Hasta luego Costa Rica

I am sitting at the McDonalds in the heart of Liberia waiting for our Tica bus to Grenada, Nicaragua. I've attached the lunch I had at the pollo tropical fast food joint across the street. It's so much better than the greasy food of this mcdonalds, what a shame the McDonalds chain has the Latinos hooked on their cheap greasy food :P   

It's a 4 hour journey across the border and so far my sister vash and I have been here for 6.5 hours while we wait for our bus. It's been fun though, taking the time to catch up on our planning for where we're gonna stay in Granada and deciding to go till Leon instead of back down the coast. I think it's going to be a fun social trip. I am avoiding Managua altogether and just focusing on Grenada and Leon for the next 5 days. I leave back to Toronto on sunday morning at 7am from Managua international airport.

So far today i found a scotiabank and they converted my Canadian dollars to American :). In Nicaragua the people accept both currencies,  their local and American.  But no luck with Canadian as I found out in my stay in costa Rica.

Speaking of costa Rica, I had such a wonderful trip. The highlights being the family time I spent and the luxurious resort with warm staff and the wonderful activities which was capped off Friday with ziplining, horse riding, watersliding  and a lovely mud bath activity. This along with the ATV and swimming in the beach was definitely the highlight. also the highlights for me was definitely the fine cuisine of the different a large carte themed restaurants and the breakfast buffets. I also loved the freshly squeezed juices and I had more than my share of watermelon juices.

The quality of food and the comfort of the rooms made this the best all inclusive place I've ever stayed at. It reminds me of sun city resort in south africa.

Yesterday was my mom's birthday and we spent the day celebrating her from breakfast to a really lovely dinner and capped off with a trip to pacifico nightclub. She had a great time and was really touched with how special it was to have her family together for this special birthday. She got emotional when she received her gifts and really enjoyed her designer dress that Vash bought for her as well as the ipad mini from the rest of us. I was relieved when my mom and sisters enjoyed the video that I put together. It was a nice team effort and I am glad the many hours spent working on it got the desired appreciation :)

I was very grateful that we had good weather and it rained for a  very short period. We got plenty of beach and pool time and I especially enjoyed the chilling time I had in my room chilling on the comfy bed reading and listening to music. what a treat to not have any worries and completely unwind from work. Feel truly blessed.

Over and out.

Activities yesterday in costa Rica.

Yesterday started with room service at 6am. Vash and i were up early so decided to have a light breakfast before our swim. I had fresh squeezed papaya and pineapple and a plate of fruits and granola. Vash needed protein so she had beans and rice :)

At 8am I met my niece and mom and we all went swimming in the giant pool. We did laps and taya and vash and I were racing. Taya is an amazing swimmer and she beat us both. I was helping mom to swim. Watching her as she did long laps. After staying in the pool for a couple hours we went for the buffet breakfast which was really good. The food so far has been excellent, the best of any all inclusive that I've stayed at. There is a lot of choice. After the meal, we hung out at the beach for the first time on the trip. The water was warm and it was a very hot day. Prior to going I bought a cowboy hat and hat for my mom to help block the strong sun. My nephews and I had a lot of fun in the water. The undercurrent was very strong but we were safe because we didn't venture too deep. Also there is quite a big drop at the hotel beach and it's got a lot of crushed rock at the bottom so it's not the best beach to swim at. After doing this for a couple hours and having virgin cocktails, we decided to rent 4x4 RVs and do a 2 hour excursion along the beach and through wilderness trails and on the road of neighboring towns. It was a ton of fun! Thanks to my brother Rodney for organizing. He is an amazing planner and organizer for fun things. I rode with my little nephew jett and he didn't want to be last so we always pushed the throttle to beat everyone else. It was my first experience riding a 4x4 all terrain bike and it definitely won't be my last.

Midway through the ride we stopped at a beautiful calm stretch of beach and we all got in to swim. This was so much better than the previous rough beach and it we all had a blast swimming. We got back in our bikes and made our way back to the hotel via beautiful nature trails,  we got the feeling like we were really riding in the wilderness.  After this we had lunch at the pizza place and I took the kids to swim at the pool. I played ping pong with my niece. The boys have an abundance of energy. Wow I needed a nap after so I went to the room and slept in wonderful AC. I got out of bed around 7:30 and it was time to get ready for Dinner at the Italian restaurant. This restaurant is the best dining restaurant at the resort and it had a lovely ambiance with a live saxophone player who played really fun hits from the past. He came to our table and played to the kids who loved it! I had a good 4 course meal and was stuffed. When we came back to my place, I chatted to my sister for a bit and then watched a bit of Delhi Belly an Indian movie that I started a month ago but yet to finish :) it was nice to hit the comfy bed and pass out!

Quote from my gym

The difference between who you are and who you want to be is what you do!
How true this is!

Happy New Year 2014 at city hall

I had such a great time at Nathan Philips square with my mom and taya and Chayse. It was -20 but that didn't stop us from enjoying the ice skating and the fireworks. What a great way to countdown the new year. 

Waiting at the subway platform at Jane station. Going to Nathan Phillips square. The subway is free on New Year's Eve!

Taya showing off her horsie mitts.

Kids getting ready to put on their skates. Chayse doesn't look too happy about the cold. My mom bribed him with $20 if he did a 100 laps around the rink!

Mom and Taya bundling up to stay warm

Uncle and nephew having a kodak moment 

The ice rink is staring to full up. There was a crowd of 35000 people packed into the small area. Very festive!

Happy New Year 2014!!! Beautiful fireworks across city hall backdrop!

Raptors vs New York

I had a good time with Derek Yesterday. We had planned to see the Raptors vs Knicks for a couple months. He was visiting from England. We met up at Earls for Pre game Dinner and drinks and it was fun catching up. Next we go to the ACC for the game and before the game I couldn't resist challenging a kid to some hoops. I lost with my 19 points to his 20 :). Derek then showed me how it's really done by scoring 32 points. He's such a show off! But also a really good basketball player!

Next we go the arena and Derek teases me with my bragging I could get really cheap Rogers discounted tickets from the 300 level. He asks me to say how close I want to get to the floor, telling me to say when. And we keep going almost all the way to the floor! It was the best seats i've ever been to at the ACC. Great time!

 Raptors win!!!!

Thank you Derek and Megan.

On to Burlington Vermont

Got up and realized that 30 cm of snow had dropped on Montreal. i was not sure whether we would be able to leave to Vermont becuase the road conditions were so bad. Listening to the news didn't help because there were tons of reports of accidents and advisory to not drive. I was nervous that my rental Toyota camry didn't have snow tires (in Quebec it's the law to have snow tires in the winter) but since I got the car in Ontario that didn't apply.  I decided to try the drive for breakfast. I heard about Yagel Bagel which was a few streets away and i went to the car. I was really surprised to see the car buried under snow, I had to clean the car for about 5 mintues before I could drive..not looking good!

Montreal snow storm

The drive to Yagel bagel was slippery but i was able to manage with the car; it had electronic traction control and good anit locking brakes, once I figured out how to use that to my advantage, the drive was good. Yagel Bagel had amazing bagels, highly recommend it when you go to Montreal.  Came back to our host's place, had breakfast, helped cover a window with plastic and then set off on our trip. One little caveat, when I tried to back out from the driver, I realized the car was trapped with over a foot of snow at the entrance to the driveway. time to shovel!  Well this is part of the quebec experience. I put my back into the shovel and 10 minutes later we were able to leave.  

Once we left the montreal roads the drive was easy. We spent about an hour on the Quebec rural rodes on the way to the border crossing in Vermont. It was really picturesque and I was graeteful to leave Quebec. The US cusotms officer was very friendly, the wait time was 10 minutes and we crossed the border incident free...Bonus!

The drive through Vermont is very beautiful during winter: lots of Trees covered in snow; it looked very Christmasy.  We stopped at St. Alban, where I found a nice coffee shop and we had a delicious hot chocolate with a blueberry scone.. yum. 

My mom in front of the awesome coffee heaven in st. Alban.

Another half hour of driving and we reached Burlington. I didn't have a hotel booked but found a beautiful hotel at the city center, called Hotel Vermont. it was really modern and the room was spacious and luxurious. We had a great dinner there, the salad and gnocchi dinner was superb. My mom and i shared the meals and the portions were generous. (makes you wonder how a person is supposed to eat the whole serving). Prior to having dinner, I went to the gym at the hotel and did some running on the treadmill, it was good to workout after many days.  

After the meal, my mom and I walked through Church street in Burlington, it's one of the prettiest streets I've seen. It's quaint with interesting stores and beautiful to look at. It was very cold, about minus 18 so we only walked for half hour.  We returned to the hotel and had an awesome sleep.

Church street in Burlington,VT. One of the prettiest walking streets for shopping I've seen.

awsome day in Montreal - december roadtrip vacation with mom

yesterday we started at the biodome. It was -18 degrees and I froze my butt off. I forgot what -18 felt like back in my saskatoon days. It's really bloody cold! a minute without gloves and my hands were frozen.  Enough about the cold. The trip to the Biodome was about a half hour from where we stayed at in DDO.  Here is a pic of the Biodome, it's a great way to spend 2 hours in your day. The highlights for me was the recreation of a tropical rainforest and feeling like you're in a teeming with life and animal/insects diversity.  I also really enjoyed the different species of fish they had and watching the penguins do their thing in a cold environment was entertaining.

After the Biodome, I set the GPS for Shwartz's Deli, the food absolutely did not dissapoint. I chose the medium cut not the lean because I wanted the meat to melt in my mouth which it did! Beware though if you're going there at lunch time because there are long line ups. I went to the take-out place which took about 10 mins and then took the sandwich and ate a Thai restaurant that my mom went to down the street.  The service at the Thai restaurant was incredible and my mom convinced the staff to let me eat the smoked meat sandwich in the restaurant. Wish I had known that and I wouldn't have hid and eaten the sandwhich.  

After Schwart's it was time for a nap. I decided to go shopping at the Bay instead. I had to call my friend Anoop because I didn't know where there was a shopping mall in Montreal. We found a 5 story Bay on st.cAtherines street and it was a good time shopping and finding winter wear for our upcoming ski trip.  I took a snooze at the second cup in the mall attached to the Bay, while my mom went to buy gifts for her South African friends. She came back so excited, she found scarfs and winter hats for $5 each!  here is the pic of the Bay: (gotta love Google street view)

At 5pm we ventured to Old montreal. It was already dark and I drove around for about 45 minutes before I found the perfect spot.  Old montreal is filled with restaurants, very fine dining and I was really hoping to find a cafe.  I asked a local walking his dog and he said the area has gotten very touristy and he pointed me to the cafe which was a couple meters from us. It's called Muru Crepe and it was a fantastic place with nice ambience, great savoury crepe and fries and fantastic service. I supposed it helped there were only a few people in the place but the staff of one was a great guy who was very courteous and professional. I loved the moccacino and latte he made to perfection.  here is a pic of the restaurant:

the only downside to the day's experience was the ticket that was waiting for me after we left the restaurant!  I thought i would get away with it, who would want to ticket in -18 degrees :)
A great memorable day!