The grass is greener in Canada

Nine years ago, the hubs and I jumped into my white corolla and drove it as far out of upstate NY across the patrolled border and into downtown Toronto Chinatown. I was then pregnant with Sean -- my first-born -- and it was the furthest I had ever traveled (in a day) just to satisfy a craving. I’d even packed my leftovers for our return that evening, brazenly defying customs restrictions about bringing food across the line and praying that they wouldn’t ask about the white foam boxes reeking of barbecued pork and the stink of dried shrimp.


Sean's 9th birthday -- homemade spider cupcakes for his classmates and presents from the family


Thankfully, the pregnant bloat on my face won us the sympathetic wave back across the border without the expected prying in the car trunk. But sadly, our visits to Toronto became far and few between, never mind that the Cantonese cuisine was tauntingly delicious.


View of Niagara Falls from the Canadian border and our hotel room

We’d always said we would return to visit Toronto one day but 4 kids later and our lives in constant disarray, those plans never fully materialized until last Friday when we decided that celebrating Sean’s 9th birthday was good enough reason to return. The city that taught him at a tender age -- in utero -- what authentic Cantonese cuisine was, beckoned us once more and this time, to sample their Dim Sum which we had yet to try but were certain that it would not disappoint. Plus, we had incentive to visit Niagara Falls where Sean’s best friend, Eva, now lives. What better way to celebrate a birthday than with good friends and food?

Awww.... too cute!

Now, Eva isn’t just any 9-year old girl. She’s curiously free-spirited and less giggly girly-girl obsessed with glitter, dress-up, Hannah Montana and the likes of those who start their sentences with verbs -- “like, he’s so not cool”. Action packed Pokemon fascinated her so it wasn’t surprising that she launched the spy club, presiding as the club’s president and enlisted Sean as the sidekick. Her creative juices set life to the game where they had code names and a host of gritty details that only Sean and her obsessed over. And when the two weren’t plotting other games, her other favourite pastime was to lie back on the grassy field with Sean, and watch the lofty clouds float past (her mom shared this endearing memory). The two were inseparable, and by the end of last semester, when she readied for her return to Canada, Sean began to withdraw from other social interactions in class already mourning the imminent loss of a close friendship. They were the proverbial two peas in a pod.



Jane ladles a good dollop of goulash

 

Over a good homemade meal with family L.

I like Eva, plus her mom Jane is a real sweetheart and I can’t deny that if I didn’t like Jane much, then, the chances of driving Sean to see his best pal would be mostly zero. That’s a fact. We had the privilege of dining with the Ls, were entertained by Thomas’s liveliness (Jane’s husband), chatted over a hearty homemade Hungarian goulash and vegan burrito lunch that both warmed and comforted the soul, and I got to catch-up on Jane’s new life since emailing doesn’t quite encapsulate all the details. Eva and Sean spent their few hours reliving their tag days with nerf guns,and my other kids manhandled Eva’s toys and the cat -- it was all good.



Thomas shows several uses for a dish rag

Dim Sum the next day at Thomas’s suggested tea house lived up to my expectations: the egg tarts, shrimp dumplings, sesame balls, pork buns and various items were spot-on delicious and swallowed in a hurry. I knew it was going to be good judging by the looks of that elderly weathered Asian lady who was happily tucking into her breakfast Dim Sum alone, and the presence of several Asians speaking Cantonese was reassuring. Never mind the fair number of local westerners who had also come with their Asian friends or on their own -- this is Toronto, even the local westerners know authentic Cantonese food from pseudo-Asian rubbish. Plus, when they serve up coarsely grounded whole chilies in oil and not from a squeeze bottle, I know I’m in good hands. Needless to say, I pigged out.


Waiting impatiently for Dim Sum

So what if it took us 4 hours to drive to Toronto just for a decent Dim Sum spread? When your town (in my case, Corning is technically considered a small city) has little to offer beyond fairly decent pizzas and so-so chain restaurants, the Dim Sum drive didn't seem too absurd in our minds. Plus, we got to see the Ls along the way. Good friends and Dim Sum are much too enticing to pass up!