Just Read It

Addicted to Stress...

2008-07-04T14:06:00.000-07:00

Addiction...sickness...deficiency...talent...skill...whatever you want to call it...I have a thing for stress. It's the kick in the rear that is required to get anything of magnitude done; the Red Bull for a procrastinator's lagging energy.

It is now 1 week away from Art Walk...the only time of the year I attempt to present myself as some variation of an artist to the public. I'm disgustingly behind...no where close to where I want to be...and even worse off than last year since I had no expectations then like I do now.

Somewhere along the line (i.e. about 10 minutes ago), I realized to myself that I might be expecting too much from myself this year. Subconsciously, I've almost set this up as a do-or-die kind of year, when it's really nothing of the sort. I figure I might have at last become impatient with my circumstances, and it seems I've been hoping that something bigger than me will make this all work out.

However, Luck is not a familiar bedfellow...only a passing acquaintance that I've met occasionally when I walk down the street. I've accepted the fact that I'm not really a lucky person. After all, none of the good things in my life have come easy...why would it start now?

So perhaps I'm courting Luck a little too much (who ignores me entirely too much for my taste), when I should be nurturing Patience a little bit more. After all...over 30 years to get to this point...what's a few more years over a few more years?

I just have to hope I remember this when I'm having a meltdown the day before Art Walk begins.

I am a walking pharmacy...

2008-05-30T14:58:00.000-07:00

...yup...you heard it right. That is what I am. I spent about 2 hours in the car, 1 hour in the doctor's sitting room, 30 minutes in the patient's room, 20 minutes consulting with the doctor, and voila, I have 4 prescriptions, 3 samples, and a pending appointment with a allergy specialist.

Oi...I feel like such a pill-popper.

I have been nursing a sinus headache for 4 days in a row. I go to sleep with a headache. I wake up the next day with one too. My teeth feel sore from the pressure. So I finally gave up on the allergy medication prescribed to me last month, and went to see my doctor again...and I hate going to the doctor. The only place I hate more is the dentist.

Anyway, my doctor tells me I have yet again another sinus infection. Whoo hoo...big surprise. Please...tell me something I don't already know. She prescribes me...for the 4th time...a nasal spray I have already tried and does not work. I told her the last spray worked but had the unfortunate side effect of irritating my throat and making me sound like I smoked for 30 years. A raspy voice might be sexy for some people, but I prefer to speak without feeling like I swallowed sandpaper.

She also ran through a list of ineffective antihistamines for my allergy symptoms. Finally settled on giving me a prescription that's stronger, but will probably knock me out standing up. Hmm...take 3 tablets a day...but not while functioning apparently. Good stuff.

Don't forget a prescription for over-the-counter Sudafed for the congestion... and the antibiotics (that NEVER work) for the sinus infection...add in the antibiotic samples... and since nothing really works, maybe I will need to see an allergy specialist so why don't we book an appointment for that...

Sigh...why do I feel worse than when I went in?

Teeth are running through the streets....

2008-05-15T14:04:00.000-07:00

A co-worker of mine sent this to me. MUTO, an amazing short film by BLU, is done by animating paintings done on public walls and streets. Subject matter is strange and twisted, yet incredibly intriguing...

MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.

Random Meanderings...

2008-05-10T01:38:00.000-07:00

There are many days where thoughts pile up upon each other like random books in disorganized stacks before they're placed back in their proper shelves. I think these piles of books in my head are the source of my bouts of insomnia. If I don't fall behind, there are less books to put away and the faster I fall asleep.

That's seldom the case and the piles have become mountains. I'm simply adding more books than I can put away. On my luckier days, I'm able to extract the big picture books that hold the ideas to my projects and put them in a slightly less disorganized but more easily accessible pile.

More often than not, I'm caught off my guard when someone is asking what I'm thinking about, or what I want. My mouth hangs open like a gold fish, trying to grasp a singular book from a library doesn't have any of them left on the shelves. I'll grab the first pile of books near the front of my mind, letting them spill out of my arms until I'm left with one. And as luck would have it, this one random book is probably the equivalent of a harlequin romance or sensational tabloid biography -- GARBAGE!

I generally don't mind being absent-minded. I've lived my whole life not quite dialed into the program, so I'm used to lingering on the edge of "normalcy" (whatever that means). But lately, I'm feeling the impact of my part-time awareness. Mistakes that I don't usually make are starting to haunt me, my days are becoming scheduled cages of frustration, and I'm spending much of my time preoccupied with tiny things that shouldn't even register on the scale.

This is a horrible time to become complicated. One of my friends told me once that although I have the potential of feminine deception, viciousness, and ability to nurture a good grudge, my mind is essentially male (at the time, I was pretty certain he was insulting me). Fairly single minded, knows what it wants, when it wants it, says what it means, means what it says, and blunt to boot.

Man, I miss that.

A couple days ago, I had a meeting with my manager. He asked the question I always dread in these one-to-one discussions. "What do you want to do?" "Do you see anything else more you'd like to do?" I'm sure there's some proper, diplomatic way of telling your manager that you have no ambitions whatsoever without either getting fired, or shunted off to the basement with leaky pipes while you clutch your red stapler. I haven't figured it out. I guess I'm just lucky our company doesn't have a basement.

So usually I keep my mouth shut when it comes to big ideas (I'm pretty loud with everything else)...it keeps me out of the politics. But I guess that tiny, but consistent streak of pragmatism I have is also endangered, and I've opened my big mouth. No good is going to come of this. I know it. It never does. My last manager almost peed in his pants the last time I had a session like this. The gap between the present and my vision of future projects was too big, too far, too unreachable to accept, that it pretty much bordered on ridiculous.

So it's back to the stacks, for a little reorganization...or at least a wide shovel so I can at least clear a path to the shelves and some of the trashy reading material laying around. Then I can at least begin putting the books back in their rightful places. I've been reluctant to take the necessary time for me to do so...but unavoidable it seems. And since sleep eludes me, no time better than now to do a bit of spring cleaning.

It's Official: The Green Campaign is ON!

2008-04-22T22:48:00.000-07:00

Alright...so I've finally gone and done it. In the midst of my struggle to assemble something resembling of a collection for Art Walk 2008, I've gone and become a Norwex Enviro Products Consultant. Yes, I'm insane, and not only just.

Needless to say, it's refreshing to be able to sell something I believe in. Where I'm going to find the time to do this on a regular basis, is beyond me. While I attempt to pull more time out of thin air, I leave you with the lovely Norwex 2008 Catalogue, which can be viewed online in full here.

If you have any questions, would like to have a PDF copy of the catalogue send to you, book a presentation in the Edmonton area, or place an order, email me at randomlifeproject@gmail.com.

Product Review: Ecover Cream Scrub

2008-04-08T09:50:00.000-07:00

So, if you do have quite a bit of buildup in your bathtub like I hinted at in the previous product review, I found a winner. I've always hated using bathroom cleaning products. When I was younger, I was addicted to the lemony scent of Mr. Clean (which probably explains a lot), but have been reluctant in using it in my more recent cleaning forays since it also made my eyes burn.

I came across Ecover products (http://www.ecover.com) at my local Planet Organic grocery store about a year ago and picked up a 500 ml bottle of their Cream Scrub product for an economical price of $3.50. Now Cream Scrub is not specifically a bathroom product, but more of a general cleaner that specializes in degreasing & stain removal.

A milky, slightly thick liquid, Cream Scrub actually clings fairly well to where you squirt it, but its cleaning strength surprised me for all its low aquatic impact and complete biodegradability assets. Required minimal "scrubbing" action; all I did was wipe it down with a sponge and rinse. Voila & presto, c'est finis, the scummy soap scum was gone from my bathtub in about 3 minutes flat.

Even if you don't use a daily decalcifyer or other products to minimize calcification and general soap scumminess...I found that it takes up to about 3-4 weeks before you even really need to think about cleaning your tub again.

I rate Ecover's Cream Scrub 5 out of 5 hairballs for being a consistently excellent efficient cleaner, economically appealing, versatile, environmentally friendly, and 100% biodegradable.

Product Review: Daily Shower Cleaner by Attitude

2008-03-19T14:07:00.000-07:00

I used to use Tilex Fresh Shower spray in my shower to keep down the soap scum & calcification on my shower walls and curtain. The stuff is fantastic and supposedly non-toxic and has basically removed my need to scrub my shower walls to remove layers of scum. The bathtub is a slightly different story but I'll get to that another time. Anyway, though I was not unhappy with Tilex, I searched for a "green" replacement, and I found a product from a Canadian-based company that produces a rather extensive green line of products calls Attitude. Attitude products have recently become EcoLogo - an internationally recognized Canadian certification approving the "green" nature of their products.

Simply called Daily Shower cleaner, I've been using this for about a month in place of Tilex. Daily Shower has a mild scent that I did not recognize but has been identified by the label as being Ylang-Ylang & Tangerine,...or was that Grapefruit (I still am not sure what Ylang-Ylang is despite all the shampoo commercials)?

I'm slightly reassured by Attitude's printed mantra that Daily Shower has no impact on aquatic life. Other markings note that it's also a vegan product, and donations are made to the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation for every purchase. Talk about a feel good product. I'm doing my [very tiny] part in saving the environment and still get clean, soap scum free tiles in my shower. Bonus.

Attitude products are available at Planet Organic and most recently, London Drugs has begun carry them as well. Daily Shower will run you around $5.90 for the spray bottle. Larger refill bottles are also available for the same or lesser price.

Daily Shower has been fairly good at keeping my shower tiles soap scum free and the routine is fairly simple. As soon as I step out of the shower, I spray down all the wet surfaces, and walk away. If only doing laundry and dishes were this simple.

Because I was already using the Tilex Fresh Shower before hand, I don't know how well it works with shower walls that start off with a thick layer of calcification. The instructions recommend giving everything a good scrub first if you have quite a bit of buildup. As it is, I think it's a fairly good product, and something I will continue to purchase.

I give Daily Shower by Attitude 4 hairballs out of 5. ;) Definitely worth a try.

Going Green...

2008-03-17T21:21:00.000-07:00

In the last 6 months, I've been making more of an effort to go green in my tiny little condo. Do a bit more recycling than I used to, reduce my overall waste, be more conscious of how much energy & water I'm using and when, and slowly changing over the products in my home to more "green" products.

"Going Green" has been popping up more frequently in my infrequent exposures to media, news, and social activities. No, I’m not referring to green beer…and since Guinness is the only beer I drink and is too dark to be green, I can’t really go green there.

People are becoming more aware of the products they use, and how it impacts the environment around. Due to this awareness, a large variety of "green" products are FINALLY becoming more readily available to the average consumer.

While choosing more environmentally friendly cleaning products isn't necessarily a difficult thing, I'm finding that changing how I perceive "clean" may be. If I think about it, usually "clean" with a scent, fragrance, or perfume associated with a favorite cleaner (former Mr. Clean sniffer addict here).

In the end, that probably means it's not all that good for us, after all, a majority of traditional cleaning products will have extensive warning labels listing the negative effects to prolonged exposure or ingested. Don't even get me started on bleach.

So my question is this: No matter how effective a product is at "cleaning" our things (i.e. cleaning microscopic "bad things")...if it's dangerous to be using it by breathing too much, or irritates our skin if it accidentally touches our skin...why are we using it to clean our homes? I mean, aren't we around it all the time? Isn't it evaporating into the air we're breathing? Aren't we touching the same places we just cleaned with toxic chemicals? I don't get it. If it's not safe to touch it while I'm cleaning with it...why is it safe to touch what I just cleaned with it?

Okay...I'm probably just digging myself into a big hole, or chasing my invisible tail that I'm never going to catch. I'm not a scientific mind of any sort. I can understand logic to a certain point, but can't really follow beyond a certain level. I couldn't tell you fact from fiction when it comes to chemistry. And although information is readily available via the internet...whether or not that information is correct is an entirely different matter.

Anyway, I've digressed. No one cares that I'm a scientific idiot. My point is...I'm trying to get to the point where I don't need unnecessary chemicals and products in my home. I want to use less “stuff” that will help lessen my environmental footprint so I don't have to feel bad about my existence polluting the world (I exaggerated, I don't have that much of a guilt complex).

However, to go straight from toxic cleaning to chemical free cleaning is a little tough, so I figure baby steps will help and do equivalent replacement. I’ve been coming across a variety of different products during my half-witted, random shopping technique, so I’ll be posting reviews of the products I’ve picked up after I’ve had a few uses.

Toronto (October 18 - 28)...likely Part 2 of 2

2007-11-05T09:24:00.000-08:00

Holy,...okay, when I said there was going to be a second part to my little Toronto adventure, I really didn't expect it to take me so long to put it up. But then again, anyone who knows me well will understand the manifestation of the art of procrastination.

Anyway, I've delayed long enough. I'll probably end up being fairly lazy this time around, which translates to lazy writing (bad grammar, spelling, etc). I'll apologize now. I've also lost a large chunk of the business cards I gathered to a flood at work (yes...blogging at work...bad...very bad...) so I don't have addresses of some of the locations.

Meh, life goes on. Onward and upwards...the sequel to my little adventure.

Thursday - A day to wander around
Thursday started kind of leisurely and ended up busy, which seems to be the cursed format of all my vacations. I had arranged to meet up with my cousin Ailee - we don't get to see each other much - for an afternoon of wandering around.

Since Ailee had a hair appointment and wasn't able to meet up until after 1 PM, I headed out a little earlier than usual and decided to walk up Yonge from Dundas to Yorkville rather than take the Metro.

Propaganda - What is your poo telling you?
Along the way, I ran into a store called Propaganda [686 Yonge St - www.propaganda.bz], a snazzy little novelty store that features a lot of kidult and local artist memorabilia. I really do enjoy stores like this, and if I wasn't on my way to meet my cousin - could have probably spend an hour or so going through the various stuff they had.

But since time was short, I only have one item to highlight, a book called What is Your Poo Telling You? [ISBN-10: 0811857824] by M.D., Anish Sheth and Josh Richman. What is Your Poo Telling You? is a small, brown, hardcover book that humorously goes through the various "types" of poo you will most likely experience in your lifetime. It would make a 6-year-old laugh (I have it on good authority that my sense of humor is like one) or possibly an 80-year-old (I have it on good authority that old people are obsessed with bowel movements).

I did not buy a copy, however, since I was suffering the aftereffects of my spending spree in Montreal like a very bad hangover. Oh well. Worse comes to worse, a copy can be found on Amazon.com, or other poo-related novelty stores near you.

University of Toronto campus - The wandering continues...
I met up with Ailee in Yorkville, and we made our way to the U of T campus so my cousin could pick up her newly printed thesis from the press. Inside the older buildings reminds me of my U of A days - yellowish lighting reflecting off dirty off-white walls and linoleum floors. Reminded me too much of how much I actually disliked university.

The outsides of the buildings are much more appealing, with an abundance of crawling ivy changing various hues of red and gold, hanging over red & brown brick exteriors. The grounds are beautifully green and well kept, and a large assortment of trees and bushes that was a little unexpected. Also, unlike U of A, there are some interesting architectural beasts lingering within the U of T grounds (i.e. "The Peacock").

I've always been curious to see what the campus of other universities are like. I've never gotten the big picture of how U of A measured up to these other learning institutions (was a little upset missing McGill while in Montreal), so I find it interesting to check it out.

Simon Sushi
Once we escaped the claws of the never ending U of T landscape, we decided to stop for a very late lunch. Ailee didn't get a chance to eat yet, and I'm always up for food (even if I'm full). We headed towards Chinatown and stopped at a little sushi shop called Simon Sushi [409 Spadina Ave]. I haven't eaten much sushi since my food poisoning incident in Vancouver last year, but I think I've finally gotten over that episode enough to enjoy a bit of raw fish once again.

We ordered a couple different rolls, some miso soup, and an order of salmon sashimi for me. In the ways of Japanese food, simple, but well prepared and full of flavor. Plus, it always makes me happy when the fish come out completely thawed (I've had partially crystallized tuna & salmon before, which is pretty disgusting).

Kensington Market - Vintage, vintage, vintage...
After lunch, we heading on to Kensington Market. To tell you the truth, I didn't really know what to expect. Every market I've ever been to all over the world have been a little bit different from each other, although a majority of them have been similar to farmer markets - with little stalls to sell wares.

Kensington is really nothing like that. I know a couple people were surprised when I mentioned that it wasn't what I was expecting, but I guess I was still thinking about little stalls. Truly, Kensington is a vintage haven, a dense concentration of little boutique stores that carry a huge assortment of second hand clothes, fabrics, accessories, knick knacks, paddy whacks, and an occasional bone.

Honestly, I'm not very good in vintage stores. I have to know what I'm looking for and be in the hunting mood before I can make any progress in the chaotic environment of a typical vintage store. If not in the mood, my brain just feels like exploding. Unfortunately, neither Ailee nor I were capable of any sort of concentration, so we more or less just walked up and down the streets rather than perusing the multitude of racks and suffering from brain splatter.

The only thing I could say definitively - if you ever need a costume, Kensington would definitely be the place to go.

Maple Leaf Gardens - Ghosts and Goblins
Wow...2/3rds of the way through my day, and not a penny spent (my cousin treated me to yummy lunch). I said goodbye to my cousin (I was meeting up with her family for dinner on Friday anyway), and headed back home to meet up with Tracy for dinner. The clouds were starting to look a little gross as I trudged back. I took a different route and ended up passing the ghostly remains of the Maple Leaf Gardens.

I'm sure in the old days, the Gardens was much more impressive, but now the bricks are stained and cracked, and the building has a tired, forlorn look about it now. I was told that the building had been purchased for a project, but no progress has been made for a while, so for now it stands, lonely and dark, until salvation or destruction comes for it.

Panorama - Cityscapes at night...
I made it home before it started raining. Tracy came home and we ate leftover tuna pizza (I made a second one with the leftover ingrediants) and laksa.

After slouching around, digesting our food, we headed out with Tracy's friend, Brent, to Panorama [51st floor - Manualife Centre - 55 Bloor St West], a bar & lounge famous for it's spectacular panoramic view of the city. The interior is modern, lush, and snazzy, and so dimly lit that if you're eyes have not adjusted, you'll probably end up walking into a patron or too. The exterior walls are floor to ceiling windows with doors that go outside to a patio/balcony on either side of the restaurant.

I ordered a pina colada and could not resist getting the smoked salmon appetizer (smoked salmon addict here). I can't remember the costs (because I don't have the bill), but unsurprisingly, beverages and appetizers are not cheap on the 51st floor. However, I'm also told, the prices are reasonable, considering how other like places (i.e. CN Tower 360), are exorbitantly priced. At the very least, they won't charge you for the elevator ride up the building. Drinks ranged from around $6 - $10, and appetizers, if my lousy memory serves me correctly, around $12 - $18,...I think.

The pina colada had a rum punch stronger than I was accustomed to (not a good drinking night for me), and probably was not the happiest pairing I could have made with smoked salmon, but stuff like that rarely stops me from enjoying anything. Even if there was something wrong with my plate, I wouldn't be able to see it anyway since there was barely any light...lol.

After our drinks and food, we headed out onto the patio. It was cold and windy, though I can see that on a beautiful night, it would be nice to hang out on the large comfy loungers. Though warmth was something to be desired, the skies had cleared, and the rain had stopped. The nightscape of Toronto really was stunning and widely spread. I took some timed exposures, unfortunately, with the wind blowing as hard as it was, most of the pictures ended up being shaky and indistinct.

I think we lasted all of about 10 minutes on the balcony before turning tail and heading back into the warmth of the restaurant. The rum was working quickly through me, and I was probably as bright as Rudolph's nose could ever get. So we called it a night, headed back home, and passed out, content in a warm, though borrowed bed.

Friday - Times a wasting...
Friday was the day I was going to meet up with my relatives for dinner, but I didn't have to meet up with my cousin until 5, so I headed out towards the Distillery District for a bit of sight seeing and a bit of trepidation in my heart as I hear the shopping would be...interesting. If only I had known.

King Street
I took King street to head east, which is heavily speckled with high end home decor & furniture stores. The fact that I'm traveling does wonders for my will power when it comes to this stuff. I'm not interested in lugging back large boxes, or paying a fortune to ship things home, so I avoided the painful torture of drooling over pieces I could not afford to have.

I can see, however, how interior decorators can have a ridiculous amount of fun in Toronto. The variety available is staggering, if expensive.

The Distillery District
I figure it took me about 20 minutes to walk from Dundas/Yonge to the District. I'm a fair slow walker to begin with, and I was going at a snail's pace doing all that window shopping on King Street. When I arrived at the Distillery...I thought I got the wrong place. Rather than a quaint little area, I was staring at the monstrous skeleton of what is soon to be a new condo living building.

I checked my map again which seemed to indicate that the Distillery would be located behind the building, so I skirted around the construction...'lo and behold, the remarkably low brick buildings were sitting quietly in the shadow of the condo.

I know Toronto is all about the fusion of new and old architecture, but it seems kind of a shame that the demand for new housing would manifest in such an obtrusive way. Whatever...probably just me anyway.

Lileo
Lileo was the first stop I made. As soon as I went it, I sensed I would have to keep a very tight reign in on my will power. Must...not...buy. Lileo is a huge loft style store that carries an incredibly diverse amount of...stuff. Clothes, books, novelty items, accessories...the list goes on and on.

Their selection of books, which covers a large range of design, logo, and branding subjects, is impressive. Must...not...buy.

I figure I spent about a good hour and a half loitering in Lileo. That could have been very dangerous for me, and I was so proud of myself for walking away, managing to escape unscathed, wallet intact, and buying conscience clear.

Corktown
I really should have stopped while I was ahead. This next store proved to be my downfall, and in a way, sort of blindsided me as I went in. Corktown is a tiny little jewelry store that carries a variety of unique designer jewelery. Stores like these, I'm usually safe in. For the most part, the jewelery is out of my price range, or do not offer the style of jewelery that intrigues me.

I was lulled into a sense of complacency and as a result, I ended up purchasing a gorgeous, incredibly unique ring for $200. Dear god. They should have signs up with "Dangerous for Shopaholics" on them.

Still reeling from my ridiculous ring purchase, I continued my tour of the Distillery. It was a pretty quiet day, not many people about. I found the brewery, but did not going in for a drink. I still needed to walk home, and walking home drunk in an unfamiliar city would be a pretty bad idea.

So I bypassed the pub, and instead found what was either a haven or hell...depending on which perspective I chose. Before I came to Toronto, I had purchased a little travel book that highlighted some of the most interesting design places to visit. I conveniently forgot it on my kitchen counter, but remembered one picture of a store front that incited a reaction similar to a kid discovering the existence of Disneyland (I wanna go I wanna go I wanna gooooooo...)

Bergo Designs
However, because I forgot the book, I didn't know where it was, or the name of the store. And glory be, as I turn the corner...there it was...Bergo Designs [www.bergo.ca]...the mysterious store front I saw in my little travel book. It was beautiful.

And I was in deep...deep...deep trouble. I'm sure as you're reading this, you're recognizing the downwards spiral of a recovering addicts relapse. And despite my foreknowledge of my turmoil, I went into Bergo Designs, much like a moth drawn to a flame...or an alcoholic to a bottle of vodka.

You know why I was in trouble? Bergo Designs carries one of my favorite kitchen/decor brands...Blomus [www.blomus.com]. Blomus has not been readily available in Edmonton until recently (I've just discovered a couple new shops). I discovered this brand when I was in Calgary and fell in love with the functional, yet minimalistic contemporary designs.

I ended up purchasing about $100 worth of items...a Ritzenhoff tea cup, a measuring tape, a wall mountable notepaper roll holder (whatever), and a couple neat little key chains for souvenirs for my mom & uncle. I spent 2 hours in there, humming and hawing over what I should buy and what I could walk away from. And if you're wondering what on earth I was thinking buying what I did...I use them all...often. Especially that notepaper holder thingy - uses receipt rolls so I can easily make lists. Sounds ridiculous, but I'm amazed how often I use it. I shouldn't be surprised though since I can't remember anything unless I write it down. It's my favorite purchase from Bergo.

Dinnertime - Asian Legend
The clouds were starting to roll in when I started walking back. By the time I got home, it started pouring rain. I guess it was a good thing I left when I did. My poor cousin Sophia got a little lost trying to find my friend's condo, and when we finally met up, it was already close to 6.

My relatives live in North York - so we took the metro up the Yonge line and got off the Sheppard stop. After a brief stop at the house, we headed to Asian Legend [125 Ravel Road, North York www.asianlegend.ca], a Chinese restaurant that specializes in Northern Chinese cuisine.

To tell you the truth, it's been so long, I can't really remember what I ate. The dishes were unusual to what I've become accustomed to in a typical high-end Chinese restaurant - mostly do to the fact my cousins chose non-traditional dishes. As much as I would like to give details...wow...I can't. LOL.

I was impressed with the variety of dishes that Asian Legend offered, both for the seasoned Chinese cuisine connoisseur, or adventurous newbie. Their menus are available online of you'd like to take a peek. If you're in the area and have a hankering for Chinese food, you might want to give it a try.

Saturday - Errand Day
My vacation was quickly wrapping up. The weekend was here, so Tracy was free to come gallivanting with me to fill in my remaining hours in TO. We had a housewarming to attend in the evening, so we thought we would cram in our errands before then.

Breakfast...mmm...bacon
Tracy and I have learned that the two of us are pretty low energy and useless unless we get a good breakfast into our stomachs. Tracy took me to The Senator [249 Victoria Street, www.thesenator.com], Toronto's oldest restaurant, which serves a mean and hearty bacon & egg dish called the Senator Breakfast up until 11:30am for $7.95. I love this little restaurant. The layout is long and skinny, and though I'm not a fan of squishy places, I find the quirkiness of the Senator to be quite appealing (almost a Seinfeld moment here, people).

Once we were fueled up, we went on a rampage of stops that took us back to the Mont Blanc Boutique, through the University of Toronto Campus, and multiple stops in Chinatown to pick up some items for the housewarming.

To Anime or not to Anime...that is the question
While in Chinatown, I stumbled across Toronto's offering of an homage to anime memorabilia. AnimExtreme [315 Spadina Ave, http://store.animextreme.ca] is a typical collector's haven, an underground hole in the wall, crammed to the gills with various toys, dolls, dvds, cosplay, and other like accessories from Japan's unique comic & cartoon genre.

Though I have dabbled in the anime world for almost a decade, I've only hovered at the edge of fandom, because to tell you the truth - the hard core fans scare the crap out of me. LOL. And trust me...this is on the same level as those who get married as Star fleet officers, use "the force" in their daily lives, or play video games until they're hospitalized due to lack of food, water, or sleep.

I lasted all of 5 minutes in AnimExtreme, long enough to grab a couple of presents for friends and make a hasty retreat. There was already a weekend crowd crammed in there, make the little dungeon alarmingly claustrophobic. Tracy was happy to wait for me at the entrance rather than rub elbows with squealing adolescents drooling over overpriced questionable products (some of the items were definitely bootlegs, which seems almost inevitable in stores like these).

This would explain why I make almost all my purchases online now - most straight from Japan (yes, I'm an anime snob and a complete nerd...ahahahha).

Through Queen Street West again...
After stomping through almost every single Chinese supply store for our wishlist items, we stopped at
Active Surplus Electronics [347 Queen West Street, www.activesurplus.com], otherwise known as the "gorilla in the orange shirt store". Active Surplus Electronics carries every knick knack, bobble, thingamajiggy, whachamacallits, whosits, and whatits known to man. I picked up couple dozen test tubes & corks (don't ask me what for, still figuring that one out), and Tracy picked up a little rubber foot for...er...something missing a rubber foot? LOL.

Soooo hungry...
We made our weary way back home, ladened with a ridiculous amount of packages and bags. We dropped our parcels off, cleaned ourselves up and headed back out (with same packages & bags) to the housewarming.

However, taking a cue from our crankiness and rumbling stomachs, we decided to have dinner first rather than try and fill up our empty stomachs with party munchies.

Mmmm...Vietnamese noodle soup - The Peach Garden
I love Vietnamese pho noodle soup...and especially on days where I'm a little tired and cold. So it was a perfect time for a big bowl of pho, from one of the few decent Vietnamese restaurants Tracy could find in the Toronto area.

The Peach Garden [don't know the addy, will have to find out] is a small, mostly clean restaurant, with sturdy furniture, and fast service. Tracy and I could barely hold ourselves upright due to the lack of fuel in our systems. The bowls we ordered came out in less than ten minutes, steaming hot and smelling delicious. And in total silence, we consumed our meals in just as much time.

The regular size is large, with great noodle to meat proportions (I actually finished my noodles before my meat). The meat was varied, and soft, not chewy. The broth, which is key to a great bowl of pho, was an excellent balance, not too salty or bland.

Nothing is more memorable than a meal you have when you're on the edge of starvation. This was definitely one of them. Thanks to the The Peach Garden for saving us from an evening stuffing ourselves at the munchie bar. It was a delicious meal indeed.

Housewarming party - the dangers of Soho lychee liquor...
Now pleasantly full of pho, we headed to Tracy's friend's home. Brent did a spectacular renovation job on his home. Beautiful dark hardwood floors, incredible floor to ceiling cabinets for storage, a beautiful staircase accented with glass panels and steel - it was a labour of love that took him years to complete. And now that it was done, the end result really was stunning and unique.

To help celebrate, Brent stocked a full and complete liquor inventory and featured two martinis for everyone to enjoy: a chocolate martini, and a lychee martini.

I have always been a fan of the lychee fruit and juice, but I never had Soho's Lychee (Litchi) vodka based liqueur before. Brent's recipe included a shot of Soho, a shot of vodka, a shot of lychee syrup, a shot of lychee juice, handful of ice, shaken, not stirred, and a lychee fruit for garnish.

By my third drink, I simplified the recipe to this, 2 shots of juice, 2 shots of Soho, on the rocks. I've always been a fan of sweeter, stronger drinks (girly drinks some will say) such as Baileys, tawney port, and various liqueurs. I stick to the ones that remind me no matter how drunk I am, what I'm drinking is most definitely alcohol. Unfortunately, Soho is NOT one of those liqueurs. It's one of the most dangerous kinds...where it doesn't taste like alcohol at all, but packs a punch at a 21% alcohol (if you go with Brent's recipe, even more so with vodka which sits at around 38-40% alcohol).

So now I've found a new drinking vice. My only savior is that Soho is not very common in pubs.

Sunday - the last day and still no rest...
So it's my last day in Toronto. We had a late night, so Tracy and I had a fairly late morning...well..later anyway. My ride back to the airport didn't leave until 7PM, so it was a last chance day to fit in any remaining sites and shopping I could afford. But before we went anywhere, it was food first and foremost, even it if was more brunch than breakfast.

What's for Brunch? - Shrimp Mee Fun (Fried Noodles)
This time around, I was cooking one of my mom's specialty dishes, Shrimp Mee Fun. Like almost all the dishes I have in my repertoire, the recipe is 80% ingredient preparation, and 20% actual cooking.

Ingredients:
1 package of vermicelli noodles
1/2 cup of dried shrimp
2/3 stalks of green onion OR 1/2 cup of chopped chives
1 cup of sliced BBQ pork
3-4 large eggs
3 cloves of garlic
3-4 shallots
Lots of cooking oil (any will do)
Salt
Pepper
Garlic chili sauce

I usually start off with the dried shrimp. It usually takes about half to 2/3rds of a package, which should be soaked for about 5-10 minutes. When the shrimp is squishy to the touch, either use a mortar & pestal to break them up into smaller, rough bits, or throw them into a small food processor and roughly chop them up.

Peel the cloves of garlic, and chop into small pieces. Peel and chop the shallots - you may leave them in loose rings, or slice again for smaller pieces. Chop your chives or onions into small pieces. Keep these separate from your other ingredients as the chives/onions will be one of the last ingredients you'll add.

Soak the vermicelli noodles in cold water until the noodles are loose and malleable (approximately 10 minutes) and then drain them.

Break all your eggs into a bowl and beat them lightly with a fork. Add about a tsp of salt and/or pepper. In a separate frying pan on medium heat, use the egg batter to make thin omelettes. When they're done, slice the omelettes into thin strips.

Woks are usually best for noodles like this, as they provide a larger frying surface so you can work quickly in high heat and still hold in all your ingredients without messy overflow. Bring your wok to a temperature between medium and high. Pour in a pool of cooking oil about 3" in diameter (approximately 5 tbsp). Add both garlic & shallots and fry until golden. Remove from the wok.

Add the chopped shrimp to the wok. Make sure all the shrimp is covered in the pool of oil...if some are not covered, add more. Cook the shrimp until they become fragrant and then remove.

Add more oil to the existing pool until it's about 4" in diameter. Bring your heat up to high. Add the noodles, shrimp, garlic, & shallots. Fold your noodles over and repeat until your ingredients are well mixed. Add about 2 tbsp of garlic chili sauce (more or less depending on your liking for heat) and mix again. On high heat - this should take about 7-10 minutes for your noodles to be cooked nicely. If you like your noodles slightly crispier, allow the noodles to sit in the wok a little longer before folding.

When your noodles have reached the consistency you like, add the eggs, chives, and BBQ pork as garnish and then serve.

Ooooo...smart, day pass, why didn't we use it yesterday?!
That's right folks...for some reason even though we were all over the downtown core on Saturday, we forgot that rather than walking all that time, we could have used the Metro (gasp). Even better yet, their day pass is only $9 and is good for 2 people for the whole day.

Man, if we had only remembered it for Saturday, we could have saved ourselves a whole lot of pain...

Back to Queen Street West - 3rd time the charm...
We headed back to Queen Street West and once more I visited the Magic Pony (did I mention I love that store?), picked up a couple more Smorkin' Labbits, and then headed east to check out some of the furniture/decor stores I avoided my first time around.

Urban Mode
Urban Mode [145 Tecumseth Street, urbanmode.com] is a high-end little decor store that carries none other than Blomus, thank god I got that out my of system already. Their items are a tad cheaper than Bergo Designs, so if you can't get out to the Distillery District, this place is a great place to go. Thankfully, I wasn't in the mood to buy expensive decor stuff, so we left without making any sacrifices to the alter of shopping.

Morba Corp - They gave my glasses away *sob*
I found a new favorite store...one that I love even more than Bergo Designs or the Magic Pony (yes, you heard me). Morba Corp [667 Queen Street West] is an explosion of eclectic tastes, covering almost every single vice I have (except anime and liqueurs). They carry new & vintage designer decor & furniture, and a huge assortment of knick knacks for your office, kitchen, home, etc. It looks a little bit like a rummage sale, but I could have spent hours in that store (I think we did spent hours in that store) just looking through the "cool" stuff they had.

Unfortunately, I will also remember this store for bringing one of a shopaholic's worse nightmares to reality. I found a couple of beautiful & quirky Ritzenhoff glasses. Normally glasses like these will go for around $35-50 per glass, but they were going for $20. I know what you're thinking - not much of a deal...but good enough for me.

I was so excited...a couple of my Ritzenhoffs broke at home, and I was pleased to have found replacements at a reasonable price. I left the two glasses with the cashier up front to put aside while I look around more. When I was finally ready, a teary eyed sale girl told me she accidentally put my glasses in another customer's bag (FOR FREE!!!!!) ARGH!

Is that not a total kick in the gut? I kind of felt like a little kid whose got her lollipop taken away. After that, I lost all enthusiasm for shopping, deflated like a popped balloon.

Harbourfront Centre - Glass Blowing
So after I lost my shopping mojo, we headed down to the harbour, and took a peek inside the Harbourfront Centre. Several artists were hard at work in their studios, but the area that fascinated me the most was the glass blowing section. A couple artists were working in here, and a small crowd had formed on the balcony above, observing their progress and they heated and then molded a large glass piece.

I've always wanted to try glass blowing, unfortunately, I am NOT skilled at 3-dimensional art, plus I'm extremely accident prone. I don't even want to imagine what kind of trouble I could get into in place with hot metal, hot glass, pointy tools, ovens, and blow torches.

I guess it's my inability to work with materials such as these that only increase my appreciation for those that can. Man, the girl working the glass had pipes on her! LOL.

Random Final Thoughts
So my trip is finally at an end. It's taken me longer to write this damn blog than for me to go on the vacation itself. Figures, huh? I think I'm not made out for this blogging thing. I'm terrible at it. Just some final thought and observations about Toronto in general.

Public Transport
So I found it kind of interesting that both tokens and tickets were available. The tokens are cute little two-tone coins, even smaller than your typical dime. I wanted to keep one as a souvenir, but ended up exchanging with Tracy for a ticket instead.

She told me that tokens were generally hoarded by Torontonian commuters. This is because tokens have no values stamped on them. If the cost of tokens go up, the ones you purchased before are still good. Tickets, however, have the values on them, so if the price changes, the tickets are no longer valid for a trip.

On a side note: I've also discovered I have my own street. How fucking cool is that?! LOL.

Shoppers Drug Mart
I guess there just aren't enough drugs out there or something. I swear it's like Starbucks in Vancouver. Every street has a Shoppers Drug Mart on it. Every mall, every building, every corner. It's crazy. They sell tickets for your popular local attractions such as the zoo or the Hockey Hall of Fame. They're selling groceries, like bread, milk, and eggs, and this past Christmas, the ever desirable Nintendo Wii.

It's a Superstore concept crammed into a corner store format. Interesting indeed.

Hotdogs & Pizza
Okay...I'm not sure if it's just because I'm traveling that I noticed this, but I discovered while walking down the streets of downtown Toronto...Torontonians have a love affair with hot dogs and pizza. More pizza than hot dogs...but they're still there...in brightly light signs in huge, bold, black letters. On every other street (not every street like Shoppers...lol).

And it's not even a name. The signs just say "PIZZA" or "HOT DOGS" or "HOT DOGS & PIZZA". Now there's branding for you. Marketing, eat your heart out.

Toronto (October 18 - 28)...probably Part 1 of 2

2007-11-05T09:07:00.000-08:00

Toronto - first trip ever to Eastern...er...Central Canada
So I've been told that Torontonians dislike being referred to the "Eastern" part of Canada, preferring instead to be "Central". All I can do is shrug, since being an Edmontonian, I see anything east of Edmonton as "East" since that's pretty much the direction I had to go in order to get there.

Anyway, I was pretty damned excited, since this was my first time ever going to Toronto & Montreal. My friend Tracy has been living in TO for almost 6 years, and having just bought a condo, I thought I would go and mooch off of her while I while I took a look around.

WestJet Sale Bonanza
Toronto has always been one of those destinations on my list that I wanted to go to, but simply sat low on my priority list. I attribute this to the fact that it costs a ridiculous amount of money to travel within Canada. I mean, don't you find it kind of silly that it's consistently cheaper to fly to San Francisco or Las Vegas for half the cost of a trip to Toronto?

WTF?

Anyway, WestJet decided to have a big seat sale, and since I was looking for an excuse to travel somewhere, I got a ticket to visit Tracy for only $437. A good $300 cheaper than your normal ticket to TO after all the taxes and surcharges. It was still at least $100 more expensive than my trip to San Francisco the previous year, but whatever.

I head out on the 18th after work and took the 6:15 PM flight out. To my surprise, I ran into my co-worker and his wife, who just happened to be on the same flight as me, heading to TO for a wedding weekend.

The flight was a little over 4 hours, and the trip made me wish I had grabbed some food before I left. I should know better than to travel without food, but I guess I was too preoccupied to use my limited brain capacity for memory. No food means I was pretty cranky for most of the flight, and the only thing that saved my sanity was the free BellVu Express TV that allowed me to get my weekly fix of CSI (that and the little packages of munchies they give you).

Toronto Airport Express
I booked a round trip ride into downtown Toronto with the Toronto Airport Express which only cost me around $31 - way cheaper than taking a taxi, and you get 10% if you get your ticket online rather than paying at the kiosk. It's a pretty stress free way to get in as long as you know what your end destination is.

Pontification on Toronto being exactly like Vancouver
I ran into my co-worker and his wife again on the bus. It was just the 3 of us, plus a Vancouverite who had just moved to Toronto. She was a little bit of a stress puppy, unsure if she got the right bus, even though it was 11:30 at night, we were the only bus around, and the bus driver assured her at least 3 times that she got the right bus.

As we drove in, I chatted mostly with my co-worker and his wife about the wedding they were attending and their plans for the wedding. Punctuating our conversation were exclamations from the ex-Vancouverite about how much Toronto was ALMOST EXACTLY like Vancouver, except for the Hockey Hall of Fame...and this building...and that building. They have the same banks! Wow...that's just crazy that they have the same banks in different parts of the same country.

Uhhh...okay...I'm done with this one.

Arrival - Bond Place
Since I was one of the last stops along one of the last routes, the bus driver kindly dropped me of a block away from where my friend was living. I still managed to get lost...missing the little street the main entrance to her building was and ended up instead at the backside entrance on the next street.

It's a fantastic old building with loft style living, but I felt a little bit like I was trying to get into Fort Knox. I first had to buzz in, tell security over the intercom I was here to visit my friend in apt # blah blah blah. Then I would get buzzed in so I could take the 1st elevator up to the lobby area, so security could buzz me through another set of doors to get into the second elevator, which I could take up to my friend's floor.

I'm tired now.

Friday - Just got here and already leaving
Since I came in pretty late the night before, I slept in while Tracy had to go to work. We were planning on catching the 5:00 PM train out to Montreal that evening, so I had to figure out what to do with myself until then. I spent most of my morning unpacking my bag in order to pack a smaller bag for my trip.

Burrito Boyz
I headed out just before noon to meet up with Tracy for lunch. Although her directions were clear, I had to walk around the building once to make sure I got the right entrance. Although I got the right floor, I was confused by the fact there were two offices, so Tracy had to save me from myself and meet me by the elevators. Apparently, both offices were the same company but named differently. Whatever - too much thinking already for a vacation.

I dropped my bag off at her desk and she took me to a little eatery called Burrito Boyz. In case you did figure it out from the name, it's an eatery that specializes in burritos...custom baked burritos that is.

I suppose if you manage to hit this place during a non-busy time, it's a very organized process. However, if you go when I did (the lunch crowd), it's total, utter chaos, with the perfectly organized process interrupted by the idiocies of newbies (like myself) who are unaware of the rules of the system.

Thank god Tracy was with me. LOL.

Burrito Boyz is very much like a sub or donair eatery set up: after picking your basic type of burrito combination (beans, chicken, steak, etc), you can add a multitude of different toppings and sauces to enhance your burrito experience.

Unfortunately for me, I like my custom wrap experiences to be fairly low key - so much so, I seldom add anything from the vast selection of condiments. So I ordered a plain small steak and cheese burrito. I suppose if I didn't panic in the midst of the crushing clientèle, I might have considered adding a little bit of tzaziki sauce, maybe some lettuce, but I just ended up closing off my order and moving on while my incredulous burrito artist took my boring order to get baked.

Once again, Tracy saved me from myself (and the process), by helping me pay for my food (in a separate line), and grabbing my order (same line, but not). When did I get so useless? We then swam out of the sea of hungry people and walked a couple blocks with our little brown bags over to a little park where we could sit down on one of the benches and eat our hot, toasted food.

I was pretty hungry by the time we started eating. There was brief regret over the missing sauce, but I enjoyed the burrito well enough without. The meat was hot and seasoned, the cheesy was smooth and melty. It's a nice satisfying combo. I think they have their sizes mixed up though since this small burrito was freaking huge, and I couldn't even finish it.

Tracy tells me that I was probably the first person who didn't rave over the fabulousness of said burrito, because she had taken most of her endless parade of visitors to Burrito Boyz and every single one loved it.

How do I say it? I just like donairs better. And I should have gotten tzaziki sauce. LOL

Hockey Hall of Fame
I had about 3 hours to kill before Tracy was done at work, so she walked me over to the Hockey Hall of Fame where I planned to wile my time away. A tip if you're buying your ticket, if you have a Shoppers Optimum card, you can get your ticket at a discount from any Shopper Drug Mart. If you're wondering where you can find one - there's one on the same floor as the entrance of the Hall.

I ended up spending around 2 1/2 hours in there, wandering the endless glass displays of venerable memorabilia of various and legendary hockey players. A documentary homage to Wayne Gretzky was playing in the background as I ascended the stairs to enter the room that held the replica Stanley Cup and all subsequent trophies (Hart, Campbell, Lady Byng, etc.). The room that houses the trophies of the hockey elite is old and refined, with a stunning overhead stained glass dome. It reminds me of smoking rooms and old men with cigars and scotch.

The replica Stanley Cup is out in the open where the masses can walk around, touch, hug, or kiss with abandon (as long as you don't tip it over). I prowled in circles around the holy grail for I figure around an hour, picking out the Edmonton Oiler names that were engraved. I took about a dozen pictures of the cup alone (which you won't see yet because I haven't developed the film, occasionally stepping aside so another fan could pose for a memento picture.

After taking a gander at the original cup and subsequent rings that have been removed from the current "real" cup to maintain it overall shape and integrity, I made my way back down the stairs and headed toward the international part of the Hall to locate the infamous luck loonie that helped Canada win Olympic gold in 2002 in both the mens and womens hockey.

I found the display of the loonie itself to be rather...inconspicuous. The story board behind it was massive, but the loonie itself was embedded in a rubber puck and mounted in the darkness of the lit-from-behind story board. After mourning the inadequate display, I moved on to the other side of the Hall which showcased Canadian amateur hockey athletes and housed the play zone for wanna-be hockey players and goalies.

It took me a while to get over my perceived embarrassment (I mean, it's not like I'm going to see anyone there again) before I lined up for the shootout to shoot some pucks at a virtual goalie. Ummm...let's just say I have absolutely no talent in this area and should just stick to watching from the sidelines instead. But it was fun, and I'm glad I stuck around long enough bury my pride to try it out.

On my way out, I got to goggle at a huge display featuring the University of Alberta hockey teams...home town pride...gotta love it.

By the way, if you're wondering where all the pictures are...I didn't take any digital ones. It was too dark and the images kept coming out pixel-ly. I did however take around 24 black & white shots with my manual camera - just too broke to develop them just yet. Soon. I hope.

Got a train to catch...
The weather outside had gotten dark and spitty. After reinforcing my boots with a couple of comfort sole inserts picked up from Shoppers ($14.99 - holy crap), I hoofed it back to Tracy's office to pick her up so we could head to the train station.

We got to the train station just as everyone was lining up to board the train. The guy who was checking our tickets drew a nice happy face on Tracy's ticket. Tracy told him he missed his calling and he laughed and drew a heart on mine...awwww. It's worth a girlish giggle...or two. Of course, I don't have any evidence of said tickets since those portions of the tickets were taken away. *shrug* oh well, life moves on...along with us on the escalator.

Insert Montreal (October 19-21)

Even Mondays on vacation are hard to take...
When I woke up on Monday morning, I was really freaking tired. Even though I was on vacation, I felt obligated to go out and run my "errands" so I wouldn't have to deal them later in the week.

First on my list - I had brought my silver Mont Blanc mechanical pencil with me in hopes of getting it repaired. I dropped it over a year ago, and bits and piece flew as it fell apart. I do a lot of my pencil sketches with it since it holds 0.7mm lead (not very common), so I was completely choked when I couldn't use it.

Toronto holds the only official Mont Blanc Boutique in Canada, so chances were high that they could repair my poor broken pencil. Since the boutique was housed on one of Toronto's mostly highly branded streets, it was my chance to do some window shopping (because I wouldn't be able to afford more than that LOL) and then see what I could do from there.

Younge & Bloor
I took the metro up Younge Street from Dundas station to Bloor station and then headed east along Bloor. Bloor Street is sin city for the superbrand junkies of the world, with stores like Prada, Louis Vitton (I have a cousin in Edmonton who would kill go to into that store), Chanel, & Tiffiny & Co. Thankfully, I don't live for the brands that would require multiple full paychecks to pay off a single suit, so I was very comfortable checking out the window displays while heading to my real destination.

Mont Blanc
The Mont Blanc Boutique is a pretty glass store that is currently marred by the extensive reconstruction going on around it. Roads are being ripped up and rebuilt, so it's a total mess on the outside. Inside is pristine, with glass displays and lights picking out the highlights of pretty shiny objects. Even the sales people are pristine, with perfectly pressed suits and coiffed hair. There were other customers here from the business world, with their Armani suits and Rolex watches. I was tempted to poke these people to see if they were real, and not just realistic mannequins.

I do not looking like your typical Mont Blanc customer, looking a little sloppy in leather jacket, jeans, and wrinkled shirt. I guess it's good thing that I'm accustomed to the "look" I got from a tiny 5'1" asian girl that's telling me that I don't really belong in a "classy" place like this. I get this look often, since I like going into stores like this, but very seldom do I dress like I have money to burn (it's the leather jacket, isn't it?). Not like I give a shit since I've brought my pencil from the other side of the country to get fixed , and like hell I'm going to walk away just because I'm not dressed to code.

Anyway, I dropped the pencil off and headed back out, relieved to have escaped the look of disdain I had to endure. Service would take about a week and would cost me about $91. I could only hope to be able to pick it up before I left.

Cop Copine
After shaking off the sensation that I was somehow an inferior being, I headed into the Yorkville & Cumberland shopping areas. If possible, this area houses even more elite shopping than Bloor, as well as some popular Canadian designers that I know nothing about.

I only came to this area for one store. Cop Copine is a label out of Paris, that is popular for their asymmetrical, slightly quirky designs and practical material choices. The clothes are easy to wash and wear, without the need for dry clean. I'm able to get my Cop Copine fix at home, but it was almost necessary to make the pilgrimage to the only official Cop Copine store in Canada.

The salesgirl there was incredibly friendly and cheery - a lovely change from the chilly atmosphere I had encountered at Mont Blanc. After trying on the entire shop, I found a couple pieces I would have loved to have taken home with me. Unfortunately at almost $400 per piece and no layaway option in sight, I had to walk away, slightly sad & disappointed, but incredibly relieved I didn't fall further into debt.

Laywine's
As I was heading back to Bloor to try and track down the grocery store I was told was a good place to pick up food, I passed by Laywine's [www.laywines.com], a little shop that sells an extensive variety of pens and stationery items.

I love this place. The salespeople here are knowledgeable, friendly, and above all else, patient. It's a great combination for indecisive or inexperienced pen shoppers, and a refreshing change for an experienced one like myself.

I found a gorgeous silver Corinthian fountain pen that wrote like a dream, and I would have bought it if not for the price associated with it - a whopping $625 before taxes. Ouch. I'm beginning to vastly dislike the fact that many of the things I like have disgusting price tags attached.

Manulife Centre - Valu Mart
I'm extremely proud of myself at this point. I haven't spent a dime (I wouldn't have to pay for my Mont Blanc expense until I went to pick up my pencil), and I was nearing the end of my little adventure for the day.

I was planning on making tuna pizza for dinner, so I needed to hit up a grocery store to pick up some ingredients. Tracy told me to go to Valu Mart, which was located in the lower floor at the back of the Manulife Centre. For those from the western part of Canada who are familiar with the monstrosity of Superstore, Valu Mart is the small grocery version that sells the Presidents Choice brands commonly carried by Superstore.

The costs are reasonable, and produce is cheaper than the typical Toronto grocer. It's a good place to go if you happen to be in the neighborhood.

What's for dinner tonight? Tuna pizza
I always have problems eating properly when I travel. This is mostly because either A, I'm in a hotel, or hostel with no way to cook my own food, or B, in staying with someone who gets nervous as soon as I touch a cooking pot.

I am not a bad cook. I'm simply lazy. It's much easier to cook for more than 1 person. When you're b yourself, what's the point? I eat when I'm hungry - most of the time, it's easy stuff that I just shove in my maw while doing my chores. Multi-tasking is a great thing.

Since I was staying with Tracy, I had a chance to actually cook for a change. At least she doesn't get nervous when I pick up a knife, and that's very good for me since I get nervous if someone else is nervous. That's just too much nervousness to be happening in a place where things can cut or burn you.

Anyway, back to dinner. I decided to make tuna pizza. It's a cold dish that is 95% ingredient preparation, and 5% baking. It stays good for a couple days, so you can have it for lunch the next day as well, and getting whole ingredients will give you enough to make 2 full pizzas.

Ingredients
Crust
2 cups of Bisquick (a box can make 3 crusts)
1/2 cup of water

Sauce 1 block of cream cheese (light)
1/2 cup of mayonnaise
1 tsp of dry dill or 2 tbsp of fresh dill
2 sticks of green onions or chives
1 can of flaked tuna (in water, not oil)

Toppings 1/2 green bell pepper
1/2 red bell pepper
1/2 orange or yellow pepper
1 cup of grated cheese (whatever your preference)

Make the crust first, as it will cool while you're preparing your sauce and toppings. Mix the Bisquick and water and knead until the consistency is elastic (if it sticking to the bowl and your hands, you'll need to keep going until it sticks to itself).

Spread the dough evenly on a flat baking sheet or pizza pan. you can leave a small crust along the edges if you like, but make sure you don't leave too much dough, or the crust edge will end up being mushy instead of crispy. Bake in the oven at 450 degrees for 10-15 minutes until the surface is a light golden brown.

Remove from the stove and let it cool completely before adding any sauce or toppings. This will help maintain the crispiness of the crust. If you add the sauce while the crust is still warm, the overall pizza with end up soggy faster.

For the sauce, mix the cream cheese, mayo, dill weed (if using fresh dill, remove the larger stems), onions/chives, and tuna together (make sure to drain the tuna first before adding) until the consistency is smooth, not chunky. Put this in the fridge to chill while you prepare your toppings.

Wash the bell peppers and cut each of them in half. Remove the core and seeds, and then slice into thin strips. For variety, you can substitute one of the bell peppers with a couple sticks of celery (chopped).

Remove the sauce from the fridge and spread it over the cooled crust evenly. Sprinkle your grated cheese on top (I used the Tex Mex pre-grated package - a good mix and saves time). Then distribute your bell peppers evenly over the crust. And one more handful of grated cheese on top of this and it's ready to be served.

Tuesday - It's raining
Ick. Rain. I had convinced myself that it was okay to just not do anything today and give my poor abused feet a rest. So I literally lazed around all day. I had no desire to slog around in cold, wet rain. I hate rain. Besides, I was justified in staying in during the day because Tracy's fabulous co-worker, Pete, got us tickets to watch the Leafs play in the Air Canada Center that night.

Anyway, Tracy called me up to tell me to meet up with her and Pete at the Irish Embassy [Younge & Wellington] for drinks before we headed off to the game. I guess the day of lethargy didn't help my sense of direction, as I ended up heading north along Younge instead of south, ending up at Wellesley rather than Wellington.

I eventually made it to the Irish Embassy, about a half hour late (lots of time before the 7:30 PM puck drop), squeezed into the bar which was crammed with people, had a pint of Guinness with Tracy & Pete, and then Tracy and I walked a couple blocks down to the Air Canada Centre.

Oilers on the Ice? - Toronto vs. Atlanta
Pete gave us some awesome tickets. Wanna guess where we were? Section 109, row 8, seats 5 & 6. Platinum section, baby. Whoo hoo. I wasn't within spitting distance, but definitely drink tossing distance for sure.

We picked up some food in the Platinum lounge since neither of us had eaten dinner yet. Platinum privileges are fulled decked out in dark woods, stainless steel, and glass, with a wide assortment of goodies to eat, like prime rib sandwiches, sushi, and thai noodles, on top of the regular sports fare of burgers, hot dogs, & fries.

I got the prime rib sandwich special ($13.95) that came with a little snack bag of Vicki's kettle potato chips - I thought it was kind of weird to have a special with no drink, but *shrug* whatever. The prime rib sandwich? Mmmm...prime rib. Enough said.

If you were so lucky to have access to an Executive Suite, then you had the privilege of having your own private little room, with it's own bar, food service, and flat panel TV. Wouldn't want to rub elbows with the common folk, you know what I mean?

I would say the men to women ration for the lower bowl sits at about 10 to 1. In our section alone, I think there were...4 other women...maybe. I picked out 2 from their high-pitched squealing that happened every times the guys were checked into the boards near them. Season tickets have been around this town for so long, that people have transferred possession of their seats on to loved ones before they passed away. It would account for the elder male demographic in my section.

Watching a hockey game in the airy Air Canada Centre was a strange sensation. I'm much more accustomed to years of watching and working Oiler hockey games in the smaller venue of the now called Rexall Place. Perhaps it's the size that makes the difference in the noise level, but as I sat 8 rows from ice level, I was discomforted by the...lack of noise.

I figure it's probably a combination of a few things...the fact that Air Canada is much bigger, it was a weeknight, and the crowd was probably around 75% business. In fact, they even had something called the Suit Cam, a camera that picked out people in their snazzy business suits.

I thought that the Leafs had great tools available to generate noise. Guest spots from famous celebrities and local hockey players asking the crowd to make some noise, witty little cartoons and snippets to make the crowd laugh and cheer, and hilarious intermission activities to make the time go by faster. I kind of wish I had a chance to watch a game during play offs instead...where the stakes are higher, and the energy more intense.

As for the game itself...it was a lot like watching the Oilers play. Shoot the damn puck, dammit! Just shoot...somewhere near the net would be nice. And the power plays were AGONIZING! What no shot on net during that power play? Really? Noooo....

In the end, they managed to tie it up in the dying seconds of the 3rd period and couldn't resolve anything in an exciting overtime period. Thus, I got to watch the Leafs in a shootout. Mat Sundin got poke checked...POKE CHECKED in a shootout...WTF? And the Leafs lost...

*sigh*

Oh well...what can you do.

Wednesday - West Queen West (Spadina to Trinity Bellwoods Park)
I would liken West Queen Street West to be a lot like Whyte Ave on steroids if I hadn't already used that apt description to describe Montreal's rue Saint-Denis. However, don't mistaken me - Queen Street and Saint-Denis aren't really alike at all except maybe in sheer distance, but I found both to be equally addictive.

West Queen West starts at Spadina Avenue and ends at the Trinity Bellwoods Park. My tiny little downtown map only covers up to Bathurst, missing the subsequent 7 or 8 blocks left of this remarkably long shopping street. Not like I mind walking off the map mind you - I just noticed a lot of the downtown maps of Toronto a missing this section, not just my puny but useful little map.

Where Montreal's Saint-Denis is a mid- to high-end and local designer haven, West Queens West is all about obscene variety. Whatever you're looking for (outside of the premium brand names like Prada and Rolex), you'll mostly likely find it all here: clothing, shoe, accessories, jewelery, music, antique, furniture, cafes, restaurants, thrifts, galleries, art supplies, hardware, computer supplies, fabric, beads, goth, leather, and odds & ends (there is actually a store called that). There's no way I'm naming them all - much to lazy, and this blog would be ridiculously longer than it already is.

Scarpino
So I'm still looking for a pair of dress boots since I wore mine to death back home. Tracy recommended Queen West, so this was the top of my shopping list. Scarpino [311 Queen Street West] was the first shoe store I hit and already I hit the jackpot of bankruptcy...lol.

I actually didn't see the boots until I was ready to give up and head out the door. Lucky me, it was on sale and cost me only $114. Yikes.

Rudsak Collection
I didn't buy anything in this particular store (thought I wanted to...I really did). Rudsak Collection [www.rudsak.com] [315 Queen Street West] is the perfect store for you if you have an addiction to trendy leather clothing, bags, and accessories galore. I found a beautiful chocolate brown zip wallet/clutch for the bargain price of $115. Heh.

*sigh* Moving on...

Bodyblue Denim Lab
At this point, I've managed to walk a fair portion of Queen Street West before I made my next informative stop. Jean are my bane and nightmare - which is nothing new, and not an uncommon complaint. I mean who doesn't have a problem finding jeans that fit them?!

Anyway, like may others, I dread trying them on, but since I have nothing but time, I went to the saleperson with only this to say: "I need help finding a pair a jeans because I have no idea where to start."

The girls there were extremely helpful. They gave me a few different pairs to start, so they could get a better idea of what style would fit me best. In the end, we found the perfect fit...the most expensive pair I tried on (figures)...a pair of David Kahn jeans with a price tag of $240.

I walked away from the lovely jeans...because it was too hard of a pill to swallow even for a leaking wallet on vacation like myself.

I think I'm cursed.

Starbucks - Claremont Street
At this point I'm pretty tired. I've marched all the way down Queen Street West, and walked right off my little map, ending up at Claremont Street in the street corner Starbucks, sipping my Grande Iced Chai Tea Latte while I jotted down a couple of random notes on my ripped up paper bag/grocery list left over from my Montreal trip. Mmm...refreshing.

Magic Pony Shop - toy store for kidults
"Kidults", the apt coinage that combines the words "kid" and "adult" into a single noun. Irreverent toys for the kidult generations has become rapidly popular, spawning collectibles such as Munny, and Smorkin' Labbits for the masses.

The Magic Pony Shop [www.magic-pony.com] [694 Queen Street West] is a toy store for adults who are still kids at heart (it is NOT that kind of toy store). Filled with random, funny, satirical toys, books, every day kind of items - you'll find it here.

You know the song from the Toys 'r Us commercials..."I don't wanna grow up, I'm a Toys 'R Us kid..." I had that running in my head while I wandered around this tiny little store. I ended up buying 4 little Labbit figurines as souvenirs for friends, and a little Munny figurine (about the size of my thumbnail) for myself. It's a very dangerous place for recovering collector-holics like me. Very dangerous.

I love this place. If I had money, I'm sure I would have spent it all on useless funny little toys that would do nothing but collect dust on my desk. There was a cool little exhibit on display by local artist Derrick Hodgson featuring his Mega Wibbied Mindthicket series. The main exhibit piece is constructed of little oddly shaped creatures, construction pieces similar to modular sets. Because the individual pieces are unique in shapes and sizes, the overall construction does not end up being geometric like most modular sets, but irregular and almost organic.

Almost as addictive as Lego, but about 5 times more expensive. To give you and idea...for a 5-piece set (not even modular pieces...just the figures)...you're looking at $125. Ouch.

Did I mention I was cursed?

Carmen's - 2 rings
So everything I've been to, I've bought a ring...and sometimes if the picking are good, I come away with more than one. On my way to Tracy's office, I ran into a little jewelery kiosk called Carmen's. There was a nice assortment of various silver jewelery ranging from rings, earrings, bracelets, necklaces, as well as different body jewelery as well.

I found 2...one that had an aquamarine (er...I think, maybe not, have to check), and the other that had a labradorite (dark moonstone) that leaned towards a rich blue colour [total=$92].

I give up.

Chinatown After picking Tracy up at work, we walked through Chinatown to pick up groceries for our much anticipated dinner. Chinatown is a great place to go if you need cheap produce, general goods, and about very odd herb, mushroom, dried animal part, or BBQ meat in existence. Just be prepared to fight for you space, since walking around Chinatown after work can be crowded and a bit of an adventure.

What's for dinner tonight? Laksa - curry noodle soup
This was a dinner Tracy and I planned to have when I first booked this trip. We both LOVE laksa - a Malaysian curry based soup noodle dish that our aunt has made our entire lives. I recently discovered, to my delight, a packaged mix of laksa sauce in the local Chinese market very similar to my aunt's made-from-scratch recipe.

Not only does it save an entire day of simmering - it's simplifies the dish to a point that from beginning to end, takes around 45 minutes to 1 hour to put together. Almost all the work is simple preparation of your ingredients.

Ingredients 1 package of vermicelli noodles
1 package of laksa sauce
1/2 a can of coconut milk
8 or more cubes of deep fried tofu
1 roasted chicken (at your supermarket)
3-4 eggs
1/2 cucumber
bean sprouts (optional)
1 cup of large frozen shrimp (optional)
2-3 stalks of green onions (optional)

Start of with your package of laksa sauce. This particular package will tell you to throw the paste into a large soup pot with about 1200 ml of water and bring to a boil. Then you'll add your coconut milk into the mix, and bring to a boil again before turning the heat low.

Thank god for the roasted chicken at the supermarket these days. For around $8.00, you save yourself a few hours worth of work. All you're doing now is shredding the meat of your chicken to strips (store the meat in a container or bowl to be added to your dish later). Throw the large bones into the pot with the laksa sauce as well as any extra juice that would have leaked out of the chicken as you were stripping it, as this will add flavor to your soup. If you don't eat the skin - also add this to the soup. Waste nothing!

If you decide to have shrimp (recommended), blanch, peel, and set aside. Wash & trim your bean sprouts. Wash and chop your green onions. Wash and cut your cucumber in small strips.

Make thin crepe-like omelettes with your eggs. You may add some salt for flavor, but not a lot is necessary. Then slice your omelettes into thin strips (around 1 cm thick - does not need to be exact :) )

Boil your noodles and then drain them. Do not add these to the soup.

Cut your cubes of deep fried tofu into halves and then drop them in the soup. Bring the heat back up on your soup, but not to a boil, and it should be ready to serve.

Now at this point, it's a self-customization process. You just grab a bowl, and put in as much noodles and toppings you like before topping everything off with your soup. Do the soup last as it will heat up all your ingredients.

Enjoy.

Mmmm...laksa. Tasty.

Next up: Toronto (October 18 - 28)...likely Part 2 of 2

Montreal in 48 Hours (October 19-21)

2007-10-22T05:42:00.000-07:00

[The pictures in this blog are from my camera phone, so they tend to be a little bit on the crappy side. I might add more pictures once the black & white ones have been developed. If you see a woman in the pictures there's a 99.9% chance it's not me, but my traveling partner, Tracy. Also, this ended up being a eating/shopping kind of blog, so it might be a little boring for the guys. LOL

One more thing...if you have a shot of alcohol for every time I use the word "tasty", I'm sure you'll have lots of fun no matter how boring this blog is.]

Weekend Plans...
I made my first trip out to Montreal October 19-21. While visiting my friend Tracy in Toronto, we took the stress-free option of taking the VIA Rail train into downtown Montreal. Courtesy of a VISA Perks summer promotion, we were able to get on the 5 pm express trains, round trip for $168.12 per person. Not the best deal out there, but as our train passed the highway and we saw the cars lining up in deadlocked rush hour traffic, the benefits were fairly clear.

It's been a long time since I've been on the train. The last time I was on one was when I was probably around 8 or 9. I went on a 3-day train trip with my mother to Vancouver. Since reading a Sweet Valley High book or writing in my Judy Bloom journal for long periods of time on a moving vehicle would invoke headaches or nausea, most of my time was occupied by sleeping, or walking back and forth between the cars. Back...and forth...back...and forth.

Okay, enough of a flashback. VIA Rail is much different now. The seats seem to be more comfortable (or maybe I'm just older and comfort oriented now), and the ride much smoother and faster than in the past (or maybe I have more patience). Snacks are offered at an inflated price (i.e. snack-sized Pringles would be $2.50 each, bottle of water would be $1.75) but nothing is stopping you from bringing your own meals to keep your stomach occupied during your travel.

Give me a clean bed to sleep in and a mostly clean shower, and I'm happy...
We arrived in the heart of Montreal at Gare Centrale around 9:45 at night, where it was pouring buckets of rain (literally). As I contemplated the water gushing around the gutters, Tracy sensibly flagged down a cab to take us to our hotel. The cabbie got us there for $6 and we check into the the downtown Hotel Quality Inn located on affectionately known party street, Crescent (1214 Crescent).

The hotel itself is small and fairly clean, although it's looking a little run down from heavy traffic. We got our rooms off of hotwire.com for a fair deal of $129.02 US for 2 nights. We were also braced for the fact that there would be groups of random people shouting drunkenly into the night until the wee hours of the morning since pubs and club line this rue heavier than I butter my toast.

If you can sleep through anything, or expect to be one of the revelers, than this is a great place to be. It's convenient and close to rue Sainte-Catherine, and extremely long rode in the center of downtown Montreal, peppered with tourists, brand-names, clubs, and main stream shopping. Personally, after stomping around all day, I fully expect to sleep like the dead even if I am normally a very light sleeper.

Not so memorable food...
Anyway, after we dropped off our bags, we headed back out into the sheets of rain to find some food to eat. We must of still been groggy from our naps on the train, since we probably could have just crossed the street and went into one of the 15 pubs lining the street. Instead, we decided against pub food and slogged around the wet streets and ended up into a very unmemorable rib version of Swiss Chalet. So unmemorable, I couldn't even tell you the name.

What I can tell you is after dinner, we had a little fiasco at the hotel, that required our key cards to be re-magnetized 5 times, a broken lock, and a relocation to a new room. By the time we finished sorting out all the details, I had no energy left to go anywhere.

It was an early night. I had tramped around all day in Toronto before the train trip, so a chance to unwind was more than welcome. FYI - not much of a party girl, obviously.

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day...
Anyway, the next day was much better than our evening welcome. The pouring rain had stopped, and although gray clouds hung ominously all day long, it never did more than sprinkle or spit. That is more than enough for me.

When I wake up in the morning, my first thought is this. I'm hungry. My next thought. Bacon. Mmmm...bacon. Tracy and I made our meandering way to Eggspectations [1313 De Maisonneuve West (corner Montagne)] an all-day breakfast restaurant that specializes in the various ways of preparing eggs.

This particular location was interesting to get to. The streets and sidewalks that surround this restaurant are currently undergoing a face lift, so there were rocks, uneven pavement, and ankle-turning obstacles everywhere. Eggspectations is a busy restaurant that spans two floors with large windows and open atmosphere. Although there seems to be a perpetual lineup in the mornings, people are in and out of there like a revolving door.

I am not the best person when it comes to describing the tastes of food. Usually this involves the "mmm...good" or "mmm...bad". Excellent food usually involves me involuntarily closing my eyes so I can savor the food. I ordered my typical favorite breakfast meal - 2 soft poached eggs with bacon and whole-wheat toast. This particular meal came with grilled potatoes & fruit garnish, and I order a glass of orange juice as well.

The meal was average. I wasn't particularly unhappy with my meal, but this wasn't what I would call an eye-closing experience. I was happy the eggs were done right (almost NEVER get them right), but the bacon was thinner than normal and reminded me of tracing paper with it's translucent nature. I was pleasantly surprised that the orange juice was freshly squeezed, floating seeds and all - which was sweet and refreshing. The potatoes were also pretty tasty without being too salty and grilled with onions to add to the overall flavor.

The meal came to around $11 including taxes and tip. Not the cheapest out there, but I didn't leave feeling ripped off. I was happy with a full stomach so that was enough for me. Unless I was incapable of looking around for a new place to eat, I probably wouldn't visit again. Unless I had a hankering for eggs that were done just right, of course.

After breakfast we headed out to boule. Saint-Laurent to do a little shopping. We took the Metro (6 tickets for $12) from Peel station to the Saint-Laurent station and then walked a few blocks before we saw signs of life.

The question is not "should I shop", but rather "how MUCH I should shop"
Okay, here I'm going to had a disclaimer. When I travel, I tend to concentrate on only a few things, and they fall into these categories: food, shopping, architecture. I'm not a typical tourist junkie, nor do I care for institutions such as museums, observations towers, or zoos, though occasionally I make exceptions for this. I attribute this to the fact that I like "finding" things. I like wandering around, finding unknown, or uncommon little places.

With that known, on we go. One of my hopes on this trips was to be able to visit a couple of local designer boutiques. I'm a fan of Montreal design, but very rarely does it visit us out in Edmonton. So this is very much like a kid in a candy store...dangerously so. Oh, and for reference sake, Montreal carries a PST of 7.5% on top of the 6% GST.

Space fb
Our first stop was a little boutique called Space fb [3632 boul. St-Laurent], which houses clothing from designer Francois Beauregard. The store design and clothing style are simple, elegant, and classic. Heck, it even makes a rough personality like me feel a little refined. Both of the sales girls were extremely helpful and friendly, switching fluently between English and French depending on the requirements of their customers.

I loved more than I could fit, but still came away with two pieces. My first choice, robe vanessa [$129], a little black dress with two front pockets at waist height, elbow length slightly puffy sleeves, and a soft round scoop neck. My second, andrea scoop [$89], a peacock green sweater with elbow length puffy sleeves, and a ribbed low scoop neck. Okay, so it's not the cheapest first stop I could have made, but at least there was a sale going on, so I got 20% off the prices and saved $50 off my bill. Whew.

Square Saint-Louis
From here, the girls in the store suggested we move on to rue Saint-Denis, which had more local designer boutiques than boule. Saint-Laurent. We headed across rue Prince Arthur and made a brief picture stop in Square Saint-Louis since the trees were turning different colours and leaves were falling like rain. Across the street of the square is a glass building that is a fabulous typographic display and occupied my attention for a couple pictures. The name? Je ne sais pas...I was too busy taking pictures to remember to find out. LOL

rue Saint-Denis
We moved on and hit rue Saint-Denis with enthusiasm. The girls from Space fb were right. Wow. So many shops, and my feet were already killing me. There were clothing boutiques, jewelery, decor, vintage record shops, cafes, tea shops, restaurants, books stores, on and on and on. It was like Whyte Ave in Edmonton on steroids. I was in heaven and in very deep trouble.

Carré blanc
The next purchase I made was in a little home decor shop called Carré blanc [3999 Saint Denis] where I picked up a new fitted bed sheet [$55.84] in the leaf green colour I've been so fond of recently. If I was a bed decorating enthusiast, I probably could have spend a $1000 in that store picking from the multiple sheet styles and sets they had available for your home designer tastes. I guess I'm happy to NOT count this as one of my hobbies but that didn't seem to stop me from buying.

Roxy Lama
Now, the one thing I try to do (at the very least) is to buy a ring in every new city I get to visit. If not the city, at least the country. Thus, I have a ridiculously large collection of rings, and I remember where I got each one.

I knew I wouldn't really have a hard time finding a ring I liked in Montreal even with the limited time I was in town. I usually end up finding my best rings in stores I didn't expect, and this was one of them. We wandered into a little eclectic store called Roxy Lama [4063A St-Denis], which carried colourful, varied clothing, knick knacks and in the back a vast array of jewelery. For those who like custom jewelery, there is a designer in this store who does some lovely elegant silver pieces to order.

By the cashier, there was a glass display which had most of the items that held my attention. A gorgeous assortment of different rings with semi-precious jewels including turquoise, carnelian, and amethyst. The one ring that caught my eye was a silver ring that had a large, smooth polished, irregular shaped rutilated quartz, and on the sides of the setting were ball & wire silver detailing. Considering how uncommon large pieces of rutilated quartz are, $96.86 for this ring was a steal.

Arthe
Our next stop was one of pure interest. Tracy recently bought a new condo in Toronto and is going through the growing pains of trying to furnish her place with pieces she loves. It's not just the large items, but the small pieces as well. So while I'm shopping for clothes, we also are trying to keep our eyes peeled for items Tracy can use in her new home.

We found a kitch tea shop named Arthe [3804 rue Saint Denis] that carried all sorts of tea paraphernalia. Within are a large assortment of wildly decorated tea pots, cups, creamers, sugar holders, etc. Beautiful silver tins were available for sale to store your tea leaves or coffee beans, as well as a selection of different teas to buy. Downstairs is a cozy little space for you to sit down and enjoy a cup a tea and read a book or magazine.

Tracy found an adorable set of 4 double-wall glass expresso cups [$20] manufactured by a Montreal-based company called My Cup of Tea [mcot.ca]. The website only shows you the tea associated accessories for sale online, but there are quite a few locations all around Quebec that probably have an expanded inventory, so check the website.

Obscenities and caffeine...
So to this point, I've spent an obscene amount of money, and it wasn't even 3 PM yet. WTF? Tracy and I were running low on energy and decided on a caffeine boost. We were so tired, neither of us remember the name of the cafe we stopped at except that the railings and trim were red on the outside. I ordered a frappuccino and Tracy ordered a cappuccino that had Nutella lining the entire inside of the cup. If you're a fan of Nutella, or even just chocolate, Tracy highly recommends this combination (just maybe not too often).

Melow
Artificially recharged, we continued on our shopping odyssey. I really needed a new pair of walking boots, and my feet were reminding me that my current boots weren't meant for 8+ hours of walking. But at this point, there just was no shoes stores to be had. Instead, I was stopped in my tracks by a mannequin at the end of a stairwell that had a beautiful, asymmetrical black jacket hanging off it.

I was standing on front of the store Melow [3889 St-Denis], the boutique of local designer Mélissa Bolduc. This is the place where not only she sells her clothes, but makes them. Sure enough, taking a quick peek to the back of the shop were the bolts of fabric and all the makings of the fashion trade.

Mélissa sat behind her counter, amused, as I made a beeline to the jacket hanging on the rack and tried it on, all the while muttering under my breath how much trouble I was going to be in. This lined jacket has a wrap design that uses clip buttons to hold in place on the inside and by the shoulder. You tie the side of the jacket at the waist to hold it's asymmetrical shape. Tracy made no effort to stop me as I purchased this $239.29 black jacket that was so new on Mélissa's rack it's not even on her site yet.

My feet are killing me...
So what is a word that would indicate something worse than obscene? Whatever that is, that's where I'm at in the expenditure department. And yet, I still have at least one more purchase. This whole time I'm walking in heeled boots - and although they were my most comfortable pair, they certainly weren't comfortable enough. I wanted a pair of dress boots, but a pair of walking boots were also on the want list, and more or less necessary if I wanted to save my feet.

So after the black jacket purchase, we went into as many shoe stores we could find. There was about a half and hour left before the stores would close (Sat-Wed 10-6, Thr-Fri 10-9), and we figured that we would rather eat. We started heading back towards boule. Saint-Laurent, to try out Schwartz, probably the most famous spot to get yourself a Montreal smoked meat sandwich.

On our way, we found a shoe store called Sicily [251 Mont Royal Est). Nice shoes, but I was most interested in comfortable boots at this point, and after trying on about 20 shoes in different sizes and colours (the staff was VERY helpful), both Tracy and I ended up buying the same black flat micro-suede boots [$79.75]. Excellent...I now have a pair of boots I can comfortably wear to death.

Feed me Seymour...
After we got out of the store, our stomachs were really growling. We figured that we wanted to try something more like a real meal (which we haven't had yet), so we turned back to rue Saint-Denis.

On rue Saint-Denis there is a restaurant called l'académie [4051 St-Denis]. It's a 3-level corner restaurant that enjoy a high volume of patronage, especially on weekends. We were lucky as we were still fairly early for the weekend dinner crowd, so only a couple people were actually in front of us.

As you go through the glass doors, the hostess will greet you, and sort you depending on whether you have a reservation or not. Like most other multi-level restaurants I've seen thus far, through headsets they'll figure out which floor to seat you and direct you to the floor.

Once you've worked up your appetite climbing stairs (we were on the 3rd floor), you're seated at a table that is closely situated to its neighbors. Not the most roomy configuration, but considering how busy this restaurant seems to be, it's not surprising to see them trying to fit in as many tables as possible.

We were seated between two small tables, and after cramming our shopping bags under our chairs and table, we settled in to peruse the menu. Any who have gone to a restaurant with me already know my addiction to red meat. I almost never get seafood unless it's mussels or sashimi, mostly because I prefer my seafood either raw or in Chinese cuisine. My dilemma here was that not only did they have mussels available with different sauces, but they also served lamb - which I had a craving for for the last couple of weeks.

I had to make a choice, and in the end I had to choose the lamb dinner [$29.95] since I had been craving it for so long. The dinner came with the choice of a salad or soup, and I chose the mixed green salad with balsamic vinaigrette. I also have a hard time getting veggies into my diet when I travel, so often enough I binge on vegetables because I haven't had any for a while.

The salad was at the very most very fresh. The balsamic was just enough to give the salad tang without being overwhelming, unfortunately, the oil in the salad was heavy and excessive for my taste.

The lamb arrived in a little tee pi arrangement, sitting on a dark sauce, and a small assortment of vegetables. I couldn't tell you what kind of sauce it was, but there was a hint of alcohol and it had a smoky tangy flavor with rosemary. The lamb was done medium rare, a little more rare than not. I usually like my red meat rare to blue rare, but rack of lamb tends to be overly chewy and difficult to eat if it's any more rare than I had it. If it's done too well, you may as well be eating the leather sole off a shoe.

Whatever the particular sauce was on this rack of lamb, I found it tasty enough to really enjoy it. The meat was soft, moist, and fragrant, and the sauce was complimentary rather than heavy. I don't know if it was an eye-closing moment...I've had tastier, but it was definitely a meal that pleasantly filled my stomach.

As we finished, our neighboring diners were taking a look at the dessert platter, and the familiar cylindrical ramekin of crème brûlée [$4.95] caught my eye. Crème brûlée for those who don't already know, is a French dessert consisting of a rich custard base topped with a layer of hard caramel, created by burning sugar under a grill or small torch. It is usually served cold and is extremely tasty.

This particular crème brûlée had the thinnest layer of the hardened caramel, which made gave the dessert a light crispy texture. I like it best this way, since I find if the layer is too thick, I get the caramel stuck in my teeth. LOL. A nice sexy picture picking burnt sugar from your teeth, huh? Anyway, I digress. The crème brûlée deserved a couple moments of savory sleepiness before I finished devouring it.

We ended dinner with a complimentary cup of coffee before squeezing our way out of the restaurant and heading back to our hotel. As we left, we noticed that the line up to get in had grown astronomically larger...so much so that it ran out the door, around the corner, and down the street. We congratulated each other on beating the weekend traffic and continued on our way.

Needing a way to unwind...
After Tracy and I divested ourself of our purchases back at the hotel, we headed out to Vieux-Montreal [Old Montreal] to check out the cobblestone streets, unique architecture, and hopefully, a relaxing place to hang out and enjoy a drink or two.

As we headed towards the Metro, the streets were filling up with Montreal Canadien fans who had just left the game from the Bell Center. They were in a good mood since Montreal had beaten the Buffalo Sabres 4-2. As we made our way down to the Lucien-l'allier station, we noticed as we hit the train entrance level, the floor at bottom of the escalator was done up like a Hockey Night in Canada hockey rink. It was so cool, I went back the next day so I could get a clear photo of the floor.

We got off at Place d'armes station and headed up ground towards the Basilique Notre-Dame, the only architectural spot that I could name. My inability to remember names and places unfortunately has always plagued me. My attention span is usually so short, that I find it's the strangest, smallest things that will catch my attention and leave me gaping. This was a little bit of problem since Tracy would often leave me behind because she didn't know I had stopped. We had to established the single syllable grunt to alert her to my distraction.

Anyway, we hung out in the Place d'armes, a little square park across from the Basilique Notre-Dame, while I tried to do a couple night time shots. We headed along rue St-Paul checking out the brightly lit windows of the closed galleries and walked around the clumps of people waiting outside various pubs and clubs that lined the street.

I found a landscaped pig in one of those windows that made me laugh, and I briefly entertained the thought of buying a small one for my mother (year of the pig).

We took a quick trip down to the port to see if we could catch a glimpse of the water fountain located next to the Quai Jacques-Cartier, but unfortunately, they had already drained the water in anticipation of the winter months.

We did go back and see the emptied water fountain during the day so I could get a picture of it. I guess it was a bad thing being mesmerized by a couple guys scraping up gunk from the fountain floor. But like a train wreak, I couldn't look away.

Anyway, at nothing, you couldn't make anything out other than some dry concrete, so we headed back to the cobblestone streets to find a place to grab a drink.

Monsieur, I am parched...
After our meanderings along the port, I was tired and footsore, and looking for a place to just unwind from the very busy day. We almost headed into a pub that was featuring live music (rock) from an English cover band, but after testing the decibel level, we headed back out since I wasn't in the mood to shout in order to make conversation.

We stopped at a jazz bar called Modavie [1. rue St-Paul ouest], a restaurant and wine bar that features live jazz. We missed the live jazz, which kind of sucked, but decided to hang out at the bar anyway, to enjoy a glass of wine and relax since the atmosphere was low-key and mellow.

I ordered a cheese tasting platter with a glass of Graham's 20-year tawny port [$18 if ordered together], while Tracy ordered a glass of bold red wine. I couldn't tell you the cheeses on the platter, except for one - the very distinctive blue cheese. I can only eat that stuff when I'm drinking tawny port, and that's because the heavy honey taste of port is the perfect balance to the pungent aroma of blue cheese. I think if I make it to Montreal again, I will have to make it back to Modavie's to catch what I hope is a superb session of live jazz.

On the way to our beds, I stumbled across a building that had different coloured lit windows. It was a little psychedelic, so it took a few snapshots and moments before I managed to snap out of my colour-induced stupor in order to move on and grab a taxi back to the hotel so we could call it a night.

What? There's another day?
Yes it's another day, and sunny to boot! Tracy and I were pretty excited that the weather was clear with no clouds in side. I originally thought we would head back to rue Saint-Denis, but after figuring out how much money I burned up the previous day, we thought sight seeing would be a safer choice.

We decided to head back to Vieux-Montreal and have breakfast there. Even though we saw Vieux-Montreal at night, we figured it would be a different experience in the day. It was still fairly quiet in the streets, and still early yet. So the only people who were really out and about were fellow tourists trying to beat the crowds and get their mandatory photos under their belts.

As always, breakfast was first and foremost on our minds. We headed into the Place Jaques-Cartier, where the restaurant Le Fripon was serving a continental breakfast (1 egg, bacon, sausage, fruit, toast, potatoes, coffee or tea) for a decent price [$9.95]. We sat out in the patio so we could get some fresh, non-rainy air while we had our breakfast and watched the tourists make their way done to the port.

We had a slight issue with luke-warm coffee, which was quickly replaced after a bit of argument, but the food came out quickly enough, and to order. We were both surprised as to how tasty the potatoes were considering they looked like your typical cafe chips that had just been chopped into smaller pieces.

My eggs were also made perfectly to order (over easy this time), so that makes me 2 for 2. And to my delight, the bacon was not only plentiful, but thicker and tastier than the wafer thin stripes I had at Eggspectations. That alone would make my morning. And yes...I like to save my bacon until last. :) All in all, I was pleasantly pleased with my full stomach, and once we payed the bill, we headed out to the port once again.

We did our obligatory walk around the ports, a couple of photos together with me ferociously glaring into the sun because I couldn't see anything except the light off the water dazzling my eyes. After we headed slowly back into the cobblestone streets while I gawked at different buildings, masonry, little gardens, and window displays. I love how many little tea shops Montreal has.

Papeterie Casse-Noisette
While going along one of the little streets, we came across a cozy corner stationery shop called Papeterie Casse-Noisette [445 St-Sulpice]. In the back of the little store was a beautiful tiny spiral stairway that went upstairs where a small collection of art was on display.

Below was a varied selection of art supplies, papers, journals, portfolios, and writing instruments, which made me almost weep for my ban against purchasing any more pens. I found a couple gorgeous Italian portfolios that had price tags pushing past the $200 and made me once again curse my ability to pick up the expensive items in a store without looking at the price tag.

I did pick up a set of drawing pens that cover the range of gray [$17.32] that I'm pleased with. The store had many lovely colour inks, but realistically speaking, I wouldn't use colour as much as gray, so I had to pass on them.

Mmm...cupcakes...Les Glaceurs
We were almost back to the Basilique Notre-Dame after being distracted by a couple shops here and there. Almost, that is, until I passed by a unassuming store front that had one word I could not walk past. Cupcakes. Yup, you heard me right. Not too far away from the stationery store is a little ice cream and cupcake shop called Les Glaceurs [453 St-Sulpice]. There's are only a few cupcakes to choose from, but I went straight to the Choco Choco cupcake anyway. Ordered 1 to go [$3.25] and then we headed back to Place d'armes so we could sit down, watch the horse carriages load up, and I could eat my very delicious looking cupcake with relish.

Oh...and the cupcake was yuuuummmy. I'm not a fan of gourmet cupcakes because I find them too sweet, and the frosting too sugary. Homemade is best, and this particular cupcake was just like one, soft and moist cake, and smooth frosting that was sweet but not sugary.

Pink is for little girls...
As I was savoring the chocolaty haven of my cupcake, we noticed that the baby pink horse carriage parked in front of us found a new customer. A family with two little girls, the youngest in a pink jacket with pink accessories. I laughed and took a pictures, and I'm sure the family thought I was nuts, but whatever, it's not like I'm going to see them again.

Lost little sheep...
I'm not sure if it's just because I look lost all the time, but as Tracy and I sat there trying to figure out what to do with the rest of our day before heading to the train station, a local woman asked us in perfect English if we needed any help to find our way. This also happened to me when I was in Paris when a busy looking man walked passed me and stopped abruptly to ask if I needed any help or directions to find my way.

Apocathary find...
We meandered our way back to rue Saint-Catherine. Along the way, we found a little asian import boutique called Saithong. Instead was a beautiful apocathary cabinet from Hong Kong, over 100 years old. Tracy and I drooled over this piece for probably 10 minutes as the owner of the store told us that he had a 2nd one that he sold only the week before for $2800. For a cabinet that large, it's a steal since to find your own overseas and pay for shipping and customs would probably bring your costs to $3000 and up.

Modern musings...
No sooner than we had left Saithong, we stumbled upon yet another furniture store, but instead of asian imports, it was modern contemporary furnishings. My favorite kind of furniture, but extremely expensive and kind of hard to find where I live. The store we found was called Barami [404 rue St-Jacques ouest], and both Tracy and I wasted a ton of time here dreaming and sighing over the furniture there.

They also had a replica of the famous ball chair that I sat in and almost couldn't bring myself to come out again because it was so damned comfortable. If I actually had room to fit all that chair in my place, I would totally have it, guaranteed.

Tracy found a couple little plastic injection molded stools that fit together a little bit like puzzle pieces. At $69 a pop, there were are funky little possibility that she couldn't pass up. So we stacked them up, wrapped them in a couple plastic bags and lugged them back with us. They have some great lines to them.

My kingdom for a loaf of bread...
So the one of the last things I wanted to make sure I tried before we heading out on our 5 PM train back to Toronto was fresh bakery bread. I love bread. Love bread. People who go on no carb diets are insane (sorry). We had about an hour and a half to find decent bakery, but we had no idea where to start.

We stopped and had to ask for directions to then nearest bakery and after some vague directions and even vaguer hand gestures, we found Bakery Au Pain Doré - Le vrai pain français [1415 rue Peel]. Tracy bought 2 croissants, one chocolate, the other almond. I purchased of full loaf that had cheese baked into the dough. Yes...I know what you're thinking...I was greedy. But I wanted to make sure I had food before we headed home on the train.

I picked up a couple of individual butter pats and had my bread on the train. Mmmmmm...cheesy bread. Sooo...tasty. According to Tracy, her chocolate croissant was delicious, but it was the almond croissant that was superb.

Random thoughts...
I actually enjoyed Montreal a lot more than I expected. I kind of regret that I was only able to spend a couple days there - most of which was shopping until my feet almost fell off. It was almost too easy to stick to the tourist path, though I'm glad we at least went around our own way, and walked (sometimes crawled) at our own pace.

Although there were one or two locals (one a bus driver), who refused to speak any English, even a word or two to clarify the conversation, I found most locals to be friendly and willing to help in English, in French, and when the language barrier was difficult to overcome, wild sign language.

If the chance should drop in my lap again, I would be more than happy to visit this bright and busy city, armed with a padded wallet so I can hunt for hidden treasures, taste more bakery delicacies, and take in more stunning architecture.

The one thing I enjoyed most was having the chance to travel with my long time friend, Tracy. We've known each other our entire lives (minus a few months at the very beginning). I always have lots of fun with her, and this trip was a long time coming. Even though I'm sure she found it frustrating to turn around and find me a ways back staring blankly at something she couldn't quite fathom, she always took care of me, which I'm grateful for considering the depth of my absent mindedness.

Considering how much we both love food, it's probably a good thing we're not in the same city for too long because the damage we could wreck would be astronomical.

So while I was in Le Fripon, I saw this random sign posted on the entrance way...can anyone explain to me what the hell this means? Or is it just some inside joke to make us THINK it's suppose to mean something when it's really just meaningless geometry.

So I took this picture while I was down at the harbour...it's not a real obvious picture. The zoom on my phone is puny, and if you us it to the max, the pixel integrity of the image completely falls apart. But...if you look closely at the bottom of the tree on the left side, you'll notice someone taking a nap in the sun. I don't know what I was on at the time, but for some reason, I found it completely hilarious.

Next up...Toronto (October 18 - 28)...probably Part 1 of 2 since there's no way I'm going to fit everything into a single entry...

Who Needs an Alarm Clock...

2007-10-15T15:24:00.000-07:00

Just get a cat... and this is just one of the many, many...many reasons I don't let the cat sleep in my room...

Raffi Torres is Mexican...

2007-09-27T08:21:00.000-07:00

Hahahah...Off of the Covered in Oil blog...

The "Block"

2007-09-25T15:20:00.001-07:00

You know...if I had realized sooner that it was the fault of evil pencils all over the world concerning my lack of production...I would have given up drawing a long time ago. I mean if I think about all the hapless pieces of paper I've destroyed due to the perceived mocking, it's a little upsetting.

My favorite cartoon that expresses the struggle we have with the "block" comes from an artist (boobookittyfuck - no...I'm not kidding) I found on deviantART - does a lot of strange, dark, and funny stuff as I'm sure you've probably already figured out from the name. Click on the cartoon...it will take you to his gallery.

My voices can beat your voices...

UFC 76: The Day After

2007-09-23T08:07:00.000-07:00

You know...I really love this site that I've found that provides videos of all the major fights on the UFC cards. Most of the time, I'm simply too lazy or cheap to seek out a Pay-per-view event - so I've very happy that someone out there is consistently providing torrents or online videos so I can "catch up".

Fight card (just the ones I felt like watching):

Diego Sanchez vs Jon Fitch
Forest Griffin vs Maurcia Rua
Chuck Liddell vs Keith Jardine

Diego Sanchez vs Jon Fitch
Diego Sanchez, winner of the UF Season 1 series, is fresh off a loss that marred his perfect 19-0 record. Known to be a little "peculiar" in his ways, Diego is a submission monster...if he takes to you the ground, the guy can slap a submission on you at a ridiculous speed. In fact, many thought he would be too tough to beat, that is until Koschek got in the ring with him and won the unanimous decision.

Jon Fitch has been on an unbeaten streak that's been peppered with impressive submissions. Though his background is wrestling, he's been rounding out his other skills quite well, and most of his fights have been fun to watch. He's also a training partner of Josh Koschek, so he's probably had a head start in research on Sanchez's fighting style. Both Sanchez and Fitch are gunning for their 20th win.

The video I have starts just after the 1st minute of the 2nd round. I have no idea why, but whatever.

WATCH VIDEO HERE

Stuff to watch for:

The crowd is not liking Sanchez at all. The guy is constantly peppered with boos whenever he's in control.
The second round is a venerable bonanza of pretzel-like scrambling.
Starting around 2:45 of the second round, Fitch tries for a rear naked choke which Sanchez reverses into a triangle.
Fitch finishes out the second round with some heavy hammer fists to Sanchez's face
Sanchez slaps on a guillotine at the 4:20 mark of the 3rd round. Fitch rides it out until Sanchez tires himself and then pulls out
Sanchez tries for a kimora around the 2:45 of the 3rd. Fitch punches it off.
45 seconds left, Sanchez slaps on a triangle, Fitch gets out
15 seconds left, Sanchez goes for the triangle again, and again Fitch gets out
Funny Quote of the Night: "Hey, just let me say something...you don't need to boo...you don't need to boo..." [Sanchez]
Split decision for Jon Fitch.

Forest Griffin vs Maurcia Rua (Shogun)

Okay, so it's Forrest Griffin, the boy everyone loves to love, and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, the guy everyone was waiting to see in the UFC. Forrest has been diligently training in Randy Couture's camp to improve his ground skills, and hopefully his confidence. People have been dying to see Shogun in action ever since they've heard that he signed with the UFC.

Factoid: Randy Couture predicted Griffin (who will be in Griffin's corner for the fight) to upset Shogun in this match-up

VIEW VIDEO HERE

Randomness:

For the first 1 and a half, Griffin is on his back - much improved ground guard and defense
1:50 into the first round, Griffin gets the takedown and Shogun's back momentarily
Final seconds of the 1st round, Griffin regains top control and get a couple punches off before time expires
4:28 into the 2nd round, Griffin gets a guillotine attempt that Shogun pulls out of right away
2:45, Griffin stuffs Shogun's attempt at a takedown, and takes his back
Around the 2:10 mark, Shogun looks completely gassed
The last minute, Griffin pounces and proceeds to pound on a squirming, exhausted Shogun until the round expires
Around the 4:30 mark, Griffin pulls an early triangle attempt
Around the 27 second mark, Griffin gets Shogun's back and slaps on the rear naked choke.
Win by submission for Forrest Griffin

Chuck Liddell vs Keith Jardine

We move on from the grapplers to the strikers. Both Liddell (vs. Ramapage Jackson) & Jardine (vs. Houston Alexander) are coming of humiliating defeats where both got knocked out. Both are looking to getting back to their winning ways and are notorious for their striking power. Many feel that Jardine is outclassed here, and seems he goes in as the underdog.

VIEW VIDEO HERE

This is a true strikers match - plus they go the distance, something Liddell hasn't done in a very long time. Jardine, despite (or because) of his spasmatic styles, manages some nice strikes, kicks, and a poke to Liddell's eye.

Last 20 seconds, Liddell gets some nice trademarked overhand punches on Jardine who quickfoots it back.
4:25 of the 2nd round, Jardine lands a hard body kick to Liddell's left side.
4:15 of the 2nd round, Jardine lands a sharp punch to Liddell's face. He goes down, and Jardine pounces. Liddell scrambles immediately to his feet.
Jardine throws a punch but slips. Liddell is on him and throws a punch/knee combo that leaves Jardine staggering around the ring
End of the 2nd round, Liddell ends up going to the wrong corner. His left side looks like a piece or raw meat because of Jardine's kicks.
Start of the 3rd round, Jardine is getting off a series of unanswered hard leg kicks.
3:47 of the 3rd round, Jardine get a leg kick, left hook combo
Around 20 seconds left, Liddell tries to go for the finish, throwing some heavy combos, chasing Jardine around the ring.
Classic "you feel embarassed for the guy" moment: Liddell raises his arms in victory when the round ends and some of the crowd boos.
Split decision for Keith Jardine.

New Hockey Season, New Fashion Statement...

2007-09-17T15:29:00.000-07:00

Yesssssss...another hockey season *fist pump*. I'm so excited, I can barely contain myself. I might even go out and buy myself a brand new Edmonton Oiler jersey. I haven't gotten once since the 3rd logo was unveiled back in 2001.

'Lo and behold, it seems to be good timing on my part. The Oilers just officially released the brand spanking new Reebok jerseys at the annual Joey Moss Cup on Sunday, September 16th.

Barely a day old, and the complaint fest has already begun as Oiler fans from all over the place, traditionalist or not, are finding things not to like about the new attire our boys in blue will have to wear.

"It's too simple."

"They should have updated and used the 3rd logo as the main logo."

"There's not enough orange."

"They should have gone vintage. It would have been cooler with laces"

"It looks too much like the practice jersey."

Blah blah blah. Man, people, you just can't please anybody these days. I do have to admit...the new jerseys look a LOT like the Platinum practice jerseys. I don't really understand how people can say what a practice jersey should look like to begin with.

I'm actually a big fan of the practice jerseys, but that's just me, and I'm finding out that I'm definitely NOT in the majority. I happen to think the the traditional Edmonton Oiler logo is the best looking in the entire league and simply is best, so I'm more than happy we're sticking with the original rather than the 3rd logo (which I don't mind, but do not favor over the old).

Either way...I think the new jerseys look pretty sharp on the guys when they hit the ice. If you want to check out them out in action - the Oilers put up an awesome photo gallery of the Joey Moss Cup. VIEW GALLERY HERE

There is one major beef I have, however, with the NHL merchandising world. Please explain to me...why did you make a PINK women's jersey, and not a true Oiler colour one? Why is it, just because I'm a girl, I have to wear pink?

Hey, if you love pink, all the power to you, but who do I have to kill in order to get a women's Oiler's jersey...that LOOKS like an Oiler's jersey, logo and all, and isn't so huge that I look either as shapely has a tree trunk, or like I'm 9 months pregnant?

Oh wait...they DID make those jerseys...for like HALF a season and then replaced them with pink.

Another book read...

The Golden Compass
By Phillip Pullman

I'm a little ashamed to say that I've had the His Dark Materials trilogy sitting on my bookshelves for approximately 6 years. Yes...another youth book that's designed to capture the imagination of the younger generation. Another fantastical adventure into another parallel universe, where things are not quite real, or quite made up.

I found that I throughly enjoyed it. I had a friend tell me that she didn't like the chauvinistic tendencies within the story. I probably wouldn't have noticed it as much, if she hadn't already told me about it in the first place. Perhaps I'm not critical enough of the books I read, but then I was overcritical, I'd probably spend too much of my life resenting the time wasted reading the sheer amount of garbage I've come across.

Yes...there are chauvinistic tendencies within The Golden Compass but I've accepted it as part of the world Pullman has created. I like the fact that Lyra, a girl barely fit to be tolerated in a man's scholarly world, is a plucky, obnoxious, rude, intelligent, social misfit who's destiny is to destroy destiny, and who's one talent is to different from everyone else without trying to be different.

I went to the movie theaters a couple weeks ago to watch Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. In the previews, they had the up and coming movie version of The Golden Compass. After reading the first book of this series, I'm half dreading, half anticipating this movie. I dread that it will become another fiasco like Eragon. I'm hopefully anticipating a more successful movie endeavor along the lines of Harry Potter, but maybe I'm hoping for too much?

Either way, I've enjoyed the The Golden Compass to continue the journey on with The Subtle Knife. Hopefully the ride won't disappoint.

UFC 75: 48 hours later

2007-09-10T12:12:00.000-07:00

Okay, so it's pointless for me to do a play-by-play blog of UFC. I'm actually not sure why some people do this, as I would rather just watch the fight rather than have only half my attention on it while I type furiously what's going on.

Instead, I've left it for 48 hours after the fact. Watched all the damn fights again and decided to share a couple of my insipid observations. Also included are lovely links to the fights of the evening (even if the quality is kind of crappy).

Just remember that online videos are not written in stone. What is here now, may be gone a few days later.

The roster for UFC 75:

Anthony Torres vs. Jess Liaudin
Paul Taylor vs. Marcus Davis
Houston Alexander vs. Alessio Sakara
Mirko Cro Cop vs Cheick Kongo
Matt Hamill vs. Michael Bisping
Quinton Rampage Jackson vs Dan Hollywood Henderson

Right off the bat, I'm going to admit that I know very little about fighters outside of the UFC world. It probably because the accessibility to international fight events are slim pickings, especially if you're not plugged into digital cable/satellite (c'est moi). Also, there's a good 8 years where I didn't keep in touch with the going ons of MMA, so my knowledge of fighters contains the really old fighters and the up-and-coming ones that have already been well exposed in the UFC. I had to do a lot of background checks for these fights just to figure out what the hell is going on.

Anthony Torres vs. Jess Liaudin
Anthony Torres, 29-year-old, had one UFC match under his belt, a win against Pat Healy, and was coming into this match with an MMA record of 5-0. He trains out of Hawaii and his fighting background is in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. So I guess it's no surprise that his strength is in submissions.

Jess Liaudin is a 33-year-old Frenchman, fighting out of London. He's one of those older fighters who has had quite a bit of exposure to international fighting. His MMA record before this fight was 10-8-0, with 1 match (win) in the UFC. Though his background was initially karate and kickboxing, he's suppose to be fairly well-rounded in both standup and ground, though describes as unorthodox.

VIEW VIDEO HERE

This ends up as a one-rounder fight and incredibly one sided to boot. Highlights:

Liaudin scores a fantastic strike to the face at the 2 minute mark, but can't seem to finish it as Torres manages to fight him off and eventually stands back up.
Liaudin scores another knockdown punch with a little more than a minute left in the first round, but again doesn't finish it, as Torres staggers back to his feet again.
Liaudin proceeds to pummel Torres with heavy strikes to the head and face despite the fact (or because) that Torres had him in a limp clinch. The fight gets called with 50 seconds left do to the technical knockout (Torres was out on his feet).

Paul Taylor vs. Marcus Davis
Paul Taylor is a 27-year-old English fighter with an MMA record of 8-0-1 and 1 match (win) with the UFC - (UFC 70 Nations Collide). I saw the one match he was in, and he seemed to be a fairly well-rounded fighter.

Marcus Davis (34 years old) is someone I'm more familiar with since he was on The Ultimate Fighter 2 season. Best know for his heavy hands (ex-boxer) and super quick footwork and strikes. He was on quite a tear since a mediocre showing during the UF show, with a 4-win streak under his belt.

VIEW VIDEO HERE

Another one-round fight. Getting shorter, I swear! Stuff to look for:

From the very start, some fast little flurries of strikes are are pretty fun to watch
About 30 seconds in, the ex-boxer tries for a leg sweep/takedown (looks like the striker is trying to expand on his skills - nice)
Just a little over a minute in, Taylor gets a solid, hard kick to Davis' head and knocks him down
Submission of the night: Davis gains full mount and proceeds to pound on Taylor, who's still managing to hang in there and is actively defending himself. About 50 seconds to go, Taylor bucks up and starts turning Davis over. As Davis slides to the mat, Davis swings his leg up and slaps on an arm bar submission. Not to shabby at all for a boxer.

Houston Alexander vs. Alessio Sakara
Houston Alexander is best known for his 48-second knockout debut against The Ultimate Fighter contestant Keith Jardine at UFC 71 (see fight here). It was a short, vicious fight, with Jardine on the receiving end of Alexander's fists in his mouth. So I guess the number one question most people were asking was if this guy was for real, or if the knockout of Jardine was a fluke.

Alessio Sakara has been in the UFC for a couple years, with a not so shiny record of 2-2. Still fairly young at 26, he's known as a striker with a boxing and Brazilian Jiu-jitsu background.

VIEW VIDEO HERE

Another ridiculously short fight. Don't blink and maybe you'll see the following:

About 20 seconds in, Sakara scores a one-legged takedown, but Alexander ends up kicking back so Sakara flies off of him. They scramble to their feet and Alexander throws a couple dangerous looking knees towards Sakara's chin.
Exactly 45 seconds in, Alexander throws an BEAUTIFUL, perfectly-placed knee square on Sakara's chin. Sakara goes down like a sack of bricks.
Alexander attains full-mount and pounds out Sakura.
Time of match: 1 minute.
Alexander's total UFC career thus far: 1 minute 48 seconds.

Mirko Cro Cop vs Cheick Kongo
Okay, so this is the big "redemption" match for Mirko Cro Cop, named as one of the world's most dangerous strikers. This was the guy that was suppose to fight Randy Couture at UFC 74, but ended up getting a knockout kick to the head from one Gabriel Gonzaga. Randy has since then safely defended the Heavyweight championship by outmanuvering Gonzaga, but Cro Cop still needs to redeem himself from losing a fight that a majority of people have said he shouldn't have lost.

Factoid: Randy Couture has been on a prediction tear. He chose Gabriel Gonzaga to win his fight against Cro Cop because of his strong stand-up skills and submission ability.

Cheick Kongo...I've never seen him fight (because I kept missing the events he was in, or his matches weren't televised), but this guy HUGE! On a completely irrelevant thought, Kongo is as black as Cro Cop is white. The contrast is incredibly striking. If you want to see someone who's born to be a fighter, Kongo is probably it. The dude's been training since he was 5, and although in the past he's had some weaknesses in his ground game, it seems he's been training harder in the Rampage camp to incorporate a wider range of skills.

VIEW VIDEO HERE

The first painfully long match on the card so far. Cro Cop fans were most likely not very pleased with his performance during this one. Goes the full 3 rounds. A few highlights if you managed to stay awake:

At the 3:37 mark, Kongo goes for another kick, swings a little high and end up on his ass and IMMEDIATELY bounces back up again as Cro Cop tries to pounce on him (sort of the trampoline effect).
At the 1:55 mark, Kongo goes for a leg kick, Cro Cop steps in for a nice take down. (Not sure how I feel about 2 strikers pulling off the ground game...hmmm)
Zzz...
7 seconds left in the 1st round, Kongo rolls Cro Cop up and over and gains top position as time expires.
At 3:35 of the second round...hey look at this! Kongo's got side control (Joe sounds pleasantly surprised).
Zzz...
4:19 in the 3rd, Cro Cop takes a solid knee in the jewels, not once, but twice in a row. Ouch.
1:02 to go, Kongo puts up a tight little punching combo and follows up with a solid knee

Matt Hamill vs. Michael Bisping
Alright...the Ultimate Fighter 3 lightweight finale...or what should have been the UF3 Finale. Hamill, the deaf, highly decorated wrestler who had the misfortune of getting injured during the UF3 season. Tito Ortiz's number 1 pick to win the whole thing, Hamill has a lot he wants to prove, especially the fact that he has more than just wrestling skills to get him through the MMA. You want to cheer for the guy, simply for the fact that he's overcome so much and accomplished so much in such a short time. On the other hand, he does and says so many stupid things, he also makes you want to punch his face in. Can't win either way, I guess.

Michael Bisping, winner of the lightweight title of the UF3 season, is the poster boy for the UK UFC invasion. In his fights, including his finale, I've really enjoyed Bisping bash his way through his opponents. He's a pretty feisty fighter, and well rounded enough that he's familiar with quite a few techniques. I've noticed though, as he continues (unbeaten), he's become a little sloppy in his matches, perhaps over confident, if not just a bit irritatingly arrogant. This match looks to be no different. I figure either in his next match or two, he's going to get beaten down pretty badly, and perhaps like GSP (who I still love by the way) was, is due for a bit of humble pie.

Controversial Decision? This is by far the most controversial of all the fights on this card. Split decision, and many on the internet are disagreeing with the verdict. This is the problem having judges in sports like this, but in the end, that's the reason you fight so you don't leave it up to them. There's also a reason why judges are judges and spectators are just spectators. A lot of viewers are forgetting that a take-down doesn't guarantee the win if fighter can't do anything with them.

VIEW VIDEO HERE
Personally, I think Bisping looks terrible at the beginning of the fight where there are points where he's almost running away from Hamill so the guy can't get his huge paws on him. However, he settles down in the 2nd and 3rd, and looks more capable of control Hamill's attacks so he's able to inflict little to no damage. Even with the win, none of us will be surprised if he drops down to middleweight after this.
Random points of observation:

4:33 mark, Hamill attempts a flying knee.
Last 5 seconds of the 1st round, Bisping pulls off the butt scoot to get away from Hamill after catching a punch. Guess it's a good thing the time expired before Hamill could lumber over.
4:49 mark of the 3rd round, Bisping has a NICE right hand, left hook combo.
1:48 mark, Bisping attempts a knee, Hamill takes him down.

Quinton Rampage Jackson vs Dan Hollywood Henderson
Whoo hoo...finally, at long last, the main event of the event. After the last couple of snoozers, you can only hope that at least the main event was worth the wait. Rampage, 2-0 in the UFC, 27-6-0 in the MMA, and the UFC Light Heavyweight champion, all at only the age of 29, won an impressive victory against the then supposed invincible Ice-Man, Chuck Liddell. Now it's the dream match up, the unification of the UFC and Pride Light Heavyweight titles.

Rampage's opponent, 37-year-old Dan Henderson, Pride's current middleweight and welterweight champion. The guy has more hardware than Home Depot. Right of the bat, we already know that this is no face match, something to pad the victory vaults for UFC's champion.

Factoid: Randy Couture predicted that Rampage would come out on top in this match given Henderson's tendency to forget his game plan and duke it out with his opponent. Couture also correctly predicted that Rampage would win over Liddell for the title belt at UFC 71.

VIEW VIDEO HERE

I enjoyed this match so much, I'm not even going to bother giving you highlights because you should watch the whole thing anyway. This is what a great matchup should be like with two high caliber fighters in the cage. On top of this, there's no false animosity, just pure competitive spirit...Henderson & Jackson are actually great friends, even having trained with each other on occasion.

By the way, the interview with Rampage at the end by Joe - it's a gooder. Rampage is one funny guy.

Quote of the night: ...I knew [Henderson] was tough. But I never knew he would beat up my fists with his face. It's, it's, man, my fists hurt right now...[Insert Joe's question about his wrist injury] Actually my wrist did good, but my knuckles going upside his head, they hurt, it's a whole new injury now...

Why Does It Feel LIke I'm Back at School (Even Though I'm Not)?

2007-09-07T13:36:00.000-07:00

BACK TO SCHOOL
It strange because every time September rolls around, I feel like I have to prepare myself to head back to school. I have no idea why since I've been out of school for quite a while now, but I can't seem to stop myself from thinking "Oh crap, Labour Day is coming up, maybe I should get some new school supplies and clothes."

Huh?

I actually was pretty fond of the new stuff at the beginning of the year. I can't tell you how many pencil crayons I have as a result of my elementary - junior high days. It didn't matter if I still had supplies from the previous year. I had to have a brand new set, brand new eraser, brand new pencils (that's right - no computers back then).

Occasionally, as I walk by these Back-to-School sales, I'll catch myself staring covetously at pencil crayons, brand new, all neatly lined up in their pristine plastic packages. I don't even use pencil crayons anyway since I'm a black and white kind of girl. Whatever the reason for my urge to "school it", I also hold it entirely responsible for my "I forgot to study for my exams" nightmares.

ADDING COLOUR TO MY LIFE
I should go to Michael's and buy some paint instead of shiny new pencil crayons. I'm thinking of introducing some red in my black and white world. I also have to figure out how I'm going to store the rusted metal sheets my uncle has so kindly salvaged for me for a project I've been thinking about.

It's times like these I wish I had a magical interior that would accommodate all storage requirements. Wouldn't that be handy? A black hole storage room? Then again, if it's anything like my purse, I would never find what I would need. It's hard enough trying to keep my life organized enough so I can do what I want to...when I want to. Needless to say, I'm not that organized.

BOOK LIST FOR SEPTEMBER THUS FAR
I seem to be running out of books to read for a little while. Kind of broke, so it's not like I can just go out and buy a book when I want to. I'm also trying to be a little more picky about what I'm picking up these days since the space on my shelves are rather limited. Thus far, I haven't read any novels, only graphic novels. I'm thinking I need a break from sci fi & fantasy and may need to pick up a mystery book or two.

Eden: It's an Endless World Vol. 1 - 12 (ongoing)
by Hiroki Endo

Hmmm...how can I explain Eden. The first book of this series I read, I found myself a little disappointed and a little confused. The story starts off about a young boy and girl, and their dying mentor isolated on an island where the entire population had been wiped out by a strange virus that causes the human body to harden into a shell and the internal organs to deteriorate into liquid mush. Yummy.

I never read the synopsis of this series, so perhaps my misguided assumptions allowed me to think that this was going to be one of those "Oh man, we're the only two people left in the world who are healthy - we have to re-populate the world with our offspring." Ick.

It really isn't like that at all. It's more like "Oh shit, 15% of the world was wiped out by this stupid virus, and we still can't seem to stop fighting each other". The novels are filled with continual bouts of graphic (haha) violence (more so than your average comic book) and periodically random hard core comedic porn (I'm really not kidding - so don't try and read it while you're at work), and a revolving door of characters where as soon as you're introduced to them, they're either gunned down, mutilated, or blown up.

I can't even compare this to a Sin City type of comic, which relishes in blood, sex, and violence but in an surreal sort of way. Eden is filled with characters and human behavior disturbingly grounded in reality if the world was at war, filled with drugs, disease, and poverty, any country, any race, any religion. Oh wait. Isn't that where we are?

Okay, okay...so there is a very distinctive science fiction flair to this story. I forgot to mention robotic suits, cyborgs, AIs, and robots, but strangely enough...we may not even be all that far away from that in our world today are we with technology rapidly developing at the rate it is? We don't have a virus that changes humans into cognitive crystal...but hey, gotta stretch things a LITTLE...

If I dig through all the violence of the story line, there is the fascinating struggle for the characters to find happiness in what they view as a very bleak and brutal world. The jury is still out on Eden. I'm obviously finding it interesting enough to continue reading, yet as I'm reading it, I'm not actually sure if I'm enjoying it. Definitely not something I would recommend to just anyone - if you have sensitive views or opinions, it's best to steer away from this one.

Book Addiction Relapse

2007-09-06T18:41:00.000-07:00

So, August brought a lot of debt, bills, and general summer burnout. Usually when I'm suffering from extensive apathy and lethargy, I turn to one of my favorite past times - voraciously consuming mass quantities of books.

I have a little problem when it comes to books. I have an addiction. I freely admit that. I admit that left to my own devices, I could easily got through 1, maybe 2 books in a day...that is if the publishing companies would just keep up. I guess it's a good thing I have other hobbies, or I would have long molded into my couch by now.

Why do I read. Hmm...it's a pretty easy answer. I read for the escapist entertainment it provides me. The more unrealistic and fantastical, the more I'm drawn to it. I'm not interested submersing myself in realism. I don't reject it completely, but I've always been happiest with one foot firmly anchored in my real life and the other flailing away in another world filled with magic, courage, and warped human (or not so human) perception.

HARRY POTTER VOL. 1-7
by J.K. Rowling (COMPLETE)

So in August I started off my reading marathon with the odyssey of Harry Potter. No...not just the final book in the 7-book installment, but all 7...in one week...one after the other. I'm sure many, many, many people have already reviewed, critiqued, ripped apart, and analyzed every tiny detail of J.K. Rowling's epic legacy, so I'm not really going to try.

I've probably read the first 4 books at least 4 times each. I know them well, but have always felt compelled to read them over again when a new book was released. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is by far my favorite book in the series. I've always been a sucker for an underdog and a good competition.

As the series wore on, I felt my enthusiasm wane for the repeating format of a school year crammed into 400 pages of predictable magic. I've never been a huge fan of time constraints within the story, and I just became more aware of it as I read on.

Don't get me wrong. I still enjoy Harry Potter, but I probably took on a little too much by reading the complete series all at once. To top it off, I capped off my HP marathon by watching the movie of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Yikes.

Anyway, despite my disappointments (mainly to overexposure), I will give HP my vote simply for getting 5-year-olds excited when they see a book that's over 400 pages long. In a digital world where most people barely have the attention span to read a hastily typed text message on their phone - this, if anything, is huge. That makes me happy.

THE INHERITANCE TRILOGY VOL. 1 & 2
by Christopher Paolini

I wasn't sure what to expect when I picked up these books at Costco. I had heard great reviews about the Inheritance trilogy, as well that the author and started writing the first book, Eragon, when he was only 15. Great story, great writing...great. But in the end, that was not what swayed me to buy these books.

I am, without a doubt, a complete and utter sucker for a well made book.

And well...these were a pair of really well made books. In a set. With DRAGONS one it. Wow. You got me there.

Okay, okay...not the most intelligent of choices, but still...still. *sigh*. No excuses. Anyway, these books had been sitting on my shelf for about 5 months before I decided to pull them down and crack them open. I was coming off my Harry Potter binge, and like a bad habit, I couldn't stop. I end up reading a lot of garbage that way.

I'm thankful that the Inheritance books are far from garbage. Incredibly grateful. Nothing makes me sadder than a beautiful book that's a horrible read (Okay, I lie. Bad tasting cupcakes could make me sadder).

For a young writer, Paolini has great way of telling a story without being pretentious. There's no unnecessary padding that can bog down a fantasy story. Many authors feel the need to explain EVERYTHING, down to the different items that are packed into a trunk (The Princess Bride), or require 10 pages to explain how a person moved from one room to another (Robert Jordan). Many readers enjoy this. I don't. By the way, I blame my university background for padding my sentences unnecessarily with "pretentious" words.

I throughly enjoyed the flow of the story across both books. They aren't cookie cutters with each other, and is there isn't a neat and tidy ending to each. If you're going to write a great trilogy, that is probably what is best. Honestly, how can you NOT love a well written story about magic and dragons? Nice dragons, that is. Ones that talk in your mind and allow you to fly with them on their backs. My dreams are made of this stuff. I'm eagerly anticipating the third book, Fricaya, but it seems that it may be a wait before it's released. I'm willing to wait for the ending of this one.

DEATH NOTE VOL 1-12 (Complete)
Written by Tsugumi Ohba; illustrated by Takeshi Obata (Graphic Novels)

In the world of graphic novels, a picture can be worth a thousand words. Very rarely, though, are words as important as the picture. Death Note bring new weight to actually "reading" a graphic novel with its delightfully dark and morbid story of a brilliant young student who comes upon an otherworldly way of removing the bad in order to create a "new world".

The title is your first clue as to the method. In Death Note's universe, there is a "Death God World" outside of the realm of the living world, filled with reapers who carry black notebooks in which they can write down the names of humans in order to kill them.

That's right. Instead of the horrifying image of a reaper cutting your soul to pieces with a massive scythe, instead you are killed (at a distance no less - kind of like modern day war, no?) by having your name written down in a little black book.

Wow....the possibilities that could be had with that last comment...leaves me almost speechless.

Anyway, the student, whose name is Light Yagami (or Raito Yagami), happens upon a Death Note outside his school. It had been dropped on purpose by a bored, disillusioned death god, named Ryuk, looking for a little pick-me-up to brighten his immortality. To facilitate this entertainment, Ryuk had conveniently written down instructions on how the Death Note is used, and some (not all) of the rules that bind it.

The human whose name is written in this note shall die.

This note will not take effect unless the writer has the subject's face in their mind when writing his/her name. Therefore, people sharing the same name will not be affected.

If the cause of death is written within 40 seconds of writing the subject's name, it will happen.

If the cause of death is not specified, the subject will simply die of a heart attack.

After writing the cause of death, the details of the death should be written in the next 6 minutes and 40 seconds.

So our teenage protagonist decides to try out this Death Note out of sheer curiosity. He's convinced (mostly), that this is a sick little prank that someone with too much time on their hands has put together. To his complete dismay, it actually works, and along with this incredibly power to kill any of those he knows name and face, he can now see the Death God Ryuk and converse with him too.

Light sees his chance to change the world using the Death Note by ridding the world of all who would do evil. Then he would become "God" in this new world. As a side note, Ryuk is greatly entertained and enjoys eating apples in the living world.

Before you know it, criminals are dropping dead of heart attacks left, right, and center, in prisons all over the place. There are whispers of a killer that fans are calling "Kira". The international politicians are beginning to panic and call in a super sleuth, code name "L", a genius at solving unsolvable cases.

And THAT'S when things get interesting. This story has its moments of dark, gory violence, however, it's not as gratuitous as you may think. Everything about this series is deliberate, very much like an epic chess match between two geniuses or a battle between two superior swordsmen. This is reflected in the struggle for dominance between Light and "L", whether it's a war of words, or a well-played match of tennis (literally). Death Note is an engrossing, mesmerizing narrative, that pokes apart the warped human mind in the midst of absolute power. Loved it.