OTTAWA — FEB 15–2019
Whenever I find myself in a new city, I try to walk as much as I can.
Walking minimizes commute costs, facilitates digestion, and lets me observe people and places in more detail.
Here is how I spent the second of my three days in Ottawa.
Double-decker bus!
I was aiming to get to Carleton University by around 8:30 AM, and apparently a bunch of other people felt the same way. The 7 was jam-packed with students all the way to campus.
Somehow, I found my way to Dunton Tower from the bus exchange — a 22-floor building standing which stood above all of Carleton. I was on the 20th floor, and this was my view from morning till 5 PM.
The weather changed a couple times — foggy, sunny, overcast. I was — and still am — stunned that people can literally skate from downtown to campus on the canal.
This was my first ever academic conference. I had applied because — well, my career as a student was coming to an end and I thought it would be cool to say “I presented at a conference”.
There were five of us in the 9 AM session, and we all sat at the front as a panel. I found this a little weird, to be honest…
First, panel members face the audience. This means I couldn’t see the slides of my colleagues when they were presenting — instead, I had to make awkward eye contact with those in the audience.
My own talk went well — time management was good, eye contact was consistent, and jokes yielded an acceptable amount of laughter for a morning talk. I got a couple of questions too, which meant that some people out there were actually listening.
After my session, I chose a seat near the back — in close proximity to the food table. For breakfast, there were miniature muffins, bagels, and an assortment of spreads. For lunch, there were salads, sandwiches, wraps, and these aesthetic brownies.
I must have had at least four…
The conference wrapped up at around 5 PM, and one of the presenters I met that afternoon offered me a one-on-one tour of campus.
The theme was tunnels — an intricate system of underground walkways were built sometime ago to allow students to get from one building to another without ever having to go outdoors. It does get cold outside…
I saw some golf cart thing driving through as well, but I couldn’t get a photo in time.
We took a brief glance into one of the pubs on campus. I was told that it catered more towards the grad student demographic, which explains the sign above.
The last stop of the tour was the campus library, which had “booths” for students to sit in — imagine a semi-enclosed glass box with cushioned benches and a flat-screen TV. It’s too bad I couldn’t get a good photo of one…
With the day’s rigorous academic endeavours now complete, I took the bus to Chinatown for some pho — about a 20 minute trip.
I ended up at Pho Thu Do. After getting seated, I was brought a cup of tea, a menu, a scrap piece of paper, and a pen. Customers write down their desired order before handing it to a staff member.
For me, it was a small #16 (rare beef, well-done beef, beef balls) — no cilantro. Again, no cilantro.
After my meal, I walked across the street to have a look at Manphong Supermarket. I wasn’t looking to buy anything, I just wanted to be surrounded by Asian sauces and canned goods for a moment or two— a reminder of home.
I got a small pho because I wanted to leave myself some space for BBQ pork buns — which I had been craving as well. There are several well-reviewed dim sum options in Ottawa’s Chinatown, and Yimin happened to be closest to where I was.
One order included 2 buns, steamed right away. These were pretty good — I should have let them cool a little longer, but I got too excited.
After I devoured these buns, I set off to begin my nighttime wandering. I passed by countless government buildings — I wouldn’t mind working in one of these someday…
I saw some buildings named after the street (Booth Street Complex), some named after function (Central Heating Plant), and some named after who I can only assume to be a person of importance (C.D. Howe Building).
Speaking of names, check out this hair salon!
I eventually found myself in The Glebe district, a lively and vibrant area. I made a quick stop at Metro in hopes of acquiring some fruit — after all, vitamins and fibre are essential to the body.
I got back to the Airbnb and lazed around a bit before deciding to go out again. This turned out to be a great idea, since I managed to get some decent pictures.
Parliament was literally glowing, and there was nobody there to dirty my shot. There was a police officer in his car watching my every move though, stationed there to ensure that nobody engages in any deviant behaviour on our government’s front lawn.
Moving on from Parliament, my curiosity brought me to this sort of underpass. Normally, these stairs would serve to take you to the surface but as you can see, the snow has stripped them of much functionality.
Walking towards one end of the tunnel will bring you back to Rideau Street.
Walking towards the other, however, will take you to one of the Rideau Canal’s entry points. This one was blocked off though, probably intentionally — look at how much snow was down there.
I also got a great view of the Fairmont hotel — classy and majestic, especially in the dark.
One more point on the underpass — there are these cutouts that let you look at the actual waterway. It would make for a great photo if someone was to stand in that little chunk of light on the other side…
The National Arts Centre was close by, and they did a great job with their lights. My pictures show only a few of them, but you’ll get the idea.
Romantic !!!
Before walking home, I paid homage to the Canadian hero Terry Fox.
There was a 24-hour McDonald’s on the way, but I managed to resist the allure of a McDouble.
