Here I come again!

Alright, so it has been a while but I have been busy.

I am finally heading back to Canada, first stop Vancouver and meeting Jenn at Stampede in Calgary then onto Toronto for some more fun and catch up with frineds from last time.

I can't wait and in one week I will be 1/3 of the way to Taipei, the stop over enroute to British Columbia!

Hurrah!!! Getting all excited just thinking about it!

He gave me a vegemite sandwich...

Well, the journey is over and I am back in Australia with a sunburnt left arm, it's a long story but it doesn't help that I came back to the middle of summer.



The last week in Toronto was very special Jenn managed to surprise me with courtside tickets to a Raptors v Hawks NBA game, GO RAPTORS! IT was a lot of fun and I love surprises. Following this Jenn and I met everyone at 'The Drake' hotel where it was shots all round and "let's start a couple of tabs we'll worry about it in the morning" kind of night... It was nice to say goodbye to all and I hope I see them again soon.

After recovering from a hang over, Saturay night included a $150 comp'd dinner at Rain, one of the nicer restaurants in town. Food style was Japanese fusion tapaswith some interesting combinations, my fav Wagyu beef and blackbean (flavour of the night) and Jenn's was the mushroom taster. All very nice and sophisticated, thankyou BCG for the farwell dinner!

I know Jenn was very happy because after dinner it was three and a half hours of Pictionary with mojitos and martinis to boot. All in the comfort of Jenn's apartment. Unfortch I discovered I am pict-yslexic and couldn't tell a cat from a reef....? On the other hand Jenn has discovered her psychic abilites are enhanced after a few pomegranate mojitos!

4 hours later I was up and heading to the airport, the only sad thing is I don't know when I will be seeing Jenn next although I think it will be around Easter, hurrah! Thus it was goodbye Toronto and see you soon Jenn, and off home...

Although on the way I thought it fitting that I live the jet setters dream and stop off in Manhattan for lUnch with Oliver and Julian before really heading home. So, in the next 32hours I was visited Toronto, New York, LA and Sydney, not bad!

It's Now 2007!

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone has made some good new year's resolutions. I know I made a few while trying to cope with a slight hangover... The NYE celebrations included about 500 people, all you can eat, open bar and dancing! Did I mention the indoor fireworks, it was an awesome night!

New Years day was just as good, Jenn, and I took her family to a relaxing high tea at the Royal High Windsor hotel. So much food and different types of tea, it felt like I was back in the colonial days, all proper and such.







This year has started out very well indeed.

I would like to note that on the 29th of December there was about half a cm of snow. Unfortunately that was the extent of the snowfall. This was quickly followed by the warmest New Years Day in 27years, 10 degrees C. I have a strong feeling that this is the last sign of snow before I leave in only a few days. Oh well, so much for the fierce winter that is meant to be synonymous with Canada.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Merry Christmas everyone and especially to my family back home! Happy holidays, Season Greetings and have a great New Year!

Christmas is here and it’s my favo-ou-rite t-i-ime of the year. This was a great experience, Xmas with an Indian spin on the fare, even though I managed to turn up for the one winter in history where it didn’t snow in Canada, yet! There is still hope. There is the possibility I will be saying that even after I have returned home! Over the three days I managed to eat enough food to last me for the rest of winter, it was like I was about to hibernate or something of the sort. I also cleaned up prezzie wise, I received so many gifts from Jenn, her parents and sister I felt like a real part of the family. It was an excellent time and I was able to meet a lot of Jenn’s family and a few of her relatives. Above is the Ginger bread house I was given as a secret Santa gift which Jenn made and I help decorate...

Some of the presents that were wrapped and under the tree for me included jumpers, or as they are called here, sweaters, a Roots watch, $$$, cookies and a Swiss Army knife.So generous and they are all great gifts, excellent!
Just in passing, something that is very big here is Boxing day shopping. Along with the other 2 million Torontonians that descended on the Eaton Centre shopping mall, I too grabbed a few bargains, yikes!
I should probably mention that Jenn’s Dad beat me 2-0 in table tennis, I am now in training for a rematch and am confident that I will come out on top after I lean on his weakness, it’s all about the hustle!
Enjoy the holidays and I hope that the New Year only brings you great things.

Weekend in the Montreal

Montreal is up there on the list of cities to visit when you come to Canada. I guess that Old Montreal feels like you have stepped into Paris, with the cobbled lanes and nothing but French spoken on every corner. I was pleasantly surprised by this because for some reason I was under the impression that English was spoken, only with a French accent, sounds silly when I type it…
Anyways, we arrived in the afternoon and headed to the hotel which was down by the Old Port. An unassuming 5 story building surrounded by art galleries and boutique restaurants right next to the Notre Dame Basilica. After a delicious dinner on the first night at an Italian joint close by we went to the infamous Club 1234. Upon entry at a discounted fee, we discovered we were the only two in there apart from the staff and that at 2300 apparently clubs in Montreal are quite dead… so it cost us $50 to see the inside of an empty club, hhmmmm.

On Saturday we walked all around downtown Montreal and decided to visit the Montreal Contemporary Arts Museum. Luckily we arrived just in time for a personal guided tour. Without it we could not have understood any of the art we were about to see or where the artists’ inspiration came from. This was followed by high tea at the Queen Fairmont Hotel, very quaint and reminiscent of Sydney. That night it was cocktails at Altitude 737 finishing with dinner at L'Acadamie, absolutely delicious and thoroughly recommended.

Sunday included mass at the Notre Dame (in French) and ice skating at Montreal’s only outdoor rink. This just capped off a great weekend and tired us out for the 5 hour train trip back to Toronto.

Finally for this post is the sad news that James Brown has died, thus the concert we were all looking forward to has been cancelled, he will be missed.

Winter Wonderland!

Hey Ya'll, I am writing this as we are preparing to train it to Montreal for a winter wonderland of fun and good times! I feel good! That reminds me, I am seeing James Brown with a group of friends at one of the local Casinos before I leave, the entertainment doesn't stop in this city.

Oh and the other big news is that I have been accepted to start my Masters this coming Autumn. Now all I have to do is choose between an MBA and a Masters in HRM. Isn't choice a wonderful thing! And I get another student card, let the good times roll!

WHAT THE?

I would just like to post quickly!

I scored a pair of Guess jeans for $33 incl tax, discounted from $148. Reduced, on sale, and then reduced again, by asking the chance question "excuse me, are these on sale?" What a bargain!

Also, there are no more puddles here, only small bodies of ice on the side walk. It's now so cold that it doesn't snow, beanies and ski jackets are now mandatory outdoor wear! BBRRRR...

Merry Christmas Ho Ho

Merry Christmas, or should I say boo hoo holidays! With all the broo-ha-ha going on about the term Christmas it’s good to see Wal-Mart fully embrace the Christmas spirit and wish all their customers a Merry Christmas!

With that we have been thrust into yet another Xmas season depicted by more parties than you can poke a stick at and the mad rush for prezzies whenever you are at the mall. The only thing different this year is that it is below 0 not scorching hot! Looking forward to the rum and egg nog, yummy?

On the weekend met some of the room mates’ friends. We went out for a birthday, and where else do you go to celebrate except the local cougar bar! Not my choice and didn’t help the developing cold to be outside under bar heaters, I can tell you the next day was a write off, no voice and a heavy chest cold, great! This Friday should be quite a bit nicer with a party at the up market Design Exchange to celebrate the holiday season at Jenn’s work.

In other news since coming to Toronto I have been doing a bit of rock climbing and it has been snowing a little more here. Hopefully by the time I leave it will be knee deep in the streets and I will be able to say that I have experienced a true Canadian winter! I can feel it in my extremities already…