Linking up with Marg at The Intrepid Reader
QUEEN ST. WEST TORONTO
Andrew reminded me of this meme when commenting that he had trouble calculating the cost of the blueberries I had bought.
this chart refers to the humorous observation that Canada, while officially metric, still uses imperial units for some common measurements, leading to a unique and often-confusing system. For example, Canadians might refer to temperature in Celsius, distances in kilometers, but height and weight in feet/inches and pounds, respectively. This mixed system is a common topic for jokes and memes, highlighting the blend of old and new measurement systems in the country.
Another Andrew discussion that we agreed on.
I also got to thinking about one of Andrew's posts about immigrant protests by pro-white citizens.
I am an immigrant, just lucky to have white skin and come from an English speaking country. I get comments like "you're not really an immigrant"... By immigrant, I refer to not being born in Canada.
In thinking about our building staff:
The office - 4 staff, all immigrants, Jamaican, Italian, South or Central American, Asian, East European.
The concierges - Caribbean, British/Jamaican, Russian, Canadian (1st generation Greek)Loading dock - African, Russian
Valets/Security - African, Asian, Filipino, East European, Middle East
Maintenance - Italian, Russian, East European
Bus drivers - Middle East, Indian, African, Caribbean
Convenience store - Korean
Cleaners - Portuguese
And further to Andrew's post, I looked at our weekly menu this week, and it is from all around the globe!
HA HA writing this reminded me of a conversation with the cashier in Longo's later this week.
It was during the BOGO sales. She said she had an Asian customer who didn't understand the buy one, get one free promotion, he thought it applied to everything. She said he embarrassed her, a fellow Asian. She also told him that he was embarrassing as an Asian. He argued with her on the prices, and finally she said to him "this isn't Chinatown!".
A commenter had mentioned our wall of travels so I thought I would include an updated one! Bottom left, second photo is the new Portugal collage. Just above the fan is one from the Arctic Ocean!
We received notice of a development proposal for 125 The Queensway, a small shopping mall that has the only decent sized grocery store in the area. UPDATE it plans to close November.
What strikes me is the limited number of parking spots proposed. I'm a big component of public transit, however...
SUNDAY It is great that the 501 streetcar goes directly from here at Humber Loop and because of a construction (stupid Ontario Line) detour drops us right at Bready's at Adelaide and York. We wanted breakfast and we both had the same thing as last time.
It appears quiet for a Sunday morning but it certainly wasn't!! The Blue Jays were playing at 1:30 so lots of people were parking up at City Hall away from the stadium.
I am trying to figure out what that skinny tall building in the middle is! AHA it is Toronto House, which I wrote about a couple of weeks ago.
Photos as I stood in the very long line while John held a table we nabbed on the way in. Languages from around the world were being spoken around me.
Feeling stuffed, we caught the streetcar to Ossington to walk off our food. I had been here in early June for the Little Portugal festival.
Striped Bobby Sue's in 2018.
A huge dragon! All painted by hand by Pawel Swanski, an artist based out of Warsaw Poland.
The art wraps around the wall.
I realized that I never show what these neighbourhoods look like off the beaten path.
Families with kids make up 22% of households in Little Portugal, while couples without children make up 22% of households and 39% of households are one person living alone. People in this neighbourhood come from 129 different ethnic origins, and 37% are first-generation immigrants, while 32% are second-generation immigrants.
Neighbourhood Households 7,450
Neighbourhood Population 15,559
Recognizing their Portuguese heritage. I posted this a few years ago.
I posted this a while ago on Monday Mural by Bordalo, that post also includes a mural honouring the Portuguese women who worked as cleaners in Toronto's offices.
Another Portuguese symbol, Barcelos Rooster. I had recounted the legend of the rooster when we were in Lisbon earlier this year.
Local artist, Julia Prajza explained that her winning design for the permanent 9’ statue was based on the themes of new beginnings, hope and optimism. The Rooster truly does honour the rich culture of the Portuguese people, and in Julia’s words, she skillfully “….created this modern-meets-traditional design.“ We invite everyone to stop by, take a selfie and post, and spread the word about our very own Rooster of Barcelos.
Julia Prajza is also the painter of the new 2025 mural on Front St. at York.
John liked the CN Tower peeking through.
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Back on Ossington.
We stopped for an adult beverage on a sidewalk cafe.
Inside
Nguyễn Thị Thanh, the Vietnamese culinary icon known as "The Lunch Lady," died from a cardiac arrest after arriving at Toronto Pearson Airport on May 20, 2025, just before the scheduled June 3 launch of her new restaurant in the city. Renowned for her Saigon street food stall, she gained international fame after being featured on Anthony Bourdain's "No Reservations" and had a popular restaurant in Vancouver. Her death was announced by the owners of her Vancouver restaurant, with the Toronto location's opening postponed as a result.
“It’s like discovering new neighbourhoods every few mouthfuls.”
ANTHONY BOURDAIN on Mrs. Thanh’s soups, No Reservations
MONDAY Mural contained a collection from last week's wanderings about town.
John requested pancakes with blueberry compote for breakfast, so I complied.
I don't know what got into me, I had even gotten dressed when I got up, and I started doing a deep kitchen tidy up! I restocked the spices (that I had bought the other day) and the flour container. I got the laundry dried (not put away, there was a reason). I even found our new shellfish utensils we had bought in Palm Springs, but couldn't find on Saturday when we needed them!
I washed the kitchen floor.
THEN I got a message from a friend asking if we could see the air show from our place and was there public parking. Well, of course, I said come and park here and we'll watch the show from our roof!! She knew I would say that LOL. She's my younger sister from another mister!!!
So then we went into frenzy tidy up mode!!
They arrived, friend, husband and two gorgeous kids and we went up to the roof. It was a lovely afternoon, not too hot and not windy. But the wasps were very busy and B got stung!!
We really enjoyed the show but didn't take any photos of the planes as we have gazillions from other years.
Click here to see the Canadian snowbirds photos from the air show. I clipped this one from Facebook.
Some photos of our last visit in 2023. And my favourite photo from some years ago!! Talen for a one word challenge FLIGHT.
WEEKLY MENU
TUESDAY Signs were also from last week on the Danforth.
We had big plans but changed them once we were advised that our buses were running behind schedule due to heavy traffic. Traffic as everyone headed back to school, and the office after summer vacations. Also the financial and government businesses are mandating staff to begin returning to the office 4-5 days a week with staggered dates of September, November and January.
Instead we just puttered around.
WEDNESDAY is golfing day. I made John a good breakfast of leftover potatoes, onions, mushrooms and corn, bacon and an egg.
Front St. and the annual "we can always hope" banners are out for the Blue Jays as they continue in first place in the American League East.
Checking out the samples in Union, I would end up only scoring two Cadbury Fingers even though the line was halfway to McD's. Click here to see the schedule of samples!
I decided to go to Yonge and Dundas as I saw this posted. Well, that was a waste of my time as there was nothing happening.
Plus I went after lunch and the area was so crowded with university students getting back into their dorms. I left the $ store as the line was too long. I didn't even dare go into the Eaton Centre.
Instead I went back down to the $ store at One York and Longo's. It was the last day of the weekly BOGO so I only picked up ribs.
Crowds crossing at Yonge and Dundas.
Renaming Yonge-Dundas Square to Sankofa Square was first announced in December 2023. The signs are now being erected. The official unveiling and a grand opening celebration of Sankofa Square took place on International Sankofa Day, August 23, 2025.
The new name, recommended by the Recognition Review Community Advisory Committee, reflects the concept of reflecting on the past to move forward and addresses the need to confront anti-Black racism by renaming the former Yonge-Dundas Square.
The process to rename Yonge-Dundas Square began in 2020 after a petition highlighted the role of Henry Dundas in delaying the abolition of slavery.
"Sankofa" meaning: The name Sankofa comes from the Twi language of Ghana and means "go back and get it." It represents reflecting on the past to build a better future.
THURSDAY And we woke to a rare sight! Rain, thunder and lightening! A really good downpour. We were going to do our Tuesday outing but this worked out well. John had his wine bottling booked.
And today was the last first day of Longo's new BOGO. I forgot it switches on Thursdays! I put on rain gear and shivered as I waited for the 9:35 bus which was 10 minutes late due to the crazy heavy traffic on Lake Shore Blvd., it was 10:30 before we got downtown! So the schedule just kept getting later. I scored my BOGOs, hot dogs, raspberries, cheese, tomatoes, dips. I also picked up some other stuff we needed.
Back home and the weather started to clear so we decided to go back to Longo's. This time BOGO was hot Italian sausages, more raspberries, carrots, onions, tuna. On Friday I picked up two more tins of tuna so my weekly BOGO savings were $43 plus $15 on Wednesday (ribs) = $58!!!now I have a week to stock up on the specials.
Thursday, September 4th - Miranda Lambert, Gavin Adcock and Zach John King
Friday, September 5th - Brooks & Dunn, Gavin Adcock and Zach John King
Back home I used one package of the raspberries to make a raspberry orange granita.
FRIDAY
John had mentioned going to Costco, but it can wait. He used the golf simulator. I wanted make fresh salsa and guacamole for dinner so picked up those items.
It was so windy out, although the weather forecast said "feels like 25 C" it certainly did not.
COOKING
My comments on immigrants and food above, made me think of eating as a child.
As Irish immigrants our meals started out as 3 veg and a meat most days. The first time I had spaghetti was at a Spanish school friend's house, that is why I still don't like a lot of sauce on my spaghetti because they didn't use a lot.
My mother was a very adventurous cook so she started including spaghetti on her menu rotations. We started ordering pizza.
We ate corn on the cob with fresh bread and loved it, well, Dad didn't, he said it was what they fed the pigs in Ireland.
Christmas Eve was always at a Chinese restaurant because everywhere else was closed.
We went to Expo 67 and had noodles and beef with peppers for the first time at the Italian pavilion. And my mother added that to her menus.
My mother, my aunt and then I worked in a Jewish bakery so we tried different breads, bagels and pastries.
We tried Indian food.
Lobster became my favourite birthday meal so Mom would cook it for me!
She made chicken a la orange and chicken divan, which I still make to this day!
My mother worked with a German woman who loved to bake so she would bring us cakes.
Later on John and I tried potato skins and chicken wings in Buffalo NY. We took my Irish cousins there and they exclaimed "imagine serving that to our husbands!".
We had Italian neighbours who loved to share their homemade wine.
But I never stopped loving her Sunday roasts, potato pancakes, trifle, stuffing.
John tried plums for the first time - red and black.
Saturday crab legs lobster corn on the cob and cheddar soda bread (homemade). Crab and lobster were done in the crockpot on the steam function, perfect. Corn on the cob done in the oven. The crab were good, the lobster awful, dry.
Sunday steak corn chimichurri and soda bread
Monday pork schnitzel foil potatoes.
Tuesday slow cooker Thai peanut chicken added curry, rice, celery
Wednesday Italian sausage potato salad
Thursday ribs corn on the cob and potato salad. Ribs were BOGO $15. They were really quite good, at $7.50 a package. I don't think $15 for a pack is a good deal, it is only one rack, but I will keep my eye out for specials on them.
Friday steak fajitas homemade guacamole and salsa. I used the oven bake sheet method. I think I'll use a pan next time.
WATCHING
We finished season 3 of The Kill.
We watched Hostage - a British political thriller miniseries. An international summit between the French and British leaders goes awry when the husband of the British Prime Minister is kidnapped and the French president is blackmailed.
Mindhunter In the late 1970s, two FBI agents broaden the realm of criminal science by investigating the psychology behind murder and end up getting too close to real-life monsters. We're on season 2 and still enjoying it.
Ice Road Vengeance Liam Neeson Mike travels to Nepal to scatter his late brother's ashes on Mt. Everest. When Mike and his mountain guide encounter mercenaries on a tour bus, they are forced to fight to save themselves, the passengers, and the local villagers' homeland. Decent movie with great action for a Friday night.
Finished Countdown.
I finished season 20 of The Hotel Inspector.
I'll still slogging along with Call the Midwife, although I must say as the seasons go on it gets better.
READING
I am still reading Winter of the World (Century Trilogy #2) and I admit reading it is scaring the hell out of me. It is like reading today's news.
Winter of the World picks up right where the first book left off, as its five interrelated families—American, German, Russian, English, Welsh—enter a time of enormous social, political, and economic turmoil, beginning with the rise of the Third Reich, through the Spanish Civil War and the great dramas of World War II, up to the explosions of the American and Soviet atomic bombs.
I know Follett isn't considered the best writer and some of the love stories are a bit trite. It is the history that intrigues me.
Thank you for the comment about living in the city and also Graham Norton books. Try and get Holding, that is a good one and I liked Keepr as well. I have not tried his nonfiction yet. Funny you mentioned Donal Ryan - I went and looked at Goodreads and I have one of his on my to-read list. Didn't know that.
ReplyDeleteLove your memories about food growing up and now I want to make chicken divan. I made Arroz con Pollo last night and added maduros, kinda a Carribean and Mexican fusion,
I didn't read your whole post, but we are very much a multi cultural society, and I agree just because we are white and speak English doesn't mean we're not classed as immigrants. Have you seen/heard the Subway ad, about how they are saying how long their subs are in cm's now.
ReplyDeleteNo, I haven't seen the Subway ad, I'll have to look it up!
DeleteThe last time I visited 23 Cafe, it had a nice interior and a cute and wider patio at the back. Great views of Humber Bay from your condo. I like the public art that you found in Little Portugal. Thank you for your weekend coffee share.
ReplyDeleteI must have been very thought provoking of late.
ReplyDeleteI can't bear how Australia is falling back to imperial, unofficially. People know baby weights in pounds now, which no one would have 15 years ago. Tyre pressures have reverted to imperial, with engine horsepower too, I think. People can visualise one foot, perhaps coming from Subway which has never used metric for their food. So it is interesting that they are in Canada.
The airshow sounds far more entertaining than #47's military parade a month or so ago.
You are thought provoking, Andrew, all the time!
DeleteWhy on earth would people go backwards to imperial??? I was also surprised by the Subway ad.
Our airshow is far superior to anything that POS could come up with.
I visited Toronto back in 2005, and I remember being astonished to see what a diverse city it is. I live just outside Houston, and it is considered one of the most diverse cities in the US. It's so wonderful to get the opportunity to experience a wide variety of art and foods and languages here.
ReplyDeleteMy husband and I have lots of recent immigrants in our family tree, and our daughters-in-law do, too. Immigration has always been the lifeblood of America, I think, and maybe that's true for many countries.
In my office of four people, 3 of us are first generation immigrants. The one is a fourth generation Japanese-American -- but that's fairly common.
ReplyDelete