travel

Montreal

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Over Memorial Day weekend I ventured out to Montreal for the first time. Is it sad that being a Canadian I've never traveled to the east coast of Canada?

I loved Montreal. Coming from New York I was blown away by all the greenery and farmers' markets. I was particularly impressed by the scale of Jean Talon market—there were endless quantities of fresh fruits, vegetables and flowers.  I found myself fantasizing about buying fresh fruits and vegetables from here everyday and cooking every meal. It was a nice thought. 

The food was amazing. Every place we ate at was exceptional! And really good value. Thank you Canadian dollar! :D Granted I did do my due diligence before coming and made reservations based on friend's recommendations and reviews.  My favorite were dinner at Tuck Shop, breakfast at Lawrence and lunch at Bouillon Bilk.  

Activities / Places

Marche Jean Talon

Parc du Mont Royal

Mile End Neighborhood / Plateau Mont-Royal 

St. Henri / Atwater Market

Zipline Montreal

Vieux Montreal / Rue St. Paul

Food

Tuck Shop

4662 Rue Notre-Dame O

Porcini mushrooms

Quebec snow crab brioche with bacon

Grilled leg of lamb

Steak frites with chimichurri sauce

Wild blueberry pie

Brownie

Damas

1201 Avenue Von Horne

Fattouch salad

Grilled lamb

Grilled Akkawi cheese

Fattet Mozat

Bouillon Bilk

1595 boulevard saint-laurent

Hamachi

Beef gnocchi

Mascarpone

Lawrence

5201 boulevard saint-laurent

English breakfast

Scrapple

Doughnut

Marche Jean Talon

Rue Saint Paul

St. Henri

Beijing 2008

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Long overdue photos from my trip to Beijing back in the summer of 2008. I can't believe it's been almost 8 years. It was the summer before I began college. It's absolutely insane how fast time flies.

Hello from London

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I have been in London for the past three weeks and I love it here! Maybe it is because I'm on vacation mode that I feel London is slightly superior to NYC at the moment. The air is so fresh and clean. The tube is clean, efficient and did I mention extremely well kept? There are no smelly-ass bums making forts on the subway. Everyone gets in a queue to enter the train rather than a bunch of smelly barbarians pushing their way onto the subway. The food here is surprisingly very solid, expensive but solid. The quality I'd say is actually infinity better than NYC but of course more expensive. Overall, it's a city of with plenty of history, culture and bomb Indian food.

Hong Kong

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Two weeks ago I had the opportunity to travel to Hong Kong for work. It was pretty awesome. The last time I was in Hong Kong was when I was six. I remember going to Ocean Park and unable to go on any of the cool rides because I was a midget. 

It took me by surprise, I really enjoyed the city. It was exactly like New York in its busyness, accessibility and culture. But better. The subways were clean and there were no weirdos. I loved that literally everyone spoke English. It was the best of both worlds, quality gourmet dim sum with the ability to communicate in English. I felt very comfortable navigating alone and blended in rather easily. I can't wait to go back and explore the nature that surrounds it.