Day to Day

The Canadian winter is finally hitting! It is cold and grey outside, just what I have been waiting for. This change in climate signals the beginning of the festive season. My first white Xmas, awesome! I am looking forward to shoveling the snow out of the driveway, maybe for the first week or so.

We had dinner with a loud friend of Jenns, Mladden, like Bin Laden only with an M instead of Bin. He is a great laugh and a crazy dancer, loves to sing No Doubt out loud in the office and a little strange. Had a great time on the weekend and the best Indian to date, Bombay Bhel, delicious. I also bought a 100% cashmere sweater, so warm and soft, great!

We have now finalized the trip to Montreal and I am looking forward to ice skating and seeing how the maple candies are made. Apparently Montreal is a great place to go when one wants to enjoy themselves.

Lastly a Christmas tree has been unveiled at the Eaton Centre, largely made from Swarovski Crystal it is about two stories high and quite a sight to behold.

'Little did he know....'

Congratulation Jenn!!! I had the honour to attend Jenn’s graduation ceremony this week. It involved quite a bit of pomp and fanfare as these events typically do. But I must say that the dean of the University wasn’t falling asleep during the presentations so it must have been more interesting than mine… and we had a delicious dinner after at one of Jenn’s favourite Indian restaurants.

In other news I got my hands on a ‘Best of’ list detailing the best of just about anything that you could want to find in Toronto. On Saturday night we sampled the best buffet, which is all you can eat fresh sushi. What was meant to be $17.99 ended up $43, the drinks and sake bombs always get you! After we saw ‘Stranger than Fiction’ starring Will Ferrell. I recommend it as a good film to go see but I am waiting patiently for the new Bond film, ooooohhhh!

The Finer Points

Curling, curling and more curling or just plain hurtling a ‘rock’ down the ice! Yes, I now know the finer points to the game and suffice to say I did not rock at this sport (pun intended). Let me explain, the bed pan with a handle is a known as the Rock and the brooms have pads on the bottom to smooth the ice rather, thus decreasing friction and therefore adding speed to the rock. Sound complicated? If not then add in the fact that the rock curls much like in lawn bowls only when you are letting it go you have to delicately flick it one way or the other depending on the curl you want…. ???? Oh yes, you only have one slippery shoe and two throws per end!

After curling we went to a birthday party that wasn’t really a birthday but it was worthwhile as the restaurant donated two rounds of free shots, hurrah! Thank you Puja, it can be your birthday anytime! After Jenn and I peeled off from the indecisive crowd to attend, yes you guessed it another birthday party and this is where it gets a little crazy. Let me explain, Toronto is all about the bottle service and who is getting it. The deal is you pay outrageous prices to have a bottle of your choice opened and left at your table/lounge with all mixers and garnishes that you want. Problem is some places demand you have bottle service to enter and this can cost as much as $500CAD a bottle! But as someone else was paying it didn’t seem my place to explain the sheer ludicrousness of it all, but I did accept some very stiff drinks from Pat the host! Thank you Pat, it can be your birthday anytime!

Oh yes and we saw Borat, 6 out of 10, some parts were funny and some were absolutely disgusting, I recommend you wait for the DVD.

Write soon.

Whats been Happening?

Just a quick one in preparation for this weekend festivities! Once more there are a couple of birthday parties happening, not anyone I know, but I am becoming quite good at fitting into surroundings, I’m a bit like a social chameleon, or an unwanted guest you just don’t know how to ask to leave… I can’t decide?

But the real exciting news is that I am going curling. This is the most Canadian thing just above ice hockey. As far as I can tell, you slide an object very reminiscent of a large bed pan with a handle down an ice like bowling alley. Then to make it stop in the far circle, you run after it, obviously because you threw it too hard, and sweep the ice in front of it… After the lessons I’m sure I will be able to update you on the nuances of the game and the intricacies of sweeping J On the other hand its open bar and free lunch, this weekend is looking up!


The University of Toronto library, designed to look like a peacock (see photo) is slowly sinking into the ground, at a rate of one quarter inch/year. This is because the weight of the books weren’t factored into the foundations calculations. Ok true this is just a funny urban myth I heard but looking at this monstrosity it could have definitely been true…