Hospitality Guide

So you’ve booked your trip, set out what you’re going to do and now you need to pack. For most people, including me packing seems like exercise- you hate it but once its over you’re extremely happy. I don’t mind just stuffing my clothes in a suitcase because over packing is always better than forgetting something, which I fear most. Obviously different trips require different things but here are a few tips and for the record I’ve never forgotten anything but I might of just jinxed myself.

üDon’t just throw clothes into your suitcase, put outfits together for everyday that you’re gone. This way you won’t have to get someone to sit on your suitcase in order to zip it and you won’t have to stress about what to wear once you’re on your vacation.

ü  Bring a backpack for daily use.

ü  Pack some empty plastic bags, you never know but these always come in handy.

ü  Make sure the last items you pack are the first things you need once you arrive at your destination.

ü  If you’re going to a tropical destination don’t assume the weather is going to be hot, bring long sleeve shirts and pants just in case for cool nights.

***Bring your camera. Trips don’t last forever but pictures do!

My first thought was to write a blog about the top five destinations during this recession but then I came across this article about the strangest festivals around the world. We’re all familiar with Caribana, Mardi Gras and Carnival in Brazil but what about El Colacho? Or the Testical Festival? Below are the six strangest festivals from around the world.

1. Mike the Headless Chicken Days- In Fruita, Colorado it’s all about Mike. Who is Mike you ask? Well he’s a chicken who had his head cut off but ended up living for 18 months, headless! People gather at this festival to play chicken games, run like a headless chicken and take part in a chicken dance as well as a chicken recipe contest.
2. El Colacho- On June 8th and 9th in Colacho, Spain people take part in the Baby Jumping Festival. It’s not a whole bunch of jumping babies or babies on trampolines (that’s what I thought). Since 1620 grown men jump over newborn babies to remove evil spirits. The men also dress up as matadors.
3. Pulilan Carabao Festival- In Bulacan, Phillipines water buffalos are shaved, oiled, perfumed, decorated and paraded around town during the month of May. This is to celebrate the hard work these animal endure throughout the year. My only question is, what’s their perfume of choice?
4.  Monkey Buffet Festival- It’s an all-you-can-eat monkey buffet in the Pra Prang Sam Yot temple in Lopburi, Thailand. All of the province’s monkeys are given a huge buffet of fruits and vegetables, to honor Rama, the hero of an epic, who is said to have awarded the province to the Monkey King Hanuman.
5. Wisconsin State Chip Throw- When I first saw this, I thought a festival about chips and who can throw a potato chip the furthest. Well that coulnd’t be any further from what happens in Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin during Labor Day weekend. This festival is about throwing cow dung, dried cow dung of course and gloves? They’re prohibited.
6. Testical Festival- The first five days of August citizens of Clinton, Montana (21 years and up, no kids allowed for valid reasons) drink a lot of beer and eat Rocky Mountain Oysters. Have you tried Rocky mountain Oysters? Hope not, because it’s a fancy name for deep fried bull testicles. Betting also goes on- not  poker or black jack,  but on which bull will be the first to poop.

-Paria

After seven days of sun, surf  and sand in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico I’m back. Am I happy about it? You figure it out. If you’re looking to spend seven days in beautiful weather (30 degrees-no clouds) amazing food and a resort right on the beach then I highly recommend the Riu Palace. I’ve never been to Mexico nor have I stayed at a Riu resort but now I’m hooked. From the service staff to the rooms and again the food I was 100% satisfied and I learned if you spend a little more, you get a whole lot more. I have absoloutely no complaints- other than the fact that I had to leave.

Oh and the Riu website (www.riu.com) pictures are exact representations!

It’s cold, windy and the winter jackets don’t seem to be going anywhere for a long while. Wouldn’t it be nice to just get away for a bit? With the economy heading into a downward spiral most of us are discouraging ourselves from spending money on a Timbit let alone a weeklong vacation. Surprisingly, vacation packages are also heading into that same downward spiral and good thing for us because that can only mean one thing, they’re a lot cheaper. For an average price of an airline ticket to New York and back you can get an all inclusive vacation package (all inclusive = free alcohol too).

Every winter, I spoil myself and head to a sunny destination and I was damned sure this year wasn’t going to be any different. So I checked the usual websites: itravel2000, Selloffvacations and Belairtravel. Cuba and Dominican being the more popular destinations you should expect to payless. But I wanted to go somewhere differentl this time around and I decided on Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. After all if it’s good enough for Heidi and Spencer it’s good enough for me. I finally decided on The Rui Palace Cabo in beautiful SUNNY Mexico courtesy of Sunquest Vacations. It’s a 5.5 star hotel right on the beach with an ocean front suite- what more can you ask for? Typically you would expect to pay more than $2000 but I got a deal, only $1400! But before you start planning your vacation, make sure you set a budget and stick to it! Also if your hotel is right on the beach it cuts traveling costs.

Me in T- Minus 3 weeks

Enough about me. If it’s not in your budget to go away you don’t have to - The Hospitality Guide will take you, especially to delicious eateries right here in Toronto and around the world. We will make your mouth water in San Francisco with crab legs at The Crab Shack, try some amazing coffee in Sweden and of course go to the best Hamburger joint in all of the U.S of A at Le Tub burgers. See, even the Hospitality Guide can make the winter blues disappear.

But to curve your appetites, enjoy cooking with George at the opening night gala for Toronto’s International Film Festival.

Schools out, the snow has fallen and you’re sitting at home wondering what you should do during the holiday season. First thing that comes to mind: it has to be cheap. After all, you’ve spent all your money trying to buy people good gifts (even though they’ve probably returned them by now) So after much Googling as I like to call it, I came up with a list of things you can do right here in Toronto that will cost you little to no money.

1.    If you’re ever downtown, you will notice Nathan Phillips square is decorated just like a movie set. Winter isn’t complete without skating at the outdoor rink under the beautifully lit backdrop. Harbourfront centre also has an outdoor rink. Both are free if you bring your own skates! BYOHC (bring your own hot chocolate!).

2.    Toronto’s annual winter festival Wintercity offers a city-wide celebration of Toronto’s delicious culinary experiences, unique free entertainment and a showcase of Toronto’s arts scene.

3.    The Toronto Zoo is open 365 days a year and has discounted tickets when visiting in groups.

There’s also so much that goes on around the world once the snow falls. Here’s a list of unique winter activities from across the globe.

Ski-jöring in Switzerland: This popular activity is when a skier is pulled by a horse, a sled dog, a motorbike or snow scooter.

Wok Racing in Germany & Austria: A sport developed by a German TV host modified Chinese woks are used to make timed runs down an Olympic bobsled tracks.

Snowshoeing in Mont Tremblant: Discover Mont-Tremblant along with some nature interpretation and native fire carrying techniques and chances to see deer! DEER!

Ice climbing in The Canadian Rockies: Climbers are roped, protected and climb icefalls, frozen waterfalls, cliffs and rock slabs covered with ice refrozen from previously flowing water.

Then again you can always just sit by the fireplace and eat lots and lots of marshmallows and smores, I consider that a winter activity!

-P

New year, new season, new adventures, new shows and a new promo for The Hospitality Guide. Two minutes. That’s all you need to know what The Hospitality Guide is all about. Find out where we’ve been and what we’ve seen as George Tsioutsioulas takes you on an adventure each and every week here on The HG. Sweden, Buffalo Wingfest, Ft. Lauderdale, Kelowna and much more. So make sure you watch and leave your thoughts, comments, suggestions and places you think we should check out!

Now on a different topic: If you like sushi, sashimi, tempura, dumplings, chicken teriyaki and let’s not forget the green tea ice cream look no further than Wasabi, a Japanese Buffet style Restaurant. For $16 (lunch buffet) you can have endless amount of delicious seafood, platters of freshly sliced fruit and rows of sushi rolls and sashimi. All you can eat.  So if you’re sitting at home craving Japanese food for a great price, I highly recommend Wasabi.

Wasabi is located at 270 West Beaver Creek in Richmondhill.

So far we’ve seen Niagara Falls from the sky, gambled our way through Las Vegas, been to Halifax to meet some of the nicest people and got acquainted with Mickey Mouse in Disney. After Disney we made our way to Quebec for a French version of the HG (don’t worry it’s not actually in French, it took a while for George Tsioutsioulas to pronounce the province name properly…don’t worry he got it by the end of the trip). If you’re hungry you have to tune into the Wing Festival episode when we crossed the border to Buffalo for a day dedicated to chicken wings. Are you obsessed with celebrities? We got a backstage pass at The Toronto International Film Festival. Two words: Brad Pitt. The HG crew’s next stop was San Francisco where we got to try some of the best crab legs in the world. Let’s not forget a weekend in Montreal and drum roll please…SWEDEN! From the ice hotel to mushroom picking the HG did it all – Swedish style of course. I can’t possibly forget The Wine Festival in the Okanagan Valley. I highly recommend starting everyday with a glass of wine – don’t forget to swirl, sniff, swoosh then swallow. And lucky George leaves the cold Toronto weather on Sunday for a week in Fort Lauderdale filled with beaches, palm trees and warm sunny weather of course. Not jealous AT ALL!

Now on a different topic. Ever since our office moved to 355 King street west I’ve realized how many different types of restaurants there are in Toronto. I’m the type of person where if I like something it’s my go to place but I think I’m turning a new leaf. Last Friday I went on a shoot with Chris, one of our camera man to a sushi bar called Blowsfish. The chef demonstrated how to make two of their most popular dishes: Black and White makimonos and tower of tuna served with crab crisps. The bartender Nishan made a Pomegranate saketini and a Mango Passion saketini. After our shoot was done, the people at Blowfish insisted Chris and I eat the dishes and drink the drinks. How can I say no? Plus it was the end of the day so a little treat wouldn’t be so bad. Everything was delicious. The sushi rolls? Never tasted ones that were that fresh. And The tower of tuna was a tower of yummy. Don’t even get me started on the drinks. I’ve already made plans to go back and I suggest anyone whose into Japanese cuisine to head over to Blowfish.

Blowfish is at 668 King Street West. Two can dine for as low as $60.