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…