:: Montreal Trip '05

WOW....this was definitely one of THE best trips of my life.

lets start off at the beginning...i had to wake up extremely early...pack all the food into the crv and head over to waterloo to pick up noella and ambrose...good thing da was driving cuz i took a nap in the car (i was soooooo tired). we made it to square 1 at 0830 and we found the bus driver (i never actually got his name.......o_0)....so we waited for the rest of the sauga ppl to get there and then we were off to yorkdale to pick up more...we got there early and everyone decided to go shopping (essential toilettries i think haha)...we left yorkdale a little late but we still managed to get to scarborough town centre on time....sandra and i decided to go off and walk around a bit...we saw this coolest dry fit shirt at sportchek...$50...it wasnt bad...but it looked awfully small to wear...and i dont want it like "ed tight" haha.

so off we go bound for montreal...playing cards (big2, poker and crazy 8), making new friends (felix, idy, lena(?)), and sharing good times.....we arrived in montreal around 1830. it took a while to find our residence (mountain hill res @ mcgill) cuz it was tucked up on big-ass mountain (remember this...cuz it comes up frequently haha). once we unpacked and settled in, we were dropped off at Guido & Angelina, a fancy restaurant....i had a veggies fettucine(?) but i thought it was a little overpriced cuz the total came up to be $18!!! after we decided to go bar hopping....and oh boy...was it ever bar hopping....first place we stopped at The Saint Sulpice...we had 2 pitchers of beer and rounds of "polar bear" which was actually shots of polar ice (ewww) that was really really surprising when we took them....next we went to exit (i think) and it was ladies drink free till 12...which saved many of us since the ladies were gettin us ALL drinks hahaha....so we stayed there for a while till after 12...then we decided to hit up another bar. the next bar i believe was Juice. Dan and i wasnt allowed in cuz we both had pocket knives in our pouches....but it was a good thing cuz frankie said that drinks were damn expensive.....i cant remember the next one, but the last stop was Tokyo. and boyyyy was this place cool. lots of people. we just went right to the lower patio and started to drink! i must've had like 6-7 drinks in a row at that bar...and we started to chat with these girls (boy they were cute hahaha), but one of them (annie) spoke a lot of french and i couldnt keep up. by the time we started to leave Tokyo, all of us were pretty wasted hahaha......i'll honestly say that i dont remember every detail of our walk back to rez...i remember walking a lot, arms linked over shoulders with felix/idy/dan...and mannn was it ever a long walk...especially up that big ass hill.

well in the morning (after maybe 4 hours of sleep), i still felt tipsy...it was hard getting up that morning but we managed to get to the race on time!! our first race was at 0922 and we placed 5th with 2:30:32. i didnt even make it close to the boat haha....i slept a great nap. after, bobby, vince and i all got matching air brush dragon tattoos and ga lay yu dans....mmmm...they were good (but at $2 for 4...it was pricey).....our second race was at 1130 and we placed 5th again with a time of 2:26(:74). so after our second race, we started to grill up the burgers and eat....the food was not too good hahaha....ohhh...also spend some time talking to michelle (paddling with scotia black pearl).

after lunch, we all decided to head back to rez to shower. some of us took naps, but i didnt wanna waste any time doing nothing...i tried looking for the poker game but the girls all wanted to go shopping...so pretty much everyone went out....we went in smaller groups when we got to the eaton centre.....vince and i decided to walk along st. catherine street looking at the shops. we meet up with frankie, sandra, brian, dan and noella and we decided to go look for reuben's to eat poutine and montreal smoke meat....mmmmm....it was very tasty (not too pricey either $13). after we head back to rez to meet up with the rest of PA to take the bus to old montreal. we all separated so people can go eat dinner while frankie, dan, noella, sandra, brian and i walked around and look around. we met up with michelle and we decided to go get some ben and jerry's smoothies!! around 2230ish....we decided to head over to Montreal casino. while being lead by jimmy and michelle seto's sis and bf, we finally made to there, only to see that it was friggin packed!! but this place was huge!! 8 floors at least but only 1 floor of tables....everyone won money that night except for poor me =(.....it wasnt fair!! but it was fun....jess and i even bought a pack of cards as souvenirs...after we went back to rez to rest up for the big race.

we found out that our first race was at 0745 so we had no time for free breakfast and we had to get there extra early....that meant that i was up at 0530 to take a shower =( ....and we also learnt that we had 2 races (not 1) so we decided to use another lineup...the time was 2:29:something.....which was enough to place us into Rookie B division!! we figured our next race was at 1145 so we decided to hang out, have a few laughs and chill. by marhsall time, i was soooooo pumped and ready to go....everyone was.....no hardware wasnt exceptable for us. we had our all-star power lineup....and right off the start we knew we had the race....it was sooooo relaxed that phil (being cox) had to yell speed it up cuz we were too relaxed hahaha. we had a little power series....but close to the end, the other boat had somewhat caught up, and then we called finish and clearly pwned them HAHAHAHA. ......we won with a time of 2:19:11!!!! we captored 1st place, PA's very first ever trophy and medals!!!!!

we took pictures and made some pyramids and then it was time to pack up. we went back to rez and showered and took one last group photo with the bus and it was time to say goodbye to montreal and head back to toronto.

we decided to all go to danny's bar to hang out and sign the trophy....we played a game of poker there (idy and i split pot -> shouldve seen my wall!!).....but the one bad thing was that i couldnt find my camera =( luckily i called the bus company and they found it!!

anyways, it was a great weekend, making new friends, meeting dawave on a more personal level and sharing many many many memories. it was definitely one of the best trips i've ever taken and the memories will last me forever!!

thanks to everyone of you that came out and made the trip special. i hope i made an impression on you like you made on me!! hehehe....waiting for pictures.