OMG, I'm in an English-speaking country!

Surprise, I'm home! Just for the hols though and not even for Silvester. Phooey. And what did I do as soon as I landed? I indubitably got myself a Tim Horton's coffee. French Vanilla to be precise. The morning after I landed, I indulged in this luscious bowl of steaming hot oatmeal topped with maple syrup and berries. It's so damn good to be home, man. Don't get it twisted though: I've missed my mom's homemade cookin' more than I've missed Timmie's. #keepinitreal



Whenever I fly back into Toronto, I'm always overcome with a strange yet familiar sensation. I mean I'll always consider Tdot "home" but when you're gone for such long periods of time, you just can't help but look at the city differently whenever you visit again. As much as I love my city, I can't picture myself living here in the next while (if ever). The reason being that there's too much of the world I still need to see! Plain and simple as that.

I don't know if anyone can relate to what I'm about to say... but I'll divulge anyway. I've lived in Germany for almost two years now and I have English-speaking friends in BS but all of that ain't nothin' compared to being surrounded by English 24/7. I'm so used to being surrounded by German, I was thrown off-kilter upon arriving at YYZ. Suddenly, I was forced to switch to English with the snap of a finger. I didn't panic but it felt strange at first.

Above all, I consider it a treat to be able to freely communicate with everyone around me (even if it's only for another 1.5 weeks). Not that my German's bad at all, but of course one communicates best in his or her native tongue. I'll cherish the brief time I'll have in my home and native land because I can speak a level of English I'm not used to speaking. This observation is not meant to offend because it's the truth. In light of all this, I've come to realize that there are so many nuances, idioms, phrasal verbs, etc in the English language. How refreshing it is to be able to hear/use these words and phrases again without getting a befuddled look from someone!!!!!!!!

Houses in Toronto vs. Houses in Kitchener

While visiting friends in Toronto/the GTA last month, I randomly took pics of the houses in their 'hoods. (Hallo Erika/Mike and Anh/Alex!) Ain't it interesting to see the stark differences? The houses on the left are located in Toronto's Junction 'hood (Keele St. & Dundas St. West) and the houses on the right are located in Kitchener (Weber St. West & Queen St. South). "Big city" vs. "small town" feel...?

Toronto 2013

It took forever and a day, but here it finally is. There were just so many pictures to sift through! While sifting, I realized most of the pics I took were of food (go figure). How could I not take advantage of having every type of food in the world at my fingertips?! #noexaggeration I made the bf try all your typical Canadian stuff like nanaimo bars, poutine, peameal bacon sandwiches as well as butter tarts. None of them really blew him away. Dry. Not surprisingly, however, his fave food turned out to be roti!

Toronto Skyline from different Views

Woodbine Park

Niagara-on-the-Lake

Gardiner Expressway 

Coxwell Ave. & Lakeshore Blvd. East

One month in my hometown (March 17-April 16) just wasn't long enough... sigh. It was still a fun@ss time, though! Much love to all of you who made our visit doper than dope!!!!!!!!! Right now I have the daunting task of organizing the massive amount of pics I took. After realizing I had a handful of Tdot skyline shots, this blog post was born. #hardlyhomebutalwaysreppin

Sweets/Souvenirs from Germany

Can you believe that I've given away almost all of this sweet stuff?? I brought 'em all from Germany and I've been slowly giving them away to family and friends. I'll repeat myself here: the selection of chocolates in Germany is so much better than what you can find in Canada!! Among my faves are Eszet (thin slices of chocolate that you eat on top of bread), Spekulatius (a spread made of crushed cinnamon-y biscuits) and Duplo (my fave Ferrerro product by far - it's sort of a cross between Kit Kat and Ferrerro Rocher).

Erika America - Urban Nomad - Mass Exodus 2013

It was a privilege indeed to have witnessed Ms. Erika America's collection on the runway. You go, girl!!! Never forget that we're your biggest fans!!! I had a great view even though I was in the bleachers. My apologies for the poor video quality, folks. My camera's not really meant for taking videos.

Happy Belated Easter!

I know I'm a few days late, but this pic is too fun not to share! No offence, (Kensington) Market Bakery, but I wouldn't have eaten any of these sweets anyway. They're just colourful pieces of art that happen to be edible. Only as a kid was the Hawaiian donut my donut of choice... feel me? Anyhoo, I hope you all enjoyed your Easter celebrations with familia and such! I know I sure as heck did. Cherishing time with familia is definitely a priority during this Tdot visit. & before I forget, Happy B-day Amurrz!!!

Honey, I'm hooooommmeeeee!

We've landed on Canadian soil safe and sound, hurrah! 'Twas an exhausting TXL-AMS-YYZ journey all in all but nothing too unbearable. Luckily, Schiphol Airport (Amsterdam) offers one hour of free Internet and that definitely came in handy during our 2-hour layover! With a little bit of time to "surf the Web," I stumbled upon a drawing called Yonge and Queen by Vincent Hui. Such fond memories!! Anyone who's from Toronto has to be familiar with this intersection (it's that iconic). So excited to be home!!!!!!!