Here & Everywhere - Jenna (Singapore, Montreal, Ottawa...)

This is the third week of our guest blog series to compare other parts of the world while Charlotte is visiting Canada for August & September. Our guests this week are world travellers Daniel, currently living in Toronto, and Jenna, currently living in Ottawa. They have grown to become close friends of ours and are unique in that they are our only contributors who know one another in real life.

Before arriving, I was told that Singapore is clean, efficient, and has a law against chewing gum. All are true, but hardly representative of the multicultural metropolis that is beginning to let down her hair. Food is at the center of the city’s consciousness and exemplifies her contrasts. You could find me sipping Turkish coffee in the Arab Quarter, sharing a bottle of Chablis at a French bistro in Little India or ordering mango smoothies from one of the ubiquitous Singaporean hawker stalls.

As cities go, I have one great love: Montreal. This is where I came of age, spending summer nights on pop-up Plateau terrasses, weekends at the Jean-Talon market and lazy Sunday afternoons at Tam-tams on the slopes of Mont Royal. l once heard this city (aptly) described as “a stripper with a degree in philosophy”. Montreal is a city of sin and pleasure but with depth and soul, a music and arts scene to rival anywhere in North America, and a fierce sense of self.

Where I am right now. My Ottawa is serene and beautiful; an ideal backdrop to delve into the fascinating world of policy and politics that is the city’s lifeblood. The people I cross paths with are bright and genuine, perfect partners to engage in heady debates or to share a pint with on a rooftop pub in the Byward Market.

Jenna on where she lives in Ottawa:I live in the New Edinburgh neighbourhood of Ottawa, sandwiched between the Ottawa River, Rideau Hall and 24 Sussex Drive. My nation’s capital is an outdoor haven, with the Canal lacing through the city, hugged by wooded parks; runners and cyclists abound, sun or snow.

Jenna is a student-at-law, currently working in Ottawa and preparing to move back to Montreal for a final year of school. The number one question she’s asked: “So, where are you going?” She has big dreams. Lover of photographs, single malt whisky, international affairs, traveling by train and long conversations over a good cup of tea.

To see more of her photographs, visit her Flickr page.