ReNe: hanami

For the past two years, we've gone to view the cherry blossoms at High Park. This year was no exception. The sakuras were late this year; for the past two years, they bloomed in late April. It was much easier this time to go down since we've a car, and we've been going down every day for the past three days! On Thursday, they were partially opened and today, they were mostly open. We'd probably go down again on Monday when they're completely open. 

Somei-Yoshino sakura.

Ryan had a lot of fun too. The sakura trees, which were donated by the Japanese government to Toronto in 1959, lines a paved walkway that leads down to Grenadier Pond. There are also more trees on the large grassy patch beside the walkway. Ryan throughly enjoyed himself wandering around, mostly downhill, though he did go off along the beaten dirt paths too. Unfortunately he discovered that going downhill will bring him to the pond, where there's much water and mud and therefore fun to be had! 

He picked up pinecones and twigs and stones, prodded at the acorn caps that had fallen everywhere and dropped odd stuff that he picked up in the cracks of the sakura trees. 

Walking around, gaze focused downwards for the interesting stuff. He wasn't too interested in the sakuras. 

ReNe: wasting my time

I absolutely hate the laundry machines here. I can't count the number of times I've gone down and the machine had simply turned itself off, or hung (displays an 'OFF' error) and I have to reload the machine again. With my eczema, I hate dealing with wet soapy laundry and I hate wasting my time; I had planned to leave right after I'm done with the laundry.What if I was rushing for something important?

When I saw the 'OFF' sign again, I slammed the lid and yelled 'FUCK'. Next to me, Ryan echoed, "fwuck!"

Right now the management is painting the building and corridor walls. Why? I look around and the paint looks fine to me. I would much rather they spend the money, and the rent increase, on things that really matter like LAUNDRY MACHINES THAT WORK. Painting probably cost thousands. You can replace all of the washing machines with the money spent on painting.

The rant about how lousy they are, even when they don't turn off, how much lint they leave behind, is another subject all together. ONE wash and ONE rinse cycle. Is that sufficient?! Our linens are getting dingier and dingier. I've had bedsheets that I've wanted to throw because they're linty and oily-looking. I've tried washing and re-washing, adding dish detergent to cut the oil, peroxide, vinegar, everything. Then I brought them to Singapore to use one last time before ditching -- and then they come out as good as new.

I used to love doing laundry, until I came here. Now it's becoming a chore.

Now off to pick up the laundry.

ReNe: easter monday

Some fun at Christie Pits park on Easter Monday. We initially had just planned to walk down to PAT for groceries, but as Ryan was asleep and the weather was fantastic (23C!), we bought a bit of snacks from PAT and went over the park instead.

Of course Mike whipped out his camera. I think I looked rather nice here.

Then Ryan woke up. Here he looks like he's standing by himself -- not really. He stood unassisted for just a few seconds, long enough for Mike to take a shot. And no, Ryan was not offering me a drink. He likes water bottles; he'd shake them and be very amused.

Some fun on the merry-go-round. This girl of about six or seven was pushing the structure round and round. I was amazed that not only was she not tired, she was also not dizzy. After many revolutions, I was pretty giddy but she kept on and on and on.

Ryan held on very well. He wasn't crying but he didn't seem terribly excited as well. I think he was just concentrating hard on holding on!

And some fun on the swings. Just last Saturday (two days prior), I placed him on a baby swing at Kensington Park and he was quite frightened. (The last time he was in such a swing was in fall, when he was about five months old. I'm sure he had forgotten.) He was not comforted even when I sat with him in a regular swing. So we're pleased to see him enjoying himself here. He's not squealing with delight but at least he's smiling.

This is an interesting swing. I'm quite sure it's for the disabled; the tan plastic harness comes down and clips in place to hold one in securely. We found it quite comfortable.

ReNe: easter sunday

The weather this Easter long weekend was fantastically sunny, with temperatures going as high as 22, 23C during the day. That's warmer than the average at this time of the year, apparently, with a warmer than average spring and summer on the cards as well. Also, because of the great weather, it was reported in the news that there were hordes of people going (or wanting to go) to the Toronto islands and at least a fight broke out. The voyeur in us missed that.

Last Sunday, we walked down to the Harborfront. We like going to the Harborfront, which is a little odd. It's a longish walk down (at least 40mins), and dusty and polluted at parts, and there isn't much to do once we're there except sit there and look out at the lake. Sometimes there are events or festivals, but then the Harborfront becomes uncomfortably crowded. Certainly we do not go there for the food; there are cheaper places elsewhere. (Bleh. The food court was closed when we got there so we bought takeaway salad from Sobeys, which was grossly salty.)

However, it is a very nice view from the boardwalk beside the Lake Ontario. And the breeze is bracing. (Actually, the wind's always effing cold year round, except at summer where it's merely refreshing.)

Perhaps that's enough.

Ryan doing his finger pointing thing he likes these days. And that Sith-like robe he's wearing is my sweater. It was a lot colder by the waterside that we had expected.

ReNe: ice skates?

Toying with the idea of buying ice skates...

I know how to skate, a little, both on land and ice, though the last time I've been on skates of any kind was in Singapore. I've always thought that while living in the Great White North, I'd have plenty of opportunities for winter sports -- I had planned to skate, to learn to ski...

I have done nothing. The first winter, I was too busy settling into my new job and simply settling into Toronto. Second winter, I was pregnant.

Augh. But we just bought a new microwave yesterday cuz our previous microwave died, and the new oven costs more than I hoped it would have cost.

ReNe: santa claus parade

Took a quick look at the Santa Claus parade today. Though we arrived late, we were just in time to catch the last few floats and the finale, the Santa Claus float. It's just as well; Ryan's too lightly dressed to stay outside (his stroller) for long. (His stroller has a sleeping bag-like thing that keeps him quite warm.)

ReNe: berry cool

Summer so far has been quite cool. For example, today's maximum temperature is 22C (minimum 17C), tomorrow 23C. I remember summer last year to be sweltering; of course it cannot compare to Singapore's climate, but it got relatively sweltering for Toronto. So much so that this year we decided we won't make the same mistake as last year and we bought a window air-conditioner unit.

And of course this year, summer turns out to be pretty mild. It's already the end of July and temperatures outside still feels like that of an air-conditioned room.

On another note, I find myself developing a taste for berries. Back in Singapore, I'd only ever tried (fresh) strawberries (berry jams don't count) and I wasn't impressed at all. They were usually overpriced and sour. I was convinced though that if I could try them when they're really fresh, they'd be sweet. Not so; strawberries fresh from the vine at Cameron Highlands, and in Aomori in Japan, didn't taste much better. Less sour and they smelled great, but they were not sweet.

So I had given up, thinking strawberries are meant to be somewhat tart. Then this summer, craving fresh fruits, I started buying berries (not only strawberries but blueberries and raspberries as well) and they were actually sweet! I was quite astonished. They also freeze well and taste even sweeter when frozen. And they can be quite cheap; the other day I bought 3 pints of strawberries for $2. At the start of summer, a pint was going for $2.

ReNe: blackout

We had a minor blackout two nights ago, which lasted approximately three hours.

On one hand, it was a little shocking because this is the first blackout we've ever experienced. Even in Singapore, where blackouts, though rare, do occur, we had never actually experienced a blackout. What usually happened was that the power in our flat tripped and it was a simple matter of resetting the breaker. Blackouts do occur occasionally in Toronto, usually during the hottest and coldest times of the year. The last blackout that was reported in the newspaper occurred sometime in January, when the temperature fell below -20C that night.

On the other hand, it was very fortunate that this was a pretty minor blackout (hardly worth a mention in the newspaper), though it was inconvenient. Looking out, we realized that it was just a block-wide blackout; the buildings on the south side of our street still had power. The temperature that night was quite mild, around zero, so we weren't danger of freezing yet. We were going to bathe (now that would have been a disaster; no hot water while bathing in winter?!), but as usual we were procrastinating. Also luckily, there was half an hour till the Athletic Centre (less than five minutes from our apartment) closed so we hurried down for a quick shower. Later back at home, with the power still out, we had nothing to do but go to sleep early for a change.

Thinking back, we realized that we didn't even know where to go if there really was a serious blackout and the temperature outside was more extreme. That is rather pathetic.

ReNe: summer lethargy

Mike and I have been at a loss to explain our extreme lethargy in summer.

All over Toronto, there are events happening every weekend, sometimes these events was not even restricted to the weekends (such as the recent jazz festivals). Weather is warm and balmy, and the locals are all out in skimpy clothing to catch as much sun as possible. Every weekend, we look up current festivals or plan out some cycling route... and nothing much happens. Sometimes we do go out, and then we're spent for the remaining weekend.

Mike's theory is that summer in Toronto is TOO much like Singapore, where we were used to just lazing about on weekends. I agree; the other seasons, especially winter, are novel and it was exciting to see the city during a different climate-scape. For example, seeing the Beaches (a sandy stretch along Toronto's eastern waterfront that really looks like a beach) under a layer of thick snow and in biting wind was new and fun; seeing the Beaches in sunny weather was hardly exciting. Plus, I don't think it can compare to beaches in Malaysia or Thailand...

The other big reason is the sun. It's not really that hot, temperature-wise, but is damn sunny. Many of the locals here love the sun, but when I look out at the blazing sun and bright blue skies, I feel like hiding indoors. A conditioned response, probably. Cloud cover tends to be less than in Singapore, and there are no raintrees or angsanas with huge canopies to provide shade; i.e. one can get very burnt walking around outdoors. Understandably, the vegetation here is nowhere as lush as in the tropics, not when the plants all have to start from 'ground zero' every spring.

ReNe: blackout 5th anniversary

August 14 (Thursday) was the fifth anniversary of the great blackout that affected much of the eastern seaboard of North America in 2003. I read about that a while back, but I didn't think people would commemorate the anniversary of such an event... The purpose of the anniversary was to remember that time when, without electricity to power anti-social devices like televisions, people were forced to go out and interact.

I found it interesting that the blackout took place during summer; I had read that the highest power consumption (in cities around the eastern coast of North America at least) occurs around summer, meaning that more power is spent in cooling than heating. Well, ok, it's not so surprising because cooling is less efficient than heating, but it is interesting nonetheless. I wonder what the power consumption is like for cities in the tropics...

Thus, there was some stuff happening, organized by 'Streets are for People'. And luckily for us, it was just past our block so when we heard some banging and other noise-makers around nine, we took a walk down to have a look.

The first thing we saw was the mass of people and bicycles blocking up the junction of Bloor and Spadina (the 'Critical Mass Bike Ride'). The Mickey Mouse in the center of that mass was on a soapbox, but as he didn't have any amplification devices, we couldn't quite make out what he was saying. I suppose it's the usual issues about why more people should cycle not drive, and how cyclists' lives are cheap. There was a lot of noise -- drums, trumpets and noisemakers. They even had some portable potted plants; I'm not sure if those plants were there as an environmental message prop or for barricading purposes.



After a while, the group dispersed (finally allowing traffic through), and moved down Spadina with a lot of noise. Meanwhile, at the southeast corner of that junction, some one (or some ones) had set up a rave. It was supposed to be the 'Silent Street Rave' but it was hardly silent. With a couple of big speakers bungee-corded to warehouse trolleys, a macbook pro and a small colored strobe light, the street corner became an instant rave party.

ReNe: long weekend!

I'm pretty excited -- this weekend promises to be fun. Firstly, it's a long weekend because Tuesday is Canada Day (and many people in the office do not plan to be around on Monday). Also, it's the culmination of the Jazz Festival and Pride Week.

Since last Friday, we've been going down to Nathan Phillips Square after work for the free jazz concerts (apparently the only free concerts are held at NP Sq), and it was pretty nice. We'd buy some buns from a Chinatown bakery and listen to the jazz and talk. The music's very decent and the entire atmosphere is very relaxed and festive, and the fact that it's all free is a huge plus.



We haven't gone to any of the Pride Week events yet but we do plan to go watch the Pride Parade this Sunday. If we have time, maybe the Dkye March as well on Saturday. Me, I'm hugely, hugely impressed with the support such an event has, including official support from the city. I can't see such a parade happening in Singapore, much less ten days of activities -- just look at the ban on the 'non-pink picnic' at the Singapore Botanical Gardens last year. It was apparently an official ban by the park and all I can say is, WTF?! It's just a picnic, not an orgy. But people turned up anyway (for the non-pink picnic) and I say good for them.

When I asked during lunch at work, tongue-in-cheek, if there would be an military parade or fly-past on Canada Day, my colleagues were incredulous. Eyeballs rolled, as if it was such an archaic and militant notion. "Oh, pul-leaze." I find their reaction very interesting.

ReNe: summer solstice

Today is the longest day of the year -- the summer solstice. In Toronto, today, the sun rose at 5:36am and will set tonight at 9:03 am, resulting in 15 hours and 26 mins (and 46seconds) of daylight.

(I'm not sure what counts exactly as 'sunset' because I've noticed that even as late as 9:30pm, there's still quite a fair bit of light in the sky. This far up north, as compared to the tropics, it takes the sun a long time to set.)

Toronto is very lively in the summer. Last week we went to the Luminato festival, and upcoming festivals we hope to catch include Pride Week and a Toronto Jazz Festival.

The nice thing with the long hours is that we get plenty of time to do stuff and enjoy all these festivals. Last Saturday, we lazed around until we finally hauled our ass out of the door at 2pm. We cycled down to Mill Street to catch a food fair, one of the many events held as part of the Luminato festival. The food was a bit pricey and disappointing, but the Distillery district had gorgeous architecture and some funky shops. We then cycled down to St Lawrence Market to pick up a sandwich before catching the ferry to the Toronto Islands, where the Cycle Messenger World Championships (CMWC) was taking place. It was fun to gawk at the cyclists zooming past with odd-sized FedEx boxes stuffed in their messenger bags, and the race-hub/meeting point felt more like a rock concert than a race administration area. Cyclists and friends lounged on the grass, lean and tanned, often tattooed and pierced, as a live band played on. The atmosphere was competitive but in a rough and fun way -- we cycled past a checkpoint for the racers, where a big sign hung, "Park here, stupid!" By then, it was past five and the sun and our mood was still high, so we hopped over to the Waterfront, where many of the Luminato events were held as well (the events were spread out over the Waterfront and Distillery districts). We caught a free film (Whale Rider) and it was great. When we emerged from the theater at 8:10pm, the sky was still bright. We wandered around, listened to yet more live music (everywhere we went, it seems there was a stage set up and some band playing) and though about hanging around to catch some fire performance, but we were rather tired by then so we headed back. Later that night, I found out that the World Naked Bike Ride also took place that day; we were quite disappointed to have missed it.

ReNe: rented or owned, it's still your home

Adding to Mike's comments about doing up our new place...

As rentals go, this is quite different from the rentals we've stayed in so far. Usually, tenants are discouraged from doing any sort of permanent work to the room, but looking at this place, it's obvious that more than one tenant had felt free to make changes. In addition to the previous colored walls and artwork painted directly onto the walls, there are a couple of CD holders drilled into the wall under the bed loft, and a folding table by the main door, which incidentally was installed badly. Right now, we're scratching our heads over what to do with it -- re-install or not? If not, what do we do about the holes? Patch up and paint over, or find some wall scroll to cover, and then shove a table or bookshelf against it?

I'm amazed at the artwork on the walls. I think the tall 'painting' on the stairs was done by a fairly recent tenant (I found leftover skirting board in the closet, which was obviously used to create the frame), and looking around the apartment, it just seems to exudes bohemian vibes. I don't think the last tenant was the one who painted the wall artworks because he's apparently in the computer industry, but the reason he left was to go on a long, long tour around the world. A good omen, I'd say.

And, there are the hooks. There are hooks everywhere, of all sorts. There are three generously sized hooks over the main door (we've no idea what for), singular little screws here and there (I suspect for hanging artwork, because they're at eye-level), and at least five hooks in the ceiling, and a couple more under the loft.

On one hand, we're really glad to be able to customize our living space. Having owned apartments in Singapore, we've gotten used to the luxury of being able to do anything we want without having to 'seek permission'. The past two rentals I've stayed in the past year felt extremely temporary, like hostel rooms and not like a home, so I'm really looking forward to moving to this new place.

On the other hand, we're also wary of spending too much, as this is just a rental after all. There are still many things we wish to change (leaky faucets, a fridge so old it's not frost-free), but these fall under the responsibility of the building owner.

However, there are renters who would spend a lot of their own money on permanent improvements to the rental -- I'm talking hundreds, even thousands, spent on built-in cabinetry, appliances, landscaping in the garden, and so on. Their reasoning is that if they're planning to spend years in that apartment, they wouldn't mind paying to improve their living space. Also, for some, whether it's a restriction due to limited finances or a conscious choice, they would be living in rentals all their lives. Does this mean they will never live in a beautiful home? Somebody said it aptly: rented or owned, it's still your home.

That's a really interesting way of looking at it. At the other end of the spectrum, there are renters who have literally spent years living out of suitcases and boxes, always moving, never settling.

Personally, I think that if the rent is cheap enough, you could justify channeling the 'savings' towards doing up your pad. I would spend a bit, but certainly not thousands. Plus, there are ways to make-do or decorate without spending a lot of money.

More later. We've been remiss in updating because we're fricking tired. And I still had to go to work after spending the weekend painting...

ReNe: free stuff is seductive

On my way to work today, as I was waiting at the junction of St George and College streets, a guy from Starbucks offered me a free sandwich sample from a tray.

Now, companies do, from time to time, offer freebies. However, I highly suspect that this morning's freebie was in some way connected to the Tim Horton's incident last week, where an employee in a London, Ontario branch was fired for giving away a timbit (a small piece of doughnut, from the hole in a regular doughnut, costing 16 cents). She was quickly rehired within hours, but not before the incident had erupted into a PR nightmare for TH. Yesterday, the Globe and Mail did an article on the case for free, or why giving out free stuff is good for PR and customer loyalty. Many companies, including Starbucks, were quick to comment that they do allow their employees to give out the occasional freebie. Of course, coffee and snacks at Starbucks are significantly more expensive than at Tim Hortons, so the 'free sample' costs has already been worked in...

Still, though the small bit of sandwich was just so-so, it made my morning. Free stuff does that to people, even when people do know that the price of the freebie is next to nothing. It's a curious phenomenon, isn't it?

I think people have this quick internal calculator that dynamically rates the quality of the food (or drink) to the price paid for it, or at least I do. If I paid a dollar for a muffin, say, I'm expecting a certain quality of muffin. If I had paid three dollars for it, it had better be a damn fantastic muffin and very often I would be disappointed. But if I paid 50 cents for it, I would probably be satisfied with even a mediocre muffin, and if it's free...

It's not just free food giveaways. People love free stuff. Buy X and get Y free. Never mind if you actually don't need Y, it's free, isn't it? Free stuff is seductive.

When Japanese department stores first set up shop in Singapore a couple of decades back (I think Isetan was the first? Or was it Yaohan?), just like the parent stores back in Japan, these department stores started giving out free food samples in the basement supermarket. I was so impressed as a kid, but then, over the years, they stopped giving out free samples, or reduced it to a really tiny piece, barely enough for you to get a taste of the product. I thought either operating costs went up or the management has gotten more penny-pinching. Or maybe, free samples just seem much more significant and bigger when you're a kid. Most likely, I concluded later, Singaporeans must have abused this free food sampling system, something I'm not surprised by. Why do I say this?

When I visited Japan as an adult, the department stores there were giving out free food samples. And it wasn't just a tiny, barely there sample; it was a generous portion, one that I felt almost embarrassed to accept because I then felt obliged to buy their product. And it wasn't only one or two little tables in the supermarket that were giving out free stuff; there were rows of tables in the supermarket handing out free samples. Outside the supermarket area, there would be other little outlets selling everything from cooked food to packaged snacks to specialty foods, and samples galore. All over, from glitzy Tokyo mega-malls to old-fashioned stores in Tohoku to quiet departmental stores in Hokkaido to tourist souvenir shops, they were giving out free stuff.

And I stood there, stuffing my face and planning my second trip round the supermarket, thinking, "This was what I remembered as a kid. No, this is even better! Much better! Bloody Singaporeans, why couldn't they have been more gracious and not abused the freebie system such that now we hardly get free samples anymore?"

Now, I know that the cost of the free stuff has already been 'worked in', and stuff in Japan is very pricey, and I did get some odd stuff that I never used, but still, I went around Japan with a huge smile and happy feeling.

Free stuff is seductive.

ReNe: a new pan

A mundane post today because I'm quite tired at the moment. We bought a new saucepan today.

As always, easier said than done. We've been toying with the idea of getting a new one for a while as the current pan is slightly too shallow, but recently, the number of scratches has increased almost exponentially and the base is permanently stained now. Suddenly, there was a sense of urgency. And since we're buying a new pan, we don't want another teflon-coated pan, so probably a stainless steel pan. Mike wanted a cast-iron pan but I flatly refused because those things weigh a ton.

We had a look at some of the pans at Sears but while there were a couple of nice pans on offer, they were still really expensive, around $75-80. In the end, we went down to Ikea today after work, where we got a reasonable stainless steel pan for $30.

We both commented on something odd while waiting for the shuttle bus at Ikea, something we noticed the last times we were at Ikea as well -- it really feels like we're in a different country. Of course we are in a place foreign to us, but why should the strangeness strike us so starkly at that point in time, at Ikea? We were hard-pressed to explain. Perhaps it's Ikea itself -- the layout is almost the same as that of the Ikea store in Singapore, down to the location of the restaurant and kids area, but unlike the one in Singapore, this is more spacious and much, much less crowded. Even the food, and cutlery and tray and all, served at the restaurant are mostly the same, and yet there is no fighting for tables, no maître d' with a headset directing customers; in fact, the restaurant was less than a third full and it was around dinner time. Perhaps this strange juxtaposition of the familiar and strange created a sense that something was 'off', and that something is that we're in a foreign land.

So we eventually got ourselves a nifty new saucepan, and we're pretty pleased. This means no more unintended consumption of plastic (teflon).

MiKE: Spoke too soon.

Looks like I spoke too soon. Soon after she saw my post, she insisted on snapping one too. So, this is how I look now.

MiKE: She looks like this now.

For some of you who have probably been wondering, this is how she looks, post hair cut. Part of the privileges of being the guy behind the camera is that I don't get to be in front of it. :)

ReNe: apartment search

For the past few months, we knew that we would be moving out of our current room once the lease is up, and we were quite eagerly anticipating it. There's (always) something just not quite perfect with the current room and so, the promise of a better apartment beckons.

The reality, however, is not so rosy.

Our lease runs out end May and we've been looking at a few places. I guess, irritatingly, we cannot find all that we wanted. Again that cliché holds true: cheap, good (furnishings) and convenient (location) -- choose any two.

What follows is a rambling monologue of our search attempts.

1/ We first tried a house near downtown Toronto. It was central and priced reasonably, but it was creakingly old. Nah.

2/ Next, we checked out a couple of properties along Spadina Road, a few blocks north of where we're staying. The rentals there are a bit cheaper, and the area looks quiet. However, we looked at two buildings (70 and 66 Spadina) and they were cheap, just not in the monetary sense. The buildings were quite run-down, though we thought we could live with that. However, what decided it for us was the online reviews, which unanimously said those places sucked.

3/ Then we tried the building immediately to our south (666 Spadina). It was perfect, it had everything we wanted and a bit more... except for the price. That was also a bit more than what we felt comfortable paying.

4/ Last week, a seemingly golden opportunity came up. One of our biggest grouses with our north-facing unit is that it faces a tall office block; we felt like we were in a fish-tank. That particular building is made up of four office floors, which are right in our face, and a narrower residential block. Then our property manager told us that a south-facing unit on the 5th floor in our building was available. It was slightly more expensive but still reasonable, overlooks the low building south of this apartment and it had been fully renovated. In fact, it looked really good. It was perfect and very convenient for us, and we told the manager that we would like it, only without the furnishings (which cost $400 more each month!)... then the building owner changed her mind, saying that she wanted to keep that unit furnished. It was a perfectly reasonable business decision on her part, but we were quite pissed nonetheless.

5/ The next day, our property manager told us of another unit in our current building that should be available come July, a north-facing 7th floor unit. We went up, took a look and were not so impressed this time round. That unit still faced the tall building, though now it only faces the residential block, which is further away. Somewhat acceptable. However, while the toilet is renovated (ours isn't), the kitchen sucks (ours is renovated). Overall, not a big improvement over our current unit. We filed it away as a last resort.

By this time, we were getting a little stressed and frustrated. Trouble is, our current location (a part of town called the Annex) is hugely popular and quite expensive. It's fairly close to downtown, Chinatown and Koreatown. Bloor Street is akin to Holland Village in Singapore, only longer and with more shops; it's extremely bustling and I love shopping there.

The end of month looms and our search intensity went up a notch. We thought we shouldn't discount places that are a little further away; for example, east of Yonge, there are some cheap places that are about equidistant to downtown. We walked down last weekend, and while the place is all right, fairly quiet, there aren't as many amenities (grocers, etc.). We tried to muster enthusiasm but the thought of traveling halfway across town to use the gym (our gym is just one block down from our current apartment) or having to move our stuff just depressed us. Online reviews were generally bad, and most people tell us that those areas are rather unsavory.

We were seriously considering just moving to that 7th floor unit.

Today, I called another property I saw on Craigslist -- a house; location looks good and rent is cheap, so we'd go down tomorrow to view. Mike called the office-cum-residential block that faces us (720 Spadina), and amazingly, they had a unit available. We just went to take a look and Mike loved it. Me, the only problem I have with it is the carpeting because I would much rather have a hardwood floor. We're also apprehensive about the negative online reviews, which include a roach problem. Well, we'll take a look at that house tomorrow and then decide between the two. The end of the month is coming up and we will have to inform the property manager soon of our intention to move.

By this time tomorrow, we should have decided either way.

And then we only have to move.

ReNe: haircuts

Today was relaxed and quiet. Woke up late, had a late breakfast and then a late lunch, went for a haircut and then a cycle (yeah, I bought a bike a while back, more about that in another post).

How boring is that?

The haircut was vaguely significant I guess. It's our first haircut in Toronto, both mine and Mike's. We had a 'last haircut' late July last year, just before we left Singapore, thinking we want to try growing our hair long. Since long hair on males is terribly frowned upon in Singapore. Since then, his hair grew a disappointing 3-5 inches, and he didn't look all that good with long hair.


In contrast, mine grew and grew. I had a trim in St Louis last November, when I couldn't take it anymore, and it was all right for a while. My hair eventually reached just below my shoulder blades. Then about last week, I got irritated with it again, because my hair is not just long, it's thick and a little dry. There would be hair everywhere -- "I am on your floor, messing it up; I am in your drain, clogging it up" and hair would get caught when I turn over at night. Have I said it started to feel really thick and heavy?

We were starting to look like hippies.

You know that odd phenomenon where, all of a sudden, you feel this intense urge to lop everything off? Hair that is. And you make plans to go to the salon the next day, first thing after finishing breakfast. But when next day arrives, you start to drag your feet a little. You think, wow, it's a major decision... it's a lot of hair. You measure it, with a free IKEA paper tape measure, and it's about ten inches from the shoulder. That's ...a lot of hair. You lift up the mass in your hands, admire the glossy tail in the mirror...

But eventually, we cut it, in a salon in K-town (we figured that a Korean salon would know better how to handle Asian hair, and would also be cheaper). Mike's hairdresser was a silent guy, cute in a full-lipped and heavy-banged way. Mine was like a Japanese photo-sticker machine, the kind that goes "NEOPRINT!" Loud, pink and genki.

The salon was on the second floor, and as we made our way up the stairs, she leaned out of the door jam, saw us and beamed.

"HELLO!"

The oh's reverberated through the stairwell.

I created quite a sizable mess on the floor. Overall, the haircuts were ok. Not terribly stylish but then they were also very cheap ($40 for the two of us). Sorry, no pictures of our new haircuts today.

ReNe: transport strike

We didn't notice it at first because there were cleaning works going on in the garage downstairs (right under our window on a Saturday morning!), but the streetcars were not running.

It turned out that the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) went on strike last night, Saturday 12am. A bit of background here: The union has been in a legal strike position since April 1 but had promised 48 hours' notice of a service withdrawal. Last Monday, the TTC were supposed to go on strike but a last minute deal was reached between the union and the provincial government, and services ran as normal on Monday. Therefore, this was a rather dramatic surprise. There was no advance notice; the talks broke down around 10pm last night when the last vote was cast and the only warning was a public service announcement at 11:30pm before the strike started at midnight. Commuters were literally left high and dry, as normal services usually ran till 2am. News of the strike were all over the local newspapers, of course.

We were not too affected as we don't usually take public transport. We thought it'd be quiet because of the lack of clanking and rattling, but the very noisy cleaning works downstairs continued for the better part of the day.

To be frank, we were a little excited and bemused because strikes don't happen in Singapore. A lot of things don't happen in Singapore -- natural disasters, seasons, strikes -- so one tends to build up an overly high expectation. The actual event is generally a lot less dramatic. Of course the fact that we were not affected helps keeps this experience exciting and not irritating. Will a deal be reached by Monday morning? Do we want to see the strike extended into next week? To be really, really honest?

*sniggers*

Well, tongue-in-cheek of course. There are a lot of people badly affected by the strike and those are the people who can least afford it.

Nothing like a little bit of drama to go with your morning news.