Photos from Toronto to San Francisco to Manila

I left Toronto on August 2, a few days after my relatives (three aunts and one uncle on my father's side, plus their children) threw me an advance birthday party. I arrived in San Francisco on the same day, where another uncle picked me up. The next day, my friend Eric took me to Napa Valley for the only tourist-y thing I did on this trip—and I don't even drink alcohol!

Ate Vivian and Kuya Joey, my cousins, treated me to dinner with their families on separate days. It was a good experience because my last visit to San Francisco was almost ten years ago, when my nephew was too young to know who I was, and my two nieces had yet to be born.

Ralph and Mark, my former high school classmates, also took me out for a picnic with their wives and other friends. That was not all, however, that I did before I left for Manila on August 7. Unfortunately, it did not occur to me to take more pictures. It's a good thing that I was able to take a few when I met Rene and Che, my classmates in college, the day after I arrived.

In case you're wondering, yes, I gained weight during my six days in San Francisco. I suppose this is proof that when two or three Filipinos are gathered together... food will be served =)

Winter in Orillia, ON

I've been to North America before, but never during winter, not even fall. I was more fearful than excited about winter, and snow was just one more thing I needed to deal with. Nothing to blog about. Except when I got to play in the snow.

Through the International Student Centre, I was able to join the free, annual International Student Weekend hosted by the very generous and accommodating Rotary Club of Orillia, which is about two hours north of Toronto, and has had the most snow this year in the province of Ontario. I also enjoyed interacting with other international students, including those from continents I've only ever dreamed of visiting =)

My first photos in heavy snow...


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On the snow mobile...



Snow tubing...

My Suitemates

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Koji is from Japan, majors in computer science, and is 25 years old.

Donald is from California, majors in the classics, is 27 years old, and will be leaving our suite by next week.

Mustafa, my roommate, is from Michigan, majors in Near and Middle Eastern civilizations, and is 27 years old.

Except for Donald, all of us are first-year PhD students at the University of Toronto, and new Graduate House residents.

Paraisong Parisukat (Square Paradise)

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It isn't quite square or paradise, but it might as well be =)

Graduate House (GH) is where I live. I cross the street to work out and swim at the Athletic Centre (AC). Robarts Library, where I've been spending a lot of time, is the main library. The Faculty of Information Studies (FIS) is where I'm doing my PhD.

None of the buildings are particularly attractive. In fact, despite winning architectural awards, GH and Robarts have been nominated as the ugliest buildings in Toronto. And while I agree that they are pretty ugly, it must be said that I'll be spending more time inside the buildings. My roommate Mustafa says that our room reminds him of a jail cell... but it's a very comfortable one =)

So it's probably appropriate that Paraisong Parisukat was, in fact, a movie about a woman who worked in a shoe store. It wasn't quite paradise, but it was comfortable...

My First Meal

I don't cook. I rice cooker and I microwave. Now you can add indoor grill to the list.

I bought the chicken fillets at Dominion; Tita Gee gave me the uncooked rice, plate, and George Foreman grill; and my suitemate Koji offered the use of his rice cooker. Tita Gee actually lent me a rice cooker, but since Koji's was already set up, I took the path of least resistance =)

By the way, the chicken is unseasoned; I've had six meals of the same thing since the first time; and I expect that I'll have many more. But don't worry, I used to do the same thing in the Philippines—except Ate Norma was the one preparing my meals for me. I actually prefer bland, predictable food. And this probably says quite a bit about bland, predictable me =)

Graduate House Photos

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The photos above were taken at my new mailing address:

Graduate House 408C1
60 Harbord Street
Toronto, Ontario
Canada M5S 3L1

I share the 3-bedroom suite with three other people, one of whom is my roommate. All of us are PhD students, but in different fields.

Tita Gee gave me the bigas, asin at poon (literally, rice, salt and god) because it's supposed to be a Filipino custom... one that she found out about when she got to Canada. Bringing these items first into a new residence is supposed to be good luck.

The living room is rather sparse. The only veteran tenant said that hardly anybody uses it. But the sofa seems rather comfy, so I'll probably do some reading there.

The kitchen seems to be quite complete with oven, microwave, and refrigerator. Tita Gee gave me a rice cooker and grill, but I still need to get my own plates and utensils. I suppose I could borrow from the others, but I think I'd like to wash my own stuff and know that what I'm using is really clean... if you know what I mean =)

There are two bathrooms, but my roommate and I are using the one without the bathtub. I don't think I'm going to have a problem with him because one of the first things he did was wash the shower curtain. And we cleaned out the stuff left by the previous occupants together.

The place reminds me of a hotel, especially the keycards for the doors, but there are some unpainted walls. Architectural license, I'm told. Whatever =)

The sheets in my room were provided by Tita Ying, who also gave me some towels, toiletries and laundry detergent. I've agreed to share the shelves in the cabinet with my roommate. He's much taller, so I'll take the three shelves at the bottom.

The "GH goodies" on the bed were in the bag I found in my room: Lipton chicken noodle, Lubegel, Trusted condoms, Mentos, Cadbury, Student Services ballpen and Old Spice Red Zone. Guess what I'm going to open first? =)

Caitlin

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Caitlin is an artist. Sed was the one who invited me to Boston. Caitlin and Sed are, quite obviously, together =)

I took the photos on the busiest shopping street in Boston, MA, on 16 July 2006.

Birthdays

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Thank God, for relatives!