Quick hi

Hi everyone, me and Lauren will be updating our blog after the NEW YEAR. We are in Morocco at the moment busy riding camels in the desert and taking lots of photos. We wish everyone a happy holiday and a New Year. Trust me lots of interesting stories tell.

Here's a copy of an email I just sent to my mother....should sum things up nicely for you....

Hi Mama,

Not in the mood to write much, but wanted to keep you posted so you know I'm okay. This keyboard I'm typing on is retarded....I have to practically punch the bloody space bar to make spaces between my words (extra annoying). Trev and I have been holed up in our little freezing cold apartment in Lagos trying to get better (we're sick as dogs) and getting nowhere. Due to cabin fever we've ventured out today (and with only 4 tv channels, all in Portuguese, we've gotten extremely bored). You wouldn't believe what it took for us to get here....I think we were doomed from the start. The night before we had our 6:40am plane ride to Faro, we stayed with Franco. Mistake #1. Mistake #2 was listening to Franco when he suggested that because our flight was so early, that we go out drinking instead of going to bed early. It turns out we (drunk and all) missed our bus to take us to Victoria Station where the train would take us to Gatwick. Then, with backpacks on our back (and remember...drunk and now sleep deprived too), we hopped in a cab to take us to Victoria Station to take the train to the airport. Just as we pulled up outside the station, I realized that I'd forgotten to bring the Number 1 thing on every travellers list....you guessed it! My passport! By this time, Trev and I were at eachother's throats and this really didn't help matters much. So Trev told the driver to go back to where he picked us up (by this point the meter was at 17 pounds - $34). We phoned Franco on the way and told him to grab my passport, and our travel insurance forms (which we forgot in our drunken stupor as well) and to meet us outside with it. At this point Trev asked the cabbie how much it would cost to just take us to the airport and the cabbie said...in his British accent "well with all your mucking about...140 pounds!" So that was not an option....Finally we somehow made it to the airport and then came within 5-10 minutes of missing the plane. We were running to the gate while I was noticing that my pants fall down while I run, so I've got one hand holding my purse and the other holding my pants up, 'cause as funny as it would've been for everyone but me, I wasn't willing to give Trevor the satisfaction of telling everyone the story of the time I was running to the gate and by the time I got there my pants were around my ankles. So we eventually made it here. And it's friggin' cold and raining and that's how we have gotten sick. We're taking the bus to Seville, Spain on Friday and then we're there over the weekend. I'll write to you from Seville to let you know how things are....

I miss you much! And love you LOTS! And have to sarcastically "Thank You" for spoiling me with the Skylofts.....everywhere I stay now is that much more of a shithole because of it ;)
ah well...at least I have the smell of the lotion,shampoo and conditioner to get me through the dirty showers I'll be experiencing for the next while....

Please write soon,
Love,
Lauren

FINALLY! In London!!

I am SO long overdue for an update. Well we're finally here....at last.....seemed like a dream before but it's definitely real now. The reality of backpacking is that it's hard....and I possibly forgot how hard it is. But I remember it being worth it, so that's good. It took every ounce of energy in Trev and I this morning to find our way to our hostel. After a flight where we both got little sleep and ate crappy food, we were both in a bit of a state when we finally got to the airport baggage, only to realize that our backpacks are really heavy...especially in combination with our heavy carry-ons. Oh well, I remember feeling the same way when my best friend, Kara, and I arrived in Amsterdam to start our backpacking trip. After awhile you get used to carrying around the pack....I just don't remember how long it takes, but I hope it happens soon :).

So the flight was crap (but I guess you get what you pay for). Air Transat is just fine for short flights to the Caribbean, and for those of you that have flown them there, imagine flying the exact same way, double the time, to here...London. It was bad...very cramped and it takes really bad food for me to say it's crap. The flight attendants weren't especially nice either. If I could do it over, I'd probably spend a bit extra to feel a lot better than I did this morning when we got here. Then trying to find your way around the London transport system with all the luggage on no sleep was a mission in itself....but we friggin' did it! Thank God! The worst is over :)

The hostel is located by Swiss Cottage Station in London. It's a pretty big hostel with a cool bunk bed setup I haven't seen before (I'll take pics), but they nickel & dime you for everything in hostels this big (usually). But other than that, it's clean, which is numero uno on my watch. And we should be getting everything we need sorted out in the next couple of days before we go to PORTUGAL - YAY!!!

I'll keep you posted :)

Lolly

Falls no more

My last day at the Falls and Firkin was not as boring as I had anticipated. I got picked up by the new GM, Vanessa, in the morning nice and early. We arrived at the restaraunt and I brought my breaky to start my day off. It was Tuesday, a nice day to finish my last day but I found out that both cooks that was supposed to be in that morning had called in sick and guess who was more than willing to open the kitchen, me. I was in tears as well today from cutting so many bloody onions. Then Shannon and Matt came to take over the kitchen while I went back to serving in the front. I was offered a job by Shannon to be a cook and I declined 'cause I have bigger fish to fry, like packing to get out of Niagara Falls. After an hour of no customers I was done my shift and had my last meal. A pint of Creemore and a plate of hot wings, it was so satisfying. Vanessa came to pick Lauren and I up to go to her house for dinner, it was amazing food and company.

Trevor

The lovely RED HAT SOCIETY came to the Falls and Firkin and it was a pleasure to serve them.
Thanks for the picture Ladies.

Trev

Just had to get some things off my chest...

I haven't written in awhile and wish I could write with good news or a fun attitude, but if I don't get some things off my chest, I don't know what I'll do. I'm at my breaking point. Living in Niagara for the last year (almost) has taken a toll on who I am and I really can't do it anymore. And yes, I know I'm leaving soon, but it really isn't soon enough. I'm to the point now where the hours on my days off seem to go too fast, and the hours I know I have to work barely move at all. It's safe to say that I severely dislike (I hate saying the word hate :) ) my job and life here. Managing a restaurant is so much harder than I ever gave it credit for. What I've learnt over the last year is that you really cannot rely on people.....EVER. You can't rely on them to ever be mature or professional. You can't rely on them to do their jobs and you can't rely on them to even show up to work half the time. What you actually can rely on...is the drama, gossip and typical "High School" mentality.

I've had to try and fill so many rolls in being a manager, and know I've done my best in filling them all, but I'm sure have fallen short in some of them. I have always treated people with respect, but I'm definitely not hard enough to deal with the inevitable confrontation that comes with managing people. To be a good manager, you need to be a friend, a parent, a technical genius, a nurse, a computer whiz, a mathematician, a teacher, a leader, a kitchen equipment repairman, a plumber, a janitor, a public speaker, a mediator, a cook, a bartender, a busser, and a server. To be a good manager you have to tell people when they're doing something wrong, without offending them. You need to maintain all equipment in the restaurant, regardless of whether or not you know what it is or even what it's used for. You need to be able to problem solve, because all you'll face are problems. If you're not already a smoker and drinker....being a restaurant manager will certainly turn you into one.

If you like being woken up in the middle of the night with a stupid question, then being a restaurant manager is the greatest job ever. If you enjoy being criticized constantly by your employees, after giving them everything they've asked for, well then I highly recommend running a restaurant. If you'd like to have the hardest and least paying job in the restaurant industry with the largest amount of responsibility, well then managing a restaurant is right up your alley.

So it's safe to say I won't be getting back into restaurant management anytime soon. I can only hope and pray, at this point, that the next couple of years of travelling are hopefully going to erase all the bad memories the last year has embedded in my brain. 8 more days of work, that will feel more like 57. It's daunting, to say the least.....

Lauren

Another normal day.....or was it ?

It was Tuesday November 11 and it was Lauren and I's Friday. We had plans to go out, with Vanessa to eat, drink, and relax. We thought it would be a normal day, I would serve and open the restaurant and Lauren would do the management work. We got to the shop a bit early so there was no cook yet to work in the kitchen. It was twenty after nine and no kitchen staff. That was a bit of a worry so Lauren called to find out what was happening. The cook that was supposed to come in that day had thrown out his back and couldn't come in. The next staff member was in at eleven am. The kitchen manager was a temp because the other kitchen manager was fired a few weeks before. On a side note, the restaurant has gone through six kitchen managers in a year so there has been some issues. The temporary kitchen manager was in at eleven to work but that was not the case. He came in to quit and drop off the store key. The situation from there was the bartender was coming in at ten, I was going to prep, cook and get the kitchen started with Lauren. Lauren called in Vanessa to do the manager work while we cooked, while the pussy ass temp kitchen manager was walking out and leaving us fucked. I asked a few questions to start the prep for the morning like how to work the steam table what is the temperature, what temperature do you cook the bacon at. Lauren went upstairs after prepping veggies for her soup, to see what we needed to order for food from GFS (Gordon Food Services). While Lauren was up stairs I opened the restaurant an hour and half late to serve up some grub. When I opened up I didn't think I would have to cook right away because it was Tuesday not a very busy day. I was wrong, we opened up and the printer went off with a order. I was ready to sink or swim as a cook. I had some amazing Guinness pies on the go as well while I cooked the order. Then I just finished that order and another one was up. As a cook I found the biggest thing is timing, knowing how long everything takes and when to start the next item. Vanessa showed up and got hold of a cook to come in, what a life saver! Cam came in a hour later after finding a baby sitter and life got a bit easier. There was still a lot of cooking to be done and bloody dishes. Vanessa, Lauren and myself all helped out in the dish pit. What a day! But it was over before we knew it and it was time to go out and eat something. There was no time to eat or drink during the day, it was way too busy.

Working here make Trevor want to drink...excessively

Working here makes Lauren want to hang herself with her scarf

So we worked hard all day and that means we are going to play hard too. Lauren was all for not showering and going straight out so we don't get comfortable at home. So we headed out to Clancy's to eat and drink. I had a salad with a chicken burger, Lauren had fish and chips, and Vanessa had a steak and cheese sub with lettuce and tomato. There is an Ecoli outbreak with salad going around in Niagara region. When I ordered the salad I didn't think much of it.

Drunk cross-eyed Lauren

Good times at Clancy's

After we were done at Clancy's and feeling really good we went to my old job, the Best Western Cairn Croft Bar. Its nickname is wrinkle ranch or cougar bar, mostly on Friday nights. There was a live band there so that's why we went and I knew Lauren wanted to sing. The band lets you sing or play there instruments if you know how to play so its pretty cool. Right away we got a pitcher of Blue and three jagerbombs.

Vanessa and Lauren after the Jagerbombs

It was only ten and I got hungry again, we were so drunk at this point. The kitchen was closed at the bar so I went to Ginos pizza across the street. I order a pizza from this stoner at the counter and brought it back to the bar to share. Vanessa went home before me and Lauren did. Lauren wanted to do one more song on stage. The only time Lauren sings is when she is drunk and I mean wasted. After the song we walked home together. Not a very far walk from the bar, maybe ten minutes. In the morning Lauren asked how we got home, I said we walked. That sounded very familiar especially the first time when we met, or the the time we went to the Blue Lagoon Bar, but that's a different story entirely. For not having a very high tolerance we did really well, no hang over or barfing in a drawer. The only thing was half way through the day I had some silent but deadly farts. Then my stomach started to cramp up an hour before bed. We went to bed after that and every hour or so I was in pain and in the washroom dying. I was really quiet so I didn't wake my sweety when I came in and out of bed. Thanks Clancy's for the Ecoli salad. It was good service and great food but don't eat the salad. Very normal day.....NOT.

Trev

Tourists in our own town

Me and Lauren woke up on our day off to go to the Fallsview buffet. We went to the buffet to celebrate the 21 one days of our detox, and we had a coupon for a free buffet as well. We ate all of the food we couldn't have on the detox, like waffles covered in syrup, peppers in my omelet, bacon, and everything else we craved.



The buffet was great but I didn't want to go home right away, instead I wanted to see the magnificent falls. Plus it was a really warm day for the end of October and why the heck not. So I convinced Lauren it would be fun and would be better than going back home right away. It didn't take very long to walk there and get covered in mist by the roaring falls. The Canadian waterfall is so much more impressive then the American side. We saw the huge lights that get shined on the falls with all the different colours during the night. After watching the amazing amount of water going over the falls it was time to go on and we were getting wet.

We decided to take shelter in the gift shop building where we bought Jelly Bellys at Pop and Lollys and Lauren got her favourite jelly bean, juicy pear.

Then we took some pictures with some mascot beaver. There is this tram that takes people up and down to the falls for two dollars its allot faster than walking.

It was a neat little ride and a great view of the falls. From there we started to walk home and on the way I dove in this huge pile of leaves like a kid. In the fall the leaves are really amazing they turn red, orange and yellow. The leaves look like a puffy pillow but that pillow isn't soft when you land on it and hit the ground. That was our day of being tourists.


Trev

Travelers NonSense

When you’re traveling as a back packer, there are no rules, just your common sense. If you don’t have an open mind, you will miss out on opportunities. Leave yourself at home and become someone new when you travel, then come home and become someone better. Someone that’s more knowledgeable, open minded, free spirited and someone that has a sense of pride that nothing will stop them. Traveling is about you and finding yourself. Backpacking is a freedom of no judgment, a community with their home on their back and two straps to carry it around. To embrace and integrate one’s own culture is one step closer to understanding your surroundings. If you plan your entire traveling experience, you might as well stay at home and plan to pack the same old sandwich/ left over pizza for work tomorrow. Let yourself go and let opportunity break the shell that you’ve always been comfortable in. Grab the opportunity to see where it takes you and you will learn to just go with the flow. A balanced life is key, work hard but play just as hard. Don’t miss home and don’t forget it, that’s where you come from, be proud. When you are traveling, don’t miss the comforts of home. Home is a stationary life that goes on without you but has not forgotten you. To fail at something is human, to understand one’s failure is an experience to be learnt from, not something to be shunned or punished. An achievement is to be celebrated with lots of beer and new friends when traveling. There are lots of failures and achievements to be experienced before you get back home. A smile and laugh will brighten anyone’s day, but a bad day is just a bad day, so let it roll off your back and move on. Let go of the unfortunate things that have happened in your life and free your soul. Tomorrow is a new start, take one day at a time with an old friend or a new friend that you met two days ago. If you say yes to opportunities that come along, more times than you’d say no to them, you are living life. If you say no more often than yes, life is living you.

by Trev

Day 21 - Last Day of the Detox

So since we've written about our detox, I've had nothing but good things to say. But by day 21 of depriving myself of alcohol, sugar, gluten, yeast, dairy and all the other great things in life, I'm over it. I like to think that I'd like to not consume any of these things most of the time, but once or twice a week I'd like to indulge a bit, just to make life worth living. I'm at the point now where I really am sick of carrots, bananas, soup and gluten free pasta. A couple of days of eating "normal" food may help that. Trev and I are planning on walking to the casino to participate in the Grand Buffet Breakfast. We have a coupon that will make one of our breakfasts free. It's about a 40 minute walk to the casino (yes, we're carless and have been for the last few months which has made this unbearable place even more unbearable), but I'm thinking of running there to stuff my face and then I'll probably feel like crap afterwards for doing so. Ah well....that's the price I'm willing to pay. Maybe I'll bring my camera so you can see how much fun we have eating "normal" food after 21 days?

Laur

Visa for the UK

Getting a Working Holiday visa for the UK is a little more difficult then an Australian visa and more expensive as well. The Australian visa was a few questions and a couple of clicks online. As long as you're part of the Common Wealth, have good health and have money in the bank, your set to go. The Australian visa costs roughly $180.00 for a year and you can only work at one employer for a maximum of three months. The UK Visa costs $415.00 for two years. The best website that I like to use for information is http://www.anyworkanywhere.com.
When I started to apply for the UK Visa I thought it was going to be easy, but it wasn't. At the moment I live in Niagara falls with no car and can only get around by walking or taking a Speedy, an illegal taxi company that has a flat rate to get around the Niagara Falls area. So I applied online, filled out my application form, and paid the amount due for the visa. By the way, if you don't get accepted for your visa, you do not get a refund.
I set up an appointment, to get a biometric enrollment that is part of the visa process, on one of my days off. The biometric enrollment is fingerprinting, having photographs taken, having your passport taken and showing them bank statements to show you have money to support yourself for the first two months in the UK. Of course I'm all ready to go to downtown Toronto early in the morning for the interview, but my Speedy cab never came. I missed the bus to take me to Toronto. I was pissed off and had to make a new appointment for the next day. So everything went fine at the interview and it was over in fifteen minutes. On my application form I had a second address to send it to, Lauren's parents house. The reason is, I didn't know how long it would take to get my passport back from Ottawa and I wanted it to go somewhere safe. It is somewhere safe now, it's at the post office by Lauren's parents house and I can't even get it. Fraud has gotten so bad that if all your information doesn't match the address the item is posted to, you don't get your parcel. My driver's license doesn't match Lauren's parents address that I delivered it to. I called Canada Post customer service and they told me they didn't know what to do. The only loop hole was to change my address, Thank God it didn't cost me any money to change it. I went down to the Motor Vehicle branch in Niagara Falls, to get my drivers license changed. It was really simple to change but there is a new rule that you can't be smiling in your driver's license photo. I might get a letter in the mail saying to come back and get a new photo taken. Of course I got a big stupid smile on my face. When I return to Richmond Hill to get my passport I hope I will have no problems, I'm crossing my fingers...

Trev

All for a contest

I forgot all about this until I found it on his facebook pictures. My brother loves country music so he was listening to the radio like usual in his truck on the way to work. He heard about a contest to win these tickets for a concert. So he took a little detour from work to rush to the contest. Unfortunately he lost, but he came so close to winning. If you comment on the post i will let you know how many clothes pegs he has on his face.

Go Bro!!

Trev

Brothers Birthday

I'd like to give a shout out to my brother Cory for his birthday today (November 4, 1983). Wish I could be there to celebrate with him and buy a couple of drinks. Instead I sent him some money in a card and told him the drinks are on me. Its hard not being there for birthdays and especially Christmas. I was away from my family once before by myself for Christmas, New Years and birthdays that wasn't too bad. This time i will be with someone special for Christmas in London, England so that should be a new experience altogether. I believe Lauren feels the same.

Trev

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

This picture was taken last Halloween at the Filly and Firkin. Yes yes the attractive looking blonde is me and the beautiful pimp with the black top hat is my girl. Unfortunately this Halloween we are in our apartment watching TV and making beet chips. Last Halloween i had a stuffed bra and this year I'm chilling out to save for the trip of a life time. I did do something festive for Halloween, I put up some decorations for the Firkin. We live in a bungalo apartment and we were at the grocery store today, but we didn't know if we should buy any candy for kids if they stopped by trick or treating. So we decided not to and if someone came by for a treat we would hide. So far no knock and its 11pm, its safe to say no one is coming. Plus those treats would be one hell of a temptation since we're detoxing.

Trev

Brrrr.....it's cold in here!

So we're still detoxing. One more week to go! I don't know about Trevor, but I've lost some weight since I started. My skin looks great. I've been happier and had more energy. So there is a point to being on this detox. I just don't want to go back to eating the same way I did before after the 21 days is up. I do, however, want to drink! I also do need to eat a good chocolatey dessert, so those two things are first and foremost on the agenda and once I've had both my chocolate and alcohol fix, I'll go back to carrots and chicken and gluten free pasta :)

Other than that we are more than excited to move! We booked our one way flights to London a few months ago. We've booked the moving van to get our stuff to my parents house. We've put a couple of our things up for sale on the web. We've canceled our Hydro, Gas and Cable, obviously also notified our landlord that we're leaving too....and she's already rented out our place to a stripper :) She shows our apartment without asking us. She came by to tell us they were turning off the water for a few hours this morning, so after she told us she'd rented it out to a "dancer," she left and the first thing I said to Trevor was "Oh so she brought a stripper into our apartment!" Sometimes you gotta love Niagara Falls....'cause that's hilarious.

We've also got St. Paddy's Day (March 17th) booked. I know it's a little far ahead, but apparently it's a pretty busy time of year so better to be safe than sorry. We've booked our flight and hotel, YAY! We're going with my good friend from high school. He lives in London now. We're actually staying with him when we get there. This is obviously before we find a place of our own (and jobs!).

Anyways, just thought I'd give you an update on our EXCITING lives! We just had the last
couple of days off of work and we've been hibernating in our warm, little apartment. Here's what we look like when we're hibernating:

Laur

L's Haiku

get me outta here
small-minded town and people
life will be good soon

Detoxing is hard!

So for a week now Trev and I have been detoxing. Dr. Joshi's holistic detox to be exact. The top ten rules of the detox are as follows:

-No Red Meat
-No Dairy Produce
-No Fruit (except Bananas)
-No Wheat, Gluten, Yeast
-No Alcohol
-No Biscuits, Cakes, Doughnuts
-No Jams, Spreads (except Honey)
-No Coffee, Decaffeinated Coffee or Tea (except Herbal teas)
-No Sugar, Chocolate or Sweets
-No Artificially Produced Flavourings: Ketchup, Vinegar, Mustard etc.

The entire point of eating this way for 21 days, is to feel and look better. We're almost done Week 1 (which is generally the hardest) and we do feel a lot better. This is the 3rd time we've done this detox and the first time (which probably took place around early April-ish 2007) I was ecstatic with the changes I experienced over just 3 short weeks (although it felt a lot longer at the time). Joshi quotes on the back of the book "If no-one comments within two weeks on how great you're looking - you must be cheating." And it's true....you'd be surprised.

My family's in town tomorrow night and taking us to our favourite steak house for dinner. So there will be a bit of detox cheating taking place. I can't speak for Trevor, but I'm somehow going to pass on the alcohol (even though I love a good glass of red at dinner and the martini's at this place are really amazing). And then instead of having a nice fat steak for dinner, I'll opt for fish instead. So although I'll be cheating on the detox, at least I won't feel like absolute crap for doing so.

There's not a lot of information on this detox on the web (although the book is great and you can buy it off Amazon.ca), but there's a forum link that I've managed to find a lot of information and ideas from, click here to take a look.

Here's a pic of some of our usual food we love to eat (and can't eat on this detox!)


Laur

Beer Bonging is dangerous

This was taken on our 2nd day in Puerto Penasco (aka Rocky Point) in Mexico. After receiving text messages regarding work issues from back home. In order to deal with the stress this caused, I manned up and demanded to do some beer bongs. Well, one to be exact. After spilling some of my beer in the sand (and subsequently adding quite a bit of sand to it), it only made sense to take it down in a few big gulps instead of sipping it slowly - mmmmmmmsand.


While administering the beer bong, Martini (pictured here) decided to add her entire beer as well, half way through. This led to the coughing fit pictured here:

Wow....that's hot.

Remember kids, you can choke while doing a beer bong. Don't ever do them unsupervised and make sure not to swallow the beer down your windpipe....I had a pretty close call that day, but I'm still here and you know the next time I do a beer bong, I'll be a lot more careful :)


Laur

The king of breakfast pizzas

The breakfast pizza from Basha's Super Market in Phoenix, Arizona.
This pizza had bacon, cheese, baked hash browns, and scrambled egg. I wasn't even hungry I was bored shopping for food for Mexico with Lauren and her best friend Kara. So I wonder off and stumbled upon this strange looking pizza covered in cheese trying to figure out the rest of the ingredients. I asked the Lady behind the counter what kind of pizza is this? Her reply was a breakfast pizza. So i had to try it, let me tell you i wish i bought one for the next morning in Mexico. I would have been cured of my hang over. Instead I had another beer to start my day off. I call this pizza Greasy spoon to go.

P.S. - I was chewing in this photo...

Here's a close up of the monstrosity:

Don't be jealous.

Trev

Off to London Town

So we're booked and ready to fly to London on the 7th of December 2008. We couldn't be happier because we're finally getting out of Hell...oops, I meant Niagara Falls. We haven't even been here for a year but it feels like forever. Now all we have to do is sell our stuff and move what we want to keep to my parents house in Richmond Hill. We'll keep you posted once our lives become more exciting, but until then we'll trudge along, working and dying in a restaurant, scrimping and saving where we can so that we can reap the benefits later.....


Laur