Saturday, September 24, 2011
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Dreams III
I once had a dream where I was walking in a line with many people through an old open forest. Everyone wore white clothing. I was a child and I did not know where we were walking to.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Monday, September 12, 2011
WVRST
Every 5 or 6 weeks, a group of old high school friends and I go out to eat. We usually pick our eateries by looking through restaurant listings online and making a list of places that interest us. Last Friday, we visited WVRST for dinner because we wanted to try their sausages and beer.
WVRST was an interesting experience for me from the moment I stepped foot in its hall. There were two long rows of tables and benches, a snazzy bar at the far wall, and a busy open kitchen perpendicular from the tables. Beside the wall of windows opposite from the kitchen were high tables and chairs. It felt like a fancy cafeteria!
My friends and I chose a table to sit at and a runner came over to drop off the menu. He told us that we order food at the kitchen counter. After reading through the menu, I ordered a Kranjska with caramelized onions and Sauerkraut and a glass bottled Coke. Beer had to be ordered at the bar. My friends and I each received numbers so that the runners know where to drop off our orders.
While waiting for our food to arrive, I noticed most of the lighting were just light bulbs on strands of wires (like Christmas lights). The washrooms were also hidden behind a long, shiny-looking, and red brick wall with the word WVRST over it.
After a little wait, the food arrived. My friends and I didn't speak much while we were eating. We were all busy with our delicious sausages (... that sounds so wrong). The duck fries didn't taste different from regular fries, aside from being softer. My friends commented on how the beer was great: it had no funny aftertaste. We stayed for another half-an-hour after finishing our food and left when we noticed a fair number of people waiting for seats.
WVRST was an interesting experience for me from the moment I stepped foot in its hall. There were two long rows of tables and benches, a snazzy bar at the far wall, and a busy open kitchen perpendicular from the tables. Beside the wall of windows opposite from the kitchen were high tables and chairs. It felt like a fancy cafeteria!
My friends and I chose a table to sit at and a runner came over to drop off the menu. He told us that we order food at the kitchen counter. After reading through the menu, I ordered a Kranjska with caramelized onions and Sauerkraut and a glass bottled Coke. Beer had to be ordered at the bar. My friends and I each received numbers so that the runners know where to drop off our orders.
While waiting for our food to arrive, I noticed most of the lighting were just light bulbs on strands of wires (like Christmas lights). The washrooms were also hidden behind a long, shiny-looking, and red brick wall with the word WVRST over it.
After a little wait, the food arrived. My friends and I didn't speak much while we were eating. We were all busy with our delicious sausages (... that sounds so wrong). The duck fries didn't taste different from regular fries, aside from being softer. My friends commented on how the beer was great: it had no funny aftertaste. We stayed for another half-an-hour after finishing our food and left when we noticed a fair number of people waiting for seats.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Dreams II
I once had a dream where I was sleeping in a large room with mirrors as the walls. There was nothing in the room except me. There was no way in and no way out. All was silent and when I spoke, no voice was heard.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Monday, September 5, 2011
Presto: the Toronto Transit Card
Over the summer, York Region Transit set up booths around York Region selling discounted Presto cards. The full cost of a Presto card is $25. Six of the 25 goes to paying for the card itself while the rest goes into the card for transit use.
I read the week before last week's Markham Economist and Sun and saw an article about how a group of people wanted a refund on their Presto card because its registration and set up was mafan. Though my sister and I also went through the trouble of activating it and setting it up, we kept our cards.
My sister and I each bought a Presto card at a YRT Presto event in Vaughan Mills this summer. The laptops at the event that were meant for people to register their cards weren't working, so we went back home. We registered our cards online at www.presto.ca, but learned that the cards are defaulted to charge users the regular adult price. My sister wanted her card to charge student transit prices for YRT, so we went to YRT's Richmond Hill office [which is inside the York Region building] to get it set up. We had to wait in line before being attended to, but we didn't mind the wait. It only took 5 minutes for the lady at the office to set up the card. I recently received my GO transit student ID, but I have no idea where I can get my Presto card set up for Go student pricing. I will try the YRT Richmond Hill office first, then the nearest GO stations.
Presto's website said that the card's activation has to be completed by using it 7 days after activating it. I used my card when boarding a YRT bus within the 7 days after activating it, but my sister did not. She freaked out for awhile and complained about how stupid it was that Presto cards had to be activated again by using it when she didn't need to use it. She waited 3 weeks before using her card and it still worked!
Compared to Hong Kong's octopus transit card that takes less than 10 minutes to set up and activate, yeah, Presto is annoying. ... I also think Presto cards look ugly compared to the octopus cards, but I love using transit cards. You can keep them at the end of your wallet and scan your wallet. (Just make sure no one steals your wallet.) How cool is that?
[September 10, 2011]
I transferred buses using the Presto card for the first time today. I was charged the appropriate fare after scanning the Presto card on the first bus. The Presto machine displayed the amount it charged and the remaining time (1-hour and 59-minutes) I had left to ride the bus [like a paper transfer]. When I scanned my Presto card on the second bus, the machine showed that I was charged $0.00 and that I had 40-minutes left.
I like how I don't have to worry about losing my paper transfer.
[September 14, 2011]
It seems that if you stick to a certain route within the YRT's area, there aren't that many problems with the Presto card. I met a lady at the bus stop the other day that said she used her Presto card on the (2) Denison bus. She asked for a transcript to get on the northbound Warden TTC bus but the bus driver denied her one. When she arrived at Denison and Warden, she found out that the TTC bus did not have a Presto machine, so she had to walk.
[September 17, 2011]
I learned last year that York Region Transit and GO Transit have a system together where you can pay 50 cents for rides to and from GO transit stations on the YRT. My first time transferring from a GO bus to a YRT bus during the Presto era was a few days ago. I paid fifty cents and asked the bus driver for a transfer. He hit a touch screen next to him with a finger and I waited for him to hand over a transfer paper. No paper. It felt like the driver was ignoring me because he didn't say anything or show eye contact. I noticed that the old area where a stack of transfer papers sat was empty, so I accepted the fact that maybe he just didn't have any transfers. I took a seat and prepared for a 30-minute walk home.
As I was sitting in the bus the next day, a lady walked into the bus, inserted her ticket, and asked for a transfer. The bus driver hit the touch screen next to him and out came a paper from behind the screen. It was a transfer paper! When the bus stopped at a red light, the driver got out of his seat and put in a new roll of paper behind the screen. Since I've been using the Presto card, I haven't asked for transfers and people who enter the bus after me haven't asked for one either. I guess the transfer machine from the day before ran out of paper, because I certainly did not see anything come out from behind the touch screen.
[November 24, 2011]
YRT and viva in my area have been on strike for awhile now, so I decided not to add money to the card. I still haven't tried adding money to the card at the Go station... I'll do that when the strike's over [and if they decide to continue using the card].
I read the week before last week's Markham Economist and Sun and saw an article about how a group of people wanted a refund on their Presto card because its registration and set up was mafan. Though my sister and I also went through the trouble of activating it and setting it up, we kept our cards.
My sister and I each bought a Presto card at a YRT Presto event in Vaughan Mills this summer. The laptops at the event that were meant for people to register their cards weren't working, so we went back home. We registered our cards online at www.presto.ca, but learned that the cards are defaulted to charge users the regular adult price. My sister wanted her card to charge student transit prices for YRT, so we went to YRT's Richmond Hill office [which is inside the York Region building] to get it set up. We had to wait in line before being attended to, but we didn't mind the wait. It only took 5 minutes for the lady at the office to set up the card. I recently received my GO transit student ID, but I have no idea where I can get my Presto card set up for Go student pricing. I will try the YRT Richmond Hill office first, then the nearest GO stations.
Presto's website said that the card's activation has to be completed by using it 7 days after activating it. I used my card when boarding a YRT bus within the 7 days after activating it, but my sister did not. She freaked out for awhile and complained about how stupid it was that Presto cards had to be activated again by using it when she didn't need to use it. She waited 3 weeks before using her card and it still worked!
Compared to Hong Kong's octopus transit card that takes less than 10 minutes to set up and activate, yeah, Presto is annoying. ... I also think Presto cards look ugly compared to the octopus cards, but I love using transit cards. You can keep them at the end of your wallet and scan your wallet. (Just make sure no one steals your wallet.) How cool is that?
[September 10, 2011]
I transferred buses using the Presto card for the first time today. I was charged the appropriate fare after scanning the Presto card on the first bus. The Presto machine displayed the amount it charged and the remaining time (1-hour and 59-minutes) I had left to ride the bus [like a paper transfer]. When I scanned my Presto card on the second bus, the machine showed that I was charged $0.00 and that I had 40-minutes left.
I like how I don't have to worry about losing my paper transfer.
[September 14, 2011]
It seems that if you stick to a certain route within the YRT's area, there aren't that many problems with the Presto card. I met a lady at the bus stop the other day that said she used her Presto card on the (2) Denison bus. She asked for a transcript to get on the northbound Warden TTC bus but the bus driver denied her one. When she arrived at Denison and Warden, she found out that the TTC bus did not have a Presto machine, so she had to walk.
[September 17, 2011]
I learned last year that York Region Transit and GO Transit have a system together where you can pay 50 cents for rides to and from GO transit stations on the YRT. My first time transferring from a GO bus to a YRT bus during the Presto era was a few days ago. I paid fifty cents and asked the bus driver for a transfer. He hit a touch screen next to him with a finger and I waited for him to hand over a transfer paper. No paper. It felt like the driver was ignoring me because he didn't say anything or show eye contact. I noticed that the old area where a stack of transfer papers sat was empty, so I accepted the fact that maybe he just didn't have any transfers. I took a seat and prepared for a 30-minute walk home.
As I was sitting in the bus the next day, a lady walked into the bus, inserted her ticket, and asked for a transfer. The bus driver hit the touch screen next to him and out came a paper from behind the screen. It was a transfer paper! When the bus stopped at a red light, the driver got out of his seat and put in a new roll of paper behind the screen. Since I've been using the Presto card, I haven't asked for transfers and people who enter the bus after me haven't asked for one either. I guess the transfer machine from the day before ran out of paper, because I certainly did not see anything come out from behind the touch screen.
[November 24, 2011]
YRT and viva in my area have been on strike for awhile now, so I decided not to add money to the card. I still haven't tried adding money to the card at the Go station... I'll do that when the strike's over [and if they decide to continue using the card].
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Dreams I
I once had a dream of a library in a forest's opening with wooden shelves that sheltered its books from the sunlight and rain. Most of the plants were above the ground and trees because it often flooded in the area. An old man took care of the library and guarded it from people who wanted to be rid of it.
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