TADFF 2019: Canadian Shorts After Dark

Imagine a World (2019)

Director (and writer): Joanna Tsanis

Cast: Gina O. James, Tevin Wolfe, Rob Notman

Imagine A World tells the story of a brother and sister who lets in a door to door salesman hoping to offer them a plan for a new internet and phone service much faster than the current on they have to find that he will not take no for an answer.

Imagine A World works in a few folds. The first is the horror which is set on the mysterious salesman who is very persistent. While he does feel a bit bizarre through the whole conversation, which will be revealed to be within reason, the horror it brings is of letting in a stranger into too much of the personal information and letting them into the house and the disadvantage of overinformation as a cautionary tale. At the same time, the other side of the spectrum works as to how technology has powered a good part of our life and the necessity of it even the neglect of the importance of having a functional phone signal in a world where actual communication is neglected in the majority of the other non-urgent parts of our lives. Packed with some gory bits and a rather psychological atmospheric build-up, Imagine A World works to help build a tense situation of having a stranger and their persistence being the central focus of giving a sense of fear and possible danger noticed a little too late.

Plainsong (Melopée) (2019)

Director: Alexis Fortier-Gauthier

Cast: Antoine DesRochers, Rosalie Fortier, Antoine L’Ecuyer

Plainsong, originally titles Melopée, is a French-Canadian short film about three friends who go out to a beach house to celebrate St. Jean Baptiste Day when one of them summons a sea creature with a song.

Plainsong is done really well. It goes for about 16 minutes long and pads out quite a decent bit of intrigue although in the heart of French-Canadian cinema also adds in some romance which doesn’t end up having much drama. The short actually works really well and executes its suspense very well probably until the creature reveal which probably could have been done with better poise with a better budget and that ruins the illusion a little. However, using sound as a trigger and having one of the three friends being deaf is a rather common blend as there’s one person that is rather unsure about what is going on while the other one will be disturbed a little more. What does carry here and makes it work is the atmosphere that it gives. For its length, its a little less straightforward than it should be but then, if this were to be expanded into a full feature, this would be a nice concept short film to show an idea that could very well work with much more time to explore these three friends and the sea creature that is summoned. As a short, it lacks a little on both ends whether its the romantic bit or the creature feature bit. A lot of good elements here but put together, its a bit fragmented making the story less effective than it could be.

Moment (2019)

Director (and writer): Geoffrey Uloth

Cast: Emelia Hellman, Patrick Abellard, Dayane Ntibarikure, Jonathan Bedard, Allan Chou, Jonathan Silver

Moment is about a homeless girl, Charli who is attacked by three masked hoodlums on her way home from a Halloween party when two masked superheroes stop time and help her devise a plan when she wakes up to save herself.

Moment is a spectacular little short. Running at over 20 minutes (which a rarity in shorts that I’ve seen before), this one shows off a fantastic story. Charli is a young adult who lives on the streets with her boyfriend. She’s plays music to pass the time and yet, there’s a hint of the life that she’s left behind and how she struggles with it. Its her own story in this short as she takes the moment in her own hands and saves herself. Not only is it a story about her but its a fun little idea with superheroes that can stop time but can’t change anything, making them break the illusion of the all-powerful, can do everything sort of superhero but one that is honestly there to help but everything still remains in her hands to work with what the moment presents to her. There’s a subtext of what could happen as a follow-up as she also takes that one moment to reflect on the different parts of her life. Moment is a fantastic short and done so very well.

Alaska (2019)

Director: Gwynne Phillips, Briana Templeton, Chris Wilson

Cast: Chris Wilson, Gwynne Phillips, Briana Templeton, Paul Beer, Sharjil Rasool, Chris Sandiford

Alaska is a horror comedy about a couple arriving to their friend’s dinner party late and due to his suspicion of being disliked, starts to believe that he is being poisoned.

The charm and stellar points of this short has to go to its script. Although by the last thing before its reveal, its quite obvious what it wants to do, there is such a charm to how dangerous our minds can be especially when one choice can cause everything to spiral out of control. There is also a good group of characters here which are alright and they work well enough, some more deliberately fillers as a means to an end. Still, a fun little short set in Alaska which remembers to bring it into the equation.

No One Will Believe You (2019)

Director (and writer): Frédéric Chalté

Cast: Mandy St-Jacques Turpin, Emilie Lovitt, Maryline Chery

Most kids believed that they had monsters under their bed at one point or another (or in their closet). No One Will Ever Believe You is a horror short that tells the story of a sister who wants to scare her sister on Halloween and when she prepares for it, she notices that there is a monster under the bed planning the same thing.

There’s always this haunting element to using childhood beliefs as the catalyst of any horror event. With this one, the monster under the bed and the whole atmosphere behind it was done really well. Its not that we haven’t quite seen but as something from a third perspective of one character watching another, the whole idea behind it works. Its a bit cheesy at bits and the final part with that one final line was where it breaks the immersion as its not completely necessary. Some things are better left to the audience to deduct which would have given it a much more powerful ending.

Best Friends Forever (2019)

Director: Emily Gagne & Josh Korngut

Cast: Michelle Coburn, Addison Holley, Katelyn Wells, Nicole Samantha Huff, Jen Pogue

Best Friends Forever is a horror short set in 1996 with a group of girls telling the story of Nancy, an outcast in 1970s that was tricked at a party and is now a vengeful spirit haunting teenage girls to find a friend, anyone who lets her into the house. While they were trying to use it as a prank on their friends, it turns out that Nancy actually does exist.

Using legends that come true is rather normal to see in horror stories. Best Friends Forever plays on this with some familiar premise and gathers up a group of girls who share different characteristics. Although this is a short so it quite expands on these characters but it does take the time to give them all different murders each time and keeps it fairly off-screen which also keeps the appearance of Nancy a secret and keeps her appearances rather creepy. They use a tint of neon pink throughout which contrasts well with the dark atmosphere. Best Friends Forever isn’t quite unique but then a lot of its execution is pretty good.

Alaska Cruise on Norwegian Jewel [Day 7]: Icy Point Strait, Alaska

We’re almost nearing the end of the vacation.  Second last stop before we arrive back in Seattle and finish off that half of a day before going home.  But, let’s not jump ahead too much. These vacation posts are in delay and I did do a few little day trips afterwards so I’ll be probably posting about those after this series 🙂

After a beautiful day in Glacier Bay National Park, we arrived early morning at Icy Point Strait, which seems like a little island.  We didn’t have any shore excursions for this one so we just wanted to do a walk around the island and explore. For the first time, we needed to get a ticket sort of thing and have a shuttle boat or whatever you call those things get us from the cruise ship to the shore.  New experiences, right?

Right when our boat was about to head to shore, a whale popped up right in front of it. Obviously, it was a split second deal so my eyes captured it and not my camera.  Throughout that day, it was fabulous weather in Icy Point Strait and the island had a little trail that we took a walk around and then just explored the little museum area.

Along the waterside, I took a ton of close-up shots of shells, waves, stones, seaweed.  Stuff that doesn’t matter but I really like taking close-up shots and thing finding focus and adjusting what is the key of the photo and whatnot. That’s just the learning photographer side of me.  Here’s just a few selected ones that I thought was pretty good.

We ended up going back to the cruise ship relatively early and having some time to finally enjoy some time in the hot tubs with my mom.  While I was reluctant and first to do it at first, it was remarkably comfortable and relaxing.  Plus, from where we were, we could see humpback whales playing in the water everywhere.  It was pure awesomeness! We didn’t get any whale watching shore excursions but we still got to see it as a bonus 😉

It was a great day.  The next one would be spent at sea before we head on board back in Canada at Victoria, British Columbia.  I have a friend that moved out there so I was pretty excited to meet up with her.

Drop by next week to see the post on Victoria, BC 🙂

Alaska Cruise on Norwegian Jewel [Day 6]: Glacier Bay National Park

We’re at Day 6 everyone! Glacier Bay National Park is possibly the most anticipated in this whole trip.  We get to see glaciers and on top of that, we got fantastic sunny weather.  It was a little chilly in the morning and I had to get into a few layers since I was stupid and brought a ton of t-shirts and a sweater, fall scarf and a zip-up cardigan.  What can I say? I ended up doing a tank top, t-shirt, sweater, cardigan and scarf mix to accommodate the weather which I eventually took off the sweater by midday because it started heating up.  It may sound like a lot but I was in my 3/4 yoga pants since I was going to do workout and whatnot.  Still, we ended up running from the sun deck to the front of the ship that they opened up specifically for this area to take pictures and whatnot.

It was breathtaking! And, we heard the glacier shift.  It was super far away and I barely saw it because I’m height challenged but it was this gigantic sound that just echoed in the wilderness.

This post, nothing much happens since we had fabulous weather and basically went in, did a turn and the captain took us for another turn because it was just so smooth.  Bonus on the trip, always a great thing 😉

So, here we go! Some of the best shots that I took 🙂

If any of the shore excursions didn’t work for anyone, I’m positive that this was worth full ticket price. We were surrounded by some of the most pure and breathtaking scenery that I’ve ever seen.  I may have grown up surrounded by snow in Montreal where its 6 months of the year in winter but nothing quite beats that moment where I heard the glacier crack and saw the ice in the water and the sun and landscape reflecting on the beautiful water.  That feeling..I just can’t even describe! 🙂

For the rest of the day, we pretty much traveled back into non-snowy areas, heading for Icy Point Strait. I don’t have much pictures for the rest of the day.  I probably saw a show, ate at the buffet because I was super tired of overeating, and working out like a beast like the rest of the trip before that.  There was always a show in the evenings at the lounge and I’d sometimes see people I met there from previous days.  Cruise life can be pretty routine as well but just so relaxing! 🙂

That’s it for Day 6! Check back next week for Day 7 at Icy Point Strait! 🙂

Alaska Cruise on Norwegian Jewel [Day 5]: Skagway, Alaska

At this point in the cruise, I’m thinking that its going really fast.  Look at this, Day 5 already.  I’m also thinking that I’m super tired because the night before I slept late chatting with some acquaintances and then woke up early to get on a specific time for the Skagway shore excursions. It was costly but also one of the must-sees of the trip. It was a lot of jumping through borders.  We crossed the US back to Canada then back to US.  It was kind of funny and fun all at the same time.

Shore Excursion: White Pass Railway

White Pass Scenic Railway is one of those must-sees.  It is super pretty and although I think I did a pretty decent job on the pictures, it doesn’t even come close to what its like to just take in the whole experience.  Its over an hour on the train ride but there’s an actual conductor and you get to take in a good part of the history which of course, is over my head now but I have all the information pamphlets and whatnot that we got during the trip.  Its not quite so special to see snow but the scenery here is absolutely breathtaking.

On the way to the next site, we took a stop at the Welcome to  Alaska sign after we crossed back into US from the northern parts of British Columbia.

Shore Excursion: Klondike Gold Mines & Gold Panning

 Our next (and final) stop for the shore excursion was going back to Klondike Gold Mines.  We go through the history of mining for gold and how it all works from the evolution of the machinery.  I had a field day going around taking macro pictures and blurring backgrounds and whatnot.  I apparently like weird things but the photos turned out pretty cool.

We ended this little trip with our own little try and sifting for gold and the whole procedure from how to swirl the pan and have the gold surface.  We got to weigh our gold afterwards and take it home.  Of course, its nothing crazy but mine came to $13 (at the gold levels then, I guess).

Walk around Skagway

After going back and having a little lunch, we went back out to take a little walk around Skagway and the interesting symbols of the cruises on the rocks across from the harbor.

Evening on the Cruise

That evening, there was probably a show that I can’t remember what it was.  Some music probably.  Every night its about the same so it probably was workout when I got back, dinner at the buffet area since at this point, I was starting to feel a little overwhelmed from all the eating. And then that night, there was The Beatles Tribute or was it Rock Night (I think) in the lounge.  At least I think so. Regardless, this was the group on the cruise.  They are called Next Stage (I believe).

I might be getting that rest of the day all mixed up but somewhere in there I took a little walk around the boat.  All I remember was that it was REALLY windy but the scenery was A-MAZING! Just look at this…

Alaska, on the way to Glacier Bay National Park

Okay, no joke here.  I was thoroughly excited about going into Glacier Bay National Park.  It was a day at sea but it was going to Glacier Bay National Parks to see actual glaciers and if this was just going into Glacier Bay and we were even there, can you imagine how beautiful it would be?

Drop by next week for Day 6: Glacier Bay National Park! 🙂

Alaska Cruise on Norwegian Jewel [Day 4]: Juneau, Alaska

Other than the price being really worth it for the Alaska Cruise, it was also a nice route because there were only 2 days at sea and after that we were pretty much at port or circling the Glacier Bay National Park.  That’s coming up…but next up was Juneau.  If there’s anything you’ll notice, Alaska ports are pretty much all rainforest territories.  Vegetation grows on so little earth and it rains a lot, although not so apparent for us because we got only that one time where we were leaving port and it rained.  I just can’t remember if it was at Ketchikan or at Juneau.

Day 4: Juneau, Alaska

We’re here! Day 4! Juneau’s port isn’t right next to the city so we had a shuttle to go which we realized was actually a little silly because the walk back wasn’t too bad either.  It’s like a mile.  Still, we took advantage of the free service 😉

Arriving into Juneau, Alaska

We also had a shore excursion booked for Juneau which included stopping at 3 locations. Let’s see them, shall we?

Shore Excursion: Mendenhall Glacier

This place to visit Mendenhall Glacier was stunningly beautiful.  Its a pity that we couldn’t stay longer because it had a few trails and there was the waterfall which was a decent distance to get to.  We did get there and have to run back to catch the bus on time.  There was some really nice scenery with water, glacier, icebergs, etc.  It was so peaceful and nice despite all the tourists around. There was also some really nice plants and flowers growing around the trail that we took.

 Shore Excursion: Macauley Salmon Hatchery

I’m from Canada so salmon is kind of a thing we know about. Hatcheries and all that stuff, I’ve visited a few of them in the past.  This place didn’t have so much value for me.  The facilities were really  nice though.  Inside there was some animals displays and had a little aquarium going with some marine life like shellfish and coral and some fishes.  It was a quick little stop for some coffee and to know a little more about the various types of salmons in the area and just how the hatching process works and the role of the hatchery.

Macauley Salmon Hatchery

Shore Excursion: Glacier Gardens

The last stop of the shore excursion was at the Glacier Gardens.  Its a 50 acre rainforest botanical garden that features Flower Towers which are using dead tree trunks overturned to fill with plants as decor.  It also includes a tour that elevates a good few hundred feet to a vantage point where we can get a beautiful view of the whole Juneau area. Its breathtaking and beautiful.  The ride up was fascinating as the guide tells us about the history of how the Gardens came to be and how the owner came to have the Gardens set in the Tongass National Forest.  Its a unique experience and a lot of fun.

In the Gardens Gift Shop

Gardens Gift Shop: A special Mother’s Day photo with my mom.

The ride going up to the peak

The view at the top

The view at the top

Flower Towers

Rest of the Day

The tour took up a good few hours, probably around 4 hours or so.  We went back to the ship for lunch and came back out to explore the city a little.  On the path there, I bought two t-shirts which were rather subtle tourist-y ones.  But they were really nice and made from bamboo so really comfortable. We also walked by this really tourist sort of restaurant called Red Dog Saloon.  We didn’t want to go in so we just took a picture outside.

In the city of Juneau, tourist spot, Red Dog Saloon

As I mentioned before, this day was also Mother’s Day so the boat had some little decoration in the buffet area.

The Moms in our group got to choose the location of dinner that night and we went back to Chin Chin Restaurant.  Unfortunately those pictures turned out a little fuzzy and I already showcased that restaurant before.  I think we might actually have another night there so there might be more pictures. I just can’t remember until we get there.  That night, it was also comedian and that didn’t work with my mom and her friends since they wouldn’t understand it so we skipped the show.  I did end up spending some time with my mom to walk around the ship and look at the decorations and take some pictures with my mom.  This trip overlapping Mother’s Day was one of the highlights so since I  moved out, its these moments that matter a lot.

I ended the evening after my mom headed back to rest since we had an early start the next day going to the lounge again.  There was some nice music and that’s when I met a few more very awesome people from southern part of the USA.  Very nice people and it was nice to chat with some younger groups of people.  We have no contact now but hey, it is a cool memory.  We did hang out a few more nights during the trip at the lounge and had some fun times. No pictures of these events since I was off duty with my DSLR and my phone was slowly dying during the trip.  I’ll tell you all about the debacle when it actually happens later on 😉

For now, this is the end of Day 4 of the Norwegian Alaska Cruise at our stop in Juneau! A really captivating shore excursion for the most part and a great evening making it a fantastic way to spend Mother’s Day with my mom! 🙂 Which reminds me, I should get that picture with my mom printed and framed.

Remember to check back for Day 5!
Easily one of the most memorable stops and the day we cross back and forth from Canada and USA over and over again 😉

Alaska Cruise on Norwegian Jewel [Day 3]: Ketchikan, Alaska

Day 3 on the Alaskan Cruise was our first stop.  After a day of being at sea and exploring the boat thoroughly, this first stop was a welcome time. We had an early wake-up time to meet up for the bus to go to where our tour start.  Right off the boat, it was full of the city and by the shore was tons of souvenir shopping.

Good morning, Ketchikan! 🙂

Rainforest Canoe Trail

Let me just start by saying that my mom and her friends did not know what they were getting themselves into, so they didn’t quite enjoy it as much as I did.  If you’ve followed here for a while, you know that I LOVE water.  I mean, like cruise feels great but I used to do dragonboat so canoeing felt great.  They thought someone would paddle the canoe but nope, it was all about us doing the work to get there.  There wasn’t a lot of people doing the tour on top of that so it was kind of funny how it was the guide, one of the cruise employees and me doing most of the paddling. Still, it was fun.  Plus, the view was beautiful!

We did a tour of the lake and then made our first around the river bend where there was a chef lady who had prepared some clam chowder, smoked salmon, coffee, etc for our snacks.

Smoked Salmon

Chef and Clam Chowder

The view of the lake from where we parked the canoe

Then, we got to do a tour of the rainforest on that island to learn a bit of the vegetation.  The guide was young and energetic and he seemed genuinely in love with nature making him rather enthusiastic so it was even more engaging to listen to. 🙂

A Berry plant..I think its salmonberry

Fallen logs that nuture the growth of other plants

Skunk Cabbage

Can’t remember the name but these things grow in 90% non-polluted air, making Alaska one of the most non-polluted places

Dinner at Tsar’s Palace

We got back to the boat for the sailing away at 3pm or something after doing some souvenir shopping and hopping back on the boat for lunch.  I did go on the deck and take a nice picture of the Ketchikan harbor/city from there.

Ketchikan

I can’t remember the schedule exactly.  Its somewhere in my stack of papers.  From my notes, we did sit in the sun a little. There was the Sail Away Party in the lounge where I did go for a little while.  I think we just sat and walked around until dinner time. I might have gone to workout (since I did that everyday).

The details aren’t so important since this is freestyling cruising.  Seeing that’s Norwegian Cruise Line’s tagline, it works out, right? 😉 Tsar’s Palace is the other main dining palace.  A part of the menu is the same as Azura but there is some dishes that vary on a daily basis.  It is a bigger restaurant and has a more grand decor.

Here’s what we had.  I’m sorry that I can’t remember any of the dishes specifically anymore.  I should’ve taken a picture of the menu but apparently I didn’t…so there’s no going back from that.

Soup

Spring Rolls

Beef slider

Pasta

Grilled Salmon Salad

Prime Rib, Veggies

Tiramisu

Fruit Platter

Evening: Shows, Games and Country Hoe-Down

I don’t have a whole lot of pictures from evenings but that evening, we went to the show at the Stardust Theatre.  I walked around (resulting in the shot above of the sunset) and caught the Guess The Tune game, which was pretty fun.  That night it was called the Country Hoe-Down.  I had a ton of fun learning how to line dance.  I think I still remember some moves.  It was super fun because this old couple was owning the dance floor, aside from the staff of course.  They were right there next to me and when I got tired, I remembered that I couldn’t get owned by some elderly folks so I tried to learn it even better. It was really fun.  That’s all I’m saying 🙂

Events like this and I started making acquaintances, not bad, right? Only took 3 days 😉

That’s it for Day 3! The beautiful Ketchikan graced us with no rain until we were sailing away.  It was really some nice awesome weather we had the whole way, you’ll see…  That canoe trail though, man, I have to find some of those here and sign up for one of those.  You want to feel like being one with nature? That was totally how I felt about it.

Alaska Cruise on the Norwegian Jewel: Day 1&2

I debated wrapping up the end of my trip with the second half of Seattle but I figured I might as well follow how my vacation went.

Day 3 of vacation was the morning blitz mode in Seattle that I wrote about HERE in the previous post.

Second half of that day was spending about an hour or so boarding the cruise ship.  During the first part of the line-up, I have to be honest that I freaked out just a little when I searched all my bags and I couldn’t find my passport.  Somehow I found it tucked somewhere or another.  It was just hidden.  Its been so many months that I can’t even remember where it finally popped up.  But that is generally how I am when I travel.  Good thing I pull out these documentation in advance. Imagine the stress of not finding it at the last minute and holding up the line, I can already feel the stress 😉

So, security checks and check-in for the cruise ship, getting our Norwegian Jewel card that is technically our access and payment for EVERYTHING for the 9 days on there.  I can tell you one thing, the perspective of life changes a little when money becomes this behind the scenes figure (kind of). I’ll talk about the entire cruise experience when I’ve finished with everything during a recap.  For now, lets get these rather uneventful Day 1 and 2 over with.

Day 1: Boarding ship and settling in!

Here’s our room, which is the first place we went after we boarded since we chose to carry our own luggages there. We didn’t bring a lot so it was light and easy.

Our room

There were no windows.  We were on the 8th floor.  It was a decent size and really tidy.  To be honest, I really just went back to rest here between activities or sleep at night or shower between workouts and meals.  I didn’t stay in there incredibly a lot so it didn’t really bother me much. It was really comfortable and the whole no windows thing made us kind of lose track of time in the mornings when we didn’t have to wake up for a tour because we couldn’t see when it was light out 😉 That’s vacation!

There was some Sailing Away activities in the afternoon as we inched closer to the 3pm time when we departed Seattle.

The Deck

View of Seattle from the Cruise Ship

When we sailed away, we walked around the ship to explore what there was and where it was all situated so we’d be able to get to wherever we wanted for whatever activities soon.  We peeked into the Workout room which I ended up spending a lot of time the next 9 days between trips and whatnot, starting the next day where I went two times or something since we were at sea. There were activities on the middle area with pools, sat down and enjoyed the sun a little, then found where the theatre for all the evening shows and we ended up finding the game room where we found a set of Mahjong complete with all the tiles.  Guess what? My mom and her friends wanted to kill some time doing that so we did until dinner time 🙂

Our first night at dinner was the restaurant we scouted out.  My mom and her friends had already been on various cruises before but its the first time they saw Asian cuisine as free dining on the cruise ship so of course, that was our first choice. Here’s what we had at this restaurant called Chin Chin.

Egg Drop and Corn Soup

Harvest Spring Rolls

Dumplings

Cashew Chicken

Fried Rice

Red Bean Triangles with Green Tea Ice Cream (not sure the exact name)

Panda Salad (I think)

Fruit Platter (my allergen free option)

The service was very nice.  The food was very westernized.  They called it Asian fusion, but its not.  Although, you will see that we did end up going back for lots of dumplings and possibly fried rice 😉

To wrap up the evening, we went for an evening walk on the deck where I discovered the Spinnaker Lounge which I will end up spending nights there checking out their game/theme nights and its kind of my way to have some alone time to relax and not be rushed from point A to point B. It was still relaxing but I do enjoy time to myself.

First Night on the Deck

There was also the Welcome Aboard Show at the Stardust Theatre to end off the night.

Day 2: At Sea

I was still experiencing jet lag on Day 2.  I’m telling you, as I get older, this jet lag business takes longer to settle especially those 3 hours time shifts.  So, guess what? I woke up at like 5 or 6 am or something and walked up to the deck and took some sunrise shots.

2nd day, sun rise!

Fresh air, ocean in front of the us and the dawn of a new day! That was an amazing and incredible feeling! 🙂

I had an early breakfast, headed to my first ever Zumba class then because the instructor was late and the class wasn’t long, I headed up to the gym to get in some jogging and rowing, before showering and heading down for lunch.  Sadly, it seems I didn’t take many pictures of the buffet portion of the trip, which I spent mostly for breakfast and lunch.  I can’t remember exactly what happened but I remember activities in the middle area with the pools slowly being opened and the hot tubs and whatnot.  There was the Mr. Alaska competition which was pretty entertaining, some music that followed.  We sat in the sun a little, booked our tours for the next few stops and just relaxed.

I’m telling you..I love relaxing but the first two days started getting so relaxing that I didn’t really know what to do so I walked around and explored by myself, especially after I went to do a second workout and lost my mom in the process on the ship.  I eventually found her right before dinner.  This night, we had already said to meet at one of the main dining halls called Azura.

Beef slider with lettuce salad (?)

Chicken with baked potatoes and vegetables

Salmon

Sorbet

Chocolate Volcano

Azura was very accommodating, especially for my food allergies.  The service was great and the food was delicious.  I can’t remember the name of the food at all but I have an idea of what it all is.

We ended the evening with a show at the Stardust Theatre called Back on the Road Show. I think it was a singing show.  I can’t remember anymore.  Then there was a game show called Battle of the Sexes which was really funny.

Its a calm two days and nothing much to really talk about so I put them together. We arrive at Ketchikan in Alaska for our first stop the next day! 🙂

Seasonal Segment Revival: My Weekly Adventures!

My Weekly Adventures (just like travel and vacation) will be a seasonal segment 😉 I go out a whole lot more in the summer as Montreal livens up a lot and has a ton of events.  This year, May’s been a whirlwind so to kick this off is a special month long event of May along with some upcoming things you can expect.  Reason for this is that: I know I’ve been taking it easy on here.  I really needed a break to get my thoughts together and find some energy and motivation. Between moving and house stuff, its been quite hectic.  Plus, I’ve been in and out of town during May.  I haven’t spent one weekend at home.  The fact that I’ve had even 5 posts going up scheduled (and that’s massively thanks to all those late nights doing contributions to other blogathons and segments on other awesome and amazing blogs).

Let’s check out the May insanity!!

1) Vacation to Seattle and Alaska

Our cruise ship parked offshore in Icy Point Strait

I did a post back at the end of April or early May before I headed off to vacation so some of you already know about it. My first cruise ever and after 11 days, over 2200 pictures from the trip.  I’m going to be posting about those gradually over June but not last past vacations where I do a daily recap.  That would be a massive post and I’ll only select the best of the best that represent the places I went to.  I’ll also give a cruise recap on how I felt about this cruising experience on Norwegian and I have a little fun addition that I’m putting together in memory of the new acquaintances I had on the trip.

2) Ottawa Marathon Weekend

No, no! I didn’t do a marathon.  Just like last year, I headed down with my friend who did the half marathon.  This time, we also had a friend do the 10K so we hung out, shopped, ate and all that good stuff.  It was pretty fun 🙂 We ate brunch at a place called Zak’s Diner which is rather delicious.

And due to strict budget after vacation, I went down to get some really good Rose Wines and a ridiculously expensive but I know is worth it sports bra at Victoria’s Secret.  That’s pretty much what it was all about.  I also got exposed to the 7 day TV event called 500 Questions and because I’m a nerd, I loved it. I’ll probably do a review of it since I came home and started tracking the episodes the week after.

 3) Officially training for a 10K marathon!

I haven’t posted about workouts in a while.  Ever since I talked about it a few months ago, I have gotten back into it and if the cruise was not only full of breathtaking sceneries, my downtime included a lot of working out.  Going out to the marathon weekend, the night after, I downloaded the Nike Running app and set up the coaching program to train for a 10K.  I’m not a runner so I’m ridiculously slow in pace.  I only completed my first week and it looks like that up there. I’m on my second week right now and Montreal is having really shitty weather so its not exactly motivating but then, when I have these programs, I get really competitive. If weekly adventures doesn’t have anything else, it’ll be where I’ll be updating you on my progress.

The goal right now: 5K of some sort somewhere around Montreal and then end goal is 10K in Ottawa next year with a decent time.

Bring it on!!!

4) Wedding in Toronto

As exhausting as it was, my niece (don’t ask, I have a enormous and complicated family) got married over the weekend.  I’ve never seen her before but family events are always fun, so I was my mom’s +1.  On top of that, I had to go to get some new glasses because its way more worth it even with the gas prices being ridiculously high. It actually felt good to be the one in control of my own transportation in the past month. Anyways, the wedding was held in Markham at Angus Glen Golf Club and the venue was very nice along with some very good food.  It started off up to the ceremony in a massive downpour but eventually cleared up a little before having a little drizzle again.

Other than seeing family and cousins, it really emphasized on seeing my cousin’s kids so yeah, more nephews mostly.  Haha! I’m definitely starting to feel old. Still, it was a very fun time and that’s what is most important.

5) Gardening begins!!

Iceberg & Romaine Lettuce

Leek

Stevia

Pink and White Flowers Mix

Asparagus

Ground Cherry

Cucumber

Right after I got back from Alaska, I went to the greenhouse that I frequent and bought some gardening.  Sowing seeds are not my forte so maybe that’s an adventure I’ll take some time to master.  For now, we got these ones up there along with some Sweet Basil, Rosemary and Greek Oregano which is happily inside the house. My calla lily is also very good. I’ll have pictures of those next time 😉 Also, I had to buy another Clematis and Campanula because my lack of experience murdered those last year.  This year, I’m giving a second shot at Ground Cherry and Stevia.  With a little more experience, I’m hoping it’ll be better.

We’re keeping it simple this year: The focus is on less plants and weeding and organizing/maintaining the lawn to look better so its ready for bigger and better projects next year! I think thats a solid plan. What do you think?

6) Upcoming

TV Binge, Arcade Block Unboxing, Music Obsessions, more Movie Reviews (hopefully)….I have probably 10 posts sitting around waiting for me to write up.  I just can’t get it all together and live life all at the same time while not being in town on the weekends when I normally draft the majority of my posts early mornings or late nights.   I’m trying hard to get ahead of schedule instead of scrambling together a quick post the night before.  It worked for a while where I was 2 days ahead so let’s hope I can get back on that pattern. Oh right, and that recipe I’m missing for the Disney Project is coming right up! It’ll be a lot more simple than I first planned but I just want to kickstart this one. The next one will be more epic, hopefully!

And that wraps up My Weekly Adventures segment for the May monthly issue.  For now, I’ll leave you with this cute sign I saw in Ottawa.

If you made it to the end, welcome back to Weekly Adventures and be sure to drop by again next week for more! 🙂

There’s a few festivals coming up this weekend so it’ll be a fun post! I promise!

I’m Back!!! :)

Two weeks went by really fast and this just a quick post to say that I’M BACK!!! 🙂

My first time cruising was an interesting experience and by the end of it, it turned out pretty great.  Alaska is full of breathtaking scenery and I have over 2200 pictures sitting around from visiting Seattle and Alaska.  Once I sort those out, I’ll be doing some posts on it.

I just arrived this morning on a red eye flight and fixed up my stupid phone that died 2 days ago.  Thank goodness, it seems like its just a battery issue.

While cruising may prove to be not so great in some aspects like my intention of reading a lot didn’t quite happen, I did end up going to work out A LOT! So a few little happy things plus I got to spend a lot of time with my mom and some time to just relax and meet some new people on the boat and have a drink and chat. All very fun and relaxing and that was the point of this vacation! 🙂

I’m off to get some rest since I’m working on about 2-3 hours of sporadic sleep coming back.  Just give me a few days to get some posts drafted and done, etc 🙂

Lots of cool stuff coming up especially since I’m coming back to Montreal right before the big events start and I’ll be running around time trying to check a few of them out!

Enough rambling for now….things will be back to normal probably around Wednesday!!! I’m all rested and charged up! 🙂