Friday, February 24, 2006

More photos are located .....

The photos are located in msn space:
http://spaces.msn.com/rachiesrealm/photos/

23rd February 2006

Hamiliton
Well, Rob picked me up at 7.30am in his suit..... well we has to stop at Hamiliton for court. So I wandered around Hamiliton for an hour. It did kill the hour actually, lol. Basically I wandered to Jackson Square but none of the shop were open except the foods until 9.30am or 10am.

Niagara Falls
After we left Hamiliton, we drove to Niagara Falls. Wow. SO MUCH MIST that it feels like it's raining. lol. We walked and took alot of foto of Horseshoe and American Fall. We don't know where the Bridal Vale is so :-S.

Then we went up to the Skylon Tower. Wow. You can see Niagara and Niagara Falls. It was like Wow.

After that we took a walk through Clifton Hill Street. It's feels like Las Vegas. Lol. Lots of strange building and characters hanging out.... Casino..... Well it's a pity that i didn't bring my passport 'cause it would be fun to see what it looks like inside the Casino. Oh well.

Ohhhh, I went into Hershey's Chocolate Shop..... oh yummm. The chocolate is so creamy and smooth. It's just fills you right up. I had Hershey Hot Chocolate with whipped cream....... mmmm...... you have to try it 'cause i can't really explain the taste of it. It's so nice. Unlikely any hot chocolate that for sure.

When we had enough of Niagara Fall, we went for a drive and stopped at Whirlpool. The whirlpool wasn't that strong. Then the Butterfly Conservatory. Hehe. It was fun.... Butterfly everywhere. So be careful. Don't step on the butterfly. They're very delicate. I have few landed on me. Saw the largest Moth around the world. Freaky....

Continue driving to Niagara-on-the-lake..... I thought it was a town by Niagara Lake but I was wrong. It's a town called Niagara-on-the-lake. Why do they call it that?? I don't know. It was very quiet....

We drove back to Niagara Falls for dinner. We had dinner at Outback Steakhouse. It was actually an insult to me 'cause I am an aussie and you should of seen the menu but I was laughing so hard as I was reading this menu.

Aussie-Tizers
Bloomin' Onion
An Outback Ab-Original from Russell's Marinara Bay. Great for sharing.

"Cairns" Calamari
Seasoned calamari lightly battered and fried to a tender, crispy, golden brown and served with Outback's own remoulade sauce.

Aussie Cheese Fries
Aussie chips topped with Monterey Jack and Colby cheeses, bacon and served with spicy ranch dressing.

"Gold Coast" Coconut Shrimp
Six colossal shrimp dipped in beer batter, rolled in coconut, deep fried to golden brown and served with marmalade sauce.

Kookaburra Wings
Known as Buffalo chicken wing "Drummettes" in Canada. Served mild, medium or hot.

Bushman 'Shrooms
Lightly battered and fried mushrooms, served with spicy ranch dressing.
Grilled Shrimp or Scallops On the BarbieSeasoned and served with Outback's own remoulade sauce.

Bonzer Soups and Salads
"Brisbane" Caesar Salad
Grilled seasoned chicken breast, served atop a 'Hooley Dooley' portion of our Caesar salad. Also available with an aussie-sized chicken breast or with six Grilled Shrimp or Scallops.

"Queensland" Salad
Seasoned chicken salad served on a bed of fresh greens, with Monterey Jack and Colby cheeses, bacon, chopped egg, tomato and toasted almonds.

Walkabout Soup
A unique presentation of an Australian favourite. Reckon! Choose a cup or bowl.

Large House or Caesar Salad Entree
A large portion of salad, including lettuce, tomatoes, onions, cheese, cucumbers, croutons and your choice of one of our full-flavoured home-made dressings. Choose from mustard vinaigrette, honey mustard, thousand island, blue cheese, ranch, tangy tomato or oil and vinegar.

Outback Favourites
We offer only the finest Canada AAA grade and USDA Choice cuts for superior quality and great taste. Outback Favourites are served with Bushman bread and your choice of a cup of Walkabout Soup, House salad or Caesar salad. They also come with your choice of jacket potato, seasoned rice, Aussie chips, fresh steamed veggies or garlic mashed potatoes.
Outback SpecialAn 8 oz. Canadian AAA grade centre-cut sirloin, seasoned and seared to perfection.

Aussie-Sized Sirloin
An 11 oz. Canadian AAA grade centre-cut sirloin.

Bacon Wrapped Tender Medallions
Two tender beef medallions that are wrapped in Canadian maple bacon to add to the full flavour of these delicious steaks.

"Tasmanian" Caramel Glazed Chicken
A seasoned and grilled chicken breast, finished off with a caramel glaze.

Prime Rib
Our prime rib is slow roasted all day in its own juices. Prime Rib dinners are served with Bushman bread and your choice of a cup of Walkabout Soup, House salad or Caesar salad. They also come with your choice of jacket potato, seasoned rice, Aussie chips, fresh steamed veggies or garlic mashed potatoes.

Outback Style Prime Rib
A tempting 12 oz. cut, oven roasted slowly, then seasoned and seared to perfection.

Prime Minister's Prime Rib
A tempting, oven roasted cut of prime rib served with au jus. Available in 8 oz., 12 oz. and 16 oz. portions.

The Classics
We offer only the finest Canada AAA grade and USDA Choice cuts for superior quality and great taste. All of the Classics are served with Bushman bread and your choice of a cup of Walkabout Soup, House salad or Caesar salad. They also come with your choice of jacket potato, seasoned rice, Aussie chips, fresh steamed veggies or garlic mashed potatoes.

"Rockhampton" Ribeye
A hand cut 14 oz. ribeye steak.

Victoria's "Centre Cut" Filet
No worries! This 8 oz. tenderloin is always "Just Right".

"Ayers Rock" Strip
A 12 oz. New York Strip steak, seasoned and seared to perfection.

Outback Rack
A rack of New Zealand lamb served with a cabernet sauce. Served as chops.

Grilled on the Barbie
Drover's PlatterA generous portion of back ribs and chicken breast, grilled and served with cinnamon apples and Aussie chips.

Ribs on the Barbie
A full rack of mouth-watering back ribs, smoked and grilled. Served with cinnamon apples and Aussie chips.

Chicken on the Barbie
A seasoned and grilled chicken breast served with BBQ sauce and fresh veggies.

"Alice Springs" Chicken
Grilled chicken breast and bacon smothered in mushrooms, melted Monterey Jack and Colby cheeses, with honey mustard sauce. Served with Aussie chips.

Salmon on the Barbie
Fresh salmon lightly seasoned and grilled. Served with fresh steamed veggies.

"Botony Bay" Fish O' The Day
Fish on! Fresh catch, lightly seasoned and grilled, with fresh steamed veggies.

Fajitas and Grillers
Fajitas
Our version of this favourite! Grilled chicken served over a bed of grilled vegetables with all the fixin's.

Grillers
Tastebud thrillers! A bed of seasoned rice with grilled pineapple, red onions, peppers, 'shrooms and zucchini, topped with your choice of steak, shrimp, scallops or chicken.

Down Under Pastas
"Toowoomba" Pasta
She's a beaut! Flavourful fettuccine Alfredo mixed with seasoned shrimp, mushrooms and parmesan.

"Queensland" Chicken N' Shrimp or Scallops
Seasoned and grilled, over fettuccine Alfredo, topped with a light lemon sauce.

"Walhalla" Pasta
Pasta tossed with fresh steamed veggies in an Alfredo sauce, topped with parmesan cheese. Enjoy this dish on it's own or add on a grilled chicken breast.

Bonzer Sandwiches
Served with Aussie chips. Burgers cooked to order.

The Outbacker
It's always a g'day with our old reliable burger with lettuce, tomato, onions, pickles and mustard. Add cheese, at no charge.

The Mad Max
A seriously awesome burger! For warriors only, please. Served with bacon, cheese, pickles, onions, mayonnaise, lettuce and tomato.

Barbie Chook N' Bacon
A tasty beaut! Temptingly barbecued chicken breast served with bacon, Swiss cheese, lettuce and tomato.

Sweet Chook O' Mine
Tender grilled breast of chicken with Swiss cheese, bacon, lettuce and tomato with a honey mustard sauce.

Desserts
Chocolate Thunder From Down Under
Fresh-baked pecan brownie, rich vanilla ice cream topped with hot chocolate sauce and chocolate shavings.

Sydney's Sinful Sundae
'Ava go at it. Vanilla ice cream rolled in toasted coconut, covered in chocolate sauce and topped with whipped cream.

Cheesecake Olivia
New York-style cheesecake with your choice of raspberry, caramel or chocolate sauce.

Cinnamon Oblivion
Vanilla ice cream covered in cinnamon apples and pecans and topped with caramel sauce.

Joey Menu
This special tucker (that's food) is just for joeys under 10. Includes a beverage too.

Mac A Roo N' Cheese
Grilled Cheese-A-Roo
Joey SirloinJoey Ribs (half rack)
Kookaburra Chicken Fingers
Boomerang Cheese Burger
And for dessert for the little ones, why not order the Spotted Dog Sundae

Sides
Sauteed 'shrooms
Grilled onions
Fresh steamed veggies
Garlic mashed potatoes
Jacket potato
Aussie chips
Seasoned rice

We didn't get to see the night light at the Niagara Falls 'cause it wasn't turned on even it was dark. Oh well. We went home.......

Wednesday, February 22, 2006

So You Want To Be A Canuck, Eh?

In order to fool people that you are a Canadian you must take the following steps:
1. First of all, claim that you are not American.
2. Buy a case of beer and watch the hockey game with your friends and family on Saturday night.
3. After the game, complain about your team’s management and suggest brilliant ideas guaranteed to put your team back on top.
4. But point out that at least they are not an American team.
5. Depending on the season, complain about the heat or the cold to a complete stranger. Do this while you…
6. Stand in line and pick up your Tim Hortons double-double coffee and maple cream donut.
7. After lunch/breakfast/dinner (see above), get “out and about”: go fishing, go to your cottage, strap on a snowboard or skis, take a kayak/canoe for a paddle, have a campfire in the great outdoors, or watch the northern lights, all while drinking a beer.
8. Make fun of American presidents whenever possible.
9. And finally, don’t make a big deal out of all the fresh air and water.

Friday, February 17, 2006

Reading Week 20-24 Februrary

I thought I let you know that I won't be travelling next week due to short time frame and lack of motivation. I rather be travelling with a tour agency or with a friend/partner but not on my own. It's no fun. You go to places on your own, who do you share your adventure with?? With strangers. Well I mean, of course you gotta meet the strangers but you don't move with them like the tour groups. You move with them for the next 7 days and you get to know them well before departing at the end. And if I had a partner, it will make it more exciting as when i go to places we discuss where we want to go, do we stay overnight in this town or move on. It's a decision making between 2 people.

Also I have a specialist and doctor appointment at some point next week for my sinusitis. If this didn't happen then I would be on a tour going from Toronto to Montreal to Quebec City to Mount Tremblant to Ottawa to Toronto to Niagara Falls and back to Toronto in 7 to 9 days. It's not goin to happen now. :-(
http://www.moosenetwork.com/

Oh well. Next time huh. I will be spending the reading week doing day trip, studyin for my exam on March 1st and trying to complete my assignment which is due on March 15th.

Thursday, February 16, 2006

UW closed, freezing rain expected

The university is closed today thanks to bad weather that's expected to get worse as the morning wears on. As cars slithered over local roads, both Waterloo Region school boards made predawn announcements that schools would be closed today, and by longstanding arrangement, UW automatically follows the lead of the public school board in reacting to winter storms.

Under the emergency closing guidelines, the closing means classes are cancelled, and any assignments due today will be due at the same time tomorrow instead. Staff members don't have to come to work, except a few in "essential services" such as policing, maintenance and Village kitchens. Libraries, offices and stores on campus will be closed, and so will a host of services and spinoffs, from day care centres to the optometry clinic. The closing includes UW branches in Kitchener and Cambridge as well as the main campus.

The Student Life Centre is open (and there's coffee at the turnkey desk) but Brubaker's cafeteria, Tim Horton's and other SLC services are closed.

Registrar Ken Lavigne says students should check with their instructors for new dates for any midterm exams that were scheduled for today. Staff in the co-op department are scrambling to make new arrangements for employer interviews that were scheduled for today, as the main interview period nears its end before the job match on Monday.

It didn't actually look that dreadful outside at 6 a.m., but roads were starting to fill up with accidents, and freezing rain was moving in from the west. A local radio station's list of closings includes everything from the major school boards to a number of day care centres. Wilfrid Laurier University and the University of Guelph are closed today.

Sergeant Wayne Shortt of the UW police says campus roads are "greasy in spots" but have been cleared by the grounds crew shift that started at midnight. The campus looks like "a ghost town", he said, with most people staying home. And he added the usual advice to anybody who has to take a car out: "drive with care and control!"

At UW, one casualty of today's closing will be the scheduled reception to open a pair of exhibitions at the UW art gallery in East Campus Hall. The event was scheduled for 7 p.m. Opening in the gallery are "Inscriptions", a solo touring show by UW fine arts professor Jane Buyers, and "The Black Notebooks" by Montréal-based artist Brigitte Radecki.

Also on the agenda for today had been an appearance (6:30 in the Biology amphitheatre) by two internationally known activists, sponsored by the Solidarity Association for International Liberation and Young Communist League. Word came yesterday that one of the two speakers, Ward Churchill of the University of Colorado, would not be able to come to UW anyway. The other scheduled visitor was "Palestinian Jew" and academic Uri Davis.

It's been more than two years since the last snow day. The closing procedure was used when snow and freezing rain hit on January 27, 2004.

Tuesday, February 07, 2006

My first attempt at making a snowman


I made a snowman today and very ugly one too. lol. Oh well it will get better with more practise. The snow kept falling down on the side. At least I had fun playing the snow. It's name blind Freddy. It's got no eyes, no nose or mouth. Hehe. I am cruel woman hey.... At least it got a cowboy hat and a scarf.

Saturday, February 04, 2006

Skiing trip turned into a disaster


Today, I got up at 6am all excited about goin to Blue Mountain near Collingwood. Got organised and went to wait at the CLV community centre with the others. Took us an hour and half to get to Blue Mountain but I slept some way. We got there and everyone went to the Rental Area. I hired snowboard, basic learner snowboard and paid for lesson in snowboarding. Went to got my boot and then the snowboard. I was learning to use the snowboard with the instructor. He said i have a very good balance and can stop easily with few falls. So I decided to try out "Big Baby" slope. So I got on the chairlift with the instructor along with the others as well. Well this is where the disaster began. When i got up there, and abt to get off the chairlift, the left foot that I am comfortable with, the lock came undone and caused me to lose my balance and fell on the board. It jammed my back like hell. Instructor was not happy i use the left foot as the front foot but it's turned out that both foot are quick released mode and not locked on neither. So I was transported to the hospital and spent the most of the day in the hospital with lots of pain. The doctor put the morphine in the backside to reduce the pain. Finally I was let out with just back injury, no broken bone. It was 4pm. Wow. We left Blue Mountain and took us 4 hrs to get back to Waterloo due to snow storm or heavy snow.

Thursday, February 02, 2006

My friend, Jo

Jo, was in town today and we finally get to catch up with each other. We had a good time. We went to The Keg's House for dinner. The funny thing is, they will ask you what do you want on your baked potato. You have an option of sour cream and chives, gravy, butter and 3 cheese. I tried a cocktail called Keg Caesar and don't try it. It's a mixed vegetable juice with polar vodka and spice. IT'S SO SPICY!!!!!!!!! She was laughing at me 'cause I keep drinking the water after I sip the cocktail. Too much spice. Never again. Steak was really nice.... Terikayi Classic with vegetable and baked potato with sour cream and chives. It was good hanging out with her.

She got a very good sense of humor :-D