Sonata for Harpsichord, Flute and Oboe

A new piece :3

Proper snow in Montreal!

It's finally started snowing in Montreal! It's started last night, and everything was pretty much coated with snow before I went to bed. In the morning, the snow was piled up rather high, but the roads and sidewalks were apparently cleared sometime in the morning.

At the moment it's feeling about the same as winter in London, i.e. slush everywhere. Unlike London where I didn't really buy winter specific shoes - I got by with waterproof walking shoes - the people here (and I!) are prepared for the cold with insulated, waterproof boots and proper jackets.

Today was hovering around the 0C range, but tomorrow promises something down to -14C.... we'll see what tomorrow brings. Mainly, my legs can chilled in the setup I've got now, because I've been reluctant to wear thermals for my legs. Plus, thermals don't help getting splashed by cars.

As such, I really want to get now some insulated waterproof pants. Found a pair of columbias for about CAD119? That should do the trick. If I ever go to another country with winter I am so ready for the cold!

The week in review.

Generally fine, apart from Tuesday. Tuesday is the definition of FREEZING. It was actually above 0C, but the wind was pushing some serious velocities. It felt like I didn't have any pants on. I think tomorrow I'll be going downtown to check out some insulation/windproof pants, and perhaps snag a warmer liner glove.

I have an obsession for gloves here.

Cat.

Had a somewhat angst written post about introversion - how I feel north america is so much more extroverted than the countries I've worked in the past, but you know what? Here's a cat poster I saw on the way to work.

The next few days appear to be steadily growing warm! Heck, I left my apartment today with my polartec(tm) fleece - 5 years old and still holding up! Yay macpac! - and softshell. And it was too warm lol.

The evening time was cooler, and it was perfect down in the city dressed that way. Next week promised to be cold though, brrr!

Sonata for Harpsichord and Flute

:3

Winter is coming.

I think today begins the road to a cold, cold winter!!! In the morning, I left the house at a nice cool -2C, and only wore my liner gloves. My fingers were feeling rather cold but you know, it's ok. Upon getting to work... I couldn't feel my finger tips. For a good half hour. Smart, eh?

The puddles today were all frozen solid, and the wind, oh the grasshoppers above, the wind! It wasn't all that cold as my face has already gone numb but it was rather strong. A few fellow (older) pedestrians had difficulty walking against the wind.

This will be an interesting experience... let's see what happens!

A few more winter gear purchases

Had a few things I wanted to pick up from mec.ca that were not available in their shop along St Denis, so I went down to their big store at Marche Central. It's a quick ride on the 80 bus to the end of the line, and then a short walk to Marche Central.

I bought a few things, such as the Seirus Windpro Xtreme Dome Hat. It's a high tech toque, and I needed one of these as the trapper's hat I wear is not very breathable, and it won't fit very well under my Khuno's hood.

I tried the Seirus hat this evening, and I think I may get another one when this one's in the wash! It's warm, the wind is totally cut, and there are little flaps that cover my ears, and with its low profie fits perfectly under the Khuno's hood.

I also got a few other bits and pieces; wool socks, some liner gloves and a Seirus face mask (will write once I actually use it!)

I am currently using polypropylene liners and they seem to do a swell job, and I got some wool ones (specifically, CTR Adrenaline Heater Gloves) when those are in the wash.

I thought they fit pretty well, but after properly removing them from the packaging, I found that the thumb was somewhat oversized. The reviews on mec.ca aren't that positive either but we'll see how these go. If these fall apart as suggested by the reviews, I'll probably get some thinsulate liner gloves. I used those in London and for the price they work very very well.

I also saw Goretex waterproof socks, 65 a pop for a pair!

Raaaamen

Finally found a ramen place I have positive thoughts about: Misoya Ramen. They don't seem to do reservations over the phone, but I arrived half an hour before my meetup with friends and the extremely friendly staff assured I would get a table for 4 by then.

I had... probably their signature dish I guess, can't remember the exact name. But look at picture above. Yum. First thing is the soup. Good. The miso egg kicks arse, and there's some potato wedges in there as well. Oh, the centre piece, the cha-shu, tastes pretty damned good as well.

We ordered some starters; gyoza (above) and deep fried battered chicken. Both were excellent, I have no idea how they managed to get such soft chicken!

Definitely a place to visit again.

In other news, IT IS FREEZING! Mainly as I swapped out my polar fleece sweater for a quick dry sweater. It's just not as warm as polar fleece. I guess I need to get another polar fleece mid layer; in london I got by with wool sweaters, but the polar fleece sweater definitely keeps me much warmer.

Rapid Weather Changes

When I left my apartment this morning, it was rather warm, heck I was wondering if I was overdressed, and congratulated myself on leaving my heavier gloves at home.

Lunchtime, I went out for lunch and it was rather chilly, thanks to the loads of wind. But it was ok.

This evening however, I left the office rather late (French lessons), and oh my lobsters above. Even though the temperature was only 3 degrees, the wind was biting like..... aphids eating through infant cabbages. Ok, ok, poor analogy as I've not have experienced that but it was cold. I only had my wind proof gloves which were uber good during lunchtime, but at night, it was just cold >.>

Packing my big gloves from now on.

Yum yum! Laksa in Montreal

To celebrate.... hmmm, my flu vaccination a few days ago, I decided to eat out tonight. Been meaning to try this Indonesian place, Nonya and I must say that they make a really good Laksa! The viscosity was perfect, and my tastebuds were awash in flavour. I really should do nanowrimo agan. But I digress.

It's rather different from the Laksa I get in Singapore - singapore style laksa has got cockles, yellow noodles in it - this is the Indonesian style, I'd guess. A single but uber delectable prawn, and some white noodles at the bottom of the soup.

The satay is also very unique; the sauce is already applied to the satay, and my god it is good. I only saw one choice of meat; chicken, and it is probably the softest satay I've ever had. Ever.

On the whole, the meal didn't feel that satisfying - I tend to take a fair bit of carbs at dinner and I got some instant noodles on the way back  - but by the time I was home, I was really stuffed. It might not look or seem like much, but I tell ya, these two dishes are really filling.

I need to go back another day to try their rendang and gado gado; you might want to book ahead as it was jaaamed packed tonight, two other couples and I who didn't do reservations were sat at the bar. Thankfully, my kindle, who is my date is rather petite and didn't occupy too much space.

Definitely recommended.

Weekend musings.

My laptop died this week >.> Just won't boot up. No post, only a hint of the dvd drive spooling up before shutting down. Forums indicate it's a dead motherboard. Yeee haaa...

So.. I've only got my audio workstation (the macbook) to use. Which is meh, as my laptop has far more horse power for cpu heavy chores. But whatever. I've had it since 2009, and bought it as a refurb as well. It's given me a good run.

In any case, I've moved some of the chores over to the mac, and I actually ran itunes for the first time on a mac on Thursday. I must say, it's not too bad (I bought some CDs and needed to rip them) - but it lacks a feature I like alot - playback by folders. VLC to the rescue; I've been using vlc more or less for music nowadays. Use to be an amarok fan but it takes forever to start up, crashy; no point saying more since my linux box is gone.

Also picked up some really warm mittens (*cough* by a certain brand with "goose" in the name), was rather expensive but after I amortized the cost over the length of winter, and it wasn't too bad. I'm pretty sure I made the right choice as I took my windstopper gloves out today (2-ish deg C), and lo-and-behold, my hands were freezing! Looking forward to using the new gloves tomorrow.

For lunch I tried out this vegan place nearby, Invitation V. A bit pricey, but the service and food were pretty good. Well, the service is top notch; I don't eat at enough vegan places to say how good (or bad) it is :D It was definitely a great enjoyable meal imo. Food + kindle reading never goes wrong ;-)