Toronto, Ontario; Scarborough, Ontario
Pape Avenue Public School: Behind a preteen boy on a bicycle, a cameraman on a film dolly truck, and then maybe 20 grips and make-up artists in support. Across the street, a traffic cop was stopping commuters for 2 minutes to reduce noise during the shoot. On my neighbourhood afternoon bike rides, finding a film crew at work is not uncommon. (Pape Avenue Public School, Riverdale, Toronto, Ontario) 20160401Perfect Chinese Restaurant: Family table of 12, two set orders with lobster, duck, fish, chicken, plus sides of beef, squid, grouper. Mostly finished, with good size leftover containers to take home. Restaurant surprisingly quiet for a Saturday night, leisurely conversation. (Perfect Chinese Restaurant, Scarborough, Ontario) 20160402Dragon City Mall: Snow returns to Toronto on April. Wet cross town to Spadina Chinatown for a casual clan dinner. Still full from yesterday’s dinner, fridge full of leftovers. (Dragon City Mall, Chinatown, Spadina Avenue, Toronto, Ontario) 20160403Metro Centre: Winter garden inside, another snowy day in Toronto outside. Municipality buildings connect into the PATH underground walkways, also with direct access into subway University line. April so far is disappointing to most people, who haven’t recalled the record February temperatures at 15 degrees C. (Metro Centre, Toronto, Ontario) 20160406Mak Deli: Bosnian meat burek, plus combo of cevapi grilled minced meat and sudjukice smoked veal sausage on lepinje flat bread, made to order. Casual cafe at back of eastern European market, given table service with knife, fork, napkin and water glasses. Food makes sense geographically, as Bosnia Herzegovina is south of Austria and Hungary (grilled meat) and north of Greece (bread deeper than pita). Service in a Canadian style. (Mak European Deli, Lawrence Avenue East, Scarborough, Ontario) 20160408Kensington Market: Sunny day, but below freezing. Drive cross-town to computer store to pick up 2TB hard drive, replacing one that has failed after 4 years. Spent more time in slow-moving traffic, should get more exercise benefits from bicycling as the weather warms up. (Kensington Market, Augusta Street south of College Street, Toronto, Ontario) 20160409
@Nuvango Gallery DwD: Sustainable Design for Flourishing Fashion led by @KellyOkamura at Design with Dialogue event a little farther west on Queen Street. Second floor gallery hardwood floors and high ceilings on renovated building reminders of Toronto 100 years ago, when manufacturing industries reigned. (Nuvango Gallery, Queen Street West, Toronto) 20160413
Silverstein’s Bakery: Unlabelled orange door leads customers into working bakery. Lots of racks of breads cooling, no counter, staff ring up purchases on old mechanical cash register. Production at this location since 1953, I lived 2 blocks away in the 1970s and never thought retail for this mostly wholesale operation. (Silverstein’s Bakery, McCaul Street, Toronto, Ontario) 20160414Brightlane #DrupalCampTO: Panel @DrupalCampTO with @suzanne_kennedy, Colan Schwartz, @BeCircle + @walkah, @LuckhardtLabs moderating. “Drupal’s Past, Present & Future” looked back at first Drupal Camp in 2006, but histories back to 2002. (Brightlane, King Street West, Toronto, Ontario) 20160415Bayview Avenue at Mill Street: Mark di Suvero (1967) “No Shoes” sculpture of red steel I-beams, cables and logs, at south end of Corktown Commons park, where Bayview Avenue curves into Mill Street, was formerly sited cross-town in High Park. Canary District is still in development, with field northwest marked a private property, not parkland. Last fall, these roads were blocked off. On a sunny spring day, optimists wearing shorts and sandals. (Bayview Avenue at Mill Street, Corktown, Toronto, Ontario) 20160416Greenwood Park: View westward into downtown Toronto, spring weather has arrived. Before 1920, the pit now Greenwood Park was once a deep brickyard dating back into the 1900s. Community gardens are still untended from the winter. Children enjoying the 15 degrees C temperature, after freezing temperatures just a week ago. (Greenwood Park, Greenwood Avenue, Toronto, Ontario) 20160418New Hopper Hut: Puzzling through Sri Lankan menu after planned Malaysian restaurant found closed. Ordered chicken lampries, served paper bag which enclosed banana leaf, then boiled egg, rice, anchovies inside. Also had string hoppers (rice noodles) with mutton curry and sambal. First time for this cuisine, need a dictionary. (New Hopper Hut, Ellesmere Avenue, Scarborough, Ontario) 20160422Toronto Reference Library: Came to browse book available only in physical form, then reminded that a lot of people use the reference library for computer access, and/or a meeting place. The convenience of the Internet from home and then a local branch gives a luxury of rarely having to travel far for knowledge. (Toronto Public Library, Asquith Avenue, Toronto, Ontario) 20160423Rol San: Sunday dim sum with family and friends in Spadina Chinatown. Someone at the table should have a 10 hour jet lag recovery, and it’s not me. (Rol San, Spadina Avenue, Toronto, Ontario) 20160424Scarborough L’Amoureaux: Suburban visit for help with repairs. Raleigh shopping bike needed headset bearings. On AHI’s old Norco bike, swapped front suspension for fixed forks, threadless for threaded headset with different stem, and then vertical brakes since no cantilever mount. DT has many used parts in his garage accumulated from curbside discards, and enjoys fixing bikes. (L’Amoureaux neighbourhood, Scarborough, Ontario) 20160426
Gate403 Roam Project trio: Some new compositions by @RoamToronto in acoustic trio @Gate403 early evening show. Occasion for spousal date night in Roncesvalles Village. First set audience had infant in baby carrier, restaurant filled up by second set. Roam is Lisa Patterson (accordion, sax, piano), Alex McMaster (cello), Justin Abedin (guitar). (Gate 403, Roncesvalles Avenue, Toronto, Ontario) 20160429
Sky Dragon: Karaoke at Lowkong clan Spring Festival banquet, society elders showing how it’s done. Invited friends to join us for the special occasion, as our family now has two sons living and working in remote locations. (Sky Dragon Restaurant, Spadina Chinatown, Toronto) 20160430Sky Dragon: Three generations, between the eighth and ninth course at the Lowkong clan Spring Festival banquet. Photos happen when I lend my camera to a friend. (Sky Dragon, Spadina Chinatown, Toronto, Ontario) 20160430
Sky Dragon: Special guests spark the conversation at the Lowkong clan Spring Festival banquet. (Sky Dragon, Spadina Chinatown, Toronto) 20160430
