe that I experience two ‘first-times’ in a rest day and I just became addicted with them so quickly.

More unexpected things to come though! Tonight, Billy paid us a hefty dinner in Tony Roma’s Restaurant, including some Triple A Alberta Sirloin, buffalo chicken wings, deep-fried squids and unlimited refilling soft drinks. He also brought us to the Fantasyland Hotel (*****) with Jacuzzi in it (OMG another first time), despite having only one bed in each room. Billy sacrificed his free time to entertain himself (perhaps just only buying himself a pair of Saloman running shoes which is known to be cheaper than Toronto) and gave us so much coziness and fascination. This is called responsibility. The greater power you have, the more responsibilities you are going to take. Once we were organizers or people-in-charge of some events or courses or trips, better remind yourselves how Billy treated us today. But you must remember that Billy always has a reason behind every action of his. As we are going to travel crazy to catch up the originally delayed schedule, this day would be the rest day in which we had our graduation dinner, including the infamous Triple A Alberta Sirloin and countless fries. Seriously, tomorrow’s breakfast will be our dinner tonight. Technically I do not need to eat anything for the whole day tomorrow as long as I did not puke anything out. Let my stomach digest those meaningful luxuries slowly until the trip ends, so that I could cherish that moment of graduation for a longer period. Cheers~

P.S. Right now I still haven’t had the feeling to write so seriously. As we are getting nearer and nearer to HQ, I will be more reflective. Be patient, thank you very much. :)

Matt

Awesome! Writing my blog in a Jacuzzi! We are all sleeping in a 5 star hotel tonight called Fantasy Land. This hotel is inside West Edmonton Mall, so our entire day was a relax day at the mall. Me and he 2 IC’s and Marco and Lemeul went to Scotiabank theatre to watch “Wolverine”. The movie was awesome! All I am going to say is that at one point Wolverine loses his healing power. I believe the message of this movie was in order to overcome your problem you must first face it. We had our graduation dinner at “Tony Roma’s”, also in the mall. The food was awesome and the conversations were funny.

So pretty much this whole day was at the mall. But this time it was much more fun.

Edwin Chan

We left from Howard Johnson Hotel in Edson to go to West Edmonton Mall. It took us about 2 hours to get to West Edmonton Mall from Edson. Not much happen while we were heading to West Edmonton Mall. Once we reached to West Edmonton Mall everyone got free time from 1pm – 7:30 p.m. At first the HQ team went to lunch, which was sushi. after that I was asked to finish Peggy’s lunch which had a quarter left. After lunch we went skating again until 4 pm when Billy got 12 full day admittion pass for Galaxy land which was the Amusement Park in the mall. Only 9 people got the ticket so only had 2 hours to play but it was still awesome. As for dinner we had steak which was really good and thanks to Billy for treating us to dinner. We also got to stay at a 5 star hotel. Well that all now have fun.

Lemuel

We only did 2 hours of driving today. Our destination today was Edmonton or more specifically the West Edmonton Mall. This will be our second time here and our last time. For the entirety of the day, we spent it within the mall. I spent a portion of it watching a movie “The Wolverine”. Afterwards, we moved in to Tony Roma for a nice dinner. In fact, this will be our celebrating dinner since we won’t have time for it when we get back. Currently, we are staying at a 5 star hotel. This is probably the best night we have had.

Calvin

We arrived at Edmonton today after shopping in Edson. I did not expect to be back in Edmonton so soon as we were suppose to be in Calgary. Unfortunately, we could not as the situation is still bad there. I also did not spend a lot of time driving today. We were mostly waiting around in Edmonton mall. Tomorrow starts the drivers real challenges as we will be pushed passed our limits. Hopefully we could reach home on time.

Mike

And we are back at West Edmonton Mall. Originally, we were supposed to leave at 6-7 pm so we could move on to our next stop, but since Billy realized we don’t have time at Toronto for a celebration, so he decided to let us eat steak + fries for dinner and for us to live in Fantasyland, the hotel of West Edmonton Mall. This decision can let us enjoy an early celebration dinner and a good rest, but this also means we are behind schedule by a bit and have to push more the next few days.

Unlike last time when I went to skate in the mall, I ate lunch at McDonald’s first, then grouped up with the rest of the 2 IC’s, Marco and Lemuel to watch “Wolverine” in 2D. The reason we did not watch 3D was because of the price and timing of the movie in 3D.

Lastly, there was also a timing problem, in a sense, as we were supposed to be back by 7:30 pm, but as soon as we left the cinema Lemuel got a message telling all of us to go to the carpark. We arrived at the carpark at 6:45 pm to find out there was no one there. Billy then arrived at about 7 pm as we waited for everyone else. At first, I thought Billy and Calvin were fooling around and went to hide, until we actually saw them with Galaxyland tickets on their arms. It was then I realized what actually happened.

Edwin Cheung

I woke up at Havard Johnson Hotel. We then head out to Edmonton. We spend a long time in Edmonton Mall. Later, we have our graduation dinner in Tonry Roma to have. We have hot wings, steak with fried. It taste amazing and good. We then have live in hotel in Edmonton. I feel that this trip is going to end and too quick. I miss al my friend.

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Mireille

Today we leave Edson to go to Edmonton. From 1;30 pm until 7:30 pm we stayed in West Edmonton Mall. I went to Starbuck’s, Dollarama, urban planet, Disney, KFC, MacDonald’s, and other shop but I don’t remember the name of these shops. Then at 8pm we all went to Tony Roma. It is a restaurant. We ate fried onion, chicken, French fries, steak and brocoli. Then tonight we sleep in a 5 stars hotel. Inside it is Polynesian style with jacouzzi. Awesome!

Tiffany

Fun, Fantastic, fabulous! Today we headed to WEST EDMONTON MALL, AGAIN!! Yes, it was the same things, but it was much more fun this time! Me and the twics (+ Marco) went for food, wanered, MOVIE!! We had so much fun talking, cating and teasing! Well, afterall today is a relax day! Also, there was a promotion, graduation dinner, a celebration for everyone’s appreciated efforts! Yes. I’m a little “energized” I’m just so proud of what everyone has accomplished so far. Yay! <3 span="">

I’m so pleased to be here today, the hard, the easy, the painful, the stressful, now I stand here looking back. Oh wonder!

JJ

Today we went back to West Edmonton Mall. Originally, the students were to go shopping and enjoy the day while the HQ team fixed up and replaced parts on the sprinters. But due to the long weekend, the repair shops were all closed. For me, majority of the day was spent in the Chapters, reading. After the shopping period, we had a early graduation dinner of steak which was seriously expensive but it tasted great. We are also staying at the five star hotel in the mall called “Fantasy Land”. There is even a hot tub in here! I can’t wait till we get back though.

Crystal

Today has got to be one of the best days of my life (at least until now)

Returning back to Edmonton, we visited West Edmonton Mall once more. I was hoping to go to the skating rink, the Apple store and possibly the amusement park. I went to two of the three locations and was even able to receive a free day pass from Billy to Galaxyland. Even though I wasn’t able to go to all three places, it was still worth it.

Everyone else went either to Chapters or the theatre, but I just stuck with same people in the rink and amusement park. When the park and the rest of the mall started closing for the day, my group and I just hung out in the food court. We left around 7 to meet up with everyone else outside target.

Billy treated us to a delicious steak and fries dinner at a fancy restaurant as a graduation dinner and to celebrate the promotion of certain students (including me). After everyone was full, we gathered all our sleep gear and headed into the 5 star hotel we were going to stay in for tonight.

I’m going to wrap up this blog quickly since everyone is starting to head into the Jacuzzi. Hope everything will turn out smoothly tomorrow :)

Jenn Wang

I wanted to write this blog in the Jacuzzi but us captains and 2ICs wanted to let the admin team sleep earlier today. We’re currently in Edmonton again; more specifically, the five-star hotel inside the West Edmonton Mall.

Billy also acquired passes into the amusement park and water park inside the mall, on top of our hefty steak graduation dinner. I had an extremely fun time today, but that is sort of a given, huh? What I’d like to reflect on is what Billy said – that he always gives us the best. He truly always gives us the best he can and he is never stingy.

Reflecting on myself, I like to take care of those I consider my team and I make sure they are well off, but I agree with Cooking Mama (Mich F) sometimes with the stinginess. Never would I have dreamed of actually staying at this hotel – Fantasyland would have probably forever stayed a fantasy to me and thus to my team as well, I don’t think it’s wrong – just another perspective, but all the same, I appreciate this hotel stay, the steak, the tickets, and all of the times Billy has cared for us. Perhaps I can overcome this innate stinginess but also be careful not to over indulge my team.

Now it’s off to the Jacuzzi for me!

Owen

After the program, the only thing that we did is relax.

But, I was still in trouble. I forgot my water bottle in the hotel!

After a short time of travelling, we arrived the biggest shopping mall again. Since I lost my water bottle, I had to borrow money from Billy. I only wanted to borrow $20 but he gave me $100! My mom, forgive me.

I didn’t know that I would have my first skating here. I wore the boots and started my first time of skate. The ice was very slippery. I needed to skate very slow to prevent falling on the ice. My skating skill was very bad, but many friends were more better than me.

Puho wasn’t fun at all. Tow of the black-shirt (Monticle) guy hold me to skate around. While they were doing a sharp turn, I fell down ad my foot had been cut. It hurts!

Luckily, Billy knew we were skating. He bought 12 tickets of Galaxyland in the mall. (there were 2 amusement parks in the mall) The roller coasters were very fun! They almost dropped us down from 90 degrees! God!

We had a good dinner in a steak house. The steak there were triple A! So good! Although I took photo on them, my friend deleted all my photos accidently. Oh my…

Finally, we got a 5-star hotel! Yo! It had a Jacuzzi per room!

I love Canada.

Kathy

Today was the twenty-second day in Monticle. We went to a mall and had a free time in it in the afternoon. I thought that was the most terrible time in last 22 days, because I lose my canmera there, I sat on chair to had a rest, then when I left, I forgot to took it and I couldn’t found it when I came back to found it. IT was so bad because I had a lot of beautiful photos in it. There still had some happy things today. We had a celebrate night. this night, we had a really nice dinner together in the restaurant, and talked happily, Billy told us something about the trip. We all had a good time.

Alan

Today is day 22. We went to Edmonton Mall again. This time it was better then the last time because, this time we (my group) watched a movie. We watched (pacific rim). The movie was great. After that we walked around Edmonton mall. so I left Edmonton mall and waited for the other people. Then we had our monticle graduation at a steakhouse and we slept in a 5* hotel.

Jason Wong

Today we slept in until 8:00 am. We went to have breakfast last. The breakfast that was at the motel was disappointing. We drove to the West Edmonton Mall and had until 7 in the evening to shop. I did not really buy anything. I had noodles and beef for lunch which I have not had asian food for days. I decided to try bubble milk drink without the bubbles. I had chocolate flavor, we had Quince with my travelling group because of miscommunication. After we went to a steak house for our graduation dinner. The food was great, I finished early and was given more food from Billy. The restaurant was inside the mall. Then we went to the hotel that was next to the mall, which also was 5 stars. We have a Jacuzzi in our rooms and only one queen size bed (only bed in room).

Ryan Hoang

Today we arrived at West Edmonton Mall and we are staying in a 5 star hotel called Fantasy Land Hotel. It is an amazing and magnificent place with an island theme and a Jacuzzi. What a way to relax and in style too.

Today we drove all the way to the mall, like the last blog when we were there I drifted and relaxed. We also had a very expensive dinner with steaks, buffalo chicken and calamari. That is about all we did today so I will be signing off early hope tomorrow I write a longer blog.

Howard

To celebrate the joyous occasion, I shall, though you can’t see it, write my blog in crayon. Today, we made the trip from Jasper to Edmonton. After waiting, it was finally my turn to navigate/ co-drive next to Billy. Any nervousness I had was quickly shattered within seconds of entering the car and I found out that there was not really much to worry about.

After reaching Edmonton, we once again re-visited the Edmonton Mall. There my group decided to watch a movie, something I have not done in so very long. Then we had a glorious steak dinner and hotel stay. Overall it was an awesome day. Thank you very much, Billy.

Grace

Yesterday we had a good sleep in a motel after a tiring hiking, then we went to the Edmonton Mall again. We watched the movie 30 Pacific Rim, it is really nice but I think it could be better if one of the two main characters dies. Walking in the second biggest mall in the world is tiring but fun, and because I already bought what I want last time, so basically I did not buy anything. We surprisingly noticed we would have the graduation dinner. Afterwards, we had steak and fries in Tony Roma’s, and I was so hungry that I ate three steaks. And we are now in Fantasyland Hotel which located in the mall. We had a very comfortable day today, after the hiking, we can relex.

Justin

Today is a day of joy and happiness. We revisited the West Edmonton Mall. If was a blast. I watched a movie, “Pacific Rim”, about giant robots fighting giant monsters, not a bad movie, but the tickets are too expensive. We all had agood time. For dinner, we dine at Tony Roma’s and had a taste of their fine steak. What a day.

Quince

Today is the third best day in my life for now. We get to go the West Edmonton Mall again. Then we have a very good news. We got to eat dinner at Tony Romas and sleep in a 5 star hotel. It has a Jacuzzi in it it is like a jungle. IT has fake leaves, stuff on the edge of the bed. A tree and a ship which is the bed. It got paintings that is a paradise on the wall as wall paper. It got a Phillps TV and lots of fake rocks. Today is quite a fun day.

Kendra

“West Edmonton Mall we are coming again!”, that was what we were all shouting yesterday and finally today, we get to spend our day here. This is probably our last stop, so the next few days are just going to be driving because we have to catch up on or schedule. Today was such a fun day for me. I got to skate, go to the amusement park, stay at a great hotel and eat a great graduation dinner. I went skating again and this time I got to go to the amusement park. I had such a blast and I’m so happy I got to visit the mall again because last time I did not get to explore. We also had a fancy dinner of steak and fries. Then, it was the ultimate thing. A five star hotel with different themed floors. Right now I’m in a JACUZZI!!! Yes, I sad a JACUZZI This room is so awesome! So relaxed…

Mickey

Today we go back to one of the biggest shopping mall in Canada. But I did not buy, just sussi, beef jerky and watched move. I feel so happy. I thinking so much today about the friends, dad mom, monticle. Oh yes! My clothes was yellow! Haha! I will try my best! Thank you billy! And tonight go living in the 5 stars hotel! Eating the beef! So delicious! If we can shopping every. That’s so great! Just joking! Good night

Marco

Really good day today. We got to go to West Edmonton Mall today, I watched a movie! IT is the Wolverine. IT was a awesome movie but it is kind of hard for me because there is no subs. We had awesome dinner, we ate steak fries and broccoli. I hope I could go there again. Now we are in the Edmonton’s hotel, it is a five star hotel. It has a Jacuzzi in it! When I went in it seems like I went in a jungle. Anyways time to hand it in, bye!

Roman

Best day ever! We have returned to Edmonton! We spent our entire afternoon in West Edmonton Mall. The first time we came here we were over welmed by all the things you could do at the giant mall, this time we have a plan. Since we all have a pretty good idea of all the stores and entertainments in here, some of us planned to watch a movie, some of us planned to go to stores we did not have time to go to last time. I got something for Luke at the Disney store, don’t tell him it’s a surprise. I got something for everyone except for dad. It’s not that I don’t want to give him anything, it’s just that there were not anything he would be interested in. For dinner we had stake and fries. Billy was generous and gave us appetizers too. Now I am writing my blog at a five star hotel with a interesting jungle interior design and a Jacuzzi. I miss you guys so much. I can’t wait to get home and tell you guys all abut my expedition with Monticle.