Events

Well we didn't exactly go to Harvard campus on our trip to Boston, but we definitely heard Bostonians speak..well, Bostonian. Spent the past 5 days on our first trip back to North America for Andrea and Victor's wedding and it was real good to be back on North American soil.

• CONGRATS to Andrea and Victor for such a beautiful and fun wedding! They got married on Friday, September 5th at the State Room. Let me tell you, 2-storey-tall, floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Boston Harbour, the view and setting were unbelievable! Met up with old friends from Toronto, San Diego and well, Boston and we had good times all week...so this is what missing friends is all about! We are missing out!!

• Live band was actually much better than I expected. He even did Montell Jordan lol!
  

• It was also a reunion of sorts for Michelle and her old housemates from McMaster university..but wheres Nunaz? lol!

• Nicky is such a good, good, good cute baby. Pretty much no crying at all, wakes up smiling (that was wicked) and loves the ladies..haha!

• Of course, since we have been around expensive shopping in London, one of our main goals was to do some damage shopping and oh boy did we do some damage! Went wild at Banana Republic, Macy's, all the good stores and it was very clear to see how much more affordable it is to live there compared to London...oh and did I mention NO SALES TAX? Yep, our suitcases were heavvvvy on the way home.

• Damnit! I have been looking all over for these Onitsuka Tiger Ultimate 81 shoes sz 9 everywhere and they are out of my size! Feels like one of those missions i have to accomplish (in London theyre £49, in US, theyre $60..big difference).

• You can't quite see it in the pic below, but we had lunch at a replica bar of the one from Cheers, the TV show. We went to the replica in Quincy Market and the real one is only like 1-2 mile away.
  

• St Andrews golf course - Saturday morning, after 3 hours of sleep, Richard and I jumped into our rental car and made the 1.25 hr journey to the home of golf, St Andrews. It didn't matter we had 3 hours (though we were both super bleary-eyed) but we were going to play in the golf mecca, well the Eden course since the Old course is infamously booked up to a year in advance! The Eden course was opened for play in 1914, a par 70, ~6200 links style course with some parts running alongside the old course and other parts against the backdrop of the sea. IT WAS SO SICK to play real, true links golf in St Andrews although fortunately for us, we had pretty good weather, no rain and just a bit of the winds on the back 9.

• Shot a 98..well I broke 100 at least...and only lost 2 balls.

• Visited the old course, the 18th hole, and saw the infamous small bridge that players cross over on the 18th. I definitely have to plan a boys trip back to Scotland for a week of links-style golf!
  

• Fringe Festival 2008 - one of Edinburgh's biggest festivals that runs throughout the month of August complete with buskers, street performers, comedy acts, musical/theatre acts, etc. Royal Mile street was packed with people and performers and there was always something different going on every 20 metres or so! Will definitely try and go back again! I could spend the whole day just walking up and down the street catching all the various street performers and stopping for a pint or whisky among all the street-side bars/restaurants/cafes..

• Our apartment, Festival Apartments, had a fantastic location, just steps from the Royal Mile. Unfortunately it was an older apartment with a sub-par bathroom (mildew on the shower curtains) and water-stained ceilings so we pretty much only used it to sleep and store our stuff during the day.

• Tattoo military festival - very popular worldwide-known military festival with military bands from all over the world doing various performances against the backdrop of Edinburgh Castle. Tickets are sold out well in advance, usually you need to buy tickets one year in advance to get in! So on Saturday night, we ended up waiting about 1.5 hours at the bottom of the hill leading up towards the castle to catch a glimpse of the bands. To be honest, all we saw were groups of people lining up and we had no idea what they were waiting for but after a long time and fireworks going off, we finally were treated to some bagpipe playing and all the bands marching (well, running) down the hill towards their buses. I think I'll wait to see the actual Tattoo on the BBC later this month.

• Tried haggis for the first time! Its good!! Sort of tastes like mince beef, but yeah I had it for breakfast the second time!

• What? It rains in Scotland? Only rained for a short while on the Sunday afternoon we were going home, we really got lucky with good weather all weekend!

• Lake Zurich is a lake in Switzerland, extending southeast of the town of Zürich. It is formed by the river Linth. (thats my Wikipedia entry lol)

• On Sunday, we met up with Eckhard and Laura for a boat trip to Lake Zurich. Eckhard had a beautiful 15-16 ft boat with cherry wood panelling and room for 5 people..perfect! Water was about 18-20 degrees so it was nice to jump in..

• Tried waterskiing for the first time! Damn it's tough. It was so hard just positioning in the water with the two skis on and it was a bit wavy but once I settled in and 'assumed the position', i would give a thumbs up that i was ready. But i wasn't haha! I fell face first, backwards, spread eagle, sideways, all over the place and took in a lot of lake water but fortunately it was fresh water and no burning sensations here.

• Out of 8-9 tries, i finally made it up once for a total of 4-5 seconds before getting excited and crashing out again. It was a funny (and fun) time but this week my body is soooooooooo sore..forearms, back, etc..

• We also had drinks and chocolate on board and the rest of em jumped in and swam around the lake, of course Michelle and I had our lifejackets on lol! After 3-4 hours in the sun, it was time to get back to shore and catch our flight home...boo. No sunscreen = burnt for me haha!

So we decided to check out the Canada Day celebrations being held in Trafalgar Square in London and although we came quite late (around 8pm), there was still much happening and music playing.

• The place was pretty full with a ton of red-wearing people walking around having Canadian beer and munching on Bison Burgers (that is, after lining up in the huge queues..). The theme this year was in association with Alberta so naturally they had bison burgers...

• The music playing was someone i had not heard of at all (Kim Beggs?) and it was traditional folk music or something, i couldn't figure out what it was and it was nothing you would hear of on the radio except for maybe late afternoon Tuesdays on 88.1 or something..

• We ended up eating at a Turkish restaurant called Ozer, near Oxford Circus, and it was very good! Recommended by the Michelin guide and moderately-priced. I tried a Turkish liquer called Yeni Raki which resembles sambuca, and after mixing it with a bit of water, that first glass already me a bit loopy and hot..lol. All for 5GBP!

• All in all, it was good to celebrate Canada Day even if we were in England, we spent a short time there but enough to say we were proud to be Canadians! Ole!