Smartphones and Tablets — Have They Taken Over Our Lives?

As mobile devices serve a good purpose in life to communicate with others with texting, calling, spending time with apps, and having fun with them, but there should be limits. I feel that human face to face communication is diminishing, and that mobile devices have gone out of control. Social skills and speaking is deteriorating as our tongue freezes up and cannot come up with conversations instantly, whereas it is easier to communicate with texts and writing messages, but I prefer the old fashioned way, where people come together, enjoy, create memories, laugh, talk and do fun things together, to put the phones down and actually verbally do the talking instead of the fingers. I know that it is a personal mobile phone and you can be on it 24 hours a day, but you do not need to be on it constantly.

I feel that smartphones and tablets and the constant changes to technology and gadgets are taking over some peoples lives and they can’t seem to put them down at all, they wake up with it, go to bed with it, they use the washroom with it, they eat dinner while being on them, they use it while at a coffee shop or restaurant among friends 90% of the time people get together and do not look at each others faces, and its just overwhelmingly taken over. what is the point of getting together with people when all that will be done is looking at screens? Where do we draw the line? Its become so bad that when people are physically together, they text each other when they are beside each other, and they communicate with their phone instead of looking at each other and moving their mouths.

I too have a smartphone mobile device, but I know my limits. I do enjoy my mobile device too, but I do not let it control my life, or my way of living. I will not let a screen device take over my life and who I am. Some people need to know limits, and when to put down the phone, like when someone is talking to you, when you are among a group of people, when you are in the washroom and so on and so forth. I sometimes go more than 12 hours without looking at my phone, I sometimes don’t look at it all day, as I do not let it control me.

Although mobile devices are important to have for emergencies and to contact people instantly, but some people overuse it to the point where things get out of hand and disrespecting others who are trying to talk to you when your head is so into that device, and its not healthy especially the radiation it produces. From your point of view, do you limit your use? What are your opinions about this issue? I would love to hear from you.  Know your limit and be within it.

What is Your Coffee Taste? Starbucks, McDonald’s, Tim Horton’s or Other

In the past few years there has been a debate going on with what coffee taste people go for and what they think is a better choice to drink coffee. I am sure those who drink coffee or other beverages at these places such as Starbucks, McDonald’s, Tim Horton’s know what I am talking about when it comes to taste and when it comes to good quality coffee. Someone from the states spent so much money for a cup of coffee from Starbucks, adding so many shots of espresso and so many flavours put into it. I don’t know about you, buck I wouldn’t spend so much money on a cup of coffee. I’d rather go to McDonald’s where you spend way less and you get free refills too. Starbucks is often pricey, and the coffee’s in my opinion are not that spectacular in my opinion. In the end it is all about a person’s preference right? I am not trying to put Starbucks down or anything, but it depends on a persons taste. It takes an acquired taste to differentiate right?

Tim Horton’s coffee and other hot beverages were my favourite, but the cups are not well insulated and I end up burning my hand holding it, McDonald’s cups however have well insulation and the cover cap is also great quality too and you get more at McDonald’s then you do at Tim Horton’s, plus way less and sometimes McDonald’s offers promotions of Free Coffee or Latte’s the small size but then again it is free refill only on the coffee’s though and it tastes so much better then the other ones. Now I don’t know what taste you have when it comes to coffee. I am sure a lot of people have Tassimo, Keurig, and some sort of specialty coffee maker at home.

Now for me, McDonald’s coffee has this incredible and great taste to it and I have never been disappointed with my coffee. At Tim Horton’s sometimes it comes out to be too strong, sometimes just right, sometimes not that great tasting, and they don’t even mix the ingredients properly in the coffee or other flavoured coffees that they make like the French Vanilla, White Hot Chocolate, Cafe Mocha’s, and other beverages, sometimes they get it right, and a lot of times they don’t get it right. I have never had problems with McDonald’s coffee. I don’t know what you like and what your taste is for certain brands of coffee. Do you like making your own coffee at home or do you like to grab a quick coffee from your local coffee shop? Each Coffee shop is different and they all have something good for everybody, but it all comes down to your taste and your preference. Tim Horton’s has this Roll up the rim to win deal where you win a Toyota Rav 4, Barbecue, Food and beverage prizes and other things, but you have a 1 in 6 chances to win, and a lot of them say please play again or all you win is a coffee or donut. It is not fair. Each one should be a winner.

Are there any other coffee shops or cafes around you that you like their coffee? If so, what do you think of it? What is your taste? What is your opinion on a great cup of coffee or other hot beverages served by your favourite brands? It can be a brand where you take home and make it yourself. Not necessarily a coffee shop or cafe. It is all to your liking and your opinion. I’d like to hear from you.

Enjoy your coffee! 🙂

The Best Of Montreal – Restaurants

Hi Everyone, I could not take up on the opportunity to talk about my Happy Place today. I love Montreal so much. I want to talk to you about the best of Montreal from Restaurants and More. Montreal, Quebec is known for its amazing food and gigantic portions at most of the restaurants around the city and in Laval, Quebec too! Now, if you have not been able to go to Montreal, I suggest you make that into your travel list. There is so much about Montreal, that I need to discuss with you today. I want to first introduce to you the best restaurants in Laval, Montreal. It’s where Montreal Steak Spice is from, Smoked Meats, Poutine, Quebec Cheese, Laughing Cow Cheese,They are a must go!

Montreal’s Incredible and Delicious Restaurants & Dessert places:

Middle Eastern, Armenian —- Montreal and Laval have so many middle eastern and Armenian restaurants which are so awesome from Karoun (Ka-ROON), Chef Kebab, Lordia, Arouch(which has 4 locations, but the St-Martin in Laval is the best one out of them all which has Armenian Pizza, and Thyme Zakhtar and Cheese AND pepper paste breads which are incredible), Cafe Avec Vert Gouin, Princessa, Amir(Best one is on Boul L’acadie), Cafe Depot, Coktail Antabli which is a dessert place on L’acadie, Tango in Laval, which is in Centropolis which is dessert and ice scream place as well. Marouch is an incredible place for breakfast from the middle east and Armenian,  there is also Rouby, Al Balad, Lahmajoun(Armenian Pizza), Lahmajoun Sevan, Seta Lahmajoun, Broadway Cheese cake, B-sweet, Mozza, and a lot of Armenian and Middle Eastern Bakeries across Montreal…

Greek places —- Casa Grecque, Vieux Duluth, Arahova, Greek place at St Anne Du Belle Vue, and more.

Quebec’s finest —- Boccacinos, Schwartz Montreal Smoked Meat, Poutine, La Belle Province, Scores, Presse Cafe, Casse Croute, Galleria which serves breakfast and lunch open until 4pm. Delicious place… Deli Chenoys, Houston, Madisons, Elixir, Chez Cora,

There are so many tasty restaurants and I have been to them all and more. I am your Montreal Laval Specialist. Let me know of what I can help you with, during your Montreal stay….

Have fun!

 

A Chocolate Lover and A Big Nutella Fan

Since I was a little girl, Chocolate used to be my number one thing. Whether it was at home, or visiting family homes, family friends homes, When they used to put out chocolate, I couldn’t help but snag a few bites of chocolate. Its so good! I love so many types of chocolate, but one isn’t really my cup of tea and they say Dark Chocolate is the best and its good for you, but I beg to differ. Everytime I eat Dark Chocolate, I get this really funny aftertaste in my mouth and I don’t enjoy it at all. If its Milk Chocolate like Hersheys, Cadbury, and with Almonds its all good with me. I love the reese Chocolate peanut butter cups too. Its so delicious.

I love Chocolate cake, Chocolate Fudge, Chocolate Syrup, Chocolate Ice Cream, the Mousse, I sometimes make Chocolate cake and I make a little extra so as I can eat the Chocolate Cake batter. I love eating Cake Batter or Raw Cookie dough. It is so good. I know people say that there are raw eggs in it, but it has never effected me. I just eat it and I know its so many calories and stuff, but I just cannot help it. I love it.

Once in my cooking/baking class back in High School, we made a huge batch of Chocolate Chip cookies and I remember when the other people in my group weren’t looking, I used to eat the Chocolate Chip cookie dough with the Chips in it and it was sooooo good. They never caught me which was the fun part. LOL. We made a whole bunch so they didn’t even notice the Raw dough was even touched or eaten. Even the teacher didn’t see.

Now, Nutella is my ultimate fave. I love that stuff and they say that Nutella spreads a whole lot of energy and the hazelnuts and stuff in it are good for you and it is nutritious. Whenever I eat it, I feel so energetic and better throughout my day. Whenever I go shopping for groceries, Nutella is one of the things I get and when it comes home, It barely lasts a week or two. Now I am not one of those who puts a very thin thin layer of Nutella on my Pita Bread, Toast or Bagel, I love to add a lot more and actually taste the Nutella. Its such an awesome invention. I just love the rich, incredible taste to it and the smoothness. I once made a Nutella Frosting Cake and The whole cake was eaten in a matter of 2 days. I made it the day of and gone the next day by my family.

In a few blogs that I will post in the future will be all about CHOCOLATE this, CHOCOLATE that. 🙂

Stay tuned.

Thanks for stopping by 🙂

Mcdonalds Coffee VS. Tim Horton’s Coffee – My Opinion

In the past few months, I have got more of a liking with Mcdonalds coffee and specialty coffees more than the Tim Horton’s brand itself. I find the quality and taste to be a little off each time I go to Tim Hortons and a lot of the times they get my order wrong and they sometimes put little or no sugar and the cream sometimes is not enough or there is too much of it, the coffee roast seems to have been burnt, or the taste is a little off, Whereas I go to Mcdonalds and each time I do order they know the exact amount to put for me and each time is always perfectly done to my standards. I also think Mcdonalds is more smarter in terms of the sizes of the cups, the specials they come up with, the coupons that are mailed out to all the homes. Here is my evaluation of the comparison between Mcdonalds and Tim Horton’s and my opinions on both:

Mcdonalds

Mcdonalds offers great deals, and sometimes they give free coffees on promotions, They send coupons to my home and every other home, the cup sizes are so awesome, the caps are properly designed to fully enjoy that cup of java, the workers at Mcdonalds give me just the right amount of cream and sugar, no more and no less, they always get my order right and they make sure its perfect all the time and they give free refills on the coffees only. I have never had to send my coffee or specialy coffees back to be modified and redone again. I have become such a huge fan of the way Mcdonalds has changed their menus all around and its so great to have these coffees there too. Its a great marketing and business strategy. A lot of my friends and family enjoy Mcdonalds now too more than Tim Horton’s itself. I will be going to Mcdonalds more often for my java fix.

Tim Horton’s

I feel that Tim Horton’s needs to improve on many things, and the way coffee’s and specialty coffees are served. When I go most of the time I always have to re-assure them to make my coffee the right amount and put cream and sugar as I want and they don’t do it and sometimes they do put them, but they don’t mix it and when I get to the bottom of the coffee, the sugar stays down there and it is ever so sweet. The cup sizes and the caps need to be improved, instead of using two cups to not burn the person who is holding the cup, they need to come up with better cups. Also a refill wouldn’t hurt of the coffee. I sometimes go and my coffee is either burnt, or its not as fresh. The only things I do like at Tim Hortons are the soups, the light cream cheese bagel and the orange juices. I do not mean to offend the workers at Tim Hortons, the franchise itself and the way they run business, but this is just an opinion of a customer who has been through terrible experiences and I am not really stepping foot in there anymore unless I go with friends or something but by myself no.

Now on my way to Montreal, all the service centres are now with Tim Hortons. Before on a few of the Service centres, there was a Mcdonalds just before Trenton, Ontario on exit 519 on the highway stop and I wish they still had Mcdonalds along the way, but now I have to get into the city to find one. There is a couple that I know of, there is one in Belleville, Ontario On the 401 exit 543, and as well as exit 617 Division st in Kingston, Ontario. in Future trips to Montreal, I think Mcdonalds will be my stop. Tim Hortons has to improve before I go back there again.