Hello minna-san! (⌒▽⌒)
I just got back from a lovely trip from different places! Now let's see how everything went with this adventure! But I'mma blog one by one to make it easier to read! So let's hit it off with the first place I went... Toronto!
Will be giving some few tips, suggestions and information on my experience in Toronto, to those who are planning to go!
Toronto was a new place for me, so I was excited to be in a new place I haven't went yet!
I was lucky enough to be in the window seat to picture this beautiful view of the city!
Small Information of Canada
Canada is extremely cold, so I suggest you to bring lots of sweaters n’ jackets, due to their cold weather mostly their residents move to different countries or states to warmer climate, and because of that they have less population, and mostly they are in need of new residents so applying for citizenship in Canada is easy, what Canada is really good of is because of their health benefits, they are really conscious on their health, and mostly their citizens there are senior citizens because of the health benefits, in short Canada is perfect for retirement and have a healthy lifestyle!
~ Day 1 in Toronto ~
Free Day : Ripley’s Aquarium & St.Lawrence Market - May 20, 2015
When we landed on the airport we took a van headed to our hotel, our hotel name was
Hilton Garden Inn Toronto Airport West/Mississauga, it was a cozy place, the rooms were really huge (if you get the twin beds), they have a lot of facilities, they have a
swimming pool,
a gym,
office area (printing, fax machine, documents, etc..), and they also have a
laundry area if you want to
wash your clothes you can use the
washing machine here! Plus it’s not that far from the city of Toronto!
Transportation
My dad rented a car so we were able to access everywhere, there’s a lot of websites so you rent a car in Canada, just find the ones near to your hotel so you can get it fast, and you also need a driver’s license to go around of course. To access around if you rent a car you definitely need a GPS, that’s where Google Maps will be your best friend for the whole trip!
But if you don’t have a driver’s license, you could get a taxi or van just ask the hotel front desk on how to get it!
Downtown Transporation
If you are in downtown area of Toronto, there’s a train station underground, so you can easily access places around the city!
We went to nearby mall in Mississauga called Square One Shopping Centre, it’s a huge shopping mall, good for a stop! When we were going around I saw a shop named Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory that sell caramel apple, but then I checked more, and saw these kawaii apples! ♡
When we got bored a bit at the mall we decided to check out the downtown Toronto or also known as the heart of Toronto!
Downtown Toronto
We finally arrived downtown, and first off we decided to go to the famous Ripley’s Aquarium! Which was near to the CN tower, It was a new attraction that just came out around last year, so good thing we are able to see this latest attraction! (We haven’t decided to go to CN tower today since we are waiting for my other relatives who were from New York to catch up for my Mom’s birthday and we’ll all go together!) (⌒▽⌒)
Ripley’s Aquarium
Let me just say I really love aquariums! So I easily fell in love with this aquarium, and I absolutely had fun! It was really perfect for field trips for school, since there’s a lot of explanation of the different fishes, so don’t forget to stop by here if you love aquariums!
After we finished the aquarium, my dad wanted to go to this famous market that was featured in National Geographic!
St. Lawrence Market
St. Lawrence Market has been recognized a market since 1803, which is extremely old but gradually improved by the years, it’s one of the biggest and cleanest market named by National Geographic, this place is perfect for people who loves cooking ingredients/materials, natural food, international food, and you can also get souvenirs here!
~ Day 2 in Toronto ~
Royal Tour : Casa Loma - May 21, 2015
Today we had another free day, so we picked up my aunt from a station, and we decided to go to the famous Casa Loma!
Seeing Casa Loma just from afar was already breathtaking! It really gave a royal vibe, and in my mind I kept on saying “I’m finally in Jenovia.” It really gave a Jenovia vibe and I really love ‘Princess Diaries’ so it was kinda like a dream at that time hahaha!
The palace had a extraordinary history, I kinda got scared at their pathway at the basement sewers part it was kinda horrifying while walking with a few group, so make sure to have a really large group to enter. You can actually have events here too, but i’m not how much it’ll be cost, pretty sure it’s expensive though hahaha!
They don’t have a tour guide around, instead they have a map, and a kinda like a cellular device, so when you see a room with a number just press the number on the device with the number then it’ll give you the specific history of the room you are in!
I really enjoyed this tour! It was absolutely beautiful and stunning to see, my personal favorite was probably the backyard, it had a view of the fountain plus the view of the CN Tower! I also recommend to try out their gelato ice cream, it was delicious!
~ Day 3 in Toronto ~
Free Day : Mall time - May 22, 2015
This was another free day, and two of my relatives arrived, they had a road trip to New York to Toronto, so we are waiting for my other two relatives the next day, so we decided to go to downtown again and go to Toronto Eaton Centre!
We went to meet up with my aunt and my cousin Kaye who also loves anime and loves to draw like I do! So we easily got friendly each other just of that hahaha!
Weird Experience
I also got a weird experience, a black man approached to me and some reason started yelling at me, of course I was surprised but not that surprised since some of their personality are kinda aggressive at times not going to lie, so I kinda just walked away, my relative told him to go away and so he did but he couldn’t stop yelling for some reason, Funny how a cop just showed up just after the incident so she wasn’t able to see it at all! It was my first time experiencing that so I was just a bit surprised, so please be a bit careful if you’re going around cause you’ll never what will happen!
After we ate lunch, we went to take a train station to Skywalk Toronto, it was a building going to the CN Tower & Ripley’s Aquarium! CN tower had a lot of people when we went there so we just reserved dinner in CN tower.
We ended the day fast since my dad had an appointment, so we just stayed around the hotel for the past few hours, I was killing time watching anime after that, not much happened today but at least I was able to get some nice stuff! Got a Totoro Sweatpants and Jiji Socks!
Also I got a gift from my aunt and Kaye! To Kaye if she might read this hahaha Thank you so much for this delicious Uncle Tetsu Japanese cheesecake! I heard it’s a long line and hard to get so I appreciate for giving this! I really love the cheesecake cause it’s so soft like a sponge, and creamy, and it melts into your mouth~♡
~ Day 4 in Toronto ~
Niagara Falls - May 23, 2015
Finally we are going to the ever famous Niagara Falls! We picked our other relatives at the airport, and we straightly went our way to Niagara! From Mississauga to Niagara it’s 1 hour! On our way there we went to eat Lunch, you can eat Lunch at Gateway to Niagara, they have lots of food stalls there!
When we arrived I was surprised that the falls were free to look at, so you really don’t need an entrance fee to look at the falls since it’s in open space, but you do need to pay the parking space hahaha, you also do need to pay a fee to tour around inside the falls, we got a tour pack, I’m not so sure but they have at least 3-4 attractions in Niagara falls. We went first to watch a movie, before you enter you have to wear raincoats!
Niagara’s Fury : The Creation of The Falls
It was a movie about the creation of the falls, I was amazed of the evolution, first the falls was just actually a simple land, but then after a few years soil erosion happened and it build a gap between the river, and few more years it had more soil erosion and Niagara falls became bigger! After that movie, they showed us another room, where you have to stand up and where the movie was 4D! It was really fun because it was like a helicopter tour around the falls, and we got splashed and rained on, that’s why because of the raincoats!
Journey Behind Niagara Falls
After the movie we went to the attraction where we go behind the falls! Yet again we need to wear raincoats, we went inside (the line is pretty long here) it was extremely cold and moist when we arrived inside the falls, we waited a line which we don’t know where it led, I was actually excited to see what’s end of the line, but sadly it was just a photo area of water behind the falls, and you see nothing but water, I wasn’t really impressed but I guess that’s where you just take a picture and say “I’m behind the falls!” So I suggest you not to line there unless you want to of course hahaha, I just suggest you to go straight, where you can go outside and see the close beautiful view of Niagara Falls! ✿
I really suggest you to go to Niagara in a sunny day if you want to catch a glimpse of a rainbow!
After that we really haven’t went to the boat to get close to the falls since the line was extremely long, so we hit the road! And find other attractions in Niagara (which were a lot!)
We went to a flower bed that was designed as a clock and the river of Niagara which created a whirlpool!
After that since the relatives are all together now and my cousins from New York are here we wanted to watch a movie, so we decided on Disney’s movie Tomorrowland which just came out! I extremely love the movie! I really suggest this movie to optimistic people, and dreamers around the world ♡
~ Day 5 in Toronto ~
Mom’s Birthday : CN Tower Dinner - May 24, 2015
It was my mom’s birthday! Here’s a picture of my lovely mom in front of the flower clock! ♡
We had a lunch party at a live cook buffet, which has really good food! The name of the restaurant is Wok of Fame, they have a free treat to anyone’s birthday, unless you bring an ID to know if your birthday is fake or not! Hahaha, personally I had fun, it was just mostly our relatives all together!
Wok of Fame : Mom’s Birthday Party
That’s me and Joey at the upper left, she gave me that bunny plushie which she got from Anime North! Which sadly I wasn’t able to go, but still I was happy to receive souvenirs from her!
After that we visited another relative of mine, went to church, and we went to my father’s side relatives, my dad took a long time talking so my cousins and I had a short pictorial shoot! Of course I’m the one taking the pictures though hahaha! I had a fun time picturing them, plus I love taking pictures that people jump though, I enjoy the challenge!
After that we finally are going to the CN tower! I was pretty excited since it’s the last day but it’ll end with a beautiful view! You can never end Toronto without visiting the CN tower!
CN Tower : 360 Restaurant
The dinner in the CN tower was a bit pricey not gonna lie, it depends also on what dish you are having you can have the 2 dishes or 3 dishes, but it’s worth it if you are just there for once, the view was breathtaking, we were near the window so we were able to see the beautiful city view! The restaurant slowly rotates, it gets dizzy a few mins but it’s fun to see the view!
End of Day
And that was the last day of our Toronto adventure! I had a lot of fun spending this tour with my family and relatives! ♡
There’s lot more to come soon because my adventure isn’t over yet! Because next stop is... Chicago! ♡
“ Thanks for reading and See ya soon! ♡ “
