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Published: December 6th 2008
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The Drake Hotel
This is what Michael looks like when you want to take a picture of him... This is his mean face. Or his tango face? Awww, he looks like a panda bear! Note: The Canada blogs have been rewritten and reposted due to requests for anonymity. Hush yo mouf As our vacation winds down, you’ll notice that we are spending more time relaxing and less time exploring. Some will call it traveler’s fatigue. I call it conserving energy for residency. Meli’s aunt kicks off brekkie by making us grilled cheese sandwiches, then prosciutto and cheese panini. Knowing that we have a long day and night ahead of us, I cross the street for dried mango and Red Bull. In all out Pinay fashion, Meli’s aunt keeps the food coming, topping brekkie with tortellini al panna for lunch with white wine and Canadian Ice Wine (a digestif). Meli chooses to sleep for most of the day as jet lag is working her like a part time job. I pass the afternoon watching the Daily Show, the Colbert Report, and Stephen Colbert’s performance at the White House Correspondent’s Dinner from April 2006. I’m surprised Meli is able to sleep with our loud, gut-busting outbursts every few minutes. I have her aunt in tears at one point.
Rotten…spoiled rotten Spoiled rotten, yes we are. But let’s not stop there. Dinner
The Drake Hotel
Angela (watch out for those stairs!), Michael, Britt, Karen... Dre and Meli in the sub-atmosphere... What's up with the growth hormone in St. Catherine's? tonight is at The Best Friend Chinese Restaurant with the family! The last box to check off my To-Do/To-Get list is Havana Club Rum. Being a product of Cuba, and with the whole embargo against Cuba, it’s not available in the USA. So, I need to pick up some in Canada if I want to toast to Castro at home—and I do! Our host continues the spoiling campaign by purchasing the Havana Club for me, despite an earnest attempt on my part to pay for it myself. He shoots me a very dirty look when he saw my money.
And the spoiling isn’t over yet. At The Best Friend Chinese Restaurant in Mississauga, Ontario, there are eight of us at dinner. Each person orders an entrée, some—NOT ME OR MELI!—order two, plus a few appetizers, and rice, and drinks. A feast! General Tsao’s chicken, lemon chicken, two lobsters, beef chow mein, spring rolls, vegetable chow mein, pan fried noodles with shrimp, sweet and sour pork, beef with black beans, fried rice, steamed rice, and I’m sure I’m forgetting a couple more. If we have to choose a theme for our around the world trip, gastronomy (or pigging out) would
The Drake Hotel
"Canada, not California!" But... but... I already drank two! be high on the list.
Last Call for a Happy Ending Tonight, we get the keys to his Mini Cooper. We are rolling Italian Job style. Yawning all the way to Michael’s place, we drive by Starbucks for a pick-us-up. Michael just took a Biochemistry midterm exam, so he is feeling festive. His friend Angela, wedding planner in Niagara, is also rolling with the crew tonight. She and Meli gab about weddings, while Michael and I do what we do when the boys are together: drank and talk ‘ish.
And then it starts: the Jack and Coke that Michael gives me triggers a reaction. Everything in my stomach is rebelling. Is it food poisoning? Or the combination of the white wine, ice wine, red bull, Chinese food, jack and coke, prosciutto, caramel macchiato, tortellini and cheese? I look six months pregnant and I feel worse. Michael is a pal and picks up some Pepto for me while he and Britt walk to the Drake Hotel where we are meeting Dre and Karen. Dre brings Meli a wonderful gift of MAC makeup, and all the ladies start the night with mojitos. My misery continues, but by 2am, the Pepto
The Drake Hotel
From Buenos Aires to New York to Toronto... we be clubbin'. helps out. My GI issues don’t ruin the night, though. With Angela falling down the stairs on the way to the bathroom (I am walking with her, so I see it all…Thomas, you woulda loved it!) and Michael being Michael, we have much to talk and laugh about. The table that the waiter promised us - “it’ll be ready in about 10 minutes” - never opens up, so the seven of us huddle around a tall table fit for two. Michael forces drinks on poor, defenseless Meli, telling her “Canada, not California” every time she tries to pass a round, perhaps overcompensating for my inability to consume. I pick up the slack around 2am, one hour after “last call.” My belly is so-so, but I won’t let a little gastro ruin my last night of vacation. Meli and Dre chit-chat about who knows what. Michael is interested in UCLA Dental School, so I put in work trying to get him to come to L.A. If he comes, maybe that’ll be enough to convince Milton to return to L.A. for his Orthopedic Surgery residency. All kinds of fingers are crossed!
It’s almost routine, but you can’t end a night out
The Drake Hotel
A rare photo of Michael letting someone take his picture. partying without a Happy Ending at Happy Seven. The crew from three nights ago plus Ang go to work. I must be feeling better, because I order General Tsao’s Chicken (didn’t I have that for dinner eight hours ago?) and the others add crispy beef and vegetable spring rolls. Luckily, they get the order right tonight.
Canadian Criminal No vacation with Michael is complete without him breaking and entering. This time, it’s not Pattie’s 3rd floor apartment in Ann Arbor that he is breaking into, it’s his own place. He left his keys and everyone is asleep. So the 6’7” Canadian climbs from the patio of the 1st floor to the balcony of the 2nd floor of his apartment. I take up my usual place in the chair and pass out for a few, while Meli and Michael shoot the breeze. Ang crashes on the couch, admiring the scars from her fall. Not bad for the last full day of vacay, eh?
Well, it gets better. Whatever hit me in the gut attacks Meli at 5am. She holds it together on the ride home, not wanting to upchuck in the Mini Cooper. She looks like she’ll make it,
The Drake Hotel
Post-fall? They look too happy for that! but the aroma of the elevator and the long ride up to the 17th floor does it. She steps out of the elevator tentatively, hand over mouth, with eyes pleading for a plastic bag or a garbage bin. Leroy offers the building garbage chute - that’s not gonna cut it. Then, with the apartment bathroom just 20 feet away, she blows. Now that’s the way you end a round the world trip!
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leroy and melissa
Reposted Comments
June 11th 2007 - Eric Harp: / I miss the Ice wine from up there. And you'll have to let me know how the Havana Club rum is. I wish I Could have made it up to T.O.