Qaqortoq, Greenland

I remember this one scene in I think the third mighty ducks movie when Coach Bombay was talking to this girl from Iceland. She said that contrary to the name, Iceland was actually really green and Greenland is full of ice. That line got stuck in my head and I consider myself very lucky that during this cruise en route to Europe, I’ll be able to see if it really is true.

Today we were in Qaqortoq, Greenland and when I looked outside, guess what I saw? An iceberg in the middle of the sea, maybe just a mile offshore. It was awe inspiring. I mean, it is the middle of summer here. I think and here was this lone iceberg. What a sight.

So I guess it’s true. There really is ice in Greenland. J

My friends Randy, Jason and I wandered around the teeny tiny town on Qaqortoq, and aside from the beautiful flowers and the beautiful huskies everyone seemed to have, there really wasn’t that much to see. And with the dollar so weak right now, it cost too much to buy anything but the prerequisite magnet which cost me eight dollars by the way. It’s frikkin highway robbery. Anyway.   

We’re spending the next 2 days at sea and on August 1, we’ll be in Reykjavik, Iceland. Time to check if their country really is as green as they say it is. And all my friends say it’s really pretty with lots of things to buy and see so I’m really excited!!  

I’m sorry I don’t have too much time to write about the details but it’s 12:30am now, and I have to be in the kitchen early. Toodles!!

Farewell, Matthias and Ronald. Hello (again) Boston.

Two guys I work with in the pastry kitchen left the ship yesterday. They’ve finished their 10 month contract and are probably almost home by now. It kinda sucks saying goodbye to my newfound friends because they’ve been really nice to me, helping me out with the adjustment and giving me some of their old stuff that I can make use of. 

Here are a couple of pictures of their dispedida party at Ronald’s cabin. (Here you get a glimpse of how tiny our living quarters are.)

 Ronald, Matthias, Me and Ian.

Ronald, Rocky, Ian, Me and my chef patissier, Chef Mario de Guzman

Yesterday afternoon, my friend Randy and I had about 2 hours off to get off the ship and go shopping at the Galleria mall in Boston. He wanted to look at laptops and I wanted to get a Boston Red Sox baseball hat for me or my sister. (I haven’t decided yet so I’m keeping the tag on it for now. Who knows how long it’ll stay on though. Heehee. :D)

 A hurried shot we took at the park by the mall.

Randy with his Boston Celtics hat and me with my Red Sox one. :)

  Me wearing my (or Di-yen’s) cap. Love!!       

We're enroute to Europe now via Greenland. Weeeee!! :) 

grocery shopping in Halifax

Today we docked at Halifax in Nova Scotia. It’s different compared to Montreal and Quebec because here, people speak English. Yaaay. No more snooty Frenchies. Hehehe. 

My workmates and I only had about an hour to go around so we just went to a big department store that they had here. We need to stock up on some chips and the all important laundry detergent. They told me stuff is going to be so much more expensive in Europe, where we’re headed to next. 

Yaaay. I’m super excited for the Voyage of the Vikings cruise because we’re going to pass by Reykjavik, Iceland on the way to Amsterdam, then through Portugal and Morocco on the way back. More places to see and food to eat!! Hopefully things in the kitchen won’t be as hectic and I’ll have more time to wander around and visit.

Here are a few pictures of me, Ian and Randy on the way to the supermarket. Exciting stuff right? Weeee. Lol.

Beautiful Montreal

I had about an hour to wander around the old part of Montreal by myself. I didn’t want to go too far away from the docks this time because I was alone and I’m not exactly very good with directions and getting back to where I originally came from. Lucky for me, the Notre Dame church was just a few blocks away (nothing I couldn’t handle). My chef told me that this church was where Celine Dion got married. I can see why, the outside is absolutely beautiful. 

I didn’t go in because it looked like you had to book a tour to get inside (similar to St. paul’s in London) when there was no mass. I only had a few minutes to spare anyway because I wanted to go to a souvenir shop to buy my Montreal magnet and my Canadian flag. More importantly, on the way to the church, I had spotted this lovely little cupcake and ice cream shop that I wanted to visit.

 

Isn’t this place lovely? I love the color combo, it kind of reminds me of Bizu in Manila. They had a couple of the standard chocolate, vanilla and coffee flavors, and they also had a flavor of the day and that day it was strawberry shortcake. I went over their options and wound up choosing their praline cupcake. It was just the moistest, chocolatiest, nuttiest cupcake I’ve ever had. Yummy!! I scarfed down the whole thing in a few bites. Maybe my only complaint is that it got too sweet near the end, like they’d used too much icing sugar on the frosting. Other than that though, I was in cupcake heaven.

I’m already looking forward to being back in Montreal so I could try another of their cupcakes. Weee. :D