Boston Highlights

A girlfriend of mine met up with me at this point in the trip. Boston is a very nice city. It’s got history and character. A lot slower paced city in comparison to New York. I stayed in an apartment in this city and boy oh boy was this facility beautiful. It was a loft with a huge living room, kitchen, bathroom etc… It was really another home away from home. I would definitely return to stay again.

Recommended Accomodation:

113 Beacon Street

Fantastic spacious private apartment in the Beacon Hill Neighbourhood. Close to cheers pub also :)

Must sees:

- Beacon street (very similar to yaletown, swanky little fashion and restaurant district)

- Take the T for a tour of Boston

- Martha’s vineyards excursion if you enjoy learning the history of an island. It’s a day trip that is for sure.

- Au bon pain is a great place to get grab and go eats. You can find these joints all over Boston J. A must try!

- Chinatown was also interesting to see, but it was really small

- Cheers Bar (Where the show Cheers was filmed)

New York Highlights

I tried to get a room with a local, but it figures that everything was booked since it was Independence day. As an alternative, I stayed at the Milford Plaza hotel. A friend recommended this place to me as they always stay there when visiting New York. The facility was not gorgeous or anything, but it was decent enough to live in. I would highly recommend it for a single traveler as it is central to a lot of things in New York.

Recommended Accomodations

Milford Plaza Hotel
270 W 45th Street, New York, NY 10036
T: (888) 288 5700 or (212) 869 3600

Must sees:

Walk 8th street to chinatown and litte italy (can take the subway but will miss lots of things along the way). I even ended up in Harlem.

City of New York Bus Tour with Greyhound (well worth it if you want to see the whole of New York in one day)

Toronto Highlights

Must sees:

- Yonge Street (apparently the longest street in the world with many attractions)

- Bloor Street (known for shopping and dining experiences)

- Queen’s Street (fashion district)

- Beaches area (equivalent to white rock)

- Distillery (beer and shopping district). There is a store inside of here that serves chocolate espresso's, dare to try! You can see a pic of the chocolate espresso machine behind me.

- Center Island (great getaway island for outdoor activities, I did biking)

- - CN Tower (tourist trap :))

Place to Eat:

Springs Rolls - Great Asian fusion food (large portions as well)

Recommended Accommodations:

Cozy Suites Inn

287-289 Victoria Park Ave., Toronto, Ontario
Phone: 416.420.8696 - Toll Free: 1.866.501.8809
Email: info@cozysuites.com

Cozy Suites Inn is a cute little character home by the beaches. I had my own private suite with a bedroom and washroom and living room. It was quite quaint for Toronto considering it is a big city. I really enjoyed my stay there as it encouraged me to take advantage of the public transit and learn the ropes of the city. I would highly recommend it to anyone wanting to really get to know the outskirts of Toronto and the downtown core inside a short period of time.

Montreal Highlights

Montreal was probably my most favorite city out of the 4 cities I visited on this trip. The city had a very unique and distinct culture to it even though it was still located inside Canada. Besides, I loved hearing the French language (so sweet and eloquent).

Must Sees:

- St. Catherines Street, huge shopping district. It’s amazing how long of a street this is purely covered by stores and restaurants.

- Quebec City, quaint little town. It felt like a miniature version of Europe. Very well worth seeing. It is a day trip from Montreal so ensure you schedule time for this into your travel itinerary.

- Crescent street, a strip full of bars and restaurants. A great place to hang out in the evenings and people watch.

``-Jazz Festival (largest Jazz Festival in Canada) Worth seeing if you are travelling between the end of June and beginning of July.

Recommended Accommodation:

Bons Matins bed and breakfast was my accommodation of choice in Montreal. I would give it a two thumbs up. The service was excellent, they had treats and drinks for you to nibble on throughout the day, rooms were large and beautifully decorated, bathrooms were gorgeous. It was definitely a home away from home. They even had two computers you could use to go on the web. Not only that you were only a block away from the Metro (Montreal’s version of the Skytrain, but underground J). In addition, they serve a gourmet breakfast every morning (check out the photos). Talk about living in luxury!

Auberge

Address
1401, avenue Argyle
Montréal (Québec) H3G 1V5

Local line
(514) 931-9167

Toll free (Canada and United States)
1-800-588-5280

Fax
(514) 931-1621

E-mail
info@bonsmatins.com

Web

www.bonsmatins.com

Must eats:

Poutine – Fries with cheese curds and gravy (not my cup of tea, but a definite favorite for others)

Chinatown – Definitely drop into Chinatown for some delicious authentic chinese food. Good food at a good price!

Message from YUPM Founder

Hi All

For those of you who have not yet heard of me, my name is Karen Liu and I am the founder of Young Urban Professionals Meet (YUPM). YUPM is a team of young urban professionals passionate about networking and meeting new people.

YUPM is the result of one person's dream to bring young professionals between the ages of 25-35, from various industries and backgrounds, together yearly to get connected and stay connected.

YUPM is currently in the works, but outside of that I have been taking the time to explore the world and I wanted to share what I had found on my journey. I discovered great places to eat, shop, hangout, and tour which I hope to share with all of you so that when you are in the area you can check out these places too. The development of the arm YUPM Travel Network is a result of pure interest to inform and share with others my wonderful experiences traveling. My journeys do not involve the standard hotel, taxi cab travel, but instead I try to really live like a local so I can really experience what it would be like to live in that particular city. It would involve taking the subway, bus, staying at a bed and breakfast, etc.. . Believe it or not, it is a less expensive way to travel as well. Scary memories come with it as well like ending up in Harlem 

My most recent trip consisted of a back east tour through Montreal, Toronto, New York and Boston. Boy oh boy, was it an eye opener since I haven’t traveled this much since my high school days. As a young professional, like many of you, I have been stuck in school and working full-time that I have had very limited time to see the world. I would highly recommend to all of you that haven’t done much traveling that you do it now as it is a great way of making new friends, learning to appreciate the place you live in already or discovering a new city you perhaps would like to live in. Life is not about all work and no play! Remember, live everyday like there is no tomorrow.