A SURPRISE TRIP
If you ever get the chance to take one of your closest friends on a surprise trip, withholding the destination and coaxing them to come along… go do it.
Especially if it’s to a place as fun as Toronto.
And it’s now one of my favorite cities out there. Such an easy place to get around, so many things to do, surrounded by plenty of nature, and so much cultural diversity.
🏙 Loved the huge blend of cultures that merge in Toronto. Between the food, the neighborhoods, the small businesses, film festivals, and just the faces you see when you’re out, it kind of feels like you’ve got a special portal to the world.
🏙 Toronto’s a pretty big city, but nature is well integrated. From the quick escapes to the islands, the lakes and waterfalls further out in Ontario, or the impressive set of city parks, I was impressed by all the green space.
🏙 I found the city easier to get around than any comparable spot in the US. All we did in one weekend was made possible by reliable public transport and walkable spaces.
🏙 From board game cafes to coffee shops with a ton of personality, there are a lot of spaces there built for fun (a lot of fun) that I wish we had closer to home. While we’re still enamored with axe throwing over here, they’re turning the Squid Games into a VR arcade.
The plain truth: I really love Toronto. 🇨🇦
Of course I thought I would like it, otherwise I wouldn’t have planned a weekend escape there. But I wasn’t expecting to leave thinking it’s perhaps in my top 3-5 favorite cities, alongside the likes of Cape Town and Amsterdam.
But sure enough, I’m a little jealous of the people who get to visit often or call it home.
day one
First Day in Toronto:
Day one of that time I took Daniel on a trip without telling him where we were going and we wound up in Toronto.
The iconic St. Lawrence Market, the Museum of Illusions, Graffiti Alley, and Chinatown all showed up, but mostly, lots and lots of eating.
PS- ever have the peameal bacon sandwich? This thing turned out much tastier than anticipated, and well worth the $7 CAN.
The itinerary:
🏙 Food hunting at the St. Lawrence Market
🏙 Boba break at Chatime
🏙 Visiting the actual Kim’s Convenience location
🏙 The Museum of Illusions on the Eastside
🏙 Graffiti Alley
🏙 Chinatown Food Challenge
Thankful to have a friend who will put aside his preference for the familiar and hop on a plane to some mystery destination with no clue how things are going to go.
Thankful for unearthing his wedding toast where he talks about how much he loves complaining about the stupid situations I get us into, because seven years later that hasn’t changed much.
Thankful for a board game cafe that doesn’t give us too much crap for staying 20 minutes past closing, a city that makes it possible to visit almost 20 restaurants in one weekend, and a border security agent’s interview for giving us a weekend’s worth of joke fodder.
Let’s be real—visiting Kim’s Convenience was one of the big reasons I wanted to go to Toronto. I was kind of surprised, but pleased, with how well the layout of the store matched the set design. This place also really has an apartment above the store. Rumor has it that both are for sale (together), though it is also a Canadian Cultural Heritage Site, so I think it’ll be required to still be Kim’s Convenience.
Got to go start that GoFundMe now.
The Most Diverse City
This is my favorite thing about Toronto… it feels like North America’s portal to the world.
Toronto is home to over 200 different ethnic groups. Over 140 languages are spoken in the city, which includes many different international neighborhoods like Chinatown, Greektown, Little Italy, Little Poland, and Little India. Many of these neighborhoods host cultural festivals throughout the year.
It can go toe-to-toe with other cosmopolitan centers like New York, São Paolo, or Singapore, but there is a lot less separation between groups of different backgrounds and origin.
I’d have a hard time living in a place that lacks having a diversity of people and backgrounds all in one spot. The longer I go, the more I realize, this does so much to enrich my life in so many different ways.
I love how this allows you to experience so many things from different cultures, from food to film festivals… but better yet, it introduces you to new people and perspectives.
exploring the food of toronto
The most multicultural city in the world??
I heard Toronto could make a very good case for the title. Over half its population born outside of Canada. Less segregated than a similarly diverse New York. Very visible examples of multiethnic spaces.
Toronto also happens to be a fantastic food city. Put those things together and it’s basically a giant portal to try nearly any cuisine in the world. You know that had me pretty excited.
With only three full days in town I hoped to try as many different cuisines as possible… but that’s not a lot of time. With limited hours of operation and limited stomach space- I’m pretty proud of what we were able to pull off in such little time.
The Chinatown Challenge
Daniel and I competed to see who could put $30 to the best use during one night in Toronto’s Chinatown. We sought out to create the best lineup of food, snacks, drinks, and desserts we could while managing stomach space and trying to get to restaurants before they closed.
DANIEL’S EATS
Honey Garlic Cauliflower
My Roti
$5.64
Kimchi Fries
Banh Mi Boys
$8.50
Iced Latte
Lait Nite
$4.50
Steamed Pork Bun x2
Juicy Dumpling
$5.50
Cucumber Roll
To-ne Sushi
$4.20
LEFTOVER:
-$0.10
PHILIPPE’S EATS
Mango Lassi
My Roti
$5.64
Banh Mi
Banh Mi Boys
$7.50
Xiao Long Bao
Juicy Dumpling
$4.20
Spicy Salmon Roll
To-Ne Sushi
$6.16
Cereal Milk Ice Cream
Cerealbox
$6.00
LEFTOVER:
$0.16
Results are in from the Chinatown Challenge and we have a winner... me.
But the real winner? Toronto or it's Ministry of Tourism. Cause now we all know what $60 can feed us in Chinatown.
day 2
Second Day in Toronto:
🏙 Egyptian food run in the morning
🏙 Hanging out at the Toronto Harbor
🏙 Ferry ride over to the Toronto Islands
🏙 Following random trails to wherever they splintered off to
🏙 Extended journey around the subway
🏙 Nicaraguan dinner at La Bella Managua
🏙 Ethiopian coffee and a walk through Koreatown
🏙 Snakes & Lattes: Finishing off the day with one of Toronto’s great board game cafes
I think we were in Toronto for it’s fairest weekend of the year. We got the delight of an early summer when we set off for the Toronto Islands.
With another day under our belts, this only further cemented my appreciation for the city’s nature and diversity. I absolutely loved being able to see a quieter side of Toronto out where the kayaks and paddleboards kept floating freely.
I really thought the Toronto Islands would just be a big tourist trap. And they’re not not a tourist trap, I guess, but they’re also gorgeous and worth spending a day at. Especially when it’s perhaps the most ideal beach and park day Toronto might see all year.
My favorite thing about it here is that the ferry ride here starts from the tip of downtown Toronto. So one minute you’re kind of in the heart of the city, surrounded by skyscrapers, and then a short ride later, everything is very quiet and calm.
One of the things that really appealed to me about Toronto was that I would very often find out about little places to go for a simple fun time- and I would see them so frequently that my impression was that Toronto was actually chock full of places to play.
I found several board game cafes in the city. We pulled into Snakes & Lattes to discover a few new board games over drinks.
I think I was right about that. Wish these were a fixture in every city.
