A Most Relaxing Day—Lunch with Friends, Afternoon Shopping for Foodie Buys

Thursday, September 12, 2024

Somerset, New Jersey

A Most Relaxing Day—Lunch with Friends, Afternoon Shopping for Foodie Buys

We took it super easy today. After the hectic itinerary of the past few weeks, it felt so good to do nothing but relax, chat with old friends, worry about excess baggage on our return to India and generally get ourselves into Return to India Mode.

We slept very well in our private basement apartment at our friends, the Masuds place. They are usually very late risers themselves (unlike us), but they seem to have made the effort to wake up early to get breakfast organized for us—super kind of them!

So, after a hearty brekkie with our friends’ (fried eggs with baked beans, buttered & toasted croissants and decaf coffee), Llew and I spent the morning packing our suitcases and taking stock of the amount of weight we still have at our disposal for our last-minute shopping. The things I had mail-ordered and had delivered to Ghazala’s place have also arrived (Ina Garten’s book, “Modern Comfort Food”; Grapefruit Cologne by Jo Malone—this after I purchased a bottle of Anais Anais Perfume by Cacharel from Toronto’s duty-free shop; a pair of Teva sandals in olive green—since I live in sandals in Bombay and love the pair I already own). They needed to be accommodated in our bags—not to mention the vast amount of food shopping we will do at the last-minute for cheese, smoked salmon, meringues, dark chocolate Florentines, etc. from Trader Joe’s. Llew is starting to sweat bullets about excess baggage!

Azra Joins Us for Lunch at the Masuds’:

Our friend, Azra, then came to see us and stayed for lunch. Ghazala and Imraan put on their regular hospitable hats and served us a feast. It was all just delicious Indian home-cooked cuisine: dal, kheema, chicken with spinach, stewed okra, roti, rice. We had a lovely time catching up together as we are all old friends who go back at least 35 years together to our first tentative immigrant steps in the USA when we all lived close together in Queens, New York. For dessert, we enjoyed vanilla ice-cream with lichees.

Shopping for Last-Minute Buys:

After Azra left, Ghazala and I went shopping. We had sensibly decided to leave the bulk of our shopping for our last days in New Jersey. However, we did not strictly adhere to that resolution. As and when we found the things we wanted (no matter where we were—whether in New York, Connecticut or Canada), we had picked them up. This was a good thing as it gave us a great idea pf how much space and weight allowance we had left for more purchases. So we began at Trader Joe’s for the aforementioned foods, then moved on to Shop Rite for smoked salmon cream cheese, then on to CVS for Crest Whitening Strips, Marshall’s for Lazy Susans for my kitchen cabinets and that was it.

A Casual Dinner at Home:

We were home in time for dinner—another wonderful spread of Indian cuisine (a welcome change after all the Continental food we’ve been consuming). We had a long, catch-up chat as we had the pleasure of prolonged time with our friends after absolute ages. Our chat was fun as we talked about really old times, our kids, their lives, their partners, their pursuits—all this over bowls of Deep Dark Chocolate Ice-cream by Turkey Hill with which Llew and I used to cram our basement freezer whenever it went on sale!

What a lovely fun day! It was extraordinarily fulfilling as we can ticking off all the items on our To-Do List as well picking up all the items on our To-Buy List.

Until tomorrow… Cheerio.

Flight from Canada to the USA (NYC) and Settling Down in Somerset, New Jersey

Wednesday, September 11, 2024

Woodbridge, Ontario, Canada-New York-Connecticut-New Jersey

Flight from Canada to the USA (NYC) and Settling Down in Somerset, New Jersey

Today was rather bizarre in more ways than one. When I had planned our itinerary, it had not occurred to me that we’d be flying on that dreaded day—9/11. Yet, here we were, awaking with the knowledge that we’d be airborne on the same day (and at the same time—yikes!) as those passengers who had lost their lives on that fateful day! No more to be said!

So, you can imagine that I was quite keyed up as we awoke in Sylvia’s place for the last time and had a quick breakfast before we gathered our backpacks together to get to Pearson International airport in Toronto for our flight to New York. Yes, Phase Four of our travels had come to a close and we were about to embark on Phase Five (the final phase) in the USA.

Accordingly, we called for an Uber to get us to the airport, said our goodbyes and thank-yous to Sylvia who had been an exemplary hostess at a time when she was herself dealing with a new challenge in her life as a ‘Singleton’ and were on our way. The ride to the airport from Woodbridge took us about an hour and, as we did not have to deal with the return of a rental car at the airport (as we had to do on two previous occasions), we simply went straight to our check-in counter and with loads of time to spare, made it to our gate.

Flight from Toronto to New York City:

We had a very comfortable flight on Delta from Toronto to New York City. Really clear, cloudless skies and bright sunshine, during a flight that left at 11.30 am, meant that we had beautiful views of downtown Toronto, the City Center and the Harbor Front as we skimmed out of Canada. I managed to get some really good footage of the receding city before Llew and I settled down for the short flight. We had a very nice stewardess to take care of us in-flight and she plied us with packets of almonds, much to our unexpected delight, before we disembarked.

As we approached New York, I could see the East River and then the Hudson come into view. I kept clicking pictures with my camera and then, before I knew it, we were approaching JKF while flying over the Tappan Zee Bridge first and then the Verrazano Bridge. At this point, I realized that we’d probably be able to see the Statue of Liberty (and we did—although it was in the far distance and not very distinct) and Governor’s Island (much clearer). It was not lost on me that had we made this descent on 9/11 in 2001, we’d still be able to see the Twin Towers standing proud and tall in Manhattan Harbor. Instead what we did see was the Freedom Tower as we flew eastwards and made our way to JKF. I did get some footage but we did not have a very clear day and so my footage is not so clear. However, we reached down safe and sound—and that was all that mattered, really.

And so it was that we arrived again in the USA via JFK again. This time, the two of us merely picked up our back packs and made our way towards the Air Train. We were on it in no time and getting off at Federal Circle (where the Car Rental offices are) and within minutes, we were at the Budget counter claiming our rental car which we had booked way back in advance. It was then about 1.00 pm and yes, we were hungry, but we wanted to get on with it as we needed to get to Connecticut first, to the home of our friends the Factoras, as we had left the bulk of our baggage in their garage. Once we picked it up, we’d be able to make our way to South Jersey to Somerset, where we’d be spending the next few days.

The Saga of Getting a Rental Car from Budget:

Picking up our car at JFK was pretty painless but getting out of JFK (always a maze) is a bit of a stresser). Still, we did get on to the Throg’s Neck Bridge and once on it, it was a piece of cake getting on to the Merritt Parkway and into Connecticut. The weather was nice—nothing to complain about. However, by the time we had left New York, it became evident to Llew that there was an error message on his dashboard that worried him. He asked me to call Budget to find out what could be done to fix it as we did not want to stay in a car for nearly a week that was not of optimal quality. The phone call to the Customer Service folks at Budget led us to being advised to take the car over to the nearest Budget office to have it seen by a mechanic. As we knew where the Budget office in Fairfield, Connecticut, was, we decided to just head there first. Isn’t it annoying, when time is at a premium and you are trying to get to someplace before night falls, that you have all these unexpected glitches to deal with? I began to feel really frustrated at this nonsense.

Anyway, we finally made it to Fairfield, Connecticut, after fighting endless traffic, and headed straight for the Budget office. We found a single attendant there who told us that he had no mechanic present and no spare car available to give us, other than a hybrid. We told him that we did not want a hybrid and wondered if we could pick up an alternate car from his Budget Office in nearby Westport. He said we could try, When we asked if he could call his office in Westport to request them to hold a vehicle for us, he said he could not reach them. He gave us the number and told us to call them. While I was in the process of calling them, Llew went off to use his rest room and a little later, I did too. When I returned, I found the attendant on the phone himself. I have no idea to whom he was talking or what was being said. But next thing we knew, he miraculously had an alternative car in the back that he told us we could use (that was not a hybrid)! It was not a compact or mid-size car, but a larger one (not our preferred choice) but since we had no option, we agreed to take it. It actually worked out well for us (so, in the end, all was well, as we had a lot of baggage to fit into the trunk and it helped to have the larger one). About an hour after first arriving at Budget in Fairfield, we were finally ready to drive on. However, this car proved to be a real curse to us. Wait until you hear what happened to us at JFK airport just before we returned the car to Budget on our flight back to India!

By this time, it was past 3.00 pm and we were both starving. Even before going to the Factoras, I told Llew that I needed to buy a few items from Stop N Shop at Fairfield (olives, essentially—not bottled ones) as I was not sure where in New Jersey I would find them. Getting to Stop and Shop meant that we had the opportunity to pick up some food. I bought Clam Clowder for me and a Chicken Wrap for Llew. We then called the Factoras to tell them that we were on our way to their garage to pick up our stuff. I also called my brother Roger to see if they would be at home so that we could pay them one last visit before we left Connecticut. Sadly, neither he nor his wife, Lalita, responded to my text as they were both busy at work. I left them a voice mail message and told them to call me if they could see us at about 5.00 pm. By the time, they did get back to me, we were already on the highway to New Jersey—so we lost the opportunity to see them one last time.

We ate our lunch in the Factoras’ driveway at about 5.00 pm—if you can believe it. As I said, it was a bizarre day! Then, having been given the code to their garage door, we opened it, got our bags loaded into the large trunk of our car, had a final look around to make sure we had left nothing behind and we were off. As we passed by our own home on Pequot Avenue, when heading to the I-95, we took one last look at it and waved it goodbye. Finally, we were on our way to New Jersey. We called our friends, Imraan and Ghazala and told them that our ETA was about 8.15 pm. as it was almost 5.45 pm by the time we left. Needless to say, we were right in the thick of traffic throughout our journey, but at least we were moving forward.

Dinner at the Masuds:

By the time we reached our friends, the Masuds’ home, in Somerset, darkness had well and truly fallen over New Jersey as it was almost 9.00 pm. Still, our friends had a superb dinner all laid out and ready for us. Ghazala had laid the table beautifully and the meal was just delicious. We had paneer with chicken, mutton carry, rice, salad, rotis and papads. So you can imagine that having subsisted on soup and a sandwich during a really annoying day, we were so happy to feel embraced by the company of loving, hospitable friends once again who would serve us nothing but the most delicious, home-cooked meals for the next few days. They showed us downstairs to our beautifully-appointed basement apartment which gave us full privacy while we would eat all our meals upstairs with them. It was really the best kind of arrangement and we felt very grateful for it. Just before our meal ended, we were joined by their daughter, Kiran, whom we were seeing after a very long time indeed.

It was at about 10.30 pm that we finally said Good Night to our friends and went down to bed at the start of our last few days in the USA. We had just a bit more shopping to do (while keeping the weight allowance uppermost in our minds) and a lovely wedding to look forward to as we settled down to bed.

Until tomorrow…cheerio.

An Amazing Breakfast at Tubbie’s and Lunch with Relatives at Hot Peppers in Scarborough, Ontario

Tuesday, September 10, 2024

Woodbridge and Scarborough, Ontario

An Amazing Breakfast at Tubbie’s and Lunch with Relatives at Hot Peppers in Scarborough, Ontario

It is our last full day in Canada and, naturally, we liked to make the most of it. It started off beautifully with Sylvia informing us that we wanted to take us out for breakfast. Now Llew had already eaten his “Daily Special”—toast with preserves and coffee. But I had not eaten yet…so when Sylvia made her offer, I was quite happy to take her up on it. Llew declined but when we twisted his arm, he agreed to come along with us for the company. And so off we went.

Breakfast at Tubbie’s:

The three of us made our way into Tubbie’s (a very appropriately named place) if one went by the size of the portions being served to the customers. Sylvia told us that it is a superb place for breakfast and one that she often took her kids to when they were growing up. It reminded me very much of IKEA in his menu and its portion size. I could not resist the waffles (as they would be the last I would have, probably, before my return to India). Sylvia decided to order a mimosa (as it made her feel as if she were on a cruise, she said!), I had a hot chocolate and Llew had a decaff Americano. Because he had already eaten breakfast, he ordered nothing else, but I went for the waffles with apple-cinnamon compote (as I had already had them with strawberries on a couple of occasions), whipped cream and maple syrup. They were delicious. Sylvia chose pancakes but hardly had two bites of them and was done! In the end, it was not so much what we chose or what we ate but our knowledge of the fact that all good things must come to an end and that our lovely stay with Sylvia in Canada would soon come to a close. Tomorrow, at this time, we’d be in a cab and on our way to Pearson Airport for the start of Phase Five (the final phase) of our North American travels. We were full to bursting when we got up to leave and the thought of having yet another big meal in store for us was somewhat daunting.

Meeting a Long-Lost Cousin and Lunching with Him and His Family:

When we returned to Sylvia’s home, we had barely half an hour to get ourselves organized for the next part of our day—a meeting with one of my Mum’s long-lost relatives. It was purely by chance that I had inquired of my own cousin, Lancy, just a few days ago, as to whether or not he is in touch with Alex, my late Mum Edith’s cousin, as I remembered that they had once worked together. When Lancy told me that he still had Alex’s number, I requested him to find out if Alex would be open to meeting us.

I was absolutely delighted when Alex called, two days ago, to introduce himself to me again and to invite us very warmly to his home. As I had not seen him in ages, I was really keen to make the effort to take public transport to his place. But Alex was kind enough to save us that trouble and offered to come over to Sylvia’s in Woodbridge to pick us up. Accordingly, we made plans to see him and his wife, Lidwyn (Liddy), at their home and since Alex suggested that we have lunch with them, we knew the rest of our day was spoken for.

Alex did arrive on schedule, we were ready for him and with Sylvia also accompanying us, off we went in his car to Scarborough. It was a drive of about an hour, but we spent the entire time chatting about old times. I was able to ask Alex many questions about the relationship between my mother and him. He explained to me that his late father Peter (also known as Babusha) was my late mother Edith’s first cousin. Their mothers (i.e. my grandmother Valerie and his grandmother Machu) were sisters. Peter was Machu’s son. Her other children were Johnny, Daisy and Robert. I remembered Daily and Robert well as my mother was very close to them. That made Alex my Mum’s second cousin and it would make Alex and me third cousins! Still, despite the somewhat distant connection, I was delighted to make contact with someone from my Mum’s side of the family as I have a large cohort of cousins (to whom I am still very close) on my Dad’s side but just a handful of folks on my Mum’s side.

A Lovely Natter in Alex’s Home in Scarborough:

When we arrived at Alex’s place, we were re-introduced to his wife, Liddy, whom I had also last seen at least fifteen years ago (when my Mother was an a visit to Canada with us). I was also pleased to see that Alex had invited my cousin Lancy and his wife, Ilene, too for lunch. After a very lovely natter, first in their living room and later in their fully-finished basement with its cozy bar and den, we had drinks and an array of nibbles that Liddy put out. We also took a lot of pictures and generally had a grand time. But, after Alex made reservations at a local Chinese restaurant for us to go out and eat, we left, about two hours later.

Lunch at Hot Peppers Chinese Restaurant:

And so, the whole lot of us landed up at a modest Chinese restaurant called Hot Peppers which was just a ten minute drive away. Alex knew the manager well and seemed like a regular in the place. We left all the ordering to him and, in his experienced hands, we had an array of appetizers followed by a range of mains. There was something for everyone as we had fish, chicken, pork, beef, shrimp, vegetables, and really nice beignets with chocolate sauce for dessert. The food was really tasty and with all the nattering and the laughter at the table, we had ourselves a really lovely afternoon. Fortunately, at the end of it, Lancy and Ilene offered to drop us home as we were not too far en route to their place—this saved Alex the trouble of dropping us back.

And so, our last full day in Canada came to an end. In fact, Ryan actually found the time to take me to Michael’s, the craft store, as I needed to buy some colored candles and fall silk flowers—I was very pleased that I found them quite easily.

Watching the Presidential Debate at Ryan’s House:

spent the rest of the evening, packing all our possessions (there wasn’t much to pack as we had just a small backpack each). But then, we knew that the much looked forward-to debate was later in the evening—at 9.00 pm. It was at this point that we discovered that Sylvia’s TV was not working as her entire internet system was down.

so, we had no choice but to go to Ryan’s place as we were hell bent on watching the debate between Trump and Harris. Ten minutes later, we were at Ryan’s place, poised in front of his TV and also getting a nice tour of his home. The debate went off very well. I have to say that knowing how awful a speaker Trump is usually, I was amazed at how well he had been prepped and how superbly he conducted himself. Harris, of course, was her usual assured self. She was articulate, elegant, confident and her responses were filled with solid material—not fluff.

soon as the debate ended, Ryan dropped us back to his mother’s place and we wished each other goodnight and went to bed—but not before setting our alarms as we had a fairly early start for the boarding of our flight to New York early tomorrow.

Until tomorrow…cheerio.

Exploring Downtown Toronto’s Harbor Front, Vietnamese Lunch near Chinatown, Afternoon Tea with a College Classmate, Slap-Up Dinner at Moxie’s in Vaughn

Monday, September 9, 2024

Downtown Toronto, Canada

Exploring Downtown Toronto’s Harbor Front, Vietnamese Lunch near Chinatown, Afternoon Tea with a College Classmate, Slap-Up Dinner at Moxie’s in Vaughn

Considering we were on our second-last day in Canada with nothing until the evening on our itinerary, I suggested to Llew that we spend the day in the city. He was more than happy to comply and, after breakfast, we set out on our own to discover parts of the city with which we were unfamiliar. I used Lonely Planet and Google to figure out the places to which we should head and, accordingly, we made our plans.

Taking Public Transport to the City:

Of course, getting to the city from Woodbridge, where we are located, is a challenge in itself as it is very far away—it’s not just the distance, but the time it takes to get to the city as well as the expense that is daunting. It involves taking an Uber to the Subway station. This is a good 20 minutes’ away by car. Then, there is the long subway ride as the subway station is, in fact, the very last stop on the line. And, once we get off the Subway in the city, we still have to walk or take a bus to wherever we wish to go. Thankfully, we were not required to go through this commute daily—or it would be very off-putting

, we called for the Uber and made our way to the subway stop and then figured out where and how to buy our tickets and board our train, The thing about subway systems is that they are basically the same all over the world. So, if you have used a subway service in one country, you are more than familiar with the drill. It did not take us long to find our platform and our train and we were on our way. However, once we got off the subway station, we discovered that the place to which we were headed (Kensington Street Market)—was, in fact, too far to walk to. We’d actually have to take a bus to get there! So, we asked around and found out that there was a bus outside the subway station that we could take. We rode on it for about ten minutes and, finally, finally, we were at our destination! Yes, indeed, it was a huge production!

Exploring Kensington Street Market:

Kensington Market is hopping and heaving, it appears, at the weekends. Basically, ‘Market’ is a bit of a misnomer—it is more of an area or a locality. It comprises of a couple of side streets (off Spadina), that is filled with interesting stores that appeal to very young and very hip, tastes. There are vintage clothing boutiques, music stores, one-of-a-kind craftsy designer shops selling jewelry and home décor (ceramics, paintings, etc.) and a few restaurants and bars which, I imagine, would be great fun to frequent in the dark. However, on a Monday morning, the place was as dead as a dodo! There was absolutely no one there and I mean no one. It was after 11.00 am when we arrived there, but most of the shops were only just opening and so many of the eateries were still closed. We soon realized that we had made a mistake heading to this place as there was absolutely nothing of any interest to us.

Heading to the Harbor Front:

On the other hand, we did want to salvage our day—especially as we had spent half the day getting to the city! So, on an impulse, I suggested to Llew that we go to the Harbor Front—as this was also featured as one of the attractions of the city. Llew thought it made sense.

So, off we went, on another bus going downtown, in the direction of the Harbor. We rode all down the length of Spadina which is the heart of Chinatown. It gave me the idea that we ought to come back to this part of the city later for lunch. The conductor on the bus was very helpful and told us exactly where to get off.

Once we were at the Harbor Front, on a very cloudy, highly overcast day, when there was a pleasant nip in the air (and we were suitably attired, so not uncomfortable at all), we found ourselves surrounded by skyscrapers, while a few blocks ahead of us, we could already see the water and the many craft in the harbor.

The Promenade was great to walk along at a time when there was hardly another soul out there. We passed by the varied watercraft and even saw a seaplane take off. Boats, yachts, etc, of varied style and size bobbed or were buoyed in the water. As we reached the end of the promenade, we realized that, on the other side, were beautiful perennial gardens that had clearly demarcated walking paths through them. Of course, then we had to go through them and explore the gardens. I was delighted for there were all sorts of recognizable autumnal flowers and plants that I do not see in India—black-eyed Susan, purple coneflower, butterfly bush, Autumn Joy Sedum, Joe Pye weed, the last of the day-lillies, lots of astilbe and plenty of hosta of varied shade and leaf size and even the last roses of summer. On reading a sign put up at the park, I discovered that the entire garden had been designed around the six movements of a sonata by J.S. Bach. It was quite innovative indeed and very creatively conceived with paths that curved tightly like a nautilus shell or offered places to pause under shady trees which sported strategically-placed benches. It was definitely the most delightful part of our day.

When we had covered the entire pavement garden, we crossed the main road and spying a Walgreens, decided to go in there for a quick browse We were there for about fifteen minutes before Llew told me that he felt hungry and wanted to go out in search of lunch. I suggested we get on the same bus and alight near our subway station and find a place there for Vietnamese food as I felt a great desire to eat a steaming bowl of Pho.

Lunch In Chinatown:

As it turned out, we found a bus that would take us back to our subway stop and not too far from it, we actually found a Vietnamese eatery that was called Vietnamese Happy Noodle! A quick look at the menu proclaimed that it sold Pho! I was very excited indeed. Llew and I settled down to study the menu and, I found to my even greater delight, that there was pho and another one of my favorite things in the world to eat—Singaporean Curried Laksa. So, of course, I had to order that too. Llew and I then split the two bowls between the two of us. I have to say that although we were both very hungry and had done a lot of walking and had built up an appetite, the bowls were so gigantic that we could barely manage to eat half of each bowl. Naturally, we requested the rest packed up for us to be carried away in doggie bags! And with those treasures under our arms, we walked back to the subway station and made the reverse journey home.

We were supposed to reach home by 4.00 pm as my friend Delilah and her husband were expected to come and see us. And we did indeed reach my 4.00 pm.

Afternoon Tea with Delilah and Francisco:

Not even half an hour after we reached Woodbridge, Delilah and Frisco appeared at our door and were all set to take us out for Afternoon Tea. Delilah’s daughter had identified a really nice coffee shop where we could sit quietly and catch up. It turned out to be a Turkish place called Cappadocia Coffee Shop and indeed, it was the perfect choice of place. For one thing, it was empty, for another, we could chat and sit for as long as we liked without feeling the pressure of having to leave soon and thirdly, we had the very attentive care of a female waitress who took our order. In the end, in addition to tea and coffee, we chose to share a Middle Eastern dessert called Kunafa, which is also one of my favorite things to eat. While Llew is familiar with it, the other two had never heard of it but were willing to try it. And that was what we did. We ordered kunafa and then shared it. Everyone knows that it is a very rich dessert with varying textures and flavors. Made with very fine strands like vermicelli which is almost fried, a flat pancake is sandwiched with molten mozzarella cheese. The whole thing is then soaked in a syrup flavored with orange blossom honey and sprinkled with toasted pistachio nuts. If it sounds super-rich, it’s because that’s what it is. Fortunately, everyone enjoyed it very much and as we chatted about everything under the sun, we had a really lovely two hours together.

Delilah and Francisco then dropped us back to Woodbridge where we had another evening’s plan ahead of us. We were taking our hostess Sylvia, her son Ryan and his wife Sharon, for dinner as a way of saying Thank you to her for her hospitality to us and to Ryan and Sharon chauffeuring us all over the place throughout the length of our stay in Woodbridge. But first, as we had a little time ahead of us before dinner, we switched on the TV to find out that the Presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump will be on tomorrow. As we did not wish to miss it, we also listened to what the talking heads had to say about tomorrow’s show.

at Moxie’s with Close Friends:

We told our guests to choose the place at which they would like to eat as we are not familiar with the local possibilities. Sylvia initially thought about Earl’s, a fine dining place in Vaughn known for its steaks. However, when we entered, we were told that there was a wait of at least 40 minutes. Now that was much too long for us to wait for our dinner and so we had to think of another place. Fortunately, Moxie’s was in the same complex. And so, that was where we went. Moxie’s is also a fine dining place but much less crowded and quiet enough for us to have a lovely quiet meal together.

The meal was just lovely except for one small glitch. We started off with drinks for the table and then ordered. We had ⁠Sweet Potato Fries by way of an appetizer and then ordered our Mains: Tuna Poke Bowl (Sharon), ⁠Sirloin Steak with Mashed Potatoes and Roasted Vegetables (Llew and Sylvia), ⁠Soup (Boston Clam Chowder), Salad (Mixed Strawberry Salad) with baguette (Me) and ⁠Steak Frites (with chimichurri sauce for Ryan. For dessert, we dug our spoons into a White Chocolate Brownie with vanilla ice-cream topped with chocolate sauce and whipped cream. Sooooo Goooood! The glitch came in the form of fried quinoa sprinkled over my strawberry salad which was really hard (although it was meant to be crisp) and felt like tiny pebbles in my mouth. They did a real number on my teeth and, of course, I could not eat my salad. My soup, however, was very good and I was very grateful at the opportunity to eat New England Clam Chowder which is also one of my favorite things to eat. So, food-wise, you can see that I really enjoyed a number of my favorite items—and all on one single day! How lucky can one gal get?

All that was left for us, after a fun meal, was to get back home and go straight to bed. We thanked Ryan and Sharon for all their help in driving us all over the place and then we went down to the basement to bed.

Until tomorrow…cheerio.

Mass in Woodbridge, Visit to the McMichael Art Collection in Kleinburg, Visit to a British Grocery Store in Oakville, Visit to Llew’s Aunt Josephine and Sunday Family Dinner at Home

Sunday, September 8, 2024

Woodbridge, Kleinburg and Oakville, Ontario, Canada

Mass in Woodbridge, Visit to the McMichael Art Collection in Kleinburg, Visit to a British Grocery Store in Oakville, Visit to Llew’s Aunt Josephine and Sunday Family Dinner at Home

We had an extraordinarily eventful day! Starting from the Get-go, when we had our breakfasts and left for the 10.30 am Mass (Ryan drove us there and stayed for the Mass), till we went to bed at night, we were on the Go, Go, Go.

Mass at St. Catherine of Assisi Church:

As Ryan drove us to church, we left home just ten minutes before Mass began. It was a nice service with the added gift, given to each of us, of an icon of Our Blessed Mother as today is her Feast Day. If we were still in Bandra, we’d be celebrating Bandra Feast today as the Birthday of our Lady is celebrated world-wide. We queued up after Mass to receive the icon (one per family) but I took a second one for Russel.

A Wonderful Visit to the McMichael Art Collection:

After Mass, we made a quick detour to pick up Sharon, Ryan’s wife, and then with her in the car, we drove to our next port of call: The McMichael Art Collection which is not far from Sylvia’s place in Vaughn. It’s in the small town of Kleinburg, Ontario, which was about a half hour’s drive away.

I had never even heard of this museum, but Sylvia informed me that her late husband, Tony, was very keen for us to visit this place. Had he still been living, we’d have all made an excursion to this venue together. As it was, Sylvia decided to honor his wishes and pay for us to enjoy a visit there. I was fortunate enough to be given a free ticket to enter on the strength of my Met ID card. Sylvia treated the rest to tickets—again, in accordance with Tony’s wishes.

From the time we entered the vast property that houses this collection, I was charmed. For one thing, it is delightfully isolated, in a non-residential part of Ontario. Set in a sprawling wooded property, the approach is a long driveway, both sides of which have been converted into a sculpture garden. Had we time, we could have strolled through the property to admire the sculptural work, as a lot of visitors seemed to be doing. The grounds were already showing evidence of the arrival of Autumn. There were maple trees already exhibiting splashes of vivid red and many trees had already yellowed. Appropriately, there was also a lovely nip in the air, so that I was grateful for my light down jacket and scarf. I love fall fashion and I feel sorry that I no longer get to wear scarves or blazers.

Since time was of the essence, we headed straight for the car park. Just a little later, we were entering the lovely modern building that was custom-designed to house a collection of Canadian Art. The collection was started by Robert and Signe McMichael in 1952, when the couple purchased land in the village of Kleinburg. Moved by the natural environment, the McMichaels began collecting works of art by Tom Thomson, the Group of Seven and their contemporaries, who also drew inspiration from the natural landscape. In 1965, when they offered their home and artwork to the Province of Ontario, their collection comprised 194 paintings. Today, there are 6,500 items in the permanent collection. Even before we entered, we took a picture by a sculpture of a polar bear with her calf. It set the tone beautifully for the items on display inside.

Once inside and after our tickets had been purchased (Sylvia’s treat), we got to know that there was a docent tour to be given shortly. We decided to take it and were treated to a lovely walk-through of a special exhibition entitled, “River of Dreams: Impressionism on the St. Lawrence”. We were stunned by this exhibition as it introduced us to the Quebecois artists who followed in France’s Impressionist tradition to produce works that appropriated their techniques and colors but juxtaposed them against Canadian themes and subjects. We saw Impressionist Works by A Y Jackson, James Wilson Morrice, Frederick Varley, Emily Carr, Franklin Carmichael, A J Casson, Lionel Fitzgerald, Lauren Harris, Mullen, etc. in the special exhibition. These have traveled from Montreal to Toronto as the museum there is being renovated. These artists were known as the School of Seven. The guide was highly knowledgeable and she took us through each of the artists represented in the exhibition pointing out landscapes, country pass-times and pleasures, seasonal variations in Nature, etc. Very canvas followed the subtle pastel shades of the French Impressionists and their fondness for blurred lines. We loved the work on display and were truly charmed by it. I also discovered that one of the most famous of Canadian artists is Tom Thomson and that I own a beautiful reversible silk scarf (a Christmas gift from a friend in Bombay) that depicts his depiction of a ‘Forest in Fall’. I was just thrilled when I saw similar scarves depicting his work in the gift shop. I’m pretty certain my scarf was bought here in Canada and presented to me. I will now treat it with renewed respect!

When we finished viewing the special exhibition, we walked through several galleries where we recognized the work of indigenous Canadian artists such as Nerval Morrisseau (whose work we had seen in the AGO). But we did not linger too long as we had a number of other places to cover. Still, overall, the McMichael Collection had been a true revelation to me and I was so delighted I became introduced to Canada’s Impressionists—for who knew of them earlier? Indeed, everything about this museum was wonderful. We LOVED the place—the property (wide-spread sculpture gardens), the architectural design, the layout and curation, the guided tour and the gift shop.

to the British Grocery Store:

A few days ago, while we were chatting, someone had mentioned that there is a store here in Toronto that stocks and sells British groceries. Of course, then, I was very keen to visit it as I was looking for Lyle’s Golden Syrup. I do not get this product in India or in the USA. It is only in the UK that I can stock up on it. Hence, this was on the agenda for me as a must-buy item in Canada.

I was fortunate that Ryan agreed to drive me to a place called Oakville, which turned out to be a really beautiful town with the most enticing shops. Seriously, were I alone or had I more time on my hands, I could have spent an entire morning browsing in those one-of-a-kind boutiques and shops. But the rest of the company with me was not so inclined. So, we found the British store, Ryan dropped us off and went to park and I felt like a kid in a candy store once I was inside. I did find my Golden Syrup and also Colman’s mustard powder, Bisto gravy granules with onion flavor, Border’s Dark chocolate covered ginger biscuits and a couple of other items that I absolutely cannot do without. So, in the end, it was a very successful trip and certainly worth the search and the drive for it.

Visit to an Elderly Aunt:

As we were not far away at all, Llew decided to go and pay a visit to his only surviving aunt on his mother’s side, his Aunt Josephine (his late mother’s late brother John’s wife). She happened to be in an assisted living community and, having received the address and directions from her daughter, Irene, we went to see her. The rest of our group stayed in the car parked outside as we did not intend our visit to be very long.

Aunt Josephine was at the very end of a game of bingo when we found her inside. She is now 96 years old but seems perfectly coherent and lucid in her conversation with us. I am not entirely sure she recognized us or knew who we were, but she chatted away with us as if she had known us forever. We gave her the bouquet of flowers that Llew had picked up for her and at the end of the visit, she invited us to come over to her room—which we did. It is a very cozy and comfortable space, filled with photographs of her family members and personal mementoes, including pictures of her husband, Llew’s Uncle John. It was a brief but very enjoyable visit with her and we were very glad we carved out the time to include this visit as well.

A Family Dinner in Woodbridge:

We had been surviving on snacks that we picked up from the British store (chocolate biscuits, British crisps) and water—so, by the time we reached home, we were starving. As we knew we had a big dinner coming, we had a light late lunch. I made myself a toasted sandwich with cream cheese and had a nice cup of tea.

Later, in the evening, after we had showered and freshened up, Sylvia’s two sons, Ryan and Wayne, their wives Sharon and Amelia and their children came over to her place for dinner as they have been doing every Sunday for decades. Even though Tony is no more (perhaps, all the more reason, because Sylvia is now alone), they come in on a Sunday bringing food with them and their children—six teenagers in number (three for each son). The cousins, of course, have the time of their lives when they are together and the adults are free to gab and catch up with the events of the week.

By the time we decided to have dinner, I found out that Chinese take-out had been ordered as well as pepperoni pizza for the teens. We filled our plates and then sat down to eat as the chattering continued.

And so a very eventful and packed day came to a close. The days are flying and although it is amazing how much we are managing to fit into our stay here in Canada, it is still astonishing to me how quickly Phase Four of our travels will come to an end and we will be headed back to the USA for the start of Phase Five. We really do intend to make the most of our last days here.

Until tomorrow…cheerio.

Meeting an Old Friend, Finishing a Work Assignment and A Wonderfully Enjoyable Saturday Dinner at Home with Friends

Saturday, September 7, 2024

Woodbridge, Ontario

Meeting an Old Friend, Finishing a Work Assignment and A Wonderfully Enjoyable Saturday Dinner at Home with Friends

Today was a very relaxed days compared to the recent ones we’ve been having. For the most part, we stayed put at our friend Sylvia’s home in Woodbridge. After breakfast, I asked to be excused from social interaction as I had an assignment to finish. As an examiner and evaluator of the applications from Indian research scholars for Fulbright Fellowships, I had about 25 applications to read—most of which ran into about 60 pages. I had begun several days ago, reading a few applications at a time, but I did want to finish all of them today as I had a strict deadline to meet. Accordingly, I went downstairs to our basement apartment and closeted myself in our room with my laptop so that I could focus on my work and finish it as quickly as possible.

A Visit from an Old Friend:

About an hour or more into my work, Llew came down to inform me that an old friend of ours had stopped by, all the way from Mississauga, to visit us as she knew we were not mobile and could not go over to her place to see her. Vivienne is an old friend of Llew from his days in Dubai—so they go back several decades. I went up to chat and stayed with her until she left, a good hour or more later. It was good to see her again and catch up with all her family news, but I was happy to be able to return to my work again.

I stayed working right up to lunch by which time I was very pleased to have finished my work. In the afternoon, I decided that I would post my grades to the assigned person and would be all done with my evaluation assignment. Lunch was a very casual feeding off leftovers in the fridge as we had been eating out so much that there was quite a bit of food in the house for our grazing pleasure.

After lunch, we had showers and naps and generally took it easy. We knew that the evening would be occupied again with the visit of more friends.

Dinner at Home with Old Friends:

As decided, our friends Ann and Kevin came by in the evening with the intention of staying with us for dinner. Anna, being the excellent home chef she is, was likely to bring food with her. But, I noticed, to my surprise, that she actually picked up food as she is overwhelmed with her responsibilities of babysitting her little grandchildren. We made ourselves very comfortable as we spent the entire evening chatting. Anna has a hilarious sense of humor and a really delightful way of narrating her many escapades with her little grandsons. Sylvia’s son, Ryan and his wife, Sharon, also arrived to spend the evening with us and Anna regaled us with stories that had our sides splitting as we listened to her.

After drinks and nibbles, Anna put out her offerings: she brought a large lasagna, Caesar Salad, her own home made cutlets and garlic bread. It was a simple meal but delicious and filling. For dessert, Sylvaia brought out a lemon meringue pie that she has picked up from Vicci Bakery and we had ourselves a very nice pudding indeed.

And so a very relaxed day came to an end. It was nice for a change to have a day at home filled with the company of good friends and endless laughs.

Until tomorrow…cheerio.

A Day Spent Getting my Art Fix! In the AGO (Art Gallery of Ontario) and a Posh Italian Meal with Friends in Vaughn

Friday, September 6, 2024

Toronto, Canada

A Day Spent Getting my Art Fix! In the AGO (Art Gallery of Ontario) and a Posh Italian Meal with Friends in Vaughn

Today was another fantastic day in Toronto, Canada. A lot of folks ask me what I miss about living in India. This trip made me realize what I do miss: I miss driving; I miss enjoying Sunday Mass especially the good sermons we used to get from the Jesuit professor-priests at my parish in Fairfield, Connecticut; I miss the drama of the changing of the seasons; I miss having easy access to interior decorating supplies the way I can find so easily in Michael’s, Home Goods. Marshalls or TJ Maxx. But, over and above all these, I miss access to world-class Art (especially the Old Masters). So, on a day like this, when we had nothing really planned until the evening, it was my day to get my Art Fix—to feast my eyes (indeed, all my senses) on the art collection at the Art Gallery of Ontario (known simply as the AGO).

Journey from Whitby to Toronto:

So, our day began in my cousin Lancy’s home in Whitby, where we had spent one night, and where we became aware that while we were having a lazy lie-in downstairs in our basement apartment, Lancy and his wife, Ilene, had woken up at the crack of dawn and were hard at work making paanpaleys for us. These are typically Manglorean rice crepes that are eaten usually for breakfast. To accompany them, they had ground coconut chutney. You can just imagine what a terrific breakfast we had.

After breakfast, Lancy took us all around his home and showed us his brilliant handiwork. He is a DIY Ace and his home is filled with the things he has made himself—e.g. an entire set of oak furniture; a large wall clock that looks like a leather wrist-watch complete with strap and buckle, the steps and the patio leading to their back garden. His craftsmanship is most impressive. But soon, it was time for us to pack up and say goodbye to them and their warmth and hospitality. When we realized that it would take them over an hour to drop us by car to Toronto (where we were headed to spend the day), we told them that if they dropped us at the nearest GO (commuter train) station, we could take the train in and save them the journey back and forth. They were actually quite pleased that we offered to find our own way into the city.

So that was what they did. After a lovely 20 minute drive through some of the sweetest, prettiest suburban hamlets, we arrived at Whitby train station. There, we obtained tickets from the vending machine, through the assistance of a staff member, and ten minutes later, we were on our way. It was a very pleasant ride, for the most part, skirting the banks of Lake Ontario. We also had wifi on the double-decker train. Everything was exceedingly civilized and a real pleasure to travel. As this is the first time that we do not have our car in Toronto, we are discovering local commuter possibilities and we are very impressed by them. About 45 minutes later, we were entering the city, as the first high-rise buildings came into view. About five minutes later, we pulled into Central Station, I had used the wifi on the train to find out how we could get from Central Station to the AGO (which was our first stop) and discovered that we could use the subway very easily.

So, at Central Station, we left the commuter train platforms behind us and followed directions to the subway. At the subway stop, I asked the ticket dispenser for directions and he very clearly told me where to go, which subway train to take and at which stop we were to alight. We bought our tickets and followed his instructions. In less than ten minutes, we were at West Dundas Station and following my GPS, we easily arrived at the AGO, having walked through the city for a couple of blocks. There, I was given a free ticket through my Met ID card while Llew had to purchase one to get in ($30).

Exploring the AGO:

For the next few hours, we were fully enthralled by the art collection contained within this world-class museum and art gallery. We started off at the European Art collection and discovered it to be small, but significant. Almost every canvas was by an Old Master. And so, we saw works by Rembrandt, Tintoretto, Renoir, ⁠Anthony van Dyke, ⁠Rubens, ⁠George de la Tour, Bernini, Carpeau, Gainsborough, Boucher, Jean-Baptiste Simeon-Chardin, Degas, ⁠Van Gogh, William Waterhouse, ⁠Lyall, as well as indigenous Canadian artists such as ⁠Belacourt, ⁠Kent Monkhouse ⁠and Norval Morrisseau. It was just glorious!

Lunch with our Friend, Samita:

As I knew we would be in Toronto today, I had gotten in touch with my friend, Dr, Samita Nandy, who lives between Canada, India and Portugal. We had first met more than 15 years ago at a conference when we had both presented papers in Lisbon, Portugal. Our friendship has thrived and survived and now that she lives for part of the year in Bombay, we meet quite often in India too. She was delighted to meet us in Toronto and readily agreed to come to the AGO so that we could have lunch together.

And so we sat at a pizzeria, just outside the AGO, at a place called ‘Pizzaiola’ where we ordered and shared a large pepperoni pizza and washed it down with cold Cokes. Samita was great company and as we told her all about Chriselle’s wedding and our travels, the lunch hour passed by, our pizza was consumed, she was ready to move on and we were ready to return to the museum.

Another Round of Museum Delights:

Back inside the museum, we were rested enough to begin our second round of artistic delights. We took a guided tour with a docent named Lynne who gave us a detailed walk-through in a special exhibition entitled, ‘Moments in Modernism”. It was a wonderful chance for us to see the work of leading lights such as ⁠Andy Warhol, ⁠Mark Rothko and ⁠Chuck Close. Of course, I took many photographs and found myself in heaven, surrounded by such great art.

Then, when we’d had our share of wonderful musing in a terrific museum, we were ready to hit the road again, reverse our journey and take the subway directly back to the last stop--Vaughn Metro Park, from where we took an Uber to return to Sylvia’s home in Woodbridge—the Uber journey took about 20 minutes and cost us about $20.

Yes, both Llew and I were quite tired by our eventful day and were quite happy to get a cuppa, some rest, our showers and some TV before we were ready for our evening’s appointment.

Dinner with Close Friends in Vaughn:

I was definitely looking forward to dinner this evening, For one thing, it is such a long time since I have met our friends, Edwin and Christine, that I was really eager to catch up with them. Secondly, I am very fond of them, really enjoy their company and find them to be very stimulating in their outlook and interests Thirdly, I always fondly recall the wonderful time we’d had when they lived in Dubai, at least 35 years ago, when they had been the epitome of hospitality to Llew and me. This evening too, they were treating us to dinner and had chosen a place close to us—so that we did not have to deal with public transport to get to them.

Accordingly, Edwin and Christine arrived at Sylvia’s place. We did not lose much time over pleasantries, but got going pretty soon in their car. They had chosen an Italian place called ‘Nacosto’ in Vaughn and since Italian is my favorite cuisine in the whole world, I was simply delighted. We shared a bottle of Cabernet at the table (I had a margarita in the interest of avoiding my sulphuric allergy) and had ⁠Roasted Artichoke Hearts for an appetizer. Needless to say, these were simply delectable and set the tone very well for the rest of our meal which was simply joyous. We decided to order a whole lot of Mains and share them—this way we’d have a kind of Tasting Menu and everyone could tuck into something they liked. And so we ate Gnocchi with Bolognese, ⁠Pappardelle pasta with Pork Cheeks Ragu, ⁠Linguine with Seafood (clams, mussels, shrimp, lobster), Tagliatelle with Mushroom Sauce—all divine. For dessert, we shared ⁠Tiramisu (served rather dramatically with a lit sparkler in it) and Donuts with Salted Caramel, Chocolate Sauce and Lemon Curd. I have often sat back at the end of these meals and wondered, How will I ever go back to eating normal meals again?????

Throughout the meal, we chatted, as we always do, about old times, their kids, Sylvia and our kids, Chriselle’s wedding, etc. There is never a dearth of topics to tackle and the conversation was avid and interesting. But, sadly, at the end of the day (literally!), we had to get home and we were driven back to Sylvia’s. There, we said our long goodbyes and called it a night after what had been a truly splendid day for me.

Until tomorrow…cheerio.