Home sweet home

Summer is here. School is driving me insane and the Swiss bore me. Hence I am really looking forward to being back home in Montreal and go to all my favorite hang outs. What I lack here is a good drink, a good coffee and good ethnic food. I am sick of cheese and endives! (well not really but you know, i miss my international cuisine and affordable luxuries!)

First of all, Baldwins. Everybody who knows me is aware this is MY PLACE to go. Any day of the week I know I will have fun here (except maybe certain Saturday's when the place is invaded by suburban folk). But even if the crowd sucks, the place is always gorgeous, the music amazing (mix of old school, some hip hop and a bunch of really cool hipstery new stuff, it usually gets more upbeat later in the night) and the drinks are the best in town. And the service is also great... but that is maybe because I have been going there for 3 years... sometimes thrice a week....

Buvette chez Simone. Wine bar, cold cuts, cheese. So fun all the time, much more relaxed atmosphere and beautiful people to watch! Their salads are also quite delicious, Audrey loves the greek salad with its HUGE slabs of feta.

Verses Sky terrace at the Nelligan hotel. I just discovered this spot last year with my friend Chloe and we spent many sunny afternoons drinking bubbly there, admiring her boyfriend working in the outdoor kitchen (best kitchen setup ever... minus the bees) and the stunning view. Try the "Piscine", a huge glass of Prosecco on ice with raspberries. Extremely refreshing, fabulous looking and gets you pretty tipsy!

McKiernan lunchonette and wine bar. In St-Henri a walking distance from Atwater Market and my apartment, super cute place to have lunch in a vintage-y setting with KILLER sandwiches and old school desserts (mmmm pudding chomeur). They also have an adorable terrace in the garden during summer months.

Mas Cuisine is a tiny fine dining restaurant in Verdun right around the corner from where I live. Chef/owner Michael Ross and his wife prepare EVERYTHING from bread to desert for the prix-fixe menu. It is my absolute favorite restaurant in Montreal, you can have an impeccable 3 course dinner for around 40$.

Chez Bong is my favorite asian restaurant. Its a Korean place on St Laurent in Chinatown. Try not to be too confused. It is in a basement with cedar planked walls and looks kind of suspicious, but all the dishes are super authentic and prepared by a little old Korean granny that smiles at you all the time. You can eat like a king for about 10$, which includes a chicken soup and all the traditional Korean kim chi side dishes. My absolute favorite thing to eat is the jap chae, a super slimy and stretchy sweet potato noodle stir fry. Mmmmm.

Café Myriade. Best. Coffee. EVER. Order a latte and don't you even DARE put sugar in it. (Award winning baristas, known as one of the best coffee houses in AMERICA.)

Fairmount Bagel. Cream cheese. Mmmmm. The best in the whole wide world, I don't care what people say, Fairmount bagels beat out St-Viateur because they are less dense and still have all the flavour (I used to be a St-Viateur fan but I was shown the light... and the place is much cuter, the experience of getting a dozen bagels is just so fun).

The urban chalet and rooftop pool at Imperial Lofts. Cannot wait to spend days roasting in the sun at Audrey's new place! Screw Hotel de la Montagne, this is way better, cheaper and closer to home.

Baldwin's : 115 Laurier Ouest

Buvette chez Simone : 4869 avenue du Parc

Verses Sky : 106 rue St-Paul Ouest

Mckiernan : 2485 rue Notre Dame Ouest

Mas Cuisine : 3779 rue Wellington

Chez Bong : 1021 blvd St-Laurent

Café Myriade : 1432 rue Mackay

I really miss my suede loafers.

So I have been gone for almost 2 weeks… The last time I remember being away for so long was when I went to Italy in sec 4 for two weeks. I still haven’t made any friends lol, but I was thisclose to meeting up with this really chill girl from Canada that is also an English tutor, but the mother in her family was like the witch from hell so she is moving to another family in Venice. I spent a lot of time last week exploring around the house on my bike, the Italian countryside is full of surprises! A ruined palazzo, country markets and the most adorable little villages. Thursday was my day off (even though I don’t actually work and can go to downtown Milan almost every day) and obviously, it was the one fucking disgusting rainy day. So I hopped around from museum to museum, doing touristy things, almost getting hit by a Mini, eating pizza, you know, a typical day in Milan. The most interesting thing I saw was Villa Necchi, a 1930’s modernist/art-deco house in the center of Milan. It was almost in its original condition, down to the perfume bottles in the bathroom and the staff uniforms in the closet! It was stunning. Ryan let me know that an article in the NYT actually talked about this house a couple of weeks ago because it is featured in the movie “I am Love” with Tilda Swinton. Check out the trailer, it looks amazing and features everything I have seen in Milan!

On Friday night we headed to Arenzano, on the Italian Riviera near Genoa and Portofino. I spent the weekend there with Nicoletta and her Nonna while the parents were doing renovations at the house on the Côte d’Azur. The apartment is basically a 2 story penthouse with huuuuge terraces on the second floor. The view is bonkers… the bay and the village of Arenzano in front, and vineyard covered mountains in the back. We headed to the beach on Saturday morning and spent the entire day there. We are part of a beach club, with a private changing cabana, reserved chairs and a tab at the bar, its pretty sick. Our part of the beach is right in front of the Grand Hotel and there are palm trees everywhere. It is basically heaven. Nonna decided to fatten me up, so she FORCE FED me focaccia all weekend long. Focaccia is a specialty in the region and is nothing like the crap we have at home. This shit is pure fatty deliciousness, especially the focaccia al fromaggio, which cannot even be described as bread but more like fresh mozzarella cheese with bread. Its ewey and gewey and yummy. Another discovery is nespole’s, a wild fruit that tastes like a bitter sweet peach with an oddly pasty texture. I eat like five a day.

Saturday night I walked to town to check out the nightlife, and I think it has potential for this summer! Once the season officially begins in two weeks, the whole place will be packed with young party animals. I decided that one of my goals for the summer would be to go skinny dipping in the Mediterranean after a drunken night of partying at a beach side nightclub. The only downside of the whole going into town thing is that I have to walk back home… uphill… for 20 minutes. Hence the great view lol.

In Milan yesterday, I finished doing my essential purchases to live the dolce vita : slim leg linen pants, a straw hat and another short-short bathing suit (what is standard gay boy attire in Montreal is just the norm here, love it). Then I went to collapse in the park to people watch… ahem watch the topless soccer players…

This is a pic of my idea of quintessential Milanese style, but not in summer obviously. The shocking thing is that you actually see guys like this everywhere.

Style her is sooo different from Montreal, it is much more elegant and somehow simpler. I now understand what sets apart style in Milan from style in Montreal, or even in America: they have no hipsters. And the ones that you would think are somewhat hipstery, are actually just designer clad fashionistas. But the main difference is that THEY ARE NOT DIRTY LOOKING!!!!! I was shocked. You know how I love to look trashy sometimes, how looking homeless is a pretty normal thing in Montreal, well not here. In Milan, it’s all about the tailored pant/not too skinny jean with a beautifully fitted dress shirt (often with a monogram) that is tucked in, or a nice polo, with an elegant belt (no giant D&G belt buckles here, they love their woven nautical belts… I left mine at home. FML) and loafers (Tod’s, Prada or Gucci). They also all have amazing sunglasses, mostly Ray Ban’s (score, that’s all I have) or Persol, and obviously designer bags that don’t look too gay. If they wear shorts, its cuffed and fitted jean shorts (like my DIY ghetto Parasuco’s. Mouahaha), tailored shorts that come above the knee or these kinda harem-pant like shorts. I have to find myself a pair, probably at H&M.

Another key factor in the style here is that guys really take care of themselves, and I don’t mean just the gays. Their hair is always impeccable, no trashy over styled Mohawks, skin moisturized and glowing, beard either expertly shaved or trimmed properly (If they cant grow a proper beard, they don’t. I just hate these guys that look as if they threw some pubes on their face and decided they seemed manly.) and the eyebrows tweezed. It takes awhile to get used to the eyebrows, since some of them are obviously over tweezed, but it just proves that you can’t let these bad boys go wild.

Oh an on a final note, did anybody see SATC 2? I am dying to see if, I just have to find a theater that plays it in English.

Alex does Milano..

Crap, I totally forgot about this blog.

Anyways I am now in Milan for three months! I am here living with a family as an English tutor, but I am basically just a bonified manny which isn’t a bad thing. They live in a very nice house just outside of Milan and right next to a subway stop so it takes 20 minutes to get downtown. I have my own room and bathroom in the basement, so I don’t have to worry about disturbing anybody. I also get a bike, a phone and occasionally get to drive the Mercedes. Not to shabby eh? Also plenty of espresso, Parmigiano reggiano, home cooked Italian food, wine and gelato. What else could I possibly need? Well actually wifi within the house would be a lovely thing… but Ill just have to content myself with sitting on the sun soaked terrace and steal one of the neighbors signal.

The two eldest daughters are 17 and 19, so I will be able to infiltrate their circles and hopefully find some yummy Italian within. Mmmmm. The parents went to the seaside house in Arenzano (they also have vacation homes in Cannes, Sardinia and Switzerland!) with Nico, the adorable 5 year old I take care of, so I stayed in Milan with Ludo and Isotta. From what I can gather these two like to party… I am crossing my fingers that it isn’t all talk!

On Satuday I went to Milan alone to do touristy things, such as the Duomo. What impressed me the most was the fact that you could actually go on the roof of the 700 year old cathedral! Not only was the view amazing, but getting up close and personal with all the architectural detail does not happen often! I then spent the rest of my day lounging in a park enjoying the.. ahem.. sights ;)

On my way back home I missed my bus, and since it was a saturday I had to wait an hour for the next one, but this guy that I had seen on the bus in the morning was waiting next to me rolling a huge spliff. Of course he happened to share it with me and that is how I made my first friend lol. At home, the girls and I prepared an elaborate Aperitivo in lieu of going out for dinner.Think beef carpaccio with lemon and parmesan (the best I ever had), Bresaola (dry cured beef) with fresh ricotta and of course, champagne. And surprise surprise.. the girls also seem to enjoy a little Moroccan gum if you know what I mean. Afterwards, we drove into Milano to witness the crazyness that resulted after Inter Milan won the championships. Think the Habs winning the Stanley cup, it was ridiculous! We went to San Genoa, which I guess can be compared to the Plateau. It has adorable little canals and is packed with restaurants and bars. I have to say, Italians know how to mix a strong drink!

On sunday, we all nursed our hangovers by sleeping until 1 then spent the entire afternoon tanning. It was great. Then we went to meet up with their dad and his surgically enhanced fiancé at the Palazzo Reale to see an exhibit on Egon Schiele and other Viennese Secession artists. It was one of the best art exhibits I have ever seen, and I have been to many a museum in my day. Not only was the subject interesting, but the exhibit provided all the information you could possibly want to know, aka historical context, the artist's eccentricities and symbolic interpretation.

We had dinner at Obika, a Mozzarella Bar on the 7th floor of a department store that could be described as Holt Renfrew on crack. I only walked across the first floor but EVERY male employee looks like Casanova, I don't understand why they don't put this as a tourist destination in itself! We ate on the terrace, which is the most fabulous terrace you can imagine. Huge, full of BEAUTIFUL people, and literally across from the Duomo. I had actually seen it on Saturday and wished I could go there!

I will try to update this at least once a week.. expect me to talk about the AMAZING style here and of course, the yummy italians :)

The GBF.

The ULTIMATE.

Derek Blasberg is the ultimate GBF.

Like, he is living the life all of us dream of having. Fabulous parties, fabulous friends, fabulous parties, and the list goes on.

He somehow came up with a book about ladies being classy and stuff, but what really caught my attention was his tweet about an exert of his book about GBF's being published in the Advocate.

Read it and learn HERE.

The GBF.

Screw going out, I'm lazy.

So I was really lazy this week. Well, no, I actually did allot and fucking partied like I was 18 all over again at Aoki. But I also spent a considerable amount of time doing nothing at home, with all my friends. It was awesome. Renee and I had an impromptu house party on Wednesday and ended up having like 15 people over in our tiny apartment. Notice SIX people are on my couch. It was just chill times, random conversation and lots of junk food.

On Friday, ditching my plans to go to all time favorite Baldwin's, my few best friends and I just spent an entire night talking in my parents recently renovated (by yours truly) kitchen in the Waste-Island, having intense converation, wine and smoked salmon... all the while listening to soothing lounge music (Actually, Corinne Bailey Rae's new album, perfect mood music). We were like, WTF, when did we get so old?

Realizing that a good night in can be as fun as a naughty night out is to me a sign of growing up. I am much more selective when going out, not only wanting to save money but also knowing my tastes, and would often rather stay in. I used to spend most of my nights home alone for a while, I was kinda a recluse, but now I much prefer having a friend over to drink a bottle of wine and babble on about anything over browsing the web alone until 3 am. Another new development is that for the first time in a long time, I actually have straight guy friends to talk and chill with. Its quite pleasant.

What am I doing now? Avoiding my homework like the plague and cuddling with Lola while watching Iron Chef... Hmmm.... Maybe I should have some friends over?!

The GBF.

Gaga for Gagaloo

Lady Gaga is everywhere. Love her, hate her, or are scared to admit that you watch her every move, she is one of the biggest pop stars and one of the most interesting people out there. Say that she is a fake-crazy-studio-built-tranny-bot but Gaga is fucking awesome. All the gays love her, so should you. Her vision, despite posing as being edgy and avant-garde, is the overly glamorized ghetto-chic fantasy world that we all wish to live in. Get with it homies, the world will be a better place.

The GBF.

Those damn drunken bitches.

When going out, nothing bugs me more than having to take care of somebody. You know, the super drunk one thats falling over everywhere, losing her shit, and being a general embarrassment. I have had so many bad experiences with girls not able to take their alcohol (or other things...); girls falling down flights of stairs, girls falling over velvet ropes, girls losing their clutches, phones and keys, girls having full out tits hanging out, flashing their crotch, grinding up on anything, crying in the fetal position, spilling drinks everywhere, girls sitting in flower pots trying to smoke cigarette butts, girls puking up everything everywhere, girls crying hysterically and of course, my favorite, girls blacking out.

Being the amazing GBF that I am, and also being able to handle my alcohol, I always end up being the one having to take care of the hot messes. How many times have I had to basically carry a girls out of a club and into a backseat for them to pass out, or had to force feed them water and food to soak up the alcohol in their tiny booze filled stomachs. And obviously, the situation is always worse when the girl is wearing heels (which they usually are... it just makes the drunk bitches so much more fabulous).

My girls know that I take care of them, but they also know that I don't enjoy doing so. I would much rather be trying to score some free drinks somewhere or finding some eye candy. Once their hangover has come and gone, I make it a point to tell them how drunk and stupid they were. Then I tell them all the embarrassing things they did. And then I tell them that this is the only time this year that I take care of them like that, everybody gets one free pass for total drunkenness a year and if they ever go over that limit, I will simply NOT go out with them anymore.

Seriously, being drunk is fun, being high is fun, but making a fool out of yourself usually reflects on me and I am not down with that. I am not there to babysit.

So next time you are on the highway to trashed, stop and think about your GBF!

The GBF.