*WARNING* - SUPER LONG POST, VIEW AT UR OWN RISK!
Day 0 - Mackinac Island (15 June 2009)
Alex and I worked at Round Island during the breakfast hours. We took a short nap in the afternoon, packed our bags and took the 5pm Shepler's ferry out to collect the Hertz rental vehicle at Pellston Regional Airport. There was a long queue for the ferry.
After collecting the vehicle, we made our way back to Mackinaw City to pick up the rest.
After which we made our way to Cheboygan's Walmart to stock up on supplies for the trip and also ourselves. Alex and I shared a Subway footlong as we hadn't taken our dinner.
We found out that B&J ice-cream had dropped 50cents to $2.50, woohooo!!! We bought 2 pints to share.
We setted off at about 10pm towards Toronto, Ontario, Canada. I drove for abt 3hrs b4 having a 15-min pit stop. Alex took over the wheels for the next 3hrs b4 we had another pit stop inside Canada when it was around 5am.
We took a photo with the convenience store uncle.
Day 1 - Toronto (16 June 2009)
I took over from Alex and drove for the remaining journey to Toronto. It was start-stop traffic on the highway leading to Toronto, probably due to the morning rush hours. After parking the car, we had breakfast at BK and also used their restrooms to wash up.
Popeye's Chicken & Biscuits
Spotted a lot of Chinese restaurants and shops on the way to our 1st stop - CN Tower. It felt weird to see many Asians on the streets.
At the foot of CN tower; top right pic is the exterior of Rogers Centre, a famous multi-purpose stadium.
After buying the admission tickets, all visitors had to pass thru a non-contact security scanner.
before boarding the lift to the lookout level
views from the lookout level at 346m above ground
lying on the glass floor at 342m above ground
situated on the same level as the glass floor is the outdoor observation deck, it was chilly out there
last stop for CN tower, the Sky Pod at 447m above ground
We took a look at the gift shop located on the ground level b4 setting off for lunch.
Had some shuteye while waiting for the pizza and chicken wings.
On our way to Chinatown (Spadina Avenue), we passed by the Ontario College of Art & Design and Art Gallery of Ontario.
we had bubble tea and dropped by a Chinese supermarket!
can u spot the Yeo's drinks?
After visiting the Chinese supermarket, we spotted a shop selling flags. Without any hesitation, we went in to buy a Singapore flag cos we wanted to put it up in the cafeteria.
We went to Kensington Market - a distinctive multicultural neighbourhood in Toronto.
Father's Day promotion?! We went into a gift shop to take a look.
We had an early dinner at a Hongkong-style restaurant. I realised I hadn't used chopsticks for a long time.
wanton mee soup + fried beef hor fun + yan chow fried rice + fried dumplings + charsiew-roasted meat rice = a satisfying meal. We had sing chow fried bee hoon too but it tasted like dry mee siam.
After dinner we went to Toronto Eaton Centre - the #1 retail destination and a "must see" tourist attraction in Toronto.
We guys separated from the gals to do our own walking. We managed to use the Macbooks at the Apple store for free internet.
We took the subway back just for the experience, it did save us about 10 min of walking time. We realised that their subway is super efficient, no irritating door closing beeps, just a short beep and it closes. Once the doors close, the train moves off immediately, no time lag of any kind, short and sweet.
The guys ate Popeye's Chicken for supper.
We went to a pub for some drinks and also to use their restrooms for washing up before gg back to sleep in the car. We could see the lighted-up CN tower from where the car was parked.
We setted off towards Niagara at 3am in hope of catching the sunrise there. To our disappointment, the skies were too cloudy to reveal any form of sunrise.
We took a break at a rest area just before Niagara. We had Tim Hortons for breakfast and also took a look at the gift shop there.
Day 2 - Niagara (17 June 2009)
After parking the car, we made our way to see the falls. Stella 'holding' the Hershey's chocolate?!
Planet Hollywood
view of the falls from Canadian side
We went to the 1st attraction - Journey Behind the Falls
It was basically an underground tunnel below the Horseshoe Falls. It was a unique experience being so close to the falls and hearing the sounds of the water.
After the tour, we crossed the Rainbow Bridge to get to the American side.
shots on the bridge
The 2nd attraction we went to was the Maid of the Mist. It was a boat ride that took us past the American Falls and very near to the Horseshoe Falls where it stayed there for a few min to let us experience the mist created by the falls.
After we alighted from the boat, we went up a few flights of stairs to get even closer to the top of the American Falls.
We stayed around at the Observation deck for a while b4 breaking off for lunch.
I had Bleu Cheese Burger while Alex had Buffalo Chicken Sandwich.
It began to rain after lunch so we waited until about 4pm b4 making our way to our 3rd and final attraction - Cave of the Winds. It is a series of wooden walkways that lead up to the Hurricane Deck, where we were just 6m from the foot of the Bridal Veil Falls. On our way there, we realised there's a lot of birds that have made the areas around the falls their homes, which explained the stench in a way.
view of the path we're abt to take; We knew it's going to be the wettest of the 3 attractions.
this wasn't the Hurricane Deck yet, this was too minor in comparison. We were unable to take any photos on the Hurricane Deck cos it was simply too wet!
We walked to the far end of the Goat Island to take a closer look at the Horseshoe Falls from the American side.
Alex and I were 'stoning' after all the walking. We then crossed the Rainbow Bridge back to Canada.
Hershey's chocolates store
Coca-Cola store
We decided to have something nice for dinner. We agreed on eating at a Korean BBQ restaurant.
spicy bbq beef; kimchi pork soup
seafood noodles that tasted like udon; it felt heavenly to eat spicy food on a cold day
Stella and Vivek went around the shops after dinner. The rest of us were feeling too cold so we went back to rest inside the car.
view of the illuminated falls and the surrounding areas at night
We went to the same rest area as in the morning to wash up b4 setting off towards Birch Run for the next day's activities. Opened the car's bonnet to do routine checks and also to ventilate the engine at a pit stop. Crossed the Blue Water Bridge from Ontario, Canada to Michigan, USA.
Day 3 - Birch Run (18 June 2009)
We finally reached Prime Outlets @ Birch Run for our factory outlets shopping. Took some photos around the area b4 they open for business.
