Caring Is Sharing

With the rising cases and stay-at-home orders, life trundled along. On Tuesday, after an overnight snowfall, I ran just before dawn. Looking at the blanket of snow covering the newly budded trees and the softly illuminated streets, I realized that I often forget how pretty the city can be.

I wasn't just up early for my health. Since I have been putting out food for the neighbourhood squirrels, they seemed to nose around the feeding spot earlier and earlier. My favourite was an old-timer with a scruff streaked with grey. Given a squirrel's longevity, I'm tickled that it may have lived here longer than myself. Sadly, it also had a slightly palsied back leg and a tendency to fall over. I can sympathize: infirmities eventually afflict us all, my friend. But I hope you are enjoying the new bounty.

Caravan Café and Mannat has been added to my list of regular cheap eats. The former because of the $8 mac-and-cheese (despite its initial flub) and the latter for the chicken biryani. At first, the $20 price tag felt high. But the generous portion, amounting to 2.5 meals, and tasty flavour had me convinced.

Despite my initial enthusiasm for Gonzo, I'll probably skip it under most circumstances. I can't justify a small yakisoba that is 90% noodles at $13 when compared to that mac or the $9 veggie bibimbap from Roll and Bowl. The over-fried kakiage tempura this time around didn't help. Gonzo joins its Japanese brethren Tsu Chi (and to some extent Coo Café) on my "maybe-if-I-can't-think-of-any-other-place" roster.

I continue my weekly indulgence of pastries from Barbershop. I'm not a dessert person but the buttery options here are quite excellent. Also, I want the store to succeed because from Instagram Stories and some casual chats, I knew how hard the owner is working to make their dream a reality from challenging beginnings. I still think it's a tough slog in this area, but every little bit helps.