The trip was indeed a wonderful experience & i'm so grateful to have gotten the chance to see so many different cities. So here are my albums of snaps taken throughout the month... just click on the inset pics to enter that album.

Travelled to Toronto, Ontario 24th June '05 aboard Cathay Pacific. Sat till my butt ached & sleep was sparse.

Stayed at my aunt's place & basically went sight-seeing on our own. The public transport is pretty efficient considering everyone else drives their own car.

They have 5 mths of winter but since it is Summer, the sun sets around 9.30pm. The pizza guy drives a honda civic for delivery.



Pride Toronto is a week of celebrations culminating in the Pride Parade on Sunday. Fortunately, my aunts were game enough to bring us down. Afterall, it's not everyday that we see queerdom at its best.

Not everyone marching is gay. Many are actually family & friends showing their support.

Two weeks after Pride, Canada finalised the legalisation of gay marriage, granting equal legal rights to both spouse just as in heterosexual unions. They also have shows like "My Fabulous Gay Wedding" on network TV.


29th June: Booked a guided tour to the state of Quebec where people identify passionately as French (even though the people of France refuses to acknowledge that.)

Quebec is cleaner than Toronto & has a far smaller population of Asian immigrants. You have to be able to know French before being able to start a living there.




Flew to New York 6th July on a domestic flight. Homeland Security, which is now in-charge of US immigration was a Bitch! Most Muslims would check-in 4-5 hrs before boarding.

This is the view from our hotel room. It was great cos we were at 42nd, near Times Square. Buildings are so close, we could see workers in their posh offices right across each morning.

You can tell a native New Yorker from the rest of the American tourists thronging the city. They dress better, walk tall & fast, & look way hotter.


16th July: Took the train to Oakville & got driven to Niagara Falls by a family friend. The cool & wet climate resulting from the Falls make the region perfect for growing fruits, thus it's been dubbed "the land of milk & honey".

The Falls are shared with the US border but 90% falls into the Canadian side. The shot actually shows the American Falls, one of the three falls.

They have one of the best producers of ice wine, a sweet dessert wine nicknamed "nectar of the Gods". It's really really very good.

Well that's it. My brother & I actually took more than 500 shots but who's gonna bother looking through all that?! For all the fun I had, nothing beats the feeling of home. Even for cynical me, i do appreciate S'pore for all it's good.