Oh Montreal, how your weather patterns amuse me so.
This week started off with a little reminder of what we were "missing" back in Vancouver. It was rainy and warm for a few days, then Montreal remembered that it was Montreal and we were right back to our regularly scheduled frost bitten tundra.
Not that it's all bad, it was wondrously sunny yesterday, and -4 felt actually comfortable to be in! Today it's a snow storm outside! Catching snow flakes on your tongue loses its' effect when the flakes go up your nose, in your eyes and ears and all down your shirt and into your shoes!
The next few days are going to be "stay inside and make soup" days, I can tell you that much.
And so continues the job hunt, here in Montreal. I have found a small agency to hire me out for makeup jobs, although I don't know how often it will be. The search goes on!
We also have increased our furniture count by 1 this week! I found a free sofabed on craigslist, and they delivered it even! Well, just to the lobby, but that's better than me having to hire a truck, or make Jordan carry it all the way.
Let me start by mentioning that our building is pre-elevators, and tiny narrow staircases do not facilitate giant ass IKEA couches. Somehow Jordan shimmied it all the way up to the fourth floor on his own, while I supervised and cheered :D
Then I spent 3 hours scrubbing the couch covers.
But it's clean and it was free and it's comfy as hell! Ready for you visitors to stop by! :P
Anyway, that was this week in Montreal!
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Saturday, January 23, 2010
It's cold as Hell. If Hell were Siberia.
Hey guys!
It's ice-fucking cold today! But you know what! The sun was out and shining and blue skies were amazing! Despite the fact that it felt like I was going to die of hypothermia in the shade. I better get used to it!!!!
Today we went to the Anti-Prorogue protest downtown! It was pretty awesome. There was a lot of chanting in French that I couldn't really follow along with, but the Raging Grannies were there, singing little Fuck You Harper! folk songs in French! It was endearing and hilarious at the same time.
This week in Montreal, I thought I would mention places that are hilarious, but I haven't been in. Such as!
The Elvis Place - I don't remember what this place is called, but it's a used appliance store. It had lots and lots of blinky red light bulbs and strobes and flashy lights and giant cardboard cut outs of Elvis Presley everywhere. Think "KRAZY BOB'S KRAZY DISCOUNT APPLIANCE EMPORIUM!!!!!!!" except with more Elvis. A lot more.
La Poissionarrie - The fish place. I don't know what it does. It's beside a thrift store. It looks like a run down call center or terrible office thing. They apparently sell fish. It smells like a million fish rotting =/
Au Coq - Hahaha. Cock.
SEX MANIA - It's below a normal apartment. There's a GIANT orange neon sign attached to the apartment. All it says is SEX MANIA.
Doggy Style - It's a pet grooming place. HURF!
Attempts to explore the underground city have been currently disappointing, as we went really late in the day and didn't have enough time to get beyond the giant mall part of it. Next time!
Also, found bubble tea, haven't tried yet. Found BBQ duck. Most excellent!
Found Korean food, but it was disappointing. Then again, I always find Korean food disappointing. I always hope that it will be good, but it never is...oh well.
I still need to find some post cards, I always forget when I go out...but soon!
It's ice-fucking cold today! But you know what! The sun was out and shining and blue skies were amazing! Despite the fact that it felt like I was going to die of hypothermia in the shade. I better get used to it!!!!
Today we went to the Anti-Prorogue protest downtown! It was pretty awesome. There was a lot of chanting in French that I couldn't really follow along with, but the Raging Grannies were there, singing little Fuck You Harper! folk songs in French! It was endearing and hilarious at the same time.
This week in Montreal, I thought I would mention places that are hilarious, but I haven't been in. Such as!
The Elvis Place - I don't remember what this place is called, but it's a used appliance store. It had lots and lots of blinky red light bulbs and strobes and flashy lights and giant cardboard cut outs of Elvis Presley everywhere. Think "KRAZY BOB'S KRAZY DISCOUNT APPLIANCE EMPORIUM!!!!!!!" except with more Elvis. A lot more.
La Poissionarrie - The fish place. I don't know what it does. It's beside a thrift store. It looks like a run down call center or terrible office thing. They apparently sell fish. It smells like a million fish rotting =/
Au Coq - Hahaha. Cock.
SEX MANIA - It's below a normal apartment. There's a GIANT orange neon sign attached to the apartment. All it says is SEX MANIA.
Doggy Style - It's a pet grooming place. HURF!
Attempts to explore the underground city have been currently disappointing, as we went really late in the day and didn't have enough time to get beyond the giant mall part of it. Next time!
Also, found bubble tea, haven't tried yet. Found BBQ duck. Most excellent!
Found Korean food, but it was disappointing. Then again, I always find Korean food disappointing. I always hope that it will be good, but it never is...oh well.
I still need to find some post cards, I always forget when I go out...but soon!
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Herro everyone! Here we are in fabulous Montreal! It's fabulous because it hasn't rained in over 2 weeks! It's sunny, blue skies, cold as fuck, awesome.
I thought I would make a blog for you guys back home to follow along what we're doing here in Montreal, and maybe inspire you to come visit ;)
Let's start!
Our neighbourhood, The Plateau, is actually pretty central to everything. We're about 5 minutes from Mont Royal, where there are lots of little shops, markets, and local bakeries, etc. Think of it like Commercial Drive, but less hipster...slightly. We started by touring the little shops from which we would do our grocery shopping. Instead of Safeway and Superstore and junk, there are little independent markets, you go from place to place and get what you need at good prices, instead of going to one big store and paying their whatever prices in exchange for the convenience of it all being in once place.
That being said, when you go to the bakery, it's amazing fresh bread straight from the oven. The butcher is fresh meat of different kinds, organic and fresh like you could never imagine from a Safeway cooler. Veggies and fruit are fresh, organic, and you can choose where you want to shop to get the best price.
Mont Royal is also where there are a lot of small boutiques, thrift stores, small restaurants, pubs, and in general, interesting things. Among them:
Koka Loka - A pretty good Mexican restaurant. Hilariously gaudy inside, tasty food, big portions, and a horse with a sombrero.
La Friperie des Amis - A thrift store with lots and lots of goodies are amazing prices, and they deliver :D
Curio - A fun home decor shop with lots of cute knick knacks at cute prices
And LOTS and LOTS of FOOD.
Going on the line of food, here what else we found within walking distance:
Ma'am Bolduc - Named for the first female Quebec Folk singer/songwriter. It's eclectic, gaudy, bright, with a New Orleans sort of flair. THEY HAVE THE BEST POUTINE EVER. It's 3 blocks from my house. Seriously. Cheap burgers, beer, poutine, huge portions. OH MAN.
La Banquise - Poutine house extraorindaire! 25 types of poutine. For serious. It's across the park, you're gonna wanna do a few laps to work that bad boy off.
Pho Cali - This is in Chinatown, a bit of a walk, but it's worth it for pho like ma mama makes! You can tell by the inside, it's cheap, tacky, gaudy decor, plastic fruit, cheap wood carvings, cheap tables and chairs, NO FORKS. Sauce and chopsticks on the tables. And the smell. OH GOD. Fabulous.
Food aside, there are other cool things too:
The Old Port - Old Montreal, with uneven cobblestone streets, windy narrow roads, it's like you're in 19th century France, except there's a Keg on the corner. This area is most like Gastown, except much much older. It's very narrow and very European, and utterly amazing to look at.
Chinatown - this place is more like Vietnam town. Montreal has a random large number of Vietnamese, I have noticed. They have lots of shops here, and unlike Vancouver Chinatown, it's clean, and it smells nice :D
St-Laurent - The clubbing and party district. This isn't super close, but you can walk there in 20 minutes. It's home to all the trendy clubs, bars, restaurants, shops and cool things. The funny thing about Montreal is how open they are about sex. There'll be HUGE signs advertising titty bars, full contact lap dances and strippers, right next to upscale restaurants. Also, "Super Sexe", the best giant neon sign I've ever seen, complete with a topless chick.
St-Catherine - This is pretty much Granville and Robson. The shopping district, it also cuts through the gay Village, it has lots of cool things, upscale shopping, little thrift stores, more strippers, lots and lots of cathedrals. Also the underground mall which scared the crap out of me.
Parc Lafontaine - This is down the street from us. It's a huge park, and right now the pond in the middle is frozen over and turned into an outdoor skate rink. They have classical music and everything! We didn't go skating during the day, but we did go for a wander into the park at night and ran out onto the open ice in the middle of the night with a bottle of wine and ran around while the zamboni man slowly chased us.
Well, that's all for now, and I'll update more as we find more, or I remember more. See you guys later!
I thought I would make a blog for you guys back home to follow along what we're doing here in Montreal, and maybe inspire you to come visit ;)
Let's start!
Our neighbourhood, The Plateau, is actually pretty central to everything. We're about 5 minutes from Mont Royal, where there are lots of little shops, markets, and local bakeries, etc. Think of it like Commercial Drive, but less hipster...slightly. We started by touring the little shops from which we would do our grocery shopping. Instead of Safeway and Superstore and junk, there are little independent markets, you go from place to place and get what you need at good prices, instead of going to one big store and paying their whatever prices in exchange for the convenience of it all being in once place.
That being said, when you go to the bakery, it's amazing fresh bread straight from the oven. The butcher is fresh meat of different kinds, organic and fresh like you could never imagine from a Safeway cooler. Veggies and fruit are fresh, organic, and you can choose where you want to shop to get the best price.
Mont Royal is also where there are a lot of small boutiques, thrift stores, small restaurants, pubs, and in general, interesting things. Among them:
Koka Loka - A pretty good Mexican restaurant. Hilariously gaudy inside, tasty food, big portions, and a horse with a sombrero.
La Friperie des Amis - A thrift store with lots and lots of goodies are amazing prices, and they deliver :D
Curio - A fun home decor shop with lots of cute knick knacks at cute prices
And LOTS and LOTS of FOOD.
Going on the line of food, here what else we found within walking distance:
Ma'am Bolduc - Named for the first female Quebec Folk singer/songwriter. It's eclectic, gaudy, bright, with a New Orleans sort of flair. THEY HAVE THE BEST POUTINE EVER. It's 3 blocks from my house. Seriously. Cheap burgers, beer, poutine, huge portions. OH MAN.
La Banquise - Poutine house extraorindaire! 25 types of poutine. For serious. It's across the park, you're gonna wanna do a few laps to work that bad boy off.
Pho Cali - This is in Chinatown, a bit of a walk, but it's worth it for pho like ma mama makes! You can tell by the inside, it's cheap, tacky, gaudy decor, plastic fruit, cheap wood carvings, cheap tables and chairs, NO FORKS. Sauce and chopsticks on the tables. And the smell. OH GOD. Fabulous.
Food aside, there are other cool things too:
The Old Port - Old Montreal, with uneven cobblestone streets, windy narrow roads, it's like you're in 19th century France, except there's a Keg on the corner. This area is most like Gastown, except much much older. It's very narrow and very European, and utterly amazing to look at.
Chinatown - this place is more like Vietnam town. Montreal has a random large number of Vietnamese, I have noticed. They have lots of shops here, and unlike Vancouver Chinatown, it's clean, and it smells nice :D
St-Laurent - The clubbing and party district. This isn't super close, but you can walk there in 20 minutes. It's home to all the trendy clubs, bars, restaurants, shops and cool things. The funny thing about Montreal is how open they are about sex. There'll be HUGE signs advertising titty bars, full contact lap dances and strippers, right next to upscale restaurants. Also, "Super Sexe", the best giant neon sign I've ever seen, complete with a topless chick.
St-Catherine - This is pretty much Granville and Robson. The shopping district, it also cuts through the gay Village, it has lots of cool things, upscale shopping, little thrift stores, more strippers, lots and lots of cathedrals. Also the underground mall which scared the crap out of me.
Parc Lafontaine - This is down the street from us. It's a huge park, and right now the pond in the middle is frozen over and turned into an outdoor skate rink. They have classical music and everything! We didn't go skating during the day, but we did go for a wander into the park at night and ran out onto the open ice in the middle of the night with a bottle of wine and ran around while the zamboni man slowly chased us.
Well, that's all for now, and I'll update more as we find more, or I remember more. See you guys later!
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