By this time we get there, and I was horrified to find that my kyak is a piece of shit one. No rudder and no skirt., I did however manage to find matching pants to go with my ArcTeryx shell, so boy was I glad to have had them, kept me absolutely dry in there and I didnt mind having no skirt by the end of it I was still a little grumpy about the rudder and the kyak itself was heavier and shittier. After the first portage I decided to have some fun and play this game I invented called lets try to find them.
So I had no map or compass, but I knew where the lake was that we were gonna camp on., I kinda drifted to the back of the pack and just sat there alone for a good 20min just enjoying the scene its actually what motivated me to play this game and I slowly started gathering clues and trying to find the right lake we were planning on camping on.
So one thing I didnt take into account is that the lake was HUGE.. like a good 400-500m if not more to the other side, and it was WINDY as hell making it hard to paddle, I stuck mainly to the shore line at this point which was great for gathering clues, asking nearby campers if they had happen to hvae seen 4 canoes go by with a noisy bunch of boys. I eventually came into a new opening of the lake and my friends had actually put out a big bright jacket at the campsite which i recognized right away. What a fun game that was I must say, I even had to get serious at a point wondering what I would do if I dont find them, but that perhaps will be another adventure

So it actually all worked out according to my plan by the time I got there everything was already setup, the tents the benches, chairs, and tarps, all I had to do was get my gear ready and build a bucket system. So while the sun was still out I decided to get in the water right after I had setup the bucket , but there was just one problem in the midst I failed to notice that my bag of inrgediants for the vegetable stew wasn’t in anyones canoe! I thought I saw Gem put it in their canoe, but it was wrong =/ oddly enough Nick actually forgot a bag of food aswell. This year I brought some luxuary items with me snorkel and fins !! My god it was just incredible, I had no idea what to expect while snorkeling there however it was a whole new world to me. There was under ground trees, logs plantlife, blobs of a jelly fish like material algae, plankton, these white plants that could move and there was air bubbles coming out of them.
It was just fantastic, I actually even swam to the other side of the lake, the combination of my flippers and my sharkskin top made me float well, and I felt i could swim for ever! which I almost did on the far side it was ever more mysterious than before, the rocks over there were rugged and raw and there was so many interesting plants here too, I saw the odd fish or two but the plants are what really interested me. I had the feeling of being close to a ghost ship or something like that, It even looked like there was an underwater cave, I did dive down a bit from time to time and took a closer look at things also practicing mask clearing techniques I was so happy to have had my mask for this kinda stuff and my own equipment. I actually had to rent gear down in Florida keys a couple weeks back that it pissed me off abit about the dive, I think the mask is the most important part of it, cuz if you can’t see properly and comfortably down there whats the point, and no water gets in So did actually see a massive snapping turtle just by the shore of our camp site, which was awesome! but kinda scary at the same time, I wasnt in the water when I saw it but I wouldn’t wanna get bit by it anyways saw some youtube videos and they actually dont let go , in every case they have to use a special tool or pliers to pry their mouth open.

I was in and out of the water all the time, drying off by the fire going to club OK, and all the time the fire was burning really good, we had massive logs cooking all weekend and made a huge difference through the night. I was only in the water for about 30min at night cuz the moon was not out at all, it was tucked away behind lots of clouds so wasn’t that fun, it was still pretty nice though, but would have loved to have seen the stars and the moon as I did last year I remember just floating on my back looking up at them last year thinking.. man would it have been nice to have my flippers with me! I had my sharkskin so that made swimming all that more enjoyable.

I stayed up saturday night till the sun rose, most of my friends had passed out by now and it was just me and the fire in the woods, it was just nostalgic for some time just nice to forget the world forget everything and just be.

But the tournament and partying was great, but even more fun for me was reconnecting with my good friend Sigrid, whom I met in Buenos Aeries , and whom so kindly invited me to her lovely house in North Vancouver. For me I was actually going through a lot of weird thoughts about this girl thats been in my life, and just talking to her about everything was so therapeutic for me it explains why im feeling so good right now looking back on it. But besides that, had WAY too much fun.

Theres a funny story too about my dress shoes, that I absolutely must share.. after the banquet i crashed over at some buddies place, and in the morning i got up and went back to my friends place eventually, and we actually planned to go out for dinner to a nice place so i thought what the heck might as well put on my dress shoes..and so we get there and sat at our table, and i crossed my legs for a minute, and looked at my shoes .. and i turned up to my friend and said .. these arent my shoes.

and that was just it, she actually lost it laughing so hard, and that was more than enough for me too I couldn’t control it either anymore everyone started turning their heads to see what was so funny, and we got a lot of interesting looks but as we all know that only makes it funnier !!! muah!!

SO btw, one thing I do have to talk about is the squash, I actually did the best I could at the time so im happy with it, unfortunatly I had an injury coming into the tournament but, I played great considering and rattled some cages and won a match too! BUT! my good good friend and ex training partner had a much better result, winning the WOMENS OPEN!!!! I couldnt even explain how happy it made me feel to see that, I was actually crying a bit when she did it! and it was an honour to be there.

So I’m on a bus to mendoza then to san juan, to have christmas with friends family!!! I just wanted to do this sooo bad, stayin with a family to me is like … The ultimate experience!! So there is also a magical place there called the valley of the moon and we are gonna go at night to it!

K so! Bus started backing up!!!! And no ones sitting beside me !! Ahhahahaha whattttt!!! Kinda fuckin awesome don’t ya think

Ok so btw travel tips for here, tip and tip well. I caught on in argentina when I got that feel of how similar it is to karachi, and a little more here goes along way. They are poor, and just seeing a smile that they get from something as so simple as money .. Makes me feel good, these are good people, really good people here.

So btw I got dropped after suring at the mall was plannin to go eat and then leave, but I decided togo back to hostel and omg am I ever glad I did. Really talked to tristan and more imprtantly carolina!! Omg she’s sooo pretty I wanna take her home with me

K so, I need to buy some nice things for the parents tried todo that at mall but fuck it was insane .. Literally and with suitcase and pack .. Hahaha kinda made up my mind on goin back to hostel. So gonna have to try to find a thing in mendoza.

This is pretty fun actually !! Woot bus is nice and comfy, I wish I woulda pushed for first class !! Didn’t even think about it till carolina asked me, but to be honest. They look about the same, and that remindsme of travel tip number 2 , pack a nice portable pillow !!!! Saved my life on the plane, and right now

Toon time! Ciaou ciou cioau

…Later that time trip…

Ok so yay! Made sucha good call on stayin in mendoz* for the early morning, wow these seats are so comfortable !!!!!!!!! K so on way to san juan now , caught the 1400 early actually so all good!

So yeah I got 4 gifts!!! Heheh just in time fuck u woulda been proud , saw exactly what to get and made the call right away no delay.

So sleepin from 9 to 1230 made all the difference in the world! Muah !!!!!!!

…even later on that trip…

Omg .. I honestly can’t believe that I’m actually here .. This is just something that I had dreamed of and its happening.

This house is just beautiful, I have a balcony with a view of mountains and wine fields, I can see all the stars in the universe soon, there’s hardly anything out here.

OK, so Santiago actually came by 16:00ish and took me for a real tour in his car, showed me some amazing places, and the neighbourhoods and all that stuff, so maybe that wasnt sucha bad thing missing out on the bike tour!

So btw just got back from Salsa, Tango night, OMG I loved it, was sooo much fun! and met up with some couch surfers too!!! So first was the salsa dancing, and it was workin for me if i didnt think about it and just did it, but some of the girls i danced with were like pretty bad I thought. and I had the giggles, so like it was a great combo! but by the end of it, not that many girls wanted to dance with me cuz I kept laughing, and when everyone switched I was usually the odd one left out, kinda lame for me at the time but oh wellz

Tango was so much better I thought, I liked the more longer smooth strokes of Tango. and actually one of my partners spoke english!!! so I asked her to be my partner for the whole time, and we got good at it! So was an amazing night actually, and even met some couch surfers and *might* even plan out an adventure!! but we’ll see how it goes.

So im just kinda killing time now, staying up a little late tonite so 2morrow night i’ll be up all night! Creamfields in BA, can’t fucken wait, gonna be a ridiculous party, timo, hernan, satoshi,avb and theres a couple more but thats what really stuck to me. but stil havent decided what to wear!! ahhh, might go with my army camo shorts, or my black ones, black ones are lighter so thats where the points are going now. muah! will let ya know

All the lights actually went down a bit, and there was some very good students that came out and did a show for everyone. Which was quite entertaining actually.

So it was like 20:30 now and i called my friend she said shed be like another hour or so, so I decided to go and watch some more dancing, but inside they started a new lesson on rock n roll dancing, or like American 50’s music kinda thing. but omg!! it was soooo much fun, and we did the lessons and all the way up to practice dancing with all the girls! yay, and after there was a big line dancing kinda thing which just killed it! literally could not stop laughing doing it.

So by the time it was over, it was like 21:30 and perfect timing for meeting up with my friend, but to be honest i wanted to stay there for the next tango session that was starting up at 22:00 !! err, so i think i might go there tonite at 22:00 for some proper tango.

So just doing laundry right now before i head out to check out the shops and change some american bills.

but anyways went to pick up the tickets from Lorena today, person i found the ad for, and her and her bf were amazing! mentioned they knew some ppl going and shit to look out for me, and if i wanted to go out later this week they’ll take me out, they pointed me in the direction of this art meusuem and omg it was fuckin amazing!! it was this one that was closed yesterday, er i didnt see, so omg it was amazing, it was like an old school house or something but the main halls were humongeous , with marble status , and all kinds of interesting things, i just wandered around some of the other parts of it, and it was just amazing, I wandered to what looked like a theatre, and some workers there didnt seem to mind i was just looking around when i did a littl twril of my finger around my eyes.

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So I only forgot to bring with me my quick dry towel that i got from Australia, which isnt that bad, probally will just have to buy a towel or two for when i do the hostelling.

The neighbourhood im in is just beautiful! I love how they line the sides of the buildings with trees, that go all the way up, so when u look out the windows all u can see is green! this  is actually a trait of the neighbourhood im staying in Palermo. Im about 5min walk from the main street which is got a subway stop and theres lots of shops/restaurants and all that stuff over there.

Something about the spanish culture here is that it seems very simliar to the Pakistani, always late, laid back and less caring for the less important things, the driving and all is pretty simliar too, which is why im not gonna be driving here! can be pretty bad at times too, like people that walk dogs here let the dogs shit and piss everywhere and just leave it, people come with buckets of water and just wash them onto the roads from time to time, but still pretty nasty.

I feel that ever since I was in karachi and London on my own when I was younger travelling any country alone is not that daunting anymore. For me the challenge in everything was being in a totally new world. Its still pretty intimidating for me being here, like its hard to talk to many people here because 95% of the people do not speak english.

I love the feeling of being out of my comfort zone, and trying to find my way. Im going to be leaving for Chile and Easter Island by next monday so things will get alot more interesting then!!

was just walking around was actually on the subway to goto check out this famous cathederal, when i got a bbm from Santiago (guy im renting apartment from) asking me if im intersted in going to the boca juniors game, he also had along with him was this lady from Vancouver Segred, which is always awesome to find a fellow Canadian where ever you go!!! Man was I ever glad that I did, what an atmosphere. When the game was about to start and the home team ran out the stadium went off the hook. Party streamers were flying everywhere, ripped newspaper were thrown up, signing and dancing.

[pics]

So by the time I got back from the game it was about 8, and time for dinner. Always my favourite part of the day, especially when I have no idea what the menu says. So was just about to hike out when I started chatting to this chick thats in my building, and she said shed join me for dinner!!!! Made the night actually! Her name was Valeria, and shes been born and raised in Buenos Aires, and spoke good english so perfect !!! so we found a nice little place close by and got to know each other a bit. Even more exciting to find out that shes a famous singer here, and she was winding down from her career touring, and is focusing more on talent promotion and teaching. She joined me for a cup of tea after dinner and by the time we knew it, it was 1:30 !! a little late by even the locals standard for a weeknight.

The flight over to BA was only 2h, and I was greeted by the hired car I made for getting me to my apartment, his name was Dante, and he was just awesome, gave me lots of tips and tricks about the city, and even made a few calls for me to get somethings sorted I asked him about, so definately helped me out bigtime!

I took a nap soon as all the documents were signed for the apartment, so I think I ended up paying $477 for 9 days here, bit pricey but its a great place and very centrally located which is what i wanted.

So after my lil nap it was like 20:00 and i went on my first little cruise, found a nice little restaurant to have dinner at, and  I was actually going to go out for a club night to Pacha, but im still a bit tired from the trip, and im gonna be partying pretty hard in a few days anyways

To me , it feels as if im in another world down here. People dont really speak english so that makes for some interesting conversations. Im seemingly expanding my spanish somehow more and more, i even find myself talking to myself in spanish!!

SO was at this grocery store and there was some nice spanish music on the radio and there was a little girl like had to be abour 4 or something that started dancing to it, and I started smiling and actually evreyone in the store turned and then some clapping started .. hehe was just something that I thought was hilarious.

So about actually 1 week ago, there was a very favourite Prog House, Trance dj that came to Toronto, and omg was so there, got dropped off by my sister, and omg was rocking out all fuckn night! it was just magical too btw, like i havent been moved like that for a while and to feel such a  beautifull orchestration of music and energy was just an experience of a life-time. BUT the single thing that made me smile looking back tonite was !!! ok when i was walking back to the coat check to get my jacket, someone put their arm on my shoulder and i turned around and the guy said to me ‘Man you are such a good dancer’ . I was really so happy to hear that! it honestly made my day, and I thanked him and then peaced out.

So I tried calling my buddie Gem, who lived only a few blocks away, was gonna crash pad over there, but he didnt pick up for some reason, and LUCKY ME! that i found some people going to Missisauga and some how managed to swing a free ride back home, so like i still had to wake up Aunty Helen, but she’s always kool ;0

Oh btw, it was Hernan Cattaneo.

So in the first round I was matched up with a Racketlon veteran Hannes, a German, and he was solid player indeed, his specialty was tennis, and when we played I only needed 8 points to win the match, but i only got 6, losing the match by 2 points!! I was pretty bummed out about that but decided to not let it get the best of me, and look forward to the next day.

So we had our first mixed doubles match earlier in the day, and we won that pretty easily, and then shortly after that was my singles consolation match semi finals. (I had a bye), but this was a guy from Montreal and a really competitive guy, and really good at badminton. So he was pretty good at table tennis also, and I beat him 21-14, and then came badminton and just wow he was amazing, i was struggaling to get a racket on the ball, but i did manage to get one point! a cross court smash, that he wasnt even close to! I smashed him in squash, but made a couple mistakes, and going into tennis i needed to beat him by 2 points, which was very doable in my mind. So the whole match through it was pretty even, id be up by a couple points, or he would. Eventually landing up with a scoreline of 19-19, and just wow, my favourite part of the match where everything is on the line for these next couple points, im not sure what it was that stuck in my mind that made me feel completely at ease or what, but i was totally relaxed. He was serving and didnt deal with the pressure that well, with a double fault leaving a score of 19-20 for me, and then i guess feeling a little shaky with his serve he hit a serve that just floated over the net, I smiled and ran up and hit one of my favourite shots a down the line forehand, with the perfect amount of pace on the ball and all he could do was watch it go by Samad wins!! So turning around I realized that everyone in the club was watching this match, and being rained on with cheers and applauses as we walked off the court, the Umpire came up to me and said he was really glad I beat that guy, he was one of those guys that doesnt smile, and is too serious, just not fun! and for some reason the club crowd was loving me!! and a big high five from my partner Ally!!

I won the finals pretty easily, the thing that I liked about the finals was that I beat this table tennis coach in table tennis, and he was furious with himself., just furious!! lol and we actually had to play the guy I beat and his partner that Allison beat in mixed doubles, so we beat them pretty easily too to jump into the finals, eventually losing a heartbreaker by 2 points in the end, this time at 18-18 we couldnt pull it off ;( but another time most definatly.

I got talked into staying around for the Vancouver Island Squash tournament next weekend at the same club, so I re-arranged my flight to suit it, and am looking forward to it quite a bit.