I haven’t been to the Zoo since I was a kid and so it was nice to go back and see what has changed. Apparently a lot! The Calgary Zoo has expanded quite a bit and they have a lot of different animals and exhibits.

Say what you will about the Zoo but the animals look like they live in nice facilities and are well taken care of. During the day the Zoo keepers gave some presentations and I know I learned a lot!

They say that pictures are worth a thousand words and with that I’ll let them do most of the talking from now.

Now I’m no animal expert but I’m gonna take a wild guess say that this next animal is a male.

The next couple of photos feature Gorillas. It almost seems like the Mom is trying to give the audience a subtle message.

Today is Canada Day and I celebrated by going for a nice long bike ride. I rode my bike downtown and took in some of the festivities at Princess Island Park. They were giving out free flags and as you can see they make quite the fashion statement. I must say I had more than one person (two people exactly) compliment me for my statement on fashion. Well if you count people honking at you, complimenting me…

Here’s a photo of the main stage on Princess Island.

This mascot is representing the World Skills competition that is being held in Calgary later this year. I don’t know why they decided to go with a horse but I guess it seemed like a good idea to them at the time!

I enjoy a good burger as much as the next guy and so the other day I decided to head down to Calgary’s Peters’ Drive-In. Peter’s has been in business since 1962 and I don’t think its changed much since then either. In fact, some might even say it’s a Calgary institution!

I believe the place is under new management but they still offer pretty decent food at a reasonable price. My personal favorite are the milkshakes since you can have nearly every flavor imaginable and then some since they will even mix up to three flavors for you.

One other thing about Peters’ is that you’re unlikely to go hungry. The portions are pretty big. I ordered small fries and almost couldn’t finish it.

Peters’ has a picnic area around the restaurant. Perfect on a warm summer evening.

The Drive-In right on the main highway not too far from the centre of town. The address is 219 – 16 Avenue NE.

I’ve been to Japan 6 times now. 3 times were for work(teaching English in various schools) and 3 times for vacation. The last time I was there was in April of 2008. After I came back from that trip I blogged about it for the next few months  and then I stopped because well, I think my readers (Nick and Keith) were getting tired of hearing about Japan. That’s really saying something, since both of them have lived there for well over a decade!

Well more than a year has passed and I’ve rediscovered some of my pictures from that trip.

My buddy lives right near the beach in one of the best beach side towns in all of Japan! Shimoda, Shizuoka-ken. Shimoda is about a 3.5 hour train ride from the Tokyo metropolitan area and so this means that it’s within reach of only about 35 million people! Oh, the seclusion!

Here I am doing my best impression of David Hasselhoff with my beautiful pale skin… As they say, “don’t hassel the Hoff!” Oh yeah, and just in case you’re wondering why there are no actual photos of me surfing… well, let’s just say it’s a lot harder than it looks.

A “party squad” is defined as follows: a gathering or assembling a crew of friends, acquaintances, and/or socialites in order to party. I don’t know any socialites but I do have a couple of friends and acquaintances and with many thanks I am able to form a “party squad.” In addition, since this will all be happening in Japan, it will be known as the “Japan 2009 Party Squad.”

If you are going to be in Japan this summer and would like to be in my “party squad” then please feel free to contact me through the contact form on this blog. The contact form on the “About Michael McKinlay” paragraph to the right of this post. Just click on “more” link and you will find the contact form. Once you do this, I can e-mail you the time, date, and location of the Japan 2009 Party Squad initialization sequence.

Finally, every “Party Squad” must have music. This year’s “party squad” anthem comes from my favorite new band, Phoenix. Phoenix happens to be from France, but don’t let that scare you. They are actually quite friendly which is crucial to any “party squad’s” success and ability to party. Phoenix will also be in Japan this summer. They are going to be playing at the SummerSonic 09 music festival in Tokyo and Osaka. Check out this video of them playing the best new song of 2009, “1901.”

Anywho, Paul, or “Señor” Penton is a co-worker of mine. He likes “Taco Tuesdays”, neatly pressed dress shirts, fine linens, and a sensible dinner. His dislikes are, non-functioning electrical circuits, motorcycle vandals, and last but not least, businesses that do not accept debit card transactions totaling less than a $1.97.

Paul recently challenged me to a “golf off.” A “golf off” can be any number of things involving the game of golf but on this particular day it involved trying to sink a shot in to a propped up rain barrel about 100 yards away.

Here’s Paul taking his best shot. Take a closer look and you can actually see his golf ball flying through the air.

Sadly, this challenge ended in a draw as both of us had a bit too much to drink, before the challenge. The downside is that the alcohol took away some of our already limited physical coordination, on the plus side we had a much happier time attempting it.

I’m not much of a cook but just because I don’t know what I’m doing doesn’t mean I’m not gonna try!

Tonight I decided to try and make something healthy for dinner. So what you see above is the following, mashed potatoes, raw carrots, bbq chicken with some teriyaki sauce, coleslaw with some dressing, and a Coke! OK, so maybe that last part wasn’t so healthy, but hey you gotta live!

All in all it was pretty good meal. Lots of vegetables, chicken with no skin, and some tasty potatoes! I could have boiled the carrots but I heard that takes away some of the nutritional value. Besides, I’m kind of lazy and so skipping the boiling part makes it even better.

I found this statue just off of the main street. I couldn’t find a sign that might explain it’s significance or meaning but if I had to guess I’d say it represents someone with their head in the sand! Or perhaps I should say, “rocks.”

He happens to be wearing a bow, as there was a Cancer-related event being held that day.

Here’s a picture of the fine Canmore taxi service. Almost a limo, but not quite. The car may be 20 years old but hey, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!

I can only assume that they were inspired by the “Three Sisters” mountain peaks located nearby when they named their taxi service.

Here’s a photo of Canmore’s main street.

The Safeway supermarket is pretty impressive. The store is huge and has a very nice rock fascade. Unfortunately it’s a bit hard to see this photo so please accept my humble apologies!

Just in case you were wondering what the chances were that your million dollar bungalow in Canmore would be destroyed by a forest fire are…

Here’s a fancy restaraunt with grass growing on it’s roof.

I believe those peaks behind the restaurant are infamous “Three Sisters.”

One thing you can do to minimize your cost is purchase the Japan Rail Pass. To do this, you have to buy it before you leave for Japan and you must be on a Visitor Visa. This pass entitles you to unlimited travel on all Japan Railway lines, which cover nearly all of Japan. The only exception is that they are not valid for the “Nozomi” class of bullet train, which just so happens to be the fastest of all bullet trains. Don’t worry, though, the “Nozomi” is only a little bit faster than the other trains and so you’ll still get to go fast!

Here’s a couple of videos I took when I was in Japan last year.

The first one shows a train leaving the station from a dead start. It’s amazing how long these trains are and how quickly they can accelerate. Check out the conductor at the end of the train. Don’t blink!

The second video shows what the ride looks like from the inside of the train. My camera work is a bit shaky but I can tell you that the ride is extremely smooth.

Perfection. Boom!!!