mychai's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day #4: From learning to congregating with bums Ok. Here's the situation: The lady you are travelling with gets tired due to a very busy day of going to see the science center, a movie, and a very nice bookstore (details below), all while helping to navigate Toronto's admittedly well-done public transit service. She decides to call it a night and goes up to your room. You, on the other hand, want a beer and some good idle chat from the locals but have no clue what to do or where to go. This has happened to me more than I can count. But a little reasoning and logic really goes a long way when you are in a large city. The main question you have to ask yourself is: "Who in the big city knows the streets like the back of their hand, knows alcohol, and is always available?" The answer: the bums. So I just walked in a random direction until someone with an outstretched hand asked me for some change, not expecting much of a response. I put my hands in my pocket, jiggled some coinage, and I said, "Tell you what. I'll make you a deal. You give me some good information, and I'll give you some money." "Ok," he said. "Whatcha want?" "I'm looking for a good bar, no loud music or dancing, with a good selection of beer and people willing to talk to a stranger." I must admit that I am a little homesick, and memories of my nights with Air Force Buddy Justin are making me feel a little alone. Even though I have a great travel buddy with me, I just feel a little homesick is all. So, the bum not only starts telling me all of the great bars around, he spouts off the good and bad points about them all. "The Beer Factory is right around the corner. It has about five or six beers on tap, but the waitresses are really bitchy. "But there is a bar right next door which is what I think you are looking for. It has fifteen beers on tap, the head waitress is a sweetheart, but beers start at $4.75." He then walked me to the street and pointed out where the bar was. It was well worth the four American quarters I had in my pocket. When I gave it to him, he gave me a good chuckle and said, "Oh, wow! All in American, too. Thanks, buddy!" I gave him a "thanks, buddy" as well. And he was 100% correct. The bar was everything it seemed. The head waitress, in her late-30s or so, was very nice and talked to me for a good while. She said she knew the second I sat down that I was from out of town. "It's ok," she said. "Probably 90% of the people in here aren't from Toronto, either." I was wanting to talk to some locals, but I guess you can only get so much localage in the middle of downtown Toronto. So, let this be a lesson for all of you travellers. If you are looking for a great place to eat, take a taxi somewhere and ask the driver. If you are looking for a great place to drink, give a bum a buck and he'll give you the rundown. The science museum was excellent fun, but we ended up only having about three hours of fun once we got there. Both of us slept through our alarms, both of us took forever to get ready, and both of us haven't seemed too much in a hurry since we arrived. My kind of travel buddy. Once we finally arrived at the science museum, it was around two o'clock, and it closed at 5. We saw their candy exhibit, which was interesting. We also went to the space exhibit. They had all kinds of neat things to see. One was a movie presentation about the Big Bang that didn't interest either one of us. I ended up doing shadow puppets on the ceiling where the movie was being projected. I also did my own commentary. I must admit that it was better than the actual movie. We got half-way through the communications exhibit when the museum shut down. I would have liked to have seen more, but oh, well. That's what happen when you sleep until 11. We then went to eat at a restaurant called "The Pickle Barrell." They had more food choices than any restaurant I've ever eaten at. And the prices were really great, too. I had a beer, an entree, and a dessert. Nicole had a coke and an entree, and she shared my dessert. It all came down to $11 each American. Can I get a woo-hoo? We then went to the movie and saw the new Mike Myers film called "A View From Above." It could be called, "Crap From Above" because that's what it was. I wouldn't suggest seeing this film. I don't think you would fully enjoy it unless you are a flight attendant. They play it up as a comedy, but it was about as funny as watching your grandmother die. We then went to the bookstore where I got TWO books for under $4 American. One is the actual real book of "Peter Pan." I've been wanting to read that for a long time, and I couldn't pass up the deal. The other is about Matt Drudge. An autobiography, maybe? I dunno. I will have to read it to find out. We got back to the hostel, and Nicole went up to get comfy and do some reading. I, on the other hand, opted to congregate with bums. I don't know what tomorrow brings. I think I will be going on a day trip to Niagra Falls. Nicole pretty much has insisted that I go. It would be too much walking for her, and she said that she can see it any time. She's nothing but sweetheart all over, that Nicole. On Sunday we will be going on a pub crawl sponsored by the hostel. $6 Canadian gets you to a pub, discounts on food, and one free shot. I'm looking forward to this with much enthusiasm. So, that's this installment from the road. All is well. Fuck if I know - Sat., Mar. 22, 2003 (I think) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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