I talk too much my mouth hurts

Getting to and from Toronto Pearson International Airport is not at all the easiest. To get to my hostel it was relatively easy, but it still required two transfers. Thankfully my luggage wasn't enormous, but my sister definitely suffered from the bus-subway-streetcar combination. However, the best thing about getting to and from Toronto Pearson International Airport is that it is so cheap. So cheap. Only $3! Can you believe it?

Other things the Pearson airport offers:

• Free WiFi 
• Showers

Cafe Pamenar
307 Augusta Ave
Toronto, ON M5T3A9

Two wheels along hilly paddocks of green grass, op shops in barns, communal showers, camping grounds, friends gathered on top of mounds chilling about strumming guitars in their natural open space lounges.

Just because you are travelling on a long haul flight does not mean you cannot look nice while on board. Sure, you have limited space and check in luggage restrictions. You are not here to make a lasting impression on your neighbouring passengers who you may never remember. On the other hand, you don't necessarily want to be travelling to your destination shouting out to everyone that you've just spent an x number of hours inside a plane - you still want to look your best.

• Big cars. While apparently Americans are increasingly favouring smaller and more hybrid vehicles nowadays, they are still pretty big
• Everyone drives. When I think of LA I don't think of Disneyland. I think of lots of highways and no people on the streets
• Since people drive on the right, people also walk on the right hand side of the path and stairs. I kept finding myself walking in others' ways, oops

• Similarly, when trying to get onto the airport transfer van from the hotel, I accidentally tried to get on from the wrong side. The driver had to call me to come back round
• There are framed portraits of President Obama at the airport. I don't remember that from my last time at LAX. It seems a little odd. Surely, there aren't Queen Elizabeths staring at you in Heathrow, are there?  

• Shoes off during x-rays before customs. Best to wear slip-ons or ballet flats
• Luggages at check-ins were all so heavy! Wow, they are awfully generous with the check-in allowances here, aren't they? I thought. Then I realised they must be in pounds and ounces. Ah, of course..

• American portions are large. An American small coffee would be what I would expect to be a medium back home. Also, coffee here is mediocre at best. The Coffee Bean wasn't so bad though

• The cellphone charging stations in the waiting lounges were really convenient during my travels. As were the USB slots at your seats on the planes. I think all airports and airplanes should follow suit, ASAP
• There are no public shower facilities in LAX. The toilet seats in America are surprisingly low. I didn't think Americans were short people? As a tiny person I didn't mind too much, but it was still a surprise

Saving babies from being snatched, behind the door in that strange room with alien powers. Somersaulting on the streets, spying around a grey stone slabbed house, fuschia red pink roses, ninja moves to get inside, unseen.

Friday night, I was kidnapped in a car and then taken for a joy ride around town, until we were chased down by a police car. My sister and I were squished in the passenger seat. Come to think of it, we were sitting on the left hand side, not the right. Perhaps my brain was still stuck in the ways of the Down Under. I tried to push my sister down by my feet so she would not get hurt. We all got out, and were held under an inspection of our possessions. All I had with me in my retro blue rectangular suitcase. One of the girls tried to thrift through it, and boy, did she get a snarl from me, like a lioness protecting her cub. My belongings are carefully curated and all are precious. I do really get protectively possessive sometimes, be it material or person. Once you have won my heart, you will always be mine. Lucky you.

Travelling without a laptop is both a blessing and torture exercise, especially for someone who works online every day. Without the rectangular machine to lug around everywhere, though, I have been able to enjoy my time in Canada that much more. Friends back home, please be on hold. Hostel wifi receptions are not the greatest, and never work well in your rooms. Perhaps that is a strategy put in place by the staff to force the lodgers to mingle with each other.

After five days in Toronto, it was five days in Montreal. A smaller, cuter city, the French influence also appealed, of course. Even with the bizarre Quebecois accent that greeted me each morning from the stereo in our super retro apartment. The early-Spring weather hasn't been the most cooperative, to be sure, but here in Montreal we enjoyed a more relaxing schedule.

Romantic Old Montreal, raunchy rue Sainte-Catherine, need-to-get-fitter Mont Royal Park.. I learnt that the 'best' poutine in town still has plasticky cheese, and the famous smoked meat sandwich is just that - meat, lots of meat. New friendships were made at the hostel, Alexandrie on Amherst, and it is definitely one of the best hostels I have stayed in - great atmosphere where everyone gets along well, great staff, satisfied boarders, many of whom stay long-term.

On the bus briefly back to Toronto, then Vancouver, I can't help but be a little sad at leaving. Montreal had been on my list of cities to visit for a long time, since it is where the Cirque du Soleil headquarter is situated. Unfortunately we weren't able to meet this time, though I got flutters at the sight of its distinct tents pitched up in Old Montreal. Those tents mean magic to me, and it is probably that magic which will lure me back to this city again in the future.

Almost at the end of my Canadian trip. Thank you sis for letting me visit you, and merci Montréal for the enjoyable times in the last few days. A bientôt !