Friends, readers and fellow bloggers,
I am thrilled to announce that thanks to your support, my blog has been voted Best Travel and Expat Blog in the 2014 Canadian Blog Awards. I was beyond humbled to even get nominated. So, this is a HUGE compliment.
Thanks for reading, liking, commenting and sharing. I hope to keep giving you reasons to keep doing all of that.
Much love,
xxR
PS: That’s me at the Amber Fort in Jaipur. A post is on its way!
My dear readers,
I am excited to announce that I have been nominated for the 2013 Canadian Blog Awards in the Best Travel and Expat blog category. Hurrah! I am always humbled every time I get a like, comment or a new follower, so this is a massive compliment. If you enjoy reading my blog, then please vote for me here.
Voting ends February 22, 2014.
xxR
PS: I went to the Taj Mahal yesterday
Parliament Hill, Ottawa. Canada Day, 2012
Eleven months ago, I left Canada to chase my wanderlust and get a degree while I was at it. I have since lived in three countries, including my current short stint in Singapore, and travelled to many more. While I enjoy embracing new cultures, I often catch myself saying, “If I were in Canada, this would be different.”
There are also moments of “I wish I was in Canada for this.” That includes Stanley Cup playoffs, friends’ birthdays and other milestones, and the Canada Day long weekend. For the last two years I have been road-tripping to Ottawa to celebrate Canada’s birthday, and also fume over the hooliganism of our young, intoxicated, underage Canadians.
The most I can do this year is rock a red and white outfit (which also happen to be the colours for Singapore’s National Day in August) and actively miss Canada.
After almost a year of living abroad, here are the five things I miss most about Canada:
1 – Tim Hortons
Whether it’s with classmates before lecture or coworkers before the big 10am meeting, lining up for Timmys is an integral part of our daily routines. Yes, it’s not the best coffee in the world. In fact, it’s quite awful and many of us can’t figure out why we are so addicted to it. But, I haven’t found any other coffee chain in the world that is cheap, addictive and part of a national identity. Continue reading
Yesterday, I bid adieu to Sydney, hopped on a plane and scooted over to Singapore. I was struggling to finish all my uni assignments until the last minute (that’s something I won’t miss), so unsurprisingly I didn’t get a chance to fully reflect upon my amazing Aussie experience until now.
I was so busy over the last four months exploring the East Coast, meeting the most amazing people, sun bathing, kangaroo-spotting (but in vain) and attempting to become a better journalist, that I may have skipped on actively counting my blessings, so here we go: the Top Five Things I’ll Miss About Sydney list (in no particular order).
Access to the beach
Not that I strongly believe in the Zodiac, but being a water sign must explain my affinity for wanting to wade in open waters despite being an average (read: comical) swimmer. [PS: Remember this?] While Canadian lakes will always be my first love, it was joyous having the beach at your doorstep. I lived at Coogee Beach, which in my very biased opinion is the best beach among the Eastern suburbs, but IF one ever gets bored of Coogee, then there are so many other beaches and bays to bathe in. Read about my favourite ones here. Continue reading
“Home” has become a very arbitrary concept for me. Last month my home was in Aarhus, now it’s in Sydney, and very soon I’ll be going home to India. Meanwhile, a case can be made that my real home is in Toronto. Exploring this dilemma is just a little bit less interesting than exploring my new neighbourhood of Coogee Beach a.k.a. my current home.
My friends (and now flatmates) scored us this awesome top-floor apartment overlooking the Coogee Beach and walking distance from the aforementioned beach, several trendy cafes and restaurants, cool bars and entertainment venues. Naturally, a cityscape explorer like myself was thrilled to have so many exciting options at my doorstep.
Over the last week, I have split my time between attending classes in the middle of the city, and enjoying the laid back lifestyle of the beach suburbs. Check out some photos of this cool blue, trendy neighbourhood that I am so happy to call my home.
Goodbyes are never easy, especially when you are leaving behind an exciting country where you have countless memories with a lot of interesting people. (However, the pain can be eased with the knowledge that I am trading the cold Danish climate for a beachside apartment in Sydney.)
While I have been somewhat diligent in blogging about my travels within Europe, I haven’t written much about my day-to-day life here in Aarhus, Denmark. However, I have been reporting From the Field for Verge: Travel with Purpose magazine as a guest blogger. Over the last six months, I have written about how I adapted to a small city, my struggles with the language, getting used to a new (and weird) grading system, and more recently my biking adventures. If you haven’t checked them out already, here are my favourite articles that are worth a click:
I ditched the big city exchange experience and ended up in Denmark biggest village. One can bike across this city in less than 20 minutes. In December I wrote, “Naturally, I had my inhibitions when moving to Aarhus. Most people are nervous about moving to a bigger city, but I was really worried about moving to a smaller city. There is something about rush hour traffic, packed TTC subways and perpetually angry nine-to-fivers that makes me feel at home.”
How did I learn to love Aarhus? Find out! Continue reading
Living in Canada, this is what I used to associate Christmas with: vacation pay, boxing day, Home Alone marathons, and postcards from friends. If you haven’t been raised celebrating Christmas, it’s pretty easy to escape the holiday fever in Toronto (except when I worked in retail and Christmas carols were even playing in my nightmares).
But, not in Scandinavia. You can try to be the Grinch, but the Christmas spirit will make its way into your home and heart.
Denmark kicks off the God Jul celebrations with J-day on the first weekend of November by launching the annual Christmas beer. It’s a strong brew that’s modelled on a luxury beer. I am not surprised to see that the launch of a beer is a national event in Denmark – bars are brimming, trucks are distributing free beer and swag on the busy streets, and everyone is having a jolly good time to get the mood for God Jul.
Soon after the that, the Christmas lights start popping up and just last weekend, Aarhus’s official Christmas tree made its debut outside of City Hall.
Here’s how my friends and I have been getting in the festive spirit over the last month: Continue reading
Directly translated, that means “Hello from Denmark”
If you are my Facebook friend and/or have been following me on Twitter, you will know that I have left my beloved Toronto behind and moved to Aarhus, Denmark, to start my Masters degree. I am getting my MA in Journalism, Media & Globalization with a specialization in Business & Finance Journalism. This course is one of the Erasmus Mundus programs and is taught over two years. I’ll be spending the first year in Aarhus, Denmark and moving to one of my favourite cities, London, for my specialism year. Some of my other classmates will be specializing in different fields of interest: war and conflict (Swansea), EU politics (Amsterdam) and reporting on cultures (Hamburg).
My program
At last count, there are 45 nationalities that make up this program. You are probably wondering, “That sounds just like a Toronto classroom.” Well… that’s sort of correct. I loved living and studying in Toronto because of the diverse backgrounds students came from.
But, my masters is going to be a very diverse Toronto classroom on steroids.
At least everyone in Toronto was Canadian. While, they represented a plethora of cultures and values, the Canadian identity resonated throughout the class.
Now, I have the important job of representing Canadian ideas and values in group discussions at the masters level. I share this responsibility with three other Canadian ladies (one of them from Ryerson!) who are also in the program.
My first official lecture is tomorrow, but from the two days of introductions and orientations we have been having, I can safely say this: my program is going to be challenging, demanding, but also really interesting. Continue reading
Dear (insert your name here),
The last three days in London have been amazing. From adventures of tackling the London transit system to sightseeing marathons that have left my feet permanently blistered, there are so many stories to tell. But… they’ll have to wait. I am heading over to Paris tomorrow and won’t have much internet access, let alone time to blog about my amazing adventures. I promise to update you thoroughly when I am back in September. In the meantime, enjoy your postcard from London.
With love,
Roop
Cheers from Niagara Falls folks!
I have to be in Niagara for 11 am tomorrow morning so Mom and I decided to put the long weekend to its appropriate use and show up a day early to explore, eat and re-explore.
We’ve been to Niagara several times before. It is ritualistic among the South Asian community to bring all your visitors to Niagara for a day trip. We get a lot of visitors every year. Therefore, we come to Niagara Falls several times every year.
But, it was the first time that Jacques (my Canon 60 D) came with us to Niagara. Naturally, he was up and about soaking in the Niagara downtown. Since I’ve taken countless tourist photos in front of the falls, I was determined to steal some shots of the non-Falls-attractions in Niagara and there are tons! My favourite of the day has been The Fudge Factory. Enjoy these photos from Willy Wonka’s Wanna-be Wonderland and more!
Welcome to The Fudge Factory
And deliciousness awaits you inside
You are faced with the tough choice of what to get to satisfy your sweet tooth craving
roopgill 
