Very quick update

I recently sent an email to some of my friends with my one-month Toronto update. However because it was going to so many people, I couldn't really be brutally honest, so I hope to share the other side of the coin here.

Overall I don't think I could have asked for more here in Toronto - I have Robson, Nate, Janice and her church friends, Nicole might be coming over, Luzhi is coming over, and the pharmacy students and interns at SMH are very accepting. The rotations I've been having are relatively easy and stress free, I haven't had to work long hours. I do have a fantastic place to live and good roommates.

On the other hand though, sometimes I do ask why I'm here. And that's because it's not as though escaping from your vices and troubles by leaving for another city really works. My issues have followed me here, and at a time when I should be and I want to be expanding my horizons and trying new things, I find myself occasionally overwhelmed, drained and frustrated. I was late to work today, for example. Yesterday I couldn't even cook my food properly - I overcooked my bok choi and undercooked my fish balls. Today I'm scrambling to significantly retool a presentation that I'm giving in two days, although I like to have lots of time to practice a presentation beforehand. And it's not as though I don't understand that I have work to do, it's that I still find ways to not do it. And not to mention that I still feel shy and uninteresting, which does limit my interactions with people at work, no matter how nice they are.

So I've decided to step back a little bit and just focus on two things; one of which is my sleep/wake cycle and the other I would rather not say. Things that are nice to have or do but are less necessary - such as these blog posts - are going to go by the wayside until I sort myself out. So hopefully you'll hear from me sooner rather than later.

Place Hunting in Toronto

A week to the day that I landed in Toronto, I can now, with 99.99% confidence, say that I have found a place to stay for the upcoming year!!!

Place hunting in an unfamiliar city is a novel life experience for me. Unlike stints in Halifax, West Kelowna and Ottawa, I needed a place to stay for a year or more, and while I did mine my list of friends with Toronto contacts, in the end none of them were fruitful with regards to finding a place for me to stay. Thankfully though, because I had booked a month at New College at U of T, that meant I had some time to find that place.

So what did I take from the experience?

1. Find the technology.

How people find where to live has evolved significantly with the advent of sites such as Craigslist and Kijiji. I did not need to scour neighbourhoods that I wanted to live in, looking for "for rent" signs. However, these sites also presented an enormous information-management problem. If you have looked at a typical Craigslist listing, you will find incomplete information. The actual address is never on there, there is minimal contact info, and there is lots of filler to sift through. The other problem is that there are so many listings.

I tried multiple websites, some of which had helpful mapping and filtering technology. In the end, the website I found most helpful, by FAR, was www.padmapper.com (thanks Nicole!!!). This site, as I found about halfway through my search, actually pulls listings from Craigslist and Kijiji, puts them on a Google map, and allows you to filter results by price, type of residence, and listing recency. Hallelujah!! It also tells you how the rent compares to rent of similar properties nearby! Here is what it looks like:

2. Identify the location you want. Also, identify the neighbourhoods you do NOT want to live in.

Toronto is a very multicultural city. Gentrification is quite noticeable here. More importantly though, some neighbourhoods are safe and clean, have good supermarkets and restaurants, and are served well by public transit, whereas others are not. For me, location had always been at the forefront of my decision-making, and this served me well later on (to prevent me from making a bad decision).

I wanted a place that was as close as possible to a metro stop (because I am scared of Toronto winter) and with the other desirable characteristics I listed above. From talking to people from Toronto, I learned that some neighbourhoods I would like to live in were the Annex or Greektown. I also learned to avoid the Sherbourne area, the area directly east of St. Michael's Hospital, and the Jane and Finch area - not that I would never ever live in these places, but if you have a choice, and particularly since I am new and naive in town, why take the risk?

3. Know what to look for.

Key things to look for: type of residence (1-bedroom apartment, basement suite, bachelor, room in a shared apartment), price, what utilities are included in the rent, who is the property owner, air conditioning, furnished vs. unfurnished, laundry facilities, Internet availability, contact information - and of course location. In addition, it's important to look at the term (1 year? or just a summer sublet?) and what they're looking for. Often, people will put "female only" which rules me out of the listing.

Ultimately, I kept my eyes out for a listing in a desirable neighbourhood for a 1-bedroom apartment (in the realm of $700-1000 a month), a bachelor (maybe $600-$800), or a room ($500 to $700 max), with laundry facilities (I can not imagine lugging my laundry to a laundromat in the snow) and these prices reflecting all utilities included. To be honest, I really wanted a room because I did want to live with someone rather than be all by myself, and I really wanted to live in the Annex, because the area has lots of students there.

4. Information manage.

Even with padmapper's help, I still ended up with quite a few listings that I was interested in and responded to. I ended up creating an Excel document to list down the details I listed above.

5. Learn how to respond to listings.

This was a big growing pain. I screwed up some listings by emailing or texting the wrong thing to the wrong people (eg. forgetting to delete parts of an old email). So I learned to use that Excel file to copy down contact information (listing URL, email address, phone number, name). The second thing that I learned was that I should include information about myself, even if the listing doesn't ask for it. I initially made the mistake of including only minimal information; but in order to make me stand out, I have to tell them who I am and give them a reason to respond to me, rather than the millions of other responses. Another thing to include is my contact information, so that they can text or call me right away to set up a viewing.

The third thing is that the early bird does get the worm. It was very discouraging initially because I was applying to all these listings and getting few responses back. I then realized that the responses I was getting back were for the listings that had been posted recently - I mean, very recently, within the last 24 hours. As I mentioned, padmapper has a filter for recency of the listing, and so I began to only look at listings that have popped up in the last day, checking the website several times a day, and to target those aggressively. This means to book a viewing ASAP, which requires that you have a pretty flexible schedule. Thankfully, I had one.

6. Actually go to look at the place.

Obviously, it's important to physically go to check out the place, including the surrounding area.

My first viewing was at Dufferin and Bloor for a room in a shared house with other "students and working professionals." The room was inexpensive and had all utilities included, was next to a metro stop and was half a block away from Dufferin Mall (where I could have done all my shopping). However, the two rooms he showed me were in houses shared with 4 and 6 other people; the house looked a little cramped and a little dark, and the bathroom looked somewhat dirty. While I could have lived there, in a pinch, it was a good experience for me to learn what's out there and what I do NOT want to live in.

My second viewing was that same day (organized just 2 hours before) and was at Donlands and Danforth. This location looked excellent on Google Maps - it was literally 20 seconds away from the metro stop and was just on the edge of Greektown. However, when I arrived, I saw that the neighbourhood was mostly Ethiopian and Middle Eastern - not that I have anything against people of these cultures, but I don't eat that type of food. I also didn't find a supermarket close by. Thankfully, I didn't take the room, because the room itself was actually very attractive - hardwood floor, furnished, big bed and a large plasma TV in my room!

My third viewing was at St. Patrick and Dundas and was my eventual winner. The two guys I will be rooming with is having their third roommate move out to a condo. The apartment is the "penthouse" (top apartment) of a 12-storey apartment building, along a side street lined with many apartment buildings and 2 minutes away from the St. Patrick metro stop. The area is quite central, 1 block away from Chinatown and only 15-20 minutes walk from St. Mike's. The apartment itself is clean, the kitchen is big, there is a balcony, my room is quite large, and Jim, the roommate that I've met, seems to be very engaging and helpful. The only thing is that the room is unfurnished!

I also did a fourth viewing, also in a large apartment building, in the Yonge-St. Clair neighbourhood, which I also liked.

7. Don't forget that it's a two-way street.

In retrospect, me getting that room was not a sure thing at all. That's because I forgot - or didn't know - that what is a room viewing to me is a roommate interview for the other person. I didn't bother to try to tell Jim too much about myself, instead asking him questions about himself, the neighbourhood and the apartment. So if I was to do this again, I would try harder to connect to the other person, and not just focus on asking all the questions on my list. But I was lucky. Also, I think it helps (for once) that I'm a small Asian guy - I don't look intimidating, I'm clean shaven, I'm young, I have a job, I don't drink or smoke - the perfect roommate!

Photos will come soon once I have the key. Time for round 2: furniture shopping!

Music

For my move to Toronto, I had asked my friends to send me a song that will remind me of them, send me a message, etc. At some points in my trip (earlier on this week) I found this playlist incredibly uplifting. It's also wonderful when I encounter that song elsewhere, and I will immediately think of that person who sent me the song. One thing that is interesting is that virtually all of these songs and artists are new to me - pretty indicative of my knowledge of music. So I'm still trying to learn them! And for those of you who still haven't sent me your song yet...

1. Julianna - The Show by Lenka

2. Josephine - The Perfect Kiss by Cadence

3. Rachel - Extraordinary by Liz Phair

4. Roger - Born This Way by Lady Gaga

5. Vinci - Wrecking Ball by Mother Mother

6. Stephanie - Young Blood by Norah Jones

7. Kay - Today My Life Begins by Bruno Mars

8. Tzu - At The Beginning by Richard Marx and Donna Lewis (Anastasia)

Tzu - I'll Make a Man Out of You (Mulan soundtrack)

9. Tiffany - Grenade by Bruno Mars

10. Beatrice - Fuckin Perfect by Pink

11. Sandra - Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole

Sandra - Heart Like Mine by Blue Rodeo

12. Jenny - By My Side by David Choi

13. Herb - many, including Everything's Gonna Be Alright by Bob Marley

14. Maryam - Lukas by Natalie Imbruglia

15. Nicole - You'd Better Watch Out by Lotus Child

To-read list

In the Realm of the Hungry Ghosts

He's just not that into you

The catcher in the rye

Brave new World - Huxley

The Time Traveller's wife

Catch-22 - Heller

The curious incident of the dog in the night-time

Three cups of tea (Maryam)

Stolen Angels (Charlene)

Atul Gawande

read: The water man's daughter

Celeste Leander

My summer reading list: (Already read) The Apothecary's Daughter, Hotel Angeline, The Hunger Games trilogy, The Paris Wife, Blue, The Thousand Autums of Jacob de Zoet. (Still to read, but already purchased) The Prince of Tides (in progress), Dreams of Joy, Vaclav and Lena, Sophie's Choice, The Magic Kingdom, Island of the Swans

2 hours ago · ·

• Angie Swanson likes this.
• • 

    Celeste Leander Ooo- And All Different Kinds of Free, which I just downloaded for free!

    Sunday at 10:28pm ·
  • 

    Jessica Zhang If you enjoy the Hunger Games you'll love Divergent :)

    Sunday at 10:52pm · · 1 person
  • 

    Brenda Tiffany Rhoton Sharron Read Sophie's Choice a few mos ago...loved the writing and learning new words(of which there were many for me!!), great story told well but soooooooooo depressing. Never saw the movie but am sure Meryl Streep did a marvelous job!

    Sunday at 11:23pm · · 1 person
  • 

    Mark Mac Lean The Edible Woman by Margaret Atwood. The Rebel Angels by Robertson Davies. Also, read something by james Baldwin.

    Yesterday at 12:00am · · 1 person
  • 

    Lisa Johnson Oh ya?! Well I am foregoing reading altogether this summer in favour of watching countless episodes of Dora and Diego. Just wait until you hear all MY new words!

    Yesterday at 12:43am · · 2 people
  • 

    Sean Graham ‎1000 autumns is great (if you can get past the first chapter which has a particularly graphic childbirth)

    Yesterday at 1:38am · · 1 person
  • 

    Pamela Leander Thanks for the recommendations! I love ebooks. It makes reading so easy.

    Yesterday at 10:56am ·
  • 

    Celeste Leander Loved that one, Sean.

    Yesterday at 11:16am ·
  • 

    Kathy Hauck What did you think of Paris Wife?

    Yesterday at 4:15pm ·
  • 

    Celeste Leander ‎Kathy Hauck Good! Want me to loan it to you?? Send me your Amazon login e-mail

Toronto eats, sights and sounds

Bold = places I've tried or visited.

Chinatown

- Mother's Dumplings (Spadina and Oxford - below College, on east side of Spadina): homemade dumplings. went with Robson and Nate on second day

- Cali Banh Mi & Che (Spadina and D'Arcy, on west side of Spadina): Vietnamese subs. Visited on Sun June 26 on my way to dragonboating (which I didn't end up going to). They make 10 different types of subs to order for $2 each. The bun was a bit dry but overall quite large. The ingredients don't wow or anything, but they work well together and it's cheap.

- Ka Chi (Spadina and St. Andrew, on west side of Spadina): known for pork bone soup. Another location is in Koreatown, but the one in Chinatown is supposed to be better.

- Anh Dao (Spadina and Cecil, on east side of Spadina): Viet food. Pho for $7 or so. Clean, good quality meat. Went by myself for lunch on third day.

- Kom Jug Yuen Restaurant (Spadina and Nassau, on east side of Spadina): known for BBQ pork. Tried their BBQ pork with rice for $4, which was pretty good.

- Chinatown Centre (Spadina and Sullivan): cheap, large meals downstairs but perhaps not very clean

- New Ho King (Spadina and Cecil, west side of Spadina): Visited on Mon July 4 for dinner. Typical Chinese food. Plus: quiet ambiance with wood and brick, food portions were quite large. Service was attentive but speed of cooking food was only average. Food itself was quite good - I had the Fukien fried rice. Negs: more pricey than other options in Chinatown ($8-12 a dish).

- Ajisen Ramen (Spadina and D'Arcy, west side of Spadina): Visited on Mon June 27 when I was trying to go to Simon Sushi (see below) for lunch, but I missed it and walked past. I had the pork ramen ($8) and a strawberry black tea with pearls ($3 with meal). The ramen itself was a tad chewier than that in Vancouver; the broth did taste of pork by itself but I felt it was unremarkable compared to the broth that you can find in Vancouver; the pork itself was delicious, tender and juicy, portion size was good. The bubble tea was pretty good - the strawberries all fit inside the straw, the pearls were well-done; the only thing is that it came in a cheap plastic cup even though I was eating in. Service was excellent and the restaurant was clean. The menu was clear and had pictures for everything. I would come back but maybe not too often, because other places are less expensive in Chinatown.

- Simon Sushi (Spadina and Oxford, east side of Spadina): cheap lunch combos.

- 186 (Spadina and Dundas, east side of Spadina): bubble tea. the tapioca pearls are not mushy (maybe a little bit on the hard side). $4.19 for a medium (average size) bubble tea with pearls. Not sure if they washed the lemon that they used, and I know that they didn't bother to remove the seeds. The restaurant has limited seating but also has foosball and pool inside.

- Golden Pineapple (Spadina and Dundas, west side of Spadina): Viet and Thai food. A monstruous menu (almost 1000 choices). Tried their Pad Thai with shrimp for $9. The balance of flavours was a little off - a bit too vinegary for me - but they didn't sauce it up too much, which is the way I like it. They did not chop their bean sprouts very carefully, if that matters to you. 8 medium-size shrimp with the dish.

- Swatow (east side, Spadina and Dundas): a well-known restaurant that charges a bit more for its food and serves both Fukienese and Cantonese food. I ordered a gai lan and beef dish ($14) for take-out. It tasted good in all respects, and probably would have tasted even better if I ate in. The service was reasonably fast and friendly. However, of course there are less expensive options in Chinatown.

- 285 Spadina (east side, Spadina and Dundas): bubble tea and sugarcane juice place. I had their fresh fruit strawberry slush with pearls on July 8. Even though strawberries were in season, I thought that the slush was okay but nothing special. It cost $5 for a "large" which is an average bubble tea size. As well I thought that the pearls tasted bland and too spongy - they were not mushy but they gave in right away to pressure.

- Pho Hung (west side, above Spadina and Dundas): inexpensive, good portions and fast service but the broth was not substantial at all.

Koreatown

- Hodo Kwaja (Bloor and Manning): Korean walnut cake with filling inside. Went with Robson after we had sushi at Sushi at Bloor. They had three flavours, of which one was red bean and the other two I cannot recall. Minimum 6 cakes (you can mix and match) for $2, which was an excellently-sized snack. Even though we bought these cakes in the evening, the cakes still tasted fresh and there was a substantial amount of filling inside each.

- Thumbs Up: Went with Robson on Fri. July 8 for dinner. Robson had their pork bone soup, which also came with all the fixings and was delicious. He says it tastes more homemade than that of Ka Chi; I agree and feel that it tastes more meaty as well. I had their pork bone BBQ on rice which was tasty but a bit too spicy for me.

The Annex

- Menchie's (Bloor and Howland): do-it-yourself frozen yogourt, with a large selection of flavours and toppings, including cheesecake bits, cookie dough, sprinkles, oreo pieces, Reese pieces, etc. Cost by weight. Went with Robson and Nate on second day.

- Greg's ice cream (Bloor and Spadina): $5 for 2 scoops of good ice cream, about 20 flavours to choose from. I had peppermint and mocha, Robson had green tea and maybe mint chip?

- Sushi on Bloor (Bloor and Howland): Excellent, simple sushi. The food was fresh, the servers were very busy but always there if you needed them, and the restaurant was full of young people and students. They gave us complimentary miso soup AND ice cream (green tea or mango), which was excellent. Very affordable as well.

- Big Sushi (Bloor and Dalton)

- New Generation Sushi (Bloor and Brunswick)

- Madison's (Madison - east of Spadina - and Bloor): pub popular with U of T students

- Noodle Bowl (Bloor and Sussex Mews)

- Thai Basil (Bloor and Dalton)

- Ezra's Pound

Little Italy

- Sushi D (College and Beatrice): AYCES for $20 (dinner, Mon-Thu) and a bit more Fri-Sun. AYCES includes unlimited sashimi (reasonable quality), green tea / mango ice cream, chicken karaage, gyoza, deep fried scallops, rock shrimp (very good, lightly battered). Went with Ken (Robson's co-worker), Robson, Jen and Emily.

Richmond Hill

- Destiny: bubble tea place. I went on Sunday June 26 with Nate, his friend Annie and Robson. There are several locations, but I don't know which one we went to. The restaurant was a large, single-level building with a high ceiling and booths that look designed for Asian people - some comfy couches, others that were more cramped but had higher tables and electrical sockets for laptops. The menu was quite large and diverse, which was impressive, and had pictures of everything. The bubble tea itself - I had the iced matcha with pearls. The matcha was delicious, smooth rather than powdery and did not have a bitter aftertaste. Robson thought the pearls were comparable to Dragonball, whereas I thought that the overall texture of the pearls was right, but that it wasn't as consistent (I had some pearls with a hard centre and others that were actually mushy). The service - the presentation of the drinks was good, but I thought the availability of the servers was a bit spotty, although they were efficient when needed.

- Chingu: all you can eat korean BBQ (a la carte also available I think). The menu was for about $20 and included a variety of meats, vegetables, rice and ice cream.

Baldwin Village

- Sambuca Grill: Italian restaurant. Went on Tue June 28 with Janice and Nelson!

University-Dundas Region

- Kenzo: went by myself for ramen on Sat July 9. I was unimpressed; except for the open kitchen, which gives me more confidence in the cleanliness, I wasn't able to tell the difference between it and Ajisen, except that it was more expensive and they gave me less food. I had their tonkatsu (misspelled) miso ramen so I thought it was pretty comparable with the meal I had at Ajisen.

Elsewhere

- St. Clair and Yonge neighbourhood. Balfour Park, which is actually a green park built on top of the Rosehill water Reservoir.

- All Star Wings

- Salad King (inexpensive Thai food, vouched for by Nate)

- Superstore downtown on Front and Princess

- Dangerous Dan's (Queen and Broadview): big, artery-popping burgers. Visited Sat June 25 with Nate and Robson.

- Honest Ed's (Bloor and Bathurst)

- Brookfield Place (Front and Bay)

- TD bank (Spadina and Dundas, Bloor and Bathurst, University and Dundas)

- Metro (Bloor and Sussex Mews, west of Spadina)

- U of T Athletic Centre (Classic Ave. and Spadina, just north of New College)

- Dundas Square: free music, community events

- Launch: driving range in Vaughan. $4 for club rentals, $16 for a big basket of golf balls - approximately a hundred? I went with Nate and Robson on Sun June 26.

- East Toronto Chinese Baptist Church

- Margaret's recommendations: AGO, The Rex

- Maryam's places: Queen's park, Jesse Ketchum Public School

- Juli's recommendations: Xococava at St. Clair, Soma, Snakes and Lattes, Eggspectations, Roncesvalles Village (Polish Town)

- IKEA North York (Leslie station) and Etobicoke (Kipling station): 50c hot dogs, 75c frozen yogourt! Swedish meatballs with Swedish sauce, lingonberries and mashed potatoes! I was not that impressed by their cinnamon buns though.

- Pho Dau Bo (Vietnamese, Mississauga): went with Robson and Nate on July 10 for dinner. I had rare beef, beef tripe and beef tendon pho, which was not on the menu but Nate asked for it for me. As Nate explained, the broth was tasty but not overly fatty, and you should not be able to see the bottom of the bowl. Also the noodles were fresh and not soggy.

- Brassaii (King and Spadina)

- Cold Stone Creamery (Bay and Bloor)

- Soup Nutsy (one in the PATH in Richmond-Adelaide complex)

Sites to check

- www.toronto.ca

- urbanspoon

- dine.to

Events

- Toronto Motorexpo at Brookfield Place June 22, 2011 with Nate and Robson

- dragonboating Sunday June 26, 2011 at Toronto Islands. Didn't go because the line-up to get to Toronto Centre Island was 1.5 hours long!

- A taste of Asia Saturday June 25, 2011. Went with Robson and Nate. Visited Market Village (soon to be replaced by Remington Centre), which is like a more Asian version of Lansdowne Mall, and Pacific Mall, which is similar to a big, white version of Parker Place. Then we went to test-drive Chevrolet cars (the Volt, the Buick Regal and the Camaro). Then went to A Taste of Asia, which is like the night-market. Between us we had rice noodle rolls (cheong fun), a Malaysian murtabak, tornado potato chips, watermelon juice, Melona creamsicles (I had the melon flavour). Also Robson and Nate did a food-eating contest with instant noodles, which I have on video! We also watched a basketball tourney.

- Canada Day

- TIFF: Toronto Film festival. Sept. 8-18, 2011. Ticket sales open July 11.

- Summerlicious (July 8-24) and Winterlicious. http://www.toronto.ca/special_events/summerlicious/2011/index.htm

- Taste of the Danforth Aug 5-7, 2011

- Doors Open (May 26-27, 2012): http://www.toronto.ca/doorsopen/

- Ryan Higa concert Sat June 25 ft. JRA, Sophia Kiddbeatz, J Reyez, Brian Puspos, Lydia Paek, Tommy etc.

- St. Lawrence Market

Montreal

- Schwartz's - 3895 St. Laurent Blvd. Montreal smoked meat, original.

- La Banquise - 994 Rachel Est. Poutine. I thought this was spelt "la bonkies" initially. Went with Elissa, Nate and Robson.

- Gibeau Orange Julep - 7700 Boulevard Decarie, cross-street Rue Pare. Orange juice.

- La Belle Province - 1444 Rue Saint Catherine O, cross-street Rue Mackay. Fast-food.

- Les Rotisseries St. Hubert. Kind of like Swiss Chalet.

- Eggspectation - several locations for breakfast

- St-Viateur Bagels and Fairmount Bagels

- Cafe Sante Veritas

- L'Express (french bistro)

- Juliet et Chocolat (dessert, drinking chocolate, crepes)

- Chez Jose (Portuguese breakfast place)