Mosquitos...Why? Why? WHY!?

Last night, I thought I'd be a smart cookie and actually get a full night's rest, for work this morning. Yeah, that didn't happen at all...

For the first time in longer than i can recall, I was in bed just before midnight, and to be honest I wasn't even that tired. I was planning on just laying in bed and possibly watching an episode of Full Metal Alchemist on my iriver (which I did) and then simply rest until I fell asleep.
The last time I looked at the time on my mobile it read, 1:33am and I thought.....eh not bad, I usualy go to bed late anyway. I must have fallen asleep not long after that, though for only about ten minutes. Apparently a family of mosquitos had been hiding in my room......waiting.......waiting.....and waiting for the right moment to attack.
Oh, did they ever attack.
I strongly dislike mosquitos. However, they seem to be really like me, or at least just my blood. I'm sure they have no idea what 'me' is.

Anyway, between 1:33am and ten past five in the morning I must have got, at the most, about half an hour's worth of shut eye. By the time five something rolled around I completly snapped at not being able to kill the little blood sucking basterds, that repeatedly assulted my body and went out into the main room.
I threw down a big heavy duvet on the tiled floor, brought out two pillows and a thin blanket and thankfully got a solid three hours of sleep.

I was pretty out of it this morning on the train to work, having not much rest I very reluctantly got out of bed not long before. Actually, when I woke up my eyes were stuck shut with sticky sleep, that persisted well into my MTR ride. I must have looked like I was just dumped by my girlfriend and had been crying for hours past.

Luckily one student that I really wish would never show up to class again, was sick today. As such, my two morning lessons went really well and I felt great. I don't feel so hot now though. I'm starting to get really lathargic, and generally just reluctant to move about very much.

Rob and I were just on break together, and I had to go down to causeway bay to talk to some nutter named Piano. I've worked with her company before (they're a casting agency) and they've gotten me a couple of easy, well paying jobs doing a commercial and a magizine shoot. Anyway, they wanted myself and Rob to do a bit of a profile, which is pretty much us standing in front of some blue backdrop in a white room (big lights shining) saying our name, height, hobby, nationality, and then doing a spin. Fairly easy. Hopefully some more work will come out of it.

Lui Chong Hing is ragingly incompetant. LCH is my chinese bank and I hate them. On numerous occasions they're driven me to the brink of my patience, with their sheer stupidity. I remember one time a few months ago, when it took me over an hour to get them to make me one cheque......a process that should take about five to ten minutes. Anyway, today's ordeal was them not knowing how to deposite a cheque into my regular chequing account. Fools.
Once I get my visa sorted out I'm going to switch banks, and promptly empty my LCH account and give them the finger.
Well....I probably won't flip them the bird, but I'd happily never step foot in any LCH building again for as long as I live.

Tartar
Brendan

Doublethinks, Rockit, Alice, Daredevil, Burrito

Doublethinks' last gig went off fairly well, though I could have done with a taller mic stand and a much better keyboard for Kachun. (Kachun is my good friend/band mate named Anders. I've been trying to remember to use his chinese name instead of his english one, but I always forget)
We managed to play for just under an hour, and we had a really good response from a lot of the people there. I'm not sure on the actual number, but it was somewhere in the 150-170 range.........which would make it one of our biggest gigs, attendence wise.
There was a bit of a problem with the opening act showing up really late, and we in doublethinks couldn't help but feel we were getting screwed over a bit..........but I don't really feel like getting into now.
I've been trying to extend our band contacts lately, meeting new people and (as you do) put the name doublethinks out there as much as possible, and i think it may be working. Once I get back from holiday in canada we should have a few gigs lined up, so i can jump right back into the live bit again. It's so much fun jumping around on stage, being really loud and generally just messing about.
Kachun and I were talking the other day about getting a few acoustic gigs lined up. And seeing as Kachun has his fancy acoustic bass I could play......why the hell not.
We'll speak to the owner of gecko lounge soon to see what he has to say. Who knows, maybe he'll have an opening within the next couple of weeks.

-----------------------
Twas Pat's 21st birthday saturday night. So, naturally a cosy, dark cafe was rented out and the words, "all you can drink for two hundred bucks" were thrown out there somewhere......it turned out to be a fun night. Somewhere near the end of it Kachun and I had a sword fight, with real (unsharpened) swords. That was fun. I drank wine for most of the night, and played a lot of chess, russian roulett, and ring of fire. It had been so long since I last played chinese chess, so I lost every game against my fearless bandmate, Mr. K. I think I was getting better after a few games, though it may have just been the wine getting to me.

Yesterday, after not having slept much, I made my way to the practice studio with shaun........an hour and a half late. I had a great practice. Aside from feeling a bit nausious/
naucious....(sp) everything went smoothly.
After the studio I headed down to causeway bay to meet steph, and check out rockit festival. Rockit is hong kong's only music festival and it's really not that great, especially considering that Feeder was the main act of the night........not exactly a very rockin band. Some of the supporting acts however, like hong kong's The Academy put on a great show. I felt badly for the fella's in The Academy though, because the sound quality was pretty piss poor for their first few songs. Through no fault of their own though. The singers mic kept cutting in and out, so half of the time the crowd could only here his monitor, and the guitars weren't nearly loud enough. It almost seems like it was done on purpose because they kicked so much more ass than lousy Feeder. The only thing that kept me watching feeder (which i only did for about half their set) was the lighting job. The lights acted just like flipping channels on tv, constantly jolting my gaze towards the stage.
At this point in the day I was feeling really weak, as I hadn't eaten much and was running on little sleep. So, as soon as feeder finished up I dragged my fatigued bag of bones home, with a massive burrito from Taco Loco to fill the void.

I'm still waiting for the latest translation of Full Metal Alchemists' forth menga. Hopefully it will be available before I head home. I plan on getting on my plane with a bag full of books, my mp3 player and a lot of snack food. If I've learned anything from international flgihts, it's that I can't sleep on planes, the movies are usually gash, and (this is for all traveling vegetarians out there) never rely on airplane food!! so........I'm packing my own little picnic!

I've already begun buying a load of books to bring with me, but....I keep reading them! I just finished Louis Carol's, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass. Both of which are excellent novels! and I'm nearly finished Osho's, Freedom, and Ram Dass', Learning the Baghavarta Gita. I also picked up a neat little book by George Orwell called, Why I write. It's a very short read, and it's very interesting. I highly recommend any of these novels.

What I don't recommend however, is the movie Daredevil. I had the misfortune of being tired and bored last night whilst eating my giant burrito, and caught it on Pearl (I never would have rented it) My only question for Daredevil is, how the hell do you suddenly go from being nearly dead to fighting bad guys, and jumping from roof to roof with a stab wound going clear through your shoulder??? Get Lost.
He should have been left in the comic book shop along side batman's magic belt, and the penguin's impossible umbrella.

Lastly, for anyone in the hk area, Doublethinks will be playing this wednesday at the Wanch in Wan Chai. It's Free. Thanks to everyone who came out to the last show. If you've any comments or suggestions send them to brendan@doublethinks.com

Cheers
Brendan

What to do, what to do

Well, I've only a month left before I say goodbye to hong kong, kit ming, and doublethinks, and I'm not sure if I can handle it..... 'it' of course refers to the unbelievebly cold weather that canada has to offer.
I'm really excited to come home for a bit. I've been in hk now for a straight year, and though it's been great, there's just nothing that compares with a nice homecooked meal and spending christmas with friends and family.

Josh, Alexandra, Annie, Cj, Lauren, and everyone else back home......I request a snowball fight!!! It's been ages since I've been knocked over at just the right angle, that pushes snow down between waistline and skin. Oh the good times!

I've been a complete geek lately, having discovered my love of comic books (rather Menga). So far i've bought the first three menga's of my all time favourite anime, called Full Metal Alchemist. It's such a great series, and now the original comics have started being translated into english. Just an hour ago, rob and I were in Page One in Cental and I had to battle with myself as to whether I should blow a hundred bucks on a new comic or an actual book.
This time I'm happy to say that I went for the slightly more intellectually involved route. I picked up a great new book called 'Freedom' by Osho. Though I've only read a few random bits of it when I was in the shop, I think it'll be a great read. Steph picked up a couple of other books from the same author, and she seemed to enjoy him quite a bit.

The usual studio was booked up during our habitual sunday practice this week. Luckily, Anders managed to find a new place for us, and it turned out to be a great little place. It was on 18th floor of a commercial building in Mong Kok....not too far from the other one. On two sides of the studio we were surrounded by windows, and all around us was some serious looking gear. All of this was in a lovely white room with hardwood floors, which provided a great environment for us. It was a nice switch. We managed to work out some kinks with a few new and old songs, and we ran through the set list for our upcoming show as well. In all, we've got a good show ahead of us. We've broken the set down into three chapters according to the energy level of the music, and having to switch instruments a bit.

Chapter One:
yellow ruby
di don
could have been
riddles on sale

Chapter Two:
Piano Song( I can't remember the translation of the title from chinese)
Ocean Music

Chapter Three:
Rubber Band
How Long
Sleeping Elephants

Generally a good mix of stuff
And now it's time to teach one last lesson.
Happy Halloween

Brendan

Zeynex the Warrior

It's been over a month since I last updated my fancy blog. I had been meaning to add a few posts over the last month, but I've forgotten whatever it was I had to say.
A few interesting things have happened, such as moving off of lamma island and into swanky/convienent Central. In now takes me about 35 minutes to get to work, as opposed to the minimum 75 minutes from lamma.

I was in a nervous state the whole last week of september, which continued on right until I successfully passed through immigration from macau, back into Hong Kong, for the fifth time in the last year. Last time I left for a visa run, kit ming and I went to Shenzhen for a day of prospective shopping. Upon trying to enter back into HK I was taken aside by two immigration officers. One was a gruff sounding man who clearly didn't want to be at work (not to my advantage in the slightest) and the other was a average height woman, with a slender build, who was far too quiet for my liking. They lead me into some room with no chairs (damn scare tactics) infront of four people sitting at one long table. Not much at all was said. I was asked some simple questions regarding my reason for being in hk, and my anticipated time of departure. Nothing too bad really, accept that I had now been flagged down by immigration, which would make my next visa run an extremely nervous encounter. And as I said before........I was quite worried.
Happily though my next, and last visa run to macau turned out to be much more of a success than I had planned. They could have just looked at me when I was coming back from macau at 6:30am tuesday morning, that my luck was up, and given me a week to get the hell out of china. Both rob and I were taken aside in our tired, semi drunken state to a waiting room, then a little office.........waiting. I wasn't even that nervous at this point because I hadn't slept in a solid day, and had literally been drinking all night with steph and rob (having a great time as a potential going away party) Anywho, this really young guy walked in the room, told us he knew we were working here, illegally, and then came the magic words, "I don't care that you're working here. Just go back to your own country's for a little while, and apply for working visa's, then come back"
The lovely daniel Lui gave us two more months and then sent us on our elated way.

I celebrated my twenty-first birthday by doing nothing particularily special. I spent much of the day walking around causeway bay on my own. I did have a very nice birthday dinner though. Steph, Josh, Kit Ming and I went to the bookworm cafe (my favourite restaurant) ate a tonne of food, and generally just had a pleasent/relaxing meal together. So, that was the big 21.

doublethinks has been doing well lately. We've been playing more shows and getting a lot of constructive comments. Our main concern when playing live is to mind the balance of the guitars, and make sure that the drums aren't busting eardrums, as Gabe does with his shattering sticks in hand.
Our most recent and most significant gig as of late, was a show on october 13th at the edge. We played a decent set, and actually had someone write a review about the performence. It's a bit of a mixed review to be honest, but having been compared to oasis, coldplay, and notably echo and the bunnymen can't be all that bad. The write up and some pictures of us rocking everyone's sock's off can be found at www.undergroundhk.com
Our next big show isn't until november 6, so we have time to relax and work on new material. if anyone's interested in coming just give myself, anders, gabe, or shaun a ring.......or email........or just yell really loud. I'll hear you........trust me.
Right, tickets are $150 bucks, but that includes two drinks. Plus it's in tst, which can be a pricey place to drink. So, haveing two drink tickets in your hands, plus three awesome bands to watch isn't such a bad deal.

In other music news...
I plan on recording a few tracks of my own making next month, so that I have something to show you folks in canada that i'm not all that lazy and unmotivated. It won't be anything special, just me and my acoustic. I haven't said anything to anders about it yet, but I'm going to try to get him to help me with some bass, or bongo's or something to add a little more thickness, and flavour. I'll also need his help, and likely gabe's as well with the mixing and mastering, because it's such a time consuming process, that really needs a few sets of ears and a lot of input.
Not that it's very important, but I've been thinking of whether to use my own name for the prospective ep title, or a name of my own choosing. A name i've wanted to use for a band for a while now is, Read Music. I really like how it sounds.

Lastly, but not at all the least important....
Kit Ming and I have been really well lately. We've now been together for over eight months, and I've never been more happy and all around comfortable with someone before........which of course is a very good sign for the future.

cheers
brendan

GUCCI PARTY BABY

success!

Last night rob anders and I attended the annual gucci fashion show. Our friend, ming, works PR for gucci, and he managed to get us a few invites to see last nights show. I'll see if I can upload some pictures of coat rack model people later.

I'm finding it hard to focus right now on actually saying anything that i want to say. Partly because I just woke up after six hours of sleep. I'm at sally's flat using her laptop, and there's some fella behind me instaling a new air conditioner. Naturally, installing anything at all tends to be quite noisey, so I couldn't have much of a lie in.

In other news, this is my very very very first saturday I've ever booked off from work!!
Interkids being the illegel place that it is, doesn't give it's employees any of the public/mandatory holidays that everyone else in hong kong seem to get. I started working the first saturday I got back into Hong Kong, which was the end of october, and I had just one saturday off for christmas..........which wasn't that great, because I had to work the sunday after anyway.
My saturday classes are all so hectic. For the first five hours all I have is little kids, with the average of four years. After five consecutive splitting headaches I can relax a bit with my two older classes, where the kids are about ten or eleven years old.
SO.... not having to deal with any of that today, as well as being safe in the knowledge that I'm not working tomorrow........... I feel happy!

Right then, Gucci party last night.
I had to buy a black jacket for the occasion, and sported with it, a white pinstripe dress shirt, and just a stinking pair of jeans.
It started off in a very surreal reception area, where as you walk in you can't help but notice models having their photos taken, and there just so happens to be fancy black runway carpet under your feet. Anywho, I can't be bothered to go into detail describing anything now, so I'll just say that it was dark, there were strange blue lights coming from the strange tables, and there were strange people dressed all in black walking around with strange black trays of champainge, whiskey with lemon, and some other strange tasting drinks.
There was an open bar all night with long elegant glassware spaning the blacktop bar, all in a rather large hall at the Hong Kong Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai.
Needless to say I drank a fair bit, but didn't actually get too drunk at all.
One thing that surprised me was that, I actually bumped into a few people I knew after the fashion show ended, and the party began. One of whom was a girl Rob and I worked with in the summer named Winky. She was there with a few of her friends. Winky introduced me to one of her friends whose name was................(drum roll please) Tease!
Yes, that's right, Tease. I found the name quite amusing. She was a local girl, but studies in England, so, I'm presuming that she must have heard all the wise cracks possible regarding her choice of english name. Admitedly though, I really had to contain myself from a fit of laughter as I was looking at her, and shaking her hand. I'm glad it was dark and the music was loud.

Anywho, the night ended at about four o'clock with Rob and I having a mini adventure trying to find a minibus back to sha tin town centre. We managed to get ourselves a messy falafel each, and then grabbed a bus that said it was going to Mong Kok. It did, we got there safely enough, and Rob even got some sugary mango juice. You've got to love 24 hour city life.........there's always somewhere to go to get sugary mango juice. After that we got on some random mini bus........we were loosely thinking that it was the right one back to sha tin. One problem with being a foreigner on a minibus is that you have to say the street name that you want to get off at, by yelling it at the driver. We didn't know any sort of street name, and even if we did, people tend to think that as westerners we're trying to speak english, even though we could be yelling in canto. So, communication is always a failure.
Luckily someone yelled at just the right time, and we managed to find our way back to sally and gabe's flat without much difficulty, and only a little bit of noise.
A good night in all.

who wants a quickie?!

hey all!

Here's a quick one that I only just realized I forgot to post!
anywho. here she be.

one last thing before I make like a tree. this is my last month on lamma island. For october and a week of november, i'm going to be crashing on various sofa's and linolium floors. Should be fun because after that comes... tuk tuk thailand!

right so, if anyone cares to hit up the beach just give me a ring. I'm always up for a swim.
cheers
---------------------
arrrr.....

doublethinks played a show at the wanch last wednesday.......it went really well until the last song, where i suddenly blanked out and forgot the whole fucking thing. Good times though. There were quite a few people there, including all the new gelta's fresh off the chatteris boat.

hey johnbie!!!!!!!

I decided not to buy a rabbit. I figure since I'm never home for very long, that I'd neglect it...... plus I'd have to leave the aircon on all day so it wouldn't die from the heat. I prefere not to use much electricity, and the rabbit would ruin that angle.

Plans are changing constantly. Rob and I are seriously thinking about doing our tefl certs in phuket, thailand come november. The course we're looking at is a full month, housing is supplied, and it's meant to be really challenging, though rewarding. It's a tad on the pricey side though. The course alone costs 12500 HK$, about two grand canadian. On top of the course cost I'll need some money to live for the month, as well as buy my ticket to thailand, and back to HK.
If we actually do end up doing our tefl's then we'ld be laughing in regards to getting better paying, legitimate jobs, that would supply us with work visa's.

After prospective Thailand, I'd stay in HK for about a week and a half, working for a bit of extra dough, and then I'd be back in canada for christmas. Once home, I'll probably have to find a job to earn my fare back to hong kong, which i'm sure would take a couple of months.

Before this whole tefl business came about, I was planning on moving to the new territories to Tai Wai, into a new flat with Rob. We both wouldn't mind having a nice flat, that we could furnish on our own. We found an amazing little furniture shop in ma on shan about a month ago, where they had chairs that looking like giant hands. They were the perfect size, and because one of the chair's fingers runs directly up the centre of where your back would be, they provide posture support. My back is always sore from bending over at little tables all the time, teaching little munchkin children.

A group of us went out drinking saturday, as is the custom, and I ended up breaking my glasses.......................again.
I loved those glasses, they were so comfy, and had swirly brown and white all over them.
I bought a new pair yesterday before I went off to the studio in mong kok. I was in a rush so I picked out a new pair in a few minutes. Now, that I'm actually wearing them, they're just alright looking. I think they're a bit too big in the lense area. I've got a spare set of frames at my flat on lamma, so I'm going to get some lenses made for them, probably this week. I think i've had four pair of glasses in the past two years.........
the funny thing is, is that I've been thinking about laser eye surgery just in the past couple of weeks. Kit ming's sister recommended it too me. She said that she has some friends who've had it done, and it worked really well for them. Perhaps breaking yet another pair of glasses was a sign..

I was at steph and josh's place last night, and we ended up watching, I Heart Huckabee's. I had heard the name before, but never anything about the story line. To anyone who hasn't seen this movie, I definatly recommend it.................it was amazing. Definatly one of the best movies I've seen in a long while.

tiz all for now.
brendan

ring ring

I'm not dead!
In fact, i'm feeling great! I've been having a wonderful time socializing and getting lost in the hk rush during the past few months, so i apologise for the complete and utter lack of updates.

so what's new?
lately, i've been thinking about buying myself a fancy dancy phone card, so that i can actually call some of you folks lost in the wilderness of canada........england........the states......and where ever the hell else you are.

Don't be too surprised if you here my distantly familiar voice yelling down your phoneline during the next couple of days.

It's hot here.............really hot. I've never really liked basking in the sun, or frolicking on the beach too much in the past. But! Due to my remarkably close vacinity to the beautiful powerstation beach on lamma (on the left are beautiful lush rolling green mountains, or the right there's a big fucking power station... hence the name) i've taken a big big liking to the salty water and coarse whitened sand. if any of you chumps are in the area on any given sunday you can find me honning my ever increasing frisbe skills. Feel free to join me in my goal of over taking my minor fear of the great unknown that is the water. Every time I'm out swimming I go out just a little further, and try really freaking hard to push away the thought of sometime creepy, and unfamiliar dragging me under, or heading off with a precious limb. I absolutly love swimming now.

in other news.......

I really want a rabbit. I'll probably buy one this month. They're so cool. I can't wait to just sit at home letting it hop about and sniff at it's new surroundings.

i'm going on a junk (yacht) trip this coming sunday.
that should be fun. I'm sure i'll get really drunk, and swim about in some of the little islands all around hong kong.

i'm going to be moving to sha tin, or tin wai come the start of october. I love lamma, but i'm willing to sacrifice a bit of serenity in order to save a crap load on rent and travel expenses... plus i'll be way closer to kit ming, and there are a lot of job opportunities in the new territories, and right now, i'm way too far south to consider traveling so far north everyday for work.

ming had invited rob and I to the big annual gucci party on sept 2nd. there will be an open bar. we're buying suits. awesome

that's all for now
brendan

CJ CJ CJ CJ

Hiya CJ!

Well, it's been a while since my last post, and I suppose a fair bit has happened during the past twenty days or so.

To start, Doublethinks (my band: www.doublethinks.com) is doing extremely well. Anders Gabe and I have been busy little bunnies in the recording studio, finishing up all the mixing and mastering for our first EP, which may be called 'The Neighbourhood'. In total there will be six songs, and even though we're not even finished all the final touches, I can't wait to get back under the mics to record some of the new stuff we've churned out.

Over the past couple of weeks we've begun playing gigs again, and it feels great! Our first surprise appearance was at The Wanch, where after a studio session, we went to wan chai to check out our friends new band. It was just an open mic, and we didn't have any instruments, so we borrowed gear from another band and laid out two solid songs. We couldn't play anything else because Shaun didn't have a capo, nor did anyone else, so, that pretty ended the night. I ended up drunk, hitting up a bunch of bars with Shaun afterwards and eventually, I forgot an 11 yard role of canvas in a taxi, that I had bought earlier that day. So, being the funny drunk that I am, I spent a good half an hour argueing with some guy named Barry at the taxi service centre, trying to locate my $500hk role of canvas. He said that he would call me back with the whereabouts of my canvas, but.......

BARRY NEVER CALLED BACK!
that scoundral.

So, I'm continuing to be prolific with my art, and soon I will add another bit of ink to my body. I've been working on this piece for a good six months, on and off, and I'm nearing the point of completion. This time I'm moving away from the arms, and am getting inked on the chest. Anywho, should be fun. I'm planning on adding to the colourful right arm when I go back to the hammer for christmas.

UMMMMMMMMM........................ I can't really think of much else to say.
Kit Ming and I are still together going on four months now. She now has a new nickname thanks to my mother, I sometimes op to call her Kitty Ming. Clever isn't it. haha, she is a cutie.

Oh right! Doublethinks, this coming saturday is entering the first round of the HK battle of the bands. The world battle of the bands are being held in hk this year, and will consist of participants from the States, New Zealand, HK, and another couple of countries.
So, I'll surely update again soon with the results of this saturdays festivities.

anywho, time for lunch
cheers
brendan

Two and a half years Plan

Plans are beginning to crystalize, in regards to what I'll be up to in the next couple of years.

Though very loosely layed out, I'm happy that I have certain goals to ascertain. So, starting from this summer I'm going to work work work, and save as much as I can, using my wealth to pay off my debts, weighing in at about 18,000 Hk dollars.

By the end of august I hope to alleiviate myself of debt.
December 12- January 12, back to Canada from a lovely albeit wintery visit.
Then Back to Hong Kong for another five months or so, where I'd work to save as much as I can. ( The time period for this one is pretty shaky, because it really depends on how much I'm able to save within the next year)

After the approximate five months in Honky town, I'd come back to Canada to earn my TEFL certificate (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) which would ensure me a good job, with higher salery in HK.
As well as my TEFL, I plan on getting my Motorcyle license in as quick a time as possible. I think I can get the full deal in about three months if I take lessons and all that extra money sucking garb.
So, with my M license, and TEFL cert in hand, I plan on picking up a second hand motorcycle well suited for long distances. Buying the actual bike may be a bit expensive, and may require a bank loan.

Now that I have my hypothetical motorcycle, and I'm all packed and ready to go, I would set off from Hamilton, heading towards British Columbia.
I've just started doing research today to get an idea of what path I'll be taking.
From what I have written down in front of me, it looks like:

Hamilton- Manitoba (Winnipeg) via the Trans Canada Hwy.
winnipeg- Saskatchewan (Regina to Saskatoon to Prince Albert National Park)
Sask- Alberta (If I follow the Sask route above, I can head SSW to Edmonton, then straight west to Jasper National Park) Depending on the altitude at some areas, and the pressure on the bike, I'd like to follow the mountains right down to Banff National Park to Lake Louisse to Banff, then cross the border into BC.
Though I may take a less ambitious route and head from Prince Albert, Sask. SW to Calgary, then to Banff and British Columbia.
I'm not sure which way I'd like to head in BC, but I was thinking of heading right out to the Pacific Coast, stopping by Vancouver, then following the coast south into the states for a bit, because it may be around late fall by the time I complete my set journey, and warmer weather would be good for both the safety of the bike, and me.

Taking a direct route, pretty much following the Trans Canada Hwy, from Hamilton to Vancouver is 4550 km, or 2844 miles. Though with some of the zig-zagging I've in mind, I'm sure it's quite higher than that, as I don't really want to just follow the highway, because of the monotany, which the prairy provinces and famous for, and I don't know how safe the TC Hwy would be on a motorbike.

Anyway, I'm starving and it's lunch time.
tartar
Brendan