Magalie Travels

The blog has moved!

2010-08-26T13:20:00.005-07:00

Hi everyone! After much back and forth I have decided to go ahead and move the blog to a new site. You can find the newly redesigned and improved blog at magtravels.wordpress.com.

All new images and posts will be posted on the new blog from here on in. Existing posts will remain on this blog, but have also been imported to the new blog, so feel free to start following my travels on the new blog!

I'm back!

2010-06-11T22:11:00.003-07:00

I've been pretty bad at updating this blog - I have to admit that I was quite focused on our wedding and getting all of those details sorted, along with getting that blog updated. But, the wedding is done, and now, a different kind of planning is getting started - our honeymoon.

As I've explained before, we are planning on making our honeymoon last two years. We want to really take the time to see the world, take it in and enjoy it. Obviously this will require a lot of planning, but on the other hand we also want to try to keep a lot of things open. We don't want to outline our trip too much, or have a schedule. We want to fly West and see where it takes us. I think that this will make for much nicer travels.

We do have some vague ideas as to where we want to go: for example we plan on starting the trip off in Japan and meeting Travis' family somewhere in Africa in September 2011 (one year into our trip). We are also planning to meet friends in Burma, Turkey and India.

With all of this in mind, the blog will become progressively more active until go time - September 2010. The blog does need some maintenance though, and although I am attached to this design (for all of the ours spent on CSS and the history of it), I may be doing some drastic changes. I apologize in advance if things get messy before they get better.

Thank you for hanging in there with me, and can't wait to get the next world tour started!

The guidebook is in!

2010-04-09T23:27:00.002-07:00

There is no nicer surprise than to open your mailbox after a hard week at work to find a package from Paris, containing a copy of the guidebook in which your very own image was published! It really made my day.

There were two further surprises when I opened the envelop and saw the guide: 1) I had understood that my picture was to be on the cover. Oh well! But the image made it inside and on the web, so that's good! 2) They did not Photohop me out of the picture, and so my reflection is still there.

In all though, the Viatao guide for Shanghai is small and compact, but filled with information. It's really a clever design and a great idea for anyone just visiting that city - you get the info that you need without all of the bulk. As as added bonus, the guide leads you towards small businesses and green businesses, so that you can feel even better about your travels. I'm glad to be a part of it!

Check it out!

In it to end it!

2010-02-14T18:50:00.001-08:00

{This is a twin post to the one on my other blog - I just want to spread the word!}

Ginger, Travis' mom (and my future mother-in-law!) is in her 20th year of surviving breast cancer. She is an incredible woman and to celebrate this huge milestone she has decided to participate in the Avon Walk For Breast Cancer. Her team, the Blessed Breasts (great name, no?) will be walking 39 miles over the course of two days to raise money and bring awareness to the cause. Their fundraising goal currently sits at $18,000. That's no small feat!

If you would like to donate to the cause, please visit the Blessed Breast's fundraising page - here you will find the team's info. Simply click on a team's member name to read their story and donate!

Vancouver, showing off

2010-02-07T00:07:00.002-08:00

How amazing is this? And of course, it's just a block from my house! I just love how Vancouver is making herself pretty & cultural to welcome the world for the 2010 Winter Olympics. I wish that these could stay!

We, by Jaume Plensa (part of the Vancouver Biennale)

Vectorial Elevation, by Rafael Lozano-Hemmer (part of the Cultural Olympiad - CODE)

The fun part about the Vectorial Elevation piece (aside from the fact that it looks amazing and is on display non-stop from dusk 'til dawn) is that you can design your own pattern on the website! You can design, preview & dedicate at your heart's content! For those who can't make it in person, you can also watch the light show on the live cam.

What an honour!

2010-02-03T19:43:00.002-08:00

One of the things that I love about flickr is that you never know who will take a look at your photos. I have most of my photos on a Creative Commons license, which means that people are free to use my images as long as credit is given and that the pictures are not used for profit.

I received an email last week from a publishing house in Paris, asking if they could use one of my picture in their upcoming guide book. I have to say that most often when I get these types of request it is for what I consider to be some of my most mediocre images, but this time it was different. They were asking about one of my favourite photo from Hong Kong, and not just for any book. It turns out that the publishing house, Viatao, creates incredible guide books that encourage sustainable world travel. How perfect is that? That is what every world traveller should aspire to, and so I responded that I would be honour to have them use my image for their upcoming Shanghai guide (as if it matters that my image is from HK!).

Well, if that wasn't a big enough of an honour, they responded that they intend on using the photo for - wait - the cover of the book! I was just floored, and excited. I can't wait to get my copy!

Until then, here is the photo that is getting published:

Time Lapse Vancouver - Cloud city

2010-02-03T18:08:00.000-08:00

How amazing is this? Vancouver is so amazing, and this showcases it!

Blogger vs. the other ones

2010-01-29T20:22:00.003-08:00

I've been on Blogger for what now seems as ever, but as you've learned from my previous post I decided to host my wedding blog on WordPress. I'm not quite sure why I went with WordPress, but it was probably due to some great designs that I had seen around - and tabs. I love tabs! I guess that there was a certain hope in there for something more sophisticated.

Now that I have both, I can see the pros and cons of both and I'm not sure of what I want to do. Do I want to keep this blog here, where it's been all along? Do I want to move it over to WordPress? Or about some of the other sites, such as TypePad and Tumblr? It's so hard since there are so many options and no "perfect" option.

Since I have only tried WP and Blogger (both as free accounts), here are my personal pros and cons for each:

Blogger:

Pro: You can edit your CSS!!! Not that I made that many changes to this template, but I like the fact that I can change anything and everything that I want around.
Pro: A history, a sense of belonging.
Con: Limited & mostly ugly templates.
Con: No tabs.
Con: Puts you in charge of deleting spam (and I have just deleted 10 spammed messages today!)
Con: I have to use a web counter service - and can't even remember my password anymore!

WordPress:

Pro: The Dashboard is genius. It makes my life so much easier.
Pro: Included stats! It's addictive.
Pro: Automatic detection of spam comments.
Pro: The Widgets make (certain) things easy!
Con: No CSS to edit (unless you are willing to pay).
Con: No perfect template (unless you are willing to pay).

So. While it seems that my preference is leaning more towards WP, I'm still holding on for dear life to my CSS and the option to add certain things, like my DOPPLR badge or LinkWithin...

What do you think? How did you choose your blogging platform and what's keeping you there?

Yikers

2010-01-08T21:33:00.002-08:00

No update since August... shame on me!

I have truly been overly busy, consumed even, but ideally, as always, I would like to think that things will get better. "This year, I'll do better! I'll write more!" For the first time ever though I can honestly say that I don't think that my blog neglect will be addressed anytime soon - I just don't have the time. But I do say this: later on this year, there will be plenty of time.

What is this all about? Well, Travis and I got engaged in June 2009 and will be tying the knot in beautiful, sunny Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. We love to travel, so a destination wedding was de rigueur! As such though, there is tons of planning to do - which is mostly not travel-related. To keep things logical and organized, we have started a wedding blog for our nuptials. As you can guess, all of the updates and attention have been directed towards our new blog.

As such though, one of the many wedding traditions is the honeymoon, and we plan to live this one to the fullest. So, if there are any readers left on this blog, worry not! There are guarantied blog updates up ahead. We both have been dreaming of hitting the road again and seeing the world. With this in mind, we have decided to have our honeymoon be a great tribute to how we’ve met - and who were are. When people ask us where we are going on our honeymoon, we say “everywhere”, and we really mean it! We will be hitting the road for *two years* and we hope to be able to hit every continents, see world wonders, drive and hike, eat and drink, learn and explore. From Timbuktu to Tuktoyaktuk, we’d love to see it all!

Currently our plans are to leave Vancouver in September 2010, but this date could be moved forward. Until the wedding is over, little trip planning will be happening but as soon as we return from Mexico, expect a lively blog! Until then, you can follow our adventures on our other blog.

Happy New Year everyone! This will be a good one.

Adventures and misadventures in Italy

2009-08-10T13:41:00.008-07:00

On Wednesday, we left Canada behind and flew to Italy to meet Travis' family for a wonderful get-together in Tuscany and Umbria. Our flight was not the best - not only were we not able to get a wink of sleep but the people behind us kept hitting our seat. And to top it off, our flight had been delayed, which meant that we spent our flight worrying about making our connection in Rome to Florence. As it turned out, we easily made our connection (thankfully, perhaps, to having no one in the customs and immigration line and having the customs officer not even say hello) but our luggage did not. As we headed to the luggage carousel, we watched helplessly as our luggage did not make it out... and joined the line of other unfortunate travellers at the lost baggage counter.

We were at least 10 in line, and this all seemed to be very routine for them. There was really no point to make a fuss about it, especially when the lady in front of us was now without medication and a Russian lady behind us was making a scene big enough for everyone. From being short with the ladies at the counter, to then asking them if there wasn't a way that this could go faster, and then yelling on the phone - she just made the whole ordeal even more surreal and helped us have a good laugh at the whole situation.

We handed-in our information, and were told that our luggage would be delivered in two days (as we were staying outside of Florence). While we were left to wonder where in the world our luggage was (was it still in Rome as we were assured that it was? Or did they get to travel somewhere else?), we were really hoping that they would keep their word.

Having travelled so much before, you would think that 1) I would know better and that 2) this had happened to me before, but alas this was a first and all that I had with me was not going to get me through the next few days. Our only choice was to head into Florence and purchase a few essentials before the flight of Travis' parents landed and we had to head to Todi, our final destination.

Now, most people would be very excited at the prospect of going shopping in Italy. But not us - we had less than 2 hours, our shopping list was very eclectic and we were on a budget. Toothbrushes and toothpaste, deodorant, a razor, a bikini and a dress or skirt for me and swim shorts, flips flops and sunglasses for Travis. As we arrived at the Duommo (words cannot explain the grandeur and beauty of this church - my eyes filled with tears when I saw it), we took in the sight for a generous 20 seconds and ran down the street trying to find shops. We managed to be successful, but it was not an easy task considering the streets were littered with designer names and that we were grumpy and hungry. After a quick bite to eat, we returned to the airport just in time for the arrival of Terry and Ginger's flight.

The drive to Todi was stunning, but was mostly spent sleeping. As we arrived into town, we stopped at the grocery store first and I was ecstatic. Burrata cheese! At the grocery store! Heaven. And the villa! Villa Le Mandorelle is far better than I could have ever imagined. The house is a restored farm house on an olive grove and vineyard, with views of the surrounding valley and the walled city of Todi. It is simply perfect (the only downfall I have found is the insanely large amount of bees) - the kind of place where the amazement does not fade.

The first few days were spent at the villa, relaxing by the pool and enjoying the property. But with our limited belongings, I was started to get a bit frustrated. Only having two things to wear, and having to do laundry every night is not ideal. But mostly, I was feeling worried and did not dare want to leave the villa. What if they tried to call us? What if the delivery person just left our luggage on the road? Worries ran so deep that even a midnight jaunt was made to the gate of the property to leave a note to the delivery man. We learned that lost luggage is nearly a standard practice of Alitalia - and I cursed myself for booking the connection with them. Why did we not take a different flight? Why did we not take a train?

When Travis' sister and her husband arrived and our luggage still had not, worry really started to run deep. And frustration - unable to get answers from the people we filed our claim with, unable to reach our travel insurance company, etc. And then, we finally contacted the courier who was to deliver our bags. We were told that they would be delivered "tomorrow, 11 am". We were relieved. But of course, this being Italy, it wasn't going to be so easy.

At 11:30, we called the courier and were reassured that he would arrive "in a few minutes". One hour later, he called, speaking very quickly in Italian, and then asked if we would still be there in 1.5 hours. At his mercy, we said yes. And 2 hours later, another call - the driver could not find our address on his GPS, and so we had to drive into town to meet him and retrieve our belongings.

I never thought that I'd be so excited about going through my own luggage, but when our luggage was finally delivered to us, I was ridiculously overjoyed. I felt like throwing myself at my luggage, crying in a mix of happiness, relief and desperation like a mother would do after being reunited with a lost child. As I unpacked, every articled was treated as a discovery and received a cry of joy. Underwear! Pyjamas! Hair brush! A toothbrush that doesn't feel as though it will rip my gums apart! I have to say that the option to choose what to wear has never felt so sweet - and not having to hand wash everything we own every night is quite a relief.

Having had received our bags, I now also have a huge weight lifted up my back and feel free again. Free to finally go and explore this country and the quaint area without the fear of missing the delivery man.

We celebrated this new found freedom today with a road trip to Norcia, a little gem of a town located at the very eastern edge of Umbria. Located in the Parco Nazionale Monti Sibillini (useless trivia: that's where San Pellegrino comes from), Nocia is the mecca for all things tartufo (truffle) and chingale (wild boar). The walled city, mostly flat, has a few quaint piazzas and churches (it is, after all, the birthplace of St. Benedict) but by large the real estate is used-up by little shops selling the specialties of the region. Wild boar heads are mounted on the outside walls of shops, or even full stuffed pigs try to catch the attention of passerby. Links upon links of boar salumi, whole Norcia prosciutto, pecorino and ricotta cheeses also draw the eyes in... and inside, awaits shelves, or even entire walls, covered in little to ridiculously large jars of whole, sliced and puréed truffles. Black, fragrant, pungent, earthy, heavenly Nocia truffles. A food heaven!

To give us strength and prepare ourselves for the winding narrow streets, enticing shops and churches that date back to the Roman empire, we had lunch on the patio of the Granaro del Monte restaurant. Our "light" lunch started with a shared platter of wild boar prosciutto - thick slices of strong, cured meat - and a half pitcher of vino rosso. Our aim was really for truffles, so Travis ordered a creamy gnocchi dish covered in cheese and chopped black truffles while I ordered slender pasta with mushroom and shaved white truffles. Needless to say that it was delicious, and that it required a whole lot of effort to make the meal last as long as it could.

After a walk around town and a purchase of salumi and truffles, we headed back on the road for a drive around the edge of the mountain range. Picture this - stunning, smooth mountains with passing green valleys and farmland, peppered with walled and fortified stone towns, either hanging precariously off the mountain side or nestled in tiny valleys. (I say "picture this" because taking pictures while driving can be challenging, and because this computer refuses to recognize SD memory cards.)

After our jaw-dropping tour, we made our way back to our villa, making sure to get lost a few times on the way there amidst rolling hills of olive groves, sunflowers, alfalfa blooms and vineyards. We drove by castles and into walled cities, found a town with my name, and while it was raining elsewhere, and we were treated to a few lightning strikes in the distance, our villa was still dry as it can be.

Reunited with everyone, we sat down for a dinner of creamy pasta with bocconcini and truffles, fried eggplant from the garden and zucchini pizza. And of course, a lovely local red. And for desert? A cream tart with frutti di bosco and freshly picked blackberries, served with purrs and cuddles from the local cat which Travis' parents have appropriately called Todi.

Adventures in Honolulu

2009-05-31T17:18:00.005-07:00

On our way back from Maui to Vancouver, we had a 5 hour layover in Honolulu. Because we had so much free time, and because the airport is relatively close to the city, we decided to go in town for dinner (and may we add that the airport in Honolulu is not a very nice airport to spend 5 hours in?).

I had suggested that we go to Chinatown, because I remembered reading a long time ago that it was a nice, historic place to visit. As well, Chinese food seemed quite appealing at the time. So, we went to the information desk and asked the lady there some logistics about going to Chinatown, with no great success. It seems that she wanted us to go to a mall with a Chinese restaurant instead.

We headed to the taxi stand, and asked our driver (3 times) to bring us to Chinatown - and was dropped off instead at the cruise ship terminal. Slightly offended and annoyed, we asked again to be dropped off in Chinatown. Little did we know that the cab driver was not suffering from limited English or ignorance, but was really just trying to keep us safe.

As soon as we arrived in Chinatown, we were shocked by how seedy and dirty the area seemed to be. The streets were lined with prostitutes, homelessness and gambling - not the best for leisurely walks. I had hoped for a lively area, full of neon and photo ops, but instead worried about having to get out of the cab. Being Memorial Day probably did not help, but almost all of the restaurants were closed, and not one shop was open.

The cab driver dropped us off in front of two restaurants - one full and one empty - and we ran inside of the full one without attempting to look around for something else. Yikes!

The restaurant we ended-up at was Legend Seafood Restaurant, on North Beretania St. It is quite a large restaurant, and it was busy with numerous birthday parties. We were seated in the corner the furthest away from everyone else (due to a distrust of white diners? unsure) but at least were not given cutlery. The menu is very extensive, with items such as lobster, crab, abalone and shark fin's. We ordered the Salt & Pepper Squid, the Garlic Pan-fried Scallops, the Shredded Pork Noodles and 2 Tsing Tao. The food was a bit heavy on MSG, but was tasty. My favourite was the squid - it was delicate, tender and flavourful. And the price? Surprisingly affordable.

At the end of dinner, we asked the staff to call us a cab and headed back to the airport for a Kona Beer. And more waiting around prior to our flight.

Was the detour worth it? Not really. While the food was good and affordable, the cost of dinner was doubled by the cab fare. Had we done this during the day, and been able to walk around, it would have been a more logical outing.

At least though, it gave us another story!

2009-05-07T19:23:00.002-07:00

I'm find it hard to believe that I will be flying to Hawaii in less then 2 weeks. That I will listen to the sound of the surf, feel the warm sand between my toes and relax lazily on the beach in Kapalua. What is even more surprising, though, is that I haven't research the destination at all. I don't know what's there to do, I haven't made any plan. I can't even remember the name of the hotel where we'll be staying. It's very unlike me - but it feels very relaxing.

All things considered, it makes sense too. We are going there for a wedding, and so it will be all about the bride and what she wants to do. This will be a thing of organized activities, meals, etc, and so it would be a tad rude to excuse ourselves from the celebrations to go sight-seeing.

To offset the lack of planning for this vacation (and possibly for Tuscany as well), I have already started to plan our mini-trip to Montreal. Yes, I know, it's 3 months away. But it's challenging to try to fit so much yummy food in so few days!

In all reality though, there are two things that I need to start working on right away: re-familiarizing myself with the how-to of diving (I think I must have forgotten everything in the last year!) and learning some Italian (which would have been very helpful today at work!). Then, I will be able to enjoy both vacations a lot more.

Upcoming vacation time

2009-03-12T20:15:00.005-07:00

While I haven't actually treated this blog to much travel talk lately, I though that it would be nice for a change to bring the topic back to the blog's main purpose - vacations!

I will be taking a few vacations this year, all to places that I have never been before (airport layovers do not count) and I am very excited.

The first stop of the year will be in Kapalua, Hawaii in May for Travis' sister's wedding. I haven't heard too much about the plans, but I'm pretty certain that there will be diving, massages and sun bathing. It should be a nice, chilled beach vacation - something that I haven't had in over one year. And of course, I'm also excited about the wedding!

(c) of Kris Nelson (view original here)

At the end of July, Travis and I then fly out to Montréal, so that he can finally experience the city in the summer. On the agenda is food, food and perhaps a little culture. Ideally, we will also squeeze in a visit to Québec City before we fly to Florence, Italy. There, we will explore the city and Tuscany's countryside by staying in Todi and taking numerous road trips. We are staying at an adorable villa on an olive grove - it will be magical!

(c) of Cinzia (view original here)

So, keep posted. There is travel in the near future! (And thousands of photos to be taken!)

Treats for the eyes

2009-03-11T19:35:00.006-07:00

One of the most fantastic innovations on flickr is the new "flickr clock". Using time stamps (called "machine tag") and pooling imaged from the group of the same name, the flickr clock organises videos posted on its site as a collective 24h. As stated on the group's page, the flickr clock is "... an ongoing project that will collect member video and display it according to the (approximate) time that it was taken. As more members participate, we’ll have the opportunity to experience what a moment in time looks like from a diversity of perspectives."

Just click anywhere, and a video plays. What is especially clever is that once a video ends, a new one automatically starts - one could spend hours watching a global 24h go by without the need a single click of a mouse. This may become more addictive than YouTube, and content is generally more artistic and unique than what ends up on that site.

Another interesting discovery is the Polaroid project by Nicole Kenney and KS Rives, entitled Before I Die I Want To... This project sees fleeting moments of intimacy and vulnerability captured on Polaroids, an instant yet disappearing film medium. This may be a new type of Post Secret!

Image (C) of Nicole Kenney and KS Rives, from Before I Die I Want To...

No island job for me!

2009-03-03T21:02:00.002-08:00

The first round of candidates were announced today, and the top 50 short-listed candidates for the "Best Job On Earth" are now posted online.

When I heard that I didn't make the cut, well, I have to say that I was (really) disappointed. I saw this job as a fantastic opportunity, sort of like winning employment lottery. But at least, I can say that I gave it a shot, and I'm proud of that.

I've watched some of the videos from the final candidates, and they are really good. Some of these people have done incredible things, have amazing skills and really deserve to have made it past the first round of selections. I am also happy that 7 Canadians have made it through - and yes, one even made a musical (and it's fantastic). Now I just have to decide who I'll give my vote to!

Thank you to everyone who took the time to view my video, vote, read my blog or send in kind words. I was really amazed with all of your support and was really pleased to have gathered over 400 views. You are all incredible!

An open letter to Tourism Queensland

2009-02-20T19:26:00.008-08:00

Here is the link to my application video:
http://www.islandreefjob.com/#/applicants/watch/MJsji3Lm4RE

(To all of my blog’s visitor: Please visit the link above and vote! Views and votes may help me land the job of my dreams.)

I live my life to travel and would love nothing more than to be able to combine my love of travel with my work. I strongly desire to be Hamilton Island’s caretaker and I believe that I am the best candidate. Here’s why!

Travels & Experiences:

I have traveled solo through Asia and Oceania for 7 ½ months. I’m not afraid of new adventures, and I don’t get homesick.
During my travels I hiked to the top of Mt Fuji, explored the Great Wall of China, swam through the phosphorescence in Ha Long Bay, explored Angkor Wat, hiked through the jungle, hugged a wombat, snorkeled the Great Barrier Reef, and bushwalked Tongariro crossing.
Through other travels and experiences, I have kayaked the waters of Vancouver, of the Mayan Riviera and of Vang Vien. I have hiked through Asia, Canada and the United States. I have dived the frigid waters of Vancouver in a dry suit and the warm waters of the Philippines. I’ve even swam with whale sharks. At home, I enjoy hiking the local mountain, snowshoeing and exploring the rugged coastline.

Writing, Photography and the Web:

I am a blogger, and my writing has been published (“King of Drag: A Montreal Drag King Experience.” Chapter 7 in Stories from Montreal 2: Ethnographic Accounts of Life in North America’s Francophone Metropolis. Montreal: Armchair Academic Publications, 2002.).
I am an avid photographer, and I take my camera with me everywhere I go. To view my pictures, please visit my photosteam or my sets.
My pictures have been used in textbooks, travel books (example 1, example 2), online blogs, news website and even featured on Vogue.fr.
I have worked as an internet manager while at The Australian Outback Collection. While employed, I amplified their online visibility and brought their website to be Google’s “I’m feeling lucky” hit. I also played an instrumental role in hiring designers and photographers, organizing photo shoots and developing catalogs and CD-ROMs. I also acted as a photographer and model , and as spokesperson during industry tradeshows.
I am a quick learner, dependable and adaptable. I am also bilingual, which means that I can blog and film in English and French – this opens Hamilton Island up to millions of added viewers and readers.

While I have accomplished and experienced a lot, and feel that I have only scratched the surface of all that is out there. I long to put my experiences to good use and explore new countries, encounter new cultures and grow as a citizen of the world. There are so many places that I want to discover, and so many places that I want to return to.

I would love to observe the whales swim by, sail the Whitsundays and cheer during the Hamilton Race Week. I want to explore remote islands, bushwalk, swim with the thousand of fishes, feed dolphins and dive with giant manta rays. Most of all, I want to share the beauty, the incredible diversity, and the endless activities of the Great Barrier Reef and Hamilton Island with the world.

Meet me on Hamilton Island in May – you will not be disappointed!

New toy

2009-01-20T22:22:00.003-08:00

I've just found out about DOPPLR, a website that looks very promising to help manage, plan and review trips I take over the years. Frankly I'm really doing it for the year-end report, because I love seeing my year "at a glance". Handy features also include finding out when friends will be in town or when / where you'll be in the same city. This would be great, if only more people that I know were on DOPPLR!

A New Year

2009-01-05T19:06:00.003-08:00

I'm pretty bad with resolutions, just as I'm pretty bad with keeping the blog or old friends updated with my life. I could make tons of excuses, but to be honest, I blame it on my spectacular procrastination skills. The intention is always there - but the drive is sometimes lacking.

Last year I made a few resolutions that I had actually, truly, wanted to keep. But most of them didn't make it far.

I think that one of the most unfortunate goal to go astray was the one regarding photography. I wanted to take more pictures (and still do). But after a few days at the start of the year, I gave up on my stretch goal of participating in the "365 challenge" - mostly because I ended up with a lot of boring or stupid pictures unworthy of being uploaded. And then, for some reason, I was simply not taking pictures. To make my point: in 2007, I posted 1449 pictures on flickr. In 2008, the amount dropped to 856. I feel really bummed about that, especially when I look at my year as an archived photographic calendar.

Yet, as this new year beggins and I am left over-analyzing the past, I still wish to make a few resolutions. Why? Because I still have hope. Hope that I can get better, hope that I can make my life fuller.

In 2009, I want to...

* Continue to take pictures, but in a attainable way. A "52 weeks" project seem a lot more likely.
* Work on myself, my home, my relationships.
* Continue to see the world.
* Continue to read - the only resolution that I really did well at last year!
* Complete, or at least put a serious dent in my book projects.

And that's it! A short and realistic list. I think that less pressure will equal greater success!

Happy New Year everyone.

Taking action, at last

2008-08-01T18:55:00.002-07:00

On August 12 2005, while in Miyajima Japan, I wrote in my journal that I would love to create a book of pictures, entries and tidbits accumulated during my World Tour. While I was not very optimistic about it at first, the idea stuck with me and never left the back of my mind. It was always a dream - a dream to find the time, the patience, the software, the will - to tally everything, retype my journal, analyze the data and create a glossy, bounded account of my journey.

I never got around to it. I never even started. I kept hoping that time would just appear out of nowhere. That things would just fall in place easily. But achieving your dreams is never something easy - otherwise, it wouldn't be as satisfactory.

A previous coworker of mine recently became the first Canadian with Type 1 diabetes to summit Mount Everest. He worked hard to get there, and after over 7 years of devotion managed to turn his dream into a reality. This was just one of many things that made me feel ridiculous for letting trivial things get in the way of my dream. Clearly what he accomplished was a lot harder to do that what I was hoping to do.

After his incredible feat, he came to speak to us at work. Throughout his talk, I felt inspired by him, by what he did. How can you not? But what struck me the most was the end of the talk. He asked what we were doing to turn our dreams into projects. And you know what? I felt proud that I had already started working on my dreams - on my projects.

In fact, about a month ago, I resolved to actually create my book, and publish it. Not in a way to earn money, and not from a big publishing company - I just want my pages printed and bound.

My discovery of Blurb was most likely the catalyst for the whole thing. They are affordable, stylistic and provide their own publishing software that actually works very well. It is so accessible that I could not pass it by. It actually eliminated a lot of the perceived obstacles that I had. There were no more excuses.

And so, I have begun to type my journal. I have started a spreadsheet to tally pictures, journal entries, blog entries and so forth by date. I have started experimenting with the software. There is so much data - I will have to edit everything down by quite a lot to get it all to fit. If not, it might turn into a 7-tome epic. But things are on heir way.

It will take a long time; I anticipate that this is at least a 6-month project. But it will be worth it.

The Truth About Manila

2008-05-12T19:12:00.004-07:00

Manila is the central travel hub of the Philippines, with most bus and plane routes of the North forcing you to spend hours waiting in this metropolis while in transit.

Unlike other big Asian cities, Manila doesn't have much to offer in terms of sightseeing. Most the city was destroyed during the WWII and it can fell, at time, that people gave up trying to make it better. Even famous sights mentioned in all of the guidebooks can feel subpart at best. So, how do you make most of your time in the city and best spend those countless hours? To truly enjoy what Manila has to offer, simply lower your expectations. It will do wonders!

For backpackers, the place to stay is Malate & Ermita, which are located right between each other and seem to merge effortlessly together. While even some big luxurious hotels call this area their home, do not be fooled: this is a neighborhood filled with girlie bars, persistent street sellers and panhandling children who will not think twice before latching onto you. The area is dirty, with pungent urine and garbage as olfactory notes.

Two obvious sights to check-out come to mind when thinking of visiting the area: the Manila Bay and the Intramuros. Has most hotels and guesthouses are within two blocks of the water, the Bay is easily accessible. While the guidebooks describe the Bay as having "dreamy sunsets and sweeping panoramas of the South China Sea", do not be fooled. While it is a Bay, it is not pretty, nor charming. This is not Hong Kong or Puerto Vallarta - there are no boardwalks here and the only sights are polluted water studded with tankers.

The Intramuros, Manila's top tourist attraction, are unfortunately not much better. While it was built in 1570 by the colonial Spaniards, and while mostly still standing, this city will disappoint anyone who has ever visited a walled city - Quebec City, old San Juan, the citadel of Hué - or anyone who has ever seen colonial architecture at its finest. There are some pretty churches, such as San Augustin, and walking the wall itself can be interesting, but this is not sightseeing at its best. More interesting within the walls is walking the smaller streets, to take-in how the locals live and to feels like a celebrity by having dozens of children following you in awe, hoping to be captured eternally on your camera.

Other major sights include the Chinese Cemetery, a sight very unique to Manila and perhaps more worth the detour than any other sight. Built to honour the dead and to display the economical status of the surviving relatives, these "tombs" are more like homes, with washrooms, sinks, air conditioning, multiple floors and some even go as far as to have vending machine and pools. Interestingly enough, the dead are often living better than the living, and some people have been catching on to this, squatting in unvisited graves.

But really, truly, the best way to spend your time in Manila is eating juicy mangoes purchased from the market and the infamous lechon, or whole-roasted pig. Tender meat is served with crispy skin and sweet gravy, rice and a tangy tamarind soup. It is, by far, the best dish of the Philippines.

If you are in transit, here are some tips to make things easier:

Most bus arrive during the night, or at an ungodly time in the morning. Most bus depart at night. Unless you are a champion at sleeping on Filipino buses, this means that you'll be tired and will want a room when you arrive in the city. It's a good idea to reserve your room, but watch out as certain guesthouses (such as Friendly's) sometimes do not honour these reservations and leave you room-less and in the street at 4 in the morning. Conveniently, Malate Pensionne across the road never seemed to be out of a room, but don't expect any cheap rooms to be left at that time.
Even at 4 in the morning, Malate and Ermita will be buzzing with life, with bars still going strong and restaurants still serving food.
If you booked a room upon arrival, you can leave your luggage with the reception and freely explore the city during the day until your departure.
Bus terminals tend to move around - allow time for the taxi driver to get lost on the way to the terminal.
Never believe what your guidebook says about bus frequency, trip duration or cost.
Do not expect any of the bus terminals or rest stops along the way to have any sort of good food. Purchase snacks for the trip ahead, unless you love Filipino sweets or organ stews.
With all things considered, you'll probably end up in Manila on more than one occasion. Use transit time to visit the city instead of setting days aside for it. Otherwise, you might find yourself with nothing to do while in transit...

Not impressed - yet

2008-04-07T19:13:00.002-07:00

(uploaded via hotmail)

here i am, in puerto galera. it seems like the only reason to be here is either to dive or to get a local girl. after manila, we were hoping that this place would more than make up for the start of the trip but it hasn't. we'd both rather be anywhere but here. you know it's bad when you're sitting on a beach and wishing that you could be in another country, or even, at home.

tomorrow we leave for donsol to go swim with the whale sharks. i'm afraid that it might not be worth the treck, afraid that we might end up in another disappointing place. i'm afraid that all of this really isn't worth my money or time...

i guess that all we can do is hope that this gets better!

heading out!

2008-04-02T10:04:00.001-07:00

heading out!, originally uploaded by Magalie L'Abbé.

Tomorrow I leave for the Philippines, where I will be for the next two weeks. Also included in the trip is two nights in Osaka - the flight configuration makes us stay one night each way in Japan. Two countries for the price of one! Who can complain?

Since I spent all of last week learning how to dive, I have been very busy and have just started to plan & organise everything. I mostly have no idea as to where I'll be going or how to get where I'd like to go... it's a bit stressful to be so last minute but also very exciting and liberating. And besside, what else am I supposed to do with all those hours on the plane?

Also exciting on this trip is that I am not going alone, but with my boyfriend. It's our first trip together, and hopefully we don't bud head too often!

But overall, I just can't wait to be somewhere warm, sunny and completely different than here. Caos, here I come!

souvenir from colorado

2008-01-07T22:12:00.000-08:00

bonne année, grand nez!

2008-01-02T18:23:00.000-08:00

another year has gone by, with 3 extra stamps in my passport (hong kong, macau and mexico), the exploration of the countryside (and country) along with a few visits to the neighbor's country. it's been a year of food and of wine. a year filled with a good job, good friends and the satisfaction of no longer owing money. there's also been lots of love, which is also a good thing.

every new year people go ahead and make resolution, and since it served me pretty well last year, i've decided to do so again this year. i will jump on the bandwagon and hopefully will not wake up one day down the road and realize that i'm on the wrong track. or something to that matter!

a fair waring to my readers (the 2 or 3 of you): my resolutions this year are very similar to last years and aren't very exciting. because let's admit it, we all pretty much want the same things.

* go to the gym & pool regularly to get myself in shape (and stay that way)
* put aside money from every pay cheque in preparation for the next big trip
* try to do even more cultural things this year
* keep on reading a lot
* take a picture a day (the concept of 365 pictures has been appealing to me quite a lot lately. do not be fooled into thinking that this is an easy task.)
* write more
* be more vocal, expressive
* let go, more often
* be happy

----------------------------

in order to be able to take a picture a day, i need to start taking my camera with me everywhere. for instance, what in the hell will i be taking a picture off today? i already missed two great shots by being camera-less. for example, tonight, while walking home through a park, a big great white dog was sitting on a concrete table, making him look like a sculpture. as i walked by, i saw an other white furry shape beside him. i kept looking, expecting to see a cute little puppy. but to my surprise, it was no puppy, but an albino bunny. that's right! a dog with his bunny friend , on a table, in a park. i swear, it was priceless. but you'll never know, will you?

winter wonderland

2008-01-01T23:17:00.000-08:00

well, i'm back from beautiful, snowy and cold colorado. i am tired, and i'm glad that there will be no more flights for a while (5 airplanes in 4 days is a bit much) and that i am no longer residing at over a mile above sea level. altitude can get to you - it can get hard to breathe sometimes or go up a flight of stairs. i am also glad that it is no longer cold. i mean, that i'm no longer cold. at points it got very cold and i couldn't get rid of the coldness... made me realize what living in vancouver has done to my upbringing in quebec.

colorado was gorgeous and i very much enjoyed it - we stayed in crested butte at a picturesque lodge on the side of a river. the scenery, the snow, the icicles, the crispness of the air, the cold (often staying at around -20°C) was all perfect, as if it had all been planned carefully and put together purposefully. i was constantly amazed at how the snow stuck to the branches of the trees, even after an evening of strong winds. the town was especially quaint and picturesque, with colourful old buildings... covered in snow! it is also the only place i've ever seen where people are stubborn enough to use their bike for transportation regardless of cold, snow or ice.

while crested butte is a ski town, i don't ski. i did partake in some winter activities though, namely snowshoeing, snowmobiling, sitting by the fire, collaborating on a puzzle, playing pool and drinking. there was also a lot of eating. of the outdoors activities, i very much enjoyed snowshoeing as it brought back plenty of memories from my childhood. the snowmobiling was fantastic while we were riding in tiny, windy trails through an evergreen forest covered in snow. it was not so fantastic when the visor of my helmet got completely frozen over and i couldn't see. it was also not so great when the trail was bumpy - our ski-doo was missing an handle in the back, and so i had to hold-on to the driver not to fall off. note to self and everybody else: do not attempt this, unless you enjoy constant helmet bumps, feeling like you need to hold on for dear life and spending a lot of time looking at the ride's dials instead of the scenery. i never experienced ski-doos as being a form of exercise but i am not sore all over.

back from mexico!

2007-12-16T17:35:00.000-08:00

the week in mexico flew by. the resort in cabo was quite nice, and we were lucky with the weather - it was mostly sunny all week. i had been wanting to go visit that side of mexico for a long time and i'm glad that i finally got to go. the whole place was stunning, with cacti meeting the ocean in a wonderful way. big, blue skies and a big, see-through ocean full of life makes for great scenery and lots of entertainment. dusty roads, street food, warm weather. hard to beat!

a week wasn't enough though, and i really do want to go back down there some day. go back there with lots of time, lots of film, camping gear and no plan. that would be great!

one of the great little trip that my mom and i took this week was to lover's beach by water taxi. lover's beach is this great little beach on the sea of cortez side, and it connects via a beach between tall, worn, granite cliffs to divorce beach on the pacific side. on the cortez side, the water is stunning and swimable. on the pacific side, the waves are big and dangerous - hence the beach's nickname. after a little exploring and a swim, we got back into the water taxi for a look at los arcos, a famous sight in cabo and the meeting point of the two bodies of water (land's end).

here is the view of los arcos from the water taxi:

and here are the resident sea lions that live beside that arc at land's end.

a travelling december

2007-12-02T15:51:00.001-08:00

Camino a Cabo Pulmo, BCS / Road to Cabo Pulmo, BCS, Mexico, 2006.
Originally uploaded by Dante Busquets

i am finally hitting the road again. it's been quite a while since i've left the country to go further than seattle! it will be nice to get some new stamps in the ol' passport.

on december 8th i will be heading down to cabo san lucas, in the baja california region of mexico. i have never been down there and i am very much looking forward to it. it looks quite different than any of the places that i have visited thus far and it will be great to visit a new spot in mexico. hopefully the weather will be fantastic and the tacos delicious. i'm also excited to go down there with a film camera (or 2 or 3? i need to control this obsession!) and shoot mexico through the (im)perfect lense of the holga (or the diana +, if it ever gets here!). and best of all: i will be there with my mom and will be able to enjoy all of it with her!

on december 28th, i will be heading down to texas, to spend some time with my boyfriend's family and discover a new area of the usa. oh, and of course, to fill up on bbq and tex-mex food! i'll also get to meet the (4+) family dogs, extended relatives, friends, the horses, etc... to be frank, it seems a bit overwhelming and i am quite nervous (yet excited) - but that's just silliness because i know that once i get there, it will all be fine. and fun!

i just hope that there's good movies on the flights!

Best halloween party ever!

2007-10-28T12:17:00.000-07:00

Last night was the Parade of the Lost Souls in Vancouver. It was awesome! So many people turned out and there were tons of wicked costumes. I'm glad that they brought the event back this year.

Stay posted for pictures of the event of flickr!

on the road again - soon!

2007-08-25T21:07:00.000-07:00

It's been quite a long time since my last post, I know! I can get pretty bad at this thing, unfortunately. But there hasn't been a lot of things going on though. Summer in Vancouver hasn't been as nice as usual, and so there has been a lot less activity than usual. Aside from the occasional camping trips, a winery tour of the Okanagan and weekly trips to the farmer's market, it's been pretty quiet. No hiking - it's been too wet and the snow line has stayed way too low.

But, on the upside, there is change ahead - we are heading East for the Labour Day long weekend. A trip worthy of being called a road trip, we will do a loop from Vancouver to Banff, than up to Jasper and back to Vancouver (see highlighted route on map bellow). On the way, we will pass hundreds of impressive white-tipped mountains, dozens of turquoise lakes and rivers, see glaciers, warm up in hot springs and see the tallest peak of the Rockies, which is also the source of the mighty Fraser river. I can't wait!

Now which camera should I bring???

ouchy!

2007-04-16T18:57:00.000-07:00

yesterday was the vancouver sun run, a fundraising 10 km that just so happens to be the largest in north america. my company was part of the corporate challenge, so i joined for the first time ever.

i was not disillusioned and did not think that i could run it - i instead decided to walk it *very quickly*. normally i'm a pretty fast walker, so i figured that i could do the full 10 km in less than 90 minutes.

on sunday we took our place and i kinda left like an ant in the crowd of 54'317 people. we had to wait over an hour to start but thankfully, we had good weather. the crowd persisted the entire way through and i consistently had to dodge people and make my way through. i walked fast, the fastest i've ever walked and the whole time my legs were hurting. i kept thinking how glad i was that 1. a month ago i spent insane amount of hours walking around hong kong and 2. i had good music to listen to.

on km 7, someone tapped my shoulder. it was an older gentleman, sweaty but smiling. "thank you!" he said. "you have a really good pace. i kept up with you up until stanley park but i went to take a piss and then i lost you. i finally caught up to you! i just wanted to say thank you." i smiled at him "i don't mean to say that i've been staring at your ass the entire time. just that you're going at a good speed. anyways, thank you." laughing, i wished him good luck while he invited me to go in front and set the pace.

near the end i was getting tired but i was still happy, enjoying myself. proud of myself. i crossed the finish line as # 29'897 and finished the race in 85:55 minutes, which i think is pretty fast for a walker. i achieved my goal of coming in within my time category. i did good!

now, i just need to stop feeling so sore! my legs, my ass and joints are making me walk like an old lady!

pastéis de nata

2007-04-13T20:02:00.000-07:00

before going to macau with victor, we consulted the LP hong kong world food guidebook to find some good eats. LP said that macau made the best egg tarts, and so i decided that i was going to try one over there.

we headed out to sweet street, an ex prostitution row turned pastry street that LP likes to call "tart street", pun intended. we arrived and surprisingly, every shop on the street was shut down except for the big, non mom 'n' pops one. what happened to the sweets, we don't know. but we were faced with rows of locked red doors.

we finally found some tarts at the base of the ruin of st paul's church, an iconic macanese sight.

the tart was warm, and it was flaky, with a silky smooth filling that had the perfect level of sweetness. it was delightful. this is the kind of stuff addictions are made off.

we continued our walking tour and even managed to find a portuguese restaurant on the island close by (finding such restaurant isn't as easy as it sounds) but afterwards, we were craving more tarts. so, we hopped on the bus and headed back to the main island's historical district (unesco protected and very charming) to eat some tarts and take in more sights. unfortunately, we arrived there at 9 pm and macau being the good little christian city that it is, had hardly any shops open. no tarts to be found. disappointed, we started to head back to the ferry for hong kong.

on the way there, we spotted a bakery that was selling some tarts. they weren't as good, but we were happy to get more of them.

on return to hong kong, i looked at the egg tarts there with a vast quantity of nostalgia. tarts in hk don't look nearly as good... i wanted the golden brown top of the macanese version. and guess where we found it? at kfc! yes, that's right! kfc. i never eat there but i made the exception for the tarts. they were greasier but quite tasty. and i curse hk airport for not having a kfc and thus, not allowing me to eat one more satisfying warm egg tart before flying back home.

time flies

2007-04-11T08:56:00.000-07:00

i've been meaning to do so much since i've been back to hong kong. i can't believe that it's nearly been a month... i've started posting some pictures of the trip but not too many - i took an insane ammount of pictures and i'm still trying to get through all of them, sort the good from the bad or ordinary and tweek them in photoshop. and all along i've been taking more pictures of cherry blossoms and random things in vancouver. i'm getting burried underneath pictures - i need to step away from the cameras!

on top of that, things at work have been hectic: restructuring and layoff is what i've been dealing with since i've been back. which means more work for me.

talking about work, i have to go! so many things to do, so little time.

hong kong, the final day

2007-03-19T03:22:00.000-07:00

today was my last day of sighteseeing and pretty much went as far away as i could go for sights. both destinations were around the new territories, but the first spot took me around 2.5 hours to get to. it's a good thing that hong kong is a small place! the first place that i wanted to visit was a tiny 500 year old walled hakka village called kat hing wai. while it was nice to see old buildings still standing, the tiny enclosure so called a village was not worth the trip. and what's more, while waiting for the bus back, i saw what looked to be a rabid dog, foaming at the mouth and all!

my wildlife adventures continued at the second sight, the 10'000 buddha monastery 9which really has 12'800 buddha). on my walk to there i saw a wild monkey and got quite the scare from two very aggressive dogs. and on my walk back from the temple, i saw my first hk rat.

what was great about today was the weather. i got to finally see some blue sky and sun. and to top it off, the humidity really calmed down today and the temperature was perfect - not too cold or hot. i'm glad that i managed to get one nice day out of my 12 full days here! at least though i didn't get any (heavy) rain that would have prevented me from sightseeing.

tomorrow afternoon i hop on my flight back home. thankfully it's shorter going back (by 3 hours) and i'll get to go back in time as i leave at 2 pm but arrive at 11 am on the same day. it's a lot better that way then the full day i lost on my way over!

when i get back home i will start working on my pictures - sorting the good from the bad or the ordinary and editing them to upload them on flickr. with the quantity i have taken, it should take me a long time to go through it all. so be patient, and keep visiting the picture site in the future for pictures of my trip.

hong kong vignettes

2007-03-13T21:54:00.000-07:00

on sunday morning victor and i went out for dim sum. apparently a lot of the places here have now gone digital and no longer use the carts to offer food to its patrons. while victor was trying to remember a good place to go, i mentioned that i had seen a place that looked good around soho - and so i now became the lead and we headed out. thankfully, i did remember where it was and i did pick a really good place.

located on the second floor, the restaurant was packed and full of activity. ladies pushing carts, old men spitting bones onto the table, lots of noise and hardly enough room to walk around. we picked a spot beside a few tables and waited for someone to leave (that's how you get a seat). after a while we found two seats at a table with 4 other people, and happily got started. the lady to our left at the table was quite nice and showed us how to pour the tea (it was not in a regular tea container) and i got up to find some food. first item - something that seemed like beef in a noodle pancake. it was tasty, with hints of peanuts but the meat was a little on the raw side and worried us a bit. then, a tray came out from the kitchen and everyone threw themselves at it - and so we wanted some. it turned out to be some sort of tall sponge cake, which was quite nice but hard to eat with chopsticks!

after the cake we returned to savoury foods, with steamed buns stuffed with chinese preserves sausage (very sweet, not my favourite) and chicken feet (because one has to - very fat and tastes like chicken, but quite hard to eat). then we had the sort of meat balls on bean curd, they tasted like the meat from the pancakes. for the last dish, we had bright yellow dumplings, stuffed wit pork and shrimp (surprise!). they were quite good but i would have prefered them not having shrimps.

we left full, satisfied and happy from the experience.

***

yesterday i ended up in wan chai, an area that can be at points quite oriented towards tourists and expats - especially the male kind. when the sun started to set the neons got turned on and bouncers can out to the street to regulate patronage at the dance establishments. the signs say that the club offer "model dancers", not strippers and nothing sexy, although the pictures on the wall do show ladies in underwear.

what surprised me was how many of such clubs there is and that most places had old ladies serving as the bouncers.

while i was sitting a lemon tea at a coffee shop, i had for a view a few of these dance clubs. at 7:30 pm, two dancers came out in from of a club - dressed to the 9 in black nylons, garter belts, mini skits and slinky tank tops - to try to get more male customers. they both stood there, bathed in the light of the neon sign, trying not to be cold. one of the girls did not seem too comfortable with this, and kept pulling on her skirt and top to cover herself more. regardless, she happily called out to white male passerby things i could not hear, but that i am certain were inviting.

ah, hong kong!

hong kong - better when wet

2007-03-10T01:52:00.000-08:00

so, today was my second day of full-on sight seeing. my feet are hurting, my legs are sore and my shoulders ache from carrying my day bag. in all, things are as they should be.

over the past two days i've learned a few things about hong kong - it can be pretty soulless and blah. big skyscrapers are nice and all,but buildings are only buildings and they lack the charm of lived-in,history oozing small buildings that look like they are about to fall at the seam (like inpenang's chinatown, per say). hong kong has pretty much gotten rid of anything colonial or historic, and so most of everything built lacks charm. not to say that the architecture isn't wonderful at points - because it is, but you get what i mean.

i also learned that people in hong kong don't like being taken in pictures. they also don't seem to understand the concept of my asking permission before taking a shot. perhaps my lack of language skill makes my them miss the point, but i keep getting yelled at. on the other hand, some are more than happy to pose. too bad they are quite the minority.

the most inportant thing i discovered about hong kong is that i like it wet. not as in "it's raining" wet, but as in "wet market". a wet market is just that - places where the floor will get wet and nasty and where you've got to roll-up your pants before walking through it. and what's at a wet market, you may ask? butchers, veggies and fruit stands, flowers and best of all - fish and seafood. here, they like their fish as alive as possible. even when cut to pieces or cut in half, the fish will be bloody and the heart well exposed and still beating. fish heads still have the gills and lungs on, and are still moving. it's quite the sight.

talking about sights, i've already moved on to my second memory card. this has to be
record-breaking picture-taking stream for me. i had expected 1 card to last me between 5 to 7 days. i guessi'll need to start burning cds soon!

other than that, things are going well. it's great to be staying with my friend victor. i'm not suffering from jet lag. it hasn't been rainning. but it could be better - it could be warmer, and it could be sunny! pictures are just not as good with so much clouds and it's preventing me from going to the "peak" to get a nice view of the city.

tomorrow is sunday - and i'm heading in the early am to macau with victor. it will be nice to get more of the colonial feel in both the architecture and the food. i'll take a picture of me drinking vino verde (the official drink of macau - a portuguese white wine) in china! [edit - did not go to macau yet, but will do that very same thing when i do end up going]

ps. victor has lent me a cellphone for while i am in hong kong. my first cell phone ever! i don't like them by principle but here it will be quite practical to have one. i feel very behind the ages while trying to use it -i'm quite incompetent. and to make things even better, i've got quite the inauspicious phone number! i've got two 4 and no 8. ah well!

hong kong - day of travel

2007-03-08T17:13:00.000-08:00

i am now in hong kong, landed, refreshed after a night of must needed sleep. looking outside the window, there are clouds covering the top of the mountains. dozen of identical apartment towers stand crowded together. i can see in so many people's condos. i should have brought my binoculars.

---

yesterday, the day of travel, was very long. up at 8, i was at the airport by 10 only to learn that my flight had been delayed by 2 hours. victor had forwarded me - flight ac7 is always late. so i ate a big breakfast and killed some time. i even managed to get some shut eye before boarding the plane. on the plane though, it was a different story.

my re-acclimatisation to china started right there, in my seat. i had managed to remember and forget, at the same time, that the chinese do not have the luxury of space or inhibitions. every man for himself, the 3 kids behind me kicked my seat non-stop and even managed to shove their tiny hands in my hair. the gentleman next to me decided that reading a newspaper is a great way to keep busy on a flight - but forget about folding the pages first! when all the pages had been read, he leaned over to my side during an entire movie and during his many naps, i was scared that his head would end up on my shoulder. and it did.

the food was bad, the flight was long and air canada did not have the kindness to provide us with personal tv. ah well.

we landed in hong kong at 8:30, 1.5 hours later than scheduled. upon exiting the airplane i was rediscovered the charm of propaganda - tsing tao was telling me to "live your life" and the hand towel dispenser in the restroom suggested that i "save the environment and use less paper". even the voice in the shuttle train offered that i consider taking the elevator upon exiting.

hong kong airport has got to be the most efficient airport i have ever been to. i never had to wait for much of anything and everything was clearly indicated. the custom officer even had bowls of candy in front of their window.

i then hopped on the airport express (because after such a long flight, who cares about the HK$100 - CAD$15) and met up with victor, my friend from vancouver who is nice enough to put up with me and my bags for the duration of my stay. we headed right away to his place and that's where i've been ever since.

so, i'm now off to take a shower and to explore "central" for the day! i hope that i don't get (too) lost!

hong kong

2007-03-02T15:38:00.000-08:00

i'm going to hong kong!!!

it actually didn't sink in that i am leaving next week until i was speaking to a customer yesterday. time flies and now i don't feel ready for it. it feels much too soon, perhaps because i feel quite unprepared - even though i am. it's quite exciting though, and i can't wait to get there. i had been dreaming of going back to china for months, and somehow hong kong was where i wanted to go, and next week it will be a reality. i can't wait for the craziness, the crowds, the smell, the markets, the food, the ferry rides and temple visits. i want to walk the streets and get lost (as i used to do in tokyo) and takes pictures. too bad all that mandarin i remember (aka, very little, but still!) will be useless.

what will be great of hong kong as well is the mix with british culture and the proximity of macau. i loved melaka in malaysia and i hope that the mix of chinese and portuguese will be wonderful there too. and to top it off - a friend of mine is living there!

so this weekend i have to start packing and buy last minutes stuff. it's nice though to head out with a backpack again - much lighter this time around i hope - and do the stuff of dreams again. since being back from my last trip, i had been missing being on the road. but really, what i missed was the constant changes, the challenges, the happiness and the independence. i'm glad i get to get that again, even if just for 2 weeks.

picture of hong kong skyline (cc) J.E.S (John Skodak)

oh so quiet

2007-02-13T09:42:00.000-08:00

i never write enough, really. i have good intentions but there are just too many damn things that i want to do and instead of making a list and getting to it i kinda go from one thing to another and never get to what i want to do. i think that i want more time. i need more time, to catch up, to do things. i need to be more efficient, perhaps. there's just so much to do. and this takes the back seat.

i wish that everyday life was more blog worthy. i wish that my travel blog was more about travels.

on the upside i am heading out on an other trip soon (more on that later) and so this blog will get more updating action and a return to it's original roots. and that sure is great!

2007-01-12T22:56:00.000-08:00

to add to our weather madness, vancouver's street and sidewalks have been turned into ice rinks. and the north coast of bc is under a tsunami warning.

what's next?

the world, turned upside down

2007-01-10T14:28:00.000-08:00

aka - mother nature, i'm sorry!

---

when i grew up in montreal, i was used to cold winters and lots of snow. recess was only spent inside if it was colder than -20 C outside and children used to play on huge snowbanks at the corner of street intersections. you'd go out looking like the michelin man because of all of the layers you had on. and the cold didn't stop us from doing anything.

over the years, the weather wasn't so cold and the snow wasn't as plentiful, but it was still montreal. i moved to toronto, where it was even warmer, and always appreciated montreal for the winter wonderland that it was. and when i moved back "home" at 19 and experienced a month of -30 C to -50 C weather, i took it as being part of the package and layered-on the clothes.

at 22 i moved to vancouver. it was wonderful to be in a city so warm in the winter time - it was quite the change. i'd talk to family back home and hear of the snow and cold and felt quite comforted with the rain and warmth caused by the pacific. every year it would snow - but only for one week and it never got too cold.

this year, though, everything changed. the weather in canada has been turn upside down and nothing makes sense anymore. last week, it was 16 C in montreal. thus far, it has only snowed there for a couple of days and it has already all melted away. and what is it like in vancouver? right now, we are under a blanket of snow. yes, it is pretty. but it's not normal. it's already snowed on more than 3 serious instances this year. we've had flooding in between. and serious wind storms from hawaii. we are loosing our trees as they keep falling over. we are turning into montreal. and montreal is turning into us.

mother nature: i'm sorry. i'm sorry about having abused your resources and believed that global warming would cause later. i'm sorry you're all out of whack. i wish i could fix you.

succumbing to the required new year's resolution

2007-01-04T14:16:00.000-08:00

new year's res-o-lu-tion. Noun. def: 1. The state or quality of being resolute; firm determination. 2. A resolving to do something. 3. A course of action determined or decided on. 4. That thing you never get around to doing.

i usually try not to take new year's resolutions. the thing is, no one ever keeps them, including myself. it's just a thing we do to make ourselves (temporarily) feel better about ourselves and to brighten the outlook of the year ahead.

i tried to remember some of my past resolutions, and i can't even remember last year's. did i even make any? who knows. they couldn't have been that important if i ever got around to them.

but for some reason, this year, i feel like making a list. i've been charmed by the delusion. i want to be part of those who hope to better themselves, if even for a few days. i want to feel that i am heading in a direction that brings a happier life. i want that delusion, really. i swear, i'll pretend to forget all i know about resolutions. i want to be naïve. i want to play along.

so, for the new year, i want to:

* get back the muscles and cardio I had while traveling
* do more cultural things, from reading more to attending festivals
* learn to perfect the art of photography (aka, improve myself)
* be more social, more in touch with friends, meet new people
* be happy, do things to make myself happy, indulge, be selfish (ok, now it sounds like a bad resolution)
* cook more often
* save more money
* work on my goal to convert my travel journal into a book (not for publishing though)
* go on an other trip, even if short (yeah, right.)

well, that’s about all that i can think of right now. how long it will last for, i don’t know. will i remember to work on these things? god only knows. but for some reason, i do feel good about my resolutions. i feel like this year has a pleasant direction to it.

it's official!

2006-12-22T15:54:00.000-08:00

my picture is now up on the vogue.fr website. you can the access the "vitrines de noël" special feature directly, or skip everything else and see my picture here.

i am so very excited!!!

that's one great christmas gift!

2006-12-20T15:08:00.000-08:00

nothing beats flattery. well, that's not true. cashmere, diamonds, vacations - they all beat it. but regardless. flattery is a great compliment and it's been handed to me this christmas by no other than vogue france.

yes, that's right! vogue, the fashion magazine that is an institution around the world. they saw the picture i took of the window at tiffany and co and asked if they could use it in their special on store's christmas windows ("vitrines de noël"). granted, it's not for the magazine but for the website, but still. it's quite the compliment.

here is the picture that caught their eye:

i will keep on checking the site to see if the picture shows up. until then, i won't really believe it! and when it does show up, i will, of course, put up the link.

silence amongst madness

2006-12-19T15:29:00.000-08:00

this has been the longest silence yet. i am sorry. for perhaps disappointing some of you, but mostly for disappointing myself. throughout my life, of all of the times that i have started a journal (whatever it's form ), i have never kept it going. the novelty wears off. laziness kicks in. things happen. and before you know it, it's gone. but this blog has been different. it's the longest going journal i've ever had. and i don't want to let it go. that's why i hate it when i let it go for so long. it's scary, how easy it is to let things slip away.

i was silent during the madness that was going on in vancouver. which is funny, because there was a lot to say. about november being the wettest month ever. about flooding and contamination of the drinking water. about the earliest snow storm that i've seen since i've been here. how beautiful it was and excited i was to see snow. i missed the snow last year. and this snow made vancouverites become tourists in their own city, walking around with cameras, mesmerized. and then it melted away, like it always does. december brought wind storms from hawaii. trees fell down. the last one tore pieces of our roof down. with wind gusts of 125 km/h (apparently, the equivalent of a category 2 tornado), i thought that my windows were going to blow in. and now we are back to normal. warm weather, lots of annoying rain.

it's all been quite unusual. who ever said that global warming wasn't happening just got proven wrong.

the madness is also in trying to do everything before christmas. fixing pictures. getting presents. trying to make things perfect.

but i have found myself a couch (am now no longer using a single mattress in lieu of a couch. i have a beautiful dinning table. things are falling into place.

dia de los muertos

2006-11-01T11:30:00.000-08:00

today is the day of the deads. today, i am remembering many that have come and gone in my life.

the funny thing though is that i basically have no idea what dia de los muertos is really all about. i mean, i know that it's to celebrate the souls of the deceased but i don't know how it came about or what one is meant to do. thus, i've decided to read a bit more about it. you can do the same here.

fall

2006-10-18T17:03:00.000-07:00

while driving around to go to the okanagan for the fall wine festival i was amazed and overjoyed to see all of the leaves changing to pretty colours. vancouver and the west coast is full of evergreens and beautiful fall foliage can be hard to find. clearly, this is not quebec or ontario.

i realized that i *missed* fall, with it's colours and crisp air. and then it hit me: i was missing it even more than usual because last year, i skipped fall! i was in asia and i had a continuous summer - i loved it and i regret none of it (and still dream of it) but somewhere, deep down, fall was overdue. call it being home sick or whatever. but seeing red, orange and yellow leafs everywhere has made cheered me up.

it feels right, and good. it's a beautiful time of year.

Because that makes everything better

2006-10-10T13:56:00.000-07:00

On the nuclear bomb test North Korea performed, North Korea's official Korea Central News Agency reported that the test used "indigenous wisdom and technology 100 per cent".

Are we really supposed to find this comforting?

Because last I've heard, "indigenous wisdom" is just an other expression used by a communist country to brainwash its people into thinking that they are a superior nation. And 100% technology is obviously needed to create a bomb and make it explode. I know that they want meant this as a way to show themselves are being responsible and in control - but heck, I think the rest of the world would be happier if they simply didn't have the bomb.

I don't know if it's just me, but I am very afraid of a nation that can train their countrymen and women into forming insanely straight lines and to become masters of the art/card arrangement. I mean, if they can do this, what can't they do?

[Picture of the Mass Games (Pyongyang) from Leef Smith.]

Candy

2006-10-05T15:47:00.000-07:00

Australia, 2006, 108 min, Color, 35mm
Directed By: Neil Armfield
EXEC PRODS: Andrew Mackie, Richard Payten, Michael Whyke, Terrence Yason
PRODS: Maragret Fink, Emile Sherman
SCR: Neil Armfield, Luke Davies
CAM: Garry Phillips
ED: Dany Cooper
MUS: Paul Charlier
Cast: Heath Ledger, Abbie Cornish, Geoffrey Rush, Tony Martin, Noni Hazlehurst

The last movie that we went to see was Candy, an other movie which played in front of a packed house. With Heath Ledger as a protagonist, that didn't come as much of a surprise.

Candy is the love story between poet Dan (Ledger) and painter Candy (Cornish), a beautiful couple which appears to be living an idyllic love. But under the appearances, the couple is deeply addicted to heroin. As their addiction grow stronger, their life take a turn to the worst. Candy starts doing tricks for money and Dan starts stealing. And as any good junky, they hope to get clean...

Divided into three segments - Heaven, Earth and Hell - Candy shows us some of the darker sides of addiction. Interestingly though, it also shows us the power of love and throughout the movie, a certain beauty shines through. Candy is a strong and powerful film, but at often times I found myself having a difficult time truly connecting and feeling for the couple. Perhaps I simply wasn't in the right frame of mind...

this is goodbye

2006-10-03T15:34:00.000-07:00

today, at 6pm, i will be putting my cat to sleep. she never recovered from her illness and has been suffering from ulcers, nausea, vomiting and anorexia for far too long. it has to end.

i know that it's the right thing to do but it certainly isn't the easy thing to do. it's sad, upsetting, frustrating and seems unfair. i don't want to let her go. i will miss her far too much. she's been one amazing cat to me.

lately i've been petting her a lot and telling her stories, set to the sound of her (unusual) quiet purrs. about how i got to have her, what she used to do as a kitten, and examples of how clever she could be. i've been talking to her a lot, telling her how i feel and how i will remember her. about how much i love her and how thankful i am that i got to spend 5 happy years with her. it seems though that no matter what i do or say, i feel like i should do more.

i might be quiet over the next few days, while i try to deal with this. she will leave a big empty hole in my life.

Un Dimanche à Kigali

2006-10-02T15:51:00.000-07:00

Canada, 2006, 118 min, Color, 35mm
Directed By: Robert Favreau
PRODS: Lyse Lafontaine, Michael Mosca
SCR: Robert Favreau
CAM: Pierre Mignot
ED: Hélène Girard
MUS: Jorane
Cast: Luc Picard, Fatou N'Diaye

Un Dimanche à Kigali is a love story set in Rwanda in the spring of 1994. Bernard Valcourt (Luc Picard) is in Kigali, Rwanda's capital, filming a documentary on the state of AIDS in this country which refuses to acknowledge the disease. While staying at the Hôtel Des Milles Collines, a hotel favoured amongst expats, Valcourt falls in love with Gentille (Fatou N'Diaye), a beautiful Rwandan waitress.

During this time, tensions escalates in the country and the war (genocide) starts between the Utus and the Tutsis. Unable to get married, the couple gets separated while trying to escape the bloodshed and Valcourt gets stranded at the border, unable to extend his protection due to his foreigner status to Gentille. After a few frustating months, he return to Rwanda try to find Gentille. But with Gentille being from both Utu and Tutsi parents, her chance of having survived the war are very slim.

The movie is poignant and graphic, but I found it hard to really get into. I found that the dialog seemed artificial at points: it seemed more fit for writing than for every day speech. Some characters felt flat and I had a hard time really caring for the characters. This movie could have easily been a tear jerker but all of these little things made me not fully get into the story. By comparison, I enjoyed Hotel Rwanda a lot more and felt that the performances in that movie were a lot more powerful.

Shortbus

2006-10-01T15:45:00.000-07:00

USA, 2006, 102 min, Color, 35mm
Directed By: John Cameron Mitchell
EXEC PRODS: Michael J. Werner, Wouter Barendrecht
PRODS: Howard Gertler, Tim Perell, John Cameron Mitchell
SCR: John Cameron Mitchell
CAM: Frank G. DeMarco
ED: Brian A. Kates
MUS: Yo La Tengo
Cast: Sook-Yin Lee, Paul Dawson, Lindsay Beamish, PJ DeBoy, Raphael Barker

On Saturday night we went to see Shortbus, which played in front of a seriously packed house. The saying is true: sex does sell. This being the movie's Canadian première (unconfirmed, really, but overheard), some of the actors were present for some (very revealing) Q & A at the end but director John Cameron Mitchell could not attend.

Shortbus is the story of individuals, all in some form of relationship, who are looking for a connection and greater happiness in NY, NY in the post 9/11 age. At the heart of the story is Canada's own Sook-Yin Lee as Sofia, a married sex therapist who has never experienced an orgasm. She's counseling a gay couple, knows as the Jamies, one of whom is in deep depression. The Jamies introduce Sofia to Shortbus, and at the club she bonds with a dominatrix, Severin, while the boys enlist a third, Ceth, to save their relationship. Mitchell has created an exceptional, highly sentimental portrait of modern city dwellers unable to allow others to penetrate their shells in non-sexual ways.

Developed by Mitchell in collaboration with his stellar ensemble through numerous improv sessions, Shortbusis a spiritual quest for genuine contact and connection. But to get to the genuine, there is a lot of physical contact. Shortbus is highly sexualised, and while the sex is graphic and real, it is never uncalled for and certainly never makes us feels uncomfortable. Sex and related encounters in Mitchell's movie - be it gay, straight or solo - are quirky and funny and serve as a form of dialog. During the Q & A, Lee explained that Mitchell was trying to use sex in this movie to do what songs did in Hedwig and the Angry Inch and I think that he succeeded at doing so.

I really did enjoy Shortbus. The dialog was smart and humor was almost always present. I found myself wanting to own this movie (I own Hedwig, and *adore* it) until 3/4 of the film through. The last quarter is not as funny, and I was a tad disappointed by that. But regardless, this is a smart movie that deserves all the praise it as been getting.

As for the Q & A, it was fantastic. Sook-Yin Lee felt very talkative and explained many things in detail, from casting to production. She provided us with a lot of details pertaining to filming the sex scenes and how actors overcame their shyness. From female condoms to growing up in the Lynn Valley, we were given a lot of insider and personal information. I think that the insights that Lee provided enabled the audience to have a greater appreciation for Shortbus.

Volver

2006-09-30T15:58:00.000-07:00

Spain, 2006, 121 min.
Directed by: Pedro Almodóvar
Cast: Penélope Cruz, Carmen Maura, Lola Dueñas, Blanca Portillo, Yohana Cobo, Chus Lampreave, María Isabel Díaz.

Friday night was for Volver, (lit, To Return) a movie by famed Spanish Director Pedro Almodóvar (Best known for All About my Mother, Talk To Her and Bad Education) that's been the talk of this year's film festivals. Unsurprisingly, Volver played in front of a packed house.

Volver is the story of a mother (Maura) who decide to return to her family in order to fix situations that she could not resolve during her life. Her ghost becomes the comfort of her sister and soon, of her daughters (Cruz, Dueñas) and her grandchild (Cobo). Added to the mix is plenty of fantastic shots of Cruz's cleavage, dirty family secrets and witty, sharp dialog.

This is a good movie by Almodóvar (it's not like he really ever does bad movies!) and it feels very similar in writing. While it is not as good as Todo Sombre Mi Madre (All About My Mother) and may not get equivalent praise, it is still a great movie that is worth seeing. As always, Cruz is great to watch in a kitchen and Almodóvar's dialogues are quite entertaining.

Colour Me Kubrick

2006-09-29T16:24:00.000-07:00

France, UK, 2005, 86 min, 35mm
Directed By: Brian Cook
EXEC PRODS: Luc Besson, Pierre-Ange Le Pogam, Steve Christian, Donald A. Starr, Daniel J.B. Taylor, Colin Leventhal
PRODS: Brian Cook, Michael Fitzgerald
SCR: Anthony Frewin
CAM: Howard Atherton
ED: Alan Strachan
MUS: Bryan Adams
Cast: John Malkovich, Jim Davidson, Richard E. Grant, Luke Mably, Terence Rigby

Last night I went to the Canadian Premiere of Colour Me Kubrick, which was being showed in the 25th edition of the Vancouver International Film Festival. This is the true (-ish) story of British conman Alan Conway (John Malcovich), who in the late 90's went around London posing as Stanley Kubrick. During these years, Conway was very successful at getting a lot while giving nothing in return from people who believed he was the famed director and believed his promises of fame.

While Malkovich is fantastic in his role, the story itself falls a little flat. There is humour, impossible wardrobe and situations, but virtually no plot. The sole purpose of the movie is to show what Conway did, but because he pretty much gets away with it all, there is no set dénoument or conclusion. One can not even say that the movie is about character development. But Malkovich makes up for a lot of it, and the costume department did the rest by putting together some of the worst outfits in history (and yes, that's a good thing).

Overall, this is a good arthouse movie and an enjoyable one too. But it is easy to understand why this movie will not get a wide release and why it will probably only run in smaller theatres - it doesn't stick to the Hollywood conventions structure wise, which can be seen as a good thing by some) and the layout of the story makes it hard for us to care enough about the characters.

catching up to life

2006-09-29T12:54:00.000-07:00

for some reason i feel like i'm falling behind on everything in my life. in doing the dishes, cleaning, doing laundry, painting my walls, organising my life, buying furniture, retouching my pictures. and especially on life itself. i'm busy, and i have such a long list of "to do" that i'm having a hard time enjoying the moment and simply being happy. it's very sad, especially since i've been doing some great stuff lately.

i went to my friend's wedding two weedkends ago on vancouver island. this is my first friend to get married. the wedding was beautiful, and the location at strathcona lodge was simply stunning. apart for the insane long waits for the ferry to and from the island, i had a wonderful time. i also got home with a crazy quantity of seafood... but who can complain about eating large helpings of oysters for two days in a row?

and now i've got a good quantity of tickets for big movies at the vancouver international film festival, so my evenings are mostly booked with late representations. i'm debating doing mini-reviews on the site... we'll see how it goes!

we're lucky lately in vancouver because the weather is still beautiful. but nice weather means being busy and being busy means that nothing feels quite relaxing. am i secretly wishing for the rain to return? of course i'm not. but i can't wait until i'm done what i'm supposed to do and that the weekend rolls around without any plans having been made. sometimes, not knowing and not planning can be very liberating. until then, i'm booked until the last weekend of october. yikes!

a bloodless coup

2006-09-20T15:13:00.000-07:00

i was really surprised today to read in the newspapers of the recent coup in thailand. i mean, aren't things going bad enough in that country already? bomb explosions a few days ago, the tsunami a few years back... you'd think that adding a coup to that list would bring a serious drop in the influx of tourists. but i guess that this was not on the military's mind when they decided to enter bangkok with tanks and encircle the government buildings.

what's scary to me is that i've been to that city and looking at some pictures i knew where it was. it felt a lot more real than if it had happened in a country i had not visited. i thought about all of the tourists and the hopeless hippies of khao san road and it gave me chills. i felt lucky that this didn't happen while i was there. i mean, the government buildings are just a few blocks away from the mecca of tourism!

picture from nbc.com

there's nothing good that can come from a coup. but reading more about the issue on hand, it's hard to tell if there may not be some good in it. while it's hard to pick a side, i can't help but think that there could have been a better way. the thai people don't need any more hardship... thailand can't afford to appear as an unstable and dangerous place to visit. (on the other hand, this may rid the country of annoying tourist, leaving only the true, hardcore travelers visiting for a while... thus restoring the country to it's former, paradisiac self.)

anyhow, all i really wanted to say is that the events, especially mixed with those of last week, deeply sadden me.

you can read some interesting background information in this article by cbc.ca.

5 things to eat before I die

2006-09-12T15:09:00.000-07:00

So it seems that Helen from Grab Your Fork has found my blog and has invited me to tag myself for Melissa's 5 Things to Eat Before You Die, which in turn I will distort and pretend that it was a direct tag. You know, for sanity reasons.

There is a certain irony to this though. On one hand, I wanted this badly and I though that this was a fantastic idea. On the other hand, how can anyone come up with only 5 things! This has been torturing me all day. Ideas of what to include or exclude, and the fear that I'd miss or forget the most important things.

So, amidst all these foods and memories, these made the cut. It was incredibly hard to select only 5 and to choose these amongst so many others. These are in no particular order and may very well change in time. But today, this is my list.

1. Heirloom tomatoes. The black ones are just like heaven.

2. A real, whole lamb mechoui. I had the pleasure of attending a mechoui when I was a child, and it as marked me for life. It was at my friend's cottage, and the whole thing was a big event with tons of people attending. I remember the lamb roasting for hours, smoking and filling the air with succulent scents. I remember my best friend and I eating lamb until we were full, and then some. I remember digging into the carcass for tender meat hidden between bones. Before I die, I want to experience a mechoui again, with many friends at a lovely location in the country.

3. White nectarine. Enough said.

4. My dad's bread. If you're ever in Knowlton, QC, go to Panissimo and eat some real, damn good bread. You can't find stuff like that easily!

5. New Zealand delicacies! But specifically: A) Fish n' chips. Just North of Paihia on the North Island, one can find the best Fish n' Chips in New Zealand. And frankly, I've never had better. Never frozen, the fish is as fresh as it can get - it's even guaranteed that there's less than 2 hours between the fish being caught and it being served in your plate. Perfectly battered, immensely tender and juicy, the fish and the scallops were simply perfect. Sitting on the side of the ocean with a beer and Stray friends, it's really hard to beat. B) Melt Pizza, Auckland NZ. Melt is not conventional pizza - it's true kiwi style. Fresh ingredients and stuff we're not used to gladly get put on pizzas down there and the result is fantastic. I would gladly travel back to NZ for a taste of the Thai Chicken Satay or the Tijuana Pizza. Because they are that good. C) Tip Top ice cream. Tip Top makes the tastiest ice cream, again, with the focus being on fresh local products. The standard is called "Hokey Pokey", which is a mix of creamy vanilla ice cream with chunks of caramelised Manuka (local) honey. And then there's the passion fruit flavour, made with real fruits and seeds. And what's more? It's ridiculously cheap. D) Kumara sweet potatoes. There's no sweeter potato out there!

These next ones didn't make the cut, but they are very close to my heart: dumplings in a dirty hole-in-the-wall restaurant in China, real buttery croissant, a Bière LaRue beer inVietnam (from the bottle with the printed-on label), poutine, fresh strawberries right off the field, goat's cheese, my mom's infamous Christmas doughnuts (because even though she lost the recipe when I was a child and I never got to taste them, I'd still like to know what the hype is about!), Montreal bagels, cheese cake, roti canai in Malaysia, sticky rice on a long buse ride in Laos.

all we need is

2006-09-11T16:40:00.000-07:00

especially so today.

grrr

2006-09-11T16:27:00.000-07:00

whoa! i've been bored at work lately. i keep reading other people's blogs and looking a pictures on flickr and somehow i'm envious. see, for some reason people out there are traveling and enjoying life while i sit at my desk. even people at home get the blessing of being pestered with "memes" and lists to complete and the likes. the most occurring of these seem to be the "things to eat before you die" meme (which is pure genius, and i've read all 1170 entries, thank you very much) and the numerous variations on the "soundtrack of my life" (thanks victor for being the only one to include zip files!). so, while i hate memes and lists and surveys and the whole whatnot, i've realized today while sitting in my cubicle that i was dying for someone to pester me with one. why can't we bring back the days of email chain "learn more about me" style emails? why can't people tag me for stupid stuff like this? i obviously can't just start joining them on my own, can i? that would just be sad...

guess who's back!

2006-09-05T14:43:00.000-07:00

puce came back home last night, purring her little heart out. she's quite happy to be home and to be getting so much attention. i still wish that she'd eat more and that she wouldn't fight me so much about taking her meds, but hopefully things will get better from now on.

pretty pou,

2006-09-01T15:16:00.000-07:00

i miss you!

get better, ok?

when nothing goes as planned

2006-08-28T14:18:00.000-07:00

no matter what i tried to do this weekend, nothing went as planned. starting from the keg running out of prime rib at 9 pm on a friday night, it went downhill from there.

i was in whistler to do the singing pass trail, a hike that i've been wanting to do for 3 years now. on saturday morning, we set out to start the hike and took a wrong turn up the mountain. we had to backtrack and 1 hour into the hike, we didn't even have 1 km under our belt. we tried going for a bit more, but i was not feeling it at all. i felt way too tired, weak and frustrated: i had to abandon the hike. i kept feeling like i was about to break into an asthma attack at any point (which is odd considering that two weeks back, i had done amazingly well hiking garibaldi). i was really disappointed. anyhow, we turned around, ate some food, relaxed and headed for the lift to get back down the mountain. the lift was broken! we had to walk down the mountain to the next lift, then wait in line for 1h before we could go down.

we ordered some pizza back at my place and the food was just not arriving. when we called back the restaurant, we learned that the delivery car had been in an accident and that our food would not be coming. great! so we ordered from another place, and ate.

meanwhile, my cat was not feeling well. she had not eaten and had been sick plenty of time during the day that i was gone. that night, she was sick again, and the next morning, yet again. so, my sunday we spent taking my cat to the vet, where she spent the night hooked up on IV. she's still there, and we still don't know what is wrong with her. it's making me quite upset and worried.

and then dinner didn't work out. and now my right shoulder is so stiff with pain that i can't put my arm up.

when will it all stop??? i want karma on my side again!

dark days

2006-08-24T14:00:00.000-07:00

very somber days at work. it can't be helped though: one cannot speak of restructuration, lay offs, head counts and the likes with a smile on their face. it's depressing, it's sad, it's abrupt and unexpected. major meetings. emotions in people's voice. it says a lot when you listen to this, and without knowing most people being let go, feel tears rising in one's eyes. it says a lot when the president of the company chokes up, fighting back tears. has to stop talking. it's not easy.

my job is safe though, it seems. but i can't help but think, "but for how long"...

silence

2006-08-22T14:37:00.000-07:00

during the day, while at work, i visit other people's blogs and i get disappointed when i see that they have not been updated. i realize that this is pretty hypocritical of me, considering that i have also been kind of quiet lately.

there are many reasons for this, of course. excuses are easy. i keep myself busy. and when i am not, the internet is not working. and then, there's the whole issue about the fact that i feel like there's nothing much to write about anymore. i'm not traveling. i'm not discovering fantastic things. i don't feel the need to write and share with the people back home where i'm at and up to. it seems like the use of this blog as kinda diminished in my eyes lately.

but the thing is, i don't want to give it up. i'm attached to it. call it sentimental value if you will. i've never managed to keep a journal before for this long. it makes me proud to know that i've kept this up for over a year now. it would be a shame to give it up now.

i guess that i have to come to terms with the fact that this cannot (for the time being) be the same kind of blog as before. i need to find things to write about, but i can't expect it to be the same. it needs a temporary shift of perspective, until i can save enough money and get moving again. in a couple years. sight.

maybe why it feels harder right now is that i'm now stuck in this whole "this is what i was doing last year, this is where i was and this is where i am now - this is boring!" kinda jam. i'm not sure if that makes sense, or if that even was a sentence! what i meant to say is that i'm nostalgic. and perhaps a tad bitter.

on the upside, i've been eating a lot of beautiful, incredible heirloom tomatoes lately. trust me when i say that you have not taste a tomato until you've tried the real thing. it is absolutely divine. all of the hunting and spending for them is worth it, for all of the happiness their pretty coloured skin and luscious flesh give me.

2006-08-17T15:47:00.000-07:00

there is the beer from back home in quebec that i really like. it's called blanche de chambly, and it tastes divine. drinking it brings me back home in spirit, and reminds me what i love and miss about la belle province. while other unibroue beers are available here in vancouver, ma blanche isn't. thus, last time i visited montreal, i made sure to bring back two bottles of this broue in my luggage. since then, i have drank one, and have been treating my last bottle in a similar way one would with an expensive wine - it's too good to drink, and there are no occasions worthy enough to warrant drinking it.

that is, until i went to seattle this weekend. i was browsing numerous shops and stores at pike place market and found - yes, you've guessed it - my beloved blanche. now, i never thought that i'd find my favourite canadian beer at a grocery store in the usa. but i did. and now, my single bottle is three. while i still don't know how to pair this wine with the perfect occasion, at least now i know that if i run out, i can always drive south for 3 hours and pick up a couple more! it's worth it, no?

politically incorrect, v.2

2006-08-16T18:58:00.000-07:00

found at a mexican grocery store at pike place market, in seattle wa.

and i thought americans were afraid of anything potentially racial due to their whole slavery history thing... i guess i was wrong!

politically incorrect

2006-08-11T16:45:00.000-07:00

apparently i can't spell the word mozzarella. while i was looking up how to write it properly, i found this brand of mozzarella for sale on amazon.

talk about not being PC.

a year ago

2006-07-31T15:41:00.000-07:00

i was packing my bags. i was nervous. i was scared. i felt overwhelmed. i was carrying a bag which felt too heavy for me, for numerous reasons. a year ago i left vancouver to go travel. a year ago i stepped on a new continent for the first time. i landed in japan. i started an incredible journey.

not even half of the stuff i took with me.

at the airport in vancouver, after many tears.

i didn't like japan when i first got there. i was unhappy because i realized on the plane that my budget didn't allow for a trip to japan (!!!). i was concerned that i would have to change my flight and head to china earlier than expected. the airport wasn't impressive and i had to wait for my bag a really long time. the subway/train system was very confusing, regardless of all the instructions i had from the hotel's website. i got lost in the streets. it was late and dark and i was staying in a bad neighbourhood. the streets smelled of urine. my room was super small. and i was scared shitless about leaving everything behind.

but the next day, after a horrible breakfast, i started to love japan. i walked the streets and explored temples and was just amazed. there was a certain feeling in the air that i still can't put my finger on. the people were fantastic. the country was quirky. i saw that things would get better.

and it did. not to say that during my 7.5 months abroad that i didn't run into some rough patches. but it got better. it got fantastic. it was the best thing i've ever done. i saw so many things, met so many wonderful people and learned so much.

when i realized that a year ago i sat on that plane, i got nostalgic. i had a great time and i'm sad that it's over. so many things has happened since then... and while it wasn't that long ago, it feels like it was a thousand years ago.

time flies. hopefully time will fly until i get to do it all over again.

on mt fuji.

what i've been up to

2006-07-28T12:56:00.000-07:00

i've been quiet on my blog, but i've kept busy. i have hiked the joffre lakes (stunning glacier lakes with an actual ice cap) and holliburn mountain, i have made numerous visits to granville island (and brought my camera for the first time in 4 years), checked-out the chinatown night market and watched the fireworks. i know that this post contradicts the last one, but hey!

i love this picture: it's the view from the 2nd joffre lake.

to view more pictures from my all my outings, see my flickr site.

laziness

2006-07-28T12:39:00.000-07:00

i have been so lazy lately. too lazy to write, too lazy to photograph, to lazy to be productive. there are many things i should be doing and it seems that the only thing that gets done is procastination. i really should vacuum, pick up my laundry, fold my clothes, clean the bathroom, do my dishes. usually i'm always on top of it all and had been quite proud of myself for keeping everything so neat. but this week, i just never got around to any of it. and now, it's starting to nag me. i really should get it done. like tonight.

in my last post i said that i wouldn't complain about the heat. it was of good intentions but then it was just so damn hot. i lost the acclimatization i had acquired while in asia. it was hot. and while hiking, i was really suffering. slight dehydration. slight headache. but at least i was prepared. some people on the trail were wrongly dressed and had no water. insanity.

the weather is cooler now though. the clouds are back today. i hope that they're not here to stay. i'd like to take pictures of the fireworks this saturday and would love for the sky to be clear - it makes for better photos with the sunset in the background. i didn't take pictures of the fireworks on wednesday. i wanted to see the fireworks. if i have a camera in my hands, i'm not looking at anything but the little window and only think/try to get a good shot. by not taking my camera, i forced myself to actually watch - and enjoy.

on the upside, i was productive cooking-wise. i made fantastic huckleberry mini pies.

careful what you wish for!

2006-07-21T16:29:00.000-07:00

well, i was complaining about the weather. the clouds, the gray, the cold.

the heat is here. holly! i was all sweaty by 9 am. i went outside for my break (and my daily dose of vitamin d) and i was cooking. thank god for air conditioning! it never gets this hot in vancouver normally. this is quite bizarre.

funny how we are never happy in vancouver. but don't take my surprise as a complaint. i will not complain. at least, i'll try not too. i'll enjoy the heat and let it take me back to asia. and for the weekend, i'll try to pick a hike that provide thick foliage coverage.

i just need to plan outfits that will minimize the sweaty armpit look! classy, no?

easy as pie

2006-07-21T15:43:00.000-07:00

has to be the stupidest expression out there. it may be easy to eat pie, but making one is another story.

now, i was really close at succeeding at pie making last night. i tried making a rustic blueberry-raspberry pie using a shortbread dough for the crust, but apparently my mind was elsewhere at the time and i was unable to follow simple instructions. i've helped making this crust before so i knew what to expect. and while i was making it, i was really proud of myself! the thing was a beaut' and instead of falling to pieces while covering the fruits is was holding up wonderfully. the pie looked fantastic (aka, like it should look) until i placed it into the oven. where it proceeded to implode onto itself and become a flat, gigantic cookie-like blob. it was so ugly that i did not even want to take a picture of it.

it appears that i may have messed up the butter measurement. the thing came out looking fit for the garbage. i did eat some though, and i have to admit two things. 1) a very buttery shortbread tastes like crap. i don't recommend it. too bad it couldn't work as well as for, say, croissants. 2) my pie filling was *tasty*!!! i added a little fig balsamic to the blueberries and raspberries and it tasted like heaven. too bad it ended up layered on a crappy crust.

better luck next time, i guess. i will make you right one day, i know it!

lebanon

2006-07-18T13:51:00.000-07:00

words cannot express how i feel about the situation in lebanon right now. words cannot express how i feel about my government and the position they have taken with regards to this crisis, nor for their current actions (or lack thereof). i did not vote for you. i'm glad that i did not vote for you. we do not need to act as stupidly as bush does.

please sign the petition to denounce israel's action and the breach of human rights and of the geneva convention.

for more info you can also visit amnesty international and democracy now.

things we are told as a child

2006-07-14T12:03:00.000-07:00

a few days ago i learned an unfortunate truth about expressions that we causally say and it left me shaken up - i realized that sometimes, expressions are not as superficial as they may sound.

while i knew that fairytales and other such bedtime stories have deeper meaning to them, i never gave that much attention to expressions that we say. they sound silly and they are meant, mostly, to gently quiet the person we are talking to. i am not referring here to proverbs; simply to what appears to be mindless expressions.

so, here is how a small part of my world came tumbling down.

i have recently started to read david bergen's the time in between, a story about the disappearance of an american soldier after his returned to vietnam years after the war. in one of the passage in the book, charles, the american, asks his chauffeur, thanh, how he survived the war. thanh tells his story and explains that surviving after the war was harder than surviving the war itself. in his opinion, surviving hunger in the reeducation camp he had been placed in was the biggest challenge.

to illustrate this, thanh tells the story of hien, a fellow camp mate.

One night he heard Hien, his neighbour, chewing quietly on something. Hien was weak and small and, during the day, was expected to dig up large roots with a small wooden spade. Thanh tried to help him, but it was difficult. The guards were not sentimental and disliked one prisoner helping another. Thanh touched Hien's back in the dark and whispered, "What are you eating? Be more quiet, or you'll be heard."

Hien stopped chewing, but later in the night, Thanh heard him again. In the morning Thanh noticed that the tip of Hien's finger was missing. Hien had eaten it. That day, Thanh caught a small snake and crushed its head with a shovel. He carried it back to the camp and tried to share it with Hien, but Hien refused. Again, at night, Hien chewed at his hand. Madness settled in like a fog. Thanh did not know who was mad, he or Hien. During the day Hien wrapped his hand in a dirty cloth and during the night he ate. The hand became bruised and swollen. Thanh told Hien to go to the clinic. Hien laughed at him.

as soon as i finished reading this passage i had a flashback to sitting at the kitchen island at my dad's apartment, complaining about being hungry. i was told, as a joke (as many kids are told)

mange ta main
garde l'autre pour demain

and then it hit me. there's nothing funny about that expression*! we say it so harmlessly, without thinking that there are people truly starving out there. i am sure that there has been, at some point in time, a case of at least one person consuming their own limbs out of hunger. and it is terrifying that we could say such things so easily. this joke, with the cruelty, mixed with all of the underlying implications just made me feel terrible and i started to cry.

i will never, ever say that expression again. and i will always feel pain if i ear someone else utter these terrible words. hunger and despair are no laughing matter.

______________
* literal translation: eat your hand, keep the other for tomorrow.

happiness is

2006-07-13T16:52:00.000-07:00

finding an interesting picture in flickr that leads you to
discovering a new blog
that leads you to a flickr site
that leads you to a blog
that leads you to a flickr site
that leads you to a blog
that leads you to a website

all food related. nothing beats the beauty and complication of food photography. i don't care what anyone says. food photography i cannot master in my current disposition (ie, lack of gigantic tripod, expensive slr, lights, photoshop that works, a calibrated screen.... dishes, textures, backgrounds et al to boot.)

rock star rocks

2006-07-12T09:42:00.000-07:00

i love rock star. i know that this may sound stupid but it's the best damn music show on tv right now. rock star is full of strong, great rock songs and the boys and girls doing the covers just kick ass. i'd go see any of them live any day because they are *that good*. and after suffered through the likes of canadian/american idol, a show like this proves that there is talent out there if you're willing to step away from bad pop music. there's nothing wrong with energy and tallent after all.

rock star is also full of attitude, wit, good burns (ie, "i was still in diapers when you guys were around") and fun comments. like, after a cover of the stones, one was told that mic jagger "is a showboat, so show me some boat!"

obscure, yet to the point.

quote du jour

2006-07-11T20:56:00.000-07:00

i guess that i might of had a few rough nights or that i'm loosing my feminity but today a customer thanked me after our phone conversation by saying

god bless you sir

i said "thank you".

---

while reading over someone's shoulder on the skytrain (i love doing that), i read:

her clothing vanished into insignificance

now that's a sign of a good cheesy romance novel.

des vertes et des pas mûres

2006-07-10T12:46:00.000-07:00

after spending a good chunk of sunday on commercial drive, i have to admit that 1. i don't get football (aka, soccer) 2. i don't care for football and 3. i don't share in the passion that the rest of the world feels towards football.

perhaps if canada was a great football-playing country we would have been brought up to have some of this (frightening) passion and perhaps i'd better understand it, but i don't. over the years i've watched other countries and their nationals (and expats) get so excited about this sport as if it were the most important part of live and i get mixed emotions. on one hand i feel jealous that these people have this great thing that bring them together, that unites them (in a positive way, unlike quebec nationalism). they get to be nationalist (again, in a good way) and to celebrate hard after a game won. they get dressed up, they yell, they even cry out of sadness or joy. on the other hand, it all feels silly to me. how can someone care so much about a sport?

sunday saw packed bars along the drive, with people spilling out into the street trying to get a glimpse of a tv. i didn't get to see the match - the few tvs that i did see were much to far away for me to actually see anything. i didn't mind not seeing the game: my interest was in the pictures that were to be had at such an event.

i have to admit though that when italy won , i was very happy. i know that i was rooting for france, but standing around all of these italians got me thinking that it would be a lot more fun to see them win. and they did, and they went insane. jumping everywhere, hugging each other, crying of joy and disbelief. it was fun and wonderful to be within that sea of people and blue jerseys. but i felt like an outsider. i got covered in celebratory coke (cheaper than champagne unfortunately), got elbowed out by photographers with big lenses and got to get all sweaty from all these bodies mashed together, chanting "we are number one".

i loved it - it was great to see so much joy and passion.

but i still don't get it.

meilleur chance la prochaine fois, les bleus!

allez les bleus!

2006-07-09T09:06:00.000-07:00

Fireworks !!!
Originally uploaded by Hugo*.

j'ai fait mon choix, je prend pour les bleus.

qui l'eu cru?

à bat les vers!

some like it hot

2006-07-07T12:27:00.000-07:00

last week in vancouver was stunning. pure perfection: unlimited blue sky, hot weather. real vancouver summer. yellow grass and drought goodness. vancouver summers make me happy.

but for the past few days the clouds have rolled in and the weather got a lot cooler. no more short sleeves, thank tops and flip flops. at least, not for me. it's like summer has gone away and i want it back! i want to have my legs in the sun and feel the heat when i step outside. i want my beautiful vancouver summer! please come back...

when i said that some like it hot, i meant me. i like it. but most people from vancouver, or even bc, don't like it at all. see, people from around here are never happy. either it rains too much or not enough. and in the summer, it never rains enough. it is true, i have to admit, that vancouver lacks rain in the summer. but to me, it compensates for the 9 months of non-stop rain that we get. but people here focus on the drought, on the water levels in the water reserves and the forest fires - the province is already up in flames as i am writing this. i have no doubt that the cool air and the cloud cover is helping them out but i just want to be selfish and say, "what about me?"

i wanted to be all pretty tomorrow and now i'll have to wear pants and a sweater. way to ruin my summer wardrobe, vancouver!

no entry

2006-07-07T12:19:00.000-07:00

on my return from break today i found my cube highly decorated with garlands, balloons and a big happy birthday sign barring me from my desk. too bad this doesn't mean that i get to go home!

the garlands hang over my head when i'm sitting down at my desk, even touching my head at points. it's a bit distracting but i'm enjoying the colours. bright orange is a nice change from the burgundy-beige walls.

oh no!

2006-07-06T09:15:00.000-07:00

when i was last in montreal i noticed that the caban store there had closed its doors. i was quite surprised and disappointed that i could not visit one of my favourite store in what i believe is one of the most beautiful buildings ever (they even won a prize for the architecture / restoration of the old bank). at least, i thought, i still had my caban in vancouver.

but now i've just received an email stating that the store on granville street is closing its doors. what is going on with caban? does nobody else appreciate great design or are we all so strapped for cash that none of us can afford their eames chairs and crystal glassware?

anyhow, i will be hitting the store this week to fill-up on everything i was set on buying, but this time, at a discount price. i invite you to do the same.

caban, i will be sad to see you go.

happy birthday canada!

2006-07-01T13:50:00.000-07:00

i ♥ you!

you are amazing, incredible and beautiful. there is no better country in the world and i couldn't be prouder of being one of yours.

see bellow for an example of my loving you.

quote of the day

2006-06-30T17:00:00.000-07:00

On her favourite wardrobe items from the movie The Devil Wears Prada, Hataway said she prefered

The Galliano gown that I got to wear at the benefit was just absolute heaven. It felt like the fabric was made out of sex. It was so good.

hum... can i have one?

you've got to be kidding

2006-06-30T09:31:00.000-07:00

last night i finally got around to setting up my computer desk, aka, cleaning up the mess and making it usable and such. part of this setup included installing my new printer, which came with my laptop.

well, let's just say that i was really disappointed with my free 3-in-1 printer. it looks and feel like it's made from the cheapest materials possible. it does crappy printouts. it's huge. and the USB cable that connects the printer to the computer is sold separately. say what?

who was the idiot at dell (or genius, depending on how you choose to look at it) who thought that most people 1. wouldn't want that necessary cable included to that 2. would already have their own cable?

earth to dell. what's going on here???

10 plates of chinese food later...

2006-06-28T23:57:00.000-07:00

holly, i am full!

i attended the last bit of my training tonight, which lasted 4 hours (!!!) in a fancy chinese restaurant downtown. my time was compensated with free tsin tao and 10 courses of chinese food - and not the cheap stuff either: we had everything from lobster to crispy peking duck skin.

after this last bit of training, i am even more convinced that i picked the best company (in the world) to work for. and i'm not saying this because of the food. i'm saying this because i am *so damn proud* of working for such an ethical company. so damn proud.

Dalai Lama

2006-06-23T15:34:00.000-07:00

Dalai Lama in Chile
Originally uploaded by Gabriel Ortega Berger.

on a different subject, i have managed to score tickets to see HH The XIVth Dalai Lama speak in vancouver in september (let's pretend that the money i am saving from the free internet and cable is being applied towards this!). i got 9th row, ground level. at least i will get to see him, and not just a tiny dot for a person dressed in safron red. i'm quite excited about that!!!

hopefully i'll get to take a few good pictures as well.

and hopefully his lecture will be quite inspirational (although i can't see how it could not be).

and so i'm back i'm back!

2006-06-23T14:55:00.000-07:00

... from the frustrating state of being computer/internet-less.

my brand-new, ubber shiny silver and white dell laptop arrived this week and i've been spending a little bit of time setting it up. putting all of my files on the computer is taking a long time (i have about 9 DVD worth of pictures!) and downloading desired software to bring me up-to-date has been taking even longer since i've been using (read: stealing) a wireless connection in my building. the damn thing either works fantastically or not at all, and i guess that i'm too cheap right now to pay for my own internet.

unfortunately, i'll have to cough-up the cash soon though, because i figure that i can't keep going about it this way, with the internet so unreliable. in addition the internet is provided by the cable guys, who have been nice enough to not disconnect my cable. i'm sure they'll figure that out at some point and then i'll have nothing keeping me from calling them up and asking for services. but for now, i'm afraid that if i call for one, i'll lose the other! (je suis gratteuse, non?)

corporation

2006-06-23T14:43:00.000-07:00

so i've now joined the world of "9 to 5".

i used to say, back in the days, that i would never work 9 to 5 shifts. i didn't want to work in an office, i didn't want to work in a cubicle and it's depressing coloured carpet walls. i did not want to join the corporate world. i wanted to be free. or at least, free of an "office" life.

well, today this all changed for real. while i've started my job with one of the biggest pharmaceutical companies (the biggest???) in the world three weeks ago, it wasn't until today that i started a 9 to 5 shift.

i thought about it yesterday, while walking in the warm grass, leaving the office. yesterday was my last day. before this, i did work offices and cubes. before today, i had kept my word. but you know what? this corporate thing isn't so bad. i know when i start and when i finish. i have my weekends off. i don't work overtime. i get to work for a great company. i get to make friends. i get a nice view of the mountains from windows around the office or from the kitchen/patio area. i get to have this freedom and stability that i wanted.

would i have preferred a different, earlier shift? yes. but is this new end to a belief of mine a bad thing? no. being like so many other people does not make me less of an individual, and it doesn't hinder my dreams.

i guess that now i'm even more grown up (or appear to be?). just in time to fit my brand new "26" in two weeks.

time flies...

i ♥ wood

2006-06-19T09:31:00.000-07:00

Robert Charlebois
Originally uploaded by CAZASCO.

went to the trois accords / robert charlebois concert on saturday night, right out in the street in vancouver for the festival d'été. the shows were great, with incredible energy. it was wonderful to be surrounded by so much french-speaking people, to immerse myself in québec without the 5 hour flight! even the smell of poutine was in the air throughout the night.

with a beer in my hand, i sang the night away. charlebois was fantastic, playing some of his greatest hits. i never thought i'd hear people cheering for "graziela" but it happened, although he did not play it. so, no walk down memory lane to the 4th grade for me! haha (it was the name of my teacher at the time).

i had a great time, even though i went there alone and didn't end up running into people i was expecting to see there. i'm glad that i decided to attend my first solo event! yé for me!

no end in sight

2006-06-09T12:02:00.000-07:00

my laptop still hasn't arrived. there was a manufacturing glitch and so it is still in production... i should be getting it at the bare minimum in one week from now. it's quite frustrating how promises of 5 to 10 business days can turn into 15 to 20 days. damn my high expectations.

thus, i am sheltered from the world. at least, that's how it feels to me. it seems that technology is this thing that we take for granted and as soon as it isn't there anymore we don't know how to deal with this big empty space. somehow i needed a little time in china to realize that and my weeks without a laptop at home to get antsy.

dell: gimme gimme!

quiet moment

2006-05-31T18:15:00.000-07:00

i will be without a phone and internet for what appears to be the next two weeks. thus, updates to the blog will be, well, quite unlikely. so, pardon the temporary hiatus!

i will be back soon though, via a brand-new laptop and probably a starbucks café hotspot connection.

joining the working force

2006-05-29T22:18:00.000-07:00

today was my first day at work. real work, at a real job. none of that queen business stuff anymore.

i guess that now, i'm officially back and officially back to stay. so today was both sad and exciting, because it marked the end of one thing and the the beginning of another. now i have more responsibilities that i can handle. now i have things tying me down. now i get to be a contributing member of society - again. now i get to repay my debts.

and now, i get to save for my next trip. or at least, dream about it for a while.

modernlink goodness

2006-05-28T19:29:00.000-07:00

13
Originally uploaded by designsponge.

thanks to design*sponge, i have now discovered the onelink collection by modernlink. i have to say that every single pieces, from the desk to the floating shelves, is my idea of perfection. i browsed their website and looked at every piece of bamboo-metal goodness and thought that i had found heaven.

well, heaven might come faster than i thought because when i saw the pricelist, i nearly choked to death. $880 for a floating shelf? $11500 for a bed? i guess perfection has its price...

overdose de cerf

2006-05-24T20:43:00.000-07:00

tonight we went to the terroir restaurant au pied de cochon in le plateau. we took a seat at the bar, which is right in front of the kitchen, so we were right in the middle of the action. unfortunately i was too unadventurous tonight to try anything that makes this place so funky, namely, les abats and le foie gras. instead, i went with le tartare de cerf, which was prepared right before my eyes (as was everything else!). the taste was delicate and fresh, it was very tender and quite good. my mom ordered the steak de cerf avec frites, which came au jus with onions and mushrooms. it also was delicious, incredibly tender and perfectly cooked. the fries were good but not perfect, but the bread was. i was full when i reached half of my plate, but kept eating because it was so tasty. the kitchen started to get quite busy, and it was great to watch the team prepare everything in their tiny place. by desert time, the kitchen was so busy that the action went from entertaining to dizzying. we split a poire pochée avec glace à la vanille, which was light, fresh and tasty. it was the perfect choice after such a heavy, abundant meal. by the end we no longer could eat or drink anything, we were past the acceptable level of fullness but we were quite satisfied with our restaurant choice.

i would eat there again, that's for sure. everything about the place was fantastic. but for right now, i've had way too much cerf.

536, rue duluth est
montréal, qc
514-281-1114
au pied de cochon

finally! success!

2006-05-24T11:37:00.000-07:00

"look mom! no wires!"

using the internet in the kitchen. what a beaut!

on speed and rain

2006-05-22T20:52:00.000-07:00

wireless high speed internet installation, which involves a router, should come equipped with a tiny little man in the box. a technical genious, that is, that could guide you through setting up your wireless network. no, even better - the little guy could do it for you. but then, i guess i wouldn't know what to do with this included miniature help once everything was up and running. perhaps set him free into the wilderness or keep him in my shirt pocket, just in case of future technological-related emergencies. who knows. but a little guy would sure be handy. and save hours of frustration due to poorly written instruction manuals, faq sections and general inability of the populace to figure wireless out.

so, that was frustration number one today. i guess there are some things that i just can't figure out. and this home wireless network in one of them. sigh.

and it seems that out like a cruel joke montreal has become vancouver, and vancouver, montreal. last week and up to the day i left the weather was incredibly sunny and warm in vancouver and i landed in a wet, cold and miserable montreal. since i've been here it's been like a vancouver winter, and i've been informed that it's been as such for a while now... and i can't wait for the warp to end and things to get back to normal.

to montreal!

2006-05-18T20:34:00.000-07:00

tomorrow, i will be off to montreal for a week. it will be nice to get on a plane again, to be on vacation again. but what will be even nicer is that i'm going to see my mom. i haven't seen her in a year, so it's about time! it will be great.

and i can't wait to see montreal again. stroll the streets, eat a poutine and get a haircut. cuz that's what it's all about.

it's sunscreen time!

2006-05-16T19:26:00.000-07:00

today was an incredible, beautiful, sunny and warm day in vancouver. unlike yesterday that was supposed to be hot but wasn't as the air stayed cool, today was hot hot hot. hot sun, warm wind - just all around goodness. and honestly, i can't even remember the last time that it has been this hot in vancouver. it must have been a killer in the inlands.

so, i ate my lunch outside today to catch some rays and vitamin d. caught a small sunburn, which i thought was quite funny. last i got a sunburn required a lot more effort, ie, by playing frisbee in the ocean for three hours without sunscreen. i guess that the tan is gone. the tolerance is gone.

after work i went for a walk along the seawall. it would have been a shame to stay inside. so, i headed out in shorts and thank and strolled along, watching the crowds. it is sunburn season it seems! everyone was out, in all shapes and colours, from pasty to uber tanned. i saw some beautiful people, some with horrific outfits, tons of straw hats and kids playing in the sand. the grass was covered in blankets and people, the sand as well.

today is summer. today is just beautiful.

yuck

2006-05-16T19:17:00.000-07:00

flickr has moved from beta to gamma. in the process of the ultimate makeover, flickr did not go from it's old self to a more beautiful one, but rather transformed itself into something awkward and far from my liking. i am disappointed with the changes... certain things are gone (or i just haven't found them yet) such as the most viewed function and the main page shows the sets on the right-hand side... i just don't like it.

perhaps i'm apprehensive of these changes because i hate new and improved anything and everything. even if it's just the package that has changed, something inside is always different and it is never for the better. new and improved is never really improved. it's just new. and annoying.

i liked it the way it was. i was comfortable with it. it was like an old sweater. and now, it's gone through the dryer, it has shrunk and it will never be the same.

holiday

2006-05-13T18:53:00.000-07:00

It's always better on holliday
So much better on holliday
That's why we only work when
We need the money

- Franz Ferdinand, Jacqueline

lately i have been becoming more and more aware of how much i am missing traveling and being on the road. little things like going to see M:I:III with its chinese backdrop and eating malaysian food has made me nostalgic and made me realize how much i miss my days in asia. i miss the constant stimulation, the unknown, the dirt, the smells, the people, the food. i miss not really knowing where i'm going next, what i'm doing today or where i'll be staying in a new city. i miss having to fend for myself and carrying my life on my back. i miss the heat, i miss the ocean, i miss temples. no matter how much i like it here, deep down there's a longing for something else. i'm happy to be back but i can't wait to go back.

perhaps i'm even more nostalgic lately because everyone that i was following through their own extended holidays have either all returned home or are on their way back. i can no longer live through them, read their adventures, hear their stories and be taken back to these wonderful far-away places. all i will have left will be my pictures, my journals, my few souvenirs, my t-shirts. and looking through these just doesn't make one go down memory lane as well as living through other people.

hopefully, with summer heading our way and work that i should enjoy lined-up, being back here won't feel so... ordinary.