The Last Few Weeks...March 29

the last few weeks have been fantastic in t.o. (note: toronto is referred to as "t.o." for short and never "the t.o." as did diablo cody). while spring is taking its sweet time getting here, we are all willing it to get here sooner rather than later by shunning our overworn fur lined winter hats and cashmere scarves in favor of spring coats and wellies sans socks.

today wasw one of those days where i was annoyed at living in canada. although i love the people here, what they say about them can be very true - they even joke about it themselves - they can be so laissez faire and bland and accepting about everything and it can really get to you, especially when you grow up in the States. an article came out this week from the university of british columbia about costs at airports around the world. pearson international (toronto's airport) came in top for fees compared to any airport in the entire world. it's true, too. when you fly in or out, you will pay a minimum of $100 in just airport taxes and sadly, you feel trapped here sometimes. there have been many weekends where i've wanted to fly out, but it really is just so expensive that you just stay put. i truly belive this is why most torontonians have never left ontario - it's just too damn expensive. so when i was sharing this story with some of my co-workers, they were just like "oh well" and "well, i heard vancouver was expensive, too". i'm like "no, this study was for every airport around the world and you guys just accept that you're being completely and totally gouged by your airport?" and they just say yes. it's been shocking to me how accepting canadians (and ontarians, more specifically since this is where i live) can be of everything that comes their way. when the government raises their taxes, they interview people on tv who are like "well, we understand that you have to maintain the level of service, so if they have to raise taxes, it's okay". are you kidding me? nothing might change in the states, but at least we protest and get pissed off like crazy! they literally told me "well, carmen, it's just how things have always been here and we just accept it". those are really the times where i truly feel like i'm from a totally different culture, and we are very different in many ways. that being said, with that "blandness" comes a niceness and caring people that is rare to find in the states anymore, in my opinion. i really love them, but it can be frustrating sometimes.


my weekend started off as usual by making my regular friday-after-work trip to walmart. unfortunately, i was already annoyed by the very slow drivers in the left lane on the don valley parkwway (left lane slow driving here is an epidemic of gargantuan proportions) as well as the parking lot that was eglinton ave. i finally made it to walmart and had to endure a higher volume of carts than i have become accustomed. people leaving their carts in the center of the aisle to search the campbell's soup display for the chicken consomme fueled my complete loss of patience. the wheel of my old ladies grocery cart kept falling off while trying to lug my groceries in but lo and behold, i finally made it. in an effort to have a fun weekend, i had invited one of my co-workers over to watch movies in the theatre at my building. tj came over with soda, popcorn and pretzels for our movie bonanza, while i contributed pizza and bruschetta from pizza rustica. we had a great picnic and watched "gone baby gone" (great flick, although a bit depressing). we started "superbad" but it was just that - superbad. about an hour in, i could watch no more so we called it a night. that one will definitely not make my top 10. as a matter of fact, i think it will definitely make my bottom 10 instead. total guy flick.


i slept late this morning and decided to play the day by ear. i finally got myself up and dressed and left around 1pm. i returned my movies to queen video - that store is so awesome - and jumped on the streetcar heading west on queen. i was thinking i would hit roncesvalles again, but decided to stay on to see where it would take me. after over an hour on the streetcar because of traffic on queen and the sheer length of the route, i jumped off at the humber river loop and turned around. i passed high park and its still frozen lake, brand new townhomes on windermere and the queensway that i'm sure i couldn't afford and some good photo ops that i jumped off for along the way. i got some more good shots of the streetcar cables at roncesvalles and the queensway but other than that, didn't see any good ones. i got off at ossington to do a little exploring and by this time, it was 2:50pm. i happened by a store called "camera" ( http://www.camerabar.ca/ ) and noticed a sign in the window offering free documentary screenings on saturdays at 3pm. i thought "what luck" and "this would never happen in houston" and headed in. what a great place. i have been looking for a photography place like this since i got here. it's attached to a photography gallery that was warm and inviting. there was a little cafe with a bar and nibbles. the entrance to camera had a fire in the fireplace and some beautiful photos. the screening room was nearly empty but right at 3pm, the documentary began. it was called Pictures From A Revolution from 1991. it was good, but with 30 minutes to go, i thought, as i usually do in movies, "oh, i'll just close my eyes for a minute" and 30 minutes later, the lights came up. i have no idea why i fall asleep in almost every single movie i see, but i have surely lost money on that game! i just hope i wasn't snoring.


after i left camera, i went to the lens gallery to see a photography exhibit on peru by stephen moretti. i picked up a cake at the red tea box and headed to terroni on queen for dinner. it was already packed and i picked a spot at the bar. i ordered the ssame thing as last time - the tagliatelle with bolognese sauce - which i love and the warm flourless chocolate cake for dessert. i also ordered peach iced tea and was delighted by the italian tea they gave me called santal. it was the best iced tea i've ever had! i chatted with the people around me about poetry and traveling and headed home. it was especially cold today although with the sun out, i didn't think it would be, so i left my hat and gloves at home. big mistake. i was so cold that my ears started to burn. sigh. and it's almost april.

Places I've Eaten in Toronto

in no particular order....

1. Urban


2. Boba


3. Epicure


4. Steak


5. Jack Astor's


6. Baton Rouge


7. Swiss Chalet


8. Crush Wine Bar


9. Red Tomato


10. Montana


11. Peter Pan


12. Red Tea Box


13. Saigon Sisters


14. Bierbistro


15. Joe Maggiano's


16. Hemingway's


17. Cafe Nervosa


18. Tony Balloni's
19. Jamie Kennedy on Church Street


20. Jamie Kennedy at the Gardiner


21. Toba


22. Le Petit Dejuner


23. Pizza Rustica


24. Gandhi Roti


25. Ci Vediamo


26. Six Steps


27. Cora's


28. Cafe Crepe


29. Sushi Extra


30. Hot House Cafe


31. Thai Basil


32. Thai Princess


33. Chippy's


34. Jump


35. Quesada


36. Bier Market


37. Jules


38. Old Spaghetti Factory


39. Spring Rolls


40. Bonjour Brioche


41. Toast


42. Sassafraz


43. The Drake Hotel


44. The Keg


45. Sashimi House


46. Craft Burger


47. Oliver and Bonancini


48. Terroni - Adelaide
49. Terroni - Queen West


50. Teriyaki


51. Strada


52. Rosewater Supper Club


53. Annona


54. Milestone's


55. Brassaii


56. Irish Embassy


57. Boom Breakfast Co.


58. The Foggy Dew


59. Milagro


60. Cantine


61. The Rosedale Diner


62. Pizziolo
63. Easy Restaurant
64. The Real Jerk
65. Kalendar
66. Tomi-Kro
67. Citizen
68. Shanghai Cowgirl
69. Mitzi's Cafe
70. Flo's Diner
71. Terroni Queen
72. Poor John's Cafe

and my favorites so far?

Terroni

Rosewater Supper Club

Jamie Kennedy at the Gardiner

Kalendar

Yes, Virginia...It's Still Snowing

it's March 8 and still snowing. i'm trying to make the best of it, but i think the "Seasonal Mood Disorder" is kicking in, therefore, i decided to spend my weekend eating at a few of the restaurants on my list and get a nice massage while i was at it. it started snowing on friday afternoon around 2pm and it didn't stop until saturday night around midnight. we got 30 cm of snow in two waves and it was close to putting us over the all time snow record for one winter from 1938-9 of 207.4 cm. ottawa has gotten 410 cm - wow! on friday, i ate at milagro on john street (http://www.milagrorestaurant.com/). it was my first foray into mexican food in canada and it was actually quite good, although one of the other texans here hated it. maybe i was just really craving it, i dunno. i had enchiladas and rice with plantains. their salsa and chips were fabulous - the salsa was very citrusy and fresh. afterwards, i went to see "be kind, rewind". i fell asleep, of course, and was ready to leave early but because the theatres here are so quiet, i felt i couldn't. when i left the theatre around 11:30pm, it was still snowing very hard and yet people were still queued up outside the clubs in their halter dresses, heels, nary a coat to be found and standing in 12" of snow. they must really need to get their dance on!

when i woke up saturday morning, it was still snowing - phase 2 apparently of the storm. i decided to snuggle up and stay in for a while - i had breakfast, watched TV, and napped. around 1pm, i headed out and decided to go to queen street east to see a different part of the city in the snow. i thought i'd head to riverdale park. when i got to queen street, it was a mess. snow everywhere and cars sliding around. the snow ploughs were coming down so the streetcars were slow. the ploughs are cool! if i lived here and could have any job i wanted, i'd totally be either a streetcar driver or a snow plough driver. when there are cars blocking their path, the ploughs lift up one of their "arms" and leave the piles of snow around that car basically blocking it in - it's great fun! i got off at broadview and walked east looking for the park. i never found it and because i didn't have my map, never realized that it's actually on the danforth and not queen east. i passed by a chocolate shop i'd seen on breakfast television called "ambiance chocolat" (http://www.ambiancechocolat.ca/). i went in and picked up some truffles - my favorite was the milk chocolate caramle with fleur de sel - and some valrhona hot chocolate. yummy on a snowy day. the truffles were only $0.85 each - cheap by toronto standards. as i was standing in the shop, 3 streetcars passed in a row so i knew i was in trouble and wasn't going to be able to catch one back. sure enough, i didn't see one so i walked around the Leslieville neighborhood for a bit. i passed moss park and there were several people out, even in the blowing snow. many of them were playing frisbee with their dogs who were clearly loving the snow, romping and rolling around. after 20 minutes of waiting, i finally caught a streetcar back down king street. everything looked like it was wearing a little white hat! i was headed to my massage appointment at campden spa (http://www.camdenspa.com/) and just thought i'd get there a little early. i got there at 3:30pm for a 4pm appointment, had some green tea and warmed up. they took me at 3:45pm - which is why i love showing up early! - and had a great 90 minute massage. i've been taking pilates and really feel stronger from it. i think it's something i'd like to stick with. after my massage, i thought i'd grab some dinner before i went home so i waited for the king streetcar. it took a while because the tracks were covered in snow and the streetcars were moving very slowly. one finally came and i headed to "the foggy dew" at king west and niagara street (http://www.thefoggydew.ca/). i picked a room with a tv and no one in it so i could eat, but i think i got really bad service because there was no one else in with me. i had the chicken pot pie, which was fierce!, and a pint. it started snowing even harder and the winds were gusting up to 60 clicks. when i was done, it took a while to catch the streetcar back home. there was a crazy guy chatting everyone up - he said he was from north bay and it was like he'd never met a stranger. no matter who or what, he was shaking everyone's hand and asking them what they did. people were staring at him like he was nuts - no one is that friendly in the big city, after all! i watched some "arrested development", changed my clocks forward and called it a night.

sunday morning was gloriously beautiful!! the sun was shining brightly, the skies were bright blue and everything was covered in thick, white snow. i decided to try a new brunch place and a new part of T.O. I'd not been to - College Street. I caught the streetcar up spadina and then west on college, and went to boom breakfast company (http://www.boombreakfast.com/). i got a spot at the bar right away. it was a nice place with good service. i ordered the "tuscan eggs" and they were delish!! i had my standard english breakfast tea and was off! i decided to walk down college street and had a great time. the snow, though, was so white and bright, that, along with the sun, almost blinded me. i don't carry sunglasses because i haven't needed them in 5 months, but i definitely could have used them today. my first stop was a home store called "ziggy's on college" - very cute things. i bought a card and some funny party cups with noses on them. then, i went into a used dvd store. they were having a "this winter sucks 30% off all DVD's" sale, so i went in and got 3 DVD's - knocked up, broadcast news and an out of print version of "a clockwork orange". total impulse buys - it must have been the nice weather. then, i stopped in a used bookstore called "she said boom" (http://www.shesaidboom.ca/) and got 5 books. it's one of the things i love most about toronto - because it's a walking city with great weather, you can just walk through neighborhoods you've never been to before and find these little gems of a store that would be "destination points" in any other city. i love happening upon random stores and finding fun things.

i finally headed home and decided to build a snowman with the thick snow on my balcony. it wasn't too bad, but the snow wasn't really packing snow so i had to add some water to make the balls. i used chocolate chips for the eyes and broken matchsticks for the nose and arms. my first and only toronto snowman!

Day 1:

Day 3:

Random Thoughts and Soap...I Mean Such

didn't do much this weekend in preparation for what will likely be a busy visit from my parents next weekend. i drove for about 40 minutes to find a famous bread bakery and while it was good, it wasn't worth 40 minutes of $4.40/gallon gas. i recently started watching prime suspect - a british detective series with helen mirren that first showed in the states on pbs as part of masterpiece theatre in the 90's. it's fantastic and i've quickly become addicted. i found the best video store i've ever seen - they arrange their videos by director in addition to country and genre, so if you're in the mood for a robert altman film, you just go to that section and choose from there. they claim to have over 52,000 titles, but what i love is that their series rentals (i.e. television shows) are altogether, meaning that you get all of season one at once, rather than season one, disc 1, etc. best part is it's only $3.50 per rental which is dirt cheap for T.O. it's called queen video on queen street west - definitely a must see place for any movie buff. i also rented the new roberto bernini called "the tiger in the snow" and an indie called "flannel pajamas".

on to my soapbox for the day...
i've been surprised at how quickly i've adjusted to the culture here and how i subsequently feel very protective of the people and the country. at least once a day, i'm surprised at the kindness and generosity of torontonians; in turn, it makes me realize how unkind and judgemental americans can be, yours truly included. over the weekend, a man in his mid-30's was killed here by 4 panhandlers. as he walked by, they asked him for money and when he said no, they attacked him and killed him. for a few fucking bucks. he was a banker for one of the large canadian banks and was engaged to be married. and, wait for it.....the 4 panhandlers were american. it makes me absolutely sick and it should make you sick too. does anyone realize what a violent society we live in? fear that something could happen any minute is plaguing our once great nation. when i first arrived, i found it strange when one of my co-workers asked me whether i was afraid to go outside in texas. i'm sure the look on my face gave away my frustration at that question. now i realize what she meant and have a different perspective as an "outsider" looking back/in. of course, while canada is not a violent society, they are not saints either - there is violence everywhere and i realize that. the difference is that in the states, the first 28 minutes of the news is about that day's random acts of violence and here, they wrap them up in the first 2. i can tell that each day i live in such a tolerant culture, i become more tolerant myself. and that's a good thing. i am NEVER afraid to walk in the city alone and while this may be a false sense of security, i am not fearful because i know that the probability that i'll be the victim of a random act of violence here is slim to none. it's more likely that someone would help me than hurt me. maybe i'm living in pleasantville, but i know this - the litigiousness, selfishness, greed, violence, health care systems, political processes - are all denigrading our once great society and it's up to each one of us to stand up and make a difference.

wishing you all a safe week (keep away Dean, you bastard!),
carm

More Fun Stuff! Bet You Can't Wait, Can You?

hi y'all.

i have seen so many license (spelled "licence" here) plates from the states and i love it. i get all giddy inside and give them the "nod" like we're old bro's or something. i've seen: michigan, new york, vermont, rhode island, virginia, florida, california, new jersey, pennsylvania, TEXAS (woo-hoo...okay, just mine), illinois, missouri and ohio. one day, there were 3 american cars in a row: michigan, texas and virginia! what fun! i wonder if their speedometers are also difficult to read since ours are in MPH instead of KPH? it's interesting not really knowing exactly how fast you're going - i know that 90 KPH is somewhere around 55 MPH but instead, i choose to just go with the flow. although, i do know an american who got a ticket because the speed sign said 60 (they don't actually say MPH or KPH here...it's just a number - i say technically you could argue that since it could be either) and she was going 60 MPH in her car which is actually about 100 KPH. the judge didn't let her off either. such hate! i've decided to see how long i can keep my texas plates. they've become a conversation piece - people a) can't believe you'd ever move to canada from the us and b) can't believe you'd drive all that way. every person who's commented on my plates ask me if i like canada - they are very interested in what we think of their country. oh, i've seen the majority of license plates from the provinces, too: newfoundland and labrador, nova scotia, quebec, ontario (obviously), manitoba, saskatchewan, alberta and british columbia. the only ones i haven't seen are prince edward island or any of the northern territories (like nunavut - pronounced "none of it" or yellowknife). i personally think alberta's are the prettiest.

my first best buy experience here was exactly like the states - slow. geez - even in canada it takes forever to return something (no comments, d) even though there were 974 employees standing around doing nothing.

the high today was 83 and a cool front is coming through so the high this saturday is going to be 69! nice!

i met a famous canadian over the weekend. what's funny to me is how accessible things are in T.O. i guess it's equivalent to being in new york city in the states, but everything seems to happen right in my backyard. i've seen claire danes at muchmusic right around the corner from my house, david beckham and tara reid were at a club 4 blocks from me and rachel mcadams was evidently seen riding her bike on a street 2 blocks over. cool!

i met the leader of one of their 3 main political parties, jack layton of the new democratic party. he would run for prime minister if they were to call an election since their elections aren't at specific times. he was at "taste of the danforth" and the canadians we were with were like "go take your picture with him - he's famous! so, of course, i did. he's the equivalent to obama or hillary in the us. and lemme tell ya, he kissed many a baby that night.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Layton) the elections here aren't like ours - theirs here is like the british system so you don't necessarily vote for a person, you vote for a party here and whomever is the leader of that party becomes the prime minister. it's not my best photo, but you get the picture (ha!)


i found out today that the retirement age in canada is 69. ew. moral of the story - have a baby in canada to get a year off, then move to the us and retire at 55.

ooh, i found another great restaurant! boy, research sure pays off in a city as dense with places to eat as T.O. it's called epicure cafe on queen street west (my favorite street). everytime i eat out i get so angry about how slow the service is. then, when i get my food, i realize that it takes time because everything is prepared freshly here. you'll see workers at the fast food place in the mall cutting up fresh fruit and sandwiches being made freshly right in front of you. the food that is served in restaurants never seems to have come from a bag and i can tell it's fresher because my hands don't swell up here from the salt & preservatives like it used to when i'd eat out at home. so, i guess a trade off for speedy service and always being on the go at home is slow service but very fresh and yummy food. (http://www.theepicure.ca/home.html) they play a french jazz radio station inside so it's cozy, yummy and one of my favorite new places. plus, they give you a lot of coke - at most places, i'm basically parched after eating. how do these people not drink when they eat?

signing off with hugs,
carm

Weird Factoids of the Week

one more post today - here are some interesting and weird facts that i, and probably you, didn't know.

• it would take 1,200,000 mosquitoes (or "nippers", as newfoundlanders call them!), each sucking once, to completely drain the average human of blood. (discoverymagazine.com)
• if the sensory nerve to a female mosquito's abdomen is cut, she will keep sucking until she explodes. ewww! (science.howstuffworks.com)
• people named Paul have appeared on more no. 1 singles in the UK (57) than people with any other name. John is second (54), followed by David (53) and Brian (43). (news.bbc.co.uk)
• the odds of successfully quitting smoking for at least six months are about 2.5 times higher for spontaneous, umplanned attempts than for planned ones. (British medical journal)
• the air filling carnegie hall weighs about 31,750 kilograms (70,000 pounds)
• barn owls are about twice as proficient at tracking sounds that move horizontally than those that move vertically. (nature.com)
• here's a good one - the same ingredient that flavours salt-and-vinegar chips can be used to waterproof concrete. wow.
• the three TV bosses that most remind workers of their real-life bosses are: 1. Sam Malone from Cheers (fun), 2. Charlie from Charlie's Angels (absentee) and 3. Judge Judy (no nonsense). others mentioned in the top 10: Simon Cowell (judgmental), Miranda Bailey from Grey's (tough but fair) and disturbingly, The Simpsons' Mr. Burns (sinister). (careerbuilder.com)
• as a baby name, August ranked 618th in popularity last year. April was 319th. May hasn't been in the top 1,000 since the 1950's and June fell out in the 1990's.
• here's one for my left leaning friends - not counting the august break that he embarked on last thursday, President George W. Bush has taken 418 vacation days. The late Ronald Reagan holds the record for the most vacation time taken by a US president: 436 days. (the Houston Chronicle)
• worker performance declines about 1% for each degree that an office's temperature varies (hotter or cooler) from 22C (or about 74F).
• it a man's tie is too tight, his vision gets worse.
• today is International Left-Handers Day. the occasion is intended to raise awareness of "the challenges of living in a right-handed world". Their slogan? "Celebrate your right to be left-handed". dedicated to jennifer and jilly bean.
• lastly, yesterday was psychic sunday. but you probably already knew that. ha!

It's All About the Food

there are so many different cultures here, hence, many fantastic (and new to me) cuisines. they have tunisian restaurants, ethiopian restaurants, inuit restaurants and everything in between.

caribana, a two-week cultural explosion of caribbean music, cuisine, revelry as well as visual and performing arts, is in its 40th year it has become a major international event. apparently, it's the largest cultural festival of its kind in North America (http://www.caribanafestival.com/). the city has been packed with people going to caribana and i've heard that over 1 million people attended this year. it was great for me, not only to see the multiple cultures it represented, but to try some fantastic foods! i ate jerk chicken for the first time - it was so spicy that my lips almost burnt off - plantains with sweet cheese and grilled, spiced corn on the cob. again, it was quite spicy and i almost ripped the fire extinguisher from the wall next to me and asked the hot fireman to help put out my fire. the corn ended up being my favorite of all the foods as evidenced by the picture below. as you can see, this is definitely not a date food!

i made a trip to wal-mart recently, due to the sad absence of target in canada. at home, i wasn't the biggest chip eater - my thing is definitely sweets, as you all know - but i was shocked at the sheer number of different chip types on the chip aisle here. seriously, i have never seen anything like it. i'm told by people in the know that it's a "midwest thing" (ok, i guess toronto is sort of midwest) and that evidently, this part of north america consumes the largest amount of chips anywhere. i believe it. this is just a sampling of the chip flavors i've seen:
- ketchup
- dill pickle
- tandoori
- sweet chili heat
- jalapeno cheddar
- chili cheese lime
- zesty cheddar
and those are just the doritos brands that i could remember. it's very interesting - i tried the tandoori chips and true to their name, they are very spicy. i can only imagine the quantity of chemicals i'm ingesting from eating these fancy chips.

i found another great brunch place. when i first got here, i didn't think brunch was such a big thing in T.O. boy, was i wrong! they are very big into brunch here and if you don't get to the good places early, the queues are very long. i went french this week and tried le petit dejeuner for brunch (http://www.petitdejeuner.ca/. the owner is belgian but grew up in france. lemme tell ya - the belgian waffles are authentic and to die for! in the spirit of trying more than one thing when i find new places, i also had the croque monsieur which was also fantabulous. for dinner, i ate at jules, a french restaurant near my house - V. good nutella crepes (see, i do have a sweet tooth). the steak frites were really good here, too. (http://www.yummybaguette.com/magasin.php-id=159.htm)

rounding out my food edition was a trip to the "taste of the danforth" (http://www.tasteofthedanforth.com/6tastlist.html). there is an area in T.O. called greektown, although rumor has it that no greeks actually live there anymore as they have been ousted by the urban professional yuppies. the festival is basically a huge street party - the city closes the streets and hundreds of vendors come out selling all kinds of greek foods (and others too - i actually saw someone selling churros and it felt like home for just a split second). we made our way down the danforth eating things on sticks and had a ball. i tried mousaka, baklava (heavenly!), souvlaki, spinach pie and loukemades. they also have a hot sauce store with over 200 kinds of hot sauces - i have a friend in houston who would love the place, as they encourage sampling so you can get your heat on (and not a la glenn frey)! oddly, they also sold "mad cow jerky" there - i didn't think that was too funny.

as the evening went on, people would spontaneously break out in greek song and start dancing, locking arms and spinning around in circles just like on "my big fat greek wedding". we held court at the beer garden listening to the greek bands that were playing and finally made our way home after eating and drinking for 5 hours, with proof of our attendance down the fronts of our shirts.

overall, i am feeling well. some days, i wish i could snap my fingers and be in houston. sadly, since i can't seem to find my ruby slippers, i'll have to settle for visitors coming here for now. i'll be home in october and am thoroughly looking forward to it and seeing all of you.

much love to you all,
carm

new word of the week = rye. this is what canadians call whiskey or jack daniels. they'll order a "rye & diet" at the bar.