Reckon i should start recapping my Memorial Day Holiday before i leave for New York City tonight. Just a point of interest: this trip to NYC makes it only the 2nd city where i've done a repeat visit in my 4 years of independent student travelling. The first being Prague. Makes it enchanting to think of it this way isn't it? I've seen Prague in the winter and spring, and i'll see New York in the winter and early summer.
So i'll be there till sunday night. Fingers crossed - weather is looking bad. Thunderstorms can translate to DELAYED flights at the airport. Not looking forward to that.
Toronto:
Arrived in the city on Friday morning around 6am. Terminal 2 is sad. Small. Very bad for a city of the size of Toronto. Makes me wonder about SARS and Toronto - the initial transmission. Anyway, got out at the gate and boarded the citybus to head to the subway station. Transferred onto the subway and then the street car (which is so cool, coz it's connected with the subway system). Makes winter travelling a bliss, since you don't have to get outside.
Tracked down where wj was staying overnight (yk was supposed to join but was stuck in o'hare courtesy of the chicago airport curse). Speaking of which, when i was sitting in the Toronto departure lounge waiting for my return flight, the only flights that were being delayed that night were those bound for o'hare. HMM... lesson to be learned: NEVER route via Chicago O'Hare. NEVER. NEVER think you can escape. Coz chances are even if you do, you'll be sucked back into the curse the next time.
Found wj. We promptly collapsed back in bed (red eye flights are brutal, especially those from the west coast to the east). How much sleep can you get on a 5 hr flight? Completely forgot yk's flight was due 2 hrs earlier, so we only discovered our grave mistake at 11:30am. But we are resourceful people, with sound backup plans! So everything worked out. Moved into our next hostel (which was more of a B&B). Posh. 2 double beds for 3 people, TV, free breakfast! All for 30 canadian per person. Then, we headed downtown to the City Hall area and had lunch at the basement food court of the mall. A spot of shopping followed. See, it was a 'tai tai-esque' holiday. Then, it was CN tower. Gloomy day, so no point going up. Then ct gets off work, so we tumbled back to chinatown for ... you guessed it, KARAOKE.
4 singaporeans in toronto. And we found karaoke in toronto. BLISS. 2 hours of singing followed, with the cheapo waitstaff, who conned us each of 1 free drink. "Bu Hao Yi Si" is no way to treat your customers. Saying that does not absolve you of forgetting to bring our drink. Singing galore, ended with a grand dinner.
HAHA.. we went for seafood in this chinese place. Again, incredulous. We had lobsters, snapper, sliced beef and cai xin. Also had free lotus root/pork soup. AND free dou hua. OMG, this is impossible isn't it? It was cheap too! After this, we zoomed back to ct's place, where we caught sight of a raccoon, stalking the university campus. Enthralling stuff. Looked at ct's vancouver photos, followed by the usual round of teasing (of certain suggestive photos). Then trudged back home for 4 hours of sleep, before waking up to catch the early train out to Niagara.
Niagara:
Train ride to Niagara (2 hrs) was smooth. Played cards along the way - actually only alternated between Big 2 and bridge. Arrived in Niagara, found our hostel, 3 double deck beds. VERY simple room. But hey, it works. Got the adventure pass, which took you round most of the places in Niagara. Must say the whole place feels like a package - an exotic Pasir Ris Resort, with the falls in the background. Will post photos from Niagara next.
Did most of the important stuff like Maid of the Mist, Whitewater Walk blah blah... had lunch at this fast food place. Walked more.. took plenty of photos, then went to the butterfly conservatory. Loads of pretty butterflies with a distinct lack of caterpillars. Hidden from sight. Then back to hostel (in an attempt for free dinner, only to discover it costs money). Boo. Back to downtown for dinner at this italian place. The salads there was fantastic, pizzas were average. Next came the walk to the falls, where we had expected them to be lighted up by artificial lights. What did we see? No lights. You could make out the falls - a bit like "Where's Waldo"? Try finding the falls with no lights. Dumb. Being so disappointed, the only way to get us out this was to head to the casino.
Nothing much to say about the casino, except that ct bought a bottle of beer, and was swigging off it. Very impressive. The 'bouncers' probably thought he was the biggest player out of us 6. Ended casino way too late at 2. CT then revealed a box of donuts from Tim Horton's. Now, i wonder what was the obsession of Tim Horton's donuts, but we were clearly on the lookout for them since Friday. FInally, there they were. A full box.
Bedtime followed by a scrumptious breakfast of overnight Tim Horton's donuts. YUM. We then hiked down to the whirlpool, took more photos. Had lunch at this ulu place and caught the train back to Toronto on Sunday, where we were treated to free wine and cheese courtesy of some casino. HA. Free wine and cheese on the train. This was so surreal. Of course, the initial expectation was 1 glass plus 1 slice. Then, he came back with more wine... hahaa.. of course we took it.
Cards again on the train. Where CT revealed his mastery of HEARTS. He shot the moon. Shen Cang Bu Lou. Scary.
Back in Toronto, we had dinner at this Jap place with HUGE portions. On Monday, there was this public transport strike in the city. GREAT. Walked to the subway station and found the doors locked. Walked to the next one, and the doors were locked. CRAZY. Ended up squatting in this pub for lunch for 2 hours, with free wi-fi. Then did some shopping before grabbing a cab to the airport. Now, the cab driver was amazing. After picking us up, he drove to a nearby hotel and asked if anyone else was headed for the airport. What did he expect? Double payment OR us all splitting the bill? What was he saving? The driver-passenger dynamics is really interesting. Nothing is stopping either party from cheating. The passenger could just walk out without paying and the driver could just take us on a roundabout route.
Arriving at the airport, there was the realisation that my I-94 departure card had not been detached from my passport when i departed SFO. CRAP. Am i going to be thrown in jail? Later realisation that when travelling to canada, mexico or adjacent islands for less than 30 days, the card need not be surrendered. Too many bureaucracies surrounding US air travel. Grr.. UK was so hassle free relatively speaking.
Domestic flight = no free food. Ended up paying 2 bucks for instant mee. Was craving for it, hadn't had it in 2 months. Got back in SFO round 11pm. Lessons on Tuesday.
So i'll be there till sunday night. Fingers crossed - weather is looking bad. Thunderstorms can translate to DELAYED flights at the airport. Not looking forward to that.
Toronto:
Arrived in the city on Friday morning around 6am. Terminal 2 is sad. Small. Very bad for a city of the size of Toronto. Makes me wonder about SARS and Toronto - the initial transmission. Anyway, got out at the gate and boarded the citybus to head to the subway station. Transferred onto the subway and then the street car (which is so cool, coz it's connected with the subway system). Makes winter travelling a bliss, since you don't have to get outside.
Tracked down where wj was staying overnight (yk was supposed to join but was stuck in o'hare courtesy of the chicago airport curse). Speaking of which, when i was sitting in the Toronto departure lounge waiting for my return flight, the only flights that were being delayed that night were those bound for o'hare. HMM... lesson to be learned: NEVER route via Chicago O'Hare. NEVER. NEVER think you can escape. Coz chances are even if you do, you'll be sucked back into the curse the next time.
Found wj. We promptly collapsed back in bed (red eye flights are brutal, especially those from the west coast to the east). How much sleep can you get on a 5 hr flight? Completely forgot yk's flight was due 2 hrs earlier, so we only discovered our grave mistake at 11:30am. But we are resourceful people, with sound backup plans! So everything worked out. Moved into our next hostel (which was more of a B&B). Posh. 2 double beds for 3 people, TV, free breakfast! All for 30 canadian per person. Then, we headed downtown to the City Hall area and had lunch at the basement food court of the mall. A spot of shopping followed. See, it was a 'tai tai-esque' holiday. Then, it was CN tower. Gloomy day, so no point going up. Then ct gets off work, so we tumbled back to chinatown for ... you guessed it, KARAOKE.
4 singaporeans in toronto. And we found karaoke in toronto. BLISS. 2 hours of singing followed, with the cheapo waitstaff, who conned us each of 1 free drink. "Bu Hao Yi Si" is no way to treat your customers. Saying that does not absolve you of forgetting to bring our drink. Singing galore, ended with a grand dinner.
HAHA.. we went for seafood in this chinese place. Again, incredulous. We had lobsters, snapper, sliced beef and cai xin. Also had free lotus root/pork soup. AND free dou hua. OMG, this is impossible isn't it? It was cheap too! After this, we zoomed back to ct's place, where we caught sight of a raccoon, stalking the university campus. Enthralling stuff. Looked at ct's vancouver photos, followed by the usual round of teasing (of certain suggestive photos). Then trudged back home for 4 hours of sleep, before waking up to catch the early train out to Niagara.
Niagara:
Train ride to Niagara (2 hrs) was smooth. Played cards along the way - actually only alternated between Big 2 and bridge. Arrived in Niagara, found our hostel, 3 double deck beds. VERY simple room. But hey, it works. Got the adventure pass, which took you round most of the places in Niagara. Must say the whole place feels like a package - an exotic Pasir Ris Resort, with the falls in the background. Will post photos from Niagara next.
Did most of the important stuff like Maid of the Mist, Whitewater Walk blah blah... had lunch at this fast food place. Walked more.. took plenty of photos, then went to the butterfly conservatory. Loads of pretty butterflies with a distinct lack of caterpillars. Hidden from sight. Then back to hostel (in an attempt for free dinner, only to discover it costs money). Boo. Back to downtown for dinner at this italian place. The salads there was fantastic, pizzas were average. Next came the walk to the falls, where we had expected them to be lighted up by artificial lights. What did we see? No lights. You could make out the falls - a bit like "Where's Waldo"? Try finding the falls with no lights. Dumb. Being so disappointed, the only way to get us out this was to head to the casino.
Nothing much to say about the casino, except that ct bought a bottle of beer, and was swigging off it. Very impressive. The 'bouncers' probably thought he was the biggest player out of us 6. Ended casino way too late at 2. CT then revealed a box of donuts from Tim Horton's. Now, i wonder what was the obsession of Tim Horton's donuts, but we were clearly on the lookout for them since Friday. FInally, there they were. A full box.
Bedtime followed by a scrumptious breakfast of overnight Tim Horton's donuts. YUM. We then hiked down to the whirlpool, took more photos. Had lunch at this ulu place and caught the train back to Toronto on Sunday, where we were treated to free wine and cheese courtesy of some casino. HA. Free wine and cheese on the train. This was so surreal. Of course, the initial expectation was 1 glass plus 1 slice. Then, he came back with more wine... hahaa.. of course we took it.
Cards again on the train. Where CT revealed his mastery of HEARTS. He shot the moon. Shen Cang Bu Lou. Scary.
Back in Toronto, we had dinner at this Jap place with HUGE portions. On Monday, there was this public transport strike in the city. GREAT. Walked to the subway station and found the doors locked. Walked to the next one, and the doors were locked. CRAZY. Ended up squatting in this pub for lunch for 2 hours, with free wi-fi. Then did some shopping before grabbing a cab to the airport. Now, the cab driver was amazing. After picking us up, he drove to a nearby hotel and asked if anyone else was headed for the airport. What did he expect? Double payment OR us all splitting the bill? What was he saving? The driver-passenger dynamics is really interesting. Nothing is stopping either party from cheating. The passenger could just walk out without paying and the driver could just take us on a roundabout route.
Arriving at the airport, there was the realisation that my I-94 departure card had not been detached from my passport when i departed SFO. CRAP. Am i going to be thrown in jail? Later realisation that when travelling to canada, mexico or adjacent islands for less than 30 days, the card need not be surrendered. Too many bureaucracies surrounding US air travel. Grr.. UK was so hassle free relatively speaking.
Domestic flight = no free food. Ended up paying 2 bucks for instant mee. Was craving for it, hadn't had it in 2 months. Got back in SFO round 11pm. Lessons on Tuesday.
Group photo taken at White Water Walk in Niagara.
posted by Monty Elm at 3:23 am
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