JP's Online Journal

Hello to 2007

2007-01-16T17:37:00.000-08:00

Someone said I should update my site. So here is an update... It's 2007, and I'm so excited that I just can't hide it. Some random notes:

Visited Hawaii for the first time in November 2006.

Went skiing early in December 2006 at Whistler/Blackcomb. While the rest of North America is having un-seasonably warm weather, we've been hit with extreme cold and snow storm after snow storm.

As of January 5th, finished my first year of full time employment as a project manager at TELUS Communications.

Traveled to the Caribbean in January 2007 with some friends and visited the Bahamas, Netherland Antilles, and U.S. Virgin Islands.

My photos website. Will post some Caribbean pics soon.

Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup

2006-08-23T23:46:00.000-07:00

On Friday August 18th, my co-workers and I participated in the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup at Peach Arch Park, sponsored by TD Canada Trust. This team event was the brain child of my buddies Greg and Warren. Greg was actually interviewed by CTV and appeared on their daily newscast later that evening. It was a great team building event and I had a great time. The cleanup took up most of the morning, but we finished in record time and were able to enjoy a nice picnic and even a bocce tournament in the afternoon. Good times. Here are some photos from last Friday's event.

A couple interesting items we found were a car tire and battery

Photo op for the Whiterock local newspaper

Another photo op - notice the backwards hat

Group shot of some of the members of my team

San Diego Trip Photos

2006-08-10T14:35:00.000-07:00

"Chris, don't say retard. We prefer to be called 'little people' because there is nothing wrong with being mentally challenged. In fact, I've learned we are superior, above all you dumb brainy smarties, and one day you will beg us for mercy... and we will consider it."
- Peter Griffin, Family Guy

Here are a few photos from my San Diego and Tijuana trip. The rest of the photos can be found on my Yahoo Photos Site

Enjoying the Padres vs. Astros baseball game - Astros won 7-1

Ventured down to the field level after the game and snapped a pic

Official Mexico / USA border... on the Mexican side of a big-ass fence

Mexican J.P. enjoying a $1 dollar Corona

Three tacos sold for $1 dollar - Life lessons given for free

San Diego, CA

2006-08-05T01:18:00.000-07:00

Long time, no updating the blog. Oh well, nothing like getting right back into things. I've now been in San Diego, California for the last couple of days on vacation. I'm here for a Costales family reunion. Its a 3-day extravaganza! Dinner on Friday night, BBQ and Luau on Saturday, and a luncheon at the local Casino on Sunday.

So far I've watched a San Diego Padres game and taken a day trip over to Tijuana, Mexico. The Padres game was pretty sweet. I haven't seen a MLB baseball game since watching the Anaheim Angels back in 2001 when I lived in Newport Beach. Now they're the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Lol. Too funny. Anyways, the Padres got whooped pretty good by the Houston Astros. Craig Biggio hit two solo home runs to lead the way for the 'stros.

The T.J. trip was a pleasant surprise. The international hostel I'm staying at organizes bi-weekly trips to Tijuana and I was lucky enough to get my name on the travel list before it filled up. So much poverty and pollution in Tijuana. Pretty crazy when you witness it for yourself. Cheap stuff though. Lots of cheap booze, cigarettes, clothing and such. I bought a couple boxes of Tequila and Kahlua chocolates for my family and co-workers. A few more days to go before I venture back home to Vancouver. Hoping to venture down to the beaches and take in a few hours of surfing. We'll see how we go. Signing off from sunny San Diego...

Silverstar Ski Trip

2006-02-07T21:08:00.000-08:00

"So, is there any tread left on the tires? Or at this point
would it be like throwing a hot dog down a hallway?"
- Stewie Griffin, Family Guy

This past weekend I ventured down to Silverstar Mountain with a couple of buddies. I've been working pretty hard at work, so I wanted to take a whole weekend to relax and also get some much needed exercise. Silverstar is located about a five hour drive east of Vancouver, about 10 minutes from the interior town of Vernon, BC. My buddy Tyson's family owns a rustic cabin right at the base of Silverstar. What else can I say? Nice weather, fantastic snow, great company, and a $100 bar tab on Saturday night all contributed to a superb weekend getaway. Here are some photos.

Tyson, Greg and J.P. on Silverstar Mountain

One of the many steep & narrow chutes on Silverstar's back bowl

A nice view of Silverstar's mini-village

The beautiful BC interior mountain ranges

Vancouver 2010

2006-02-26T21:00:00.000-08:00

"Here's to the Drunken Clam... where they don't
ask for proof of age and neither do I."
- Quagmire, Family Guy

Now that the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino have come to a close, the spotlight turns towards my hometown of Vancouver. It seems like just yesterday that we won the 2010 bid and now its only four years away. Crazy. This will be my first ever Olympics games. I'm hoping to get tickets for freestyle skiing, snowboard halfpipe, and short-track speedskating. Of course, my dream would be to have ice hockey tickets for the gold medal game, but I'm pretty sure this will be next to impossible. Those tickets will probably sell for at least $200 a piece and will sell out the arena in about five minutes.

Coming back to these Torino winter games, Canada achieved a record medal count - 24 - this time around. Looks like the $110 million 'Own the Podium' investment is paying off. Personally, I don't care how high the dollar amount is, we cannot have a weak showing in the Olympics like we did in Calgary in 1988. For those who don't know, Canada didn't win a single gold medal in '88! Instead we won two silvers and three bronze for a total of five medals. Brutal showing and a pretty embarrassing result for a host nation. The 24 medals we earned this time around is pretty awesome and sets the stage for a strong showing in 2010. Go Canada Go!

Potpurri

2006-01-26T23:41:00.000-08:00

"I'm not gonna lay down for some frat boy bastard with his damn Teva sandals and his Skoal Bandits and his Abercrombie and Fitch long sleeved, open stitched, crew neck Henley smoking his sticky buds out of a soda can while watching his favorite downloaded Simpsons episodes every night! Yes, we all love Mr. Plow! Oh, you've got the song memorized, do you? SO DOES EVERYONE ELSE!"
- Stewie Griffin, Family Guy

The Job

Looks like my New Years resolution of updating my blog more often is the first resolution to be broken. Yay me! Haha. Seriously though, I've been crazy busy with work. Trying to make a good impression on my managers and peers. Working late, Working hard, working late, making phone calls, working late, travelling to different offices, working late... you catch my drift. I've stumbled onto a fantastic opportunity, working with a great group of people and I don't want to screw it up. This job can lead to great things in my career. Its very exciting. Lots of hard work needs to be done, but I'm certainly up the challenge.

Ski Trip

A couple weekends ago I ventured a few hours east of Vancouver and spent a lovely weekend at Sun Peaks Mountain. I had a great time skiing and hanging out with old friends from my SFU Ski Club days. We had some great times and great trips back then, and this was a nice reminder of that. Unfortunately, both SFU and UBC decided to have their ski trips up at Big White Mtn. that same weekend, so it was pretty quiet at the Sun Peaks Resort. I did, however, get some great runs in and I also realized the terrible, terrible shape that I'm in. For shame, for shame.

Birthday

A heartfelt happy birthday goes out to my friend Kristen. I attended her 27th birthday dinner at the posh Ambrozia Restaurant and Jazz Lounge on Denman this past weekend. Good times had by all. Like my buddy Ryan, I tried out the Dine Out $25 meal. I had a delicious greek (but not really greek) salad for the appetizer, a mixed grill plate consisting of lamb, beef, and chicken for the main course, and a sweet ass chocolate cake for dessert. Damn tasty, damn good. Worth every penny. I didn't partake in the wine recommendations (not a huge wine fan), but I did drink about 6 or 7 pints of beer throughout the course of the evening. My bill came out to about $75. Ouch. Posh restaurants are expensive.

I have a job!

2006-01-10T23:59:00.000-08:00

"God lets see what else is there um...
I never gave a reach-around to a spider monkey
while reciting the Pledge of Allegiance."
- Peter Griffin, Family Guy

Its true. I have officially re-entered the work force! I started my job at Telus Corp. last Wednesday and have loved every minute of it. My office is just a few blocks away from my house, at Telus's main HeadQuarters on the corner of Boundary & Kingsway in Burnaby. A great location for me and an even better opportunity. This job looks to be a challenging position and a very promising career move. They have me working very hard, but I have no complaints. Its actually nice to be wanted and needed; putting some elbow grease into a project, especially since I've been out of a job now for nearly seven months.

Officially my job title is 'Business Analyst I'. Its an entry-level management position where I'll essentially be a project manager. I'll have the freedom to choose my own internal projects, interface directly with customers, develop custom solutions on the technical end, and try to have these solutions accepted, integrated and embraced on the business end. That last point will probably be the most challenging for me, as I have no business training whatsoever. The job posting listed a 'degree in business administration' as an asset, and in fact, I know of at least a couple people in my group who have an MBA! Clearly this will be a challenge for me, but I'm certainly willing to take that challenge head on.

Apologies to my buddies here in Vancouver. A couple of times I've been invited out to a movie, or to go out to a bar or restaurant but I haven't been able to go. In fact, I haven't even had time to respond to these invitations! I've been so focused on work and busy plugging away on my initial project that everything else has kind of fallen by the wayside. I need to learn how to manage my time again! Heck, the last three months all I had to do was workout and run a couple of errands each day. Now I have to throw 9-10 hours of work per day on top of that! However, I'll be forced to take some time off this weekend. I'll be spending Friday night to Sunday evening at the beautiful Sun Peaks mountain resort near Vernon, BC. Looking forward to it!

Happy New Year

2006-01-03T23:57:00.000-08:00

"Attention customers... 'Testicles'... That is all."
- Peter Griffin, Family Guy

Since I wrote a Merry Christmas post, I thought it was only fitting to write a Happy New Year post as well. I hope that everybody's New Years was as good as mine. My buddy Simon and I checked out a grand total of five different parties in the Vancouver area on New Years Eve. A personal best. We started off by checking out a party in North Vancouver, then moved to a couple parties in the Kits area, and then to a buddy's place downtown, and finally ended up at a raving house party in East Vancouver. Very liquored and then some. Good times had by all. Here are a few random photos from the last couple of weeks.

J.P. and Amanda having fun at a Christmas Party

J.P., Roch and Hiten at a recent Christmas Dinner

New Years Eve Party #1 and J.P.'s alread had too much to drink

Dave, Simon and J.P. - The Whistler/Blackcomb ski crew

The Final New Years Party - I don't remember this photo

Merry Christmas

2005-12-21T02:41:00.000-08:00

"Fat chicks need love too... they just have to pay!"
- Glen Quagmire, Family Guy

Wow, has it really been three weeks since I posted? I should probably have tons of new stuff to report, but really there's not much going on with me. Doing regular stuff like going to the movies, watching Canucks games, and doing last minute Christmas shopping. I also have a very promising lead on some full time employment for the coming new year. Some details are being ironed out, but if everything comes to fruition, it should be a very exciting and fulfilling opportunity for me.

Also, before I forget again... happy belated birthdays to my buddies Terrence, Roch, and Chad. Another year older boys! Also, a very happy birthday to my friend Amanda, who threw a wonderful Birthday/Christmas party at her house this past weekend. Fun times had by all, and just to hammer that point across, no family friendly photos that I can post! So yeah, a very good time. In case I don't talk to you all until after the holidays, I hope everybody has a very safe, fun, and Happy Christmas and New Years! Happy Holidays from my family to yours.

The Vodka Party

2005-11-30T16:34:00.000-08:00

"Hello, and welcome to another edition of Midnight Q. Tonight we're gonna enjoy some jazz from Charles Mingus. Norman Maylor's here to read an excerpt from his latest work. And we also have a girl from Omaha hiding a banana. We're gonna find out where. Giggidy giggidy. Giggidy goo. Stick around."
- Quagmire, Family Guy

Cheers to my buddy Ross for the excellent party this past weekend. He hosted the first ever Polish Vodka Party at his pimpin' pad in downtown Vancouver. How he managed to fit in a couple dozen people in his studio apartment is beyond me. I was feeling pretty lazy that day and almost didn't make it out, but I'm definitely glad I stopped by. I can't remember why, but I missed Ross's last party and heard all about the aftermath. This time I was actually there to experience it myself. Matt, matt, matt. Matty boy, you've gotta learn to handle your liquor my friend. Here are a couple of random pics I was able to snap. Enjoy.

Terrence, Ryan and J.P. - Vodka baby, vodka!

Terrence and Jen - Smile for the camera

Joyce, Ryan and a rare snapshot of a coherent Matt

Aaron and Sarah - The Newlyweds!

Our fearless host Ross, taking one for the team

Mystery Stew

2005-11-17T14:40:00.000-08:00

"6,000 miles and all the dope I could smoke still couldn't separate me from my problems. And this was good dope! I mean it was growing everywhere. Oh my God! This one time we got so baked we ended up eating all the food the World Health Organization had airlifted in. Oh man those villagers were so pissed! They tried to chase us, but lemme just say thank God for polio."
- Brian Griffin, Family Guy

Some random thoughts and happenings for you. I was reading a few of my old journal entries and laughed out loud at a few of the quotes I had inserted into my blog. I figured it was time to start including them again. So, long time no speak. What have I been up to? Same old, same old. Applying for jobs, working out and hanging out with friends on the weekends. Job market seems much healthier than it was a couple years ago when I was trying to find a job fresh out of university. Still though, not a lot of quality opportunities for yours truly. Hopefully something will come up in the near future.

Lately my time has been filled playing with my new toy. I bought the brand new black 30GB iPod Video, pictured below (courtesy of Apple's iPod website).

iPod Video

Pretty sweet little machine. Shows album covers while playing music, allows me to store and display my entire photo collection and of course, now plays videos. I even found an awesome free program called Videora iPod Converter (google to find it) that allows me to convert all of my MPG and AVI files to the iPod's MPEG-4 and H.264 video formats. So, I've been spending the last few days converting all my movies, TV shows and music videos and transferring them to my iPod. Great little item and well worth the $379 CDN price tag.

Last weekend I hung out with a few friends from highschool whom I hadn't seen in a while. Its always nice to catch up with old friends. We started off the night at a mutual friend's swanky new apartment, chatting over a couple glasses of red wine. We then ventured down to Brown's Restaurant in Yaletown. Never been there before. Pretty nice place, complete with friendly staff, over-priced tasty food, and good looking clientel. I had a $7 lager. Good Lord. Afterwards We checked out the Bourbon Bar in gastown and played a couple games of pool. I used to be pretty good at this game, but I suck now. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

Anyways, there's a quick glimpse at my last week and a half. Planning to have the usual crew over at my place tonite to watch the Canucks vs. Kings game. If any of you Vancouverites are reading this and I didn't send you that e-mail invite, give me a call and come on over just before the puck drops at 7:30pm tonite. Go Canucks Go!

Amped Up For Ski Season

2005-11-07T00:30:00.000-08:00

On Saturday I ventured down to the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in downtown Vancouver and took in a showing of Warren Miller's Higher Ground. Warren Miller always does an excellent job of capturing both the beauty and excitement of skiing. You know the winter ski season is near when the new Warren Miller flick comes into town. Funny enough, its especially true for this particular season because Whistler/Blackcomb had their earliest opening in 20 years. Believe it or not, Blackcomb Mountain was open this past weekend, November 5th and 6th. They've been getting some pretty stellar snow storms, with 45cm (nearly a 1.5 feet) falling on Halloween alone!

Hopefully it'll be a good ski season. Last year was pretty crappy, so it couldn't get any worse, could it? Well, after watching Higher Ground this past weekend, I'm pretty optimistic that it'll be decently good. And, in preparation for an excellent year, I've decided to post a few of my favorite ski pics over the last few years.

A beautiful spring day at Whistler Mountain

Charles and JP at the top of Blackcomb Mountain

JP displaying the Old School Spread Eagle

Tyson showing off a clearly defined X

An incredible day at Big White Mountain

Photos Website Finished

2005-10-31T20:15:00.000-08:00

First off, congrats to my buddy Roch for earning an exchange placement in Hong Kong from his Law School's international exchange program. In 2001 I did an undergraduate exchange to Melbourne, Australia and it was one of the best times of my life. Enjoy it dude! I'm sure you'll have an awesome time.

In other news, I finally finished uploading my Europe Travel photos. I'm not sure how many I posted, but it must be nearly 500 pictures or so. They can be found here:

http://photos.yahoo.com/jpcostales

I organized them by country, so there are 16 folders of photos. I also added an extra folder for Oktoberfest, since the Munich Oktoberfest grounds might as well be a country unto itself during those crazy three weeks in September. Anyways, here's a sample of the photos I posted on the site above:

One of my Oktoberfest drinking mates. Refill partner?

Outside the Famous Monte Carlo Casino in Monaco

A Glimpse into One of the many crazy parties in France

Enjoying the beautiful scenery of Florence, Italy

A very funny yet informative advertisement in Lisbon, Portugal

Back to Reality

2005-10-27T22:55:00.000-07:00

My worldly summer adventures have come to a close and now I must deal with the harsh world of reality. Haha. Yeah, right. I'm currently living back at home with mom and dad and am applying for jobs... again. I wake up between 1pm and 2pm everyday, work out everyday for about 2 hours, apply for jobs over the internet for 2 to 3 hours and then do various things to fill my time for the rest of the day. I'm pretty much a bum, living in my parents house. Any single ladies interested in a 26 year old, unemployed male, living at home with his parents? I'm a diamond in the rough.

Seriously though, life has been pretty good to me. I'm organizing my photos from this summer and reminiscing about the good times I had travelling. Great places visited, great people met, great memories to last a lifetime. Uploading the photos is taking longer than I thought. I visited about 20 different European countries during my three months summer adventure. Should be one hell of a photo showcase once I'm done. You can check out what I have so far here:

http://photos.yahoo.com/jpcostales

Anyways, I'm going to blog more regularly now. I've had some family issues to deal with for the last little bit. Its been a tough adjustment but I believe that I can now move on with my life. As such, I've decided to get back into a few of the hobbies I was participating in before I left. This includes, but is not limited to, getting back into taekwondo, volleyball, skiing and of course playing poker. More on this to follow shortly.

Back in Vancouver

2005-10-12T12:10:00.000-07:00

I've been back home in Vancouver for just over a week now and its been pretty good. It was great to see my family again. Just taking it easy for a while before I start to apply for jobs again. I have to say, its pretty weird being home and realizing I'll be here for a while. I'm still in the travelling mode. Case in point, I didn't fully unpack my backpack until yesterday afternoon. It also took me about 3 full days to get over the jetlag and get adjusted to good old Pacific Daylight Time.

I've been filling my days with sleep, meeting up with family, and getting caught up on my favorite TV shows, and the new music and movies that are out there. Travelling is tiring and its nice to finally have some time and a place to rest, and the TV shows, music and movies in Europe are released about 4-6 months after they are released in North America. Anyways, I'm currently working on organizing my photos and uploading them to a website. Coming soon...

Oktoberfest, Munich, Germany

2005-09-26T07:54:00.000-07:00

Finally an update! For the last 5 days I've been partying it up at the 172nd annual Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany. It has been a fantastic time, and I'm absolutely exhausted. I've lost my voice and my liver is hating me. If there is one word I can use to describe this event it would be madness. Absolute. Freaking. Madness. Imagine all of the crazy festivals and music concerts you've ever been to in your life. Now imagine them all rolled into one and imagine that instead of celebrating music or culture, you're celebrating BEER. Yup, that's Oktoberfest for you.

There are 15 beerhalls represented on the Oktoberfest grounds. All of them are Bavarian beers, coming from that particular region in Germany around Munich. Each of the beerhalls is the roughly the size of a soccer field and is lined with hundreds of tables and benches, holding thousands upon thousands of beer drinkers. They claim that this is the largest festival in the world, with over 6 million visitors per year and over 15 million litres of beer consumed. Fifteen Million. FIFTEEN MILLION! Absolutely incredible.

Outside of the beerhalls is your regular old carnival atmosphere, complete with souvenir stands, crazy rides, and lots of food tents. I was able to check out 4 of the 15 beerhalls. The Hofbrau, Lowenbrau, Hippodrom, and Paulaner. The Hofbrau is where I spent most of my time. In my opinion it was the best beerhall. In the middle of the Hofbrau they had the 'PigPen', a huge mass of standing only tables where underwear and bras are largely frowned upon and even ripped off if grabbed ahold of. No joke! Absolute, madness. I also was able to learn a German beer song. Woohoo!

Ein Prosit, ein Prosit der Gemut-lich-keit!
Ein Prosit, ein Prosit der Gemut-lich-keit!
Eins! Zwei! Drei! -- G'suffa!

Roughly translated the above means, 'A toast, a toast to the good the good things in life'. Not sure what the last line means, but I think its equivalent to 'one, two, three drink'. Any German speakers out there? Anyways, Oktoberfest was an incredibly good time and I highly recommend that all the beer fans out there in the world check out this spectacle at least once in their lives. Its the kind of festival I would love to go back and experience again. Anyone up for the 173rd Oktoberfest next year? Let me know!

Last Few Days in Spain

2005-09-19T07:00:00.000-07:00

I've been chilling in Madrid the last few days and its been great. Sorry Allan and Ryan, but I never had time to check out Ibiza. I would have loved to go, but I only had a couple free days and it just didn't make sense cost wise to travel there and then only spend one full day on the island before heading back to Madrid to catch my flight. I also heard the costs were insane, but from what I hear its well worth it! I few travellers I have run into say that the level of partying is higher than any in the world, and is well worth the inflated costs. Next time I'm in Spain I definitely want to check out Ibiza, as well as Mallorca, San Sebastian, and Barcelona.

Yesterday I indulged a bit and slapped down 75 Euros to watch the La Liga soccer match between Atletico de Madrid and FC Barcelona. The 57,000 capacity Estadio Vicente Calderon was sold out and I had a magnificent seat in the upper deck, right on the centre half line. Of the two Madrid teams, the crazier fans are by far the Atletico supporters, known as los indios (the Indians). Atleti fans pride themselves on their loyalty. They sing more, wear their colours more, and get behind their team whatever the score... and I can attest to that. A group of about 10,000 fans behind one of the goals never stopped singing and chanting throughout the duration of the 90 minute match! Atletico quickly fell behind 0-1, but battled back and scored two unanswered goals to take the match, and their first win of the season, 2-1. I thought I was going to go deaf after hearing the thunderous cheering and applause after they scored each goal. What an incredible game!

Well, tomorrow I bid adieu to this wonderful city and fantastic country. My Spanish language skills have improved 10-fold and I continue to learn new words and phrases every day. I'll miss this place, that's for sure. Tomorrow I fly into London for one day, and then take an overnight party bus to Munich where I'll spend the next 3 days celebrating the Oktoberfest. Poor me. Haha. My goal is to learn at least one German beer song. We'll see how we go. Adios Espana! Thanks for the good times.

Spain & Portugal Review

2005-09-17T04:39:00.000-07:00

I'm back in Madrid and my bus tour of Spain & Portugal has finally come to an end. I'm absolutely exhausted but have had a magnificent time on this tour. It was nice staying in hotels, but I think I'm spoiled now. Checking into my hostel this afternoon, the place seemed small and cramped. Oh well, I've only gotta put up with it for a few more days until I depart for Munich and the Oktoberfest. More drinking. My liver hates me. Haha. Anyways, here are a few select pics from my tour. Enjoy.

Estadio Santiago Bernabeau - Soccer home of David Beckham

Taking in a bullfight at Plaza del Toros in Madrid

Enjoying the street performance of a Spanish guitarist

Random drinking photo - I believe we were in Torremolinos

Overlooking Toledo - Home of Spanish artist El Greco

Watching an incredible Flamenco show in Seville

The Mediterranean beach of Torremolinos... Topless? Oh yeah.

A Spanish Sword. Ha! You call that a knife? THIS is a knife!

A beautiful fountain and plaza in downtown Seville

A fantastic view of Lisbon's port and beach - Gorgeous

You think I've got what it takes?... Neither do I

A beautiful monument to Christ the King in Fatima, Portugal

Salamanca, Spain

2005-09-15T02:19:00.000-07:00

To quickly answer my buddy Ryan's question, the 'best chicken in the world' I sampled in Sintra, Spain was pretty damn good. I personally wouldn't label it the best ever, but it was a nicely grilled, juicy, tasty half chicken. It also came with some pretty damn good fries and together with a large bottle of water, was a perfect hangover cure. After Sintra we headed north-east to Porto and sampled some 'Port Wine'. I was pretty impressed with their homemade liqeurs and bought a bottle of Almond liqeur and Coffee liquer. Mmm, mmm good.

I'm currently in Salamanca, a popular college town just outside of Madrid. The town is pretty small but seems to be absolutely pumping every night of the week. Obviously there is a huge student population here. Yesterday we went out into the town and checked out a local bar called Gatsby's. It was seriously busy and there were even huge groups of people walking through the streets from 12am until 4am when I finally called it a night. Talk about a happening little town! My Spain & Portugal tour is unfortunately coming to an end. Later today we head back to Madrid and then I've got another 4 days there until Octoberfest. Hasta luego!

Lisbon, Portugal

2005-09-13T04:52:00.000-07:00

We've finally reached the Portuguese leg of our Spain & Portugal tour. Arrived into Lisbon yesterday afternoon and had a bunch of free time. I took care of some housekeeping stuff like doing laundry, getting random things at the pharmacy, and getting a haircut. I usually get my hair cut about once every three weeks, but its been nearly six weeks since my last cut. My hair was starting to resemble a mini afro. Now I've got it nice and short. So fresh and so clean baby!

Last few days have been pretty relaxing. The usual drinking and partying at night and then relaxing by the pool and taking in city tours during the day. I'm currently just outside of Lisbon in a small town called Sintra. Very picturesque and quite beautiful. We've been blessed with another stellar day. Sunny and hot at about 30 degrees with a nice cool breeze appearing from time to time. Later today we get to check out a famous Portuguese beach and apparently eat the 'best chicken in the world' according to our tour manager. That's all for now. In a couple of days we'll be departing for the Spanish college town of Salamanca. J.P. signing out.

Seville, Spain

2005-09-11T04:15:00.000-07:00

Well its been a fantastic couple of days in Torremolinos. The town is described as the most popular and lively Mediterranean resort on the Costa del Sol. Our hotel was essentially a beach resort, complete with three outdoor pools, tennis courts, a couple of bars and even a supermarket and hair salon. We had a couple nights of legendary partying and a full day to relax on the beach and by the pool to recover from said partying. The Spanish nightlife doesn't get started until 12:30am at the earliest and usually ends at about 6:00 or 7:00am. Pretty different from back home where things get started at about 10pm and end at 2am. You know what they say... while in Spain... Definitely some good times had.

Yesterday we visited the tiny country of Gibraltar. Unfortunately one of the dudes on my tour had the wrong documentation so he had to wait for us at the Spanish border. Too bad. Whilest in Gibraltar we took a tour of the imposing Rock of Gibraltar and took in the festivities of their National Day. We were very, very lucky. Their national colours are red and white, exactly as they are in Canada. Gibraltareans, however, only got their National Day some 18 years ago so they are understandably very proud and nationalistic. About 99% of the people I saw were wearing red and white. They must put something in the water because the people who live there are gorgeous.

I'm now in Seville, site of the 1992 World Expo. With a population of about 700,000, Seville is apparently the birthplace of the Flamenco, a traditional Spanish dance and guitar show. Last night we experienced such a show and let me say, its absolutely breathtaking. The intensity, charisma and feeling they danced with was incredible. If you're ever in Spain, seeing a Flamenco show is a must! This morning we took in a tour of the city and visited a few of the big sites including the Maria Luisa Park, Seville Bull Ring, and the Tomb of Christopher Columbus. Pretty cool. We've got the rest of today to chill and take in a Quadalquivir River Cruise. Tomorrow we're off to Portugal. Adios Espana!

Granada, Spain

2005-09-08T03:55:00.000-07:00

I'm now in Granada, which is a couple hours south of Cordoba, closer to the Mediterranean coast in Spain. Participated in a city tour this morning and checked out Albaicin and Alhambra, an old Spanish Palace. Also checked out a couple beautiful churches with gorgeous gold plated Altars and Tabernacles. King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella are buried in the Central Cathedral. We saw their Epitaphs and Coffins. Creepy.

Last night was also pretty cool. Went salsa dancing for the first time in Spain. Not much of a salsa dancer, but was not afraid to make a fool of myself and try. Pretty good numbers for the guys - we were outnumbered nearly 3 to 1. Good brew, good company, good times. Many photos taken, and even a little ass-shaking salsa video. Nice.

The weather has been pretty weird so far. Apparently Spain is experiencing the dryest and hottest temperatures in its history, but 2 of our 4 days on tour we've had torrential downpours! Just crazy. Oh well, its a beautiful day today. About 25 degrees, sunny and no humidiy. Hopefully we can keep this weather going for the rest of our tour. Tomorrow we finally reach the south coast and get to experience a couple of the legendary Spanish beaches. Can't wait.

Cordoba, Spain

2005-09-06T10:09:00.000-07:00

My three days in Madrid absolutely flew by. I guess that's what happens when you're having fun. The bullfight was a pretty cool experience. Bloody, grewsome, exciting and then after a while, actually pretty boring. Weird eh? There were six bullfights, thought I'm not sure if I'd call them fights - more like a lengthy, elaborate bull execution. Like I said, its a pretty cool and interesting experience but I won't be watching one again, anytime soon. Also visited the Prado and the Real Madrid FC soccer stadium which were both awesome.

My Spain & Portugal tour is now underway and I'm coming to you live from Cordoba, Spain about a 6 hour drive south of Madrid. On the way here we stopped in the town of Toledo, home of the Spanish artist El Greco. It was a very beautiful town and reminded me a lot of Venice with the small streets, stone roads, and the crazy, crazy drivers. Some of you may know that there is also a Toledo in Ohio. Apparently that Toledo was named after this original one in Spain.

So, what are my first impressions of Spain? Not to sound mean, but they seam like a very lazy people. Stores don't open until about 10am, they then close at 1pm for siesta and open again at about 5pm for another couple of hours before closing for the day. Customer service is practically non-existant and I see people sleeping in the streets and park benches all the time. Having said this, the Spanish nightlife is fantastic, the cervezas (beers) are cheap, the women are beautiful and the cervezas are cheap. Did I mention the cervezas are cheap? Looking forward to the rest of my 2 week tour. Had a bender last night so pretty tired right now in the late afternoon. I hope y'all are doing well wherever you are. Hasta la vista from Espana!

Madrid, Spain

2005-09-03T10:22:00.000-07:00

My time in Denmark flew by and now I'm in Spain. This morning I left a rainy, cold and overcast Copenhagen and arrived in a sunny, hot and humid Madrid. What a difference a three hour flight can make! One thing I noticed right away was that nobody in Spain seems to be able to speak english. Quite a shock since about 99% of Scandinavians can speak perfectly fluent english. Even at the airport I was hard-pressed to find a fluent english speaker. Habla Ingles? Anyone? Anyone?

One good thing about Spain is that prices are back to normal. Everything in the Scandinavian countries is easily 3x to 4x more expensive than in Canada. Food, drinks, beer, services, you name it, its pricey. For example, in Copenhagen I was paying about $8 to $12 CDN per hour to use the internet, now I'm sitting in a 1 Euro ($1.5 CDN) per hour internet cafe. Three cheers for sane prices. Hip, hip hurray!

When I checked into my hostel I ran into a roomate of mine named Christian, a Brazilian dude who is fluent in Portuguese, Spanish and English - thank God! He'd already been in town for a day and was kind enough to show me around for most of the afternoon. We checked out the Real Jardin Botanico (Botanical Gardens), Parque del buen Retiro (literally Park of the Good Retirement), and the famous Reina Sofia art museum, home to Picasso's painting Guernica - an impassioned denunciation of war and fascism commemorating the 1937 destruction of the Basque town of Guernica by German bombers.

So far, a brilliant start to my time in Spain. I'm a little tired so I plan to sit back and relax for the rest of the day. Tomorrow will be action-packed, however. I intend on checking out the Museo del Prado (Spain's most famous art museum) and then taking in an authentic Spanish Bullfight in the evening! The Plaza de Toros, a 25000 capacity bullring, holds corridas every Sunday from March to October and I just so happen to be in town. Can't wait. Should be quite a spectacle. That's all for now. Hasta Luego!