MY TRIP TO CANADA

This is The Niagara Falls in Buffalo, Canada

   A week between New Years 2014 and Christmas, I went to Canada with my aunt, grandma and cousin by car.
   We didn't plan for that trip at all. I was surprised by my aunt. I remember that day, she came to my work and asked me to go Canada at that moment. I thought she was kidding with me because I didn't hear any plans from her before, but she wasn't. She told me to ask my boss to take a couple days off. Then we went home to pack some clothes and left about 3:00 PM.
   We didn't know how to get to Canada, so my aunt had to call her friend to ask for the address. I entered the address in the GPS and off we went.
   After seven hours of driving, she stopped at the gas station to fill gas and bought some foods for dinner. Then she tried to drive four more hours to get to the frontier between USA and Canada to find a hotel which was on the USA side. We checked in the hotel around 2:00 AM. We took a shower and slept until 8:00 AM. We had breakfast at the hotel and started planning then. We wanted to have lunch in China Town in Toronto, Canada first because it was farther than Niagara Falls. Then we would be coming back to Niagara Falls to stay overnight in a hotel and then went leave the next day. We checked out about 10:00 AM. I asked the girl who was a receptionist in the hotel how to get to Toronto and she gave me a map to get there.
   We left the hotel and got to Toronto three hours later. We enjoyed delicious foods in a Vietnamese restaurant, bought some foods and sandwiches to go.

  This is China Town in Toronto, Canada

 My aunt took a picture in the front of Vietnamese restaurant.

 We drove back to Niagara Falls about 3:00 PM. On the way, we ate food and were worried about the hotel. It was  the weekend so we thought people would travel a lot, but we hadn't booked hotel before we went. However, we were so lucky because it didn't take us a long time to find the hotel which is near to the fall.

                                          My grandma and aunt ate food in the car

   After checking, we rushed to go out to see the falls before the sunset. It was so cold when we walked near the fall, but the spectacular view of the fall made us forget  the cold and tiredness. We kept walking toward the end of the fall and took lots of pictures. We stopped at a souvenir shop for tourists and I bought some stuff for my sisters and friends.

I took picture at the fall.

Me and my cousin

My grandma and I

Me and my aunt 

The end of the fall.

   We walked far away from the hotel and all of us were tired so we got back to the hotel by taxi. We ate the sandwiches which we bought from China Town for our dinner. Then we told my grandma to take a shower and rest. My aunt took me and my cousin to the game area to play. That was a long day for us so everyone fell to sleep quickly.
  Next morning, we planned to eat breakfast in Skylon Tower restaurant where they is the best view of Niagara Falls. We made a reservation for 10:00 AM at Skylon, so we needed to check out an hour earlier to get there.

Skylon Tower and Yellow Bug Elevator

Skylon Tower at night.

   We took a funny picture at the photo shop while we were waiting in the line to go up to the Skylon. The Skylon is 775 feet tall above the falls and it takes 52 seconds to reach to the top by "Yellow Bug Elevators". You can see the city skylines of Buffalo, New York and Toronto while you in the elevator.

This funny picture we took at the photo shop

We took this picture in the "Yellow Bug Elevators"

   The Skylon has three floors on the top. On the first floor is a small bar that is only open after 6:00 PM everyday. On the second floor is the restaurant but the time for food service is separated. It has a buffet style from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM and after that it is turned into a dining room and on the third floor is a souvenir shop and the lobby where people can go out to look at around and take pictures.

I  was in the second floor.

My grandma and cousin.

I took this picture at the lobby.

   We left Canada at noon after we had breakfast in Skylon. My aunt drove straight home, stopping only for gas and food. It took us 12 hours to get home, so we got home about 1:00 AM. Everyone was extremely tired but we had a great time together.                                  

Earliest Memory.

   My earliest memory was at Christmas when I was seven years old. I had no gifts and delicious foods on Christmas, but I had a great time with my father who always gave me the best thing.

   A week before Christmas, I asked my father to buy Santa clothes for me, take me traveling around Saigon which is capital in Vietnam and walk outside the DUC BA Church which is the biggest and oldest Church in Saigon. He promised me he would do that, so I was excited.

    These are the Santa clothes which I wanted my father to buy for me.

 

                                             This is the DUC BA Church in Saigon

   On my mind, I always thought about Christmas and I couldn't wait. My father was tired and angry when I kept asking him the same question repeated many times a day: " Where are my Santa clothes, Daddy?". I was disappointed if  got the answer from him that I needed to be patient until Christmas, so I counted down, day by day.
   Finally, Christmas Eve came. I woke up so early and ran to my father's bedroom to remind him about his promise, but he wasn't in there. I thought he went to buy Santa clothes for me. I was waiting for him until the evening and walked back and forth all day. I saw him riding on his old bicycle far away, I ran toward him and asked him for my clothes. His face was sweaty, I could tell he was very tired, but I didn't care about him. I just wanted to know where my clothes was. He looked at me with hesitant eyes and told me to take a shower, so we could go out. I didn't forget asking where my Santa clothes was. Suddenly, he gave me a tight hug and said: " I'm so sorry, Baby. I wanted to buy you the nice Santa clothes, but I haven't gotten my salary yet and couldn't borrow money to buy it." I was extremely disappoint and badly upset. However, I calmed down when he made another promise. He would buy a big doll for me after he got his salary. Then I went to take a shower and hang out with him.
   We traveled around Saigon on his old bicycle. He let me sit on the seat and he sat behind me. I asked him if I could sit on the back, but he didn't let me because he was worried I would fall or my feet would get stuck inside the wheel.

                             
      My father's old bicycle was similar to this one but a different color.
   
   After traveling around, I was hungry, so he stopped at the pushcart that sold many kinds of food such as bread, sandwiches, juice, water and coffee in front of the zoo. He told me he would take me to the zoo and eat at the good restaurant next time. He bought only a sandwich and a bottle of water. I asked him: "Why do you buy only one, how about you?". He said he wasn't hungry. I was old enough to know he lied to me. I knew he didn't have enough money to buy food for him, so I told him cut half of my sandwich because I couldn't finish it by myself. He told me to eat it. If I was full, he would help me to finish it. I listened to him, but I didn't finish it. I shared with him half of my sandwich and my water, too. That was our dinner on Christmas Eve.

 

These are some  pictures in Saigon on Christmas.

 

   Although, I have gotten a lot of gifts and eaten delicious foods on Christmas since then, but that was my happiest and warmest time with my father.