A Lot About Nothing

Today many people are celebrating Ontario’s newest statutory holiday, Family Day, which occurs the third Monday of February. Here’s a look at what’s open and closed in the GTA for the holiday’s third year of existence in the province:

Open:

• All family-friendly tourist attractions (incl. movie theatres, Toronto Zoo, CN Tower, Casa Loma, ROM, Ontario Science Centre, skating rinks and arenas)
• Eaton Centre
• Vaughan Mills
• Pacific Mall
• Woodbine Centre

Closed:

• Banks
• Schools
• Public libraries
• LCBO and Beer Stores
• Post offices
• Most malls and grocery stores

TTC is running on holiday schedule and GO Transit is running on Saturday schedule. Have a happy family day, everyone!

That’s right, Coach Canada is at it again. But this time they’ve joined forces with Megabus, new double-deckers that offer a more comfortable ride. Tickets are now on sale (online only) for as low as $1!

Now I don’t know if it was a press release error, but when I read Metro newspaper this morning they said that the seat sale for the $1 tickets will start on August 19th. I decided to check out the coachcanada.com website today myself and lo and behold $1 tickets were released up to November 24th! Had I checked a little earlier I might have scooped up some of those high demand weekend tickets for less that it would cost me to buy a happy meal. But I did manage to secure some super-cheap seats for the upcoming months (makes my LDR a lot easier!).

The majority (if not all) of the $1 tickets for weekend departures/returns are pretty much sold out. But I just seen a bunch for mid-week travel on sale for $1. Once the 10,000 $1 seats are sold out, you’ll still be able to find decent prices on Toronto to Montreal travel, between $10 and $60. Don’t fret about not getting a deal, try to make your travel plans as flexible as possible (I myself will have to endure some 3am arrival times, but it’s worth my loonie!).

$16 million dollars has been invested by Coach Canada for the 15 new Megabus buses that will depart/arrive at the following cities: Whitby, Mississauga, Toronto, Scarborough, Kingston, Kirkland and Montreal, at up to 8 daily departure times.

The 81-passenger, 3.99 metres (13.1 feet) high, two-level coaches have front and rear staircases and offer free Wi-Fi, power outlets and DVD video capabilities, as well as a panoramic view, two folding card tables, comfortable reclining seats, restroom, safety belts and mobility impaired accessibility.

I’ve taken Coach Canada buses before, but have never been on a Megabus. Head over on to coachcanada.com and book your dollar tickets before they’re all sold out! Good luck on finding the good ones!

Don’t get me wrong: I love my city. But this city-wide strike didn’t leave me feeling very proud of the T Dot.

After a tentative deal was reached, striking City of Toronto workers will be back on the job soon. And it can’t be soon enough. I didn’t even realize how much garbage was piling up during the month-long strike until I passed a giant park-turned-landfill the other day. Sure the overflowing garbage bins gave me an inkling, but a month with no garbage pick-up is just a tad ridiculous.

No wonder tourists aren’t visiting our “lovely” city as much as they used to. It seems the only tourists we had were an influx of mice and other vermon who have been digging through bags of trash lining city streets and parks. Personally, I think they should’ve been legislated back to work weeks ago.  Especially when there are so many city workers dependant on the income from jobs they had to suspend,  parents out there relying on child care and children eager to spend part of their summer in community centres and pools.

Seems like everyone’s going on strike these days. Just the other day Via Rail engineers headed to the picket lines. The two-day strike ended up with a 60% off promotion to compensate customers for the inconvenience. The promotion ends Wednesday night has been extended until Friday, July 31st if you’re thinking about purchasing train tickets… but it seems that their website is on strike now by how slow it’s running (probably the reason for the extension).

Hopefully it won’t be too long ’til Toronto is squeaky clean and running smoothly again.

My good friend managed to offer me a ticket to last night’s Beyonce concert at the Molson Amphitheatre. Now, I never was really okay with some of those diva-ish qualities of Beyoncé since her solo act began several years ago, and added to the fact that I don’t think she could really act (have you seen Obsessed?), I wasn’t too keen on attending initially. I must say, that I’m glad went because the show was phenomenal!

Ms. Knowles (or should I say Mrs. Carter) started the show about 40 minutes late (which was okay with me b/c I didn’t reach until 8:30), but it opened with a bang with the bootylicious vixen making an entrance on the sci-fi-themed stage dressed in a tight, gold number. Opening with a rendition of “Crazy In Love”, the show got underway with cheers and sing-a-longs from devoted fans.

I wish I had her personal trainer and choreographer because that girl can move (including a mind-boggling back bend to a guitar rif). It’s a wonder she can do all those amazing dance sequences in high heels, and still be able to sing without seemingly catching a breath (even with all that pre-recorded technology on set). That woman is talented.

My personal favourites of last night’s show was Beyoncé’s performance of “If I Were A Boy” and “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It”) (complete with a montage of YouTube amateur renditions and an SNL sketch). I loved the all-girl band musical solos (almost felt like I was at a Lenny Kravitz concert). Though, I was left a little puzzled by the whole Beyonce-aka-Sasha-Fierce-robot-turning-into-a-leopard segment… but I’ll let that slide because the rest of the show was so spectacular.

Beyoncé’s performance included a couple of Canadian covers including Sarah McLachlan’s “Angel” and Alanis Morrissette’s “You Outta Know” (which I think she did a pretty damn good job covering). She showed off her vocal skills with Etta James’ “At Last” and by performing “Ava Maria”. We got to see some retro video as her performing as a child, and even hear a few snippets from some Destiny’s Child tracks. Great job by Beyoncé’s backup singers, The Mamas with an entertaining interlude (including eying Toronto actor/rapper Drake who had his face on the big screen… much to the cheers of the female audience members). The 4-male, 4-female dancers were fabulous. There was also a fantastic Michael Jackson homage of “Billy Jean” done by the guitarist of Beyonce’s all-girl band, and Beyonce made sure to also thank the King of Pop at the end of her show which closed out with “Halo”.

Beyoncé’s Toronto stop of her “I Am” tour truly proved how much of a talented entertainer she really is. She loves her fans and it shows (she even ended up making her way through the front of the crowd). Beyonce is definitely proven that she’s fierce.

Here is an excellent deal if you’re planning on travelling between Toronto and Montreal in the next several months: Coach Canada is offering $1 fares between the two cities.  Yes, that’s right.  I said one dollar. So depending on the dates you choose between the beginning of January and the end of March (the new dates were just posted within the last couple of days), you can potentially only spend $2.18 for a round trip ticket including taxes.  Now I call that a deal!

Make sure you don’t hesitate on this offer, the special $1 tickets are selling out quickly. After they’re sold out, the next batch of tickets with a reasonable price will be $10, and I’ve seen tickets between Toronto and Montreal go for as high as $60 each way with this Coach Canada promotion.  Other departure/arrival points included in this Toronto-to-Montreal deal are Scarborough, Mississauga, Whitby and Kirkland.

Visit the Coach Canada website to purchase your tickets online.