The Torch is Here!

The Olympic torch made it's way to Parliament Hill last night, which coincided with the lighting of the Christmas Lights. Here's a couple of blurry snapshots (I don't have a very good zoom on my camera) to celebrate the wonder of it all.

It snowed!

It's official: Fall 2009 has come to a close, with a 12 page creative synthesis and a snowstorm!

Needless to say, I've been a bad blogger this semester and instead of updating inleast once a week, I've been updated about once a month. Shame on Tara.

However, now that the break is here, expect more posts from yours truly, including December/Christmas/Winter Fun fare in a truly Ottawa fashion.

So without further ado, I leave you with two pictures of Ottawa from the snow day on Wednesday. One is of the Byward Market and one is of me in the Byward Market. Enjoy a truly white Canadian Christmas!

Dining Out, Ottawa Style: Famous Frenchy's

So it's been over a month since I updated this. Tara is sorry. Tara would also like to say that she is a graduate student, hence she has been writing essays for the last month.

But without further ado: another restaurant review!

Tonight, after working on two papers for most of the day, I decided I wanted to head out and pick something quick, easy, and bad for me for supper. So off to Famous Frenchy's I went!

Famous Frenchy's is a burger joint on Rideau, cross-street Augusta. It is pretty new, only opening up in June. Apparently, their trade secret is their hamburgers, which I will admit, I didn't try today. I wanted a poutine!

I walked in to find two people eating at a table, with two people ahead of me in line. Needless to say, I was a bit surprised. I never really saw anyone enter or exit the place. The two gentlemen ahead of me order burgers and had a lovely conversation with the owner.

When my turn came up, I ordered my poutine and talk to the owner. He's a real sweetheart with a big booming laugh. Though I did order a poutine and a coke, he still gave me a membership card. So after 10 hamburgers, I can get one for free. Not bad if burgers are your thing.

The grand total was about $7.50, which isn't bad for a medium poutine and a can of Coke. I waited about five minute and boom! Supper was served. I carried my little brown bag of heart attack goodness home.

Needless to say, it was a good poutine with lots of yummy melted cheese. Plus, they tossed in a roll of rocket candy, which was a sweet touch.

I will be back again, that's for sure. Maybe to try the hamburgers this time!

Famous Frenchy's
506 Rideau
Ottawa, ON
Open M to S 11:00 am to 10 pm

Ottawa Nightlife: The Heart & Crown

As a former Montrealer, I'd like to say I know Irish pubs. Maybe not as much as those lucky individuals who have traveled to or lived in Ireland, but I still have a pretty decent knowledge of Irish pubs. Montreal is known for it's crazy Irish celebrations and as a results, has a bunch of Irish pubs, of which my favorite is Hurley's (on Crescent between Ste. Catherine and Rene-Levesque).

Hence why I have a few issues with the Heart & Crown. The Heart & Crown has two locations, one in the Market and one on Preston. Last Saturday, I was invited to the one in the Market and told up to show up at 7:45. Now, if you think showing up early bothers me, it doesn't. Pubs are these fabulous creations that can be enjoyed at any time of day, so 7:45 to me seemed a decent time.

The actual reason we had to show up so early is that apparently, at 9 pm, they start carding people and charging cover. Now, that was the first thing that bothered me. Pubs should not charge covers, unless it's St. Patrick's Day. Then you are exempted from that. However, this is a popular occurance at the Heart & Crown, especially Friday and Saturday nights.

Food-wise, it was your typical pub grub. I had some of my friend's french fries, which were crazy salty, but otherwise alright. In terms of beers on tap, they had much more domestic than imported, but they did have my beloved Harp's, so I was happy. Prices were decent. It was $7 for a pint, which makes it a tad bit cheaper than in Montreal.

What really bothered me (other than the cover), was the fact that it turned into a dance club at around 10, 10:30. Imagine sitting in an Irish pub listening to Katy Perry's "Hot & Cold". First off, Ms. Perry is not Irish and secondly, though I like this song, it doesn't really have a place in an Irish pub. Irish pubs should have traditional music or music by Irish musicians, like U2. Listening to hip hop and pop in a Irish pub just doesn't sit well with me.

Overall, the Heart & Crown seems like a very popular place here in Ottawa. Though it did make annoy me on some levels, it was good on others. I would contemplate going again, but perhaps avoiding the dance floor like the plague.

Fashion 101: Ottawa style

As far as stylish cities go, Ottawa isn't one of them.

Honest.

If you were to ask any Canadian which cities are the most fashionable you would get either Montreal or Toronto. Both have booming fashion industries, amazing stores, and citizens who want to look their absolute best. And both have well attended fashion weeks!

Ottawa, well, not so much.

One of my "problems" about living in Ottawa is the shopping. I find it very generic and most of the stores that I love haven't arrived here yet.

Case in point: H&M. For my H&M fix, I need to travel two hours to Montreal, five to Sherbrooke or Quebec City, or six to Toronto. Rumors are running around that H&M is coming to Ottawa, apparently when the renovations at the Rideau Centre are finished. In like 2011. The thing is, it's going to be a mall H&M, which has nothing on the three floor flagship beauty in downtown Montreal. But at this point, I will settle for anything.

I think one of the major problems with fashion in Ottawa is that no one is really expected to look their best. Though this is a government town, the majority of government workers are wearing jeans, shorts, ugly tops, and flip flops to work (Unless you are a lawyer or a politician, where you were a suit, or in the Armed Forces, where you wear your oh-so-sexy uniform). Frankly, would a dress code kill anyone? And this isn't even a strict dress code, I'm talking business casual, ie. dress pants, dress shoes, and a nice top. It shows you have pride in your work and that you don't put work on the same level as boating at the cottage.

Also, certain fashion rules should just automatically be followed. Such as white socks with sandals. Now, I used to be a residential summer camp counsellor and I actually did this for time to time, AT SUMMER CAMP. Over the course of the summer, I have seen so many people breaking this big fashion "no-no", the worst was being teenagers or people my age. I would actually stop and stare at them while at the Rideau Centre. It was truly beyond me.

Oh, Ottawa, when will you fashion-bility improve? As a former Montrealer, you make me want to cry.

Creepy UOttawa E-mails

UOttawa has been on a creepy e-mail spree this week.

By my own personal definition, a creepy e-mail is one in which the sender is trying to alert you of something that you should be concerned about, but is doing it in such a vague way that it leaves you questioning if you actually find this comforting or just plain creeped out by it.

Earlier this week, I was sent an e-mail about H1N1 (aka, Swine Flu). Now, I personally don't find H1N1 to be that scary, especially after talking to friends of mine who are professionals in the health fields. However, I was suppose to be comforted by the fact that UOttawa has create a campus response and planning team. Oh, and all of those signs all around campus reminding us to wash our hands, sneeze into our elbows, and getting a flu shot are also helping to downplay my feelings of creepiness.

However, the one that truly has me annoyed is the one that I was sent at 3:04 am today. According to the e-mail, an "incident" happened at Thompson Residence where a student died. The university is deeply sadden by this event and also told us that our safety and security were not at risk. They also suggested contacting the counselling service, who are open Monday to Friday from 9 to 5.

First off, I was apparently the last one to know. I believe this has to do with the fact that I am a graduate student and therefore, not living on campus, hence I wouldn't have seen any of the "excitement".

So, I called a friend of mine, S., who works for Foot Patrol at UOttawa and asked her if she knew anything about it. Apparently (this is just a rumor, so please don't take this to heart!!), a male first year student either fell or jumped from the 15Th floor of Thompson Residence early Saturday morning. And he died.

Now, as of Sunday afternoon at 2:00 pm (EST), there is no additional information. I have checked out a number of news sites (CTV, CBC, and the Ottawa Citizen), with no mention whatsoever of this incident. The University hasn't posted anything on their website and the only thing I could find was on KJ360, in the comments section:

"I was at the library yesterday and there were emergency services, ambulances and police everywhere at around 10:15 am. I was in the library so I didn’t see what happened although there were a number of witnesses, but they had been told not to talk about it. I did see an ambulance taking someone away though. It is very sad to think that there was a suicide right at the beginning of the year when there is such a sense of new opportunity."

So this, my friends, is the most information I could find about what may or may not have happened at Thompson Residence. Does it still leave much to the imagination? Oh yeah.

Now for some counselling ranting...

In terms of having lots of witnesses, but asking them to not talk about it, you have a serious problem. These people should talk about it. They need to talk about it. Seeing something as traumatic as seeing someone fall 15 feet could serious damage someone mentally. My only hope is that the University recognized this and brought in mental health professionals to help deal with this tragedy.

And secondly, what does not telling people the truth going to do? Lead to a whole lot of rumors. Frankly, it would have almost been better to be in the dark than it is to have a little knowledge, but not enough. I'm interested to see if tomorrow, the University will step up and give people further information. Because you know what? This individual who died was a person and a valued one at that. And his story needs to be told.

Getting Orientated!

September 8th marked the official UOttawa Graduate Orientation day. What did that mean for me? A long day of meetings, talks, and free food.

Orientation at the graduate level is nothing like orientation at the undergraduate level. Instead of alcohol and hook-ups, I had meetings, hot dogs, and Pepsi. It was QUITE tame.

I started my day off with a 3 1/2 hour session for all English graduate students. Needless to say, it was long and boring. After hearing from the Vice-dean of Graduate Studies and like every other service at the UOttawa, I heard lots of "great" advice from current graduate students. By great I mean, if you are working on a thesis, the advice was helpful. If you are like me and doing interships instead of a thesis, all this information is hopelessly useless to you.

I suppose one of the problems with most general orientation sessions is that it aims for the majority and excludes the minorities. My degree (Educational Counselling) falls into this category. In my departmental orientation later that evening, they actually touched on things that were important to us, as oppose to being important to those lucky individuals writing a thesis (or whatever the plural of that may be...).

The BBQ was nice though. There was no alcohol, but it was still nice. A really good touch was upon arriving in the tent, you were given a color wristband that represented your faculty. You could then spend the rest of the BBQ trying to meet people in your department.

However, I didn't have much luck. Other than L., my friend, we only managed to find 3other people in Education. Apparently we are not a very popular faculty when it comes to general orientation!

The evening session was much better. Though most of the information had already been discussed in the morning, the food was much better. It was a wine & cheese deal and I was able to enjoy a nice glass of red wine. Yummers. :) Also, I was able to meet some people in Counselling. Though I have only seen them once since Tuesday (and that was today), I know that the more I see them, the better we'll get to know each other and hopefully (fingers crossed!) new friends!

Overall, orientation was kind of boring, yet somewhat helpful. I suppose the real test of time will be if it is useful in the long run.

Dining Out, Ottawa Style: Perkins Family Restaurant

As I mentioned in the last post, we went out to eat a lot this past weekend here in Ottawa. We also went to two restaurants I have personally never ate at, but either my grandmother and father have eaten at before. Both of them are American chains that happen to have restaurants here in Ottawa, but not in Quebec. Hence, it was quite the treat for the two of them. So for today's post, I'm going to focus on Perkins Family Restaurant.

Considering that it was 10 pm at night and there is only a limited amount of 24 hour restaurants in Ottawa that have parking, I took the family to Perkins Family Restaurant on St. Laurent, right across the street from St. Laurent Mall.

Upon our arrival, my father declared that he didn't especially like this chain of restaurants and he would have preferred going somewhere else. However, considering that I don't really know how to get around Ottawa very well, I told him this was it and to enjoy.

Perkins has the look and feel of a family restaurant. Nice wall paper, big booths, friendly staff. There was four waiters there while we were and our waiter was very attentive to us. He stopped by several times to see if we needed anything or wanted anything else. He was also very friendly and had a ready smile.

I had the cheese quesadillas, which at $8.99, were a bit pricey, but they were good nonetheless. My grandmother had an egg, with bacon and two pancakes. She enjoyed everything but the pancakes. My father had some sort of meat dish, which he said was good.

I personally enjoyed the restaurant and would go back if I needed to go to a 24 hour restaurant again. Considering the time of day, ect, we had excellent service and the food wasn't have bad. I did find it expensive though, especially considering what I had to eat. I have had similar dishes elsewhere for either cheaper or with more food for the same price.

Overall: Nice atmosphere, friendly staff, but I wouldn't have gone if it wasn't a 24 hour restaurant. I'm convinced you can find just as good, if not cheaper place, elsewhere.

Perkins Family Restaurant
1130 St. Laurent Blvd.
(613) 747-9190

Over the Weekend: Adventures in Family Visits

This past weekend, my father and grandmother made a quick trip up here to Ottawa to see me and my new apartment. They had also planned on doing a couple of other things, but I'm afraid the weather gods weren't on our side this weekend. The highest temperature all weekend was 20 C and it was rainy, cloudy, and pretty miserable the rest of the time.

I've been fighting off a wicked head cold since Wednesday, so I wasn't the happiest of people to be around this weekend. To my knowledge, it isn't H1N1, so I should be fine!

So what did we do? Well, here's the play by play.

Friday: They arrived around 9:30. We went out to eat at Perkins (review to follow in a future post) and then off to bed we went!

Saturday: Went to Denny's on Bank for breakfast and then headed out to Perth.

Sunday: Out for breakfast again, then to the Trainyards and St. Laurent Mall. They left mid-afternoon. I crawled into bed and died.

Monday: Feeling much better and happy to be home alone yet again!

Hopefully, my dear readers, you had a better weekend then I did. But do not worry, I will be back in good shape soon enough!

Bad Mood Tuesday

I'm having one of those days.

I had day two of my First Aid Course today, which required me to wake up at 6:30 to be there for 8:30. So I was tired and groggy most of the day today.

Good news is that I passed First Aid. With a 94%!

Arrived home to do laundry and have some supper. Was feeling kind of lonely, so I chatted with my friend N. in Montreal via Facebook chat for a while, then called J. and K. and talked to them for about an hour.

I miss my friends. I miss having things to do. At this moment in time, I don't have a job, a volunteer gig, or classes to worry about. Quite frankly, I spend a lot of time alone, hence why I feel lonely. Also, even though I know like 5 people in Ottawa, I'm a considerate person and I don't like to harass them on a daily basis with my problems. Especially when they have their own lives to lead.

Following this, my father called. Now, since my father does not know I am writing this blog, I will now proceed to rant:



My mother died when I was 19 (or 6 years ago). Of my two parents, my mother was the more mellow one of the two. I used to call home every two to three days when I lived in Quebec City and we would chat. We would then go on our merry little way.

I hardly every spoke to my father. He was never around. See, he's a truck driver and decided to leave all the parenting to my mother. Which is exactly what she did.

Now, one of the key roles of parenting is giving the support for your children to become individual and healthy members of society. My mother knew this. She gave me roots, but she also gave me wings.

My father, on the other hand, does not understand this concept at all.

Over the last couple of years, every couple of months, my father and I have the same argument and that argument is about my safety. In his opinion, I should give him my friend's personal phone numbers so that if, in case, something happens to me, he will be able to reach them. I, however, disagree, because my friends do not know the crazy person who is my father and I believe it would be an invasion of privacy to give him their numbers.

So we had that argument again tonight. And I got royally pissed off for a couple of reasons. The main one is that he doesn't treat me like an adult. I am 25 years old. I already have a Master degree and I've been living on my own for 8 years now. This is also the 3rd major city I have ever lived in, so I do know about city life and personal safety.

I AM NOT A CHILD. I do not need to be checked up on every day. I do not need him to call my friends when I do not answer my cellphone because I'm at work, or at school, or at a movie, ect. 95% of the time, I can take care of myself. And if or when I would need him, I would have my friends call him, not have him call them.

It's times like this that I miss my mom. I miss her a lot for a lot of different reasons. Most because she understood that I should be treated as an equal and not some child that doesn't know any better.

And for F*** sakes, I live in Ottawa. It's like one of the safest cities in Canada. Why should people be concerned? Hell, I'm not. Not anymore so than when I lived in Montreal.

So Dad, for the 50Th billionth time, you are not getting my friends' phone numbers. It's called let me be a mature adult and let me take care of me.

A Guide to: Cheap Eats Ottawa

I am now the proud owner of a Cheap Eats Ottawa book!

After looking at it once or twice in the Chapters on Rideau, I decided that it was a good investment and to go for it! Spend the $12.95 and save more in the long run!

Though I have only tried one of the restaurants out (and this was pre-guide), I look forward to eating at these highly recommended if not cheap restaurants. I will document it for you, all of my lovely readers, in the future.

But instead, this post is about how good of a "guide" book it is. First off, they is the required map at the front, which provides you of an idea of the different areas of the city where these restaurants are located. This was actually very practical for me because I know very little about neighborhoods in Ottawa and that my friends, includes my own.

It's a small book, which makes it ideal for putting it in purses, backpacks, cars, you name it. It does not take up a lot of room. Also, at $12.95 (or less if you have an iRewards card like yours truly), it's a good deal.

I find the rating system a little difficult to understand, but this is mostly because the explanation of the rating system is at the very front of the book, so you have to look at the restaurant, flip back to the rating system, ect, ect.

Also, the restaurants aren't organized by what type of meals they serve or area of the cities they are in. Rather, it's alphabetical order! This gets annoying as well, because I was trying to find a brunch/breakfast place in my 'hood and spent 95% of my time flipping between all these random pages. That is crazy frustrating for me! Urgh!

Here's the pros and cons of the Cheap Eats Ottawa Guide.

Pros: Cheap ($12.95), provides lots of options for lots of different restaurants in different neighborhoods around the city.

Cons: Needs better organization.

But I do strongly recommend going out and getting this little darling, because what's wrong with trying to find the most delicious and cheapest places to eat here in the Other National Capital? Nothing, if you are a graduate student like me!

PS: They also have a blog! Feel free to check it out!

http://www.ceotblog.com/

Dining Out, Ottawa style: Buster's Bar & Grill

Yesterday, after a quick change in plans from some friends, I was picked up and brought out to the West End (Bayshore/Britannia area) for supper.

Now, I haven't eaten out much in Ottawa, but coming from Montreal, I will admit that I often have high standards for places. Montreal is considered one of the best restaurant cities in Canada, while Ottawa has restaurants, quality to be discussed.

Buster's Bar & Grill is located in the Lincoln Fields Shopping Centre. Now, in my experience, restaurants in malls do have the tendency to be sketch, but this one was not. It was nicely renovated on the inside, with tall, dark wood seperations so that you could sit in a variety of areas, such as the bar.

The food was a decent price and you did get a good amount. I have the quesadillas, which were stuffed with cheese, tomatoes, green peppers and onions and had a side of fries that I dare say, looked homemade. This was $8.99. I also had a Coke at $2.99, which was a bit steep, however, you also had unlimited refills, so the price did make sense to me then.

My dining companions had chicken fingers with french fries or mashed potatoes, as well as a chicken wrap. All reported that it was very good and filling.

Our waiter was this friendly guy who checked on us fairly often, but then forgot to bring us our bills. One of my friends had to flag him down at one point for them, which was a bit annoying, but considering how we were sitting around talking, I can understand the waiter's point of view.

Apparently, they also have live bands on Friday and Saturday nights, which does kind of break up the sports bar feel of the place. Honestly, it seems like a really mixed crowd of customers, from families to young professionals to this middle aged woman with too many tattoos.

Overall, a good experience. If it was closer to me, I would definately return, especially to watch a Hockey game.

Buster's Bar & Grill (Sports bar/family restaurant): B
2525 Carling Avenue, Unit 48
(613) 828-9004

Canadian, Please!

Pros & Cons: Bytowne Theatre

Welcome to Pros & Cons, my newest installment of things I like or dislike about Ottawa!


One of the things I like the best about my neighborhood is the Bytowne Theatre, which is a one screen cinema located at the corner of Rideau and Nelson here in Ottawa. It was built in the late 1940's and still keeps much of it's mid century charm. It is actually one of the few movie theatres I have ever seen that includes a balcony, which you are more than welcome to check out!


The Bytowne plays an "exciting lineup of independent and foreign films", but my favorite is the classics that they show on the big screen. This past month alone, I have seen Rear Window and Grease, both of which you could watch on DVD, but there is honestly nothing like watching it in it's original format.


I also find the prices to be quite decent at the Bytowne. It's $9.00 for adults, but if you buy the membership card for $10 (and it's good for a whole year!), you pay $6.00! Now that's something that the big companies don't offer! Also, refreshments are cheaper as well. For example, I bought a small Pepsi the other day for $2.75, where at most other theatres, it would have been about $4.00.


Of course, there is nonetheless a few cons. The building itself hasn't been renovated in a few years, but I merely think of it as giving it extra charm! Also, they do not take Debit or Credit Cards, so bring cash. They do have an ATM on site, but then you have to pay those service fees, ick!


If you want more information about the Bytowne Theatre, check out their website at: http://www.bytowne.ca/.

Welcome

Hello from Ottawa, or the Other National Capital!

I have recently moved to Ottawa and have decided to share my comments and thoughts on living here.

This is my first time living away from La Belle Province and as a result, I've had a bit of a cultural shock upon my arrival. Many of which I believe blog worthy.

So enjoy and I will keep you updated on me and my happenings here in O-town.