Edmonton Public Library cards have been free sometime since March 2013. This...is...awesome! :) I admit I was holding out because of the $12 cost (when my hometown one was only $2, in a fairly large city). :P So I was super surprised when they offered it up for free. I went there before to just do some work, but now I'm able to check out some awesome things they had.
To my surprise, they have a lot more than the usual library fare of books. awesome collection of magazines, and library programs. They even have video games, and a ton of e-content available, including e-books, and video streaming. Apparently, being part of the EPL system gives you access to indie films (film festival movies), theatre, operas, and a lot more other classics. I haven't had the time to dive into all these things but I think it'll complement my lack of good cable and other "media sources". The fact that a lot of those offerings are not easily downloadable makes it a good resource in my books. Sometimes you just don't know what you want to watch, so having a nice system that lets you "browse" is great.
And definitely one of the best parts is that whatever demographic my hometown consists of must be vastly different in Edmonton because I didn't actually have to wait for the video game and books I wanted. Although I am on a mile long wait list for HOW TO TELL IF YOUR CAT IS PLOTTING TO KILL YOU. (See: http://theoatmeal.com)
I'm really starting to like the downtown area around City Center, because it's so awesome...that mall, clearly catered to the downtown business folks, has some good surprises inside like Tea Fusion (bubbleteas and sandwiches and more), a really big Winners with nice stuff, some good work clothing stores, Indigo (where they do free in-store pickup!) and even an EB games, hahaha. And of course, the Don Wheaton YMCA and Stanley A. Milber library is just around the corner.
I'm glad I found another good tea shop, though my favourite is definitely the one at 109A/101 Street. I'm not even sure if it's supposed to be called Tea Cottage, or Bubble T based on their banner, but they have the best bubbleteas ever if you can drive there as it's a bit north of Chinatown. They also have a location within the T&T at West Edmonton Mall (not Dream Tea, which is outside T&T). I've gone there enough now that I've filled up the stamp card! :D
Anyway, there's a bunch of stuff I want to do this spring/summer. If you can call this spring...it's something like 18 degrees in Toronto this week and it's still hovering over 0 here.
- Continue my work outs at the Y! (I'll draft up a review of all the classes once I get to check out a few more) and staying active in general.
- Learn mandarin at the Confucius Institute of Edmonton (it's not too costly! Yay!)
- Explore the River Valley area more using the awesome River Valley Alliance App that tells you where all the hiking trails in the area are, complete with pictures/maps (see: http://www.rivervalley.ab.ca)
Anyway, signing out. Edmonton in spring time, can't wait to enjoy it all.
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