On bike

Bicycling is a breeze in Toronto. Cyclist-friendly bicycle lanes and bicycle stands are conveniently scattered throughout the city. It helps that the air is relatively unpolluted and cool. I felt my spirits lift as I free-wheeled down the leafy streets - it's a glorious feeling to whoosh through the wind and feel my hair billow against my face (typical romantic notion). And cycling gets you to places quick.

Cui, Andy and I cycling outside Ontario College of Art and Design

The fun thing about being a traveller is that you possess an uncharacteristic wide-eye admiration for everything you see; you feel gratified with the simplest pleasure you receive; you shed your cynical thoughts, relax and prepare to get lost and best of all, you spend indiscriminately without the usual guilt. Cui is amused at my constant gushes. She's immune to Toronto's beauty and constantly remarks "You're disgusting!" But she treats me pretty well which is more than I can say for poor Andy haha.

Toronto is a city, a young city compared to the civilisations of Rome and Greece so there isn't many places of interest. Actually it depends on how you define "places of interest". What I'm referring to are tourist spots with specific attractions such as a zoo, a tower or a rock formation. I guess what I'm looking for this trip is not to have attractions thrown bam bam bam in my face but to soak in the ambience of each neighbourhood and get a feel of the lifestyle and culture here.

Ironically, I've been eating alot of Asian food here. Cui brought me to a Korean restaurant near Kensington Market for lunch and we ordered the pork bones stew which turned out to be a massive pot of spicy broth, cabbage, potatoes and three gigantic meaty chunks of pork bones. And of course they served it with those cute plates of Korean appetisers. An utterly satisfying meal for CA$6! Kensington Market (place of my heart!) is a laid back, bohemian neighbourhood with a street of cottage style shophouses selling a fabulous range of vintage clothes and accessories. Interspacing the clothes shops are flower shops, organic food shops and little hole-in-the-wall cafes. The walls of the shops there are covered with murals and painted in rainbow hues. Coupled with the flowers and clothes displayed in the open, you can imagine the myriad of colours in Kensington. A psychedelic feast for the eyes!

After Kensington, we cycled to Queen Street West which is supposed to be a hip and happening shopping cum chill out spot for students. All I can say is that the shoe shops are the tops! Cui bought a fushia pick suede flats and I bought a striped square-toe flats with delightful red bows at the tip. We felt utterly guilty and very pleased. Unlike Orchard where shopping is done in malls, Queent St West is more like Haji Lane - lined with stand-alone shops which means you can peer into the display windows and get sucked into the material world.

At 8pm we were still shopping at Urban Planet, a large mass American style boutique with cheap clothes. Cui occupied the fitting room permanently because of her indecisiveness and Andy's disapproving looks while I busied myself with styling her. She's tres fun to style cos she's so skinny and ALL the clothes fit. Anyway the sky is deceivingly bright at 8pm (it looks 5pm) and all of a sudden, I felt weary. Cycled home with shopping bags swinging from my handlebars, trying desperately to maintain my balance and look poised (go Bridget Jones!).