Premier jour

So we made it into Ottawa safe and sound! It wasn't all smooth sailing though as the flight to Montreal was bumpy like heck* I almost upchucked my breakfast all over Mark and the lady next to me!! Also, when we landed in Montreal, IT WAS SNOWING!!!!!!!!!!! The heck! Snowing in late April?! And not just a few pretty flakes here and there, it was almost a blizzard!

The view from our seats. Not impressed

Ugh, thankfully, when we landed in Ottawa, we discovered that it was only raining lightly and windy - just like home! We met up with Lou/Rob, settled in, had a delicious pasta dinner and headed to Black Thorn Pub in the Market for some $3.70 Keiths and all you can eat mussels. It sounds like a good idea, and even tastes like a good idea at first, but burping up coconut curry bi-valves is definitely something I would NOT recommend.

Round 1...

Our first full day of Ottawa was really fun! Despite reports that it was going to rain today, we woke up and it was a beautiful, beautiful day! Not hot enough for shorts, but warm enough for sandals and a light jacket. We headed over to Parliament to partake in their free guided tour of the library and the House of Senate. Afterwards, we met up with one of Mark's old high school buddies and got the tour of Michael Ignatieff's office, the hallways around the Steven Harper's office and ate in the Parliament cafe. He also hooked us up with tickets to the House of Common's Question Period (in the Opposition's gallery no less!). Question Period was a lot less civil and organized than I thought it would be. MPs were yelling, jeering, clapping, hollering, laughing and shouting at each other. Gilles Duceppe (leader of the Bloc Quebecois) was even egging Harper on by calling him Rambo! Always interesting when grown men and women act like little children.

Parliament at night...

during the day...

In front of Peace Tower

Up until MacKenzie, this was the Prime Minister's office. Now, it's the Opposition Leader's war room.

Word to the wise, avoid the Pho at Parliament Cafe.

NBD

Afterwards, we headed over to the Market for candy at Sugar Mountain, gelato at Pure Gelato and beavertails at Beavertails. All this eating is definitely not helping my beach body. The plan for tonight? Dinner and drinks with a bunch of Lou/Rob's Ottawa friends at Hooley's for the Caps/Habs game. YUM... Beach body? What beach body!

and it starts!

10 hours until my 1st of 6 flights in the next 2 months!!!!!!!!

Not looking forward to a super early morning start but excited beyond belief to see Lou/Rob and relax on a beach.. I'll try and take some before and after pictures to see how cooked I can get my skin ;)

I was checking the weather in Ottawa and can you believe the CRAZY weather swings the east coast gets? Today it was sunny and 20 degrees but tomorrow, there are chances of flurries and 8 degrees! Thank goodness on the west coast you only get 1 weather type - rain, rain and more rain! Here's hoping for beautiful weather everywhere we go!

Updated To Do

Only 2 days till Ottawa and 3 weeks till Bali! Now that I've gotten the GMAT out of the way, I can focus on my upcoming travels. Right now, I'm most excited to spend a week relaxing in paradise. Despite mixed reviews about Cuba (especially about the quality of food), I don't think you can really go wrong at a high end resort. Just in case though, I think I'll bring along a little bottle of ketchup ;)

My updated to do list:

• Take my GMAT test - DONE!!!!!!!
  
• Apply for my 2 month Indo visa - DONE
• Take travel pills/shots - IN PROGRESS
  
• Test out my new portable hard drive - still need to do
  
• Apply for an international driver license - don't think I have enough time anymore
  
• Buy/borrow a laptop cable lock - DONE
  
• Set up new bank account - DONE
  

Hola Fidel

We finally got all the details worked out for next week's trip to visit Rob/Lou! Our schedule:

April 27: Fly to Ottawa
April 29: Drive to Montreal and fly to Santa Lucia, Cuba
May 6: Fly back to Montreal and spend a couple nights
May 8: Head back to Ottawa
May 10: Fly home =(

Definitely another whirlwind trip. Our resort in Santa Lucia is pretty baller and we got the whole week for a steal! Check out a few photos below:

Now compare this to our digs in Montreal:

Hahah, first class all the way.

Our quest for the cup

So, I may have lied when I said I wasn't going to catch another Canucks game at the Garage until Sept... Last night, Mark and I volunteered as a 50/50 ticket seller during Game 2 of our quest for the Cup and we managed to score 2 tickets to watch the game after our shift! I've never been to a playoff game before so I was blown away by the high-energy of the fans and players. Although the outcome sucked, I will never forget the sight of 18, 810 towels waving in unison after every goal, shot, hit and whistle. Towel Power indeed.

Gleek Spoiler

According to some sources, Idina's character (Vocal Adrenaline coach Shelby) actually donated the egg from which Lea's character (Rachel) was conceived from! It all makes freaking sense now...

Check out another photo of the twins (and no, as much as I can tell from Google, they are not actually related)

Hi, my name is Priscilla and I'm a Gleek

Last night marked the return of one of my favorite TV shows (besides Criminal Minds and SYTYCD) and I must say, it's about freaking time! The episode, Hell-O, was the perfect way to nurse us gleeks back to health. I just love that Sue Sylvester and can not* wait until the Madonna episode next week! Sidenote: Did anyone else notice how Idina Menzel and Lea Michele could pass for sisters? Don't believe me? Check it out below

On a Bali note: I picked up my Dukoral vaccine today.. Countdown is officially on!

I like em Peas

Yesterday I decided to take a day off from studying and attend a couple shows at the Vancouver Fashion Week at Empire Landmark Hotel. My only experience with fashion shows was through my friend Sandra's show so this was new territory for me. Rosalyn and I managed to catch 2 very different shows and our conclusion? We'll never be the editor of Vogue. Some of the pieces coming down the runaway were not exactly what we'd call stylish or groundbreaking or even nice looking! One especially horrendous piece had us almost in giggles while the couple behind us were going gaga over it. Go figure and yes, I realize beauty is in the eye of the beholder but still.... However, Ros and I will give big, BIG bonus points for creativity.

After a quick dins at Hons (not the brightest idea - I was fighting an MSG induced headache for the rest of the night), we rushed over to GM place to catch the Black Eyed Peas in concert! Lemme tell you, I've been to my fair share of concerts and I must say that BEP ranks right up there in terms of level of enjoyment and length of standing vs. sitting. LMFAO got the crowd riled up enough before passing the buck to Ludacris and his tootsie roll. By the time BEP came on, the crowd was ready to get the party started! They delivered all my personal favs plus more! Highlights included My Humps, Imma be, I've got a feeling, Calibra (Mexico!), Sweet Child of Mine (guitar hero anyone?), Glamorous and Boom Boom Pow - electic mix, I know! Needless to say, we had an amazing time last night! Take a look at a few pics I snapped...

If you look closely at the last pic, you'll notice Will.I.Am in the background. Oh, and he and I are BBM friends... NBD

Ok so technically the last 2 photos weren't taken last night but I bet I had you fooled for a minute or 2...

It's official!

I have been officially approved for my 2 month Indonesian visa! Whoooot! I leave for Bali in a little over a month (I leave for Ottawa in 2 weeks!) and excitement is building! Not gunna lie though, the closer I get to leaving Vancouver, the more anxiety I'm feeling. Why? Because before I get to embark on all my travels, I have to write the GMAT test. Argh, I simply have no motivation at the moment to study or even write it. Anybody want to step up and be a friend? Write the test for me? You know you want to...

On a side note, I spent most of this morning listening to the 'Best of the 90s' and lemme tell you, the 90s rocked!

Canucklehead

Last night's game (Canucks vs. Avs) marked the last time we'll be watching a game at the Garage this season. Definitely bittersweet as I'm sad I won't catch another game until late Sept but happy as a fat kid with cake that I do not ever, ever have to listen to the 2 guys behind us again. Thank you sir for informing me about your long underwear purchases, your job hunt, your stolen GPS, your trips to Kelowna and your dumb bosses. This gal really does care.

On a happier note, I was able to successfully apply for my Indonesian visa yesterday. If nothing goes wrong, I'll be officially welcomed into the country in 2-3 business days

oh 301, how we'll miss thee

Selamat datang!

I'm brushing up on my Indonesian to prepare for my trip. Some key phrases to know...

• Selamat datang - welcome
• Berapa harganya - how much does it cost
• Tidak - no
• Terima Kasih - thank you
• Saya kehilangan saudara perempuan saya - I lost my sister

Out of all these phrases, I believe that I'll be using the last one the most as Rosalyn will be joining me on the first 3 weeks of my Bali adventure. The plan? Tan, shop, dive, surf, shop, eat and eat. Oh, and work. Of course.

To do....

Hope you had a great Easter weekend! I know mine was filled with turkey, ham, meatloaf, and crappy movies... I forgot I actually saw 1 good movie this wkd...How to train your dragon --> watch it!

With approx. 3 weeks to go until I leave, I realize that there are still A LOT of things I need to get done.

My to do list:

• Take my GMAT test (on the 24th)
• Apply for my 2 month Indo visa (tried on Thurs with no luck! Hopefully I can do it tom)
• Take the necessary travel pills/shots (typhoid, tetanus, dukoral, dengue etc)
• Test out my new portable hard drive (don't want any surprises on the road)
• Apply for an international driver license
• Buy/borrow a laptop cable lock
• Set up a bank account with TD (one that doesn't gouge me everytime I withdraw $$$ internationally)

I really need to stop procrasinating. Anybody want to do some of this for me?