I only have the sweetest memories of Ottawa, the small green town that is the capital of a grand nation called Canada, aka “The Sorry Land”.

On my flight from Shanghai to Montreal, I saw the most beautiful northern light! It was my first time ever and it’s completely surreal. It was when we were flying over Alaska, everybody was sleeping, I was too, until the light shine on my face that woke me up and I couldn’t take my eyes away from what I was seeing. The moon was up there, so bright, and the sea of cloud under. I couldn’t quite figure where I was, and everything was just too magical. I wanted to stand up and grab my camera to capture the moment, but I couldn’t move, I wasn’t really even breathing. I was afraid that It was a bubble dream and if I move a little, I would break the bubble and wake up.

On a completely unromantic note, the opposite of what I have experienced on the plane. It was a hell of a story in Montreal (one thing for sure, I will never enter the country through that airport again…) But once I got on the flight to Ottawa, I was able to see the city fully covered by the snow like a soft blanket and the yellow street lights were like fireflies looking from above. It was most probably the shortest flight I ever had. You know the wheels that the plane has to taxi? They didn’t even pack them up after taking off, because shortly after, We are landing again.

Hi Ottawa, I see you.

I grew up in a grand house my father built for us. While my town is widely famous for its lacquer art and most families would have a big piece hanging in their house, my dad created a 3mx3m lightbox with a photo of Niagara Falls in our first-floor living room and he would tell us stories about the two countries that connected by the Fall. I was always fascinated by the beautiful nature of Canada and remembered the small capital city called Ottawa. It might sound a bit strange to you English speakers, but because of the translation, the Chinese name of Ottawa and Vancouver is similar and people often confused the two cities, and think that Vancouver is the capital.

I had the privilege to experience the true rural Canadian living in Winter. If you know me in real life, you would know that I’m a country girl in heart, (Go away Papi Diego with your ” You are the most uptown girl I’ve ever seen” comment.) I always wanted a farm, in Canada or Switzerland, with good wifi signal of course. It was such a dream come true when I spent the first night on the second floor of a two-story house, with an actual fireplace. The curtains in this house are just purely for decoration, the nearest neighbor is 2km away (Maybe even further, I have no idea regarding distance or weight or pricing. But it’s far for sure.) The moonlight spilled into the room through the maple trees and on the ground, the snow reflected the light, glittering and translucent, like a million crushed diamond. I closed my eyes and dreamed of something even brighter.

The next morning I wake up super early thanks to the jetlag. ( Really this time I mean it, I like this kind of quiet mornings. It’s so rare in my life that I would be up this early, I’m more of a night owl:) I went downstairs, had the best homemade coffee, you know the kind that made with maple syrup and chocolate power on top. A morning walks sounded perfect after the hot beverage in my tummy.

One thing I don’t do like a normal human being is that I don’t really blow dry my hair, even in Winter. I would dry my fringe and ready to go. Maybe I can survive a Shanghai winter, but Canadian winter is a real deal and under the protection of two hats, my hair frosted and it looked really funny.

It was so peaceful around here, my crunchy sound of stepping on the snow only made it even quieter. Sweet boy Baloo has the same frosting hair situation, such an adorable picture!

Many summers back, I read the book <Walden> by Henry David Thoreau, and longing for a life he pictured ever since. Standing In a winter wonderland, breathing the fresh -22-degree celsius air, I traveled back to the 19th century and heard Mr. Thoreau saying:

“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and to see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”

Aye Aye Captain!

All photos my own shot in Ottawa, Canada.