Meet "Angelica"

Up to Summer 2011, I was always afraid to try Thai food as I'm not a big fan of spicy food and in general Thai food is known to be very spicy.. Until I went in August 2011 to Bangkok for a TV  commercial shoot and my colleagues started pushing me to try, and they made sure to ask for the mildest version possible.. And I realized that I didn't need all this fear and that Thai cuisine has a lot to offer for people like me who can't handle spices.. And since then I became a big fan of Thai food, of course by knowing what I can pick and always asking for the level of spiciness of the dish if it's not clearly mentioned on the menu.

In a cold evening I went to Sukhothai restaurant on 52 Wellington Street E, alone, after I've been to it with my friend Maz, and I liked the food a lot so decided to go again..

Even though I can be boring when it comes to food and when I like something I stick to it, but at SukhoThai, I tried many things so far and all of them are real flavorful and so tasty..
Starting with the mango salad, to the creamy coconut and chicken soup Tom Khai Gai, and from the main the two curries, Gaeng Kiaw Wan and Gaeng Masaman.. Each dish is better than the other and the ideas is to go with friends and order different dishes and share to be able to try their wonderful different flavors..

Angelica was the waitress who took my order and was so kind and reassured me that what I ordered can come very mild , and after serving the food she kept checking if I'm, if I liked it and if I like anything else.. And here of course she recommend the dessert and I didn't say no :)

We took a picture with the daughter of the owner and I left thanking her for a great food and a very nice Thai experience, and I know for a fact that I'm hooked to SukhoThai and will be going often, so who's in?

Reading more about the restaurant on their website, here is the interesting story of how SukhoThai started as told by its owner Ving Rhames:

"IT ALL STARTED ON AN ELEPHANT (hence the logo). That's where I met the girl of my dreams. I was backpacking in jungles of Northern Thailand. One special day had me as the comfort of a terrified stranger on an elephant ride.  After making Nuit's acquaintance I found her to be a kind, hard working nurse at the local hospital and, wow, could she cook! The flavours that came out of her little kitchen was extraordinary.
Fast forward a couple of years and we open a cozy little restaurant in Pai, Thailand, called the Curry Shack. Nuit would come in to cook dinner every night after her shift at the hospital.  Everything was prepared to the finest detail as she infused her meticulous nursing habits and knowledge of health to her cooking, creating her own unique style.  It was a hit with the frequent travelers as well as the Thai locals.  People just couldn't help but notice the enthusiasm of the local nurse who finally got the chance to showcase her other skills.
PLUS THE FOOD WAS JUST AWESOME!
I finally snatched her off the 'singles' list in 2004 and Nuit came with me back to Canada.  By 2008, with the much needed help from family and true friends, we opened Sukhothai.  Our goal was simple:  Make real Thai food.
Blessed with a talented and hard working staff, who share that passion to make great food, Sukhothai invites you to experience a taste of Thailand.
Yeah… that’s Ving Rhames!"

Meet "Olga"

So after meeting my new friend Merwad for couple of times, she asked me if I’m interested to join her with a group of friends to a concert at Roy Thomson Hall where The Classic Albums Live will be performing Abbey Road – The Beatles, so without hesitation I told her I’m in.. and we agreed to meet 30 minutes before the concert.

I was excited like a kid, as I really liked the architecture of the building, and I was always curious to see how it looks from inside of course on top of my anticipation for the concert and to meet new people..

so I met them at the entrance of the hall, I arrived 10 minutes earlier, Merwad was already there with her friend Olga, and she introduced us.

Olga moved to Toronto around three years ago, she used to live in the UAE too so we had a starting point for our conversation, and she works in the medical equipment field, so we started discussing the health care system and the equipment of different medical centers and comparing it with the UAE and Lebanon, and of course she gave me couple of insights and tips from her experience the last three years..

It seems Olga is a big fan of singing, and she’s taking vocal classes, so I hope we’ll be able to hear her singing one day soon..

The concert was great, even though we felt quiet old (maybe the average age group was 50 at the concert) after all it’s the Beatles songs but we enjoyed every minute of it, and the performance of Classic Album live was fantastic..

After the concert, we went for dinner and drinks, where I had the chance to meet more friends which I will introduce in my coming posts.

Cheers.

Meet "Faisal"

For years at Leo Burnett Dubai, Sara Abou Zahra was one of my favorite people I loved working with and our friendship continued even after Sara moved to another company..

Before leaving Dubai, each group of friends did for me a separate farewell party or dinner or lunch.. So I ended up gaining four or five kgs and in one of these dinners with very dear friends, Sara was there and she gave me the contacts of her brother Faisal who moved to Toronto few years back and she was sure that we will get along well and become friends..

Few days after my move, I gave Faisal a call and we agreed to meet for a coffee.. Faisal asked me to meet him at the entrance of the TD building where he works so I was there at 5:05 pm and seeing everyone leaving on time like as if people where evacuating the building on emergency.. Made me envy them as I use to stay always super late in the office, not to mention the working weekends..

And 5 minutes later Faisal showed up, and I realized that he's face is familiar and I've seen him before in Dubai somewhere but it was the first time we meet properly..

After a nice dinner at Frans and an interesting chat, and some tips from Faisal I asked him where did he got his Canada Goose Jacket so he was kind enough to suggest to come with me to check one.. And we went to Harrey Rosen on Bloor st.. Where I tried couple of jackets and I was confused between 2 colors but the issue of the color was nothing compare to the issue of zipper.. Yes the zipper wasn't working properly and they kept telling me that it will take me time to get used to it so I kept trying and trying but with no hope and they were all helping me, more than 5 people and even when they were trying they needed to make effort to manage to zip it.. At the end after I felt embarrassed and doubting that maybe me not knowing how to do it, they agreed to get me a new one after few days so I paid and I left thanking Faisal for his patience and help..

And after two days they got me the new jacket and the zipper worked perfectly from the first time.. So I sent a message to Faisal: it wasn't me it wasn't me J