Life Is Better On Vacation

Monday 25 January 2021

Kim's Convenience

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Address: 252 Queen Street East
Date: February 2017
Website: www.cbc.ca

A convenience store changed the outside signage in order to be used as part of a Canadian television show. That show is Kim's Convenience and it first aired in 2016. The show is now entering its fifth season and follows the lives of Mr. and Mrs. Kim as they try to run both the store and their family.

The real Kim's Convenience used to be known as Mimi Variety. It is used for some external shots for the show even though most of the taping takes place in a replica store built inside a studio. When we visited the real life location on Queen Street East, it looked just like any other variety store in Toronto.

The Kim's have two children, Janet & Jung. Jung worked at HandyCar Rental. In one episode Mr. Kim has a life size cardboard cutout of his son advertising the car rental business. He puts it outside the front door and two neighbourhood kids steal it. Mr Kim chases them out onto Seaton Street (above) to rescue his son's likeness.

If you find yourself in downtown Toronto you can pay a visit to the store. Just don't expect to find Umma and Appa inside.

Map of Our World

Kim's Convenience

Post # 295

Friday 25 December 2020

Winterfest

Location: Vaughan, Ontario, Canada
Address: 9580 Jane Street
Date: Dec 2019
Website: www.canadaswonderland.com

Canada's Wonderland amusement park started out as the summer place to go for rides and thrills. When the kids went back to school in the fall, the season ended. Next they started operating later and later in order to stay open with reduced hours up until Halloween. In 2018 they realized, "Why is the park closed during the most wonderful time of the year?", and Winterfest was born. Now being in Canada in the winter means it is too cold and snowy for most of the rides to operate, but that didn't stop them from turning the park into a winter Wonderland.

Winter Wonder Mountain At Canada's Wonderland

The centrepiece of the park is Wonder Mountain. In the summer it has flowing waterfalls and cliff divers. In the winter a cascade of twinkling lights flows down the mountain. Everything was the same but with a wintery twist.

A must have treat when visiting Wonderland is the funnel cakes. You can't go wrong with some deep fried batter topped with strawberries and ice cream. Festive funnel cakes let you enjoy new flavours like Eggnog Gingerbread and Candy Cane.

Medieval Fare Transformed into Elf Village At Canada's Wonderland

We entered Medieval Fare which was temporarily being called Elf Village.

Tinker's Toy Factory At Canada's Wonderland.

One of the many shows was called Tinker's Toy Factory. It was good to get inside the theatre and watch a show as well as for a chance to warm up.

Another way to keep warm was with unlimited hot chocolate refills in our Winterfest mug. All you had to do was line up at one of the many stations across the park and get your mug topped up again and again.

Every section of the park was decorated and covered in lights and Christmas delights. We walked down Candy Cane Lane where Snoopy and Woodstock rode their sled across a rainbow.

We came across a line-up going into a group of Christmas trees. We couldn't see through the trees to see what was going on. We decided to join the line and find out what awaited us at the end.

Peppermint Patty & The Charlie Brown Christmas Tree.

It turned out that this was Charlie Brown's Tree Lot and everyone was lined up to have their picture taken with Peppermint Patty and a thin little tree with only one ornament. As we know, that little tree is full of Christmas spirit.

There were also giant Christmas trees filled with lights.

Christmas Lights At Canada's Wonderland.

Just about every tree in the park was draped in glowing bulbs. It really was an impressive display.

We wouldn't even dare to count how many lights might have been used to light up the park. We would say for Wonderland to expect an oversized electric bill, nuch like these oversized lights.

We started getting hungry again so what better to eat than some Christmas Veggie Poutine.

Around the park were many Christmas characters. There were elves and reindeer and even elves on reindeer. There were also some penguins dressed for the cold.

There were men made of both snow and gingerbread.

There was a giant present made of lights.

Snowball Toss Game At Canada's Wonderland

Even the games were themed for Christmas. The Milk Can game was renamed the Snowball Toss. If you won you might go home with your very own bouncing Abominable Snowmonster from the Rudolph Christmas classic.

If you didn't win a prize, you could still go home with some Christmas decorations from the shops. We liked the Fa La La La Llama ornament.

As we headed out of the park we thought we heard a clatter. Was it the hooves of reindeer landing on a roof? Maybe it was the clickety clank of people being pulled to the top of a roller coaster? Either way Wonderland had provided us with some thrills for yet another season.

Map of Our World

Canada's Wonderland

Post # 294

Wednesday 25 November 2020

Across Canada At The Exhibition Grounds

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Address: 210 Princes' Blvd.
Date: September 2019
Website: theex.com

The Canadian National Exhibition takes place at the end of August each year and closes on Labour Day in September. When the Exhibition is not running, the grounds known as Exhibition Place are still open to vehicles and the public. If you are visiting Toronto from across Canada you can feel like you are back home thanks to the many streets that crisscross the grounds.

We will start our journey from east to west. All but one of Canada's provinces and territories are represented in the names of the streets. The streets do not quite unfold as a map of Canada would, but we will show you one possible path you can take in order to visit them all. We enter the Exhibition grounds from Fleet Street and find ourselves on Canada Boulevard.

Canada Boulevard connects with Princes' Boulevard which is the main street that runs from the Princes' Gates (photo at top of blog) and through the grounds.

The first provincial street we came across was Newfoundland Drive which also happens to be the easternmost of the provinces.

Newfoundland Drive runs south from the Enercare Centre between the Automotive Building and Hotel X.

The next road we pass is Nunavut Road. This part of the road was formerly part of New Brunswick Way. Much like the road, Nunavut the territory was formerly part of the Northwest Territories. Sadly, Northwest Territories is the only unrepresented portion of Canada on these streets. Hopefully at some point it will finally get included.

Just a bit further along Prince's Boulevard, a road heads south. This is the bottom portion of New Brunswick Way. If you want to find a road sign for this street you will have to follow it through a parking lot and down to Lakeshore Blvd. There you will find a traditional blue Toronto road sign instead of one of the fancier Exhibition Place signs.

If you head back up New Brunswick Way and take Nunavut Road north, you will end up on Nova Scotia Avenue. As we mentioned before all the provinces are represented but they are all over the place as far as being presented in any sort of order.

We will take a left hand turn on Manitoba Drive and eventually we will end up at Princes' Boulevard again.

Before we get to Princes' Boulevard we will pass Quebec Street.

Princess Margaret Fountain Exhibition Place

If we turn left at Princes' Boulevard we will pass the Princess Margaret Fountain.

Prince Edward Island Crescent Exhibition Place

Turn left again and you are on Prince Edward Island Crescent. Despite being the smallest province in both size and population, it is almost as long as Ontario Drive.

After leaving Prince Edward Island Crescent turn left again and now you are on the road named after Canada's most populous province. Take an Ontario drive along Ontario Drive as it curves back into Princes' Boulevard again.

Heading past the Princess Margaret Fountain once more, now the road becomes Saskatchewan.

While you can drive from Saskatchewan to British Columbia you can't do it without passing through Alberta first. At the Exhibition grounds you can drive Saskatchewan Road and turn directly onto British Columbia Road.