Our Princess and Her Prince

Just read an article about Princess Mary and Prince Frederik, back in Oz for the first time since the birth of their 13th month old baby boy Christian and suddenly I realised how enthralled I was by this impossible-dream couple.

Both great looking people, well educated, living a happy and prosperous life with their son who will soon be joined by another sibling.

I can now understand the facination many held for Princess Di and Prince Charles.

http://www.crownprincecouple.dk/english.php


Hello hottie!

Work

This is how bored I am.

Welcome to Tina Chen's cubicle.

Challenge Me!

I feel like I'm running out of things to blog about. So I'm now taking a leaf from the pages of the reality show book and getting YOU to tell me what to do! How does that sound?

Dance in a canola field like a mad woman? Or find AND hold an orb of light?

Email me your suggestions and ideas and I will go out there and perform for you. All of course accompanied by photos to prove that I've done them. I'm not setting any limits here because I know you're a bunch of intelligent and reasonable people; I doubt any of you will put my life in danger or my social life for that matter.

So hop to it, I'm (strangely) looking forward to your thoughts...

Discover ancient ruins?

Eat strange and exotic foods?

An Affair to Remember

Again, I don't usually do reviews but after reading Around the World in 80 Dates, I was in the mood for love. It was a chilly day on Sunday, so I bought myself some herbal tea and chocolates and rented this classic which I hadn't seen before but knew from When Harry Met Sally, now a modern day clasic. I had no idea how Romantic this movie was! It is perfect in its orchestration. Now more than ever I want to fall in love (again).



Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr - giants in the cinematic world.

Around the World in 80 Dates

I haven't done a book review on this blog before and I'm not likely to start a barrage of them, but I have to say this particular book has given me more laugh-out-loud moments than any man.

This is a true story. Jennifer Cox was tired of being single so she sought out her friends across the globe and asked them to set her up on dates with eligiable bachelors according to her Soul Mate Description. She then took the next 6 months to travel the world to meet her 80 dates.

SINGLE LADIES: IS HER LIFE JUST TO DIE FOR???

And the cherry on top of this delicious adventure is that she does find her soul mate (insert collective sigh here). I promise I have not revealed anything that would take away from the impact of her words and stories; her observations, follies and that typically self-depricating humour that the English do so well makes this a real page-turner and by the end, I was a gushing mess, elated by inspiration.

Having tried speed dating in London and online dating in Toronto, I don't know what else I'll try when I'm in Taiwan next year and back home in Oz the year after. Perhaps you can help?

2006 Christmas Parade

The 2006 Christmas Parade came rumbling by at the end of my street on Saturday, so I kinda had to go down and take a look. A friend said to me at work on Monday, "Why? It's pretty sad."

Toronto's parade is one way of describing the city itself - promises of excitement and merriment, followed by disillusionment when presented with a long, drawn out affair where the main man (Santa) didn't even turn to look my way. Ok it was nice to see the kids out and loving it. Bless them, for the world they will inherit.


L: One of many marching bands; R: Ariel.

L: Coca Cola bear; R: Mr Peanut - what a trooper in this age of peanut allergies.

L: This was cool; R: Santa didn't look over this way once! No milk and cookies for him this year.

L: A real yellow school bus; R: The crowd disperses on Bloor St.

Roadtrip to Montreal

Essential to a roadtrip is to have fun on the way. I start by annoying Deeple.

Second, it's not crucial but nice to have a mascot. We picked this little fella up from a vending machine. See how he breakdances.

It's important to have sustanence on a long journey (it took 6hrs to drive from Toronto to Montreal) so we stocked up. Look it's even in French. This kind of preparation shows your willingness to acclimatise to the new destination.

In Montreal we had fun climbing Mont Royal (hiking shouldn't stop anyone from doing a catwalk walk),

even if it was a little windy and we were a little lost.

Our efforts were rewarded with a view of the city at the top (bleak but still nice).

Over the weekend we explored and learnt about the city,

and admired its beauty as evident here in the interior of Notre Dame.

One thing you should never skimp on is food. You're on holidays - eat and enjoy!

The thing is, you can always dance it off when you sample the nightlife in your holiday city!

A roadtrip is a great way of bonding with your friends whilst revelling in the excitement of a strange new land, so even if it gets a little tense, you'll always end up having fun and even better friends.

Thanks Deeps for a great Rememberance Day long weekend!

Dancing with the Dead

My buddy and I went cruising for kids last night. Seriously, it was ok. I wanted to see the kids out and take pics of them. It was Halloween so in North America it's allowed to stalk them on this night. As we lived downtown there was a little less action than there would've been had we'd been in the 'burbs, where neighbours get together and build joint haunted houses in their backyards. There were a couple of great houses that I did see in the Annex (a residential area in north Toronto) all decked out. Sadly the pics didn't turn out so good cause it was dark.


L: Front yard of a house converted to a lit up cemetary; R: Scary zombie.

After a lovely meal at the Beaches (a residential area in east Toronto) we headed back into downtown to Church Street, the Toronto equivalent to Oxford Street in Sydney. Boy the party was happening there! The street was blocked off and taken over by aliens, geisha girls, zombies, naked dancing boys and plenty of other unknown creatures. Here are some pics (not many as my camera ran out of juice - Murphy's Law):


L: Transformer; M: Duff beer for me...; R: The Mountie costume says Canadian Pride to me.


L: Air hostesses complete with trolley; R: Me and my new (headless) man.