where do i begin?

well, hello there. long time no type, i suppose. since i've last blog, a lot has happened - heck, just in these past few days my life has somehow turned upside down. but thank you to all those who showed concern for my lack of bloggage over the course of these past few weeks - yes, i'm still kickin'. just haven't really been around or in the right mindset to blog until now.

and thus begins yet another lengthy but hopefully somewhat entertaining blog entry:

monkey-cat and monkey-fish take over atlantic canada: for 10 days, the charmingly crazy erin dwyer and myself enjoyed ourselves while romping all over atlantic canada. the "totally-played-by-ear" excursion found us trekking through the wonderful climates of new brunswick to the lovely and manic-like climates of newfoundland, briefly stopping through PEI and nova scotia somewhere in the middle.

ya know, strange things can happen when you're (im)patiently waiting for your flight at the airport, like coming up with random nicknames for each other and just bursting out into ripples of girlish giggles and slightly disrupting the peace of the other waiting passengers around you. this is how monkey-cat (me) and monkey-fish (erin) were born. it all had to do with an innocent canadian who had a stuffed (plush) rainbow squid on top of his backpack and a certain dare to steal it from him... and instead of going into full-detail, let me just say that you really had to be there to experience the true vital essence of the monkey-cat and monkey-fish. :oP perhaps if you ask nicely, we may be able to provide you with a very effective and realistic dramatization ;o)

first stop: moncton, new brunswick - where 110k is the maximum speed limit and "The Big Stop" dominates the highway pitstop chain. first meal in new brunswick: a $3.79 pre-packaged pizza sub courtesy of "The Big Stop". first couple of days we stayed at erin's sister's place and met up with the rest of her family (who are thankfully just as amusing as she is :oP). memorable highlight: before flying over, my dad pointed out that it was essential for me to visit "Magnetic Hill" while i was in new brunswick. when we got there and realized that it was also part of an amusement park under the same name, we ambitiously drove all around in a determined search for the frigging magnetic hill, and eventually found ourselves back on the highway. to say the least, we were not impressed - we were expecting our car to be magically pulled down by high magnetic forces when we drove up that hill, but nothing happened. it wasn't until later that night that i called my dad and found out that "Magnetic Hill" was nothing but an optical illusion. yeesh.

but on a more positive note, PEI was beautiful. it definitely left a lasting impression with me. and being the tourists that we were, we managed to make the most of our visit by seeing green gables (including dressing up like anne and posing for some very ridiculous pictures that included fake flowers and a very ugly purse), indulging ourselves with COW'S ice cream (mmmmoooooliciious!), and spent the night at my first-ever bed n' breakfast that left me far from disappointed. note to self: must definitely consider moving to charlottetown sometime in the near future.

... and then there was newfoundland. among many firsts on this trip, it was also my first time taking a ferry ride. prior to this, the only ferry i've ever really been on was the one coming back and forth from harbourfront to centre island in toronto - and that one lasted about 15min - 30min. the ferry ride from north sydney, nova scotia to newfoundland was a whopping 6 hour-long boat ride! but thankfully erin and i were able to amuse ourselves with arcade-shooting action and hunting for free/unused blankets and pillows from random sleepers (which in turn was rather unsuccessful). it was a great feeling when we finally docked in port aux basques - there was such a noticeable contrast between the small quaint fishing village and the insanity of the big city of toronto. and i would just like to say that i love newfies, especially their accents! erin thinks i'm totally daft for having such an infatuation with it, but even though it took a while to process what they were actually saying half the time, i just wanted to hear more and more! and i'm also jealous of the fact that while my backyard in mississauga solely consists of a deck and a fence, erin's backyard on the other hand is the atlantic ocean! the scenery was gorgeous, and the water was clear enough that you could see the bottom... *sigh* and yes, we had lobster, and it was delightfully scrumptious (and yes, erin's granny was so right. cooking them in fresh saltwater really does make all the difference :oP).

i totally fell in love with atlantic canada - from the islander hospitality, to the much-appreciated smell of sea-salt in the air, to the laid-back lifestyle of the people. 'twas definitely a trip to remember, and hopefully not my last time venturing the east coast. :o)

pictures will be posted very soon!

random comment: STAR WARS EPISODE III is definitely worth seeing! :oD

and among other significant life-changes, i'm saddened to say that i'm no longer going to be teaching english overseas in vietnam this coming january, which is a poo because i really had my heart set on it. looks like overseen contract issues and business politics proved to be a bigger wrench in my plans than i had originally anticipated, and so now i begin the process of figuring out plan B. i'm thinking along the lines of either taking a few courses to get my TESOL certification, or finding a teaching job at a private school, or falling back on my tech-writing/communication skills as a last resort. ahh well, what can you do? i remain slightly bummed and turned-off, however i am hopeful that everything will eventually work out the way it's supposed to. who knows, perhaps there's something bigger and better out there for me :o)

as for the rest of may and june? birthday/farewell shindigs, a youth-group cook-off, excessive church camp planning, a possible baden-bonfire, a road-trip to michigan, and a convocation somewhere in between.

it could be worse, right? :oP