2010 and most of 2011

Ack! OK, quick and dirty summary of 2010 (if I can even remember that far back), and 3/4 of 2011! 

Highlights:
1. Jan 2010 was my cousin KC's wedding, so I took 3 weeks off to go the Philippines and attend the wedding. Mostly stayed with my cousins in Quezon City, did some shopping and eating and drinking! Went on a quick weekend trip to Subic Bay with Miko, Juris and Sarah, then the wedding in Tagaytay, then a week in the province with relatives and a road trip to Lucban, Quezon, then back to the city for a flight out to Legaspi, Albay to see Mayon Volcano and to Donsol, Sorsogon to go snorkelling with whale sharks! Then it's one last night out with the cousins before heading back home.

 2. Mar 2010 included a random, last-minute trip to Cuba with Richeille. By this time, I had finished my fellowship at the Zoo and was looking for the next gig. Richeille happened to have a week off, so we looked at all-inclusive vacation packages and booked a trip to Varadero, Cuba on a Sunday, and flew out the following Wednesday! Stayed at Brisas del Caribe and sat on the beach, walked around Varadero, took a tour to Havana, which included a rum tour and cigar factory tour, saw a Tropicana show, and went on a tour to Santa Clara, Trinidad, and Cienfuegos!

3. From sun to snow, the end of March included a quick trip to Revelstoke to see Gaya and Lu, and for some end-of-season snowboarding!

 4. Jul 2010. After attending one day of the ICCB conference in Edmonton, and celebrating another birthday, of course!, I was off to Nanaimo (on Vancouver Island) for a 6 month internship with DFO. It was a drastic pay-cut, but also was a great learning experience (who would've thought I'd be doing some programming and population modelling!), and where better to kill time than on the West Coast? The job also got extended, and I ended up spending almost a full year on the Island. I also met some awesome people, and the experience ended up leading me somewhere I never expected to be, but that's a story for later. But while on the island, I explored a bit of Nanaimo, drove to the West Coast, took the Via Rail to Victoria for Labour Day weekend, went salmon fishing on the Fraser River (ok, that one wasn't on the island), learned Chinese, Latin dancing, and Japanese, went snowboarding on Mt Washington, presented my project at the IMCC in Victoria, took a couple of trips to Vancouver, and went kayaking just before leaving the island in mid-July 2011!

5. Nov 2010 was Emma's visit to Calgary, after being away since 2004. She brought the kids with her, and we had fun catching up over drinks, and also taking the kids to the Science Centre.

6. Jul 2011. Right after getting back to Calgary, I was off again, this time for a one week trip to Ottawa to see Laura and the rest of the SRES alumni now living there. Did all the touristy stops, and went to Bluesfest too! Too bad the stage collapsed, and on my birthday too! Still, pretty exciting, and it was good to see Ottawa again (properly) since the last time I was there in high school.
 
7. Sep 2011 was scuba diving month! I bought an online deal for half off PADI Open Water Diver Course, so I did the class and pool sessions on Labour Day long weekend, then the 4 open water dives at Lake Sundance a week later. The end of the month also included a quick 4 day trip to Halifax and Keji, to meet up with some old friends from grad school and see my turtles again!

And that brings us to now, which is a week (and a few days) before I leave for my grand adventure....a trip to Southeast Asia (plus Shanghai and Beijing) before moving to Brisbane, Australia to do my PhD at the University of Queensland! How did this happen? A sequence of serendipitous events, haha! I had applied for an NSERC scholarship back in October, but hadn't really decided yet on where to go and who to work with. My supervisor at DFO suggested a few names, and one of them was someone I had also been thinking about, but thought there was no chance I'd be able to go. She volunteered to send him a quick email to recommend me as a student after I contacted him myself to ask about grad studies in his lab. Got an email back just before Christmas to let me know he'd be happy to have me on board as a student! After finding out that I got the NSERC CGS scholarship (which I knew I'd had to turn down for the PGS if I was going to Australia), I began the arduous process of applying for admission and scholarship to the University of Queensland. I knew, what with international student fees and ridiculously high cost of living, there was no way I could go unless I got a full ride, and finally, in mid-September, I got the results! I'm going to Australia!

The past couple of weeks has been crazy with trying to organize my trip to Asia (which I had been planning for a year or so, but just couldn't pin down the dates until now), arranging for tourist visas and student visas, and sorting out the "moving situation". Still in the process of sorting and packing, and organizing last minute details of my trip. I'll post up the itinerary in the next post, which will be soon as I'll be resurrecting this blog again to post updates of my travels and the move to Australia!