Toronto, Ontario, Canada: 5-6 September 2008

Some people i talked to has very strong feeling to Toronto: "i hate Toronto". i think it is bizzarre to use such a strong word on Toronto. It is a big big city, like any other metropolitan. It might not as cultural as New York or as vibrant as Montreal, but there is nothing hateful about Toronto that i can feel. May be i just haven't stay there long enough to know the place.



The famous Toronto CN tower.



Toronto have a very big Chinese community.
Like any other part of the world, the Chinatown is always in the city centre.



The stadium used to be called "sky dome".
The roof can be opened and it should be interesting to watch a baseball game here.
(The Olympic Stadium in Montreal only managed to open its roof for once. :P)



i knew Viet Ha when i was travelling in Vietnam. She was backed to Hanoi for her internship from British Columbia University in Vancouver at that time.
She is now working in Toronto.
It was really nice to see her again and i think i remember very much that, she said when she first came to Canada, it surprised her that, tap water is safe to drink directly.
She said "it is such a luxury".
While her friend, Nice from France said, he doesn't know that tap water might not be safe to drink directly until he first went to Dominican Republic.
In New York, i remember i saw quite many advertisements from the authority to encourage people to drink tap water instead of to buy bottle water.
While in Montreal, some people i met do not drink tap water because "the water is clean but the water pipe is dirty".
The tap water in Singapore is safe to drink directly but not many people i know would do so. Most of us still prefer to boil the water, likely to out from our old habit.
So it actually strikes me a little bit to "understand" that, we got a luxury that we never really appreciate or we are taking for granted.



The old town hall is a very beautiful historical building. It is now the court.



Like a friend said when she was in Singapore, there are so many construction and digging going on.
So as for Toronto.



Casa Loma, the mansion on the hill.

Niagara Falls and Kingstons, Ontario, Canada

Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada: 2-3 September 2008




i never imagine Niagara Falls will be a place look like Las Vega or playground.
In my mind, it should be a place like Taman Negara or National Park.
To our surprise, around the Falls, the town is just look like a big playground, with things like: hunted house, different theme of wax musuems, casiono ...



At night time, spot lights are "shot" on the falls. (The greenish thing at the left side of picture.)
One of the building at the right is a Casino while the other one is some kind of viewing tower.



The fall at the left is called American Fall (at the American side) while the one at the right is called Horse Shoe Falls.
Horse Shoe Fall forms the misty clouds at its "curve" and it is the famous "Maid of the Mist".
In fact, i was a bit dissapointed because the falls are not as huge as i imagined.



Across the Rainbow Bridge is the American side.



In the boat heading to the "Maid of the Mist".
A close encounter with the American Falls.
Most of the people wore the blue raincoat which came with the boat ticket, but we prefered to get the showers from the falls.
This is where is got my engagement ring as well, right on the boat, in front of the falls.



The American Falls.



The boat drove right to the middle of "Maid of the Mist" and everyone took a real shower from the falls.



Horseshoe Fall, which forms the Maid of the Mist.
Beside from boat for you to get near to the fall, there are trips to walk behind of this fall as well.



Seeing the speeding water "falls" down.
The sound and the height and the speed of water gave a very powerful imprint in my memory.





The nearby small town, Niagara-on-the-lake (it is beside of one of the America 5 big lakes, Ontario Lake).
In contrast with the Las Vega liked Niagara Falls, this small town is touristic yet peaceful.
We feel almost like in Europe.



Niagara-on-the-lake is famous with its ice wine, thanks to its weather and soil.
There are many fruits farms and vineyard along the way to the town.
But the grapes to make wine don't taste good to just eat like that.



i do not remember what river is that, but the opposite side of the river belongs to the America.
At this point, i think i realised that, Canada and America do share a very long border!
There are many rivers or lakes or parks which are shared by both.
i haven't really get the "feel" of this in Montreal.


Rockpoint Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada: 3-5 September 2008



Erie Lake, one of the big 5 America Lakes.
We had 2 days camping at Rockpoint Provincial Park.
We arrived from Niagara Falls to there at 9pm. Basically we just drove around the wood in the darkness, trying to find our campsite.



One of the interesting of Rockpoint Provincial Park is the fossil by the lake.
The lake is so big that one would think it is the sea.


Kingston. Ontario, Canada: 7 September 2008




The beautiful and historical town hall.
Kingston is a small town by the lake (or river, couldn't really remember now), between the big city, Toronto and Montreal.
Many of the old buildings are made from limestone.



The Sunday market.
There are some street performance as well.



There is a large prison in Kingstone (i suspect that is due to the limestone produced by Kingston, the material to build the prison.)
So, there is an interesting small prison museum.
Things display in the museum, including the weapons and equipment created by the inmates using very basic material, such as tooth brush, fork ... , for the purpose of escape or "self protection".

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: 31 July - 2 Aug 2008

Flags-all-around-capital

Some Montrealers that i have met said, Ottawa is boring. Yeah, maybe in compare to the colorful and cultural Montreal, Ottawa is just a boring government city.
In fact, i don't see more than 30 of Malaysian flags at downtown Kuala Lumpur or Singaporean flags near Singapore downtown as well, but it is just bizzarre or drive you crazy to see so many maple left flags around because all the major government offices are just near to the parliment hills, downtown. With all the flags, you can't forget that you are at the place of federal government!
i guess, Ottawa "need" to be boring so that it looks exactly like a government place. :)
Well... i like here though. It is slow and kind of quiet as a city.



Byward Market is a colorful, bustling area where activity peaks on Saturday. Outdoor vendors, mostly farmers from West Quebec and the Ottawa Valley sell Vegetables, fruit and flowers.
You can find craft, meat, seafood, baked goods and cheese around too.



This old market building from the 1840s lends its name to the adjacent neighborhood.



National War Memorial.
Reminded me of the "unmoved" soldiers we saw at Taiwanese Jiang Jie Shi's memorial.
It seems like a pair of "not moving" solider is a kind of international "respect" to the deceased military personnel.



Rideau Canal.



The supreme court of Canada.
Completed in 1946 and is partially open to the public for visit.



Parliament Hill.
The Peace Tower at the Centre Block and the eternal flames right in front of the courtyard.
There are free guided tour to the internal building.



Downtown Ottawa from the Peace Tower.



The memorial inside of the Peace Tower.
A big books with people's name is inside of the coffin-liked structure.



Rideau Hall, where the Governor stays.



National Gallery, one of the finest in Canada.
i like the big spider.



The Canadian Civilization Museum at Gatineau.
It is right opposite to the parliment hill.



Fritzroy Provincial Park. It is just an hour drive from Ottawa.
We went for a day of camping.