Montreal ! !

any tenure in canada cannot be complete without a trip to the cosmopolitan french-speaking city of Montreal. in our first foray out of kingston (we were pretty much dying to get out of there; it seemed so boring then. i discovered later that there were still sights to be seen, as evident from the previous post). in any case, the chronology of my escapades in canada no longer follows any chronology. this came much earlier, sometime in the 2nd week of september.

after a 3 hour bus ride out of ontario and into quebec, we arrived at the bustling city in bright sunlight and cool weather. perfect start, and to top it off we had a meal at this french-looking restaurant. the French waitress couldnt really speak english. a cosy little eatery, with nice ambience and nice staff... and food that was not bad at all... in fact, we got to eat the authentic canadian cuisine we heard so much of prior to our trip:

the Poutine

a highly fatty, hi cholesterol couch potato fast junk food served on restaurant plate. fries with chicken, sauce and cheese... salty, tasty, undoubtedly fatty. calorie burning on the cards for the next 2 days.

and my first proper food in montreal was this tasty dish of shrimp alfredo fettucine, with some tangy dip which didnt seem to go with the pasta. pasta's not bad though, reminded me why i like cheesy pasta... and fresh succulent shrimp... -licks lips-

montreal is famous for its night scene, in more ways than one. our adventure after the sun set brought us into the realm of one of these. here in the pic below we see the restored Marguerite-Bourgeoy Museum at the end of this street, which led us from downtown Montreal into...

the cobblestoned streets of Old Montreal. absolutely mesmerizing.

for us sedate, unpartying, boring academics and history freaks (okay there was only one history freak. the rest were equally sedate though), the night scene of Old Montreal was a sight to behold. freakin cold, but absolutely pretty with the night lights and busking at the plaza beside the city hall.

here, the buskers have gone home to sleep, the crowd dissipated (and purses decimated by the buskers), but the plaza remains ever so enticing in its nighttime beauty.

further down the street, we have...

the Marche Bousecours.
an old majestic presence converted into a shopping place within.

rue de la commune east

going down to the Old Port of Montreal, through which the city first made its fortunes and built its commercial presence, we enjoyed the breeze (read: biting cold wind) by the waters before making our getaway into warmer pastures. today, the port has been restored but instead of commercial shipping, it is now berth to private yachts, boats and such. what the old wealthy abandoned, the modern aristocrats devoured. and of course poor touristing students like us too, suckers for this touristified package of a historical district, took in these mesmerizing sights.

in the daytime, however, downtown Montreal presented a totally different proposition. somewhat seedy, with streets that were always bustling and streets that were always calm in a dodgy way... and we fumbled our way to...

Chinatown!

where we had our lunch at this cantonese restaurant that purported to sell Singapore Styled Fried Noodles. i never knew such a thing existed. i was right. it looked like nothing we have in singapore. thank the culinary gods. no pictures here on that fiendish dish.

Little Italy likewise was a hub of migrant lifestyle that preserved itself somewhat in its own enclave even as the cosmopolitan nature of the city infused the district with modernism. below is the Marche Jean Salon, the signature marketplace in Little Italy.

huge brocollis in little italy,

and little berries in little italy.

the cultural accomplishment of montreal in terms of architecture no doubt paid worthy homage to its european style, especially of the renaissance architecture we see dotting the montreal city landscape.

here below is one such scenographic juxtaposition. the Cathedral of the Queen Mary, a miniature replica of the St Peter's Basilica in Rome, in gleaming sunshine, and a commercial skyscraper emerging from behind the basilica, providing holy protection for the preservation of this cultural heritage.

and here we have St Bourget, the patron saint of the Cathedral Marie-Reine-du-Monde...

and finally the last featured cathedral... or rather a basilica. the majestic and awe-inspiring St Joseph's Oratory (not the Notre Dame Basilica which Celine Dion got married in; sorry folks they had a wedding on the day we went so we were barred from entering... and whatever nice pics i have of it but didnt put up was because somehow i could not upload them onto photobucket).

if you can see there are 2 men kneeling on the steps right down the middle of the pic... they are 2 devotees who climbed the steps on their knees, reciting the Rosary at each and every step. the interior was amazing but again the pictures i could not upload.

in case you were wondering who i was travelling with, these ladies are three quarters of the singaporeans in the entourage. from left, candy, woonteng, yiyun... yes there were more... a handful of hongkongers and us singaporeans. again, this pic is the only one of my travelling mates here because the other pics i could not upload i dunno why. luckily this one could though; i really liked the composition with St Joseph and the Oratory in the bkground. haha...

and in case you were also wondering,

i never appear in ANY of the pictures i have taken. simple reasons.

1) human presence to me taints the picture

2) i am the one taking the pictures

this list of featured attractions were by no means exhaustive, either of the sights to be seen or experienced in montreal, or of the places we explored in our short few days there; this selection was heavily dependent on the pictures that i managed to upload, and i have such a nice pic of the interior of the basilica but i can't get it up! so the pics here were not as marvelous a portrayal of montreal as i would have liked it to be... still, it was a wonderful place to be, montreal... and it marked the beginnings of our exploration of the land of maple syrup!

up next (when i am done with three 12 page essays): Niagara Falls!

stay tuned, whoever are still reading.