Victor Shum has added a photo to the pool:

Dinner with Chris at The Counter. Located at the Thompson Hotel.

Mmm mmm! Nothing gets me salivating more than the smell of Lake Ontario!

Okay, to be fair, I had a hankering for packaged pancakes and fake maple syrup on Sunday, so in that respect I found the New York Cafe Restaurant Bar & Eatery satisfying. Aside from the fact that Sarah has nice memories of the place, however, I can’t dredge up enough reasons for coming back. The prices were reasonable, but I would attribute that more to Aunt Jemima’s influence than to smart cooking. The staff were friendly enough, and the decor cheerful, but if you ask me those things should be secondary to the food. Maybe it’s because the Cafe is trying to be everything at once which, as is aptly demonstrated, usually results in not being good at anything in particular, but for a Danforth staple you’d think they’d have gotten over that problem by now.

New York, you should be ashamed of yourself.

Sarah and I did some casual, Sunday afternoon, stroll-y type shopping at the Cherry Street T&T yesterday. It was my intention to give her a taste (yes, pun included), of my years in Taiwan — at least in terms of product selection. We were missing the traditionally oppressive humidity and funky odours known as “authentic street cuisine”, but with its hordes of English-less products, mystery ingredients (on the labels we could read), and unintentionally hilarious packaging, I feel pretty satisfied with the authenticity of the store. And to top off a fully immersive experience, you should always walk out feeling a little more ignorant than when you came in — mission accomplished! Well, maybe ignorant isn’t the exact word, but I’m sure you get the gist.

I’ve already eaten all the good ones so now what am I supposed to do one do with all the leftover Christmas cookies?

Christmas trees too — done, pack ‘em up and ship ‘em out. It’s over. Next up, my birthday in which I get to keep all my cash … yay!