Easter Retreat - Toronto

The visit to Downtown Toronto was not planned, and really the result of unique circumstances. I was supposed to take the 1125am flight from Newark to Toronto, and then the 6pm flight from Toronto to London. That would have meant that I would have had to stay in the Toronto airport during the transit as there would be too little time in between to do anything else. Secondly, even if I had reached Toronto early, it is quite unthinkable that I would have ventured out of the airport alone.

Serendipity had it that in my desperate attempts to get rid of my luggage, I went to the check-in counter to deposit my luggage at 530am even though my flight was at 1125am. There was no staff manning the Air Canada check-in. But there was a gentleman sitting in front of the counter. He approached me and asked me what time the staff would arrive. The conversation continued in all dimensions. He was a Frenchman, and had just spent 4 months in Mexico with his Mexican girlfriend. He intends to migrate there or to San Diego eventually to work. Previouly in France, he actually imported bubble tea from Taiwan after reading a "Food Journal on International Cuisine" and tried to sell it in France, albeit to little success. He concluded that French have very specialized taste, and are not very adventurous. His best friend plays in the First XI for Auxerre in the French Ligue and apparently, has been bought by Middlesborough for next season.

What then conspired was that the staff transferred me to the earlier 630am flight to Toronto, which was the same as the Frenchman. His connecting flight was 12 hours later to Paris, while mine was 10 hours. I suggested that with the luxury of time, we should go out of the airport. Toronto has a very simple and user-friendly transportation system, with a subway line going North-South and East-West, as well as buses serving the airport connecting to the subway. We first visited the CN Tower and Sky Dome, but due to the ridiculous high cost of going up the Tower, decided against it. I also prefer the Calgary skyline to Toronto's.

Thereafter, we had breakfast at a small cafe, from which the friendly Korean storeowner gave us directions to Chinatown and Kensington Market. And so, we started walking down the streets, indulging in my favourite pastime of pointing out pretty girls to each other.Toronto's Chinatown is the most impressive I have seen, it is not just a commercial one street Chinatown, but rather, a whole network of streets showcasing not only Chinese food, but also its culture. Essentially, it is a self-sustainable community with barbers, provision stores, drama clubs and more. The architecture of the entire district looks exactly like London.

Upon return to the airport, the Chinaman and Frenchman exchanged contacts. Quite remarkable, aint it?