Friday, February 29, 2008

Toronto CN Tower viewing deck


Toronto CN Tower viewing deck, originally uploaded by AndyPdLA.

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Toronto Eaton Centre


Toronto Eaton Centre, originally uploaded by doug.mo.

This is the Eaton Centre shopping mall in Toronto, looking towards the Queen Street (south) end.

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Grassroots


Grassroots, originally uploaded by ericrobinson.

Queen Fire Clean Up


Queen Fire Clean Up - 3, originally uploaded by Rethinking.

Ice Carving at Icefest


Ice Carving at Icefest, originally uploaded by Mute* Reportage.

Skating in the snow.


Skating in the snow., originally uploaded by blairstirrett.

This is a digitally manipulated photo, but it's so well done and really says Toronto so I had to post it.

Fox Tracks


Fox Tracks, originally uploaded by ericrobinson.

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Wintery Driveway


Wintery Driveway, originally uploaded by DelioTO.

Toronto got more snow!


This is a black and white photo taken with a pinhole camera. Click on the photo if you would like to know more.

Toronto at night.


Toronto at night., originally uploaded by scmurleys.

Winter in Toronto


Winter in Toronto, originally uploaded by bornwithtaste.

Maple Leaf Tavern


Maple Leaf, originally uploaded by Squeakyrat.

Feb. 25/08 - Raptors vs Pacers

Canadian Immigration



I know that a lot of people reading this blog may be interested in immigrating to Canada. I've gotten a few emails in the last couple of months asking me about this, so I thought I would write a short article.

The first thing to do is look on the Citizenship and Immigration Canada government page (CIC). That outlines the requirements to immigrate. There is an online quiz which will tell you if you have enough points to immigrate as a skilled worker. You get points for your education, language skills in English and French, work experience and things like that.

If you have close relatives in Canada they can also sponsor you.

You can't just move to Canada from the United States without a lot of preparation. Sometimes people seem to think it's like the 51st state or something. No. It's possible to get a temporary work permit in some cases, if you find a job first and your employer is able to prove to the government that there are no Canadians available for the job.

That is how my husband and I came to Toronto. He got a job, they got him the paperwork and he got a work permit. As his spouse, I was allowed to go with him. Temporary work permit holders and their families do get medical care coverage.

If your spouse is Canadian you are usually eligible for spousal immigration.

Whatever route you decide to take, immigration is hard. The paperwork is insane, and you can get different answers from different immigration employees.

It's a good idea to be in contact with other people going through immigration in terms of sorting out some of the confusion and for moral support. A good group is:

Canadian Hopefuls.

That's a LiveJournal group. You can read the groups posts without becoming a member. If you would like to participate, it's free to get a membership on LiveJournal.

A lot of social networking sites have similar groups, just do a search for Canadian Immigration on whatever site you are already on.

Keep in mind that any information you get from groups like this needs to be verified. Some people believe they are real experts on immigration and can steer you wrong.

You can also hire an immigration attorney or immigration consultant to do your application for you. This can be expensive but if the paperwork is that confusing for you or if you are really busy it can be helpful. Some people hire an attorney just to review their application before it is sent in to the government.

This is by no means a complete guide, but just a few things to get you started.

Burn-out facade in Toronto


Burn-out facade in Toronto, originally uploaded by Samer!.

Clean up of Queen Street Fire




Fire destroys hipster hangout, originally uploaded by Samer!.

Cleanup of Queen Street Fire

Monday, February 25, 2008

Litter in Toronto


, originally uploaded by Kevin Steele.

Toronto had a reputation for a long time as a very clean city. Before I lived in Toronto, I went there for my honeymoon in April, 1998. It was indeed very clean. When I moved there in 2003, it seemed so much dirtier. People throw litter on the street all the time. One time I was riding on the street car and at almost every stop, someone was smoking and threw the cigarette on the ground before boarding.

I've noticed that Toronto still enjoys this pristine and clean reputation outside of the area. When we were living in Toronto and visited upstate NY, people would comment about how it must be nice to live in such a clean city. We were sorry to have to tell them that it was no longer true.

Toronto is a wonderful city and there are a lot of reasons to visit or live there, but a litter-free wonderland it is not.

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Artistic door


IMG_3151, originally uploaded by bedesah.

Queen St Fire


Queen St Fire 5, originally uploaded by PDPhotography.

The aftermath, with the icicles from the firehoses.

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Fire and Ice


DSC01342, originally uploaded by Melissa Goldstein.

The ice is caused by the water from the fire hoses.

Queen St. West, East of Bathurst [2007]

This is where the fire was. If you click on the photo, you'll go to a page where you can see it in a large size.

Luckily no one was hurt in the fire.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

fire


fire, originally uploaded by arcticlamb.

fire at queen and bathurst in toronto

6th Alarm, 625 Queen St. W., Toronto

Immediately after the collapse of the structure at 625 Queen St. W. housing Dukes Cycle. Suspect Video was also destroyed in the blaze. (that's the name of a video store, not video of a suspect)

Queen Street Fire


queenst_fire-8, originally uploaded by pete soos.

6 alarm fire: Queen and Bathurst

6 Alarm Fire Queen Street Toronto 2008

Fire at Queen and Portland

Ladders at work


IMG_6855 levels sat, originally uploaded by xarq.

The Queen West fire

See more photos of this fire by xarq here.

Massive fire on Queen St West (at Portland)

For any TTC riders, it looks like streetcars are being diverted onto King Street at Shaw.

Uploaded by Pema

Fire on Queen


Fire on Queen, originally uploaded by aardvark..

Smoke from the big fire at Queen and Bathurst

Monday, February 18, 2008

Tea and sympathy


Tea and sympathy, originally uploaded by Antoniele.

Taken at the Red Room, Spadina St., Toronto. T

It doesn't look like tea in that glass to me!

Sunday, February 17, 2008

empty train


empty train, originally uploaded by alfred ng.

VE Day in Toronto


s0377_it4636, originally uploaded by bmwe82.

This is when World War Two ended.

The AGO


DSC02240.JPG, originally uploaded by AWWS.

The Art Gallery of Ontario - reopening in 2008.

Saturday, February 16, 2008

Interlude, with sun


Interlude, with sun, originally uploaded by andyscamera.

Friday, February 15, 2008

RATS


RATS, originally uploaded by alexanderthematt.

Picture taken by Vivian Hui on February 15, 2008 in front of
Dumpling House
328 Spadina Avenue
Toronto, ON M5T 2E7
Those are rats on the table where there's usually a person making dumplings.

Click on the photo to see it larger, there's really rats in there. Eek!

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Food truck by the Skating Rink


_DSC0006, originally uploaded by JRDesign1.

on Queen Street.

They claim to have been there over 30 years. I wonder if they are still using the same grease.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Winter Sun


Winter Sun, originally uploaded by dunescape.

Bike courier in snow


courier in snow, originally uploaded by alfred ng.

Biking through the snow, you have to be dedicated!

Monday, February 11, 2008

three ferries


three ferries, originally uploaded by jgrantmac.

I love the icy blue green feel of this one.

Toronto Geocoin


Toronto Geocoin, originally uploaded by res2100.

For more information and to get your own Toronto coin, visit the following web page:

Toronto Geocoin

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Ice Bike


Ice Bike, originally uploaded by -- brian --.

Dominion


2007_12_Dominion, originally uploaded by AMNovak.

Saturday, February 09, 2008

Toronto Police


IMG_2338 Toronto Police, originally uploaded by devil fang.

Snow!


Snow!, originally uploaded by mendel.

Friday, February 08, 2008

allan gardens after snowstorm


allan gardens after snowstorm, originally uploaded by alfred ng.

February 2008 snow storm

Vinyl shelfs at Neurotica Store - Toronto

Thursday, February 07, 2008

Winter Street Scene


Winter Street Scene, originally uploaded by Mopiku.

Snow Blower


DSC_3098, originally uploaded by shzy.

Feb 2008 snow storm

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Heavy snow storm - Extreme Winter Toronto 2008

Snow Locked Door


Snow Locked Door, originally uploaded by Torontovore.

Toronto's 2008 February snowstorms are certainly great for photographers.

3rd Winter Storm in February ( Feb.6, 2008)

Toronto Transit bus trying to make thru the traffic during the snow storm.

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

Chinese Market


_MG_7102.JPG, originally uploaded by michael40001.

snowball fight


snowball fight, originally uploaded by swampr0se.