Teena in Toronto

Friday, 12 October 2007

Lakeview Lunch, Toronto, ON

Gord and I ran a couple errands this morning and then had brunch at the Lakeview Lunch (Dundas W/Ossington).

It has been about six years since I'd been there. At that time, they had just renovated (after being closed for many years) and it was fairly funky. Gord had never been and wanted to check it out.

The food was good and cheap. But Gord ordered corned beef hash ... the toast had to be a couple hours old (cold and hard). And I ordered a mozza bacon burger ... there was no bacon. There were remnants of cheddar on the burger so I'm assuming they realized their mistake, pulled the cheddar off along with the bacon and replaced it with mozzarella.

The waitress was busy so we didn't bother complaining. I mentioned the lack of bacon when the bill came and she kept saying, "But it's the same price." Huh?!

So go if you are looking for good cheap food ... but leave your expectations at home.

Tuesday, 9 October 2007

Toronto at night

Here are a couple pictures I took tonight at Fort York.

They are cool because you have 1800s Toronto in the front, with today's Toronto in the back.

"The Fort at York", Fort York, Toronto, ON

Gord and I saw the play, The Fort at York, at Fort York tonight.

An epic adventure that dives deep into the history of Toronto, exploring one critical night before our city became a city.

The story takes place in one evening in 1813. Fourteen American ships had just arrived in Toronto Harbour, with plans to attack York (as Toronto was originally known) the next day. It deals with the emotions and actions of the British and York soldiers who lived at Fort York that night, knowing they didn't have a chance as they were outmanned.

At three hours, the play was long ... some of the scenes could have been cut down considerably as they dragged a bit. But it was a great deal at just $25 a ticket.

It was an interesting concept, though, as the play wasn't set on stage but rather in the buildings of historic Fort York instead. So we (the audience) moved from building to building along with the actors.

T&T Supermarket, Toronto, ON

T&T Supermarket opened a store downtown a couple months ago so Gord and I checked it out this afternoon.

To many Canadians, T & T Supermarket is the embodiment of the taste of Asia. It differs from other supermarkets by featuring many uniquely Asian food products not available in other retail outlets.
Shopping at T & T is like taking a journey through parts of Asia where one finds fresh mangoes from the Philippines, crispy snacks from Japan, sauces from Hong Kong, noodles from Taiwan, spices from Thailand and a variety of flavours from China and other Asian countries.

It's located on Cherry Street ... looking towards downtown from the store:

The selection is huge ... lots of stuff that we can buy at No Frills, where we usually shop, but also lots of stuff that was really weird to me. Like red bean and yam ice cream bars.

The cakes looked delicious!

Then the security guard came over and asked me to stop taking pictures. Oops!

Monday, 8 October 2007

Thanksgiving Day dinner

Gord and I had Thanksgiving Day dinner with my pal, Yvette (thanks for the invitation!). She and I worked together in 1999.

Also there were Brian (Yvette's boyfriend), Evann (Brian's son), Connor (Yvette's son) and Stephanie (Yvette's daughter).

Brian, Yvette and Gord

Yvette carving the turkey

Gord, Brian, Evann, Stephanie, Connor and Yvette

The meal was delish ... turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, squash and homemade goods they'd picked up at a market like cranberries, apple/cranberry pie, pecan tarts, mustard leeks and lots more!

Yvette and Teena

Gord and Brian

Evann, Stephanie and Connor

Trinity Bellwoods Park, Toronto, ON

Gord and I walked KC and Nova to Trinity Bellwoods Park this morning.

It's quite a humid day ... 35C with the humidity. Crazy for this time of year!

We ran into Bailey and his mom (our neighbours)

KC, Gord and Nova

Nova and KC

The leaves are changing

Nova

Happy Thanksgiving Day!

Thanksgiving is celebrated on the second Monday in October in Canada. Unlike the American tradition of remembering Pilgrims and settling in the New World, Canadians give thanks for a successful harvest. The harvest season falls earlier in Canada than the United States.

The history of Thanksgiving in Canada goes back to an English explorer named Martin Frobisher, who had been trying to find a northern passage to the Orient. He did not succeed but he did establish a settlement in Northern America. In 1578, he held a formal ceremony, in what is now called Newfoundland, to give thanks for surviving the long journey. This is considered the first Canadian Thanksgiving. Other settlers arrived and continued these ceremonies. He was later knighted and had an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean in northern Canada named after him - Frobisher Bay.

At the same time, French settlers, crossed the ocean and arrived in Canada with explorer, Samuel de Champlain, also held huge feasts of thanks. They even formed 'The Order of Good Cheer' and gladly shared their food with their Indian neighbours.

After the Seven Year's War ended in 1763, the citizens of Halifax held a special day of Thanksgiving.

During the American Revolution, Americans who remained loyal to England moved to Canada where they brought the customs and practices of the American Thanksgiving to Canada. There are many similarities between the two Thanksgivings such as the cornucopia and pumpkin pie.

Eventually in 1879, Parliament declared November 6 a day of Thanksgiving and a national holiday. Over the years many dates were used for Thanksgiving. The most popular was the third Monday in October. After World War I, both Armistice Day and Thanksgiving were celebrated on the Monday of the week in which November 11 occurred. In 1931, the two days became separate holidays and Armistice Day was renamed Remembrance Day.

On January 31, 1957, Parliament proclaimed ... A Day of General Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed ... to be observed on the second Monday in October.

Sunday, 7 October 2007

Thanksgiving dinner

It's Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada.

Since it's just Gord and I, we don't get a turkey ... instead we have cornish hens.

So for our Thanksgiving dinner, we had cornish hens, stuffing (Stove Top!), sautéed yellow, red and orange peppers and sparkling wine.

Yummy!

And we couldn't celebrate without having something special for the kids!

So I got them a can of Thanksgiving Day Dinner.

Though it had turkey, sweet potatoes, carrots, green beens and apples, it looked and smelled nasty!

But the kids loved it!

KC and Nova had their own plates and Morgan and Byron shared a plate (the woman at the pet store said it would be okay to give the kitties a bit).

KC and Nova cleaned up after the kitties once they were done.

Friday, 5 October 2007

Wacky cat!

Byron has a thing for licking the screen in the living room window.

I just saw him doing it again.

He also loves chewing on the blinds.

We used to have good ones. Then Byron chewed them.

So we replaced them with aluminum ones. And Byron chewed them.

I spray Byron with water when he does it. He runs away but doesn't learn his lesson.

We bought some bitter spray at the pet store. You spray it on whatever you don't want the cat to bite and it's supposed to gross them out. It worked on us. The cats licked the bottle, though.

We admitted defeat and have a $13 pair from Walmart now. I still spray Byron with water when I catch him chewing on the blinds. But now he does it when we're not around.

He's five and spends most of his time in bed sleeping. Sigh ...

Sunnyside Beach, Toronto, ON

KC, Nova (we're dogsitting him this weekend) and I started our day with a walk at Sunnyside Beach. KC and I were there last Thursday too.

It was 21C and smoggy. You can barely see downtown (looking east) from where we started.

Looking west towards Humber Bridge ...

KC ...

Nova ...

There were lots of people out and about. This guy was the only tanner, though.

We walked to the other side of Humber Bridge and sat for a bit.

The trees must be confused with this warm weather. Some leaves are changing, some aren't.

This woman was very popular with the birds cuz she was feeding them.

This police officer wasn't as popular cuz he was stopping speeders on the Lakeshore and giving them tickets.

I gave KC a bath when we got home so she's nice and clean again.

Both dogs are snoozing right now ...

Tuesday, 2 October 2007

Filming of the "Time Traveler's Wife"

They are filming The Time Traveler's Wife a block away from home. So I nozed up that way on my way to the gym.

The street is blocked off to northbound traffic because of all the trucks. Here's looking north:

I walked a block north ... same trucks, looking south:

Hmmm ... I wonder what's in this truck:

They are filming in The Great Hall at Queen W/Dovercourt.

I wonder what this is for:

Alas, no star sightings. Rachel McAdams and Eric Bana are apparently in it.

I tried reading the book a couple years ago but couldn't get into it. It seems like everyone I know loved it, though! So I'll have to go see the movie next year when it comes out to see what I missed.