If you walk from Dundas Square going north you will pass through some of the seamiest, tackiest joints in Toronto..It looks like Quiapo alright. At first, as you walk north, you will see first class stores like HMV ( mother company is based in England ) , then Sams the Record Man, Toronto's oldest record store ( now selling only CDs and DVDs) then Future Shop (an electronic store recently bought by the Circuit City, a US Company ). Then you come to some weird looking shops that sell posters, some assorted paraphernalia, gift items they call them.Expensive junk, I call them.. Beside it is the Zanzibar. It is a strip joint with photos of busty girls in the lobby and one can hear a bit of the music playing inside. Action starts at 11:00 am which is also the official time for taverns to start serving liquor.
Zanzibar can be an experience for newcomers from the Philippines, but pretty boring for old time Torontonians. However the shows are tame compared to what you can watch outside of Toronto boundaries..The girls are beautiful, of course. Customers could tuck in their money into what bodice the girls have while they are dancing on stage. But the stage lights are mostly strong blue or red colour especially just before they remove the last shred of clothing. Then they smile, and walk away..It would take sometimes 5 or 10 mins before the next dancer appears again. And the drinks are outrageously expensive. You must have lots of money to spend and plenty of time to kill.
The signboards advertise varieties of strip dancing..There is the lap dancing. couch dancing and more recently, face dancing.. These places remind me of the Astor, Inday, King's and Dragon Theatres in the vicinity of Ongpin and Chinatown, Manila decades ago.But there was no lap dancing then. .These places were always packed. In Manila at that time, it is a shame to enter these "places of sin.." One time, I passed by the Sta. Cruz church ( I forgot the actual name already )..A sermon on the "sins of the flesh" was being broadcasted on a loudspeaker in the lobby of the church. The homilist was attacking the "dirty books, magazines and movies " which was rampant in Manila at that time. A few blocks away are the theatres I mentioned which were showing ladies local and foreign, dancing their hearts away before an SRO crowd of noisy city folks..How diverse can a city get? And it was a fun city if you dont mind some hucksters, con artists, sidewalk vendors and cars tooting their horns all the time! Tijuana, in Mexico is a cemetry compared the noise you hear in Manila esp. during rush hours in the morning and afternoon..
Across from Zanzibar on the opposite side of Yonge street are various camera and electronic stores owned mostly by Chinese or Indian merchants. Its okay to buy from these stores if you are experienced in haggling with prices. And you are well versed with the value of the goods you are buying. If not, do not buy any expensive stuff. You will surely get stiffed one way or the other with your purchases. And it is so hard returning those goods later.
The next intersection is Gerrard and Yonge. The scenery looks better. And the shops too. There is a big Apartment building with lots of stores on its ground floor. I won't mind living in an apartment like those ones. One elevator ride and you are in the center of a busy mall: you can see Dominion Grocery for your veggies and cereals, magazine stores, Winners for your clothing and other sundries. Step out and you have a beautiful well-lit park. The building by the way, is called the College Park Apartments. There is also a food court in the concourse area with various fast food stores. A fast food store selling various Asian soups is worth checking.
(PHOTOS TO FOLLOW)
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