Machu Picchu

Finally, after an oftentimes gruelling 4 day hike - Machu Picchu!

We woke up at 4am on August 22nd and ate a light breakfast which our fantastic porters had prepared at 4:30. Thirty minutes later, we walked the 50 metres from our camp site in the dark to queue at the entrance of the final checkpoint of our hike which did not open until 5:30.

The reason for our early morning start was to get to Machu Picchu in time to pick up a permit to hike up to Huayna Picchu, the ruins atop the mountain that overlooks Machu Picchu. The permits were limited to 400 a day and given out on a first-come-first-served basis so we had to hustle.

It was an eerie hour of hiking in the dark before the sun slowly began to rise, clearing out the misty clouds. I reached the Sun Gate after climbing the "Oh my god" stairs, so-called because they were crazy steep and crazy high - so steep and so high that you have to literally climb them. The view that eventually greeted me was worth it though:

If you look really closely, you can see the profile of the alpha-llama just to the left of the building against the blue sky:


I'm amazed that these delicate flowers were hardy enough to grow out of the walls of the ruin:

Towards Huanya Picchu, which I thought ill-advised while hiking up since it was freaky-steep and narrow - oh, and you go down the same way you came up!

The crazy steps - "Oh my God!" part deux

The view of Machu Picchu from Huanya Picchu

Paradise Orchids on the way down....

We rode a bus down this windy pseudo-two lane road down to Aguas Calientes below, where we caught the train that would take us back to Ollantaytambo.

It was while leaving Machu Picchu that we heard there was a forest fire along the Inca Trail, the same trail we had been hiking the last few days! So not only did I dodge an earthquake - I missed a forest fire too!

Ceviche and other yummy goodness...

What's a vacation without food? I must confess that I had very low expectations when it came to food in Peru, mainly due to ignorance on my part. I hadn't done any research prior to going, and this article hadn't yet been published so I didn't know for example that ceviche (which I have always enjoyed save for the short period of time when I was allergic to sashimi) originated in Peru.

Our first meal in Peru was lunch at Cebicheria La Mar, the same restaurant mentioned in the article and it was out of this world. I must admit that while the rest of our meals were pretty good, they paled a bit in comparison to this first introduction to Peruvian fare.

Feast your eyes on the yummy goodness at La Mar:

Ceviche, seafood briefly "cooked" in lime juice and monster kernels of corn

A seafood appetizer sampler to rival any of the fancy-schmancy dining establishment in Toronto

Grilled Swordfish with wasabi mashed potatoes

A tuna steak that was perfectly seared

Grilled octopus

Seafood soup, another Peruvian specialty

The dinner that followed was at Jose Antonio, "the Best Typical Peruvian Food Restaurant in Lima...specializing in regional Peruvian cuisine "Criollo", authentically prepared from ancient recipes dating back to Pre-hispanic times."

A sampling of the appetizers, including marinated beef hearts on a skewer, which was surprisingly tender

Chuleta Acaramelada, fried cutlet pork coated with caramel, served with rice and sweet potato (cooked with orange juice in the oven) - this had to be eaten quick because as the caramel cooled, it hardened and became rather difficult to cut with the knife

We now leave Lima to venture to the next and final stop on our culinary journey - Cuzco, where we had the chance to try another Peruvian specialty....roasted guinea pig! wL and RC were rather keen on trying it so we had two of these at our table. I had a little bit to taste and can't say that I enjoyed it very much. Whether it was due to the actual guinea pig meat or the herbs and spices they used to prepare it I don't know, but I could have done without trying it.

This is my "safe" choice for dinner - chicken and beef hearts grilled on a skewer (the hearts were better in Lima...):

Ahhh....and now, the fantastical passionfruit cheesecake at Cafe Dos X 3, that was raved about in wL's Lonely Planet. Soooooo good!

Finally, our last meal in Cuzco was at Ciccolina's, a Spanish tapas restaurant in the San Blas neighbourhood. We ordered a few chef's choice tapas platters to start and supplemented with additional tapas as needed - these, along with a bottle of Carmen Sauvignon Blanc only cost us 45 Soles each - which worked out to be about $15!

I was out for dinner last night with S&W at a Peruvian restaurant in town and the fare was a pale imitation of what I was lucky enough to taste on my trip. At least I've got the pictures to remind me...

Running, running

I went running with wL after work today and it was my best time ever - 5K in 28:16! I shaved another half minute off my time, but it didn't feel like it while I was running. It felt more laboured because I ran the last 3K with a stitch, and trailed farther behind wL then I ever have for a longer period of time...we started off running at a quicker pace then usual, and I was hungry to boot since we didn't head out until 6:30 so that might have contributed to the cramps too. Ah well.

He's leaving for a two-week trip Saturday so I don't know what I'm going to do. I lack the motivation to get my ass out the door once I'm home - and like I said before, he's a much better runner than I am so he makes me better in turn. I'll try to keep it up at the gym, at least on weeknights since it's too dark for me to feel safe running out on my own after work. Let's see if I can pick up the pace in the time he's gone...

Meanwhile...No Doubt's Running...one of my favourite songs...


...and perhaps appropriate on some level because I think I might like wL as more than a friend but can't be sure. That's all for now.

I'm paying for it now...

My skin has gone berserk.

I have the occasional hormonal blemish, but this situation is clearly not hormonal so I'm trying to figure out why. Could it be all the wine that I drank this past weekend? There was R's birthday get-together Friday night...and then the bottle of Wildass on Saturday.

Or is it that I haven't been taking the vitamins and supplements in the last, oh, month or so that my mom tells me I should because they help keep my skin clear and bright? I never really believed her but took them anyway because she's my mother and it's the path of least resistance and now I'm finding out the hard way that they really did work to clarify my skin and keep my body's engines running smooth?!

It could also be stress from work - I've put the job search on hold at least until my bonus is paid out next February. I figure I've already stayed this long, what's a few more months; the bonus has always been rich relatively speaking and I've no reason to believe that this year will prove otherwise; and finally, I'll need the money since I'll be moving next year. Anyway, I'm actually very busy at work with a couple of big, fairly high-profile projects on the go at once which I've sort of taken the lead on and it's causing me a fair level of stress because I feel a touch overwhelmed. I've even taken to bringing work home to do, which I've done only a handful of times in the 3 years that I've worked at TLG. I suppose this is payback for having spent much of the last year sitting on my ass at work surfing the net because there was so little to keep me busy. sigh.

So adorable...

I met N's new baby girl M today and she is the sweetest, tiny little thing. Her skin was so soft and her feet and hands so small! And N, who gave birth 2 weeks ago doesn't look like she was pregnant at all, except for the bigger boobs. :)

It's lovely to see N&G as parents. I've always considered them as the ideal for a marriage - granted, I don't have very many close married friends, but they were high school sweethearts and managed to grow together rather than apart. And while their relationship has had its challenges, they've managed to work things out rather than give up at the first sign of trouble, which says a lot in this age of disposable everything.

After spending a couple hours cooing over M, wL and I went for another run. I managed to shave another 15 seconds off my time by coming in at 28 min and 45 sec. AND! I was able to run with greater ease today - it didn't seem like I had to work as hard to keep up with wL, even though I did trail him by about 50 metres consistently in the last couple kilometres, I didn't feel the hint of a stitch until about 3km in and even then, I was able to breathe through it.

We're hoping to schedule in another run during the week if the weather's good - the forecast calls for rain Mon/Tues and I don't run in the rain - and then I'm on my own for a couple weeks because he's off on a trip to the Middle East, spending 16 days on a tour covering Israel, Jordan and Egypt. :(

Drunk on Wildass Red

It's Saturday night and I'm drunk on Wildass Red 2004 - a fine, easy-to-drink "big, bold, and beautiful" vintage made of "Cabernet/Merlot with a hint of Gamay to keep it real!"

I started the day off with a 5k run with wL, and I must admit that the brisk, cool air this morning made me question whether it was a good idea to run at all. Turns out it was a great idea because I shaved another minute off my run-time - 5K in 29 minutes, baby! We've a date to do it again tomorrow afternoon - perhaps I'll improve my time a bit more... :)

The rest of the day was fairly uneventful...I got home after my run...read the paper...ate lunch...headed to mandarin class...grocery shopped...then proceeded to get drunk on a whole bottle of Wildass Red with dinner.

Aside from sharing my drunkeness, I have a condo status update, as I stopped by yesterday after work. There's just one more floor to go and they should be adding the "precast concrete panels and floor to ceiling glass" exterior!

View from the west

View from the east

While I wait for that to come around, my hunt for furnishings continues...I found the latest candidate at BLVD Interiors on Queen West - by day, it masquarades as a sleek, armless sofa that's surprisingly comfortable:

And by night, it's a cool sofa-bed that's bigger than a single but smaller than a double:

I wish my condo would just hurry up and be built already because just as I begin to think I've decided on what I'd like in my space, I see something else that changes my mind...like the armless sofa-bed above. I thought initially that a sectional like this would be a great idea, and then I thought no, perhaps a sofa like this - both of which, you may notice, are tufted variations with arms. But now that I've seen this sofa-bed, I'm thinking armless may be the way to go, particularly as this is so much more practical since this would double as a guest bed - it's affordable, and it's also so much more stylish than a futon! Anyway...I'm sure I'll change my mind again as I visit more furniture stores...but for now, this and the sectional are tops on my list.

Oh! I also stopped off at John Fluevog and tried both pairs of boots that I've been coveting. While the brown boots looked fantastic on, they were a workout-and-a-half to put on and take off, so I'm rather disappointed to say the least - I don't know about you, but I don't have a footman in my non-existant entourage so boots that require help to remove are a no-no. The bad-ass black boots looked pretty damn good too and were soooo much easier to put on and take off that I think I may just buy them after all at the LA Fluevog store. We shall see...if they're in store then they were meant to be mine...otherwise, there are other boots to be worn.

I must now take my drunk ass to bed...I've plans for dim sum with my family in the morning before meeting my friend N's new baby girl M, who looks like her daddy G. :)

Girls' long weekend redux!

I just got off the phone from booking my flight to LA in November!!! Girls' long weekend redux! Yay!

I'm visiting my best girl W and we're going to shop and eat and shop some more! And speaking of shopping...I already started with 4 cashmere(!!) sweaters from J. Crew! I took advantage of the free shipping offer that expired yesterday and had my goodies shipped to W so as to save on the duty. Ah well...waiting a month to caress their softness is a small price to pay...and considering all the money I'll probably be spending, I've got to save where I can. ;)

I plan, therfore I am

My red leather Kate Spade agenda is, sadly, looking rather worn, so I'm thinking it may be time to get a new one...this Louis Vuitton Monogram Vernis planner in Amarante, which is a fantastic deep burgundy colour might be just what I need:

Thanksgiving weekend round-up

It's Thanksgiving in Canada so hurray for long weekends! It turned out to be a pretty busy one too.

I got my haircut Saturday morning at my usual salon, although my stylist S is still on mat leave. After the unsatsifactory cut I got last May, I decided to give P a try and she was pretty good, although not S. I asked how S was doing and when she would be back - apparently the plan is to come back on a part-time basis in January, but P suspects that she won't come back at all since she'd be commuting from Oakville with the baby at home. This makes me sad, and causes me some distress because while I love S, I'm not prepared to trek out to Oakville to get my haircut if that's how things play out. Bloor West Village is as far west as I am willing to go.

So what'd I do this time? P lopped off about 4 inches to clean up the mess from my last cut and I got me some bangs that I'm not sure about since I'm not used to having hair on my forehead. My hair grows out so fast anyway that it'll only be a pain in the butt for about a month and then it'll be long enought to tuck safely behind my air.

I spent some QT with my brother in the afternoon picking out fabric for some custom made dress shirts by Hong Kong tailor Maxwell's Clothiers and then spent the evening having dinner with wL at Embrujo Flamenco on the Danforth, a great tapas restaurant that has live flamenco performances nightly. The food was great and it just so happened that Canadian rapper turned actor Wes Williams, better known as Maestro Fresh Wes of "Let Your Backbone Slide" fame was dining at the next table with his wife. Anyway, no story here except that he seemed like a really nice guy at the restaurant.

I spent yesterday with a couple classmates from my mandarin class hiking at Hilton Falls. It was a foggy, gray day and thanks to the storm from the day before, much of the leaves had fallen to the ground. There was some nice colour to be found - although not as much of the brilliant reds and oranges as I would have liked. Plus, I got bitten by a mosquito and it is soooo itchy!

After a late lunch, I met up with S&W and we headed on over to G.H. Johnson to check out some furnishings - they'd just moved into their new apartment the day before and needed to find some more storage in the way of night tables and dressers. I found a couple things I liked, including this sectional, although I'm not sure about the leather:

I also really like this sofa, which has great a mid-century vibe to it:

Of the two, the contempory look of the sectional better suits my loft space. The sofa will look out-of-place if set in my living area with its 10' walls and exposed concrete ceilings. We finished off the night with Indian at Tabla, so my craving for butter chicken and na'an is sated until the next one hits.

Which brings us to today. I went for a 5K run with wL this morning and thanks to him, ran my fastest 5K to date, finishing in about 30 minutes. I think we're going to try to run together more often, which is good for me since he's a better runner than I am and therefore challenges me to do better.

It was humid and so warm today that we actually set a new record for October 8th by hitting 31C today. All I know is that it was enough to send me to bed for a couple hours in the afternoon before getting up to make dinner. In lieu of the usual roasted turkey that my mother makes, I made herb and garlic-crusted beef tenderloin and paired it with a pea risotto - both super-easy to make and very yummy to eat - since my brother complained that turkey's too dry. I disagree, but he's usually so low-maintenance and "whatever" that the odd time he makes a request, we try to accomodate him.

That's it then. I was going to post my Peru pictures but it's just too darn warm, so warm that it makes me sleepy so I'm not going to fight it any longer...

Itchy, itchy itch

I've got my eye on a couple pairs of boots at John Fluevog - namely this one here, which I think would look really cute with skirts (plus the button details are purple!):

And this one here, which reads tougher than I'm accustomed to:

I've been holding back because I'm not ready to give up on summer yet - besides which, I'm trying to be fiscally responsible. But I want them.

And I don't know what prompted this, but just for kicks, I decided to change the settings on the website to see what the prices would be in USD, since I default Canadian. And you know what? They're about 25% more expensive here than they are in the US - and John Fluevog is Canadian!

The clamour over price disparities between products sold in the U.S. versus the exact same products sold in Canada has been increasing ever since the Canadian dollar started showing strength against the U.S. dollar. The price of books is a perfect example of the longstanding disparity - the American list price for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is $35.99 compared to the Canadian list price of $45. The exchange rate this summer was in the mid-90 cent range - so if I had driven to Buffalo to buy the book, I'd have paid the equivalent of about C$38 once the exchange rate is taken into account. How is that fair?

Now consider the price of cars - according to this article, the 2007 Honda Accord Sedan starts at C$25,090 in Canada while it costs US$20,360 in the U.S., and the higher end Cadillac Escalade EXT starts at C$71,730 while it sells for US$55,045 south of the border. Crazy, non?

Some Canadians are so pissed off that a $2 billion class action lawsuit was recently filed in the Ontario Supreme Court against the Canadian and U.S. divisions of General Motors, Honda, Nissan and Chrysler alleging that they conspired to artificially maintain car prices in Canada and inhibited cross-border vehicle shopping fuelled by a rising loonie.

So what's my point? Well. I'm not so pissed off that I'm going to sue anybody, but I am thinking more and more that a shopping trip south is in my future. To that end, I fired off an email to my best girl in LA to find out what her plans were in the next month or two. We last got together for a girls' weekend in NYC in November, where as usual, we were each other's shopping good luck charms. Coincidentally, she's got the itch for some retail therapy too, so we'll see what's what...depending on how you look at it, this could be really good...or really bad... :)

I knew why he called

My friend J, who rarely calls, left me a voicemail around 7:30pm. I was surprised to see his number in my missed call list and when I stopped to wonder why he called, I thought to myself...mmm...maybe he's calling to tell me he's engaged.

I called him back about 15 minutes ago and lo and behold, I was right. He's engaged. To a girl that I don't like. Which doesn't matter because he's the one in the relationship with her. The problem is that from early conversations, it seemed like he was settling.

So I asked him how he knew she was the one, a question I often ask of the engaged - and after trying to give me the usual "you just know" bullshit which I didn't accept, he proceeded to give me, in his words, a clinical answer, which included the comparison to one's checklist of qualities in an ideal mate, agreement in fundamental values, and something about not having to feel like you had to talk yourself into the proposal and having no doubts.

He sounded happy and I'm glad for him. But I still don't like her - and it's not because I want him for myself.

Friendships are not transitive.

Perfect weather for a run

The weather was perfect in Toronto yesterday for me and the other 30,000 or so runners who participated in the Run for the Cure which raised about $5 million here. The event raised $26.5 million and saw 170,000 participants run in locations across the country.

10 o'clock in the morning and this is where I was at near the start on the corner of Queen and University:

The masses behind me...

...and in front.

I made the mistake of not bringing my headphones with me, so I ran without music...which was bad because I got bored. The first kilometre was alright, but the second and third were awful since I stopped and walked several times. I was determined to run the last 2 kilometres though, and it turned out to be a lot easier than I thought it would be, perhaps because I knew the end was near. All in all, it took me 37:09 to run the route...which is about my usual pace. I'm going to do better next time.

Post-run mingling in Nathan Phillips Square

Nuit Blanche

I spent a few hours Saturday night wandering along Queen West, otherwise known as "Zone C" of Nuit Blanche - a free festival of independent art and performances that took over parts of the city. I had the run the next day so wasn't so ambitious as to think I could hit up all 3 zones like some people, but kudos to them for trying.

There was some good, some not so good, and some...interesting. Here's a bit of what I saw:

A collection of wings made out of onion skin - one of my favourites:

From the website:

From sunset at 7:03 pm on Saturday, September 29, to sunrise at 7:14 am on Sunday, September 30, 2007, Toronto will be bustling with activity as thousands experience a full night of contemporary art and performance in three zones across the city. After a stunning and triumphant launch in September 2006, the widespread appeal for Scotiabank Nuit Blanche to return in 2007 was overwhelming. On May 10, 2007, Toronto Mayor David Miller officially announced that Scotiabank Nuit Blanche had become an annual signature event for the City of Toronto, and he invited everyone to rediscover Toronto through this free, all-night celebration of contemporary art.