Train to Toronto and City Walk

Using the train service of VIA Rail, we finish off the Europeanesque experience we were blessed with in Montréal and proceeded with our travels to Toronto. We Ubered from our accommodation at Rue Crescent to Central Station. It was a smooth check-in process and we arrived plenty of time before departure time. We just observed people coming and going at the station as we waited for our boarding call.

The five hour trip was accompanied by boisterous laughter and conversations from a bunch of French speaking teenage girls seated close to us. We all believe they were a tour group. We just shook our heads at the disbelief that their own mothers who were travelling with them were nonchalant at their antisocial behaviour. My family and I were physically and mentally challenged throughout the whole journey as we were sleep deprived and hoping to catch some forty winks which we never got to have.

We arrived in Toronto's Union Station, unfortunately most of it were covered for restoration projects and we were unable to fully appreciate this Heritage Railway Station. There was a slight drizzle as we got out into the streets. We took a cab towards our AirBnB accommodation, and it was amusing to note that the cab driver missed the house as it looked like someone's garage looking at it from the front.) But when we got in, we were thoroughly pleased! Sean's place (which he called the Coach House) featured shabby chic design, wooden floorboards, dressers with distressed finish, and Audrey Hepburn picture frame, to a Smart TV replete with Netflix and YouTube content with which we all enjoyed 'Samurai Gourmet,' a TV show my sister introduced to us all, about a retired corporate man struggling to fill his days and during moments of struggle conjures up his childhood hero--a warring era samurai that emboldens him to be more assertive and to grab life by the balls.

Tita Tere, my mom and dad's close friend from long ago, came to see us. It was very nice to see them all enjoy each other's company and talk about the past.

We all took to the subway, and experienced what it was like to navigate the city with the recipient of the 2017 American Public Transportation Association’s (APTA) award for Transit System of the Year. Tita Tere led us to St Patrick's Cathedral, a Redemptorist Brothers Church with a devotion to the Mother of Perpetual Help. It was reminiscent of my board exam days when me and my nursing batch mates spent a good deal of time praying for God's mercy, guidance and hopefully in the end, granting of success which He had very graciously provided.

Then we had late lunch/early dinner in Hua Sang restaurant at Baldwin Street. The sweet chilli lobster (which dad thought it was crab) was delicious, and the garlic broccoli was cooked to perfection; we also enjoyed the fried rice with dried fish, and some Crispy noodle stir fry, both well balanced and not too salty/greasy.

Then she toured us around the city mostly by foot: to the old and new City Hall, then to Dundas square (Canada's version of New York Times Square), Eaton Centre and finally to CN tower.

We then took the train back to the Coach House, and before parting from us, Tita Tere gave us a quick run down of her recommended places for us to visit the next day and how to get there.Read more