Oh Canada

Von nzvr4poker, 26.09.2009, 1103 Aufrufe, 6 Kommentare | Kommentar hinzufügen

After my 13 hour journey by plane from Auckland to Vancouver, I had finally made it to Canada. I was excited about the prospect of discovering what this majestic country had to offer. After passing through customs, I had an agonizingly long wait for my luggage. What was about a 45 minute wait seemed like an eternity, but I was finally able to meet my buddy’s dad.

Last year I was in Poland and made some great friends who call Canada home. I established close friendships with Mal Hagan who lives in Vancouver, as well as Brandon Bartlett and Terris Preston who both live in Toronto. Mal had organised for his dad to pick me up and drop me off at his friend Shaun’s house, where they were playing poker. It was a reunion of brothers from other mothers as Mal and I reminisced over our past experiences. Mal and his buddy Jon had visited me in New Zealand at the start of this year and it was nice to be hosted this time round. Ernie, who is a mutual friend of Mal and Shaun’s, joined us and Jon also came over later to say hi, as we played poker and watched American football on tv. This is very common in North America on a Sunday as everyone has a favourite team to cheer on.

The following day Mal and I drove to the Canada-US border so I could see what it was like. As a kid I had passed through the US-Mexico crossing. It was a fairly simple process. I filled out a green form identical to what passengers coming into the US by air must complete. After half an hour we were done and checked out the US border town of Blaine situated in Washington State. There wasn’t much to do so we headed back to the Canada side of the border to Langley, which is where Mal lives.

That night we went to the local casino, Cascades and I played the $1/$2 no limit cash game. After just over an hour I had more than doubled my initial investment before returning back to Mal’s. On Tuesday we checked out Vancouver city and I took some photos of the downtown and North Vancouver areas. After some shopping we went to a Japanese restaurant called Kobe where you order something and a chef will cook the raw ingredients while putting on a show before serving your meal.

Wednesday was a travel day as I made the flight of just over one hour over the Rockies mountain range to Calgary, also known as "Cowtown", where my friend Mike Taylor awaited me. I met Mike in Uruguay last year during a poker event. My impressions of Calgary were that it was a lot like Christchurch in New Zealand’s south island. Firstly the weather patterns are similar. In summer it is hot and dry and in winter, bitterly cold. Also both cities lie to the east of a major mountain range and can have rapid change in temperature due to a north-west wind change called a "chinook" effect. Also both Calgary and Christchurch are spread out over flat land with a notable absence of high rise buildings compared with other cities of comparable size. Park areas and tree line streets are abundant and both cities are also in close proximity to farming regions of their respective countries.

On Wednesday night I ate dinner across the road from Mike’s flat with his flatmates Mark and Molly. We joined the downstairs occupants of the house in an Irish pub/restaurant that sort of resembled a ranch setting. Later on, back at Mike’s house, five of us played in a small stakes poker tournament which I ended up coming second in, winning my money back. During Thursday I attempted to organize some tickets to the preseason ice hockey game on at the Calgary Saddledome between the Calgary Flames and New York Islanders. However, it was to no avail as the game sold out when people found out that both teams were playing nearly full strength lineups. Instead, we had another meal across the road watching sport on the numerous tv monitors.

Friday was another travel day. This time the plane trip from Calgary to Toronto took close to four hours as I arrived late in the afternoon. Toronto is two time zones east of Calgary, which is in turn one hour east of Vancouver. I caught the bus from the airport to my hotel and settled in for the night before considering the multitude of sport options on tv. I decided on watching a Canadian Football League (CFL) game between the Hamilton Tigercats and the defending champion Calgary Stampeders, which Hamilton ended up winning.

During Saturday I ventured out from my hotel and got some lunch at the famous Hard Rock Cafe. After my delicious lunch I took some time to check out the Hockey Hall of Fame. It was great to see so many exhibits and admire the sport that I love so much. While I was there I had my first attempt at using a hockey stick to shoot pucks and I posed for a photo with a replica of the Stanley Cup. After doing all the activities I bought lots of merchandise from the spirit of hockey shop. Amongst the items that I purchased was an authentic Pittsburgh Penguins jersey of superstar player Sidney Crosby, a Pittsburgh Penguins ice hockey puck, some t-shirts and a board game.

Early on Saturday evening I took a trip by bus to my friend Brandon Bartlett’s house in northern Toronto. Together with his family we had a great meal and observed the Jewish New Year. After dinner, Brandon took me to Terris Preston’s place. Terris is a mutual friend of both of us and lives in a nice apartment closer to town. We shot some pool (eight-ball) before I went out night clubbing Toronto city. I rose early on Sunday and went down to the hotel lobby to book a day trip to Niagara Falls. Within an hour I was fulfilling my lifelong dream of seeing perhaps the most romantic place on Earth. Before actually seeing the falls our tour stopped at the township of Niagara-on-the-Lake. The town is very historic and leads to a very scenic drive through Niagara parkway down to the falls.

Upon arriving at the falls, we registered for the world famous Maid of the Mist boat tour and I finally got to see Niagara Falls up close and personal. It was a truly breathtaking experience. Following the boat ride, I grabbed some lunch before checking out the two casinos in the area – Niagara Casino and Fallsview Casino. On the way back to Toronto our tour bus stopped off at a winery where we sampled a white wine, red wine and an ultra-sugary ice wine. The wines were nice and quite different to what I am used to drinking downunder.

The next day I was travelling again. This time I went by train from Toronto to Montreal. I sat next to a nice Japanese girl called Manami who had been living in Canada for seven months and was also making a trip to French Canada. That night I finally had the opportunity to watch a live ice hockey game and Manami came along with me. The game itself was a mouth-watering preseason matchup between the storied Montreal Canadiens franchise and the defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins, who are also my favourite team. The Bell Centre in downtown Montreal was packed and primed for a great game. Before we found our seats, I asked a French Canadian girl wearing a Canadiens jersey if she would like to take a photo with me. We posed for a picture and her Canadiens jersey contrasted nicely with my newly acquired Pittsburgh jersey. I thought we made quite the couple. Manami and I also took a photo before taking our seats.

The arena itself was majestic, and the view was good even from the nose bleed seats right up the back. It was great to see superstars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin in action, after the dynamic duo had led the team to an epic victory in last season’s Stanley Cup. The action was fast paced and exciting from the outset with several lead changes before Montreal ended up winning 4-3. On Tuesday I ventured across to Casino Montreal which is reminiscent of a spaceship and is located on Ile Notre-Dame. The island also hosts the Canadian Grand Prix every year. I registered for the $1/$2 no limit cash game and after sitting down at the table I noticed that the kings, queens and jacks had different symbols on them. Kings were ‘R’, queens ‘D’ and jacks ‘V’, representing the first letter of their French translation.

This was the first casino in the world I have seen using the French symbols for picture cards. Even in Monte Carlo they used the standard symbols. For the record I won two and a half times my buy-in over the course of about two hours. A huge pot that significantly added to my profit was when I rivered four of a kind, and moved all-in. The other player eventually called with an inferior hand and I cashed out not long after. After returning to my hotel I caught up online with my buddy from Montreal – Sam Chartier. I met him at the APPT (Asia Pacific Poker Tour) Macau tournament last year and then realised that I had actually been playing against him online. I made the trip across the city to his apartment, hanging out with him before he had to leave to play in an ice hockey game. I ventured onwards into town and socialised with the people of Montreal. I was able to sample some fine local beer and practice my French.

On Wednesday Manami and I made the trip by train, of just over three hours to Quebec City. The city is located northeast of Montreal and is also located on the banks of the St. Lawrence River. That night I went out to Chez Dagobert which is a big multi-floor nightclub on Quebec City’s main nightclubbing street that plays different music on each floor. I assume it was a hunting ground for university students as lots of young people were out and about. The next day I went out sightseeing in Quebec City before I met Manami for lunch. I then made my way to the airport before flying from Quebec into the United States, specifically New York City.

I look forward to telling you all about my experience in "The Big Apple" as I get closer to the working part of my holiday, the Aruba Classic. See you all soon.

Here are some pictures from the Canada portion of the trip:

The road sign just before you get to the Canada-US border crossing.

A view across to downtown Vancouver.

Here I am shooting some pucks at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.

Posing with the Stanley Cup at the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Here I am on the Maid of the Mist boat with the majestic Canadian Falls (one of the Niagara Falls) in the background.

Here I am wearing my Pittsburgh Penguins Sidney Crosby jersey with a Montreal Canadiens fan before the start of the ice hockey game in Montreal.

Manami and I before the start of the ice hockey game.

The Pittsburgh Penguins during warm up before the game started.

Quebec Parliament building in Quebec City.

The view from Quebec City overlooking the St. Lawrence River.