Snowy December

It is only December and already snowing. I always thought snow was beautiful but it is actually quite annoying. After walking down the street for 5 minutes, your coat would be covered in snow. If you do not shake off the snow before walking indoors, your coat will be soaked as it is always heated.
Next you have your jeans which obviously aren't waterproof but absorbs water like a sponge. Shoes; they need to be waterproof, full of grip and have protection against salt. Canadians love throwing salt on the pavement to a point when you don’t even know if its snow or salt. Salt will stain and damage your shoes. Also when the snow melts, you will be walking in slush and slipping all over the place. Hair; I like to be well presented and the use of wax is a waste of time because once snow melts, your hair is drenched.
The use of a beanie (or toque here) is required to keep your ears warm as the wind chill are numbing. Some also opt to wear ear muffs but only the ones that goes behind the head because they are the 'In' fashion.

Adapting to life here takes time getting used to because of all the differences:

1) Driving on the right hand side of the road - It will take time getting used to but the hardest part is crossing the roads. Instead of checking your right then your left for traffic, you have to first check your left then your right. There has been countless near misses; especially when trying to cross the road drunk.
2) Spelling – Words like organisation, capitalisation and civilisation are spelt with a z instead of an s. Those are the only words that I can think of right now but there are always time when you spend 5 minutes thinking “Do I spell it with a z or an s?" I don’t want to ask someone because they will think I’m retarded.
3) No level 13 – Every condo you visit in Toronto, you will not find a level 13; it’ll go from 12 to 14 because Canadians are very superstitious about that number.
4) 35 hours a week – Yes people, the work week is only 35 hours! That is on-par with the French. So if you are used to working 8-7, forget about it, try sticking to 8:59am-5:01pm and you see people rushing out of the office.

Eileen and Noel arrives from London tomorrow. They will be spending Christmas and New Years with me. We have hired a car and will be travelling out East to Snowboard in Mont Tremblant then Quebec City, Montreal and back to Toronto. Christmas will be spent on the slopes and we’ll probably have a party for New Years Eve. It’s going to be very busy for the next 6 day. The journey can be viewed here

So I also attended Cineplex’s Christmas work function and the night was great. Good food and all they did was gave away about 40 prizes randomly. The major prize was an LG 60inch LED TV! That would have been awesome to win! Such ballers!
My German and Canadian mate’s got around on Sunday to have our Pre-Christmas dinner. We roasted a chicken, drank beers, ate desserts, built a gingerbread train and watched a movie. Great fun.

Its late and I have just spent 4 hours cleaning up the place to prepare for Eileen’s arrival.

Entrance Camera Tom - 5.7 MB

Ciao
Sam

City Hall from the roof with mulled wine

Snap 1

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Snnp 4

Snap 5

Nathan Phillips Square Ice Rink

Lucky Number 13

Meat

Gingerbread Train

FAIL

So good Meat

Meat Meat Meat








Success

Man I am Fat

Halloween and Ottawa

How is it possible for someone living on the other side of the world but yet have no time whatsoever? Well it goes something like this.
Midweek drinks, movies, pub quiz, comedy shows, shopping, dinners, weekend travels, parties, shows, shopping for winter clothes, planning for Eileens arrival over Christmas, visiting other sites of Toronto, more movies, more drinking.

It was my first Canadian Halloween so I had to get a good costume. Initially I wanted to get a squirrel costume as there are squirrels everywhere in Toronto. Unfortunately it was sold out and I had to opt for my second choice; a skunk. Yes a bit lame but also very warm if we ended up going out. In fact, it was so warm in my costume, I had to take the head gear off every 30mins; was definitely a bad choice. The good thing about it is that I actually bought this costume! Never know I may get freaky and do some role playing......

On Sunday, I was relieved to have a peaceful day mainly because the 6 days leading up to Halloween, we had been out for 4 of those.

Monday night came around and it was my German mate Tom Orrow’s birthday and we went for Korean BBQ. BBQ food and beers go hand in hand. Got home at 1am stumbling through the house while passing out fully clothed. This is starting to become a routine.

Weekend of Nov 12, Tom, Kayla and I drove 6 hours to the Capital City of Ottawa. We decided it stay at Hi-Hostel which was an active jail until 1972. The rooms were actual cells so it was a bit creepy. We arrived at 12am and decided to go out for a few beers and make the most of our time in Ottawa. The province of Ontario is very strict when it comes to liquor licenses, all bars and pubs have to stop selling liquor at 2am but most places will remain open until 3am. For some reason, we managed to get absolutely maggoted in the 2 hours we were out, stumbled around the city then ended up eating Poutine at 3am. Poutine is the dish of Quebec but it is also very popular after a night out on the booze.

The next day was spent sightseeing; Parliament Hill, House of Commons, Canadian War Museum, Samuel de Champlain statue, Rideau Canal (which was disappointing since it was drained due to construction work). We even walked around the University of Ottawa for the hell of it.
Then it was back to the hostel for a tour of the jail where we got to see artefacts, death row. It was also the site of Canada’s last public hanging. Airey eh?

Sunday night and it is good to stay in. This is a pretty boring update as I have forgotten all the funny things that have happened.
Although I did buy a pair of winter boots to prepare myself for the snow blizzards. At $160CAD, it has got to be one of the most unsatisfying purchases of all times! Next on the shopping list are long johns and possibly a pair of ice skates.....?

Halloween photos here
Ottawa photos here
 
Sam
 

Welcome Weirdos

Jersey Shore Crew

On the prowl

Meat Galore

Normal Monday Night Boozing

Our Cell

Canal Locks

Parliament

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Hitler's Mercedes Limousine








Hanging Chamber

I've lost 2inchs?








Parliament Hill and Canal Locks

Week 3 in Toronto

Alright all, I have been in Toronto for 3 weeks now and I love it! The people are friendly and polite. It is very multicultural; if you were blindfolded and brought to Toronto, you would not be able to guess where you are. I’m talking black, white, yellow, brown; all the different colours of the racial rainbow.
Diversity goes hand in hand with food, American steaks, Vietnamese beef noodles, Hong Kong duck, Italian pasta, Greek gyros, Indian curries, Irish Nachos. Although the one thing I truly miss (other than KK Malaysia) is baked beans. The Heinz beans here just taste funny and weird.

I have started work at Cineplex, they are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the perks of the job is that I get to watch all movies I want for free! Yes indeed, IMAX, 3D, VIP all the different flavours and I also get to invite a friend but there is a limit. The conversation with my manager went like this.

Manager: You can watch all new releases in VIP leather chairs, 3D movies or at the IMAX theatres all around Canada.
Me: That is awesome, can I bring a friend?
Manager: Yes, your card is valid for you + 1 but there is a limit on the amount of movies you can watch
Me: Oh really, I know it was too good to be true
Manager: You are only allowed to watch 4 movies a day
Me: bahahahahahahahahahaha................
Manager: hehe
Me: bahahahahahahahahahaha................

So yeah, I will make sure I do not exceed my quota of 4 movies a day.

I really can’t remember what I’ve been doing for the past 3 weeks, all I do is go into downtown, take photos and find new places each time. Oh I went to a bar called Panama and it was on the 51st floor with a rooftop terrace. Although not as nice as Las Vegas but definitely was good to have a glass of wine overlooking the city.

Yesterday was the 8th annual zombie walk which I contemplated partaking in but I’m glad I didn’t as it was freezing! The streets were filled with brain eating zombies and hunters. You could definitely see the effort that some people put in whereas others were piss poor. Is it wrong to be turned on by emo looking zombies? I stopped a zombie girl and said “You’re beautiful, let’s go for a beer” she looked at me and thought I was making fun of her and gave me the zombie growl “rraaarrrggghhh”. Emo girls are great.

Weather in Toronto is getting colder every day. Someone said to me last week “You lived through the Wellington winter, skipped the summer and coming to Canada for another winter. What are you doing?”
I never actually thought about that but it made a lot of sense, I’m basically skipping summers! Blah who cares!
Toronto pics available here but I will post the good ones along with zombie videos.

Sam

Dundas Square - 9.5 MB
Zombie Walk 1 - 10.5 MB
Zombie Walk 2 - 2.8 MB
Zombie Walk 3 - 1.7 MB

Dundas Square

Germans and Ontarian

Famous people that did not interest me

Dundas Square at night

Check out the colours

Hot, too bad shes married

One of the best

Wizard of Oz

Not a costume

Quebec City - 402 years young

Quebec City is the first city to be established in Canada. I made the 2hr journey from Montreal > Quebec using the carpool system. It was unbelievably cheap. The cost was only $19CAD compared to $45CAD on a bus or train.

The drop off location from the carpool was 10km out from old Quebec (Centre-ville), the excitement now begins; trying to find the correct bus into downtown but instead, I just hopped on the first bus. Correct change is required in Quebec Province when using the bus system but I guess the driver knew that I was a tourist when he heard my French so he let me on for free. After 10 mins, I had a hunch that the bus was not going directly into the city. A beautiful Quebecois helped me with directions and even offered to walk me to the old city; what a gem. I asked if she wanted to join me for the drink in the evening and her response was 'I’m having a quiet night with my dog and my husband' Ownage!

For such a small city, there are a lot to see and do because of the historic civilisation and battles that took place. My first meal of the day was at 6:00pm with 2 pints of beer; I was pretty pissed when I left. After 30mins of more strolling, it started raining heavily. I ran into a restaurant to take cover and decided to drink some wine until the weather settled. It was there I meet an old local lady and ended up chatting; 3 glasses of wine later, she offered to show me small local bar with live music. The place was unique, low roof because Frenchman’s were quite short 400 years ago and slightly underground. The great thing about this place was that there were no tourists in sight; all local Quebecois, I felt very privileged. Anyway, ended up leaving after a bottle of wine and stumbling back to the hostel while waking everyone else in the room up.

Day 2 started with a hangover and a visit to the Citadelle, it is a fortress built by the French but was re-enforced with start-shaped walls by the British after they took over in 1745. When the external walls were built, canons were added to point toward the city just in case the French decided to revolt.
Chateau Frontenac is the most photographed hotel in the world. Yeah it was nice but I decided to go the extra step. As the sun was setting, I caught a boat across the river to Levis Island and viewed the bright lights Quebec City from afar. There was also a micro brewery where I drank a pint of local brew and admired the view. More sight-seeing then it was back to the hostel for an organised pub crawl. I pulled a phantom at 3am because I was too hammered to carry on.
Back in Montreal now and only 3 more days before I depart for Toronto. I’m excited and kinda annoyed that I didn’t get the opportunity to live in Montreal. C'est la vie

Sam

Chateau Frontenac

Check out the detailing

View from the sea

Rue de Petit Champlain

Montreal still manages to amaze me

2 weeks in Montreal now and this city does not get boring: there is always something happening. Although it does get a bit annoying when you have missed out on something because you forgot to research or remind yourself. It is comparable to a small London but more peaceful and calm.
The metro and bus network are very convenient, they also have bikes that you use to ride between each metro.

So one day last week, I armed myself with a metro day pass, a map of the city, my attitude of 'I don't know what's there but I'll take a look' and away I went. My journey can be seen here on google maps.
First destination was Stade olympique (Olympic Stadium) where the 1976 Summer Olympics were held. The stadium is rarely used now due to small structural problems and I would say the ability to fill it with 66,000 people. What makes the stade olympique unique is the inclined tower which measures 175m height and the tallest of its kind in the world. Although it looks pretty cool, it's main purpose is to retract an attach the roof over the stadium.

Next stop was the Montreal Biosphere which is an environmental museum to teach us about environment and what pollution is doing to us blah blah blah. I was only there for 20mins before they closed but I was getting intrigued. Within my proximity was the Montreal Casino, it would be rude of me not to take a walk around and compare it with Las Vegas. Anyway, walked out 30mins later with the wallet $200CAD lighter.
While in the casino, I kept hearing people say 'La Ronde' so onto my trusty map I look to find the place. Ah its very close, only about 3cm on the map and I can walk. Wrong! It was 2km away and the worst part of it was that it closed at 7:00pm; I was there at 7:30pm. La Ronde was an amusement park, it seemed pretty cool from the distance but when I got there, empty, everyone has gone home, not even the cleaners were there.

By this time, I had been walking around for roughly 7hours, I am the man! The night is not over. Travelled to station Mont-Royal as this is the location for hip and groovy restaurants. The neighbourhood was amazing, its like the place you would live and never leave since everything is available for you. The bars and restaurants stretch about 15 blocks. Next was Place des Arts; the performing arts centre. I came to watch the fountain and lights spectacular. Think water shooting from the ground with lights, music, holograms. I briefly recorded a video below. The fountain show was not as good as the one at Bellagio casino but the holography took the cake. The final stop of the night was around station peel in downtown Montreal. This is also where the famous bars are. It is a small section but once you step foot inside this area, you feel the party pumping. I have been dying for a Guiness so went in to a trendy Irish bar and ordered my drink. When in downtown (West) everyone speaks English, you don't even need to say a word of French as this is where all the
foreigners hang out. In the East (where I live), people would speak in French and change when required.

12am, time to catch the last metro. The Gay Village is suppose to be a good place to party, since it was on the way home, I had to stop at Station Beaudry which is bang in the centre and walk home from there.
There were people everywhere and loud music playing but then it got weird. Doormens were wearing bondage gear, seedy old men sitting on park benches, people looking at me like a piece of steak.
By this time, I was about 5 mins from my place, a car pulls up, the driver looks at me and gives me the action with his head for me to follow him. We all know the gesture, its the 'Hey lets go' or 'Hey want me to fuck you in the ass?' It was tempting but I denied the offer. Not more than 2mins later, a differnt car pulls up and gives me the same offer! I mean really?!?! Is it really that easy? The next time I have a shitty old Corolla, I am going to cruise around town, stop beside some girls, not say a word and give the head nod motion.
What a way to end the night!

So I am still unemployed, its good and bad. I am however spending my spare time studying for my microsoft exams so atleast my downtime is not going to waste.
Oh I have also decided to move to Toronto on October 1st as the job market is bigger there. So time is nearly up for me in Montreal but I will still try to make a trip to Quebec City before my departure.
How about those earthquakes and storms back home!?!

Sam

Fountain Show 1 - 10.0 MB
Fountain Show 2 - 8.9 MB





Stade Olympique

Biosphere

Old Montreal

Montreal Summer is sticky

2 weeks of travelling really takes a toll on your body. Since my arrival in Montreal, I have been sleeping alot. Maybe its the 30°C days or maybe the 25°C nights. I am also feeling a little homesick but I know its just a phase that I'll overcome.

Anyway, I flew premium economy from Wellington to Los Angeles and this is probably the only way people should be flying. The flight was peaceful, relaxing and also spacious. The food also did not taste like cardboard. Los Angeles was cool, VIP experience at Universal Studios was fully worth it. We also got to walk onto the set of the TV comedy "Parenthood". I was in Los Angeles with Chris and Cher and I think we did pretty well covering all the attractions in LA. Stayed on Sunset Strip, visited Hollywood Boulevard Walk of Fame, Santa Monica Pier, Staples Center, Venice Beach, eating burgers at Johhny Rockets, eating burgers at Mels Diner, eating shrimps at Bubba Gump, hired a mustang, visited Muholland Drive, saw the Hollywood sign, stalked a few celebrity houses, lunch at The Beverly Hills Hotel, pee at The Beverly Hills Hotel, drove to Las Vegas through Mojave desert.

The drive through the Mojave desert was brilliant, temperature shot to 48°C. Vegas was slightly lower at 43°C but I think we had a few nice days at 35°C. I was in Las Vegas for Eileen's 30th Birthday Party but arrived 2 days earlier. As a surprise, I decided to pick her and her friends up from the airport in a limo. Although cheesy, it put a smile on their face. The Las Vegas strip is over 5 miles long, it is very deceiving due to large surrounding hotels. We also visited the famous club "Ghostbar" on the 55th floor of the Palms hotel then it was to "Rain" to dance the night out. Circus du Soleil "O" was awesome as well. The whole stage was constantly revolving and elevating within the pool. Too bad everyone was too hungover from the night before; the sight of bobbing heads were hillarious.
The helicopter ride over Grand Canyon was breathtaking. Landing at the bottom for lunch gives you a sense of sanity; life is too short to tuck money under your matress.

Montreal is beautiful and everyone is so polite. I'm staying by the Papineau Metro Station. While walking around this area, I notice an influx of sausage, "Thats fine" I say to myself, its probably just an area with tradies since they are all wearing singlets. "Why are people looking at me funny?" thats fine, I'm just good looking with my oversized pecs and calfs. "Why does that guy have his tounge down another guys throat?" thats fine, he was checking his teeth. But then I saw it! How could I have been so blind. It was a male Spa! That totally gave it away, I was in a gay village. In fact, the place is actually called Le Village and it is the 2nd largest gay community in North America.
So I guess this is some of the exciting things to experience if no research has been done before your travels.
Its late and I am still unemployed.
Los Angeles photos here
Las Vegas photos here

Sam

This is what everyone came to see?

Tom Hanks and Zoltar

War of the Worlds Set

Bunce on Jackass prop

Expensive pee

Bunce at 2am

Me at 4am

The arrival

Had to have a cigar on the 55th floor

Daily Pool Party

Hoover Dam

Why is everyone crouching?

Award for Best No Look Shot

Pow Pow

Mister Ed in Vegas?