Linisus Blog

If I didn’t arrange this trip, I would definitely be in the doghouse. Michelle had been itching for some sort of vacation since summer started, and since I was away in Sarnia, it was a convenient time to spend a weekend in Toronto!

We stayed at Director Nick’s and Amber’s place in Oakville (most income per capita in Canada), where they were so generous to let us stay on their kick-ass futon for several nights.

Day one was a walking-and-shopping route of the downtown scene, going from Yonge, to Queen, to Spadina and then a nice relaxing return walk via College. Michelle loved the Umbra store, and we stopped at every, single, freaking, clothes, shop, along the way. And Michelle also stopped at the several shoe stores as well. Richtree for lunch, an Italian Oakville place for dinner, and Mario Kart afterwards was a satisfying way to kick off this vacation.

Before we started the second day, Nick and Amber introduced us to a great independent breakfast place, Stoney’s Bread Company. After a great bowl of soup, we journeyed out to the wineries at Niagara-On-The-Lake.

First winery stop was at Peller Estates. We opted for the newbie tour ($5 a person), where we got a 45-minute run-through of the history of Peller, and walked up to the vineyards - we got the chance to taste some very sour grapes, and which will one day become a great wine.

We then entered the climate-controlled cellar, where we were served three samples of wine - a red, a white, and an icewine! We were also taught how to smell and taste the wine, which really made for an eye-opening experience.

After the first wine tour, we shuffled over to Epicurean, in the town of Niagara-on-the-lake, where the sandwiches are good, the quiches look great, but the popular focatia [sic] sandwiches are always sold out by 1:30pm - get there fast!

The second tour was more intense on the information scale, as Hillibrand is where all the wine is produced (Peller Estates ships their grapes to Hillibrand due to their developed processing facility). Unfortunately I was not a great fan of their wine, but there was some great information, and at $5 with four different types of wine tastings, going on the tour is recommended.

Our third and last full day was fun - we took a trip up to Buk Chang Soon Dong Tofu on Bloor for some great Korean Tofu soup. Then a special first treat for Michelle, and the third time for me - a trip up to the CN Tower! After spending four hours at the Tower (one hour waiting to go up), we then headed to Markham and shopped for random Chinese accessories and we stopped at every, single, freaking, clothes, shop along the way. Again. And Michelle scored a nice power-up and 1UP Mario Mushrooms, which made it all worthwhile. We wrapped up the day at Oakville’s Oki Japanese restaurant, which featured Kobe beef and some really good fish.

All in all, it was great. Things that need to be remembered for next time:

1. Bring a tripod. Stop debating, just do it.
2. Go on a food-and-wine paring tour. Or a cooking class with wine.
3. Visit the CN Tower either early evening or early morning - avoid the afternoon tourist rush.
4. Furnish a future home with cool Umbra stuff. In addition to those cool Mario Mushrooms.
5. Towels make great pillows - use the thick towel for extra comfort and the thin one to dry yourself off.

Thanks to Nick and Amber who became great hosts and offered us a great place to stay, and thanks to Michelle for letting me have a day of wineries.

[Toronto, ON - Week Five, 2K8 pictures]

I touched down in Sarnia, Ontario last week Monday, and I have never seen so many chemical factories clustered in one area. For the unfamiliar, Sarnia is on the south-west side of Ontario, approximately one hour from Detroit and three hours from Toronto.

While the locals do not advise swimming in lake Huron, there is lots of good food to be had. For example, Bridge Fries, located under the Bluewater Bridge (connecting to the USA) - the locals claim that Albert’s has the most authentic fries, and a poutine will only set you back $7. Salvatores has some great Italian food, where the lack of menu puts you in the chef’s complete control and surprise - one person’s meal was about $30, and included bruschetta, bread, salad, and a complete pasta entree.

For those whose tastes are more demanding, there is the On The Front, a roof-top restaurant facing the lake and the United States. There is some fantastic food, and a balcony seat on a hot and humid Sarnia day will face you towards the great Chemical Valley.

And if you forget your sunglasses, On The Front has that covered.

[Sarnia, On - Week One and Two photo set]

My warrior kitty. 1993 - 2008.

After a year hiatus of traveling to the States, I returned again to Cleveland for some work-sponsored training. This time around, there were only three Canadians in total at the training, so our presence was especially lacking.

The definite highlight of the trip was on Wednesday - our group got picked up in this fancy 2007 Dodge Charger limo (only three exist!), where we all crammed inside and headed downtown to Sushi Rock. There, we ordered a ridiculous amount of sushi and rolls, and Mason, one of our instructors, successfully ate a piece of Uni without hurling. While the sushi and rolls were good, I still must say that Towa Sushi (Calgary) is still a step up over Sushi Rock.

Overall it was a great trip - met lots of Americans from Houston and Dallas, but after a lot of learning and even more eating, I am glad to be home again.

[Cleveland - Week Three photoset]

The hotel is minutes from shopping, beaches, parks, live horse racing, gaming and the Chemical Valley.

And to think the emphasis on Chemical Valley wasn’t mine.

Random Stampeder - “It tastes like nothing.”

Michelle and I went to the Grand Opening of the Apple Store today! We arrived at about 7:15am and joined the other 14 people in line. The first guy was already there at 10am on Friday, and there were lots of people from the night before and even a guy from Calgary! The whole experience was pretty exciting - the line really started growing at about 9:00am, and by 9:30am the line looped around to American Eagle.

About ten minutes before the store opened, all the Apple Store employees got out of the store and high fived a few hundred people in line. They all returned to the store a few minutes later, where they started clapping and the store lights dimmed. At 10am, an Apple Store lady came out, thanked the crowd for coming, and started to let people into the store via the Apple Store employee cheer tunnel (I couldn’t find a better word)!

Michelle and I got inside the beautifully lit and clean Apple Store, where we bumped into Mack and Sharron. After browsing around and talking to some extremely energetic Apple Store employees, we left with our prize of Apple Store t-shirts (which were still being given out at 11am). See you at the Calgary Apple Store grand opening!