Dear Summer ’18 Part 2

Old Port Crew
Old Port Crew

The second half of my summer adventures picked up pretty quickly from the previous blog post.   Now in the month of August, I continued to travel and took a few more trips to some familiar places.

Montreal – August 10-12

One of my all time favourite cities to visit is Montreal, Quebec.  It is roughly a six hour drive and me and my friends make the trek for a number of reasons.  Primarily we love to go for the food, the fashion and all the cultural elements that make the 514 unique.   It was my 11th time visiting and it never disappoints.

Basilique Notre-Dame
Basilique Notre-Dame

We rented this Airbnb loft that could sleep our crew of 11 in Old Port.   It was a very nice place, formerly situated in a business building with very modern touches inside the unit.  What was pretty cool about the location was that it was within walking distance of the historic Notre-Dame Basilica.  This cathedral has been around since the 17th century!  I was able to wake up early on the Sunday morning and attend 8 am mass.

The architecture inside is immaculate, so well crafted and visually astonishing.  Heck, I only knew the place because Celine Dion famously wed there in 1994 lol.  It was my first time going there and even if you are not roman catholic, I recommend you stop by and explore this magnificent church.

Le Bremner Chef Sample Dinner
One of the main dishes served at the Le Bremner chef sample dinner, mango with steak

I also had a chance to take in the fine dining that Old Port has to offer.   The first night we dined at the Vieux-Port Steakhouse and surprisingly to my friends, I elected not to order a steak (you’ll find out why later in the blog post).  Instead I had lobster linguine and it was alright, nothing special but nothing bad either.

The next night, four of us attended a chef sampler dinner at Le Bremner, operated by chef, TV personality and restaurateur Chuck Hughes.  It was my first time experiencing a chef sampler dinner and it was nothing short of amazing.   All of the food presented to our table was fresh with the menu being unique for that particular day.

The size portions were not grand, but there was more than enough food to feed our group.   After attending this dinner, you learn to have a greater appreciation for culinary chefs and the reasons why they use certain spices and ingredients in their cooking.  You can literally taste it in your mouth!  Click here to view my Montreal gallery.

MTL Boyz
MTL Boyz

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Dear Summer ’18 Part 1

This past summer, I made it an effort to travel and enjoy life.  A lot of times…we just work, work and work.  I’m no different myself, having worked an average of 64 hours a week for the past year and a half.  I wanted to recap and share some of my travels this past summer, which I haven’t done in a while.  Let’s take a look.

Monday Night RAW (07-16-18)
Monday Night RAW

July 16 – WWE Monday Night RAW in Buffalo, New York

For those who know me,  I am a long time wrestling fan.  I don’t get out that much to watch the product in person, instead I follow online and catch up with the recaps through news boards.   An old friend of mine from my early dairy industry days, invited me for a one day mini road trip to Buffalo, New York.  I agreed and told Eddie that we were due for a reunion,so we caught a Monday Night RAW show.

So I went on Stub Hub, bought some tickets for us (he has no idea I paid above market value for them lol) and got us ninth row ringside.   I figured if we were going to travel for an hour and a half across the border, we better have some decent seats!

Overall it was fun night, watching the current roster of wrestling superstars do their thing on RAW.   We both agreed that Buffalo was our least favourite town for multiple reasons.  But at the end of the day it was about reconnecting, sharing some old stories and catching up on life.

Probably the biggest disappointment for me was the WiFi inside the arena, it was terrible!  It kept kicking you out after you logged in.  How am I supposed to share social media content with my audience?  I’m not using my own data in this town! Lol.  Check out some pictures and videos below.

Wayne Lapasa
Outside the arena, standing next to production trucks waiting for the show to start
With my friend Eddie, 21 years of friendship and counting
With my good friend Eddie, 21 years of friendship and counting

Trying to find our way into backstage catering lol

Seth Rollins has one of the most energetic ring entrances in pro wrestling today

Continue reading “Dear Summer ’18 Part 1”

In My Feelings Challenge

Drake - In My Feelings
Drake – In My Feelings

Without a doubt, the biggest song of the summer has been Drake’s “In My Feelings” record.   How this tune rose in popularity can be credited to social media influencer/comedian Shiggy.  The 25-year-old born Shaquille Mitchell posted the #DoTheShiggy dance challenge on his Instagram account and the catchy chorus paired with Shiggy’s dance moves ushered in thousands of  creative submissions.  Let’s take a look at some of the big ones.

Shiggy posted the first #DoTheShiggy aka  #InMyFeelings challange

NFL star Odell Beckham Jr. was the first celebrity to jump on board

R&B singer Ciara & her NFL hubby Russell Wilson made it cool for couples to do the Shiggy

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