Santa Claus' Parade

Santa Claus is having his traditional parade in downtown Montreal on November 21st at 11am.

Weather forecasts that we will have a not-so-bad day tomorrow with the high of 8°C sunny/cloudy. It's going to be a chilly day but at least it's not raining. It'll be a first for all of us (me, hubby, son and my parents), that'll be fun! I'm thinking of bringing some knick-knacks, some drinks, and extra blankets.

Helpful links:

Santa's route

Santa's tips for his favorite kids

Everything you need to know about Santa's workshop

What's happening today?

I've been very busy the past few days bringing my parents to some places in Montreal. Now it's Friday. TGIF! yay! I've decided to focus this day pour moi. So, today will be my hair salon day, electrolysis and shopping day! I already booked an appointment with the salon, and Shahla, my aesthetician, just called to book me an appointment for an electrolysis follow up, so I guess I'm all cool. One more thing to be excited about is the 50% sale on previously marked down prices in Old Navy starting today.

Also, NEW MOON showing today! yes!

Got the vaccine! Finally..

After all the hype and the scare of getting the Influenza A H1N1 Vaccine, I finally got it last night in Allancroft School. The vaccination clinic in Allancroft is open from 8am to 8pm, 7 days a week.*
The coupons or tickets are available from 6am to 11am. The time that you need to come back is specified in your coupon. I went there around 6:45am, then specifically asked for a 6:30pm schedule so my husband can get it too.

The process goes like this: Go to Room #1, a person will hand you a number, then when your number is called, you have to-> #2 line up on the corridor -> go to Room #3 , to register with your medicare card, then you will be given a form to be filled up. The form is basically a consent form plus basic medical questionnaire. -->Go to Room #4, the interview room. A nurse will ask you about certain medical conditions that you might have and tell you about the possible side effects of the H1N1 vaccine. --> #5 Line up on the corridors outside Room #6, which is the vaccination room. After the vaccine, you will be asked to go to Room #7 to wait for 15 minutes. You will be asked to wait for 15 minutes to see if you have any allergic reactions, e.g shortness of breath, rashes, or headache after receiving the vaccine.

On top of that, the way they organized the procedure is actually great. The place didn't look crowded, and the nurses were very accommodating, well what can I say, they're Canadians!

Possible side effects of the H1N1 flu shot
The flu shot: The viruses in the flu shot are killed (inactivated), so you cannot get the flu from a flu shot. Some minor side effects that could occur are:

* Soreness, redness, or swelling where the shot was given
* Fever (low grade)
* Aches
* Nausea
Credits from SOURCE

The vaccine itself didn't hurt at all. I got scared for nothing, LOL. My 4 yr old son didn't even cry after receiving the vaccine. He was just telling everybody that the man put a hurting crayon in his arm hahahha. The next day, my arm feels sore but that's about it. No fever, no chills, no nausea, Thank heavens! Please refer to post

*If you're from the Montreal West Island, please refer to the schedule, it has to be respected or you will be turned away.

Random thoughts on a busy week

I've been very busy the past few days. A lot of things have happened. I finished my Quickbooks task just in time for the accountant's end of the fiscal year, that task was a lot harder than I thought, because I'm not an accountant to start with. I'm not very familiar with the accounting terms and I'm not very patient when it comes to numbers, but it was a task that was entrusted to me by my boss so I have to do it. Then came my parents' arrival here in Montreal. Then my dad got sick because of the cold weather, add to the stress that I need to do regular updates to my siblings on my dad's case. Then I have to learn all the tools and the tricks in Cerec 3D. Then I have to bring my parents to places including a not- so- quick visit to the doctor's office. Thank heavens that my dad is fine. Then I have to do my regular mommy chores, plus my full time job. I have to juggle everything. Do I sound whiny now? hahah sorry! I can't help it! Anyway, it was a bit overwhelming and stressful, but I'm good. Life is good! Thank God that I could blog, at least I can get away from all these even for 10 minutes. And thanks to my mom for helping me with the cooking. It's good to have your mom around, eh? Imagine coming home with a home cooked meal, amazing! So we will be staying away from wendy's, kfc and mcdonalds for 3 months LOL. Even my co-workers have noticed that I'm eating "real" food for lunch.

Anyway, weather forecasts that we will be having a sunny weekend. Sunny, but cold. Highest will be at 6C. But at least it's sunny!

Today (saturday), we went to the Basilica of Notre Dame, which is closed for the whole day since there will be 6 weddings. I was a bit disappointed since I want my parents to see the beauty of the Basilica, not to mention that it was really cold this morning when we went, then to see that it was closed, me = disappointed. But we can still come back some other time. Moving on, we went to the Oratory of St. Joseph in Mont Royal. It was a huge church with a lot of chapels. Just a little backtrack, contrary to my previous post (see LINK), I've said that "there's nothing really special with this church". I was so wrong. Just the view from the top of the oratory, with the facade of the whole montreal made it special. It was breathtaking.

my dad with the view from the top

Even more special is the number of devotees who come here to pray and exercise their faith to St. Joseph and Brother André.

Brother André was known throughout Quebec and to believers around the world. But the man they called Brother André began life in much humbler circumstances. Born into a large Catholic family in 1845 in the Quebec village of St. Grégoire, Alfred Bessette was a frail child who was orphaned as a boy. This CBC special looks at the man whose mission in life produced St. Joseph's Oratory in Montreal.

As a young man Bessette tried working on a farm, as a cobbler and in a bakery. In 1874 he became a member of the Congregation of Holy Cross, an order of Catholic priests in Montreal, and took on a new name: Brother André. For 40 nearly years he was the porter and barber at a boys' school run by the congregation, and it was there that his reputation as a healer — even a miracle-worker — took hold.

Brother André counselled his visitors to pray to St. Joseph, and he never took credit for the miraculous cures his visitors ascribed to him. His dream was to build a shrine to St. Joseph on the side of Mount Royal — a project that began with a tiny chapel in 1904. By the time of Brother André's death in 1937, the shrine was a Montreal landmark.

More on Brother Andre at SOURCE

I hope everybody will have a blessed weekend. Take care y'all!

Bonjour Montreal!

Two days ago I received an email from my brother, he told me that my parents finally received their canadian tourist visa. It took them less than two weeks of processing, and they were eventually granted even without an interview. Isn't that amazing? My parents are coming!! I'm so excited. Since then, I made a list of places that I'm sure they'd love to see:

1. Notre Dame Basilica - There's an admission fee of $5 for adults, $4 for aged 7 to 17, and free for aged 6 and under


Outside



This was a picture taken by our own camera, isn't it a beauty? When I saw this church, for me it's more of like a combination of our very own San Agustin Church and San Sebastian Church but bigger.


Okay moving on...

2. St. Joseph's Oratory of Mount-Royal if in Notre Dame there's a fee for you to have a tour, here, it's free.




It was winter when we took this picture. There's nothing really special about this church except that it's big like HUGE, if I'm not mistaken, it's made up of 4 to 5 chapels inside.

That's my sister lighting a candle.

3. Montreal Biodome, Insectarium, Botanical Garden and Olympic Tower
to come on these places, of course there'll be a fee per person.

I went to Biodome probably thrice already.

In insectarium probably once, well what else can you see there? insects? sorry, I'm not fascinated with insects.

Botanical Garden, maybe twice. Botanical Garden is really gorgeous inside. It showcases different plants from all over the world. It has a japanese garden, a trekking park, a chinese garden and a butterfly pavillion.



Part of the chinese garden


I haven't been inside the Olympic Stadium, but I'll bring my father there, that's for sure.

4. Old port of Montreal In old port, you'll be amazed with the architectural details of all the establishments. It's more like you're in the movies, or you're walking in Paris, aside from the fact that 85% of the people are french speaking, the architectures will really bring you somewhere else.