xiaowei's Blog
Fall 2009
忙忙碌碌了几个月，在09年末，简单回顾一下吧，也不知自己是怎么挺过来的。 September Moved. The first time to have my own place. Empty. Slept on the floor in a sleeping bag. Made plans, To establish a place called "home". Although very stressed out about this "home building" project, the beauty of my new neighborhood in the beginning of fall dragged me out of my chaos, and let me smell the flower for a moment. [caption id="attachment_365" align="aligncenter" width="575" caption="Simpson Street - lies in the "Golden Square Mile" of downtown Montreal, 4 blocks away from the most prosperous commercial shopping street, yet very quiet and peaceful. Simpson 街，是蒙城市中心被誉为“黄金地带“的其中一条街。位于半山腰，与市中心最繁华的商业购物街只有四条街之隔，但却非常安静。"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_367" align="aligncenter" width="320" caption="对面邻居的townhouse"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_368" align="aligncenter" width="320" caption=" fence ...
Montreal Snapshot
子曰：有朋自远方来，不亦乐乎? Confucius says: To have friends from afar is happiness, is it not? A friend came to Montreal for a visit, which not only brought me happiness, but also gave me a chance to record Montreal: [caption id="attachment_307" align="aligncenter" width="570" caption="A perfect day for day dreaming! - on Mount Royal"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_308" align="aligncenter" width="360" caption="St Joseph Oratory, Mount Royal, Montreal"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_309" align="alignleft" width="224" caption="stairs leading to the oratory"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_310" align="alignright" width="218" caption="These stairs are reserved for the pilgrim who climb to the oratory on their knees. - 好虔诚啊！"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_313" align="aligncenter" width="360" caption="Jean Talon Market, Montreal's biggest outdoor market in Little Italy"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_314" align="aligncenter" width="570" ...
A Summer Night
Feeling a bit melancholy, a bit sentimental, a bit nostalgia tonight, accompanied by the moist and cool summer night breeze. Weird! I thought I had learned how to ignore words, things and feelings that I don't need. Maybe not? Maybe it's the age, love, death, birth reading that draws me into the emotional hot pot? Or maybe I've always been in this pot and even though I'm trying to escape, but never really succeed? I need to indulge myself into something more light-hearted. Oh, I remember the pictures I took last weekend at the Atwater summer market, should put them here to ...
郁金香开了，水仙开了，风信子也开了
Today is an unusually beautiful day, for April, in Montreal, Canada - 28 degrees, sunshine, and blue sky. It's so nice that it made me feel sorry for myself not to stay outside longer. So after work, I went home, changed to comfy clothes, took my camera out, and went out for a walk. [caption id="attachment_259" align="aligncenter" width="575" caption="Tulips taking a sunbath 躺者晒太阳的郁金香"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_260" align="aligncenter" width="360" caption="Shining Narcissus 耀眼的水仙"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_261" align="aligncenter" width="360" caption="Hyacinth 美丽的风信子"][/caption]
Picture Time
It's getting really cold. Every 15 minutes I spent outside shooting pictures, I had to run back into my apartment to get some warm air. But a bright sun in the winter is just irresistible, even though it means it's colder than snow. And I realized that, no matter how hard the condition is, if you're doing something you love, you feel more joy than anything else. [caption id="attachment_213" align="aligncenter" width="320" caption="晚秋"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_214" align="aligncenter" width="575" caption="Red Brush"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_217" align="aligncenter" width="320" caption="傍晚的云"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_218" align="aligncenter" width="320" caption="红墙"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_220" align="aligncenter" width="320" caption="Self Portrait"][/caption]
Sunny, Rainy
The weather of last weekend and this weekend is totally opposite. It was gorgeous last weekend, but cold. I was very reluctant to take out my camera with thick scarf and gloves. So I decided to stay home, sit beside the window, enjoying the sunshine and the warmth coming from the heater. It was relaxing. I was flipping through Victoria’s Secret’s new catalog, looking at sweaters, shirts, dresses, pants, costs, boots… There’re so many beautiful things I want to order, but I don’t have enough money. All these beautiful things I can create by myself, but I don’t have enough money. ...
Fall
Another busy week ended. Was really hoping to have a sun-shining weekend, but it turned out to be a rainy one. So staying home and dry, and got some time to get the pictures taken last weekend up here.
Mont Tremblant
This year’s Thanksgiving falls on a Monday, so we have an extra long weekend. My friends and I went to Mont Tremblant, the tallest of the Laurentian range of mountains and a beautiful wilderness 2 hours away from Montreal, hoping to enjoy the gorgeous fall colors. The weather was perfect for outdoor activities because it’s not too cold, but my desire to see the red maple leaves was not satisfied because of the nice warm weather. So, I realized that like all other beautiful things, real natural beauty is not that easy to capture either. [caption id="attachment_197" align="aligncenter" width="575" caption="The maple leaves ...
Moved Again & The Exhausting September Finally Ended
Don’t remember any more, this is the Xth times I moved. Don’t even bother asking: when this kind of wandering life is going to end. Anyway, I really like the neighborhood. The only downturn is: the roommates (mostly guys), are not very clean, but this is minor compared to the many advantages of this area: less than 15 minutes to walk to work, less than 10 minutes’ walk to Place Alexis-Nihon (downtown shopping mall), Super C (one of the cheapest supermarket in the city) and the atwater market (lots of vegetables fresh from the farm), less than 2 minutes to Lionel-Groulx ...
Two Months in Transit
Wasn’t able to get online regularly while traveling; couldn’t even have access to my own blog while I was in China due to some Internet problems; had to find a new apartment after I got back to Montreal and moved. So now finally get a chance to put all the thoughts together for all that happened in the past eight weeks: Tokyo Airport – The best Airport for Layover June 5, 2008 at 3:30 pm 12 hours later, I was at the ----- Airport in Tokyo. I was so happy to see the standard electricity outlets everywhere with which travelers plugged in their ...
Spring
After two weeks’ overture and giving lots of people including me sickness, spring finally came. It not only brings me sunshine and colors, but also brings me friends. Two dear old friends who live in France came to Montreal for a visit this weekend, which added warmth in my heart on top of the warmth my body is feeling from the rise of the temperature. This afternoon, lured by the fresh breeze and the prosperous green, I got my camera out and took a walk along the river. [caption id="attachment_126" align="aligncenter" width="575" caption="Spring outside the Balcony"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_127" align="aligncenter" width="575" caption="Under Spring"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_128" align="aligncenter" ...
