Canada photos

Home Sweet Home

To complete my 3-week vacation in the homeland, here are some more details:

After my brother's wedding, spent time with my aunt and uncle from Vancouver, and got to be a tourist again. Love that. It's funny how we never go to the hometown sightseeing spots unless we have visitors. But it was a beautiful and balmy week after the freak snowstorm before the wedding, so took advantage of the weather. Spent an afternoon in Niagara-on-the-Lake, an old British town settled over 200 years ago, famous for historic homes, the Shaw Festival, the Prince of Wales Hotel and many local wineries. It also has one of the prettiest liquor stores ever, just second to the LCBO in Elora, Ontario. Here's me happy to be near vodka. That's one of the many things I love about Ontario- we don't do cheap liquor stores. No crass red sale "only $5" signs. Just lots and lots of gleaming bottles of the good stuff on dusted shelves. From all over the world, too. After capturing some pics of the changing of the leaves, we took the long way home and drove through the countryside, stopping at a quaint apple farm. Yes, they still exist and this one's run by a friendly family who grows about 7 different kinds of apples. Macintosh is my fave.

After the celebrations, I was lucky enough to have almost 2 full weeks to see family and friends in and around Toronto. I squeezed in a trip to good ol white Niagara-on-the-lake, my stomping ground in-between uni years, when I needed to make tuition payments. Followed this with a trip to a very charming old mill town called Elora, to visit my good friend Chris, a former Film Festival colleague, and his partner Dave (their beautiful B&B, Tynavon). I even got my hair straightened (God is good and so are flat-irons) by Michael, the local fab stylist, and visited the Desert Rose for a delish egg salad lunch (with alfalfa sprouts).

After that, enjoyed the comforts of suburban Oakville, with their big houses, 2-block grocery stores and decorative Jack-o-lanterns. Ate steak (!) and blueberry pancakes with Anje, Chris and Alexandra, while talking about the upcoming arrival of Ciaran, (who arrived Feb. 23). Hung out with my cousin Michele, Arun and their two little girls, drinking beer and eating real thick-crust pizza. The next day Michele took me to the University of Guelph to visit our cousin Kate, who's continuing the lineage of family alumni. Also checked Dairy Queen off my list of places to visit. When will Japan get Blizzards?!

Then it was off to the "Big Smoke', as my father loves to call it, to test my liver. I started at my former coworker's place for homemade garlic soup and paella. Ana, Ines and Chummy hosted us- Jess, Mo, Kate and Brian. They joked they would never make it out for drinks as it would be after bedtime- i.e. after 8pm!

I headed to the burgeoning West Queen West area. Loved my time at Jess' and seeing more Film Fest colleagues and friends, drinking vodka and Red Bulls at the Beaconsfield and trying out the Beaver (good G&T's- thanksPSmith). I worked off my hangover the next day enjoying real pizza with Kate and catching up with old friends from Japan (Johnny A!). I enjoyed the artsy boutiques along Queen West before meeting Du-Yi and indulging in good Italian food. One thing about Asia- the portions are NOT that big. I spent the next few days catching up with old friends. Adam and Vladia showed me designs of their hot King St condo and I met Ashley for Thai in the Annex (her beautiful jewellery line- MsPeacock).

I ended the trip with a detour to Washington, D.C. to see dear friends from Osaka- the Princess, Arjewtino, Shiftless Badger and the Congressional Page.

It was a jam-packed 48 hours of delish tapas, pupusas (corn tortillas filled with chicken, cheese and beans), tamales, a Bruce Lee-chi martini, Smithsonian museums, a proper Halloween party in Adams Morgan (best costumes: Superman on Vaykay, KFed, a congressional page after the Rep. Foley-email "incident", and the Pope).

They luckily helped me overcome my horrific flight there on Air Canada Jazz (never again). After following the PRINTED directions on my ticket to Gate Z, I ended up on a tarmac the size of my driveway, next to the Olive Garden or some other frightening airport restaurant. Of course the friendly staff member whom I offended by asking her a question, raged at me that I was at the wrong gate and I had to put up with a shuttle bus driver who only communicated with one finger. Then I was seated next to a recent divorce who wanted to try out his smooth moves after 15 years of not using any. Good times. He even offered me a bite of his banana. Gross.

The Princess and Arjewtino generously drove me to the airport on Sunday, while navigating 70 roadblocks out of the city for the big marathon, to get me to the church on time. I was rewarded for my torture and got to fly ANA. Three seats to myself, plus decent food and a fantastic in-flight entertainment consul. Had planned to sleep but... so many movies, so little time.

Arriving back after a long vacation is always difficult, but after 3 long and fulfilling weeks of Canadia and catching up with family and friends, I was happy to return to my shoebox and ramen. Who knew the sights and smells of 10 million people could be so welcoming?!

Wedding Bells

I recently went back to the homeland for my brother’s wedding. It was a fantastic event. The ceremony was heartfelt, personalized and clocked in at less than 25 minutes. My brother surprised us all with his show of emotions and my sister-in-law was that perfect mix of grace and strength to guide him through it.

My parents were the happiest and proudest I’ve seen them, with my dad shedding a few tears during the ceremony too. He also gave one of the best wedding speeches and my mom, albeit hesitant she would be able to add nothing more than a few choked sobs, got the last laugh of the speech.

Family and friends came from all over to share the day, including Slovakia, Dubai and Japan (my brother seemed almost surprised that I would fly home for his wedding- as if I’d miss it!). The venue was beautiful, dressed in fall colours, the food was excellent and the DJ didn’t suck and went with the ‘80’s vibe. I caught up with people I hadn’t seen in years and we got updated family portraits.

Not that it was all sunshine and happy times two days before. On Oct. 12th it snowed. Now I know everyone always thinks Canada is an icebox 12 months of the year, but we really have 4 seasons (not just in Japan, like some think) and winter usually starts in late November. So, we were just a tad surpreezed when the flakes started coming down. The wedding ceremony was planned in the outdoor courtyard and we knew the bride would be very disappointed if Plan B had to be enacted. However, luck shone down on us and after two days of snow, it stopped and melted before the ceremony. It was a chilly one, that’s for sure, but nothing that band aids couldn’t hide.

This very real and heartfelt affair was a far cry from the staged media show that was the Holmes-Cruise union recently. Tom even serenaded her with “You’ve Lost that Loving Feeling”! Are you serious?!! But I digress. AND, I feel sorry for people who have sham weddings.


A few insights I’ve learned from weddings:

1. They are the perfect opportunity to make an ass of yourself.

Standing nervously in the wedding courtyard, mentally rehearsing the poem I was about to read in front of 140 family and friends, my brother suddenly puts on his “cop face” , grabs me by the shoulders and directs my back to the nearest wall.

L’il Bro: “I have 2 questions.
#1, Do you want a mike for your reading?
#2, What’s wrong with your dress? Is it supposed to be bunched in the back of your underwear?"

Me: “That would be a THONG, and umm… yes, it’s ahh…a.. Betsey Johnson and it’s all the rage in Tokyo.”

I know, it's such a clichéd embarassing moment that even advertisers use it to sell shaving cream/razors/bikini wax. Yet that didn’t make me feel ANY better. I quickly yelled for my mom and she dragged me into a broom closet to pull the offending underskirt down. All that was between me and half my hometown was a sheer layer of navy chiffon. Mortifying.


2. There is always a guest who wants to take control of the proceedings.

I admit it, I acted like a bit of a battle axe as the MC. Perhaps keeping the wedding party waiting for their introduction for 15 minutes, while I dagger-eyed a group of people who were busy taking photos and catching up and NOT listening to my instructions, was a bit much. Or getting on the wait staff for not bringing out the plates in precision order. I did see tables drooling over their neighbours’ shoulders at their prime rib.

The bride’s mother hilariously summed up my dogged determination to keep the evening under (my) control when she was asked about a planned game for the evening and said, “See that woman over there (with her almost bare ass showing)? She’s in charge of keeping things on track. And they WILL be. Trust me.”

In my defence, I was honoured to be asked and wanted to outdo Robbie Hart in THE WEDDING SINGER. Not that that would be hard. My bro and sister-in-law just didn’t realize when they asked me how much of a hard-ass I was really gonna be. But they were happy when my “skills” procured us a microphone from the wedding festivities upstairs (likely cutting some wannabe-Mariah's song short- oops, my bad), for an impromptu live performance.


3. Weddings are no longer "singles" events.

In the past, many an available wedding party member or guest looked forward to the event as a chance to find new action. Think FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL. Every wedding was a new chance to meet someone who didn't see you projectile vomiting the previous weekend at your local watering hole.

However, times have changed. Drastically. For example, at my brother's wedding I think I was the ONLY single. Almost the entire wedding party was married and expecting. All of my brother's friends from our high school? Yep, married with children. I think the only other single person was my teenaged cousin. Oh wait..., that's right, even my 16-year old cousin has a full dance card.

Maybe it's because people are getting married later in life and therefore by the time you walk down the aisle, your attendees are at least in a "committed relationship". It's something to keep in mind when preparing your guest list. If you're gonna invite single John from work, then you better invite single Kanako from yoga and so on, to fill that 8-seater. As well, don't forget to ensure ALL members of the teams have someone to strive for. And don't even think you can stretch out the numbers by making that one crappy singles table. Y'know, the one where you stick your 8-year old nieces and nephews who get to eat at the "big kid's table" for the first time, and put your three 30-something single friends plus sister in charge of babysitting. No matter how tight you are for space and food. If you do, you can rest assured your invite to their next birthday/housewarming/Grey's Anatomy/tummy tuck party will "be lost in the mail".

4. There is always one “lampshade-wearing” guest.

Case in point, a very affable and funny guest who entertained many with his tie around his head, showing us his best break dancing moves, including, of course - the worm. Gotta love the guy who will take one for the team and make everyone else look sober. They’re my favourites because I’m usually the one veering dangerously close to the starring role, so they often save my ass. My friend Dave once gave me the best advice about drinking in a group: “Always make sure there are at least TWO other people who are drunker than you.” I think it’s sage advice and try to stick to it.

At another wedding, there was a guest who used his best James Bond maneuvers to sneak into the wedding downstairs, which hadn’t yet closed its bar for dinner, and proceeded to sneak drinks up to our floor. He ended the night spinning wildly on the dance floor, sans partner of course (see #3), while we all counted the number of rotations. He then puked on the bride’s gown.

Ahh, good times kids, good times.