- 25 C

No, my ipod didn't just come out of the freezer, it's the actual temperature outside. As you can see, at 6:33 am, it was -25 degrees celsius in Montreal. This is a record for me. I have never been in a place with such low temperatures. I hope that all of you had a good week because mines been pretty busy.

Bike

Here is what you can see when walking next to a bike park on the university's campus after a big snow storm. When you ride your bike to school, sometimes you just have to improvise to park it when about 5 feet of snow cover everything outside.

Snow Man

Oh boy ! with the snow storm of yesterday. Only this snow men was willing to stand still outside in the freezing wind. Some students of the CSU ( Concordia Student Union ) built this snow man at the corner of probably the busiest sidewalk on the downtown campus. My guess is that since they were distributing flyers for some extra scholar trip, they wanted to have a maximum number of students stopping by to get one.

Both French and English

I like the stop signs that are present at the border checkpoints between the United States and Canada, and also in some places where a bilingual population is present. I took this sign in the Concordia University Loyola Campus. The University being an English speaking University in the province of Quebec, both languages have to be present on the stop signs located on the campus. It's too bad we can not see that on this picture but, few meter behing this stop sign, there was an other one where only the word "Arret" was written on it. The reason was simply that is was not physically on the campus, so only French was written.

Studying

That's what most student are doing now. With the mid-term coming soon, everybody is trying to get the most out of their studies. I'd better end this post quickly and get back to my school work.

Sprinker

There are two things I find funny on this picture. The first one is the symbol for a sprinkler. The first time I saw this sign, I thought it looked like a very simplified design for a pair of ba*** if y'all know what I mean. Second, the French translation as "Gicleurs Auto". It sounds like it's going to automatically explode in front of your face as soon as you turn the caps to plug the hoses.

Under Construction

I took this picture while walking on the Ste Catherine Street West. What I like about this picture was the white door in the middle of the black panel hiding the construction. Probably this door is leading to the second or third floor of the new store. SAJO is not the name of the future store but the construction company who's building it.

George Stephen

On this picture you can see the entrance of the Mount Stephen Club located at 1440, Drummond Street. George Stephen was the first Canadian to attain the status of peer. Originally from Scotland, he emigrated to Canada at the age of 21. His major field was the railroad business. He won a contract with the Government of Canada to build the Canadian Pacific Railway. Named the company's first president, he oversaw the huge and difficult task of constructing the costly transcontinental railway.
After his passing in 1921, his home in Montreal, built at an estimated cost of $600,00 in 1880, was converted to a private club in 1928. Today, the Mount Stephen Club has a gourmet restaurant open to the public and the building is regarded as one of the city's most important heritage properties. To see some more pictures of the house, click here.

UQAM

I took this shot next to the UQAM university. All the windows on the first floor of this building are yellow. I find it great, it's adding some color to these days white environment.

Christmas Lights in February

As you can see, the city of Montreal still didn't take its Christmas ornaments off the trees. We are at the end of February and on almost every single tree in the downtown area, the Christmas ornaments are still present. It's not that I complain, because I find it cool to still have some colorful lights at night. Moreover it makes beautiful pictures just like this one with a cloudy dark sky in the back.

McGill

McGill University, one of the best university in Canada, and probably the best one in the province of Quebec. This building is the McGill's Redpath Museum. Commissioned in 1880 and opened in 1882, it is the oldest building built specifically as a museum in North America.

Shit it's Raining

That's what it's said on this umbrella and that's exactly how to characterize today's weather. I took this picture last week thinking I will post is when I will be raining outside. With warm temperatures that went all the way up to 5 C, the rain has replaced the snow. I believe it's only the second time I see some rain in Montreal since I got here. Well, it doesn't bother me that much, because after living on the Pacific North West of the United States; I got used to it.

Hôtel-Dieu de Montréal

This statue representing God stands on top of the main entrance of the Hôtel-Dieu in Montréal ( translated in English as "hostel of God"). It is the oldest hospital in Montreal, Quebec, and was the first hospital in North America north of Mexico.
The origins of the Hôtel-Dieu of Montréal date back to Paul Chomedey's arrival on the Island of Montreal in 1642 to found the French colony of Ville-Marie. With him came Jeanne Mance. She founded the hospital on October 8, 1645. This was confirmed by letters patent of Louis XIV of France in April 1669. Around 1850, the hospital became affiliated with the Montreal School of Medicine and Surgery.

This hospital has a pretty rich history. It was recorded the world's first removal of a kidney (1868), the world's first removal of a tongue and jaw (1872), the first femur transplant (1959), the first identification of an AIDS patient in Canada (1979), and the world's first successful recovery of a person with severe burns to 90% of the body (1981).

In 1996, it became one of the three hospitals to make up the Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CHUM). Good for me, I live one block away from this hospital. To see more pictures of the building, click on More About Me.

Reaching the Moon

This building skyscraper is the CIBC tower. With 45 floors and 187 meters tall, it's the fifth tallest building in Montreal. The antenna raises the total height to 250 meters, making it the tallest pinnacle in Montreal. As you can see, it feels like the antenna is trying to reach for the moon already appearing in the clear sky above Montreal.

Busy Friday

Many people were out shopping today, as you can see on this picture. This street is called Ste Catherine Street is the heart of Montreal's shopping district. The Rogers store I went last time is on the left side of this street, a bit further. I like walking out there, because there is always something catching my eyes, whether it is something written, of somethin displayed, or simply somebody. The weekend will start for me in couple hours, and I can't wait for it.

Love

I was wondering if I really look gay ? No offense to the gay community but many times I feel like people think I am gay. Let me explain, today at the bank, right before leaving, one employee came towards me and gave me a flower. She told me that I should give it to my boyfriend, and then after probably seeing my reaction on my face, she added "or to your girlfriend". I answered back and said to her that it would be to my girlfriend. I wonder why she said the word "boyfriend" before "girlfriend". Anyway, to come back to the topic of the day, I didn't do anything special for the occasion because; with -18C outside I stayed home and watched a new episode of the series 24 ( I'm glad it finally came back on the screens) . I wish that all of you had a wonderful time with your lover.

The Bell Telephone Co. of Canada

This is the entrance of the Bell Telephone Company of Canada located on Ontario W street in downtown Montreal. This old and modern building symbolizes the company by itself. I'm about to unfold a funny story that happened to me. While I was shooting some pictures of the building, one of the workers was exiting the building. He came towards me and told me that it was forbidden, here in Canada, to take pictures of important Canadian companies. With a serious voice, he told me " Hey, this is not just any kind of company, this is Bell Canada !". After at least 2 minutes of complaining, he finally stopped making fun of me and told me that it wasn't true. With a smile on his face, he told me to continue taking pictures, and with politely left after wishing me a happy end of day. I like when people come and talk to you, even if it's to make this kind of jokes. People here are warm, and don't hesitates to talk to strangers in the street. I could see the same thing in both Seattle, WA and Vancouver, BC. To see more pictures of this building entrance, click on the link More about Me.

Working in the cold

This worker is emptying the concrete rotating truck to build the new John Molson School of Business. With a sunny day and -14 C outside, smoke is coming out from the hot concrete There are 6 trucks waiting in a row behind, he will busy for the whole day. The 15-story building with two basements is scheduled for completion in summer 2009. It will look a lot like the Engineering and visual arts building. To see more pictures of the JMSB once complete, click here.

Guy-Concordia

It’s the name of the subway station next to Concordia. Well, actually, once you get off the subway, there is no need to go out on the street, the station is underground connected to the main buildings of the university. For those thinking about going to class by -20°C in t-shirts and shirts, it’s still possible.

Condos

I thought some of you might want to see what an old apartment building looks like in the downtown Montreal. Inside must be colorful, with blue and red curtains. Oh, I forgot to mention, the purple neon, constantly changing colors, at the bottom right of the picture belongs to an underground karaoke.

The Shuttle Bus #1

If I had to describe my day, I would summarize it in couple words : relaxing, sleeping, studying, goofing around in the internet, and listening to some music. I felt good and warm at home. The bus one the picture is one of the shuttle bus connecting the two campuses of Concordia University. In the back of this bus there is a picture of a hockey player from the Concordia Stingers. I took this picture last Friday, before heading to the Loyola campus for my chemistry class.

Worker's Car

This little electric car is used, at this time of the year, to pour sand on the roads of the Loyola Campus. It looks like a little dog house, with it's white bone on top. As you can see on this picture, it was snowing a bit today. It's only after I took the picture, once back home that I say their was something written onto the bone, maybe a name. I don't know what it is said, but as soon as I know it, I'll let you know.

I also wanted to tell my readers, that the photos taken earlier, where we see someone in the middle of his 8 am workout, the worker cleaning the windows of the EV building, and the security officer on Facebook, all were worth a lot. Apparently, it is forbidden to take any pictures inside the facility. Today, as I was shooting few pictures inside the building, one security officer came towards me and told me, with an aggressive voice, in French, that pictures were not allowed. At first, I was surprised to hear that so I stared at him, not realizing exactly what was happening. He might have thought that I didn't understand French, so he told me one more time in English. If I would have had a bad day today, I would have probably told him to tell his fellow workers that it is not allowed, while on duty, to goof around on the internet. Good thing for me, I didn't complain, and put my camera away right after.

Purple and Black

The cold is back ! I was feeling good these past few days, with temperatures averaging the zero degrees. Today it went down to -12 C. Couple days ago, during a windy day, an advertisement board, hanging on the side of this building, broke the left window. Now that it's fixed, I thought I'll take a picture of this building facade.

Lost

While I was coming back home tonight, I had to take Ste. Catherine street, because the only Rogers store that accepts payments (for my cellphone bill) is located on this street. ( It's annoying me that they don't accept it in the one near my place ). To explain this picture, a little flash back in history is needed. Since the little "revolution" in the 60's in Quebec, in 1974, French became the only official language of Quebec. This francization programs for businesses were largely successful in the 1980s, however, the 1990s saw the return of bilingualism. Today, most signs are written in both languages, but French has to be the first, and the English translation is written under. This leads to some surprising sings, like this one. It was inside a movie rental place next to the Rogers store. It is the name of the television series "Lost" translated into French as "Perdus". I find it funny because even in France, American movie titles are not translated. Unless it's too long and it won't make sense for the French population. By the way, I can't wait for the 4th season of "Lost" to come out.

Entrance

Today was not a good day for me. At 6 am I realized that I had an assignment in my math class due at 10 am. I finally turned it on time, with every problem solved. Once out of my chemistry class, at 10:30 pm, I took this picture. It is the main entrance of the church on the Loyola campus. It's all made out of wood inside. I've been there once, and it was by mistake. I was looking for a way out of the main building close to the shuttle bus stop, as it was pouring rain outside. I got lucky to see how it was inside, as they didn't locked the place down. I am not sure if it was by accident, or if it's open all day long, but I got inside. It's all made out of wood, which was a first time for me to see a church with it's walls not made out of stone or marble.

Ice cream scoop chairs

As promised, here is a picture of the inside of the Gogo Lounge. When I walked in front of the place this afternoon, it was the first time I could see it empty. Well, it's normal, as I showed up there at 2 pm, and I believe there are not many people at that time of the day in such place. Or maybe it was because everybody was staying home today after watching the Superbowl yesterday night. The bars on St Laurents were packed of people yesterday night. All of them were watching the final where the New York Giants won 17 to 14 against the New England Patriots. I realized that many Canadians were into football. To come back to the Gogo Lounge, inside is decorated in great psychedelic colors and funky cool furnitures like those colorful red ice cream scoop chairs. The menus are written on old vinyl records and the cocktails have cool names like Pussycat, Kryptonite and Captain America. There are at least 25 Martini specials to choose from in a retro music ranging from the 70s funk to the 80s new wave.

3 Amigos

3 Amigos is situated within walking distance from Dawson College, and Concordia University. This spacious and sometimes rambunctious restaurant is one of only a few Mexican restaurants in Montreal, and is well loved by hungry business folks, tourists and college kids alike. There are two large dining rooms decorated with the trappings of fun family dining. The space is colourful and warm, and the staff zips about with good humour and hot, sizzling plates. With its bright, distinctive awnings, 3 Amigos lights up the street and is a colourful beacon of Mexican flavour on a cold Canadian night.

La vie en rose

It's been more than a month now that I've been living in Montreal, and I realized that the people in here are better dressed up than the ones in Seattle. Maybe it is due to the French influence very important in Quebec. Still I can see some people with an outstanding fashion style. This girl on the picture might be seeing life in pink. Moreover I could see, once in the subway, that her eyebrow were pink.

Coffee Shop

Yesterday night was the last time I had to go to this coffee shop with the goal to use the internet. Tonight when I came back home, I was pleased to see that Bell finally hooked up the internet. It took them one week to do so. Today it has been snowing all day long in Montreal, and apparently it will be like that tomorrow. On this picture, we can see the coffee shop where I used to go. It's pretty good inside, and the person working there is a nice guy. A good thing about this coffee shop is that it is opened 24 hours a day, in case you want a good hot coffee, or hot chocolate in the middle of the night.
PS: their hot chocolate is delicious ... hummmm, really tasty !