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 at the meeting when 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" in a progressive country. 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. But my nest-egg was sufficient for myself but not if my mom develop major health issues down the road. In such a case, 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. 

Walk A Mile In My Shoes

I returned to Ottawa for six days to visit my mom. The downside was paying $70/day for an unused sublet. The upside was not spending money so in that sense, I will have a higher daily budget since rent was a fixed cost. Last Saturday was blisteringly cold in Toronto and even more so in Ottawa. The walk to the subway was short and reasonably pleasant. The final 1.6 km segment in Ottawa was less so for several reasons: the connecting bus was too long to wait so I also walked and the sidewalk was haphazardly plowed. You'd be out of luck if you had any mobility issues in Ottawa.

Perhaps because of that, I did not venture out during the week to see friends. All my meals were home-cooked but my favourite were the sticky rice breakfasts. My mom bought some tropical fruits but were a bust: too green or sour because they were out of season. Without daily activities (and blogging about it), I spent more time scrolling social media posts.

Since my trip to Ottawa was sparse (a callback to the early days with Rider Express), I was surprised that the Thursday return to Toronto was full. The driver also forgot to turn on the wifi and onboard electrical outlet so I only got a few hours of work in. Fat Bastard, my usual take-out store at the Kingston rest stop, overcharged my $9.99 burrito by $2. The good news was a traffic-free ride that came into The Big Smoke half an hour early. My walk through Union Station to the subway passes by a kiosk that usually offered small samples from some brand: coffee, granola bars, etc. People always line up for the free stuff but this time, the line snaked 200-people long through the concourse. What could be the giveaway this time? It was free bread. A literal breadline in Toronto.

After dropping off my stuff, I went to Dufferin Mall to stock up on about $45 of groceries. But dinner was once again the chicken combination box ($10) from South Pacific. Peeking through the kitchen window, I saw the elderly lady from a few weeks ago. So perhaps she wasn't the OG owner from the 70s but she seemed to know her stuff. The fried rice had a deeper, smokier wok hei flavour and the lemon chicken sauce was less mouth-puckering than last time.

The Office

On Thursday, I was busy with work most of the day. My team had ambitious goals for the quarter, but as usual we were strapped for time. But it wasn't my call to make regarding our roadmap. In theory, my position at the new company did give me that leeway but I felt it was a case of "job inflation". I wasn't unqualified but I didn't really have the corporate track record to exert any authority. In the evening, to get out of the house for a bit, I went to Szechuan Noodle Bowl for their 3rd-most popular dish: braised beef noodle. For the first time, I wasn't served by the foreign student graduate. It was a tasty bowl for dinner but it was confirmation for me that their spice level was not excessive. The only negative: only a few morsels of the advertised bamboo shoot.

Snow came again overnight but I was heading into the office on Friday. Our old CEO had missed the Christmas lunch and wanted a re-do. People actually came for work this time and the floor was busy and buzzing. But even discounting the various chats I had with folks I haven't seen in years, I didn't get as much done as at home. All that face-time didn't translate to productivity so I'm skeptical of the back-to-work mandates given by the various branches of government and the large companies.

For lunch, we went to an Italian restaurant called Remezzo at Sheppard and Warden. I knew of it from my previous visits to that plaza for noodles (Eight Noodles) and sushi (Mika Sushi). Similar to Mangal Kebab House, Remezzo tried to evoke Old World charm in a suburban milieu with its murals and wooden furniture. Since it has been around for decades, it was a bit dated and ersatz.

I found out in the new year that HR was strict with the holiday reimbursement. It wasn't 3 days of travel but only before and after the Holiday meal. My trip was early by 1 day so I had to pay out of pocket for that night's stay. There were also no compensation for some of my meals since they were cash-only and had no receipts. To "get some of my money back", I ordered a minestrone soup ($7.95) and rainbow trout on pilaf rice ($24.99). The former was mostly tomato broth and not very tasty veggies or pasta. The latter was better with a firm fish and rice.

There were more office gossip. Maybe I had forgotten the announcement, but the CEO had moved to our Swiss office 3 years back. The other founder, who came to meet his ex co-workers, took the buyout package and had retired. Both were in their 70s and were happy with their choices. However, given his many meetings including a recent trip to Davos, it seemed a matter of keeping a "power broker" lifestyle rather than money that motivated my old boss. His son, who was the nepo-baby at work, had a major career shift: he was now a pilot for Porter Air. He achieved this in just 1 year from pilot school to employment. How did he get the required 1500 hours of flight-time experience? He bought a Cessna plane. When it comes to the "nepo-baby" discourse in popular culture, it was never about talent or drive. On a grimmer note, the CEO and my current boss had a falling out around the time of the acquisition. Details were not forthcoming, but this boded ill since they were still heavily invested in our product.

I was heading back to Ottawa to visit my mom on Saturday so I called it an early night. I spent some time looking for sublets or permanent rentals with my budget in mind. I knew I was looking at smaller bachelor or studio apartments, but it was depressing that a $1700 cap yielded only basement units. Or I could pay around $1300 to share with 2-4 roommates. This prospect did not appeal now that I have re-discovered the joy of single living.