It’s finally happened — the first post-covid summer! Of course it’s still around in spades, but finally society as a whole has agreed to give up, and that’s good enough by me.
I forgot how it happened, but at some point I learned that the commuter parking lot at Finch subway station is very cheap on the evenings. Consequently, we’ve made a habit having Friday evening dates after work, mostly to the Yonge and Finch area where there is a large concentration of Asian restaurants.
Similarly, I’ve discovered a large public underground parking lot near the distillery district, which has become a launchpad for significantly quicker excursions to downtown Toronto. Definitely beats the long subway ride!
As a result, this summer has been unusually indulgent. Though we have had excursions in summer 2021 in Toronto, covid restrictions were still very much present, and there was still a tingle of guilt that came with it, like engaging in a reckless activity that will endanger co-workers. Needless to say, all that completely went out the window in 2022 and it was all about going hard. Besides, it seemed very likely that Japan wasn’t going to open up this year, so we might as well spurge a little. I especially enjoyed the Friday evening — it was like making a long weekend out of a normal one.
Public events were also back in full force this summer. There were quite a few food festivals, the Canadian National Exhibition, as well the Japan Festival Canada in Mississauga. Not having them for two years straight has given me newfound appreciation for them. Sometimes it’s just good to be outside and laze about on the grass, even if the events aren’t the most interesting.
Not only did the entirety of summer pass by, but we’re also knee-deep in autumn! Instead of going up north this year, we went to some nearby parks to take in the fall colours. I’d like to say that we’re too poor to afford gas for the long drive, but really we were just lazy. Xenoblade Chronicles 3 and Splatoon 3 certainly didn’t help with motivation either.
There was also plenty of home cooking in these past five months. the butterflied roast turkey for thanksgiving turned out to be a huge hit with the in-laws, and the yakitori skewers were surprisingly simple and good, even though the bamboo skewers burnt up on the grill. My other half was no slouch with the sweets either.
I also finally finished the MG Gundam Alex 2.0, which was almost a year in the making of on-and-off work. I’ll probably take some more proper photos in the winter when there’s fewer things to do.
Finally, despite pessimism earlier in the year over Japan’s agonizingly cautious stance towards inbound tourism, a flurry of developments occurred in September and before I knew it, Japan’s is now open for business as of October 11th! And you better believe we’ve got plane ticket lined up, so there will be many photo to share on the next post.
Anyways, time to finish up planning the upcoming adventure. Until next time!