MiKE: Moving in.

Near the end of the trip to Niagara on Saturday the 25th, I got a call from the property managers, telling me that the out-going tenant (err, I meant she was moving out, not that she was gregarious or something) had been waiting for me at the place so as to show me her stuff and to discuss sales price of the items she had. As I was at least an hour's drive away, there was no way I could make it back that day; so, the arrangement was made for me to meet her at the apartment on Sunday, which was supposed to be the day I moved in.

Sunday, I woke up, expectant but relaxed as I was supposed to meet her only at 12, but the check out time at Canadiana was supposed to be no later than 10:30. I packed, had a leisurely breakfast of coffee and fried flour that tried to pass off as pancakes, drowned in a sugary concoction trying to pass off as maple syrup, then read Michael Apple while keeping an eye out for my luggage as practically 90% of the hostel population emptied out of the place, out on their day trips, walks around town, leaving the city for Montréal and some out of the country even. I guess, with hostels in general, and places where one does not get too mch privacy, not many would linger and spend lazy days indoors.

At 11:20 or so I called for a taxi, worried that it would cost a lot, especially since I called for a taxi. Turns out that there was no charge for calling a cab, and the flag down fare was only $3, which seemed quite fair. The trip to 710 Spadina Avenue from 42 Widmer Street was quite close - I could have walked it; it might have taken 20 minutes or so, but then, with over 80 pounds (37kg) of luggage, I was not about to risk damaging the luggage wheels and my back by trying something that foolish. What I was not prepared for, however, was that Toronto is a very nicely gridded up city, which means that every city block there will be a traffic light. That is usually red. And that the meter jumps every 170m; very much like Singapore, yes, but the increments are by quarter dollars. And one is expected to tip the driver.

So, 2.48 km and $10 later, I arrived nicely punctual at the entrance to 710 Spadina, and waited for the tenant to show up. My lease was to only begin on September 1, but she was willing to leave the place earlier so that I could move in. Went to the apartment, and she was quite eager actually to leave lots of things behind - like the queen sized mattress, the Ikea workstation, a dresser, a large shelf, a small shelf, some crockery, a drying rack, a standing lamp, and, in the freezer, 7 tubs of ice cream, which she had sampled, to put it nicely.

Apparently, she was from the PRC, and had spent the last 6 years here in Toronto, studying at the U of T, up to her Masters in Finance, and had recently started work, where she met her current boyfriend and is now moving in with him to a condominium downtown. In my mind, it seemed as if she was not in a melancholic mood about moving out of the place - thinking about it, it was hard to be sad in her situation - she's starting her career, among all industries, in finance, she's moving in with her boyfriend, and leaving behind this place which must have been quite uncomfortable compared to the new place, and definitely did not mind dumping some of the stuff. She said, at least twice, that she understood that since I was just moving into the country, that I needed extra help, so she was happy to help. Somewhat sheepishly, I thanked her, at least twice.

After lunch, I went over to Honest Ed's, wanting to get a start on setting up the apartment. Honest Ed's has a interesting history, of Edward Mirvish, who started off as poor immigrant, started a discount store, made it big, but still remained honest, selling stuff at low low prices, and giving stuff away (like one famous time when he gave away turkeys during christmas). Apparently, he had been recently honoured by the province of Ontario, and a plaque had even been laid on the sidewalk outside the store. My impressions of the place was that it looked pretty much like a thrift store in STL, the warehouse look with high ceilings and fluorescent lighting, except everything was much neater and well stocked (of course). Price wise, I felt that it approximated Mustafa's in Singapore, and interestingly enough it also resembled Mustafa's because of its sprawl across 2 buildings, connected by 2nd floor walkway, and a basement warren of store space.

Came back tired and poorer, took a bath and napped to regain my energy, and then made it to Honest Ed's again this time only to find that they were closed at 6pm...

Went back, felt strangely alone after the last week of having the 3 boys for company. Felt good, in a way, as I had my privacy back again, but on the other hand, the room was strangely quiet. Well, whatever the case was, I was too tired to think too much then, and quickly fell asleep.

Oh yes, pictures:


Google Earth screencapture. For those who are interested, I am now staying at postal code M5S 2J2 or M5S 2J3, and 42 Widmer Stret is M5V 2E9.

The washroom. I think she must have liked the green/blue scheme. The rugs have been thrown away since.

We packed our stuff into vacuum bags which we applied vacuum cleaner suction to. Good that it allowed us to bring lots of stuff, but bad cos it was too easy to overload the luggage. This is the only pack that made it all the way from Singapore, to St Louis, to Toronto. Inside there are two pairs of jeans, and about 3 shirts. I have yet to open the packaging - I'm curious how long the vacuum would last.

A collection of all the stuff that made it to the room. Actually quite amazing how little stuff I had, but how much weight it all added up to. I managed to bring 10 books across! Yayy me.

My attempt at a meal on the second day I was there. Yes, that is a bottle of Lee Kum Kee Oyster flavoured sauce near the bottom left corner of the picture. I bought it at Dominion, the local Cold Storage equivalent, but only for grocery items. Alcohol though, is only sold at very few places, like the Beer Store, which is right next door to my block.