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Chinatown and such
2021-11-25 23:23Wow, I'm more behind in updates than I thought.
Ziggy's havarti slices is the worst havarti I've ever had. Possibly the worst cheese I've ever had, and I've had Velveeta.
Saturday: took streetcar to Kensington Market, which seems to be a dense a neighborhood of small shops, rather than some big open air market. Definitely busy and lively. It shades into Chinatown, which seemed pretty damn big. I didn't find any walk-in dim sum bakeries, and ended up risking dine-in for a dim sum cart experience at Dim Sum King. Only 3 carts going around, I had to order siu mai and ha gow separately. Decent. Later I Found Juicy Dumplings, which does have ha gow to go, though shinier and more to-order than te SF bakeries that would just have dim sum steaming all day.
Then walked along Queen, down Yonge, made it to the lakeshore. Found myself surprisingly long from home, Google said 28 minute drive, 44 subway (half of that walking to and from stations.) Took the 510 streetcar, which has underground termini and possibly actual right of way, up to the 2 subway.
Couple days of bad weather and just staying home. Took advantage of an English-speaking city to have an eye exam (and dental cleaning next week.) Some local walks.
Today: walked west along College, had a nice, large, and very cheap falafel sandwich from Arabeque Cafe. Ran out of friendly territory, so took the 506 rest of the way to High Park. Not a park to explore in the dark, though later I found a map indicating interesting things by day. Walked up to Bloor. North side: 8 story buildings, and US-style 1-story stores behind parking. South side: older two story office/res on top of shops. Visited Subway for water, $2.80, and a cookie, $1.00, those prices seem bizarre. (I hadn't planned to be out this long, so didn't have my own water, and all the park water fountains have been turned off.) West, then noticed the subway seemed to be aerial, so took that, but it stopped being aerial. Got off at Old Mill, where there seems to be a large riverbed park or something. Home.
Toronto has a LOT of cannabis shops, chains even, with names like "Dutch Love" (understandable) or "Tokyo Leaf" (because Japan is so well known for its drug culture?) I haven't smelled much, apart from a whiff today near the park.
I haven't taken any buses yet, but looking at Transit, one bus was every 30 minutes, while a few others were 8-15 minutes, which is better overall frequency than Montreal or Boston.
I still don't know what I'm doing after Toronto. Spain and Portugal cases are ticking up rapidly, and there's the new Nu variant to worry about. Starting to even consider staying in Canada for the rest of my 180 days, or trying to extend the stay, despite winter.
Ziggy's havarti slices is the worst havarti I've ever had. Possibly the worst cheese I've ever had, and I've had Velveeta.
Saturday: took streetcar to Kensington Market, which seems to be a dense a neighborhood of small shops, rather than some big open air market. Definitely busy and lively. It shades into Chinatown, which seemed pretty damn big. I didn't find any walk-in dim sum bakeries, and ended up risking dine-in for a dim sum cart experience at Dim Sum King. Only 3 carts going around, I had to order siu mai and ha gow separately. Decent. Later I Found Juicy Dumplings, which does have ha gow to go, though shinier and more to-order than te SF bakeries that would just have dim sum steaming all day.
Then walked along Queen, down Yonge, made it to the lakeshore. Found myself surprisingly long from home, Google said 28 minute drive, 44 subway (half of that walking to and from stations.) Took the 510 streetcar, which has underground termini and possibly actual right of way, up to the 2 subway.
Couple days of bad weather and just staying home. Took advantage of an English-speaking city to have an eye exam (and dental cleaning next week.) Some local walks.
Today: walked west along College, had a nice, large, and very cheap falafel sandwich from Arabeque Cafe. Ran out of friendly territory, so took the 506 rest of the way to High Park. Not a park to explore in the dark, though later I found a map indicating interesting things by day. Walked up to Bloor. North side: 8 story buildings, and US-style 1-story stores behind parking. South side: older two story office/res on top of shops. Visited Subway for water, $2.80, and a cookie, $1.00, those prices seem bizarre. (I hadn't planned to be out this long, so didn't have my own water, and all the park water fountains have been turned off.) West, then noticed the subway seemed to be aerial, so took that, but it stopped being aerial. Got off at Old Mill, where there seems to be a large riverbed park or something. Home.
Toronto has a LOT of cannabis shops, chains even, with names like "Dutch Love" (understandable) or "Tokyo Leaf" (because Japan is so well known for its drug culture?) I haven't smelled much, apart from a whiff today near the park.
I haven't taken any buses yet, but looking at Transit, one bus was every 30 minutes, while a few others were 8-15 minutes, which is better overall frequency than Montreal or Boston.
I still don't know what I'm doing after Toronto. Spain and Portugal cases are ticking up rapidly, and there's the new Nu variant to worry about. Starting to even consider staying in Canada for the rest of my 180 days, or trying to extend the stay, despite winter.