This is Montreal (part 2)

 I still have a couple of things to write about when it comes to the city where I was born and raised, and I don't like to leave things unfinished. Here are a few more things you can do in Montreal that I personally recommend. You can read part 1 here!

5: Montreal Biodome

This is my brother, by the way.

The Montreal Biodome was once the Olympic Stadium's Velodrome. Seeing as it was put out of use, the city did the most sensible thing in order not to let the building go to waste: they filled it with dirt, trees and animals, and gave it new life as an interior zoo. The Biodome is separated into 4 parts: tropical jungle, forests of Canada, the Laurentian Bay, and the Arctic waters. It's very much worth it to see these ecosystems reproduced indoors. I got a 40% discount by showing my Tokyo resident card and saying it was my student card. Suckers!


6: The Olympic Stadium

Additionally to the Biodome, the Olympic Stadium and its surrounding area have a number of interesting stops. The stadium's tower itself was once the tallest inclined tower in the world (eclipsed only recently by a new one in Dubai.) At walking distance, one can also visit the Insectarium, Botanical Gardens and the other impressive outdoor gardens such as the Chinese and Japanese gardens. They're genuinely nice, and you can visit all of them at a discounted price if you do them all in the same day.


 
 7: Chinatown

 I love Montreal's Chinatown. Though it's only a couple of blocks in terms of size, strolling across Chinatown gives you the impression of being somewhere other than a Canadian city. Tiny shops stand shoulder to shoulder, cram-packed with trinkets and useless, cheap merchandise such as unlicensed Hello-Kitty stuff or anime figurines or old Chinese music albums.
You can also get a fairly cheap American-Chinese restaurant meal, complete with waiters with broken English and cheesy-ass fortune cookies. You and I both know it's nothing like the actual China, but it is awesome.

Yeah I know, I'm no longer in Montreal. I've been back in Tokyo for a week now, the beginning of which I fought hard against the jet lag. But I've had an enjoyable time in the presence of old friends I haven't seen in the last year. I'll be relaying back to Montreal once a year, though, checking on my family and my goons. Cheers!