9C/48F

That's the current temperature here in Edmonton. It's raining, it's windy, and it's REALLY COLD! BRRRRRR!! I almost wore my wool sweater, but there was no way that I was going to give in to this weather. I mean, it's JULY; we're not supposed to have cold weather like this. Granted, we do need the rain (to help prevent those forest fires), but does it really need to be this cold? A trip to a nice warm beach would be good right about now...


Random Thought

Why is it that when it's winter and the weather is below zero, anything above zero is considered warm. But when it's hot, anything under 15C is considered cold (well, for me anyway)? I know, it's about your body adjusting to the environment, but why couldn't you just feel the same way regardless of the season? I mean, 20C is 20C. It shouldn't have to feel different with the seasons. Does that make sense? All I know is, I was definitely made for more tropical weather.


Is this week almost over?

Quite the busy week at work so far. Payroll, inventory, month end reports, bills to pay, etc. And it's only Wednesday! It feels like it should be Friday. Ah well, it'll be over soon...


"You have just received a dinner gift certificate..."

A while ago, I answered some telephone survey thing about travel. Blah blah blah. Then today, I got a call from this guy who works with a wholesale travel company and said I got a dinner gift certificate at some Mediterranean restaurant for answering the questions on the survey. Uh, OK. So what's the catch? Apparently there is no catch. It's not a time-share thing, and I'm not obligated to buy anything either. All they want is my potential future business for my future travel plans, since I'd be getting a discount on airfare, etc (compared to going through a regular travel agency). All I have to do is sit in this "meeting" for an hour (and bring non-perishable items for the food bank), and I get my dinner gift certificate. They'll probably try to sell me something without making it seem like they're selling me something, but hey, I want my dinner gift certificate! =P

Random Thought

Here's something I got from an email:

"How is it that one careless match can start a forest fire, but it takes a whole box to start a campfire?

It's been 1 month...

... plus or minus a week since I've been to the gym. I'm feeling kinda blah, and finding it difficult to get the motivation to go back. I know I should go, especially since kickboxing starts again next week. Any suggestions?

Quick Weekend Post

Friday
Went shopping with Irma. Bought a bag for $5 (yay! thanks to Irma). Made our appearance at Klondike Days. Checked out the Philippine pavilion (which was OK), and went to the casino where I lost $20. Oh well.

Saturday
Went shopping with my brother after work (no Irma, I wasn't at Wal-Mart for 3 hours - hehehehe. =P). Met up with Irma and then went for coffee. Big surprise for me (talk about being clueless...) !

Sunday
Went to Sylvan Lake for Shelley's grad party-get-together thing. It was raining and cold and windy (similar to the Eiffel Tower trip with Bern), so I opted not to go on the water slides. It cleared up for a little while in the afternoon, but then the clouds rolled in again. By this time, we packed it up and headed indoors at the A&W. And just as we were getting ready to leave, the sun comes out again. Some of the people decided to go back to the water slides, but I didn't because (i) by this time, I wasn't in the mood to go, (ii) my bathing suit was in my car, which my parents drove home, and (iii) I just wanted to go home.

I think I'll just relax for the rest of the evening...

Taste of Edmonton

It's that time of year again. Being that Edmonton is the City of Festivals, and Taste of Edmonton is part of that, Irma and I had to make our appearance. ;-) As usual, we had a lot to eat (tomato salad from That's Aroma, seafood skewers from Café Select, salad rolls from Century Grill, crepes from Martinique, and a fruit martini from Mayfield Inn). The food was not bad. Some of the portions were small, but then the whole point of Taste of Edmonton is to sample a whole bunch of different kinds of food. Phoun met us there (thanks to Sweet Caroline) and then we headed to Joey Tomato's for a pitcher of bellini's, a pitcher of sangria, and some crab & artichoke dip.

[Highlight of the evening: RIBS!! hehehehe. :-)]

Goodbye Dear Pam

Miss Princess
that's what we called her
she took good care of herself
always getting her beauty rest,
always primped and fashionable
that was Miss Princess

The Shopper
her forté was the art of shopping
the mall was her territory
"sale" was the magic word
she was the bargain hunter
that was The Shopper

The Person
smart, funny, determined, mature,
one-of-a-kind
she knew what she wanted out of life
with certain "specifications" to be met
that was The Person

The Angel
now she has moved on
to a place where she continues to be Miss Princess, The Shopper, and The Person
although we can't see her
she is still with us

I will miss you Pam. Although it was much too soon to go, I can definitely say that you lived a full life. I know there comes a time when we must move on to another world beyond earth. And sadly so, your's came too quickly. But you are in a better place now, and your spirit lives on through Tarrell. Our love and prayers are with you and your family.

6 months ago today...

...I started working here. Happy Anniversary to me! hehehe. =P Hard to believe it's only been 6 months. Seems like longer. But isn't that always the case? (Or maybe not...)

What's that smell?

Shelley and I were outside briefly when we noticed that someone in our neighborhood was smoking some serious weed. We weren't sure where it was coming from because we couldn't see any smoke, but it seemed like they were burning a massive plant in their backyard or something.

Busy Weekend in a Nutshell

Friday
You'd think that I'd be jet-lagged after getting back from Paris, but I went to work. Later that night, I went out with Irma, Irene, Ghie, and Elaine for Irene's birthday. [Highlight: Irene having a bit of difficulty doing the "shot with no hands"].

Saturday
I had about 5 hours sleep, and got up early to go to work for 4 hours. After work, I rushed home to get ready for the Binibining Pilipinas Edmonton 2002 & Miss Teen Philippines Edmonton 2002 Beauty Pageant at the Shaw Conference Center. I took Irma with me, and we stayed there for 2 hours, just long enough to see the pre-pageant show. We had other commitments that evening which is why we didn't stay to see the pageant. [Highlights: VIP/Platinum status; having champagne and hors d'oeuvres; being "yuppie-ish" ;-)]

After the pre-pageant show, Irma and I went to Mark and Lia's wedding reception (they got married in Cancun 2 weeks ago, and had the reception here). It was good to see Mark again, and it's hard to believe that he's married now. Weird thing was, I saw a couple people I knew, but I didn't know that they knew Mark. Talk about small world. [Highlights: Poon's imitation of Maestro Fresh Wes' dance; trying to do the two-step; just having lots of fun. :-)]

Sunday
I tried to sleep in, but for some reason I woke up at 9:00 am? (I'm pulling one of Irma's stunts. hehehe). I got up, had breakfast, and putzed around with the intention of doing absolutely nothing. Although I was off to a good start (sitting in front of the computer and talking to Irma at the same time), I somehow managed to make plans for the evening. So much for staying home. I went out for coffee with a friend of mine and showed my pictures of Paris. 2.5 hours later, we called it a night.

Finally a moment to myself

It's nice to be able to just sit here, with no one around, and do nothing (well, except blog, but I need to clear my head). Although I have contemplated about going to the gym, I think I'll do that another day…

Au Revoir Paris

We had our last "continental breakfast" (consisting of cereal and croissants), before taking the shuttle to the airport. We had a minor glitch when we got to the airport and were approximately 2 euros short for the fare. But that's their fault for not accepting credit cards. =P

When we went in, there was a huge line at the Air Canada check-in desk. There were all these people with backpacks and what looked like camping gear, waiting to get boarding passes. Great. Of all the days for a group outing, they had to pick this day. I found out later that the group (of 100 people) were going to Toronto for World Youth Day. Anyway, I finally got my boarding pass and had about an hour before heading to my gate. So Bern and I just sat and people-watched.

Record-breaking proposal

While Bern and I were people-watching, this guy who works at the airport sat 2 chairs away from me and just stared over. I looked at him with this "can I help you?" kinda look and he finally said Bonjour. In a span of 3 minutes, I found out the guy's name, age, origin, occupation, etc, and somewhere along the way he managed to ask me to marry him. Huh?!?!?!?! Uh yeah, OK? It was quite entertaining actually.

Je parle un petit peu de francais...

I was sitting next to 1 of the 100-person group going to Toronto for World Youth Day. Her name was Guenaelle and oddly enough we managed to have a conversation. She spoke a bit of english, and I spoke a bit of french. But between gestures and different tonalities, we somehow understood each other.

"This is your captain speaking..."

I don't like hearing an announcement that starts off this way because it usually means that something's wrong. In this case, the captain was telling us that there would be a delay -- for 1 hour. Ugh. Something about the plane arriving late, putting the baggage on the plane, re-fueling, etc. Oh well, at least my layover in Toronto would be 4 hours instead of 5.

Lines, lines, and more lines

When I got to the Toronto airport to catch my connecting flight to Edmonton, there was nothing but lines. First a line to customs; then a line (somewhat) to get you baggage; then another line to re-check your baggage; and finally a line to go through security. I realize it's part of increased security measures, etc. but I just don't like waiting in them.

Miscellaneous highlights/tidbits of info from the trip:

• Top 5 songs of the trip:
  1. Papa Don't Preach - Kelly Osborne
     
  2. Soak up the Sun - Sheryl Crow
     
  3. 1000 Miles - Vanessa Carlton
     
  4. Don't Let Me Get Me - Pink
     
  5. Let's Push Things Forward - The Streets
• renaming roads/places (La Samaritaine = San Martin; Rue de Rivoli = Ravioli Street)
  
• "rippy thing" (used at the Eiffel Tower)

Back Home

Although I had an awesome time in Paris, it was great to be back home. I still can't believe I went to Paris. It was definitely a wonderful experience. Now that I can say I've been to Europe, I feel like exploring the other continents. Gotta save up for that though. ;-)

Acknowledgments

Thanks Gary for introducing me to blogging and ultimately Bern. And thanks Bern for inviting me to Paris. I had tons of fun! :-)

[Lester B. Pearson Airport - Toronto, ON]
[Time: Plus 2 hours]

I've been in the airport for almost 2 hours now, and I have a little over 2 hours left to go. *sigh* Since I've pacing in the airport, I figured I could kill some blogging. The only thing is, this is the most expensive blog I've ever written ($6.00 for 11 minutes! AND this keyboard sucks! =P). Time is running out. Gotta go!

[Paris, France - easyInernet Café on Rue de la Harpe]
[Time: Plus 8 hours]

Day 7 - Free Day

Since Bern and I managed to see and do everything we wanted to, today was a day to just relax and explore. And what a perfect way to end the week off with sunny skies and warm weather (except for the first day, it's been overcast for most of the trip). We had a late start of 7:00 am (since we've been getting up at 6:00 am the past week), and had breakfast. After breakfast, we went to Trocadero to catch a glimpse of the Eiffel Tower from the other side. The view was much better. From there, we went to Place de la Concorde ("What's that pointy thing? -- an obelisque) for some pictures, and then walked to Les Tuilleries for more pictures. We sat under the sun for a while, and I think I had a brain fry (as opposed to a brain freeze =P).

The next stop was the Louvre (for the 3rd time!) to get some lunch [note: cute guy working in food court] and pick up any "last minute" items we may have forgotten to get [like Bern's bag at Esprit ;-)].

Random Thought: Don't you hate it when you think you see a celebrity, and try to point them out to get someone else's confirmation, but by the time you realize who you think you just saw, it's too late? (Did that make sense?) I think I saw Tony Bennett while we were crossing the street from the Louvre to the souvenir shop. It was weird. I was looking down at the time, and as I looked up, I passed by this old guy in a blue shirt. It wasn't until after he passed by that I realized who he was. Bern didn't see him, and I tried to point him out to her, but he disappeared into the crowd. According to his schedule, he was in the UK during the first week of July, so maybe he was taking a break in Paris? I'm pretty sure it was him. Either that or I was hallucinating...

After our "last minute" shopping, it was off to Place de Vosges for, guess what, more pictures. =P We had a bit of trouble finding the place at first because we were going the wrong way ("Uh, I don't think we're on the map anymore."). We finally made it there, took a couple pictures, and sat in the sun for a while.

Le Panthéon

We headed back to the hotel for a "trial run" at packing. Only thing was, they hadn't cleaned our rooms yet so we had to leave for a little while. We decided to go the Panthéon (since it was right there) to take more [goofy] pictures. Bern wanted to check out the little shop (even though there was a sign on the door that said "No Entrance"). So we casually walked in, bought a couple postcards, and ended up walking through the place (as per Bern's suggestion, since we were there anyway...). We wandered through the place and wandered back out. We saved 7 euros by going through the "back entrance" ;-). It may not seem that much, but by that time our funds were at low and we still had to eat. We went back to the hotel and hung out for a while before going out to dinner.

Highlights:

• look at dat; who dat? what dat?
  
• Bern and the ducks
  
• last night for wine

Expired Passport

Bern happened to be looking at my passport when she noticed that my passport expired. WHAT?!?!? I had no idea it expired, and the funny thing was it expired in May! Here I am travelling to Europe with an expired passport. It just goes to show you that all they do is look at the picture to make sure that that is you on the passport photo. Good thing they didn't notice it, otherwise I would've been stuck in Paris.

[Paris, France - easyInternet Café on Rue de la Harpe]
[Time: Plus 8 hours]

Day 6 - Versailles

Today was dedicated to exploring Versailles. A funny thing happened during the train ride there. Some black guy was trying to pick us up. I couldn't really understand what he was saying, but he was basically trying to exchange phone numbers and/or addresses. Uh, I don't think he realizes that there's a bit of a language barrier. Wouldn't that be interesting - corresponding to each other in our languages, not understanding what the heck the other person is saying. Whatever.

The property was unbelievable! It's hard to fathom the wealth that was put into this estate, let alone living there. Bern and I briefly looked at the rooms (because there were too many group tours and we wanted to by-pass the crowds), and spent a whole 5 minutes in the Hall of Mirrors, which was the only room we wanted to see anyway. After our tour of the "apartments", we headed to the gardens where we spent over 3 hours walking and sitting and walking and sitting. [Bern seemed to be bonding with the ducks. hehehe. =P].

Here are some tips to visiting Versailles (if you're ever in France):

• Get there early, otherwise you will be in line forever.
  
• Go to the bathroom first. For a nominal fee (0.40 €), it's best to use the facilities before you even proceed into the property. It helps if you have the "buddy system" so you can have one go to the bathroom, and then switch (providing, of course, the lines are moving at the same pace).
  
• Go to the info desk to get a map/brochures of the place and ask any questions you may have.
  
• Pay 10.50 € for general admission and admission to the gardens (The signage they have is a bit confusing. You don't need to get a day pass, unless you plan on leaving and then coming back, which I would not recommend because the lines do NOT end).
  
• Unless you're really into the history of the rooms, briefly go through the apartments and spend a few minutes in the Hall of Mirrors. By-pass tour groups as much as you can.
  
• Spend most of the day in the gardens. It is quite massive, and there is no way to see the entire thing in an afternoon. But this way, you're can explore at your on pace.
  
• Pack a lunch or have a picnic in the gardens. It is much cheaper than buying food there.

Some stats on Versailles:

• Approximately 8 million people visit per year. In admission revenue alone (at an average admission of 10 €), they make 80 million €
  
• At a nominal fee of 0.40 € to use the bathroom, they make 3.2 million €. Multiply that by 5 facilities and you have 16 million €
  
• In addition, they also get revenue from food sales, bike/boat rentals, souvenirs, etc.
  
• Bottom line: they make WAY to much money. But I guess all the revenue is needed to maintain the grounds.

Tongue twister of the day

fierce french fish

[Paris, France - easyInternet Café on Rue de la Harpe]
[Time: Plus 8 hours]

Day 4 - Bastille Day

Agenda: Champs Elysées to watch the Bastille Day parade, then go to Place de la Concorde and Les Tuilleries for some photos, and maybe check out a flea market.

However, things didn't go as planned. We did go to Champs Elysées for the parade, but nothing was happening. All we saw were army vehicles driving by. And they weren't driving slow either. They all zoomed by like they were chasing something. Since it seemed like the parade would take a while, and Bern had to go the bathroom, we went into the Louvre to use their facilities. The cool thing was, we discovered a mini mall so we ended up doing a bit of shopping. So much for the parade. =P Since we were back in the Louvre, we decided to look at the things we missed - those being the Winged Victory of Samothrace (which we somehow passed by the first time we went) and Napoleon's apartments.

Fashion Faux Pas of the Day

1. sheer top over a lace thing with some kind of aztec print pants
   
2. flower top with pin-striped denim skirt and black lace leggings, and neon green sweater tied around the waist (So far, this one takes the cake. I really don't know what she was going for, but it looked like someone threw up on her.)

Mix-up at the Metro
Since we pretty much trashed our original plan, we decided to go to the Basilique du Sacré Coeur way in the 18th arrondissements (district). Only problem was, we couldn't find our way out so we ended up going back and forth between subway stations. We were having a "day would not be complete without one circle" moment. ;-)

Basilique du Sacré Coeur
It was amazing! It's just one of those things you can't describe. It was good to just sit there and have a moment to yourself.

Question of the Day
As Bern and I were on the metro, I looked up at the route that was on the train and wondered "if the train travels one-way and in a straight line, where does the metro turn to get on the other side?"

Feet Talk
After another day of extensive walking, Bern and I went back to the hotel to recharge. We had a foot soak in the tub, and had discussions about feet.

Le Vieux Paris
This is where we had dinner on Rue de la Harpe. It was nice to have something other than ham and cheese baguettes, croissants, and anything else that had bread and ham and cheese. =P

Fireworks at Trocadero
Since we missed the Bastille Day parade, we went to the Trocadero to watch the fireworks. The show was awesome, as the sky was lit up with red, yellow, gold, purple, etc. It was to the point that we were getting blinded by all that light. What a way to end the evening. The only not-so-good thing about the night was that we ended up walking an hour to get to a metro station that wasn't packed with a million people trying to get home. In doing so, we managed to walk along the Seine River (one of the things we kinda thought of doing). When we finally made it back to the hotel, we passed out.

Day 5 - Disneyland Paris

To change up the routine of going to museums and monuments, we headed to Disneyland Paris for some normal "north americana" stuff. Disneyland Paris is nothing compared to the original in California, but it was OK. We managed to hit 10 rides/attractions in half a day, so it shows you how big it is in comparison to the original. The rides/attractions we hit included:

• picture with Mickey
  
• Phantom Manor
  
• Big Thunder Mountain (had some technical difficulty at the beginning of the ride, so we got to ride twice and posed for the camera at the end both times)
  
• Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril -- Backwards (I was feeling sick after this one, not to mention the side of my head got banged up)
  
• Pirates of Carribean (since I was feeling sick from the previous ride, all the water and bumping of the boat set me off (this ride stopped as well), so I went straight to the bathroom and puked my brains out. yuck!)
  
• went through It's a Small World and Alice's Curios Labyrinth
  
• had lunch at The Old Mill (to fill my empty stomach)
  
• Pinocchio's Fantastic Journey
  
• Peter Pan's Flight (similar to the E.T. ride in Universal)
  
• Space Mountain (felt sick again therefore I puked again, AND my ears got bruised/blistered from my head being banged up against the head rest).
  
• had a snack at Café Hyperion/Videopolis (to fill my empty stomach again; took a bit of snooze while the show was going on)
  
• watched Honey I Shrunk the Audience
  
• did a bit of shopping (OK, so this isn't really an attraction, but it was part of the day)

Other Observation
It smells here. It smells in the subway. It smells on some of the streets. It smells in this internet café. Some of the people smell. It even smelled in Disneyland. I don't know what it is, but they need to do something about it.

[Paris, France - easyInternet Café on Rue de la Harpe]
[Time: Plus 8 hours]

Day 2 - Museums & Metro

Our agenda for the day included a trip to the Louvre, Musée de Guimet, Galaries LaFayette, and the Eiffel Tower.

Musée du Louvre
Big. Enormous. Grandiose. The big-daddy musem of them all. There was no way, Bern and I could see every single piece of art in the museum (because it would take days), so we made sure we saw the key pieces: Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, and Marly Horses. The Mona Lisa, as I found out later, was encased in bullet proof glass. Uh, OK? So is that because they're afraid that someone will shoot her? Bern and I critiqued the heck out of Mona Lisa:

• no eyebrows
  
• hair part was crooked
  
• what's up with the smile/smirk on her face?
  
• was she sitting or standing and leaning on an arm rest?
  
• the background of the picture seemed like she was sitting/standing in front of a picture

As for Venus de Milo, was her right arm sawed off because the left one fell off? These were the kind of things we were questioning as we went throught the museum.

Highlights:

• posing in other people's pictures
  
• "we're not here"
  
• ass-biting/ass-grabbing picture

Musée de Guimet
The next stop was Musée de Guimet. I thought it would be interesting to see a museum of asian art but when we got there, I was not impressed. It wasn't what I expected at all. I thought it would be more of modern asian art, but it was ancient stuff dating back to the 500's or 700's. What we noticed was almost all of the asian art had the same generic face. Unless you looked at the piece from the neck down, you couldn't really tell if the subject was male or female. And even then it was still difficult. It was like "Pat" from SNL in asian times.

Notes:

• art piece with "interesting" position
  
• statue with 500 arms?

Galaries LaFayette
After the Guimet museum, we were planning to check out the Museum of Modern Art, but by this point we were museum'ed out (and tired from all that walking) so we took a break and just sat on the steps in front of the museum. We decided to go to Galaries LaFayette to do some shopping. Big mistake. First of all, there was WAY too many people. You'd think that half the people would be working, but that wasn't the case. Mind you, there are a lot of tourists, but still. The worst part was the service. All I wanted to do was buy some stuff, and no one seemed to want to help me. One girl was putting away some stuff, and the guy was flirting with some girl. Nice. I went to one cashier and she told me to go to the next till. Fine. I went to the next till, but there was no one there. I tried to pay for the stuff in the cosmetics department, but for some reason I couldn't? Nice customer service. So I went back to where I came from, and waited for the sales lady to help me. Had Bern mentioned it to me, I would've walked out of the store with my stuff. Meanwhile, Bern went to the welcome desk to get a 10% voucher so I could get a discount (seeing as it's quite expensive here, every discount helps). When Bern came back, the lady who was helping me was having some technical difficulty with the till. And it didn't help that she was getting frustrated because she kept hitting the wrong key or something to enter the discount. All this trouble to get 10% off and a free bag. =P Ugh! Note: Unless, you're prepared to deal with the huge crowd and poor customer service, avoid the department stores altogether. It's just not worth the trouble.

Ice Cream Break
Since Bern and I were cranky with what just happened, plus the fact that we've done some serious walking to this point, we went for ice cream at Christian Constant to calm us down. Strawberry sorbet for Bern, and Mango sorbet for me. YUM! :-) We sat and relaxed for a while and people watched.

Fashion Faux Pas # 1
As we were people watching, we saw this one girl wearing a purple skirt with a matching top. Not a big deal, but her underwear, which was black (and of the granny panties genre) was showing. Uh, that is just wrong. It may come across as being mean, but how can you look at yourself in the mirror and not notice that your underwear is showing through your skirt?!

Eiffel Tower
After taking a nap to recharge, we headed to the Eiffel Tower. Making our way to the top took a bit of time (OK, it took more time to get up the tower than take in the view). And it didn't help that it was rainy and cold and cold and rainy and cold and windy. It's a good thing we brought an umbrella. Did I mention it was rainy and cold? When we got to the top, the view was awesome! Although it would've been better if it was clear and not rainy and cold and windy. =P

Tone of the day
The tone of the day was up, down, up, down, plateau, way up (thanks to Bern's omg/wow moment)! ;-)

Day 3 - More Museums, Metro, and Monuments

The schedule for the day consisted of a trip to Musée d'Orsay, Musée Rodin, and the Arc du Triomphe.

Musée d'Orsay
This was a very nice museum. Definitely not as big as the Louvre, but we were able to see everything. I really liked the sculptures and how the museum was set up, with paintings in corridors and sculptures in the main aisle to break up the monotony of the paintings. I agree with Bern in feeling like art students studying abroad. Besides the time I went to the art gallery with Irma, I don't think I've ever been this "artsy".

Musée Rodin
Another interesting museum, this was a cool place to check out. The musuem of The Thinker guy. Again there were a couple sculptures I liked, but the main one I wanted to see was The Thinker guy. There was also a garden in the back and it was nice to just sit and take it all in.

My first glass of wine
It took 3 days, but I finally had my first glass of wine the whole trip at the cafe in Musée Rodin! I mean, what would the trip be like without at least one glass of wine? =P [I was getting worried...]

Subway
Between going to the museums and monuments, Bern and I have gotten used to the subway system. It's quite easy actually, once you get the hang of it. If only they'd have english signs or color-coded symbols or something, that would make it easier.

Arc du Triomphe
Wow! Once you climbed the said 284 steps [I counted 274 going up; and then 279 going down because I didn't count 5 steps which I thought weren't included the first time], it was an good view of the city. Not as great as the Eiffel Tower, but it was not bad. There were guys in uniform there, but I wasn't sure what they were there for (Bastille Day perhaps?). [Sidenote: What is it about guys in uniform? ;-)]

Fashion Faux Pas of the Day
Being in the city of haute couture, Bern and I have decided to pick out those who have "broken the rules" so-to-speak. There were 4 "offences" today:

1. sports wear (waist of pants rolled down with tag showing) with a dressy bag
   
2. nylons with opened toe shoes (this should just be banned =P)
   
3. beach thong flip flops with a dressy outfit
   
4. layered look - leather jacket on top of a longer tunic top, denim jeans with cuff, and beige snake skin shoes (I have no idea what she was going for?)

More Exploring
After taking a nap, Bern and I walked around Rue de la Harpe and the hidden streets. We discovered that there were SO many places to eat there. It's basically 95% restaurants. Well, at least we know where to go if we get hungry. :-)

Late Dinner
We went back to Crépescule for a late dinner crepe (egg, cheese, mushroom). The old guy that runs the place is really nice. The funny thing was he thought we were spanish. I guess we have that latin look?

What do we look like?
First the crépe guy though we were spanish, and then these 2 locals thought we were japanese by saying "arigato". I'm confused. I suppose they can tell that we aren't chinese, but it's interesting to see them try to figure us out.

[Paris, France - easyInternetCafé on Rue de la Harpe]

Day 1 - Agenda Completed

[OK, so this is a little sooner than I thought] As you can see, Bern and I are back at the internet cafe. It's not that we don't have anything to do, we actually had a full day.

The plan was to get some lunch, see Notre Dame, and Saint Chapelle. And we did just that! We had lunch in front of this one museum (I think?), then headed to Notre Dame. Notre Dame was big! There were lots of people taking pictures and walking around, and I kinda felt bad for being part of that group because there were people in there praying, but what do you do when it's a tourist attraction? Bern and I lit a candle and took pictures. We walked around some more and just absorbed the surroundings. We still can't believe that we're in Paris. ;-)

Next on our hit list was Saint Chapelle. Frommers describes it best as "an explosion of color". And that's exactly what it was. As soon as you enter, you're welcomed by these vibant colors of red, blue, and gold. It was just amazing! The "upper chapel" was cool too with it's 6,458 sq. ft. of stained glass windows (although they looked like they could use a bit of cleaning). Bern and I sat there in complete awe.

Random Thought
There was a sign in Saint Chapelle to "be quiet". But how can it possibly be quiet in there when they conduct tours and the tour guide is talking? It would be different if people were wearing those automated-tour-guide-headphone things, but it wasn't like that. Or maybe they should conduct the tour in sign language?

After seeing all our places on our hit list, we headed back to the hotel for a quick break. Only the quick break turned into a long nap. =P Oops. I guess we were really pooped from all that walking.

Crépescule

That's the name of this creperie place we went to on Boulevard Saint Germain. We had the jambon & fromage (ham & cheese) crepe and it was so good. And so cheap! I think that guy is going to be seeing more of us during the week, right Bern? Gotta try that nutella dessert one next! :-)

"You are here"

At major intersections, there are these user-friendly maps with the You are here dot. They come in handy when you're trying to figure out where you are and where you want to go, and are too lazy to pull out your own map (for fear of looking like tourists, but then we're asian so that's a given, and we're looking at the said map to begin with =P)

Big Ben Pen(cil)

I forgot to mention earlier that I got my Big Ben Pencil and matching Big Ben Pencil sharpener. Thanks Bern! :-)

This keyboard sucks

I definitely agree with Bern that this keyboard sucks! It's all backwards and upside down and stuff. Had this been a "normal" keyboard, what I just typed would've looked like this:

"I definitely qgree zith Bern thqt this keyboqrd sucks1 Itùs qll backzqrds qnd upside dozn qnd stuff." Talk about some whacked up language.

Other Observations

• They drive "normal" (i.e. on the right side of the road)
  
• It's dirty here. People like to litter. Not to mention the occasional doggy-do on the sidewalk. Yuck!
  
• The lift in our hotel is REALLY small. It gives new meaning to Bern and I "getting close".

OK, my time is almost up (2 minutes left). Until next time...

[Paris, France - easyInternetCafé on Rue de la Harpe]

Bonjour mes amis!

Bern and I made it to Paris! Yay!! Although trying to type is a bit difficult since the keyboard is all bqckzqrds (i.e. "backwards"). So let's see how much I can type in the next 44 minutes...

Leaving Edmonton

I got to the airport at 8:20 am only because my brother dropped me off before he had to go to work. So I had 3 hours to kill, which consisted of having breakfast, walking, sit/read, walk, go to bank machine, sit/read, walk, sit/read, walk, then waiting to board. The guy at the Air Canada counter didn't seem to be awake since he asked me for my passport after giving it back to me? Then it was on to more waiting. I noticed some army guys in uniform and the cargo and fighter plane on the runway. On the plane, I took a nap, then ate, read my frommers guide, and napped again *thinking to myself: are we there yet?*

In Toronto

I arrived at 5:40 pm and the suggested time to be at the gate to my connecting flight was 5:50 pm. Uh yeah, 10 minutes to get from one place to the next. Normally that wouldn't have been a big deal except that I landed in Terminal 2 and I had to go to Terminal 1. Argh! After going through a maze of going down stairs, through the tunnel, then back up more stairs, I finally made it to Terminal 1. But there was a long line of people waiting to get through security. And it didn't help that the airline crew would cut in front of the line?! I made through security with about 30 minutes to spare. Only thing was, they hadn't started boarding yet. =P The flight ended up leaving half an hour later. So much for rushing.

En Route to Paris

The flight to Paris wasn't that bad. I liked the fact that we had a snack, in-flight movie # 1 (Monsters Inc.), dinner, in-flight movie # 2 (Analyze This), then I slept, then had breakfast. Now it was just a waiting game to get into Paris.

Bienvenue a Paris!

I arrived into Paris 15 minutes earlier than expected. The weird thing was, they were doing construction where we landed so we actually had to walk outside to get to the shuttle to take us to Terminal 2. Once at the terminal, it was one more check through customs [note: cute guy complimented me, therefore boosting my ego =P], and I was done. Now all I had to do was exchange some money and figure out if I should take the subway or the taxi to the hotel? Since I didn't want to risk getting lost on the subway, I took the taxi. The cab driver was this nice old man and I managed to make small talk with him en francais. I guess taking French in school was a good thing. One hour and 50 euros later, I made it to the hotel. Now all I had to do was wait for Bern to show up.

Exploring with Bern

Bern made it to the hotel and we went for lunch. So far we've just been walking the streets, getting a feel for the whole place. I still can't believe that we're here. And now we're spending our time in an internet café. Go figure! With 3 minutes left, we have to get going. Maybe we'll blog again soon?

Packed up and ready to go!

I have managed to strategically place everything into my carry-on suitcase. I've successfully fit clothes for the week, 2 pairs of shoes, toiletries, and a small umbrella into a suitcase measuring approximately 9" x 15.5" x 20". Like my uncle says, I have it down to a science. Ah yes, the master packer has done it again! Muahahahaha. :-) As much as I don't want to think about it, I can't help but wonder if I forgot anything. I hate that feeling. Worse comes to worse, I can always get it there. ;-)

Paris here I come! Yay!! See you tomorrow Bern! :-)

Happy Anniversary!

I can't believe it's been one year since I started this thing (really, it's not for another 8 hours and 45 minutes, but that's a minor technicality =P). So what's happened in a year? Well, lots. You'd have to read it all to see for yourself. I'm not sure if my writing style has changed over the past year, but regardless, I write just to get it out of my system.

Last minute running around

I hate leaving things to the last minute. But I had no other choice. Well, maybe I could have done this last week but I kept putting it off. Oh well.

42

...that's the number of shoes I have, not including the ones that I don't wear anymore (which I'm going to give away or throw out depending on the condition of the shoe). My parents got a shoe rack for me to get rid of all the boxes that were piling up in the closet. Ooops! =P

2 more sleeps

I can't believe that I'm leaving for Paris in 2 days! Yay!! I still have to finish packing, and do some last minute running around (which I wasn't able to do today) before I leave. Hopefully I can get all this done tomorrow.

So much info

Between my Frommer's book and the internet, I have all this information on what to do/not do, what to see/not see, where to go/not go, events around the city, etc. Talk about information overload!. I think I need to stop surfing the net because I keep coming across links to sites that seem interesting. I have to keep in mind that Bern and I are only there for 8 days. OK, gotta finish packing...

Busy, busy, busy...

The past few days have been quite busy for me. Between work, socializing, and planning for Paris (YAY!), I haven't had much time to sit and do nothing.

Friday
I left work early to run some errands. I had to go shopping for some "last minute" things and I ended up buying a pair of sandals (which are great for walking around in Paris), and I got a pair of shorts and 3 pairs of sock for $1.80! Talk about a deal. Actually, I had this gifr certificate I had to use, so that was the difference I had to pay. ;-)

Later that night, Irma and I went out and met up with my former co-worker, Sue. We had a couple drinks and caught up on stuff.

Highlights:

• "mudslide" and other natural disasters

Saturday
After work, Irma and I went for a 2+ hour walk. First we stopped at Booster Juice to get energized and did a modified version of Mission 1. What a "crazy" walk that was! It was literally a brain-freezing-finger-bending-tongue-twisting kind of walk. =P

Quote of the day: Can you do this?

Summer 2002 - Mission 2a: Walk to Hawrelak Park
Status: Complete

It was another nice day today (hopefully it's like this in Paris), and I wanted to be outside. So who should I call? I asked my brother if he wanted to do something, but he was going golfing with my dad. Then I called Irma, but she was "under the weather". Shelley was sleeping. Matthew wasn't home. And Jenn (as I found out later) came back from Montreal today and had errands to do. I even called Sue and Lynne, but they weren't home either. I was determined to be outside, so I decided to go for a walk by myself. And that's where I came up with Mission 3a (a modified version of Mission 3, which is to walk from Irma's place to Hawrelak Park).

I started at Kinsmen Park and went through the trails until I hit University Ave/Saskatchewan Drive, which took me to Hawrelak Park (ETA: 1 hour). Once at the park, I did one lap around and just hung out for a while, sitting in the sun and watching people play volleyball, soccer, frisbee, etc. After rehydrating myself, I decided to head back to Kinsmen. The weird thing was (and I know I was definitely walking slower on the way back), I somehow managed to get to my car in 40 minutes? Maybe it was because of the downhill areas? Whatever the case was, by the time I got back to my car I was TIRED! The good thing is I was able to enjoy the weather; the bad thing is I got a blister from my sandals. =P

Packing for Paris - Part 1

It took me a while to decide what to pack for Paris (because everything has to match AND be interchangeable AND go with the shoes I'm bringing, since I'm only bringing a total of 3 pairs of shoes). But I think I pretty much have it figured out. Now it's just a matter of strategically putting all this stuff in my suitcase, but I'll do that tomorrow.

Sweet old man

I see this man every morning when I walk into work. As I walk through the glass doors, he's right there cleaning them. I never really noticed him before (or should I say I didn't pay too much attention to him before), until he spoke tagalog to one of my co-workers one morning. I didn't realize he was filipino until he spoke. And now I say kamusta to him every morning. Even though it's just a simple "hello" in the morning, it's such a good way to start off the day. He seems like such a sweet old man too because he's short and he's got this cute smile. ;-) I just wish he didn't have to be one of the janitors because he's a senior and I don't like seeing old folks at that age still working.

Happy Canada Day!

(Or is it?) As much as I'd like to be outside and participate in the celebration, I just don't feel up to it. I don't what it is. I think part of it is the fact that I was working late, I have a bit of a headache, and I think I'm PMS-ing (either that or I'm just cranky). Oh well, so much for being patriotic. =P

It's not my day

Although it's the middle of the afternoon, it's been a long morning. And my day is really just beginning now. Ugh. And for some reason, I keep bumping into things. I now have 2 bruises on my knees and one on my elbow. Talk about celebrating Canada Day with a bang. =P. I'm also starting to get a bit cranky because (i) it's been a long morning, (ii) I keep bumping into things, and (iii) I haven't had lunch yet. *thinking to myself* The day will get better...