Huntings, Brunchings and Freezings

            There’s an apartment across the way that still has a Christmas tree up, lights and all. Is that odd? Or just lazy? Although they are quite nice to look at so maybe they just grew attached to the little fella. 

Speaking of apartments and odd, I’m still in the desperate throes of house hunting. I’ve lost count of how many places we’ve seen at this stage, three weeks in. It’s about twelve, or maybe fifteen or even seventeen. It’s not twenty though, definitely not twenty. Whichever number it is, all endeavours have been fruitless.  

We saw one place that failed to advertise its 5’10” ceiling, or its complete lack of windows for that matter.  And then of course there was the elderly Asian couple with their fourty year old son who hid in the shadows. They just wanted house mates I imagine, as there was no form of separation between their living quarters and the upstairs suite they were trying to rent to us. Needless to say, we made a swift exit before they thrust the application forms in our hands. Of course we left the Hello Kitty slippers they made us wear in a neat pile at the door. Shortly following this encounter, we viewed a lovely little number just a short street car journey away. Lovely hard wood floor, a bathroom with a window, and just what every bedroom needs, a kitchen where there was once a closet. How nice it would be to have the milk within arms reach while you sleep, or to be woken by the spatters of fat flying from bacon sizzling on a Sunday morning. But alas, this style of ever-convenient living was not for us. I know, we’re being too picky. 

Which is why last night I nearly signed a year lease on a one-bed off Queen West, which was literally the size of a living room. Our queen bed wouldn’t have fit in the bedroom, but we nearly convinced ourselves that this wouldn’t be an issue and that hammocks were more comfortable anyways. After a good night’s sleep on a real bed, we released it would be difficult to part with the coils and opted not to sign the lease.  So back to square one, fifteen apartments later.

There is a bonus that comes with viewing so many apartments though. You get to see parts of the city that you probably wouldn’t visit in your first month. Although Toronto is hugenormous, I feel like we’ve covered a good bit of ground. We’ve trekked to Parkdale, Ossington, Bloor West, High Park, Leslieville, Pape and Danforth, Queen East, Little Italy, Cabbage Town. Yes, I said Cabbage Town. So I feel like we at least have a good grasp of where we do, and don’t, want to situate our selves. 

Another good indicator of where to live is the caliber of brunch establishments which grace said area. And if there’s one thing Toronto does well, its brunch. Even when asking friends’ advice on an area, they’re instant response is in relation to the bruncheries (no, its not a word) near by, or the lack there of. I’ve found that after yet another disappointing viewing, nothing lifts the spirit like an eggs benny or huevos rancheros in a modestly priced, mid-century style diner.  I’ve yet to be disappointed and am finding it hard to pick a favorite spot so far.  The Hen House on our first visit was a success after we saw a dump in Leslieville. Then we stumbled across the Swan after viewing a dank box off Queen West, my god it was tasty. And the original 1930’s finishings were stunning. So much polished mahogany. Oh the polished mahogany. 

If you like polished mahogany as much as you love eggs, then you’d love the Lakeview Restaurant. We stumbled in there after spending 45 minutes in the snow searching for a house that didn’t exist. One can only last so long trying to find a house by using the picture from Craigslist you saved on your phone as a guide. I was on the brink of outrage when in the distance we saw a glorious beacon of hashbrowns and hollandaise sauce. Anyone familiar with Toronto will know the Lakeview just off Ossington. It’s open 24 hours and puts cilantro in the tuna sandwiches. Enough said. Then of course there was Sneaky Dee's on College for some huevos sexos on a Sunday post-yet-another-crap-apartment viewing. A lot like Bon's off Broadway in Vancouver, except the food is actually good. Oh, controversial.

House hunting and brunches aside, T.Dot is getting more and more pleasant.  The bus drivers are meaner than those in Vancouver, but I’m pretty sure the drivers in Vancouver have mental problems that lead them to have eerily positive dispositions. The weather here is still quite painful, but I’ve mastered the art of wrapping a scarf around my face so that only my eyes are subjected to the cutting winds.  See example below, as modeled by Cormac.

          

The pubs are always full though. And people like to dance, whether or not other people are looking.  For the first time in ages, I danced until 5am with great people and ended the night with said great people in a harshly lit but deliciously tasty Chinese restaurant. No bouncer kicked us out for flailing our arms wildly while dancing to the Cure, no passers by looked at us oddly while we sang a group rendition of Whitney Huston’s ‘I Will Always Love You’ from start to finish, at insane decibels outside the bar.  And we were in fact not the only people roaming the streets aimlessly at 4:30 looking for a bit more fun. Coming from Vancouver, where everything shuts down and ceases to exits at 10pm, this was a welcome and well needed change. 

          So there you have it.  A slightly more optimistic review from the Eastern front. Let's hope next time I can say amazing things including but not limited to: 'We found a place to live' and 'It was only -5 today so we went to the beach' or 'Today I found a floofy kitten in the snow who needed a home and Cormac suddenly wasn't allergic anymore so the kitten is now my love child and he sleeps on my face all of the night'. We shall see.

Boot Foot and Other Chilling Tales

 Walking around Toronto brings me back to the crisp six months spent in Helsinki, Finland a few years ago.  My first reminder came in the form of frozen nostrils, a feeling I would much rather never experience again.  Walking home from the cinema on Sunday night seemed a good idea, it was only a fifteen minute stroll away and what better way to explore the new concrete surroundings. Oh how wrong I was. Ten minutes in and breathing in became a problem. Breathe through your mouth and your teeth hurt, breathe through your nostrils and they freeze. A conundrum if ever there was one. So I settled to breathe through my scarf until eventually, the condensation on the wool froze and iced over. Thankfully by then, the walk was over. Such is the dilemma posed by startling -25 degree weather. 

 Another dilemma that plagues me daily is footwear. While a sturdy insulated rubber snow boot is the smart choice, it does bring with it a world of problems. Grace and fashion aside, there is the frustrating affliction known to some as ‘boot foot’. A term coined in Helsinki all those years ago, it is the bane of my snow-filled existence. It strikes when least expected, most notably in a pub – when you clamber in from the cold for a hot whiskey and over shoot the mark with your elephant feet and kick every stool and chair in your clunky path of destruction. It applies everywhere you go, cafes, the bus, even around the office. I’m beginning to wonder if it would be frowned upon to change into a pair of slippers next time I go for tapas.

  Frozen appendages and massive footwear aside, I'm starting to warm to Toronto. Of course I mean that entirely figuratively. Last weekend was spent exploring some of the many sprawling neighbourhoods this city has to offer.

Kensington Market and Ossington to name but a few. Kensington was an immediate hit, and despite the crippling blizzard that blew through, we still managed to stroll about as if it were any old day in a market. The oddest sight was the outdoor fruit stands that had rows of massive heat lamps set up to prevent the fruit and vegetables from freezing. Why not just bring it inside? My favorite sight was of the abundance of cheese shops. Yes, I said abundance. It was heaven. 

   I really took a shine to the Ossington/Dundas area, which we went to on Sunday. Our friend Maddie took us to the Hen House for a well over due brunch. We didn’t eat until 3pm and by that time, in Maddie’s words, we were all feeling a bit ‘squibbly’ – a perfect representation of that mushy head feeling you get when you’re really, really hungry. We walked in squibbly, we walked out satisfied. We were also lucky enough to get a tour of some of the lesser known Toronto landmarks, I believe we’re all familiar with that apt representation of teen angst, Degrassi High. It was the first show to dabble in drug addictions, teen pregnancy and, as our delightful tour guide pointed out, was the show on which 90210 was modeled. Well, we got to see the original Degrassi High. Yep, that’s where I was going with that.

  I had a mission on Sunday and that was to rid my face of the dry, cracked, hacked up looking skin that it was covered in.  Upon recommendation, I resisted my instinct to hit up Shoppers Drug Mart for the usual $12 bottle of whatever and opted to try something a little more official. My reasoning for this was quite simple, I thought; if I can justify spending $80 on a night of drinking, then surely I should have no objections to spending the same on something nice for my face. So I went to Kiehl’s for an altogether lovely experience. Even on a busy Sunday afternoon, I was treated to an in-store mini facial that felt more like hypnotization, because in the end my wallet was out and I was hooked. The good part about Kiehl’s is that after 28 days if you’re not happy with your face lube, you can bring it back. The weird part about Kiehl’s? After 14 days they call you to check up on how your new skin care regime is going. A little needy if you ask me.

  So week two and here’s where I’m at. I’m already sick of clunking around in my moon boots and walking into walls. Toronto is cold, so no change there. My face is moist, which can be attributed to either the pricey face stuff, or the acclimatization to these sub-zero conditions. To justify my credit card statement, I’ll go with acclimatization.  There is a pub on Queen West that has 44 TV screens, we counted. House hunting in -25 degrees is painful. House hunting in general, is painful. Sushi in the east sucks. Really sucks. It’s safe to say that we won’t be dining on that delicacy again until we return to Vancouver. OK so I realise all of the above are about as negative as the temperature here, but there are positives, I just haven't gotten to them yet. 

Crack face

        Day 5 and the second blog post, not doing so bad. If I wrote one everyday, you’d be horribly bored and I would seem horribly boring. I’m not exactly on a whirlwind world wide trip here, and for all I know this Toronto fandango could go one for ions – so let’s keep the blog posts at once a week, if I’m lucky.  Starting this blog was my new years resolution and so far so good, but seeing as its still month one, I won’t buy myself a congratulatory cake just yet.  Speaking of new years resolutions, check out this link from my new Toronto-based Rethink colleagues, inspirational fodder if ever I did see it.

 http://rethinkcanada.com/rethink-news/opinion/

        It seems that everyone around me is giving their 2011 resolutions a valiant effort.  And yes, it is only January but we’re almost four weeks in and, if I do say so myself, that’s a pretty good run.  Anyone I know has never really made it past the first week.  Although what’s nice to see this year is that most of my friends, and myself included have made tangible and realistic goals to reach for. None of this ‘eat 11 salads a day’ or ‘run to the airport with a bag of large onions on my back everyday twice a day and then three times on Sunday’.  Everyone around me seems to be making life resolutions, they see a path ahead of them that they’ve always wanted to take, and I think 2011 is the year we’ll all try. It must be a quarter-life crisis thing. We’re all leaning that little bit closer to thirty (holy shit, did I just write that?!) and reality is starting to creep up our spines like a wet sausage being pulled up your back on a string. Its creepy, and no one likes it. But alas, its reality – and like the 1990’s coming-of-age film starring Winona Ryder so aptly puts it, reality bites. 

       You know what else bites? The weather. The cold is biting, and it bites my face.  I braved six months Finland in the dead of winter but this, sir, is ungodly. My face is so cracked and dry that I fear it may crumble if I smile. So I opt to not smile, which seems to work well here. I’ll be a true Torontonian in no time. I jest, they are a lovely people. Much the same as Vancouverians, if a little colder and with faces a little more cracked. Although Vancouver does have more crack heads. So in short, Toronto has crack faces, and Vancouver has crack heads. Speaking of crack heads, you’d be one not to want these jeans in your life. Insulated denim? What took you so long!

         So in short, the last five days have been cold. Sunday is meant to drop to minus twenty and so I should warn you now that if you never hear from me again, its because I’ve made my fortune flogging insulated denim and don’t need you or this stupid blog anymore.  I can also tell you that I’ve not seen much of Toronto in daylight, so there’s not much else for me to report on this city. I have however, spent many hours in the Rethink Toronto office, which has a slightly interrupted view of the CN tower, so I feel like I’ve seen it all. 

          I’ve also been to the AGO (Art Gallery of Ontario) where I saw the Maharaja exhibition, whose campaign my pals Jordan Cohen and Leia Rogers worked on back in Vancouver.  They worked like slaves for months on it so it was cool to see everything in the flesh. Including but not limited to a gold-gilded Rolls Royce from the 40’s and several bejewelled and bedazzled embellishments. It was pretty impressive.Not nearly as impressive as the Bedazzler itself, but almost as impressive as the Indian feast we, um, feasted on in the Johdpor Club in Baldwin Village afterwards. Amazing. And what better way to round up an evening of Indian indulgences? Why, karaoke in Korea town of course! A wonderfully splendid Rethink evening, if I do say so myself.

       

        So tomorrow is Saturday and, as far as I know, there’s no packing that needs to be done, no movers arriving, and no flights to catch. This excites me deeply.  Maybe, just maybe, I’ll get to see some of Toronto by day.  If my face doesn’t crack when I step outside, I might even get to take some photos.

Sure here we are...

There’s nothing like knowing you’re leaving a place to make you really appreciate it. You begin to take note of all the little things and take stock of what you’re leaving behind.  The biggest realisation for me, since deciding to leave Vancouver for Toronto, was when a man walked past me in a pair of shorts, in mid January.  The day before I left, it was a balmy 13 degrees in Vancouver while the weather on my phone read -16 in Toronto.  A crisp drop of 30 degrees, my dear friend Fob pointed out.  Thanks Fob. But I suppose last night the change in weather was the least of my worries. The change of life was definitely a more daunting prospect. It was agonizing to say goodbye to the city and to my friends.  Vancouver is shockingly beautiful and the west coast life style is a pleasant one, but leaving my friends behind (yet again) was a thousand times more painful than glimpsing at the mountains one last time. I won’t get too sentimental but needless to say, I have quite possibly the most amazing group of friends that I spend far too much time with, and I’ll miss that the most. To see a fine example of such tremendous friendship, click the link below. (But don’t believe everything you hear) Props where props are due, huge thanks to Becky Philpott, Fergal O'Brien, Mariella Koc-Spadaro and Jon Ebrell for their technical and artistic wizardry, and for avoiding me for a week so they could pull this off.

http://www.vimeo.com/18938871

 Also can't thank Jason Intile enough for these amazing portrait collages. The photos don't do them nearly enough justice.

 So on to the point of what brings my fingers to the keyboard today…Toronto! We arrived, its official. I left the comfort and love of Vancouver for a bit of fun in the chilly streets of T.Dot. We arrived a couple hours ago and our first impression from the air was, well, startling.  As we began the descent I pulled up the blinds on the plane’s window to try to catch a glimpse of the landscape below. I looked down at what I thought was an expanse of white cloud but alas, I was so very wrong. It was land, and it was blanketed in white snow as far as the eye could see.  So, first impression of Ontario? Get. Me. The. Fuck….you get the point.  

But all was not lost. After a dodgy 15 minutes in a taxi queue with ears freezing and hands numbing, we finally got a taxi and headed towards the bright lights of the big city (and by bright lights I mean the CN Tower cuz it’s the only Toronto landmark I know).  

 First impressions have been positive.  What we noticed first was, people! Unlike Vancouver (which is reminiscent of a wild west ghost town replica theme park in the off season – even on a Saturday night in the ‘vibrant’ entertainment district) Toronto has people walking the streets, and people in pubs, and people milling about doing things that people do in big cities (well, most of them anyways).  Even late on a Monday night in January in severe cold, people are out.  We like this. A lot.   

 Now, it’s only been a couple of hours so I can’t say much else about the city but I’ll sum up what we’ve gathered so far.  The buildings have a lot more character here, and it reminds me a lot of Dublin. The loft we’re being put up in is unreal, and we’re officially never leaving.

The Mexican restaurant on Queen West that we ate at tonight with Marianna (my Rethink co-worker extraordinaire) was unreal, one of the best meals I’ve ever consumed.  So far, Toronto food is doing well.

http://www.milagrorestaurant.com/ 

There’s definitely a lot more going on here in the arts, music and culture scene – and that was apparent to us the minute we walked out of our apartment. We may not be able to go for a hike in the mountains or canoe up a river, but let’s face it – we never did any of those things anyways! I’m far more excited at the prospects of a 2011 filled with interesting people, new music and that societal gem – culture.

So, as hard as it’s going to be to fall asleep tonight thinking of all the great friends I left behind 2,000 miles ago, it makes it a little easier to know I’ll be waking up to some pretty exciting new things.