Wednesday, September 15, 2004

End of Summer 2004

Wednesday, September 15, 2004

For all practical purposes I have reached the end of an extremely eventful summer. One of my best ever. Here is a list of most of the "exciting" things i've done this year:

1. Casino Niagara, Niagara Falls - Lost my 'gambling virginity'. Decided to stop while the going was good, and ended up a teeny bit on the positive. Moe on the other hand kept getting into deeper and deeper shit, until a change of fortune - and dealer - not only got him out of the shit but bathed him in perfume. He ended up about $400 richer and me and Emad with a sense of "what if...".

2. Toronto Islands + CN Tower, Toronto - Was visited by Shantanu, Purvin, Shashi, Sanal and Hemal. Shantanu being an ex-classmate and the others his current classmates at University of Buffalo. Day 1 was spent at the cool waters of Toronto islands and the evening on top of CN tower, right after some especially delicious west indian food. Couldn't have chosen a better time to go up the tower. Right around twilight and in time to catch the daylight view of the city, a spectacular sunset, and then the amazing night lights. Also, saw cheerleaders dancing at the football game in Skydome while on top.

3. Ellora Gorge, Guelph - Nobody seemed too excited about a trip to African Lion Safari, so Ellora gorge it was. Turned out to be a damp day so in keeping with the amazing run of luck we had been having all weekend we picked the perfect spot. Went tubing and therefore getting wet was not a problem. Tubing was a lot of fun, and by a lot, I mean a lot!! Nature never fails to astound you. There were fast sections where you are hanging on to your tube like there is no tomorrow, and slow parts, where you could just lie back and relax and reflect. Perfect!

The place seemed like a good camping ground as well....something to keep in mind for the future. And oh, two locals also tubing down the Grand river seemed to find my wearing shoes with socks on at the river, kind of amusing.

4. Worm Eating, IBM Toronto Lab - Did the unlikeliest of things during IBM day at the Toronto lab. Took part in the "fear factor" rock climbing challenge, and agreed to eat the barbequeued worms on offer. Didn't really munch on it, just gulped it down with coke, but hey, i've eaten worms!! So there! :P

5. Canoeing, Brantford - Went canoeing to Brantford/Paris area. This time I took care not to wear socks with my shoes and that seemed to amuse the gang. Can't seem to get things right any which way. Anyway, again extremely scenic surroundings. Started things off by falling right into the water even before we got into the canoe. Never understood how it happened but have a feeling Moe was behind it. Got a wobbly boat, but Emad and I and Maria managed to keep things in control. Ranu and Moe were arguing about something at their canoe, and we switched places. Moe got on with Maria and me, and Emad got onto Ranu's canoe. G and Mohsin were on a separate canoe. Thats when things got more exciting. Our wobbly boat became even more so with Moe on. Soon enough all three of us were in the water. Couldnt stop laughing for some reason. Then, we made another switch with G and Mohsin on the wobbly boat. This time, G and Mohsin were in the water with neither knowing how to swim. G nearly drowned in 3 feet of water and with a life jacket on! In hindsight, considering that no one died, that was outright hilarious!

Anyway, in the end it turned out to be a great trip. Lots of memories to last a lifetime...

6. White Water Rafting, Ottawa River, Quebec - Went to Ottawa River, Quebec through Equinox adventures. Got lost on the way thanks to a discussion on free will. Reached camp, lit a fire, slept, rafted, jumped off a cliff, rafted some more, exhausted ourselves, got back to camp, played volleyball, lit another fire, told ghost stories and slept again. Trust me, all that was crazy fun....another memorable trip!!

7. Driving range, Mississauga - In this list since this was the first time I'd been to one. Interesting experience. Harder than it looks. Had a tough time simply making contact with the damn ball. When I did make contact however, the ball went some distance. Need to work on that swing....:-)

8. Paintball, Wasaga Beach - Chose the worst possible day to go. Rainy and damp. 22 people in all through CSAE. Still, it turned out pretty good. In almost real war-like situations. Not that I know what a real war like situation is, but it felt like one :P. And those paintballs can hurt. Took one on the back of the palm which left me with a purple patch for a couple of days and about a dozen at the back courtesy Humza. Damn that hurt! Next time....grr :-)

9. Frosh Week 2004, Univesity of Toronto - Decided to volunteer to be a Frosh leader to promote the CSAE. Turned out to be a good idea. Highlights being Musical shirts (wink, wink), the downtown parade where we out-chanted everyone else (Go PowerPosition #1!!), Medieval times, and Wonderland concert with Russel Peters MC'ing. Great experience, can't believe I never did it before...