After my final exams ended, I flew over to Toronto to visit a few good friends who were studying at the University of Toronto.
One of them was super nice and sweet and she housed me at her dorm for five nights. (Shoutout to Amy, you the best!)
I arrived on the 25th of April and both Tom and Amy came to pick me up at the airport. We took the metro from there and oh. my. goodness! To travel by metro, I needed a token. And guess how much a token was? THREE BUCKS!!!!! Yeup… And that was just one token. And one token can only be used once, one way. Toronto metro, why you so expensive!?
Lunch took place at Salad King and I had the shrimp pad thai, yum!
Next stop was the Toronto Eaton Centre for some shopping shopping.
Left to right: Tom, Eric, Amy, and Natasha. Missing Mike!
And to welcome me to town, these crazy hooligans brought me to pub crawl.
Next morning, I took the 8:20am train and ventured out to see the Niagara Falls on my own.
I didn’t know this at the time of my visit, but Niagara Falls is actually a collective name of three different waterfalls. The largest is the Horseshoe Falls followed by the American Falls and the Bridal Veil Falls is the smallest. The first is largely located on the Canadian side whereas the other two are entirely on the American side.
You can actually take a cruise as well, which really allows you to savor the full waterfall experience. The Traveling Texans has some helpful information to help you pick between Hornblower Niagara Cruises vs Maid of the Mist.
For lunch, I enjoyed a rack of lamb at the Revolving Dining Room at the Skylon Tower. Have you ever seen a rack of lamb smaller than a baby potato? Me neither. And this dish was $37.95. Boy did it cost me a fortune! I had wanted to go with a lighter lunch but nothing caught my eye except for their smoked salmon croissant, which was priced at $27.95 and I simply couldn’t justify eating a croissant for that price! Overall the food here was terrible, which wasn’t a surprise because with restaurants like these, you usually just come here for the view. That said, I’m still glad I paid a visit because the sight here was spectacular.
I later found out that admission to the indoor and outdoor observation decks were free for guests who dined at the restaurant so here I was trying to justify that $37.95 really wasn’t too bad at all.
Since I still had a lot of time until my returning train, I continued to walk alongside the falls and headed for the Floral Showhouse.
The falls and the show house were my main places of interest. I also wanted to check out the Journey Behind the Falls where you could actually feel the waters splashing on your face, but I didn’t want to get my camera wet. And no, I didn’t stay over night so I unfortunately missed the night view of the light show as well.
Aside from these popular activities, you can actually zip line across the falls! Crazy right!?
I got back after 9pm or so, but still made it in time for hot pot with the crew. And we also grabbed Korean BBQ after… #oops #diet #whatdiet?
The kimbap and japchae was on the house. Thank you ahjumoni!
The problem with living in Toronto Downtown? There’s endless restaurants and everywhere is open late. Oh the temptation…
Amy took me to see Casa Loma the next day, but entrance fee was a bit pricey so we ended up talking a stroll along the outside.
Lunch was right downstairs of her residence at L’Espresso bar Mercurio on Bloor Street.
Afterwards, we set out for the Royal Ontario Museum.
We met up with Tom later the day and headed for dinner at the 360 Restaurant at CN Tower!
Oh! And dinner here also came with complimentary visits to the glass floor and observation deck.
The glass floor was built at an elevation of 342m. I was so scared I literally took super tiny baby steps.
It was funny too because you could see the aquarium down below through the glass and there was a giant shark picture on its roof. We joked about how if the glass were to break, we’d fall in the shark tank for sure.
The night continued with drinks at The One Eighty panorama lounge.
The view here of Downtown Toronto was amazing. Something about these city lights against the night-sky was just so mysteriously alluring and captivating.
Tom took me on a tour of the St. George campus the next day.
This was supposed to look like a turkey by the way.
Following that, we checked out Kensington, otherwise known as the hipster area.
We also passed by a costume rental place and decided to try on something just for fun.
Then we met up with Amy and her friend Vivian and we headed for Ossington for late lunch and thrifting!
And dinner! Mmm! Pork buns and ramen at Momofuku’s Noodle Bar. Hahaa when were we ever not eating.
To conclude my last night here in Toronto, we made an impulsive decision to visit Centre Island for a different perspective of Downtown Toronto at night.
We took the ferry, which was $14 roundtrip.
This view right here. Incredibly breathtaking.
And to really wrap up the night, we headed for shotski at El Furniture Warehouse and karaoke!
So thankful for my awesome friends for taking care of me and showing me around town this whole trip. Don’t forget to check out my vlog and see you next time!
