The Honeymoon Adventure - Day Two - Calgary Zoo Three

Yes it has been a little while since last we heard of the honeymoon story, but with all the time on my hands, why not continue telling you of one of the greatest adventures I've ever had? Let us continue our adventure through the Calgary Zoo with part 3.

The last piece of our adventure took finished at the end of the Canadian Wilds. Now we travel into Destination Africa. At this point in the day, it had been wet out earlier and was beginning to get rather rainy. What a great time to head inside to see some creatures in the warmth of not being rained on continuously.

Meerkats, just like Timon in Lion King!

The journey into Africa was pretty cool I must say. Being a person with not much interest in travelling around the world all that much, going to the Zoo is a pretty cool place to see animals you would never be able to see otherwise.

I had a turtle once, but this is an actual tortoise pretty sure we don't naturally have tortoises around here.

I mean sure, you could look up pictures online or even videos on YouTube, but let me tell you, it's just not the same as seeing the creatures in person actually living and breathing in front of you. They let this tortoise out of his enclosure to walk around among the public for a while to get a little bit of exercise. Carley was super excited about seeing him so close up and following him around for a little while.

Carley was captivated by what we saw next.

It was at this point we saw one of Carley's other favourite things ever. For anybody who knows Carley, you probably know she really likes turtles. One of the first things I gave her when we started dating was a box which I had made into a turtle because she told me how much she likes them. But there's another creature she also likes a lot which isn't mentioned as often.

Yes, Giraffes are actually real creatures, and yes they are actually super tall.

Surprise! Carley really like Giraffes! I'm pretty sure she could have continued to stay there and stare at them for a few hours, but unfortunately there were still many more animals to see before the end of the day.

I bet you never would have guessed these hippopotamuses were right under the water next to the giraffes.

Can you believe how big those things are? Not only did I find it amazing how big hippos are, but apparently they're quite good at hiding in plain sight as well. From above the water, you couldn't even tell that they were there! The only reason I found them was because I walked down the steps up to the glass in attempt to see if there were any fish or anything in the water. To my surprise, there were two giant hippopotamuses hanging out having a good snooze.

Ooh, look at the big kitty!

Next on the animal tour was The Lion King. Alright, we didn't watch the movie, but instead we saw real live lions wandering around. I wouldn't want to run into one of these without a wall between us. I'm wary of house cats, but this seems a little bit too big to be living in someone's house. I have heard that Lions are not actually all that fast and don't tend to chase down their prey quite as much or as far as other predators in Africa... but as a human being, I still don't think I would want to see one of these coming in my direction no matter how far away it is.

If you've never watched Zaboomafoo, then you're totally missing out.

After the lions we got to see a bunch of pretty cool Lemurs. They had like five different types all in one enclosure which pretty much felt like you were walking into some sort of tree-house type thing. While we were there we learned that Lemurs are actually really smart and we were warned not to stay too long on the platform which was the only entrance into the enclosure. The workers told us the platform was electrified at night, but during the day it is not, and the only thing keeping the lemurs in the area during the day was that they didn't realize the platform was not electrified during the day, hence why we weren't supposed to stand around on the platform too long. In retrospect... I should have taken pictures of the entrance into the area as well, it was very cool and unique. I guess to see it, you'll have to go visit the Calgary Zoo on your own.

The last mix of creatures in the Destination Africa area.

I didn't manage to get any pictures of Ostriches or Zebras... because there weren't any to be found while we were there. We did go through one last building which included gorillas, alligators, and even an aviary of birds! I do love birds, but I didn't bother taking any pictures of them because birds just don't sit still for very long. At this point we decided to stop for food in the area where it was pretty much a fast food cafeteria.

Honestly some of the best fast food I've ever had.

I never thought I would be making the claim that fast food at a zoo would be some of the best food ever, but it seriously was pretty good stuff. Nice big drinks and well-made food. Also a very seemless and easy way to go through and order food, then pay at the end of the line after receiving the food you've ordered. It was a very nice experience and I would happily go back and eat there again. The only downside to the large drinks is that because they, along with many other places in Calgary, have started using paper straws... which get a little bit soggy after a while of sitting in liquid. But hey, if that's my only complaint about the place, then I'd say it's pretty great.

That covers the African part of The Calgary Zoo. Come back next time as we continue into one of the most beautiful gardens I've ever seen and then into Eurasia.

~ Kyle Welykholowa

Back to Honeymoon Adventure 

=== Food Review - Moose McGuire's (Calgary) - Sports Pub -- 8/10 ===

This was our first food stop of our adventure in Calgary on our honeymoon. It was a late night visit to a sports pub which wasn't too busy at the time... In fact that were maybe three other tables currently in use. Of course that isn't an indication of the quality of the place; late night on a Sunday right before the labour day football game... the heavy business was probably due for the following night.

The service upon entering was prompt as a result of the small number of other people around. So I definitely have no complaints about that because I love having prompt and efficient service! I assume most people would prefer quick and efficient service when visiting an eating establishment. Our server was very friendly and super helpful when it came to providing suggestions for Carley's drinks.

I ordered myself a tray of lemon pepper the buffalo wings. Some wings you order our absolutely drenched and sauce and soggy when you bite into them which can make you question whether or not they're actually finished cooking, but these ones were nice and crisp and crunchy between my teeth. The flavor it was absolutely fantastic with a nice lemon kick. In fact they were so good that I totally forgot about how awful buffalo wings are when you reheat them in a microwave. If you're looking for a good set of wings to eat, these are a good way to go.

I often like ordering a caesar salad to start my meals; this one was.... blah. It certainly wasn't awful and inedible, but I honestly thought I could get the same thing when ordering a takeout pizza from a pizza place. It was a good enough salad, but I wasn't terribly pleased with it considering what I was expecting. I could brush it off as it was only a sports pub, but I have experienced a higher quality of food at other sports pubs and brew houses.

For Carley, she ordered a double cheese & bacon burger with sweet potato fries. I didn't see any issues with her food and she definitely had no complaints about it (and she's pickier than I am when it comes to her food). This seemed like a great comfort food for the type of person who would like a good burger to eat during their stay.

For some reason I didn't take any pictures of her drinks and I really don't remember what it was she got, but the service for getting the drinks was pretty great. Our server was quite helpful for recommending drinks when Carley didn't know quite what it was she wanted and they were very accommodating right up to making a special drink just for her which wasn't on the menu.

Verdict

Lemon Pepper Wings: Great for eating in the restaurant; not great for leftovers. Nice and crunchy. 8/10

Caesar Salad: Nothing special which couldn't be ordered for delivery from a pizza place. 5/10 

Double Cheese & Bacon Burger: No complaints from the wife about her food. 8/10

Service: I was pleased with how much attention we got and super please with the server being able to give us recommendations and even getting the bartender to make some special drinks which weren't in the menu. 10/10

Overall, I would say our experience there was excellent! I'm giving Moose McGuire's 8/10; even though the caesar salad didn't excite me, the rest of the food was the good comfort food we were looking for and the service was stellar. After a long drive, we just wanted somewhere quiet to sit down and enjoy some nice food; This was exactly what we received during our visit.

~ Kyle Welykholowa

Back to Honeymoon Adventure

Content Reset - Back To Basics

We're doing a content reset back to basics. I've had some time to think about this whole challenge thing that I decided to start doing back at the beginning of June; I quite simply don't like it. I've heard That some people think my content is not as good when I'm pushing it out as quick as possible, which makes sense; It's hard to get something out every single day and have it be good quality.

I'm still aiming to post links to my content on my blog so it can all be found whether that's reviews, book readings, game-plays, or whatever else I decide I want to do; everything will be much more thought out than it has been for the past couple months.

The upcoming plans for the blog include more personal posts about current events and what's going on around the house. We'll be doing more reviews of food and movies because I'm a fan of both and I want you all to know what the best places are to eat and what the best movies are! Of course we'll continue to review more games as we play through them, complete them, or decide we're done with the ongoing content of certain games that never end if you keep on playing all the time. I'm also very excited to tell you all that I will be continuing to read through books partially because I love to talk and share things with you all, and especially because it's gives me a perfect excuse to take more time to read books!

It was actually my fiancee who mentioned that people have asked her about the quality of my blog. I'm not sure what I would do without Carley helping me along with suggestions and things. She seems to have some sort of way with people and getting them to talk that I just don't understand. I'm glad I have her to get information for me, because I just can't seem to get many people to comment on links or posts. Thank you Carley for being the awesomest!

My goal is to give everyone the best content I can, which means I need to look at what I'm doing, take criticism, and turn that into better and more effective content. The only way I can continue to do this is by having your comments whether that's on a link you've seen somewhere else or directly on my post. Don't be shy, you're more than welcome to give your comments of exactly how you feel about everything, if you think it's something you like, or if you think it may be more effective to do things in a different way.

So if there's anything else you'd like to see coming up, please let me know your thoughts and suggestions and I'll do my best to accommodate every reasonable thing I can do.

As usual, everybody is fantastic and awesome and I hope you all have the best day! ^_^

~ Kyle Welykholowa

=== Food Review - Burger Cabin - Burgers - 7/10 ===

Recently while out for a hike we stopped at the Burger Cabin in Wakamow Valley in the southeast area of Moose Jaw. There are always places which are talked about throughout cities and this was one of them which we hadn't been to yet; perhaps that means we don't get out enough to explore the very city we live in. No matter the reason, we were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the food made at this location.

I'm always a fan of onion rings anywhere I go even though Carley hates anything to do with onions and would rather not be anywhere near me after they've been eaten... so I got some onion rings to see how they rate compared to other places. They're great!

I also got myself chicken strips because I'm not really all that much of a fan of burgers (though I will eat them if there aren't any other good options). I was quite pleased with the chicken strips and honestly if they didn't make very good chicken strips, I would be concerned about the quality of the rest of the food. Carley got herself a burger which she was quite pleased with and I'm sure she would happily get another one if we went back.

The only thing that went wrong with the meal was that I asked for a large drink and only got half of one which was also somewhat flat. The good news is that me only having half of a drink was no fault of their own, but rather was because a sneaky Carley drank half of my drink on the way to the picnic table. The flat drink was obviously because their Co2 was running out and I don't blame them for that either, it happens every once in a while.

The location of the shop is what really makes this a special place for me. It's not down town or even in a residential area really. It's more of a destination place for the purpose of eating outside and enjoying fresh air at the same time because you're having a lovely meal in the park right by all the trees and water and everything else that's nice in the area.

So all in all, I would say this was a good place to go. The food isn't super special, but the location is great, which for me earns it 7/10. If you're looking for a nice place to eat in Moose Jaw, check this one out and let me know what you think.

~ Kyle Welykholowa

=== Food Review - Aurora Sushi - Asian Cuisine - 8/10 ===

Just the other day we had a lovely dinner and a movie for a date day where we decided to go to Aurora Sushi in Moose Jaw. I'm a huge fan of Asian food and definitely don't mind doing the buffet thing, especially when I haven't had much to eat earlier in the day. If you've ever been to an I Like Sushi, this place is pretty much exactly that... without the cool iPads... and I think it costs a little more.

I'm not a fan of sushi, so that part of the place doesn't really appeal to me, but the buffet here is very good. The selection of things to choose from isn't as big as I Like Sushi, but the quality of the food is good and there are enough options that you should be able to find something to keep you happy. If you are a person who likes sushi, they do offer a selection of sushi you can order with your mean which doesn't cost anything extra unless you order extra things and don't eat it.

For the cost of about $25 per person for an endless buffet, bottomless drinks (which they refill OFTEN by the way), and a selection of sushi, I do think this is a pretty good place to eat. You aren't getting to take home any leftovers unfortunately due to it being a buffet, so you do have to go when you're hungry to make it feel like you've made good use of your money.

I'm scoring this place as a 8/10 because the food is very good and they're super diligent about refilling your fountain drinks compared to other restaurants where they tend to forget about you. If you're not going for sushi then there are other options for an Asian buffet which cost a little bit less than Aurora Sushi though the cost may be made up just by the refilling of the drinks. I would definitely highly recommend this place for a dining experience, especially for anybody who likes eating sushi.

~ Kyle Welykholowa

Jaw Surgery Adventure - The Aftermath =8=

We entered an empty hospital bright and early in the morning and mentally prepared ourselves for the upcoming surgery. Carley did pretty well coming up to the surgery and didn't seem all to agitated even while we were in the waiting room right beforehand outside the surgery area. We were given a patient number so that I could wait in the waiting room and see what point she was at in her surgery. I didn't pay too much attention to it as I figured everything would go well and didn't have anywhere to go anyways. As it turns out, the chairs in the waiting room are wonderfully comfy... so much so that I was able to fall asleep and have a good nap while I was waiting for the procedure to be completed.

The doctor / surgeon woke me up once the operation was complete and I promptly made my way to the post-surgery observation unit. Carley was wheeled in and given a place and set up for her stay for the night. My first impression of seeing Carley was one of "Oh my goodness, what have they done to her?" She had a couple ice packs tied around her head so there was one on each side of her jaw and there were elastics keeping her jaw shut so she couldn't move her mouth.

At this point, the nurses then came in and started going through everything she would need to know including how to feed herself with her syringe, how to use the mouthwash every morning and night, and how to press the button to get some morphine into her system if she were ever in pain at all. The recovery in the observation ward wasn't too interesting other than a lot of sleeping and water drinking and whatnot. There was a point where the morphine ran out and was replaced with another container of morphine... but Carley thought it was replaced with Tylenol, so she proceeded to use quite a bit of it. This led to the nurses and doctor being unsure whether or not she should be leaving the following day as they weren't sure if she would be able to handle the pain after the large amount of morphine she took throughout the night.

We did manage to get ourselves home the following day after surgery. The following days included a lot of switching ice packs around the freezer and managing all of Carley's medication for pain and antibiotics. The only real bump in the road we hit was that the hospital seemed to get Naproxen and Dilauded mixed up and told us everything was available in Moose Jaw except Dilauded. So we got to Moose Jaw and found that they didn't have Naproxen which was a bit of an issue because Carley's face and neck at this point was slowly expanding into a balloon and she was having issues breathing because of this. We got through the first night using Children's Advil and got some Naproxen from a different drug store the next morning.

What has been the hardest part about this process so far? I would say... the pain has been manageable for her, so that wouldn't be the hardest. Probably the really most difficult thing has been the food... or lack of. As it turns out, Carley isn't terribly interested in only having liquids every day and it really is pretty hard to make liquids interesting to eat. As a result, Carley has lost quite a bit of weight in the past two weeks... around 20 lbs I believe.

Well, tomorrow is now the big day when the elastics SHOULD be removed and she can start eating soft foods once again. Wish us luck and find out soon what's on the menu and how the recovery is going. ^_^

~ Kyle Welykholowa

=== Fall Writer's Block ===

     Alright, so I've been trying for the past couple weeks to come up with something fall-related to post about. I've wanted to talk all about the pretty colours, the yummy food, and the perfect temperatures at this time of the year... but unfortunately I just can't think of enough to tell you all about.

     Around here many of the leaves go from green to yellow and then fall off right away. There are a few trees which get to orange and very few which get to red; it's a quick Fall season in these parts. One day I'd like to go travel somewhere where the Fall season would be much longer and more beautiful. I've heard there are some places in the US where things change all sorts of colours and stay that way for a long time.

     Turkey seems like it can take just as long to make as the Fall season. It's a lot of work to get cooked, but once it's done it's one of the best foods around. I know my fiancee would happily eat turkey pretty much every day if she could. I could live without turkey... as long as I had a massive supply of stuffing; that's my personal favourite. We've been working on making more interesting meals around home recently as well, which is another story of it's own.

     Besides the serious wind storms we've had recently the temperatures have been awesome as they always are at this time. We set a new record for wind speed at 130 km a couple weeks ago. And yet, it was still a pretty nice temperature outside. Luckily for me I managed to get home after work before the wind storm started up. I'm hoping everything stays like this for a little bit longer. At least long enough that Halloween night isn't too chilly.

Well anywhos, that's all for now! ^_^

~ Kyle Welykholowa

=== Quick Morning Post ===

     Time for a quick morning post to get the day going. I'm getting excited here, I have a couple plans to start some projects coming up. I'll be sure to update everybody on them as they happen. I don't want to reveal too much too soon, 'cause then the excitement will pass once it's finally time to let everybody know what I've done. Either that or there will be a letdown if something doesn't get done quickly or worse.... if something doesn't get done at all. I've been slacking a little bit lately (I'm sure I've said this more than once). I'll be starting on some new projects soon and continuing with some old ones right away as well. The hardest part is finding the proper time to actually get all of this done, but soon enough I'll figure out how to properly fit all of this into the time that I do have.

     The most important project to me at this time is getting into a greater habit of posting to my blog more often. I have much I would like to write about including everyday life, game reviews, food, drinks, locations, and experiences. I just tend to forget about how easy it is to sit down for a few minutes and write about it. I mean... one of my favourite things to do is to sit down a type for a while (I know, I'm weird). That's one of the reasons I keep a notepad file at work to type everything I need to follow-up on; also it's easier to keep up to date and not lose things that way.

     So I hope you all have a wonderful morning and please look forward to a coming flurry of new things on my blog, YouTube, and Twitch. You're all amazing and you all deserve to be entertained! ^_^

~ Kyle

=== Semester Two Is Complete! ===

     After a long and hard-fought battle with three tests in one day, I managed to complete everything to my own satisfaction. As usual, I think I did great on my tests, but did I really? I've had this feeling before where I think I've done amazing or at least really good... and then I get my test back with a terrible mark because I didn't quite follow something correctly.

     I already know it's highly likely that I'll be re-taking one of my classes from last semester and I'm alright with that. I would obviously prefer that not be the case, but everything hit me so hard these last couple months that all it took was one bad test to ruin a class. Fortunately I have an amazingly super supportive partner in my life and thanks to her I know everything will be alright.

     I've only got one more final to do on the 21st which is a typing test. I'm looking forward to it because I love typing, but I'm also a little sad that I haven't been able to practice my speed so much this semester. I think my accuracy has gone up, but part of the problem I've had this semester has been that I'm always so cold, which makes it quite difficult to use my hands faster. If only I had some gloves or something that didn't inhibit my ability to use a keyboard and mouse.

     Well anywhos, besides all this talk about school and whatnot, I'll be having a fantastic Easter supper with my family today! Looking forward to visiting with family and eating food? ABSOLUTLEY! Looking forward to driving all the way to Regina on my day off? Not exactly... but that's alright. It's all worth it for family and food.

Have a great day everybody! I'm going to get food today! :D

~ Kyle Welykholowa

Sometimes I'm a little tired, but I still make great food.

     I don't know why, or what causes it. Some days I'm just so exhausted and I have no idea why. Yesterday for instance, I didn't do all that much. It was a pretty lazy day compared to others... but by 11:30, I was so incredibly tired. Maybe I'm not eating enough meat and vegetables...

     Speaking of vegetables, I actually decided to cook for myself last night. Usually when making food for just myself, I tend to only make simple foods for myself like spaghetti and hot dogs. Sometimes I make sidekicks as well. But last night I made steak, asparagus, and noodles; It was wonderful. I hardly ever make actual meals like that for myself, so I have to admit, I'm quite proud of myself for putting in the effort to do so. I didn't do anything special with any of the food other than the asparagus which I put in the oven and melted some grated cheese over.

     Other than that, I don't have much else to update about my goings on recently. I'm still looking for either another job or a replacement job depending on the hours and pay. Clearly I haven't been posting too much recently, so I'll have to get on top of that again. To date I have successfully completed one gig on Fiverr which has made me $5 or so. And finally I am only one follower away from having 50 followers on Twitch! Yay me! :D

     So until next time, have a wonderful day all you people out there! You're all wonderful and I love each and every one of you who takes the time to keep up with my blog and other things. ^_^

~ Kyle

Regular Post About Nothing Special... I MADE YUMMY BANANA MUFFINS!

     So it's been a while since I've made a regular post about nothing super special. Today I would like to let you all know... that I can be a successful baker! I have successfully managed to bake tasty banana chocolate chip muffins. Oh my goodness, I'm actually a little bit surprised that I'm not fat. I mean, seriously... I drink a lot of soft drinks and I really like food; It's a little bit of a wonder really.

     In other good news, I've been given a few additional hours at work, so I don't have to worry as much about that being a problem... though I'm still searching for some kind of additional work. Speaking of work, I have made my first five dollars on Fiverr by talking to someone about something they've required. So I've made a little bit of success on that front.

     Additional success includes getting my first couple subscribers on YouTube and continuing to grow my group of followers on Twitch. So here's hoping something good can happen out of something coming up in the future. I have high hopes for a lot of things right now; as always, it's just a matter of patience. It's always a matter of patience...

~ Kyle

Status Update

     I have to admit, my day yesterday was much better than I had originally thought it would be. I am still fighting within myself to be as happy as I know I should be even though my brain tells me not to be. But I truly did have an absolutely amazing day yesterday. I'm feeling happy enough even within myself to eat food rather than skipping meals. I've been feeling well enough to keep up my writing endeavors. I'm feeling pretty good.

     So all in all, I'm glad yesterday was a day the way it was. Yeah, it started out a little crummy, and perhaps I seemed like I was unhappy throughout the day... but I truly truly truly am happy. I hope for more happy days in the future.

~ Kyle

Banished - Game Review - 7/10

     This game, I have put so many hours into. Partly because I'm a perfectionist and I don't like to leave a game without 100% of the achievements finished, but also because this game is a nice city-builder.

     My first instinct is to call it "casual". I'm not actually sure if that's accurate or not. I mean, you aren't really playing against anything besides the elements, and basic human survival. The goal of the game is to make a settlement/village/town/city/whatever-you-want-to-call-it. You don't have to worry about being attacked by anything besides tornadoes and fires. It's just you and your people. As long as you make sure they have enough food and supplies, they're good to go.

     So in terms of a city-builder, this is a really fun game. Even though you don't have to play "against" anything, and don't have any specific goal besides making a city and keeping your people alive... this game captures enough attention to keep me playing it even when there's only one achievement left to get... that takes FOREVER I might add.

     The only thing about this game I can REALLY harp on is the fact that it slows down a ton as your population increases. I assume it's a problem with having to render/calculate every one of the sprites in the game. Figuring out what each and every one of them have to do, because they all have their own lives. I would imagine the more powerful your computer, the better the game would run at higher populations. Now, I have a pretty beefy machine... and my game starts to crap out around 200 population. I've searched for fixes for this kind of thing and unfortunately haven't really come across anything. I'm pretty sure it's just the way the game is made/encoded.

     Now, saying that. I do highly recommend this game. I have found it very interesting to learn how to take care of my people. If you're into tackling achievements, then that's what really makes this game worth it's money is the time you have to take to figure out how to get those elusive achievements.



     I'm going to give this game 7/10 for a city-builder. I haven't played many of them, but this one caught my eye. It could be better, but it's not bad at all.

~ Kyle