I am one horrible blogger. I have had so many things to
write about, just haven’t had any time. Life has been crazy busy and more exciting
than ever. But this is just more reason for me to make the time to blog!
So I am promising myself that I will somehow put time aside
to update my blog at least weekly. If nothing else, writing is a therapeutic release
for me, always has been. I don’t think many read this but I like to look back
at my own writing and reminisce. So let’s see if I stick to it this time.
What better way to start than with an in-depth recap of my
trip to Toronto for Caribana. One of the best experiences of my life so
definitely something I would like to share, even if only for my own personal
memoirs.
When a close friend approached me about possibly driving up
to Toronto for Caribana, I was immediately down. This is something I have
wanted to do for years. This is not only the biggest street festival in North
America that is estimated to attract over a million tourists each year; it’s
also one of the best carnivals worldwide to celebrate Caribbean culture. The
drive is about 9 hours from Maryland, which normally would have had me booking
a flight in horror. However I drove to Chicago with a friend earlier this year
which was about 10 hours and was surprised to learn that road drips aren’t actually
that bad. If anything, it’s a nice break from flying. Plus we would pass
Niagara Falls on the way, something else I’ve always wanted to experience. So
why not? We booked our hotel and rental car as well as several fun parties for
the festive weekend and when Friday morning of August 2nd came, we
were on our way.
The drive was fine. Good conversation with a good friend and
good music can get you through just about anything. Driving through
Pennsylvania is quite scenic with all the beautiful views of the mountains and
such. When we got to upstate New York and had to stop for gas, we did get some
funny looks as the only non-whites around and definitely stuck out. Finally we
passed through the Canadian border and made our way to Niagara. I was really disappointed
in how touristy and commercial it is. But I shouldn’t have expected anything
less. Nothing is sacred anymore, it’s all about money of course. This place
just looked tacky like a cheap Las Vegas strip with flashy lights and tourist
traps everywhere. It really takes away from such a gorgeous attraction if you
ask me. But the falls themselves were breathtaking. Almost hard to grasp how
grand they are when they’re sitting right in front of you. The air smells so
fresh and you can feel a little mist when you’re directly in front. My mom
mentioned that this is said to have some healing powers due to the negative
ions. I definitely felt a surge of energy from just a small amount of time here
so I do believe it’s true. Anyway we took our pictures, admired for a few
minutes and kept it moving. After all there was more fun to be had in Toronto!
So the city of Toronto is about an hour northeast of Niagara
Falls. As we approached, I was in awe of the beautiful sky line and fabulous
buildings, especially the CN tower. We had a date with one of my friend’s old
college friends so we quickly made our way to this little place on Spadina Ave
called FRESH. My friend is a dedicated vegan and her friend was borderline vegan,
so this was right up their alley. For a carnivore like myself, this was a new experience
but one that I welcomed. The place was cute- very small but jam packed, clearly
a popular restaurant for local hipsters and health conscious or vegan patrons. We
ordered some appetizers, like friend vegan cornbread, quinoa fried onion rings
with avocado sauce and my favorite- these delicious little Indian dosas, which
were little pancakes stuffed with veggies and drenched in curry sauce. For my
main course I tried one of their bowls with tofu and soba noodles. This one had
Thai peanut sauce, veggies and bean sprouts. I do NOT like tofu but I tried it
again and reinforced once again that I do NOT like tofu. I just tried to eat
the noodles and veggies with the delicious sauce, which was good. I finished
with a Moroccan tea (a favorite of mine from childhood) and a few bites of this
vegan chocolate cake, which was surprisingly good. I also ordered a green smoothie
to go, which was great. The best part of the meal was hearing my friend
reminisce with her friend about their many European travels in college. It had
me envious about all the amazing places they’ve visited and memories made. Really
it was just super inspirational and interesting. I look forward to experiencing
those things myself.
We drove back to our hotel in Mississauga (which was one of
the worst I have ever stayed in, thanks Priceline) to quickly get ready for our
first party of the weekend. We were horrified by how cold it was outside. It
was August yet felt like it was late October and we certainly did not pack
anything but skimpy summer clothes. Nevertheless, we got to our Hot 97 Trilogy
party and had a lot of fun. The venue itself was nice and the music was great. We
danced out butts off! I was surprised that there were definitely more men than
women (not usually the case in most cities, especially DC!) They were a little overwhelming
this night I will say. At one point there were 3 guys trying to talk to me at
the same time, a first for me. One guy told my friend “they love women with
long hair around here, that’s why they’re all over you guys”. Interesting
comment. Although probably 80% were from out of town. From what I could see,
and I mean this in the nicest way possible, they didn’t have the greatest
selection in women compared to what I have seen in other cities, so maybe I can
understand the “thirst”. But either way
we had a blast. After the club started to close at 3am, we stood around outside
to witness the madness. Cops trying to clear the mobs of people on the street
with their horses damn near trampling people. We were highly amused.
So we salvaged some sleep and woke up at about 11:30 am the
next morning to get ready for the main event- the world famous Caribana parade.
I did my own makeup and my friend’s as well in festive colors with jewels and
glitter. Traffic getting back into Toronto was horrendous, as we expected. So
we parked about a mile away from the parade on Lake Shore Avenue and walked. We
stopped at an adorable little French café for brunch, which I do not even
recall the name of sadly. I enjoyed a delicious croissant and caramelized onion
quiche along with some delicious coffee. It felt very Parisian and cute. I love
hearing so much French spoken in Toronto. After all, it is the primary language
spoken in most provinces there. I can understand French very well but I do need
to brush up on my speaking (especially for the amazing trip to France I plan to
take sometime soon!) so we tried to speak en francias while there to complete
the experience. I must say I am highly impressed that Canadian schools teach
their kids French as a second language as early as 1st grade.
Americans are truly falling behind other countries in the world when it comes
to facilitating and encouraging bilingual learning for its population. A shame.
A general observation from my friend, who’s done a lot of traveling abroad, is
that Americans are so arrogant and not very popular among other countries. I
have heard this MANY times and I can definitely see that. Even when traveling
with friends, I was embarrassed that they expected people in other countries to
cater to them and speak English. We have to do better. But I digress.
Walking down to the parade route, I was just delighted by
what a cosmopolitan city Toronto is. The cultural diversity is just phenomenal.
I was surprised by the huge population of Indians, Orientals, Caribbeans, and
even Europeans. Almost every culture was represented in this busy metropolis, except
we were a little disappointed in the lack of Hispanics. I was under the
impression that there were a good amount of us up there but I didn’t see hardly
any at all. However it was still refreshing to see so many embracing diversity
in interracial relationships and mingling with international friends. This is
something I don’t see as much in most cities besides DC and NYC. So many young folk
just walking around in trendy little summer outfits headed to cafes with friends.
It was a mix of DC and New York with Chicago glamour. I will say a down side is that some people seemed to lack manners. They bump into you without saying excuse me all too often. But others were pretty friendly and kind at the same time. One thing that is very clear there is a health conscious movement and new age movement here, with yoga and smoothie places everywhere. That impresses me immensely. I also liked how eco-friendly the city is as a whole. I rarely saw trash cans that did not also have a recycling section. From what I gathered from the locals, the city is very progressive and I adore that. I just completely fell in
love.
Also, whenever I travel to new cities, I am always very observant
and appreciative of the architecture, a fascination of mine. This one in
particular really impressed me with the modern, sleek and shiny buildings. Almost reminiscent
of the art-deco theme in Miami to me, with the turquoise-glass buildings. I
felt like a kid in total wonder of everything. I couldn’t help but snap several
photos everywhere I went.
The parade itself was a lot more mellow and peaceful than I
thought. The spectators were just kind of relaxing in observation of the
festivities and just enjoying themselves or walking around happily. It was live
but not too crazy like some festivals I have witnessed here in the states. No
one was passing out drunk or fighting. So that exceeded my expectations. The
costumes were gorgeous along with the huge, colorful and glittering parade
floats. We saw plenty of beautiful and half-naked women in their costumes,
dancing and having a blast. Guess this is why the parade is so notorious for
attracting hoards of men in admiration. There was loud soca blasting from the
trucks on the parade route and everyone was just generally having a great time.
It was surreal. Something you just have to experience to appreciate. I felt
elated with joy to be a part of it and I had an amazing time. Unfortunately I
did hear after the fact that a young man died after being run over by a float.
I didn’t see anything while I was there but this is very sad to know.
Also I must note that thew view of Lake Ontario is spectacular from Lake Shore Ave. There are plenty of park areas to enjoy and overall it would be great for walking, hiking or bike-riding.We found this fascinating stone sculpture reminiscent of the famous Stone Henge in Europe, which we loved and took pics of it. I have no idea what it's called or what the story behind it is, but it was breathtaking.
Afterwards, my friend was determined to do some shopping
downtown to complete her outfit for that evening. I was pleasantly surprised at
how great shopping in Toronto was. I kind of wish it wasn’t, because I wasn’t
supposed to be spending money. But even the H&M had better selection than
where I’m from. I got a few things including these awesome Chuck Taylors. Then
we went to grab a bite at Jack Astor’s, which I absolutely loved. Especially
the Sangria!
After witnessing some drama where a lady passed out in the street
followed by paramedics running over to revive her, we headed back to our wonderful
hotel (note my sarcasm). My legs and feet hurt from the large amount of
walking, standing and dancing ALL day. So we rested a bit and ended up having
some fun in our room, which led to leaving for the party WAY later than
planned. Fashionably late as usual.
The Flash party we had tickets for was actually close-by in
Mississauga. It was a HUGE outdoor concert/festival with at least 10,000 people
easy. The crowd was going crazy for the soca the DJ was spinning. You couldn’t
help but dance and smile the entire time. It was great seeing everyone of all
ages and races enjoy themselves, wine it up and have a blast. Caribbean people
truly do it the best and party the hardest. This was probably the biggest highlight
for me. I just wish we would have gotten there earlier and had more time. When
it ended at about 3am, we weren’t quite ready to hang it up for the night. So
we ventured into this little Trini and Guyanese spot we found close-by. It was
packed with West Indians just going crazy and dancing to the loud soca music
playing. We danced a bit and observed the madness. I also ordered some curry
chicken, which was divine. We got back to our hotel at about 5am. Such a fun day
and night.
The next day, we had yet another party to attend but this
one was a day party known as the Sunday Blocko. We were exhausted from very
little sleep but had to peel ourselves out of our uncomfortable ass hotel bed
to check out and head to the final fete in downtown Toronto. It was very calm
when we first arrived but as people started packing in, it got very live. The
DJ was great and kept shouting out all
the cities of people there visiting. The venue was cool, kind of dated and not
as clean as I’d probably like, but it was perfect for a day party with the
rooftop patio displaying a prime view of the CN tower above. I must add that we
saw an overwhelming amount of attractive men there, which is always nice for
the eyes. We had a few drinks and did some dancing. I think I probably would have
enjoyed this more and got more hype if I wasn’t so utterly exhausted. But it
was a great party! We had to leave a little earlier than we wanted to since we
had plans to meet another friend of my friend’s and then had to hit the road
back to the Maryland. We were invited to stay and party with some guys we met,
even begged, but we had to go nevertheless.
We drove to Markham, some upscale suburbs about 20 minutes
north of downtown Toronto. We visited my friend’s close friend, a lovely Indian
lady who married a British man and just had an adorable baby less than two
weeks ago. They live in a beautiful home with her parents and her sister and niece,
which is pretty common of Indian culture. This visit ended up being another
highlight of the trip for me surprisingly, as the family was so kind, welcoming
and fascinating. I asked tons of questions about India, England and life in
general (typical of me) and was fascinated by their multicultural views and
experiences. They ordered us some Hakka Chinese food, which is apparently a
product of the huge Chinese population in India, many of which have migrated to
Toronto bringing along their delicious food. It was super spicy and flavorful,
right up my alley. I stuffed myself silly. I really appreciate experiences like
this that expose me to different cultures and genuinely good people. Overall
such a wonderful end to a wonderful trip.
The ride back was brutal. We were sleep deprived and had to
keep switching turns driving because we couldn’t stay awake! But thank God, we
made it back safely! And now have the amazing memories to remember forever. My
only disappointment was that I didn’t get to be a true tourist and buy a few souvenirs
like my typical shot glass and picture frame and tee-shirts for my nephews that
I get from every city I go to. I did score an awesome tee-shirt from a local
Trini vendor at the parade with a Rasta lion on it that I can’t wait to wear. I
honestly think the main reason this trip was so fabulous is due to the great
company of my wonderful friend Rhina, who is actually celebrating her birthday today
(which gave us even more reason to party and have fun). In the past, I have
traveled with people that were not so enjoyable to be around or weren’t on the
same level as me as far as being adventurous, open-minded and appreciating new
cultures and cities. So this is what greatly enhanced if not perfected the
entire trip. You can’t travel with just
anyone, something I have learned all too well over the years.
And now, here I am. After
a day of sleep I am still exhausted and ready to go soak in some Epsom salts
after I finish up some homework. I have traveled a bit this year so far (Miami
twice, Atlanta, Chicago, New York City, Ocean City and now Toronto) and still
have a few more trips coming up. It wouldn’t be bad at all if it weren’t for
being in grad school and having such a demanding career. But I live for this. I
am so blessed to live such a fun life and I try to take advantage of every
opportunity to travel and experience new things. It is exactly what I am
supposed to be doing in my 20’s. I am working super hard and playing even
harder. And now I hope to do a better job documenting and sharing this extraordinary
journey with this blog! Cheers! :)
