Property Bothers

On Sunday, I was invited to lunch at a friend's house. I hadn't planned on going since they lived in North Toronto and I didn't want to spend an hour on the bus. But then they offered to pick me up at a subway station closer to my place.

Even in their working class neighbourhood, trendier stores including a café, a bakery, and a cannabis vendor have moved in. They showed off recent renovations including a finished basement, wall paneling in the living room, new fences, and a deck complete with roofing. Given budget constraints, all were DYI.

For lunch, I was impressed with all the prep work needed for Mi Quang, a noodle dish from central Vietnam that has much less broth than pho. Along with the noodles, herbs, and leafy greens, there were also chayote, pork belly, prawn, garlic, roasted peanuts, and rice wrappers. It was a full meal though during the cook time, I was jumpy and unsettled. In the past, I have enjoyed visiting friends living amid the full domesticity of comfortable furnishings and well-loved possessions. But this wasn't the first time in recent memory that I have felt out-of-place in similar surroundings. Perhaps I am finding it harder to imagine myself living in that way.

I wasn't the only guests as their extended family also dropped by. These relatives were religious and sometimes into proselytizing. Also, one was part of a Prosperity church and keen to get you involved with herbal nutrition programs, cash-back rewards club, and more recently, crypto currency. But everyone was laid-back and relaxed today.