second cup*

(that's the name of a coffee place that i visited today. i think it's even more famous than starbucks here. i got the moka chocolat blanc and it was yummy. their apple and raisin super muffin was also delicious. full. i'll try the other coffee places tomorrow like the cafe van houtte, cafe depot, and maybe, cafe starbucks coffee. that's how they call dear ol' starbucks here. a bit redundant, eh? canadians.)

i never learn. it's 3:40 am here and i am wide awake. just like last night (earlier this morning). besides, it's only 12:40 am in california. hah. because of that mentality, i woke up around 10:00 am here and i wanted to wake up earlier (like maybe around 9, okay 8) so i can have breakfast, or as my canadien friends say, dejeuner) but no, i could not make myself wake up. by 10:20 this morning, i was threatening myself to wake up, or else waste a very beautiful day.

it's all about walk, walk, walk for me today. which is good. the weather is so fine (6 C; can't convert to F. lol) so it was very conducive for walking. and even if it got really, really cold, montreal has found a solution for that.

ta-da! no, they did not fight mother nature. they created an option. the underground city. at first, i was like, 'what? underground city?' and images of dingy, rat-infested, basement-type environment flashed in my mind. i was so damn wrong.

montreal has an underground city! very much the same city anywhere else. except that this one is underground. it is said that if winter gets really freaking cold, people have an option to dine, shop, see the opera, go to church or watch a hockey game (their national pasttime) without putting on their winter coats. thanks to the network of underground malls that have shops and boutiques and restaurants.

so now, this underground city has more than 29 kilometers (okay, 18 miles) of wide, well-lit and well-ventilated tunnels clustered around 10 of the Metro's (Montreal's train system) 65 stations.

did a lot of stuff today as i walked a million miles. of course, i did not walk a million miles, it just feels like i did. and my feet are complaining. oh well.

(photos to follow. i forgot to bring my cord.)