Calgary

Work had me on the road again...this time, the destination was Calgary, Canada. The flight was a blur, the first thing I recall however was my surprise when I discovered in Calgary that the CAD had more value than the USD. Pardon my french, but in my mind I was like ..."WTF! U've gotta be kidding me". Well, the sad truth was that the USD had lost its glamour. I changed a few notes and resolved to stick to my Visa card. I love travelling but I hate going on trips alone. So as much as the business trips give me an all-expense paid mini vacation, I don't really enjoy it that much. I had a jacuzzi in my hotel room, well for the money I was paying, it had to be there! Unfortunately I wasnt thrilled by the luxury of the jacuzzi, I used the shower instead. I'll only get in to a jacuzzi with my girlfriend! I'm a simple fella (lol), my hedonistic tendencies are ephemeral.

Calgary is a beautiful city, expensive but beautiful! The cuisine was excellent. Sampled a few restaurants just to get a feel of the town. First stop was @ "Clay Oven", a little Indian restaurant, the food was wonderful. Spicy with loads of zest, in sharp contrast to the soothing music, the effect was almost zen-like yet fiery! On my second day, I tried out a mediterranean spot, "The Mirage". To be sincere, the reason why I went there was cos my guide swore that their shisha was good. Considering that I'm not a smoker, I happen to fancy the aroma of shisha, quite different from the roughness of hashish. The kebab was excellent, the aroma of the shisha made me feel like Aladdin, dunno if Aladdin smoked a hookah though (lol). I kept picturing myself floating on a Persian rug with Coco, arabian night style.

Day 3 featured a rendezvous @ a swanky cafe, can't recall if the name was Red Lotus or Red Cafe but it did have this oriental feel to it, though the waitresses looked like models and were all wearing minis! Excellent salmon sandwich, now I understand why people love the good life! I try not to recall the size of the bill for each outing. Day 4 was a trip to Joey Tomato's. I highly recommend that you check out Joey's if you are ever in Calgary, simply sublime food!

Oh well, I've been writing only about food (lol). But apart from work, thatz about the only thing I do on my travels, sample the food. The trip back to Jersey was definitely interesting, was picked out for a random search TWICE! I don't want to call it profiling or anything but for some reason people don't seem to believe I am an engineer (and a darn good one!). I may dress casual and look a lil rough, but do not be deceived, I'm very good at what I do (sampling food!). Anyway, I opted for a body pat-down instead of having some random dude snickering at my vitals in x-ray mode.

I've always wondered about moving to Canada. My only hesitation stems from their atrocious weather, in summer it feels heavenly, but in winter...think of Alaska, bitter cold. I don't think my wife would fancy the cold that much. Well, I'm back in Brick City, at least for a week, then I'll jet off to Tel Aviv on another trip. Will def give you details on how that turns out.

I keep dreaming about winning the lottery (lol)...say a prayer for me will ya?