Two weeks of straight rain is driving me crazy, but I should be at least thankful for the wind and sleet that brought variety to the drizzly norm. To make the most of the cold and dreary evening outside, a photography project seemed in order, so I tried snapping small objects on glass to get a reflection as well as the object captured… Here are my results:
Though I brought my good camera with me to Montreal with the intention of getting out and taking some photos in and around the city, I haven’t even taken it out of the case! Although the weather has been mild since I’ve been here, I just haven’t felt inspired.
However, I have had my little Nikon Coolpix in hand a few times to recount my wonderful adventures, which began with this parking ticket that I got while parked outside the Verdun General Hospital when visiting my mother there.
Parking ticket issued in Verdun
I had paid for a day pass, but apparently, there were about five spaces reserved for regular permit holders. Of course, I happened to park in one of those spaces. At least I was able to pay the ticket online and not have to make a special trip to any “financial institution” to pay the damn thing.
Happier adventures included lunch and catching up with Bernicky and his daughter at a little local greasy spoon in my old neighborhood.
In the Diner
Us in the diner
I have also been trying to run when I can. The weather has been perfect – sunny and warm, and the ice has even melted off the sidewalks – it would be a crime not to be out when possible. The bicycle/walking path along the Lachine canal was clear enough, too, though you can see that the canal itself is still rather frozen!
My visit to Montreal is going well, as is my mother’s recovery.
She had surgery two weeks ago, and, after a bit of a setback, was released from the hospital on Monday. We’ve been taking things easy, staying home and watching lots of Maury Povich (an awful, awful show!).
The weather, though, has been really beautiful – sunny and mild every day; so today we ventured out to Kahnawake for breakfast, then did some grocery shopping. This got us out without being too taxing.
We don’t have any big plans for tomorrow, but if it’s nice again, we might go for a little walk.
I was only in Montreal a few months ago, and being back after such a brief absence, I don’t feel an overwhelming yearning for comfort food – but just the same, there are some things, distinctly Montrealish, that I can’t resist. Though I haven’t had a poutine yet, I have had two of my old-time favourites:
Well, it took me long enough, but I finally changed our tagline.
The blog’s tagline had been *A blog of two passions: mountain biking and Japan”, but since we have adopted many other pastimes and passions, including running and motorbiking, I wanted to change the tagline to reflect that. So now, as you might notice, our tagline reads, “Our blog of Japan and other passions”.
Any thoughts on this or advice for a better tagline appreciated!
In case I haven’t mentioned it before, I have a nerdy little secret: digital scrapbooking. Since we both take so many photos, I started trying to keep them organized and even arranging them nicely when I can.
We have already been back from our adventures in Cambodia for nearly two months, and I spent some of my leisure hours scrapping our photos and making a photo book. I made the photo book at Shutterfly, a service I’ve used before with good results, so I will probably have this book printed for us to keep as a hard copy set of memories of our holiday.
I am in the midst of an unplanned trip to Montreal. I left home this morning at 6:30, when Brian drove me to the Tomei Susono bus stop. I much prefer taking the bus to the train – not because it is cheaper (which it is!), but because it is a smooth, easy ride straight to the airport – no transfers or other mess-arounds.
The draw-back to taking the bus is that they are few and far between. So, if I wanted to take the bus (which I did), I had to arrive at the airport four hours early. Okay – I knew there were shops, and figured I could kill the time. However, the bus actually got me there five hours early. Oddly enough, that time passed quickly. I did an hour or so of window shopping in around the many airport shops (prior to check-in), and then spontaneously got my nails done at Nail Quick.
Nails - after taking off my boots...
Of course, going through security, my nails were destroyed when I had to roll up my jeans and take off my knee-high boots – but it was still a fun way to spend an hour.
After checking in and going through security, I grabbed some lunch, and even thought about a massage at Raffine, a chain massage parlour here, but they were fully booked up until my departure.
Anyway – if you’re ever hanging around Narita airport, there is a fair amount to do!
Again we did not really do much this weekend, but we did get our for a good 10km run on Saturday morning, then spent some time in the afternoon scouting for good photo opportunities. I realized that I really have not worked out my Nikon D90 since I bought it a year ago, so I hope to take more pics more often.
Here are two photos taken at a local temple, not too far from home (as you can see, no snow in sight anymore)!
Not much to write about today. It’s Thursday, and we at least got to wake up to a pleasant surprise: snow. Back in Montreal I learned to loathe the snow, but here it is a rare treat.
The View from Our Balcony
Of course, it melted not long after the sun had risen, but it was a nice way to wake up.
