Too much turkey = FATIGUE!

There are 3 of us who don't like red meat, so we counter that by having either chicken or turkey. Ever since I've arrived it has been turkey on the menu and it has been great. I hadn't eaten turkey in years as it is not readily available in Oz (or if it is, it's really expensive). As a result, we have all been really sleepy with the trictophan (I SO know that is the incorrect spelling, but it is the stuff in turkey that makes you sleepy). It's 8:30pm and I am WIPED! It could also be all the walking I'm doing, as well as waking up early. This morning we were told we were leaving the house at 8am, so I woke up at 7am to take my time. We didn't leave til 9. I was pissy! But eventually we left and got to St Lawrence Market just before 10. It's a market selling mainly food but also souveneirs, clothes and other stuff. Just like any other market. Similar to Queen Victoria Market in Melbs, but smaller. And I'm sure it's busier in the warmer months, but as today was the first day it felt like Autumn and not Spring, the crowd probably stayed home.

I tend to make the common error of not having breakfast before I leave in the morning because when my blood sugar drops, it really DROPS! I'm too full to have anything in the morning but when I do get hungry, I will eat and drink anything. Unfortunately my desperation for something to drink and eat took me to Starbucks. Bloody awful shit. The Japanese and the Aussies do a better Starbucks - and we don't even need a Starbucks in either of those countries coz there are so many top notch coffee houses that we don't need that inferior shit. At least it turned me off from coffee houses there. But that awful crap was enough to get my blood sugar back to a normal level and I was OK for a little while longer. We went walking along downtown Toronto and it was pretty deserted for 11am. We went into Dawn's workplace to get a map and we decided to walk in The Path, which I may have mentioned before, is a 27km underground pathway that takes you to all the shops and all the major landmarks downtown. When it gets cold in Winter, there is no need to even go outside and tolerate the cold weather: the Path will take you to anywhere you need to go. We walked from Union Station - the central hub to Eaton Centre. Dawn was in charge of the map reading. She's an ace with maps - and even she got lost a few times! Happens to the locals too. There are quite a few water features and sounds of the soothing water in the Path. That is because in Winter time and during peak hour, the Path gets crowded - REALLY CROWDED. People tend to panic and a combination of no windows and lack of fresh air mixed with people crowded together in a fairly confined space during peak times, people get crazy. The water features and the sound of the water is meant to calm them down. And I know it would work - I can vouch for it. I do use the sound of the ocean waves crashing to fall asleep and to also wake me up in the morning when I have to go to work. Even today when I hear the ocean, my first instinct is bed time! So I was all relaxed and calm when I was in the Path today. And also because there was nobody there - being a Saturday and all! We eventually got to Eaton Centre which is the main area of downtown Toronto at Younge and Dundas. I thought I was back in Japan - especially with the traffic lights. In Japan, there was a very loud sounding system for pedestrians. If the light was green, a loud alarm type beep sound would holler throughout until the lights changed. If I closed my eyes, I could have sworn I was back home crossing the road at Sendai station. You know how there are senses that can trigger memories? I know smell is the strongest, but I'd say sound would have to come second or third - tied with taste. It was a very nostalgic moment.

I had been waiting for a 'streetcar' to pass by at Younge and Dundas, as I had seen some tram tracks and was curious to see what the trams looked like. Very small! Afterwards we made our way via subway to Scarborough - which involved us catching 3 different lines. Dawn and Judy like to use scare tactics to warn you of things - but they go all out and give you the worst case scenario. So they were telling me to be careful of being pushed in line, watch out for psychos, etc. Coming from a big city myself, I know that I have to keep my guard and wits about me. And I find Melbourne is worse than what I experienced in Toronto and it got to the point where I had to block it all out and ignore what they were saying. If you listen to them, it feels like you are living in fear and that is no bullshit I want to be a part of. So I had to lay low and keep my mouth shut coz I know that they were just preparing me, but living in Melbourne is enough preparation!

The subways were quite clean. We had fun going through all the names of the weird stations. There was a guy who was not 'with it' and just kept talking to himself. He wasn't causing harm to anyone, he was just loud with his self-talking and bad ass rap 'singing'. The station that he disembarked was called 'Warden'. Dawn and I couldn't help but laugh our pants off!

The fact that the prices displayed are not the FINAL price tags that you end up paying has stopped me from buying compulsively, but they were pissing me off. I tried buying something that was labelled $3.50 and it ended up being $4 just because of the stupid GST and PST. Fuck man, just put THE WHOLE price including taxes so I don't have to get pissy! Honestly, that stops me from buying food too, as I had to budget for stuff. That's one stickling point of contention I have......:(

It took a while, but we got to Scarborough and it's just like any other big shopping complex. The only reason I bought a drink there was because they had the price up INCLUDING TAXES! That's how I'm gonna buy things from now on: if the price of tax is not included, I'm not buying it (Wish Andy luck everyone! She's gonna need it!) After some window shopping, we all got a lift back home via the local 'Zellers' (kind of like K-Mart) to get in, buy some towels and get out. It took 90 minutes because of the bloody staff getting it wrong. Got home and rested a bit before having dinner and having another early night. Tomorrow we are off to Niagara on the Lake. Not quite Niagara Falls, but still on the way and with lots of nice things to see.

It's been a week since arriving in Canada already and it hasn't felt like it at all. I've got to organise my time in Wisconsin. I've already checked out some cheap flights to Chicago, then I am catching a 3 hour bus to Madison - and the prices are quite reasonable. Just need to finalise the dates, as also we are going to Niagara Falls and staying overnight to see the lights on the Falls, as well as have Christmas dinner with the family before I jet off to sunny Buenos Aires. DAMN! Time is flying folks!

OK, turkey is making me sleepy...off to bed....nighty night!