Time for another visit

Hello world! Sorry for the lack of updates this past week, I've been rather busy due to the fact that the fam is in town. Nonetheless, it was a great but tiring week. Lack of sleep = a very cranky me. Moving on to the Thursday getaway, Victoria Island. It's my second trip there, and I gotta say I quite enjoyed it, minus the long hot wait for the ferry on the way back. Victoria is a beautiful place, with quite a bit to see. Chinatown, Buchart Gardens, and Craigdarroch Castle were some of the places we visited this trip. I gotta add the

BC Royal Museum to that though, even though i didn't make it there this time round. It's interesting, and pretty fun actually, to check out the exhibits and learn more about British Columbia. Going into more detail about these places.. starting with Chinatown. It's pretty similar to Vancouver's I'd say.. but Victoria's Chinatown gives you a really cosy feel. It also features beautiful life-size bonzai trees, and alot of asian accents (deco-wise) all around. Even the bubbletea places were different. Definitely no bubbleworld there, but it's all good. Well we decided to have lunch at Chinatown (typical family of mine), and surprisingly I enjoyed the food. I usually am not too keen on Chinese food especially, because I have it literally everyday.. But somehow this time was refreshing. The place we had lunch at was Gladiola Bakery & Restaurant. It is located at 622
Fisgard Street if you ever wanted some good Chinese food in Victoria. Their egg tarts were delish as well. After the very filling lunch, we took a stroll around the area, and stumbled onto Urban Barn. Why didn't i find out about this store earlier? I have no idea, but I'm glad I did. It has become my favourite deco/furniture store. (aside from IKEA) A little on the pricier side though, but some of the things in that store are gorgeous! Ended up picking up a wall deco piece and quotes you could rub onto the wall for the dining area. (shall post pics up once I'm done decorating) Next up, the parliament building. nothing much to see, haha. Nice architecture though. Another beautifully structured building is the Craighdarroch Castle. A little info about this place : Craigdarroch was built between 1887-1890 for Robert Dunsmuir, a Scottish immigrant who made his fortune from Vancouver Island coal. This legendary Victorian mansion, built on a hill overlooking the City of Victoria (Craigdarroch

means "rocky, oak place" in Gaelic) announced to the world that Robert Dunsmuir was the richest and most important man in Western Canada. He died in 1889 leaving his entire estate to his wife Joan who lived in the Castle until her death in 1908. The immense fortune of the Dunsmuir Family is reflected in the four floors of exquisite stained glass windows, intricate woodwork and fabulous Victorian era furnishings. They had 39 rooms in that castle. Who needed 39 rooms during that time? After hanging around that area for a bit, we left for the Buchart Gardens. This was probably the highlight of the trip. Beaautiful florals all around, and themed gardens. I loved the Japanese one in particular. Stands out to me for some reason. But yes, a must-see if you're ever in Victoria! It's definitely worth-while. Acres and acres of stunning flowers and colours.

(my favourite shot of the day)

Overall, Victoria was pretty fun. However, the ferry ride back was less than fun. Piece of advice : Come an hour early at least for the ferry you're planning to board. Because there's always a high chance that the ferry is fully loaded, and you'll then have to wait for the next one. I had to wait 2.5 hours. Yeah, that sucked. And if you miss the last ferry, well too bad you're stuck in Victoria for the night. That would be a total bummer. But yeah, definitely a fam jam when they're in town! Can't wait till the next big reunion.