Pho Better Or Pho Horse

Several members of my family were born in the Year of the Horse. But none were close by to celebrate this Lunar New Year. I have attended a few Tet celebrations downtown, but most took place in event centres out by the airport. There was one at Artscape on Monday, but I wasn't sure about it because I had never heard of the promoter. It wasn't the usual set-up by the community newspaper with local sponsors.

So I decided to go to Pho Linh for a bowl of pho instead. Prices have increased since back in the day and my order of a large was $16. Overall, the portion was good, broth was fragrant, and there was plenty of beef and sides like basil and bean sprouts. My only nitpick was that the noodles were a tad too soft. But compared to cheaper options like a Szechuan noodle bowl, it was pricey at $20 (tax + tip). Linh should put back on the menu a small at a good value like, say, $12. They wouldn't necessarily lose money either since folks like myself might get a $4 spring roll or fresh roll (which used to be 2 for $3) as appetizer. Because I wasn't going to get one and push my lunch over $25.

I have been going to this OG restaurant at College and Dufferin for decades. With these (formerly) regular haunts, you have been there enough to remember the staff, but not so often that the passage of time was smoothed over. In other words, I was shocked to see some people passing into "respected elder" (or at least uncle and auntie) status. It was similar to seeing myself in a full-length mirror and asking: when did I get old?

Could Have Been

I was up early on Sunday as I did not go out for St. Valentine's. There was a post-punk dance party with Doghouse Rose, Gaijin Smash, and Mad Ones at The Bovine Sex Club, a venue that I have been to only once in all my time in Toronto. But doors weren't even until 9 pm; I wouldn't last through such late hours.

I took my clothes to the laundromat. True to their sign, they were opened at 6 am. A little bit later, a lady lugged in several bags of laundry, enough for the enormous Dexter washer. I found out she drove in from Oakville which seemed a tad far for a shabby business. But the clothes actually came from her parents who lived nearby on Westmoreland. Her mom was in the hospital for the past 3 weeks due to a stroke. She also suffered from dementia since 2024. This could complicate recovery since they might not be able to follow rehab instructions. I wished her better news for the rest of the year.

Though I had no Cupid-inspired plans, I did experienced a dream of romantic bliss. This seemed like a portent to go to a particular East-end yoga class for the last time. Why? Because I held a pseudo-limerence for the instructor. Pseudo since I was really pining for an alternate timeline where, in my younger days, I had found someone who was also kind and gentle. Limerence because I actually knew nothing about them: most yoga instructors project equanimity and patience in class. The session was full of deep twists and stretches; my thighs were shaking at some points. I only wished we attempted some arm balances as these deeper poses are a good preparation for them.

Back in the West-end, I was so famished from class that I ate almost all of the vegetarian plate ($14.99) from Laziza. I also spent the afternoon in a restful half-doze. But Sundays were made for idle laziness. I was still too full of lunch to attempt more than a handful of nut mix with some leftover rice for dinner.

Gallivanting

On Saturday, I walked to get my slice of Toronto-style pizza. The complete circuit was a little over 7 km but more enjoyable than a similar stroll in Ottawa. On the way, I stopped off at Barbershop Patisserie. When Jill Barber started this business during the pandemic, it was only opened for 3 days. So I was glad to see that they were now a 7-day shop. However, the new Three Dots Coffee Lab (once a medical clinic) a few doors down could be cutting into their coffee sales. Dots looked quite busy but their "experimental coffee" might only appeal to a niche audience. I glimpsed Ms. Barber rolling out pastries in the back but she didn't man the counter any more. Prices have increased with the apple chausson now going for $5.35 and the brownie was $4.25. But the wonderful flavour and quality remained. Still, I wondered what was the "too much" limit was for the average consumer? One of the pricier croissant variety was over $7.

I also dropped by the library at Shaw. But when I noticed this edition of the Globe and Mail had a giant crossword, usually only found in their Christmas paper, I bought my own copy. The number of businesses on College changing hands continued, though most were restaurants. The Royal cinema venue was hosting a touring burlesque show called The Empire Strips Back. I know Toronto have several fan-cons a year, but this didn't seem mainstream enough to have a month-long run.

Despite being past lunch-time, Fresca had lines of people waiting for their slices while I was there. So much so that an entire Margherita pizza was divvied up right out of the oven and I needed to wait for the next one. I used the time to talk to both owners. Officially, they had given the store over to their daughter. But they still came in to help. The young men I saw during previous visits were not the "next generation" as I had hoped; they were nephews from Vietnam on tourist visas. After making extra money for six months, they would head back home. What about "Toronto pizza" in Vietnam? That wasn't possible because importing ingredients like cheese were too expensive and the customer base could only exist in large cities like Saigon. It also turned out the old owner of Cici's used to drop by for a chat and a slice.

On the way back along Bloor, a number of men passed by carrying large bouquet of flowers. February 14th on a Saturday: all venues in Toronto (bars, clubs, restaurants) should be hopping tonight. Perhaps even the 2nd location of Taqueria Vegena at Bloor and Dovercourt. I passed by there twice during my loop and the place was packed. Given that their tacos were normally around $25, snagging an opening day $10 deal was too good for people to pass up.

Senior Moments

It wasn't every second Friday off at my new company but rather the second Fridays of each month that was paid time off. My boss was pushing for us to work because of deadlines. But I guess there were no takers while I was travelling because when I arrived home on Thursday, Friday's meeting was canceled. Nevertheless, I did some follow-up emails in the morning.

At lunch, I headed to Boku, a Japanese eatery with some pan-Asian dishes, at Yonge and Wellesley. I usually meet my ex-coworkers at North York Centre because one of them comes from Markham. But this time, they were willing to head downtown on the subway. Their gait was improved from last time though they still suffered from back pain and sciatica. I haven't seen the other one in over 2 years. In that time, their mother's dementia has progressed to the point where they needed to be in a facility with a "memory floor". This for-profit private care was over $8,000 a month which luckily was covered by her late husband's pension and investments. I opined that I would prefer that even "tiered services" should be government run, even if that ran counter to the idea of "equal access to social services". Because the alternative was the current situation where a life-time of savings was being funneled to corporations.

Since they had "retired early", one from a recent lay-off in September and the other after quitting in 2021, our talk revolved around the golden years. The latter didn't join us last December because they had surgery for a detached retina. There were actually several other treatments before the operation. This was a final resort since there were unavoidable consequences from the procedure. In fact, they will need cataract surgery within a year. But right now, they were healthy and planning a car trip around Iceland, a safari in Botswana, and a tour of the Central Asian "5 stans" for some Silk Road history and Soviet vibes.

The other was warming up to the idea of spending every 6 months in China. Living expenses were cheaper there and there were plentiful locations to visit in that vast country including the ice city of Harbin. I revealed that I was also pondering early retirement in a few years. The problem was that my nest-egg was sufficient for myself but not if my mom develop major health issues down the road. In such a scenario, early retirement means that I would be too long out of the job market to return to work.

We shared Edamame ($6.99), Takoyaki ($9), a plate of Calamari and Coconut Shrimp ($18), and a bowl of Gyu Don ($18). The first two were average but the latter were tasty with large portions. Their ramen looked good though on the expensive side because of ingredients like duck. Hard to say when we will meet again but I might join the travel aficionado for a yoga class in the East End before my sublet expire.