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.