Boosted
Thursday December 23, 2021
I've planned a trip to Europe over Christmas and New Years, but with the surge of omicron cases and the changing travel advisories issued by the Canadian government, it's thrown a lot of plans into disarray. I was originally supposed to go to Amsterdam, since the last time I was there, I got food poisoning, and I wanted to visit some of the things I missed, but the Netherlands went into a full lockdown and so I cancelled that leg of the trip and will instead spend it in Barcelona, where they have a few restrictions, but thankfully nothing too strict. It's been a pain trying to organise travel insurance and rebook flights; it took me four hours on hold with Manulife before I was able to talk to someone about my coverage and to ensure I'd still be covered if I decided to go ahead with this trip.
The last hurdle is the PCR test which I'll take tomorrow morning. I've been so anxious about everything lately and I miss the days where travel wasn't so complicated.
I did however manage to get my third COVID shot yesterday, but I really had to work for it. I biked 30 minutes to Jane and Lawrence and sat in line for over four hours in zero degree temperatures, and then waited an additional hour inside the community hub, but ultimately I think it's worth it, especially since I'm travelling. I was so cold I ordered a hot bubble tea to be delivered to me while I was in the queue, and that helped push me through to the end of the wait. Apparently two of the vaccinators were off sick, so they were understaffed and could only process 20 people per hour. But I knew with certainty that they had enough vaccines to give me one, so I toughed it out. Today I felt tired and lethargic, with a minor headache just setting in, but nothing else too severe in terms of side effects.
The last few months have been okay, and we're finally over the hump of winter solstice so things should start getting brighter, slowly. Before omicron hit, life felt pretty normal, and I've been able to catch up with friends and eat delicious things. A bunch of the gameplay programmers from my Watch Dogs team at Ubisoft Toronto got together at Elephant and Castle; I did an escape room with three ex-colleagues (and we nailed that!); I went to Dragon Legend in Markham for All You Can Eat Peking Duck; I caught the partial lunar eclipse on November 19th; we hiked the Niagara Whirlpool Trail and saw the beautiful fall colours; I caught the salmon run at the Humber River, and that's always an exciting time of year. We had so much hope that things would continue to be okay before this variant hit, and that's jeopardised a bunch of travel plans for next year.
I was hoping to go back to Malaysia to see family in June, but there's no telling what changes will happen between now and then. At least New Zealand will be opening up their border next year, and I'll very likely be back for Christmas. We're coming into our third year of this pandemic and it's just tiring. Hopefully there will be some improvements in 2022.
Posted by Jeremy at 12:42am on Thursday December 23, 2021 :: 0 comments :: 
Double Vaxxed
Monday June 28, 2021
I was privileged to be part of Toronto's Vaccine Day today, which saw more than 26,000 people vaccinated at Scotiabank Arena. The atmosphere was amazing, with entertainment and DJs. They gave away Maple Leafs and Raptors tickets for every 1000 vaccines administered (Go sports teams!), and everyone got a free rally towel to commemorate this record-breaking day. It truly felt like an "us, the team of Toronto" thing, and to be in Scotiabank Arena for the first time getting my vaccine felt so momentous.
Restrictions have started to relax, and the weather is blazing hot. Things are looking up. Being able to see people again has really lifted my spirits. Having social events to look forward to makes my week so much more enjoyable. I've kept up my fitness by joining Toronto's Bike Share program, so I can get around town and burn calories at the same time. I've biked all the way out to Woodbine Beach on the east side, and Mimico Waterfront Park on the west side. The Martin Goodman Trail is super nice to bike on, and High Park during weekends, since they close it to cars. We biked the Don River Trail one afternoon as well, starting at ET Seton Park by the Science Center and heading to Tommy Thompson's lighthouse - where I saw a fox for the first time! - and I still biked home down Bloor Street after all of that.
I caught the magnificent partial solar eclipse sunrise on the 10th of June as well. I woke up at 4.30am and got a car share car to drive to Woodbine Beach where I found a bunch of other nerds setting up their massive cameras and equipment for this spectacular one-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The weather was almost perfect, with a few clouds around the horizon, but not enough to obscure our view. At 5.35am, the "devil horns" sunrise appeared, two distinct spots of light emanating from the sun while the moon obscured the central part. As the sun rose further into the sky, the more familiar crescent shape appeared, illuminating the waters of Lake Ontario. I was truly lucky to be able to witness an event like this - and I've already bookmarked the next major eclipse event in Toronto, a total solar eclipse in 2024!
Posted by Jeremy at 2:38am on Monday June 28, 2021 :: 0 comments ::
Winter is Here
Monday November 12, 2018
I've finally got some downtime to do some blogging - I'm sick, presumably from the plague going around the office, and as the temperatures dip below zero this week, I'm expecting sickness to be a lot more common. Winter is definitely here, and although we've had a few flurries of snow, it hasn't quite stuck on the ground. Yet. That will happen very soon.
Three months have gone by since I last blogged. I've done so much... four of us went to Vancouver for a week in August, visiting Stanley Park, doing the Grouse Grind (My time was 1hr 20mins), rocking the suspension bridge at Lynn Valley, checking out Gastown, Chinatown, Granville Island and Kitsilano Beach, as well as the delightful neighbourhood at Hastings and Main. We took a day trip to Whistler and went up the mountain, which had stunning panoramic views, even in summer. We spent a day over in Victoria on Vancouver Island, where we visited the best botanic gardens I've ever seen, the Butchart Gardens, as well as the Craigdarroch Castle. There was a piano at the castle on the top floor, and a group from Hong Kong were fooling around on it... they were trying to play a song called Tong Hua, which happens to be the only Mandarin song I know how to sing, and coincidentally play on the piano. After they vacated the piano, I played the full song, to the amazement of the group, and everyone started to sing along - it was awesome. I managed to catch up with Caleb, Mary, Campbell and Linda, the four New Zealanders who migrated there last year, and it was great seeing what they thought of Canada and their experiences settling in to a new country.
There was the disappointing Toronto Burger Festival out in Vaughan, which was a sad attempt at filling the void that Wellington on a Plate left in my stomach. I had to wash it down with the Filipino Food Festival, where I tried balut for the first time... except, I don't think it was really balut, it just looked like a boiled egg without the duck foetus.
We went camping at the Elora Gorge near Guelph, which is famous for the tubing down the river, and I went for the Dovercourt Baptist Church retreat out in Muskoka, with its picturesque lakeside views. I went hiking around some magnificent parks in Ontario, like the Rockwood Conservation Area, the Devil's Punchbowl Waterfall in Hamilton (except there was no water because it hadn't rained in a while), and Dorset Tower and Algonquin Park with its brilliant fall colours.
I had few visitors; I caught up with Graeme, who was randomly in Toronto, Linh, who I hadn't seen since University, and Delwyn and Graham from my church in Wellington. Matt also visited me on Thanksgiving weekend from Cleveland, OH, which is a short five hour drive from here. We went to Allan Gardens, Scarborough Bluffs and Evergreen Brickworks, we went to a blind dining restaurant near the Village and we went for chimney cake twice.
Last week, we went to Tew's Waterfall, Dundas Peak and Webster's Waterfall in the Spencer Gorge Conservation Area, near Hamilton. It was quite the hike, what I thought was the route to the Webster's Waterfall parking lot was actually just a dead-end, but a magnificent view of the falls up close. Dundas Peak was pretty fantastic though, there's a couple of rocks jutting out over the cliff, making for some epic pictures overlooking the blanket of yellow trees in the gorge. We continued on to Niagara for a buffet dinner at the Fallsview Hotel Casino, where I ate too much, and then down to the Niagara Parkway to watch the fireworks over the falls. We walked to Dufferin Islands to see the light displays, then called it a night. The next day, we went wine tasting at the Konzelmann Estate Winery, where we had a four wine pairing with junk food! We also got to learn about the wine making process and the advantage the winery has from being by the lake, as well as how ice wine is made and why it's so expensive. We spent the afternoon walking around Niagara on the Lake before heading back to Toronto.
There's still lots of things to do around the city, but it's definitely time to bring out my winter jackets, gloves and thermals. I'm looking forward to going home to New Zealand for two weeks (where it's SUMMER) and seeing friends and family after a long absence from the country.
Posted by Jeremy at 9:04pm on Monday November 12, 2018 :: 0 comments ::