When You Feel The Sting Of Being Left Out

I need to go back into my mental health bag for this blog post, and I want to talk about a feeling that I had been occasionally having that gives me great grief on some nights. I would normally talk about this with my therapist, but because I do not want to pay the $160 for an hour long session, and no one else would want to hear about my problems for free, I am going to talk about it here on this blog post. Strap yourself in, because this is going to be a bumpy one.

A Quick Stop In The Mountain Town Of Jasper, Alberta

While on VIA Rail's "The Canadian" from Vancouver to Toronto, there were extended stops where we could walk around for a specified period of time. There were two places where we were able to get off the train and stretch our legs, and I will talk about one of those places. We got to explore the municipality of Jasper in Alberta for about an hour. I have never been to Jasper before, and it was nice to be in a mountain town with the picturesque setting of the Rocky Mountains surrounding it. People come to Jasper primarily for tourism, including exploring Jasper National Park.

The Culinary Offerings of VIA Rail's "The Canadian"

As you already know, I went on the train trip of a lifetime when I traveled from Vancouver to Toronto on VIA Rail's "The Canadian". Although the overall experience itself was less-than-stellar, the best highlight while travelling on this train was the food. I want to use this post to show off some of the different food options that I had while on "The Canadian". These are mostly going to be vegetarian and fish dishes, with a couple of meat dishes thrown in. As you will see, the presentation of these meals are top-notch.

Capilano Suspension Bridge: Vancouver’s High-Priced Attraction

I did a tourist thing while I was in Vancouver, and that is to go check out the Capilano Suspension Bridge. This was something I always seen people check out whenever they were in Vancouver for the first time, and so I wanted to check it out as well, at a great cost to my wallet. We went right when the park opened, so the attraction was not busy at all, which was fantastic.

Train Review: VIA Rail's "The Canadian"

 

I was able to check-off a bucket-list item as I went on a train trip for four nights from Vancouver to Toronto on VIA Rail's "The Canadian". We stayed in a cabin for two in the Sleeper Plus class. This is my more formal review of the experience as I talk about the cabin, food, staff, and amenities/entertainment. We went on this train in March, which is not VIA Rail’s peak season for travel. I am here to let you know if this experience is worth going on, or if this experience is too much money for the offering.

 

Dynasty Warriors: Origins - A Soft Reset Of The Franchise

By https://wccftech.com/dynasty-warriors-origins-preview/, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=78449045

Dynasty Warriors: Origins is the latest entry in the Dynasty Warriors video game franchise, and this was a game I alluded to in my Dynasty Warriors tribute post as wanting to play. I am glad Koei Tecmo did not release a Dynasty Warriors 10 because the franchise was getting stale. To me, Dynasty Warriors: Origins is a representation of a soft reset of the franchise, like what the God of War franchise went through in 2018. I wanted to know if Dynasty Warriors: Origins was the reinvention that the franchise sorely needed.

I Went To A Vancouver Whitecaps Match. Here Are My HONEST Thoughts.

I was in Vancouver for a couple of days, and lucky for me, my visit coincided with the CONCACAF Champions Cup Round of 16 1st leg match between the hometown Vancouver Whitecaps and Mexican side CF Monterrey at BC Place. I did not have anything planned that night, so I bought myself a ticket. Outside of Toronto FC, I have never been to a match at another MLS team's home ground, so I was excited that I got to see what the Whitecaps match experience would be like, especially compared to when I would go watch Toronto FC matches at BMO Field.

 

March 2025 Update

Update time!

So I have been posting mostly consistently since around June 2023, and I have finally hit my brief spell of writer's block (which is why I did not post anything last week). My writing ebbs and flows where there would be instances where I cannot stop writing, and other instances where I struggle to put two sentences together. I am currently in a struggle phase with the writing and I want to use this time to take a short break from the blog.

In a couple of days, I will be going on a bucket list trip across Canada as I fly to Vancouver and try to make my way back home to Toronto on VIA Rail's 'The Canadian' train. I will be on a train for four nights as I try not to get cabin fever, sample the food offerings, and look outside for hours at a time. I also realize that this is a perfect opportunity to get a lot of writing done.

I will also try to fit as many things as I possibly can while I am in Vancouver for two nights. I know this is not enough time to check out everything I want to do but I will book a longer trip in British Columbia at some point. The star of this trip will be the crazy-long train ride, so look out for future blog posts.

Be back soon!

The Auto Show Is Not Dying...At Least Not In Toronto

I went to the Canadian International Auto Show (CIAS) this year for the first time since before the pandemic, back in 2019. Before I talk about my experience at the show, I have been hearing a common opinion about the concept of the auto show currently, and that is either the auto show is dying, or the auto show is dead. This could be true from a car media perspective, where car companies prefer to reveal their new cars online to global audiences instead of traditionally revealing their cars at big auto shows such as Detroit or Geneva. This is like video game developers revealing their games directly to consumers through online showcases such as Nintendo Direct or PlayStation's State of Play, effectively killing off the big E3 video game trade show in Los Angeles.

My Greatest Act Of Self-Care (So Far)

Last year, I performed one of my greatest acts of self-care in my life. I touched on this briefly on a couple of my blog posts last year, but I want to use this post to talk about this in detail and discuss why it is important for me to continue doing this.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle Surprised Me

By Bethesda - Steam cover https://steamdb.info/app/2677660/, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=75847090

I finished playing the newest Indiana Jones video game: Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, and this game was such a surprise to me. The developers of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle are MachineGames (best known for making the latest Wolfenstein titles), and I thought they were the best studio to create a new Indiana Jones title. Most people know Indiana Jones for the classic movies in the 1980s, but there have been many Indiana Jones video games as well. The last Indiana Jones game I remember playing was Indiana Jones and the Emperor’s Tomb on the Xbox around 20 years ago (maybe this game is worth revisiting). With that said, here are my thoughts on the newest Indiana Jones video game.

Watching Football Is A Drag These Days

These days, watching football (soccer) gives me a sense of disillusionment, and it did not used to be like this for me. I remember when I was growing up, I would get up on weekend mornings to watch English Premier League or Serie A games. I would get home from school on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons to watch UEFA Champions League matches. Those felt like magical times. Nowadays, I would be hard-pressed to find a match on cable TV. I want to talk about all the issues I have with football in my own words, from its access, to the overload of matches and tournaments, and the overall corruption of FIFA and its confederations.

Stellar Blade Is Solid, But It Is No NieR: Automata

By SHIFT UP CORPORATION - https://image.api.playstation.com/vulcan/ap/rnd/202401/2211/40e7cfd126a11fe5118310ebce6d9b3a23e7cabaca717217.png, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=76319717

I just finished playing Stellar Blade, which is an action-adventure game developed by Korean studio Shift Up, and I want to address a controversy about this game right off the bat.

Christmas At Casa Loma...After Christmas

I had the chance to check out what Christmas was like at Casa Loma at their “Christmas at the Castle” event, even though I went to this event the weekend after Christmas. I have not been to Casa Loma since I went to their “Legends of Horror” event back in 2019, and I have not properly explored the castle since around 2011. It was evident to me to many things have changed since I last went inside the castle, but I told myself that I mainly went to Casa Loma to see the Christmas stuff, and I was not too interested in any of the other things in the castle.

My Top 10 Games I Played In 2024

By Atlus / Sega - https://www.gematsu.com/gallery/persona-3-reload/august-23-2023, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=74654643

2024 has been a great year for gaming, and I was able to play some of the big releases of the year, as well as many more from previous years. Like I do every year, here is my ranking of the best video games I have played in 2024. These are not games specifically released in 2024, but rather these are games that I played for the first time in 2024. Let's get into it.