~ The Niagara Falls ~
Thursday, February 23, 2006

Reading week kicks off with a trip to NIAGARA FALLS. Sara's bro wanna spend time wif his sis and so we seized this opportunity to get a ride to niagara falls which is about 2hrs journey away. The car rental costs $120USD because it's real spacious and comes with this GPRS system to guide us ALL THE WAY to our destination. "Turn right in 0.7miles", "Turn left now", "keep left for 0.3miles", "go straight for 12miles" etc are what we were hearing throughout the whole journey. soooo cool. Had my first McDonald's ever since i came Canada. Sausage McGriddles is yummy!!! Having a gd breakfast is the greatest way to start off the day. Hmm, actually i dun take beef.... dammit!!!

ok, we are approaching the long-awaited Niagara Falls. One of the seven wonders of the world and friends have been talking abt it. All the signs along the way are making me excited (65km, 58km, 12km...)
The SUNNY weather may look pretty good for outdoor sightseeing but the windchill is no joke man!

toes and fingers are freezing after 15mins of phototaking. Argghhh.. not enough time to capture the perfect shot. We need a break from the terrible cold weather and seek refuge at the souvenir shop nearby . [Rongy, did you find the ducky familiar?] They actually have names on these but your name is too 'unique' to exist on the ducks. Oh check out the range of PLANTERS' products. Im a nut-lover man! haha.. bbq, cocktail, roasted, almond, salted blah blah blah. oooohh!

we headed back to the open for more proper phototaking after lunch! Basically the waterfall is not entirely frozen, though i realli did imagine it to be frozen in the falls to be hanging in mid-air. However, because of the winter and the partial freezin, the falls isnt that rapid. A different kind of beauty i must say! Oh, view from Canada is the Horseshoe while that from the US is the main waterfall. Canada's side looks better in the day while US's side looks better at night because of the illumination (shown later). The mist is beautiful but not nice on pictures. It blocks the entire image of the waterfall behind it.

Before i went niagara falls, Giselle was telling me to visit the casino. Because that time she went and won $100cad on roulette. I walked in, i really couldn't stand the pressure. The minimum bet is $10cad. The brave Joo decided to try her luck with her $40cad. The superstitious me will blame myself when she lose. for standing in a different position or placing my arms in a different way etc. haha. sounded realli silly. so i decided to spend my time at the slot machine while she continues to try her luck. ok fine.. i lost $20 while she won $35. Never try your luck on slot machine unless you wanna kill time. Ok, but at least joo gave me an ice cream treat. im satisfied. wonder why i always crave for ice-cream in this climate.

Then we rushed back to catch the illuminated falls. Looks totally different from the day view. oh man, have to keep turnin my irritatin camera on n off my bcause the battery is running low. So everytime when i turned on the camera, it's just enough for one shot. Can you see the rainbow at the bottom right pic?

So is that all at niagara falls? Just the casino and falls? yeap quite true. SOOOO we headed home after that...
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3days later, i organized another trip to niagara falls, knowing that swep and her housemates are interested to go too. Also, i know i have missed out something - The CLIFTON HILL - where all the other attractions at Niagara Falls are located. So luckily, we have Josh to bring us there since he enjoys driving. haha. Don't he just look like a driver? Thanks dude! realli appreciate your time and company with us to Niagara. Really apologize for my tonnes of request for phototaking, Mr. camera-man! haha, i guess you'll be scared to go out with us in future.

haha, even forced josh to have his lunch at the RAINFOREST CAFE which i've seen on pamplets. ok, pls be warned that there'll be lotsa of individuual shots because we were splited into 2grps. i didnt wanna catch the falls and spend money on the activities they offered, since it's winter. I shall wait for the ice to thaw in May. so the rainforest cafe is not as good as i imagined. JUst that the whole restaurant is full of trees and moving-fake animals. oh and rainfalls too! interesting designs but not very impressive though the waitress tried to make it sound exciting while explaining to us.

alright... So this is clifton hill. It realli looks like some mini themepark though the place is abit dead. probably because it's tuesday afternoon. I love the ripley's-believe-it-or-not building (bottom right picture)whole structure has fallen ~amazing! They have other attractions like haunted house, guiness world record museum, 4D movie theatre etc. The admission for each is approximately $12CAD. it's not worth the $ so i didnt go for any. They should have a one-time payment thingy to enjoy all the activities isnt it?

[Mav, why is your pink "Panty" doing here?!haha. they have a kiddish pink panther ride too!]

visited Hershey store. Thought that they'll show the making of the chocolates but to my disappointment, it's just a store selling all hershey'S products. They even have apparels like aprons, caps and tees, items for fondue and chocolate-maker. oh i saw the biggest chocolate bar.(bottom right pic) which costs $45cad. Can imagine an addition 3kg, pimples-outbreak, sore throat, fever & nose-bleeding if i finish the whole thing myself.

Coca cola store is interesting too. With lotsa coca-cola's posters and aPparels So tempted to get the monopoly-set.

Guess there's really so much you can do at Niagara falls so i headed for the factory outlet. has always been wanting to visit one and i finally did! Tommy hilfiger, Levis, Espirit, MEXX, Guess, Nine West, Nike etc. Almost alll my favourite brands are there. Spent about 2.5hrs there but Didnt get things for myself but happy to get 3pairs of jeans for mummy, daddy and brother. yayy! mission accomplished.

ok, time to head back for some night scenery. This time round, i took it from another side. Apparently, that's roughly what the US's side will see. The bridge at the far end is known as the RAINBOW BRIDGE. So if we were to drive across it, we'll be in USA. haha!

ok,though im super-inconfident to drive, i eventually tried to do so for the last 2km since it's late and there're not many cars. Indeed, i turned into the wrong lane because of the right-hand drive. haha. ooops! we were stranded on the road for 3hrs bcos we lost our way. The lack of streetlamps made the whole journey so spooky. hehee! Still, it's kind of adventurous and i foresee that my US trip will have more of such things.

ok, a few more pics of 'frozen' niagara falls!

♧_____that's all folks_____♧~ [[ 12:28 PM ]]