I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this already but the whole reason for my Canada trip is to spend some time with Juli. A little bit of a background story, we’ve actually been friends since the 7th grade and apart from the first two years we spent together, the rest for our friendship has always been long distance. We did the Jakarta and Australia long distance when I moved to the land down under for high school. And after she moved to Toronto, we’ve been doing the Toronto and wherever-I-currently-am long distance since. During this more than two decades of friendship, apart from quick meet ups when she’s visiting Jakarta, we only have taken three trips together. One time during college when she visited me in San Francisco, one time after we graduated college when I visited her in Toronto, and the most recent one was when we went to Disneyworld in Orlando (technically, the first two trips weren’t even trips where we both went somewhere together, but we did spend time in the same place so you get what I mean).

So this year, since it’s been a while since my last visit to Toronto and we missed each other last year (I was in the US when she was visiting Jakarta), I thought it’d be fun to pay her a visit and see what her life looks like these days since she told me that her job is now not as crazy busy as the previous ones that she had.

We decided that I’d come for a three-week visit. That way she doesn’t have to take any time off work while we’d still have plenty of time to do catch ups and sightseeing during her free time. That also means that during the weekdays, our first half of the day was usually spent at home with both of us working. And since we both don’t really cook (she sometimes does and I don’t), we did a lot of Uber Eats orders for our meals. All of that is just me trying to say that you’re probably going to see a couple of Uber Eats orders on some of my blog posts. Anyways…

Quintessential Canadian Breakfast

I started the day with one of the most quintessential Canadian thing out there, Tim Hortons which according to Google is the equivalent of Dunkin’ Donuts in the US. I ordered the Bagel B.E.L.T (CA$5.39) since I’m craving bacon and Juli said their bagel is pretty good. I also ordered the Farmer’s Breakfast Wrap (CA$5.39) and the decaf French Vanilla (CA$3.29) per Juli’s recommendation since those are two of her favorite breakfast menus from Tim Hortons. And after trying them, I get why she likes them because they are pretty delicious. I liked all of them, even the decaf French Vanilla (a little too sweet for my personal preference, but it’s still good) which surprisingly sat well with my non-coffee-drinking stomach.

Greysuitcase Travel Series - Canada Fall ‘24 - Ep. 04 - Tim Hortons, Toronto, ON, Canada.

Sushi Delivery

We spent the day at home because I had some stuff I needed to work on. And so for dinner we decided to get some sushi from one of Juli’s favorite sushi place, the R Sushi.

We ordered the Salmon Ikura Don (CA$25.95) that’s served with Miso soup and the Cherry Blossom Roll (CA$15.95) which basically a salmon avocado roll topped with tuna. The sashimi and Ikura were pretty fresh, the rice was good, and the portion was pretty fulfilling. A solid 8/10 from me. Also, we actually ordered quite a number of times from this place since Juli really likes sushi and sashimi and I do too.

First Time Riding Toronto’s Subway

The next day, after having a slow lazy Saturday morning at home, we finally left the house around 1 pm. Me, Juli and Tom took the subway and headed to Downtown Toronto to do some sightseeing. This was my first time riding Toronto’s subway since last time I was here, me and Juli pretty much just walked around the city since she lived in downtown.

The fare for adult is CA$3.30 if paid with debit/credit card (CA$3.35 if you pay-as-you-go) and kids ages 0-12 ride for free. Apple Pay also works for paying the fare so it’s super convenient. I have to say that the station and the subway cars (at least the ones we were in) were definitely cleaner than New York’s subway. Inside the subway car wasn’t too quiet either. Unlike Japan or Korea’s subways that are usually pretty quiet and silent, here people talk among themselves in a moderate voice level.

Greysuitcase Travel Series - Canada Fall ‘24 - Ep. 04 - Toronto Subway, Toronto, ON, Canada.

Strangers Asking for a Photo

We got off at Union Station and started our exploration in downtown Toronto. The first interesting building that we passed by was the Fairmont Royal York, a landmark Toronto hotel. The historic luxury hotel was opened in June 1929 and its tall Châteauesque-styled structure is certainly a head turner for people who walk by the building, including me.

Greysuitcase Travel Series - Canada Fall ‘24 - Ep. 04 - Fairmont Royal York, Toronto, ON, Canada.

I stopped to take some shots of the building and suddenly a group of three teenage boys approached me. One of them asked me if i can take a picture of them. Strangers walking up to me asking me to take their pictures is nothing new to me and has happened multiple times during my travels. Even so, every time it happened, it never ceases to confuse me on why you would want a stranger—who you probably will never see again—to take your pictures. Nevertheless, when I feel like it, i usually oblige to their request just to see what will happen. this time, the conversation went something like this:

“Excuse me, can you take a picture of us?”

I looked away from my camera and found the boy who asked me the question standing not too far from me with his two friends behind him. A little surprised and confused at the ask I replied with, “Why?”

The boy just shrugged. “Just because.”

Well, the answer was simple and innocent enough so I said, “Sure.”

He then called over his friends and i told them to stand in front of me with the Fairmont Royal York building in the background and took a couple of shots. After i finished with my shots and told them I’m done, they thanked me and starting to walk away. I quickly asked them if they want to give me their email or something so I can send over the pictures to them. One of them said sure so I handed over my phone to them so they can type out their email address.

“You guys from around here?” I asked while the boy was typing.

“No, we’re from up north.” he replied before handing me back my phone. The reply made their request make more sense now. Fellow tourists asking for a photo isn’t that weird. Although what’s weird is that they didn’t ask me to take one with one of their phones.

“Cool.” I said checking the email address he wrote before slipping my phone back to my pocket. “I’ll send over the photos.”

“Thanks!” he said and the three boys gave me slight nods and waved before walking away.

And that’s my the first another random encounter with strangers on this trip. Went pretty normal I’d say. If you were me, would you take their pictures?

Greysuitcase Travel Series - Canada Fall ‘24 - Ep. 04 - Financial District Downtown Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.

Touristy Things

After that encounter, we arrived at the first spot Juli wanted to take me to, the Berczy Park. The park is pretty nice. Not too big, not too small, and not too crowded. There were a lot of dog-owners roaming around the area since it’s a dog park. There were also people who are sitting around on the benches and picnic tables around the park. It’s a pretty nice place to people and dog watch I’d say, especially when the weather is nice like today (it was 21°C when we were there so the weather was perfect).

Greysuitcase Toronto Series: Berczy Park, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

We then stopped by at the Gooderham Building, another one of Toronto’s landmark that is dubbed as Toronto’s version of the Flatiron building. It’s smaller in size and even though it looks like a dupe of the NYC’s Flatiron Building, interestingly this building was actually build first. Photographing the building can be a little bit challenging since you have to take the shot from the other side. Even more challenging if you yourself want to be in the shot. But it’s doable. And if you get it from certain angle, you can also get the CN Tower in the background.

Greysuitcase Toronto Series: Gooderham Flatiron Building, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

After a short 3-minute walk from the Gooderham Building, we arrived at St. Lawrence Market. The market kind of reminded me of Granville Island Public Market in Vancouver. Similar vibes, but I feel like maybe the space here is a bit more spacious. There are lots of food vendors inside the building and a great place to grab a bite if you want a lot of options to choose from.

Greysuitcase Toronto Series: St. Lawrence Market, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

I wasn’t really hungry when we were there and there was nothing in particular that I was dying to try so I just did some sightseeing and didn’t buy anything. Juli was hungry so she bought Buster’s Sea Cove East Coast Lobster Roll and she offered me to try some of it (read my review here).

The Well

It was cloudy and drizzling a little when we made our way to The Well, one of Toronto’s newest and biggest development. The place was just opened last year in November and Juli wanted to take me here since she thought I would like the architecture of the building. And she was right. The giant complex do have a very impressive architecture and I had a lot of fun shooting around the place (you can see more photos here).

Apart from showing me the cool shopping complex, one of the main reason why Juli wanted to come here was to pick up the two Labubus she bought from Facebook Marketplace from Mr. Surprise, a designer toy store on the upper ground of The Well. The seller has dropped off the items she bought at the store and she needed to pick them up. The whole Drop-Off/Pick-Up Service the store provided is pretty cool actually and definitely makes it easier for people to buy and trade stuff through the store (read more about it here).

Greysuitcase Toronto Series: Mr. Surprise at The Well, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

We didn’t go into a lot of stores since I didn’t feel like shopping. So we mainly just roamed around the area to sightsee. We did go to Indigo though. This bookstore is huge and you can also find a bunch of lifestyle products inside the store. It kind of feels like Kyobo Bookstore in Korea (although some Kyobo locations are even bigger than this one). A couple of things I like about the store, first, the layout of the store feels open and not too cramped. Second, there are chairs available in different sections of the store for you to sit on. Both are a plus for a bookstore. The design of their manga section is also pretty cool and the kids section is pretty big as well. I think kids would love it if they come here.

Greysuitcase Toronto Series: Indigo at The Well, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Greysuitcase Toronto Series: Manga Section at Indigo at The Well, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Italian Dinner

At the end of the day, we found ourselves at Cibo Wine Bar at King West for dinner after a failed attempt at getting a table at a nearby Mexican place. The appetizer was good, the main was okay (read the full review here) and the portion was pretty big for me. Also, it is highly possible that it’s just North America’s regular portion and I’m just not used to it.

Greysuitcase Toronto Series: Cibo Wine Bar King West, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

When we’re done with dinner, we took the streetcar to head to the subway station. This was another first time for me. The streetcar was pretty nice and clean. Way better than San Francisco’s Muni streetcars from what I can remember from the last time I rode one more than a decade ago (I don’t know if they’re better now). Apple Pay also works on the streetcar and Juli told me that if you get off and transfer to the subway, you don’t have to pay again. Toronto apparently allow riders to switch between subway lines, streetcars, and buses in any direction using a single fare, within a two-hour period. So unless you go over the two-hour period, you won’t be charged any additional fare which is a pretty good deal I’d say.

After walking around downtown Toronto for 9.4 km and more than 16,000 steps, we finally arrived home and called it a night.