Saturday, September 03, 2005

cK and Cousins at the CNE!

Rides, Food and lots of fun!

The Canadian National Exhibition -- more commonly known as "The Ex" takes over Toronto for 2 weeks every summer. This time, in its 127th year, it still does not fail to dazzle and impress people of all ages with free products, crazy amusement rides and foods from around the world.

I went twice. Once on CNE's opening weekend and then the final Labour Day weekend. The first time I went with n8 Dogg and my cousin, Jus. The second time, I packed the SUV and took along n8, my cousin, Andrew who was visting from New York, Jus, Andrea, Devon, Jerry and Sabrina.

Good thing we all had cell phones! When we arrived there, we purchased the Unlimited Ride wristband which is a bargain at $25. The younger group of us split to take a walk while the older group of us went to the International Pavillion to see what they had showcasing to shop.

We met my other friend, Socaloco, who then tagged along to our group. After a little shopping, both groups reunited. All of us were pretty hungry, so we ventured over to the Food Building. The Food Building is one of my top 3 favourite places at the CNE. Not because I'm a glutton.. but because there are so many different cuisines to choose from in this one building. To paint a visual for those who have never been to the CNE, I can only describe it like this. Imagine the biggest food court you have ever been to in a mall. Got it? Lots of restaurants, so many places to eat right? Okay... now multiply that food court by 100. Yes... it is THAT big. So big that it has its own map at each corner like a mall, and yes.. you DO get lost!

One of the guilty pleasures that people even come to the CNE for only 2 weeks out of the whole year is the chance to take home a bag of "Tiny Tom's" mini donuts. They are crazy small and come in a variety of flavours. Sabrina made me go along with her to get these little donuts. They are really cute when you see them being made behind the glass. After we sat down and ate our choice of food, we headed out for the rides. Socaloco departed from us and had to go, but not without a little posing for the cameras as her and I did our capoeira moves.

Sabrina and Andrea opted out for all the rides while the boys all went on as much as we could. N8 was waiting for the bumper cars so everyone could attack Jus and Andrew. That was pretty much what happened when we did go on them. We hit most of all the rollercoaster type rides, even though there were not as many as last year. There was no double looper like years before. I think my total favourite ride was the "SUPER FLIP".. .and indeed that's what it was! N8 and I paired up for that one, and it was killer! It actually slowed down and tricked you thinking it was over... and then started back up again which seemed faster than before.

Everybody had a great time. We were very exhausted at the end of the night but took home memories for the 2005 year of the CNE!

The following are some pics from the EX.

Andrew eating	Andrea looking at Andrew	Socaloco and cK's foot

cK eating a New York Fries Poutine!

cK, n8 and Jus	Big Ferris Wheel	Andrew on YTV van

The Whole Group (Sabrina taking pic)	Jus and Devon	Ferris Wheel

Looking up at the Ferris Wheel	View from up top the Ferris Wheel

**BONUS!**
These pics were taken the first day I went to The Ex with Jus and n8. As we were exiting the park, we seen the luvable EX mascots... so we wanted to get a picture. The first one you can see is Jus posing with them. Awwww... isn't that sweet? Everything seems fine and dandy, right?Great, now that's a good picture. Now look what happens when I go to pose with the "luvable" EX mascots. First, they were cool, but before my cousin snapped my camera, they took my 'Heavy Hitter' hammer and started beating me. The nice mouse looking mascot held me down while the EX Beaver swung that hammer bat thing and repeatedly beat me!! Look for yourself!!

BEFORE: EX Beaver Swings Back...	AFTER: KAPOW!! Beats me like I owed him money!