Monkie's Coming to Toronto!
 

Yup, you read Right! :D

I'm coming up to Rochester October 11-14th, 2005 and have 2 days free. One day, I will be at the University of Rochester for most of the day. The other, I plan to take the Lake Ontario CAT ferry over to Toronto and spend the afternoon taking in the beautiful city. Anybody want to join me????



The two days I have to choose from are Wednesday, October 12th, and Thursday, October 13. I can do it either day at this point because the professor is flexible, but I'd like to pin down a date ASAP so I can give him notice for my meeting with him.


Trip Details:


The ferry leaves Rochester at 8:00am, and Toronto at 7:00pm. The ride over takes approximately 2.5 hours, so I will dock and be free (unless Canada won't let me in) by 11:00am. I have never been in Toronto or Canada before, so have no idea what/where to go, little secrets about the city that I should learn, and what places are great for just relaxing and enjoying the day. Throw up your responses here if you're interested - let's get some ideas! :D

Either day is good for me. Like I said before, I'd love to meet you for lunch.

What to do with 8 hours in The Big Smoke? Do you want to shop? Go to museums and galleries? Tour historical sites? People watch? Score some cheap perscription drugs?

Let me know what your priorities are and I will give you a list of cool things to do.

This is cool.

I would like to but I find myself afraid to venture beyond the Barrier of the Daystar.

My family and I just came back from vacationing in Toronto. I used to spend my summers there as a kid. We drove up from the Philadelphia area to Niagara Falls, spent time there and took my boys on the Maid of the Mist boat to the base of the Falls, then drove on to Toronto. If you haven't seen Niagara Falls yet, that's worth the hour and a half drive from Toronto. I was dying to take the CAT back via Rochester but the boat schedule just didn't coincide with our plans.

Among other things to do in Toronto, make sure you go up in the CN Tower, the highest man made structure in the world, look down thru the glass floor about 1200ft straight down, and then go up to the upper observation deck which is several hundred feet higher than the main observation area. Also in Toronto, I kind of also enjoy cruising around (on foot) Yorkville one evening, cutesy trendy restaurants and shops around there.

I love people watching, and just wandering around and seeing where I end up - at least when I know where NOT to go beforehand :D. If the weather holds nicely, things outdoors would be first priority, I KNOW there's no way I can cover everything in less than half a day so not really even gonna try - the company's the best part :)

Honestly? There really aren't any places that are unsafe in downtown Toronto during the day.

If you are coming alone I could arrange to pick you up at the Ferry docks and get you started (it would be on my scooter so I can only take one passenger).

Let me think about a good walking tour.

Lucky amonkie.

SOMEDAY I will make it back to Rochester and to Toronto and see everyone.

Must start counting pennies.

Toronto is a beautiful city, Amonkie. I took the kids there last summer. The CN Tower was a great place to go. The rest of the things I did were kid-friendly, so I won't bore you with those. I loved walking around the city and comparing it to NYC. What a difference!

D'oh! Wish I could be there to illegally pile onto the awesome blue moped, but alas, I'll be... well pretty far away (opposite end of the earth).

I only will be able to smile and wave from Brantford while you are in TO - /me will be at work that week :(

Charlatan will be pure gold for you - I would like to have him take me on a walking tour of some of the places that Toronto has tucked away downtown. There are lots of places with great things to look at, and a picnic lunch down by the lakefront or by City Hall would be a good way to get your people watching fix :)

I'm looking at the chance of floatin' over there as well.....depends on the Job thing....but we shall see

**** UPDATE: ****
 

**** UPDATE: ****


I have selected the Toronto day to be Wednesday, October 12th - 10/12/05 - I ended up having a professor email me back who is only available the 13th.

Very cool... I will put it on my calandar...

Cellophanedeity... what is your class schedule like for that day?

I wish I lived closer to Toronto still:(

October weather is sometimes dicey... the monday of that week is our Thanksgiving (I believe it is usually the 2nd Monday in oct) but in the last few years it's been spectacular for weather for walking around.

Charl will prob take you around MuchMusic, Queen street, Spadina with Chinatown. And maybe the Eaton Centre for some crass commercialism and major people watching. The big radio stations are all along the strip there too (CFNY - the Edge, Q107 Classic Rock ) as well as the Hard Rock Cafe...

You should go for a walking tour of the University of Toronto campus as well. In the fall, it is gorgeous.

Tdot is so awesome..


lucky devil ermm monkie :p

Guccilvr... when were you last in TO?

Let me know next time, I'd be happy to buy you a drink.

Humm Muchmusic.....maybe you should get in there and do a speakers corner...and a shout out to everyone:D

It's been a few years.. 3 or 4 I think. Had a blast though. The underground scene was superb.

I gotta make a road trip there maybe next summer:D

It's hard for me to plan that far ahead, but I might see about showing up wherever you guys meet. As for what to do, the CN tower is great on a clear day and the restaurant is excellent, if a bit pricey. The ROM is good, if that's you're sort of thing and it's a great city for people watching. Shopping, we can go to the Eaton Centre and wander around.

Keep me posted and I'll see if I can turn up.

If we don't hear from Cello.... I may be tempted to wander the campus and ask every person walking by where we can find the stunning beauty named Cellophanedeity.... figure stop enough of them, and I may find her :p

I second Janey's suggestion to wander around UofT. Toronto shows its best on a clear fall day.

Charlatan: May I suggest an initial route on your scooter? Since you're starting at the ferry docks, you should continue up Cherry St. to check out the Distillery district, then follow Front/Wellington into downtown. Lots of great architecture, both old and new juxtaposed together; not to mention St. Lawrence market.

Come to think of it. St. Lawrence market would make a great location for lunch. Plenty of cheap, excellent food to choose from, and also a handy place to meet up with other Tfp'ers. You could people watch until your heart and stomach are content.

OOHH!!!

I am infinitely excited!!

I will have no class schedule on the 13th. It will be monkie day!

:D :D :D


I think Tecoyah will hopefully chime in affirmative (crosses fingers) as we get closer... this is going to be awesome


*Goes off to gather favors for gorgeous fall weather *

My classes are from 10-11, then from 1:30-4

They are all missable for the sake of amokie and charlatan though... ;)

Oh, and is abercock back in Toronto? I'd like to see him again too!

Tsk tsk, skipping classes already :lol:

I for one have no class that day to skip :thumbsup:

Cello... I think he's still in Hong Kong until November based on his post above.. :(

Unfortunately you are right... :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :(

Just bumping this for any updates and ideas ...



We still haven't heard from Paddyjoe and Teknotonee, the Rochester and Buffalo tfpers .... *PMs SENT * Anyone else thinking of joining? The more the merrier ... and I promise ... Charlatan can vouch .. I don't bite .. at least not hard :p


Any ideas for the day so far, Charlatan? I will have my camera ... if for no other reason than to see the sexiness that is you and your Vespa :D

I am formulating a plan for you as I write this... most of it depends on how many will be joining you.

If it is just you, I will be ferrying to some of the outlying areas like the Beaches for a coffee and then back into the core, with side trips through Leslieville, Riverdale, The Danforth and Queen's Park/Museum...

Then I figure I can let you loose on West Queen West for some cool boutique shopping and lunch.

Then there is a choice of the Art Gallery, the Distillery District (old distillery now slightly touristy with losts of craftspeople, artists and restaurants.

If time permits, there are also some cool cemetaries (this will be good if Paddyjoe comes as I know he likes them).

The only snag is this... if it's just you. We take my scooter. If more, I can probably arrange to have the car in which case I have room for you an two more... small car.

Looks Like I wont be making the trip.....I have meetings in buffalo

I'd like to join in if I may. I could meet up for lunch at least. I'll have my car so I can make it anywhere you decide to go. All of Charlatan's ideas are excellent.

So far it sounds like just me * grumbles at Buffalo ... greedy greedy people... but we can't ALL have tecoyah :p *

That sounds like a great plan Charlatan - I've got no worries about having a great time, so as long as I get myself to the ferry dock on your side, I'm just gonna jump when you say so :)

October the 12th its a wednesday and I work sunday-tuesday...I will see what happens, might beable to get out that way!

just gotta keep my car out fo the shop... :D

OK... So we should get a role call of those Torontonians (and Kingstonians) that would like to join and when they are free.

Cellophanedeity - yes
Fresnelly - yes
Charlatan - yes
Seige - ?
Pain Train - ?
Martian - ?
Janey - ? (you probably have to work but maybe you could meet us at the dock to say goodbye?)

Count me in if you have space. If you don't, i'm not very important


Wednesday I have no class, so free pretty much the whole day.

Seige, you are Too important :icare:


Maybe this would work: Charlatan ... you meet me at the dock. at the 10:30 or whatever time .. woo me with the dazzling speed of the Vespa and a road tour of Toronto ... then we meet up with everybody at a central location near U of T or downtown for lunch and whatever else we want to do for the rest of the afternoon?

I was tempted to interject with some flippant comment about Charlatan's following Amonkie's suggestion by giving her a bedroom tour coupled with his demonstration of dazzling speed :lol:

Fortunately my maturity and respect kept me from posting any such sillyness :thumbsup:

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! :)

Great pictures, but why was Charlatan in such a hurry to get away from everyone? Sure he says he was busy, but do you really believe him? :p

Looks like you all had fun, and those are great pics.

I had to rush back to the office to get online and tell everyone about my date with Amonkie...

Now jj and I really need to make it to Toronto. It looks like you all had a great time! Thanks for sharing with us. Oh and Siege...at TFP we're all cool. :thumbsup:

Lovely pictures, lovely ladies, lovely gents. Lovely.

Now that would be a cool thing indeed. JJ and Shesus in Toronto...

looks great. Next time I've got to be in on the lunch.

More Pics Please!!!!!!!!!

I second that! :thumbsup:

By now it's no secret that I wish I was there. Cello, Charlatan, you haven't aged a day since...well June was it? The rest of you look marvelous and I can't wait to meet you in person. Amonkie, what can I say? It would have been an honour to have escorted you through the city, but alas was not meant to happen this time around.

There will be another time. MWUHAHAHAHAA

This makes me sorry I missed it.

I'll definitely try to make the next one; hopefully in a month or so my schedule will be a bit less volatile.

edited due to retardation

:p


Great pics..looks like everyone had a great time. Would loved to have seen some action shots of monkie and char on the Vespa :D

Well Gucci... I couldn't really have my camera out all that much because I was too busy hanging on :D

great pics there, i especially like the "movie star" pic :thumbsup:

looks like I missed a good time, too bad it happened during my busy as hell period when I wasnt really checking TF that often. Oh well next time I guess.