The plan - take the GO Train into Union Station, Toronto, and then take to the streets with a vengence!!
10:47am - The GO Train
Well today looks like it’s going to be the first EVER running commentary day! At the moment I have just boarded the GO Train and I’m now sitting upstairs (yes, a two-storey train)!! Crazy Canadian bastards!
Well, to backtrack - this morning, once again I struggled to reclaim my consciousness, eventually managing to do it at around 9am (planned for 8.30am - what’re ya gonna do?), then it was online for Dave and (after MSN freezing and almost taking the whole computer with it - thus wasting around about 5 minutes of my PRECIOUS time (Hmmm… Never realised that precious and previous are the same word, one letter different… The wonders of misspelling on a computer!)) chatting to Mum for the morning!
Finally, around 10am I said goodnight/goodmorning to mum, turned around to have a 30-second shower (getting better) and then RUN to the GO station… BUT, just before doing so the phone rang! You would NOT believe the tension! “Do I answer!? What if it’s just another bloody salesman wasting my time!? Oh wait - it’s Carrie! HI CARRIE!!” Well, moral of the story is that she wanted to know if I wanted to tag along to WalMart - when she found out my plans for the day she refused to let me accept her proposal and told me to have fun in the city! And so I did…
About a 15-minute walk later I arrived at the station, stood behind a woman asking 40-bazillion questions to get a ticket and then RACED to the platform where I promptly waited ten minutes for a train… So for now I’m sitting on the top floor of the GO Train - and that’s it!
12:09pm - St Lawrence Market
This city is absolutely amazing! Coming out of Union Station all I’ve done is walk down Front Street (to the Black Eyed Peas - “Let’s Get Started”… Seemed fitting (Didn’t choose it - just came on the iPod)) The mix of old and new architecture is amazing. Each building is built completely uniquely… The city is FULL of people - tourists, city people, asians trying to sell crappy nick-nacks - there are a lot of homeless people as well. Saw a few sleeping on benches and tables in particular around the market. (Don’t know why - I’d wanna be AWAY from people personally) AND the St Lawrence Market it virtually IDENTICAL to Central Market back home… Strange…
1.20pm - Young and Dundas Square
This is clearly a MAJOR square in Downtown Toronto - reminds me of the little pieces I’ve seen of Time Square! I’m surrounded by MASSIVELY tall buildings all absolutely COVERED in billboards and flashing signs… It was really overwhelming to begin with, nothing like that back home! AND on top of that it was the Toronto Green Festival in the square too!
Well, the square is yet another concrete garden (I was expecting an ACTUAL garden - like Adelaide squares dammit!) filled with litle booths - water saving, animal protection, green energy and, of course, the small groups selling “hand made products made by orphans” stuff (little tote bags seemed to be the in thing today)… and a badge selling stall! I got one that says: “WalMart: Cheap… and NASTY!!” HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Endless hillarity… Also spoke to a woman at one of the booths about the water cathments (they called is something else - don’t remember now but it started with a “d”) and APPARENTLY (I have no way to prove this or anything!) she sees a lot of Australians going through Toronto and for some reason we all stay for a very long time!? Crazy person!! Got a free badge out of it though!
There’s also a stage at the end of the square with various childrens perfomances - “please Mr. Monster come out from under the bed…” - and apparently there’s gonna be a world record attempt for the most bicycle bells being rung to a tune at once, somewhere between 800 and 1000 they’re aiming for apparently… All very intriguing stuff I tells ya!
1:35pm - About 30 metres from where I was before
HA! Someone from the “Much More Music” channel was just harassing someone standing RIGHT next to me to sing a song to go on national television!!! She refused - but funny!
LUNCH TIME!
2:15pm - Nathan Phillips Square
At first this place looks like just another mid-city water feature - a big rectangular pool with huge arches reaching over it and a flower bed in the middle… BUT then there’s a sign saying “SKATE RENTAL” just behind it?? Time for a quick re-think I believe… It’s an ICE RINK!!! How crazy is that… Ah well - I’ll have to come back in the middle of winter!
So had lunch in the Eaton Centre - the place is friggin HUGE! A shopping centre very similar to the Myer Centre back home, but about 4 or 5 times as long! (Same 5 storeys) There was a 30m high water feature in the middle of the damn building people!! (Tiny food court though - had my poutine (wanted it all day!) and got outta there quickly) Just outside - the “peace garden”.
Well, so far this city has my approval!
3:05pm - Canada Life, Simcoe St
Some more city wandering and such. Now headed in the opposite direcction from when I started - found a nice quiet little pedestrian street and thought I’d take a break… I deserve it dammit! Decided I’d hang around until around 6pm, after rush hour - don’t particularly want to be standing up all the way to Whitby, or crushed for that matter… That’d put me at home at around 7:30pm - doesn’t sound too bad! I think the trains go at around quarter past the hour… I’ll figure it out!
Taking plenty of photos and such - none special, getting good at the self portrait shots though! Never been able to do that before…
Ah well - China Town’s next on the list and then I head North!
3:53pm - Queen’s Park
I am not at all a happy camper - my camera just died! JUST as I was coming up to Queen’s freakin Park! Got in a few quick shots but nothign to write home about (all those at home please ignore that statement)… Ah well, as Leeann said (thought I’d take the opportunity to give her a call and fill her in on the plan) I’ll be back reasonably soon! And naturally, as I say this I have the PERFECT view of a Canadian Flag through a friggin maple tree, don’t I!? Dammit!
So the plan without a camera is to relax for a while until 6:15pm where I board a train and head home! Only two hours away… BUT without a camera I don’t have to worry about a crazed tourist!
OH - I walked through China Town (I think… There were a few Chinese symbols round and plenty of Asians to boot - so I assumed) Biggest dero suburb EVER! Delapidated houses, hippies in tie-die-tees on their front porches, a homeless man sleeping on a park bench just next to the swing set - you name it! AH well - MAP TIME!!! (Aww… the Dora the Explorer trick doesnt bloody work! And yes, I bought a $2 map from an info kiosk/vending machine)
Well the great map has been consulted - quick trip behind the honkin-huge building to my 6 (a.k.a. behind me) and then on head on back to Toronto’s waterfront!
Ready……. BREAK!
5:24pm - The Toronto Waterfront
I made it.
6:41pm - The GO Train
All I can say is ow… ch (finish your words! Damn Uncle Robin…) my legs are killing me at the moment - the calves, my hip joints, my feet - the full trifecta! Althought, I guess that’s what happens when I (not so much for most others) walk for at least 5 + 1/2 hours out of 6 + 1/2…
Well even though it’s past 6:30pm and rush hour is TECHNICALLY over the train is still reasonably loaded - nothing dramatic but I don’t have my 4-seats to myself! (Apparently the 5:33 train broke down…?) Just past Eglinton - no where near Whitby, but hey… I’ll live!
Another astute observation on my part - the signage at Union Station SUCKS!! Once you get to the right general area (down the stairs (the LEFT stairs… not the right, that goes somewhere COMPLETELY different) and around a few corners) you’re fine - but until then good luck buddy! 99.9978% of the signage there is for Via Rail and there’s maybe ONE GO Train sign in the whole upper level… AND the damn platform you need to go to isn’t displayed until maybe 5-8 minutes before the train leaeves… These people are nuts man!
Ah well - what is one lonely Australian complaining gonna do?
Oh yeah - to backtrack again - after I last left it (excluding the waterfront thing - that was just pointless) I was planning to head South (I think it’s South) towards the waterfront and towards the CN Tower - so just look for the tower and walk, can see it almost anywhere! Naturally, once again I ended up walking through a damn university (I wandered through one before lunch and didn’t realise it just in case I didn’t mention it - it’s all in the photos) campus without having the slightest clue - a lot of churchy buildings and very green, well kept gardens gave it away in the end.
Another quick trip through dero-country and a few rounds of the “Sunscreen Song” later and I made it to the Rogers Centre (baseball stadium…) and the CN Tower - couldn’t really be bothered exploring them right now so I’ll come back another day. Besides, people are headed to the Rogers Centre for a Jays game at the moment so we’ll leave them in peace (saw three scalpers out the front - got offered tickets too!) THEN I got distracted by the waterfront… IT could ONLY be like 2 blocks away and I have heaps of time to kill!!! 6 blocks later, I arrived at the waterfront! Unfortunately, being the paranoid person I am I decided I didn’t have time to dilly-dally (knowing that I would get lost at Union - see, I’m psychic!) so I made a quick round of a little warfy-thing and headed back North to the station… And of course I’ve already written about the rest! (Yes, that means that I am NOT going to write it again!)
At Pickering now - can’t be too much longer!
8:29pm - Back Home…
Well it seems that now it’s time to upload all the photos to the computer - then to the internet - then write home to EVERYONE who cares - so about 3 people!!
Well that was my day off in Downtown Toronto. Now I am very lazy and tired and I have to work tomorrow so I am not gonna bother adding anymore to this! There are new photos up in the gallery (if they ever finish uploading) so check em out!
… in like a week I swear!
Everytime I go on MSN there is not a single person online (that I want to talk to - several people will just be ignored… If you’re reading this, you have a 99% chance of not being one of them… Perhaps more)!!
I got bored so I wrote this…
“What?”
There he stood, standing behind a bench, a man staring at him with his hand outstretched. He blinked.
“Well… My change?”
“What…?”
He looked around.
There were lines of people funneling between small desks with computers mounted on them, other people all dressed the same standing opposite. They moved their hands, passing objects past them, taking money from the strangers and giving money back.
He looked down.
There was a drawer prodding him in the upper thigh. He looked at it – it was filled with money. Notes and coins all arranged in order of denomination. He looked up at the screen above the drawer – “$4.82” was flashing in the bottom corner. What could it mean?
“For God sake give me my damn change!”
He looked at the man, confused. The man looked back, furious.
“What do you mea…………..”
He fell. The bench came zooming towards his head, eventually colliding with it in mid air. The floor rose from beneath the bench and he slumped lazily on a ribbed rubber mat.
He looked around above him – the ceiling was made of tiles; tiles fading in and out of focus. There must be something wrong with the ceiling, he should tell someone about it.
Another person appeared above him – a woman. Her hair draped around her face and fell on his.
“Are you alright!?”
He blinked.
“There’s something wrong with the ceiling…”
She looked up.
“What?”
Nothing special - as I said, bored…
Well my working life over in Canada has been a whirlwind of excitement, I tell you what! At the moment I have had my orientation shift at Canadian Tire AS WELL AS my e-learning shift (4 hours of sitting in front of a computer doing training modules that have no relevance what-so-ever, except that they train me in things I need to know - meh!) and now I am waiting for a call to tell me to come in for my checkout training shift. I was told last Thursday that I should receive a call this week at the latest - and low and behold, no phone call yet!!
Wait, that’s not entirely true… I have gotten ONE interesting phone call, but not from Canadian Tire.
Ok, so I was standing in the kitchen chatting to Leeann about random stuff when the phone rang. NAturally, not my house so I ignore it! But, out of curiosity I looked on the caller ID screen to see who was calling: “Toronto Blue Ja”(ys). I naturally assumed that they were doing telemarketing asking people to buy their season passes (Especially since no one would BUY them at the moment because the Jays have only won ONE game) so I paid no attention… UNTIL, “David? Yeah hang on a second…”
What reason could the Jays POSSIBLY have to call ME!?
Little did I know that it was someone from the Rogers Centre (the big baseball stadium in downtown Toronto) calling to ask if I would be interested in doing a phone interview for the position of part-time Tour Guide in the stadium (yes, I did apply for it - it wasn’t just a random phone call) I thought to myself, “I already HAVE a job!” so my initial thought was to say no… But then I thought: “Canadian Tire hasn’t called me back…” and, “This job would be WAY better…” and then, “They PAY better too…” so I decided to go ahead with the interview!
Basic questions: “why did you apply at the rogers centre?” “why do you want the job?” “whats your customer service experience?” “whats your public speaking experience?”
So that was all and the interview was DONE! They are very neutral in this country in interviews (they’re not allowed to say one way or another how you went) so apparently if I got the job I can expect a call in the next week or two - if not, no call! So here’s hoping!
I personally dont expect to get the job - especially since I am a foreigner (”Hi, my names David. I’ve only been in the country three weeks but let me show you the stadium you’ve grown up with!”) - but I wouldnt mind it! Although this raises the question, “Do I quit Canadian Tire if I get the job, or work both!?” I am personally leaning toward the former - I dont wanna work too much!
But hey, that’s all if I get the job!!
To all my avid readers out there (I have no idea what that word means and I have no readers… completely USELESS sentence) I have added in a photo album for people to see… There will be a few photos from my trip over to Canada uploaded there - at the moment there’s a couple of our trip back from Florida - but not many so don’t hold your breath!
Also, don’t expect there to be many photos of me! Not gonna happen people!! So if you would like to visit the gallery: