Toronto’s Old City Hall

The Old City Hall on the corner of Queen and Bay streets is actually the third city hall, and was designed by architect Edward James Lennox. Done in the Romanesque Revival style, it was a huge building with a towering clock uh, tower.

St. Lawrence Market

Our next stop held much excitement for many members of our group. It was at the St. Lawrence Market, a.k.a. home of many awesome and yummy things. We were welcomed with shops selling souvenir items (and cold weather accessories), and further on, there were stalls that sell all kinds of meat, seafood, vegetables, and lots and lots of cheese. It was a good thing I haven’t had a chance to change my money to Canadian dollars yet, or I would have made some serious damage.

Right across the main building is the Farmer’s market, where local producers sell their goods. It’s not as pretty as the South Market, but it’s where the locals shop, and actually feels more homey.

Inside the South Market

We headed to CN Tower for lunch, but based on the view we’ve been getting of the tower since that morning, the view up top would be disappointing. The tower disappeared among the clouds, and the view from our table was an endless sea of white. One group who went to the tower on a clear day said the view was spectacular. I’ll take their word for it.

CN Tower disappearing into the clouds

On the second day of tours, we headed to more heritage buildings. Toronto has no shortage of old buildings and what’s impressive about it, is that it is able coexist with the modern skyscrapers. It was a joy to walk around downtown Toronto and see all these pretty buildings.

Ontario Legislative Building

Our first stop was the Ontario Legislative Building, followed by the University of Toronto, both located in Queen’s Park.

The main building of the University of Toronto

We headed on to Casa Loma, the former home of Sir Henry Pellatt, a once successful businessman. He commission architect E.J Lennox, who also designed the Old City Hall, to design and build the castle of his dreams. Construction began in 1911, and finished three years after, costing Sir Henry Pellatt $3,500,000.

Darth Vader approves

When he lost his fortune, Sir Henry and his family moved to a farm and Casa Loma was abandoned. It was turned into a hotel for a short period of time, until it was operated as a museum. Though missing a moat, it’s as romantic and grand as you’d imagine a castle would be, with ballrooms, stables, rose gardens, secret passageways and a 800-foot tunnel.

Inside Casa Loma

The following day, we headed out to Niagara. We passed by the town of Niagara on the Lake, a picturesque town that we deeply regret not being able to explore. It was just too pretty.

So pretty.

Of course, the main event of that day was Niagara Falls. Comprised of three falls: Horseshoe Falls, the American Falls and the Bridal Veil Falls. The last two is in the US side of the gorge, while the biggest, the Horseshoe Falls, is in the Canadian side. The sheer volume of water flowing down creates a thick mist that it’s hard to tell whether it’s just mist or it’s already raining.

Up close and personal with the Horseshoe Falls

At the Journey Behind the Falls tour, each guest is given a plastic raincoat that they can wear so their clothes can stay dry. Aside from the view deck on the side of the falls, you can also walk behind the falls to feel the power of the water rushing down.

Psychedelic Bombardier plane

Our last tour was at the Bombardier Plant on our way back to the Toronto Pearson International Airport. Airphil Express, Philippine Airlines’ sister company, has a couple of Bombardier Q300 and Q400 in their fleet, which flies to local airports with short runways like Caticlan. We got to see turboprops and jet engine planes being assembled and customized. What interest me the most were the Global 7000 and Global 8000 planes, which are long-range business jets, which can reach speeds of up to Mach 0.90 and cover over 7,000 nautical miles. Now, where did I place that 30 million dollars…

This trip was courtesy of Philippine Airlines. They have a brand spanking new (and pretty) site, where you can book your flight, check-in, or check flight status. Visit them at philippineairlines.com. To stay updated on their latest promos and announcements, follow them on Facebook and Twitter.

Cute bag tag, specially made for the trip!

We were sent off by no less than PAL’s President, Ramon S. Ang. After a short ceremony, we were led into PAL’s latest Boeing 777-300 ER plane, which arrived in the country just three weeks prior. The mood inside the plane was festive, and you can sense the excitement of each passenger in the cabin.

One of PAL’s six Boeing 777-300 ER

The new 777 can cover the 13,230 kilometer distance between Manila and Toronto without making any stops. The flight route takes you north, past Japan, crossing the International Date Line, and into Alaska and flying across Canada. This takes the Boeing plane about 15 hours.

Personal AVOD, remote, and look, a USB and ethernet port!

For such a long flight, the personal audio-video on demand (AVOD) feature is heaven-sent. Movies include some of the latest releases, several Hollywood classics and favorites, as well as a few Pinoy movies. There are TV shows available (there were about five or so Glee episodes), and music of various genres. If that’s not enough to keep you occupied, there are also games to keep you awake.

You are the Diet Coke of evil. Just one calorie, not evil enough.

If you prefer your own in-flight entertainment in the form of tablets and iPods, here’s a bit of good news: the new Recaro seats are fitted with a USB port, so you can plug in your devices to charge it when the battery run low.

The fresh spring rolls was goooooood.

Since it was a maiden flight, a special menu was prepared, and we in economy enjoyed business class service. The selection was diverse, and it was hard to pick just one dish to have. The presentation of each dish was lovely, and the taste fantastic. Of course, life is fantastic when they serve you a cupcake with your breakfast.

Beef tapa and cupcake &heart;

The service was efficient, as expected from flight attendants with years of experience. Flying can dehydrate you, and they are often seen walking up and down the aisles, offering water to parched passengers.

Toasting a new milestone and a great flight

After a couple of cat naps, two meals, one snack, three movies, one episode of Big Bang Theory and countless rounds of Tong-its Extreme on my iPod, an announcement came that we are approaching Toronto. We toasted to PAL’s return to Toronto after 16 years the East Coast after more than 10 years (geez, reading comprehension fail!), and then buckled our seat belts and put our seats in the upright position.

All smiles in Toronto: Me, Winston, Ivan, and Melo

We landed smoothly on the runway, and one can’t help but put their hands together to applaud the pilot and Philippine Airlines for this new milestone. Though the flight ended when we disembarked, that was just the start of our adventures in Canada.

Philippine Airlines has a brand spanking new (and pretty) site, where you can book your flight, check-in, or check flight status. Visit them at philippineairlines.com. To stay updated on their latest promos and announcements, follow them on Facebook and Twitter.

Walking in sub-zero temperature can be brutal, but when you’re walking with good company, it makes the experience fun, instead of a chore. You walk farther, you discover more. Except for the convenience store you set out to find in the first place.

This trip was made possible by Philippine Airlines. We took the inaugural flight of the Manila-Toronto route.