Downtown Toronto

We explored downtown today. I was with my mom and Ninang Rosie. Uncle Pol dropped us off and went to Spadina in Chinatown to buy more fruits. Our first stop was the CN Tower, which is the highest freestanding structure in the world (113 stories high), at least until the one in Dubai is completed a few months from now. The CN Tower is actually built as a broadcasting tower and it has all the broadcasting equipment hidden behind a balloon wall below the two observation decks.


CN Tower. more pics

Unfortunately, it was a windy day, so the Sky Pod, which is a smaller "bubble" higher up the tower, is closed. They close it whenever winds are stronger than 15 knots. And the winds were significantly stronger up there. However, we had the experience of stepping (and lying) on the glass floor, which is a very disconcerting experience in the beginning, until you get used to it.


My feet and Mommy's feet over the glass floor. more pics

After our souvenir-shopping spree at the base of the tower, Uncle Pol came back with Edward, the older of their two sons. Edward took us to a financial building called BCE Place where Rich Tree Restaurant is located.

Rich Tree Restaurant is an intriguing concept. When you walk in, the hostess hands you a "shopping card" which looks like a credit card. Inside, the restaurant looks like an outdoor market -- they have stalls with fresh fish on ice, bags of semolina flour, baskets of oranges. You can order grilled salmon, lasagna, and fresh-squeezed juice cocktails from those stalls respectively. You can order a slew of other things, of course. They also have a stall with loaves of bread, an ice cream stall, a waffles stall, a breakfast stall, a dessert stall, and a few more I don't remember. When I ordered my grilled salmon, I got to pick exactly which salmon steak I wanted, just like in a grocery store, and they cooked it for me the way I wanted it cooked -- medium. When you order a dish, you hand the cook your shopping card to record your purchase. Piles of wooden trays and baskets of flatware are by each stall, so you can pick them up at your convenience. Then you carry your purchases back to your table. If you want something else, like dessert, you get up and go "shopping" again. When you're done, you take your "shopping card" to one of the cashiers and you pay for your "purchases." Cool, huh?


"Marketplace stalls" at the Rich Tree Restaurant. more pics

Well, my mom absolutely had to hurry and watch "American Idol" so we hijacked Edward's condo, which was conveniently nearby. While my mom watched "American Idol" on one TV and Uncle Pol watched a Raptors (basketball) game on another TV, Edward took me and Ninang Rosie on a tour of the building. They had a great view of the city on the rooftop, an expansive gym (also at the rooftop), a nice wave pool, a little fountain in the middle of the lobby, a lounge area with PCs and big-screen TVs, and a minimalist modern decor party room. However, the cool little three-inch disco ball is hanging from the ceiling in Edward's condo. :-)

Ninang Rosie headed back upstairs as we walked out into the cold so I could take a picture of the Wayne Gretsky Restaurant right next door. It was flurrying, but we continued walking around a few blocks where the bars and restaurants are. There was a stage theater showing "Lord of the Rings" a block away. There was a pickup truck whose front end was sticking out the second floor of a building. There was a bar with a beer ad on one wall saying "Reluctantly exported from Nova Scotia." We didn't realize how cold it was until we went back in.


Wayne Gretzky's restaurant. more pics

After the Raptors won and after the last "Idol" sang, we surrendered Edward's condo back to him and headed home.