200 Toronto Things: A free macaroon

Walking home from dinner at HoSu one evening (I go there too often for it to count), I saw a sign on the street.

Free macaroons! I love free! I love macaroons! Sold.

And so, on Macaroon Day - March 20 - I went on the website, scouted out which locations were close by, and found one a nearby bakery (La Bamboche, which is 3 minutes away from work!) that I could sneak to for an afternoon snack.

The sun was shining. I sat outside drinking coffee and eating my (free) macaroon. It was a good day.

200 Toronto Things: A travel talk about Morocco

For the longest time, I've seen the listings for travel talks on the Now's event listings. And I've been curious, but have never made it down.

One Wednesday night - March 28, finding myself at a loose end, I headed to listen to them talk about Morocco. (Ah, the bitterness. I so almost went!)

Anyhoo - the talk itself was reasonably interesting - good if you are planning a trip, because it goes over potential itineraries, etc. Reasonably crowded as well - the room was filled with people -  ~20 people, I'd say? Who knew!

200 Toronto Things: The TJO presents O Canada at the Rex

My friend Joe has a cousin who plays in a big jazz band. I've headed to see them before, they are quite a lot of fun. This time (March 31), they played Canadian songs, and evidently I don't know any Canadian songs. Nothing sounded familiar.

Extra interesting thing about the Rex - Phil was late, so Joe texted him. I was late too - but Joe told me he didn't bother cause he knew that even though I'd be late, I'd be there. Who knew? I'm evidently reliable. (This is very, very funny.)

So, counting the Rex as a Toronto thing? Well, I don't go often - in fact, in the time I've lived here, I've been less than 5 times. I think that's fair to count it, therefore. 

200 Toronto Things: Hakka No. 1

My life would be a lot easier if I blog when I do things, not try to catch up weeks after. Yeah.

Anyway, the day before I set off to New York - Wednesday, April 4, I was driving towards the parents, and I stumbled across Hakka no. 1. I immediately talked my friend into going there. (It's located somewhere in Etobicoke.)

I thought my food was delicious. I'm not sure what my friend thought, but he sure did end up with a lot of leftovers.

200 Toronto Things: Come up to my room at the Gladstone

I headed to Parkdale  January 27 to see Come Up to My Room - where a bunch of artists decorate/make art in each Gladstone room. The cool bit was that they were at hand, and could explain their art. (I need that!)



These were in the common area - this piece of art was made with scrap cloth, and was all bow-ties.

And this one was cool too -  The postcards were tied with string, which was pinned to the pin corresponding to the location they were sent from. I'd like to do something like that with my souvenirs.

Somewhere, lying around in my apartment is the little art booklet they handed us. If I find it, I'll scan it in.

200 Toronto Things: A snack at Arepa Cafe

I was heading towards a Toronto Beer Lovers event at Wyrst on Feb 29, and was, for an incredible change, running super early. I took advantage of this rare opportunity, and stopped at Arepa Cafe for a quick snack.

Fried yucca, with guacamole. Accompanied by a trio of sauces (not pictured), including one hot sauce that was so spicy, I was in pain. Love it! (And a good value - this was $3.50. I like good values.)

200 Toronto Things: Wandering around Chinatown, with () an art gallery and () cookies

On March 2, I had a grilled cheese groupon that was expiring, so I headed to Leslieville Cheese Market at Queen and Spadina to grab some grilled cheese. 

Once that was done, I was a bit at a loose end, and decided to head to the Art Gallery to see an art exhibit. 

 

The exhibit was called Half The Sky. Cliff notes: 

The East Gallery celebrates International Women’s Day with ‘Half the Sky'.
The East Gallery celebrates International Women’s Day with ‘Half the Sky’, a group show of leading female contemporary artists from Vietnam and Burma. Burmese artist Nann Nann will join us for the opening reception and various events during the show.

 

The stuff was interesting, I guess. The problem was that the Art Gallery was also a coffee shop, and I couldn't really see everything for fear of disturbing people drinking their coffee. But the more fundamental problem is that I don't know anything about art, and so I really need guided talks to ensure I learn something. 

After the gallery, I wandered into a couple of bakeries, include Prince Bakery Hot Pot Cafe. I bought some walnut cookies, which, alas, are still languishing in my cupboards. I found them really, really eggy. Meh.

 

Somewhere there, there was also a stop at the Village Idiot, to grab a pint. It was a weird day though - I'm usually happy to wander, but on this particular day, I was pretty 'meh' about everything.

My 'meh'-ness can be summarized by this key fact - I only drank a half of my Sam Adams pint - declining to drink the rest. Weirdness.