In Full Bloom

My relative landed early at Billy Bishop airport on Wednesday and had already left the Arrivals area. I actually passed them on opposite escalators in the underwater tunnel. I used to fly with Porter before it was built. I haven't been back so this was my first time walking over from the mainland. It was long enough that some people might still prefer to take the ferry.

We arrived at my sublet just after 10 a.m. After unpacking, we walked to Gerrard Square for some essentials, bought food from Banh Mi Huy Ky, and had lunch at Pizza Pide. Then it was a short streetcar ride to East Chinatown to buy some fruits and vegetables. They were raving about how convenient everything was. Well, now they tell me! If we had all moved to Toronto decades ago, perhaps I would have bought property and we could be enjoying big city living together.

Early on Thursday, they experienced subway rush-hour traffic as we traveled to High Park. We were joined by my friend (whom my relative has not seen in 20 years) to take in the cherry blossoms. They weren't at peak bloom (70%) because with the past few days of cooler weather, that date moved forward to this Mother's Day Week-End. But we, along with other visitors including couples in traditional costumes with photographers in tow, still enjoyed the exuberant bloom.

Afterwards, my friend drove us to their house to show off all the renovation. Although my relative would never spend that kind of money, they appreciated the cozy improvements. We had a take-out lunch of blood pudding congee, batter-fried shrimp, and banh trang xuc hen (baby clams with rice crackers) from Pho Son. My friend insisted that we turned on the patio gas burners so we could eat outside. The only negative was that I had to extract my relative from an MLM spiel. We promised to return but given how rare their Toronto visits were, everyone might not be around in another 20 years.

We were supposed to see the AGO and the ROM for the two days. But given their age, they were easily tired so we passed on the cultural visits. On Wednesday, they took an afternoon "cat-nap" that lasted until 8 pm. On Thursday, they didn't protest much when I suggested that we simply head home after lunch. Luckily, these were free passes courtesy of the Toronto library else I'd be down a hundred dollars.