Last night I went to the gym to do the aqua class and it was quite good. It was nice to do something that is normally high impact, but with the fact that I had been going hardcore for the last few days, being in the pool for over an hour was a low impact day for me. However I almost had a "You're overdoing it, please stop, or I'll make you" moment. After the class I decided to go into the hot spa. I had never been in a spa before (I wouldn't call an onsen a hot spa...or maybe it was....OK, for argument's sake, I've never been in a hot spa in Canada before, even though it's one of those generic western ones!) It was nice and relaxing, especially for my muscles that have been aching since I haven't been giving them much of a break. At the 15 minute mark I was getting hot and lightheaded in the water, so I wisely decided to get out. I couldn't get up so in the water, I somehow crawled my way up to the steps. I blacked out on the top step of the spa, just one step before getting out of the spa and I got such a big pressure build up in my head that I could not physically get up. It felt like I was going to faint and puke - maybe not in that order, but I felt like I was going to do both of those things. I crawled up the final step and was out of the water, but still couldn't get up and I was on all fours to try and get that pressure buildup in my head to reduce. I had to sit cross legged in the end and stay for what probably was just 2 minutes, but felt like days. The heat of the spa added to the fact that I was already feeling hot before I went into the spa and possibly made things worse. I could see again, but my head was still pounding. I manage to get up, get my things and make my way to the lockers without incident. I had to sit for a few minutes with my head down between my legs (not the ideal position, but the body just wouldn't stay upright, it just wanted to follow gravity and go down) and I had people coming up to see if I was alright, particularly the aqua instructor. I was fine, I just needed some cool air, which thankfully I was getting in the locker room. After getting in the shower, I was feeling lightheaded again, but I was being really careful in there. Once I got out of there and sat for a few more minutes I was fine again.
To celebrate the fact that I was fine, guess what I did? I went into the sauna!!! I KNOW! I know what you're going to say! I was hot and the heat made me ill, so after I get better, I decide to add more heat to my system. I know, I hear thee! But I've never been in a sauna before and all of those sauna jokes, particularly Jerry Seinfeld health club and sauna jokes just started coming to me in my head and I just said, "You have to do this - even if it's just for a few minutes, you gotta go in the sauna!" So I did. I stayed in there for 5 minutes and was surprised that I felt much better afterwards! So I guess the moral was that my body needed a break, and it'll get the break!
After the class we went shopping for groceries. Dawn and her mum got grocery coupons worth $180, so we went apeshit and got a trolley and filled it up with stuff. And it wasn't generic grocery shopping items, this was, "OK, it's free groceries, get whatever you want". I got my cookies and cream icecream and everyone else got their own thing, which was so cool. It was like Christmas, only FREE! We went at 9:30pm to avoid people having to wait in line after us, but seeing as it was so close to Christmas, there was a fair few people about, even though that shop is open 24 hours. No matter. I even had twinkies for the first time in 19 years. After I had them, I remembered why I hadn't eaten them in 19 years (apart from the fact they are not popular in Australia) and look forward to making that same discovery in 19 year's time! After having my ice cream (I had my cravings come out and play again!) I went to bed.
Today was my lazy day and what do I decide to do? Eat more ice cream. See what it's like to be a girl? Today we went to the beach in Oshawa, which is a pretty little area - and a welcome change to walk at a leisurely pace as opposed to my hardcore style that only I seem to enjoy. I'm a magnet for the beach and the water. There's just something about the water that draws me to it. I even fall asleep to it (almost) every night. I went walking for an hour, but for me it wasn't enough after going full on these last couple of days. We followed the beach trail and it ended abruptly at a bus stop, which was our bus that we waited over 30 minutes for, only to discover that it was going in the opposite direction of where we were headed! Don't blame me, I'm the foreigner, I'm allowed to make dumb mistakes like these! And we weren't in any hurry anyway. So we were on the bus for an hour after having to wait 30 minutes for it. I was so pissy that I could have walked more in that time. Got home, relaxed, ate more ice cream and now I'm packing to go to Ottawa. We leave at daybreak (Frasier joke, for all you Frasier fans....and I have a feeling it's just me on this one!) It's an 8 hour drive there, but I have a feeling we'll be having various pit stops at truckies restaurants. They are the best and most well kept and maintained eating areas, coz if you piss a truckie off by not having a good variety of food, they will tell all the other truckies, as they are a tight knit community of drivers - and all of a sudden, you've lost a lot of business just by not pleasing one trucky. I learnt that when we went to Niagara, and that was just a 2 and a half hour drive. I've done 8 hours straight on a bus before - the overnight one from Sendai to Narita airport. Twice. So I just need my sudoku book, a pair of dark sunglasses and I can sleep most of the way. And I have to be up at 5am, which means I may have to go to bed now!
See ya in a bit!
Friday, November 28
Thursday, November 27
CHOCOLATE TIME
Got up with a good case of "Give me chocolate RIGHT NOW, or I'll have to inflict some damage to get it", as well as the DOMS. My upper body again was feeling it the most, up until I went downstairs to the kitchen and that's when I felt it in my legs. Going upstairs I can feel it anyway, but if I feel my legs burning and aching when I go downstairs, it simply means I've worked my butt off. And I was ready for more, but I looked outside and it was snowing again - really beautiful - and quite hypnotic. So much so that I changed my mind and stayed indoors. Soon after I got up Judy did too, then Dawn got home and took a sicky to stay home. I haven't seen her properly in days, but we just picked up from where we left off: with silly laughing fits. I love the fact that you can just do that with ppl: there is no need to start over, you just continue - that rocks!
I wanted to do some form of exercise - even if it was just walking to the shops. Then my chocolate cravings got too much that I went into the cupboard and munched on those chocolate chip bits used for baking - and it was dark chocolate. That is an indication of how big that craving was. I don't like dark chocolate, but when my stomach wants it, I will give it ANYTHING with any kind of chocolate. Even if I have to lick it off a package of something. Yes, desperate times. But all for a good cause.
When Dawn got home she got a block of Cadbury chocolate. She can't have a lot of it coz it gives her migraines, so she went for 3 little squares and I had the rest! The good news: the craving has subsided!
Dawn eventually went to bed and I have the place to myself for a while, so I paid my credit card bill (well, more like transferred money over to Mum's account so she can pay it) and have realised that I am saving quite a bit. Having accommodation everywhere really is an immense help. I haven't even begun using part of my spending money - am living very well off the AUD$600 that I changed over a few days before leaving Oz. I'm remarkably happy over this (as anyone would be!)
Today I also discovered something else that was way cool: MOVIE TRIVIA! Alright, I used to be a movie buff and liked all the trivia, but at the age of 22, I completely lost interest in movies and shit like that. But I got to talking to Dawn and her folks who are big movie buffs and I realised how interesting it all is. But the trivia is making me curious about seeing some of these flicks, I must admit. I just need to find the time to watch all of these.
When Judy gets home we're going to be making a pie and having a light dinner because we're going to the gym tonight to do an aqua class (now that my gorgeous Mum has sent me my bathers!), so at least I won't have a completely lazy day. And I have a feeling from Thursday onwards it's gonna be a hectic time til after New Year, possibly after my little cousin's birthday in late January: On Thursday I'm going to the beach and it's forecast to be 1 degree!; Up early on Friday to pick up Dawn after her last shift ever, then off to Ottawa . It's an 8 hour drive! Back on either Saturday night or Sunday morning; Off to the movies on Sunday if we're not tired, packing on Sunday night, fly off to Madison on Monday for 10 days, fly back to Canada with Christnas dinner 2 days later, packing for the next while to get ready to fly to Argentina 3 days later, 2 days after arriving it's my cousin's 15th birthday (THE HUGE ONE!), 4 days later it's Noche Buena (Christmas Eve) where dogs are sedated because the fireworks spook them all. Then I'll have to get ready for New Years Eve's dinner, then a few hours after that myself, my cousin, aunty and uncle are all driving up to the North East coast of Arg to a beach resort for 2 weeks. When I get back I'll be helping out with my little cousin's birthday party. Last time I helped out it was exhausting, coz as soon as we got back from the beach resort, we went to planning the party and didn't get a break until February! Then I can relax a bit :) If I don't blog for a while, you now know my schedule for the next few months!
After aqua, we're all going shopping for groceries Just remind me for my shopping list: Choc bits, Cadbury almond block to replace what my craving got rid of!)
Well, blog is done for the day, now I can relax til I need to go to Aqua, which isn't for a few hours. YAY!
Off to (insert some place or activity here) See ya!
I wanted to do some form of exercise - even if it was just walking to the shops. Then my chocolate cravings got too much that I went into the cupboard and munched on those chocolate chip bits used for baking - and it was dark chocolate. That is an indication of how big that craving was. I don't like dark chocolate, but when my stomach wants it, I will give it ANYTHING with any kind of chocolate. Even if I have to lick it off a package of something. Yes, desperate times. But all for a good cause.
When Dawn got home she got a block of Cadbury chocolate. She can't have a lot of it coz it gives her migraines, so she went for 3 little squares and I had the rest! The good news: the craving has subsided!
Dawn eventually went to bed and I have the place to myself for a while, so I paid my credit card bill (well, more like transferred money over to Mum's account so she can pay it) and have realised that I am saving quite a bit. Having accommodation everywhere really is an immense help. I haven't even begun using part of my spending money - am living very well off the AUD$600 that I changed over a few days before leaving Oz. I'm remarkably happy over this (as anyone would be!)
Today I also discovered something else that was way cool: MOVIE TRIVIA! Alright, I used to be a movie buff and liked all the trivia, but at the age of 22, I completely lost interest in movies and shit like that. But I got to talking to Dawn and her folks who are big movie buffs and I realised how interesting it all is. But the trivia is making me curious about seeing some of these flicks, I must admit. I just need to find the time to watch all of these.
When Judy gets home we're going to be making a pie and having a light dinner because we're going to the gym tonight to do an aqua class (now that my gorgeous Mum has sent me my bathers!), so at least I won't have a completely lazy day. And I have a feeling from Thursday onwards it's gonna be a hectic time til after New Year, possibly after my little cousin's birthday in late January: On Thursday I'm going to the beach and it's forecast to be 1 degree!; Up early on Friday to pick up Dawn after her last shift ever, then off to Ottawa . It's an 8 hour drive! Back on either Saturday night or Sunday morning; Off to the movies on Sunday if we're not tired, packing on Sunday night, fly off to Madison on Monday for 10 days, fly back to Canada with Christnas dinner 2 days later, packing for the next while to get ready to fly to Argentina 3 days later, 2 days after arriving it's my cousin's 15th birthday (THE HUGE ONE!), 4 days later it's Noche Buena (Christmas Eve) where dogs are sedated because the fireworks spook them all. Then I'll have to get ready for New Years Eve's dinner, then a few hours after that myself, my cousin, aunty and uncle are all driving up to the North East coast of Arg to a beach resort for 2 weeks. When I get back I'll be helping out with my little cousin's birthday party. Last time I helped out it was exhausting, coz as soon as we got back from the beach resort, we went to planning the party and didn't get a break until February! Then I can relax a bit :) If I don't blog for a while, you now know my schedule for the next few months!
After aqua, we're all going shopping for groceries Just remind me for my shopping list: Choc bits, Cadbury almond block to replace what my craving got rid of!)
Well, blog is done for the day, now I can relax til I need to go to Aqua, which isn't for a few hours. YAY!
Off to (insert some place or activity here) See ya!
Wednesday, November 26
...I'm melting...
Well, I will be in 3 week's time. Just spoke to my cousin in Argentina and she said it's a humid 36 degrees. Arg summers are notorious for long periods of heat day and night. But at least I don't have to worry about that too much just yet. The snow here is melting and it may be gone by the end of the week. And speaking of melting, I cannot remember who told me this, but we were talking about the Wizard of Oz and how my friend got really sad when the wicked witch of the west was killed. She got so traumatised that her parents didn't allow her to watch it until she was older, and she still gets teary by it. For some reason, I got to thinking of that as I was walking home in the melting snow and just started laughing out loud. I have no idea where that came from, but it was hilarious!
Today I woke up early and decided to go to the gym again. I did something naughty: I did weights again. Usually it's best to have a few days break in between weights sessions, but I couldn't help it. I had energy to burn and doing weights is the quickest way to burn. The good news is I did more cardio and got to running for 9 minutes with a 1 minute break. I built up to it by running for 6 minutes with a 2 minute break, then 5 with a 1 minute break and 6 minutes of I don't remember what, but most of it was running and I am extremely pleased with myself. Now let's see if I can make it a hat trick...but my body is pretty sore as I did more weights than yesterday, especially in the upper body. And to be honest, the only reason I stopped weights at the end and then went for cardio today was coz I felt a pop in my shoulder. It's all good - it was just a moment and it's not painful - just a little heat and t.l.c is all that is needed.
Tomorrow I'll have the place to myself again and depending on how I feel, I may just stay and have a lazy one again. Although I am seriously craving chocolate now. If only the 24 hour store was closer to the house, then I could just pop out and satisfy that urge. But I'll be a good girl and go to sleep now!
Chau chau
Today I woke up early and decided to go to the gym again. I did something naughty: I did weights again. Usually it's best to have a few days break in between weights sessions, but I couldn't help it. I had energy to burn and doing weights is the quickest way to burn. The good news is I did more cardio and got to running for 9 minutes with a 1 minute break. I built up to it by running for 6 minutes with a 2 minute break, then 5 with a 1 minute break and 6 minutes of I don't remember what, but most of it was running and I am extremely pleased with myself. Now let's see if I can make it a hat trick...but my body is pretty sore as I did more weights than yesterday, especially in the upper body. And to be honest, the only reason I stopped weights at the end and then went for cardio today was coz I felt a pop in my shoulder. It's all good - it was just a moment and it's not painful - just a little heat and t.l.c is all that is needed.
Tomorrow I'll have the place to myself again and depending on how I feel, I may just stay and have a lazy one again. Although I am seriously craving chocolate now. If only the 24 hour store was closer to the house, then I could just pop out and satisfy that urge. But I'll be a good girl and go to sleep now!
Chau chau
Tuesday, November 25
Weight Off
That was the kind of day I had today. I woke up refreshed at 9am, the first time in a long time I've felt that way. A few days ago I went back to my meditation CD to put me to sleep. The first night it got me relaxed, the second night (last night) it put me to sleep. I didn't even hear it go off and I woke up with my headphones around my neck. Must be careful with that, coz I'm a tosser and turner in bed! I spoke to Chris for a bit and realised that next week I'll be in Madison. It's all come about so quickly. The other night I had a vivid dream with myself, Michael and Mike, who greeted me at the airport with a huge hug. Can't wait!
After I woke up, I did some impromptu yoga (not too much though, as my room is a bit small for it) and realised I wanted more exercise, so I went to the gym for a few hours. I spent ages doing weights firstly in the circuit section with all controlled weights, then I headed off to the 'boys section' for some more hardcore weights and some free weights. I did an awesome chest press that relied purely on the strength of your chest and I went hardcore on that thing. But surprisingly I now feel DOMS on my legs. Well, not surprisingly. I did back to back squats and leg presses, even some vertical ones that I never tried before (because Fernwood are too girly to have the full on hardcore equipment that I love so much!) Then I did some more great interval training. I'm running for 5 minutes and having a 2 minute break, then I broke it down to a 5 minute run, 1 minute break and ended up running like hell for 3 minutes at the end. Loved it, but I wanted to continue with more cardio, but the body just wouldn't let me. Plus I knew I'd overtrain myself if I did 30 extra minutes, even if it was on the bike doing hill sprints. I did spend more time on weights though, so it's a good thing I didn't do anymore. I compensated by doing more abwork on these fantastic machines that rely on your ab muscles to pull your legs up and straight.
Afterwards I went home - it's around an hour walk and it was raining and snowing, which gave me enough time to clear my head some more. The gym does that to me too - if I want my head cleared, I go and overwork myself. But I'm glad I listened to the body and put a stop to the extra cardio - common sense did prevail at the end. Head clearing wise, I'm in a really good place now and intend on doing everything I can to stay there - at any cost. I am on holiday after all!
I like it that I'm not sure what the next day will bring. If I had my way, more gym work tomorrow with a focus on cardio. If something doesn't come up, that's where I'm heading. I already know that I'm going to Ottawa on Friday, back on Sunday for a movie (in a cinema! Yeah, I know. And I didn't have to be dragged kicking and screaming! Well, I don't know what movie it is yet. There's always time for that!) before going to Madison on Monday.
Off to bed. See ya!
After I woke up, I did some impromptu yoga (not too much though, as my room is a bit small for it) and realised I wanted more exercise, so I went to the gym for a few hours. I spent ages doing weights firstly in the circuit section with all controlled weights, then I headed off to the 'boys section' for some more hardcore weights and some free weights. I did an awesome chest press that relied purely on the strength of your chest and I went hardcore on that thing. But surprisingly I now feel DOMS on my legs. Well, not surprisingly. I did back to back squats and leg presses, even some vertical ones that I never tried before (because Fernwood are too girly to have the full on hardcore equipment that I love so much!) Then I did some more great interval training. I'm running for 5 minutes and having a 2 minute break, then I broke it down to a 5 minute run, 1 minute break and ended up running like hell for 3 minutes at the end. Loved it, but I wanted to continue with more cardio, but the body just wouldn't let me. Plus I knew I'd overtrain myself if I did 30 extra minutes, even if it was on the bike doing hill sprints. I did spend more time on weights though, so it's a good thing I didn't do anymore. I compensated by doing more abwork on these fantastic machines that rely on your ab muscles to pull your legs up and straight.
Afterwards I went home - it's around an hour walk and it was raining and snowing, which gave me enough time to clear my head some more. The gym does that to me too - if I want my head cleared, I go and overwork myself. But I'm glad I listened to the body and put a stop to the extra cardio - common sense did prevail at the end. Head clearing wise, I'm in a really good place now and intend on doing everything I can to stay there - at any cost. I am on holiday after all!
I like it that I'm not sure what the next day will bring. If I had my way, more gym work tomorrow with a focus on cardio. If something doesn't come up, that's where I'm heading. I already know that I'm going to Ottawa on Friday, back on Sunday for a movie (in a cinema! Yeah, I know. And I didn't have to be dragged kicking and screaming! Well, I don't know what movie it is yet. There's always time for that!) before going to Madison on Monday.
Off to bed. See ya!
Monday, November 24
Back to the T Dot
So an album called "Chinese Democracy" came out today. It's been on the TV everywhere and radio as well. Hard Rock Cafe in downtown Toronto were going nuts over it. But I have a question: Do we really care? No. Good! NEXT!
This morning I decided to spend the day in Toronto - just because I can! I was getting dropped off in town and luckily we were meant to leave the house at 10 (For some reason I got the impression that I had to be up at 6am on a Sunday, but thankfully I was way off!) I was ready early and as I got dropped off at Toronto, Dawn was being picked up from work, so I saw her for all of 10 seconds. This day trip to Toronto was going to be better than last week's because a) it wasn't pissing down with rain and b) I had more of an idea of what I wanted to do. I got to Toronto at 11 and I mainly came in town to see the shoe museum which opened up at 12. But it was a fair way to get from Union Station to the place, so I spent an hour walking there and taking in all of the sights and sounds of a busy city - even for a Sunday. I like venturing out on my own. I'm in my element. I don't need to worry about getting lost and if I get off the beaten track, the better it is for me (although hard to do in a city the size of Toronto!)
(And I think he did end up winning that Masters Cup match in Shanghai against Andy Murray last week - the one I got hooked on and the one that made me barrack quite loudly like the good ol' sport loving Aussie I am!)
Just in case his runners got misplaced in the change rooms, he can find them again because he's got his name on them - HOORAY!
This morning I decided to spend the day in Toronto - just because I can! I was getting dropped off in town and luckily we were meant to leave the house at 10 (For some reason I got the impression that I had to be up at 6am on a Sunday, but thankfully I was way off!) I was ready early and as I got dropped off at Toronto, Dawn was being picked up from work, so I saw her for all of 10 seconds. This day trip to Toronto was going to be better than last week's because a) it wasn't pissing down with rain and b) I had more of an idea of what I wanted to do. I got to Toronto at 11 and I mainly came in town to see the shoe museum which opened up at 12. But it was a fair way to get from Union Station to the place, so I spent an hour walking there and taking in all of the sights and sounds of a busy city - even for a Sunday. I like venturing out on my own. I'm in my element. I don't need to worry about getting lost and if I get off the beaten track, the better it is for me (although hard to do in a city the size of Toronto!)
As I arrived at the museum, so did 3 deafening fire trucks racing up Bloor St West and parking right outside the shoe museum. I had to think twice about going in, but the drivers were just sitting in the front seat having a bite to eat, so I figured it was safe to go in. Although why they flashed their sirens to overtake everyone only to park at a museum and have lunch is still beyond my realm of justification. The building itself is shaped like a shoe box (apparently. I'm still yet to see the resemblance! Can you?)
I went in and there were 4 exhibits - 2 permanent and 2 on rotation. One of the permanent ones was the most interesting of all - and the exhibit I stumbled upon first. It's called "All About Shoes" and it details the history of footwear from around the world without being dry and bland about it. Although I did lose interest at the second permanent exhibit, which was more of how indiginous tribes made their footwear (it wasn't totally boring, but I was just expecting more after being wowed by the first exhibit. I guess I was just admiring Roger Federer's shoes too much (Yes, he donated them to the museum. And I'm in shock that he is just one year older than me!) Here, take a look:
(And I think he did end up winning that Masters Cup match in Shanghai against Andy Murray last week - the one I got hooked on and the one that made me barrack quite loudly like the good ol' sport loving Aussie I am!)Just in case his runners got misplaced in the change rooms, he can find them again because he's got his name on them - HOORAY! I left the museum just after 2pm. The sun was out and I was planning on going on a discovery walk in Cabbagetown, just east of Toronto. I would only have needed to catch a subway for 2 stations, then off on my own I can go exploring. But as I got to the subway station, I couldn't buy any travel tokens coz both machine weren't working and there was no staff at the ticket booth and I had no other way to get in, as the gates only open up if you have a token. So I took that as a sign of 'Don't go walking in the middle of nowhere today, you'll end up being REALLY cold and perhaps freeze your cute butt off". It was already -1 degrees in Toronto and I didn't fancy a walk around parks with only one subway station that was close enough to catch. Another time - perhaps earlier in the day when the sun is still up.
So I made my way back to where I was coming from and I wanted to find Nathan Phillips Square - the place that opens up in Winter for ice skaters. After not knowing where I was, I just kept heading South and taking turns all over the place - and it turns out I found it by accident! There was a tourist office open and I asked "Where's Nathan Phillips Square?" and he tried not to laugh when he said, "Um, right behind you". And being the tourist that I am, I wanted to ice skate, but the surface was being prepared and ready to be open for skating on Thursday, so right then there was only snow. So I pretended to ice skate on the snow and looked like a tool in front of some bewildered Japanese tourists! I'm glad I'm cute enough to get away with it still!
In my trusty Lonely Planet I found some suggested walking tours, all starting and finishing at major landmarks across town. One ended at Nathan Phillips Square - and I only had just started. So I decided to take that particular tour and do it backwards. It was quite interesting. Because of the Christmas season, I ended up seeing some Chirstmas windows from major department stores (Just like the Myer Christmas Windows, for you Aussies out there!) They were very elaborately done with a lot of attention to detail - I really liked them - despite me not being an overly Christmas loving kind of person. I managed to find a laneway that takes you to a little labyrinth in the middle of the city, just outside the Eaton Centre. What you do is you think of a question and then follow the labyrinth from the outside all the way into the centre. This is meant to be a calming and meditative exercise to do when feeling a bit stressed from life in the city. And if it weren't so cold and if the snow hadn't covered the pathways to the centre of the labyrinth, I would have done it. But my toes were still a bit blue from going to the Christmas Parade yesterday, so I wasn't about to take my chances. I continued walking the tour backwards and found a printing place that is haunted by the ghost of the first mayor of Toronto who was an avid printing press fan. Then saw some cool architectural buildings in the heart of the city - especially the Toronto Stock Exchange building. That you can tell is very old but very well maintained. I even managed to go on the Canadian Walk of Fame (very lame that you HAVE to see it!) There were only about 18 stars on there (cue 'lack of Canadian talent' jokes here!)
The sun went down and here, when it goes down, the temperature just drops with it - there's no gradual decline, it's instant (I discovered that the other week when I was walking home from the gym at 4pm. The sun was still shining really brightly that I decided to take the bike path home. This path is pretty during the day, but has a creepy vibe at night. As soon as the sun set, it became quite dark and cold very quickly and I ended up running to the house on the path. Got home just before it got pitch black) and I decided that was my cue to go back home. So I caught the train out to Oshawa (just in time, otherwise I would have needed to wait an hour for the next one), then got picked up by car.
Legs are sore (nowhere near as bad as last week - just sore enough to realise that I did do some exercise and got to know the city of Toronto a little bit better with the only way to do it - by getting lost in it!)
I have been watching The Amazing Race here and there are 2 more episodes to go. I'll be in Madison when the final ep is played - possibly with Chris - and I need to make sure I see it, coz it's getting good. I have a week to go before going to Wisconsin and I want to figure out what to do while there (when Chris, Michael and Mike are at work). Time to do a bit of research on this one...
See ya later :)
Sunday, November 23
Dashing through the snow
After indulging in my lazy week, I thought it was time to put that aside and get up early, even though I got to sleep at around 2am. Got up at 9:30 and made an impromptu trip to Toronto. When we got back my legs wanted to walk some more and I wanted to take advantage of the sunny and snowy weather, so I went for a walk around the neighbourhood and took lots of winter photos. But I have to figure out my camera. After putting brand new batteries, they deplete after only taking around 6 shots. I'll figure it out.
Got back from my 2 and a half hour walk around town to learn that the annual Oshawa Christmas Parade was going to be held tonight. So myself, Judy and her future daughter in law went over. It started at 6, but we went early to get a prime viewing spot. Judy and Stef were really cold and bailed early by going into a restaurant to wait for me. I on the other hand stayed and watched the whole thing despite my toes getting quite cold. So whose the REAL Canadian now? I gave them shit for it afterwards! But I had some hot chocolate waiting in the car for me as I heated back up again. Santa Claus was very disappointing and Judy got pissy by it! Santa came along and he was just leaning back onto the sleigh and very lazily and unenthusiastically bellowed out 'Merry Chirstmas" - very monotone (Think Ferris Bueller's teacher. Bueller? Bueller? You know what I mean!) Then a kid yelled out, "Why isn't he saying ho ho ho?". Santa then continued with the monotone and did what the kid suggested and lazily said it. Judy's reaction was priceless. She is a gem. 2 things you don't screw around with and get away with if you do them really poorly: Bad Santas and Bad Christmas Decorations! She was so riled up and said, "You know what I'm going to do, I'm going to write a strongly worded letter to the newspaper". Stef and I PISSED ourselves laughing. Apparently that's how Canadians get angry - they don't go to riots, they write angry letters to the editor. (The reason it was so funny was because Stef and I commented and laughed over that exact thing around 2 hours before Judy said that. It was a golden moment!)
Got to meet Dawn's brother and they both share a similar sense of humour, so me, Dawn's folks, her brother and fiancee were all pissing ourselves laughing over shit (Dawn was asleep coz she had to go to work in a few hours doing the midnight shift. But it was hilarious - pity she missed out!)
Got home, feet are back at their normal temperature and I'm ready to go out tomorrow. After wondering about that shoe museum I saw on Wednesday, I decided I'll be doing that tomorrow. It's the only time I'll be able to get a lift into Toronto, so I may as well take advantage of that. Not sure what else to do. It's going to be -1 degrees, so perhaps I won't do much! Still, I can spend a hell of a lot of time in museums, so we'll see how long I stay in there. And shoes is one of my 2 passions (the other being bags). It's gonna be great!
Off to sleep. See ya!
Got back from my 2 and a half hour walk around town to learn that the annual Oshawa Christmas Parade was going to be held tonight. So myself, Judy and her future daughter in law went over. It started at 6, but we went early to get a prime viewing spot. Judy and Stef were really cold and bailed early by going into a restaurant to wait for me. I on the other hand stayed and watched the whole thing despite my toes getting quite cold. So whose the REAL Canadian now? I gave them shit for it afterwards! But I had some hot chocolate waiting in the car for me as I heated back up again. Santa Claus was very disappointing and Judy got pissy by it! Santa came along and he was just leaning back onto the sleigh and very lazily and unenthusiastically bellowed out 'Merry Chirstmas" - very monotone (Think Ferris Bueller's teacher. Bueller? Bueller? You know what I mean!) Then a kid yelled out, "Why isn't he saying ho ho ho?". Santa then continued with the monotone and did what the kid suggested and lazily said it. Judy's reaction was priceless. She is a gem. 2 things you don't screw around with and get away with if you do them really poorly: Bad Santas and Bad Christmas Decorations! She was so riled up and said, "You know what I'm going to do, I'm going to write a strongly worded letter to the newspaper". Stef and I PISSED ourselves laughing. Apparently that's how Canadians get angry - they don't go to riots, they write angry letters to the editor. (The reason it was so funny was because Stef and I commented and laughed over that exact thing around 2 hours before Judy said that. It was a golden moment!)
Got to meet Dawn's brother and they both share a similar sense of humour, so me, Dawn's folks, her brother and fiancee were all pissing ourselves laughing over shit (Dawn was asleep coz she had to go to work in a few hours doing the midnight shift. But it was hilarious - pity she missed out!)
Got home, feet are back at their normal temperature and I'm ready to go out tomorrow. After wondering about that shoe museum I saw on Wednesday, I decided I'll be doing that tomorrow. It's the only time I'll be able to get a lift into Toronto, so I may as well take advantage of that. Not sure what else to do. It's going to be -1 degrees, so perhaps I won't do much! Still, I can spend a hell of a lot of time in museums, so we'll see how long I stay in there. And shoes is one of my 2 passions (the other being bags). It's gonna be great!
Off to sleep. See ya!
Saturday, November 22
MY LAZY WEEK
OK, so I did end up finishing the previous post (just in case you didn't see it, you can go now and check it out!) In real time it's my end of the week so I'm in a bit more of a reflective mood than usual. Let's review my lazy week!
MONDAY: My legs were still sore and I'm quite surprised by it. Usually I get delayed onset of muscle soreness (the DOMS) after going to the gym. Everybody gets this and it takes 2 days to see it at its worst, but I experience it on the same day as the exercise just because I'm used to getting exercise all the time. It's been 2 days since my mammoth walk around Toronto and am surprised that the soreness is still about - although I haven't been as fit and active in the gym as I have been at home - but I'm getting more exercise here. Very odd, but I feel like a commoner!
Today my Mum sent me an email with a recipe for choc chip muffins that I love, so I decided to make them for everyone here. I had all the ingredients set up and was ready. Firstly I had to beat the butter and sugar. I did, but for some reason it didn't mix well (the butter wasn't soft enough so when it blended in with the sugar, there were lots of lumps - so now we know the reason!) and I didn't do if for enough time, so when I put the other ingredients in, they didn't mix properly. There were lumps of butter and I knew it was going to be a disastrous mix, even though I tried to mix it up and blend the butter in some more. So after including all of those ingredients, I ditched it, threw it in the recycling and started all over again with soft butter and it worked. I baked them and they came out fine - a little drier than what I am used to, but the people here all had some. But whenever I make stuff, I don't like the taste of it. It could taste exactly the same as when my Mum makes them, but the idea that it was me making them and not her makes the taste different. Weird, I know.
It was cold outside so we decided to do what Canadians do best: have ice cream! Yes, it can be a cold Wintery day, but Canadians like nothing more than rugging up nice and warm, going to the local ice-creamery and downing a nice cold one! Dawn had a field day when she discovered for the first time that I was the first non Canadian that she knows who would go out for ice-cream in the cold back in Japan. We used to go out to the 24 hour convenience store at 3am to get ice-cream. And we'd go to the 99 Yen shop, where it cost 103 yen and for some reason, we had a tin full of 1 cent coins - around $5 worth. I think someone passed it onto us and we were sick of seeing it in the apartment, so we decided to spend it on ice-cream. So she and I went to the 99 Yen shop, got our ice creams, at the register we gave them the tin and waited til they counted all those one cent coins (and watching as the other staff were trying not to piss themselves laughing - although it was Dawn and I doing the most laughing) , went back home and had our little ice creams. Good times! And as I was re-telling that story, I think I may have blogged about it before. But that was back in MySpace. This is Blogger, so it doesn't count - as far as you know, this is the first time you've read it! Deal?!
Here we got just a little cone with a huge helping of soft serve ice-cream. I thought it wouldn't have been enough, seeing as I love my ice-cream, and I hadn't had anything to eat for breakfast or lunch aside from one of the muffins I made. But I'm so glad I stuck with the small coz it was extremely filling. Although I twigged onto the fact that the small was enough when I saw Dawn's dad get that small size. He loves his ice cream just as much as me and eats more of it, but when I saw him get the small I wisely decided to do the same. We had a late dinner because we were so stuffed from the 4pm ice-cream fix that we all indulged in.
I also booked my flight to Wisconsin. A few days ago I found a really good deal but was holding off in case the travel agent got me a better deal As a result, I lost the good deals and had to settle for second best. But then second best was about to disappear, but thankfully I went through another search engine and found it again with a different company. So it was a good find - and I get to fly into Madison instead of having to catch a bus in Chicago. So I'll be flying from Toronto to Chicago, then Chicago to Madison. When I return it'll be via Milwaukee. YAY! All in all, a great start to my lazy week!
TUESDAY: And a good continuation of Andy's Lazy Week, coz I did nothing here. NADA! Didn't go out anywhere, as my lower back was also a bit troublesome from the weekend, but I knew it would be fine once I got some rest. Today it was Dawn's mum's turn to overtake the kitchen. She made more gingerbread and my favourite: molasses buns! I first tried those in Japan when Dawn's mum sent some over to the apartment as part of Dawn's care package. I ate them and fell in love with molasses! She also did an experiment with the gingerbread. We wanted to make gingerbread in the shape of a bowl to give as a gift to a friend of a friend, then fill the bowl up with her favourite candies - mainly jelly beans. But we didn't know if the bowl was going to work, so we experimented on a mould and took it from there. When it came out of the oven it was perfect, but when we decided to take it out of the mould, it was still hot and it cracked. So lesson learnt: leave it overnight to cool down, then remove it. But at least we had scrap gingerbread to keep us munching on stuff! It was a very nice lazy day, but by the end of the night I was exhausted and had a headache and just wanted to sleep, although I couldn't because Dawn, Judy and I were going to head off to Toronto all day and we needed to leave early.
WEDNESDAY: Toronto! We all woke up early to get out of the house by 9:30. Didn't get much sleep and wasn't feeling like my usual happy self, but I knew just the thing that would get me out of it; RETAIL THERAPY! Never underestimate the sheer power of shopping folks! It doesn't have to be something big, just something! And boy did I get it today! Once we got to downtown, we went to a place called Honest Ed's. It is a huge discount warehouse where you can get just about anything: dodgy souveneirs (and I got LOTS!), clothes, food, porcelain statues that belong in the 80's, an enlarged Elvis head, kitchen utensils - you name it, they've got it all cheap. The shop itself takes up a whole block encompassing 3 levels of shopping delight. Thankfully I had recovered from the weekend and my legs were up for a walk. The owner is called Ed (obviously) and he made a fortune not only with the warehouse, but with his love of the theatre and movies. He commissioned a lot of work and was loved by the arts community. You can tell this by all the movie posters in the shop and an endless amount of signed pictures from actors from yesteryear. He made a lot of money and gave a lot of it back to the city of Toronto, so it was a sad day when he died last year.
A lot of the stuff you find is dodgy (for all you Aussies, think Dimmeys, but BIGGER!) but you can get some good quality items if you know where to look - and thankfully I did! I got myself a warm jacket for Winter, a hot belt (it's come in handy, my jeans keep falling off!), dodgy souveneirs for the people in my life who have a nice twisted sense of humour - I got it all! We then went walking back to Union Station via the scenic route and we were continuing our window shopping. I LOVE SHOPPING!!!
This was the first day that it started to snow properly. All the other days the snow has been melting but today, it was piling up and turning into a Winter Wonderland. It was pretty to see. I walked past the shoe museum and decided that I need to go there before I leave. Maybe I'll fit it in one of these days. But I have been calculating that I don't have far to go before I leave Canada. In less than 2 weeks I go to Madison for 10 days, I get back to Canada just for 5 days, then it's no more Winter and I charge straight into an Argentinian Summer. Time is absolutely flying here. Maybe coz I have lots of things I want to do - and I have packed a lot into the last 2 weeks or so. Thank goodness for Lazy Week. Let's move on...
THURSDAY: Had the place to myself for a lot of the day. Dawn had an interview at a place that is an hour away and her folks drove her there, as they also wanted to do something in that area. They asked if I wanted to come along, but seeing as they planned to leave at 5:30am, I gave it a miss! It took them 3 hours to get there instead of 1 because of the amount of accidents on the road. It was the first full night of snow, and all of a sudden people go crazy on the roads. It's like when it rains: people underestimate the effect rain has on the road conditions and keep driving as if the road was dry.
I was also waiting for my package from Australia to come. On my last full day in Australia, I applied for a credit card. Even though I do have one already, this particular one charges no money at all for withdrawals in all overseas ATM's. So I told Mum to look out for it while I'm gone and to send me the card and all the rest of the details when she gets it. She mailed it express international last week and it was due today. And it came at 11:30, so I was wrapt. She also sent me bathers, which I forgot to pack even though most of the time I'll be away it'll be Summer or Spring. I also forgot my iPod. Damn!
2 hours after they got back from the interview, we decided to continue retail therapy at the local shopping centre. Lots of fun! I found some cool winter gear that I liked, but decided not to get it, as I cannot take a lot of gear with me. Must curb my retail therapy! Got back home, had dinner and decided to again continue with retail therapy at the 24 hour Walmart. Their gear is pretty decent, but I was a good girl and left empty handed. Stayed up til 2am with Dawn watching movies, The Biggest Loser, talking shit and laughing shit. It's so great catching up with her - I forgot how much fun she was!
TODAY: Got up at midday. I am worrying of my 'sleep late, wake up later' habits, so I'm breaking them today by going out, wearing myself out at the gym so much that I end up sleeping like a baby. I got the first half set out right. I went to the gym for 2 hours and DOMS is kicking in so much right now, especially in my arms. I warmed up, did weights for nearly an hour, an hour of cardio and then ab work. This isn't including the 45 minute walk it takes each way to get to the gym, so it was really 3 and a half hours. Although the walking is now different, as there is snow and black ice everywhere. I'm used to walking at the same quick speed, but with the aforementioned black ice, it's hard to do. So it's a matter of slowing down at the black iced sections.
I have no idea what's happening on the weekend. We were going to go to Niagara, but it's quite cold. I may go to the gym again, but we'll see. Hope you've had a good week. Feels good that I've caught up!
See ya later :)
MONDAY: My legs were still sore and I'm quite surprised by it. Usually I get delayed onset of muscle soreness (the DOMS) after going to the gym. Everybody gets this and it takes 2 days to see it at its worst, but I experience it on the same day as the exercise just because I'm used to getting exercise all the time. It's been 2 days since my mammoth walk around Toronto and am surprised that the soreness is still about - although I haven't been as fit and active in the gym as I have been at home - but I'm getting more exercise here. Very odd, but I feel like a commoner!
Today my Mum sent me an email with a recipe for choc chip muffins that I love, so I decided to make them for everyone here. I had all the ingredients set up and was ready. Firstly I had to beat the butter and sugar. I did, but for some reason it didn't mix well (the butter wasn't soft enough so when it blended in with the sugar, there were lots of lumps - so now we know the reason!) and I didn't do if for enough time, so when I put the other ingredients in, they didn't mix properly. There were lumps of butter and I knew it was going to be a disastrous mix, even though I tried to mix it up and blend the butter in some more. So after including all of those ingredients, I ditched it, threw it in the recycling and started all over again with soft butter and it worked. I baked them and they came out fine - a little drier than what I am used to, but the people here all had some. But whenever I make stuff, I don't like the taste of it. It could taste exactly the same as when my Mum makes them, but the idea that it was me making them and not her makes the taste different. Weird, I know.
It was cold outside so we decided to do what Canadians do best: have ice cream! Yes, it can be a cold Wintery day, but Canadians like nothing more than rugging up nice and warm, going to the local ice-creamery and downing a nice cold one! Dawn had a field day when she discovered for the first time that I was the first non Canadian that she knows who would go out for ice-cream in the cold back in Japan. We used to go out to the 24 hour convenience store at 3am to get ice-cream. And we'd go to the 99 Yen shop, where it cost 103 yen and for some reason, we had a tin full of 1 cent coins - around $5 worth. I think someone passed it onto us and we were sick of seeing it in the apartment, so we decided to spend it on ice-cream. So she and I went to the 99 Yen shop, got our ice creams, at the register we gave them the tin and waited til they counted all those one cent coins (and watching as the other staff were trying not to piss themselves laughing - although it was Dawn and I doing the most laughing) , went back home and had our little ice creams. Good times! And as I was re-telling that story, I think I may have blogged about it before. But that was back in MySpace. This is Blogger, so it doesn't count - as far as you know, this is the first time you've read it! Deal?!
Here we got just a little cone with a huge helping of soft serve ice-cream. I thought it wouldn't have been enough, seeing as I love my ice-cream, and I hadn't had anything to eat for breakfast or lunch aside from one of the muffins I made. But I'm so glad I stuck with the small coz it was extremely filling. Although I twigged onto the fact that the small was enough when I saw Dawn's dad get that small size. He loves his ice cream just as much as me and eats more of it, but when I saw him get the small I wisely decided to do the same. We had a late dinner because we were so stuffed from the 4pm ice-cream fix that we all indulged in.
I also booked my flight to Wisconsin. A few days ago I found a really good deal but was holding off in case the travel agent got me a better deal As a result, I lost the good deals and had to settle for second best. But then second best was about to disappear, but thankfully I went through another search engine and found it again with a different company. So it was a good find - and I get to fly into Madison instead of having to catch a bus in Chicago. So I'll be flying from Toronto to Chicago, then Chicago to Madison. When I return it'll be via Milwaukee. YAY! All in all, a great start to my lazy week!
TUESDAY: And a good continuation of Andy's Lazy Week, coz I did nothing here. NADA! Didn't go out anywhere, as my lower back was also a bit troublesome from the weekend, but I knew it would be fine once I got some rest. Today it was Dawn's mum's turn to overtake the kitchen. She made more gingerbread and my favourite: molasses buns! I first tried those in Japan when Dawn's mum sent some over to the apartment as part of Dawn's care package. I ate them and fell in love with molasses! She also did an experiment with the gingerbread. We wanted to make gingerbread in the shape of a bowl to give as a gift to a friend of a friend, then fill the bowl up with her favourite candies - mainly jelly beans. But we didn't know if the bowl was going to work, so we experimented on a mould and took it from there. When it came out of the oven it was perfect, but when we decided to take it out of the mould, it was still hot and it cracked. So lesson learnt: leave it overnight to cool down, then remove it. But at least we had scrap gingerbread to keep us munching on stuff! It was a very nice lazy day, but by the end of the night I was exhausted and had a headache and just wanted to sleep, although I couldn't because Dawn, Judy and I were going to head off to Toronto all day and we needed to leave early.
WEDNESDAY: Toronto! We all woke up early to get out of the house by 9:30. Didn't get much sleep and wasn't feeling like my usual happy self, but I knew just the thing that would get me out of it; RETAIL THERAPY! Never underestimate the sheer power of shopping folks! It doesn't have to be something big, just something! And boy did I get it today! Once we got to downtown, we went to a place called Honest Ed's. It is a huge discount warehouse where you can get just about anything: dodgy souveneirs (and I got LOTS!), clothes, food, porcelain statues that belong in the 80's, an enlarged Elvis head, kitchen utensils - you name it, they've got it all cheap. The shop itself takes up a whole block encompassing 3 levels of shopping delight. Thankfully I had recovered from the weekend and my legs were up for a walk. The owner is called Ed (obviously) and he made a fortune not only with the warehouse, but with his love of the theatre and movies. He commissioned a lot of work and was loved by the arts community. You can tell this by all the movie posters in the shop and an endless amount of signed pictures from actors from yesteryear. He made a lot of money and gave a lot of it back to the city of Toronto, so it was a sad day when he died last year.
A lot of the stuff you find is dodgy (for all you Aussies, think Dimmeys, but BIGGER!) but you can get some good quality items if you know where to look - and thankfully I did! I got myself a warm jacket for Winter, a hot belt (it's come in handy, my jeans keep falling off!), dodgy souveneirs for the people in my life who have a nice twisted sense of humour - I got it all! We then went walking back to Union Station via the scenic route and we were continuing our window shopping. I LOVE SHOPPING!!!
This was the first day that it started to snow properly. All the other days the snow has been melting but today, it was piling up and turning into a Winter Wonderland. It was pretty to see. I walked past the shoe museum and decided that I need to go there before I leave. Maybe I'll fit it in one of these days. But I have been calculating that I don't have far to go before I leave Canada. In less than 2 weeks I go to Madison for 10 days, I get back to Canada just for 5 days, then it's no more Winter and I charge straight into an Argentinian Summer. Time is absolutely flying here. Maybe coz I have lots of things I want to do - and I have packed a lot into the last 2 weeks or so. Thank goodness for Lazy Week. Let's move on...
THURSDAY: Had the place to myself for a lot of the day. Dawn had an interview at a place that is an hour away and her folks drove her there, as they also wanted to do something in that area. They asked if I wanted to come along, but seeing as they planned to leave at 5:30am, I gave it a miss! It took them 3 hours to get there instead of 1 because of the amount of accidents on the road. It was the first full night of snow, and all of a sudden people go crazy on the roads. It's like when it rains: people underestimate the effect rain has on the road conditions and keep driving as if the road was dry.
I was also waiting for my package from Australia to come. On my last full day in Australia, I applied for a credit card. Even though I do have one already, this particular one charges no money at all for withdrawals in all overseas ATM's. So I told Mum to look out for it while I'm gone and to send me the card and all the rest of the details when she gets it. She mailed it express international last week and it was due today. And it came at 11:30, so I was wrapt. She also sent me bathers, which I forgot to pack even though most of the time I'll be away it'll be Summer or Spring. I also forgot my iPod. Damn!
2 hours after they got back from the interview, we decided to continue retail therapy at the local shopping centre. Lots of fun! I found some cool winter gear that I liked, but decided not to get it, as I cannot take a lot of gear with me. Must curb my retail therapy! Got back home, had dinner and decided to again continue with retail therapy at the 24 hour Walmart. Their gear is pretty decent, but I was a good girl and left empty handed. Stayed up til 2am with Dawn watching movies, The Biggest Loser, talking shit and laughing shit. It's so great catching up with her - I forgot how much fun she was!
TODAY: Got up at midday. I am worrying of my 'sleep late, wake up later' habits, so I'm breaking them today by going out, wearing myself out at the gym so much that I end up sleeping like a baby. I got the first half set out right. I went to the gym for 2 hours and DOMS is kicking in so much right now, especially in my arms. I warmed up, did weights for nearly an hour, an hour of cardio and then ab work. This isn't including the 45 minute walk it takes each way to get to the gym, so it was really 3 and a half hours. Although the walking is now different, as there is snow and black ice everywhere. I'm used to walking at the same quick speed, but with the aforementioned black ice, it's hard to do. So it's a matter of slowing down at the black iced sections.
I have no idea what's happening on the weekend. We were going to go to Niagara, but it's quite cold. I may go to the gym again, but we'll see. Hope you've had a good week. Feels good that I've caught up!
See ya later :)
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