Canada 2019

November 2019 Read more

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Day 8
Wednesday, November 20, 2019 at 1:07 PM
⛅ 7 °C
Altitude: 128 m
Canada Bata Shoe Museum 43.66734, -79.400343°40’2” N 79°24’1” W
Bata Shoe Museum
November 20, 2019 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 7 °C
The Bata Shoe Museum is a footwear museum in Toronto. The collection which became the Bata Shoe Museum was started by Sonja Bata in the 1940s. As she traveled the world on business with her husband, Thomas J. Bata of the Bata Shoe Company, she gradually built up a collection of traditional footwear from the areas she was visiting.

Stopped at the shoe museum, unfortunately I left my winter hat in the bus. Interesting museum with shoes from around the world. Found a traditional Yoruba shoe in the collection. Spent 40 mins in the museum.Read more
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Day 8
Wednesday, November 20, 2019 at 1:59 PM
⛅ 8 °C
Altitude: 127 m
Canada The Royal Ontario Museum 43.66789, -79.3942743°40’4” N 79°23’39” W
Royal Ontario Museum
November 20, 2019 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 8 °C
Next stop was ROM an 8 minute walk from the Bata Shoe Museum.

The Royal Ontario Museum is a museum of art, world culture and natural history in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was opened in 1914.

Like most museums I have visited in the western world it had a large collection of dinosaur skeleton which i no longer find as fascinating as before, however its huge collection of clothing and dressing styles from around the world and how homes were built and organised in the western world from the 1700s till date was quite interesting along with the history and artifacts of the first people (the indigenous tribes of Canada).Read more
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Day 8
Wednesday, November 20, 2019 at 4:59 PM
⛅ 7 °C
Altitude: 94 m
Canada Toronto Union Station 43.64459, -79.3811743°38’41” N 79°22’52” W
Union Station
November 20, 2019 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 7 °C
Union Station is a major railway station and intermodal transportation hub in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Union Station was constructed between 1914 and 1920.

I visited the food court in the basement for a McDonald mealRead more
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Day 9
Thursday, November 21, 2019 at 10:18 AM
☁️ 5 °C
Altitude: 76 m
Canada CN Tower 43.64279, -79.386943°38’34” N 79°23’13” W
CN Tower
November 21, 2019 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 5 °C
First stop today is the no 1 landmark in Toronto, the CN Tower.

I tried to purchase a combo ticket covering CN Tower and Ripley's Aquarium through the CN Tower site but it rejected my GTB card even though I was debited (oyibo 419). So I chatted with GTB support and they requested I send evidence for them to investigate and return my money which I did fingers crossed. I complained to the cashier at CN Tower and he said I should try buying the combo ticket through Ripley's site as their site was less sensitive to foreign cards.

The CN Tower is a 553.3 m-high concrete communications and observation tower located in Downtown Toronto. It was completed in 1976.

From the indoor observation deck of the tower located at 346m/1,136ft you get a bird's eye view of most of Toronto. Being the tallest building there are no objects around it to obstruct your view. Unfortunately I went up the tower on a misty Morning.

An interesting feature of the tower is the Outdoor Observation Terrace at 342m/1,122ft which has a glass floor you can stand on and look down while imagining what would happen if the glass breaks.Read more
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Day 9
Thursday, November 21, 2019 at 12:11 PM
⛅ 6 °C
Altitude: 81 m
Canada Ripley's Aquarium 43.64225, -79.3862243°38’32” N 79°23’10” W
Ripley's Aquarium of Canada
November 21, 2019 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 6 °C
Ripley's Aquarium of Canada is a popular aquarium in Toronto. The aquarium holds 5.7 million litres of water and shows marine and freshwater habitats from around the world. The aquarium is organized into ten galleries: Canadian Waters, Rainbow Reef, Dangerous Lagoon, Discovery Centre, The Gallery, Ray Bay, Swarm: Nature by Numbers, Planet Jellies, Life Support Systems and the Shoreline Gallery. It is home to more than 20,000 aquatic animals.

An interesting feature of the aquarium is the moving walkway under the aquarium giving a 180 degree view of aquatic animals swimming beside you and above your head. Of all the aquariums I have visited (Dubai, London, Orlando & Cape Town) this should be about the best.Read more
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Day 9
Thursday, November 21, 2019 at 4:15 PM
🌧 5 °C
Altitude: 135 m
Canada Old Toronto 43.64998, -79.3756543°38’60” N 79°22’32” W
Strolled to the 3D sign and Eaton Centre
November 21, 2019 in Canada ⋅ 🌧 5 °C
At 3pm I took a stroll down to the 3 D sign to see how it looks during the day. It was drizzling as predicted so I stopped over to buy an Umbrella in Longos and my third knot tuque (wool cap), lost the previous two. Strolled around Eaton centre, no major shopping this trip, as the shopping budget had been exhusted in Dubai back in August.Read more
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Day 10
Friday, November 22, 2019 at 12:40 PM
⛅ 3 °C
Altitude: 69 m
Canada Harbourfront 43.6373, -79.3827443°38’14” N 79°22’58” W
Along the HabourFront
November 22, 2019 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 3 °C
HabourFront is the portion of land on the edge of shores of Lake Ontario bordering downtown Toronton about 5 mins walk from my apartment.

The temperature was about 3 degrees but very windy which made it feel like minus 4 degrees.

Came across a skating rink and parked boats. Some noisy 6 year old school children were on excursion. Could see the planes landing and taking off from the airport on the island across the lake.Read more
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Day 10
Friday, November 22, 2019 at 1:26 PM
⛅ 3 °C
Altitude: 91 m
Canada Toronto Union Station 43.64468, -79.3814443°38’41” N 79°22’53” W
Presto Card at Union Station
November 22, 2019 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 3 °C
Got to Union Station to buy a Presto card in order to travel down to Hamilton one last time to see Imaobong before leaving. The ticket seller said "cross the road, about 7mins walk to access the bus terminal, look for platform 42, that is where the Hamilton express bus loads from". So off I went crossed the road, couldn't see anything that looks like a bus terminal, instead I was in a long hall leading to the train platforms.

Apparently the ticket seller didn't do geography in school as his description sucks big time. So I called on the navigation expert Google Maps which hardly fails and alas I was way off where I ought to be. I quickly retraced my steps following Googles direction and lo and behold the bus terminal appeared right in front of me. A short queue and I was onboard a double decker bus to Hamilton.

Gaddam no wifi on board! Uddy wouldn't like this bus one bit!Read more
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Day 10
Friday, November 22, 2019 at 1:57 PM
⛅ 3 °C
Altitude: 101 m
Canada Western Gap 43.63804, -79.3949543°38’17” N 79°23’42” W
Onboard Bus 16 - Hamilton GO
November 22, 2019 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 3 °C
No wifi on board, no socket to recharge one's phone with. Bust left the platform at 14:00 sharp. A bit of traffic on the drive out, passed by the CN tower and I could really appreciate how high up I was standing on the glass floor.

Interesting vegetation along the route to Hamilton, soft looking brown carpet grass like during harmattan except for farms and office lawns with very green vegetation.

Passed by Imaobong's school on the way to the bus station. Initial plan was to follow the bus to it's final stop at Hamilton GO centre but I saw a picture opportunity in front of Hamilton City Hall so I got off the bus (at 15:06) a stop earlier.Read more
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Day 10
Friday, November 22, 2019 at 9:48 PM
⛅ 0 °C
Altitude: 94 m
Canada Hamilton 43.25306, -79.8694543°15’11” N 79°52’10” W
Hamilton GO Centre
November 22, 2019 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 0 °C
Spent more time with Imaobong than initially planned. Had to target the 10pm bus as the bus only moves on the hour at night. Bus for Union Station - Toronto didn't leave Hamilton station till 22:14. The driver had taken a break.

Got back to my apartment at 23:40Read more
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Day 11
Saturday, November 23, 2019 at 10:19 AM
☀️ 2 °C
Altitude: 74 m
Canada Ripley's Aquarium 43.64242, -79.3831243°38’33” N 79°22’59” W
Last day in Canada
November 23, 2019 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 2 °C
Woke up at 6am to repack my suitcase, one of the suitcases I brought was damaged fortunately this wasn't a shopping trip so I was able to pack everything into the remaining case.

Had a photo moment at the Canada sign in front of the CN tower before strolling down to subway for breakfast.

Check out time from the apartment is 11am and my flight is by 6.10pm unfortunately no where to drop my bag like I did at Four Points Hamilton. How to kill time with bags from 11am to checkin is a challenge now.Read more
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Day 11
Saturday, November 23, 2019 at 12:02 PM
☀️ 5 °C
Altitude: 176 m
Canada Toronto Pearson International Airport 43.68118, -79.6126943°40’52” N 79°36’46” W
Toronto Pearson International Airport
November 23, 2019 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 5 °C
Checked out of the apartment shortly after 11am and sent them an email to remotely lockup the apartment as the instruction was to drop the key on the table and contact them. Got to the airport 12.05pm. Lufthansa didn't open their check in counter till 2:20pm and i was first on the queue.

No Immigration desk for stamping people out of the country, although boarding pass is swiped before going through the scanner and into the departure area.

Had lunch at a restaurant where you select your meal and drinks from a tablet and make payment on the attached POS machine, then you wait and your order is brought to you. Neat eh!

Met Tina one of my former staff who left on early retirement middle of the year. She was on the queue to board an Air France flight.

My flight to Frankfurt is full, no space to spreadout. Being the first person to check in I had requested for a window seat around the middle of the plane but the check in staff maybe misunderstood me and gave me the middle seat in the middle four set of seats! So here I was squuezed on both sides.Read more
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Day 12
Sunday, November 24, 2019 at 8:20 AM
☀️ 3 °C
Altitude: 117 m
Germany Frankfurt Airport 50.04653, 8.5712550°2’48” N 8°34’17” E
Frankfurt Airport
November 24, 2019 in Germany ⋅ ☀️ 3 °C
Arrived Frankfurt at 7:35am after flying for about 7hrs. Have an almost 4hr wait before taking the next flight to Port Harcourt.

Had McMuffins for breakfast at the McDonald store and bought some souvenirs at the dury free store.

Boarding commenced at 10:30am. Met Tina (former colleague) who had connected from Canada with another airline but was on the same Lufthansa flight to PH with me also on the flight was Dave Nosike(another colleague) who was on official trip to Europe.

My seat again was one of the centre four seats but this time around an aisle seat. However the two middle seats were vacant. Unlike the previous fliggt from Canada this one had lots of empty seats and passengers were asked if they wanted to upgrade to premium economy or business class for a fee.Read more
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Day 12
Sunday, November 24, 2019 at 5:16 PM
⛅ 32 °C
Altitude: 326 m
Nigeria Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport 9.00375, 7.268989°0’14” N 7°16’8” E
Landed in Abuja
November 24, 2019 in Nigeria ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C
Landed at 17:15 to offload Abuja based passengers and take on fuel before continuing to PH. The trip was smooth, plane wasn't full, it seems 60% of the passengers were Abuja based.

I didn't watch any movie on board as I have already watched all the interesting ones so I spent the time reading a novel I bought in Dubai.

Departed Abuja at 18:15Read more
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Day 12
Sunday, November 24, 2019 at 7:12 PM
⛅ 25 °C
Altitude: 67 m
Nigeria Port Harcourt International Airport 5.01482, 6.952565°0’53” N 6°57’9” E
Back to Port Harcourt
November 24, 2019 in Nigeria ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C
Landed in Port Harcourt at 19:06hrs. Port Health had their thermoter camera scanning for unusually high body temperature as you walk pass. Then we joined a queue one for Nigerian passport holder and the other for non-Nigeria passport holders. On getting to the front of the queue one person checks your passport keying in stuff into a computer before passing you to an immigration officer directly across who swipes the passport and hands over to another Immigration office who stamps the entry date onto the passport and then on to the conveyour belt to wait for and pick up your bags which you then pass through a scanner. Once the bags are through the scanner some customs official by a table call on passengers to bring their bags probably to extort some money from them but I ignored headed to the exit door showed the airline officials my luggage tag for them to verify that the bags were mine and then viola am out of the airportRead more
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Trip end
November 24, 2019