Summer days

Published August 17, 2008

Photo: Montreal, olympic stadium with little XO – Kathy’s creative creations.  iPhone camera 2 MPx.

Apologies for the lack of updates.  It’s been quite a busy summer, not to mention the fact that any days that it isn’t raining, I feel like going out and not sitting in front of my computer.  This past month has brought me back to basics a bit.  It’s been about a year since I started my own contracting company and its about time I take a step back and see how things have gone.  I’ve been extremely happy with my progress so far, and I really want to take it to the next level now and start working towards a bigger goal.  I’m going to push really hard for this and it will give me more incentive to do what I had set out to accomplish, build the company up!  Easier said than done, I realize, but it never hurts to dream big.

That being said, I should mention that I just applied and received approval for my Hong Kong ID, allowing me do work in Hong Kong or potentially move to China if I decide to go in that direction.  Street food and crazy fun night life are not the only thing that bring me there though! (i swear!)  There is actually a strong push to build up the industry I’m currently working in, and I can’t help but feel its going to be a good time to join in on the “bubble”.  Family makes me want to stay in Canada, not their pressure, but my own from being the eldest… blame it on a retarded sense of responsibility, one that was never really there to be honest.  I feel like at my age, maybe its time to try something big.  Nothing really makes you realize that life is short, until you look around and see how much has changed in only a period of the last month!

I spent the past weekend in Montreal, a great get away from the typical weekends in Toronto.  I had planned to shop as little as possible since personally, its not my idea of a fun vacation (though some of my friends would beg to differ I’m sure!).  It occurred to me that I hadn’t visited many of the tourist spots in Montreal before.  So, I did some research and decided to hit up all the big attractions.  We visited the big Nortre-Dame cathedral which was always beautiful yet creepy, but also went out of the city a bit to visit St. Joseph Oratory, a giant church built on the side of a hill.  You have to climb up a good set of stairs (see 10000 steps or what seemed like it haha) to get to the church on the top of the hill.  It wasn’t until we were heading back down that we realized there was an escalator though ^^

Other highlights include visiting Mount Royal Park which I wish we had in Toronto.  Man, the park is huge, has tons of biking trails and I have to say, is one of the most gorgeous views of Montreal I’ve seen.  Since it is built above the city, you get a great arial lookout of Montreal at a lookout point specifically designe for the purposes of showcasing the city I suppose.  Its absolutely wicktarded (yes I just made that word up).

Another fun visit was going to the Biodome which is kind of like an indoor zoo, built where the animals can pretty much roam free inside.  There was a penguin area which reminded me of Happy Feet because I swear the penguins were always standing in a circle almost as if they were on some conference call or business meeting, haha!  There was also an awesome batcave where you could see the bats through a glass wall and they just fly around like mad critters.

Eating highlights (come’on you have to eat in Montreal) included of course Schwartz’s Deli famous for their Montreal smoked meats.  And a new yummy poutine place La Banquise recommended by my buddy Andrew.  There is a selection of like 12 poutines each with their own toppings.  IT’S SO NASTY GOOD.  You basically have fries, huge chunks of cheese, gravy, and a stir fry of your meats/veggies poured over your poutine… omgsgklajdflkadsjflaskdjfgosmgosmgosmgosmgos… so good.

Anyway, it was a great vacation… relaxing, and really, those Montrealer’s really know how to enjoy their weekends.  Strolling along Old Montreal at 12am in the morning was as busy as 4pm in the afternoon.  Patios, good food, wine, good company and a great view… ah, c’est la vie no?