SECRETS OF TORONTO\Canadian city harbors pleasant surprises for adventurous tourists.

Byline: Judi Dash Special to the Daily News

The aroma of egg noodles in rich chicken broth tugged us by the nose into the tiny doorway of King's Noodle Shop at Spadina and Dundas streets. Behind a long metal counter, a young man in white apron and cap enveloped in a thick cloud of steam rapidly ladled noodles out of giant metal pots, tossing them high into the air and deftly parceling them out into gleaming white bowls of sizzling yellow soup.

"Shall we stop for a taste?" asked Shirley Lum, our guide, eyeing the noodles with undisguised lust. "We could stay just awhile. We could have just a little."

Why not? We were, after all, on a three-hour Taste of the World tour aimed at filling us with all the food and smells and impressions of Toronto's old and new Chinatowns that three hours of carefully orchestrated strolling could produce.

The walking tour was the first of several outdoor excursions I took on a recent trip to the Canadian metropolis. Let others fill their days with bargain shopping (thanks to the weaker Canadian dollar), top Broadway shows and great museums. I hungered for a more aerobic and less costly itinerary.

In three days, I sampled several of the area's diverse outdoor opportunities:

During my guided Chinatown walking tour, I feasted my eyes (and often my stomach) on freshly made Korean tofu, Vietnamese meat pies, sweet Indian pastries, spicy Chinese dim sum and a dizzying array of richly scented Malaysian, French, Italian, Japanese, Mexican, Lebanese and Thai delicacies.

The next day, I hiked the steep ravines of the city's Rosedale section, a residential neighborhood undiscovered by most tourists, who might be (pleasantly) shocked to find quiet woods and craggy cliffs in the heart of Toronto.

Craving more rural fare, I rented a car and drove 90 minutes north to the sleepy village of Elora. Known among Ontario residents (but not many outsiders) for the twisting forest trails along the 80-foot deep Elora Gorge, Elora also offers tranquil cycling routes along shaded streets flanked by 19th-century stone houses and outlying Mennonite farmlands.

Had I had more time, I could have hopped a harbor-front ferry and made the 10-minute trip across Toronto Harbor to the Toronto Islands. The 600-acre park made up of four main islands is a fine place to cycle or stroll past quiet cottage communities, colorful marinas, landscaped lagoons, and beach-side boardwalks.

Back on the mainland, I could have taken a street car down Queen Street East to Woodbine Avenue, and walked or cycled the waterfront beaches, trails, and boardwalk around Kew Beach Park. Or I could have spent a day on a guided canoe or raft trip along the Grand River, just an hour from downtown Toronto.

As it was, my three days of outdoor explorations were filled with sights and sounds most visitors to the city miss.

Chinatown on foot: Shirley Lum, a 33-year-old first-generation Chinese-Canadian, has been running her Taste of the World walking and cycling tours around Toronto's neighborhoods since 1993, when she quit her job as a test administrator at a psychology firm, and took to the streets. With the city already surfeited with traditional tours, she based her business on unearthing offbeat nooks and crannies skipped by most guides. An insatiable food-lover, she figured it wouldn't hurt to stuff her guests with equal portions of food and facts.

And so we walked and we talked and we ate.

Even before we reached Chinatown and our official tour start, Shirley began dispensing tidbits with the excitement of an investigative reporter who has exposed secrets the public simply has to know: Strolling through trendy Yorkville en route to the southbound Metro, she led us past the bridal shop where actress Whoopi Goldberg bought her wedding dress a few years ago. A few blocks further on Scollard Street, she took us into a day-care center for dogs. Inside, we saw pooches sprawled on overstuffed armchairs and a paw motif rug. Out in the back yard, other dogs romped in supervised group play all this for $20 a day.

By the time we reached Chinatown via a 10-minute Metro ride, Shirley was in full spiel. Walking northwest from the Queen Street stop, she pointed out old and new, in sync and out - high-rises of gleaming chrome and glass in which were reflected stately old stone buildings with green copper roofs.

At Nathan Phillips square, the swank modern city hall with its twin crescent towers lost some of its appeal after Shirley explained how it occupies land that once made up a bustling old Chinatown. As a young girl, Shirley used to patronize the food and houseware stalls with her family.

"Ethnic wasn't in in the '50s," she reflected, relating how the city bulldozed the section to make way for a sleeker new look.

We followed Shirley north and west along the migration Chinatown itself took into a once Jewish neighborhood. Here, Yung Sing's Pastry Shop at 22 Baldwin St. still uses the original red butcher counter from when the store was a kosher meat market.

The further we walked, the deeper the concentration of ethnic cafes representing the latest waves of immigrants, such as Malaysians, Lebanese, Thais and more. But throughout was a Chinese thread - a Chinese social club and credit union, the city's oldest Chinese Art gallery and the Toronto Mahjong Club, where on most days one can hear the clacking of mahjong tiles within. Old and new co-existed here - dim sum shops where men shoveled rice into their mouths with long, thin chopsticks while feverishly doing business on cellular phones; sprawling outdoor fruit stalls presided over by hunched Chinese elders and teen-agers popping gum and sporting the latest in torn T-shirts and face piercing. In many doorways, tiny Buddhist shrines were set to bring good luck, while mirrored talismans warded off evil.

Our tour culminated in a dim sum luncheon feast at the third-floor Chinatown International Restaurant, a huge red lacquer and gilt room where Darjeeling and jasmine tea washed down meat pies, shrimp dumplings, vegetarian spring rolls in hot pepper sauce, and other delicacies we selected from roving pushcarts.

Rambling Rosedale's Ravines and Elora's Gorge: Satiated on food and frenzy, I was ready for quieter ramblings and found them the next day just a short Metro ride east from downtown. Disembarking at the Sherbourne stop, we walked north on Sherbourne Street, then right on Elm Avenue and into the Rosedale residential section's tranquil streets. We turned left onto South Drive and then right onto Milkman's Road and into a parkland of thick green foliage, a winding creek, and a mile-long trail abutted by steep ravines on which were perched a few snazzy modern houses with lots of glass overlooking the ravine.

Although the area was encircled by major highways, we heard no sounds but birds and an occasional dog sprinting by with owner in tow.

Our walk eventually took us to Park Drive and then Mount Pleasant Road, from where we threaded our way northwest through Balfour Park, eventually coming out onto bustling Yonge Street and the Summerhill Metro station. We didn't follow any particular directions on our return to civilization. We just headed west, knowing we'd eventually find a major street and its inevitable Metro connection.

Our taste of rural life in the city made us hungry for the real thing, so the next day we headed north 90 minutes to the old mill town of Elora, population 3,265.

Bad luck gave us several hours of steady rain, but, enveloped in our slickers, we braved the muddy gorge trail, taking in rich evergreen scents and misty views of caves, a winding river, and swimming holes across the craggy rock chasm. The gorge was all ours that day, not a bad trade-off for a little bit of mud.

Almost as quiet were the residential area of limestone and brick cottages and pastel-painted gingerbreads, and the small commercial stretch of Mill Street, home to an espresso bar, a few craft outlets, and a bike shop. There were livelier doings at the town post office where everyone picks up their mail (no home delivery in Elora) and catches up on the latest neighborhood gossip.

Rewarding ourselves for our can-do spirit on this dour day, we luxuriated in an extra long lunch of Atlantic salmon and crisp chardonnay at the Elora Mill Inn, where we watched the raging falls from our window seats. Cosmopolitan Toronto seemed a world away, yet just 90 minutes after paying our bill and taking a last look at the gorge, we were back in the heart of the city, refreshed, recharged and perhaps even ready for just the littlest bit of shopping.

On Location

The ideal way to get around Toronto is via the excellent Metro system. Fare is $2 Canadian. Current exchange rate is about $1.28 Canadian to $1.

Shirley Lum's A Taste of the World Neighborhood Bicycle Tours and Walks, [phone]. Cost: $20 Canadian.

Metropolitan Toronto Convention and Visitors Bureau, [phone]. The bureau publishes numerous pamphlets that are helpful to would-be walkers and cyclists. Among the best: a kit of six self-guided walking tour brochures; Metro Toronto for the Walking Enthusiast; Metro Toronto for the Recreational Cyclist; and the Metropolitan Toronto Parks map.

Toronto Islands Ferry Service, [phone]. Roundtrip fare $3 Canadian per person, $1.50 for children. Bicycle rentals are available on the south side of Centre Island.

Elora Chamber of Commerce, Box 814, Elora, Ontario N0B1S0; [phone]. Elora Gorge information: P.O. Box 356, Elora, Ontario N0B1S0; [phone]. Elora Mill Inn and Restaurant; 77 Mill St., Elora, Ontario N0B1S0; [phone].

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PHOTO

Photo (1--Color) Elora Gorge, at left, is a tranquil respite 90 minutes from downtown Toronto. Below, Toronto's old stone City Hall is reflected in modern glass-and-chrome high-rise. (2--Color) Bustling Spadina attracts an ethnic mix of shoppers. (3) In a cloud of steam, a Chinatown noodle-maker parcels out lunch. Judi Dash/Special to the Daily News On Location (See text)