once in a while... you get this CRAZY post...

hey y'all...

How's everyones summer going so far? I know loads of people who are travelling... backpacking... working abroad... etc etc...
Toronto is a GREAT place... the best city in the world if you ask me (and i've been to a ton of places)... but the world is a HUGE place. I can't imagine being stuck in Toronto for my whole life. Its sad though... a few friends of mine have already announced their departures... either for work or study. I guess when you hit my age people start going their seperate ways. I think the hardest part is leaving behind friends and (may be) family... haha... We'll see what happens in a couple years. I kinda want to find a wife...*ahem... i mean work somewhere in Asia.... Hong Kong sounds nice... may be for a year or so... Here's the reasons why:
1) I hate the cold... I'd rather it be +40 degrees than -40 degrees
2) I hate driving... Everytime I drive I feel like I'm gonna die (crazy woman drivers...haha) Need to move to a place where a car is not needed.
3) China's where its at... lots of opportunities... ;) if you know what I mean... ahaha

I think those are the top reasons... I guess we'll see what opportunities come my way :)... I hear the work week in HK is Monday - Saturday... that makes me skeptical...

Anyhow... it looks like I haven't been doing to great a job keeping up with my posts. Its just been a lil busy these days. I guess summer's all about getting outside and doing as much as possible. Blogging, staying home, being a vegetable, eating Tostitos, and house cleaning is all for the Winter. My house is a crazy mess! I don't think I can invite anyone over until Winter.

So what's been up with me the last little while...
Lets see... I finally got a cellphone. The number is 6478319335. Memorize it y'all... and call me because I got that unlimted incoming calls plan. I think I only have 100 "other" minutes. I'm also using my brother's old Nokia phone... I hate Nokia's user interface. Sony Ericsson has the best UI if you ask me. They also make the coolest phones. I have my eye on this little beauty: SE K750i

hmm... My Europe trip was really awesome. We rented a BMW X3 and drove it from Paris to South France... all the way back up to Germany. That car is awesome! GPS is the greatest invention ever. It was funny... In Aix we were walking along on the street... and I imitated the voice of our GPS system... and some random guy on the street overheard... and he yelled... GPS!!! GPS!!!! and I was like... what the?... and just laughed... haha so random... Speaking of Aix... there's this famous gelato place that served weird flavored icecream... They had Balsamic Vinegar, Tomato and Basil, Garlic and Cheese, and Soy Sauce...
ok i made up two of the four flavors myself... but still... GROSS!!!
Anyhow... Got to see a lot, learned a lot and met a lot of ppl on the trip. I learned that Toronto is awesome and that I would never want to live in London. London is so unimaginably expensive... and dirty... A small sandwich costs like $20 CAD... and what's up with those mini coke cans that cost $6CAD... geeeze! There's some random photos below... Oh wait.... I think the best part of London is this sandwich place called Pret a Manger. This place is AWESOME! Through the whole trip I was thinking about copying everything about it and bringing it to Toronto... and then eventually spreading it out across North America... Too bad they already hit the New York scene... but anyone want to partner up with me and get one into Toronto? check out their website: www.pret.com You have to try it to know how good it is... I think they have the best carrot cake ever! The way they run their business is so "idealistic" as well... Exactly how I would run a business...

What else about this summer... Summer school is ok. UofT charges $22/2hrs for parking. Dragonboat is awesome! There's some crazy accomplished/smart people on the team... Makes me feel so ashamed of myself... Softball is SUPER fun... my team ROCKS... Starting up a new young-career fellowship at my church and thats starting to get rollin... stuff like that... I posted up a million photos... so I'll just leave you with those:


For the last little while I've had this gardening itch... This strong desire to garden... I saw this product on an infomercial. Its basically a roll of fabric you put on top of soil and just water. A week later... Kazaaaam! a full bed of beautiful flowers... Its like a miracle... you should see how ridiculous the infomercial is. I kinda want to buy one and see if it really works...


Her name is Natalie Glebova... She's the same age as me (23yrs) a bit taller than me (5'11)... She's Miss (Canada) Universe! Finally Canada has something to be really proud of... j/k... Honestly she seemed the most intelligent of the three finalists. While we're kinda on the topic... They say body shape of a woman is linked to longevity and good health. Pear shaped women tend to have less disease than their pumpkin/apple shaped counterparts. This applies only to women. I can't find the original article (it was a scientific paper) but here's a similar one I grabbed off the web... Body-shape And they don't mean thin... ladies with large hips and a narrow body fit in this category too... haha... something to add to the list...


This one is in the record books... Its dated (old news)... I can't remember any of the details. I wonder if they're going to eat it...


Since we're on the theme of giant things... Check out this giant chair... way cool!


I think the girl won... But I swear that Bo guy's voice sounds like the lead from Third Day... that same tingy voice...


I'm soooo sorrry Grace... but I had to post this... haha this is Steph putting her finger in Grace's mouth while she was asleep in the car. She must've been soooooo tired..... :P I think this was while we were driving to Nice, France...


Nice view from the top of the Arc in Paris...


Shot of the other arc and downtown France... Sometimes I wonder what people do for a living in Paris... To me it seems like the place revolves around tourism.


Giant building sized Louis Vuitton suitcase. I think you can only get the Cherry pattern in Paris. Japanese tourists line up for ages to get into this store. Funny story... Some mainland China bootlegger (we think he's a bootlegger... couldn't understand his mandarin... but he said something about a factory)... Anyhow... Bootlegger man offers my bro and I 100 Euros a piece to go and buy some stuff from the LV store for him. He says there's a limit and that the LV store won't sell him any goods. He whips out a wad of cash (a couple thousand Euros) and hands it to us. We politely decline...


Endless number of cathedrals. This is me falling asleep in yet another cathedral. They kinda all look the same after a while.


Cannes 2005 sand drawing... Stupid tide kept washing it away... This was my 5th attempt...


Another picture in Cannes. This is a couple of us pretending to be water fountains... Thats right... Europe's is all about cathedrals and fountains...


This is the hotel we stayed at in Cannes. The service was so/so... and the rooms weren't as nice as the Four Seasons... According to the picture the hotel is called Ritz Carleton or something. The hotel was good value for the money though...


Overhead shot of a beach in Nice... No sand... just all rock... but people like it all the same. The water was nice and blue... cept this one huge clump of brown frothy stuff. We were watching this one lone swimmer... swim right smack in the middle of it... lots of pretty girls at the beach that day... haha...


The Grand Palace in Brussels... We had the whole Belgium experience... Belgium waffles... Belgium Chocolates... and Belgium Mussels and Fries... Loads of Japanese tourists everywhere. Those tourist swindlers kept approaching us and speaking Japanese assuming we were from Japan...


I thought this was a cool photo... I don't even know where its at? Somewhere in London. This is me and a family friend (Jo) challenging the water fountain just for the sake of it. Its those ones that go up and down... See if we can make it through dry... I think Jo was saying they turn it into a giant skating rink in the winter and charge tons of money to use it... Can anyone identify this site?


I want one of these statues infront of my house. Except instead of King Richard on it... It would be me holding up that giant sword. See I can do the pose already... Lets see who wants to mess with me once I get one of those babies... This statue is infront of the parliament buildings in London.


Chinese people like to have lion statues infront of their businesses and residences. You know the ones with the balls in the mouth... I'll take two of these to compliment my other statue. This photo was taken at Trafalger Square near the Victoria tube station in London.


My good friend Earl Haig! Now I know where the name of my highschool came from. Except I can't figure out why we have a stupid goofy blue fish as our school mascot. May be a shark... but a stupid carpe... how intimidating is that?


No trip in London is complete without an encounter with the royal guards. I wonder what the origin of that helmet is. It makes no practical sense at all!


Cool library at the British Museum... Basically a giant dome.


Me being English... sip sip sip...having my Afternoon Tea... Complete with biscuits, sandwiches, and english tea. Did I mention it cost $60CAD? Expensive but a must do if you visit London. English Tea really is THAT much better. Check out Fortnum & Mason for afternoon tea if ur in London.


On the road to Lyon... and a sign to prove it!


You know those people that paint themselves and pretend to be statues... what an odd place... I think there's a bird ontop of her head. Here's me trying to do an impersonation... minus the paint...and bird... This was taken in Cannes.


I don't know why people take such random pictures. But here's me getting into our rental car. They ran out of Economy class cars so they gave us a free upgrade to Premium.


Shoot... make sure you're not caught "busking"!!! Its a hefty 200 pound fine... Thats like $500CAD.


See that block head... Inside it is a library! CRAZY!... I think it was in Nice...


Here's a shot from our hotel in Venice... haha j/k... I wish!....


Good old dragonboat team. Team shot after our race in Stoffville. Our best race yet!


We did it! Here's my team sporting our medals after our race in Milton.


Alright.. thats it for this post! Who knows when the next one will be... If anything... make sure you watch Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and The Longest Yard. Two GREAT movies...

ugghhh need to study for Finance now...