It's a good thing you have that maturity Kramus... wouldn't want things to get out of hand... :lol:

Monkie... that sounds about right. Now that there are more people getting involved I think an afternoon meetup is in order.

I will pick you up at the ferry around 10am and then wisk you on a quick tour of the Beaches, Little India, My place, Riverdale, The Danforth, then along Bloor to the UofT to meet up for Lunch.

This way, you can hook up with everyone and decide what to do with you afternoon and I can zip back to work (if I have to, which is most likely because I am leaving for France two days later and will have a bunch of stuff to do)...

Sounds like a plan.


did I say, "my place"? Damn you Kramus... get out of my head...

Sounds like a plan to me, Charlatan, so Cello, You wanna be the selector of the lunch timish meetup place? You Torontians have the better grasp on time frame and good locations than I do at this point, so if you want to think on that and post back here, go for it :)

Cellophanedeity... Let me know what works for you. I think the ferry gets to the dock around 10ish and it will take a bit to get through customs, etc.

I say we are off by 10:30, I do the whirlwind tour and have amonkie to meet you guys by noonish... do you have a mobile number Cello? Perhaps you should PM it to me so we can stay in touch on the day of, in case of dealy or Kramus-like hold ups in customs.

I'm just going to warn you Amonkie that as of the time we meet up, you will have seen more of Toronto than I have. I can give you a basic "and this is where all of the cheese and retro shops are" but I don't live there and haven't seen much.

I'll PM both of you my mobile number. Just as a warning, don't leave a message. My phone is ridiculous, and I can't get into the messages so I'll never respond. Just try calling repeatedly until I answer. (I promise I'll be on alert mode!)

Can you receive text messages?

Count me in folks. I drive a Monte Carlo, so if I drive in to Toronto transport is not really an issue. PM sent to both Charlatan and amonkie with my cell phone number.

I have no problem bringing the car, but my two provisions are that if anyone has a spare buck or two I will be passing the hat around to cover the cost of gas. That one's not mandatory, I don't expect anyone to do anything that way. Just with the price the way it is I'm not going to be too proud to ask.

And the other stipulation is that I'll need directions to the ferry or Beaches or wherever we go, coming from westbound 401 or highway 2, whichever works out quicker. For having lived next to Toronto my entire life, I know next to nothing about it.

Hmm. I have found out that I have my first term test on Wednesday October 13th. I don't mind heading out to lunch and spending the afternoon with you guys. However, 6-7pm onwards must be devoted to my studies :(

Seige - the ferry leaves Toronto side at 7:00pm, and if I'm not mistaken i'm supposed to be at the dock 30 minutes to an hour before... so come! :D


Cello, maybe the best thing would just to pick a central meeting spot and time for everybody to meet up at if you can't decide what sounds good chowwise. If it's a shop or corner/street with a couple places, we can decide there, if we want.

At this meet up spot we will have, from my count ...


Amonkie
Charlatan (who will be leaving to go back to work)
Cellophanedeity
Martian
Seige
fresnelly


possibles:

Pain Train
Teknotoknee - you find out yet bud?


Did I miss anybody???

What do you guys like to eat for lunch?

Thai?
Pub?
Sushi?
Korean BBQ?
French Bistro?
Traditional Diner?
Indian?

Let me know if anything is a definate "no" and I will choose a place on Queen West for us to meet for lunch. It is central and close to just about everything.

Don't forget me! I can come down for the afternoon meetup and lunch. I'm really looking forward to meeting everyone in person. Just name the place.

updated ya to the list, fresnelly ....


Charlatan ... any of those food catergories is a GO for me ... everybody else chime in :D

An Indian food buffet might be a good idea because a large group can easily be accommodated without much fuss. Any latecomers would also be able to dig in quicky too.

I'm thinking of Raaga at 287 King St. W (at John St.) It's central, the food is great and they have plenty of room. Not too pricey either.

Hmm. Can I handle the spice of Indian food? I'd say I can take more than the average person. But my gosh. Some of those spices are insane. They make my stomach wince just thinking about them. If there's a "omg I am a wussy" section, i'm all for it. To be honest, I eat pretty much anything.

I still remember the "hazing" my cousin's buddies gave their coach. They took him out to Indian buffet, he spent the night in a hospital

Good thing nothing serious happened to him though


If that's the case amonkie, i'm pretty sure i'll stay for the farewell :icare:

Don't worry.:) There's plenty of mellow spicey goodness.

But this is just a suggestion and I'm open to any other type of restaurant too.

I'm always up for Indian food.

Not all Indian food is spicy. A lot of curries are nice and sweet and the tandoori is really just a barbeque.

So we have four votes for Indian... any nays?



Fresnelly, I've never eaten at Raaga. I assume it's good. There is also Trimurti on Queen West (at Duncan).

If I was able to come it would be a nay....but im a no this time around also :(

My car needs a whole intake and carberator set-up, and well I don't have the 600+ dollars to do it yet!

aww, that sucks Pain Train ... but hopefully these kind of get togethers will be more frequent in the future ...

hope so :thumbsup:

I like Indian food. :) I'm in the wuss category for spices, but Indian sounds good. :)

Nope. My phone is an "answer while I'm here, and call if I feel like it" type thing. Nothing fancy at all. -_-

We're getting closer! I just have a question ... probably a no brainer but I think too much, too often ... Should I bother trading in some currency before I leave? I'm pretty sure I can find an ATM and withdraw in CA dollars once I land, and I don't care about the exchange fees ...

A lot of banks don't even do foreign currency exchange anymore, so you're better off just getting money out of the ATM when you get there. It's just easier and there's a lot less hassle. Check and see if there are any banks that will allow you to withdraw fee-free while you are in Canada. With my bank, I can withdraw from the Royal Bank of Canada for free. :)

Snowy... considering I'm closer to the Mexico border than Canada... we usually have little to no hassle with trading for Pesos ... but CA dollars not so much in demand here :) And as always... have Visa, can travel :D

There are a whole bunch of major banks right up the street from Toronto Harbour. I don't see it being too much trouble to take out some Canadian funds. If you're worried at all though, then take out a bit of cash before you cross the border, you know, just in case. :)

Do we have a definite schedule as to what is happening this wednesday? I have some bad news. Turns out, 2 more of my term tests have been scheduled near each other. I now have term tests on the 13th, 15th and on the 18th. Because of this, I will be UNABLE to stay for the whole day. However, I figure that an hour or 2 devoted to lunch/meeting the tfpers won't cause me to fail.

So do we have any actual times/locations?

Siege ... You've just given us very good reason to settle down on one... unfortunately I am completely clueless for that!!! :p


It sounded like the noonish-1:00 time might work for lunch ... and it'd be great to meet ya, even if only for an hour or so :)


So Charlatan ..Cello .. fresnelly... anyone want to take a bite and nail down a place and time?

OK... need to nail this down.

Noon at Raaga at 287 King St. W (at John St.)

Cellophanedeity... take the subway to St. Andrew station (King Street) and either take the 504 street car or walk the couple of blocks to John Street.

Anyone who is driving, there is parking in the area (no especially cheap). There is a lot right across the road.


I will be picking up Monkie from the docks at around 10:30 and will have her at the restaurant by noon. After lunch, everyone else has the Monkie to themselves...

Sadly, the forcast calls for drizzle all day. Hopefully it will not turn into a downpour.

Have fun you guys, wish I could join ya's.

Okay, so I've been away for the summer and it turns out that Raaga is now called <b>AROMA</B>!

I phoned them today and the gentleman who answered assured me that all is well. The lunch buffet is $9.99 Cdn. They are still upstairs at 287 King W. (SW corner at John St.)

I made a reservation for 6 at 12:00 noon under the name Peter; whoever the heck that is...

See you soon!

Sweet! See you all at noon... (except for those arriving by ferry... I will see you sooner - dress warm and dry).

It may be a stretch for me, but I would love to join in. As I work in the Sheppard/Vic Park neighbourhood, I don't think that I can slip away for an hour too easily.

If I can, I'll pop in and wave...

Its 5:45 am and I am taking Monkie to the Ferry Terminal in about 1/2 hr
Have a blast everyone....I will be at work....*snif*

So I have just returned from spending the morning with Amonkie, followed by lunch with some of we Torontonians...

I arrived a bit early and noticed that the Toronto Port Authority has sprung for mounted rider with flag to greet Amonkie (we spare no expense).
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...31_12Oct05.jpg

As promised, I picked Amonkie up on my scooter and gave her a breif tour of the east end of Toronto. I had to cut it a bit shorter because the ferry was about 45 minutes late and the weather was rather inclement. I took her first through my neighbourhood (Riverdale), by my house and up to the Danforth where we had a quick walk. Then it was off to Cabbagetown for a quick visit to the Riverdale Farm and some cookies from the farm kitchen.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...32_12Oct05.jpg

Then it was off to lunch with everyone from TFP Toronto:

Fresnelly, Siege, Cellophanedeity and of course, Amonkie.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...33_12Oct05.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...34_12Oct05.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...35_12Oct05.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...36_12Oct05.jpg

I am only sorry I couldn't spend the rest of the day with Amonkie. I am really swamped this afternoon.

I know there were a couple of other cameras clicking away so I am sure you can expect some more photos to come...

Wow! Looks great! It also looks as if everyone had a fun time :) Good to see everyone's smiling faces ;) Thanks for the pics, Charlatan!

Lunch was great! Indian food is really tasty. Unfortunately this get-together, made me realize how uncool I am when compared to the other folks at tfp.

Siege it was really good to meet you. I just felt like I had to eat and run (damn job is good for paying the bills but it always gets in the way of a good time). I hope next time we will have more time to chat.

Not at all Siege. The great thing about the tfp is how it brings people from completely different backgrounds and walks of life together. If there is such a thing as the "cool" table, then we all were sitting at it!

Agreed! I hope it's not too long before we can pick up where we left off. I enjoyed the company immensely and eagerly look forward to future meet-ups. Kudos to amonkie for making the long trip!

I had a great time meeting everyone! It was really too bad that the men had to go back to work or school, but it was worth it to meet all of you! (and to see you again Charlatan)

After you left, Amonkie and I wondered the streets of Toronto. Down Queen West to Bathurst, then up Queen West to Spadina. Down Spadina to Kensington, then down Spadina to College. Then we walked around my campus, pausing for coffee at the JCR. After, we walked around campus a bit more, walked in a couple of circles, then went down Bay to Dundas, then Dundas to Younge, then Younge to the Subway station at the Eaton's Centre (Queen station)

Poor Amonkie, I made her walk so much! I had a great time anyway though! :D

Alrighty ... Monkie is back!


I'm posting the clearest shots I have at the moment to get these up ... will go back and try to adjust some of the blurrier shots.

Starting with the beginning of my day at the wee hour of 6am ...


Random shots on CAT ferry:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...e/Dsc00007.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...e/Dsc00008.jpg


Monkie up on deck ... it is FREAKIN COLD !!!!! and WINDY - that is wind making that face, heh

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...e/Dsc00013.jpg


I managed to survive customs smoothly ... first one out the gate. Looking around... there is no Charlatan, but he did leave a clue:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...e/Dsc00014.jpg

The Blue Whizz :

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...e/Dsc00015.jpg

The Blue Whizz and its Dashing Displayer of Speed:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...e/Dsc00016.jpg

Cello sportin Monkie Earrings:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...e/Dsc00018.jpg

Cello and Monkie

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...e/Dsc00020.jpg

Semi Group shot - Siege, Cello, Charlatan, monkie

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...e/Dsc00022.jpg

Full group shot with fresnelly!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...e/Dsc00024.jpg


All the boys had to scram after lunch .. so Cello took me around Downtown Toronto.

Some doggies watching people buy live crabs at an open Asian market:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...e/Dsc00025.jpg

In Queen St W district ... Mickey really loves cheese:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...e/Dsc00026.jpg

We're movie stars!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...e/Dsc00027.jpg

At U of T ... Monkey meets monkie

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...e/Dsc00030.jpg

Aww, looks like an awesome time! Thanks for sharing your pics with us and letting us all be a part of the day! :)