Living in the Hood in Toronto

Living in the Hood
As mentioned in my previous post the house is situated off College Street and Bathurst. The neighbourhood life is very rich and something very different than what one would be accustomed in Calgary. Rich and vibrant and eclectic would be good words to describe it.

Cute front yard Lanscaping

The Houses
Between the major commercial arteries such as College, Bathurst, Spadina and Queens Street most of the houses are older row houses. There are many condos / townhouses projects popping up, but the hood has retained a lot of its character. Typically the houses have small front yard, some with very unusual lush landscaping. They may lack in space but they sure make up in creativity and lushness. Things in Ontario grow so much faster than in Alberta. You see it in some of the backyard vegetable gardens, it feels like you could stick a sausage in the ground and a swine would grow…

Amasing Backyard lush Garden

The Food

Great wings, suds and an old school hardware store... Heaven.

Around College Street there are so many places to get good food for very few coins. You can get a good Sushi meal for under $10. The hot dog vendor at the corner of Bathurst and College and Bathurst is always a delicious option when pressed for time. There is a fantastic soup and sandwich place right next door from the EWB office on Adelaide Avenue. We call it the sandwich place, I never looked at its real name; I just go in. Good cheap food is plentiful.
My favourite spot to treat myself is Oyster Boy on Queen Street. They usually have a selection of at least half a dozen different types of oysters. It’s on the pricey side but I love oysters and it’s a real treat for me to enjoy such a great selection of fresh ones. This is not something we usually see in Calgary. We ate there Karie, Pascal (my brother) and I before I started my placement. I went back a few times to snack on a half dozen raw oysters with a pint and it always made me feel much better. When Karie comes next weekend we’ll definitely have a last visit.

Of course we can’t talk about food without talking about wings. I found a decent spot on College Street called Duff. They have been enabling my wing addiction. I worked myself comfortably to the Super-Hot wings. Over and above the Super-Hot they have a few more levels with perky names ("Armageddon" comes to mind) which I didn’t enjoyed as much, especially the next morning. It’s a good basic place with good wings, a decent selection of suds and friendly waiters that were easily trained in the obscure concept of total beer randomness.


Riding the bike
Having the use of Pascal’s bike has kept my life somewhat more sane, especially in these 30+ degree weather. Being more mobile has allowed me to take a few detours around Queen Street or Bloor Street or zoom by the Kensington Market. It has allowed me to see much more than just the trip to the University from the “House”. In the past week I have moved out of the house and I am now shacking up with Pascal’s family. Being further up (a 25 minute bike ride from the office) it forces me to exercise some more, which I really need. This also allows me to make even more exploratory detours. It also allows me to spend some quality time with Daven my 2.5 year old nephew who is growing like a weed.

It's me riding the bike while sweating...

Toronto Revisited
I lived for two years in Toronto before moving back to Calgary in June 2008. Many of you have heard me say that I didn’t like Toronto and that I really didn’t enjoyed those 2 years. Spending a whole month in my old neighbourhood, riding through the same park I used to walk Buster (previous dog to Tango) or my regular grocery store where I was learning to speak Korean, has been cathartic. I think it has enabled me to close the loop. I love Toronto, the intensity but also the Hoods and the old world feel of some of its communities. And the food…

What I didn’t like was the fake pretentious life style that took me away from who I really was. But this was not Toronto because Toronto as I just rediscovered, I just happen to love.

Kensington Market

The Green Car in Kensington Market