Gordon Ramsay Restaurant London, England

Most of us know who Gordon Ramsay is. Some know him from the TV series Hell's Kitchen. He has various restaurants across the continents - but his main one is in London, England where he resides.

Gordon Ramsay currently opened up a restaurant in Montreal, Canada this past summer August 2011. But why fly 2 hours just to eat there when I can fly a whole day to London, England and eat here....

I choose London, England.....

It is not the cheapest place to eat as the cheapest meal is 95 pounds, but it is Gordon Ramsay's Restaurant and it is a once in a lifetime opportunity. It is not hard to get a reservation but you do need to book a months in advance, or in my case 2-3 months in advance. What can i say i wanted to make sure i got a table at my favorite chef's restaurant. Also it is not a every day occurrence that you are in London, England so why not splurge....

Await my Review coming January 2012

the week we got SNOW!

It's been a crazy couple of weeks, first getting laid off from my old job because no particular reason so i went job hunt crazy for two days straight - went on two interviews for some really nice jobs. And had snatched the Sales/Marketing job into my hands. Attaching my two letter of references from my college professors did their job. And there I had a job day after I left the motel, what are the chances. Was fate on my side or what!

It sure has been a adjustment period but each shift I am feeling more and more comfortable.

besides the fact that we got hit with a nasty snow fall which created the City of Edmonton to be at a stand till, which i was in the city for but I left just in time so I did not get stuck for that long but it did take longer than usual to leave the city.

Winter has arrived... November 14, 2011 - Almost had the entire month of November of winter free, really thought we could get to December without any snow. But getting through Middle of November was nice. Not like Calgary or the East Coast.

Picture taken downtown Edmonton, the view of the River valley and as you can tell not much of a view because of the blowing snow. I was impressed with everyone that day, they were actually driving slowly and not causing any accidents.

Started a mini countdown for my trip to London and Paris New Years, with a number... today it is at 40 days till I leave. Its creative and fun, so why not......

Blackberry Apps are just as good!

iPhone applications are all what they promote, but what about Blackberry Applications? There are twice as many blackberrys out there as there are iPhones. They are just as awesome and useful. If there is a app for an Iphone then there is an app for a Blackberry.

And here are some useful apps that I have found worthwhile for Blackberry's:


Travel Apps....


Tube Map (FREE)

• Get round on the London tube like never before! Get LIVE train status updates on a map that you can scroll around. Throw in the worlds fastest Journey Planner to show you the routes and even where to change lines, and you really will save even more time and hassle.
• Plan your route before you arrive and know which station to get on and off at.
• Find a Station
• Send to a Friend
• Live Information

Worldmate (FREE)

• The Ultimate Travel App Introducing TripCatch: Automatically add your travel bookings to WorldMate, the easiest way to build your itinerary WorldMate is the number one personal travel assistant for business travelers with over five million road warriors relying on it to take control of their lives when on the go.
• Organize your Trips
• Hotel Booking
• Limo Reservations
• Travel Directory
• Currency Converter
• Day/Night Map
• World Weather
• Flight Schedules
• Flight Status

City Guide Paris (FREE)

• Take Guidepal with you to Paris! Guidepal provides you with Free High Quality City Guides for a large number of destinations. The Paris guide is, as all Guidepal guides, written by local residents so we can ensure that You find the best attractions, restaurants, sightseeing tours, museums and much more.
• Know the City 
• Airport, Areas and Transportation

• Know what to See & Do before you arrive.
• Know ahead of time where the best place to Eat & Drink
• Nightlife choices
• All the Shopping hot spots

Blackberry Travel (FREE)

• makes it easy to plan, book, manage and share your travel activities. Looking for flights or places to stay? Find flight schedules and great hotel options, all right from your BlackBerry. The automatic trip scanning feature will automatically recognize itineraries that are emailed to you and push them to your BlackBerry – no matter where you booked. 

FancyTran (FREE)

• Multi-engine translator
• Supports Google and Bing translation engines with Text to Speech pronunciation
• supports over 60 languages for translation and over 50 for pronunciation
• Has a dictionary mode for most languages and providers transliteration for non latin languages
• it automatically checks spelling 
• touch friendly and clean design

Foursquare  (FREE)

• check in at any store, museum, hotel, airport, anywhere and have the shot of becoming a mayorship of a business. Earn badges. Reading other peoples, your friends recommendations of restaurant, a hotel, shops, bars and much more. It is a fun way to be interactive with friends and fun way to track your adventures, explorations. 
• A fun way to explore and keep tabs on where you have been 

Social Media Apps.....

Facebook (FREE)

• Keep in touch with friends and loved ones back home where ever you might be exploring today or tomorrow, even next month. 

Fun game Apps.....

Hangman (FREE)

• Because we all need a game for those quiet evenings before we fall asleep in our hotel room, or hostel or even on the plane.

Informative Apps......

GasBuddy - Find Cheap Gas Prices (FREE)

• Find the cheapest gas on the go – for free! In one click, locate gas stations near you and see their current gas prices. Never overpay for gas again. GasBuddy is a community of users working together to update gas prices – help everyone save on gas! Gas Buddy helps you find the best fuel prices for regular, mid-grade, premium and diesel fuel. Gas prices for USA and Canada only. 

The Weather Channel (FREE)

• Get detailed conditions and forecasts, radar maps, local and national severe weather alerts, airport delays and more. You can even access the weather from your calendar or address book, and forward alerts to friends and family.   
• Always know what the weather is in your area so you can dress appropriate 

Edmonton Icons

Although I may not like Edmonton as much as the average person. The city does have some nice qualities to it, and often gets compared to Calgary.
But matter of fact, Edmonton has more than you may realize. Even if Edmonton does not always showcase a warm inviting feeling but if you avoid the right parts then you will never have to witness that uninviting feel.

• West Edmonton Mall
• The Legislature Building
• River Boat Cruise
• Fort Edmonton Park
• Edmonton Valley Zoo
• and many big and open parks
• Segway tours through the River Valley
• Christmas Eve skating down at the Legislature Building

Driving or walking down 108th street, you may be facing one of the two depending on which direction you are facing.

Facing south on 108th street you will be looking at The Legislature Building.

And facing north on 108th street you will be looking at the arches of Grant Macewan, a University downtown Edmonton.

My year with Contiki

Taking that year off from Post Secondary was a very good decision. Although that Travel Bug bites hard!

I didn't pack my bag, quit my job and head off to Europe to backpack, But I did travel with adventure. Traveling with Contiki Holidays is an life time adventure. You see and do such amazing things that you normally get a chance to do, and you meet so many awesome, wonderful people through Contiki and while On tour - you know who you are!


First Trip, (Dec 2010/Jan 2011) only six months to save up... I had booked my very first Contiki Holiday - San Francisco New Years in July of 2010. To be honest i was nervous, not knowing what to expect but yet at the same time super stoked and excited.

With a Contiki Holiday - you instantly become friends, like one big family. (Alex, Corey, Brooke, Myself, Robb, Cameron and our Fabulous Tour Manager Monte). Which is what Contiki is, one big family! From biking the hills of San Francisco, Ferry ride over to Alcatraz, going IN n' OUT Burger, walking down Market Street, Pier 39, Walking the Golden Gate Bridge and Biking It to Ending the First Contiki Experience on a Dinner Cruise on the San Francisco Bay watching some pretty fabulous fireworks.

As many of us do, we have major contiki withdrawals after we return home. One way to fix it, book that next Contiki as soon as possible. Another way to help ease that withdrawal is attend a Contiki Party, even if that means to drive 3 hours to attend - it's well worth it!

My first Contiki Party: VIP Euro Bash (February 2011)- It was great meeting you all and thanks for a great time! hugs xo

Then (April 2011) my second Contiki Party - Yup i drove another 3 hours... Contiki Suitcase Party at Hudsons Taphouse downtown Calgary. What can i say, I was on my way to become a Contiki Champion!

My first contiki reunion with Trina....  (April 2011)

My Second Tour, (July 2011) This was quite a decision making process on what I would be doing for my next tour, but i knew if i wanted to do two more tours this year i couldn't have afforded Sydney New Years just yet, so i settled with LA Explorer but made sure it landed on my Birthday! Since Contiki does know how to party, thought it was a good decision - Pub Crawl even landed on my Birthday ;) bonus!
Drai's Hollywood the last stop on the Pub Crawl, OH MY GOSH! Talk about Hollywood style and for my 24th Birthday. If it was not for Contiki I would not have been partying Hollywood Style. Rooftop overlooking Hollywood with a pool, pole dancing, outside private sittings.
Favorite part of the Tour was - Universal Studios Studio Lot Tour. I had no idea that Movie Lot was huge! They do everything there.

Explorer Tours - I defiantly recommend - they really show you the city inside and out.

My second Contiki reunion with Brooke...
(July 2011)

then not even a month home, My third Contiki reunion with Richo in Jasper..... (August 2011)

Although there was no Contiki Party awaiting my return but Contiki meetups with some fabulous people :) and some first time meetings are just as fabulous. You know who you are!

Third Contiki of the year.... Paris for New Years! (Dec 2011/Jan 2012) You know when you are in Paris when you see the Eiffel Tower from the Contiki Coach upon entering the City. I do not know where to begin. Beyond Excited. Started in London England, Where i finally got to set foot into the famous Contiki Basement. It was pretty exciting ;)! Even though I did not get any fireworks for New Years, It did not need fireworks - It was Paris for crying out loud - that is a pretty big firework if you ask me. I even got to see the Eiffel Tower sparkle up at night <3 goregous. Some Highlights from the Tour: Musee Du Perfum, The Lourve, River Cruise on the Seine, Eiffel Tower. Dinner with Contiki I tried escargot - When in Paris! Then Moulin Rouge Carbaret Show. You can see the Eiffel Tower from every angle you go within Paris.

Summary: I started the year in San Francisco and Ended it in Paris, France - what a world wind it was! Meeting a lot of great people along the way from all over the world, from England, South Africa down to Brazil up to North America over to Australia and New Zealand.

7 things to do in San Francisco

It feels just like yesterday that i started the year off in San Francisco.... 

1. Walk the Golden Gate Bridge
Okay this is a MUST do even if you have to take a taxi straight to your hotel, drop your luggage and head out right away. Although it is a not short walk but the view from the middle of the bridge is gorgeous. Just a suggestion, do not press the little round red button on the yellow boxes. They are there for people thinking about committing suicide, and you will notice they are only on the right side of the bridge that's facing the city. December 30, 2010 is when i took my first walk across the Bridge - the Bus dropped the group off on San Francisco side of the bridge and walked across into Marin County.

2. Golden Gate Park
Similar to New York City Central Park but 20% larger. A large urban park consisting of 1017 acres of public grounds. With 13 million visitors annually, Golden Gate park is the third most visited city park in the United States after Central Park in New York and Lincoln Park in Chicago. This windmill in the picture above was built in 1913 and was used to pump water throughout the park, the blades shown were onced covered canvas sails.

 

3. Smugglers Cove
The neatest place to grab a drink, to chill and hang out with your friends. Most drinks come in a skull. Located 650 Gough Street, Just a 15 minute walk from Hotel Whitcomb.

4. Alcatraz
A lot of history are inside these walls, They show a short video clip at the beginning a brief history of the place right when you walk in and then from there you grab your self guided radio and headphones and work at your own pace. Only way to and from the island, by ferry and there are only four during the day so make sure you do not miss it or you are stuck on there. And I wouldn't want to be stuck there - talk about creepy!

 

5. Public Transportation
Experience the city as a local. Taking a Bus at Rush hour, 4pm is an experience to have here in this fabulous city of San Francisco. The Buses are so crammed it is hard to move around and hard to get on and off the bus. Brooke and I got up from our seats heading to the exit and this little lady was pushing us more away from the doors so she could have our seat. Not very polite she was. We missed the stop we wanted to get off, it took 20 mins to go from one stop to the other. It was faster to get out and walk back to the hotel.

Taxi's are another fun ride to take in San Francisco and the cheapest. From the airport to the Hotel, only took 10-15 minutes. They weave in and out of traffic so fast. And being so fast when they go up and down the hills in San Francisco, Fun! The front tires actually leave the pavement.

6. Little Italy
The closest thing you will get to Italian Pizza without actually being in Italy. You will know when you are in Little Italy by the light posts - they will have a Italian Flag painted on them.

And after lunch we were left to explore San Francisco on our own, well everyone split into groups. Groups form quickly on a Contiki tour!

7. Bike and Roll San Francisco

Bike and Roll the streets of San Francisco and those hills are steep. At least our Tour guide for the Bike and Roll was nice and gave us a small hill to start but then the Second hill was a steep one and half of us, okay maybe a little more than half had to get off their bikes and walk the rest. We got to ride on the other side of the Bridge (Left side) so that helped less pedestrians walking and being in our way. That wind that day, whew! Not easy.