Following Canada's Equestrian Team

Today is a slow day so time to catch up a bit on the computer. There’s a massive mall which is directly across from the Olympic Village hotel, and just a 15 minute walk from the Media Hotel (where I am staying) so I decided to go over to grab some lunch and find some balloons and streamers for the Canadian Welcome Reception that we’re organizing for the team and any owners who are here. I still find it a bit strange to be halfway across the world but still see Pizza Hut, McDonalds, Starbucks and Haagen-Dasz. I’m trying to eat at the more Asian spots because I just love the food and want to take advantage while I’m here.

One thing I haven’t tried yet, but definitely plan to, is stopping at one of the food places that does crepes. You can get just about anything there, but the one that’s really catching my eye is the custard/banana/chocolate/whip cream crepe. Yum! I did stop at Haagen-Dasz to enjoy some cold & creamy deciliciousness. The woman in front of me was getting some hand-packed ice-cream and the girl was putting the carton into a foil bag with a bag of ice below and a bag of ice on top. I guess with outside temps reaching in the upper 30s, you want to make sure your ice cream is not soup by the time to get home!

One things that I’ve noticed while walking around Shatin, both inside and outside, is how incredibly clean things are. Which given that I can’t really find a lot of garbage containers while I walk around I’m not really sure how they manage that. It also feels incredibly safe to be walking around, even at night, which is a huge difference from Rio where you didn’t want to be walking anywhere by yourself.

a food display featuring Canada! I took a quick look and the feature included maple syrup, Schweppes ginger ale and Molson Canadian

the tall building directly behind the smaller white building is the Olympic Village Hotel. The haze you see isn't smog.....just my camera!

a walk/jog and bike path follows the river and many athletes (including Sandra Donnelly, Ashley Holzer and Jacqueline Brooks) regularly jog back and forth between the Olympic Village and the venue.