Life in Transit...

It’s almost 11pm in Doha.
Just where is Doha you ask? In the state of Qatar.
Where?
Admittedly I had no idea where Doha was either, until I learned I had a 7 hour layover here. Doha is the capital city of the State of Qatar, a sovereign Arab state, located in between Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, a tiny offshoot of land attached to Saudi Arabia.

landing in Doha

As some of you know, I am here because I’m headed to Africa on a work assignment…(more on that next time),  for now, here’s a little bit of life in transit…
My colleague and I are flying Qatar Airways for our two long-haul flights. Montreal to Doha and then Doha to Johannesburg. And long flights they are – the first was over 10,000km to Doha and from here we flight another 6500km! We left home on Wednesday evening and we will arrive at our final destination on Friday afternoon!

Flying business class is a complete luxury, especially on QA. The seats are very roomy, tons of leg room (not that I need it) and service extraordinaire. The flight attendant assigned to us “Shri” was absolutely sweet and literally tended to our every need. We were welcomed with champagne, had two huge meals (with white table cloths!), and Shri even offered to make our beds for us! It was luxury…wait - did I mention the seats vibrated? They were massage chairs too!

Instructions on how to operate your seat!

 

The business class cabin not even close to being full

Once in Doha, we realized we had SO much time, we decided to explore. Getting visas on the spot is a piece of cake (at least for Canadians it was), approximately $20 USD, a look into their camera and our passports were stamped! Once outside of the terminal we negotiated with a taxi driver to take us for a ride all over the city. We got to see the new and the old and a whole lot of construction. Google “Qatar” and learn that it is an absolute monarchy ruled by the Al Thani family. Qatar was a British protectorate until 1971 and has the world’s third largest natural gas reserves…AND as we saw with all the high end shopping malls, Qatar is the world’s richest country per capita! There’s a lot of money in Qatar. Doha is the capital city and will be home to the 2022 FIFA World Cup (there are ads EVERYWHERE already!).

"New Doha" skyline

Doha Museum

Hanging out at the “Premium Terminal” – no seriously, they have an airport terminal dedicated to their First and Business Class passengers! (my kinda airport!) There is a ton of food here, two buffets, a deli counter and dessert and drink stations sprinkled throughout. So far I’ve managed to only have one meal of foods including: seafood thermador, butter chicken, mulligatawny soup, and a delicious dessert of chocolate mousse and baklava.

  

There are lounge-y type chairs and tables but no beds…There are, however, showers with L’Occitane products! And this is just on the Business Class side! Apparently there is a spa for the first class passengers…maybe next time! :) Apparently the duty free is pretty good here, but I’ve yet to check that out (I know…that’s SO not me!). I still have another hour or so before boarding for our next flight.
This is just the beginning of what I’m sure will be an experience of a lifetime…stay tuned and enjoy it with me!

Travel is on the radar...

Guess who's on the move?!
Well - it's temporary...
I'm headed to Botswana (Africa) for work for 9.5 weeks. (Hey, that's the title of a movie, isn't it?!)

9.5 weeks.
A little over two months.
A little less than three months.
66 days.

Botswana is a long way from home.
So long it takes about 2 days...or in my case 3 calendar days to get there...

It's a long way from my family, my puppy and my friends.
But it's the chance of a lifetime to...
...see another part of the world
...immerse myself in a new culture
...try new foods
...try new things
...drive on the other side of the road
...go on safari!!! (lions and tigers and...GIRAFFES!)

When you look at it that way, 9.5 weeks isn't nearly enough time...
 But of course, I will take this time and embrace it!

Looking forward to all that Botswana brings me.
 The adventure begins shortly...stay tuned!

TIFF Days 8-10 and the BLUE JAYS

There it is…TIFF is done for another year. Saw four more films to roundout TIFF13 and even went to a Blue Jays game…I am tired and very content.

Here’s a bit about the last four films I caught.

Annette Bening

The Face of Love

Mom and I got to enjoy the Face of Love premiere starring Annette Bening. The woman is stunning and absolutely cute and hilarious. The film was directed by once Torontonian Arie Posen who introduced the film by saying, “To my family who has come to see the world premiere of my film, thank you. To everyone else, welcome to my family reunion.” Super cute! Annette Bening plays a widow opposite Ed Harris who happens to look exactly like her (deceased) husband. When a TIFFgoer asked Annette how she dealt with acting with one actor who played two characters, Annette responded, “(Big Sigh…) I have a huge crush on Ed Harris…”

Palo Alto

So Gia Coppola hopes you don’t see this film because of her famous name (she is Francis Ford Coppola’s granddaughter and Sophia’s neice), but really, you ARE going to see it because she is. You’re also going to see it because it’s based on James Franco’s book of short stories. You’re going to enjoy it though, cause it’s very coming of age in the digital world and Emma Roberts is a sweetie. I saw this film at the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema. It’s right beside one of my fave coffee joints, Aroma, and this TIFF line was perhaps the most hipster one I’d seen at the festival this year…just sayin’. Oh and, just in case my line friends Jenna and Jessa see this, hey you two! Great to meet and enjoy TIFF13 with ya! Party on in Aurora!

Cameron Bailey

Can a Song Save Your Life

No TIFF experience is complete without seeing Cameron Bailey and Piers Handling. I mean, they are the Kings of TIFF. I saw Piers opening weekend at ScotiaTheatre but it wasn't until Day 10 of TIFF that Cameron made his appearance in my TIFF13 experience at Ryerson Theatre, introducing this film.

I was so excited to see this film because it was written and directed by John Carney, who did the film Once (2004). And Can a Song is great…just a little Hollywood. Which isn’t bad or anything, it’s just that the film wraps itself up in a beautiful bow, leaving not much to the imagination. I’m a fan of “not knowing” what happens to the main characters of the film and “choosing my own adventure.” This film doesn’t do it, but it’s great, and sweet and totally feel good. Mark Ruffalo and Kiera Knightly play the main characters in this sweet film with beautiful beautiful music.

Bad Words

I was a tad nervous about this one, it received mixed reviews over the week…but in the end it was a GREAT way to end TIFF13. Bad Words stars Jason Bateman who also makes his directorial debut! Jason plays the lead character, a 40 year old man, who, through a loophole of the system, manages to get in, and compete, in a children’s spelling bee. The film is smart and witty, politically incorrect at times, and definitely raucous! Rohan Chand plays the lead child in this film and is amazing!

FINAL TIFF13 Rundown

1.     Third Person – True love must be experienced to be understood.

2.     American Dreams in China – best friends go into business and live the “Chinese Dream”

3.     Bethlehem – the struggle between trust and betrayal between an Israeli secret service agent and his young informant

4.     Can a Song Save Your Life – Beautiful music accompanies a neatly wrapped story

5.     The Face of Love – How love or the need to be loved can make us a tad crazy

6.     Exit Marrakech – wanderlust, relationships, and coming of age in Morocco

7.     Ilo Ilo – A nanny from the Philippines changes home relationships in Singapore

8.     Bad Words – Dark and funny spelling bee

9.     Palo Alto – Coming of age in the digital age

10. The Dinner – the lengths we go through to protect those we love

Me and Bean

SO ends TIFF13…and we once again find ourselves with a major league ball team that will not make the play offs…but you know what? We go to the game and we love it…with over 25 of my brother’s best friends and our family!

Will, Christopher, Duane

We got a (great big, gigantic party) skybox thanks to some favours and strings being pulled (thanks sooooo much Mark!) and we absolutely loved it. We ate like kings and queens and danced and screamed really loudly…yet somehow, we still didn’t make it on the jumbotron.

Our boys in blue didn’t win this aft. But we got PIZZA cause of the 7 strike outs had by the Jays. (Don’t forget to bring your tickets in tomorrow get a free slice guys!)

The WHOLE group!

Jays aren't winning, we are perturbed!

The Jays game was a GREAT way to end the weekend and 10 days of TIFFing!

TIFF13 Day 7

Fresh blogs are best blogs…so as exhausted as I am after a full day of TIFF, here goes…

Part of the TIFF experience is making friends with strangers. I mean really, you wait in line with strangers, you sit next to strangers, it’s a great time of year to befriend strangers in the TDot! Today’s first film was no exception.

I met this woman sitting next to me in Ryerson theatre. She and I bonded over giggling at a woman who clearly was a “princess” and not a “regular” TIFF-goer. A poor TIFF volunteer was getting an earful. The woman next to me apologized for laughing at first, but then she realized we were on the same page. 

We went through the obligatory TIFF questions: How many films are you seeing? Is this your first one of the day? Which has been your favourite? We got past those and questions and then realized we both had seen Third Person yesterday afternoon. She gave me a little more insight and we traded notes on the “clues” Director Paul Haggis gave us. Very insightful. I now understand the film a lot better! Thanks stranger!

Peter Chan, moderator, Du Juan

First film of the day was directed by Peter Ho-Sun Chan, titled American Dreams in China. It was not what I expected. Although, I’m not sure what I expected. TIFF called it the Social Network of China…I think it was more about Chinese “best friends” with a dream. The actors in the film were incredible, bringing out amazing raw emotion and I have to say, I’ve never seen Chinese people display so much emotion before….(just sayin’ and I’m half Chinese, so I can say this!) The film’s director introduced the film and answered questions about the real life story the film was based on. He also brought the film’s main actress Du Juan, who is a Chinese supermodel and SUPER tall!

Director Yuval Adler

Second film of the day was Bethlehem, directed by first time directed Yuval Adler. It tells the story of an Israeli secret service agent and his young informant in Bethlehem. Truly, the story gets to the heart of the struggle between those who you “should” be loyal to and those you can trust. All the main actors in the film were just real people, as opposed to professional actors. They were beautiful and so natural. It made it easy for you to “relate” with the characters. Adler put it simply, he wanted to make a film that just “showed” audiences something, not “told” them something. And in true Israeli fashion, this is what he did.

My last film today was titled The Dinner from the Netherlands. To me it seemed to be a very “Hollywood” film if there could be a “Dutch-Hollywood” film. It was quite dark and for a good hour after the film I think was a little depressed. It tells a bizarre tale of an extremely dysfunctional family and at its core it deals with what lengths you go to, to protect those you love…My TIFF buddy Phil says it reminded him of this amazing film we saw years ago called the Method/el Metodo (2005), but nah…I LOVED that film, this one I just liked.

TIFF13 Rundown

Cute Dog on the Subway

1.     Third Person – True love must be experienced to be understood.

2.     American Dreams in China – best friends go into business and live the “Chinese Dream”

3.     Bethlehem – the struggle between trust and betrayal between an Israeli secret service agent and his young informant

4.     Exit Marrakech – wanderlust, relationships, and coming of age in Morocco

5.     Ilo Ilo – A nanny from the Philippines changes home relationships in Singapore

6.     The Dinner – the lengths we go through to protect those we love

TIFF Day 6 and CATS

trying to keep my toes from burning while waiting in line...

Where do I begin? Today being the hottest day of the summer? Paul Haggis’ Third Person blowing my mind? Seeing Ma-Anne Dionisio in Cats? Or trying to figure out who I saw leaving the stage door at Ryerson Theatre this aft?

It was probably the starting story on every news show tonight – temperatures in the 30s, feeling like 40 degrees Celsius today. WOW. Unbearably hot when you are standing in line for a TIFF film midday in the blaring sun. Of course, I was “lucky” enough to stand in the only part of the line that WASN’T in the shade…And WHO, just WHO are these people at TIFF this year who are in line an HOUR before the film starts? Remember the day when you could get in line a half hour before and that was sufficient?

Let’s get to it – London Ontario’s very own Paul Haggis brought us Crash at TIFF in 2004…well, this year he brings us Third Person. And remember how Crash had multiple storylines that came crashing together? Third Person has multiple storylines also…but ummm…my mind is still blown. I don’t understand. So when the film comes out in wide release, can you all go see it so we can discuss?

Paul Haggis in white, Adrian Brody on right

Paul was at today’s screening to introduce the film. He also said he wasn’t going to answer any of our questions during the Q&A. This is true. He wants us to fight about the film, to conjure up discussion and to get us to really think about it. He gave us “clues” at the end of the film…half of which I totally missed (reason to definitely see the film again).  It is a love story he says, and love is something that must be experienced to be understood… He also says that art is a confession…and that this film is as close to being autobiographical as anything he’s done.

Bottom line. Third person is amazing. Go see it. (PS If you can't wait til wide-release, you can RUSH the film on Friday at 845pm at Lightbox) And PS the cast is pretty amazing: Adrian Brody, Liam Neeson, James Franco, Mila Kunis Olivia Wilde, Maria Bello, Kim Basinger and Moran Atias!

Ma-Anne, Me, Mom, and Bro

And yes, in the midst of TIFF13, I go see Cats. It’s playing at Toronto’s Panasonic Theatre and one of our family friends, Ma-Anne Dionisio is starring as Grizzabella. This was my first time seeing Cats, and man, was I confused. But the music and dancing is great! And hey, Ma-Anne’s 13 minutes on stage is well worth it.  If you’ve seen Cats, can you explain???

Lastly – I saw a small group of people waiting outside the stage door of Ryerson Theatre this aft…so I snapped a photo of this guy – I have no idea who he is…anyone? Anyone??? He's certainly a cutie!

He stars in Blood Ties if that helps.

TIFF13 Rundown so far...

1.     Third Person – True love must be experienced to be understood.

2.     Exit Marrakech – wanderlust, relationships, and coming of age in Morocco

3.     Ilo Ilo – A nanny from the Philippines changes home relationships in Singapore

TIFF13 Day two, three and visit with Monsieur Louboutin

The Red Carpet at Lightbox

Fans outside Princess of  Wales Theatre

Line ups...it's all about Line ups!

Day two of the film fest and I enjoy a film titled ExitMarrakech. It is a German film about a father and son relationship/coming of age of the 16 year old boy. While I feel like the film was shot beautifully, it showed less romantic view of Morocco, but one that was not unkind, just real. It was a very real film. The audience follows the main character Ben who accompanies a prostitute girl to her tiny Berber village, then watches as he dons snow skis in the desert dune. There are definitely light-hearted and breathtaking scenery throughout this film, but at its core we learn that perhaps it isn’t as important to get along better, as to understand each other better.

On Day three of TIFF I take my mom to see a Singaporean film titled Ilo Ilo. What drew me to this film was its title. It is the name of an island in the Philippines, logically, I thought my mom might enjoy it…and we did…it was great. The film revolved around a Singaporean family during the financial crisis of the 1990s. The mother works long and hard hours despite being very pregnant, the father loses his sales job and tons of money in the stock market. Somehow they still manage to hire a woman from the Philippines to help around the house and with their extremely naughty little boy… A strong bond builds between the boy and Terry and when the money runs out and Terry has to go home, we see what can happen when someone else raises your child. Ilo Ilo is the name of Terry’s island in the Philippines.

On Day four of TIFF I take a break and visit with an old friend who is in town. In addition to eating VERY well all over town, we took in the Christian Louboutin exhibit at the Design Exchange. It is gorgeous! If you haven’t been, get there quick! The exhibit ends next Sunday September 15. We learn all about Loubi’s vision and the shoes in the exhibit are truly art pieces! Contrary to what you might believe Loubi thinks, it's not about the shoe, it is about the shadow the shoe creates of your leg, and about its elongation. 

Thoughout the exhibit the walls are lined with his sketches and sayings. 

Some of my favourites include:

            “I’m a great fan of transparency, it suggests nudity.”

            “Isn’t the ballerina pointe the ultimate high heel?”

            and one for my architect friend…

“I’m a huge admirer of architects, even if, for me it’s a hellish job because you have people living, sleeping and eating in your designs – imagine the responsibility!”

and my fave about travel…

“There is always something to see, including places where you don’t expect to find anything. I try to look where others don’t.”

TIFF13 Rundown

1.     Exit Marrakech – wanderlust, relationships, and coming of age in Morocco

2.     Ilo Ilo – A nanny from the Philippines changes home relationships in Singapore

TIFF13 Day One

Sipping on my passion iced tea and thinking about the whirlwind that will be the next 11 days of my life…It is, afterall, my most favourite time of the year…the time of year when all the world descends upon Toronto for the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).

This year it looked like perhaps I’d only get a paltry 7 films in, but low and behold, I am now seeing 10. (Less than last year’s 12, but this year a friend from out-of-town is visiting, I’m going to see Cat’s and we’re also enjoying a Jays game in a mega box.) 

Here’s a list of what I’ll be enjoying over the next 11 days…(in no particular order)

1.       Ilo Ilo

2.       Exit Marrakech

3.       American Dreams in China

4.       Bad Words

5.       Palo Alto

6.       Can a Song Save Your Life

7.       Third Person

8.       The Face of Love

9.       The Dinner

10.   Bethlehem

Stay tuned for updates on what’s happening…til then it’s Rosh haShanna! Happy New Year Friends! Shana Tova! Happy 5774…I’m going to eat some apples and honey to ensure a sweet year ahead!