Friday, January 30, 2004
MTL Review 2004
ok, well yesterday evening we got back from the MTL Review. Apart from waking up early (7am, since the bus left at 8:30), the first day was great. We got there, ate lunch (i brought a chicken salad that i had prepared for us) and then Mischa went off to ski, while i headed for the athletic center. The athletic center was really convenient, it was only 5 min walk from the condos we were staying in, and once i got there they gave me a towel and a (free) key for a locker. The facilities were quite good, i got to do some cardio (400 calories total, on the upright bike and stepper), all while watching the Cosby Show and the Prince of Bel Air (yeah, i love old shows!) i also went swimming in the pool, and relaxed in the hot tub.
Anyway, around 4pm on Wednesday Michael and I both got back around 4pm to the condo (btw, it was cool since we got the "master" bedroom with a TV etc since we had gotten there first and claimed it. ;-D ). After chilling for a bit we headed off to conference center around 5:30 for dinner (wasn' t supposed to start until 6pm, but we were starving and thought we might be able to grab some food at the reception). But by the time we got there, most of the food was gone (it was just things like chicken wings and dip anyways) and it basically consisted of a crowded room of people standing around getting drunk (it was open bar).
By the time dinnertime rolled around, we were starving. There were bread rolls on the table, but of course I couldn't eat them. A small salad was served to everyone, which was ok, since it didn't have gross veggies (like swiss chard) or things like croutons or crispy noodles. Then the main meal came, which was quite disappointing. Thing is, I requested a special meal of no flour (Michael did the same). When our meals came, it consisted of a big piece of chicken with a side of some potatoes and zucchini. The reason why it sucked was because the chicken had *no sauce*--it was just a large piece of chicken that tasted almost completely bland. i saw everyone else's dish, and it turned out it was exactly the same, except for they had this thick chees-y sauce on the chicken. So basically the wheat-free version was just the same thing, but with the sauce removed. Argh! I was upset since they basically had put zero effort in preparing the special meal--could it have killed them to prepare a few table spoons of some kind of sauce that didn't have flour in it, to make the dish somewhat enjoyable? Geez. But since I was hungry, i ate most of it, and some of the potatoes as well. Michael ate the rest of mine, even though he didn't like it very much either. Then the dessert came, which was the lamest part. I thought they were going to give us some special wheat-free dessert (fruit or ice cream or something), but instead, they just gave me the same (wheat-containing) dessert as everyone else!! It was this lemon pie with a berry topping (with a wheat crust of course). I gave mine away, and Michael tried some of the filling on his, but stopped after he began to get dizzy. Anyway, I was quite frustrated, and so was Michael...he said it was probably one of the worst catered meals he had ever eaten. I agreed!
After dinner and after the guest speaker, we went back to the condo and heard Michael and his other group-mates (Rupa, Patrick) practice their talks for tomorrow. Around 10pm since i still felt starved, I ended up eating an Odwalla bar (Chocolate Peanut) which was the greatest. Tasted good, wasn't too much, and didn't make me feel sick or anything. I was so glad had brought a few for the trip!
The next day (Thursday) we had to wake up really early (6:50am) since we had to have packed all our stuff and gotten onto the bus to the conference center by 7:30am (since checkout time was 10am, during the talks). We went down there late (around 7:35) so we ended up walking there. We got to breakfast around 7:45, and again i was ready for a huge disappointment! It was a continental breakfast, so it was just basically muffins, bagels, and cereal. :( All the cereals (even corn flakes) had wheat or wheat starch in them, so i couldn't eat it. There was some fruit, but it didn't look good at all (there were some bananas which were green, and some melons & grapes which i don't like). So i just ended up eating some turkey slices (that i had brought from home) and a teeny 4-oz strawberry yogurt that was too sweet (and it was low-fat). Michael didn't end up eating anything since he was probably too nervous to eat before his talk.
Anyway, i somehow survived till 11:40 when they were going to starve serving lunch (i thankfully managed to find a small apple in the snack area about an hour earlier). Anyway, the lunch turned out to be yet another let-down. They had some salad there, but the main thing was bread and meat/cheese for sandwhiches. i had a few slices of turkey and cheese, but at that point i was kind of sick of it (since i had to eat some turkey slices for breakfast). they also had some broccoli soup there, and when i asked the server if it had wheat in it, she told me to wait aside while they got someone to ask. then she told me, "No, it doesn't have wheat flour in it, it just has regular flour in it." I was confused,and asked what she meant by "regular" flour..what kind of flour. She said, "I don't know what kind it is, it's just the white flour." Argh. I said, "White flour IS wheat flour!", and just left. I sat at a table and ate in like 5 minutes, still unsatisfied. THere were desserts available, but they were all flour-y cakes and pies. Plus the room was SO freezing (even with my puffer jacket on), i felt weak and sick. I felt so awful, that when i finished eating i went over to Michael's table and told him that i wasn't feeling well. He was so nice..we went outside and he accompanied me to the ski lodge. the bus driver was really nice, and when we finally got there we walked around, searching the snack bars for some food i could eat. at first it looked really hopeless, most places sold greasy-looking burgers and hot dogs for expensive prices. finally we asked about other restaurants, and one lady told us about a place across the courtyard. we went there, (it was called T-Bars) and checked out the menu. michael ordered a hot chocolate (it turned out to be really good, it had lots of whipped cream). i asked for a quesadilla (7.95 + 2.00 for chicken) with a corn tortilla instead of a flour tortilla. at first they asked and said it couldn't be done (corn tortilla was too small they said), but i (rather michael & i) insisted that they try agian, that i really couldn't eat anything else. They complied, and when the waiter returned he came back with a delicious-looking quesadilla! it had chicken, olives, onions, bell peppers and cheese inside, and the outside and small bits of tomato. I swear, I should have taken a photo of it. I asked for sour cream and then devoured every last piece..it was delicious! instantly felt better. michael laughed at how much better i looked/felt after eating it. Anyways, when we got the bill i left a generous tip ($4 for the $10 quesadilla). i didn't really feel bad about spending $14 on quesadilla..after all, i got a free trip to waterville, one night's stay at a condo (with Michael) and a free athletic pass (including a nice rest in a hot tub). i also got some free food too on the trip (as i noted before, most of it sucked, but at the end i stole some water bottles and a few apples). :)
Anyway, around 4pm on Wednesday Michael and I both got back around 4pm to the condo (btw, it was cool since we got the "master" bedroom with a TV etc since we had gotten there first and claimed it. ;-D ). After chilling for a bit we headed off to conference center around 5:30 for dinner (wasn' t supposed to start until 6pm, but we were starving and thought we might be able to grab some food at the reception). But by the time we got there, most of the food was gone (it was just things like chicken wings and dip anyways) and it basically consisted of a crowded room of people standing around getting drunk (it was open bar).
By the time dinnertime rolled around, we were starving. There were bread rolls on the table, but of course I couldn't eat them. A small salad was served to everyone, which was ok, since it didn't have gross veggies (like swiss chard) or things like croutons or crispy noodles. Then the main meal came, which was quite disappointing. Thing is, I requested a special meal of no flour (Michael did the same). When our meals came, it consisted of a big piece of chicken with a side of some potatoes and zucchini. The reason why it sucked was because the chicken had *no sauce*--it was just a large piece of chicken that tasted almost completely bland. i saw everyone else's dish, and it turned out it was exactly the same, except for they had this thick chees-y sauce on the chicken. So basically the wheat-free version was just the same thing, but with the sauce removed. Argh! I was upset since they basically had put zero effort in preparing the special meal--could it have killed them to prepare a few table spoons of some kind of sauce that didn't have flour in it, to make the dish somewhat enjoyable? Geez. But since I was hungry, i ate most of it, and some of the potatoes as well. Michael ate the rest of mine, even though he didn't like it very much either. Then the dessert came, which was the lamest part. I thought they were going to give us some special wheat-free dessert (fruit or ice cream or something), but instead, they just gave me the same (wheat-containing) dessert as everyone else!! It was this lemon pie with a berry topping (with a wheat crust of course). I gave mine away, and Michael tried some of the filling on his, but stopped after he began to get dizzy. Anyway, I was quite frustrated, and so was Michael...he said it was probably one of the worst catered meals he had ever eaten. I agreed!
After dinner and after the guest speaker, we went back to the condo and heard Michael and his other group-mates (Rupa, Patrick) practice their talks for tomorrow. Around 10pm since i still felt starved, I ended up eating an Odwalla bar (Chocolate Peanut) which was the greatest. Tasted good, wasn't too much, and didn't make me feel sick or anything. I was so glad had brought a few for the trip!
The next day (Thursday) we had to wake up really early (6:50am) since we had to have packed all our stuff and gotten onto the bus to the conference center by 7:30am (since checkout time was 10am, during the talks). We went down there late (around 7:35) so we ended up walking there. We got to breakfast around 7:45, and again i was ready for a huge disappointment! It was a continental breakfast, so it was just basically muffins, bagels, and cereal. :( All the cereals (even corn flakes) had wheat or wheat starch in them, so i couldn't eat it. There was some fruit, but it didn't look good at all (there were some bananas which were green, and some melons & grapes which i don't like). So i just ended up eating some turkey slices (that i had brought from home) and a teeny 4-oz strawberry yogurt that was too sweet (and it was low-fat). Michael didn't end up eating anything since he was probably too nervous to eat before his talk.
Anyway, i somehow survived till 11:40 when they were going to starve serving lunch (i thankfully managed to find a small apple in the snack area about an hour earlier). Anyway, the lunch turned out to be yet another let-down. They had some salad there, but the main thing was bread and meat/cheese for sandwhiches. i had a few slices of turkey and cheese, but at that point i was kind of sick of it (since i had to eat some turkey slices for breakfast). they also had some broccoli soup there, and when i asked the server if it had wheat in it, she told me to wait aside while they got someone to ask. then she told me, "No, it doesn't have wheat flour in it, it just has regular flour in it." I was confused,and asked what she meant by "regular" flour..what kind of flour. She said, "I don't know what kind it is, it's just the white flour." Argh. I said, "White flour IS wheat flour!", and just left. I sat at a table and ate in like 5 minutes, still unsatisfied. THere were desserts available, but they were all flour-y cakes and pies. Plus the room was SO freezing (even with my puffer jacket on), i felt weak and sick. I felt so awful, that when i finished eating i went over to Michael's table and told him that i wasn't feeling well. He was so nice..we went outside and he accompanied me to the ski lodge. the bus driver was really nice, and when we finally got there we walked around, searching the snack bars for some food i could eat. at first it looked really hopeless, most places sold greasy-looking burgers and hot dogs for expensive prices. finally we asked about other restaurants, and one lady told us about a place across the courtyard. we went there, (it was called T-Bars) and checked out the menu. michael ordered a hot chocolate (it turned out to be really good, it had lots of whipped cream). i asked for a quesadilla (7.95 + 2.00 for chicken) with a corn tortilla instead of a flour tortilla. at first they asked and said it couldn't be done (corn tortilla was too small they said), but i (rather michael & i) insisted that they try agian, that i really couldn't eat anything else. They complied, and when the waiter returned he came back with a delicious-looking quesadilla! it had chicken, olives, onions, bell peppers and cheese inside, and the outside and small bits of tomato. I swear, I should have taken a photo of it. I asked for sour cream and then devoured every last piece..it was delicious! instantly felt better. michael laughed at how much better i looked/felt after eating it. Anyways, when we got the bill i left a generous tip ($4 for the $10 quesadilla). i didn't really feel bad about spending $14 on quesadilla..after all, i got a free trip to waterville, one night's stay at a condo (with Michael) and a free athletic pass (including a nice rest in a hot tub). i also got some free food too on the trip (as i noted before, most of it sucked, but at the end i stole some water bottles and a few apples). :)
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