When in Canada, do as Canadians do, eh?

Here's the recap of CCC & JB's visit two weeks ago.

• After crazy airline glitch, we were happy their flight was only delayed and not cancelled. Late night arrival meant a midnight dinner in chinatown: roast duck noodles, bbq pork fried rice and fried pork chops!
• My birthday! CCC & JB walked all over downtown. I went about my normal day at work. Until the afternoon when T rounded up all my coworkers (conspiracy!) to surprise me at work with cake! He even bumped into CCC & JB in chinatown and brought them in on the surprise. Dinner celebration at Momofuku ramen bar, and frozen yogurt for dessert! I forgot my camera, so I have no pictures :( But definitely a great day!
• CCC & JB got hooked on curling! They got same-day tickets to the curling Grand Slam tournament that was happening right in downtown TO. Afternoon movie at TIFF Lightbox, and dinner at japanese eatery.
• T and I took Friday off work so we could all take a day-trip to Niagara Falls. Take-out dim sum before heading out. The trip was short; unfortunately, we got a speeding ticket just as we arrived near the Falls. We think the out-of-province license plate might have influenced the cop, 'cause I don't think we were driving that fast... but oh well. Just adds a story to the adventure. The day was rainy, windy and cold, and given CCC's motion sickness propensity, there was no boat ride this time. But always a sight to see! In Oli's word "Someone turn the water off!"

• We took advantage of the rental car for the day and headed up to Greektown for some pork gyros. Afterwards, we tried going 5-pin bowling at this mom/pop place - only 4 lanes, you have to keep score manually and it's in a basement, very old school... Sadly it was full and we had to settle for a regular bowlerama. PS: Did you know 5-pin bowling was invented by a Canadian, right here in TO? The guy invented because his customers thought regular bowling was too strenuous. JB researched this; must include as many Canadian activities as possible.

• We most looked forward to Saturday. We started our day with a quick trip through the art gallery, mainly just to kill time until 11:30 a.m. for Porchetta & Co. to open. This tiny little "restaurant" (does it count as a restaurant if it has a small counter to order at, 5 stools, and has 2 main items on the menu: porchetta sandwich or porchetta plate?). Porchetta is like the italian version of pulled pork, but with yummy crackling. Search their website for a fun diagram of how it's made. Their logo is really cute.

• After an awesome lunch, we walked around some more before heading out to the hockey game(including a quick stop at an arepa place for alfajors (alfajores? what's the plural?). I opted to actually try the arepas and had a plain one w/ butter and a side of avocado. We'll have to go back here for an actual meal (when lift my "no eating fried foods" ban) to try their tostones and empanadas.
• Continuing with our all-things-Canadian, we bought tickets to a hockey game. We had to settle for a minor league game (since the major league one is always sold out and super expensive). But it smaller venue and different environment made it really fun. Game was exciting as they went to overtime shoot-out; too bad they lost. CCC & JB finally got a taste of TO poutine (with bacon!). After the game, we went to a nice italian dinner. As a transportation nerd, I must point out the day was packed with all 3 modes of public transit: streetcar, bus and subway!

• Sunday morning we went shopping for Canadian snacks and chocolates, and had banh mi sandwiches for lunch. These are special bahn mis of pork belly and beef cheek! Mmmmmmm. Getting hungry just thinking about it.
• To close off the food tour in TO, gelato at the art gallery! Only place close by with gelato, but in a nice setting.
• Funny closing remarks: We watched a lot of curling on TV. The men's final game was on right before we had leave for the airport... must. watch. last minute. argh! T waiting downstairs with car. Missed the last two rocks and winning shot. Exciting nonetheless. Hehehe, told you they were hooked =P.