When I wrote my review of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, I mentioned in that review that the Rebirth soundtrack might be my favourite Final Fantasy soundtrack out of all the Final Fantasy games. I apparently loved it so much that when I found out that the Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Orchestra World Tour was coming to Toronto for two shows at Roy Thomson Hall, I managed to snap up a ticket for the second show. The Toronto Symphony Orchestra was going to perform renditions and medleys of many of the hits from the game. I could not wait.
After the Formula 1 exhibition, I had an afternoon in Toronto to treat myself. I could not think of a better way to treat myself than to go to a hotel bar inside one of the most prestigious luxury hotels in Toronto.
There has been a renewed casual interest in Formula 1 racing in the last few years. Most of this interest would come from the success of the Netflix show "Drive to Survive", which offers an inside look of the various F1 teams and many of the races on the F1 calendar. "Drive To Survive" does its part to amplify the drama on the track, as well as off the track, despite some accusations from detractors that Netflix and/or the producers of the show artificially manufacture this drama. The success and documentary style of "Drive to Survive" has influenced similar documentaries to show up on Netflix, covering sports such as tennis, golf, and rugby.
Last week, I did the unthinkable. I went in the CN Tower and completed the Edgewalk. Normally, I would not do these kinds of activities where the star attraction was how high you were from the ground, but with a need for blog content (and a little bit of peer pressure), I decided to go and complete the Edgewalk. The Edgewalk is an attraction where you walk around the outside edge of the CN Tower while suspended over 1100 feet in the air, taller than Canada's tallest skyscraper. I will talk about the whole experience, and offer my thoughts on this rather harrowing attraction.
On Canada Day, I spent some time at Little Canada, which is an attraction that recently opened its doors a couple of years ago at Yonge and Dundas in Toronto. Little Canada is a showcase of miniature-scale dioramas of various locations in Canada, including Toronto, Ottawa, Quebec, and beyond. Before I talk about my experience at Little Canada, I will share a personal anecdote of mine.
Last week, I had a work outing at Cirque du Soleil, which is a circus producer of many travelling shows around the world. As of last week, they had their show Kooza playing in Toronto (as of writing this post, Cirque's run of Kooza shows have finished in Toronto) and I always wanted to go see the show, but I could never justify paying $150 for a decent seat. Luckily, because this is a work event, my company covered the Cirque ticket. Also, because this is a work event, I must go socialize with many of my co-workers at the event, which is (for an introvert like me) a complete nightmare. I decided to suck it up, because I do not think there would be a time where I would willingly go to a Cirque du Soleil event.
A couple of weeks ago, I went to see Kevin Hart in concert at Scotiabank Arena, and I was lucky enough to purchase a discounted ticket for a suite. Right off the bat, I want to apologize for the lack of pictures and videos of this experience. As this is a comedy event, video and audio recordings are strictly prohibited. In fact, in order to enter the arena with our tickets, we had to place our electronic devices (smartphones, smart watches, etc.) inside a pouch, which is locked when you enter the arena and unlocked when you exit the arena (you keep the pouch with you).
This summer, the Lighthouse Artspace in Toronto was hosting an exhibit dedicated to the life of Bob Marley called the Bob Marley One Love Experience. This exhibit features a collection of various photos and memorabilia for viewing, as well as taking you through the life and music of the late great Bob Marley. Tickets ranged from about $25-$50 depending on when you went and the level of ticket you purchased (whether it is a basic ticket or a VIP ticket).
On one random Saturday, I went to the Evergreen Brick Works in Toronto to walk around and take in some nature within the city. Before I go any further, I want to tell you all that I have a new phone now, and I have been using it for the last couple of months. I am now the owner of a OnePlus 8 Pro, which replaced my previous OnePlus 5T. I like the idea of having flagship-level performance at a lower cost than high-end Samsung and Apple phones. This means that this will be the first post where I will be posting pictures and video from the new OnePlus 8 Pro camera. With all that said, I may go into an in-depth review of my new phone in the near future.
Eggstatic (1568 Bayview Avenue, Toronto) is a restaurant that serves breakfast and brunch with a Middle-Eastern twist at reasonable prices.
I ordered the Spinach and Mushroom Benedict, and it had guacamole on it, which was an interesting choice. This was something I have not seen before. My meal also came with home fries, salad, and some fruit. I have to say that Eggstatic served an excellent breakfast. My only gripe with the meal was that there was too much balsamic vinegar in the salad, which made the inside of my mouth feel oily. The home fries had a satisfying crunch and had a thorough cooking. For the Spinach and Mushroom Benedict, the guacamole and the Hollandaise sauce made each bite incredibly creamy, with the right amount of substance from the English muffin.
This restaurant is an easy recommend. Great food with solid service.
Last Saturday was the one-year anniversary of the Toronto Raptors winning their first NBA title, beating the Golden State Warriors in six games. I happened to be in Jamaica during that time last year for a friend's wedding. The day/evening of my friend's wedding happened to be on the same evening as game six of the NBA Finals. Apparently I was tweeting about this strange coincidence last year, and a producer for the Toronto Raptors DMd me on Instagram about wanting to share my story about the experience I had in Jamaica about going to a wedding and watching the Raptors game. After doing my own vetting, I agreed to share my story and do an interview.
I have shared the documentary with you, so you can see my story, along with the amazing stories of other fans and figures within the Raptors landscape. Admittedly, I could have put on a better shirt, but I looked presentable enough.
I am happy with how the documentary came out and it is surreal to see myself on a documentary that is on the Raptors social media channels and on television (on TSN). There were so many texts and mentions from friends and family about how they saw me when they were watching the documentary. From someone that is normally shy with this kind of thing, I am glad that I took a step forward, showed myself for everyone to see, and to share my experience.
The car that attracted police attention, apparently.
The year 2020 continues to be a difficult year for the world. Along with the COVID-19 pandemic, the murder of a black man by the name of George Floyd by the knee of a power-hungry white police officer continues to fuel worldwide protests calling for an end to police brutality and institutionalized racism within police forces. I initially did not want to talk about the protests as I felt like there are better people that can talk about this. However, I have a platform where I can talk about my experiences living as a person of color, stemming from my black and Indian background. As I continue to see videos of the protests and the heavy-handed response from the US government, I realized that it is important for me to speak out about my experiences living as a person of color and to talk about how different life is for myself compared to a white person.
Right off the bat, I want to say that I have never been to an event quite like this before. One of my goals for the blog this year is to go to more events in Toronto and the surrounding area. The Feminist Art Festival came up in conversation to go check it out was because a friend of mine was displaying an art piece at the festival. I thought it would be a good idea to go support her and the organizers of this festival by attending, as well as to better understand women's/trans/indigenous issues in the larger society.
On one random day that I had a day off work, I ventured into Downtown Toronto to take care of some errands. While wasting time between these errands, I went to the Allan Gardens Conservatory (160 Gerrard Street East, Toronto) to look at some exotic plants inside of a warm greenhouse on a chilly winter day. I needed a distraction from the current pressures in my life. In addition, entry to this conservatory is free, so why would I not want to go.
For this year's holiday activity, I went to the first annual 'WinterFest', created and hosted at Canada's Wonderland in the hopes that the popular amusement park would become more of an all-year destination for fun. The Aurora Winter Festival experience last year was disappointing, and I was hoping that WinterFest could help to fulfill my lack of holiday cheer.
I went to a rap concert not too long ago, where YBN Cordae, J.I.D., and Logic (the headliner) performed on stage. This was my first arena concert and my first concert since university (where I tried to make friends by going to see Metric at a makeshift stage on the university grounds). The concert was entertaining, and the rappers were constantly interacting with the crowd in unique ways. I was particularly impressed with the creation of the lighting effects at the concert.
I had the pleasure of going to Casa Loma to partake in their 'Legends of Horror' event. 'Legends of Horror' is a theatrical experience where you go for a 2 km walk at your own pace through the Casa Loma grounds. Throughout the walk, you experience different sets with its own different scenes involving actors and props that create an unsettling and spooky setting.
Almost a full two years after their Toronto location opened inside Yorkdale Shopping Centre, I was finally able to go to The Cheesecake Factory for dinner. Now, I have been to The Cheesecake Factory in the USA, and I was impressed with the decor of the restaurant, the large portions of food, and the dessert (Of course!). If the Canadian location can replicate what the American Cheesecake Factory restaurants can do, then the restaurant in Yorkdale can be a big success. In a way, The Cheesecake Factory's opening in Toronto reminds me of the department store chain Target's expansion into Canada. However, Target did not attempt to satisfy Canadians' expectations and that was a reason (among others) why Target had to pull out of the Canadian retail market.
On my wanderings around Toronto with a couple of friends, we went to a popular dessert spot that sold all kinds of Dutch desserts and candies. 'Dutch Dreams' was the name of the place, and based on the line that stretched outside; it seemed like a dessert spot that could not possibly disappoint. To put it bluntly, Dutch Dreams did not disappoint at all.
For all the years that I have been to the Canadian International Auto Show, I do not believe I have actually made a blog post about it. Anyways, I went to the 2019 edition of this auto show, and I can safely tell you that it was just like all the other auto shows of the previous years. That is not to say that there were not any highlights from the show, because there certainly were. I will share these highlights below, as well as some other pictures I took at the event.
