Day 90: Angkor Wat temples!

We didn't want to miss out on the hotel breakfast, which started at 6am, so we decided to forgo watching the sunrise and arrange to be collected at 7am.  The breakfast was a buffet and it had both Asian and western-style foods.  I decided to eat as much as possible and try a bit of everything.  i think we made the right decision!
Tuktuk is definitely the way to travel, as its like having aircon once the air starts flowing, although i do have to wear sunglasses the whole time to stop all the dust getting in my eyes.  Mr. Saven, our driver today, knew a lot about the temples and would tell us a few things before arranging where to meet us afterwards.
Our first stop was Angkor Wat, which is the world's largest religious building and it is where i watched the sunrise last time i was here.  Luckily for us it was not a religious day so we were free to go all the way to the top of the temple, although this was a challenge for Ruth's vertigo.  So much of it was really familiar to me even though it was years ago i was here.  I don't think my photos do it justice.  Mr. Saven had said it would take us an hour and a half max but it took us more like two hours!

We then went through the gate into Angkor Thom, we were dropped off on one side and collected at the other before being driven through to the next temple.  I forget what most of them were called but we went to "the one with all the faces" aka Bayon and tried to take pictures of us eskimo kissing them, like i had from last time, but it was really crowded and hot so difficult to get around.  The heat was increasing and i do suffer when it's hot, especially when i'm wearing lots of clothes!  I was still appalled by any tourists not dressing respectfully though.

After this, we got to go to a temple I hadn't been to before (Baphuon) as it was being restored last time, so that was exciting!  It was called a "mountain temple" by our driver and it was very steep!  Ruth decided to stay at the bottom and i think she made the right decision as the second tier was even steeper, but it was amazing still and once you came back down again, there was a huge reclining Buddha behind the temple.  The French team that had been restoring it had to basically rebuild it like a giant jigsaw puzzle which was pretty impressive.  As Ruth is French she took the credit.

We then headed through the jungle to another similar temple, but this time i was very impressed that Ruth came up the stairs.  It was slightly more ruined and mysterious.  I like the ones where you can see plants starting to take over again.  I decided to climb over some rocks to the very top, which was particularly challenging in a long skirt but luckily i survived and it was worth it for the views.

Next the path took us to the elephant terrace, which is back to "things i have seen before" but i'm more than happy to go round again.
We had a bit of a rest after this, for some ice cream and sitting under a fan to cool down before heading on to Ta Prohm (the Tomb Raider one).  Mr Saven pointed out a few other things on the way, like the bridge that was built to transport all the sandstone for the temples.  This is where i saw the biggest cobweb, with the biggest spider that i have ever seen.
I knew i had seen Ta Prohm before, but it still looked completely different to me, so it was like seeing a new temple.  i guess that the trees would change over the last few years, but also it seems they are restoring different sections, so perhaps new bits were open that we couldn't access last time and vice versa, and some bits were less ruiney.

We were starting to run out of energy and the various sellers were starting to get annoying, but we carried on to a much quieter temple, similar to the Tomb Raider one, but with less tree roots, which we scrabbled around a bit before going to look at the "swimming pool" opposite.  I managed to buy another icecream too, but nobody would sell me a live chicken for one dollar, they just wanted to sell bracelets. (inflation from last time i was here, when the chant was usually "three for one dollar", now they usually charge one dollar for one).

We had one more temple to see, which was older but better restored (or better condition) and completely different to the others as it was made of small red bricks.
After this, we were glad to head back to the hotel away from the heat and crowds.  I arranged to be collected bright and early in the morning for the race and took a slight detour getting back so i could collect my race pack.

We took our time getting clean again and sorting things out before heading out for some dinner.  We found a place up a side street that was quite cheap and decided to get some cocktails as well as they were buy one get one free.  Everything will seem so expensive when i get back to Canada!  I had some papaya salad, which i have been craving for sometime so that made me happy.
Next our driver for the evening took us to the circus! although we stopped briefly at a bank as i had been having trouble getting cash out and had been borrowing off Ruth for a while.  This time, no problems at all, so thank you canadia bank!  my new homeland has come through for me!

The circus was very small and felt very cozy and friendly.  The performances were incredible.  All the participants were fairly young and full of energy and smiles.  They were telling the story of a boy who left home due to domestic violence, who got into all sorts of bad situations but eventually came out OK thanks to some good people he met.  This is a common story in Cambodia.  It was strange as i felt like i should be sad or serious but mostly i couldn't stop smiling.  They were all amazing acrobats!  I'm tempted to go back tomorrow as the story will be different.

When we got back to the hotel, I had received a reply to a note i had left.  I had asked if anyone else in the hotel was doing the race so i could share a tuktuk so i went to knock on the door and introduced myself to Adrian, who is Spanish originally but runs a restaurant now in Phnom Penh.
Me and Ruth decided to go for a swim as we wanted to make the most of the hotel.  So at 9pm we did a few refreshing laps before heading to bed.
I can't believe we've only been here a day and a half!  We've done so much it feels like ages.  I had almost forgotten that i was actually here to do a race tomorrow!

Day 89: on the bus

Getting up early for the bus wasn't a problem due to the jet lag, and i went to meet Han-Na's friend Ruth at the school up the road.  The two of us went by tuktuk to the bus depot and had time for a coffee before we left in a lovely air-conditioned coach.

We chatted a lot on the seven hour journey.  As a physiotherapist, Ruth is here for four months volunteering in an orphanage for disabled children and she was great company for the weekend, despite having a cold!  The scenery was amazing, and so different from the big city, on our first stop i bought some sugar cane juice, which is really refreshing and fun to watch them make as they have to squash the canes over and over again in a mangle to squeeze the juice out.
We went by tuktuk to our hotel.  i'm used to travelling on a tight budget so a hotel was pretty exciting for me.  it had giant Buddha heads outside the front and a swimming pool at the back.  there was also a bath in our en suite!

We headed to the main tourist area for some khmer food for dinner, although we got a bit carried away and ordered a lot of food!  We had some dumplings, then fish amok and a pumpkin bake with vegetables, chicken and cheese.
We had a bit of extra time to wander around the night market before our driver came to collect us again.  That's right, Our Driver, because we have our own personal tuktuk driver.  Although we were pretty tired, we weren't ready to give up yet, so we decided to sit out by the swimming pool and drink a cocktail before heading to bed.

It already feels like I know Ruth really well even though we've only just met.  I am pretty excited about going to see the temples tomorrow!
Photos will be added to this at another time as it's not possible now, but i have started forcing myself to take more photos again.

Day 88: Phnom Penh!

I woke up a few times very early before finally giving up and getting up around 6:30
Pootled about having breakfast, planning bits of this trip and chatting to Han-Na before getting a lift on the back of her motorbike up towards the Russian Market.
I've been struggling with the heat and humidity, plus having to dress conservatively adds to the heat.  To make things even worse it is really hot inside the market!  i bought a new handbag (mine is getting a bit ropey), some flip flops and a fan, then got a bit lost a few times before finally finding the "correct" way out to the cafe where i would be meeting Han-Na for lunch.
I had a mint flavoured lassi and beef lok lak in a pancake wrap, then also an iced coffee and Han-Na had the special of the day.

Han-Na had arranged for me to meet up with a run club that afternoon to practice running in the heat before the race.  Her friend Becky teaches at a school and helps run their group.  We got a minibus to the Olympic Stadium, where they seemed to be setting up for a concert so instead of running round the track, we ran around the top of the auditorium.  We started with a few drills, then sort of did our own thing so i did a pyramid set.  I think my face was probably the colour of a tomato and i was really sweaty, but they all said it was cooler today!  I was definitely struggling, even the breeze was warm, but i think it should be cooler on race day as it starts early in the morning and is further from the city.

After getting a ride back, and a lovely cold shower, me and Han-Na went back to the Russian market for dinner as a friend of hers works on one of the stalls.  It was very cheap and very nice!  We shared two different kinds of fried rice, one had green mango and both came with soup on the side.  And we shared two shakes, one avocado and one red bean.  I like trying things I've never had before when I'm travelling!

Off to Siem reap tomorrow! although it's a shame that han-na can't go as her knee is hurting too much.
Here are my photos from the journey here:

bye bye Edmonton

Mountains!

Hello Vancouver

Day 86 and 87: endless travelling!

By some miracle, I made it out of bed and out the front door on time, and everything went to plan to get to the airport via train and bus.
It was probably a good thing that i hadn't had time to look at the flight plan in detail as its a crazy journey going through all sorts of time zones.  In some way, the crazy weekend of sleeping at odd times of day will probably help me get through the jet lag too.

The first flight was relatively short, just to Vancouver, then a three hour wait before the 12 hour flight to Shanghai, then another three hour wait and a short flight to Phnom Penh.  Vancouver airport was good to mill about in, they have a river and a giant fish tank.  I bought some breakfast from Tim Hortons and also a book to read.
Once on the plane, I settled down to watch LOTS of films!  I tried to stick to cartoons and action movies to make sure i could stay awake, but i did also end up trying to watch Lincoln.  Paranorman was much darker than i was expecting and probably my favourite film of the journey.  I also watched Monsters University, Man of Steel (which i didn't think much of), and a bit of Wall.E before we landed.
Shanghai airport was just silly, everybody transiting had to queue for ages to get their boarding passes checked, then there was another security check, and a couple of other pointless checks as well.  By this point i was really tired and could not be bothered to deal with it all.  I think it took longer than arriving in New York airport.  I had decided to try and find somewhere comfy to sleep for a bit before boarding the next flight, but there was nowhere comfy so i sat in uncomfortable chairs reading my book and nodding off a bit.  I spoke to an Austrian guy who lives in HK for a bit, he had been visiting in-laws in Calgary.  It was actually quite chilly in Shanghai so i was glad to be wearing my coat still!
I think i slept sporadically through a lot of the three hour flight to Cambodia, waking up occasionally to eat.  I have now had nearly all of the different in-flight meal options offered by China Eastern!
I arrived in Cambodia at about 11:30pm local time, having skipped a day somewhere and feeling like it was mid-afternoon.  It was quite hot and humid even in the middle of the night, but Han-Na met me at the airport and we took a taxi to her place.  Its a really lovely house and her house mate is away so i get a room to myself.  I can't believe i'm actually in Cambodia again!  I would be more excited if i was less tired.
I had bought Han-Na some souvenir chocolates from the airport before I left, so i gave those to her, then had a shower and went to bed, suddenly very glad for the crazy midday sleeping i've been doing so i could actually manage to sleep!

Day 85: sleeeeep and last minute packing

When I finally got home in the wee hours, I went straight to bed to try and get a bit more sleep.  I was pretty glad I didn't have to work at Lazia today!
Despite being tired and hung over i managed to get housework done but only made a list and started thinking about packing before I had to head over to the running room.
there was a special event on, so they needed us all to be milling about looking keen to help in case anyone wanted to think about buying anything.  It was a bit strange but made a nice change, and they had a buffet table at the back that we got to attack afterwards.
They were keeping the shop open later than usual as people were still hanging around buying things and chatting, and normally i would have been happy to stay and get paid more, but given that i hadn't done my packing and had an early start, i left on time at 9:30 (grabbing some cheese from the buffet on my way so i could make a sandwich for the journey).
It was around midnight i think by the time i got to bed, with my alarm set for 4:30! (and a back-up alarm as well)

Day 84: Rum and zombies

In the morning after the party, two of the Brazilians took me in their car to go and get some food.  We then changed our mind and decided to go to one of their houses to pick up a computer so we could plug it into a TV and watch something.  We kept getting a bit lost though and then as Natalia was trying to reverse out of the way, we hit another car!  luckily his car was undamaged and hers wasn't too bad at all, she was just a bit shaken up by it, and worried as it wasn't her car.  We eventually got a computer and a pizza and went round to Amro's house, but his TV wouldn't work with the computer so we left again and went to my house via the liquor store.  All in all we had probably spent at least two hours driving around by the time we got to my place.

I have learnt that Brazilians are always to be taken seriously.  Going to the liquor store was my suggestion, but I was half joking.  They were not joking at all and we picked up some rum and coke and a bag of crisps.

We decided to watch World War Z but by half way through we had drunk all of the rum and fallen asleep.  oh dear.
I had been invited to a couchsurf dinner party on Sunday evening, but by the time I woke up again, I had already missed it!  This only left my Sunday evening plans still intact, which was to go and meet Lazia people in the karaoke bar again.  I headed downtown on the train, the river is now covered in snow and ice, and met up with a few of the people from the Banff trip in Remedy café for a bit of a catch up before heading to the karaoke bar.

Surprisingly enough I actually had a good time.  Everybody who sang was really good and once I'd had a couple of glasses of wine I felt much better.  Somebody suggested getting a kebab afterwards, which I thought was a great idea, but when we got there it was closed, so instead we were offered some steak and cartoons round someone's flat.  The steak was delicious but we sat up chatting for a long time and I ended up not going home until early in the morning.

I am not young enough to be able to cope with all these late nights and drinking but I hate the thought that I might miss out on something.  I end up missing out on run club and things instead though so I really should calm down.
I've been writing this on Monday night and I fly out to Cambodia early tomorrow, so I will try and catch up with Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday when I can but right now I need to try and get a few hours sleep. Excited!!

Day 83: the day of the doctor

It was relatively busy in the shop today, customers will come in waves, alternating between nobody in the store or loads of people.  After work I was going round to a couchsurfer's house to watch Doctor Who.  In the end he offered to pick me up as the busses were a bit complicated.  We made a thai curry and had some ice cream afterwards.  it was great to have someone to watch Doctor Who with AND see it on the same day as everybody else.  He then drove me over to Amro's second party, although he decided not to go himself as he needed to pack for a trip.

there were glow sticks on necklaces at the party, so I got to go outside and do some poi in the snow with the glow sticks.   Steve even suggested having another gathering sometime just to do poi, which sounds great!  The party was lots of fun, but I ended up falling asleep there as I just didn't want to go home.  When I woke up it was 9:30am and I had already missed run club!

Day 82: Friday

I've got so behind in writing this now!  Friday was so long ago...
well, I worked at Lazia.  The manager seemed to be picking on me so I was in a bit of a mood, but luckily the other staff are great and said really nice things to me so it balanced out, but I still decided to get lunch somewhere else.  I went back to Mucho Burrito again and had their hottest ghost pepper burrito.  pretty spicy!  Then I went to the bank to get some holiday currency and the library to update my resume.  Maybe when I get back from holiday I can print out lots of copies and start looking for a different job.  This thought made me feel much better.
Amro was having a leaving party on Friday and Saturday, so because I work all day Saturday I wanted to miss the Friday party and meet up with some of my Brazilian friends instead.  In the end I went to the party and met up with the Brazilians there but I managed to not drink too much, leave at a relatively sensible time and go home via some late night food.

Day 81: still cold...

 I'm starting to get the hang of how much longer it takes to get out of the house and get anywhere when it's cold and snowy, and I wore my new mittens and they were really toasty warm.  I saw another white rabbit today!  I didn't follow it, but had time to watch it bouncing across the road like a mini albino kangaroo.
I got to do some more snow shovelling at work, although there wasn't really much snow this time, and Doug laughed at my poor technique when he arrived for his shift.
There was a whole bag of free chocolate waffles as they had reached their expiry date, so that was a good supplement to my lunch.  I also tried on some crazy new polka dot capris that arrived today.

I decided to go to the couchsurf meet-up on a "one drink" policy again, but I was actually quite tired so decided two drinks is OK if I don't go to the salsa night.  There was a tramp sleeping inside the bank ATM room on my way there, which I thought was good, as its probably the only warm place around.  someone else came in to use the ATM as well and he was listening to old Daft Punk songs, so I got it stuck in my head and felt quite bouncy.
(I just had to stop to throw something at Oscar as he keeps trying to eat things I own, he jumped a mile it was quite funny, but it didn't stop him...)
I found out Amro is leaving, I seem to keep making friends with people who leave, but at least its an excuse for a party.  I drunk a pineapple mojito and a "disco beer", both of which were very nice, and I was home by 1am for some holiday-panic-dreams of missing flights in more and more extreme circumstances.

Day 80: contains mild rage

Today I was scheduled to work from 9:30-4:30ish at Lazia.  I've never done the "over" shift before, but I like new stuff and could certainly do with the money.  Then at 1:20, the manager tells me I'm finished at 1:30 (following a couple of relatively heated discussions with the other two girls hostessing today, neither of which I don't think wanted to stay that late).  I'm taking this pretty personally, why else would she do this?!
OK, I missed setting up a couple of tables today, but that's because it was busy this morning, the phone kept ringing, I still got most things done and it certainly wasn't a disaster.  She did seem to be looking for things to yell at me about too.  most of the time she'd be telling me to do something that I was already doing or about to do.  she yells at most people, so I don't usually take it personally.  however, when I'm scheduled to work all day, then told to finish early instead, that's a different matter.

I decided I'd buy lunch elsewhere instead and left fuming internally.  I had a ghost pepper burrito at "mucho burrito", which ticks off another fast food place to try.  although they had a misleading sign promising free dessert, which turned out to be free dessert with your next purchase.  This added to my rage, but was short-lived.
To make the most of the sudden free time, I took the opportunity to hunt down some more wintery gear, thanks to the promise of a "bank of dad" loan winging its way to me.  I went to a shop recommended for being cheap by other Lazia girls and bought some mittens with thinsulate fleece lining, and also some fleece lined tights!  I also bought some leggings as I feel it might be a better winter outfit with snowboots than trying to cram baggy jeans inside boots, but I'm not sure if I can actually bring myself to wear them.  it feels wrong, I've always been against leggings for myself.  I guess I got used to them for running due to necessity so maybe this is an exception to the rule too.
In a different shop I tried on some kids snow boots and they actually weren't too bad.  they felt a better fit than some of the grown-up ones and were $80 instead of twice that.  (It did take me a while to fine anyone working in the shop to help me, which temporarily increased the "world is out to get me" rage levels again.) I may be able to steal a discount at MEC so will try and get there to try on their kids boots again before deciding.  I hope waiting doesn't backfire on me like it did with the coat decision (although that turned out pretty good in the end!)

I was still fairly angry when I got home, but I had to rush to get to run club, it helped that I'd bought a few chocolates to eat and I could put some music on while I changed, and running is a great way to work through frustrations.  Today I tried out the windproof tights I'd bought a while back with an extra pair of tights underneath and my legs did seem slightly less red afterwards.  for most of the run I felt warmer than yesterday, even quite sweaty, but then I was running late so practically sprinting, and my thumbs did start to get cold on the way home.
It takes much longer to get to RR in the snow so I just about caught up with the half marathon group at the end of the road.  They were doing a 4k tempo run, so I continued running quite fast and worked my way through the group from the back.  it was great fun, but I didn't get a chance to rant about work as I was so late (hence venting here instead).
Its really strange that in a week I'll be in Cambodia in heat and humidity.  I'm quite enjoying the newness of running in the cold and snow.

When I got home, I set some laundry off so that my running gear would be clean for Sunday run club.  At some point I will have to add more items to my running wardrobe, in particular a more substantial, fully windproof jacket but also at least one more thermal layer and potentially another pair of windproof tights.  it's going to be even colder soon!
Ah, I feel a bit better now.

Day 79: cold!

so today the temperature is around -15C or so, but with the wind chill its more like -27C.  My coat is still doing its job, so everything inside my coat was warm enough walking to and from work, but my legs (with only running tights on), face and hands were pretty cold.
Probably due to the weather, the shop was pretty quiet.  I tried on a few things and spent a while rearranging the shoes to satisfy my OCD levels.

On the way home I stopped by Amro's house, as I'd left my scarf there on Saturday, then changed into my running gear to the warmest level I currently have.  I was questioning the sanity of going running given that my legs had gone red from the walk home, but its only going to get colder and I intend to keep running.

I was wearing two pairs of fairly thick tights, my thickest base layer and the thermal layer I had bought the other day, then my iron horse jacket. one pair of gloves and one pair of mitts, waterproof socks, trail shoes and ear warmers.  I ran quite fast to keep warm but still arrived too late to join the half marathon training group.  I noticed the cold the worst on my face, especially my nose, but I had bought my credit card (my UK one) with me on purpose.  Now I had felt how cold it was, I would appreciate an extra layer over my face that I might otherwise have just whinged about.  Rather than buy a balaclava, I decided to get a buff.  It would feel less restricting and I can possibly reuse it when I'm not in freezing cold countries.
I was just going to run back home again, 4k in the snow and cold seemed far enough, but the 5k training group hadn't left yet and invited me to join them.  Most of the group had wussed out, so it was actually just the store manager and one other lady.  They were planning on doing 3k on a run/walk pattern so I thought I'd tag along, grateful for the company and extra miles, but if I got too cold I could always run ahead on my own and head back home.
It was much better running with company and comparing what to wear and how to cope with the weather.  we also cheered each other along and praised our bravery for making it out.  we were chased by a snow plough for a while, but we also stopped to make snow angels!  this seemed like a great idea at the time but did not help with the cold.  I was very grateful for the emergency buff purchase.  Although it did get wet and then freeze, which also made it difficult to breathe through, this could be solved by twisting it round.  can't do that with a balaclava! I could also pull it down to just cover my chin occasionally, and it still gave me an extra layer over my neck and ears which definitely helped.
Its unbelievable but it may be even colder tomorrow but warm up to 2C by Saturday.  I've run in the arctic circle in January and it was nothing like this cold!  I had frozen eyelashes!
when I got home and got in the shower, my bum and the back of my arms were bright red.  no idea why they had suffered more than any other bit of me, but it was totally worth it.  I'm sure I'll get the hang of this running in winter malarkey.

Day 78: results

Lazia was fairly quiet today, but poor Tamara was stuck continuously wiping the snowy footprints off the floor by the entrance.  Monica didn't turn up for her shift, but that was probably no bad thing as there wasn't much to do.  it was a strange day today though, as my boss from the Running Room came in for lunch!

after Lazia I got the bus back to the medicentre to get my test results.  Two of the iron tests were OK, but the bone marrow stores were a bit low.  I may add some extra iron pills to my diet for the next week or so, clearly my diet isn't good enough on its own.  i'd like to go and donate blood but no point until I've got some back-up iron supplies in my body.

next stop, running room (via hot chocolate as its snowing and cold).  I was nearly an hour early so sat in the staff room, ate my homemade soup, read bits of a running magazine and changed from my dress to my running tights and t-shirt.
The "learn to run" instructor bought homemade chocolate chip cookies for everyone today! 

I loved my walk home from work.  snow is awesome and makes everything really pretty.  its really soft snow and all glittery at night.  its been snowing constantly today, a few people were out shovelling their paths but i'm guessing its going to be pretty deep and a bit of a battle by morning.  a lot of the roads just look amazing, with snow on all the tree branches or covering the spruce trees.  it makes me smile.

Day 77: hangover day

it seems I forgot to set my alarm, so when I woke up at 10:30 I had already missed run club.
I got up and made an awesome breakfast of sausages, eggs, beans on toast, fried potatoes and mushrooms, then crawled back into bed to check my emails and other internet chores while eating some cake.
I thought about going running by myself a bit later on, but instead I decided to just have a whole day of staying indoors and not doing much.  Somebody had bought some vodka for sharing to Amro's house yesterday.  They had mixed it with some sort of green sweeties so it tasted really nice, maybe I drunk more than I thought I had as I definitely felt a bit worse for wear today.  I managed to do my laundry and get a few things done, then settled down to watch some rubbish tv for a few hours.
Thanks to Oscar I am now covered in scratches! when he is feeling hyper, he likes using people as climbing frames.
well, I think I needed a lazy day.

Day 75/76: Friday/Saturday

where was I?...
my shift at Lazia was going to be 4:30 til about 8:30.  The other two hostesses were arguing over who was going to stay til closing as neither of them wanted to do it, then the manager suggested I did it as i'd been saying I wanted to earn more money.  Rhea explained what I would need to do but there is a list so I wouldn't miss anything and I was told it would be somewhere between 10 and 11pm when I finish.  it seemed like everybody else would go and sit at the bar and drink cocktails when they finished so I got to watch other people having fun while I mostly cleaned things.  I had soup and a Panini for my dinner.  I ate the soup and put the Panini in a box so I could have it for my lunch on Saturday.
as I'd been watching everybody else, I thought I may as well have one drink when I finished as well.  The martini's looked really pretty so I chose one at random to try, but I was enjoying myself so I ended up having a second drink.  a few people were trying to imitate my accent, which was quite funny.
sensibly, I caught the train and was home by 1am.  it had started to snow but wasn't too cold yet.

when I opened the front door on Saturday morning to go to work it was a bit of a shock as it had snowed quite a lot overnight and the snow was really deep! I was expecting it to be cold, so I got to try out my new coat, but most of the snow hadn't been cleared yet so I had to fight my way through it and arrived a bit late.  I would have been even later if I had failed to resist the urge to stop and play in the snow!
not too many customers came in, as it was a battle for everyone to get around, so I got to play tetris with the shoe boxes to try and make room for everything.  I also had a lesson in snow shovelling from my boss, which was fun.  luckily he's a leftie too so a good person to learn from, but I wasn't very good.  he did say there would be plenty of opportunity to practice though!  just as we were starting the shovelling, two friends of mine walked past on a hunt to buy a winter hat.
one of the other girls came back from her lunch break with coffee for everybody to make up for the cold, which was a really lovely thing to do, but coffee does make me quite hyper!

Amro (couch surfer) was having some people round his house for some drinks, so I picked up some groceries on my way home from work, got changed, sorted out all my stuff for sunday run club and ate some dinner, then walked round.  it was a really pretty walk with everything all covered in snow!
when it was time for some people to have a cigarette break I went outside too to play.  I shook the snow from the spruce trees, jumped around a bit, and we made some snow angels!
I even passed my phone around so I could get some pictures, although there are some better pictures somewhere from a proper camera.  here you can see Amro's snow angel and my new winter coat:

So far I still love the snow.  not sure how long it will take to get sick of it!

Day 75: another late shift

I've got a bit behind in writing this!
I woke up quite late on Friday, made myself a nice cooked breakfast then caught up on some internet faffing, including sending some couchsurf requests for my trip to Vancouver.
As I wasn't starting work til 4:30 I decided to go and find the walk-in clinic and see if I could get a blood test for anaemia as I've been feeling a bit low on iron for a while, and because as an immigrant I feel I should use as many of the free services available to me as possible!
I was expecting a long wait but it wasn't too bad at all, maybe 20 minutes.  the doctor wrote out a sheet and directed me to the lab one block over.  They were also quite quick, maybe only ten minutes, then I popped back in to the clinic to make an appointment for Monday to get the test results, bought myself some chocolate to compensate for the blood loss and got the bus back downtown.
I was an hour early for work so I found a café to sit in and a cake to eat and read some of my Rough Guide for Vancouver.

This is the first evening shift I have done, so I didn't really know what to expect, but I really enjoyed it.  its much more chilled out than lunchtime, people arrive more gradually and take their time, the crazy manager isn't there, and I get to make more desserts.  the servers also have more time and patience to teach me things.  There were a lot of new names and faces and i'm not sure i'll remember any of them, but I had much more time to actually speak to people on this shift.
I'm running out of time, so this is a To Be Continued...

Day 74: broke

after a couple of late shifts it was a bit more of a struggle than usual to get out of bed, but I still had enough time to leave a bit early.  after the rain yesterday I was expecting ice so wanted to take my time getting to work.  I only nearly fell over two or three times, which did make one guy laugh so that's something at least!
There weren't many of us working, so it was quite busy and the time flew.  After putting most of my money on the visa gift card yesterday, it occurred to me that I now didn't have much cash and maybe I should give the Thursday night social a miss.  But then I do get paid on Friday and I don't really need to buy groceries just yet, I also had a voicemail message from Lazia, called them back and agreed to move my Friday shift to start at 4:30, so that's another late shift!  on the plus side, it's a longer shift so I will earn more money and I was going to Nicole's for dinner on Friday, but she postponed it so I won't even miss out on anything.  In the end I decided to go out but only buy one drink. 

The one drink I chose turned out to be a 650ml bottle so I think I chose wisely.  It was a blackberry porter and very nice.  the barman said it was his favourite dark beer.  I'm glad I went, it was good to catch up with people.  at one point, Erik borrowed the bar's guitar and we had a sing-and-dance-along.  We went to the salsa club again, which was only $5 entry so that still leaves me with some cash, and I got to dance with somebody really good, which was great fun!  although I was dizzy from all the twirling around and did trip over my own feet and his a few times!
I really need to start being more frugal.  hopefully after tonight's success at being cheap I can try and be better from now on.

Day 73: museum and rain

It was very hard getting out of bed today after a couple of late shifts in a row.  So I didn't get up for long before I was back under my duvet faffing with some internet chores, at least until Oscar decided to "play" and scratched my feet really badly!  suddenly the duvet game is much less fun.  i'm still annoyed at him, but he's too cute to stay mad at really.
It was quite hectic at the restaurant today, which I always enjoy, but the manager had decided to hover around and constantly criticise whenever she was nearby.  I've no idea why she decided to single me out today but I've got to the stage where I just blank it out.  I still really like working there.

I went straight from Lazia to the bus stop and ate sandwiches en route to the royal alberta museum.  I went there when I visited last year and loved it so I ended up buying an annual pass that gets me free entry there and a number of other places.  Aimee joined me for a cake in the café briefly before heading back to work, then I checked out the current exhibit "chop suey", about Chinese immigrants to Canada.  There was also a kids section about patterns which looked fun, but as I was by myself, and there were other people there, I didn't mess about with all the toys much.  I wondered around a bit of the aboriginal section but thought i'd save the natural history bit for another time.  I remember it being amazing before so i'd hate to be rushing it and I had to get back in time to go to run club.

Its been much warmer again today, and a bit drizzly even, so I went back to UK winter running attire and walked wherever there were icy patches on the way up to the running room. We were dropping down to five hills this week, but with a really long sprint section.  On the last one, it started absolutely chucking it down, and the wind was blowing into our faces so it was like being stabbed endlessly with pins, until we turned around to sprint back up the hill.  This meant that going down was harder than going up, for the first time since my IT band issues.
I decided not to hang about at the end as I was starting to get cold and just headed straight back home again.  As my gloves were soaked, my hands were freezing, but the rest of me was OK.  It didn't take too long in the shower to warm up.  Its not rained much since I've been here, but weather like that makes me NOT miss home.  I loved the hills and may try gatecrashing a Tuesday run clinic next week... unless I can find an excuse not to.

Day 72: excuses

My usual Tuesday shift at the running room was pushed back to 1:30-9:30 so I was intending to go on a little run in the morning.  However, I found so many other things to do that this ended up not happening.  I really need to stop making excuses.
What I did instead was make a big vat of chilli, some of which I ate with a jacket potato and the rest I froze.  I also looked into pre-paid credit cards online as I can't use my debit card for online purchases and can't get a real credit card.  The best one seemed to be from the RBC bank: a visa gift card with a $4 activation fee but no fees after that (Canadians love being charged for all their banking!), so I left home a bit early and went to the nearest RBC branch to buy one.  Turned out I can't buy it with my debit card so I had to walk up to "my" bank, withdraw cash, then walk back, but I am now the proud owner of a visa gift card credited with $250.

At work, I was given a job to do rearranging shoe boxes, but only managed to do it for ten minutes or so before I was needed in the shop.  I never got back to it either as there were only three of us in all evening.  I spent a lot of time finding shoes for customers.  We also had two different run clinics so there were a lot of people in the store and a lot of furniture moving to make room for them.  Aimee's family were there in one of the clinics but I didn't get to say hello.

Once I got home, I used my brand new visa card to enter a half marathon in February called the "hypothermic half".  It includes a free hat and glove set and a brunch after the race, which sounds pretty epic.

Day 71: Rememberance

Since my mix-up, each morning when I wake up, the first task my sleepy brain tries to do is work out what day of the week it is.  I woke up on MONDAY morning and had time to do laundry and stuff as I was due to start at Lazia at 11am.
In Canada, people get a day off work for November 11th, why do we only get a minute's silence?

Just as I was ready and grabbing my stuff to go, I noticed that I had missed a phone call and had a voice message.  it seems I forgot to turn the sound back on and hadn't heard it ring.  The message was from the manager at Lazia telling me it was going to be a really slow day so not to bother coming in.  He sold it as "giving me a day off" to enjoy, but I kinda need the cash.  I phoned back to check and thanked him for his generosity.  wish I had known sooner so I could have made plans, or at least if I had heard my phone ring I wouldn't have already been in my dress and make up!  Hopefully they will give me more hours next week to compensate.  oh well, better make the most of it...

I caught up on some internet faffing I needed to do, went to the supermarket, made sandwiches for the week and generally lazed around.  I was intending to get to the Running Room early enough before my shift to have time to shop around and try stuff on, but ended up with only about 40mins.  Anyone who knows me will know this is not enough!  However, I kept everything I tried on to one side and spent my shift mulling it over some more.  it was fairly quiet so every now and then I would try on a different top over my work t-shirt and gather opinions.  I also tried on some sunglasses, then my boss reminded me that I would be wearing ear warmers at the same time so I should try on both together, which looks stupid.  i'm going to leave that decision for another day, but I bought a couple of slightly warmer layers and some socks, mostly from the sale so not too pricey.  While helping one lady find some clothes for herself, I explained that this is a very dangerous job as I can easily end up spending all of my wages straight away!
I do need it all, honestly!

Day 70: 1/5th down

Although staying out late drinking and dancing would have given me a good excuse to miss run club, I managed to get myself out of bed, eat, get ready and go.  Although I did cut my hand trying to chop apricots for my porridge!  I have been finding all sort of excuses not to run lately and I think I'm just being a wuss about the snow and ice.
I'm really glad I did make it as it was a lovely run.  We headed east along the river valley trails and it was a winter wonderland.  In some places, we couldn't even see the city and in some, the view of the river opened up or the posh riverside houses covered in snow.  At the moment, the river hasn't completely frozen over but it does have patches of ice, looking like lily pads.
I was wearing a base layer, t-shirt and my iron horse jacket and just the one pair of gloves, ear warmers and leggings.  Most of the time this was warm enough, a couple of times I even rolled the sleeves up, but when the wind blew it could be pretty cold, especially on my face.  This is the first time I have run wearing a jacket without just taking it off straight away.  My bum was especially cold by the end, and it took me a long time to thaw out in the shower.

I was meeting Nicole for lunch in a vegan restaurant and was pretty hungry by the time I got there so maybe I ordered too much food.  With it being cold out, I mostly ordered hot liquid: herbal tea, soup, and a coconut curry.  In a place where Nicole actually has a choice on a menu, she still generally orders the same thing!  We both decided that, even though we were pretty stuffed, we'd still get dessert.  I had kiwi lime pie and she had a brownie.  The "cream" was made with cashew nuts!

My main mission for today was to buy a winter coat, so Nicole agreed to drop me off at MEC.  It was really busy in there, so I could only speak to Aimee briefly, but I tried on some snow shoes as well.  I think I might buy some kids ones, as they are so much cheaper. 
I tried on a couple of the coats I had seen online and decided that the best was one I had seen on Friday in another shop, so I got a bus back across town to the mall, but they had sold out!  They told me that another branch that was brand new had some in stock, but it was a long way to the north and they couldn't find a phone number for the shop to confirm or hold it for me.  This seemed very strange and, when I got back home, me and Tim tried to look up the store and could not find much about it.  We suspected it might be not yet open but checked a bus route for me to go on Monday after work and see what I could find.  I was not looking forward to that mission and was quite annoyed about not buying the coat on Friday when I had seen it.
The two of us then headed over to WEM to see the new Thor movie.  I used my free cinema points from scotia bank again but there was some time to kill before the film actually started.  I spotted one of the other outdoor stores that had been mentioned to me a couple of times and thought I'd just have a quick look, as they were due to close in 5mins.  This was the luckiest thing that could have happened, as I found a coat I liked that wasn't too expensive!  I had been feeling pretty down about failing to get a winter coat and now I have an even better one!  The lady in the shop said it should be fine to -17C with just a t-shirt underneath, then I can layer up for colder temperatures.  Buying this made me pretty happy (and relieved).
We got some food in the mall's fast food court, then headed back to the cinema to see Thor. Despite feeling really tired today, I've had a lovely run, a delicious lunch and catch-up, bought a well-needed coat and seen a silly action movie, so that's a pretty good day! I did turn down a couple of offers to go out this evening, but I don't feel too bad about that as I really need some sleep now.

Day 69: Saturday night dancing

I was at the running room all day, but it was quite busy so the time flew. I was also given a task to find codes for lots of shoes that had arrived and wouldn't scan.  The temperatures outside have been more like -10 or -15C but I still went to Remedy Café for lunch as I felt in that sort of mood, rather than just sitting in the staff room.  I also found some potential sale shoes to buy thanks to one of the customers I was helping, but I'll have a think and try them on again.

I was looking forward to meeting Cecily for a night of dancing and catching up, and she even offered to drive over and pick me up.  We started in the Druid for a chat, an Irish pub, and we quite liked the music so it really got us in the mood for dancing.  There were quite a few people there who had clearly come from the rodeo too.  We moved on to Buddy's night club, but it was really quiet in there so we decided to go back to the Druid again to dance there for a bit and give Buddy's a chance to get lively.  By now it was really busy in the Druid, the music had got worse, but that didn't stop us dancing!  Cecily puts a lot of energy into dancing and looks amazing so its great to dance with her.  Eventually we decided it was Buddy's-o-clock and crossed over the road again, but it was still pretty dead and the DJ wouldn't play our requests so we didn't do much dancing.  We had a great time though.

Day 68:Rodeo!

I still got up fairly early this morning and managed to get a load of laundry done before starting work at 11:30.  I really enjoy Fridays at Lazia, its always busy.  I did spend quite a large amount of time collecting plates and scraping leftovers into the bin but I don't mind that at all.
There was an exciting day of tourism planned following Lazia, but it got off to a bad start as my friend was nearly an hour late picking me up.  This meant I was grumpy, tired, and starving hungry.

The first stop was Uncle Ed's Ukrainian Diner.  Due to my starvingness I ended up having three courses so I got to try a whole lot of different Ukrainian food.  First I had Borscht, with the added Canadian touch of crackers to sprinkle on top.  Then I had a mixed plate of different kinds of perogy and two kinds of cabbage roll, plus cheese crepes, cheese buns and sausage. All of it was covered in sour cream, and they also gave us several pots of extra sour cream in case you didn't have enough.  It was all pretty tasty, I may have to try and find other Ukrainian places to compare, or maybe find a recipe.  Basically, most of it was doughy and cheesy, can't go wrong with that.
I was pretty stuffed, but still went for a cherry pie and ice cream for dessert.

Stage two of today's tourism was the rodeo! We arrived a bit early so sat in a nearby bar for a bit.  there were even more people there with cowboy hats, checked shirts, boots etc. than there had been at Uncle Ed's.  I really wasn't sure if I'd like the rodeo or hate it, but only one way to find out.  This was the Canadian Finals, so a pretty big event and only once a year. 
We had pretty good seats, quite close, and it started off with a lot of fireworks and stuff, which kinda made up for missing fireworks night back home a bit.  I do have photos but can't currently work out how to add them here.
There were a number of different events and mostly the animals didn't seem too fussed by it all, although I felt quite bad when one of the calves got hurt and had to be carried off.  Two of the cowboys got hurt too, one guy was clutching his arm after falling off and another guy was limping quite badly.  To break it up, they also had a few silly things, like a sort-of hick clown, a dance competition between two random guys pulled from the audience (hilarious!) and a silly game to win a truck.
First there was bareback riding on bucking horses, which looked really painful for the riders as they were flung backwards and forwards constantly.  Then there was calf wrestling (jumping off your horse and throwing the calf on its back), and lassoing a calf, then more bucking horses but with saddles.  Then there was a team event where one rider had to lasso round the calf's head and the other had to catch its back legs.  There was a junior event riding bulls followed by the tying event, which looked the most technical.  The guy has to rope the cow's head, then slide down the rope, roll the cow on the floor and rope up its legs, and this is all done in a matter of seconds, although quite a few failed.  The ladies event was barrel racing, where they ride round a series of three barrels one at a time and see who can be fastest.  The final event was the bull riding.
All of the roping/wrestling events were based on the fastest time wins but for the riding, you had to last eight seconds.  Anyone who survived eight seconds was given points for style by judges.  Many fewer survived eight seconds on the bull and those that did got fireworks!
As far as I can tell, each night of the week is a heat, so all the competitors get six attempts, and the winners are based on their cumulative scores.  This means if it all goes wrong one night they can make up for it the next night.  There was a great atmosphere and lots of music so it was easy to get really involved.
One of the weirdest things was the chaps they wore.  Hardly any of them had plain leather chaps, most went for really extravagant colours, fringes, designs or tassles.  It didn't seem to fit in with the red neck stereotypes, far too flamboyant!
All in all I enjoyed it more than I expected to.  I don't feel any need to go again if there ever was another opportunity, but I'm glad I didn't miss out.  And that's two more Albertan tourism items ticked off!

Day 67: Thursday is the new Friday

Since I only work three hours on a Friday, and not til 11:30, I have decided that going out on Thursday is a good idea, whereas going out on Friday is a bad idea as I have to work all day on Saturday.
Since I missed run club yesterday, I decided to partially make up for it by running to and from work today, which is only about 2k each way but better than nothing.  I tried to go fairly slowly on the way there so I wouldn't sweat too much.  There are no showers at work, so all I could do was change my clothes and spray deodorant.
A rep from Polar came in today to show us a new gadget they have, it seems pretty cool as it tracks your activity for 24 hours.  There were also some new Nike clothes, which I can't even afford with my staff discount but they are very pretty.  We have jackets where the whole lower half of the jacket is reflective and the whole top half is high-viz yellow.  I think that's pretty amazing!  Luckily the jackets don't fit me very well so I don't need to lust after them too much.
After running home, showering, eating and getting ready again, I spent half an hour hunting for my front door key and eventually headed out to the Couchsurf meetup.  It was snowing the whole walk there!  The other awesome thing was that there was a parcel with my name on it by the door!  It was a lovely letter from Stas, which made me very happy.

Again, there was a huge group with familiar faces and new people.  This week there were a lot of Germans.  None of them knew each other before Edmonton, it was just coincidence.  I have tried all the cocktails, but noticed that they have a few different stouts and porters for me to try.  This week I had a chocolate orange porter and an oatmeal stout.  Most people were working the next day, so only two of us stayed out longer.  We went to the Buckingham, which serves Guinness and played a crazy mix of music.  I loved that they played the Kinks, for example.  We got a slice of pizza on the way home too.
Tonight I met a Canadian girl called Amie!  Now there are three of us!

Day 66: winter coats?!

Wednesday is my early start at Lazia, and this time the phone only rang a few times and there were only two big bookings so I could easily get everything done.  However, when I arrived, the boss said "why aren't you wearing jeans?"  apparently its rodeo week in Edmonton so she wants everybody to be dressed like cowboys for the whole week.  As a consequence, she lent me one of her hats to wear.  I don't like hats to start with, and this one was too small for me so it looked pretty silly.  This made one of the servers in particular laugh a lot, but he was feeling pretty miserable with a cold so at least it cheered him up.
One of my couchsurfing friends was here again, I have a feeling he might go there quite a lot for "business lunches".  For my lunch after work, I had the burger and it was pretty good.  I had to wolf it down though as I had an appointment at the bank to see if I could get a credit card.
The bank guy spent ages faffing about typing different things into a calculator trying to make things work, but basically what it came down to is that I need to either earn more money per hour, or work an extra two hours per week, neither of which appeal to me.  The other option I guess is to find a less reputable institution with lower requirements, or get a pre-paid visa card from somewhere.  I just need to be able to make the occasional online purchase, like race entries!

After this, I went around the mall looking at winter coats and boots.  I spent so long being indecisive, even though I was never planning on making a decision today, that I ended up missing run club.  I even spoke to Aimee for a bit on the phone for some expert advice, as she has nearly finished her training to work in MEC, which is a big outdoors shop.  One of the shops had a 25% off deal until Monday, so I think I need to decide before the end of the weekend.  Snow boots can wait a little while as my hiking boots will cope for now.
It was warmer again today, even creeping up as high as +1! so my UK winter coat should be perfectly fine for a while but I want to have a coat ready in case it changes suddenly again.

Day 65: Busy busy lazy lazy

The Running Room was quite busy today, in the morning I thought Heidi was going to cry as it seemed like she was having her "worst nightmare" day, and she gets stressed on a good day.  The manager wasn't helping as he was in a bad mood with a cold and on the war path, but nobody died, the world didn't end and things got more cheerful again by the afternoon.
I spoke to a lady from Sunderland and kept asking people about where to get winter gear and I had some nice warm homemade soup for lunch.  We got some more new jackets in stock, which I really liked, but they cost over $200!
it was pretty cold on the walk home and I bought some hot chocolate powder, which I made as soon as I got home.  I then decided to be lazy and do as little as possible for the evening.  Mostly faffing on the internet and playing with Oscar.  Tim got home with some leftover pie from work, one blueberry and one apple so I helped him eat them!

I think I will end up walking out in front of cars all the time when I get home.  I feel like I have adjusted to Canadian roads a bit now and assume that cars will stop if I just walk out.

Day 64: Below zero

I've seen pics of Northbrookers back home doing cross country in vest and shorts, its something like -8C here.
I started at Lazia at 11am today and Michelle was already behind when I arrived, but we got caught up. Today she was teaching me how to decide on table allocations on the computer.  Its quite complicated unless you do not move from the spot.  Every time I left the computer to do something else, I was completely lost when I got back. I think it all mostly makes sense, and I could probably do it if it was a relatively quiet day and I could stay at the computer the whole time, and no one else took over at any point.  If I want to try again it would have to be a Monday.  Its a bit quieter on a Monday and one of the manager's day off (she has a tendency to jump in and take over).
I tried two of the pasta dishes for my lunch (half and half), then I could box up one of them to eat later.  Got a few bits and pieces in the shops and made an appointment at the bank to try and get a credit card.  I didn't have time to look at winter coats, so hopefully Wednesday.
I had about an hours faffing time (and eating left over pasta time) at home before I headed out to the Running Room.  It was a surprisingly busy shift and time flew.  Lots of people came in to buy shoes and quite a lot of people came in to buy grips for their shoes now that the snow and ice has arrived!  The shop got very muddy from the learn to run clinic folk when they came back from their run/walk so there was lots of mopping to do.
I missed out on a cinema trip, but apparently the film was terrible, so all in all it was a pretty good day.
Here is a picture from Friday's Halloween party stolen off facebook:

Day 63: I've passed my two month-iversary

Due to being kept awake by the Halloween party upstairs, and not liking the idea of putting my wet shoes back on again, I failed to get up for the sunday long run.
I did make use of the time though, and caught up on housework and other general faffery.  Then I got the bus over to the West Edmonton Mall to meet one of my Brazilian friends to see Gravity at the cinema.  It was completely free for both of us courtesy of Scotiabank, and I even have enough points for more films already.  I really liked the film and was totally caught up in it.
We then went to Walmart and I got a lift home with a supply of groceries.  I do struggle to find things that I would usually buy in the UK, and it did take ages, but I got home in plenty of time to cook myself bangers and mash for dinner.
I ended up staying in the rest of the evening and going to bed at a sensible time, which was well needed!
It seems winter has started here now.  Everything is white, the ground is mostly snow, but sometimes ice and temperatures look set to stay below zero.  I will really have to find some time to get myself a winter coat and maybe some boots.  What I have will be OK at the moment, but not when it gets really cold.  Aside from that, its really pretty!  I'm still excited by snow but not sure if that will last the whole winter.
Oscar has been trying to eat my toes through the duvet, occasionally leaping across the bed to attack properly, so I'd better stop him before he rips holes in my sheets.  He is clearly in "hunting  mode" at the moment.

Day 62: Tuxedos, Gowns and Hotdogs

After last night's Halloween party I didn't have the best start to the day.  When I woke up, I wished I hadn't but I thought "it's fine, I don't have to be at work til 11:30 on a Friday" so I took my time, pootled about, checked emails etc. then I thought "strange that Tim hasn't gone to work yet, he usually goes in early", then alarm bells started ringing... suddenly I realised its Saturday, not Friday, so I start at 9:30 at the Running Room! ooops!
I think this was partly because I usually meet couchsurfers on a Thursday evening, who knows.  needless to say by this time I was already late, so I rushed to get ready, rang the shop to apologise and arrived nearly two hours late.  I knew I'd end up messing up my schedule at some point. Gah!
Luckily, they didn't seem to mind too much. 
I picked up my race pack for later on, and spoke to quite a few other people doing the race about what they were planning on wearing etc. so it was a pretty good day, I felt better knowing there would be people there that I knew this time, unlike the other race I did all by myself.  The race starts at 1:59am, shortly before the clocks change, and as i'm always behind on sleep at the moment I decided to try to get a few hours sleep before the race, then a few hours after, then get up for sunday run club.
While I was eating my dinner at home, one of the girls from upstairs knocked on the door, she said they would be having a Halloween party tonight, which shattered my plans for catching up on sleep! I still went to bed and tried to sleep, which probably helped a bit, but I don't think I actually slept.

It had been snowing pretty much all day, so by the time I left home at 1am, there was lots of snow on the ground and a few people were milling about outside waiting for taxis home.  When the wind was blowing the snow into my face, it was a bit unpleasant, but other than that it was great walking to the sports centre in the snow!  I was wearing my trail shoes and waterproof socks, so my feet were dry and warm despite the slush puddles, and it wasn't too slippy and not too cold either. 
The sports centre was open so we could all wait inside until called to the start line by the race director.  There were a few people I knew from work or run club so I could chat to them while getting my costume sorted.  I was wearing my butterfly patterned dress over leggings and base layer, with some long pale pink gloves and a masquerade mask.  I would have put in more effort if this was back home, but I love an excuse for fancy dress running!  some people had lovely ball gowns, puffy sleeves, hats, feathers etc. or frilly tutus.  one guy i'd spoken to at work today also had a martini glass, fake cigarettes and handbag.  he looked stunning!  Unfortunately I still didn't take any pictures!  I seem to be totally out of the habit.
I milled about near the back at the start line chatting to my boss and when they shouted go, I started off pretty slow as I was scared of falling over, then I was stuck behind some slower folk going over a bridge but after that I sped up a bit and started getting the hang of running through the snow.  It was awesome!  a bunch of people in silly outfits running around in the snow in the middle of the night!  what a lovely way to see the river valley.  The route went on the sidewalk alongside the river for a while, then into a park to the turnaround point and back the way we came.  I didn't need to turn my headtorch on at all as there were either street lights, or enough ambient light bouncing off the snow to see perfectly fine the whole way.  I really enjoyed it and, despite the snow and slush, I finished in under an hour, which means I get a negative time as I started running at 1:59am and finished running at 1:55am or so.  How cool is that!! even the slowest people now have a 10k time of under twenty minutes!  I definitely think someone in the UK should start a Tuxedos, Gowns and Hotdogs run.
Speaking of which, I ate my post-race hot dogs and drank some hot chocolate and fake champagne, then waited back inside for my certificate proving the time-travelling 10k race time.
Unfortunately, they really messed up the timing and seemed to give almost everybody the wrong time on their certificate.  I think they matched up the wrong names to the times.  my certificate says that I completed the 10 kilometres in a time of 3mins 16 secs, which is still definitely a PB for me, but probably about 6 minutes out.
By the end of the race, it had cooled down significantly and I was feeling like I didn't want to walk back home.  as I was thinking of calling a taxi, my boss offered me a lift back, which I really appreciated.  The party was still in full swing upstairs so I didn't rate my chances of getting much sleep but it was definitely worth it!

Day 61: more Halloween!

On Fridays I get to have a lie in and catch up on any faffing I need to do as I don't start work at Lazia until 11:30.  It seems to be settling into a proper routine now.
It was busy as usual but they were short of a couple of servers, which meant everyone was stressed and grumpy.  I felt pretty cheerful by comparison and seemed to avoid the brunt of the stress from the managers somehow.
After my shift, I had planned to go to Churchill Square where we had seen them setting up some tents for a chilli cook-off, but when I got there it had already finished for the day!  I went to a Mexican restaurant instead as I was starving and needed to hang about downtown to meet up with Patrick, who did the Iron Horse race.  He took me to the Sherlock Holmes English pub for a Guinness and chat about running, then I headed home via the shops while he had to go back to work.

Natalia came over to my place at about 7pm as I needed someone to paint my face for me for Steve's couchsurfing Halloween party.  She has been to several different Halloween events and is running out of costumes so her outfit was her pyjamas.  Mine was a ladybird.  Oscar was being very hyper while we were getting ready, which was entertaining.
Some people had brilliant costumes at the party, I'm not even sure if I'd met people before or not as they looked so different.  I drank some wine, chatted and danced and had a great time.   Still didn't take any photos though, I'm such a bad tourist at the mo!

Day 60: Halloween!

Running Room again today (i'm here at least six days of the week).  There were some people in filming my manager and one of the girls for a staff training video, but other than that brief excitement, I was mostly re-pricing things.  There was one lady I was helping with clothes and shoes, basically being a personal shopper for her, who ended up spending over $700!
A few of the evening staff came in fancy dress, a Robin, a ninja, and a salmon sushi!

There were a few people I knew going out drinking/dancing etc. but I didn't really want to do that, there was also the option of a movie night, but I could see that going on til late and I can do that another time, despite protests that "its not Halloween every day" from the girl who invited me.  I ended up buying a tub of ice-cream on the way home, and eating it while deciding what to do, then eating too much and making myself too ill and cold so putting my PJs on and getting under my duvet.  I've got lots of internetty things to do anyway, including seeing what the office are up to back home - vampires this year!
Then Cecily rang me to invite me to see Nosferatu.  I was really glad she called, and this definitely is something you can't do another day instead.  They were screening the film in a concert hall, with live organ (donation) music. (Python joke, see what I did there?!)

Nosferatu was great! lots of people turned up in fancy dress, so people watching was fun.  The organ player came out onto the stage in a long cape to introduce himself, he was pretty funny and surprisingly young.  The organ was lit up in the middle of the stage with cobwebs and chandeliers and had cameras so you could see his hands on one screen and his feet on another screen.  First he played a few pieces, some of which required a second person to help and it was pretty amazing to watch.  Then he more or less improvised a sound track to the whole film.
It was great to watch and see the origin of all the clichés, and the 1920s overacting could be pretty funny.  Some parts were quite creepy, especially with the "surround sound" effects of the organ.  Cecily even paid for my ticket as a birthday present!
This was definitely the best thing I could have done on Halloween here.