100 things to do in Toronto

 2009  No Responses »
Feb 192009
 

I always get this question from visitors to Toronto and CS Hoster in Toronto, the CSers always get this question along with “How to get to Niagara Falls fo Cheap?”.

This following list is the result of many threads and discussions  on the CS Toronto group and basically has been lifted wholesale from the Couchsurfing Toronto group!

1. Lie face down on the glass floor at the CN Tower
2. Sit upstairs at Union Station during rush hour
3. Skate at Nathan Phillips Square
4. Tour the Steam Whistle Brewery
5. Have a hot chocolate at Soma in The Distillery District
6. Do a bike tour of Toronto Island
7. Go shopping at Honest Ed’s
8. Walk the boardwalk at The Beach
9. Go to Dundas Square
10. Dine at a famous chef’s restaurant
11. Take a city walking tour and check out jane’s walk
12. Get out of the downtown core
13. Ride the 501 Queen Streetcar
14. Go shopping in Chinatown
15. Have a coffee in Kensington Market
16. Window shop in Yorkville
17. Eat corn on the sidewalk in Little India in the summer
18. Take a train ride through High Park
19. Walk the entire PATH
20. Check out a local band
21. Sample honey at St. Lawrence Market
22. Tour the CBC building
23. Eat Souvlaki on The Danforth
24. Have dinner in Little Italy
25. Read in the garden at Casa Loma
26. Come face to face with a dinosaur at the ROM
27. Visit the AGO for free
28. Sample free beer at theMill St Brewery in the Distillery District
29. Explore the Toronto alleys
30. Go to the Ontario Science Center
31. Check out the parks running north from the Don Valley – (ride a bike from the lake through the Don Valley all the way up through Serena Gundy Park and all the way up to Sunnybrook Park or Edward’s Gardens or something – there are trails all the way up, lots of cool stuff in there.)
32. High Park is also pretty cool
33. Cherry Beach
34. Sunnyside Park beaches
35. Tommy Thompson Park
36. Bluffers Park
37. Ice skating between Toronto Islands
38. spent the last Sunday of the month (only from May to October)at Kensington Market – Pedestrian-only streets
39. Go buy some Whiskey Cheddar from Global Cheese in Kensington Market and eat it because I just had some and this stuff is seriously delicious. (as stated by ROB_K)
40. historical post office on adelaide st east
41. any historical house, ie: mackenzie, spadina, etc..
42. riverdale farm/cabbagetown especially when the festivals are on
43. tobogganing down riverdale park east hill.. the west side has a baseball diamond now.. may be a bit dangerous!
44. sunbathing at hanlan’s point clothing optional beach
45. Watch a movie at one of Toronto’s many film festivals
46. Walk around Toronto dressed as a zombie
47. Have a coffee in the cafe at the corner of Baldwin and Augusta before 8AM on a weekday and watch the people who pass before they go to work
48. Visit LCBO Summerhill to glory in the past, marvel in the present, as the immaculately restored North Toronto Railway Station (Circa 1916) is now the largest and most fascinating wine & spirits store in Canada.
49. Fair Trade coffee & delicious sandwiches at Tinto’s on Roncesvalles
50. Join the Caribana Parade
51. Brickworks Farmer’s Market (May – Oct) and for that matter, biking in and around the Brickworks
52. Checking out the view of Toronto from hill next to Brickworks
53. Check out where Lake Ontario meets Scarberia (near Port Union Station)
54. Watch the sun rise/set from the end of the Leslie Spit
55. The Junction Arts Fest in September (one of Toronto’s best kept secrets)
56. Bike the Humber River Trail
57. Picnic in Morningside Park
58. Bonfire on beach out in Scarborough (near Morningside I think)
59. Promise Party at the Beaches
60. Sunnybrook Park (horses are in the back of the park, in the stables)
61. Biking the Ex at night during spring when no one is around, spooky.
62. go to for an ice cream at the Dutch Cafe (funny building and awesome assortment of ice cream!)
63. dive into pomegranate deliciousness
64. take a walk from the beaches westward to sunnyside park on the boardwalk (or bike)
65. take the carillon tour with Gerald from CS.
66. Get your hands on the ceramic wheel at the Gardiner Museum on Fridays and Sundays
67. Enjoy an aperitif with view from the rooftop bar of the Park Hyatt
68. Go to a concert at the beautiful Roy Thomson Hall (and find discounted tickets on sale the same day)
69. Watch Rocky Horror Picture Show at Bloor Cinema on Halloween at midnight
70. Read a book in Queen’s Park Spring/Summer/Fall which is also home to Ontario Legislative Assembly
71. Mutahdi’s Drumming Festival (July – Queen’s Park)
72. Kick Ass Karaoke
73. Brunch in St. Lawrence Market
74. Picnic on Toronto Islands
75. Plant trees in with Bring Back the Don
76. The AIDS Memorial (behind the 519 on church)
77. Eat at Zelda’s
78. Play a round of manhunt
79. Visit Ireland Park down at the waterfront
80. Audit a lecture by one of Toronto’s (semi-)famous professors: Mark Kingswell, Nick Mount, etc
81. Might even recommend visiting a couple subway stations as destinations in and of themselves: Museum and Dupont for starters.
82. Pay a visit to 401 Richmond
83. the actual Distillery District
84. Watch the real pros play basketball at Harbourfront Community Centre outdoor courts
85. Wychwood Barns an exciting project they have going with the STOP
86. Harbourfront Festivals (any weekend starting from May – September) there’s Hot N Spicy, Ukranian, Askenazi, Chinese… showcases the diversity of Toronto.
87. Sample Polish or Ukranian desserts in roncesvalles/Bloor West Village
88. Eat at the world’s only Hungarain Thai restaurant in Kensington Market
89. Participate in Improv at Bad Dog Theatre
90. Museum of Inuit Art on your way to Harbourfront
91. Check out Matador’s a late night after hours club
92. Jazz festival in the Beach
93. Check out one of the many historical churches in the city like; St. Michael’s, St. James’, St. Patrick’s, etc..
94. check out the Fringe Fest
95. “Dream in High Park” plays presented during the summer.
96. Shop at Active Surplus
97. Check out drummers in exile; summer: trinty-bellwood park, winter: annex wreck room
98. Check out the Gay Pride Parade
99. Check out WinterCity
100. Sneaky Dee’s

http://www.couchsurfing.org/group_read.html?gid=437&post=2827409

 Posted by rishiray at 12:01 am  Tagged with: , , , ,

Valentine's Weekend in Montreal

 2009, Canada 2009, Montreal  No Responses »
Feb 142009
 

Photolog:

http://rishiray.smugmug.com/gallery/7388108_pGfMj#475845455_bX4Se

 Posted by rishiray at 1:13 pm  Tagged with:

Just don't lick the tuna! I can't stop laughing!!

 2008  No Responses »
Feb 102009
 

I think back to 2007 and touring Tokyo and Kyoto… now perusing the papers while I’m on the bench and I happen to see this gem of an article….oh tourists (myself included in tourists, why do we fuck things up for everyone else, excluded from fucking shit up)

TOKYO: CAN TOURISTS BE TRUSTED IN TSUKIJI?

Just don’t lick the tuna

Foreign visitors overwhelm the world’s largest seafood market

SHINO YUASA

Associated Press

February 7, 2009

TOKYO — Tourists are known for acting silly sometimes. You have to cut them some slack. But licking the tuna?

Overwhelmed by an increasing number of misbehaving tourists at the world’s largest seafood market, Tokyo fishmongers decided last month to put their foot down, temporarily banning all visitors from one of the most popular tourist destinations: their predawn tuna auctions.

The ban, which was lifted earlier this month, was front-page news in Japan. Now, the tourists are back, but the debate goes on: Can tourists be trusted in Tsukiji?

“We understand that the sight of hundreds of frozen tuna looks unique and interesting for foreign tourists,” said Yoshiaki Takagi, the deputy director of the market. “But they have to understand the Tsukiji market is a professional place, not an amusement park.”

The sprawling Tsukiji market dates to the 16th century, when the military rulers who had just moved Japan’s capital to Tokyo – then called Edo – wanted to ensure that they had a proper channel to get enough fish to their hungry vassals at the nearby castle.

Today, Japan is the world’s biggest consumer of seafood. The market handles 480 kinds of seafood, bringing around 40,000 buyers and sellers daily. The value of its seafood trade amounts to about $25-million a day on average, making it the heart of the national seafood distribution system and the biggest fish wholesale market in the world.

It is the kind of place that Japanese take for granted, like, say, a big pencil factory might be ignored in the West.

But because of its long history, the traditional way that the fish are auctioned off by men in rubber boots and baseball hats using arcane hand signals, and the volume and variety of fish available there every day, it has become a big hit with foreigners.

Takagi said nearly 90 per cent of visitors for tuna auctions are non-Japanese.

“In Holland, we have a flower market, a cheese market, but nothing like the Tsukiji market,” said Jan Groeneweg, a 55-year-old banking analyst from the Netherlands who came before sunrise to see a tuna sale. “It’s one of the top 10 attractions in Tokyo.”

But popularity has brought its problems.

One of the more notorious recent cases was that of a drunken British tourist – caught by a Japanese TV crew – who licked the head of a frozen tuna while two others, also caught on TV, rode on a trolley used by wholesalers.

“Tuna is a very expensive fish,” Takagi said. “One tuna can easily cost more than $13,000. But some tourists touch them and even try to hug them.”

Fed up, the market decided to impose a ban on visitors to tuna auctions for its peak season at New Year’s.

So, when on Jan. 5, the first auctioning day of the year, a premium bluefin tuna fetched $132,000, the highest in nearly a decade, no tourists were anywhere in sight.

The restriction was lifted on Jan. 19, despite some grumbling from the fishmongers.

The most common complaint from auctioneers is tourists using flash cameras, which makes it difficult for them to read the finger signal code used for bidding. The market put up English signs saying, “No Flash!” but that was widely ignored, Takagi said.

“The flash of cameras really bothers me. Since I don’t speak English, I make gestures to ask foreign tourists not to use a flash. Most of them stop, but some just keep doing it,” tuna buyer Yasumasa Oshima said.

After the ban was lifted, the market began distributing leaflets at the entrance of the tuna auction site in English, Chinese, Korean and Russian, as well as Japanese. Along with the no-flash warning, it tells visitors to stay within the observation area and leave promptly after the auctions, which open at 5.

The post-ban crowds have been better behaved.

“This is something you only see on the Discovery Channel,” said Chris Szydlo, a 33-year-old American business consultant from Florida. “We don’t have anything like this, not even close.”

 Posted by rishiray at 8:50 pm  Tagged with:

Hmmmmm now im thinking about 25 things to do in Montreal!!!

 2008  No Responses »
Feb 102009
 

Things that one doesn’t think about.. but is different about this city!!

  1. Warm up to shopping in the Underground City
  2. Ride the funicular to the top of the leaning tower over the Olympic Stadium, part of the ‘legacy’ from the 1976 Games, and the city’s best viewpoint.
  3. Eating the best bagel around at St Viateur and Fairmont Bagels
  4. Having dinner at the Delta Centre-Ville with one of the best views in the city.
  5. Hanging out in the Old Port in Montreal.
  6. Go check out the stars in
  7.  the Planetarium
  8. See a show at Place Des Arts
  9. Good music at the Montreal Symphony Orchestra or McGill Student Orchestra
  10. Speaking of McGill, tour the grounds and explore the campus.
  11. Go skating in the Atrium.I’ve done this once and I know I won’t do it again but hey it is something fun to do!
  12. BioDome and Botanical Gardens…in the winter … I don’t know about that!
  13. Eat a Foie Gras poutine, have two steamies at La Belle Province and then head to Schwartz or Rubens for Smoked Meat.
  14. Go smoke shisha and have turkish coffee with some of Lebanese food on the continent.
  15. Sit in the horse drawn sleigh rides in Mont Royal
  16. Food touring in Jean Talon market…and have a poutine in there!
  17. Sugar shacking in Mont Tremblant.
  18. Have coffee at Second Cup at Stanley St and St Catherines
  19. Go for the lunch buffet at Chez Paree! ha!
  20. Bar Hopping on Crescent St
  21. Go paddle boating in Beaver Park, or Jean Drapeau park or the Old Port
  22. How about clubbing on St Laurent and have a pint at Vol De Nuit and then some pitchers at Annie’s and then go dancing and hang off the rafters at Le Lodge
  23. Biking on the Lachine Canal
  24. Climb Mont Royal and hike through the forest at the top
  25. See Montreal from Notre Dame Basillica and the view at Snowdon
  26. Go shopping during the St Laurent Street Sale
  27. Boustan and Amirs on De Maissoneuve, nothing else needs to be said.
  28. Have dinner at O’Noirs….

I guess most things I can associate with Montreal is food. Now I’m determined to have dinner at O’Noirs… and I guess time to start Toronto F’n'C…

 Posted by rishiray at 8:19 pm  Tagged with: , ,

Touring Toronto??!?

 2009  No Responses »
Feb 102009
 

For all the travelling I do for work and everything else in between, it is sometimes very easy to take Toronto for granted. This is an awesome city with tons to do and see… good food, good culture and unique neighbourhoods. So why do we take our home cities for granted….in fact, it is possible to take your home country for granted! Most of the places in Trinidad that are listed in tourist brochures and guide books are only visited by Trinis after they have left Trinidad! *I’ll raise my hand and include myself in that bunch*

That being said.. I just found a great list from Couchsurfing that made me think a bit and I’m pleased to say that I have done a lot in the city. The following list was taken from Toronto.com http://www.toronto.com/attractions/article/600238

1. Lie face down on the glass floor at the CN Tower – Done
2. Sit upstairs at Union Station during rush hour – Done
3. Skate at Nathan Phillips Square – Done and fell on my ass badly!
4. Tour the Steam Whistle Brewery – Have not gone as yet, but on my to do list for sure.
5. Have a hot chocolate at Soma in The Distillery District – Does eating and snacking in the Distillery District count?
6. Do a bike tour of Toronto Island – Does walking as much as I can around the Island ONCE count??
7. Go shopping at Honest Ed’s – Who hasn’t shopped for cutlery here?
8. Walk the boardwalk at The Beach – And played volleyball at the Beaches too :)
9. Go to Dundas Square – Done
10. Dine at a famous chef’s place – Had the fries and wine at Jamie Kennedy’s and had dinner at Susur’s 
11. Take a city walking tour – I cycled this city already..walking..I dunno
12. Get out of the downtown core – I was known to even take a bus and TTC
13. Ride the Queen streetcar – Done..but too many weird people for my taste
14. Go shopping in Chinatown – I eat there on a weekly basis..shopping…only for tea cups
15. Have a coffee in Kensington Market – Done
16. Window shop in Yorkville – I shop in Yorkville….*lol*  ONCE!
17. Eat corn on the sidewalk in Little India in the summer …get the fresh samosas outside Nu-Fashion!
18. Take a train ride through High Park – Haven’t done…where is High Park??
19. Walk the entire PATH – Done…over a couple years
20. Check out a local band – Done…but I’m really not a live band person
21. Sample honey at St. Lawrence Market – Done….honey on ham..yum!
22. Tour the CBC building – Done ..who would have thought the building was so big and green
23. Eat Souvlaki on The Danforth – Done..I’m feeling for Montreal Shawarma though!
24. Have dinner in Little Italy – Done
25. Read in the garden at Casa Loma – I don’t read, but I do walk but that hill is a biatch….

What a nice list… I think I have to start adding to this list and I have to compile a Montreal list for sure!!

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