The things I get emailed during the day

I got emailed a link to this youtube video this morning.....see, the things I get emailed during the workday to throw me off guard :P  LOL 

Vacation Pictures & Review of London Icebar

One of the things Dale and I wanted to do in London was to check out London's Icebar. 

Neither of us had been to an icebar or icehotel before

So we went on Friday December 10th

First thing: you book your time slot to go to the bar. You're allotted 40 minutes in the bar. 

And there's a big timer counting down by the second your time as seen here:

A note about the time: the 40 minute timer starts when the first person walks into the bar

There were at least 50 or more people in the bar with us...Dale and I were near the front of the line and the timer was around 38 minutes when we walked in. Plus, there is a bit of a delay in walking into the bar because just before you enter the bar, staff throw on a hooded cape over what you're wearing - so that delays everyone's entry by several seconds...

So if you're at the end of the lineup for your time slot appointment, just beware of that if you were hoping for the full 40 minutes you paid for

And yes, the security was yelling aloud for everyone to get out when the 40 minutes was up

I was lucky to snap that picture above showing "00:00" when the time was up

There was one guy in the bar that ordered a drink very close to the 40 minute mark

And when security asked him to leave he said he still had to finish his drink that he just ordered

The security guy couldn't give a shit from his tone of voice and just told him to chug it essentially

So just letting you know they are strict with time...

 Your entrance fee includes one free drink

And the glasses are made of ice

Remember how I mentioned that the staff throw on a hooded cape on you? 

Well attached to this cape are mittens

You need to use your mittens (ewww, mine did not feel hygienic) to hold/lift the ice glass

I tried to lift the glass with my bare hands - doesn't work as it's too slippery LOL 

A note about the glasses: if you order a second (or 3rd etc) drink, they do not give you a new glass

You must re-use your initial ice glass AND they did not rinse out our glass (not even in cold water) before pouring our second drinks into our glasses. And our 2nd drink was different than our 1st drink

Idunno, for the price of the drink I figured they would give you a new ice glass...but they don't

I read a sign before entering the bar that the ice in the bar is imported from Sweden

It's the same ice used for the Icehotel, and apparently they import the ice for it's pure source and that it doesn't form as many cracks in the ice - making the ice "clear"

Idunno, I guess I don't see many huge chunks of ice often as a comparison, but there were many cracks in the ice I saw in the Icebar....

The Tic Tac Toe wall was probably the neatest thing I saw in there

That's what the ceiling looks like

More cracks seen along the wall....oh well, it's ice but I wonder if the cracks would be much worse if they just used purified water from one of London's rivers? 

Like, does it really make a difference that they need to import this ice from Sweden? 

There are some blocks of ice to sit on although more than half the room full of people were standing

Silly but Dale and I thought the floor would be made of ice too LOL

So I wore sneakers instead of high heels :S

Yeah, okay, we realized after a minute or two in the bar that lawsuits would be common if the floor was made of ice as well....so feel free to dress up, wear your heels or whatever shoe you like as the floor is not slippery

Overall Dale and I had much higher expectations for the Icebar - the interior decor was a bit of a let down. I guess with all the hype we just set the bar high

Both of us expected the bar to be larger 

I guess since both Dale and I are born/raised in Canada, we did not find it that cold in the bar

Only our hands were cold - from holding the glass

However, before our 40 minutes was up I already sort of wanted to leave because I just felt bored

Yeah, bored!! The music was okaaay - and we thought it would be a good idea for them to put a big screen TV in there and play some music videos. But there wasn't much to look at and quite a number of people left before the 40 minute timer was up

Initially Dale and I thought we'd go back 2 or maybe 3 times to the Icebar if we really liked it since it's a novelty and we don't have one in Canada

But after the 1st visit we had no interest in going back LOL

I mean, if you haven't been in any Icebar or Icehotel, it's good to check out - but there wasn't anything to keep us going back

This is a really short (and rather shoddy) video I took while in the bar. I was along the back wall of the bar so perhaps you can see what I mean when I say the bar is quite small 

There are better videos on youtube demonstrating this but just thought I would post mine :)

Have you been in an Icebar or Icehotel before?

Or have you been into a bar or hotel that was really different? 

Thailand's Floating Market Part 1 Pictures: Coconut Sugar Farm

I visited Thailand's floating market in Damnoen Saduak, on Thursday September 30th 2010 

This floating market is also known as Klong Ton Khem to locals. 

It's about 100 km from Bangkok (2 hour drive)

When you first get onto the boat, you pass by a very large coconut plantation. 

Actually, there are many coconut plantations when you drive up in that area. 

Our first stop along the floating market tour, was to a very small coconut sugar "farm". Here are pictures

The many coconut trees are a common sight

Our boat. My Dad up front...you can see how narrow some of the lane ways are

Being a "city girl", I felt like I was in a National Geographic episode riding in that boat through the coconut plantation and such. It was a really cool experience for me :)

A short video clip....not the best one but just to get a feel for what the boat ride was like in the beginning of the tour.

Entrance to small coconut sugar farm

And somehow, through the process this yummy coconut sugar is made :) 

Have you ever tried coconut sugar? 

More pictures of the floating market to follow.....

I have the best friends :)

I feel so blessed with the people in my life. I have wonderful friends :)

And they're super super hilarious sometimes! Here's just a few examples from what happened in the past couple of days.....


Text messages between Evgueni and I. The bubbles in white are written by him....I wrote the reply in green.

He always reminds me that I had introduced beer into his life. And as a result of beer & lots of pigging out, he put on 20-25 lbs in the past 3 years I've known him. It's not my fault ;) But I got a good laugh out of the text message.


On another note, I thought it would be a nice idea to have Evgueni do a guest blog post. And I thought I would film an introduction video of him so that he could tell you about himself. You can see in the short video how silly he is.....he always jokes about his hot body and six pack *rolls eyes and laughs* And I joke that Bobo my guinea pig has a six pack ;)

(note: my voice is a bit loud so maybe turn your speakers down a bit if you watch?)







The next series of pictures is like a segment from a flip book.
This is Branko & Dani from this past weekend.

By the way, what is with all these "HELP" signs in the underground parking garage?!

They were on every pillar almost!

Do your friends make you laugh a lot too?

What do you love most about your close friends?

Thank you SO much to everyone who voted on my poll so far regarding what you want to see on my blog. I can't tell who voted - it's anonymous, so I wanted to acknowledge it here :)

Hookah Bars in Toronto: Paaeez & Cafe Le Monde

I smoked a waterpipe for the first time yesterday - yay for first times! It was so much fun :)

A couple of friends from Serbia came with me and the three of us checked out 2 hookah bars in Toronto.

Review: Paaeez Lounge

The first place we went to was Paaeez. It's in the Little Italy area.

To sum up the place: the ambiance is nice especially with the dim lighting and candles, BUT the sheesha is terrible.

Both my friends who are really experienced with smoking waterpipes (they've smoked a lot in their Middle East travels) said it's mainly because the pipe is too small - little flavour, little smoke, no head rush.

The small tables you sit the waterpipe on appear to be a bit rickety which worried me.

There only appeared to be one person working at the time, which was fine since there was nobody else at the lounge except us (bad sign?). The service was good - friendly waiter.

However, I do not recommend this place for sheesha.


For drinks and a nice place to lounge - sure, check it out. Although note that they do not have domestic beer (boooo! I LOVE Canadian lagers)

Dani and Branko at Paaeez. Maybe you can see what I mean by the small size of the waterpipe

This picture doesn't really do the place justice - I like the interior design...it's best seen through their website which is linked above.

(above) Branko

Review: Cafe Le Monde

Since it was my first time smoking waterpipe, Dani and Branko wanted to take me to a place that was good. So this was our second spot for the night: Cafe Le Monde, which is uptown at Yonge and Finch (North York).

OMG, this place is good for sheesha! The waterpipes are bigger, you can smell the smoke, the flavour is more distinct, and you get the head rush too ;) Dani and Branko really liked it.

The man who appears to be the manager/owner on duty does not appear very approachable. The rest of the staff don't look very happy either :( But we got our drinks and waterpipe on time. When Dani and Branko talked to both the manager/owner and the waitress, they were fine - they weren't rude.

It's just the expression on their faces....maybe it was a long day? LOL

In terms of setting, Cafe Le Monde is nice. It's small, clean and there is a small patio as well.

But what is with these hookah bars that put the waterpipe on tables?! It's trouble waiting to happen. Even Dani and Branko said in the Middle East the waterpipes sit on the floor, which is really how they should do it. In fact, the group of people sitting beside me dropped their waterpipe off the table and the glass shattered. Good thing nobody got cut.

Overall, I really enjoyed the sheesha because the head rush is easily obtained and easily controlled. Easily controlled is the key because with pretty much every other substance including alcohol, once your head spins it takes quite some time to have it stop. But with smoking the waterpipe, you just need to stop smoking for 2-3 minutes and your head should clear up.

Haha - look at Dani ;)

If you watch this video of me, watch the ladies seated behind me. I didn't even notice this until I watched the video myself - at around 15 seconds they appear to look at me and say "That's Karen!" LOL. Am I imagining things?!

If the ladies that were seated behind me are reading this post, please say hi!! :)

I'm quite friendly LOL. I'm guessing you know me from blogger perhaps because I don't recognize you from school or a previous workplace?

And if I had noticed that you had recognized me, I would have turned around and introduced myself! Anyways, super funny it got caught on camera if so because it's the only video clip of me from Sunday night.

Anyways, I'd love for you to say hi to me if you see me around town - even if I'm with friends :)

How was your weekend?

Blogger Question about Samsung PL100 camera

I had a question emailed to me and I thought I would post the question and answer since it could help others:



Hey, I was thinking about getting the samsung PL100 and I was looking for reviews when I saw your blog. You mentioned that lines come up on photos, did that turn out to the be fault with the camera itself or was it the model? Also, does the camera take good quality photos?


The initial lines that I saw on some of the photos (fourth photo on the post here) were pretty much gone once I exchanged the camera.
The camera does take very good photos in the daytime. But reality is, all digital cameras in that price range take decent photos in daylight.

I pointed out in my final review of the Samsung PL100 that I did not like the camera because

(1) it was terrible when it came to producing nighttime images. This was one of two nighttime pictures I saved on my last trip to Kansas City. All the other pictures I attempted to take at night were so blurry there was no point in keeping them :( So just imagine how this is blurry and it's really by far one of the best pictures I ever took at night with this camera

(2) to demonstrate how poor the video quality is, I uploaded a video for you here. As you can see, the scenery I took an image of came out very clearly. It was a bright, clear day in Canmore.

But watch the video quality. I took this video within minutes of taking the image above. It looks like it's raining pink lemonade in the sky!

If you have your heart set out on the Samsung PL100 and the store you are getting it from has a good return policy, go for it. You have nothing to lose if you can get a full refund after a test run.

But I honestly don't recommend this camera. I mean, how could I? Look at the video quality (filmed in the daytime!!) and consider the average nighttime photo you take will be three times more blurry than the nighttime photo above.

I hope this helps!

Centre Island

If you ever visit Toronto during summer on a sunny day, you've got to take the short ferry ride over to Centre Island.

It's such a nice way to get away from the busy city. Except when I went too early in the beginning of May and the island was infested with insects :\

I went there Monday and Tuesday last week with Dale

This baby goose is sooooo cute! He's almost got a halo around him. Doesn't he look so soft and adorable? :)

While canoeing, we saw.....

Baby swans!!!! How could these adorable things be considered ugly in the Ugly Duckling??

Okay I know the book is fairy tale and is not to be taken literally - the meaning behind the story is beautiful.

This swan was building her nest that she's sitting on :)

Woah Momma!!! She's got eleven little ones. Can you count them all? They were super cute all lined up :)

The view of downtown Toronto here is just beautiful. You can see CN Tower (the tallest pointy tower in the middle of the picture) and the Rogers Centre (the white dome shape to the left of CN Tower)

Cute fire station on the island

We canoed by a couple of yacht clubs. These particular sail boats belonged to the Royal Canadian Yacht Club (RCYC)

I see a lighthouse

This duckie woke up :)

On the canoe with a trusty life jacket

Usually signs say "Keep Off"......not this one.

And there's a small Animal Farm!!! It's called Far Enough Farm

This little piggie has fangs (turned upright!!!) LOL

Male peacocks are just gorgeous

Look at this cool looking chicken! I'm guessing he's a male chicken of some sort?

This must have been a cousin of the Mountain Sheep I saw in the wild out West a couple of weeks ago

Mini horses. Look at them compared to the goose.

Awww, this donkey is soooo adorable. But he has a sad look :(

Do you know what bird this is?

It's emu

I'm really a city girl at heart. I was born and raised in Toronto - a big city.


But I enjoy visiting quiet places once in a while to get away from all the noise, stress and the rushed feeling of "go go go"


Are you mainly a city person or a small town/quiet place person?


Have you been canoeing before? I love canoeing on still water :)