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Published: December 11th 2006
Homer at the Basketball
Homer at the Raptors game (he cant stand so I have to hold him). Our view seems further away than in reality on camera...TORONTO PART 2!
Thought Id update about how my final time in TO was - there are now photos up (in case you hadnt noticed) - Woohoo! You can see them at http://s143.photobucket.com/albums/r141/michty6/ and Ill update that as well as I go along...
After the wonders of Hooters, Aussie Matt decided to go exploring elsewhere, so he has left for Montreal, where he tells us 'It's fucking cold' (wow - big surprise!). We had a drink or ten for his leaving night... Karaoke in TO will never be the same now he's gone.
Have decided that all guys from Aussie are now going to be called Aussie xxxx - just cos its funny!
I attended my first ever NBA game - the Toronto Raptors v Boston Celtics, as the hostel had arranged a trip there. I found the whole thing very entertaining, for many other reasons than the basketball on court! There was the announcer who was ridiculously biased, especially when there was a score - a Raptors point would get a big whooping scream in announcing the players name; a Celtics score was greeted by announcing the players name like he had just killed someone....very funny!
100th Shot
The 3 of us completing our centurion! Also Raptors fans banged inflatable sticks together to put off the other teams free throws... I managed to get some Raptors pom poms, which I used to further annoy (he was already annoyed at how much noise I was making) Dougie, who I was sitting beside. At least Collette, from the Hostel, was not as annoyed by the pom poms and actually joined in with some of the fun! McDonald's announced before the game that they sponsored every 3-point throw! We cheered on my new favourite player, Chris Bosh, mainly because whenever he scored I shouted BOSH! The mascot fired t-shirts into the crowd using a t-shirt gun (like in the Simpsons when Maude gets killed) but I didnt get one 😞....
Oh and as for the basketball, well the Raptors won 106-102 😊 was very entertaining and, since they scored over 100 points we got a free slice of pizza - woo hoo! Afterwards we headed out to Philthy McNastys again, felt like almost the whole hostel was there and it was awesome - met Aussie Marcin and Aussie Scott out with everyone - was a cracking night!
Having discussed with some of the new arrivals our
Group photo
Starting at me, going clockwise: Dennis, Madeline, Salwa, Aussie Marcin, Si, Aussie Scott centurion efforts, somehow we decided to do one again! So Aussie Marcin, Heath (a Welsh guy travelling) and I did the full, proper 100 shots in 100 minutes - no cigarette breaks this time. And Salwa did a great job of timekeeping! An Egyptian guy called Memen joined in in the last 50, and I learned that Saha (pronounced Sackha) is Egyptian for cheers! Seemed to be the night for sleeping drunks after: firstly Heath got us kicked out of the bar as he fell asleep; then Aussie Scott fell asleep outside in just a t-shirt (it was like -2) - luckily Bill, the hostel's night caretaker discovered him before he died!!!
Have been partying a lot with Chris and Si, who love this Rum cocktail (lime, sugar, Rum and coke) - which I have ended up drinking a lot thanks to them! The three of us, after one session, ended up (with Gareth and Aussie Jonno - yet another Aussie traveler) catching the end of the Sunday night Blues session - wondering where to go next, Gareth suggested College street. It was about 1.30 and we couldnt find any bars, so we went into the first one we
Your Band Sucks
A photo of one of the worst bands you're ever likely to see... found...turned out to be a Jamaican bar! We looked so out of place - the only white, non dreadlocked people in the bar! Was hilarious and we winded up Gareth a bit for that recommendation!
I also managed to introduce a couple of my favourite games to the hostel lifestyle: firstly we have played a lot of asshole (card game) including the creation of an 'asshole hat' for the loser! Secondly we have played 20-22 ('21' or 'numbers') drinking game - on one occasion a very fun and drunken game ended up with us at Karoake and me singing Bonnie Tyler's Total Ecslipse of the Heart but in the style of the Dan Band from the movie Old School (basically putting in as many swear words as possible!) - I broke my vow not to do Karaoke in TO very easily but it was a fun night! (Luckily Aussie Matt had left, as the amount of abuse I had given him over his Karoake attempts, Im sure lots would have headed my way...)
Met another Aussie called...Bruce! Luckily for me he took my cheeky banter at his name in good spirit (yes, he does have a wife called
Steamwhistle
Aussie Bruce outside the Steamwhistle Brewery, as we wasted time before going inside! Shiela 😉). Went to see hockey with him, Salwa, Madeline and Heath one night (Toronto have lost all 5 games of theirs I have watched - I am a jinx!) and Aussie Bruce and I ended up going out to see a very good (free 😉) gig headlined by a band called the Dunes - who were very good - very Radiohead like. But perhaps more memorably, they were supported by a band called 'Your Band Sucks'! They were hilarious, easily the worst band I have ever seen! They consisted of a guy on keyboard, dancing and SCREAMING into a microphone (his singing was even worse than Aussie Matt's the previous week 😉), supported by a women tapping a cymbal and a guy hitting a bongo!! We watched for half an hour, laughing our heads off at them - their gimic was to get the crowd to shout 'Your Band Sucks' at them... I guess they were mean to be a sort of conceptual band but they played for far too long!
Also Aussie Bruce and I attended the Steamwhistle Brewery, as I had to make sure I went before I left TO! I had heard from several people
The Steam Whistle!
Me setting off the Steam Whistle at the brewery. The owners came up with the name of the beer when discussing the idea of a big horn (Steam Whistle) which would sound over the city of TO at closing time - so they have one in the distillery! that, as tours are on the hour, the trick is to arrive around quarter past - they then feed you free drink till your tour time! We saw a whole bunch of people inside, so we assumed they were waiting to start a tour, so decided to wait outside. Eventually we just went in (the people were still there) and it turns out they were not going on a tour anyway and were just friends of one of the sales rep's for the company - DOH! We lost a bit of drinking time but still got a good few pints in before the tour. We actually then got chatting to the guys who knew the sales rep and this earned us many more free beers - WOOHOO!
I also met up with Kate again, for drinks at the Beer Market, which was a very nice bar and went to Scotland Yard (yes Fiona, it still exists - as does the Spaghetti Factory, but didnt manage to get there...). I discovered that in the Beer Market you can even pay over the odds for a pint of Tennants!
I learned some new Aussie words, Bogin and Bawkit - which are
Uptown Toronto
Toronto, from further uptown on Bloor: the University of Toronto pitches with the city and CN Tower in the background. apparently very insulting (I'll have to test this out of course 😉) and Cobber - which means mate (thanks Aussie Marcin and Scott!).
I spent one day walking around, I went uptown which was very nice - so wanted to go out to a bar there. So, on my second last night I was out with Chris, Si, Gareth, Scott, Madeline, Dennis, Salwa, Duncan and Aryen trying to persuade them to go to a bar uptown (instead of Philthys!) - one called Madisons, which Kate had recommended - only Aussie Zack was up for going straight away... Eventually I persuaded people to come, so we got a couple of cabs... the cab ride was hilarious! We were kind of racing the other taxi cab (we had 2 cabs) except their driver didnt really care and ours was an absolute psycho, shouting abuse out the window at the other cab and anyone in general. Was surprised the bouncers let us in the amount of noise we were making when we pulled up! Madisons was good - should definitely have spent more nights there - apparently its way better on a Friday and Saturday night. Had a piano in the bar downstairs and the guy playing was very good. Probably one of my favourite bars in TO! Gareth was wasted, even got up on the very tall table to dance.
My last night was also Val's birthday, so was spent singing happy birthday whenever someone new joined the group (which was about a dozen times!) - very funny! We went out to Philthys, naturally, and had a cracking night! Chris and Si managed to join us after work and I remember doing a number of shots - was a great send-off!
The next day I was very hungover and had to get up early to fly to Quebec, where I am now. I was very sad to be leaving TO, loved the city, the hostel and the people I met. But part of the idea behind traveling is to travel....so was time to move on.
So I am currently in Quebec and will update my blog from here, not sure how long I will stay before I head on to Montreal. Homer is really struggling, doesnt seem to have recovered from his fall at Niagara...now has no feet and no right hand...
That's me for now - wow almost as long an update as my first! Keep the comments coming. Goodbye Toronto from me, and to everyone I met there thanks a bunch for some great times and keep in touch!
Mich
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Jenni
non-member comment
TO nothing!
If you loved TO wait until you get to Ottawa (or O-town as we like to call it) You won't know what hit you :)