Finished my Canada life
It's been more than 2 months since I posted this blog last time.
I came back to Japan on March 27, 2020, because my visa was expired.
My Canada life was amazing.
I learned English, of course.
I liked the fresh air and nature in Vancouver.
I made so many friends all over the world.
Thanks to them, I enjoyed Canada so much.
Thank you for meeting me.
Each country has each pro and con.
I wanna see more countries.
I'll go to some countries where my friends live.
Also, please come to Japan and I'll introduce the best Japanese palaces, foods and cultures.
I'm starting my new life.
I'm making YouTube videos to teach English to students.
(I'm very welcome adults students as well)
I'm using Anime so you can learn it in fun.
It's my channel. Please check it out.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCK0sQJ_s0nM9JWkiGEq5CjQ?view_as=subscriber
I'm gonna be away from this blog for a while.
Thank you for reading my blog.
Let's see on my YouTube channel.
See you then.
JohnnyToshi.
Nanaimo
How are you doing in these Corona days?
Restaurants, shops, libraries, everything is closed here in Vancouver.
People have no work, anywhere to go, anything to do.
Fortunately, we just have great sunshine and beautiful beaches so people walk around the seasides and beaches!
Sometimes I think even though all events are cancelled, people gather on a beach.
Isn't it dangerous!!???
Same as everyone, I have only one choice. Walking around :)
I went to Nanaimo to walk around :)
Nanaimo is a city in the middle of Vancouver Island.
It takes 3 hours to get there from downtown by bus and ferry and costs $20 for one way.
It's sort of far but you can enjoy the beautiful ocean on your way, so you won't get bored :)
Nanaimo is a small city.
But it makes this city pretty :D
There are many boathouses on the seashore.
Oh, a grumpy crab... how scary... hahaha
Also, there are some cafes and shops.
I bought a sandwich and a Nanaimo Bar.
Nanaimo Bar is a famous sweet in Nanaimo.
Both were great!
Especially Nanaimo Bar! The harmony of chocolate and custard and nuts are awesome!!
Ah, it's the season for cherry blossoms ha!
The downtown is so small, but then again, it's so pretty somewhat XD
(Of course, everything is closed...)
People say Nanaimo has nothing to do.
That's kinda true but it's worthy to go there and walk around to enjoy a sunny day :)
I really love there!
Guys, take care and enjoy your leisure time :)
See you then.
JohnnyToshi.
Hawaiiiiiiiii
ALOHA~~~
I went to Hawaii on March 3 to 6!
I heard it's cheaper to go there from Vancouver than from Japan.
Also one of my friends wanted to go there on his way to go back to Japan, so I decided to go there with him.
(However, he couldn't go there because he couldn't get a visa ;;)
Our departure day, another friend had a fever...
In addition, our flight was late for 4 hours...
I was so worried about our trip... Is it OKEYYYYY!?????
Anyway, we had no choice. Let's go to Hawaii!
Our airplane was cool.
I watched The Jungle Book and Maleficent: Mistress of Evil.
The Jungle Book was boring.
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil was not bad.
Finally, we were hereeeeeee!!!!!
INOUYE?
Who is he? It sounds Japanese.
It was over 3 am when we get there.
But we needed to see the sea because we came to Hawaii!
The sea was so scary at night...
It's better to go to bed quickly for tomorrow. (it was already today though)
Our room was comfortable. Good night :)
What do you eat on the first morning in Hawaii??
Of course pancake @v@!!
Gorgeous, fancy, sweeeeeeeat!!!!!!
It's not only looking but also tastes amazing!!!
Outside is crispy and inside is fluffy.
It was the best pancake ever!
Very Berry Pancake $17.
at Sunny Days, Honolulu
We were full. Let's head to DiamondHead!
You can take a bus to get to the entrance.
We needed to pay $1 to enter Diamond Head.
We hiked 30 minutes to get to the top of Diamond Head.
And then, this viewwwwwwwwwwwwww.
Blue ocean! Blue sky! What a beautiful view!!!
Pineapple smoothies are the best after hiking :D
Cold! Sweat! It was a real pineapple! ($12)
It's time to have lunch!
Poke using freshly caught tuna is the specialty in Hawaii.
(Large Tuna Poke Bowl $14 at Maguro Spot)
On top of that, you can't miss Loco Moco!
They say it's the best loco moco in Waikiki.
It really was!! Juicy patty and gravy sauce was super delicious.
(Loco Moco at LuLu's Waikiki $18)
Also, garlic shrimp is one of the Hawaiian cuisines.
Great garlic flavour and fresh shrimp and steak!
(garlic shrimp bowl $14, garlic steak bowl $17, I couldn't find the name of this place)
We tried scuba diving!
Swimming with turtles and fishes made me feel I'm like a mermaid XD
Also, we tried skydiving!!!
I was flying!!!!!
It's not scary at all. I just felt great.
I was so happy to fly in the beautiful Hawaiian sky!
We got rain sometimes but we got sun most of the time.
We had so much fun!
I feel it's like a dream for now.
Foods great, the ocean great, activities great, everything is great.
I wanna go there again someday!
MAHALO~~~
JohnnyToshi.
TOEIC in Vancouver
I've stayed in Vancouver for 1 year and 4 months.
I wanted to check how much my English improved, so I took TOEIC.
There are some English test, TOEIC, TOEFL, IELTS, and so on.
(IELTS is most common and important in Canada)
TOEIC is the most popular in Japan.
It's easy to show your English ability in Japan if you have TOEIC score.
Public testing sessions in Canada are held 12 times a year.
You can resister online until the Thursday one week before the test at 5 p.m.
(We have to resister one month before the test day in Japan.)
I took the test on February 8, 2020.
It costed CAD$95 to take it.
(It's almost twice as expensive as Japan...)
I'd prepared for the test for 2 weeks.
I wanted to get 800 points because my friends got 750 or 780 or something like that.
I couldn't lose them!!
The examination room is here.
It the same building as my language school!
The flow to take the test was same as Japan.
I checked in at reception and went my room and took the test :)
My feeling after took the test was...
I felt so freeeeeeeeee!!!
I thought I was not bad at listening, however I couldn't solve 30 questions among 100 questions at reading...
The result is...
735!!!!
Hmmmmmm I have to study more...!!!
Listening is not bad as I expected, but reading is terrible.
I'll read something more!!
My score was 550 before I came to Canada.
Come to think about it, my English is improved.
But then again... I need more...!
Anyway, I think to take a test to improve your motivation and check your ability for your next step.
Let's improve ourselves XD
I have 1 more month here.
I'll keep study :)
See you then.
JohnnyToshi.
Rentaru Vancouver
I know it's too late to mention it.
However, I'll tell you about my third job in Canada.
I've been working for renting ski & snowboard equipment shop since this January.
The name of the store is RENTARU VANCOUVER.
The owner is Philipino but, for some reason, the shop is a Japanese style somewhat.
The entrance of our building is here.
It's really hard to find...
I think this building is really old.
The antique atmosphere is cool though hahaha.
Welcome to our shop ♪
The shop is small but we have nice equipment :)
(Actually, most of them are old and half-broken hahaha)
We are busy only on weekends.
I can do anything weekdays, watch YouTube, play the guitar, take a nap... :)
My pay is $14/hour. That's a great deal!
I'm pretty free so please stop by our shop to see me!
Also, the rental fee is pretty cheap so stop by our shop to rent something!
I'm waiting for you :D
See you then.
JohnnyToshi.
Snowboading in Whistler
I went to Whistler Mountain to do snowboard!
The 2010 Winter Olympics, vancouver 2010, held in Whistler.
The number of courses, run length, difference in elevation, everything is great.
That's why, Whistler is very popular as skier and snowboarder's sanctuary.
It takes 2 hours by shuttle from downtown in Vancouver.
Then we got the Whistler village.
We are ready to go!
The system of lifts and gondolas are same as Japan. (They are common in the world?)
We get a IC card and tap to the gate.
The lift was going upper, our excitement was also going upper!
Finaly we saw this view!!!
It was amazing, awesome, excellent, impressive!!!
It's a white world in the sky!!!
Also an inuksuk welcome us :)
(An inuksuk is a manmade stone landmark of first nations in Canada.)
I got the 3rd place... :D
There are some restaurants, pubs and cafes in the village.
Chicken burger $18. It was really good!
FYI, there are the costs.
- Shuttle for round trip: $37
- One day lift ticket: $170
- Rental equipments in downtown: $70 ($0)
(It's free for me because I work for rental shop :))
- Lunch: $20
Total: &297 ($227)
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At first, I didn't plan to snowboard or ski in Canada.
Because I've already got sick of snowboard or ski.
However, I'm glad I went to Whistler.
I saw great view and had great time with my great friends.
I really appreciate my friends.
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In the end, it's time for my service shot!
See you then.
JohnnyToshi.
Snowy Vancouver in 2020
We had tons of snow this week.
Vancouver received a whopping 34 cm of snowfall in 5 days.
Most of the schools cancelled their classes a terrible snowy day.
On top of that, it was super cold the snowy days(-8 °C).
Usually, Vancouver doesn't have this much snow and not so cold.
The average January temperature is 3~7 °C and snowfall is 15 cm in a month.
It's extraordinary for Vancouverites.
I live and work downtown, so it's not such a big deal for me because I don't need to use any transportations.
Actually, I like snow.
We can play in the snow, snowball fighting and making a snowman :)
Something is happening to the earth.
How do you feel?
See you then.
JohnnyToshi.
