Mosey Monday

There has been a short burst of summer weather over the long week-end. So my morning run on Monday did not require a jacket. This time I headed south to Queen St. and the various side streets. Some of the houses were grand enough for the West End. Though the new builds were obvious (boxy and out-of-place), you can tell which streets have been mostly gentrified. The houses may remain Victorian or Edwardian, but the porches, doors, and windows were new. Another giveaway was the presence of pricier cars like Audi, Mercedes, or BMW parked on the road. Several new condos were breaking ground on Queen.

After breakfast, I cleaned up the sublet. Though it was relatively neat, an apartment with this much stuff will have problem spots. Sure enough, underneath dressers, sinks, and other furniture were months worth of dust and detritus. There were also ant and mouse traps which weren't around my first time here. I hope the strong fragrance of the ripening alphonso mangoes don't attract various critter.

For lunch, I heeded the advice from the man I met at the laundromat and headed to Que Linh. I have been here and was on-the-fence about their pho. But he pointed out that it was their banh cuon (Vietnamese rice rolls) that was their specialty. I ordered the large ($11.06) and he was right. With someone in the kitchen rolling out the thin, crepe-like rolls made from rice flour, these were soft and semi-translucent. But given how cheap the ingredients were, it was still a bit dear to pay out $15 (tax + tip), more than double what it cost in 2014.

This also gave me a chance to check out East Chinatown as I've only been back to buy fancy chocolate. The small grocery stores still had foot traffic but it looked like only those restaurants catering to the gentrified set (Dine & Dim - a dim sum spot, Issho - bakery and cafe) were full.