Events

So Tim and I planned to go to Whistler this year for one last boarding trip and to visit my family over there. Highlights of the week:

• 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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• Tuesday - Headed to St. Paul's Cathedral and National Portrait Gallery for some last-minute sight-seeing to cover all the bases. Dome was pretty cool at the cathedral but still not as good as St. Peter's in the Vatican.

• Wednesday - Afternoon tea at Fortnum and Mason; Boy is afternoon tea at a posh place pretty expensive or what? Small triangular-cut sandwiches and some scones and jam..and some tea. Nice experience. Also caught a show of Jersey Boys that night. Now THAT was a good show, right up there with Wicked i must say. Started off a bit slow but once they 'released their first hit 'Sherry'', it really picked up!

• Thursday - Visit to Hampton Court. Freezing cold but pretty cool palace to visit. Had to do one last English tourist thing before leaving.

• Friday - One last night in Piccadilly Circus. Took one last look around the neon lights and then caught the last tube ride to Waterloo, then onto Woking for the last time.

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

So as we close this chapter on our travels, after 8 months in England (Knaphill to be exact), we are set to go back home to our 'home' in Toronto. Hopefully I've written just enough to remember the good/crazy times we've had here and on our travels while we've been here.

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!!

Spent New Years Eve '09 at (well close to..) the London Eye.

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!!

Our dear friend Reina came to visit us in England for a week and it was really good to have a friend from T.O. come and experience life in England. We managed to get ALOT done while she was here and here's a quick list of what we/she did:

• 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?