Recently in Pictures of Montreal Category
Au Québec et en Ontario, les accumulations seront en moyenne de 20 à 30 centimètres de neige d'ici lundi. Certaines régions pourraient toutefois recevoir plus de 50 centimètres de neige. Le tout est accompagné de fortes rafales. (Radio-Canada)
A massive blizzard that slammed into Ontario and Quebec, dumping mounds of snow, disrupting air travel and causing treacherous driving conditions, was expected to hit the Atlantic provinces next. [...] The storm left up to 30 centimetres of snow in parts of Ontario and 60 centimetres in some parts of Quebec. (CBC)
Flickr set: https://www.flickr.com/photos/smurfmatic/sets/72157603478579441/ (path)
T'was a particularly smoggy day for early September.
Photos taken tonight in the Montreal borough of Saint-Laurent, nearby Place Vertu shopping mall.
Pictures taken along Ste-Catherine Street, of the side of otherwise unnoticeable office buildings.
Here's a random childhood memory I just had during the previous minute:
It is that of a certain Astro Boy feature movie (I wasn't sure if it's related to the series - and I'm not in the mood of googling), where the characters are in despair in front of a toxic "cloud" (my first interpretation of a black hole) roaming in space, and which suddenly decided to take over Earth. Eventually the Earth was saved, but then, morbid thought, what would happen if some unknown hidden astrophysical event was to destroy the Earth in the next hour, or the next minute? (Or what if, before I can even save this entry, I'm decapitated by a meteor?!)
(So much speculation. And just a slice of late night musings...)
Picked up from the mtlblog, was this urbanphoto photoblog of a McGiller - whose most recent pictures turned out to be from the single other place in this world I've stayed in for more than a month time (it's weird to say it like this). While at it, let's repost.
Went downtown to finish up my shot complement for Hepatitis B life immunity (teh Life Immunity), and then descended to the copies place to print the damn bioinfo manual (<3). In front of the university's main entrance, bumped into former girl of my dreams, wearing mouse ears (or, more probably, Totoro ears :D), fundraising for the local SPCA (and gave her a quarter, mainly for the ears). Then went up to the lab to chillax with the former / kind of still colleagues. Afterwards went to the fine arts museum to see the exhibit by Canadian artist Edwin Holgate (a member of the Group of Seven, he also made many portraits - known to paint in big patches of color with well-defined contours, interestingly close to comics-style, one with pop references would say). Had dinner by myself at the "jiaozi place", officially known as Ravioli de Manchuria (semi-French, semi-English, all-Montrealer :D). Walked the whole useful length of Ste-Cath. Met up with Wee for 20 minutes of bubble tea at the Cactus, and then strolled around Vieux-Montreal just for the sake of seeing what a tourist place looks like in the middle of September, on a weekday night after 9PM.
What a day. And with only 6 hours of sleep, broken in half by a phone call from a certain familiar but unknown number at 8:30-ish. I get a glimpse of what life would be like if I were busy... Do I want to be busy? Currently, I'm saying, yes of course! Give me as much busy as you will! Work hard, party even harder. A salary to use, some good time to have. Sounds like an ideal train-train quotidien, to me currently, now, at least (until the adventure gene expresses again).
Hockey craze is back in Montreal. Second friggin' pre-season game has been won 6-1 against Stanley Cup champions of 2003-04 (to those who care, and from outside Canada, there was a lock-out in the NHL the entire last season) Tampa Bay Lightning. New rookie sensation, 18 years old Guillaume Latendresse (it always felt weird to know that the English equivalent for "Guillaume" was "William" - they have such different generational connotation to my bilingual mind) scored twice and assisted once, and is now lauded as better than the other 18 years old superstar-to-be Sidney Crosby. Ok, like everyone else in town, I hope the kid makes it to the NHL this year, without choking, and perhaps captures a Calder trophy for the Canadiens (who, during the entire 90s decade screwed up every single 1st round choice they had). Woooh, hockey.
(Artificially created a LJ-cut thingy... which isn't really one, 'cause the pics will be at the end. :P Wish they're going to implement some LJ features to MT)
The first time I go out to the city for a week and a half. It's been also a week and a half that I've been sleeping at around 5AM (if not later) and then waking in the middle of the afternoon. I wish for a job (all of this is wishful thinking - nothing falls from the skies, especially if one means quite definite stuff such as a career-grade job). So in the meanwhile, je vis la vie bohemienne, as my dad likes to taunt me with. ^^; My parents know I like a bit of parental pressure, b/c they just do it mildly, having other things to worry about. I think eventually it will break, and I'll be caught in some sort of job. Like falling in love (even if one's realistic enough to stop counting on love at first sight - well, really, I should stop thinking about finding that love at the first sight job).
Montreal is a boring city, but only if you compare it with Hong Kong or Tokyo, say. I'm sure living in a city like Morioka (or take any mid-size Chinese or Japanese cities) has its boring contents. In cities like HK, you feel as if every day is a party in the streets in Lan Kwai Fong. Can't party all the time, and it's hard working in HK. :/ So Montreal? What's great about Montreal? Well, having been three days in Toronto, you immediately think of the European-ish style of life (while suburban Toronto is no different from an US city it seems). I've seen downtown Toronto: it's cool, the area around the old Chinatown, Eaton Centre, ... but it's not Montreal? It's not really home. Really, I've spent all that time in Asia, and it was only wheezing through Toronto that I really felt Montreal was like home. Go figure.
Montreal has a nightlife. I want my gallon of sake for 20$. WHERE ARE YOU?! Has a nightlife, but like other things, seems like it's only when I'm on vacation that I discover what a nightlife is. Hmmm. I dislike how I was so free and independent when in vacation, and so the contrary when back home. It's a cycle I try to break.
Cedric yells: "Can you imagine we're already in September of 2005, and I'm going to be a quarter century old in less than three weeks?!".
It started off wandering up on St-Denis Street from Sherbrooke Metro, up to Mont-Royal Avenue. A beautiful end of summer day, but ever since HK, I can't be moved by weather below 35C. Anyways, if you're fed up with downtown Montreal, la Rue St-Denis is a good place to start.
The MT uploader is kind of hard to deal with tonight, so go see it on Flickr...
B/c Montreal will always be my hometown. Most probably the last pic of the Pictures of Montreal series. I always lived in this house, but I think to live in it for the duration of my existence would've, err, killed me. Anyways, leaving, for the better or the worse.
Picture of McGill's picture whore: James McGill (the statue), and who's in my failing memory also a slave owner (like the rest of the university-founding bunch anyways).
[music: Sen To Chihiro Kamikakushi OST - Always with Me]
(Picture of the thing I'll be carrying around Asia with me - unoriginally called "Welcome to Wonderland(u)")
I started my online journal in 2001. The protected word-processor version (b/c *everyone* must've had a protected word-processor journal), in 1999. I guess it's a thing for introverts to have. Or I don't know. Maybe a thing that people obsessed with their past use. Or those who're pathologically attracted to librarian-like professions. Hm. Number of my friends tried having a diary online, but stopped writing in it for various reasons, most notably because they couldn't find anything interesting to write anymore. I, on the other hand, always seemed to have something to tell (mostly about myself). The travel blogs are the most interesting to re-read. The rest is only good if you happen to be obsessed about me. :P Now the MT engine, and integrated file-uploader makes it even easier to operate the transformation from the text-only journal to the multimedia one. When's it going to integrate video compression/embedding?
Dad, grandma and mom.
Two years after the invasion of Iraq by American and British troops... (The rest of them)
To celebrate. I am far from being born to be a celebrator, or even a celebratee. I usually kill the mood of a party when I try to hard. It's just like that party I had last summer. It was super well planned. I met with the twins a couple of times, and we even coldly discussed the plans in the aftermath of my brother's disaster of a summer party (not his ex' fault, I just think things weren't meant to be - anyways, he's supposed to try again this summer with a couple of friends).
But in the end, the experience fell short when the host lost his breath. For one thing, I believed people genuinely wanted to be there. But it was all put together by myself. There was no spontaneous "let's have a party" attitude. And on top of it, no real reason to celebrate.
... and friends to go with.
Montreal voit grand. A hell of a meaningful exposition to go to as the last in Montreal for some time (I hope). I actually wanted to buy the book to show it off to people abroad, or even the DVD they played at the front of the exhibit (but it's made in-house, so you got to ask the ONF or something). To geeks, this is teh shit. I mean, urbanism plans, the 60s, World Expos, alternate universe Montreals... what more can you ask for? It's at the CCA until mid-September 2005. And to get to the CCA, you walk from the Guy-Concordia metro, go down St-Mathieu, walk along St-Cath towards West for 5 minutes, and down again on St-Marc (the corner with both Soup and Noodles joints) for 3 minutes, until you get to Baile (street before René-Lévesque).
I don't have any problems with the healthcare system. But then, I'm neither in bad health, nor do I have "older" relatives who're particularly crippled. I guess we've been blessed in this family, somehow. Good genes I suppose, besides minor inconveniences such as hereditary nearsightedness (I doubt any of my aunts/uncles on *both* sides doesn't wear glasses or contacts), and diabetes. But hey, you can do something so that your diabetes doesn't get so bad, such as eating less sweets! But to stop reading or looking at little things for myopia? And it's one thing I'm perhaps worried about concerning life in Asia. All the what-ifs, like, what if I were to suffer some sort of disease/injury that'd require me to test their hospitals? I really love my Canadian socialist way. I can't afford it now as a student/young folk, perhaps I'll repay it 10-fold when I grow older. That sort of thinking.
What say you, doctors to be?
Oh well. This is Tara (Sayena's sister) driving us to the Vieux-Montreal to have some urban Sugar Shacking at Cabaret du Roy. Cars are an ubiquitous thing in Canada. And the real reason behind my leaving-away is of course the search for a city where driving is not a required skill. :P
Another visit to the Jean-Talon market. This time, my parents went cheese and wine hunting for me. ^^; We bought three pieces of cheese, a Camembert, a Pont-L'Evêque, and some plastic-wrapped semi-affined cheese with a stripe of blue in it which my mother picked up from the refrigerated counter. This pic is taken at Première Moisson, a chain of fine products grocery stores famous for its (pricey) bread products, cakes and traditional French Canadian style cold meats. Etc. Jean-Talon market is such an extension of Outremont sometimes, methinks...
This is "my" Taskforce crew. It's been almost a year I've stopped hanging out with them. Well, life goes on. So on the pic... Christine, Queenie, Paul, Nic K, Andrea and Charlene (and Cait somewhere on the side, or behind Nic...). Voted bestest csam pic by Rob-chair. I think it should replace the former party pic taken two years at the same event...
At the gas station with my dad. Price of gas isn't as cheap as in the US (it's hovering about 85-95 cents here in Montreal - somewhat cheaper in the Greater Toronto Area, so I've heard), but it's by no means "expensive" by world standards.
This entry's for gg. Which is the new one? (Well, you can tell from the cruncher marks...) And notice how they changed the fonting a bit...
My brother and my cousins play mah jong all the time, and my cousin Brian (back, in blue) always throws a mah jong party once in a while with his friends.
Jean-Talon market, in the Northern parts of Montreal. They renovated, and built an underground parking and a new indoor portion at the middle of the market (opened sometime December 2004). Fresh vegetable, fruits, meat, anything you can imagine in a usual market. A couple of European/Mediterranean grocery shops on the fringe. Jean-Talon market's also situated in one of Montreal's most cosmopolitan areas...
That was my lunch. And I ate it all. >_> My weight varies between 138 and 145 these days - and I'm not so sure if the range at which it oscillates is any good. In any case, this was a French Fries (real potatoes, really deep-fried), and an all-dressed hot dog con ketchup, at Grease Pit chain La Belle Province. It's the shit, for only ~$3.00, or at least this is what I think (I then went on to spend $50 tonight at Au Petit Extra, some delicious French nouvelle cuisine, which has nothing to do with this picture).
ok, alright, whatever. I took several nice pics of the pool, of the Montreal metro, but at the end of the day, I got lost sleeping on the bus and missing my bus stop by 10 minutes.
So there I am, in the middle of nowhere (village de Beaurepaire). Another take at phone boothes, as preventers of the frozen arse syndrome. *g*
Maybe, and maybe not. There are three weeks to go. In order to "deserve" my vacation, I'll work double the hours, double the effort, double the everything. And then, nothing. A grandiose flying-away, on my own, to Japan, a stopover between here and Wonderlandu, a buffer between Occident and Orient. Travelling on my own is one of those things that are just full of depression. Sure, you have the freedom to walk whereever you want, and hey, you can even potentially meet all sorts of new people! But travelling as a team is even better, simply because you're not the only one thinking about places to go... Hey, well, hopefully there's the blog! <3
It's a great day! My lab partners finished writing their grant. On the pic: Silvia (our boss), Nassima (post-doc), MP (former student), AK (PhD student). The box contains all the copies of the grant ready to be Fedex'ed... Woaw, the life in Science, all about the rush of writing the grant, submitting it, getting it and waiting until you get to write another one...
Who will I be calling?
Public phones. I'm not running out of ideas for pictures of Montreal.
Mailboxes in Canada are red. International posting is $1.45 for regular letters. I just sent a letter to participate in the lottery for visiting the Satsuki and Mei's house at the World Expo... Admission for two. Still need to find who number two will be. Um.
Andrew, Lorraine, Tania and Erin. And also, Sabina's yellow pull-over, as well as Chris' drink and hand. And enough linkage to nose-bleed for the month. >_> C'est ça qui est ça. S' birthday party. At Chinese restaurant Ming Do where she got there the earliest, and then Irish-pubbing at Hurley's on Crescent.
I went on to have a few more beers at May's who was ending her lease, and slept over at Fred and Moyogo where I still had the energy to trade my Corto Maltese for a very Valerian-like bédé called Lanfeust (two series: "de Troy" et "des Étoiles").
Went to the Eaton Center, and actually came out of there richer than when I came in. But this is it: one of the most important, if not the most important, shopping mall in downtown Montreal. There's the Ailes de la Mode which is more posh/impressive but with fewer customers and also, by extension, less successful commercially. There are also the suburb shopping malls, but they're in a league of their own...
Yes, in most Asian countries, this is an antiquity. I think that for some cultural, perhaps practical, reasons, cellphones have never achieved ubiquitousness here. I mean, a lot of people here own a cell, or some form of remote communication device, but not everyone has one. At least my impression. I would need to see usage statistics in other cities.
And this is mine phone! Smurfmatic! (look at how good I am, snapping the pic as it changes minute :D) It was top-of-the-notch in mid-2003 when I first got it. Now technology has reached Montreal, with multicolor screen cellphones with integrated digital cameras (really bad ones, but pple like my brother don't know/care - someone like me 'd be much more interested in a digital cam that would upload the pics itself, than a communication device which would happen to take pics). As far as technology goes, I'm a reasonable enthusiast. And I go for the most economical solution with optimal performance based on my current level of technical skills. (I should let my camera take a pic of itself someday...)
Montreal at Night. Montreal under centimeters of cute fluffy snow. I want to go skiing (even if I never expressed that wish, and didn't go skiing for like 7-8 years?). I hate snow/cold/winter, but not today. <3
Self-made "Génies en Herbe" namestands. GeH is a trivia tournament format played throughout the Francophonie. In Quebec, there are tournaments from elementary school to college, and even a league for "adults" (who're really just kids who don't want to grow up) like myself, Felix, Charles, Sabina and Hugue (our team, the "TBA" <3). So far, so good, we didn't win a single game, the best we did was a tie. General knowledge questions, which might not be so general knowledge anyways - depending of the sort of education you got, I suppose.
Ok, while I'm still awake... This is the sort of things happening in WoW. (Don't mind where my cursor is)
(Hmm, will run out of titles soon)
Took a morning trip to downtown, one of the pre-7AM trains on the Rigaud-Dorion to Montreal line. The train is seldom being used in North America: people can afford cars, and it's a cultural thing to make getting a car one of your first financial objectives in life. I don't have my driving license for one thing, and am considered a weirdo. I know only a few people my age (or heck, 16+ ^^;) who don't have it yet. I guess if I'm going to Asia for a while, then I could perhaps live my whole life without knowing how to drive?
I can guess what sort of rush it'd be to be in control of some powerful machine. Roaring in front of the driver's wheel, a motor as powerful as a few hundred horses (if there's a correspondance between hsp and real-life horsies :D). Anyways, whatever. It's denial, laziness, and social choice. All related to the non-girlfriend issue some 'd say...
In Montreal (like in any other Canadian town really) Ice Hockey is a religion. What's different about our city is that the team - the Montreal Canadiens - won 24 league championships, more than any other major professional sports team in North America (the World?). The name "Canadiens" is of course derived from the name of Canada's inhabitants, but 40-50 years ago, "Canadiens" was used to designate Canadians of French descendence, France being the first European power to occupy this land (and then the English came in 1759, the Americans did their revolution-thingy in 1776, and Canada became Canada in 1876. Etc. But to go back to sport ->).
It was thought I would show a photograph of my house made white and fluffy by the sudden downfall of wet wet snow (the temperature was most mild today - 1 or 2 above Celsius), but also came today the expected fall of the 2004-05 ice hockey season. The picture shows the entrance to the Bell Centre (Bell being the most important telecom in Canada), where the Montreal Canadiens play their local games, and also a major show venue in Montreal.
Had more than enough to choose a picture today: had some fun at the lab with the camera, then ate at Schwartz (see pic), went to a show at El Salon where a Martin-lookalike made the jokes and fooled around stage chatting with the audience, and then randomly took pics of one of the ugliest Metro station after falling asleep hard on the bus and thus failing to take Place-des-Arts, instead taking Place-d'Armes.
