New York Natives

20 08 2009

Who would have thought that a year ago, I had never been to “The Big Apple”, the ‘city that never sleeps’, New York City.  Who would have thought that I would be able to walk into a store and see a picture on the wall and know exactly where in NYC that picture was taken.  Who would have thought that I could watch an episode of Sex in the City and remember strolling by that very restaurant.

The time has come that I truly feel like a New York Native.

And, like true New York Natives, we avoid Times Square at all costs, and while walking down the streets find ourselves saying ‘keep walking, ugh get these tourists out of here!’

In the cumulative 3+ months that we’ve spent in the city, we’ve been store keepers in Brooklyn, wandered around churches in the Bronx, sipped martinis and eaten at the Spice Market in Manhatten, and rubbed shoulders with Mayor Bloomberg in Harlem.  There is only one more boro left to conquer – QUEENS.

Our latest adventure:  Vacationing at the Jersey Shores on Long Beach Island (or LBI as the locals call it)

We spent a 24 hour period at our good friends’ beach house in Beach Haven, New Jersey.  It was a jam packed day of beach combing, wave jumping, celebrity sighting (only a Real NJ Housewife), crabbing, and drinking with good friends.

the beach - before

the beach - after

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boogie boarding

And, I’m not sure if you’ve ever crabbed before, but let me tell you that the ghetto way of crabbing works just as well as the real way.  The ‘real way’ being with fish as bait.  The ‘ghetto way’ being with a raw chicken leg and a can of tuna with holes poked in it.

Overall, a wonderful way to spend a Saturday in August…

Seashells


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Toronto Moments

13 07 2009

Toronto Blue Jays vs Florida Marlins

Sunday Morning Kayak Excursion

Sunday Night Cirque Du Soleil Show


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Blue Jays, Caesars and Poutine. That’s Canada Eh?

19 06 2009

We found ourselves crossing borders and venturing into the familiar territory of Toronto last weekend.  Let’s just say, in comparison to Detroit, Toronto is a whole different world.

I think this was one of the first times I really looked at Toronto and saw the great city that it is.  Driving into the city skyline, I could feel the excitement of the city, the buzz in the air, and the taste of Spicy Caesars and steaks from the Keg on my tongue.

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We stayed in a hotel downtown in the Entertainment District and there was this little alley club right beside the hotel that I had a strange sense of deja vu every time we walked by.   I can’t quite put my finger on it, but I feel like I’ve danced the night away in this little alley club in the past.

As always, we had no plans, but a very busy schedule.   Within 30 minutes of walking out of the doors of our hotel, I had a hair appointment booked, we had tickets to a Toronto Blue Jays game, we investigated an event marketing program and we had plans to watch free cirque du soleil shows all weekend.

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We sat 6 rows up behind third base.  We had great seats.  So great, that we were in the middle of all of the heckling.   Baseball fans are really original with their heckling insults.  These fans had a great dislike for the players shoes.  The heckling went something like this, “Porter, Porter, over here.  Nice shoes Porter!  I like your shoes, where did get them?  Nice bum Porter“.   Very creative.

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We attempted to go kayaking in the harbour one morning, only to find out that all of the kayaks had been donated to Paddlefest, and there were none available.  This conversation just so happened to be right beside probably 50 kayak slips…..that were full.  But, apparently there were no kayaks available.

All in all, a great weekend.  Dinners with my sister and her boyfriend, and a special brunch of homemade crepes.  An afternoon on a waterfront patio with friends and ice cream for dessert.  And waiting with hundreds of other people to see the Luminato Cirque du Soleil finale at an outdoor stage with the CN tower in the background.

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Land of the Sun God

27 05 2009

Built on a bluff facing the rising sun and crashing waves, is a spectacular Mayan city built in the honor of the Sun God, named Tulum.  It is one of the very few walled cities that ancient Mayans ever built, and we were lucky enough to get an up close and personal tour during our trip.

After an hour and a half trip out to the ancient sites we were introduced to Tulum by our tour guide, Victor, who took us through every single building, ruin and stone.  He even found us some pieces of old Mayan glass and pottery from the site.

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It is amazing that after thousands of years, these structures are still standing in mostly full form (with the exception of all of the stones that were stolen through the years to built other people’s homes) and that you can still see hand prints on the buildings.

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We traveled through these ancients paths, along with many many iguanas, and learned the significance of all of the different temples and the importance of the placement of all of the buildings in relation to the position of the sun.  Each building had a small window on the top, which was the foundation of their calendar, since they were able to determine what time of year it was by the position of the sun in these different windows.

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Our guide took us to this one spot that was bare, really just a small incline covered in gravel.  It was nothing spectacular to see, and most of the other people there were passing it by.  It turns out that this spot was the most important spot in this ancient Mayan city.  This was the reference point for all of the other buildings.  From this point, you had a view of all of the temples in the city.  From this point, you were able to determine the position of the sun in relation to the buildings to keep track of the yearly calendar.

tulum

One of the interesting things our guide mentioned, was that the first calendar was found here and that it ended on December 21, 2012.  There are a lot of spectulations as to what this means, and some say that this date is the end of the current cycle and that the world is meant to restart and begin its next cycle (the dark (black) cycle) at this time.

After these puzzling thoughts, it was time to head to the beach that ran along the cliffs of this Mayan city.  The water was clear and turquoise, the waves nearly knocked me off my feet, and it was all a beautiful sight!

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Categories : Mexico

Water Baby?

26 05 2009

Now, I wouldn’t say I’m the most comfortable in the water.  I’m definitely not a ‘water baby’, and my preference is never to be in water where I can’t touch the ground.  So it’s safe to say that I frolick in the water and I have a mean doggy paddle.  So with this being said, it makes ABSOLUTELY no sense that I would be off in Mexico snorkeling, kayaking, sailing and scuba diving.

But, that is exactly what happened.  We went out snorkeling twice and saw some amazing parrot fish and coral.  We were able to snorkel 5 minutes away from our resort at the 2nd largest coral reef in the world.  We saw a young sea turtle swimming along by itself, live conch shells, moray eels, baracudas and held baby star fish in our hands.

We were lucky enough to enjoy all of these water excursions by ourselves with just our guide.  Our snorkeling guide was Jaime (pronounced Hi-May) and all week he kept asking us if we wanted to go scuba diving.  Finally on our last day there, he said, “Traci, just admit it, you’re just scared.  You’re fine, so I’m going to bring the equipment to the pool and you can practice with all of the gear”.  So, Nathan went off to drink, and I frolicked in the pool with my flippers, my mask and my tank and respirator.  Let’s just say, I looked pretty cool.  So cool that I had a crowd of little mexican children swimming around me as if they were little fish trying to get in my way.

The pool practice worked and within the hour we were back in the boat and on our way to 25 feet under the water.

nathan on boattraci on the boat

It’s a good thing that we had another private excursion, because I definitely needed some one on one attention.  It appears that my body is very bouyant.  I had all of my gear and an 8 lbs weight belt on me, and no matter what I did I kept floating to the top.  I was following the lessons, breathe in to float up, breathe out to sink.  I got rid of all the air in my lungs….and nothing.  At one point we were maneuvering in between coral reef beds and with Jaime leading the way we followed.  Jaime looked back at us and looked past Nathan and all of a sudden zoomed over Nathan’s head, arms stretched out as if trying to catch a runaway balloon.  That balloon, would be me….  So he dragged me back down and pushed me forward.  Little did I know that he was adding weights to the back of my tank.  All of a sudden I started descending.  I didn’t know there were more weights on my tank so I started filling my lungs to give myself some lift.  I couldn’t get any more air inside me, and I was still sinking.  I had to exhale, and then I hit the sea floor with a not so graceful thud.  And that was it.  I couldn’t get myself going again and I was lying spread eagle on the bottom of the sea floor.

We spent 50 minutes 25 ft under water and it felt like 10.  We saw a huge lobster, crabs, trumpet fish, baby starfish, and unwittingly I pretended to be an injured fish to attract the attention of a 5 ft barracuda (I thought it was just another hand signal….apparently not).

I apologize that we don’t have any photos of our underwater sights, but here’s a video from one of our kayak trips to give you an idea of our surroundings.


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Categories : Mexico

Oh Mexico, How I miss you

22 05 2009

Let me set the scene:

White sand, turquoise water, bright blue sky, ocean breeze and no people. 

Cancun1 063 Bright blue pool, poolside bar, Bali beds, and no people

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We woke up at 3:30am to get to the airport for our 6am flight.  Almost got trampled by a bridezilla and her family (all wearing matching outfits) at the airport, and went through a health check to ensure we weren’t arriving to Cancun with any flu-like symptoms.  But, as you can see from the photos, it was all worth it. 

When we arrived at the resort, “Hurricane Influenza” had struck and we were two of 20 guests staying at the resort.  If you’ve ever gone to an all-inclusive Mexican resort, you know this is unusual.  I had expected to see row upon row of sunscreened bodies baking in the sun by the pool, and even more on the beach. I expected to hear the infamous Activities staff on the PA system speaking in spanish/english about water polo, dance lessons, pool tournaments, etc.  I had expected to hear the screaming of kids splashing in the pool, a bunch of college guys and girls heckling each other and yelling ‘dos cervasas por favor!’  Instead….it was quiet.  Serene.  Empty.

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Who knew we had actually bought our own resort for the week…


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The Parade of the Easter Bonnets

14 04 2009

After a very rainy and dreary Saturday, Easter Sunday morning came through bright and sunny.  Nathan and I decided to head into the city and see if we could crash some easter egg hunts in Central Park.  But alas, all those eager, chocolate-hungry kids beat us to the hunt, so we settled for a nice lunch at The Empire State Building.

After lunch we wandered down 5th avenue, battling the crowds that were soaking up the sun on the sunny side of the street (I think I may have seen tumbleweeds on the other sidewalk that was shaded by the buildings).  It was really sunny, but the wind was kicking and it was freezing!  We spent some time soaking up the sun on the steps of the NYC Public Library.  As we sat there it started getting a lot busier, then there were whispers of an Easter Parade.  Well, after sitting for a while and realizing that the streets were definitely not closed, we took off…to be greeted by closed off streets.  Pedestrianized Streets! My favourite kind – I love walking in the middle of streets.   Now, I’m not sure if we just missed out on the Easter Parade, or if there is at all, but we happened upon the Parade of the Easter Bonnets.

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Pretty much anyone who wanted to could get dressed up and put on a big hat and people would want to take photos of you.  One woman had dressed her child up in an Easter Bunny costume and was yelling “Help the Easter Bunny go to college – $1 donation!“

Needless to say, it was a little crazy.  We finally did make it to Central Park, where we watched little kids slide down these rock cliffs on their bums – entertainment has definitely changed since I was young.

central-park

For Easter dinner we ended up at The Palm Steakhouse (www.thepalm.com), which has original cartoons drawn on the restaurant walls.  The story is, the original restaurant was right near the New York Times, and the cartoonists from The Funnies would go eat there, and although they couldn’t afford the meal, their payment would be a cartoon on the wall.

Fantastic Meal!  We both had charbroiled New York Strip steaks! Buzzing off steak, red wine and too much of a good thing, we headed back Jersey.


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livin’ like locals

11 04 2009

Now, if you read my previous post you may be asking yourself  “WHY, were you not there for Beyonce?” 

I know, I know – I’m kicking myself too.  But rather than stay at the truck all day when it was definitely not necessary, Nathan and I decided to enjoy the local flavour.  We took ourselves on a walk and enjoyed the day like many other Manhattan locals. 

Probably 5 minutes into our walk we (well, Nathan) got distracted by all of the fancy cars that were showing themselves off in the Meat Packing District.  Bentleys, Mercedes, Lamborghinis, Ferraris, etc.   Let’s just say, everyone was out showing their Sunday Best.   la-botegga

10 minutes into our walk, we got distracted by the allure of a rooftop patio with something called a “Bloody Maritime” and the wildest wild mushroom thincrust pizza we’ve had.  There was a twig/branch in the pizza – definitely not expected, but it didn’t dampen the enjoyment of the afternoon. 

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 After our lunch we headed to the water. We enjoyed a nice sunny spring afternoon by walking along the Chelsea Pier amide the rollar bladers, bicyclists, runners, walkers, dogs, etc.  We saw this one lady who seemed to be a kind of attraction, however I don’t think she knew that she was.  She was a small asian woman walking 2 little fluffy dogs, but she had on this HUGE feathered hat that was blowing in the wind.  At first I thought, well, it takes all types, but then when people randomly came up to take pictures of her and/or her dogs, I thought, should we know this person?  Is the strange hat like the crazy swan dress that Bjork wore to one of the award shows? 

 

By now, it was getting to be about 5pm so we stopped for a snack at a coffee shop and, tired from our very busy day of car watching, eating, and pier strolling, we decided that it was nap time.   Off came the shoes and on came the sunglasses.  There’s nothing better than taking a nap on the grass and basking in the light of the fading sun. 

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 After a nice nap and some picture taking, we brushed ourselves off and headed back to the truck.  When we got back, THAT is when we found out that we had missed out on the excitement of the afternoon.  We had to console ourselves with mini cheeseburgers and milkshakes at Pop Burger (www.popburger.com), a self pro-claimed ‘glamorous burger joint’. 

 

 


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They Call it “Hotlanta” for a Reason…

2 04 2009

But I definitely did not see it. We just left Atlanta, Georgia after spending four nights and three days in the supposed “Hotlanta”. I think we hit right in the middle of a storm so we experienced a lot of wind and rain and that drizzly mist that reminds me of fall, winter, spring (and some summer) days in Vancouver. 

We were there for an industry event for the Atlanta Apparel Exhibition, a large tradeshow for urban and streetwear.  I was the hit of the show, because you just have to think urban streetwear when you see me walking down the street. Kidding, kidding.  I definitely don’t have the street cred to pull off the urban look and sound legitimate when I say “hey girlfriend” with a little snap at the end.  But let me tell you, I did have someone educate me on the religious practices of the korean culture (thinking that I was korean) and  I had an up and coming clothing designer outfit me.  Very fun. 

So Nathan and I had a very eventful weekend there.  We went into the city and visited the largest aquarium, where you actually walk through a tunnel in the water with whale sharks, hammer head sharks, manta rays, and other ocean fish swimming around you.   It was a Saturday afternoon, and if you saw this place you would say “what recession?”  It was sooo busy you could barely move without stomping on someone. 

aquarium We spent a lot of time looking at the beluga whales, where it is very apparent that the aquarium staff is hoping for a baby beluga whale.   There was desperation in the commentator’s voice when he told us that the water is a perfect 55 degrees – the perfect temperature for mating!   It seemed to be working, because Nico, the male beluga,

was showing his junk for all the world to see – not very camera shy at all! 

aquarium-tunnelNow, I don’t know if you’ve ever been to Sea World when you were younger, where there are these shallow pools of water with sting rays and other fish that you can stick your hand in the water and touch.  Well, I have definitely dipped my fingers in these pools before, enthusiastically and without any doubt.  This time around, I started rolling up my sleeves (Nathan ready with the camera), and I hesitated.  I looked around the pool and saw all these kids, leaning so far that half of their bodies were in the pool, ready to manhandle all of the fish.  I decided to roll my sleeves down, because this wasn’t fun anymore…..this was fish cruelty!  So I kept my hands away from the sting rays and brown and white shrimp and left them in peace. 

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Our next step was the Coke Plant, only we didn’t have enough time for the full tour, so we just went to the gift shop.  We came out with some lovely apparel, a new coke hat for Nathan, which will become part of his self identity, and 2 bottles of coke that cost us $6. coca-cola

Last thing I’m going to mention about our Atlanta trip.  I made my very first 911 call.  We were on our way to pick up a colleague at the airport and someone rearended another car and they both went into the center median.  The car that had caused the crash had so much speed and momentum built up that he hit the wall and skidded right back across all lanes of traffic and ended up in the ditch.  This happened right in front of us.  Nathan stopped the car and got out to help one of the drivers, and I called 911.  No one seemed to be seiriously injured, but the women in the car was disoriented, both airbags had deployed, and her grandson had a cut on his head.  The other car, which was in the ditch, was being helped by other people who had stopped, but they just kept unloading car seat after car seat.  They probably had about 4 kids in there.   Definitely scary.

and on that note…


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The City of Crawdads, Jazz and Katrina

26 03 2009

It seemed liked everyone had “Go to New Orleans” on their ‘Must Do” List and then Hurrican Katrina hit and no one knew if they wanted new-orleans-025to go to see the destruction that was left behind, or if there was an urgency to see it before another storm hit and washed it away. 

Well let me tell you, I didn’t think that I would be able to check “Visit New Orleans” off my list so soon in life, but I did, and did I ever make sure that that check mark was worth its while.  Rolling into town, seeing the broken down houses and capsized boats from the storm and 8 Hours in downtown New Orleans, taking in the French Quarter, the Riverwalk, and of course, Bourbon Street!

New Orleans has this draw, this internal pulse that just makes you want to slow down your stride, turn off your phone and find the hidden secrets of the city, which are so conveniently hidden amidst fountains in courtyards and surrounded by live music. 

Let me take you on a walk through the French Quarter, and when I say a walk, I really mean a full-course meal.  Drinking a Rainstorm (in a rainstorm) and munching on aligator bites and Crawdad Etoufee at Pat O’Brians.  Wandering down the street we found ourselves at The Famous Door where we tackled a few mid-Wednesday afternoon cocktails.  After all, it was happy hour.  After listening to a live band sing everything from CCR, The Doors, Fleetwood Mac, Pink Floyd, and watching middle-aged businessmen hit on young spring breakers – we were on our way in search of our next meal.  Must counteract the effects of the 2 – for – 1 happy hour deal. 

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Wandering down the street – it’s getting busier.  We found ourselves swayed, not by food, but by a deal too good to pass up – 3 – for – 1 Happy Hour Special!  There was singing, there was dancing, there were shooter girls with all different coloured test tubes in their hands, and an innocent young spring breaker who was corrupted by the bartender and shooter girls with their low cut shirts and cleavage.  It’s only 6pm now.

Now, really in need of food, we go off foraging, asking locals along the way and come across Arnaud’s.  This just so happens to be the most upscale restaurant on Bourbon Street, there is dim lighting and all of the servers are wearing tuxedos.  Obviously, we were underdressed, but, not to turn away our business, we got shuffled into the back in the “Jazz Room”, code for “you don’t look good enough to sit in the front room where everyone can see you”. 

This “Jazz Room” is where we met Adam – our server, the upsell of all salesmen.  He talked us into Souffle Potatoes, which were really just puffed up french fries, a $7 upsell to crab cakes from my original order of some sort of crab pastry, and 7 spears of asparagus, 2 baby tomatoes, 4 slices of carrot, and 10 green beans for $15!  Oh Adam, we called him on this as well, and after all of the drinks that had imbibed, congratulated him on his upsell skills.  The one thing that was our very own decision – oysters on the half-shell – and they were wonderful!

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It’s 9pm now, and Bourbon Street is coming alive with music, drinking in the streets (I seem to have lost my CA instincts – cause finally, I didn’t care!), short short skirts, and kareoke at The Cat’s Meow.   Before we leave the buzz of the city and go back to work, we must make one more stop – the infamous Cafe du Monde, where I heard that you had to drink coffee and eat beignets, which are these sinful homemade triangle doughnuts covered in a mountain of powerded sugar. 

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 Not a bad way to end a regular Wednesday afternoon. 


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