The last days in Canada

Hi Guys,

Sorry I have not written in a while I have been very busy!

Anyway here is a brief account of what I have been doing since the last time I updated my other blog. I hung out for a while in Canada, and I spent my time in Montreal, and Toronto. After that I flew to London and then after spending a few days in London I flew to Amsterdam. This is an account of my last days in Canada. I will post pictures later.

The last few days in Canada were crazy. In Montreal I stayed in a backpackers and hung out with some really cool English people. We went out both nights I was there and had a great time. When I was there I saw a music festival and a crazy park where people played frisbee, hackey-sack and hit each other with sticks. I have some photos that I will post once I get to a computer that is good enough. I also climbed to the top of Mount Royal (which may be where the city got its name from. This was all great fun. Montreal is a cool city because it is a mixture of English, French and American cultures.

boys hitting each other with sticks, in this case there is a little size miss-match!

After Montreal I went back to Toronto to spend my last few days In Canada before I flew to the UK. On the bus to Toronto I met a really cool girl that offered me her couch to crash on for a few nights. As it turned out the three really cute girls lived in the house. Two of them worked in a bar around the corner. This was interesting because they came back from the pub (it was a Sunday night). During the night two random boys wandered inside looking for the special sort of treatment that only women can give (The where unable to lock their front door because of their crazy land lord). One came in, twice the first time he stood and stared at me sleeping on the couch. We told him to go away and go to bed. He snuck back inside and sat on the end of the bed of one of the girls while she was sleeping. The next time we ejected him we were not so nice!

I did not get much sleep that evening.

The next day I went to the zoo and saw all the animals that I was not able to see anywhere in Canada. This included beavers and otters which were really cool. There was also a polar bear that looked quite shell-shocked, as it was about 30 degrees with a really high humidity.

Poor polar bear

After the zoo i went and saw the New York Yankees play the Toronto Blue Jays. The Yankees got smashed. Baseball is a silly game to watch live. Most of the people in the stadium where drunk (this was a Monday night) . Every moment of the game you were entertained. during the breaks which happened very frequently they played music, had silly games, lead stretching routines for the entire crowd, sung songs (take me out to the ball game...) and did numerous other things. It was certainly worth the money that I spent!

The next day I jumped on a bike and rode around the city once more and then hopped on a plane and flew to London.

Sex in the city (I wish)

Brief update from NY.


I met the Naked Cowboy. Here is a photo.





I also made a friend ;). This is Valeria, a totally hot Brazilian Jew.



I have also eaten a lot of food and did a whole bunch of other things. I will update this blog with these when I get a chance.

Crazy time in gas town

Yesterday, Monday July 1 was Canada day. I went out with a bunch of people from the hostel to partake in the celebrations. It was a strange night because I celebrated Canada day in a very non-Canadian manner. I celebrated Canada day with an Irish fellow, a two Japanese people, another Australian, and a whole bunch of Mexicans. We went to a Mexican restaurant and watched Mexico beat Ecuador in the soccer. I had a plate of Tacos. Tacos in America are very different from Tacos in Australia. For one thing they are not made out of corn chips, instead they are made out of soft tortias. They are also much more simple. they simply consist of meat with a few optional sauces and vegetables. The real thing is much more tasty than the stuff that we get at home. The Mexicans loved the soccer game. Every time they scored a goal they would all get up and shout Gol! They won the game 2-1.

Last night also happened to be the last night of the Vancouver jazz festival. We went to watch a Mexican folk band (I think it was Mamma Pulpa) close the jazz festival. They were very good. They played a very upbeat poppy sort of music. They also used just about every instrument on the face of the planet. It was very hard not to dance to.

Lastly we went out and watched the fire works and then stumbled into town. The fireworks were fun despite the fact that it was very crowded and we could not get a good view. Out on the town it was very busy. We spent a lot of time trying to find a nice, cheap bar and in the end gave up and went home.

Fear and Loathing in Vancouver

Hi again,

Today I am writing this message from the University of British Columbia. I came here searching for frisbee (I have not seen once since i got here). I did not find any frisbee but i did find an art gallery and a anthropology museum. This was interesting, though i am getting really sick of art galleries and museums.

Since getting to Vancouver i have been constantly surprised. I am staying around the corner from a really dodgy part of town. It has more beggars, crack cocaine addicts, and alcoholics than anywhere else I have been. I was walking to the shops and I saw someone smoking cocaine. This has been a little hard to deal with. Apparently they all live here because this is the only place in Canada where they won't freeze to death in the winter.

Anyway one of these druggies passed out in front of the hostel. I was alerted to this by the mexicans who shouted "come and look at the dead girl". She was naked below the waist. Thankfully some ambulance officers came and revived her. They even gave her some pants!

I am staying in a four bed dorm. I think over the past six days a french guy stayed over, two Japanese guys have stayed over, two Koreans, a Canadian and an Afghan!. It has been really weird.

The Afghan was particularly interesting. he left Afghanistan in 2000 when the Taliban took over. Since then he has worked in the oil fields in Calgary, and worked for a brief time in Vancouver. He is as tough as nails. He told me he has never lost a fight in his life and i believe him. Fortunately he seems to like me.

Last night we cooked dinner together. He stole half of the ingredients and I brought the other half. He obviously did not know how to cook so I showed him. We cooked chicken stir fry. I will be sad when he goes. He is very interesting person (although a little frightening).

Finally figured out how this thing works! (again)

Hi all,

Motivated by my impending trip I have decided to update my blog.

Here are my travel dates so far:

24 June 10am, leave Sydney

24 June 10am, arrive Vancouver

17 July 9am, leave Vancouver

17 July 4:30pm, touch down in Toronto

9 August 7:15pm leave Toronto

10 August 7:30am, arrive in London - (an overnight flight, weak!)

And that is all that I have planned. Life in Australia is good, though recently it has been all about getting ready for my trip and finishing of work. It is good though, as I like being busy.

I played frisbee nationals in Australia recently. It was good. Here is a photo of my catching the last goal our team scored at nationals. Go me! (we won the game)

Since my last post a lot of things have happened in my life! This post will run through these events briefly.

I have moved house, got a new job and had a few romantic interactions. The new house I am living in is located at 90 Majura Ave in Ainslie. It is a cute two story duplex. The western wall is shared with our neighbor. The architecture is not very creative, as the house is square shaped. Also the design is bad. A lot of the space is not used efficiently. We have a room we do nothing with and a living room that is too narrow. These small faults are more than made up for by the efficiency of the design. The roof and walls have good insulation. There are nice big windows and ducted gas heating. The kitchen has more bench space and storage space than the one located in Wattle ST despite being smaller.

The house is very comfortable.

I am living with Stef and a guy called Shaun. I am sure that you all know Stef; Shaun you may not know.

Once you get to know us there are some clear differences. Shaun is less crazy. Shaun is also a natural conversationalist and is able to comfortably carry on conversation with people that he does not know well. He is relaxed and comfortable around people he does not know. He will happily talk with anyone. Shaun’s favorite drink is ‘slurm’ (mountain dew).

Everybody who lives in the house likes to go out and party lots. The Lithium dance party is our favorite party. Lithium is an ‘alternative’ dance party where Goths and punks and other misfits like to go. Some will even get dressed up in their full regalia for the occasion. They look great! They will often play music from bands like peaches, the cure and faith no more. It is a different seen to the ordinary nightclub seen; much less boring.

My job situation is has changed many times recently. I have worked for a firm called Exceed in the department of finance. After that I worked for the IT service desk in the same department. It is a good job. I get paid well, and the work is interesting.

However I will soon change jobs again. Shortly I will work at the Independent Competition and Regulatory Commission. These guys are a cool bunch of economists. They look after stuff like ACT’s greenhouse gas abatement scheme, prices for gas and electricity and a whole bunch of other stuff..

This is a new post

What Andrew Ley has been doing recently (in list of importance)

1 Tequila;

I only drink Tequila of other people’s bodies. One may think that this could be a difficulty however I find that there is no shortage of people that can be persuaded. Tequila and the beach is a fantastic combination. If you have Tequila on the beach at night it is guaranteed to be a great night.

2. Frisbee;

This is great because it comes with tequila. And girls! The other day I was sitting in a spa with six really good-looking Frisbee girls. This was great. I want a spa. Humm, maybe I can get my hands on some Frisbee photos.

3. Job applications;

I am now applying for graduate jobs next year. I really hope I get one. Oh well, If not I will go back and do further study or travel. I think that I would like to go to England an Canada to see long lost missing friends.

4. Work

I have a great job where I don’t really have to do anything. Great. I surf the net all day. This could get boring, however if this is the case then I will read a book instead.