Meet "Anju, Clevin and Ali"

Today in my post I'm not talking about new friends, but about three friends I was very happy to see in a very unexpected trip..

While in Toronto, I received a call from my friend and ex colleague Jad M. Asking me if I'm willing to fly to Beirut to attend a TV commercial filming as a freelancer as the Creative Director and his associate in Dubai were super busy with a huge presentation that is taking place at the time as the shoot. I answered "yes" on the spot without even thinking of it, as it was an opportunity for me to work on an interesting job, to see my family, to earn some extra money, and to escape the snow for few days..

And what made this trip even more exciting is catching up with great friends, coming from Leo Burnett, to attend the shoot, and here I mean Anju (TV producer), Clevin (Copywriter) and Ali (Account Supervisor)..

The work was hectic, and stressful, shooting in average 15 hours a day, but we were going out every night for dinner and drinks, evaluating the day, and laughing at some bad acting from the cast and getting a bit relaxed before going to bed to wake up very early  the second day..

Ali used to live in Toronto for years, so we had a chat about my experience so far, and where I stand so far with the job hunt..

When I thought that it might take me sometime to be on a shoot set after I left Dubai, this unexpected trip was a great experience and a real pleasure of seeing the guys, spending a week with them, and sending lots of kisses and greetings to the whole team in Dubai wishing to see them again in the very near future.

Meet "Paloma & Nancy"

As I mentioned in my previous two posts, I got my ticket for Ane Brun concert at the last minute and I didn't mind going alone, so when I reached the venue, I picked an empty table, had a glass of wine and took a seat, but had 3 empty seats on the same table, and a bit before the concert two ladies asked me if they can share the table with me..and "of course" was my answer..

They got a bottle of wine and they insisted on me sharing a drink with them.. We tried to have a quick chat before the concert started, and we kept talking a bit between the songs..

Paloma lives in Montreal, and Nancy lives in Ottawa, they both work for the police, this is how they met and became close friends.. And Nancy was visiting Paloma and they decided to attend the concert..

Paloma and Nancy were extremely friendly, I felt as if I knew them for quite some time and they definitely made me enjoy even more the concert without feeling odd of being alone, and it was much nicer to share with them our enjoyment with the wonderful performance of Linnea Olsson and Ane Brun.

Meet "Au Kouign-Amann"

Before going to Montreal, I agreed with my friend and ex colleague Bassem that we have to meet at least for a coffee to catch up, and discuss so far our experiences in Canada.. Bassem left Dubai around 8 month ago and moved with his family to Montreal.

So in my second day in Montreal, Bassem called me early morning and didn't accept to let me take a cab, so he picked me up from the hotel, and he asked me if I have any preference for breakfast, and being very flexible when it comes to food told him I'm fine with anything, so he decided to take me to a small cosy bakery where everything is so yummi..

We went to "Au Kouign-Amann" on 322 Rue Mont-Royal E, Montreal, a very modest place, when you look at it from outside, nothing fancy, and you can feel the charm this place has from its facade and once you're in you got taken by the wonderful smell, and your eyes feel already full from the delicious pastries..

It took us some time to decide what to order, and between the two of us we ordered four different pastries and they were all incredible so we enjoyed our hour there, having our coffee and catching up and sharing our stories from Montreal and Toronto and Bassem telling me how his kids are adapting to the new life in Canada..
And then Bassem was kind enough and offered to drop me to Laval to visit my cousin and her family..

I loved Au Kouign Amann, so unpretentious, simple and fantastic..So next time you're in Montreal and feel like having a good breakfast, do not miss!!!

Meet "Laura"

I was very excited about my weekend in Montreal to catch up with my cousin, with my friend Hadi coming from New York to visit his parents, and on top of that to discover this beautiful city, its cultural scene, its night life and of course meet new friends..

After a five hours trip by train from Toronto, I arrived to Bonne Aventure station, and walked to my hotel which was a 10 minutes walk but the crazy cold made it feel like hours, and I couldn't wait to reach my room at Espresso Hotel and feel a bit warmer..

An hour later, my friend Hadi arrived to my hotel, I was so happy to see him after almost a year and a half and the plan was to join him to the birthday party of his close friend Laura..
So we went to the Vieux Port to a nice venue, Espace 64, with beautiful artistic pieces, and nice music and of course met Laura, her husband and lots of her friends..

At the beginning I was a bit shy, not knowing anyone except Hadi, but people were extremely welcoming and friendly and half an hour later I was talking to most of them, and as usually being to new immigrant they were all making sure I'm fine, well settled and managing to handle to cold and the snow, especially in Montreal, where it's was colder and a lot more snow than Toronto..

Laura was very sweet, happy surrounded by her friends, she kept making sure we're all having drinks and enjoying the food, and by midnight it was the time to cut the cake, so we all wished her happy birthday and then she delivered an emotional speech thanking her friends and parents for always being there for her..

We kept dancing till around 2am and then I left with Hadi to catch a cab..
It was a great evening, celebrating Laura's birthday with great people and I hoped to see them all soon in my next visit to Montreal.

Meet "Diana & James"

Another great people I met through my cousins in Ottawa, during the Winterlude Festival, where we met Diana and James at the Ice park, we had a freezing dance, on the snow, we tried our best to handle the cold, and Diana kept telling me to move my toes while dancing.. It was tough for me but we had a good laugh and the music was nice so it kept us going for an hour..

And after that we decided to go for a bite and few drinks, so we went to The 3 Brewers where I had the famous Poutine and a nice beer..

Diana was upset cause she couldn't make me"Get Nipped" , where u should have a whiskey shot, you toast in the direction of the parliament, you drink it then you kiss a beaver.. And this way you become an Ottawan, so this wasn't possible at the 3B, but we still had our shots.. And the rest was laughs, jokes, Olympics, and weather.. I like how people always start their conversation with me by asking how I am handling the cold and if I miss the Sun in Dubai.. Which honestly I do, big time, but heyyy.. There is so many other great things other than the cold weather, like that fun night and meeting nice people like Diana and James..  

We did a long walk to reach my cousin's car, said good bye to my new friends and wished to see soon in my next visit to Ottawa and of course invited them to visit Toronto for a weekend where I can take care of them the way they did with me during my lovely Ottawa weekend.

Meet "Firas"

Firas is not a new friend that I'm meeting for the first time, but the last time I saw Firas was 8 years ago, when he left Leo Burnett Dubai, and after that he relocated to Cairo and then decided to move with his family to Canada..

And what a pleasure meeting Firas in Tornoto after almost 3 month of my landing, and hearing the story of the journey they went through and how they decided to change career and work closely with his wife after he tried couple of things until he reached exactly what he likes to do and overcome all the fears and doubts he had and many obstacles along the way..

Firas is, as he mentioned it in his Linkedin profile, "A breakthrough coach, a storyteller, strategist, Marketer and speaker".. And I can assure you he's good in every single one..

Chatting with Firas felt like almost a spiritual conversation, he was so zen and talking from the heart..

I shared with him the couple of ideas I have in mind and he gave me his point of you and asked me to listen to my heart, even if this will put me through doubts and sometimes stress and fear and lack of self confidence.. And asked me to forget about the "I should.. I have to.." And put myself as a priority vs what others want and expect from me..

Time passed so quickly and Firas had to head for his training and I left thanking him and kept thinking of our discussion and I was so glad to catch up with him after all these years and hoped we gonna see each other more often from now on.

Meet "Yoti"

Habibi.. Habibi.. That was maybe the only word in Arabic that Yoti knew, but it's still interesting to see people trying to be closer by speak your language...

I met Yoti through our common friend Hadi, who lives in New York and put us in contact by sending an e mail to both of us asking us to meet so I can know more people in Toronto and I can start having more friends..

After couple of phone calls with Yoti we agreed to meet for a morning coffee, and we met at Summer Hill subway station.. half way from his place and mine and we walked to Terroni on Yonge St.. It was sunny outside but extremely cold.. So I couldn't wait to get in and order a hot drink..

Yoti is Canadian Greek, which was a good start for our discussion as I'm a big fan of Greece, and I have two Greek friends one lives in London and the second in Lausanne, and we have what became a tradition of meeting in Athens and the Greek islands every Summer, we've been doing this for 6 years and every year it's lots of fun.. So we talked about Greece and Canada a lot, and he gave me insights and tips from the gym to where going for grocery shopping, to where to go for a nice message (as he saw me stressed with the move and the change and some of the difficulties I was facing to settle in properly in my apartment)  and ended our discussion about London (UK) and his dream of moving there and finding a good job..

The grass is always greener on the other side.. We always wish to move to different places and believe that our life will be much better.. And that was one of the main motives that pushed me to move to Toronto.. so I wished Yoti the best of luck and we agreed that next time we re meeting for a drink.. time to get wasted..

Meet "Olga"

So after meeting my new friend Merwad for couple of times, she asked me if I’m interested to join her with a group of friends to a concert at Roy Thomson Hall where The Classic Albums Live will be performing Abbey Road – The Beatles, so without hesitation I told her I’m in.. and we agreed to meet 30 minutes before the concert.

I was excited like a kid, as I really liked the architecture of the building, and I was always curious to see how it looks from inside of course on top of my anticipation for the concert and to meet new people..

so I met them at the entrance of the hall, I arrived 10 minutes earlier, Merwad was already there with her friend Olga, and she introduced us.

Olga moved to Toronto around three years ago, she used to live in the UAE too so we had a starting point for our conversation, and she works in the medical equipment field, so we started discussing the health care system and the equipment of different medical centers and comparing it with the UAE and Lebanon, and of course she gave me couple of insights and tips from her experience the last three years..

It seems Olga is a big fan of singing, and she’s taking vocal classes, so I hope we’ll be able to hear her singing one day soon..

The concert was great, even though we felt quiet old (maybe the average age group was 50 at the concert) after all it’s the Beatles songs but we enjoyed every minute of it, and the performance of Classic Album live was fantastic..

After the concert, we went for dinner and drinks, where I had the chance to meet more friends which I will introduce in my coming posts.

Cheers.

Meet "Faisal"

For years at Leo Burnett Dubai, Sara Abou Zahra was one of my favorite people I loved working with and our friendship continued even after Sara moved to another company..

Before leaving Dubai, each group of friends did for me a separate farewell party or dinner or lunch.. So I ended up gaining four or five kgs and in one of these dinners with very dear friends, Sara was there and she gave me the contacts of her brother Faisal who moved to Toronto few years back and she was sure that we will get along well and become friends..

Few days after my move, I gave Faisal a call and we agreed to meet for a coffee.. Faisal asked me to meet him at the entrance of the TD building where he works so I was there at 5:05 pm and seeing everyone leaving on time like as if people where evacuating the building on emergency.. Made me envy them as I use to stay always super late in the office, not to mention the working weekends..

And 5 minutes later Faisal showed up, and I realized that he's face is familiar and I've seen him before in Dubai somewhere but it was the first time we meet properly..

After a nice dinner at Frans and an interesting chat, and some tips from Faisal I asked him where did he got his Canada Goose Jacket so he was kind enough to suggest to come with me to check one.. And we went to Harrey Rosen on Bloor st.. Where I tried couple of jackets and I was confused between 2 colors but the issue of the color was nothing compare to the issue of zipper.. Yes the zipper wasn't working properly and they kept telling me that it will take me time to get used to it so I kept trying and trying but with no hope and they were all helping me, more than 5 people and even when they were trying they needed to make effort to manage to zip it.. At the end after I felt embarrassed and doubting that maybe me not knowing how to do it, they agreed to get me a new one after few days so I paid and I left thanking Faisal for his patience and help..

And after two days they got me the new jacket and the zipper worked perfectly from the first time.. So I sent a message to Faisal: it wasn't me it wasn't me J