It has been 4 years since I last returned to Toronto and even during my years in Toronto, taking the subway to downtown wasn't something I would do regularly for many reasons. This time around, I took the subway to downtown for a day trip with my mom and I realized that nothing and i mean nothing has changed over the past 4 years with the subway.
Alright, there were a few new stations eastbound which took them 20 years to extend but that's about it, amazing! Either it takes the authority a long time to renovated or upgrade or there is nothing worth upgrading with the subway that can help better facilitate public transportation in the city of Toronto? Anyhow, I am not here to complaint but the share my day trip experiences.
My day trip started off with with brunch at Toronto's Eaton's Center at a place called Egg-spectation. As the name suggested, it was a place with plenty of eggs!
My first experience with this chain restaurant was a few years back in Montreal. Back then my parents and I were visiting my brother studying there and now we are all in different parts of the world, a family of global citizenship I suppose.
To start off we ordered smoothies! I ordered the Go Bananas (banana, strawberries, yoghurt blended with honey and ice) and my mom ordered the Banango (banana and mango blended with orange juice and ice). I tried both and both lacked the strong flavors of any kind listed as part of the ingredients. Too much ice perhaps?
The Toast Basket was alright, rather unexciting but what was the point of a dozen pack of jam and butter for 4 pieces of toast? Perhaps they wanted me to eat the jam alone? I really didn't mind.
I ordered the Eggwhat? which consisted of corned beef hash (yum), two eggs, grilled potatoes. I ordered scrambled eggs but instead they gave me VERY DRY and OVERCOOKED scrambled eggs! I was surprised they actually served those onto the plate. That was no scrambled eggs but egg pancake??? Sigh ... It really suited the name ... Egg-What!? yeah .. What egg was that really??
Mom ordered the classic set with eggs and bacon. Only the bacon was worth praising.
It was a nice day out, people were enjoying the weather. Look at the time, it was 3:30pm on a week day afternoon and people were biking around and enjoying their coffee!! Why can't we do that in Hong Kong? Productivity and efficiency is not dependent on how long you sit in the office, it is how effectively you can complete your task that matters in my opinion! Anyhow!!!
I was technically a tourist, especially with my camera around my neck, so I can snap away whenever I like at anything I wish. Spotted this little squirrel chewing away.
The aimless walking took us to St. Lawrence Market. Perhaps it was a weekday so the place was rather quite. Did I mention that they close at 4pm?????? yes! I meant to stress on the EARLY aspect of its business hour.
Walking can be considered exercises so I did plenty for the day already. It was time to grab something to eat, to regain some energy before we continue out walk. Hot Dog it was!
More honey mustard please!
Oh yum!
A few hours of walking was enough for me and so we headed for an early dinner near China town. It has been AGES since I last stepped foot in China town. The uptown Chinese community has been growing very rapidly over the last 2 decades while Chinatown reminded almost the same. Everything that we need can be obtained uptown.
(The following is based on my personal observations only) How come many Chinatown across the globe tends be relatively loud and aging? Is it just me? Look at Chinatown of Toronto, London, New York City or San Francisco. Don't get me wrong, I love Chinatown the way it is, full of history, stories and struggles which has its own flair in a sense and a symbol of multiculturalism in many cities throughout the many decades. How's the Chinatown in your city/country? I said "many" because I haven't been to all Chinatown of course, perhaps I am wrong or perhaps the bigger the Chinatown the more likely it is the way I imagined it? Am I stereotyping it?
My mom and I wandered around Chinatown for a bit before we met up with a friend for an early dinner. I picked Vietnamese cuisine because I felt like it, I felt like Pho! We picked Pho Hung because it was the closest. (my legs were sore from all the walking!)
What I found to be very interesting was the sentence on top of each page of the menu in bold. "Can Not Take Home Any Left Over noodle Soup." I bet people tried to steal their secret?? Is it even worth stealing??? I can tell you in advance that I would not be taking any home for sure! HAHA ..
The Pho was rather disappointing because the soup was light in flavors. Maybe I am used to the strong flavors found in many dishes in Hong Kong that my taste bud got used to it.
The rest of the stuff were very unexciting which I can get anything in Hong Kong. I should have asked around for a different one instead of picking one blindly!
The fried chicken wings were SPICY! Wow spicy!
Look what we found in downtown Toronto! (Maybe I should have tried it and do a comparison??? haha)
Day 5 >> Special Date with Hot Dogs and Pho!
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Upcoming Posts???
Day 6 >> Joey Don Mills by Chris Mills
Day 7 >> Sweetness overdose! plus a date with a serious mater Sushi Chef!
Day 8 >> Lobster Attack!
Day 9 >> Steak, Steak and Steak ... never too many steaks!
11 comments:
I love the whisk door handle...and..heheheh ajisen ramen? HAHAHA
I belive the food are not that tasty but your amazing photo shooting skills made it attractive though. pepper
I've been reading all your posts with rapt attention. They really make me miss Canada.
I used to go to Egg-spectation when I was a student in Montreal. I think the food was pretty good, but I can't remember clearly now. It's been years. Plus, I had lower standards back then. When I was that age, I'd never gone for Sunday brunches like that before, so I was probably easily impressed.
Oh, Canada. I liked your photo of the maple syrup. It's so expensive in Hong Kong, it's like liquid gold.
"Can Not Take Home Any Left Over noodle Soup."
That sounds like Vietnamese English, same as the ones I encounter in Aust !
I think this policy might also have to do with Food Safety regulations, I'm not sure! When food has been touched, tampered and contaminated with on the spot (as opposed to direct Take-Away), then left at room temperature too long - they are not suppose to be taken home anymore, as within 3-4 hours, the bacteria count grows by millions :( Not sure if they have such food regulations in Toronto, but they have very strict regs in some other countries these days (perhaps unnecessarily so!)
Jason, don't go to Egg-spectation. Cora is better!
@Rita: I think it is possible to make some door handle with whisk ourselves! haha
@Pepper: You are quite right that the dishes ordered were not that exciting and rather disappointment to be honest. (Ohh thanks for your kind words on the pictures, still much to learn!)
@Carmen: Too late! I wish I knew before hand! haha ...
@Hong Kong and Macau Fine Food: Actually you may be right or at least it makes sense but let me double check on that because I never know such law existed in Toronto. (What if I order takeout right away? I am sure the temperature would drop on the way home right? hummm)
It is certainly interesting to see the different types of regulation that each country would apply or enforce on food. So many things to learn indeed.
gotta get them eggbeater door handles! so clever! and i have to agree with pepper, your photography skills make any kind of food look michelin material!
@Jin: You are just too kind to say that!! :) ... thank you! (I am still waiting for the chance to spend time with Miss Piggy from Cebu)
Oh you went to the wrong pho restaurant! Pho in Toronto IS TEN times better and tastier than what you find in HK...
You have to try Pho Mi Asia (North York) or Golden Turtle (downtown)
For Brunch, definitely try Bonjour Brioche in Leslieville... or Cora's as Eggspectations outside of Montreal isn't worth it...
@lingfromTO: I made the wrong pick obviously HAHA
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