Where did I leave off last time ... The house
We've got the house and will be moving in during the beginning of October. I'm looking forwards to actually moving in and being able to unpack everything instead of living out of suitcases, before that happens though we've got some repainting to do. One of the bedrooms is a very bright garish pink and the other a purple ... you've got to admire some poeple decorative sense.
I stayed in Regina until the 3rd and then flew off to Montreal for a long weekend and to meet more of the team.
Montreal
I was quite looking forwards to visting Montreal, after arriving on Friday night I grabbed some dinner with Joe S and realised that I had no energy to do anything else ... so it was an early night for me. Not the start you were expecting eh?
Saturday I was introduced to Canadian malls ... Basically like the Trafford centre, Lakeside etc. I thought this would be the ideal time to get my self prepared for winter and go buy a good quality winter jacket. after much faffing about i finally found something i liked, the price tag made my eye water though. as I'm only used to a low of about -10 in winter. Good sense (or no sense of Money) won through and I ended up buying it for the grad sum of 400 pounds. Wonder if I can claim it as a relocation expense?
In the evening I met up with Joe S and friends for a few drinking and a bit of clubbing (still in Ramadan so I was on the juice all night), and we finished the night in traditional Montreal style and had some Poutine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poutine) this is normally reserved for post drinking activities but as i was on a dry night i thought what the heck and completed the experience. I think I still prefer a kebab ... don't know but there's something about kebabs, maybe I'll get used to this after a while.
On Sunday i grew my tourist wings and went into Montreal. After deciphering the transport system and figuring out where I could get a bus onto town I set off on my adventure, in true tourist fashion I asked a guys on the bus where the metro stop was and he looked perplexed and said it's at the last stop i.e. the one we just got to ...
The first place to visit was Mont Royal, There was lots going on around the base, with some Samba bands playing and a Live Action Role Play Game ... quite a nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon.
I was told there's some great views from the top observation area and it's a easy walk up. So thought I'd take a look, it was a nice wander through a forested with lots of little trails wandering through so you could make your own path. It wasn't a short walk by any standards and to get to the top in reasonable time I had to take the Stairs ... all 20 flights of them. But the view at the Top was definitely worth it.
That's the view from halfway up, I had to take a breather ... it's hard going.
But when i finally made it up to the top the view was just amazing ...
The rest will be added to my Facebook ...
London
I arrived back in the UK at 9am after not really having slept much on the flight, wasn't really gonna get much sleep today as had too much to sort out. Eventually made it home at about midday, spent about 15 minutes saying hi to the parents before grabbing the tube and off to get a new passport. Did you know that you can get a brand new passport made in about 4 hours (if ure willing to pay for it). So after dropping off my application ... getting the tube back home ... grabbing a it of lunch ... back to the passport office to collect my new passport.
Mission accomplished i met up with a friend for some dinner, many thanks to Flic as i know she wasn't feeling too great, it was great catching up. I know it's only been a few weeks and we probably don't catch up that often anyways somehow meeting up with friends feels different now.
Friday was Eid and i spent the entire day with family ... just chilling out and relaxing and enjoying some home cooked food at my sisters. strange how I missed this. I guess knowing that I can't just go home when i feel like it make it that little bit different.
Cambridge
Not to stay in one place too long on Saturday I was off to Cambridge, tidied up the last of my boxes and packed it ready for moving back to my parents. But first things first, as it was Daniele's birthday and she had arranged a party it would be terrible of me not to attend so after a few too many jars and some bad dancing at the Kambar I finally made it back home at about 4 in the morning ...
London
The next day started as one expects after a night out, with the mother of all hangovers. this was probably not a good start as I had to drive down to London, drop some stuff off at my parents and then meet up with Waiman and co for Dim Sum ... oh how I've missed decent Chinese food. this was followed up by our traditional past time. MahJong ... and this time I walked away making some money.
and back again.
