tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12941086.post112537449829333331..comments2024-03-15T21:43:52.652-05:00Comments on City in the Trees: Naked Truth: the Return to Hanlan's PointLone Primatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15746801663695992138noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12941086.post-1125547630253855782005-08-31T23:07:00.000-05:002005-08-31T23:07:00.000-05:00Hey, I got a question for you, kinda off topic, bu...<I>Hey, I got a question for you, kinda off topic, but nonetheless, you have any restaurants you'd recommend we visit?</I><BR/><BR/>Speaking strictly for myself, I've always been a fan of the <A HREF="http://toronto.citysite.sl.ca/map?mode=geo&id=268544&lat=437150&lon=-796262" REL="nofollow">Dawat Indian Restaurant</A> in northwest Mississauga (3687 Nashua Dr # A; sorry, no website that I could find). They're quite close to the airport. I have a friend who visits annually from Connecticut on Victoria Day weekend (late May), and he insists on making it our first stop. Very good, relatively inexpensive Indian buffet. I was introduced to it by an Indian woman I was seeing for a while. That part of town is heavily, heavily East Indian (all three candidates in a recent provincial election were born in India), so to rate in a place like that, an Indian restaurant's <B>got</B> to be good!<BR/><BR/>Mongolian BBQ is something I was introduced to in Los Angeles over ten years ago... later encountered in Chicago... but didn't find here in southern Ontario until about five years ago. My favourite is <A HREF="http://www.mongoliangrill-gk.com/contact.htm" REL="nofollow">The Great Khan</A>. You select the shaved meat, veggies, and sauces you want, then they're seared by the cooks on a huge BBQ in only a minute or so. Fantastic stuff, and you can go up as many times as you like over two hours (last I recall). About $15 for lunch, all told, but it's worth it, believe me. This one is definitely don't-miss. It's at the Pacific Mall at Steeles Ave. and Kennedy Rd.<BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://www.satayontheroad.com/" REL="nofollow">Satay On the Road</A> is another great restaurant. Wonderful Thai food. We typically go to the one on Bayview Ave.<BR/><BR/>If you're willing to go a little further afield, <A HREF="http://www.blackforestinn.ca/" REL="nofollow">The Black Forest Inn</A> in Hamilton is highly recommended. Hamilton's our version of Pittsburgh (if you saw the movie <I>Canadian Bacon</I>, you saw Hamilton at the very end... not its best side). It's just around the bend of Lake Ontario at the beginning of the Niagara Peninsula. The Black Forest Inn serves German, Austrian, and Hungarian dishes, and in large quantities. If you're in the west end of southern Ontario doing something, it's a great little detour on your way back to T.O.<BR/><BR/>And, if you completely lose your mind in your wanderings and happen all the way east to the Ottawa River, you'd be doing yourself a real disservice if you don't stop and eat at <A HREF="http://www.valoismotel.com/" REL="nofollow">Valois'</A> in Mattawa. Their view overlooking the Ottawa Valley and the towering hills just across the river in Quebec are nearly enough to make you believe in God. The food -- especially the pies -- are worth the trip, on the off chance you wind up thereabouts.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12941086.post-1125539676434684102005-08-31T20:54:00.000-05:002005-08-31T20:54:00.000-05:00Hey, I got a question for you, kinda off topic, bu...Hey, I got a question for you, kinda off topic, but nonetheless, you have any restaurants you'd recommend we visit? We have some that visit all the time, and while we like them, I'm thinking there's such a variety, we might want to expand our horizons a bit. Any suggestions would be most welcome.Polthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16480544010972209436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12941086.post-1125502522012252172005-08-31T10:35:00.000-05:002005-08-31T10:35:00.000-05:00yeah I'll be up there exactly one month from today...<I>yeah I'll be up there exactly one month from today (despite the gas prices).</I><BR/><BR/>Cripes, we're taking a beating right now. A friend sent me e-mail I read this morning quoting $1.19 a litre and I thought (I hoped) he was joking. It was $1.03 when I drove home last night and I was calling them pirates. But nope, there it was when I drove by... 119.6ยข/L.<BR/><BR/><I>In Toronto, we stay just a block from Church Street, so I spend a good portion of my time there. BUt I like walking all over the city. It's just great!</I><BR/><BR/>Well, weather'll be cooling by the end of September. Might just be possible to swim in the lake; I have no idea; but my instinct is it'd be for the hardier among us. But since you're not planning to anyway, it's academic. :) Hope you enjoy the trip, and how far your dollar goes. :)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12941086.post-1125495903128489652005-08-31T08:45:00.000-05:002005-08-31T08:45:00.000-05:00yeah I'll be up there exactly one month from today...yeah I'll be up there exactly one month from today (despite the gas prices). I doubt I'llgo to the point though, cause 1)I'm not much of a beach person and 2)when I do go, people try to roll me back in the water, thinking I've beached myself. Nah, kiddin. In Toronto, we stay just a block from Church Street, so I spend a good portion of my time there. BUt I like walking all over the city. It's just great!Polthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16480544010972209436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12941086.post-1125489531783710952005-08-31T06:58:00.000-05:002005-08-31T06:58:00.000-05:00I feel bad about it... it's been open for most of ...I feel bad about it... it's been open for most of a decade now as a nude beach, first as a pilot project and then as city policy, and I've lived a subway ride from it for years. I have to get down there more often next summer.<BR/><BR/>I've been to your site before -- as you know, since I've left comments there -- but it seems you've changed the link (true?). I can't recall whereabouts it is you're living in the States just now.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12941086.post-1125434719100536912005-08-30T15:45:00.000-05:002005-08-30T15:45:00.000-05:00Brilliant last shot. The purple roof is just perfe...<I>Brilliant last shot. The purple roof is just perfect.</I><BR/><BR/>Can't claim the credit for that, but it sure does make the skyline stand apart from every other Great Lakes skyline you see, doesn't it? That and the Tower. Makes for an interesting effect late at night as you drive east on the Gardiner, approaching what leaves one with the powerful impression of a massive erection wedded to the world's worst case of blue balls. ...There, now that I've utterly stripped the last vestage of poetry and romance from the image, I'll move on... :)<BR/><BR/><I>I have to say, I noticed one thing odd. The statue at Hanlan's Point ... is wearing pants. ;-) Of course I'm kidding around here, but there is a strange irony in a nude beach at an area named after a man whose statue is clothed. Doesn't seem right, you know?</I><BR/><BR/>He is indeed, but when they put the statue up in 1928 was just about the time the city was getting prudish about that kind of thing (it was technically illegal for <B>men</B> to go publically topless in Canada until <I><B>1968</B></I>, believe it or not). Not long before, it had been common to swim nude at the Point and in the Don River. This isn't to say the city would ever have erected (pardon the pun) a statue of a favoured son and one-time alderman with his less public attributes on display, but given the nature of the times, we ought to be glad that's <I>all</I> he's wearing. There was at least that much of a nod to Greek classicism left, by God.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12941086.post-1125422289490207952005-08-30T12:18:00.000-05:002005-08-30T12:18:00.000-05:00Thanks, Daniel... new to SLR photography, but tryi...Thanks, Daniel... new to SLR photography, but trying to learn the basics. Then I remind myself even a monkey could probably take a dozen "good" shots given over 325 exposures over a day. Ah well. :)<BR/><BR/>My suggestion is, visit Toronto in the warm weather... the Pride Parade in June or Caribana. The rest of the year, save your money and just swing by Milwaukee. :)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12941086.post-1125419955475770222005-08-30T11:39:00.000-05:002005-08-30T11:39:00.000-05:00Beautiful photographs! My favorites are the black...Beautiful photographs! My favorites are the black and white ones and that last color shot at night looking back at the city.<BR/><BR/>I've never been to Toronto, but now I definitely will add a visit to my "to do" list.Daniel wbchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06786889103144155835noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12941086.post-1125414600063074182005-08-30T10:10:00.000-05:002005-08-30T10:10:00.000-05:00Thanks, that's really kind of you. :) Funny thing...Thanks, that's really kind of you. :) Funny thing is, first time I looked over my shots, I didn't see anything I much liked from my trip back photos. But on second look, that one caught my eye, and the more I look at it, the more amazed I am I got it. Not trying to claim the credit; a lot of it was serendippity. If you click on the image to see a larger version, you'll notice that both the white <I>and</I> red lights that run up the tower are on. These are both on for about half a second ever so often, and they're not in close sync. I remember trying consciously to get the shot when the white lights were on, but just by chance, the red lights came on at the same moment. So it's even more amazing for that, even though there's no way that could be appreciated by anyone who wasn't there without me writing a long explanation like this. :)<BR/><BR/>So you've been to Toronto before? That's cool! Hopefully the water will still be warm enough to go swimming, if you decide to visit the point.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12941086.post-1125406558476403802005-08-30T07:55:00.000-05:002005-08-30T07:55:00.000-05:00Thanks for the photos. I loved the ones of the cit...Thanks for the photos. I loved the ones of the cityscape. I think that view, from the lake, of the city is one of the most beautiful ones I've ever seen. Can't wait to get there again...only a month! WHoo-hoo!Polthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16480544010972209436noreply@blogger.com