T.Dot Through the Eyes of an Architect: Part One

Hello Everyone!

So this weekend was hectic for me! I adventured around Toronto trying to do as much as I could during the Doors Open event here in the downtown. With my map in hand, and a list of places I wanted to go, I was ready to become a tourist for the weekend. If anyone is reading this from outside of Toronto, I highly recommend visiting during this weekend next year because you get to see and do so much in the city!! 

I started my weekend off at City Hall. Now, the Toronto city hall is located at Nathan Philips Square, on Queen Street W. If you're coming on the Yonge/University subway line, get off at Osgoode Station, then you'll be a hop jump and possibly a skip away from city hall! I suppose you can call this one of the "Squares" that Toronto has. It's starting to become a more urban area for Torontonians to visit, though there are other nice places in the city to hang out as well. This is definitely a nice central location for tourists. Inside you'll find lots of information on what there is to do, etc. 

I decided to take a tour with the Toronto Society of Architects. They offer tours all summer long, and I highly suggest you go on one if you'd like to get to know some of the buildings here in the city. They cost $10 and are led by volunteers who are graduates of Architecture, etc. Basically people who know there stuff. Today they had mini tours for free and I went on the short version of their "Toronto's Culture and Renaissance: Buildings of the 21st Century" tour. So let me take you through the 3 buildings I saw, and some fun facts about each!

The Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts [Home of the Canadian Opera Company & National Ballet of Canada]

- Located at 145 Queen Street West [Osgoode Station is connected to this building, you can actually walk up through the building to get outside]

- Built in 2006, designed by Diamond (Architect) and Schmitt (theatre planning and design specialist). 

- Every seats was tested with a 3-D computer system to make sure every seat had a perfect view (though a lady on the tour tried to debate this, so you'd have to see for yourself). 

- It's a glass case around a dome in the middle. Think: egg yolk surrounded by an egg white. (I didn't make that one up). 

- It has these rubber thingies underneath to protect the theatre from the vibrations that subways produces down below! 

- It has these really cool blinds that are connected to a weather sensor. Therefore, when there's lots of sun, the blinds automatically come down! 

Next is The Sharp Centre of Design, Ontario College of Arts and Design

-Built in 2004, designed by British Architect  Will Alsop, etc. 

- Located on 100 McCaul Street Toronto. 

- Built like an umbrella over the original building so that it would obscure the view of the park for the apartment buildings across the street. 

- Crayon like structures serve no functional purpose. They are purely for design and were made out of old pipe lines that were clean, shaped and painted. 

- Fun and whimsical building. 

Last building I saw, The Art Galley of Ontario (AGO)

- Built in 2008, designed by Frank Gehry. 

- Located on 317 Dundas West. 

- Gehry actually grew up around the corner from the AGO and used to go there as a child. What a great honour in must have been to get to design a building in his own stompin' grounds. He's known for some pretty crazy designs. 

- Fun fact, because Gehry really didn't want the TTC Streetcar polls to be near the walk way part of the building, they were able to create something to that the streetcar cable would be connected to the building itself. Pretty cool. 

- Has these fish skeletal feel with the wooden beams. 

- Isn't a tall building, he made sure it fit in with the area and was lower with this belly type thing that comes out into the walk way. 

I later headed down to the Old City Hall. A nice old building. Just what a like to see! 

Have you noticed that there is suddenly a love affair with glass? Everything is class.... even the Hespeler Public Library in Cambridge is a glass box!!! Hespeler doesn't need an expensive glass box!!! But that's for another day... 

Hope you enjoyed your own little tour of some Toronto buildings!! It sure made me appreciate architecture a lot more, and made me appreciate Toronto more too. 

More to come in Part Two!! 

Keep smilin'

Monica 

Evening at the Museum

Friday night was fun!

I decided to make my way to the ROM for the 'Kick-Off' of Doors Open Toronto. I wanted to get to know the city a little more, especially the architecture. My boyfriend is studying architecture and I thought it would be fun to see what it's all about.

I learned a lot about the ROM. Like for example, the mosaic which you see on the roof when you're in the old entrance way is made of Venetian glass. ooo. Fancy eh? However, everything else in that atrium is made of limestone from Ontario. It was built during the depression meaning that the museum needed to use Canadian materials as well as employ as many people as they could. Interesting eh?

Inside the museum there's a gallery called "Canada" and it houses all sorts of Canadian artifacts and paintings, etc. Here's some cool things I saw:

Here's a photo of the where the initial entrance to the ROM was, and it was also the first part of the ROM that was built. Beside it you can see the new addition. Strange contrast eh?

Along side the museum there's also something called the "Philosopher's Walk". It's sandwiched between the ROM and the Royal Conservatory of Music. It's quite pretty :)

And here's the Royal Conservatory

So that was my adventure to the ROM yesterday. I also saw an exhibit by Dan Perjovschi, a political cartoonist, but I'm going to make a separate blog for that. It was very very interesting. I enjoyed it even though some people may have been confused by it, I thought it was all quite clever.

Till next time!

Keep Smilin,


Monica

Roamin' Around Casa Loma, and New Graffiti at Lee's Palace?

Good Evening(night) Everyone!

Well today was still a hot one, but that didn't stop me from doin' some walking!
I try to go out for a "wog" [a.k.a walk jog] in the mornings, and I usually go to the Casa Loma area because it's quite lovely over there. Lots of trees, and some nifty steps to exercise on! I didn't take a photo, but perhaps I will soon and show you. It's a pretty good work out for your bum!

Anyway, I've never been in Casa Loma, but it's a huge castle like structure built by a man named Sir Henry Pellatt in the early 1900s. It has 98 rooms!! Could you imagine decorating 98 rooms?! Apparently there are 2 secret passages, an oven big enough to cook an ox and a bowling alley. Crazy.

It's quite a lovely building. Also, the homes around Casa Loma are pretty amazing as well. I feel very poor when I walk around that neighbourhood, but it's still fun to see what a $3million home looks like.

Around Casa Loma there's a trail that leads down under the highway, and I was intrigued by some graffi that I found down there:

Very interesting. Actually, there's a lot of interesting graffiti around the city. Perhaps I will take pictures of them more often.

However, I did take some photos of some graffiti popping up in front of Lee's Palace. Some of you may remember the tearing down of the Lee's Palace mural, but did you know that they are re-painting some of the mural again? It's surprising since they painted it all white, and now there's something new coming back. I'll track it over the summer to see how it goes, but here is what it looks of as of today:

Should be really exciting to see once it's complete!
Here's an article about the new mural for those interested: http://torontoist.com/2010/05/monster_magic_back_at_lees_palace.php

Even though it's 32*C in my room, all is swell. I think I'll take a nice cold shower now... paradise ;)

keep smilin,

Monica

Pinchin' Pennies? Have a Picnic and see the Symphony!

Well hello there,

I arrived back from the symphony about an hour ago, and I thought, "what the heck, I'm just going to go ahead and write something". So here it goes!

I had the opportunity to join a ol' high school friend [and fellow Cambridge lad] for a picnic and a symphony with a group of his friends. It was lovely. Simply delightful.

I got to use the subway a little more today. I had to switch from one subway to the next. oooo. I needed to really pay attention to my North, South, East, West.
My destination was St. Patrick's Station, which is pretty awesome (for those who understand), AND it was green. I'm also intrigued by the Museum stop with all it's totem poles and such. Perhaps I'll take a trip there for you all one day and snap a couple photos.

Our picnic took place near Dundas and University.... I believe the we were on the lawn of the University of Toronto's law buildings. It was super hot, but the shade helped us out a great deal.

We had so many great things to eat. I snapped a photo of some of the bread and cheese we ate. Yup, a newspaper was used as a cutting board. I thought it was rather "European" of us, though I doubt any European does that.

That knife may look like it's made of plastic, but it actually has a sharp metal edge. Imagine that eh?
That's yummy blue cheese by the way. I was never a blue cheese eating kind of gal, but that stuff was good. Salty. It went well with the sour dough [that's me trying to sound all posh and like I know what I'm talking about]. We were then surprised with a roasted chicken, some salads and fruit that some others brought to the picnic. So good. I would never have thought to bring a whole chicken to a picnic! Great idea!

The symphony was awesome!! I have never been to a symphony, and I'm sure seeing the Toronto Symphony Orchestra wasn't a bad start! Since my friend signed up for the tsoundcheck program, where people between 15-35 can get $12 tickets (visit www.tsoundcheck.com for more info), it was perfect for us youngsters with little money. He actually got $6 tickets, which was even better! We saw "Stravinsky Petrouchka". Honestly, I had no idea what to expect but it was brillant. Watching all the violinists given it, and watching their bows go wild was so awesome. I learned a lot about the symphony. For example, the closer a musician sits to the conductor the better (not including the brass and drums and instruments like that), and symphonies love clapping. I thought Startford was a little bad for this, but those conductors sure love clapping! He would go off stage, come back, leave again, and then come back again, and then leave, which then they would change the set up. But still. Although, at the end of the night the entire orchestra sure deserved all the clapping. It was so nice, and lovely. I wish I knew how to properly speak about classical music, but I will say that I enjoyed watching all those musicians play. What a treat. 


I highly recommend it :) It's a fun and cheap way to feel all ritzy when you're on a budget! 


Alright, it's time to sleep, 

Goodnight everyone, and keep smilin', 

Monica

Fun in Kensington

Yesterday my parents came down for some fun in Chinatown, as well as some Kensington Market adventures.

I absolutely love wandering around Chinatown. Though it might have a fishy (literally) smell, it's still great to just be a part of all the craziness around the food stands. Lots of yelling, and some pushing and definitely lots of cheap deals. If only I knew how to read all the labels... but I'm pretty sure everything is made with green tea and wasabi.

Kensington is awesome on a Sunday. If you're driving, and get there early enough, so you park on one of the residential side streets for free all day! (Only on a Sunday though).
If you like to people watch and just randomly walk around, Kensington is your place. There was an interesting gal in front of The Market Bakery who was pretending to play music. I usually like buskers, but this one was horrible. She kept playing the same chord and was yelling everything she sung. Then she started yelling something that I'm sure she didn't think was racist... but it sure sounded like it. Thankfully there was a Mexican band around the corner. My mom really loved it.

We weren't sure where to go to eat. There are so many options! We opted for a place that looked kinda sketch on the outside, but with a 2 for $5 falafel special, how can you go wrong? It was quite quite tasty! My parents got a yummy chicken wrap combo deal thing... it was very good! 

So if you're ever in the market, and want a cheap lunch, I recommend this place. I can't remember what it's called. It's across from Blue Banana.. which is also a cool store to go too!

Other than my adventure to Kensington, it was just a lazy day.
I watched some wedding reality tv shows with my roommie in the evening. I'm starting to wonder what my wedding will be like... I can't believe the amont of money people spend! Insane! We'll see what happens when I finally get there...

That's all for now folks!

keep smilin,

Monica

My Last Date with Strombo

First of all, can I marry Christopher Plummer and have his children? I wish.
What a great guest. Actually, he's going to be on today's episode of The Hour, whereas the other tapings that I saw will be aired next month or so. The other guest was Gord Downie of The Hip.

Today's taping was my last for the season. I went to more in the last 2 weeks than I have for the past 4 years or so! I highly recommend anyone to go and visit. It's really fun, but first of all, here are some tips for when you go to a taping.

- Don't be first in line : why? because if you're first in line, you'll usually be the first to enter the elevator, meaning you'll be stuck at the back of the elevator, meaning you won't be first in line when you wait in another line upstairs. You want to be closer to the front of the line at the big doors upstairs because that's where they start seating you. HOWEVER, sometimes this can fail. For some reason, they don't always use everyone who is at the front of the line to fill the good seats. Also, if there are a lot of VIP then they tend to fill the good seats first. Last week I got an awesome seat right at the front because they needed to fill up two seats. You win some, you lose some. It's harder to get a good seat if you're in a big group. But you never know!
- How do I win a prize? : They usually have a in-between guy giving away prizes. They are usually very random books and pasta, and things they got from Steven and Chris. If you want to win something, you gotta be loud. Even jump up and down. Do something that he'll notice you and you are more likely to win something. It's hard when there is a school group there because he likes to play around with them and sometimes focuses more on giving them prizes. Maybe it's not true, but it's an observation of mine.
- Enjoy the Sun Chips: There are free sunchips and guru energy drinks. Enjoy them, cause they are free and good stuff ;)
- Stay after the show: You can get photos with George and even take a photo on the red couches! So don't be shy ;)
- Fun Fact: You can go as many times as you like! You'll actually start to notice regulars... I speak from experience!

I think those are all the fun facts for now :)
I had fun walkin over to the CBC and watching The Hour. To bad Steven and Chris is sold out for the season... if only CBC Radio 3 did live tapings...could you imagine sitting through Craig's 4 hour show in a the tiny studio... good thing that it's pre-taped and not actually 4 hours... that's way to much time to be spending with Craig :p But perhaps I should give CBC a rest for now... they are going to start thinking I'm stalking the studios or planning something... hmm

Anyway, Christopher Plummer was amazing. Simply incredible. Not gonna lie, I totally wanted to jump him, but thankfully that side of me didn't kick in during the taping. He's such a well spoken man. Brilliant. And Gord Downie was on as well. A little slow at the beginning (the interview that is) didn't seem like he was really opening up at first, but then after a while he did. He mentioned loving the record store Sonic Boom which is right near where I currently live, and how he loves Bloor and Bathurst which is where I'm currently located... so that made me feel pretty special. :) It's a pretty happenin' area! I think I'll go exploring tomorrow :)

That is all for now,

keep smilin,

Monica

P.S : Tomorrow (today?) is my birthday :) Lots of fun to be had!! I'm going to be 24! woohoo! Stay tuned for all that fun and more..(i hope anyway....i might have to fancy it up in blog form :p)

Another Date with Strombo

Well Hello There!

How is everyone this fine and dandy May 10th?
I'm doing pretty swell, though I feel extremely cold and tired. Why does it feel like Oct? or Ireland for that matter.

Today was another date with Mr. George, and today's show was packed with fun guests!
First it was Paul Henderson, the man who scored the winning goal against the Russians all those years back. It's so long ago I wasn't even born yet. That's a crazy long time ago :p Not to make anyone feel old or anything...

Then it was the lovely Sarah Polley. She seems very sweet and smart. Apparently she's afraid of connecting flights. I wouldn't blame her. I bet she went through the horror at Heathrow like I did. Who wouldn't be scared of them after experiencing that mess. I find that rather interesting though. A fear of being in between something. George was mentioning how he was often weary about that as well. But he decided to look at airports in a different way. Everyone is there because they need to get somewhere. In a way, we're all part of a community because we're sharing this one common thread. That's actually part of the reason why I enjoy airports. Everyone is there to go some place. There are people from all over the world in one area... it's very interesting.

Then it was Jay Baruchel and director Jacob Tierney. They were there in support of their latest flick 'The Trotsky'. Here's a trailer:



It looks pretty good! Could be interesting! Plus, it actually takes place in Montreal if I'm not mistaken! Jay was a really sweet guy, talking about how the most important women in his life are his mom and sister. awwww so sweet. Both Jay and Jacob went on and on about how much they love Montreal. Seeing as I was born in Montreal, it made me really want to go back and visit. Alas, I will stay in Toronto for now.

It's been pretty sad weather in the GTA and Southwestern Ontario recently. I don't like it. Especially when I don't have gloves and a hat... it makes walking around not very fun.

Today was also when I started to really get down and dirty with my cover letter and resume writing. I just sent out some stuff for a part-time job... we'll see what happens!

I suppose that is all for now, I'm going to more of The Hour tomorrow! I'll let you know how that goes!

:)

keep smilin,

Monica

Day 2 : Walking Tour of the City

I wasn't sure what I was going to do today. I have several things planned in terms of getting resumes written up, figuring out where to apply for a job, etc, etc, but I thought I would walk along Bloor to see what shops I could find. I also thought "perhaps I'll try to do some shopping". Well this adventure ended up lasting 4 hours! It wasn't 4 hours of shopping mind you, it was 4 hours of me thinking "okay... how about I go down this street" and slowly ended up further and further away from home.

I ended up walking through many different parts of the city.
The Annex, which is where I live, is a pretty hip cool area. It's filled with lots of cool cafes, bars and restaurants, plus lots of nice shops. But when you walk down Bloor towards Younge, you get into a more "fashiony" area. People in suits and woman all dressed up going shopping to Chanel and Burberry. Then, you get towards Younge and it feels slightly touristy. Perhaps that's my own perception though.

It was then I decided, "Okay, I"ll just walk to the Eaton's Centre now". It was another very long walk to get there, but I did it! I passed by shops and interesting restaurants, but I couldn't help but feel that the Annex still had a lot more to offer. Plus, the vibe was a lot different. I like the Annex vibe.

While I was walking, I noticed that Torontonians really like to spit on the ground. Why? I have no idea. but I fear that one day I'll be walking and spit will land on me somehow. So gross.

The Eaton's Centre was cool. I've been there on numerous occasions. I'm currently looking for a new pair of jeans and thought "there must be something here for me". Alas, there was not. I tried on so many jeans to no avail. Not only was a tired and hungry, I just couldn't find a good pair on jeans. Oh well, better luck next time! It's also kinda lonely shopping by yourself.

Anywho, I walked down Queen street and visited Nathan Phillips Square.

It was here that I decided to take a rest. I sat under a tree and watched all the "suits" as they ate their take-out lunches and wrapped up ham sandwiches.

After a wee rest, it was time for me to return to the Annex. I was fairly dehydrated, and the hot sun was not helping!

On my way, I went through the The Ontario College of Arts and Design which is where I saw this:

How cool is that? I found it in a parking lot. I was impressed.

Eventually, I made it back to the Annex and drank lots and lots of water. Who knew water was so important?

Now it's time to relax. Not sure what to do exactly, but I do know that listening to CBC Radio 3 helps in the relaxing department. Have you ever listened? You should ;)

oh, and I booked some more tickets for next week's The Hour. I'm pretty excited! I won't tell you who I'm seeing just yet... I'll keep you in anticipation!

Toodles,

Monica

Day 1: First Adventure to the CBC

I woke up in Toronto today. It was my first real day in the T.Dot, and I was really to hit the pavement and go have lots of fun. How did I have lots of fun you ask? By going to the CBC of course!

For my first Toronto adventure, I decided to booked two tapings of The Hour. One taping was for a musical performance, and the other was for a regular taping. I also decided that I would not take any sort of public transportation. For the month of May I'm trying to resist the need to rely on it. I'm sure this will soon come to an end, but for today, I didn't want to use it! Therefore, I had a one hour walk from Bloor to Front Street. It wasn't that bad actually. Though the sun was hitting pretty hard, I was able to deal with all the sweat. As I made my way, I had this feeling of calm come over me. I was finally in the city. The city I have been waiting to get to know for a while now. I finally have the opportunity to discover, explore and search for my dream. Amazing stuff. In the mean time, amidst all this reflection, I was also window shopping for places with signs that said "Now Hiring". This reminded me of how I need to get writing some resumes... *sigh*

Anyway, I eventually made it down to the CBC headquarters. I wandered in and visited the CBC museum, the shop and just lingered around until it was time for me to line up. I also discovered more of the CBC museum that I didn't know existed! It is hidden away beneath the escalators, sneaky CBC! ....And what did I find??? 

This: 

Isn't that amazing??? I sure think so. It's so "1970s CBC" 

Then I made my way to the line up, and then into the studio. While in line they treat you to a few snacks... I LOVE free stuff, so this was perfect, though I wasn't a huge fan of the energy drink:

During the musical performance I got to see Timber Timbre. Pretty nice mellow set, and then it was back to waiting in line for the next taping. 

Ugh. I hate waiting. Especially when I'm waiting all on my own. But, I did it.

The next taping was with Willie O'Ree. The first black NHL hockey player. He was able to play hockey while being blind in one eye. Pretty incredible! 

Then I made my way back home. As I was leaving the CBC, I walked by one of the dragons from Dragons Den. oooo. I bet if you hang out at the CBC long enough, you'll see every CBC personality.

On my way back I walked by 'Much Music', which I assume had someone "popular" on since there was a barricade and girls screaming. I decided I was too busy to take a peak. I later made my way through Chinatown, and noticed that the vegetables and fruits were really cheap. I made a note of this for future reference. 

Eventually I made it back. I kicked up my feet, made a yummy peanut butter and jelly sandwich for dinner, and I was set. Chatted with the roomies, and now I'm ready for another day. 

What will tomorrow bring me? I'm not too sure, but I will keep to posted :) Literally. 

Keep smilin', 

Monica 

I Have Finally Arrived.

I have arrived. I have finally been able to just kick up my feet and say "I'm not going to be packing for the next little while". Perfect.

The day started off a bit rainy in Cambridge, but by the time we arrived in the T.Dot all was swell. The clouds ran away and the sun was here to stay. Since my roommates were away as I was moving in, I was left various blue post-its throughout the house explaining what was what, and where everything was etc. Pretty helpful! There was even a post-it on my bed with a CD attached to it!

How very sweet of her :)
So I proceeded to put everything in order and went out with my parents to do a little shopping. Nothing to major, just wandered around Holy Renfrew pretending that the clothes and accessories were actually affordable. Each time I go in there I'm shocked by the prices. $700 for a shirt? Maybe one day... but for now I'll stick to my VV Boutique bargins.

When I came back, I started to really unpack and listened to some Ms. Smith. Perfect unpacking music. I have to admit, I never actually listened to Meaghan before, and now I have. I think this is a sign in terms of what will be happening as I discover Toronto. I am going to do things I have never done before. I'm quite excited about this wonderful plan.

Now I sit here quietly using a free internet connection because my mac (Sammy) has decided it doesn't want to connect to the house connection. I'm a wee bit tired and I have a big day ahead of me tomorrow! I'm going to the CBC to see 2 tapings of The Hour. I'm thoroughly excited. Also, I'm planning on not taking transit, which means an hour walk each way. I can't wait to get some good ol' Toronto exercise! How long do you think I can last without buying a transit pass?

Now, I'm curious. Do you have any places in the T.Dot you'd like me to visit and discover? Preferably free places. Perhaps you know of a cafe or a bakery I should stop into.

I'm so excited to be here and I can't wait to take you along with me on this ride through Toronto.

Should be fun and interesting!

Monica