We moved back to Vancouver in August 2018 after living in different cities in Canada. Before we decided to move back to Vancouver, we decided to go to the Maritimes in July 2018. In this post I would like to show how we able to achieve this trip on a reasonable budget. We had $2500 to spend for two adults. We wanted to travel to four regions in the Maritimes: Gaspe Region, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Pei. How did we go about achieving this:

1. We made a list of important places and things we wanted to see in the Maritimes. These are the list of places and things we wanted to do: Confederate Bridge, Eat lobster, Bay of Fundy, Swim in the Atlantic Ocean, Bonaventure Island, Anne of Green Gables House, Halifax Downtown, Magnetic Hill of New Brunswick, and Peggy Cove
2. We explored different tour companies online and visited travel centers to see what their prices and their reviews were and how we could best match our to do list to our price list. After much research we decided to avoid flying or driving by ourselves to the Maritimes. We wanted the option to cover as much area in the Maritimes as possible with comfort and without having the headache of having to negotiate the time and energy of going through four provinces and seeing all the attractions
3. So finally we decided to book our trip with a tour company that will give us that comfort and enjoyment. We narrowed our choices to three tour companies. Since we lived in Ottawa we decided to choose three companies that were close to the area we lived. Our choices were Ottawa Valley Tours (Ottawa), Midearth Tours (Ottawa), Taketours.com (Toronto). We immediately disqualified Ottawa Valley Tours. Although it seemed like a impressive and extensive tour, the cost was out of our budget. It was $4750 per person. We were left with two options Midearth Tours and Taketours. Although both offered similar value, we decided to go with the Midearth because it was located in Ottawa and we would have avoided extra costs in travel and finding a hotel to stay before and after the tour.
4. Located at 738 Bronson Avenue, Midearth Travel has positive reviews, getting 4.4 stars out of 5 in most reviews. Midearth Travel caters to a Chinese clientele. So much of the food choices offered was chinese buffet on the trip. However you could opt of the buffet options. Both My husband and I are non-Chinese, but I found the experience on this trip to be very enjoyable and I would really recommend it. The total cost of the trip was $2577.87. We were budgeted for $2500. The next post on either Monday or Tuesday I give you an itemized cost and post the pictures from the trip.

From Little Saigon and beyond here is more collection of different things to see and do in Vancouver-Kingsway.

Located at 1345 Kingsway…Dosa Factory offer Dosas and Indian curries. Very Delicious and really good value.

Fun place for both adults and children. Located at 2777 Kingsway, this place host a chocolate store that will make you feel like you were living Charlie and the chocolate factory existence

Located at 3565 Kingsway, This shows the ethnic diversity along this stretch of area. A place to savour and buy some Brazilian treats

Located at 3543 Kingsway, this is yet another example of the diversity this area presents. This store has products mainly from Western Africa, but offers other products that caters to peoples of African diaspora

Highlighting the Cherry Blossom trees starting to bloom on the streets that intercept Kingsway

The last post focused on men groups that in many ways blame feminism for all the negative aspects seen in society. It was in my last relationship that I learned that nothing is ever black or white, there are too many shades in between. That is my view of feminism, the good, the bad and the ugly. Feminism isn’t one fits all movement, but at the heart of it, is the believe that both genders deserve equal treatment.

Lets look at the good point of feminism. One of the best point of feminism is it has given woman individual choice, the choice to seek careers, to be primary caregivers, to participant in sports, politics, to vote, to basically accomplish things that our grandmothers only dreamed about. Another importance of feminism is that it has elevated the status of women. Pre-feminism, women who didn’t want to get married or women who were in abusive relationships didn’t have options in terms of how to navigate out of those relationships. Feminism has enabled women to establish themselves and gain better foothold in society

Lets look at the bad point of feminism. The element that has been exploited by many, on the anti-feminist male groups is the feminist movement has created confusion within society. What qualified as male defined roles is being challenged and what qualified as female defined roles is being challenged. Should a woman who earns more than a man pay for the first date? Should a woman propose marriage to a man? What happens if a woman is the main breadwinner in the relationship? This is leading alot of confusion in the society that is leading both men and women to rethink their roles in society. Another negative element to feminism is women are attaching themselves to masculinity in order to gain respect within general society. I just saw a nike commercial that showcased women in different sporting arrangements, praising these women for projecting masculinity and just expressing that women can do as well as men or better than men. I believe women can be defined and get respect for society by not only accomplishing in male dominated fields, but also accomplishing in female dominated fields

The next is the ugly side of feminism. This encompasses a small number of radicalized feminist that are actually angry about men and men’s dominate role in society, and their premise in society is to rid society of men control. I do understand that sometimes the pendulum must swing in the opposite direction to bring balance. However looking at different movements that have come out this radicalized sector, we must caution against anything that does not recognize the beauty in all and strive to bring balance rather than discord

We spend more than we make per month at the moment. We will try correct this by the end of the year. Per month the least we make is $4000 after taxes, the most we make is $5300 after taxes. At the beginning of May I will break down what we make each month vs how much we spend each month. In terms of how much we spend? We spend 4400 to 4600 per month. How do we compensate for the difference I will show you when I begin our monthly budget starting in May.

Lets now focus on a specific area of Vancouver-Kingsway. Between Kingsway@ Fraser St to Kingsway@ Knight St, this area has been renamed “Little Saigon”. Previously this area was Kensington-Cedar Cottage. This area goes from the 900 block of Kingsway to 1500 block of Kingsway. Why is this area named “Little Saigon”? Simply this area features a tremendous amount of Vietnamese stores, food places, and restaurants. It is worth a visit if you come to Vancouver as a tourist. Here are a few pictures to highlight this area:

Located @ 1327 Kingsway Kim Chau Delicatessen has as an array grocery items and makes on site Vietnamese food for consumers.

Located @ 1312 Thao Hair & Nail Salon offers good prices for acrylic and mani and pedi combos

1386 Kingsway Golden Ray Bakery

In 1989 the Montreal Massacre introduced the name Marc Lepine to Canadian masses. This man savagely killed 14 women under the notion that he was retaliating against feminism and all the advancement made by women because of modern feminism. While Marc Lepine actions represents a disgusting and extreme case of a growing number of men movements that have risen in opposition to modern feminism. There are less violent movements that speaks to the growing frustrations in society that some men are feeling about the changing society and the place of both men and women in this modern society. In writing this article I want to bring attention to this movements, challenge and better address the views of some of the movements and see how another Marc lepine can be prevented or another example Elliot Rodger a self identified “incel” who went on to kill both women and men in a rampage against his feelings of rejection by women he felt he was entitled to, but whom had rejected him. There are four groups I want to take a look at today Mgtow, The Red Pill movement, Sysbm and the Incels.

Let’s begin with the Mgtow movement. This community of men is not an activist organization. Rather is a community of men that socialize through social media to voice their opposition to modern day feminism. The focus of this group of men (manosphere) is to encourage other men to steer clear of the trappings of marriage, children and societal pressures of being a man in society. Ironically studies have found married men live happier and longer lives than single men. This group is made of predominantly working/middle white straight males (although other group have joined) that feel feminism has created an unequal society whereby women rights have been elevated over the rights of men. Many point to perceived unfair family laws as an indication of how women rights have trampled over the rights of men. This group advocate the withdrawal of men from their societal roles of providing, protecting and building and their reasoning for this because they feel women have become too entitled and need to learn to appreciate men.

The red pill movement is a subset of the mgtow movement. It is more of the philosophical branch of the movement. While the mgtow movement is more concerned with the practical aspects of the movements, the red pill movement is concentrated on the reasoning behind men going their on way. The red pill movement borrows much of its philosophy from fictional works such as Matrix and encourages men to take the red pill and separate from the delusional fake world and embrace a tougher world that turns away from all the bondage of society.

The next movement is Sysbm which stands for Save yourself selves Black Men. The movement is predominantly made of black men. However this group ideologies differ from that of the Mgtow movement in that these men are not against marriage. Rather they encourage men to seek marriage to all non-black woman. This organization is anti-black woman and encourages black american or black men in the western hemisphere to avoid relationship with black women and seek relationships with non-black women in the western hemisphere or get passports to other countries to pursue relationships with different groups of women. Their reasoning behind this stance is because they feel the black community is controlled by black women and they want to distance themselves from the black community.

The last movement I want to highlight is the Incels. I am very apprehensive about this movement because over years, there has been a few self identified incels that have targeted women and ended up killing both women and men. Incels tend to be antisocial, young and mainly white men. Their main complaint is they never got the woman they wanted to like them back, so they feel anger towards all women. This self entitled group of men do not value anyone, but themselves.

So here is a list of places I would like to travel in the next 10 years complete with the years in which we hope to accomplish this travels. We hope to begin the travels in 5 years time, after we are better settled, and we have enjoyed exploring Vancouver

Ages Place

44 Washingston, dc, Phil

45 a) Seattle/Portland b) Quebec

46 a) Edmonton b) Singapore

47 a) Mayan Rivera b) Trip to Inuik

48 a) NewFoundLand b) Chicago

49 a) Yukon b) New York

50 Italy/France

51 Ghana

52 Egypt

53 Isreal

The next neighborhood of focus is the Vancouver-Kingsway corridor. To be more specific Kingsway starting at Main street, and stretching all along to Kingsway ending at Boundary. Although Kingsway stretches further than Boundary and all the way into Burnaby. However, our concentration will be on this Kingsway Corridor because it offers a distinct perspective of Vancouver that no other area offers.

Vancouver-Kingsway is the Vancouver that hasn’t grown up. It hasn’t been dressed up like most areas of Vancouver. It is raw, gritty, and soulful. It is nostalgic, it takes you back to Vancouver 30 years ago. It is a combination of everything, here you get a mix of all mixes. Working class population of immigrants from East Asian, South East Asian South Asian, Eastern Europe, a small population Africans. And then add to this immigrant population poorer and working class populations of non-immigrants. Go along this area and you feel a sense of freedom. You feel like you belong and do not have to put on any airs, and feel welcomed. We will be looking at this area for the whole month of March.

This sign for Kingsway is hanging off the pole. It is in need of repairs. However it shows off Vancouver-Kingsway and its raw beauty.

WhiteSpot on 1476 Kingsway offers a brunch special on Saturdays and Sundays

WhiteSpot on 1476 Kingsway, the brunch is delicious and for two people it cost less $40 dollars

On a Saturday night, in an upscale restaurant in downtown Vancouver, I am wearing my Ralph Lauren dress and a jeweled Kate Spade earrings. My husband is sitting across the table enjoying two plates of hors d’oeuvre of oysters and escargots. Out of the corner of my eye, I see a young lady is rushing towards the table behind me. She is in her late teens or early twenties. Her long brown hair bouncing behind her, projecting an image of youth and energy. At the table behind us, she sits down and an older gentleman greets her. “How are you”, he says. “hope you didn’t get lost trying to find this place”. The interaction between them does not seem intimate, but rather friendly. The older seems to do all the talking and she just occasionally responds. He is a recent divorcee, retired and just looking for a companionship with a young educated woman. She seems enthralled by what the man is saying and promising to do for her. I do not get to learn the exact nature of their contract, but its seems to be a win win situation for both of them. After the two hour dinner, the man picks up the dinner tab and sets up the next time for their next meeting one month from now.

After the dinner, my husband asks, what do you think about the situation? would you have been a sugar baby ten years ago. I grin, and i think about out it and make my usual pros and cons list:

The pros of being a sugar baby :

1. It’s a win/win situation. An economical comfortable man gives some of his resources to a young lady, who in exchange gives her energy and companionship to the man
2. A sugar daddy is usually not wealthy enough to afford a Brazilian model as a wife or companion. However he can use his available resource to gain the companionship of a youthful, beautiful educated woman who would not be able to secure a wealthy man like Bill Gates
3. Getting expensive dinner and gifts, trips, events shows and getting exposure to different world. I grew up in a working/ middle class home. I didn’t have the opportunity to experience the finer things in life. My one experience was getting the opportunity to see a ballet show sponsored by my school. I remembered being blown away by that show, and pledging to myself to secure those opportunities later in my adult life. I think the exposure to the finer things in life by these men to these ladies would propel in them to seek better treatment from men later in their relationship and practice hypergamy and find men that can provide, protect and build for them
4. The networking opportunity that some of the men provide. The men are often retired professionals that can give great advice for these ladies on the matter of employment networking, financial advice and how to navigate in upper class environments
5. The sugar baby and the sugar daddy scenario is best for a lady between the ages of 18-25 years old. This is good for a 18-25 year old lady because it provides her the opportunity to utilize her most productive years. These years are when a woman is considered to be the most valuable because of their youth and high fertility capability. It seems silly for a woman to waste those years on men below the age 30 because most men at that age haven’t reached their most valuable age because most men reach their financial peak in their 50’s. It makes sense that these older men(who are at their financial peak) are now linked to these younger women(who are their most youthful and beautiful)

The cons list for sugar baby:

1. The abuse angle. These is a contractual relationship between a younger person and older person. It would make sense for the younger lady to get someone to look over the contract, so she is not taken advantage of by the older man. Also how are these young ladies exposed to these older men. Hopefully there is a vetting system whereby the men involved are vetted to make sure that the older men are men of quality.
2. There is also the angle of intimacy. To do this type of relationship, these young women must be able to distinguish between love and intimacy, and also between love and sex. I know not all sugar baby/daddy relationship involves sex. however for those that do not involve sex both parties would still need to distinguish between love and intimacy. You must be able to share intimate details with each other and sometimes have sexual intimacy without getting attached. This dynamic is not for everyone, but for a young woman that can do this, it could be a rewarding experience

After looking at the pro/con list i do see more benefits for being a sugar baby. Now if I were only 10 years younger

So let’s take a look at 2019-2020. My objectives and goals for the end of July 2020.

Goals to reach at by end of July 2020:

1. Start a blog (April 2019)- Cost of Blog $120
2. Set up a mini garden in my apartment porch (May 2019)- Cost $60
3. Clothes Shopping (May 2019)- $150
4. Husband Drivers renewal (May 2019)- $95
5. Go to Harrison Hot Springs-vacation (June 2019)- $1200
6. Buy a dining table and new tv (July 2019)- $1300
7. Learn how to do my make-up(July 2019) -$100
8. Go to White Rock (August 2019)- $200
9. Go to the Opera (September 2019)- $130
10. passports renewal (December 2019)- $240
11. Go to Whistler (January 2020)- $250
12. Go to Las Vegas (June 2020)- $1200

Financially were we stand in terms of income: After taxes, medical, dental, personal care: we have $4000 to spend per month as a family. In the next post I will break down our monthly budget and how will plan on paying off debt and saving for the short term (less than 10 yrs) and long term (retirement), while accomplishing our goals.