What I did on my summer vacation

Summer is upon us, which fans of the blog know can only mean one thing: a lil' bit of that sweet sweet retirement redux thing. For those of you that are new or didnt know, now you know.

Here's how the story goes: After a fruitful year with my previous company, the grass appeared greener in a different pasture, which in turn, grazed my interests to plant a few new seeds. I decided it was time to take my talents to south beach, aka recruitment, where my job will be hunting down as much good head as one can find.
*note - I would be happy to represent anyone interested in coming to this part of the World. For a promising career in Asia, call me.

With the deal done, I suddenly found myself faced with the admittedly bullshit dilemma of figuring out what to do with a month off. Europe seemed like it could be fun, reliving some of my backpacking escapades from a decade passed. Though, with the economic crisis in the euro zone and my disinterest in barstool austerity talk, I decided to look elsewhere. It wasn't long before the bailout (from mum and dad), offering me their hard earned Aeroplan points in exchange for some QT with their second born. How could I resist? So, off to Canadaland I went, in search of a few good friends, time with the fam and of all the odd requests, some Chalet sauce & pantyhose. 

Stop #1: Vancouver, oddly chilly in June, a bag packed full of shorts and t's quickly cast aside for sleeves and slacks. The delightfully easy-going city and hospitality of buddies, former colleagues and the ol' softball gang made up for this though. Besides, best not to bad mouth a place that is the leading candidate for the journey back one day. Good times were had, the jet lag actually helping me survive my 6am flight time out, headed eastbound and down.

Stop #2: by default I usually refer to home as "Toronto", but in truth, it's always been you, Oakville. And there it was, the same house on the same street, the inviting pool and some very familiar faces. A wonderful place to kick back for a few days and be treated like the Prince of Regency. Aside from my dear family, I was able to catch up with a solid gaggle of chums, though sad to miss encounters with a few good ones as well. With the gaggle in mind, our get together was highlighted by a night out in the big city. With these guys, there's always a comfort when meeting up, stories and attitudes that seemingly never change nor disappoint. All things but our hairlines, I suppose.

Funny story (amusing, not haha) - we hit up a casual Bavarian-esque place for some late evening beers on the Friday night. With its bench seating at a premium, we marked out the last remaining spots next to a few female coeds and proceeded to approach the bar. Ordering up and laying down the Laurier's, I turned back in disbelief...
"Damn, those old guys just stole our sea....."
Oops. Turns out those old guys would, in fact, be us. I suppose it's easy to get caught up in the recounting of high school and uni shenanigans with the boys to make one (temporarily) forget what time it is.  For those interested, that time stands at 33'oclock for me.

Like many times before & many more to come, the visit was inevitably too $hort. Time with the family has been at a premium the last 8 years, and although weekly Skype sessions help, there's nothing like being there in person.  

My journey returned me back to where I started from, in HK for essentially a week long countdown until the new adventure began - Koh Samui. This is where I write from, on a quiet beach, next to my best travel mate, the next episode to be continued...