I was having a conversation with someone asking them what would be 5 recommendations they would give of places to go, things to do & places to eat in their city. They gave me a good list & I added some of them to my list to check out next time I was in their city, but realized I wouldn't have a great list like that to give for Ottawa. So I have thought a lot about it and this is my top 5 things for Ottawa; food, places & things to do.

1. Tomo is my must-check-out restaurant, especially if you love sushi. I can't & never will stop raving about them because it's such a great restaurant that got added into the Byward Market which is full of restaurants but not all as good as Tomo. Their food is bomb; they have events going on in the evenings a few times during the week & their washroom is the spot for selfies: comic book walls...need I say more.


However, if you're not a sushi person, they do have other foods you can get from them but another restaurant you could check out would be Pure Kitchen.

Pure Kitchen is a vegan/vegetarian restaurant that came around a few years ago; I wanna say maybe 2015 it popped up in Ottawa. Since then, they have two locations & have the most bomb healthy food I've had plus it helps that they have dairy alternatives such as almond chocolate milk, cashew cheese, so much more.



I've been a few times & I tell everyone who goes that they HAVE to have  the cauliflower wings. They are like chicken wings but made out of cauliflower, a healthier alternative but still kinda taste like chicken wings and may I say BOMB AF. They are kinda awesome too because if you get a sandwich/burger you can have both salad & fries instead of having to make that difficult choice. They got a variety of things so there is something there for everyone & if you feel like food without meat is not filling, you are very wrong. I leave there stuffed but like a healthy stuffed where my body still feels good compared to places where I feel full but full of shitty foods. Enough of my blabber, here are some pictures of the times I have gone.



2. The Loft or Level One is a chill spot to play video or board games. They started off as having The Loft upstairs & it's been a hit since it's opened with huge long lines to get a seat to play board games from the many they have filling the walls. I'm so happy they have expanded to Level One which is downstairs in the same space & more food is served down there. There is video games there & there is way more space. So when The Loft is full you just go downstairs & get a seat at Level One. It's the best place to test out your friendships because board games can ruin friendships with games such as Catan & Monopoly and you're bound to learn more while there. Sometimes I will come in & just ask the server for a competitive game for however many people there are & they will choose anything, bring it over & explain the game so you definitely won't get bored. If you do, you are always welcome to change your game to anything else that's more entertaining for you.



3. The Prince of Wales bridge is an abandoned railroad bridge over water near Bayview Station. It's my go to spot when I'm downtown & just want a place to chill. In the summer you will see people jumping off the bridge into the water below. It's nice during the hot days to sit there & feel a nice breeze while just chilling. It's kind of a mission to get to & I don't know if it's blocked off because of the construction that's happening there right now but get to Bayview station & find the bike path. When you see it, walk towards the water & you will see the bridge & the way to get up to it.







4. Cool events in the city are always a good time to go to & we have a fair share of them that happen every year. I go to different ones every year but I'll attempt to go to them all this year. Some of the ones that are totally insta worthy & a fun time are: Tulip Festival, Ottawa ComicCon, House of PainT, Winterlude, & Dragonboat Festival. People come down to Ottawa for these events because they are a good time & you won't be able to find it else where, such as Winterlude where you can skate on the longest canal/skating rink in the world I believe, as well as seeing some pretty cool ice sculptures.







5. My 5th & last thing I would say is food spots around the city. Ottawa is very undervalued especially different areas that have great food that a lot of people don't know about so a different food adventure around a part of the city you haven't been to is an adventure in itself especially if your busing there. So go ahead & check out Elgin St, Westboro Bia, the Glebe area & Lansdowne because there is some good food spots hiding there that you won't find downtown.

Puerto Puerto Plata. Oh how beautiful your views were even on your rainy days, making this most definitely a #tripofalifetime as well as a #jobofalifetime. When the rain stopped for a few days and the sun finally started shinning, I could finally see the water and the palm trees as they were in the hot weather, so beautiful and tropical. This trip has been a very eye opening trip, to see how reserved I have become in the past few years and how I would like to be more open so I can experience the endless opportunities & meet great people.



I was nervous about coming out to do this job because of the amount of time I would be taking off from work & didn't know if it was worth it at the time. Looking back now, I'm so glad I ignored that voice in the back of my head because it was one of the greatest experiences I've had in a while.

So the company I went with is called S-Trip which stands for student trip and is a company that helps students plan grad trips with their schools that are way cooler than a weekend in Toronto (which is what we did) or whatever it is that they do for grad trips. I Love Travel is the big brand and then they are divided by winter ski trips and summer grad trips; S-Trip, Campus Vacations, Stoke Travel and many more. Check out their website for more information: http://www.ilovetravel.com/.

I spent the first few days asking myself if it was real & if I was really in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic or if it was a dream; the resort & all the palm trees had me thinking I was on a movie set sometimes. Eventually it sunk in that it was real & I needed to enjoy it before it was over. The staff & students just made it a great trip & had me cracking up to their shenanigans; some of these students would have some hilarious stories for me & I most definitely won't forget them.

This trip was work & vacation in one to make for a great & well needed week away. The days were consisted of an excursion or day off the resort as well as a night event so in our meetings we knew who was where the night before & spread the word to the students if they needed to be up early to go surfing or for volunteering. I got to volunteer and then all the trip leaders went on the city tour which was great because volunteer was one of the ones I wanted to do.


Volunteer day consisted of three stations where we would spend about 45 min before switching to the next one. We got to hang out with the children at a community centre, pick up garbage on the beach & then help build houses or repainted houses that needed a touch up. We took two groups of students to do the three stations & got to participate in each station with them. With the first group, we mixed cement, sand & water to make that gooey cement to put on the walls inside of a house that was being finished and with the second group, I became a smurf, getting paint all over me while painting this one house blue. The whole day was a very eye-opening and rewarding experience. From the laughs & smiles of the children we hung out with and played basketball or just interacted with; to seeing the difference between our beach on the resort & the way theirs has been ruined because of the recent flooding & brought all the garbage onto their beach, making it unrecognizable; to helping paint houses & making them vibrant & beautiful once again.



The city tour was great because we got to see the real Dominican & what there was besides what we saw on the resort. We got to get off the bus & walk around and interact with the locals while buying some pretty sweet souvenirs; everyone is so nice & friendly. I got some pretty souvenirs for myself & peeps.



I don't know why I never just planned a trip out here but now that I've seen it, I will most definitely be back with friends to lounge by the pool with some pineapple juice (my best friend all week alongside some passionfruit) & hanging out in the ocean and on the beach. No matter how much rain there was, it was an amazing trip & I feel blessed to have been able to come experience all the great things I did. Speaking of, I went horseback riding on the beach which was amazing even though I almost fell off my horse before it started moving because my saddle was sliding off it's back but the views were just....check out this picture because words can't do it justice.



Here are a bunch of more pictures of my trip.