Eating at the Anchor Bar Restaurant, Buffalo, NY, Where the Buffalo Wings Originated

When overseas visitors or new immigrants come to Canada or US, they often ask these questions:

" What are the Canadian and American food?"
" What are the dishes that Canada/ America  are famous for?"

Often we are tongue tied and respond with hesitant answers such as: Hamburgers, French Fries?  roast beef and potatoes, pumpkin pies, apple pies?"

We do have a lot of great cuisine and delicious dishes in North America.  But it is difficult to name a national dish representing us here especially in Canada.  We are a multicultural country; our multicuralism  is also reflected in the variety of dishes served in restaurants across our country.

Anchor Bar/ Restaurant - Home of the Original Buffalo Wings!

However, one food does come to my mind - Chicken Wings!  They are as North Americans as you can get. It is an ubiquitous item on our menus in bars and restaurants. North America's chicken wings are very popular and they come in many many different flavours. Of all the flavours, the most favourite ones are the Buffalo Wings!

Entrance to the Anchor Bar Restaurant

How could one visit the city of Buffalo and not stop and eat at the place where the Buffalo Wings were originated?

That was exactly where we had one of  our meals - Anchor Bar/ Restaurant in Buffalo!





Anchor Bar/ Restaurant is located in downtown Buffalo, at the intersection of Main and North Street. It was established in 1935 and delivered to North American its famous spicy wings in 1964!



















We were not disappointed! When we first stepped into the front door of the restaurant, our attention were captured by the colourful and creative deco of the restaurant.



The walls at the entrance were plastered with license plates from many of the states and cities in the United States.

Old bikes, motorcycles and other sports paraphernalia were hanging from the ceiling of the restaurant lobby.

Though It was lunch time and the restaurant was busy, we were quickly seated. I was busy looking at the pictures of famous people lining the walls of the restaurant.

We also spotted some paintings and artwork of some well known explorers.

We ordered the Buffalo wings, a potato salad and cole slaw salad for lunch.  They were delicious!

We tasted the real Buffalo Wings! They were crisp, juicy, tender with lots of flavours.  We wolfed them down so fast that I didn't have a chance to take a picture of them.

It was worth the trip!


R.T.
Anchor Restaurant
Buffalo, NY
USA

Observation Deck at Buffalo City Hall - A Must See Attraction in Buffalo, NY, USA

Sidewalk outside the Buffalo City Hall, NY, USA

While planning for our short visit to the city of Buffalo, my husband was doing his research on where and what we should visit in that city.

" We must visit  the Buffalo City Hall!" My husband said to me excitedly.

"  Why? What is there to see at a city hall?" I questioned.

We usually do not visit a city hall during our travel.

However,  listening to my spouse's suggestion, I obliged.

The Buffalo City Hall, Buffalo, NY, USA

An imposing entrance to the City Hall, Buffalo

We went there on the morning of the second day of our visit to the city.

I was glad we did!

The ceiling in the lobby is highly decorated

The Buffalo City Hall is an impressive building.

It is one of the most outstanding Art Deco buildings in the United Stated of America.

Ground floor of the City Hall, Buffalso

The Buffalo City Hall is a thirty story tall building.

In its designing phase, a total of 34 architects and engineers were employed at times working on the building which was completed in 1931 at a cost of US$ 7 millions.

It has a highly decorated lobby with  wall murals and painted domed ceilings depicted with native arts and symbols.
















Other than the highly decorated lobby, the Buffalo City Hall has an observation deck on its 28th floor and is opened to the public.

We walked the stairs up to the 28th floor Observation Deck

However, the building's elevators do not go up to the 28th floor. They only go up to the 25th floor.

We got off the elevator on the 25th floor and walked the stairs up to the 28th floor of the building.

The climb up to the observation deck was not boring at all.

As we walked up the stairs, we could take our time reading the explanations and looking at the life size pictures on the wall.

Visiting the Buffalo City Hall was like getting a history lesson 

We learned about a few famous people and inventors born and raised in Buffalo.

On the 28th Floor, there was
" Windows on History" - a pictorial exhibit on Buffalo all around the walls.

There were good explanations about the history and important landmarks in the city.

Overlooking the Court House from the 28th floor Observation Deck

The best part was going to the outside observation deck and viewing the city from above.

View of Buffalo from the 28th floor of the Buffalo City Hall

The view of Buffalo was spectacular from the 28th floor!


We saw the Liberty Building of Buffalo.

I think we even saw Toronto's tallest's building, CN Tower from there as well!

Being on top of the 28th floor, we had an unobstructed view of the city and the surrounding area below.






















Since it was a clear day, we had an excellent 360 degree view of the city of Buffalo.

We saw many interesting buildings of the city.














After visiting the Observation Deck at the City Hall, we explored other parts of the building.

A nice newly renovated cafeteria in the basement floor of the Buffalo City Hall provides visitors to the building with plenty of seating and a place to rest.



















On the day we visited, there was a good selection of food for snacks and lunches at reasonable prices.

Unlike other observation decks in many US cities that charge between US$15.00 to 20.00 per head,  the admission to this observation deck is free!

It was a great visit to the Buffalo City Hall and we enjoyed it!

This is a must see attraction in Buffalo. I highly recommend it!



R.T.
Buffalo City Hall.
Buffalo, NY
USA

Sampling Different Ethnic Food at the Westside Bazaar, Buffalo, NY, USA

 Buffalo, NY, USA

Driving south of the border to the U.S.

Thursday – The weather in Toronto was cold and miserable for the past few weeks. Therefore, as soon as we heard that it would be nice warm weather for the next few days, we packed our bags for a short road trip to the U.S.

Crossing to the U.S. at the Lewiston Crossing

Living in Toronto is a blessing as we are close to a number of  U.S. and Canadian cities that are within a couple of hours drive. 

This time we chose to go to Buffalo, a city that is right across from the Canadian border, a mere two hours drive from Toronto.

Thinking that we would beat the rush hour traffic, we headed out of Toronto shortly after 2pm.  

However, we were surprised to find that the traffic was pretty heavy on the major roads. It took much longer than we had expected to get to Buffalo.

The night before, I watched the Buffalo news on tv and learned about the Westside Bazaar in Buffalo so we decided to stop by there.

Westside Bazaar is located on Grant Street,  close to the Buffalo University.

As we drove towards the bazaar location, we passed by some impressive grand old mansions along the way.

The Westisde Bazaar is located in a less affluent neighbourhood,

The Westside Bazaar in Buffalo, NY, USA

Currently, it is located on the main floor of a commercial  building.  

Though not a huge space, the bazaar has a few things to offer to visitors.

On one side of the bazaar, there were a few booths  set up.

Some were selling arts and craft items such as wooden cravings.

A couple of stalls were selling  costume jewelry.














Another vendor displayed and sold colourful clothing from different countries. 

There were  two booths offering income tax return filing services to residents in the area.

The other side of the bazaar, also our favourite side, was where the food booths located. 

We were delighted to find a 

diverse selections and dishes offered by the vendors. 






















There were at least  seven or eight stalls with each offering a selection of dishes from a different country.

There was even a vendor cooking and offering authentic Chinese dim sum dishes; the kind of delicious ethnic food we don't normally find in a food court type of selling.

It was not an easy decision to make amid all these choices. 

Desiring to try food from as many different countries as possible, we finally made our decisions. 

We ordered a papaya salad from the Vietnamese stall.

From the India food booth, we ordered a mango lassi made from fresh mango and yogurt. Yummu, healthy and delicious!


In addition, we also ordered a vegetarian dish and dim sum from the Chinese stall and a Pad Thai noodle dish from the Thai food place.

The Westside Bazaar does provide a seating area with quite a few tables and chairs set up for its customers. 







All the dishes we ordered were delicious except for the papaya salad which was a little too spicy for our taste. If one likes spicy food, that would be a good salad for one to order.

Not too fat from the State University,  the Westside Bazaar was filled with students and other visitors to the place when we visited. 

It is a vibrant place filled with some interesting merchandises and eating places frequented by young  and polite customers.

Away from the touristy places, Westside Bazaar is in a neighborhood where we have not visited before in Buffalo.   

It introduced us to the diverse side of the city, another interesting part of Buffalo. 

We loved it! 


We are always looking to see and find out how local people live whenever we visit a new city. 










This time instead of visiting Niagara Falls where most visitors go, we saw something different and authentic in Buffalo.

Congratulations to the Westside Bazaar for obtaining a grant to encourage new immigrants to start their small business and develop their entrepreneurial skills!

We look forward to visiting the new expanded Westside Bazaar in the future!

R.T.
Buffalo, New York State
USA
4/19/2018

Strategies for Beating the April 30 Dread Deadline for Filing Income Tax Return in Canada

April 30,  is a day dreaded by most Canadians. It is a day that evokes anxiety and fear in many people who are in the habit of procrastinating in filing their income tax return.

I know.  I used to be one of the procrastinators in filing my tax return. Working for the government at the time and having my income taxes deducted before I even received my pay check, each month, I was confident that I did not owe the government any unpaid taxes. Therefore, I was never in a hurry to meet the April 30 deadline.

However, things changed after my retirement. I started a small business. I got paid by my clients who did not deduct my taxes before they paid me their fees. At the end of the year, I found that I owed the Canadian government  unpaid income taxes. After missing the April 30 deadline in submitting my income tax return, I was hit with a penalty  by Revenue Canada!


I have become smarter  as a small business owner over the years. In my kitchen drawer, I have a special drawer dedicated to keeping receipts, banking and visa statements.

 I keep all my receipts by categories in separate envelops e.g. one envelop each for gasoline, meals, teaching material, office supplies, computer and banking statement etc.

I also  track my expenses, photocopy and record cheques paid  to me by my clients. Most important of all I have found a good accountant who files my income tax  return and helps me to become organized in my financial matters.
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To avoid the anxiety and frustration of missing the April 30 deadline, I have learned to start preparing for the income tax return process early. I developed a strategy this year; I mentally gave myself  a deadline which was March 31.

In early March this year, as soon as we were back from our cruise trip, I started getting all my receipts and documentations ready for the 2017 tax return. I spent more than two weeks organizing and recording all my expenses and invoices, compiling them on separate excel sheets.

Since I started the process early, I have plenty of time to contact people who owed me official tax receipts and cleared the invoices as well.

A couple of weeks ago, around April 15, I finished all I needed to do for my tax return!  Last week, I heard back from my accountant who finished my return and submitted to Revenue Canada. That was only April 25!

While many Canadians will be burning their midnight oil tonight trying to meet the April 30 deadline, I can relax this evening as I am ahead of the deadline by one week!  No anxiety, no frustration nor losing sleep over my 2017 tax return.

It is an accomplishment for me and I am very proud of myself!

R.T.
Toronto
Not losing any sleep over my 2017 Tax Return tonight