Xmas tree

For the first time in 4 years, I have the chance to spend Xmas with my family in France. Usually, we buy a really Christmas tree. The problem is that you have to clean the mess early January. My mum (and the rest of the family) didn't want of a fake plastic greenish tree. Instead we bought a fake old and dead tree (it's more like a branch). Definitely not the tree everyone has.
Look at it, isn't it beautiful with the lights and balls? No snow in the garden for Christmas, but we never had any for Xmas in the south of France anyway. The ski season looks very good so far in the Alps, looking forward to January in Switzerland.
Merry Christmas, Joyeux Noel !!

Adventures at the airport

After 7 days in New York, I decided to leave a day earlier and spend only 9 days instead of 10, so I could spend the weekend in London. At La Guardia Airport (one of the many airport in NY), everything goes as planned and I am well in advance for boarding. I am supposed to take the plane to Washington (stopover) then to London. The schedule is tight, I have just over 1 hour to transfer in Washington and no room for delays. But things are not going so well already, boarding is 15 min late ... but this is still ok. Finally, everyone is in and we are good to go. The plane moves off the gate and goes toward the runaway. Oh nooo, the pilot warns us of a technical problem and we have to go back to the gate for a quick repair/check. So back to the beginning at the gate, but still in the plane. At this stage, half the people in the plane have correspondances to other destinations (national and international) and everyone gets nervous (especially considering it is 9pm and there won't be other flights today). After 1 hour, the plane is fixed and moving back to the runaway. We take off more than 1 hour later than the scheduled time. In washington, 90% of people missed their transfer and we all find each others at the Customer Desk in order to get the next flight the next day, a hotel room and hopefully food.
In the end, I am in bed by 12.30am in a nice hotel 10 min away and with a $15 food airport voucher. Luckily there is a free internet connection, so I can send an email to Thomas who was supposed to pick me up in London. Up and awake at 6.30am, quick breakfast from 6.50 to 7am, at the airport at 7.30am and in the plane at 9.30am.
Note: United Airlines is not so good compared to other companies I flew with. Looks like a company that has not evolved since the early 90's. If you can avoid ... do so!
Note2: When I went to bed, the only food I had was an apple (which I had in my bag). No food since midday. I was hoping to get dinner in the plane to London. At least this is a good way to loose weight ;-)

New York, New York

After 10 days in Vancouver to see Jean and his girlfriend Cynthia, I head to New York where I will spend 10 days and stay with some friends from Melbourne, Caitlin and Adam. I landed at JFK airport at 11pm, which means out of the airport by 12am and in Hoboken, NJ (where I stayed) by 2am. Straight in bed ... sofa bed of course! I am doing some couch surfing but not through the website http://www.couchsurfing.com/
I have had time to see a lot of things but not everything. Not in any specific order I saw : Statue Of Liberty, Ellis Island, Ground Zero, Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center, Time Square, Central Park, a comedy club "The Comic Strip", Chinatown, Natural History Museum, Museum of Arts, and a few other things ...
One thing that not many tourist do in New York is to play volleyball :-) I went to play indoor volleyball with my friend Ken I knew from London.
I forgot to mention the Ice Hockey match in Jersey City : New Jersey Devil vs. Pitsburg Penguin (4-1). Of course, I would not recommend the food at a hockey game, not really healthy. Look at the picture below ... you can live on it, but it tastes like shit!

Elsa, we need you !

Elsa, I think everyone agrees, we need you !

Humans Are Dead

Special "Flight of The Conchords : Humans are Dead" : YouTube link
American Robot
Aussie Robot

Funny signs in Canada

You have probably already seen some strange or funny signs around the world. Here is some more to add to the collection.
If the salmon work, then I don't want to be one in my next life.


After a good day at work (almost like everyone else), the salmon cross the streets to go back home. Watch Out ! That must hurt to be hit by a grumpy working salmon.

Peche a la Turlutte

Below the water catchment in Capilano, we found a salmon farm and a fishing museum. A few interesting things are on display like the "ladder" for the salmon to jump upstream. But the most fascinating part is the fishing technique: "Peche a la Turluttle" avec Jigging Spoons ("blowjob fishing with jigging spoons")This is all very confusing ...

Arriving in Vancouver

First, I would like to thank Air Canada. Why? Simply because everyone in the plane didn't have an entertainment system working and the flight was 14 hours long. It feels much longer when you can watch movies. Luckily, I had a good book with me (Hitchhikers' Guide To The Galaxy) and my laptop with 1 movie on it.
Another anecdote, I arrived in Vancouver before I left Sydney. I left on Monday at 12pm and arrived on Monday at 7am. This is the magic of time zones. It was indeed a very long Monday. So long that I had to have a 1 hour nap in the afternoon (see below).On the first couple of days, Jean and myself walked around Vancouver. He showed me the good pubs, bars and restaurants streets. Went to the little park next to their apartment, to the steam clock, chinatown, and downtown. We saw the "Inukshuk", the stones put together in a form of the man. You can almost see it in the photos below, but 2 bloody idiots jumped in front when I took the picture. Damn tourists! Doh!Oh my god, you should see the size of their vegetables, you could feed a family for a week with 1 potato. The onions are like grape fruits, maybe bigger. You can feel the influence of the USA here, it is not quite the same but close. BIG parks, BIG veggies, BIG fruits, BIG people, BIG cars, SMALL p.... ;-)

More photos HERE