Toronto (26 Sep - 1 Oct)

Time to talk about my Toronto trip before my next trip, which is... tomorrow, to Washington DC! This is a super overdue post.

So... my adventures in the USA has also brought me across the border to neighbouring Canada! Some photos are up on facebook already. There's too much I can write about but I guess the pictures will give you a better idea. Well I wasn't very keen on two consecutive weeks of travelling, but since Chia Ying's housemates were away that weekend it would be nice to accompany her. Thank God I recovered before I went and so was able to enjoy myself fully. And God really blessed me with special opportunities that weekend, like going to Midland on Saturday and seeing the street performances in Kensington Market on Sunday!

Anyway I arrived on Fri night and was received at the airport by Chia Ying and a couple who does the International Students Ministry, which Chia Ying is involved in. On Sat we got a ride from them to Midland, this place north of Toronto, about 2 hours away. They were going somewhere nearby to visit their son (they usually go on weekdays but this was an exception!) so they dropped us off at Midland, and we took the boat cruise there in the Georgian bay, which supposedly has 30 000 islands. Of course we didn't get to see all the islands, but it was quite beautiful, especially with some of the trees having fall colours already. There were many cottages on some of the islands as well, looks like a good getaway place. Also really thank God that the rained stopped in the afternoon when we were just boarding the boat!

At the Georgian Bay

On Sunday we went church in the morning then downtown in the afternoon. Had some chinese food in a Hong Kong restaurant in Chinatown, then walked to Kensington Market, where the street was closed to traffic for street performances and all. The street is closed to traffic for pedestrians on the last Sunday of the month in May to Oct, and we just happened to be there that day. Quite interesting. We walked further to Little Italy and Korean town too. I guess I was pretty surprised at the large proportion of Asians in Toronto. More than 50% maybe.

We had dinner at the CN Tower, the tallest structure in the world at 553 metres. The revolving restaurant is 350 metres above ground. Good view of Toronto and Lake Ontario, but it was quite cloudy and misty that day so couldn't see too far, and we also missed the sunset :( The food was good though, it's really fine dining! After dinner went to the open-air observation deck, which was super cold when the wind blew. The wind was so strong that it actually propelled us forward when we were walking! It was a happening day and we walked a lot. But more to come in the next 2 days.

At the Look Out Level in the CN Tower, 346 metres above ground.

Finally on Monday we went to the Niagara Falls, the place where you must go if you come to Toronto. It was really beautiful, but the sun wasn't out that day so we didn't get to see any rainbow :( Took the Maid of the Mist boat ride, which got us all wet from the falls and my camera phone nearly died! But thank God it survived after some drying, or else I would have lost a camera and a phone.

Then we did something adventurous - cross over to the US border to see the falls from there. It was much more beautiful at the US side, because we could only see the rapids from the US side. And it's so different in that US did it as a Niagara Falls State Park (which was quiet and serene), while at the Canadian side there were other attractions like museums, haunted house, ferris wheel, casinos etc.

There was just one (big) problem in crossing to the US. I didn't bring my I-20 form with me. This form is needed for me to re-enter US. We brought our passports because we needed it to take the tour bus from Toronto to Niagara falls but I didn't think I'll need the I-20 form so I left it at Chia Ying's place. Thought that if the US side didn't allow me in then I'll just come back. They did allow me in because from their custom system they could check and verify that I'm at student in US. But the problem is when I went back to Canada they didn't allow me in because I didn't have the I-20 form. The Canada immigration officer was very strict and didn't accept even though the US immigration side gave a written verification that I am a student at US. She insisted that I needed my I-20 form to enter Canada. So I had no choice, I stayed one night in US in a youth hostel near the Niagara falls, while Chia Ying went back to Toronto to take the form and came back to Niagara falls the next day and crossed over to the US side to pass it to me. Actually the next day when I crossed to Canada side with the I-20 form the immigration officer didn't really check the I-20 form. I folded the form and he didn't even open it to check that it was my name.

That day I walked the Rainbow bridge (the bridge that links US and Canada) 5 times! It so happens that every trip I go on, I have time alone myself though it's not planned beforehand, which is good I guess, I quite like it. But that day after looking for a place to stay a buying dinner, I missed seeing the sunset again :( Wanted to hang around a while more to see if the falls would get illuminated (as seen from the postcards) but thought that it wouldn't be on since it was already 7.30 pm then. It was getting cold to so I decided to check into the hostel instead of exploring more. Then I only found out when I arrived at the hostel that the falls were illuminated at 8.30 pm. It was deemed too dark and unsafe for me to go back there then, and the other girls there didn't want to go, so I didn't get to see it :(

So our supposedly one day at the Niagara falls became two days, because when Chia Ying came over the next day we spent the day exploring the US side again, and discovered more nice places to view the falls from! We walked so much those 2 days that my legs were actually aching when I came back to Raleigh. And because of this I-20 form I missed my flight from Toronto to Raleigh on Tues morning (as well as my classes on Tues and Wed, an additional 4 classes!). I booked the flight on Wed morning but because for Star Alliance redemption I have to book a round trip, so I booked another Raleigh to Toronto flight on 16 Dec. So the new plan is to go visit Chia Ying again after my exams. I really wanna come back to the Niagara Falls again, cos we didn't really walk much of the Canadian side (the place is simply too big!) and I must catch the sunset and the falls illumination then, which starts at 5pm during winter. Hopefully I will get to see a rainbow too. Chia Ying and I also talked about going Montreal and Quebec. More chance of seeing snow there :) Probably take the train down to New York City or Boston from there after that.

The American Falls


The Canadian Horseshoe Falls

On the rainbow bridge which links US and Canada.

On returning to Toronto on Tues night we realised that 1 Oct (Wed) is a public holiday in Singapore, so we decided to call Sarah that morning (Tues night for us). Haha we actually had "DG" for over an hour! It's so great catching up. And really glad to have been able to spend time with Chia Ying. The time spent those few days were probably more than 1 year's worth of DG time together.

What an adventure! Many more to come soon :)