Succor, safe and sound

Our last day in Canada was Friday. We didn't actually have the hotel room for that night so we woke up REALLY early by our standards (8am) to pack up and check out by 10am. We cleared out of our temporary home, said our goodbyes, drove out, and took to the streets of Laval in record time. To the right you'll see us and our sole trip to Tim Horton's. As far as coffee and donuts go, it can't be beat.

After we made our way into the city, we diverged from each other and split into two groups. Shannon and I preferred to spend the day in a cozy bistro whilst cuddled up with our books/laptops, while Ryan, Thomas, and Masato wanted to wander around and see more of the city. I personally think they were crazy, since that Friday was hands-down the COLDEST day since we arrived in Canada. Plus, it was gusting winds of at least 50MPH. But whatever, I heard they had fun. You can probably read about their exploits at their blogs, linked at the right.

It didn't take long until Shannon got restless and decided she wanted to get her hair cut. So we found some salons online and hit the metro. The first two places ended up being complete duds: the first was in a building that was still being constructed, and the second had no one except for a 60 year-old woman cutting the hair of an 80 year-old woman. Our third and final place ended up being an ultra-chic place inside a mall (the Montreal mall, as it turns out). Girlfriend wanted a bang, so a bang she got!

Here are the before and afters:


The very definition of hot n' sexy.

After that, Shannon needed to accessorize her new 'do so we bought shades and then went to St. Laurent to wait for the boys so we could head to Odaki, where we were meeting AIESEC UQAM for dinner. They finally came, and it was obvious that they were a little tipsy (barhopping will do that to you). We passed this along the way to the restaurant:



Odaki has completely changed my perception of Western Japanese restaurants. It was so amazing I wanted to cry when it was time to leave. Why can't Rusan's be as good as Odaki?



Savanna, the VPER from UQAM, had used her contacts to get us a reservation at this atypical buffet restaurant. We sat at a traditional (sort of) Japanese table, complete with sliding paper panels and everything. The way the food worked was simple: you agreed to a 26.99CDN fee, and then could order anything you wanted at any time from the menu. All you had to do was fill out a paper order sheet, give it to the hostess, and wait for your fresh sushi to come out. You would then be given a fresh paper order to fill out if you wanted. DOES THAT SOUND AWESOME OR WHAT?! And they had more than sushi too. There was tempura, katsu, spring rolls, dumplings, fusion dimsum, and the list goes on. It was an amazing experience for such a cheap price. If you should ever find yourself in Montreal and craving Japanese, there is no better place than Odaki.

As you can see in the video above, a bunch of UQAM kids came out to see us. They were all awesome and really cool. The meaningful conversation didn't really happen though. After a certain point we got kind of inebriated... inebriated on sushi. I don't know how else to describe it. We weren't acting sober, but we definitely were. It was odd.

When it was time to go, it was too late to make it to AIESEC HEC's metro party (sadface). But we could still make it to Club 737 that Savanna had gotten us VIP access to (have I mentioned yet that this girl is awesome?), and we thought we should retrieve Ryan's car from the parking lot of Canadian Tire, just in case they didn't take kindly to overnight parking.



Savanna (there on the right) went with Ryan and I so we wouldn't wander around in downtown Montreal looking for parking. As soon as we got to the car and started our usual hapless search for a good radio station, she took control of the dial and immediately found two stations that blared out slick house tunes. Thank god for locals.

We got into the city and immediately found parking right outside the club building. The club itself is at the highest point in Montreal. The views were amazing.







No, my camera did not put on beer goggles after third picture. That effect is from the condensation that formed on the windows due to the body heat of the kids that were dancing nearby. Yes, I said kids. It seemed like everyone else there was on the lower end of 17-19, which was kind of awkward because we're all 22. Savanna swore that the place usually shows an average age of 21. Maybe everyone just looked young that night. Either way, the place was exquisitely awesome, and I'm already jealous of the AIESEC Canada 50th Anniversary Gala that will take place there later this year.



Drinks.



Our gracious hosts.

And then it was time to leave. We bid a fond farewell to Montreal, and took off into that good night for the USA.

We got to New Haven at midmorning on Saturday, and after a tour of Yale campus, recorded this final hurrah from Team Awesome.



We said goodbye to Shannon and continued on our weary way. Behold, car karaoke, courtesy of Thomas and Ryan:



Oh, those silly kids. We got into Atlanta at 2am on Sunday morning. And the rest is history.

If anyone from Montreal is reading, we cannot thank you enough for the hospitality and courtesy that you've shown us. This includes both random people and the AIESEC LCs. If you have the chance to visit New Haven or Atlanta, you should know that we will do everything in our power to make your trip as amazing as ours. And to you crazy AIESECers, I expect to see you at NDLC in Toronto. We all do.



Montreal, you treated us well, and we will miss you. This is Team Awesome for the final time... signing off.