Really Cold

Today was clear and cold. Not good weather for walking about unless you want to turn into an icicle.

After checking out, my sister and I left our luggage in care of the hotel while we wandered about Toronto some more before we leave in the evening. We went to Chinatown and had dim sum at Dim Sum Banquet which was a lot more traditional in layout compared to the place we went to in Montreal. Here, the ladies carting around the food screamed out their wares like fishwives–which I found hilarious.

Then we wandered around the University of Toronto and took some pictures (primarily for our father’s benefit) before riding a bit on the subway to make use of our day pass. For dinner, we went to Queen Mother’s Cafe, which unlike the restaurant we went to on New Year’s Eve, truly serves Asian fusion. I had the Pad Thai which was quite good.

At the moment, I’m waiting at VIA Rail Canada’s lounge for people taking the sleeper cars. In some ways, I’m excited about taking this transcontinental trip, but then again, I’m not so sure about the other passengers. They’re all of a certain type, if you know what I mean. Retirees with money to spend. I’m doing this on a semi-impulsive lark so we’ll see how this goes.

Wandering Around Toronto

We had breakfast at a small mom-and-pop cafe called Daily Brew on Bay before heading to a bookstore a block away which claimed to be The World’s Biggest Bookstore. Honestly? Not even close. The chain bookstores in Canada such as Chapters and Indigo might even have more square footage.

Later in the day, we headed to Greektown on Danforth where our parents had lived while our dad was in grad school. But since that was about three decades ago, we figured that whatever had been up back then had either been torn down or renovated beyond recognition. We had some appetizers at The Friendly Greek and bought some cookies at a local Greek bakery called Athena.

Then it was back to the Eaton Centre in downtown where I was pretty much dragged along on the next chapter on my sister’s quest for the perfect boot. And you guessed it: no boot found.

Also: No blog post for the next week due to my train trip across Canada. If I can get reception on the cell I’m borrowing, any updates will be on my account on Twitter.

From 20100101_Toronto

From 20100101_Toronto

From 20100101_Toronto

From 20100101_Toronto

Happy New Year!

While I’m still in the process of uploading the crazy, grainy video I took with my camera around midnight, here are some photos I took right before the hand hit twelve.

Right before we hit Nathan Phillips Square for the New Year’s celebrations, we wandered a bit around downtown Toronto and got dinner at an “Asian fusion” restaurant called Made in China. The atmosphere was cute and chic–definitely for hip, young people–but the food was only so-so. I guess in decor and food, one has to give somewhere.

From 20091231_Toronto

From 20091231_Toronto

From 20091231_Toronto