The journey begins...

This is just a brief overview of how my January 24 went. However, I'll give you a little fact about me for starters since a couple of these pictures will relate to what I am about to tell you...

I have been accustomed to the world of gambling. Maybe it all started when I sold Lotto 6/49 tickets when I was a young lad helping my parents at the grocery store, or when I went to bet on horse racing while I was in Hong Kong in 2002, but who knows. But I like to gamble from time to time, especially with No Limit Hold 'em Poker. Anyways, I'm here to say that gambling can be bad for you. If you are addicted to gambling and need some help, call 1-888-795-6111. Don't let gambling ruin your family, your friends, or your trip to Japan!

Ok - there's my community service time spent. Anyways...

So the day before The Day arrives - I ended up staying at my sister and brother-in-law's house the night before so they did not have to drive an extra distance to pick me up at home. We decided to take the 7 am ferry to Vancouver. Why catch the 7 am ferry? If I remembered correctly, I think Alicia and Peter wanted to do some shopping around before dumping me off. Whatever works...

	Oh yeah - that's the typical me in the mornings - stoned at 6 am wake up times. Well, then again, I brought it upon myself since I stayed up playing many PokerStars.com freeroll Sit & Go's and watching Celebrity Poker on TV until 2 am. Therefore, I eneded up getting only 3 1/2 hours of sleep. Damn poker.
	My brother-in-law, Peter.
	My sister, Alicia, eating a bagel bite.
	A self-picutre on the BC Ferries to Vancouver. I am still in the morning recovery mode.
	Getting off the Ferry in Tsawwassen and heading towards Richmond.
	The Du's at Aberdeen Mall at 9:30 in the morning. It was VERY empty since ALL the shops were not open yet - they usually open around 10 or 11 am.
	Empty Aberdeen Mall. Dark, isn't it?
	I have to take advantage of any snooze sessions that were available.

So, we wandered around the super-empty Aberdeen Centre for about a half-hour or so. When 10 am hit, we decided to go to one of the most important places that Vancouver has that Victoria needs...

Ikea.

(Then again, there's LOTS of important places Vancouver has that Victoria needs...)

	Good ol' Ikea. Yah.
	I was really hungry; therefore, I had to take advantage of the breakfast special - 1 croissant, a spoonful of scrambled eggs that were soaked in "butter soup", fried potatoes, and 2 weak pieces of sausages. But hey, for $1.99, it's all good (for the budget, that is)!

After a good lookaround in Ikea, it was time to head over to Van city and historic Chinatown. Gotta do the daily run of buying LOADS of Asian goods not found in Victoria and ship 'em back to happy family members.

	The city of Vancouver. Home of the 2010 Olympics.
	Walking through Chinatown.
	A casino on the third floor in the middle of Chinatown. I think the Gambling Gods are after me. Shit.

After that excursion, we decided to check into the hotel I would stay for the night.

	My room at the Quality Airport Hotel. It was pretty reasonable place for the night.
	I was trying to watch Japanese TV since I would be bombarded with Japanese TV for the next 2 weeks. That is Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi addressing to the Diet (Japanese Parliament). Of course, I have no clue what he or the text were saying.
	Just my luck - the place I end up staying has to have a freakin Casino on the premises...
	However, there was a real bright side - the casino was closed down thanks to the new River Rock Casino. Whew! Otherwise, I would be wasting my hard-earned Japanese Yen on blackjack or Texas Shootout (and lose, of course).

After checking into the hotel, we decided to get one last all-you-can-eat sushi session at Richmond Sushi to prepare myself for my trip. However, I've learned that I do not have the ability to get my all-you-can-eat value... chalk one up to age, exercise, and lack of attending university.

	Peter and Alicia enjoying the all-you-can-eat sushi moment.
	Finishing up a tasty dish of oyster motoyaki. Meanwhile, you can see some nice slabs of salmon and tuna sashimi to the right, spicy tuna sashimi just behind the sashimi dish, a hotate nigiri in the middle, and beef tataki to the left. Shit, I'm getting hungry typing this.

After that was done, it was time for my sister and brother-in-law to head back to Victoria; therefore, they dropped me off at the hotel and I prepared myself for the trip-to-be.

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