Okay, okay...

[msss]

I am going to update. And write a whole entry without getting distracted. Really. Grrr.


I've been back for nearly three weeks now, so some of this will be in summary. I left Toronto on the 19th of December to go skiing at Mt Tremblant in Quebec. Tremblant is an amazingly huge mountain, for those of us used to the little slopes here in Victoria. For example, the main beginner-level slope from summit to village is 6 km long. There is NO quick way down the mountain. The level of skiing also appears to be just slightly above Australian (and Ontarian) standards - I was finding blues quite challenging and black runs unskiable. This could have been due to the prolonged desk-potato syndrome of the preceding month of assessment-madness at U of T, but I think it also has to do with the iciness and sheer length of the runs there. But it was lots and lots of fun.

And I went dog sledding... *grins* Dog sledding at night, which was possibly not the best option, given the lack of insulated boots... but you gotta try it. Most amusing part was probably having dogs trained to respond to French commands, with my NZ companion not knowing any French, and also when she fell off the back and the dogs ran off with me (we alternated driving and riding).

There were some nasty bits during the weekend. Thought I lost my wallet, forgot all sorts of things - including ski gloves, ski hat, mother's birthday... Met some nice Singapore/Malaysian people though.

Anyway, back on Monday to do insane running-around things. Had to go and close Scotiabank account, say goodbye to Sam, pickup talking bottle-opener things, return broken alarm clock, etc. Didn't manage to catch up with Joni after all. :'( But it's not as if the boy isn't going to be an international jet-setter anyway. He can come visit! Finally met Ee Lin, a GlobalFreeloader from Halifax, who was amazing and helped me to get packed. Vera and Lucas came to pick me up, braving the evil Toronto traffic, and lugged my huge amount of luggage down to the car, fending off an evil parking officer lurking nearby. We then lugged large and heavy suitcase to pollymel's (and dexfarkin's) apartment.


Speaking of pollymel, sweetheart, I now owe you a Really Big Favour, à la Neverwhere, in the way owed by Door to the Marquis.


So then the plane flight. Not so bad, considering my incredible lack of sleep for six weeks or so. The BA flight to London was stupid. Who on earth decided that they would not offer soft drinks because they had filled the plane with bottles on wine? I don't LIKE wine. At least, I like soft drinks better. Especially if I need to be conscious enough to get off the plane at London and get on another plane to Singapore. The food was crap as well. Slept quite a bit, in between bits of movies.

Staying awake at Heathrow was very difficult, since the plane got in an hour early, leaving me an extra hour to fight off oblivion. There was nothing in the bookstores I wanted to read, either. *sulk* Damnit, should have bought the LBM books when had 30% discount flatmate in Toronto. Although space to put them in luggage would have been, um, challenging. Looked hungry and pathetic while talking to nice Dutch/English hijabi from Sudan... I must look skinnier that I thought - she bought me chocolate. Plane flight to Singapore was on wonderful Qantas flight with good food and even a bit of Finding Nemo (which wasn't meant to be on). Not that I watched much - barely made it onto the plane before I fell asleep, evidenced by fact that I asked nice stewardess for hot cup of tea and was dead to the world by the time she came back (about two min later). Slept lots and lots and lots.

Arrived at Singapore to find that Singapore is wonderfully apathetic to bringing in food and drink - the only things they care about are drugs, weapons and alcohol. Ahh... so quick to walk out and find my lovely godmother. Poor thing, I dragged her out to the airport before 8 am! Went back to her apartment and had shower and bit of rest before shopping for her dinner party that night. Oh yeah, hawker centres. My aim in Singapore was to eat as much authentic hawker food as possible. *grins* That's definitely what I miss most here. *Waves at yasminm* Mmm... prawn noodles. Had a bit of an afternoon nap when we got home, Aunty Jo Ann only just managed to rouse me when the guests arrived! Lots and lots of fun meeting Jared at last, Godma's parents, and the family from France. The mother is an IP lawyer (hence how she knows Aunty Jo Ann) and the kids are 11 (Jamal) and 12 (Zinidine? Spelt like the soccer player, for those of you who know these things.) Quite amusing - Jamal offered to help me do the very-last-minute wrapping of presents - his method appears to be: Cut up pieces of wrapping paper and then stick them onto present. No, not one piece large enough to cover the present, I said PIECES! :-)


Aaargh... gotta go. Okay, well, that's probably long enough for the moment anyway. I WILL write again... soon... really... um... sometime? :-)

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[mijbril.livejournal.com]

Zinedine Zidane :)

He plays for France but is actually Algerian :)