maman, je t’aime !.

my mom & sister are finally coming to visit me in Toronto next week, June 28th! it was really sad to say goodbye to my mom. whenever i would talk to her about moving to Toronto for university, it’s like she wouldn’t pay attention or listen. maybe she was just trying to avoid facing the situation in a way. she’s always told my sister and i that we’re the most beautiful thing she has in life, and that we’re her reason to live. we’ve always been really close. although things kind of changed a bit when her and my dad got separated last Christmas, she moved out while my sister and i stayed with my dad, so we haven’t spent as much time together, still, i love my mom, she’s amazing and i can’t wait to see her.

as you’ve probably noticed if you follow me on twitter, i’ve got a love affair with food. and so does my mom, and my sister too. so i’m excited for when they visit just so i can bring them to all these cool restaurants that i’ve been to so far. not that i eat out everyday, but i enjoy finding out about awesome restaurants (which excludes fast food places).

there’s this one all you can eat sushi place on Queen street called Aji Sai, honestly the best all you can eat place that i’ve been to in my life. because you know.. usually “all you can eat” places tend to suit the “you get what you pay for” say. but the food is actually amazing for the price, it’s around 14$ for lunch, and 22$ for dinner. and their menu isn’t all sushi, but also has all kind of other asian dishes.

then there’s my absolute favorite restaurant so far called Chi-Ko-Roo on Church Street. it isn’t that expensive either, and yet the food is amazing, so is the service and the place itself, very modern looking. oh, and the plates are huge! so you can take the leftovers to go, and pretty much get a second meal out of it! their menu has tons of tasty and healthy food. and they serve you free bread with three different amazing dips. one is hummus, and i think another one is this one Asiago Garlic Artichoke dip. OH, and they’ve got the best Sweet Potato fries i’ve had… so yeah, if you’re ever in the area. you should go! and maybe i’ll bump into you. okay no.. i don’t actually go that often!

my sister also really wants to go to Canada’s Wonderland (Some kind of a Six Flags style attraction park), so we might go there too. i haven’t been in so long..

and that picture on top of the post is of my mom and i, i have no idea how old i was.. but it’s definitely one of my favorite pictures of the two of us!

listen to: cee lo green – what part of forever


new city, new crowds.

my last blog post was about a month ago, i feel like i’ve neglected this blog way too much, but in a way… i’ve moved to Toronto the first week of june, and it was a lot of work. but i’ve talked enough about moving in my previous posts, i think you might know by now that i was planning on moving if you regularly read my blog, and if not, i’ll say it one more time, not to get redundant, i moved to Toronto from Montreal for university. i’ve decided to continue my education in Toronto as their university program for photography is more recognized and professional than the ones available in Montreal. also, a change can never do bad. and if it does so, you can always call it an experience. which we all need.

moving to a new city was definitely an experience (i’ve never moved before.. in 19 years) well, i moved once, but it was in the same city, so that doesn’t count. there was definitely a lot of work to do in my apartment. one thing i’ve learned, Toronto is terrible with apartments. either they’ll cost you an arm, and your soul, or they’ll be extremely average, usually lots of fixing up to do due to the people who lived in it prior to you, and still cost you at least a hand. and maybe a foot. and i’m not even exaggerating! but i was lucky, for the rent, my apartment is pretty big. and after working on it for about two weeks, it’s starting to look better! i started painting my room just a few days ago. i decided to focus on everything but my room first. because when it’s your own place usually your room is the last room you care about… so i focused on the living room/dining room, kitchen and bathroom first. i will probably take pictures of my apartment once it’s all done.

and although Toronto’s considered to be similar to NYC, and all those other overpopulated cities, it’s actually really clean. i was surprised with that. i could even say cleaner than Montreal. but we all know, more taxes, more costs = more benefits. Quebec (the province which Montreal is in) has very low taxes, and most things are free, and if not, pretty cheap, like education and medical services. university here costs more than twice what it costs in Montreal, but there are reasons behind it. you get a much better education. teachers get paid more = they’re more interested in teaching and keeping their job. also the schools get a better funding from the government, which also means that your education quality will be better. who wouldn’t want to learn in an environment that doesn’t feel “cheap” and almost deprived?

now, the crowds. like any city, i’m positive, Toronto has its crowds. i’ve met some really nice people so far, but whenever you find one great friend, you’ve probably went through twenty bad ones before you did so. and that’s okay. you aren’t supposed to have a hundred “friends”. in my book, friends = best friends = family. so in my life, there’s the people “i know”, so acquaintances. then the people i trust, care about, and love, so friends. and that way i don’t get hurt. more people should see it this way. so far i’ve been introduced to the party crowd, who are nice people, don’t get me wrong, but sometimes those people tend to be unreliable. as some really, all their life is about is partying, drinking and social climbing. then some let it all go to their head. and that’s cool, as long as they’re happy doing so!

i’ve also been applying for jobs, and that’s been going well, although…. at first, for about two days, i handed out my resume at a few places, only to notice later that it still had my old Montreal phone number, which has been disconnected because i needed a Toronto number. it was a real FML moment. but i couldn’t help but laugh about it… sometimes i feel like those things only happen to me. i’ve been good so far at turning the stove off after i use it though, but i couldn’t say i haven’t forgotten candles burning a few times when leaving my apartment… i’m getting better at that too though, so don’t worry! it’s all practice. i’ve had a job interview last friday, and it was really well, the lady who was interviewing me was really sweet.. which is never a bad thing during an interview, it definitely makes you feel more comfortable. she was the co-manager, i guess that’s how they do interviews, first the co-manager interviews people, then they refer the ones they liked for the manager to interview, and!!! the manager called me yesterday to set up an interview time on monday! hopefully i get the job. i’ve been jobless for the past 20 days, i’ve been enjoying my freedom a little too much!

i’ve also posted a few new pictures on my deviantart, you can check them out by clicking here!

listen to: stars – the five ghosts