Another Year Round The Sun

On Sunday, my mom and I headed to the other side of Ottawa. We wanted to save some money so took public transit to downtown first before hailing a cab for the rest of the trip. But the extra $20 in our pocket wasn't worth that hour-long commute because the distance to downtown would have taken 10 minutes by car.

My grandma was celebrating her 95th birthday. We don't usually host family gatherings at my youngest uncle's place since it was a smaller home. But ever since her fall earlier in the year, she hasn't left the house, not even for a get-together last Easter. There was just enough room because, even though there was still a lot of folks from the extended family, 8 people were on vacation. The food was home-cooked fare such as spring rolls, lo mein noodles with shrimp and beef, egg fried rice, glass noodles with fresh veggies from the garden, and green papaya salad with maple syrup beef jerky. The one exception was a Tiramisu birthday cake from Costco.

I caught up on the latest family going-ons. My cousin brought her second newborn (there's a big age gap between me and most of my cousins). Her partner was a bus driver and confirmed my suspicion that there was no active monitoring with the OC Transpo. So it was up to each driver to keep to their schedule or not, depending on their work ethic. No wonder transit was so bad in Ottawa. Another cousin had upgraded from their starter home because of a rambunctious first-born. It was a nicer house but these sort of decisions (in my opinion) continue to sustain the housing bubble. A few aunts were planning a trip back to the old country for next year. Speaking of which, my uncle who sponsored us all to Canada all those decades ago made an appearance. Other than my grandma, we haven't seen him since the start of the pandemic.

At the end of the evening, as we were packing up, my eldest cousin dropped by for a quick hello. They had just landed after a 3-week trip to Europe. An avid traveller of the "squeeze as much in as possible" kind, this time it was London, Brussels, Budapest, Prague and Vienna (and places close to those cities). I reflected on the contrast between us. In the last 25 years, I've lived in Toronto with its big-city amenities but rarely travelled. Meanwhile, they resided in suburbia but have visited 100+ places all over the world as vacation time permitted. On the whole though, I prefer my sedate lifestyle but filled with the daily pleasures of local shops, modest eats, park hangs, enjoyable routine, music, art, and culture.

A Bus Named Expire

The new CTO of my company has been making changes. During a meeting earlier this week, it was clear that he expected us to put our noses to the grindstone. It didn't matter as I decided on Friday to leave (remote) work early and head out for a longish lunch.

I didn't want to take the bus to get there. The route used to be the number 2: considered to be the worst bus route in Ottawa. After it divided into the East End 12 and the West End 11 some years ago, these buses still ranked at the bottom. I'll have to take both, but there was no shorter ride to my destination.

My bus made its way down Bank St. and then headed along Somerset West to Chinatown. The local BIA had installed a Chinese Royal Arch more than a decade ago to beautify the area. Since then, they have also added stone lions and other Asian street art. But the gentrification of the neighbourhood continues with non-Asian stores now outnumbering the old stalwarts. When the bus climbed an overpass, I realized that below was an entrance to the industrial complex containing the bakery Art Is In. I usually get there from the other end via the O-Train.

I got off at Hintonburg where Somerset merged into Wellington St. My family briefly settled in this working-class area more than 4 decades ago but I have never returned in the intervening years. The old buildings now housed fancier businesses including a Christmas decoration store (Tinseltown Christmas Emporium), a yarn shop (Wabi Sabi), and numerous restaurants and pubs (La Bonita, The Senate Tavern, Taco Lot).

We lived in a small apartment above a groceteria at the corner of Melrose and Wellington. I don't know when the store opened but, according to old photos on Google Map, its end came some time in the late 2000s. A pizzeria called Tennessy Willems has been on the site ever since. When I stepped inside Tennesy the waft of stale urine greeted me, but no other customers remarked about this odour during my time there. This seemed at odds with the trendy gastropub vibe. Perhaps I was hallucinating a phantom smell?

I ordered the capricciosa pizza ($22). Though it was a serviceable pie, it wasn't worth the price (almost $30 with tax + tip). There was no fragrant aroma or toothsomeness from the dough. Both the tomato sauce and the fior de latte needed more time in the oven. The olives, mushroom, and capicola ham were alright, but the artichoke didn't have that smokey tanginess (shout-out to the delicious Bianca slice of the late-lamented Amato Pizza on College St., even if its final days were sad). The chefs looked young and probably didn't have experience with pizza-making as opposed to simply making pizza.

Tennessy was another disappointing Ottawa restaurant. I might still visit cheaper options like Creole Sensations and Great Canadian Poutinerie. But given the poor transit, the general meal cost and lack of food quality in Ottawa, this was likely my last dine-in meal in my hometown. As for Hintonburg, I'll check out the neighbourhood again in another 40 years if I'm still around.

Tally

On Wednesday, some Americans from a distant family branch visited our common ancestor. Since my mom knew a bit about their side, she was keen on meeting them. As for myself, I was having dinner with an old friend. We both moved to Toronto around the same time and had fun eating out and watching classic movies back when Paradise Theatre was a repertory cinema. I haven't seen much of them after they moved back to Ottawa a few decades ago. The last time we met in person was at a wedding in 2015.

Thali wasn't too impressive on the outside as it was on the ground floor of a commercial building at Laurier and O'Connor. But it was nicer inside with that Scandinavian look. Since my last visit to a fine-dining Indian restaurant was hit-and-miss, I suggested that we stick to mostly appetizers: Pappadum Basket ($6), Kerala Crab Cakes ($17), and Shrimp Coconut Ularthu ($17). We chose only 1 main: a Vegetarian Thali platter ($30).

Overall, it was a good meal with some subtle flavour. Certainly the best that I've had here in Ottawa. But I was disappointed with the main. There was nothing wrong with it; in fact, the paratha was excellent and I usually prefer naan. But instead of 3 or 4 dishes in a typical thali platter, it was 9 small bowls. There simply wasn't enough there to make much of an impression.

The appetizers fared better. Both the crab cakes and the shrimp were tasty. The pappadum should be crunchier and better spiced though. This was my main critique of all the dishes. Thali has dialed down the spice: both flavour and heat. Perhaps to better appeal to the Ottawa palate? Also, I have to get used the prices here as comparable dishes in Toronto would be cheaper.

My friend wanted to know why I was back in Ottawa. Well, it was for family reasons as well as problems with my new landlord in Toronto. As for them, they were swamped with family and work. All those after-school activities added up in time and money, leaving not much leisure time for shows and concerts. And with a picky eater at home, restaurants were a hard-sell too. They admonished me for not meeting up though I've been here since 2021. We promised to connect again, but I have some doubt given their busy schedule. The days when we could walk down the street to watch a movie in our PJs were in the distant past.

My So-Called Work Life

On Friday, I got groceries at Ogilvie and Montreal Rd. Metro was just another corporation in the Canadian grocery oligopoly but at least it wasn't Sobeys or Loblaws. Also, this plaza was near my first home so I could visit the old neighbourhood. All the stores have changed: the Fat Albert pizzeria, the local video rental, and the arcade tucked inside a convenience store. Even McDonald's has given way to a Popeye's.

After I made my purchases, I checked out one of the businesses. Creole Sensations was a small, clean restaurant offering Caribbean (primarily Haitian) food. It was more spacious and brighter than Boukannen. As it wasn't lunchtime yet, I was the only customer. But a few teenagers from the nearby high school dropped in as my order was being made.

The lunch special ($10) was rice and peas, fried plaintain, your choice of beef, chicken, or stewed vegetables, and a can of pop. I was at first disappointed with the portion size but it turned out to be a filling meal. The stew had good flavour but the both the rice and the plaintain were just a tad dry. This was my second taste of Haitian-style plaintain but I prefer the Jamaican version without the batter. The best part of the meal turned out to be pikliz. What I first took to be coleslaw was actually a Haitian pickled condiments of cabbage, carrots, seasoning, and a nice kick from Scotch bonnets.

On Saturday, I received a call from an ex-coworker. The good news was they had started exercising again after stopping during the pandemic. The bad news was their continuing obsession with "missing out" on the real estate market. With sky-high rent in Toronto, I can sympathize with lost opportunities and feeling "stuck" in a less-than-ideal apartment because the alternative is to see your monthly rent shoot up if you move.

They had recently attended a gathering of mutual colleagues to celebrate a milestone: someone had spent 25 years at the same company. This wasn't the first get-together that I wasn't invited to. We all went on to other jobs but it being a small world, I have also worked with the same folks (in various configuration) at other companies too. In fact, before the pandemic layoffs, several of them were with me at my current job. So it wasn't as if we had lost touch.

On the other hand, I never shared the same level of camaraderie with these coworkers. When we worked in Mississauga, I didn't hang out after work at the local pub. And as for the most recent job, there were often lunch outings. But it was always for mediocre pub food, sushi, and so on. So I usually ended up going alone for more interesting fare like northern Chinese noodles, fancier sushi, Korean stew, or Sri Lankan food. Yet every choice has consequences as I missed opportunities to deepen friendships or even just establish better ties for networking.