Hockey and Snowshoes!

(End of 1st period show, where there's the minature hockey team trying to score)

So besides working this week, one of my friends was able to get me a free ticket to watch the Hitmen. I know what you're thinking, "what the heck is that?" Well I thought it was a ticket to the screening of some sort of action movie, BUT it's actually tickets to Calgary's major junior hockey team. It's the equivalent to Toronto's Marlies. The team's name was inspired by a local professional wrestler, Bret "the hitman" Hart. So since it was free, I thought to myself, "Well, it's not like I have anything else to do on a Tuesday, and it gives me a chance to see the Saddledome." Also, the word "Free" can make anything appealing.

The game itself wasn't THAT amazing. Their rival for the night was the Saskatoon Blades. In the end, the blades won 8 to 4.

There was this one girl, about maybe 10yro, with dreadlocks and dog tags around her neck. During the breaks between the periods they would do a "dance cam" and zoom the camera on people dancing. The best dancer won free food vouchers or something. But every time it would zoom in on this kid I got freaked out because she would do this sort of "krumping" dance on the stairs and it looked like she was going to trip on the stairs every time. BUT I think the funniest part was watching their mascot, "Farley the Fox" being attacked by a 8 yro boy.

The fox got so fed up but couldn't catch the kid in time so eventually started throwing popcorn at the kid. I know, mature.

So yesterday I went snowshoeing in Bragg Creek, which is about 45mins SW of Calgary. It's a small little town that has some nice outdoor trails for cross country skiing and snowshoeing. So at first I wanted to do it because it was out in the woods, and not really for the sport. But after yesterday, I REALLY like it. It's like the winter version of hiking, and I love to hike. First off, Calgary and the surrounding areas got dumped with a bunch of snow over night. Lets just say the 2*C weather with sun that I originally planned for did NOT happen. Instead it felt like -15*C. Getting to Bragg Creek was a challenge too! All the snow on the roads caused everyone in Calgary to slip and slide. It was treacherous trying to drive. Luckily, we made it there alive. I actually don't own a pair of snow pants myself and my roomie actually lent me his. Luckily he did because I stayed nice and toasty warm. Really, the only part of my body that occasionally went numb were my thumbs. I was wearing 2 pairs of mittens and in my main 4 fingers compartment I had hand warmers to keep cozy. The only part of me that did successfully freeze was my hair. It was really close to my mouth so every time I exhaled, the water vapour would settle on it and freeze.


It was a really great trail. There were some steep parts, but the metal spikes on my snowshoes helped to keep me from sliding too much. Also the trees here are really tall and they helped in sheltering us from the winds. The people I went with were great too. There was a couple where the wife actually was born and raised in Oshawa, and she also went to the same high school as me too! Small world.


Here are some pictures of the trail. I didn't take my SLR as it was way too cold, but I still managed to get some decent pictures with my point and shoot.






This is what we saw at the top of the peak. It was clear of a bit, but in the time frame of 5 seconds that it took my frozen fingers to grab the camera, it covered the view of the distant mountains :(.


The tour guides also took their dog Roger for the hike too. This little guy had so much energy, it was unbelievable!

Even at the top he needed some rest.

The tour itself was awesome. I learned a lot in terms of the trees and shrubs around me. There's certain plants like 'wintergreens' that can help stop bleeding. Poplar trees can help determine the direction of south when you're lost. They tend to produce this powder, which is a natural SPF to help protect you from the sun. They produce more of it on the south side (not sure why).

Oh this next part made me feel awesome. I learned how to build a fire without fire wood and a lighter or matches. I used an piece of metal from an ignition steel fire starter, and a knife. I rubbed the two together near some lint and then BAM!

I said let there be fire! It actually took about 3 minutes to light, and only lasted about 5 seconds...then it went out. BUT it had potential to burn for at least 30 mins - the trick is adding vaseline to the lint. The tour guides gave us a few snacks too. I was able to have some cookies, granola bars, fruit snacks, and even hot chocolate. Overall it was a great workout and really awesome to learn some of these things. I'd totally do it again. I was actually looking at getting my own pair of snowshoes:)

Final thought:
I can't wait to try cross-country skiing. These outdoor activities make it all a little better being here.

Note: Chinese New Year is just a few days away!!! Eeeeeeeeeeeeeekkkk! Excitement!!!

Warm Weekend Wanders

So this is the first decently weather-ed weekend which allowed me to wander downtown.
It's not that I haven't wandered around at all, but it's been a while and usually it's rushed. Also, there's a new student in our lab who's a co-op student from out of province (Quebec to be exact). So since she hasn't seen the city too much, I decided to take this opportunity to re-discover this place myself.

So walking around downtown, there's a bunch of random statues, including Animals, humans and...random metal stuff.

Chess People...

Bears...

Freakishly tall people...

Calgary wouldn't be calgary without a horse!

Downtown there's also a main shopping centre that they call "the core/td centre/holt-renfrew". It doesn't really have one name. Apparently It's been changed so many times!

Oh, the unique exterior architecture of the mall is apparently built/designed by a UW student. Woot woot, Represent!

They have a pedestrian only area, which is known as "Stephen's Ave". Nothing too amazing, but there is a very Calgarian/western store there called "Lammele's". Inside they have a sign that says: "If you're going to act like a turd, then go lie in the yard".

Slowly we ventured our way south towards Central Memorial Park.

In this park there's...

A Cenotaph

Home to the Memorial Public Library

Equestrian statue of R.L. Boyle as a tribute to all Albertans who fought in the Second Boer War

And World War I soldier statue in front of the library (which I forgot to take a picture of...)

After that we headed back north to the Olympic Plaza.

For those who don't know, the '88 Winter Olympics were hosted here in Calgary. It's the location for the medal presentation ceremonies and now hosts many special events & festivals throughout the year. It is also a wonderful place to sit and enjoy your lunch during the noon hour. At night it's lit up very nicely. There's a nice little skating rink too! The odd thing is that bordering the rink, there's these pink gofers...


Of course we also passed the Calgary tower. Unlike the CN tower, it's not the tallest structure when looking at the downtown Calgary skyline. Also, the "glass floor" area isn't that big either.


So moving on we walked north to Chinatown. I wouldn't really call it a town... it's more like a China...block. Rumour has it that the rent in this area is really cheap, but they will ONLY rent to chinese people. Kinda sketches me out a little. But in this area there's maybe one "mall" and a cultural community centre. This is the roof inside the cultural centre. It's decorated in prep for Chinese New Year!!!


Finally, we make it to "Eau Claire Market". What's so amazing about it? I have no idea. It's a mall that is barely open. But I guess it's what's behind the mall that is better/more interesting. There's usually a fountain in the warmer seasons and I think little kids tend to wade in the water. There's a little island where you can walk around. It's know as Prince's Island Park.




As you can see, it's a nice scenic stroll.
What's there now? Currently there's a lot of ducks and an area for kids to skate on. In the summer you can even see beavers, and there's apparently concerts and festivals which are hosted there. Oh! And there's also a cute little play ground for the kids. Yes, I did play on the playground.

The thing that made me laugh was that their swings were in the shape of cowboy hats! Only in Calgary, only in Calgary...


We ended the day off with skating around on the river.

I was proud of myself because I didn't fall and I pseudo-learned to skate backwards!!! My friend Melyse used to figure skate as a kid and ranked nationally, so naturally she was amazing! Jumps, twirls, spins, one legged things. You name it, she did it!

So that's my little trip around downtown!

Final Thought:
To skate properly, one should get their skates sharpened. Mine were dull from last year. And... one should properly stretch prior to skating. My body is definitely feeling the aches...

Chinooks...

So currently as I type, weather network in forms me it is -20*C outside (feels like -31*C) with winds of 22km/h. Needless to say, I'm staying in today!

My original plan was to go grocery shopping, but that can wait.

What I am pseudo looking forward to is this Chinook that is supposed to be here this week!

Because of the mountains, Calgary frequently gets these warm winds that raise winter temperatures by 10 - 20*C. These warm spells can last for hours or days. You can read about it on Wikipedia HERE.

So looking at the 14day trend available on the weather Network website:

We're due for some warm winds soon!

The downfall:

Unfortunately, these Chinook winds also bring migraines (read HERE). I can already tell that for the first few days, I'll be down for the count and burying my head in my blankets. The other downside to these winds are, since they tend to warm up enough to melt any snow and ice, Calgary doesn't really care to plow any of the roads or use salt to melt the ice. So essentially what happens is cars drive and drive and pack down the existing snow into this thick slippery sheet of snow. Then the warm wind will come in and melt it. BUT if the wind doesn't melt it completely, and the temperature drops once again, then what you get is formation of ice. In Calgary it gets way too cold to use salt on the roads. So what they use is sand or gravel. So essentially... you'll get a chipped windshield from all the rocks being pelleted at your car. It's pretty much inevitable.

On the plus side, I'm hoping to go snowshoeing in Kananaski Country two weekends from now. I found this deal on a "Groupon"-like site which included a 2-3 hour tour pointing out animal tracks, teaching us how to build and igloo, and more! (Link) So I'm excited for that. Still deciding on if I should bring my SLR or my point and shoot. The case for my SLR is quite large, so perhaps maybe my point and shoot which can fit in my coat pocket? Maybe Both? Meh, I got two weeks to decide.

Depending on the weather I might opt to stay in Banff or Canmore for the night. Perhaps do some day hikes? I'm still waiting on my Hiking book that my friend borrowed from me. He borrowed it when he was down and accidentally took it with him to Montreal. Unfortunately... it's still in the mail...

Final Thought: I need to purchase some nice thermal leggings. Does anyone know of a good brand?

Holiday Blur!

Home is always where the heart is, for me...it's Ontario! Needless to say I was estatic to be home. For some odd reason, it doesn't seem like Christmas to me until I see the Swaroski Christmas tree in the Toronto Eatons centre. Of course it was super busy. I tried my best to make time for my friends and family but 9 days is stricly not enough! If you were not apart of the handful I saw, I'm very sorry!

Lets see what I was able to complete while I was home...
1. I saw my old lab mates
2. Saw "A funny thing happened on the way to the forum" musical (plot can be seen at this LINK) A great musical it was. Songs are still in my head!
3. Visited a ton of friends (speaking of awesome friends, look how awesome this quilt is! My friend hand made it! Thanks Fuzzy *big smile*)


4. Went boxing day shopping and bought myself a new dSLR & Netbook (currently loving them both!)
5. Had a potluck dinner and celebrated a fake New Year Eve (multiple times)


6. Celebrated the real new years eve with a few friends


7. Had great dimsum & bubble tea! (The dimsum place didn't have any caucasions. My dad always jokes, "You know it's a real chinese dimsum place that's good where there's no white people around because they will usually settle for any type of dimsum and they'll never find the good stuff")

Yeah that about sums it up. As the title of this post states it was all a blur...
One of the most awesome things was our family had a GIANT roast pig for dinner. How big was it? It took over our whole dinner table! I remember asking my dad how big the pig would be. He replied, not too pig, a baby one. So here I'm thinking this dinky little thing and then BAM there it was.



We ate it for days. Still tasty thought! The chinese styled roast pigs aren't that great here in Calgary...

Final thought:
There's a lot of things that make Ontario better than Calgary, right now I'd say it would be the temperature... it's really cold out (felt like -40 ish) ... and yesterday their train transit system broke down for 25mins... I was standing in the cold. Needless to say I wasn't a happy camper. Can't wait for it to warm up so I can take a ton of scenic pictures with my new camera! In the meantime... I'll stay warm under my quilt :)