P.E.I. and Anne remains copyright of the author dnaman, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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• Stayed at our first B&B here, The Water's Edge Inn, located just off the main street of Baddeck. Great location, right by the harbour, and less than 30 seconds from the main drag. Room was immaculately clean and comfortable. It wasn't a traditional B&B however, but a cross between one and an inn. We had breakfast there on the second morning (homemade cranberry almond scones, waffles with Acadian mape syrup, this was probably the best 'hotel' breakfast i've ever had!!)

• The first night we just hung out around town, walked up and down the main street, had dinner at Bell Buoy (not bad) and realized that after 9-10pm, the town is dead! Apart from being in one of the 3-4 restaurants in town, there is pretty much nothing to do except hang out by the convenience store. Needless to say, that was an 'early' night.

• In the morning, we decided to try kayaking for the first time, and based on TA recommendations, we booked a half day kayak tour (3 hrs) along Bras D'Or lake with North River Kayak tours. Took about 30 mins to get there but the drive was well worth it. Our guides were excellent/fun and we did a tandem kayak and my wife enjoyed every minute of it. We even saw a few bald eagles along the way! Perfect weather, a bit hot but nothing a few splashes of the paddle could handle! Tons of jellyfish though which was weird but apparently not too poisonous since one of our guides picked one up with his hand. Sick.

• After kayaking we decide to continue along the rest of the Cabot Trail. Took us 6 hrs to go all around it while stopping at more than half of the 25 driving scenic lookut points. I admit it was very scenic driving along the eastern coast line but it reminded me of the Road To Hana drive we did in Hawaii. So even though the views were amazing, it was kind of like 'seen that' so not as exciting.

• Stopped at Highland Links golf course, within Cape Breton Provincial Park, #4 course in Canada or something like that..very very nice links course and we will go back to play that one day. For now, i just bought a golf shirt to pretend like i played there.

• Saw a moose along the trail!!

• Next time we will go whale-watching for sure, probably along Cheticamp or Pleasant Bay
  

The loooong drive around the Cabot Trail remains copyright of the author dnaman, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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• Stayed at the Residence Inn Mariott and it's located in a good location, right by Argyle street which had a bunch of cool patios/bars along the street. Great place to sit and have a drink while people-watching.

• While we were there, they had their Halifax Busker Festival going on and we watched a few performances, nothing special, a contortionist, someone that juggled on a bmx bike while on a 10+-foot pole..

• Had dinner at the Five Fisherman restaurant, located in a historic building, still supplied by all local fisherman. Reviews were good on TA but honestly, i think this place was a bit over-rated and over-priced ($49 for 1.5lb. lobster!). They had all-you-can-eat mussel bar but they were dry in my opinion..

• Took a Harbour Hopper tour around the city, 30 mins on land, 30 mins in the harbour..good enough for me.

• Next morning we headed to Peggy's Cove, a historic quaint fishing town with it's lighthouse as the main draw. This area was pretty cool because when you think about fishing towns and the simplicity of it and how the whole village was built upon fishing, this was it. Also bought a print from a local artist..looks great on our wall!

• After this we headed towards Baddeck, Cape Breton...and boy, this was a long 4-5 hour drive.
  

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• I arrived on Friday around 21:30 and what was supposed to take us a 30 minute ride back to her place, turned into a 2-hr discovery trail in and around Quebec! Let me just say, i never though i'd use the GPS on my new phone, but without it that night, we may still be looking for her place...

• Saturday we went to Sainte-Catherine (home of Supersexe!) to wander about their main thoroughfare and we ended up checking out the Montreal Fashion and Design Festival. They had 2 big catwalks setup just off a side street and luckily for them, the weather held up on overcase clouds all day/night and they were able to run 6-7 hrs of continuous catwalking/DJ-ing that day. The music and models were jammin' and it was the first 'fashion show' i've ever seen...pretty cool, but i got tired of it after a while.

• Heading back to the car at the end of the day, i caught a glimpse of another venue setup on the opposite of the street, about a block away. Curiously we checked it out and it was a lounge area, complete with a DJ spinning house grooves all day/night! Sick! Ended up having a drink there, while lounging on the white leather sofas and got to meet jojoflores while he was spinning his 3 hr-set (albeit to pretty much 5 peopls, but who cares, the music was wicked!). He invited us to a little restolounge that night where he was spinning and with tunes like that, we definiitely were going to check it out.

• Saw the Notre Dame cathedral - where Celine Dion got married. yay.

• At night, we went to Garcon (Sherbrooke and Peel) to check out jojoflores' night. When we got there, people were still eating but the house tunes were playing throughout the place and so we had a couple drinks by one of the tables by the empty dance floor. About an hour or so later, i guess when everyone was done eating and the drinks started flowing, we partied it up and the mixes were sick, the crowd was cool (older and fashionable) and the $10 glasses of wine were the only bump in the night. I've listened to jojo before but never knew what he looked like, and when he introduced himself to me, i was like 'wtf?' just like that..cool guy, will def check him out again.

• Sunday we went to go see Cirque De Soleil's production of OVO down by Old Montreal. Old Montreal itself is very beautiful and is a way better Distillery District (prob b/c it has real history) and definitely a must-see. The actual production however, was ok. But i guess this is coming from someone who's seen 3 previous Cirque shows (Varekai, O, Zumanity) and although the performances were spectacular, they were more spectacular the first time around. I think if you've seen one Cirque ,you've seen 70% of the rest of the shows. Funny thing was, it was a show about insects but i still can't figure out exactly what the story was..

Vive la Montreal! remains copyright of the author dnaman, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Back to Beantown for Easter long weekend remains copyright of the author dnaman, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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• Was great seeing my bro and his girlfriend again and to see that they are living a nice life in Vancouver. But seriously, we're all waiting for them to come back..but hey, with the beautiful environment and scenery there and good jobs, it is a tough decision..

• The founders of B.C. company had their brainstorm and eureka! idea moment this past weekend over a lot of Kokanees. Watch out for this revolutionary clothing line for overweight men! (lol its all a joke but in case we're really bored i wont divuge the details here..hahaha)

• Went to AMAZING Japanese restaurants around the Vancity area (thanks Candy for really proving it!). Toshi Sushi and Kingyo Izakaya were probably two of the best Japanese restos i've been to. We even had to lineup with around 15 other people for Toshi Sushi 15 ins before it opened at 5pm since it is a very popular local place.

• Tried Japadogs for the first time! http://www.japadog.com/en/ - taste it to believe it.

• Boarding - went to Blackcomb the first day and Whistler the second day. Forget boarding in Ontario period. The boarding on the second day was pretty crazy because it was snowing and pretty windy and we were actually in a storm. My bro and I went to the peak of Whistler in the storm..BIG MISTAKE. I thought i would get frostbite from the searing cold against my face and it was like whiteout conditions. We had to snowplow the whole way to avoid being wind-swept off the path and into who-knows-where...we even took off our board at one point and just walked down.. After the storm though, it opened up to clear blue skies and there was powder everywhere!!! Forget boarding in Ontario period.

• It was also the start of the Telus Ski and Snowboard festival and as such, there were a lot of people hanging around the village on the Fri and Saturday we were there. Caught an urban art show and just missed a skate competition.

• Kokanee moment - getting to our room and noticing it was freezing (someone left the balcony door open). So we were stading around in our jackets holding some beers and watching the Canucks game. Tim: "hey, it actually feels like we're at the game!" LOLLLL

• Kokanee moment #2 - Tim "I wonder who discovered Whistler?". Me: "Johnny Whistler dude". Tim " ah i see."

• On Sunday, we went to visit my cousins in Surrey and we ended up going to one of their boyfriends place to watch UFC 97 Silva vs Leites. Boring UFC. Great times with a beer bong/funnel lol. Eastside took the title home that night Yes Buck!

• 
  

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• The standard greeting is 'You awright?' instead of "Hey, How's it going?"

• Gas here is now £1.11/L (thats ~$2.22/L); i don't even want to remember how much we spent to fill our gas tank

• At work, its customary to ask everyone around you if they want tea and then you make as many as people said 'Yes'.... But I dont do this b/c I don't make tea very well.

• London (and combination of the Tube) is quite dirty..90% of the time when I come home from work and blow my nose, it's black-ish.

• The Tube (Bakerloo line at Piccadilly Circus) is freaking HOT in the afternoon and people packed like sardines...yes, this means some serious BO floating around.

• London is a super place to act as a jump-off point to other cities around Europe. Budget carriers like Ryanair or Easyjet fly out of the smaller airports (Luton, Stansted, Heathwick) and give very good deals...that we haven't been able to get since we travel peak-time (weekend).

• Chemist = Pharmacist; Surgery = Doctor's Office; Boot = car trunk; Queue = lineup; Brolly = umbrella; Lorry = truck; Jumper = sweater

• Roundabouts are way better than 4-way stops; keeps the traffic flow moving much better and funner(?) to drive!
  

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The next post will be a quick summary of our thoughts/feelings for spending the last 8-9 months in England.

The Farewell Tour pt. 2 remains copyright of the author dnaman, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Now i've left my job, packing has begun (slowly), and we have one week or so left to do our farewell tour..a few highlights:

• Last week - Meet w/Greg from Travellerspoint. Great guy, met a few times at pubs all around London..good luck with the new job and we'll go for that ale or Coors Light again soon lol.

• Friday - Outing with work mates to London’s only authentic Brazilian ‘churrascaria de rodizio’ – Rodizio Rico. Damn lots of meats, great company hanging out with my syseng boys outside work. Hopefully we get to work with each other again soon Also had a Verve Cliquot (champagne) at a pub..jokes..!!

• Saturday - Ministry of Sound feat Bob Sinclair - Defected in the House tour. Music was wicked inside BUT..a BIG BUT..we actually lined up for 3.5 hours outside just to get into the first party of 2009 for Ministry. But it was partly our fault...thats what you get when you dont have tickets for one of the biggest parties of the early New Year..ugh...but glad we made it the second time before we left.

• Sunday - Gaucho with Claire and Alan. Going to miss you guys!! Thanks for the advice on buying a quality trench coat (Burberry) and hopefully they get to move to Singapore as their next move! Ye Old English Dunnys in the house! Call us up when you visit the T-dot!

• Monday - Shopping on King's Road in Chelsea area; Dinner with Michelle (O.G. P.A.C.E.r). Um..yeah first of all, i bought too much, but thats because everything i bought was 50% off...oh well.. Michelle was awesome company with us while having a French dinner in the Sloane Square area...been living in London for 4 years now and hanging with the homeboys in Hacknet heheh. Hopefully we can hang out again when she moves back to T-dot next year!!

The Farewell Tour pt. 1 remains copyright of the author dnaman, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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There were thousands of people there and we got there an hour earlier to get a good view. Unfortunately we didn't get to the bridges but we did have a great view of the London Eye where the fireworks were set off.

It was a bit cold, but nothing a couple of flasks of Talisker 10-yr whisky and Davidson cognac couldn't fix :O

We've had a BRILLIANT 2008 and even though we are headed back to T.O. in a month or so, our Euro stay has been full of ups..can't wait to see what 2009 brings!!

Ringin in '09 at the Eye! remains copyright of the author dnaman, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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• First day, I took Tim to get a haircut at Mopps Barber shop, the local haircut place where I get my hair did. Yeah, they just wanted to say 'ooh, i got my haircut at a local English barber..' lol

• Took them to a restaurant called Dans Le Noir, which was a very surreal and interesting experience. Basically, its a restaurant where the waiters are blind and you eat in complete pitch blackness. You try to figure out what you're eating and basically eat like you're blind. Umm..someone had to 'compose themselves' straight away because the lack of sight was a bit initially overwhelming..ahem

• We also went to check out Absolut Ice Bar in London. Very cool bar where you book 40 minute timeslots in a bar where everything is completely made of ice! bar, glasses, walls, tables, very quirky thing to do and something that had to be done once.

• NOBIS!! Received a load of gear from Meemers from the place she currently designs hats for. Awesome stuff, go check out their site . But look out for BOOBIS coming soon! lol

• The Hills! Lots of sing-alongs..'nuff said.

• Took them to Windsor castle (but it was closed!!).

• Had LOTS of Bulmer's pear ciders and even Meemerz got drunk at least 3 nights in a row...and she doesn't even drink lol! I guess when you're on vacation and everyone else is drinking...just go on!
  

Meemo/Timbo's visit to England remains copyright of the author dnaman, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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• Stayed at the Lisboa Plaza, part of Heritage Hotels Lisbon, right off the Champs-Elysee-looking strip called the Avenue de Liberdade. Very nice, quaint hotel, easy to get to and free wifi throughout!

• The first day we got there was on a Sunday, and Lisboa seemed to shut down this day as it was very quiet on the streets. We ended up doing one line of the hop-on-hop-off bus tour and managed to see some important monuments/sites...but i dont remember their names lol.

• Found this really popular pastel (egg-tart) place in Belem and decided to join the queue and see what the fuss was about. Had a couple of pastels and coffee and soon realized these were probably the best egg tarts we've ever had and even better when sprinkled with a bit of icing sugar and cinnamon...mmmmm. We did try them again throughout the weekend at other places but not as good as the first place..

• Next day we completed the second half of the bus tour and this time it was windy and rainy..but it was 13 degrees Celsius! At one of the stops, we noticed this new mall, Vasco de Gama, and it being Boxing Week we went to check it out. I was only looking for a belt but i ended up getting a belt, shirt and sweater...in a matter of 10 minutes lol! Afterwards, we had no idea where to catch the bus again so we had some churassco chicken at the bus station and it was way better than Nando's..way better.

• At night we went for more Churassco chicken, this time at a Churassco restaurant we passed by earlier. Luckily, there were no line-ups and we managed to get in right away. This time, a bottle of white was 9 euro which was ok but the chicken was soooooo good. There was also this spicy olive oil on the table that was there to spice up the chicken even more. There were these 2 old Portugese men beside us so naturally, i kept my eye on them to see what they were getting, and they got this cherry liquer called Ginja...so i HAD to get one too lol! Sweet and smooth, i ended up buying a bottle at duty-free on the way home haha!

• We found a Christ the King-copy on the other side of the river, called Christo Rei. Apparently, the previous Lisbon bishop visited Brazil,saw the real one there in Sao Paolo and liked it so much he had one built just like it in Lisbon! We tried to go there on the last day but because of lunch difficulties and the transportation to get there, we only made it to the train station before turning back..

• All in all, Lisboa definitely exceeded any presumptions we had before arriving and it's a great place to go that's not so overrun by tourists..yet. The food here was amazing, the people were great, the weather was amazing (16 C on the last day!) and the location by the sea was beautiful! Come here if you can!
  

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Christmas Eve

• We all went to Tottenham to our Tita's place and they cooked up a feast! All the family from London was there and despite getting lost a couple times on the way there, it was a very very festive celebration (check the Santa hats!) and lots and lots of food!

• We got some gifts too! Harrod's travel case for me and a cool keychain from there also.
  

Christmas Day

• Cooked up a nice lil feast of our own - 5.5 kg turkey (3-4 hours), mashed potatoes, etc.. - spent it in our flat with Timbo, Meemo and Cigdem and a lot of wine and ciders haha!!

• First time for me carving up a turkey! Let's just say it would've been a bit easier with a sharper nice but in the end it turned out really good!

• We bought and played The Game of Life as an activity and even though it says for 8 yrs +, there were way more instructions to read and understand (while having a few drinks) than we could all remember lol! My 'career' path was as an athlete with a mountain retreat home (yea, how could i afford that?). Michelle was a doctor with some other big house...but we all lost to Cigdem who almost doubled the next person in total life earnings!

Christmas Eve/Day in London! remains copyright of the author dnaman, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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• Friday night we stayed at our hotel (Le Meridien Etoille) after arriving in the evening, and chilled in the hotel jazz bar. I guess because it was a hotel and there was a jazz band from the US there, the prices were crazy. ANY first drink was 26 euro and the next were 11-15 euro..and these were the regulr house drinks..ouch. No, big ouch.

• Spent Saturday in Versailles, home of Louis XIV. The chateau de Versailles is absolutely gigantic! We wandered from elaborate room to the next fancy room and didn't even make it out to the garden, which is decorated with shapely hedges and stretches out as far as the eye can see! It is difficult to fathom how someone could actually live in a place this big and posh..wow, to be an aristocrat back in the day eh?

• There was an art exhibition on display within some of the rooms to give a contrast between old and new art. The artist was Jeff Koons from the US. His works of art with bubbly figures like balloon dogs, Michael Jackson and Bubbles, Pink panther, hoovers...so weird and out of place.

• Had dinner in the Latin Quarter, around Notre Dame cathedral, mmm fondue and more Bordeaux wine lol!

• Sunday morning we went to this trendy, quirky brunch place recommended to us by one of Michelle's co-workers who lives near Paris, called Curieux spaghetti Bar . Very cool place with japanese anime as wall-paintings, orange lighting, waiters dressed in tight, short pajamas and very good french buffet breakfast. This really got me thinking of the possibilities of this kind of place in t.O. hmm..?

• Before catching our plane we took a walk to the Pont Des Arts, aka the 'kissing bridge'! Yep, we found it! It's a pedestrian bridge that crosses the Seine River and is just outside the Musee du Louvre. Had to take the obligatory kissing photo op there.

• Walked around outside the Musee de Louvre, down the Champs D'Elysees and checked out a few stores (we missed Chanel! darn :P) before realizing that things are much too expensive in Paris. Sacre Bleu!!

• Had another great but COLD, WET and RAINY time in Paris this Winter, vive la France!
  

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• What a GREAT family and extremely hospitable to us, whom they've seen only twice! When we visited the Philippines a couple Xmases ago, we hung out with his younger sister and had fun times in Boracay. They've been in Cork almost 8 years now and have built such an amazing life there..

• They took us out at night to go check out the Cork nightlife (how cool parents are they?) and we checked out a couple pubs/clubs. Suffice to say, we were the only asians in both places but the Cork citizens were so nice and not one ounce of attitude but just pure fun/happiness all around. The last place we stayed at played a variety of music, reminded me of the Peel Pub (lol) and Kuya Boris almost lost the car keys (which luckily the security found and was holding!)

• Checked out the town of Kinsale and Charles Fort - that day was freeeezing!

• I went to Cork, Ireland and bought a pair of England football shorts.

• Mia is such a cutie and good girl. She's just learning words and calls both mommy and daddy , 'daddy' hahah! She loves dogs, Hi-Five and Pingu the Penguin lol! (seriously, seeing her small frame standing directly in front of a 32" TV , while watching a Pingu DVD, was hilarious).

• I just can't mention enough how much they went out of their way to show us a good time and treat us like we've known each other forever. That's what i call family. Now come visit us in Toronto so we can return the favour!
  

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• Went to Windsor Castle..unfortunately St George cathedral was closed for services

• Mon/Tues she did the hop-on/hop-off bus tour for the day and by the time we met up after work, she was absolutely spent! lol! One night we took her to Ancient Raj in Frimley for Indian food and after eating the lamb madras, she's on a mission to find similar food back home!

• Went to this wicked restaurant in Soho called Inamo which has tables that allow you to order food off, play games, etc.. all with a touchpad and a projector above-head displaying all the images..so cool.

• Went to see the musical Wicked with Claire and Alan as well..and it was Wicked! Seriously, i'm not a fan of
  musicals but the evil witch, Elphaba, played by Alex Khadime was simply brilliant! I could even watch it again just for
  her.

• Went to Stonehenges..yes, that's what she calls it lol! Damn it was cold and windy that day but she got to see onw of the seven wonders of the world so that's cool! Afterwards, we picked up Michelle and headed to Westfield mall where we all made some pretty big purchases (2 Jaeger bags and 1 Reiss jacket were bought..among other items)

• Checked out the Ministry of Sound! Yeah baby, the legendary club for house/trance music and Erick Morillo was
  playing that night. Amazing sound and music in all rooms, one of the things that made it that good was the fact that
  even though it was sold out, it wasn't packed and not the slightest bit humid or hot like Guvernment/Warehouse. We are definitely going back again..New Years Eve maybe?

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• We stayed at the Shelbourne Hotel by Shepherd's Green, about a 2 minute walk to Grafton Street and this hotel was definitely one of the best we've stayed at. Has a rich history (JFK stayed here) and very nice bar (No. 27) but we paid way too much for drinks there (£18 for Jameson's and a mojito..wtf?).

• Lots of shopping to do in Dublin, stores everywhere but prices were actually a bit more than in London..seriously, makes London look like somewhat of a bargain!

• Did the Guiness tour (of course) and didn't join the tour group but did our own tour and stuff. Nothing too extremely fascinating; one thing i learned was that the top-selling brew is Guiness Foreign Extra Stout (not sold in NA)...but I like Guiness Draught better actually. The Gravity Bar at the top of the storehouse was the liveliest..and you can guess why!

• Temple bar was a cool area of bars, restaurants and such, hung out there for a bit and also at our hotel bar.

• Did a tour of Kilmainham Gaol (pronounced 'jail') which was not too bad. Infamous jail for holding thousands of convicts in a place buitl for only a couple hundred (irish Potato Famine was the time with the most 'visitors' because they would actually be fed in prison!).

• Sunday was very cold and rainy..good thing we experienced real irish weather! But it was also the official Christmas Tree lighting ceremony that day so we went afterwards to go take a picture like tourists.
  

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• Went to check out an adult-themed puppet show that is loosely based on the Sesame characters. Called Avenue Q, it dealt with controversial and offensive themes in a humourous, keep-an-open-mind type style and was actually quite hilarious....as long as you understood it was all for show.

• Songs such as 'Internet is for Porn', 'Everyone's a little bit racist' and 'Schaudenfreude' (German word for happiness at the misery of others - "you know, like the Germans"..ouch.

• Went to see it with Claire and Alan so it was definitely good to meet up with some friends in London

• Also, we celebrated CDN/US Thanksgiving with Michelle's co-workers, a group that contained US, CDN and UK people. We cooked a 7kg turkey complete with stuffing, cranberry sauce and everyone pitched in and brought some food, desserts..and lots of drink...that was finished by the end of the night..lol. Good times!

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• It is set in a very inconspicuous location, with a regular pub right beside it. Nothing fancy about the exterior of the place, its pretty much like a regular house sandwiched between 2 buildings with only a couple plaques outside to identify it's location. The inside, is very modest as well, looks like a regular country home with exposed beams and a dining area of less than 20 tables or so.

• The food itself was very rich in flavour and of course, taste, and it was an attack on your senses at the same time. We chose the tasting menu, complete with 17 courses!! (including 6-7 appetizers and a few palate cleansers)

• Food example #1: Orange and beetroot jelly squares - the orange square tasted like beetroot and the purple square tasted like orange..cool!!

• Food example #2: "Sound of the Sea" - the course first started off by them bringing a conch shell with headphones attached to them. We put them on and listened to the sea while they came out with a dish that recreated the sea itself! i.e. the sand was made of crystallized tapioca, the surf was some bubbly thing, there were mussels, oysters..even cooler!!

• Food example #3: Salmon wrapped in liquorice gel

• Food example #4: Hot and Cold iced tea - when you drank it, the top was hot but the bottom was cold! And it all looked the same..wow!

• Food example #5: The first palate cleanser was a nitrogen-frozen mousse (done right at the table) sprinkled with green tea and they sprayed a lime fragrance above you while you ate it..lol..jokes!

• They ended off with 'breakfast'! Lol! The last few courses were breakfast-themed, like parsley cereal, nitrogen-freezed egg with bacon, etc.. a very elaborate production and presentation!

• There were too many to list but all in all, it was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience and a chance for us to take advantage of our close proximity (less than 1 hour) to the #2nd Best Restaurant in the World..and one with 3 Michelin stars

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• It was also our fly-day back to London so we only had the morning and early afternoon to do stuff. Walked to Wenceslas Square and the street leading up to it was nice! Not sure what the horse statue meant at the top of the street but I know its significant.

• Our handy Frommers Prague day-by-day guide was extremely useful to us and even until the end, we used it to find an off-the-path Czech bar and had goulash and pilsner one more time..mmm goulash..mmm

• Just before we left, we decided to go on a whim and do some paddle-boating on Vlata river and this was a good move. We got to chill and paddle in and around Charles Bridge with amazing views of that and the Prague Castle and a bunch of onlookers on the other bridges and lining the streets....very relaxing and unique way to spend a bday!
  

Birthday and Thanksgiving in Prague!! remains copyright of the author dnaman, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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What the heck?! Cancelling a London show? Unheard of. And i asked if it's ever happened before and to our luck, nope. So yea, we ended up going for drinks around the corner in Covent Garden and managed to salvage our night with good times around a couple bottles of wine..lol.

Then, on Saturday after our jaunt to Windsor Castle (well St Georges Chapel only - site of Henry VIII burial), I decided to check what was playing at our local theatre, Guildford's Yvonne Arnaud Theatre. And guess what I saw:

"The Woman in Black", last show October 4!!!!! Hahahha! What a coincidence! So yeah, i bought us last minute tickets and we went to watch the show..and then..

The show is based on the original novel by Susan Hill and it is played by only 2 actors. Very minimalistic performance but scary and suspenseful with amazing use of lighting and sound. I must admit I jumped once (only)...seriously. The basic premise of the story is that a young solicitor is sent to the house of a recently deceased strange woman to gather her finances. Upon reaching the desolate, 'haunted' house, he has several paranormal encounters and begins to unravel the mystery of the Woman in Black...and that's all I'll say.

Trust me and see it, theatre like I've never seen..perfect date night

(almost) Stood up by the Woman in Black remains copyright of the author dnaman, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Visit to the T-Dot: Congrats Irene and Steve! remains copyright of the author dnaman, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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• Officially 2008 Golfer of the Year (went undefeated with the boys Toronto... but lost all my games with friends in the UK). Played last Friday at Mill Run Golf club in Uxbridge - very very nice conditions and fast greens. Shot a 94 with everyone else in the 100s...lol.

• Had Christmas in September!! with my family since my brother and his girlfriend flew in from BC at the same time, and Michelle and I were here (and not coming for Xmas)..so we thought 'why not?'. I think my parents were really caught off-guard when we took out the presents after dinner..my Mom was like '..i thought you were kidding the whole time you mentioned it..' lol good one.

• Kids grow up fast in 4 months..whoa. Alyssa and MekMek, you just want to eat them..really. Tried to get them to take a pic together but they were having none of it.

• Congrats to Meemerz and Timbo on their new pad! Very nice town and even though we only managed to visit for 30 mins, it was all good...can't wait for the deck to be ready!

• Happy 20th Bday Irene! Had a good dinner with the Gonzales clan at Moxie's..and still trying to recover your lost pics/work docs..i think we're almost there, im the new data recovery specialist.

• Learned this new board game, Settlers of Cataan that my friends have been playing for months, and guess who won on their first try?

Visit to the T-Dot: "reunited and it feels so good.." remains copyright of the author dnaman, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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• Trier is just across the border from Luxembourg (where we flew into using LuxAir (prob my fave airline now.)) about 30-40 minutes away from the airport. It is Germany's oldest city and has huge Roman influence here as it was a former capital of a Roman province.

• Saw and walked a good majority of the town, seeing such famous sights as Porta Nigra (the 'black gate' - amazing Roman city gate), 3 Roman baths (well the ruins of them) and the Roman amphitheatre.

• Visited a huge Roman Catholic Church, Trier Cathedral, which is home to the Holy Tunic ("..a garment with a recorded history back to the 12th century, in Catholic tradition said to be the robe Jesus was wearing when he died. It is only exhibited every few decades, at irregular intervals"). Wtf?? they weren't displaying while we were there but the church itself is huge, and reminiscent of very ornate Roman basillicas.
  

• Had a great time with our friends Norbert and Julia, very very gracious hosts and tour guides. They took us all over and took us to authentic German restaurants (yep ate sauerkraut, pork knuckle, rumpsteak, etc..). Hopefully they can come visit us in Toronto and we can return the favour!

• They also shared some schnapps with us (58% alcohol! yep thats my new record) and at one of the restaurants, got to try some of the local brew and also some of the best-sellling German beer in the world, Bitburger (yuck too bitter).

• Also checked out the museum of the famous resident, Karl Marx, founder of communism. Well, we didn't actually go in but we stood at the doorway..

Fun in Trier... No Sheisse! remains copyright of the author dnaman, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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