Bonjour Canada! - Solo travels (Day 4)

This was the 2nd last day of the Conference.


We had breakfast at Palais du Centre also, and i had caesar salad which cost me CAD$3.95 (~S$5) before heading for the conference, which starts at 9am today.

Today's lunch was provided as well. This time was a sit-down affair with 4 courses, starting with soup, then salad, with chicken breast and potato mash and greens as main course, and lastly chocolate mousse cake for dessert. I only enjoyed the chocolate mousse cake, as the other dishes did not taste that great.


We sat together with two other persons, both were from Statistics Canada if i did not recall wrongly. We had an interesting chat about living in Canada, as both were not local-born Canadians and originate from Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Some interesting facts about living in Canada:

1. They have flexible working hours, and can start work at any time they wish, so long as they fulfill 7.5 hours a day of work. They can also decide when to have lunch, and how long their lunch is.

2. They only have 14 day's of annual leave for govt employees. For those in private practice, they only have 5, or at most 10 days' leave! This probably explains the shorter working hrs they have.

3. Canada's winter is not a joking matter on the importance of keeping warm. The total snowfall for last year alone was 400m, which was a breaking record for the last 22 years. One of them even mentioned that they've seen somebody's spit frozen in mid air, and become ice before falling to the ground!


4. Canadians like to skate during Winter-time on the Rideau Canal when it freezes over.

5. Canadian kids do not learn English grammar, like how we are taught in Asian countries. Also, French was not an easy language for them to learn, and quite a number of kids dropped French during their elementary or high school.


The guy who's from Hong Kong also reflected that he find the education system in Canada less ideal for his kids, as compared to what he has gone through when he was raised in Hong Kong. I guess the difference in education systems in Asian countries and Western countries in general reflect the cultural differences, where Asian countries tend to emphasize more on academic results, rather than creative learning like in Western countries.

We also talked about Singapore and its delicacies. At this point, i felt kinda homesick, and really craved for a plate of Hainanese chicken rice in front of me, rather than the chicken breast =( The other guy offered to bring us to Chinatown in Ottawa on the weekend for some Asian cuisine, which we kindly turned down for the time being.

I went back to my hotel room to take a short break after the conference ended. I must've felt fatigued from the walk and blistering cold from yesterday. However, the thought of late-night shopping (the shops generally close at 5pm in Ottawa, but they open till late on Thursdays, and today was Thursday!) perked me up, and i went over to Ottawa's Byward Market Square and Rideau Centre.

P.S. Less photos today as im busy shopping! =p

Some sights along the way, also along Alexandra Bridge and the Ottawa River. The evening was rather beautiful, and looked especially pretty as compared to the slightly gloomy outlook from yesterday's snowing.

Major's Hill Park was gorgeous in the evening sun!

I made my way to Byward Market Square, which was just a short distance from Major's Hill Park.

Byward Market was established by Lt-Col. John By in 1826, and is one of Canada's oldest and largest public markets, nestled in Ottawa's historic neighborhood of Lowertown. The legendary builder of the Rideau Canal, Colonel By laid out the street plan of the market, designating George St. and York St. to be extra wide to accomodate the horse-drawn carriages that brought foodstuff to the market each day. The outdoor market was one of the first services provided by Ottawa, ensuring a link between the rural and urban life that continues into the 21st century.

Byward Market Square in the past:

Picture courtesy of Byward Market Square official website.

Byward market is a very happening place both in the daytime, and at night. In the daytime, you will see many outdoor vendors with their overflowing strands of fresh fruits and vegetables, flowers and art & craft. At night, the hip night spots come to life, and there is a wide selection of restaurants and cafes for you to choose from to have dinner, or chit-chat with friends over a drink.

Picture courtesy of Byward Market official website.

A pharmacy with Halloween decorations in the window display. Tomorrow is Halloween!

There were quite a few shops selling groceries, foodstuff like meat and sausages, etc. that i saw. Out of curiosity, i entered a shop selling meat stuff, and was amazed by the wide variety of ham, ribs, sausages etc. offered. The shop also sold other stuff like chocolates, sweets and tea.

After walking round for half an hour, i came upon Rideau Centre by chance. It is a premier shopping destination in Downtown Ottawa, and the first real shopping place i've come across since i first stepped into Ottwa. Later did i realize that the shops here generally close slightly later at 7 or so everyday, and some even until 9 or 11 (like the Chapters bookstore).

Where Rideau Centre is located:

Girls are girls after all. I felt a sense of relief, and even pure bliss as i browsed through what Rideau Centre has to offer me: Banana Republic, Old Navy, GAP, Guess, La Senza, Aldo Accessories etc. I could easily stay here for 2-3 hrs!

Also bought some souvenirs over here. As maple leaf and icewine are Canada's trademarks, there were lotsa local products which are maple syrup or icewine flavored, such as chocolates, cookies, tea leaves, etc.

Made my way down to their foodcourt at the basement. The usual names like Subway, KFC, A&W and Tim Hortons were there, as well as Italian (Viva italia), Japanese (Made in Japan, and Sushi by Bento Nouveau) and Chinese (Manchu Wok). I had myself some Japanese udon in teppanyaki style, which was pretty interesting.

Later i went over to Chapters bookstore to browse, but did not spend much time here as it was already late (about 815pm). Bought some bath salts here, and made my way back.

My mineral water had run out, and i popped over the convenience store to get some. This time round had a really long chat with the store owner and his wife, and they invited me to join them for a drive to Chinatown that Saturday when they heard that im interested in visiting the place. We made plans to meet at my hotel lobby on Saturday morning, and i went back to my hotel.

Took a nice bubble bath and finally went to sleep close to 12 pm.