Monday, November 21, 2005
11 - 19 Nov: The Montreal-Toronto Trip
Ah yes. Home sweet UBC. :) Never thought I would miss caf food till I spooned this morning's breakfast of broccoli tomato and cheese egg omelette casserole into my mouth, along with bacon, cheese bagel and hot chocolate. HEH. Not tt I had any lack of good food in Montreal and Toronto thus far. I was *very* well taken care of, so thanks to my really really gracious hosts: Amy, Sandra and Vanessa, for putting me up, bringing me around and making me feel really at home. :) I really do appreciate it.
Anyway yes, here's my usual nice, detailed and very long-winded recap of how my 9 days away from Vancity have been.
MONTREAL:
11 Nov - Day 1:
I had to take the bus out at 6.22am in order to catch my 8.45am flight from the airport with time to spare. And change 3 buses, btw. But tt wasn't too bad. I got introduced to how GOOD a simple toasted blueberry bagel with butter can be. YUM.
And my flight from Vancouver to Montreal took approximately 4 hours and 47 minutes. Imagine tt, it's almost the distance from Singapore to Tokyo, and I'm still in the same damn country! Haha. But Vancouver is 3 hours behind Montreal, so it was about 4.30pm when I landed in Montreal. Oh, and the sky was darkening already.
Amy came to pick me up from the airport! She was with her brother, her friend Angie from Eusoff who had come to stay over too... and they drove me back to her apartment in downtown Montreal (opposite McGill University), where Amy cooked dinner. My first home-cooked meal since I left Singapore. HEH. :)
After tt, we trawled the underground city of Montreal, which is basically a long line of interconnected underground malls tt run with the Metro (the Montreal underground train). Well, one mall is like another to me, but considering tt it was really cold at night, I was grateful to be able to duck underground if it got too bad. And later, we joined a few of Amy's friends from high school at this beer pub at St. Laurent, the clubbing and pubbing district of Montreal (one of them... I can't remember what the other was called), and we tried to um... club at this place called Jupiter Room tt played retro hip-hop songs (which was really strange. Coz who dances to Run DMC and Cypress Hill and guys from that era?)... it wasn't really to much of our palettes. So we ended the night doing what we do best all over the world, be it in Singapore or Canada - eat.
I had a taco at Taco Bull, and we went over the the Quebec fast food chain La Belle Province (according to Amy, it refers to Quebec as 'the beautiful province') to pig out on poutine, the authentic (apparently) Quebecan/Canadian national dish. Well, one of them at least.
12 Nov - Day 2:
We started the morning by going out for a really yummy dim sum breakfast with Amy's family - her brother and parents. My first dim sum meal in a long long time since I came here. We walked down to Chinatown to eat breakfast. And so, while I'm on the subject of Chinatown, just wanted to introduce it to you a bit.
This is Montreal's Chinatown.
It's a lot smaller than Chinatown in Toronto - which is sprawling - and Vancouver (the original one, even though the 'real' Chinatown has been relocated to Richmond since East Hastings has become the drug area on its doorstep), but it's interesting because...
It has signs in both Chinese AND *FRENCH*.
And the Holiday Inn in Chinatown has actually assimilated into the whole Chinese tradition too. Which is kinda funny.
The dim sum breakfast was really good, btw. And it was really kind of Amy's parents to buy me breakfast. :) And after tt, while walking back from Chinatown to Amy's place, we passed the annual Santa Claus/Christmas Parade on St. Catherine's (it's the main road in downton Montreal - the equivalent of our Orchard Road according to Amy) Road.
These policemen on horses (I think they're the Royal County Mountie Police) kick-started the parade. WOW. Imagine horses in Singapore. Wahaha.
And then there were the marching bands, the really badly-made up/bewildered looking elves, the floats and the cheerleaders, etc...
But yeah. We didn't stay for the whole parade coz it took quite a while. So it was back to Amy's apartment so tt she could get the car and drive us around Montreal. So we saw QUITE A BIT of Montreal on Sat.
Generally, in Montreal you see a lot of really beautiful Catholic churchs and cathedrals, given its history and tradition as a French (Canadian) province.
But we also got to see the Olympic Stadium and the Biodome outside of downtown (and this unknown sphere tt I cannot remember what it is supposed to be called)...
...As well as this bridge (which is supposed to be a land mark but I can't remember the name coz, along with all the other road names, land mark names and food on the menus all over the city, it's in FRENCH)...
...And this interesting looking architecture, which according to Amy is so expensive to live in coz 1 unit can cost around CAD $1 million!
BTW, speaking of French names, guess what 'KFC' (Kentucky Fried Chicken) is known as in Montreal?
.
.
.
"PFK".
Poulet Frit ala Kentucky.
HEH.
We also visited the famous Oratory, which is this gigantic church...
...That looks like this from the outside (okay. I didn't take a full photo of it in all its magnificent glory).
And this from the inside.
We also drove up to Mount Royal to take photos of the view.
So this is the City of Montreal (one side of it) as seen from Mount Royal.
And finally - people pics!
Amy.
Angie.
After visiting Mount Royal, we drove to St. Denis - which is the French area of Montreal to get really good bagels. YUM. Ate my bagel plain, but it was really fresh-baked and yummy. We had Montreal's famous Schwartz smoked meat sandwiches for dinner too. If I'm not wrong, this eatery was featured on Food Network as being world-famous, and it showed in the queue tt snaked right out the door. I think we queued for between half and hour and 45 minutes, which is just... woah. But the smoked meat sandwiches were a must try, even if they were SO heavy, especially after my having eaten 2 bagels prior to tt.
We then caught the landmark Toronto Maple Leafs - Montreal Canadiens NHL Hockey Match at a bar downtown, which was gripping coz ice hockey is an incredibly fast-paced game. It was a really close match, but the Leafs won by a goal in the end. A lot of Montreal-natives were pretty pissed with the result, especially as this game had been playing live in the Bell Centre in Montreal just as we were watching it. Ooh. And they actually have breaks DURING the game to accomodate for commercial breaks. That's just strange. I'm too used to the EPL tradition of no breaks till the end of every half.
After this, it was dessert at Reuben's - 1 chocolate cheesecake, 1 white chocolate highrise, and 1 caramel cheesecake. But my white chocolate highrise was seriously sweet. It was a real struggle just to finish.
Was supposed to club on Sat night, but in the end Angie was really tired so we went back to the apartment first. And coz it was really really cold out, I didn't really fancy walking out either, so Amy and I just sat up chatting in her living room/kitchen till around 2am.
13 Nov - Day 3:
Amy had dance classes today, so I went out to explore Montreal on my own. Went out firstly to see Old Montreal, which is the historic part of the city.
This is one of the streets of Old Montreal. It's pretty touristy, but it's just so quaint and has so much old-world charm. For some reason I'm reminded of streets in France or London with the cobblestones and the charming little shops selling their wares. In this case, I bought some chocolates from this chocolatier known as Maple Delight.
And this is how other parts of Old Montreal (or the region around) look like. Very historical looking/Victorian architecture. Reminds me of the Supreme Court in Singapore and its Victorian architecture too (before the damned space ship extension).
I also walked down to the port to just look around the waterfront.
And after tt I decided to walk up St. Denis to just see how the French street would look. I walked pretty far. Love the eateries and French restaurants and bakeries and coffee joints all over. And I swear, I attract Tim Horton's. EVERYWHERE I go I will se a Tim Horton's.
And buy something from there too.
I moved from Amy's place to Sandra's place after tt. Had dinner with Sandra and 2 other people at this place on St. Denis called L'academic. The people there were really snooty though. Coz we didn't speak French, they were arrogant bastards. A waitress told me I had to wait for an English menu coz all they had on hand were French menus, and the waiter serving us took forever to come to our table even though he seemed to have no problems weaving through the other 2 tables in front of and behind our table.
But tt said, the food was really good and the price reasonable for the kind of ambience and quality tt we were paying for. We even shared dessert of strawberry cheesecake, chocolate mousse and some kind of custard pastry tt reminded me slightly of apple strudel.
After tt, we adjorned to a pub to chill out over drinks, and Sandra, I and a friend of hers actually went clubbing at St. Laurent for a while. On a Sunday night! But yeah... the dancefloor was understandably empty.
14 Nov - Day 4:
Sandra gave me a tour of McGill as she was walking over to school.
The campus is smaller than UBC's coz it's downtown, but oh man... it's so beautiful! And the architecture... OH GOSH. And Law Library there is so nice and new, unlike the really old Law Library here in UBC (I miss the really new, really posh Law Lib back in NUS, to be honest)... And the lifts in the 5-storey library had black tiling for its walls and black and white checked tiling for its floors... I swear stepping into the lift was like stepping into a club...
I wonder if the image of lawyers as workaholics by day and party animals by night is being perpetuated all over the world. HMM.
Oh yar. So I took a spastic shot. Pretending to study in the McGill Law Lib.
Wahaha what a cheater.
Oh, anyway lunch was at the Graduate House next to Law Fac. It was like stepping into some old British university (but with renovated walls and stuff). Really nice, just like the movies. I had a hamburger steak with peas, mashed potatos, and salad, all for just $6.95, which is pretty reasonable IMHO.
And after leaving Sandra, I went back to Old Montreal to find the Basilica, which is the replica of the cathedral in Notre Dame.
And it is so gorgeous. Once you've seen its outside and inside (which is utterly breath-taking), no other church - even with all its self-same Victorian architecture and stained glass panels - can rival its beauty.
From the outside.
From the inside (it is HUGE).
Close up of the altar.
And the Sacred Heart Chapel.
Oh, and opposite the Basilica is also this war memorial.
So anyway, after finding one big Montreal attraction, I decided to find another. The Village.
More specifically, the Gay Village.
With its pretty rainbow-coloured flags.
These flags adorn everything from gay bars and clubs to coffee joints, shopping outlets and drugstores, and even the Metro station at this end of St. Catherine's had rainbow-coloured bars above its entrance and exit. It was normal for guys to walk down the street holding hands, and there wasn't anything dirty or sinful or any of tt here.
I found this bar particularly striking. Just like an anomaly, it stands out from the normal buildings with its gaudy designs... only in The Village.
And I love this fresco. I don't know what it means coz I can't read French, but I know tt the ribbon stands for the fight against Aids, and I love how homosexuality has been incorporated into the picture in a visually-appealing way.
There were also lots of graffiti artwork on the building walls depicting anime/slash characters, mainly guys. But there was one of a girl (I think it's Psylocke from the Xmen) tt I particularly liked.
And after the Gay Village, I walked back through St. Laurent, the clubbing district, and took some detours back through St. Denis, just because.
Dinner was pizza. I decided to buy Sandra, Amy and Angie all dinner to thank them all for taking care of me while I was here. We went to McGill Pizza on Amy's suggestion, and the greasy pizzas were really good. We ordered the mushroom/cheese and the university - peppers, peperonni, cheese and bacon bits.
So tt's the four of us at dinner.
And then we had the five-layer chocolate cake at Nickels, which is the diner owned by Celine Dion. Reminded me of Billy Bombers, just cheaper... Well, the cake was $4.99, but it was HUGE. So yeah.
15 Nov - Day 5:
Today ends my stint in Montreal. And guess what?
IT WAS SNOWING TODAY!
I was so excited. As I was walking out and the snow was falling into my hair, on my face, on my clothes and my hands, as I could see the ground and the roads and the tops of the cars covered in a pretty fluffy sheet of white, I was getting so hyper tt Sandra was laughing at me. But oh my god... To come 16, 000 miles halfway around the world to see snow really is worth it.
I walked to the railway station to catch my train to Toronto. The walk was pleasant, albeit cold, except for the part where it wasn't snowing but hailing and I could feel ice pellets cut into my face as I walked down.
The train to Toronto took 4 and a half hours. During which I tried to make the most of my time by reading my cases, but in the end I kept falling asleep. So so much for tt. But it was snowing outside, or at least I could see snow as long as we were in the province of Quebec. But once we hit the province of Ontario, it became rain, rain and more rain.
It was raining when I arrived at Toronto. Vanessa met me at the station, which was really nice of her coz I might have gotten lost considering the labyrinth of different terminals concentrated in one puny area.
We walked down Queen's St West where the quirky shopping was to be done, and then through Spadina Avenue to see Chinatown and the Kensington Market. It was already dark by the time I'd got to Toronto coz the sun sets by 5pm, so tt plus the rain wasn't too much fun. But Kensington Market had really good cheese (YUM!) and jamaican patties! Heh. And we also walked past the University of Toronto, so I can say tt I saw tt university too!
But the wind and the rain was really really heavy. By the time we'd walked to Bloor St. West, we were soaked and we looked like drowned ducks. My down jacket was soaked and I did smell like a dead duck. UGH. We walked into this really cheap discount store called Honest Ed's, which has the most tacky signboard ever complete with the large array of blinking lights, and then we had dinner at this restaurant called Sushi on Bloor's.
It was a tiny eatery but it always seemed to have a queue; and no wonder. I saw awards on the wall for it being announced "best sushi in Toronto" by NOW! magazine for a couple years running. Interestingly, this restaurant serves Japanese food in Western sized portions (see below for what my tempura dinner set looks like... just the tempura, coz the rice, salad, green tea ice cream and miso soup has not yet been photographed)... with Chinese waiters.
And I think I totally freaked out the Chinese waiter serving us. First when I tried to order my food, he couldn't seem to understand a damn word I was saying. Van had to order for me before he understood her. That was just bizarre. And after tt, when I got up to go the the washroom, I almost walked right into the kitchen. The look in his eyes as he redirected me was of sheer horror. I must be a nightmare customer. Wahaha.
Oh yes, how can I forget?
Van.
And me. :) Heh.
And we couldn't finish our food coz we ordered sushi to share too. Yar, the sushi is good.
After tt, we took the train back to her place. Well, it's the subway and a bus. Takes about 45 min for her to get from her place to downtown. Sort of like from Clementi to Orchard or City Hall, or something along those lines. Train and bus. Her place is directly opposite the University of York, which is situated outside downtown Toronto. But it is SO NICE!!! I love her place! It's so so so cosy and comfy. She has her own area with her own bathroom and own kitchen. It's really like living in a studio apartment of your own, just more quaint - like a townhouse... My kinda dream place actually.
And Van made me hot chocolate from scratch with cocoa powder and cinnamon... That was so good!
16 Nov - Day 6:
Van made me breakfast, and then she showed me round Osgoode Law School and a bit of Tork University. I love campus tours. HEH. Then I took the bus and train back downtown to visit Toronto's famous CN Tower.
Located in the Toronto Banking District.
And the Toronto waterfront.
It was really windy though. I was fighting the wind all the way to get to the waterfront, so initial plans of walking down the waterfront had to be abandoned coz I didn't fancy getting blown into the ocean by mistake. HEH.
After tt, it was on to Bloor St. Met Eunice, Siyuan and Krittica (okay, I think I've spelt her name wrong) at the Museum Station, then walked to Swiss Chalet on Bloor St for lunch. We met Daryl there too, but his gf couldn't make it coz she had to mug. But tt said, it was really nice to just meet up with familiar Singaporean faces again. It's really strange how you might not be all tt chummy in school, but when you're out in the big wide world somehow the distance just bonds people of similar backgrounds together.
So yeah. The 4 of us.
Apparently Swiss Chalet is supposed to have the best roast chicken in Toronto, but I don't know coz I ordered the ribs instead. But according to the people who did try the chicken, it's "not bad" but Kenny Roger's is better. HEH. Well, they don't have a Kenny Roger's in Toronto tho.
After that, I walked over to Yorkville...
...And then to the Toronto Village. Yar, the Gay Village. How come it seems like every place has one except Vancouver (or maybe Vancouver doesn't need one coz it's the San Fran of Canada - it doesn't need one)? And no, don't even consider Singapore. Imagine rainbow-coloured flags at Bugis? Wahaha...
So yeah. The Village is at the Church-Wellesley area. I love the street signs.
And the flags.
And boy, is this blatantly obvious. HEH.
Ooh. And for those single gay men who want to expand their social circle...
HEH.
After tt, it was down Yonge Street (according to Van, it's the longest street in Canada at 2200 km spanning all of greater Toronto) to Eaton's Centre to pass the time till meeting Van for dinner.
We had dinner at this fusion Asian restaurant called Spring Rolls, which was near the bus station where she would be taking her bus to New York tonight.
She ordered mango salad, and I ordered Pad Thai. And we had the most expensive goreng pisang ever with mango ice-cream, at CAD $4.95. But oh well. What do you expect? We're not in Singapore anymore. So for friends in Singapore who love a good goreng pisang, eat as much as you can before you go overseas... It's so much more expensive here! Hahaha.
...Yar. Me and my pad thai. I know lah. My face is fat. SIGH. I haven't run in 2 weeks already.
17 Nov - Day 7:
So Van left on Wed night for New York and I would be squatting in her apartment till I was to leave. Coz I'd bought MORE donuts and bagels from Tim Horton's, I had a bagel for my breakfast. And then it was over to catch my bus to the Niagara Falls.
Yesh. I went to see the Niagara Falls today.
I don't think the photos need explanation. They can speak for themselves. The Falls are simply breathtaking.
My only gripe about the Falls is tt the area around has become too blatantly TOURISTY.
Take Clifton Hill, which was the street I had to walk down to find the Falls.
It was just rows and rows of Americanisation in manifestation, from the usual fast food eateries all packed together to the casinos to the crazy Haunted Houses/Holywood/Marvel Action Heros type rides tt they had. I found it quite horrific actually.
Hell, they even had a giant WWE Retail Store here. At Niagara Falls.
After lunch, I walked back to the bus terminal from the Falls. It was snowing again when the bus took us back to downtown Toronto. I walked around Queen's St West again and Bloor St West again and had dinner at Bloor St West, and then it was back to Van's apartment.
18 Nov - Day 8:
Friday. I didn't feel like going back into town today coz it was -1 degrees celcius, so I decided to spend my whole day vegetating at Yorkdale, which is the mall 2 train stops away from Van's stop. So I caught 2 movies (it's cheaper here than it is in Vancity anyway) - The Legend of Zorro and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Oh, and no, I'm not a Harry Potter fan. It just so happened tt I could get tickets! Wahaha. So I watched Harry Potter. Oh well. Ooh. And I did some window shopping and got myself lunch and dinner at Yorkdale as well.
And it was snowing today too. I was indoors so I didn't really feel the cold, but when I got back to Van's place there was snow on the ground and the roads and the grass. It was so pretty to be stepping on white, even though at first I couldn't register the change of colour. But snow really makes the idea tt Christmas is coming very real. It's just the snow.
19 Nov - Day 9:
I left Toronto today. Almost missed my flight coz I miscalculated the amount of time it would take me to get to the airport from Van's place. I reached the bus stop opposite the airport at 2.20pm, 40 min before my plane was due to fly. And then I GOT LOST walking to the damn terminal coz the roads confused me and I walked into a limousine park and I was utterly horrified when the drivers told me I had to RETRACE MY STEPS and start over. I was like: "FUCK. I am going to FUCKING MISS MY PLANE."
But fortunately one of the limo drivers was kind enough to hitch me a ride to Terminal One, so I managed to run into the terminal at 2.30pm. The queue to check-in was fucking long and I knew I couldn't wait, so I managed to approach one of the counter staff for help. She chastised me a bit about cutting it too close, but I got my boarding pass. Then managed to get through the metal detectors with a little trouble (coz I BEEPED. Dammit.), and through to my gate 15 minutes before we were to fly.
UGH. That was almost traumatic.
The plane ride from Toronto to Vancouver was around 5 hours... a bit longer than from Vancouve to Montreal. HMM. And it's all still THE SAME COUNTRY!!! I managed to read and finish the Da Vinci Code novel tt the boy'd given to me before I left with some drama, and apart from the fact tt my left knee joint hurts when we fly, I realise tt 5/6 hour flights are survivable when you live in a big country - coz you have no choice but to get used to it!
And yes, then it was back to Vancouver, and the 3-bus ride home. Although walk back was the toughest - coz it's 20 minutes back from the bus loop with my bags and it was fucking foggy this weekend.
It still is.
But tt concludes my Montreal-Toronto trip.
Ooh. And now, I've also decided to recap by putting all the rare "people" photos tt I took (you realise I don't like taking pictures of myself much. HEH) all together. So yeah, you get to see all the people I've met up with at both places.
Below - The People Pictures:
Amy and I.
I and Angie.
And Sandra, Amy and Angie - The Montreal gang.
Vanessa (okay. I have no pictures with the both of us inside).
Krittica, Eunice, Siyuan and Daryl - The Torontian gang.
And me (YES. I *KNOW* I've put on weight. My face is fat. BLEAH).
So yep. That concludes my trip to Montreal and Toronto.
With my fave pictures:
Montreal.
Toronto.
And Niagara Falls.
:)
now playing: hotel costes - cafe de flor
Anyway yes, here's my usual nice, detailed and very long-winded recap of how my 9 days away from Vancity have been.
MONTREAL:
11 Nov - Day 1:
I had to take the bus out at 6.22am in order to catch my 8.45am flight from the airport with time to spare. And change 3 buses, btw. But tt wasn't too bad. I got introduced to how GOOD a simple toasted blueberry bagel with butter can be. YUM.
And my flight from Vancouver to Montreal took approximately 4 hours and 47 minutes. Imagine tt, it's almost the distance from Singapore to Tokyo, and I'm still in the same damn country! Haha. But Vancouver is 3 hours behind Montreal, so it was about 4.30pm when I landed in Montreal. Oh, and the sky was darkening already.
Amy came to pick me up from the airport! She was with her brother, her friend Angie from Eusoff who had come to stay over too... and they drove me back to her apartment in downtown Montreal (opposite McGill University), where Amy cooked dinner. My first home-cooked meal since I left Singapore. HEH. :)
After tt, we trawled the underground city of Montreal, which is basically a long line of interconnected underground malls tt run with the Metro (the Montreal underground train). Well, one mall is like another to me, but considering tt it was really cold at night, I was grateful to be able to duck underground if it got too bad. And later, we joined a few of Amy's friends from high school at this beer pub at St. Laurent, the clubbing and pubbing district of Montreal (one of them... I can't remember what the other was called), and we tried to um... club at this place called Jupiter Room tt played retro hip-hop songs (which was really strange. Coz who dances to Run DMC and Cypress Hill and guys from that era?)... it wasn't really to much of our palettes. So we ended the night doing what we do best all over the world, be it in Singapore or Canada - eat.
I had a taco at Taco Bull, and we went over the the Quebec fast food chain La Belle Province (according to Amy, it refers to Quebec as 'the beautiful province') to pig out on poutine, the authentic (apparently) Quebecan/Canadian national dish. Well, one of them at least.
12 Nov - Day 2:
We started the morning by going out for a really yummy dim sum breakfast with Amy's family - her brother and parents. My first dim sum meal in a long long time since I came here. We walked down to Chinatown to eat breakfast. And so, while I'm on the subject of Chinatown, just wanted to introduce it to you a bit.
This is Montreal's Chinatown.
It's a lot smaller than Chinatown in Toronto - which is sprawling - and Vancouver (the original one, even though the 'real' Chinatown has been relocated to Richmond since East Hastings has become the drug area on its doorstep), but it's interesting because...
It has signs in both Chinese AND *FRENCH*.
And the Holiday Inn in Chinatown has actually assimilated into the whole Chinese tradition too. Which is kinda funny.
The dim sum breakfast was really good, btw. And it was really kind of Amy's parents to buy me breakfast. :) And after tt, while walking back from Chinatown to Amy's place, we passed the annual Santa Claus/Christmas Parade on St. Catherine's (it's the main road in downton Montreal - the equivalent of our Orchard Road according to Amy) Road.
These policemen on horses (I think they're the Royal County Mountie Police) kick-started the parade. WOW. Imagine horses in Singapore. Wahaha.
And then there were the marching bands, the really badly-made up/bewildered looking elves, the floats and the cheerleaders, etc...
But yeah. We didn't stay for the whole parade coz it took quite a while. So it was back to Amy's apartment so tt she could get the car and drive us around Montreal. So we saw QUITE A BIT of Montreal on Sat.
Generally, in Montreal you see a lot of really beautiful Catholic churchs and cathedrals, given its history and tradition as a French (Canadian) province.
But we also got to see the Olympic Stadium and the Biodome outside of downtown (and this unknown sphere tt I cannot remember what it is supposed to be called)...
...As well as this bridge (which is supposed to be a land mark but I can't remember the name coz, along with all the other road names, land mark names and food on the menus all over the city, it's in FRENCH)...
...And this interesting looking architecture, which according to Amy is so expensive to live in coz 1 unit can cost around CAD $1 million!
BTW, speaking of French names, guess what 'KFC' (Kentucky Fried Chicken) is known as in Montreal?
.
.
.
"PFK".
Poulet Frit ala Kentucky.
HEH.
We also visited the famous Oratory, which is this gigantic church...
...That looks like this from the outside (okay. I didn't take a full photo of it in all its magnificent glory).
And this from the inside.
We also drove up to Mount Royal to take photos of the view.
So this is the City of Montreal (one side of it) as seen from Mount Royal.
And finally - people pics!
Amy.
Angie.
After visiting Mount Royal, we drove to St. Denis - which is the French area of Montreal to get really good bagels. YUM. Ate my bagel plain, but it was really fresh-baked and yummy. We had Montreal's famous Schwartz smoked meat sandwiches for dinner too. If I'm not wrong, this eatery was featured on Food Network as being world-famous, and it showed in the queue tt snaked right out the door. I think we queued for between half and hour and 45 minutes, which is just... woah. But the smoked meat sandwiches were a must try, even if they were SO heavy, especially after my having eaten 2 bagels prior to tt.
We then caught the landmark Toronto Maple Leafs - Montreal Canadiens NHL Hockey Match at a bar downtown, which was gripping coz ice hockey is an incredibly fast-paced game. It was a really close match, but the Leafs won by a goal in the end. A lot of Montreal-natives were pretty pissed with the result, especially as this game had been playing live in the Bell Centre in Montreal just as we were watching it. Ooh. And they actually have breaks DURING the game to accomodate for commercial breaks. That's just strange. I'm too used to the EPL tradition of no breaks till the end of every half.
After this, it was dessert at Reuben's - 1 chocolate cheesecake, 1 white chocolate highrise, and 1 caramel cheesecake. But my white chocolate highrise was seriously sweet. It was a real struggle just to finish.
Was supposed to club on Sat night, but in the end Angie was really tired so we went back to the apartment first. And coz it was really really cold out, I didn't really fancy walking out either, so Amy and I just sat up chatting in her living room/kitchen till around 2am.
13 Nov - Day 3:
Amy had dance classes today, so I went out to explore Montreal on my own. Went out firstly to see Old Montreal, which is the historic part of the city.
This is one of the streets of Old Montreal. It's pretty touristy, but it's just so quaint and has so much old-world charm. For some reason I'm reminded of streets in France or London with the cobblestones and the charming little shops selling their wares. In this case, I bought some chocolates from this chocolatier known as Maple Delight.
And this is how other parts of Old Montreal (or the region around) look like. Very historical looking/Victorian architecture. Reminds me of the Supreme Court in Singapore and its Victorian architecture too (before the damned space ship extension).
I also walked down to the port to just look around the waterfront.
And after tt I decided to walk up St. Denis to just see how the French street would look. I walked pretty far. Love the eateries and French restaurants and bakeries and coffee joints all over. And I swear, I attract Tim Horton's. EVERYWHERE I go I will se a Tim Horton's.
And buy something from there too.
I moved from Amy's place to Sandra's place after tt. Had dinner with Sandra and 2 other people at this place on St. Denis called L'academic. The people there were really snooty though. Coz we didn't speak French, they were arrogant bastards. A waitress told me I had to wait for an English menu coz all they had on hand were French menus, and the waiter serving us took forever to come to our table even though he seemed to have no problems weaving through the other 2 tables in front of and behind our table.
But tt said, the food was really good and the price reasonable for the kind of ambience and quality tt we were paying for. We even shared dessert of strawberry cheesecake, chocolate mousse and some kind of custard pastry tt reminded me slightly of apple strudel.
After tt, we adjorned to a pub to chill out over drinks, and Sandra, I and a friend of hers actually went clubbing at St. Laurent for a while. On a Sunday night! But yeah... the dancefloor was understandably empty.
14 Nov - Day 4:
Sandra gave me a tour of McGill as she was walking over to school.
The campus is smaller than UBC's coz it's downtown, but oh man... it's so beautiful! And the architecture... OH GOSH. And Law Library there is so nice and new, unlike the really old Law Library here in UBC (I miss the really new, really posh Law Lib back in NUS, to be honest)... And the lifts in the 5-storey library had black tiling for its walls and black and white checked tiling for its floors... I swear stepping into the lift was like stepping into a club...
I wonder if the image of lawyers as workaholics by day and party animals by night is being perpetuated all over the world. HMM.
Oh yar. So I took a spastic shot. Pretending to study in the McGill Law Lib.
Wahaha what a cheater.
Oh, anyway lunch was at the Graduate House next to Law Fac. It was like stepping into some old British university (but with renovated walls and stuff). Really nice, just like the movies. I had a hamburger steak with peas, mashed potatos, and salad, all for just $6.95, which is pretty reasonable IMHO.
And after leaving Sandra, I went back to Old Montreal to find the Basilica, which is the replica of the cathedral in Notre Dame.
And it is so gorgeous. Once you've seen its outside and inside (which is utterly breath-taking), no other church - even with all its self-same Victorian architecture and stained glass panels - can rival its beauty.
From the outside.
From the inside (it is HUGE).
Close up of the altar.
And the Sacred Heart Chapel.
Oh, and opposite the Basilica is also this war memorial.
So anyway, after finding one big Montreal attraction, I decided to find another. The Village.
More specifically, the Gay Village.
With its pretty rainbow-coloured flags.
These flags adorn everything from gay bars and clubs to coffee joints, shopping outlets and drugstores, and even the Metro station at this end of St. Catherine's had rainbow-coloured bars above its entrance and exit. It was normal for guys to walk down the street holding hands, and there wasn't anything dirty or sinful or any of tt here.
I found this bar particularly striking. Just like an anomaly, it stands out from the normal buildings with its gaudy designs... only in The Village.
And I love this fresco. I don't know what it means coz I can't read French, but I know tt the ribbon stands for the fight against Aids, and I love how homosexuality has been incorporated into the picture in a visually-appealing way.
There were also lots of graffiti artwork on the building walls depicting anime/slash characters, mainly guys. But there was one of a girl (I think it's Psylocke from the Xmen) tt I particularly liked.
And after the Gay Village, I walked back through St. Laurent, the clubbing district, and took some detours back through St. Denis, just because.
Dinner was pizza. I decided to buy Sandra, Amy and Angie all dinner to thank them all for taking care of me while I was here. We went to McGill Pizza on Amy's suggestion, and the greasy pizzas were really good. We ordered the mushroom/cheese and the university - peppers, peperonni, cheese and bacon bits.
So tt's the four of us at dinner.
And then we had the five-layer chocolate cake at Nickels, which is the diner owned by Celine Dion. Reminded me of Billy Bombers, just cheaper... Well, the cake was $4.99, but it was HUGE. So yeah.
15 Nov - Day 5:
Today ends my stint in Montreal. And guess what?
IT WAS SNOWING TODAY!
I was so excited. As I was walking out and the snow was falling into my hair, on my face, on my clothes and my hands, as I could see the ground and the roads and the tops of the cars covered in a pretty fluffy sheet of white, I was getting so hyper tt Sandra was laughing at me. But oh my god... To come 16, 000 miles halfway around the world to see snow really is worth it.
I walked to the railway station to catch my train to Toronto. The walk was pleasant, albeit cold, except for the part where it wasn't snowing but hailing and I could feel ice pellets cut into my face as I walked down.
The train to Toronto took 4 and a half hours. During which I tried to make the most of my time by reading my cases, but in the end I kept falling asleep. So so much for tt. But it was snowing outside, or at least I could see snow as long as we were in the province of Quebec. But once we hit the province of Ontario, it became rain, rain and more rain.
It was raining when I arrived at Toronto. Vanessa met me at the station, which was really nice of her coz I might have gotten lost considering the labyrinth of different terminals concentrated in one puny area.
We walked down Queen's St West where the quirky shopping was to be done, and then through Spadina Avenue to see Chinatown and the Kensington Market. It was already dark by the time I'd got to Toronto coz the sun sets by 5pm, so tt plus the rain wasn't too much fun. But Kensington Market had really good cheese (YUM!) and jamaican patties! Heh. And we also walked past the University of Toronto, so I can say tt I saw tt university too!
But the wind and the rain was really really heavy. By the time we'd walked to Bloor St. West, we were soaked and we looked like drowned ducks. My down jacket was soaked and I did smell like a dead duck. UGH. We walked into this really cheap discount store called Honest Ed's, which has the most tacky signboard ever complete with the large array of blinking lights, and then we had dinner at this restaurant called Sushi on Bloor's.
It was a tiny eatery but it always seemed to have a queue; and no wonder. I saw awards on the wall for it being announced "best sushi in Toronto" by NOW! magazine for a couple years running. Interestingly, this restaurant serves Japanese food in Western sized portions (see below for what my tempura dinner set looks like... just the tempura, coz the rice, salad, green tea ice cream and miso soup has not yet been photographed)... with Chinese waiters.
And I think I totally freaked out the Chinese waiter serving us. First when I tried to order my food, he couldn't seem to understand a damn word I was saying. Van had to order for me before he understood her. That was just bizarre. And after tt, when I got up to go the the washroom, I almost walked right into the kitchen. The look in his eyes as he redirected me was of sheer horror. I must be a nightmare customer. Wahaha.
Oh yes, how can I forget?
Van.
And me. :) Heh.
And we couldn't finish our food coz we ordered sushi to share too. Yar, the sushi is good.
After tt, we took the train back to her place. Well, it's the subway and a bus. Takes about 45 min for her to get from her place to downtown. Sort of like from Clementi to Orchard or City Hall, or something along those lines. Train and bus. Her place is directly opposite the University of York, which is situated outside downtown Toronto. But it is SO NICE!!! I love her place! It's so so so cosy and comfy. She has her own area with her own bathroom and own kitchen. It's really like living in a studio apartment of your own, just more quaint - like a townhouse... My kinda dream place actually.
And Van made me hot chocolate from scratch with cocoa powder and cinnamon... That was so good!
16 Nov - Day 6:
Van made me breakfast, and then she showed me round Osgoode Law School and a bit of Tork University. I love campus tours. HEH. Then I took the bus and train back downtown to visit Toronto's famous CN Tower.
Located in the Toronto Banking District.
And the Toronto waterfront.
It was really windy though. I was fighting the wind all the way to get to the waterfront, so initial plans of walking down the waterfront had to be abandoned coz I didn't fancy getting blown into the ocean by mistake. HEH.
After tt, it was on to Bloor St. Met Eunice, Siyuan and Krittica (okay, I think I've spelt her name wrong) at the Museum Station, then walked to Swiss Chalet on Bloor St for lunch. We met Daryl there too, but his gf couldn't make it coz she had to mug. But tt said, it was really nice to just meet up with familiar Singaporean faces again. It's really strange how you might not be all tt chummy in school, but when you're out in the big wide world somehow the distance just bonds people of similar backgrounds together.
So yeah. The 4 of us.
Apparently Swiss Chalet is supposed to have the best roast chicken in Toronto, but I don't know coz I ordered the ribs instead. But according to the people who did try the chicken, it's "not bad" but Kenny Roger's is better. HEH. Well, they don't have a Kenny Roger's in Toronto tho.
After that, I walked over to Yorkville...
...And then to the Toronto Village. Yar, the Gay Village. How come it seems like every place has one except Vancouver (or maybe Vancouver doesn't need one coz it's the San Fran of Canada - it doesn't need one)? And no, don't even consider Singapore. Imagine rainbow-coloured flags at Bugis? Wahaha...
So yeah. The Village is at the Church-Wellesley area. I love the street signs.
And the flags.
And boy, is this blatantly obvious. HEH.
Ooh. And for those single gay men who want to expand their social circle...
HEH.
After tt, it was down Yonge Street (according to Van, it's the longest street in Canada at 2200 km spanning all of greater Toronto) to Eaton's Centre to pass the time till meeting Van for dinner.
We had dinner at this fusion Asian restaurant called Spring Rolls, which was near the bus station where she would be taking her bus to New York tonight.
She ordered mango salad, and I ordered Pad Thai. And we had the most expensive goreng pisang ever with mango ice-cream, at CAD $4.95. But oh well. What do you expect? We're not in Singapore anymore. So for friends in Singapore who love a good goreng pisang, eat as much as you can before you go overseas... It's so much more expensive here! Hahaha.
...Yar. Me and my pad thai. I know lah. My face is fat. SIGH. I haven't run in 2 weeks already.
17 Nov - Day 7:
So Van left on Wed night for New York and I would be squatting in her apartment till I was to leave. Coz I'd bought MORE donuts and bagels from Tim Horton's, I had a bagel for my breakfast. And then it was over to catch my bus to the Niagara Falls.
Yesh. I went to see the Niagara Falls today.
I don't think the photos need explanation. They can speak for themselves. The Falls are simply breathtaking.
My only gripe about the Falls is tt the area around has become too blatantly TOURISTY.
Take Clifton Hill, which was the street I had to walk down to find the Falls.
It was just rows and rows of Americanisation in manifestation, from the usual fast food eateries all packed together to the casinos to the crazy Haunted Houses/Holywood/Marvel Action Heros type rides tt they had. I found it quite horrific actually.
Hell, they even had a giant WWE Retail Store here. At Niagara Falls.
After lunch, I walked back to the bus terminal from the Falls. It was snowing again when the bus took us back to downtown Toronto. I walked around Queen's St West again and Bloor St West again and had dinner at Bloor St West, and then it was back to Van's apartment.
18 Nov - Day 8:
Friday. I didn't feel like going back into town today coz it was -1 degrees celcius, so I decided to spend my whole day vegetating at Yorkdale, which is the mall 2 train stops away from Van's stop. So I caught 2 movies (it's cheaper here than it is in Vancity anyway) - The Legend of Zorro and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Oh, and no, I'm not a Harry Potter fan. It just so happened tt I could get tickets! Wahaha. So I watched Harry Potter. Oh well. Ooh. And I did some window shopping and got myself lunch and dinner at Yorkdale as well.
And it was snowing today too. I was indoors so I didn't really feel the cold, but when I got back to Van's place there was snow on the ground and the roads and the grass. It was so pretty to be stepping on white, even though at first I couldn't register the change of colour. But snow really makes the idea tt Christmas is coming very real. It's just the snow.
19 Nov - Day 9:
I left Toronto today. Almost missed my flight coz I miscalculated the amount of time it would take me to get to the airport from Van's place. I reached the bus stop opposite the airport at 2.20pm, 40 min before my plane was due to fly. And then I GOT LOST walking to the damn terminal coz the roads confused me and I walked into a limousine park and I was utterly horrified when the drivers told me I had to RETRACE MY STEPS and start over. I was like: "FUCK. I am going to FUCKING MISS MY PLANE."
But fortunately one of the limo drivers was kind enough to hitch me a ride to Terminal One, so I managed to run into the terminal at 2.30pm. The queue to check-in was fucking long and I knew I couldn't wait, so I managed to approach one of the counter staff for help. She chastised me a bit about cutting it too close, but I got my boarding pass. Then managed to get through the metal detectors with a little trouble (coz I BEEPED. Dammit.), and through to my gate 15 minutes before we were to fly.
UGH. That was almost traumatic.
The plane ride from Toronto to Vancouver was around 5 hours... a bit longer than from Vancouve to Montreal. HMM. And it's all still THE SAME COUNTRY!!! I managed to read and finish the Da Vinci Code novel tt the boy'd given to me before I left with some drama, and apart from the fact tt my left knee joint hurts when we fly, I realise tt 5/6 hour flights are survivable when you live in a big country - coz you have no choice but to get used to it!
And yes, then it was back to Vancouver, and the 3-bus ride home. Although walk back was the toughest - coz it's 20 minutes back from the bus loop with my bags and it was fucking foggy this weekend.
It still is.
But tt concludes my Montreal-Toronto trip.
Ooh. And now, I've also decided to recap by putting all the rare "people" photos tt I took (you realise I don't like taking pictures of myself much. HEH) all together. So yeah, you get to see all the people I've met up with at both places.
Below - The People Pictures:
Amy and I.
I and Angie.
And Sandra, Amy and Angie - The Montreal gang.
Vanessa (okay. I have no pictures with the both of us inside).
Krittica, Eunice, Siyuan and Daryl - The Torontian gang.
And me (YES. I *KNOW* I've put on weight. My face is fat. BLEAH).
So yep. That concludes my trip to Montreal and Toronto.
With my fave pictures:
Montreal.
Toronto.
And Niagara Falls.
:)
# posted by Kitana @ 11/21/2005 04:08:00 AM 
