Montreal Metblogs » mon_laiya

Slipping into Christmas

mon_laiya — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 20:40:53 +0000

Well, it had to happen sometime. I took my first fall of the season this morning as I was making my way home from the grocery store, lugging 3 bags and a purse. Sidewalks were covered with a light dusting of snow that left the black ice underneath impossible to see. On my way there, I’d already slipped in a few spots but managed to catch myself but I guess I wasn’t so nimble on my way back. So there I was, flat on my back, my bags and my purse strewn all around me on the ground. A piece of camembert cheese stuck under the wheel of a parked car. Thank goodness I wear a well-padded parka so I didn’t feel the force of the impact too much. The city has layed down abrasives on the main streets but walking on residential and side streets can be treacherous if not tricky. So if you’re planning to head out tonight or tomorrow to visit family and friends, be careful and watch your step. And on that note, I’d like to wish all the Metroblog readers out there a safe and Merry Christmas!

Frozen body parts courtesy of the STM

mon_laiya — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 02:55:52 +0000

The warm fuzzy feeling that I had on the weekend during the snow storm as it was coming down is now effectively gone. Two days of struggling with Montreal’s public transportation has been enough to wipe out any seasonal cheer that I may have had. It is absolutely ridiculous for the city to encourage people to take public transport in the aftermath of the storm when there are clearly problems meeting the demand. It was freaking cold today as I waited 45 minutes for a bus this morning. I saw more “Désolé Hors Service” buses go by than actual buses for my route. When one did come by, it was too packed to stop. I finally managed to board a bus by going in the back door. I still had to walk a few blocks to work after that and I could hardly feel my feet they were so frozen stiff. Only the heat from the anger inside me kept me going. And things only got worse. Tonight, I waited for the bus to come home and I did not even see a single one pass in the space of 45 minutes. I was so absolutely frigid that I gave in and hailed a taxi. I am so fed up with the bus situation and I know my sentiments are shared by many of the people who were also waiting in the extremely long lines at every bus stop I passed while thawing in the cab. Something is just not right when people have to wait so long.

Snow in the City

mon_laiya — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 00:09:59 +0000

I just love a winter snow storm on the weekend. When you’re not obligated to get yourself anywhere, you can actually enjoy it instead of fighting it. This morning, I was walking around town and took some photos with my cell phone camera. It was actually quite an exhilirating and pleasant walk. As long as you’re dressed properly – warm parka: check, head covering: check, gloves: check, boots: check – the calm that settles on the city during a storm is quite lovely and peaceful. The streets are near deserted as people hunker down indoors and cars are few and far between or else crawling along at a snail’s pace. Everything just slows down. That said, Monday morning rush hour will probably be a more messy picture.

Bracing for the Big One

mon_laiya — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 01:49:35 +0000

So it seems like we’re expecting up to 30 cm of snow overnight Sunday into Monday. No matter how many Montreal winters you’ve been through, there’s still that sense of anticipation, excitement and trepidation at the announcement of an impending storm. The little kid in me says defiantly to Mother Nature, “oh yeah? show me what you got lady… bring it!” but then the worker bee adult part of me says, “I better be able to get to work on time *grumble grumble*…and those bus drivers had better not even THINK of striking during a storm…” Love it or hate it, the first big snow storm of the season is usually kind of a mixed bag of whoop ass. At least temperatures will be relatively mild. Take it easy with the shoveling, stretch, and enjoy!

Curling Rocks!

mon_laiya — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 23:41:02 +0000

Last night, I tried curling for the very first time and boy was it ever fun! I went to what’s called a “Friendly” at the Montreal West Curling Club – sort of like an open-house intro to curling for non-members. Curling at the club is a great social event where you can curl a little, snack a little at the bar, have some dinner and then curl some more! As a newbie curler, my technique is less than perfect – alright, downright awkward and pathetic – but I never thought that curling could be so amusing. For someone who doesn’t like winter, this is a pretty good winter sport to engage in. It’s an outdoor kind of sport that you can practice in the comfort of the indoors. Mind you, it’s really quite chilly in the rink – a jacket and gloves are a good idea and your feet get chilly if you don’t keep moving. But instead of hibernating through the winter, this is a great way to get through the long cold days ahead. I always thought of curling as a rather quaint, ok dorky, Canadian sport but it’s really one of those things that you’ve got to try to truly appreciate it. It’s really not as easy as it looks and the sweeping provides a not too bad cardio workout ’cause baby, that rock moves fast! It’s a great sport for all ages and there are curling clubs all across the island. If you’re interested in trying it out, and I highly recommend it, you can join a group like the Montreal West Curling Club Meetup.

Montreal Limbo

mon_laiya — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 16:05:43 +0000

Mid-November feels like a strange time of year in Montreal these days. The weather feels like it’s not quite Fall-ish yet not quite Winter-ish. Do you wear a spring coat with layers or just go for the all out winter jacket? Time keeps marching on nonetheless and to keep things exciting, we have several interesting developments taking place in and around the city.

A looming transit strike that will no doubt cause countless tales of grief but is such a recurring event in this city that I no longer have the gusto to even launch a tirade against it. I am resigned to coping with it when it comes and so battle worn that I am ready to say just give them what they want. Meanwhile, I’m saving up to purchase a car in the spring time.

Those anglos are stirring up the political pot again with the emergence of the new and controversially named Office Quebecois de la langue anglaise. Nothing like a little tension between the two solitudes to liven up the party.

Students are demonstrating again against tuition fees. This brings out the ol’ In my day, I had to walk 3 miles to school in the snow…without shoes! part of me. I guess it’s age and the old 9-5 wearing me down. I don’t know about you, but I see a lot of students walking around with laptops, cell phones, ipods, starbucks coffee, wearing really nice duds. I’m not sure how $50 a semester is going to put a dent in their pockets. Of course, there are legitimately poor students out there but heck, if I could get an education on loans and bursaries in the cheapest province for world class education, anybody can.

Don’t even get me started on the Reasonable Accomodation hearings – the Jerry Springer-like freak show circus touring the province.

I think I’ll just curl up with a nice hot cup of chocolate and wait out this lunacy limbo period. Meanwhile, don’t forget to head downtown and catch the annual too-early-to-be-happening Santa Claus parade taking place today.

Netting the neti pot

mon_laiya — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 20:36:10 +0000

Ever have problems trying to find a particular product in Montreal? Sometimes, there’s something you want to buy but just can’t find it anywhere unless you buy it off the internet. Well, that was the case for the neti pot. This device was featured on Oprah as a natural way to cleanse the nasal passages in order to relieve congestion. It seemed that the neti pot was nowhere to be found in Montreal – in pharmacies, health food stores, or any other hippy trippy new-agey hocus pocus lovey dovey all natural kind of establishment. However, just talking to a friend about it the other day, I discovered that there was one place in Montreal where you could find this obscure device and I managed to snag the very last one from the Sivananda Yoga Centre on St. Laurent boulevard corner Fairmount. Apparently they’ve sold hundreds of these things since they appeared on Oprah and are now back-ordered. (The one I got is not exactly like the one shown here as featured on Oprah but it’s pretty similar even though mine is purple.) I’ve been unpleasantly congested with a head cold for the past week so I’m willing to try anything at this point. But I just wondered if there are any well-kept secrets out there about certain products that can be found only in select locations around the city? The kind of thing you learn about only by word-of-mouth or word-of-blog perhaps. In a city full of cooking pots, pot, and pot-holes, it took me months to finally net a neti pot! So I’m really interested to know if anybody actually knows of any other places where you can get these things. Or did I buy the very last one in the whole city?

I Squash You

mon_laiya — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 15:33:50 +0000

One of the great things about weekends in Montreal is that you’re not far from the countryside if you want to take a day trip to get away from the concrete jungle. Fall is harvest time and for an inexpensive wholesome type of outing, a pleasant way to spend the day is in the fields picking apples or other crops. About 40 minutes north of Montreal in the Saint-Joseph-du-Lac region, there are plenty of apple orchards to choose from and especially interesting for this city slicker was the Centre d’interprétation
de la courge du Québec where you can pick your own squash and of course, pumpkin for Hallowe’en. You select a wheelbarrow at the entrance to the fields and off you go. The selection of squash is astounding for someone who is not familiar with squash. Who knew there were so many kinds! If in doubt, the staff are very knowledgeable about their courges. I learned that the decorative squash are not for eating as they can be powerful laxatives. So the next time, you want to get back at someone, you can cook up a pot of your special squash soup…

Apple picking and wine tasting after the jump…

The apple orchard that we chose to visit was one of the bigger ones in the area. Les Vergers Lafrance is very popular with families because of the playground and activities for kids. It was packed when we went but the wait for a tractor trailer to pull you out to the orchard is very quick and everything is run very efficiently. The apples that are being harvested right now are the sweet Cortlands and the the tart McIntoshes. I will be attempting in the weeks to come to eat my way through several pounds of apples. Apart from apple picking, these orchards offer many varieties of food made from you guessed it, apples. Apple pies, apple cookies, apple bread, apple doughnuts, apple crepes….you get the picture…and here’s one of the apple crepe I had.

Also in the area is a vineyard that you can visit for some wine-tasting. We went up the street to La Roche des Brises where they have nine varieties of wine available. The ice wine was my favourite but sadly, a bit too pricey for my budget so I opted for a bottle of the late harvest dessert wine which was good too. The vineyard is very picturesque – especially at this time of year set against the fall colors of the trees. A real treat for the senses.

Hug a Tree

mon_laiya — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 02:06:14 +0000

The ‘high’light of my long weekend was a day spent up in the trees at one of the arbraska adventure parks. We went to the one in Rigaud about 45 minutes from Montreal. For those who don’t know about these parks, they’re basically forests rigged with obstacle courses suspended up to 50 feet off the ground. After a 10 minute initiation on how to use your carabiners and pulley, you’re ready to go swinging through the forest. Courses vary in difficulty and get progressively higher. For those who chicken out, there are escape ladders on some platforms. I had a great time flying over the tops of trees on the zip lines and it’s an amazing rush once you get over that moment of stepping off the platform. It’s a great way to connect with nature while testing your limits and I definitely hugged a few trees this weekend. Anybody in mildly good shape from kids to adults can take part. Although I felt really safe with my helmet and harness on, my only beef was that there didn’t seem to be enough guides around. It’s basically up to you to be careful about keeping yourself hooked securely to the cables with your carabiners at all times. Other than that, I ‘highly’ recommend this sport of treetop trekking.

Italian Week

mon_laiya — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 18:12:54 +0000

So we decided after dinner last night to head up St. Laurent to Little Italy and catch the festivities of Italian Week. What a great time we had strolling along the street browsing the stalls, people watching, listening to Italian music, and enjoying our granitas. I only had my cell phone camera with me so excuse the poor picture quality but here’s a photo where you can just make out a lineup of Italian cars on display. Last night there was a fashion show on the main stage and the street was lively, filled with families, balloons, and typical Montreal joie de vivre…in Italian! The festival ends tonight so if you’re looking for something to do to cap off the weekend, enjoy! Ciao!