Week 9: My First Protest - Queen's Park Rally For Education

Today I participated in the Rally For Education at Queen's Park to stand up for my democratic rights and let the provincial government know that I am very saddened and disappointed with their decision to legislate a contract upon us.  I think it's a dark and frightened time in our nation when democracy becomes a dictatorship. 

Aside from the heavy purpose of being there, I tried to make the most of it and have a laugh or two whenever possible.  For instance, during Sam Hammond's speech there was this woman right behind me who kept shouting, "SHAME! SHAME!" and pretty much parroting whatever he said.  Man, did she have a set of lungs on her.  Also, as part of the great finale to the rally some lady who reminded me of Rita McNeil sang a song about solidarity or something.  Trust me, it's not a song you want stuck in your head.  I'm not sure if she made it up or what, but I would have liked a more modern rendition of something applicable; maybe some Jay-Z or Rihanna?  Check out the video clips and see for yourself.



I feel like such a rebel now.  Perhaps next I'll grow out my body hair, get dread locks, and wear tye dye and high tops.

Week 8 Continued: More Food - Homemade and CNE

Homemade Egg McMuffin, Ramsay Style:

I finally got all the ingredients to put together my fake egg McMuffin.  The only difference is that I used a Weight Watchers bagel instead of an English muffin.  I have to admit that it was very tasty and just as good as a restaurant breakfast sandwich.  Yay for me!  Next I want to try baking something.

More CNE Foods:

After the delicious deep fried Mars bar I had high hopes for more great tasting food inventions.  When you hear "chocolate covered bacon" don't you envision bacon dipped in milk chocolate or something similar?  Well, don't get your hopes up because what I got was 6 pieces of bacon with chocolate sauce poured on top.  What a colossal failure! 

Check out the deals on their menu:  Grand Slam or Breakfast of Champions?



This past weekend the CNE hosted a Food Truck Frenzy featuring 17 food trucks.  I watch "Eat St." on the Food Network and often wish that Toronto had a variety of food trucks that didn't include ice cream or burgers & fries.  So I took advantage of the Food Truck Frenzy and tried 2 new foods:  fish tacos from Buster's Sea Cove and a pulled pork parfait from Hank Daddy's Barbecue. 

Fish Tacos

Pulled Pork Parfait

The pulled pork parfait was actually quite good.  Don't worry it didn't have ice cream.  It's filled with mashed potatoes, pulled pork, and BBQ sauce.  The fish tacos were a let-down though.  The fish was deep fried.  Remember how I feel about things that are deep fried?  You could deep fry dirt and it would taste good.  Deep frying the fish was the quick and dirty way to serve it.  I want healthy, fresh, and tasty fish in my tacos. 

Next weekend I'm off to the CNE for the final time.  My plan of action is to try Korean tacos with pork and kimchi.  I'm pretty sure I'll be getting another deep fried chocolate bar too.  It will have to do until next year.

Week 8: CNE - Deep Fried Chocolate And A Ride With A View

Deep Fried:

I absolutely love going to the CNE (Canadian National Exhibition) every year.  It's 18 days of bliss.  When I was a kid I'd go to our mini Miramichi exhibition for the rides and games.  Now that I'm older I go for the shopping, shows, food, and sights.  The CNE offers various "interesting" foods such as deep fried Twinkies, deep fried Oreo, deep fried butter, deep fried peanut butter and jelly, deep fried Snickers bar, deep fried Kool Aid, chocolate covered bacon, etc.  Chocolate is one of my favourite foods and I think that you could deep fry dirt and it would be tasty.  Last night I had the opportunity to try something very naughty...  a deep fried Mars bar.  Put the two together and you get............  HEAVEN! 

Look on the plate.  It's not a bird.  It's not a plane.  It's not a turd.  It's a DEEP FRIED MARS BAR!

It may not look overly appealing but it was truly rich and decadent.  I wouldn't suggest you eat it alone though.  It's definitely a treat you should share with the adventurous.  And don't make it a habit either.  I'm going back to the CNE this weekend and again next weekend too.  I plan on sampling some other interesting foods.  I may end up blogging from the hospital by the end of it. 


Sky Ride:

As I mentioned, I'm not really into the rides like I once was as a kid but I'm always up for something new.  The Sky Ride is a new attraction that resembles a ski chair lift.  It sits 40 feet above the ground and gives you a beautiful panoramic view of the exhibition grounds, Lake Ontario, and Toronto skyline.  You definitely won't get a ride rush but you can sit back and enjoy the great view.  The cost?  This ride requires 4 coupons per person.  The total for 2 people to enjoy the Sky Ride is $10.  Crazy, eh? 

Week 7: Tai Pan Tours - New York, Shopping 3-Day Tour

If you've never heard of Tai Pan Tours, they are a Chinese travel agency that "specialize in air ticket arrangements, tours to USA, Canada, Europe and Asia, cruise vacations and hotel bookings."  (www.taipantours.com) 
I've taken different types of tours from one hour tours to 14 day tours with various companies.  I know someone who had taken a Tai Pan Tour for 4 days to Washington and they were pleased with it.  So, I went to their website and was shocked at the low prices.  I'm not used to taking the bus anywhere let alone all the way to New York, but for $159 and the thrill of experiencing something new I figured it was worth it. 

Day 1: 

-Chinatown pick-up at 5:30 a.m.
-2 hour wait at U.S. border (it sucked)
-Buffet Chinese lunch in New York State
-Shopping at The Crossings Premium Outlets (I got a cute Coach bag for less than half price)
-8 p.m. arrival at Marriot Hotel in New Jersey (very nice)

Day 2:

-6:30 a.m. bus leaves for New York City
-Breakfast in Manhattan (We were amazed to find a Tim Horton's.  We ate our Tim's while watching a Justin Bieber music video; and they say WE are influenced by Americans.)
-City tour from bus (highlights included NBC, Wall Street, Chinatown, United Nations building, site of The World Trade Center and Memorial Building, Broadway, Park Avenue, Empire State Building, Chelsea Piers)
-Statue of Liberty boat cruise (highlights included Staten Island Ferry, Ellis Island, Governor's Island, Manhattan skyline, Jersey City skyline, Statue of Liberty)
-Free time to check out Manhattan (Times Square)
-Shopping at Woodbury Common Premium Outlets (one of the largest outlet centers in the world with over 200 stores; I didn't buy anything, ironically)

Day 3:

-6:30 a.m. bus leaves for long drive back
-Shopping/lunch at Waterloo Premium Outlets in New York State (I didn't buy anything again, unless you count a Subway sandwich)
-Duty Free & Canada Customs
-5:30 p.m. drop off in Mississauga

Here's a brief video to give you a taste of what life was like on the bus as we were driving through Manhattan.

These pics highlight the sights we saw.

This is a map of the outlet that had over 200 stores.  You name the store and they have it.



This Versace belt retails at $1375!  Really?



Week 6: More Food, Including Another Egg

Well, I didn't get to rent a Bixi bike or sail the tall ship "Kajama" because the weather here pretty much sucked.  Instead I went to see the movie "Hope Springs", which was great by the way, and did the Taste of the Danforth.  I've been to Taste of the Danforth before so this time my goal was to try some foods that I've never had.  I think I succeeded with an Indian veggie crepe, a Cuban crab cake, and a Caribbean peanut drink.  I don't have pics or videos to share about these foods but let's just say that they were good individually and not meant to be eaten as a group. 

As for my egg cooking endeavor, I did some research on line regarding the steps involved in making a fake egg McMuffin.  I tried it out and here's how it went:

After the video I flipped the egg and took this picture of the finished product:

I think that's as good as it's going to get.  Next step is to get the sausage and English muffin and put them all together.  My progress amazes me.

Week 6: Cooking an Egg, McMuffin Style

Anyone who knows me is aware of the fact that I don't cook.  I love and highly respect food from around the world, however.  I know I am fully capable of learning how to cook and I'm a very determined individual once I set my mind to something.  Anyway, a while back I bought this cute egg cooking thing from Kitchen Stuff Plus with the idea of creating my own version of the famous McMuffin breakfast sandwich.  Last night I was hungry and decided to finally try the egg cooking thingy.  Here's a video of my efforts:

Right after I finished the video I noticed that the egg was cooked underneath but still looked the same on top.  That's not how McMuffins are supposed to look.  So, I decided to take the egg out of the circle cooking thing and flip it over.  By the time that side was cooked it had totally lost its cool shape and simply resembled a fried egg.  I was slightly disappointed but it tasted fine, shells and all. 



Week 5: Rogers Cup Men's Pro Tennis

An adventure can be anything from food to travel.  So how about sports?  Let's face it.  Getting Leafs tickets is like waiting in line for sold out street meat.  That's why I'm all about experiencing sports that I've never seen live, even if I'm not really interested in them.  You never know until you try.  It's an old but true statement.  I play my own version of tennis about twice a year and it's fun and a great workout. 

The Rogers Cup is being held at York University from Aug. 4 - 12.  I saw a 1st Round match with Canada's own Vasek Pospisil vs. Andreas Seppi from Italy.  Although Seppi is a much higher ranked player, Pospisil came out on top with a great win in what I'd call "overtime".  It was fairly good.  I won't be rushing to go back but it was a neat experience and I'm glad I tried it.