Greetings from the UK
Crazy. I am in London, England right now in my brother's apartment just getting ready for bed. London, England you ask???
Well, I am on vacation. I left Toronto last week on Thursday night (August 26). I flew on Aeroplan and had to go via Amsterdam so I stopped there for a few hours (from about 10:00 am until 6:00 pm). I left the airport and took a train into the city centre. Just walked around and saw the city and got a feel for the people, culture, architecture, etc. Unfortunately it was raining quite a lot and one stupid thing that happened was my cheap ass $2 umbrella that I bought at the dollar stor didn't quite last more than 10 minutes. I got laughed at by some Dutch girls as the umbrella was blown inside out. While in Amsterdam, I visited a coffee shop (as expected) and saw the red light district which was a very weird experience. I didn't go into any of the shows but there are parts of the area where you are just walking down the street and there are girls behind these glass doors in these little rooms on the sides of buildings. There is this cheap red disco lighting inside - it is very weird.
I arrived in London around 7:45 pm and by the time I got through customs, picked up my bag and hoped on the tube and bus, I got to my brother's place around 9:30 pm. This is where the fun begins. You see...it was a surprise that I was coming. I hadn't told Raj and just wanted to show up. That I did. I buzzed to get in their flat and his gf opened the main door but told him to open the door to their apartment when I knocked. She told him that it was probably her cousin (who lives in London). So, he came to the door not expecting anything. When he opened it and saw me...he was in utter disbelief and completely dumbfounded. He just couldn't believe it and screamed - it was priceless. The perfect entrance.
The last few days have been phun but a total blur. We've been waking up around 12:00 noon every day and just chilling and passing the time. Have done A LOT of eating and have done NO exercise. It's kind of a bad combination.
I just booked a flight to Budapest, Hungary. I will be going there for a couple days later this week from Wednesday until Friday so that should be a good time and I'll be able to visit another country and do some exploring. any of you ever been there? got any good suggestions of places to stay, people to meet, stuff to see.
Lemme know...
Word
THANK YOU for a Wonderful Beach Party
To all my buddies that came out to my beach party 10 days ago...thanks. It was a blast to chill down at Ashbridges that day. In total - somewhere b/w 40 and 45 people came so that was wicked. We had enough food. Two awesome volleyball courts set up and a great spot on the sand.
Thanks to Flo, Art, Eric, Cris, Kev, Stan, Jen, Tai, Ruth and Byron for the volleyball net. That was a FANTASTIC gift - you guys are totally thoughtful.
Overall...a perfect day capped by a perfect evening. Can't ask for much else.
Monday, August 30, 2004
Tuesday, August 24, 2004
updates coming
i apologize in advance but i can't write a lot right now. i have a bunch of experiences to summarize from the past week. most importantly is that i had a birthday bbq and beach volleyball day on saturday (the 21st). in total, there were about 40 - 45 people there (over different times) and everyone (to the best of my knowledge) had a great time. it was awesome to have all my random groups of friends (university, high school, work, marathi) all hooking up and hanging out...
right now, i am in chicago in a hotel. i am just watching olympic coverage on nbc and man, it is so biased here in the US. i guess that canadian olympic coverage is probably biased as well but damn, this is brutal. i am watching gymnastics right now and these commentators are completely pissing me off.
gotta finish work and get to bed. it's 11:30 and i've gotta wake up tomorrow morning at 6:30.
night,
i apologize in advance but i can't write a lot right now. i have a bunch of experiences to summarize from the past week. most importantly is that i had a birthday bbq and beach volleyball day on saturday (the 21st). in total, there were about 40 - 45 people there (over different times) and everyone (to the best of my knowledge) had a great time. it was awesome to have all my random groups of friends (university, high school, work, marathi) all hooking up and hanging out...
right now, i am in chicago in a hotel. i am just watching olympic coverage on nbc and man, it is so biased here in the US. i guess that canadian olympic coverage is probably biased as well but damn, this is brutal. i am watching gymnastics right now and these commentators are completely pissing me off.
gotta finish work and get to bed. it's 11:30 and i've gotta wake up tomorrow morning at 6:30.
night,
Saturday, August 14, 2004
Blackout Anniversary
So, as a community or city or province or country or continenent. Have we actually learned anything from last year's blackout? I think we are still using a lot of power and not really conserving as much. It's probably slightly better but no where near where it should be.
Thursday was actually the annivesary or when the blackout occured. Tonight is actually the 14th of August (the actual time that it happened). What a weird occurance but very cool to be a part of. I'll never forget that bbq we had at Kris' place that night and seeing random civilians direct traffic at major intersections.
Tonight is the Whiteout at the Whitehouse. The Phun Popo bbq that had become an annual event. It should be a good time - good eats, good tunes, good people. Can't wait.
Nanda and Steve are getting married today! Congrats guys! Can't wait to see you...
So, as a community or city or province or country or continenent. Have we actually learned anything from last year's blackout? I think we are still using a lot of power and not really conserving as much. It's probably slightly better but no where near where it should be.
Thursday was actually the annivesary or when the blackout occured. Tonight is actually the 14th of August (the actual time that it happened). What a weird occurance but very cool to be a part of. I'll never forget that bbq we had at Kris' place that night and seeing random civilians direct traffic at major intersections.
Tonight is the Whiteout at the Whitehouse. The Phun Popo bbq that had become an annual event. It should be a good time - good eats, good tunes, good people. Can't wait.
Nanda and Steve are getting married today! Congrats guys! Can't wait to see you...
Birthday news
My 26th birthday came and went on Thursday August 12th. It was a beautiful day outside and turned out to be a pretty good day. The night before, our volleyball team lost our first game so that wasn't very good but we know where we screwed up so I think we'll be okay (gotta practice tomorrow though). After, Eric, Mike, Danielle and I went to Johnny's for a little post game meal. That was perfect! I can't believe that was Danielle's first time to Johnny's (she liked it so that's good).
Thursday morning, I woke up and had to head to the office for my mid-year review with my boss. That went well and some good things were said. Then, I headed out to a customer meeting and after the meeting, had a nice lunch with a co-worker where we had a couple of pints and I got a little tipsy so had to wait a while before driving home.
Got home that afternoon and hung out with Ankita (my niece). Her family moved to NYC today (August 14th) for good so I am quite sad about that. I wanted to spend as much time with her as possible on Thursday and saw her again yesterday (Friday). She is such a special girl and I am truly gonna miss her. We played a lot on Thursday and again on Friday so I have nothing but fond memories. Not sure when I'll be making my first trip to NYC but I'll see you soon Ankita!
That night, I had dragonboat practice and my parents came down and brought Ankita and her mom. I'm glad they got to come cause she always heard about my paddling but didn't know what it was. She had a great time running around in the park and near the water and even got to sing me happy birthday with my teammates when they ramdomly decided to sing to me while we were paddling. After practice, we had a couple of drinks and some food on the patio down at Sunnyside and it was cool to chill with my teammates. Cristine came by and hung out and then the two of us went for a really nice walk along the boardwalk. Thanks a lot Cristine! That was perfect.
After practice, I met up with Romi and we went up to see the Perseids Meteor Shower. We drove up to the Kennedy and Major Mackenzie area and found a driveway where we parked. We laid on top of the Escape and looked up into the night sky. It started to get a little cold but we roughed it out and eventually saw about 5 shooting stars (actually, I only saw 2 but she saw the other 3). It was cool to be out there for the Meteor shower. It's an annual birthday present that I get from Mama Nature and I hadn't been out to see it in a few years so I'm glad I got to go see it (although my other plans to go see it were changed). Romi - thanks a lot for coming out with me and spending time on my birthday. It was great to chill out and I really hope that all the stuff going on in your life works itself out. You've got some big decisions ahead of ya but I'm sure that you will make the right ones. You got the support of family and friends so it'll be great.
Have an excellent Blackout weekend everyone!
My 26th birthday came and went on Thursday August 12th. It was a beautiful day outside and turned out to be a pretty good day. The night before, our volleyball team lost our first game so that wasn't very good but we know where we screwed up so I think we'll be okay (gotta practice tomorrow though). After, Eric, Mike, Danielle and I went to Johnny's for a little post game meal. That was perfect! I can't believe that was Danielle's first time to Johnny's (she liked it so that's good).
Thursday morning, I woke up and had to head to the office for my mid-year review with my boss. That went well and some good things were said. Then, I headed out to a customer meeting and after the meeting, had a nice lunch with a co-worker where we had a couple of pints and I got a little tipsy so had to wait a while before driving home.
Got home that afternoon and hung out with Ankita (my niece). Her family moved to NYC today (August 14th) for good so I am quite sad about that. I wanted to spend as much time with her as possible on Thursday and saw her again yesterday (Friday). She is such a special girl and I am truly gonna miss her. We played a lot on Thursday and again on Friday so I have nothing but fond memories. Not sure when I'll be making my first trip to NYC but I'll see you soon Ankita!
That night, I had dragonboat practice and my parents came down and brought Ankita and her mom. I'm glad they got to come cause she always heard about my paddling but didn't know what it was. She had a great time running around in the park and near the water and even got to sing me happy birthday with my teammates when they ramdomly decided to sing to me while we were paddling. After practice, we had a couple of drinks and some food on the patio down at Sunnyside and it was cool to chill with my teammates. Cristine came by and hung out and then the two of us went for a really nice walk along the boardwalk. Thanks a lot Cristine! That was perfect.
After practice, I met up with Romi and we went up to see the Perseids Meteor Shower. We drove up to the Kennedy and Major Mackenzie area and found a driveway where we parked. We laid on top of the Escape and looked up into the night sky. It started to get a little cold but we roughed it out and eventually saw about 5 shooting stars (actually, I only saw 2 but she saw the other 3). It was cool to be out there for the Meteor shower. It's an annual birthday present that I get from Mama Nature and I hadn't been out to see it in a few years so I'm glad I got to go see it (although my other plans to go see it were changed). Romi - thanks a lot for coming out with me and spending time on my birthday. It was great to chill out and I really hope that all the stuff going on in your life works itself out. You've got some big decisions ahead of ya but I'm sure that you will make the right ones. You got the support of family and friends so it'll be great.
Have an excellent Blackout weekend everyone!
Monday, August 09, 2004
My first post of August
Days are gettting a little shorter. And nights are slowly starting to get a little cooler. Wow - the summer is winding down. That is not a good thing. I always know that the summer is winding down cause of my birthday and the CNE. Once August rolls around and those two things happen - well, it's time for back to school sales for those note totes or finder binders.
I'll be sending out some more information shortly about my birthday bbq/volleyball party. It's going to be on August 21st down at Ashbridge's Bay. I am thinking of asking you guys to come down around 12:00 noon and we'll stick around until the wee hours of the night. There is a volleyball tournament going on that day down at the beach so it is going to be VERY crowded - parking will certainly be a problem. But we'll manage - and it's all about car pooling and the TTC!
This Saturday (August 14th) marks the one-year anniversary of the Blackout. Crazy to think that that occured a year ago. I wasn't greatly affected by it like the elderly or disabled who lived in high-up apartment buildings so there was no problem for me. So, I actually enjoyed it. Looking at the stars, hearing about all the people walking around downtown. Kris and I even had an impromptu bbq cause I didn't know if I had enough gas in my car. Overall - a great experience.
Played a lot of v-ball yesterday in the rain for a good portion of it. We were hitting balls (spiking and serving) like no bodies business - it was wicked. Playing in the rain was pretty refreshing for most of it. Although it did get really annoying for a bit. There was this group of people playing beside who were spiking like crazy. They were really good. The girls (especially this really small one) were getting up there and hammering it as well. Man, that was awesome to see!
Been doing a lot of dragonboat for the past few months. I just raced in Woodstock on Saturday and will be in Huntsville this weekend for another race. I am slowly getting tired of it. Not the actual racing - it's just the travel to and from the races. In Woodstock on the weekend, we lost the A Final by about 80/100ths of a second. Man - that was close. Hopefully we'll do well in Huntsville next week.
My niece Ankita is leaving on August 14th. It's come time for her and her family to make their move. She's moving to NYC cause that's where her dad's job is. I really don't want her to leave. She's still a Canadian but I think she's going to grow up as an American kid (hopefully she'll keep many of her Canadian values). I really hope that one day down the road, they decide to return but I don't really think it'll happen cause once you start earning USDs, I imagine it's hard to turn around and say no to it. I will definitely do my best to convince her to come back to Canada for university though (but that is like 10 years away). I will certainly miss her.
Have a good week folks...
Days are gettting a little shorter. And nights are slowly starting to get a little cooler. Wow - the summer is winding down. That is not a good thing. I always know that the summer is winding down cause of my birthday and the CNE. Once August rolls around and those two things happen - well, it's time for back to school sales for those note totes or finder binders.
I'll be sending out some more information shortly about my birthday bbq/volleyball party. It's going to be on August 21st down at Ashbridge's Bay. I am thinking of asking you guys to come down around 12:00 noon and we'll stick around until the wee hours of the night. There is a volleyball tournament going on that day down at the beach so it is going to be VERY crowded - parking will certainly be a problem. But we'll manage - and it's all about car pooling and the TTC!
This Saturday (August 14th) marks the one-year anniversary of the Blackout. Crazy to think that that occured a year ago. I wasn't greatly affected by it like the elderly or disabled who lived in high-up apartment buildings so there was no problem for me. So, I actually enjoyed it. Looking at the stars, hearing about all the people walking around downtown. Kris and I even had an impromptu bbq cause I didn't know if I had enough gas in my car. Overall - a great experience.
Played a lot of v-ball yesterday in the rain for a good portion of it. We were hitting balls (spiking and serving) like no bodies business - it was wicked. Playing in the rain was pretty refreshing for most of it. Although it did get really annoying for a bit. There was this group of people playing beside who were spiking like crazy. They were really good. The girls (especially this really small one) were getting up there and hammering it as well. Man, that was awesome to see!
Been doing a lot of dragonboat for the past few months. I just raced in Woodstock on Saturday and will be in Huntsville this weekend for another race. I am slowly getting tired of it. Not the actual racing - it's just the travel to and from the races. In Woodstock on the weekend, we lost the A Final by about 80/100ths of a second. Man - that was close. Hopefully we'll do well in Huntsville next week.
My niece Ankita is leaving on August 14th. It's come time for her and her family to make their move. She's moving to NYC cause that's where her dad's job is. I really don't want her to leave. She's still a Canadian but I think she's going to grow up as an American kid (hopefully she'll keep many of her Canadian values). I really hope that one day down the road, they decide to return but I don't really think it'll happen cause once you start earning USDs, I imagine it's hard to turn around and say no to it. I will definitely do my best to convince her to come back to Canada for university though (but that is like 10 years away). I will certainly miss her.
Have a good week folks...