Burly & the Bean

After our breakfast at George's, we headed down Fairmont again...

and made a right on Poplar where you will see this neighborhood sign.

Burly and the Bean, used to be at this corner, but since, the end of June, relocated just a block and a half away...

Dad's 76th plus my parents' garden

Earlier today we celebrated my dad's 76th birthday early...


It's really tomorrow but it was easier to gather the whole family during the weekend..

Pre-Birthday Dinner at Cafe 21 + dessert at Le Parfait Paris

Earlier this evening, Bert, TC and I went out for my pre-birthday dinner...

which was at Cafe 21 in the Gaslamp...

Meshuggah Shack

At night, this sign looks quite cool...

Astroboi and I thought we'd check what was "on the other side"...

Enjoying the pretty lavender blooms of the jacarandas...

Vintage Religion + Tomboctou return

[Update - Vintage Religion is now closed as of Summer 2014; they still have an online shop]

Before heading home, I asked Bert if we could check out this store off of University Ave and 32nd...

I see it all the time right before I head south on the freeway so it was about time to finally check it out...

The Blue Pig

We'd passed this store earlier that afternoon while looking for the Martial Arts History Museum...

The motley assortment of items on the sidewalk caught my attention so we made a mental note to check it out after seeing the museum...

Sidewalk talk @ Caffe Calabria

There's this store that's on the Northeast corner of 30th and University...they have a lot of wierd random stuff  in their windows...

Anyone want a mini Nativity set, an African head bust or a toy gorilla? They also have those ubiquitous California bear shirts  (another variation is Cali Love).

Party food in Canada

At C's aunt's house, we made our way to the backyard where the party was at...

C's cousins were super nice, greeting us and making us feel at home. One of them offered Bert a selection of Canadian beers....

Papa Luna's Empanadas

I'd been seeing the ads in City Beat for awhile now and thought it was high time to finally  go here...

Even though we have Maye's Empanadas in Bonita, this new'ish empanada place had me quite curious. I normally avoid PB like the plague. I fkg hate the parking and traffic here especially on the weekends....

Return to Hanna's Gourmet

My Ninang (godmother) was in town this past week and we had the pleasure of having lunch with her yesteray. Off we went to pick her up at my godbrother's house in La Mesa...

(heading North on the 125 towards the 54)

This unusual sight greeted us when we got off Lemon Grove Way onto High Street.

Hmmmm, I could say something nastay but I won't...

Anyhow, I wanted to take her out someplace very nice and with good food. Hanna's Gourmet fit the bill perfectly. I loved it when we took KD there for her birthday lunch a few weeks ago.

Another big reason we wanted to go here was because of the featured cuisine of the week...

Hanna's Gourmet

Today turned out to be an accidental birthday foodcrawl...

this time for the lovely KD, who comprises 1/4 of our group of the Educator GF's...

Return to Cafe 21

Sometime last week, TC and I had a night out for dinner...

Bert wasn't able to join us due to a previous commitment but we headed out nonetheless to a place I'd been meaning to revisit...

Lisa's Cottage

Just a few steps away from All Things Bright and British is this tiny antique store, Lisa's Cottage...

Some vintage toys (Mickey Mouse and a toy raccoon) caught our eye so we felt compelled to stop in and check it out...

Kensington Market

After having seen all that damn hockey memorabilia, we tried out Toronto's public transportation system. Being the spoiled Southern Californians that we were, this was like an adventure. We took  the subway which was easy enough to navigate. Our stop was Spadina Street which sounds like vagina. The guys in the booths advised us to get a bus transfer where it would later deposit us near Kensington Market, our next "sight to see"...I think it was Dundas Street or something.

By the way, that is a clown in the photo below.

While walking to Kensington Market, we passed through parts of Chinatown.  It's not hella crazy or overcrowded like in San Francisco but more spread out. Here's their gate...

Looks like we made it (sing it like Barry Manilow)...and say "Kensington" like Austin Powers says, "Miss Kensington, oh behave!"!

The Market is just steps away from the University of Toronto

(map from wikipedia, "Kensington Market")

I remember C telling me that we had to check out this place as well as St. Lawrence Market (which we eventually saw before the end of our trip). Kensington Market is several blocks of shops selling all kinds of things under the sun, plus vegetable and fruit stands, as well as tons of ethnic eateries. It's kind of overwhelming because there's a lot going on in every street. You can smell the food wafting from the food stands which is also comingled with other unsavory odors from other booths.

Here's one we should have stopped at, "Cheese Magic"...by this time, our stomachs were grumbling.

There were lots of Latin markets and booths...

I can get tacos like these anytime in Chula Vista....

World Cup Fever was all around us...(another sport I don't really follow)

More taco places...

A holy trifecta...You know, they're missing the "Buddy Jesus" from Kevin Smith's "Dogma"!

I thought this was a beautiful mural...

Saw this on our way out...

If you're wondering if we ate, yes we did, But that will be a separate post. After our progressive lunch, we headed back to our hotel which was a bit of a walk. Here's yet another Simpsons reference, this restaurant/lounge is called "Rancho Relaxo" (after the episode in which Marge contemplates cheating on Homer).

"You can't spell Relaxo without RELAX!"

Here's another cool street mural...every city that we visit, I try to take pictures of things like this. It's much more interesting that the same old touristy shit. I love photos of graffiti and murals....

Where's the food??? It's on it's way...