The Boy from Oz

Here I come again!

2007-06-27T21:41:00.000-07:00

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...

2007-01-11T15:12:00.000-08:00

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!

2007-01-03T13:57:00.000-08:00

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!

2006-12-27T18:37:00.000-08:00

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

2006-12-27T16:01:00.000-08:00

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!

2006-12-14T10:04:00.000-08:00

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?

2006-12-11T14:22:00.000-08:00

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

2006-12-07T12:13:00.000-08:00

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…

Day to Day

2006-11-29T11:08:00.000-08:00

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....'

2006-11-16T16:48:00.000-08:00

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

2006-11-08T21:07:00.000-08:00

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?

2006-11-02T16:04:00.000-08:00

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…

Time to dress up...

2006-10-31T07:15:00.000-08:00

Happy Halloween!!!!

Let me tell you how much these crazy canucks celebrate the Halloween holiday which isn’t really a holiday… Every shop has some sort of decoration in it’s windows and every store is selling some sort of candy. The dress up store was absolutely packed for a week in advance and I’m sure their prices go up in anticipation to the holiday, much like petrol at the servos back home! Most of the clubs in Toronto had some deal going for the lucky people who decide to go out in public dressed as god knows what… we decided on Storm and Wolverine from X-Men I, it was awesome, and loads of fun, with a queue jump thrown in the mix.

The club we chose to grace with our presence was ‘Inside’, three levels of Hip Hop, R&B and Reggae. They played some music I have never heard before and when they all started doing the same Caribbean dance and then add some serious bump and grind, it was definitely a new experience to witness and one I will have to try!

The only negative thing I have to say about this Halloween was the lack of ‘trick or treat’ I suppose I will have to buy the lollies and just pretend…

Happy Halloween everyone!

Weekend Night Life

2006-10-17T15:43:00.000-07:00

Another weekend and another great time here in Torontonian heaven. We kicked it off on Friday night with an energetic concert be a Queen cover group from Australia. Jenn loves ‘Queen’ and it was interesting to see her singing along to all the songs and even getting upset when they left ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ for the encore with the possibility they wouldn’t play it at all. I would like to thank her parents for the tickets and also a dinner and a few pints of Guinness at the Keg Steakhouse afterwards. Thank you Steven and Jansi

We also spent Saturday night celebrating Adams birthday. To do this we drank Vodka and lots of it at a nightclub, Devil’s Martini, where you have to pay the bouncer on top of the cover to get in. But once inside it was really worth it, good music, lots of drink and a great crowd. I can tell you that I am out of practice because I had a massive hang over on Sunday and I haven’t had one of those for quite a long time! Damn those Vodka shots, courtesy of Jenn and friends. Did I mention it's in a whrehouse in the middle of downtown Toronto?

Well as some of you may know Jimmy and Joel are travelling around the globe and this weekend they should be arriving here. I'm positive it will be another big one as thrown into the mix is Jenn's birthday celebrations, happy birthday day baby!

ThanksGiving Photos

2006-10-17T15:10:00.000-07:00

Combining Jenn's Birthday and Thanksgiving celebrations led to a lot of food and cake!

Just a few of the photos from the weekend. It ended up a beautiful time, with temps in the mid twenties it was great.

ThanksGiving long weekend...

2006-10-12T14:14:00.000-07:00

Hello all.

What a week! As some of you may know, here in Canada a very important holiday has just passed, Thanks Giving. To celebrate this people congregate at certain predetermined locations to chow down on copious amounts of food and a certain amount of drink. Never before have I almost been full from the entrées, only to then have ten times as much food presented as the main course… and this is before three cakes and a fruit platter that were for desert.

Having said that it was a great time and I enjoyed spending it at Jenn's home in Mississauga. Funnily enough their closest Family friends names are John and Gracie. Also, as an event of the holidays I finally got to meet 'the Stephanie'. Everyone was in such a festive mood that it reminded me of Christmas back home. Upon leaving, Jenn's mum, Jansi, was very kind and bestowed upon yours truly around 7kilos of leftovers, I have not had to cook since, only defrost and reheat in the microwave, glory days! God bless.

Finally there is one more piece of news I feel it is critical to mention. On the weekend it was 25C, sunny and quite hot, fast-forward to Thursday and I have just seen the first snow fall of the season and as it is quite early I am sure there is much more to come, yay :( Must almost be time to put away the shorts and bring out a new winter coat... Lets make a snowman!

Photos from the Hike

2006-10-04T11:56:00.000-07:00

Well on the second day we did a 11km hike. The first 2 were through a muddy bog of a track, very slow going. After that it was quicker and very scenic. Apparently we were a week too late for the peak viewing season, hhmmmm. I thought this week was still amazing!

Bush on one side muddy track on the other, which way to fall, luckily I was ok and made it to the other side without hurting or dirtying myself.

The other thing we saw was a beaver nest(?) pretty special, along with this we saw quite a few beaver built dams. The hike didn't start on the best note as I was saying 'we could see some Beaver', Jenn thought I was saying something else... just a little bit of mis-communication, no worries!

Just an example of all the different colours that are on show.

Wait for the next post that will have all the event s from this long weekend known as Thanksgiving... stay in touch, John

A Fun Time in the Park

2006-10-04T10:29:00.000-07:00

Well as it approaches Summer in Aus it is rapidly becoming winter here. This means Autumn or 'Fall' is well under way. With this in mind Jenn suggested a weekend in Algonquin Park at a very nice resort, Deerhurst, so as to see the fall colours in all their glory. As there is nothing like this back home it was really quite an eye opener, all the same I thought it was still appropriate to goof around a bit.

The tree looked like it needed a hug from a friendly passer by...
The weekend was a lot of fun and I can't wait to see more of Canada.

Oh yeah and did I mention that I moved into an apartment with three others this weekend. An Irishman, a Pakistani girl and another Aussie... should be interesting... I wil be sure to keep everyone up to date on any adventures that result from this joke of a household!

First Time in Toronto

2006-10-04T08:48:00.000-07:00

If you look carefully you can see Niagara falls behind the cute couple... This photo is after a massive buffet breakfast with views of the falls just to your left. It was very amusing watching all the other tourists with their broken umbrellas, even more so knowing that you were about to be one of them!

As you can see the weather wasn't the best but it was still a lot of fun! I might have to go back when the Falls are a little more visible...

Some of the girls. Jenn, Carol, Andrea (birthday girl) and Nicola, Jenn's flat mate. Everyone dressed up for a fine night out on the town!

This is the view from one of the clubs here in Toronto.

Courtesy of Andrea's birthday. Great night, fun club!

Slack Torontonian BLOG Postings...

2006-09-29T15:05:00.000-07:00

Hey Hey Hey, I thought to myself I have been quite slack in updating the blog lately, so here goes.

I have still been enjoying the sleep-ins and have come to realize my natural wake up time is 11:51. Just a little different from the 4:35 I was trying to maintain! Since my last post I have spent 1 month here in Toronto and in that time so much has happened. I am moving into my new apartment which I am sharing with an Irishman a Pakistani and another Aussie, sounds like the beginning of one liner joke.

In the mean time I have been getting my bearings in the area and now know how to get most places of interest.

Now for what I have been up to lately as I am sure you are all dying to know what’s been happening! Jenn took me to the Canadian Exhibition or Ex for short which is like a carnival but better, they had a show somewhat like Cirque de Soleil which was amazing.

I have met Jenn’s parents and what started out as a lunch in downtown Toronto ended up morphing into a fantastic day of sightseeing and so much eating I felt sick. Jenn’s dad took us to see Niagara Falls, which was obscured by all the rain and mist so you couldn’t actually see anything. It was still a lot of fun with the jibes about the diehard local Amish who didn’t need raincoats.

I have been to a few parties and birthdays of Jenn’s friends who are all very nice and amused because apparently I have quite an accent! The hide of them… We have eaten out quite a bit at some of the local restaurants which there seems to be a disproportionate amount of Japanese, not that I ‘m complaining! I don’t think I have done so much walking ever. Downtown Toronto is very flat and thus walking from A to b is easy. When it starts snowing I’m sure that will change.

Finally this weekend Jenn and I are heading north to go hiking and see the “Fall Colors”. I will update on a more regular basis and the next post will come with some nice Canadian country photos!
Ciao

Photos 3 New York

2006-09-08T07:37:00.000-07:00

Sorry this has taken so long it has been an effort to find time and the patience to get the pics uploaded! but keep an eye out for the next post which will no doubt cover the beginnings of the exploits of Toronto.

Just one final thought that I missed last time, it relates to the wax museum... after spending a bit of time seeing the statues we went through the horror house which proved to be just a little scary. When one of the statues decided to follow us and try to reach out for us, it led to lots of screaming and shrieking, it was very real and well done, helps if you have someone screaming!!!

Photos 2 New York

2006-09-04T15:51:00.000-07:00

Photos 1 New York

2006-09-04T15:10:00.000-07:00

New York, New York!

2006-09-03T09:53:00.000-07:00

Hello all, I am writing from Toronto after having spent a week in New York City! This is an amazing place that really never sleeps. It's true!
On our second night in town we saw the Latino Comedy Festival at the Comic Strip Club on the Upper East Side, this was hilarious and I believe this club is a great place to laugh and enjoy some dinner before or after! LOL
We saw 'Rent' on Broadway which was an interesting spin on the typical musical but still very enjoyable, even though I tried to leave during the Intermission, I did think it was weird that the actors just ran off stage and there was no applause or ovations.... Jenn set me straight, a bit embarrassed to say the least.
Downtown there is an area known as Little Italy it was nice and packed with all sorts of characters with some great bakeries thrown into the mix, but after spending $17USD on a bottle of water and a cappuccino, my last $17USD by the way, we thought it was time to leave, it was a fun day despite all this.
Jenn and I also spent a day touring the city via the Rockerfeller Centre (which I thoroughly recommend as a worthwhile guided tour), behind the scenes NBC tour, Statue of Liberty, and finally Empire State Building in the evening.
Times Square was an eye opener, even at 12 at night it felt like about 7 in the evening because of all the lights, this place is perpetually busy and the epicenter of life in NYC. If you want to feel what new York is like then you should definitely spend some time just soaking up the atmosphere that exudes from this place.
Finally I had a new experience in New York, Jenn wanted to show me a Hookah bar, this place was exceptional, dark lighting, low ceilings, couches with cushions strewn all over the place and when the smoking and drinks menu is presented to me I was thinking “What have I signed up for?” I decided to try the mango tobacco. When the three foot high sheesha pipe was brought out I new this was going to be a night o remember. Jenn and i smoked the pipe while Aziel filled us in on what he's been up to since I met him in Sydney about 4 months ago. I had a great time here and want to go back when I visit New York next.
Well that is about all that I care to publish about New York and so the next addition will be regarding my impressions from the first sights and sounds of Toronto, my new home for the next 4 months at least...
Hope you all stay tuned and keep me filled in on the news from home...

Coming to America...(I love that song)

2006-08-26T15:34:00.000-07:00

Ok so I was a little slack in starting the blog butI figure that you need to be somewhere first before you can have anything to post, right?
On the other hand it seems that so much has happened in the three days since I have been here that I could have already started another more detailed blog than this one!! As I don't even have time to post a proper coment now ( time to head off to hookah and belly dancing at a Middle Eastern restaurant), I will have to be more diligent tomorrow and get off on the right foot...