totoro-n-to part i

there are two reasons i haven't posted in such a long time: we've been busy, or i've been too tired, or i've been horrifically sick. i'm going to catch up in parts, beginning (as is my wont) at the end.

---monday:
i started my day with a protein shake / meal replacement* and comics - comixology's selection includes at least one french comic (valentine, i thought it might help), the new lookouts and skullkickers, which i've been meaning to look at for a while now.

* herbalife - it has cow extract in it but it seemed reasonable and tasted good

we arrived downtown hungry - it takes a while to get all the way into toronto from where we're staying - and decided to check out the hard rock cafe. just because. in spite of their creepy shrine to nickleback** we sat down, pg going with the fish and chips and myself hoping that the "veggie leggie" would be vegetarian friendly. it certainly didn't taste amazing. at any rate, it was a pleasant place to breakfast and the service was great.

** not a big fan

we then entered a couple of jewellery stores to be overwhelmed by salesmanship and our inability to distinguish value from the merely tacky. not that we don't know what *looks* right. as i tweeted: "omg i have a new nightmare scenario. looking for an engagement ring. i think the shopping is the true symbol of my commitment".

i sat out the rest of the shopping experience in the starbucks, digging into david wong - this book is full of spiders: seriously, dude, don't touch it and totally loving it. i don't even feel guilty about pressing pause on anna karenina.

we were going to do other things - touristy things - before heading back but then realized that it was already pretty late. our return home involved stopping for pizza (i had a bite just to taste, it wasn't good), my walking in front of pg with a shopping bag on my shoulder to protect her from the sun because the next stop was a lot further away than we thought, a long wait between buses, a canadian version of the loud barbarian who sits at the back of the bus and shares all his calls with the other passengers, a quick stop for sweets and then the wrong choice between another bus or what should have been a quick walk home. my iphone's gps wasn't playing nice, and we arrived ten minutes late and sweaty for dinner. at least everyone else was late too, so we could shower and eat respectably.

after a pleasant dinner, one of my cousins informed me about myvega, which i'll be checking out when we return to montreal, and then pg and i turned in for the night.

---tuesday:

we don't know if what happened next was caused by breakfast or the dodgy pizza, but PLEASE NOTE THAT THE FOLLOWING MAY NOT BE SAFE FOR THE WEAK-OF-STOMACHE AND MAY CONTAIN TOO MUCH INFORMATION. IT'S MY JOURNAL, THIS IS HOW IT WORKS.

pg hadn't been feeling well since a little before dinner, and by the time we returned to our rooms she was already ill and being sick. i sat on the bed reading comics and feeling sorry for her... but i also felt a bit woozy.

suddenly, i guess about an hour later, i felt really, really sick as well. the two of us spent the entire night taking turns becoming intimately familiar with the toilet, and let me tell you that groveling in front of the can is an extremely humbling experience.

on the one hand, i'm glad we're here because our accommodation in montreal is not as forgiving. on the other, if we hadn't been in toronto we might not have gotten food poisoning.

pg started before me and ended before me: i saw daybreak before i was emptied enough to rest, and all i really had to go on was ugly nightmares during the longer pauses between bathroom runs. and to make matters worse, my temperature was all over the place and i was either shivering violently from the cold (fully dressed and under two duvets) or overheating and sweating profusely (even uncovered, although it's pretty cold already so that never lasted too long).

i can't say it didn't feel like a taste of hell. i can't think of a more horrible experience i've had, and it was certainly our worst together.

i was terribly weak from the get-go: there were many times that i had to sit and rest on my way to or from the bathroom, twice that i was very glad that the plastic bag in the trash can next to our bed didn't have holes in it, and it was only late yesterday afternoon that i managed to get myself all the way downstairs for a cup of tea. my cousin organized us gatorade a bit later and that kept us going for a while.

a pity that i couldn't keep last night's meal of three forkfuls of well-chewed dry rice down. it fascinates me that i almost always, throughout the experience, felt much better after throwing up... even if only for a few minutes. after that last time i actually had enough energy to get upstairs and into bed.

---today:

i *must* have been running a fever, because i think it broke this morning. i showered, had another cup of tea, and took a phone call from the woman in the company who's dealing with my permit paperwork. she started giving me advice on food poisoning before stopping mid-sentence to remark that i already have a jewish mother around if i'm with family so she'll stick to being my jewish mother when i'm in the office :P

aside from an hour or two dealing with that stuff, i spent most of the day resting or reading. in the afternoon i managed some dry toast and in the evening i was all set for seconds of dry pasta and an apple. hopefully tomorrow i'll be back to eating more food than i can list because we only have two more days of toronto left!

so much for our trip to niagara. it's a good excuse to come back in winter when it's all frosty, i guess.