sketches of the mind

No this post is not about me trying to sell my services

Ever since arriving in Toronto last October I’ve been interested in finding good (taste and value) Vietnamese and Chinese cuisine.

Admittedly I’ve only been to a handful of places and haven’t been obsessed with trying out every restaurant in Chinatown. That would be insane.

So there are three places that I can recommend thus far (interestingly enough 2 of the 3 are vegetarian joints):

1. Buddha’s Vegetarian (Chinatown)

Where: 666 Dundas St West (from Spadina Ave head west towards Bathurst St, go past Kensington Market & Augusta Ave)

The good: The servings are huge and it’s great value for money.

Spicy Tofu with vegetables. $7.50 CAD and that’s a small serving that you’re looking at… bargain!

The bad: Don’t go for the ambience because there is none. It’s kind of crampy, especially for groups larger than eight. They really should knock down that wall that separates the two seating areas and make it one big open space but I guess they don’t have the budget or they just didn’t think about it. Don’t expect meat because it’s strictly vegetarian (I guess this isn’t necessarily bad if you happen to be veggie or vegan!).

Additional Comments: The food is not quite as devilish as the address, and the menu is typically engrish, but it’s great value for money!

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Here’s my lunch for today. It’s basically the same as I made for dinner with Neesa on Friday night - Veggie burger, easy bruschetta and salad with Italian dressing.

YUM!

Garry emailed me info about Toronto’s forthcoming Summerlicious festival (Jul 4-20), where a lot of restaurants in Toronto are offering $15-$20 lunch menus and $25-$35 dinner menus. Can’t wait to sample some of Toronto’s finest!

So somehow I got roped into polka-dot (don’t ask) skirt and bag hunting yesterday in Kensington Market with Nadja and Neesa. Ok, I also wanted to look for a bandana (because my hair is getting out of control and I’m holding out until I see my guy in Sydney to get it cut) but that’s beside the point.

I followed the girls from store to store, and of course we hardly missed any stores, and it became apparent that prices in the “market” weren’t what we were expecting. In fact, Nadja ended up buying a red & white polka-dot bag in a Chinatown store on Dundas St West instead (I better note here that Neesa managed to negotiate a 10% discount on it too - much to her excitement).

Funnily enough Neesa and I had been to the exact same store months before when, after walking up and down the same section of Kensington Market, Nicole managed to find a pair of shoes to save her from her wet boots one Winter afternoon. History repeating itself from one German to another? Bizarre!

I noticed the pricing thing the previous times I had visited Kensington Market. Based on my observation it’s popular because it’s boutique, and different. It’s fashionable. What it isn’t, is cheap. Not when it comes to fashion anyway.

I still managed to get some snaps, and it was a lovely afternoon to be walking around.

After the shopping was done - I didn’t end up buying a bandana (I wasn’t even looking seriously because I figure I’ll just pick up my bandana in Sydney and bring it back with me) - it was off to the Full Moon Restaurant for some veggie tucker. Personally I thought that King’s Cafe was better but as always it was more about chilling with friends and having a good time. Mission accomplished.

My pics from Kensington Market:

Refer here for Gail’s writeup and pics from the restaurant.

So despite the ridiculous blizzard-like conditions, crazy windchill factor (it was down to minus twenty degrees celsius or so or maybe even colder), waiting 20 mins for a street car that never arrived, and then walking past the Duke of Gloucester pub TWICE before realising where it was, I still ended up at the meetup for some crazy surfer bangers’N'mash action last night.

The turnout was impressive, and the food, beer and banter was much enjoyed.

It wasn’t all fun and games as the Ottawa trip committee also managed to pull together some form of a meeting and nut out some details for the forthcoming weekend. To clarify, a group of us Couch Surfers are heading to Ottawa this coming weekend to partake in Winterlude - the Ottawa Winter Festival and skate on “the world’s longest skating rink” - the Rideau Canal.

Great meeting some new surfers and always fun with the crazy crew (as I’ve come to know them as)!

As for the Bangers’N'Mash it was delish!

So I purchased a 6 pack of chocolate mini sponge rolls today for $1.00 AUD at Coles, thinking that it would be my treat for being so good with my eating habits this week. Sadly they weren’t that nice. I think I just bought them because they were on special and because I was hungry after my cardio session at the gym.

It’s true what they say… never go grocery shopping on an empty stomach.

Incidentally an email went out this week advising that the gym at work will be closing down this month. That’s a real shame because it was one of the benefits of working for the company. A couple of people that I’ve spoken to aren’t very pleased with the decision. It’s all about corporate cost cutting. So I made sure that I got myself down to the gym today. I’d consider buying my own treadmill however there really isn’t much space in the house as it is. I think I’ll just stick to jogging around the block for the time being.

I haven’t maintained much of  a net presence this past week and a half. That’s mainly due to an email from my ISP that stated:

You have now exceeded your peak usage for this month. Your peak period will now be shaped to 64kbps for the remainder of the month, until you reach your anniversary date.

Well the counter is set to reset on the 25th. I can’t wait!