Toronto Uncovered

Archive for the ‘Rec’ Category

I have always thought of myself as a West coast girl at heart. Although I haven’t been lucky enough to boast long term residence there, I spent many summers in California growing up.

I took my first trip to Canada’s West coast this weekend, flying into Vancouver and touring the Gulf Islands aboard an amazing 2 bedroom yacht. The 4 days flew by way too quickly, but were packed with amazing experiences from start to finish.

Arriving late Thursday night, we stayed in  Coast Coal Harbour Hotel, which was an affordable rate of $139.00/night with a spectacular mountain view of Coal Harbour.  Friday morning I boarded my first float plane and headed out to Galiano Island which lays nestled in amazingly lush green hills. The weather couldn’t have been better, a perfect 25 degrees with a cool mountain breeze.  The day was spent reading, boating and jumping into the freezing water off of the yacht’s deck. It was exhilarating.

Saturday morning we strapped on our running shoes and went for a run through the tree lined hills of Galiano. Deer ran across our path more than once as we tried to conquer rolling hills, unparalleled to anything you might find in Toronto. Saturday afternoon we set off towards Salt Spring Island Market. Being a beautifully sunny day on the August long weekend, the market was packed with bargain hunters from every harbour around. I grabbed a few gluten free chocolate goodies, and then devoured a delicious lunch of seafood and caesars at the Oyster Catcher Seafood Bar and Grill. Thoroughly stuffed, we headed out to open waters towards Vancouver proper. I have to say, traveling by boat is pretty fantastic: no cramped car, beautiful scenery, relaxing lull of the engine and no annoying  traffic.  We docked back in Coal Harbour and enjoyed a relaxing evening of BBQ burgers and red wine.

Sunday morning brought with it delicious smoked salmon and chorizo breakfast sandwiches  from Vancouver’s Urban Fare. As the weather started to warm up, we strapped on our runners once again and powered through a 10K run along the Sea Wall. Beautiful scenery – mountains in the distance and the Pacific ocean right below our feet.

Sunday afternoon was Pride celebration – we hit the town, starting at Score on Davie (sports bar), ending at Chill Winston. If you end up here, I highly recommend their cheese and charcuterie platters.

In case you couldn’t tell I loved my time on Canada’s West coast and cant wait to return.

Have you been to Vancouver? What are your favourite things to do there?

Feeling proud? Well, maybe that’s because it’s Pride Week here in Toronto! That’s right folks, from June 25^th to July 4^th Toronto pays homage to the rainbow flag. Lots of fun stuff is lined up for this weekend including a street fair with vendors and artisans along Church Street on Saturday and Sunday and of course, don’t forget the 30^th Annual Pride Parade starting at Bloor and Church on Sunday at 2pm. Check out the Toronto Pride website for more details and a handy map of the stages set up as well as the parade’s route.

These festivities can get a little wild so if that’s not your thing organizers have set up a drug and alcohol Free Zone at Paul Kane Parkette (off of Wellesley Street East between Yonge Street and Church Street) for those of you looking to express your pride inconspicuously. The Free Zone will feature a DJ and a stage with live performances, holistic services, green lawn and confidential recovery meetings. A family zone has also been set up as part of Family Pride on the grounds of the Church Street Junior Public School (southeast corner of Church Street and Alexander Street) offering inclusive, family-friendly activities and events.

Have a fun and safe weekend everybody!

Long time no contribution. I must admit, I’ve been slacking off a little but here’s why – it’s summer! Patio season is here folks so slather on the SPF and get your mmm on outside like I did the other day.  Java House, located at 537 Queen Street West on the southwest corner of Queen and Augusta, is without a doubt a hipster hot-spot. Personally, I’m not all that hip but I still appreciate quality food that doesn’t break the bank.

Their eclectic menu features lighter pub fare and a variety of Thai entrees in the $5, that’s right $5 price range, not to mention daily specials, all day breakfast, and a good selection of coffee, teas and cheap pitchers.

Upon first impression, Java House looks like a dive bar and a coffee shop had a one night stand, but that’s precisely the restaurant’s charm. Though be warned, the bathrooms are of the, to quote my friend Angela “flush with your foot” variety.

On busy days, inside can be a little cramped with a line-up for the large patio. Luckily for my friend and I we arrived at Java House before yesterday’s dinner rush. We were promptly seated outside at a wobbly table but brushed it off as that small price we were willing to pay for sunshine.

Service at Java House is whimsical. If you go in expecting to be treated like royalty chances are your expectations will not be met. I’ve returned to Java House many times and I’ve had adequate service and terrible service but never the type of service to sing praises about, but then again I’m not picky. What keeps me coming back to Java House is the great prices, yummy food and, as I fancy myself a people watcher, the quirky clientele. Still, I don’t want to speak ill of the servers at Java House. It’s not that the servers are rude to their customers, rather in most cases they are in general a bit green and sometimes forgetful. Our server yesterday spilled our water (though the wobbly table was partly to blame) and of another server my friend requested an ashtray, which never came. Neither of those things particularly irked either of us,  as said before we weren’t all that concerned about the quality of the service. We were just hungry.

We both ordered the stir-fry and vegetables. Angela had the tofu option while I went with the chicken. Portion size was large enough that Angela didn’t finish her rice where as I stopped short of licking the plate when I was finished. We also shared a pitcher of Amsterdam Blonde between us. In the end, the sum total for everything was around $28 and we left Java House happy enough with our experience yesterday that I’m sure we’ll both continue to gravitate there this summer and many summers thereafter.

In recent years, the faux-vintage indie scene appears to have taken our city by storm.  I cite the replacement of many funky Queen Street shops, specifically between Spadina and University, with chain stores like H&M and Urban Outfitters as my evidence. Don’t get me wrong, I like both those stores but I miss the authentic vintage ambiance of “Old Queen”. Yard sales and flea markets are rare in urban cities, which is a shame because in a world where we’ve become so tech and trend obsessed sometimes a little nostalgic taste of the past can be good for the soul.

Fortunately, St. Lawrence Market is our metropolis’s retro oasis and its located right downtown at Front and Jarvis. It’s all too easy to get swept up in the hustle and bustle of contemporary city life and take for granted many of life’s simple pleasures. Get back down to earth by visiting St. Lawrence as soon as you can and might I specifically suggest you do so on the weekend. After an eventful Friday and Saturday a friend and I spent our lazy Sunday browsing the St. Lawrence indoor and outdoor flea market (Sunday Antique Market).  We came upon many marvels such as antique furniture, funky glassware, rare vinyl, retro albeit fully functional turntables, vintage clothes, watches and jewelry and so much more.


Personally, I was delighted upon the discovery of a box of plush toys that took me right back to my childhood. Finding Care Bears was amazing but I was blown away to stumble upon a My Pet Monster with the cuffs intact. Another great benefit about the flea market is that the vendors are informative without being pushy. They’re also incredibly friendly and funny people to talk to so it’s a great place to go especially if you’re a social butterfly and/or new to the city.

Keep an eye out for celebrity sightings such as Colonel Sanders and Aunt Jemima. Alright, so actually they were just a couple of quirky figurines that we noticed were for sale and as tacky as they were it was still delightfully amusing to discover them amongst the sea of memorabilia.

The flea market will appeal to those of you looking for a bargain or a treasure hunt and, with some vendors selling old stamps and coins, it’s also a collector’s paradise.

I have been spinning twice a week for nearly four years. For those who don’t know, spinning is a hardcore cardio workout done to the beats of loud music on a stationary bike. Really great spin instructors will leave you breathless, and fighting off the “I think I might puke” feeling. Being a regular spinner, I haven’t actually felt this puke sensation in a while, despite my amazing instructors. Until now..

I was introduced to Cykl about a month ago and have been singing its praises ever since. Cykl is the only spin studio in the city (or anywhere else that I know of) that has RealRyder bikes that tilt and move as you ride. The 65 pound wheel (regular spinning wheels weigh around 40 pounds) is located at the back of the bike, leaving the handlebars free to tilt and turn as you spin, resulting in a serious upper body and core strengthening workout as you are spinning.

My first class, the instructor told me to throw everything I thought I knew about spinning out the window because most of it wouldn’t apply on the new bikes. She was dead on. If your form isn’t 100% perfect, the handlebars go crazy wobbling.  Standing up and turning right and left is a hell of a lot harder than third position on any normal spin bike. When I got off the bike after my first class on the RealRyder my legs were jello. When I got off the bike on Monday after my 7th class on the RealRyder, my legs were still jello.

Its an amazing work out. I recommend it to anyone who is looking for a serious full body challenge. The instructors are all pretty great, my favourites being Jen and Katya (who will absolutely makes you feel like you’re going to puke). Costs are comparable to most other cycle studios and the first one is free!

Let me know if you give it a try and what you think!

Earlier this week I wrote a post called TCSSC Uncovered, which described how my rec level ultimate frisbee team had been matched against teams well above rec level, which also happened to be made up of TCSSC employees, resulting in bruised egos and some pretty lopsided results.

That post generated a good deal of interest and feedback from community members as well as the TCSSC co-founder and director Rol Miller. I spoke with Rol last week to a) get his side of the story, b)give my account of what we were facing and c) discuss possible resolutions. The discussion went really well, and I appreciate that Rol reached out to me directly. Below is an email with proposed solutions and next steps:

Dear Heather,

On behalf of myself and my coworkers here, I would like to offer my deepest thanks for your time on the phone today.  I just wanted to wrap up our chat and confirm a few things:

-       We recognize that self seeding has it strengths and weaknesses.  We will endeavor to keep doing the best we can in terms of creating balanced pools, and moving teams when time and logistics permit.

-       We will be making efforts in the coming months to clarify our skill level descriptions at the website.

-       We will be looking at the concept of adding a complete “beginner” division to some sports (if implemented, it would more than likely be for Fall 2010)

-       We will look into new methods of accepting pooling requests during the online registration process.

-       Please always make sure to drop an email to info@torontossc.com post registration to make us aware of any special requests. We will do our best to accommodate them when possible.

-       Your next two games will be against the lower teams in your division, and, unless there is a playoff upset, you will not see the top 2 teams for the rest of the season.  I hope I haven’t jinxed anyone by writing that!

I am sorry that it has been a tough go for your squad this season, but I hope you enjoy the rest of the games and we look forward to hosting you and your friends in future seasons.

Cheers

Rol Miller

While I’m not sure that Ill be signing up for Spring ultimate, it’s nice to know that the TCSSC recognizes that there is a problem and is making headway towards fixing it.  Last night we played a team that was actually rec level. We won and actually had fun doing it!

Photo via BlogTO

Last year I wrote a post reviewing different sports leagues in Toronto. The TCSSC (Toronto Central Sports and Social Club) is definitely the main league organizer and probably offers the widest variety of different sports, nights and times.  One would hope that the largest organizer would be organized themselves, setting good examples for other companies and delivering strong league services. Unfortunately, that is a hope that they continue to dash.  In the years I have played with them, I have never been overly amazed at their level of organization, communication or customer relations. They are often more expensive than other leagues, ranging in cost from $100 for an individual to upwards of $800-$900 for some teams. I continued to play with them because I was able to overlook their inadequacies and focus on the fun and good times of the games I was playing.  Until now..

This Winter season we signed up a team for our 4th season of Sunday night Ultimate Frisbee.  We are in the rec league, which is described by the TCSSC as

“almost no players will have experienced at an organized level of the sport, most having not played at all”.

This fit our description pretty well.  We were signing up to learn and have fun.  As the season got underway, we realized we were losing pretty badly each week against teams that had definitely played before, and were very well organized (ie. running drills during time outs).  Some skill differentiation between teams is to be expected,  but the real deal breaker for me was finding out that at least 2 of the teams are actually comprised  of TCSSC employees. They are literally doing somersault catches and boasting that they usually play at the intermediate or advanced level.  WTF?

Being a letter-writer by nature, I wrote the TCSSC a concerned and less than impressed email yesterday. The captain of the 1st place team responded saying,

“We happened to get a couple new players this season who have proved to be quite good, as well our team as a whole seems to be getting better at the game too.” and “We figured we would be good this season but we didn’t think we’d blow away all the teams (and we don’t have a perfect season, 1 tie and 1 loss)” out of a total of 9 games played.

The team in 2nd place is also comprised of TCSSC employees, winning 7 of their 9 games.

M point is this: People sign up to play because they are hoping to be competitive and to have some fun. From time to time its expected you will come up against a team that is probably out of your division. To face crushing defeats week after week is not so much fun and it is unacceptable that these dominant offenders are the organizers of the league itself. Surely they know the guidelines for each divisions, and surely they also know their skill set before they sign up. I honestly feel that our Sunday “games” are their practice. Why would we want to continue to pay hundreds of dollars to the TCSSC only to have them negate their own guidelines and rules and wipe the floor with us on a weekly basis? Where is the fun in that?

I am writing this because I am slightly outraged, and feel that anyone reading this post should be aware of the current situation. I am not sure if this has been happening in any other leagues but welcome feedback and discussion.

A few months ago I wrote a post about the types and benefits of hot yoga and the different studios I have tried around Toronto.  As you might remember, I prefer Bikram’s style of hot yoga over Moksha because it pushes me to achieve higher levels of difficulty and fitness.  Since that post, one of my good friends has been urging me to try his hot yoga studio, iam yoga, which offers a number of different hot flow classes.  At first, I was reluctant because I thought, like Moksha,  it would be too light and fluffy for me.  Luckily, his persistence eventually paid off and I joined him for my first hot flow class on Saturday and my second last night.  These classes are 60 minutes, instead of the 90 minute Bikram, and are a mish mash of different yoga styles including: Hatha, traditional flow, Ashtanga, Bikram and some Pilates inspired movements as well (straight legged bicycles in a 100 degree heat is NOT easy). The main part of the flow class is that in between every major set of positions you come back to a flow, which is a transition from downward dog, into chaturanga followed by upward dog, ending back in downward dog.

I have to say that these classes to be a perfect middle ground between Bikram and traditional Moksha. They are definitely challenging and work towards improving your mental and physical strength, but they are not as intense as the Bikram and offer a variety of different movements each class.

The downtown location celebrates its 1 year anniversary in February and there is already such a huge sense of friendship and community among those who practice. The uptown location, Moksha Yoga Uptown, is more of a Moksha style, but also offers flow classes for anyone living further North.

I have to admit I’m a bit of a convert. Ill probably mix up practicing between Bikram and these flow classes depending on my mood and energy levels.

Where do you practice? Any other good hot yoga studios downtown?

Growing up, apple picking was an annual tradition in the Morrison household. I used to love running up and down the rows of blossoming apple trees, plucking only the shiniest and ripest apples to catch my eye.  My brothers and I used to climb the larger  trees to get to the best, sun-kissed apples at the top.

I am happy to admit that not much has changed. Last weekend, some friends and I took a short road trip to Chudleigh’s apple orchards. Luckily, the weather was on our side – sun shining and not a cloud in the sky. This made for a                                       great escape from the city. Almost immediately, we returned to our childhood, lowered our already questionable maturity levels, and ran around the orchard picking apples of every variety we could find. We eventually tired our selves out and found a spot to lay in the sun and enjoy our surroundings.

Everyone left with a few bags of gorgeous apples, and some jams and other baked goods from the Chudleigh’s store. The best part of having all of these perfectly ripe apples is the inevitable baking to follow. Below are some delicious apple recipes I plan on trying out this week!

Apple Crisp Recipe via Roberts Place

Apple Stuffed Chicken Breast

Other Apple Recipes via Ontario Apple Growers

If this week’s cool temperatures are an indication of anything, its that Torontonians will not be blessed with an Indian Summer. This time of year is always a little bit difficult for me – I don’t adjust well to the lack of sunlight and cold weather. Staying active and warm has always helped – hot yoga is the perfect remedy for my winter doldrums.

I first started practicing hot yoga while I was living in the Annex during University and recently picked it up again in the East end. I am no stranger to yoga, having taken some form for years.  Hot yoga, which is done at a temperature of 100 degrees Fahrenheit, has certain benefits which I find are absent in other forms.

First, I am completely in ‘the moment’ for the entire 90 minutes of class. My mind is fully focused on the different movements and poses, never drifting to other topics. In other forms of yoga, I find my mind wanders and I am rarely in a truly meditative state. Clearing my head of daily distractions allows me to recharge and gives me a much better outlook and perspective.

Second, the physical benefits are unmatched by any other form I have taken. In one 90 minute class you can burn anywhere between 1000 and 1700 calories. The class is intense and challenging from beginning to end, providing a true sense of accomplishment when completed. Hot yoga also increases my metabolism, flexibility and overall strength more than any other form. I have even noticed improvements in the health of my skin and hair.

Third, because of the heat, you will sweat more than you ever believed possible – if you’re not dripping from head to toe within a few minutes, you’re not human! This provides an amazing detox and flush of your system, unparalleled in any other exercise I have encountered.

There are two main forms of hot yoga: Bikram and Moksha.  I have taken both and prefer Bikram. The main difference is that Bikram is the same every class. You go through 26 predefined poses, holding them for a specific amount of time each. Each pose has its place in the sequence for a reason. Good Bikram instructors will explain the different poses and their benefits as you go through them. Moksha is more flexible, with similar poses as Bikram, but not necessarily and any predefined order. I found Bikram to be more difficult, and therefore, I had a greater sense of achievement after class. It really comes down to your own personal preference.

If you’re looking for good studios to go in and around town check out the following – I have tried all of these, and find them to be clean, well priced, and above all else staffed with excellent instructors.

Bikram Yoga Centre (42 Colborne Lane)

Bikram Yoga Annex (720 Spadina Avenue)

Moksha Yoga Downtown (577 Wellington Street West)

Namaste!