TheGS Blogs

There’s a lot of honking of car horns going on outside, and when I look out the window onto the streets, I see people waving Sens flags and shouting, “Go Sens go!”

I guess the Sens won Game 3 of the Stanley Cup final. This was a home game, so people here are extra excited, and the win keeps the Senators in the running after defeats in the first two games in Anaheim.

There’s plenty of activity (noise!) here in the Byward Market, but probably most of the partying is going on in The Sens Mile across the canal, closer to the central business district.

Several things to update…

Saw Spiderman 3 at the new IMAX theatre at the Silver City across from work. It was part of a team activity, so thanks to the company. I quite enjoyed the movie, and I did notice a greater amount of fine detail in the image than from viewing a regular film print.

Facebook never ceases to amaze me. I joined a group for alumni and students of a school I attended in Hong Kong over 20 years ago, and the first picture posted to the group (first that I saw) was of my class. I tagged myself in the picture, and ended up reconnecting with a schoolmate from the ’80s. He said I was one of his oldest friends, and on Facebook, he’s the oldest friend that I have (aside from relatives). And I thought it was amazing that I managed to reconnect with high school chums that I haven’t seen in years.

Confirmed that I do clear customs in San Francisco and collect my luggage there on my way back from Australia. Which is a good thing, since I leave on Monday and this uncertainty was causing me to lose sleep. This was an issue because I needed to exit at San Francisco to spend a week at my company headquarters in Santa Clara. Work arranged for a rental car, and my new flights home to Ottawa. However, the stopover in San Francisco was not a “real” stopover as far as the airline was concerned. The flight is routed as a single flight from Sydney to Chicago, and that’s what appears on my paper flight coupons. Neither United nor my travel agent were of much help in informing me of the appropriate authorities to advise that I wouldn’t be continuing on the original flights out of San Francisco, so I’ll have to talk to a gate agent on the day I’m flying, or maybe even ask SFO or TSA personnel about it.

I had uploaded about 150 photos that I took last Victoria Day (from just walking around my neighbourhood and downtown and the tulips, etc.) to my personal online photo gallery, but I decided tonight that I’d give Google Picasa Web Albums a try. I uploaded the same photos (scaled down) to a public album there. Hopefully that will save me a little in bandwidth costs.

Found out that one of my cousins had returned to Ottawa for the Summer. He’d been back for almost a month, and I didn’t know. Told him about FaceBook.

This is kind of rough. Maybe I’ll polish it up later. Maybe not.

Finished off half a roast chicken, saved the chicken breast as shredded chicken breast meat for soups or salads.

Saw the 1983 movie version of Toki o Kakeru Shoujo. Ending credits with the song were hilarious. You think the scene is going to pick up as she awakens in the lab again, and she does… but then immediately starts singing the theme song. Then other scenes in the movie are revisited, but with her singing the theme song.

Yesterday had been rainy, so I wasn’t able to go out and take those pictures that I should have taken on Saturday, when it was such a “luverly” day outside. Today, this Victoria Day holiday, was quite sunny, though not quite as warm as the Saturday. Went out with my camera to the Market and Major’s Hill Park, Parliament, Sparks St., World Exchange, Laurier, Confederation Park, Rideau Centre. Not as sunny as Saturday, not as warm as Saturday, not as crowded as Saturday.

Bought clearance items on sale (long weekend sale extra 25% to 30% off of clearance prices) at Sears.

Season finale of Heroes. Segue into volume two. I half expected Hiro to say, “Oh boy!” a la Sam in Quantum Leap.

Things have been settling down now at home, so I’ve been taking the opportunity to go out and explore my “new” neighbourhood when I have time on the weekends. This long weekend (Monday is Victoria Day) has been pretty warm and sunny — fantastic weather for strolling about.

I forgot to bring my camera out today.

Walked through the Market, through Clarence St. towards the U.S. Embassy, up to the courtyard before Sussex Dr. to Murray St. In the Byward Market, there are hidden courtyards that parallel Sussex Dr. Many of these courtyards are hidden from the street by L-shaped entrances… inside are fountains and parkettes and restaurants (as well as entrances to high-end condos).

Walked along Murray towards the National Gallery and the Alexandra Bridge towards Gatineau.

Turned in to Major’s Hill park. The other major venue of the Tulip Festival is here, and it was going on in full swing (the most well-known venue is in Commissioners Park at Dow’s Lake, where my co-workers Vlad and Toufic ran into each other the previous weekend). I hadn’t actually been back to Major’s Hill park since my cousin Connie came to visit me in the year 2000.

At the edge of the park, I regretted not bringing my camera along, since there are fantastic views of the river, of Gatineau across the river, of Parliament Hill, of downtown Ottawa, and of the locks connecting the Rideau Canal to the Ottawa River.

Walked back alongside the Chateau Laurier, crossing the bridge over the canal, following Wellington Ave. in front of Parliament. Turned down Metcalfe to walk by the Capitol Infocentre. Briefly considered getting myself a hot dog, or some poutine from the sidewalk vendors.

Continued down Metcalfe to Sparks St. Much has been made of the centre structures in the pedestrian mall being removed, giving it a new atmosphere — I didn’t really notice much of a difference.

Walked down Sparks St. to O’Connor. Down O’Conner and then back along Queen St. There’s yet another Starbucks in the newly opened building next to the Hardy Arcade Building. Crossed at Metcalfe to enter the World Exchange Centre to check what movies were playing at the Empire theatres there.

Back out along Metcalfe to Laurier. Checked the opening hours of the central public library (they closed just at the moment I got there, and they were going to be closed for the Victoria Day holiday).

Walked along Laurier, crossed Elgin, and entered Confederation Park. Walked through the park (which I haven’t done since Mike and Tara came to visit me during Winterlude in 1999).

Walked up the stairs to the Mackenzie King bridge and walked across to the Mackenzie King transitway station at National Defence Headquarters. Tried out the walkway under the bridge (felt good to be back in climate controlled environment).

Instead of walking through the Rideau Centre, I decided to walk across the park on its roof (since I’d never been up there before). There are some nice views available from several points in the park, and quite a few people sitting up there, relaxing.

Around this time, it became very clear that the Ottawa Senators had won the playoffs and gained a spot in the running for the Stanley Cup. Lots of shouting, and honking of horns (and trumpets!) that continue on into the night.

Walked through the Rideau Centre from Nicholas St. entrance to corner of Rideau and Sussex. Crossed Rideau and walked along Sussex to George St.

Crossed George St. at Marche by Ward and walked along the stalls of the Market. Crossed at York St. and walked back along the other side of the Byward Market building, back to George St. Continued walking along George St. to Dalhousie.

While walking down Dalhousie, I decided to go into the Book Market store there. I’d passed it thousands of times (especially when I was driving that way every day to get to work via the highway), but I’d never been in before today. It’s a treasure-trove of older books; 4 stories (including the basement) full of books at fractions of the prices of Chapters down the street and many older and out-of-print books that a big chain like Chapters wouldn’t carry.

Walked along Rideau. Plenty of car horns honking. Plenty of Sens jerseys and T-shirts. Plenty of people hollering, “Go Sens Go!”

Crossed Cumberland and went into the Loeb to do some grocery shopping.

Went home with my groceries.

Before I had gone out, I’d opened all my windows, and raised up all the blinds in my living room. It’s quite a view, and many of my neighbours in the buildings near me were taking advantage of the pleasant sunshiny day to sit and relax on their balconies. I contented myself with leaving the door to my balcony open, but I didn’t go out onto it myself. My neighbours in the unit directly across from mine in phase 2 were having a meal (or something) on their balcony. Earlier in the day, they had taken the opportunity to move their summer plants into place on the balcony.

Maybe I’ll go out again sometime this weekend, and take some pictures this time.

I got hungry last night and decided to go get some fast food. Drove around the Market area, but it was way too busy (and definitely no place to park for free). The weather was mild and the university students are coming out of exams around this time, looking to party.

I ended up at a 24-hour McDonald’s on Bronson rather than the one down the street from me. There was a crowd of young people, some arguing, some angry words and homo-erotic tough talk, and for a brief moment, a lame fight broke out. The night manager, a kid in glasses, asked loudly, “Do I need to call the cops? ‘Cos I will if I have to.” The youths calmed down a bit. Hmm… rowdy youths at this 24-hour McDonald’s closer to Carleton University, or crackhead youths at the 24-hour McDonald’s closer to my home?

Today, I woke up and it was brilliantly sunny outside. I opened the windows in my condo, as well as the door to the balcony.

What a week! On Monday, I woke up to snow and freezing rain. There was slush all over the roads, and off the roads, there was a layer of ice and snow.

Towards the end of the week, the temperature got warmer and warmer. It’s been in the double digits now.

I walked around outside for a while, and the sun was shining down brightly upon me.

Walked to the Rideau branch of the public library, about two blocks from me. Renewed my library card. As I suspected, it had in fact expired.

Back along Rideau towards the Market, and into the Rideau Centre. Walked around the mall for a while. Many things had changed. It wasn’t until I got to the Old Navy that I realized that there used to be an escalator there (it would have come up inside the present location of the Old Navy store). Actually, that escalator has been gone for a loooong time; it just didn’t register until then.

Crossed over into The Bay, and then walked next door to Chapters. That place had changed as well. The Starbucks had expanded into a section upstairs, where before people would sit on couches and read. Now, there were little tables, etc. I saw a guy taking a nap in one of the seats.

Walked through the Market. The neighbourhood was packed with people all walking about. The panhandlers were out in force, too. Cars were having a difficult time traversing the streets, with all the people in the way and blocking crosswalks.

While I didn’t go into some of the “hidden” courtyards, I looked into one as I was walking by on the street and saw buskers and people just hanging about.

The stalls of the Market were set up and filled with vendors selling fruits, veggies, rugs, t-shirts, flowers, beads, etc. Almost all the restaurants and pubs had their outdoor patios opened now, and were seeing brisk trade.

I stepped into the Army Surplus store and browsed for a bit. Haven’t been inside that store for years.

An Irish pub opened around the corner from me. The Celtic Rogue. Should maybe try it sometime.

It’s 22℃ out now, and still sunny. Just a few days ago, it was below 0℃ and overcast. So warm now, I was sweating just a little a bit walking outside. Tomorrow has a high temperature forecast for 25℃ — that’s closer to Summer-time weather around here (although it does get much hotter and more humid in the Summer).

I’ve never been to Aylmer before.

I drove out via Rideau across the canal to Wellington. Past the Canadian Parliament to the Ottawa River Parkway, but then turned to cross the Ottawa River via the Portage Bridge. Noticed the sign in the middle indicating the border with Quebec — hadn’t noticed that before.

Turned onto Alexander Tache, heading west. Hadn’t driving that way for a long, long time.

Lots of new houses, lowrise condo developments. Large, monster homes being built. I can imagine that the price of land and housing here is very inexpensive compared to Ottawa. If my French were better, I would consider moving here. On the other hand, taxes in the province of Quebec are quite high.

Finally, discovered where Galeries d’Aylmer (and Cinema des Galeries d’Aylmer) is located. The day’s been full of surprises.

Drove right to the end of the road, as Alexander Tache becomes Rue Principale in Aylmer. At the end is a park and marina. Google Maps shows a beach further on. Bike paths reach all the way here, like in the rest of the National Capital Region.

Drove back along Boul. Lucerne. Crossed back over the Ottawa River at the Island Park bridge. You can turn off the bridge right in the middle at Bates Island. Another surprise.

Lat called up in the middle of the day. Apparently, he, Lynn, Jordan, and Pris came drove up from Montreal the previous day. They went to the Museum of Civilization in the morning.

Anyway, the call was to invite me to dinner at their parents’ place.

I drove over to their place in Beacon Hill.

Lat and Lynn had gone out shopping. Jordan was being entertained by his grandparents, surfing on the Nick Jr. website. He really likes some of the shows.

Easter Friday.

Walked through the Market to Rideau Centre. Rideau Centre closed for Easter holidays though, as usual there are a ton of people. The hallways remain open because of people going to the movie theatre and because of people who need to get between the Mackenzie King transitway station and the buses stopping on Rideau St.

Walked along Sussex and then started back along George St.

Back in my building, got into my car and started driving.

Drove down Rideau East-bound, across the Cummings Bridge to Montreal Rd.

Down the Vanier Parkway to the South, past the RCMP headquarters, past Lynx Stadium, past the convention centre at the Hampton Inn.

Across the Queensway to Industrial Rd.

Noticed a new road, Trainyards Rd. Turned around in the parking lot of Surplus Warehouse (after noting the trading hours).

Turned onto Trainyards Rd. Got takeaway at the Wendy’s drive-through at Trainyards and Belfast Rd.

Drove by a brand new Wal-Mart (that I did not know existed!), back to Industrial Rd. to Riverside to the Queensway.

Looked up Google Maps and Trainyards Rd is so new, it does not appear on the map yet.

Tonight, my trusty badminton racquet finally gave up the ghost and broke in the middle of my third game of the night. This was the first badminton racquet I’ve broken. It was also the first and only badminton racquet I ever owned, having bought it almost seven years ago and used it every year since.

My old racquet was quite a bit heavier than the racquets almost everyone else plays with. Whenever they picked it up they commented on how heavy it was. I used it so much that the tape had peeled away completely. The grip was worn right down to the wooden core around where my thumb and forefinger would normally hold the racquet — that’s how much use I got out of it.

I heard a bit of a crack, and for a few volleys my returns felt a bit… mushy. I was actually able to keep rallying with a busted racquet! Usually, you see racquest bust in the stem, but mine had a broken frame around the head. A big crack, the tube of the frame curled in tight, and everything mangled.

Another player lent her backup badminton racquet to me, and I used it to finish out the game. The newer racquet was sooo much lighter. It made a noticeable difference. I hit with more power, and I think I was even faster with it.

After we won the game, I returned the racquet and came home.

I’ve been meaning to write about another item I’ve had for years that broke recently. A few weekends ago, I was walking from my kitchen to my den with a glass of water. Somehow, the glass slipped and fell onto my fancy hardwood floors, shattering into pieces. The floor was covered in shards of glass and water (which I was specifically warned during the not to allow to come into contact with the floor).

As I picked up the pieces of glass, and soaked up as much water as I could with paper towels, I reflected on what the glass meant to me. It really felt like it was the end of an era. I’d had that glass for years, and drank from it all through university, at every place I stayed, all through my years living at that old apartment on the other side of town in Ottawa, right up until now in my new place in Ottawa.

The vessel in question was a contoured Coke glass with Coca Cola and Kelsey’s logos on it that I picked up almost 14 years ago. I bought it when I went back to Unionville for my high school commencement. After the ceremony, some high school friends and I ended up at the Kelsey’s on Steeles, near Woodbine and the 404. I actually bought two glasses then. One of the glasses somehow disappeared when I moved back into residence for my second year in university from my Summer sublet in Kingston after first year.

But, that glass had been with me ever since. I never let anyone else drink out of it. Like the shoes I wear and maintain and wear and wear for years until they disintegrate, they become part of me. The badminton racquet was also like this… instantly recognizable as mine, with a bright red colour and grip worn through in a distinctive pattern.

Well, these things pass on and replacements come, eventually to pass on themselves, returning to the dust from which we all come (though somehow my home can spontaneously generate new dust — very puzzling). I’ll upgrade to new drinking vessels. I’ll buy a new badminton racquet. Hmm… I should probably buy new clothes since some of my shirts have started to fray around the edges. New shirts, new socks, new trousers, new jackets, new toothbrush. I should buy a new mattress (actually, I really should buy a new mattress and bed — I just haven’t gotten around to it).

I’ve finally finished watching the 超星神グランセイザ series. There were only 51 episodes.

The next series on tap… the next in sequence is 幻星神ジャスティライザ, the second series in the 超星神 trilogy. I read that some of the characters from the first series have cameos in the second, and that the movie ties together parts from all three series.

Hmm… thinking to myself… maybe I should make a new category for super sentai posts. I’ve already made posts about watching all of 仮面ライダー555（ファイズ）, 仮面ライダー剣（ブレイド）, 美少女戦士セーラームーン, 魔法戦隊マジレンジャー, and other shows. Actually, did I write about finishing 仮面ライダー剣（ブレイド）? Well, I did finish it sometime last year. I’ve also seen episodes of 特捜戦隊デカレンジャー, 轟轟戦隊ボウケンジャー, and I saw several of the movies, including the Mahou Sentai Magiranger VS Dekaranger movie (the only cross-generational one I’ve seen so far).

I don’t want to leave anyone with the impression that I only watch tokusatsu stuff, or that I’ve stopped watching anime. I mostly watch comedies (live-action or animated, it doesn’t matter); however, most series are only 10 or 11 episodes long. I just feel so much more proud when I’ve finished slugging through a looooong series (like all these super sentai series, and most Chinese series).

Have I seen more Japanese stuff stuff than Chinese stuff now? Hmm… have to go looking for some more long Chinese dramas or adventure series. I love reading and watching 金庸 serials. I haven’t seen the latest adaptation of 神鵰俠侶 from 2006 yet — the one with 刘亦菲 as 小龍女 (she was fantastic in 天龍八部 and 仙劍奇俠傳!). I did see one other adaptation of it from 1998, and I really liked that. I think I started watching a 2003 adaptation of the prequel series (prequel as in the book trilogy that precedes the 神鵰俠侶 book trilogy in the 射鵰三部曲 trilogy of series) 射鵰英雄傳. Actually, I started reading all three, I think… but I don’t think that I actually finished them. I haven’t seen any adaptation of the last book, 倚天屠龍記. That reminds me… I only got up to chapter 60-something in 三國演義 (or did I manage to break through 100 chapters?). What was I trying to say? Oh yeah… I should go and try to finish watching those series (or start).