Toronto and Vancouver, Canada

I was recently in Toronto and Vancouver to support my family through an emergency. I didn’t get much opportunity to take pictures of my “home” cities, but I did grab a few that I’d like to share. I call them “home” cities because I was born in Vancouver, Canada, but I went to university in Toronto. 

I should include Beijing as a “home” city now too, because as of 2023, I’ve spent more time in Beijing than I did in Toronto. I moved to Toronto in 2004 and left for Beijing in 2013. I’ve now been in Beijing for 11+ years. It will however be some time before Vancouver gets toppled off first place as I was there for 29 years.

Toronto

I hadn’t been to Toronto since 2019, and I was expecting the city to be similar to Vancouver in that not much would have changed. That’s the beauty of Canada; things move slowly so society can more easily absorb the change. In comparison, things move at hyper speed in China; entire city blocks disappear overnight and buildings seem to pop-up at lightspeed. Restaurants come and go in Beijing so quickly that you feel like you’re playing whack-a-mole in trying to keep up.

Much to my surprise, Toronto has evolved a lot in the past five years. The city has really grown up and come into its own. I often see these surveys rating Toronto as one of the best cities on Earth, and I wondered how that could be possible given my experience living there for nearly a decade.

Anyone that has taken the 501 streetcar at 8:00AM knows all too well the madness of being crammed into a 30C street car while it’s -25C outside and a drunk or high homeless person boards the streetcar, refusing to pay. The driver ends up waiting for the person to get off the streetcar or some hapless person pays for the homeless man. This was my experience at least once a week for the nine years.

World City

Well, things have changed, a lot! And for the better. The TTC subway stations are brighter and feel safer than before. There are now proper “tap-to-pay” terminals on streetcars, buses and the subway, so more dealing with vintage metal tokens. There’s an excellent train from the airport to Union Station downtown called UP Express. I used to seethe at paying $75 to get to the airport from downtown via taxis, wading through the horrible traffic on the Gardiner Expressway. The UP Express is an absurdly inexpensive $12.35 and only takes 25 minutes. You don’t even have to buy a ticket; you can just tap to pay and board. Brilliant!

The city itself has improved so much; there are new buildings everywhere and at the bases of these new buildings, are new restaurants, cafes, bars and retail stores. There’s so much new stuff to explore in the city. I fell in love with Lao Lao Bar at 5 St. Joseph, just off Yonge Street, and within walking distance of Wellesley Station. I stayed at the Kimpton St. George Hotel which was excellent; it’s a bit off the centre of the city, but easily accessible to everything via the TTC Subway.

Speaking of the subway, I took the TTC all the way up to Vaughan so that I could pull my car out of storage for a three-hour drive in the suburbs. I was shocked to see the suburbs of Toronto have changed so much. There’s a KPMG Tower in Vaughan! The construction cranes were out in full force when I was there, and it appears there’s a whole mini-city under construction in that area. Amazing!

Traffic was horrible when I was there, and I loved every second of it. Toronto for far too long has not taken public transit seriously; with cars stuck at a standstill, the city is finally taking alternatives more seriously. There are real plans and action to further build out the subway network and to expand the streetcar routes and right of way. I love seeing this!

Country Drive

Speaking of traffic, I added to some of it, but out in the suburbs. Thanks to the amazing people at EU Autowerks, I was able to take my 2007 Porsche 911 GT3 for a drive. I had told Courtney there that I would probably take the car out for an hour and then return it; he responded that there’s no way I’ll want to come back after an hour once I’m behind the steering wheel, so I went up early and he was right; I ended up driving around for three hours.

I know this is a travel and photography blog, but if there’s interest, I can write an article on what it’s been like to own a GT3 for 17 years. I bought this car new in 2007 right before getting laid off from my company; it was a tense and uncertain time, but I managed to keep the car and now intend to keep it forever. I even have a fun story about this car. I took my close friend out for a ride around Dunnville Autodrome and recorded her expressions. The video went viral and amassed more than 4.5 million views. Porsche ultimately purchased the rights to the video and now shows it in their customer delivery centre in Germany.

It’s sad that I don’t get to drive it much, living overseas and all, but it somehow makes the one drive a year feel like I’m getting a new car all over again. I was really surprised at how tight the car felt; there’s no play or wear on anything; the only issue I had were two sticky knobs on the CD player (yes, CD player!) which cleaned up with some 75% Isopropyl. A good drive should have a destination so I had one stopover at a really cool coffee shop, the Hockley General Store. I recommend visiting there for a quick bite and a coffee if you want a drive through Toronto’s beautiful countryside. 

Amazing Restaurants

As mentioned above, I fell in love with Lao Lao Bar and came back a few times, sometimes for food and other times for drinks. There’s an electric vibe in this restaurant and the owners, Seng and Jason, are some of the best hosts I’ve experienced.

A restaurant chain that I frequented when I lived in Toronto is Terroni. I always drop in to see how they’re doing and they continue to deliver excellent Italian food. My go-to dish is the San Giorgio Pizza.

Another favourite is the Balzac’s Coffee in the Distillery District. It hasn’t changed at all and that’s a good thing. Well worth a visit to the Distillery District and especially this unique and beautiful coffee shop.

A new complex in Toronto called The Well has popped up near the railroad tracks at Spadina Avenue and Front Street. It’s a nice development with several restaurant options. I went to the “food court” area and tried several small restaurants. I also went to the rooftop bar for a great view of Toronto.

Near The Well is an old favourite restaurant called Le Select Bistro. I decided to drop in to see how they’re doing and was met with excellent service and food. I would say the food quality has improved over the years and the Parisian patio has taken on a new vibe with The Well in the foreground. 

Summary

Toronto has really upped its game and there’s an excitement and energy to the city. Surprisingly, the locals don’t really see this, but from someone that has been away for a few years, it’s obvious that the city has improved a lot and is on track for even greater things in the future.

I saw a development planned for 16 towers situated above the railroad tracks in the southern part of downtown. Imagine how cool it will be for the downtown core to be finally connected to the waterfront. The railroad tracks have always been a hurdle for people to really enjoy the waterfront; this development could radically change that dynamic. 

I can’t wait to go back to Toronto next year and see how the city has evolved. If you get a chance to visit Canada, the must-see cities would be Toronto, Montreal, Quebec City, and Vancouver. This excludes all the amazing scenery sites like Banff and Whistler, which should also be on any serious Canada itinerary. 

Vancouver

I visit Vancouver nearly every year as that’s where most of my family resides. The city continues to be stunningly beautiful in the summer months with the ocean, mountains and endless parks available within a short drive. With the airport line and more public transit coming online, the city continues to evolve and change.

Drug Epidemic

I did however see some negative aspects on this trip that are concerning for my home city. The drug epidemic has reached a tipping point where it’s common to run into an addict even outside of the Downtown Eastside. I had to literally step over a homeless addict to get into the Lululemon Store on Robson Street.

When I was younger, I was a big proponent of legalizing soft drugs like Marijuana, but now I feel that it was a mistake. It seems that without the proper infrastructure to treat addiction, people dipped their toes into the soft drugs and then escalated to more intense drugs. There’s this awful hunchback that occurs with the addicts in Vancouver somehow related to Fentanyl. People look frozen like zombies in this hunched over position. It’s heartbreaking.

I tend to stay out of this kind of discussion, please allow me this one time since it’s my home city and I say this out of love. I really hope that the city can address these issues and make some change. I don’t know what the answer is, but I imagine some form of forced rehabilitation should be considered. The homeless and addicted have rights, but we need to consider the rights of the average citizen as well; the average citizen should have the right to safety and security in their own city.

Amazing Restaurants

While in Vancouver, I did have the chance to have a few amazing dinners. I’d highly recommend the following:

• Hy’s Encore Mansion for some of the best steak and service on the planet.
• Sushi Hill for incredibly fresh Japanese seafood, perfectly prepared. It’s a very small restaurant so you need to book well in advance.
• The Lunch Lady for amazing Vietnamese food. Again, a very small restaurant that’s very busy so you need to book ahead of time.
• Anh and Chi for more Vietnamese food. A beautiful space with fantastic food.
• On Main Street, there’s many great restaurants, bars and coffee shops to choose from, so you may want to stay in that area all day and enjoy coffee, lunch, dinner and drinks in that area.
• For coffee shops, I’d recommend Forecast Coffee and 49^th Parallel, also in that neighborhood.
• A regular favourite of mine is Raisu, which never disappoints on service or food quality. This is a Japanese restaurant that provides a large quantity of comfort food.

Stanley Park

All trips to Vancouver must include a walk, run or cycle around Stanley Park. This time was no exception; however, parts of the park’s seawall were closed for construction which gave the opportunity to explore the inside of the park which was a nice change! I’d recommend going early however as it gets dark very, very quickly after sunset inside the park with the tall trees. 

When the seawall reopens, I’d recommend renting a bicycle from the many shops on Denman Street. It makes taking in Stanley Park much easier and you can double back to take images of the park and scenery at different times of the day. I prefer to enter from Denman and Georgia and then make my way over to English Bay as sunset is setting in. A great place to watch sunset with a drink is the Cactus Club situated right on the beach at Pacific Boulevard. 

Summary

Vancouver continues to be a beautiful city with a mature and extensive culinary scene. While some parts of the city look a bit worn out, I hope that the coming years will bring it some well-deserved rejuvenation. I also hope that the city can get its arms around the drug epidemic and find some new solutions to this very old problem.