Isabelle’s Schedule

Dec 10 to Jan 4, Los Angeles
Jan 4 to mid-Jan, San Francisco
mid-Jan to March 31, Vancouver
April to ??, Montreal
this summer, Cambodia
?? to ??, ??

http://anothersummeroutofreach.wordpress.com/

I don’t give a damn about my… reputation

I’ve never been one to enjoy the spotlight very much.

I had a bad stint in high school, which made me afraid of being in the spotlight… always afraid of doing things that’ll shove me in the center of attention.

My personality is so that I am present, but not noticeable.

High school was a rather unpleasant experience (to say the least) but it helped me accept that the only thing that matters is doing your best. The consequences and your reputation is all in the matters of other people’s hands… and I know better than to argue and convince stubborn people otherwise.

I choose not particularly to be passive, but pacifist.

I think the one flaw in all this, is that I always wrongfully think that if I wanted the spotlight, I could get it. I just somehow lack the charm and ability to scar one’s memory.

… but only with the particularly fucked, or those who are only impressed with beauty.

Then I have my friends who speak well of me to people… and I’m always afraid of letting them down or disappointing them by being ‘Isabelle’.

I just hope that in the end, I am not being touted for being anyone other than myself, so that people don’t expect too much of me.

new year’s resolution

It’s no resolution, really.

but I have to be more flexible/active
and work on my Chinese by watching more dramas/movies.
quit smoking

for 1) I don’t know what I’ll do for it, yet. Might start jogging regularly.
for 2) I’m applying to teach English in China and watching a lot of dramas and movies, listening to a lot of Mandarin music. It’s gotta sink in. I did it for English, I’m gonna do the same for Mandarin.
for 3) I’ve started getting more serious about quitting smoking. I smoked last year on and off, but I recently decided that if I were to have a child, I should be a in a healthy state. Therefore, I am using that as motivation to quit smoking.

03: your favorite television series

there’s been a lot, they all come and go. but my current favorite is:

being erica on cbc

What a powerful show… all the episodes make you go back on your life yourself and makes you ponder about your decisions and where it got you. The show mostly tells you that everything happens for a reason and there is no point in trying to change the past, which I find to be a good message.

other shows:
how i met your mother on cbs
the big bang theory on cbs
hell’s kitchen on fox

Isabelle’s guide to Montreal restaurants

I really suck at this stuff, but here we go:

Odaki on Ste-Catherine close to Fort
What’s so awesome about it?
there’s a conveyer belt so you can start eating immediately after sitting down! there’s also a water source on the wall, so you can get as much tea as you want while you are there. All-You-Can-Eat sushi! Come on!

What do you eat?
Seaweed salad, miso soup, spicy clam sushi, salmon sashimi, anything calamari

How’s the service?
People have complained a lot about the service here… my complain is that IT’S TOO GOOD!! More than a few times, I’ve picked food up for the belt and as I put the lid down, someone passes by and takes it away already. Wowzies. Bad service? Never had it.

What’s the price range?
I think for supper, don’t expect to pay less than the 25-30$ range, but for lunch it’s slightly less expensive

L’Aromate on Peel/Ste-Cath, next to Carlos&Pepes
What’s so awesome about it?
I’ve stared at this restaurant many times while working at CMR (the whole 3.5 years). One day they were playing this song I’d been chasing down for years cause it’s an amazing instrumental piece (Massive Attack’s Teardrop). I stood in the entry while someone went to check out the song that was playing and really wanted to go there.

What do you eat?
It’s a really nice looking restaurant, and the balsamic mix they give you when you come in to dip the bread is unforgettable. The food there are really small portions, but I can honestly say that it fills you up nicely without making you feel like you’ve overeaten. My friend had some goat cheese/mushrooms thing that was fucking delicious, I had a good duck salad and the dessert was great (although, I forget what it is :P). I paid 30 bucks for barely eating anything, but it was seriously worth it.

How’s the service?
Service was average.

What’s the price range?
30 for a main meal and a dessert.

Stash Café in the Old Port on St-Paul
What’s so awesome about it?
I don’t like the food very much, but I love the place. It has a really nice romantic feeling, and the live piano player makes it really lively and romantic (especially when he plays Chopin’s Nocturne 9)

What do you eat?
Don’t eat! Just go there with a bunch of people who will eat and sit there. I remember the borsch was really awesome.

How’s the service?
Service is really nice and friendly. Bathrooms are oddly placed (they’re outside, upstairs)

What’s the price range?
Depends on what you take. I think it’s in the 30 range.

Anton & James on Stanley next to Chapters
What’s so awesome about it?
A&J copies the New York cafeteria style.

What do you eat?
Anything you want. They have great sandwiches, great salads, great ice cream. I love their mushroom/goat cheese sandwich, the Chicken Tuscan is great, too so are the wraps. There really is something for everyone, it’s also vegetarian-friendly.

How’s the service?
Good.

What’s the price range?
15-20. It’s a little pricey, but when you go upstairs to eat your stuff, you don’t remember anything before sitting down.

Man-Na on Bishop/de Mais
What’s so awesome about it?
Korean food! I’m really partial to Man-Na cause it was the first Korean restaurant I ever went to. They have amazing lunch specials, that have mixes of everything. The bibimbap is good. Their kimchi is particularly good, and is the soup that comes with every meal.

What do you eat?
I’ve yet to be disappointed by something there. The place kinda sucks, though, when you’re not in the mood for it. So, make sure you want it first!

How’s the service?
Very prompt.

What’s the price range?
Depends what you order. Under 20 bucks for just a meal

Jin Shi
What’s so awesome about it?
They serve Northern China-style food with BBQ’d meat on skewers (OMG, the yang pai and the youyu). And it’s also very intimate so the service is quick.

What do you eat?
Pretty much the same thing all the time. Suanlatudoussi. BBQ’s stuff. Spicy fish.

How’s the service?
Good.

What’s the price range?
Eat a lot and share with someone else. Under 20 bucks.

Lao Beijing on Côte-des-Neige/Côte Ste-Catherine
What’s so awesome about it?
The food!

What do you eat?
Always the same thing! Haha. The lamb soup, the bean noodles and the pork fat (that you dip in garlic soy sauce)

How’s the service?
Very friendly.

What’s the price range?
Easily under 15 bucks if you share.

Soups and Noodles on Ste-Catherine/Fort
What’s so awesome about it?
the food is actually very good. above average canto food.

What do you eat?
peanut butter dumplings (trust me, it’s good), fried calamari

How’s the service?
Good-humored guys.

What’s the price range?
I actually have no idea, but it’s cheap

Arouch on Guy/de Maisonneuve
What’s so awesome about it?
Amazing (healthy-ish) food for pocket change.

What do you eat?
an Anatolian with Tzatziki/Lemon/Tomatoes/Green Olives

How’s the service?
I go there too often, I cannot have an unbiased opinion.

What’s the price range?
under 5$

Thai Express at Peel metro in Cours Mont-Royal
What’s so awesome about it?
I’ve been there so often, everything is awesome.

What do you eat?
Pad Sew with Lemon Juice on top and scriracha sauce. Mini veggie soup. Egg rolls. Balls of fried chicken. Fried basil rice.

How’s the service?
Always fantastic but that’s cause they know me.

What’s the price range?
under 10 bucks

Le Pain Doré
What’s so awesome about it?
Amazing panini.

What do you eat?
The panini with ham and dijon. Jesuite (almond paste kinda thing). Confidente (soft and airy chocolate cookie).

How’s the service?
Prompt.

What’s the price range?
under 10 bucks.

QUIZNOS (don’t recommend the one by Guy/de Maionneuve)
What’s so awesome about it?
Cause I worked there, I gotta talk about it.

What do you eat?
Garlic stuff like garlic bread (for about 40 cents each), garlic prime rib, garlic swiss roast beef thing. Turkey ranch and swiss. Mesquite chicken. Ceasar salad. Half a Total pizza. Veggie with guacamole. Broccoli and cheddar soup. Fruitopia and Sprite.

How’s the service?
Only good when I do it ;)

What’s the price range?
under 10 bucks.

Little Fat Sheep in Chinatown
What’s so awesome about it?
Hot Pot! You get a bowl of half spicy, half regular water and cook your own meat! yumyumyum.

What do you eat?
fungus, quail eggs, seafood.

How’s the service?
it’s do-it-yourself lol

What’s the price range?
um, under 30 bucks.

Pho Lien on Côte-Ste-Catherine/Côte-des-Neiges
What’s so awesome about it?
Amazing pho… better than my mom’s!

What do you eat?
Pho and 7-color dessert

How’s the service?
Prompt.

What’s the price range?
Under 10 bucks.

Rotisserie Coco Rico! on St-Laurent
What’s so awesome about it?
Amazing roasted meat.

What do you eat?
A little of everything, they even have egg tarts!

How’s the service?
It’s pretty much counter and go.

What’s the price range?
Under 30 for two and we got a piece of everything they had.

Vie & Nam
What’s so awesome about it?
Everything! So good for food court Viet food.

What do you eat?
Banh Mi (steamed pork). I’ve tried everything and it was really good, although not something I ever crave.

How’s the service?
Good, they know me :P

What’s the price range?
under 10 bucks.

Random recs:
fried calamari @ Le Jardin de Panos on Duluth in front of Khyber Pass
salt and garlic calamari @ Bangkok, Faubourg food court.

02: your favorite film

Gerard Depardieu must be one of the most amazing actors of all times.

Him + Cyrano de Bergerac
Him + Le Comte de Monte Cristo
Him + Les Misérables

He is capable of making me cry in just about everything he stars in. He hasn’t picked very good movies for the past few years, but he still remains one of the most amazing actors of all time. And those who don’t know it, must be introduced by a viewing of Cyrano de Bergerac, which (yes, it is a French movie) is one of my favorite movies of all time.

-the “et je touche” battle at the beginning
-”pif!” our introduction to Christian de Neuvillette
-”et je ne demanderais… qu’un baiser!” speech under the balcony
-”comment vous lisez maintenant? il fait nuit” when Roxane finds out about the “généreuse imposture”
-”mon panache!” Cyrano’s dying…

so many memorable scenes…

In English, there would be
Moulin Rouge, as a must-see musical
Garden State, as one of my favorite romantic comedies of all time
Lost & Delirious, as an amazing lesbian movie

In Korean, you have
My Sassy Girl, the movie that started my obsession with Korean culture
A Bittersweet Life, an amazing movie about life and the choices we make
3-Iron, a near silent movie

In Chinese, I’d suggest
Suzhou, a Chinese kind of Vertigo
Perhaps Love, an awesome musical with great singing.

As to everything else,
Run Lola Run, a great German movie about a girl who gets to relive her life twice and do it right :)
Im Juli, a road trip through Europe kind of movie where connections are made.
Abre Los Ojos, the original Spanish version of Vanilla Sky.

01: your favorite song

This is one of my favorite songs ever.

I listen to it:
-in spring in anticipation for the summer
-during the summer
-during the winter when I summer

What a gorgeous song.

I discovered this song back when I liked PL, and I knew The Ataris was one of his favorite bands. This was one of the first songs I’d ever heard by them.

Over the years, I still haven’t managed to outgrow Boys of Summer.

those days are gone forever
i should just let them go but-

runner-ups:
stone temple pilots’ sour girl
all-american rejects’ it ends tonight
led zeppelin’s stairway to heaven

realastrology.com

Gemini (May 21-June 20)
“The more you do what you want,” says Santa Fe artist Erika Wanenmacher, “the more magic happens.” And what she wants, in part, is to be surprised by how life’s random events ask to be included in her creative process. During her long walks along the irrigation ditch near her home, for example, odds and ends on the ground call to her, suggesting that she use them in her art pieces — heart-shaped rocks, miniature liquor bottles, bent spoons, parts of toys. One of her gallery pieces, “Spell Wall,” consists of amulets made from this found stuff. “I’ll make whatever I want,” Erika says. “Out of whatever I want. About whatever I want.” She’s your role model, Gemini. Borrow from her perspective. Go in quest of unexpected clues that make you feel loose and free and fertile.