Enter the Dragon

Today, January 25th, 2012 is Day 3 of 15 days of festivities - yes, eat, eat, eat! Warning: EAT before you read Sara Waxman's delicious story as she include a segment about our Chinese New Year tours in Toronto's second Chinatown (Spadina/Dundas area). Stay tuned for schedules for Lost First Chinatown Foodie Walks (Toronto's first & oldest Chinatown)! Bon appetite!

Enter the Dragon

Charles Dickens lands on Canadian soil first!

Charles Dickens portrait by Francis Alexander in 1842

Hey Canada - here's some interesting Canadian literary food for thought... the world is abuzz with the fast approaching bicentenary birthday of British author, Charles John Huffam Dickens on February 7th, 2012...

On Thursday January 20th, 1842, 170 years ago, Charles Dickens arrived in Canada on one of the first trans-Atlantic steamboats, The SS Britannia. He landed on the shores of Halifax, Nova Scotia before starting off his famous American tour documented in the little known book called American Notes. Some of the material gathered for American Notes became incorporated into the much hated novel in America called Martin Chuzzlewit published in 1843/1844.  Two days later, on Saturday January 22, 1842 he arrived in Boston.

Here's a little excerpt from American Notes:

Chapter I: Going Away
" I shall never forget the one-fourth serious and three-fourths comical astonishment, with which, on the morning of the third of January eighteen-hundred-and-forty-two, I opened the door of, and put my head into, a "state-room" on board the "Britannia" steam-packet, twelve hundred tons burthen per register, bound for Halifax and Boston, and carrying Her Majesty's mails. "

So now you know that he arrived on Canadian shore first, exactly 170 years ago.

Now, here's another burning question for you proud Canadian readers. What was the real purpose behind his visit to North America in 1842? Stay tuned...

Happy New Year! Happy Asian Lunar New Year! Let's Celebrate Year of the Water Dragon!

Adieu old year and welcome new year! Lucky me, I get to say that not once, not twice, but three times! I love that old adage, "Good things come in threes"... On that note ... 


Happy New Year and adieu 2011!  I feel very lucky to have savoured celebrating all the Festivals of Lights on the final Kensington Festive Foodie Roots Walk scheduled on December 30th, 2011.  After wishing each other a safe journey home, and a Happy New Year, we all parted feeling well fed with equal portions of food and food for thought... My Christmas tree will be coming down shortly .... Welcome to the New Year and 2012 I say! What lurks around the corner?  Hint, hint, hint - it's connected with these greetings in Cantonese, Mandarin and Vietnamese! 


Gung Hei Fatt Choi!   That's the New Year greeting used and heard while growing up in Toronto of late 1960s into mid-1980s. I still greet my family members using this Cantonese dialect within the Chinese language, as my ancestors like many from Southern China immigrated from the Canton province for jobs on the railroad. You might hear me greet merchants in Mandarin or Vietnamese along the tours. Lucky me, I get a chance to re-set my goals and/or new New Year resolutions a second time!  Thank you Chinese New Year or more accurately, Chinese Lunar New Year! On an inclusive note, I should called it Asian Lunar New Year as Taiwanese and Vietnamese also use the lunar calendar. Asian Lunar New Year doesn't conveniently fall on the same day, namely, January 1st, as in the case of the Gregorian calendar. It's a floating lunar event between mid-January and mid-February.  In 2012, Sunday January 22nd will be the Asian Lunar New Year's Eve and we will sadly bid farewell to the Year of the Rabbit, a year filled with culture and learning... and usher in the vibrant,  and colourful Year of the Dragon! Dragon years are action driven and times for major initiatives. The motto or Chinese proverb to live by throughout the Year  of the Dragon: "Better to do it than to miss it." If you missed out on our fantastic Chinese New Year events in the past, then resolve it by joining us! 

Annual Behind-the-scenes Chinese New Year Tours 
3 Unique 2012 Experiences:

Preparations:  Sat. & Sun. January 14, 15, 21, 22, 2012  10 A.M.-1:30 P.M.

Celebrations:   Sat. & Sun. January 28, 29, 2012  10 A.M.-1:30 P.M.

Grand Finale:  Sat. & Sun. February 4th & 5th, 2012  10 A.M.-1:30 P.M.

*  Chinese New Year Preparations:  Sat. & Sun. January 14, 15, 21, 22, 2012 *

 Part of the fun lies in gearing up for any festivities. Catch the frenzied excitement as you get to "shadow" culinary historian/guide Shirley Lum while she shares how she prepares her household for the festival to end all festivals within the Chinese culture! You'll understand why she wears a red coat - all the better to keep up with her as she darts from the Asian grocery store, to the aromatic tea shop, and then to the Chinese bakery for decadent pastries! The best part of shadowing Shirley -  you pick-up some awesome foodie tips, so bring along your eco-bags for anticipated shopping during and/or after the event. 
Spots available: 11
Fees in $CAD (incl. food & non-alcoholic drinks): Adult $45.00  SR/ST (ID) $40.00 CHILD (12 & under) $30.00  
RSVP: info@torontowalksbikes.com OR (416) 923-6813

* New Year's Celebrations:  Sat. & Sun. January 28, 29, 2012 *

Celebration time for 15 days!!! Guests along these tours will have a high chance of capturing several exciting Lion Dances with their cameras while culinary historian/guide, Shirley Lum explains the moves and significance behind this old New Year ritual. Tradition dictates that delicious dumplings be eaten, hence, we will nosh on a variety of them at the New Year dim sum and at the bakery. 
Spots available: 11
Fees in $CAD (incl. food & non-alcoholic drinks): Adult $45.00  SR/ST (ID) $40.00 CHILD (12 & under) $30.00 
RSVP: info@torontowalksbikes.com OR (416) 923-6813

* Grand Finale:  Sat. & Sun. February 4, 5, 2012 *

If you experienced the preparations or the celebrations of the 15-days Chinese New festivities, then you must come back for the grand finale: The Lantern Festival. Special dumplings are served this time of the year.  Bring along your cameras as there will be plenty of beautiful lanterns to capture! Believe it or not, this marks the return of spring light and the lengthening of the day. 
Spots available: 11
Fees in $CAD (incl. food & non-alcoholic drinks): Adult $45.00  SR/ST (ID) $40.00 CHILD (12 & under) $30.00 
RSVP: info@torontowalksbikes.com OR (416) 923-6813

 * 5th Annual Chinese New Year's Eve 11-course Banquet  *
Date & Time: Sat. January 21st, 2012 6:00 - 7:30pm
Location: Taste of China Seafood Restaurant, 338 Spadina Avenue 

(1 block N of Dundas St W), Toronto, Ontario, Canada

We would love the pleasure of your company.... Join Culinary Historian/Host Shirley Lum for an authentic communal grand feast! She sheds light on the emerging trends, traditions and superstitions connected with this exciting festival. Wondering what are the greetings in Cantonese, Mandarin and Vietnamese? You'll get a chance to practise tonight throughout the event. As the host of this gastronomic event, Shirley will entertain with tales of ancient feasts while guiding you through eating your way through all 11-courses. You'll find your head spin with the colourful names and rich symbolism behind each of the dishes you will savour with all your senses....  Tip: Don't forget to bring your cameras and appetite!

Menu to whet your appetite:  
* Crab Meat & Fish Maw Soup 
* Spicy & Salty Jumbo Shrimps Lightly Battered 
* Phoenix Nest with Seafood Medley & Vegetables 
* Whole Crispy Chicken with Shrimp Chips & Seasoned Salt 
* Sliced Pork with Special Sweet & Sour Sauce  
* Medley of Braised Vegetables, Seafood, Chicken & Pork  
* Whole Steamed Fish with Green Onions & Ginger  
* Double Lobsters with Green Onions & Ginger 
* Braised E-Fu Noodles 
* Yangzhou Fried Rice  
* Traditional Dessert Soup & Fortune Cookies  

Fee (incl all food + non-alcoholic drinks): Table of 10 $390.00 or $45.00 per person  
RSVP: info@torontowalksbikes.com OR (416) 923-6813

After celebrating the Chinese New Year 15-days eating marathon, you'd think I'd be saying "Nooooo more!" This self-confessed foodie will be dropping into the gym throughout the whole festive period and will be hitting Toronto's pavements by guiding the special Dickens' bicentenary birthday walk: In The Footsteps of Charles Dickens: Toronto 1842 on Saturday February 4th, 2012

I look forward to my third New Year celebrations, which take place in mid-March ... stay tuned for the exciting Persian New Year celebrations .... I'm not Persian, I'm a proud CBC a.k.a. Canadian-born Chinese who happens to love eating Persian food... and I happen to live in Toronto, the "Meeting Place" for sharing and embracing the holidays and festivities of diverse cultures!

Happy New Year !
Gung Hei Fatt Choi !
Gong Xi Fa Cai !
Chuc Mung Nam Mui! 

'Tis the Season: Thinking Outside of the Gift Box!

Surprise the Foodie/Literary Detective/Ghost Buster in your life!
Tuck a Gift Certificate in a Gift Box!

2011 has been pure Shangri-La because throughout this year, I've had the honour and pleasure of conducting customized foodie walks as personal gifts for bridal showers, wedding anniversary and milestone birthdays.  Year 2011 ends on a high note when I wrap-up with the two final tours of Kensington Festive Foodie Roots Walks on Saturday December 17th and Friday December 30th... These final tours celebrate, embrace and share ALL the Festivals of Lights within multicultural Kensington marketplace and residential quarters. Both occasions will be extra special foodie tours, in part, thanks to the holiday food and drinks we don't get year round, but in part due to another reason.


On both occasions, I will have  a guest who will be the recipient of an amazing gift of Foodie "Flow" experience from their partner for their birthday gift and as a Christmas present. Discovering new foodie experience together on a guided food walk, while spending quality and quantity time sans cell phone distractions have often lead to an experience called "Flow".  Flow is the mental state of operation in which a person in an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and success in the process according to author Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in his amazing book, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience!

Hiyam from Akram's Shoppe
 Baklavas made with love & served with heady Spiced Tea
after we taste an awesome platter of savoury treats 

Breaking bread always brings people together. In our case, tasting a variety of artisan Canadian cheeses and olive before yours truly recites, Ode to the Olive by late Canadian poet, Irving Layton. Flow experience might happen while we sample Jamaican Dark Rum Christmas Cake after yours truly recites An Ode to the Fruitcake (this is recited by local innkeeper Jon Tschannen at the annual Christmas cake toss event in Manitou Springs, Colorado)  seem to literally bond each guests along the walks. 

Feliz Navidad!
Lime Charlotte a.k.a Mexican Tiramisu at Agave & Aguacate
One of Culinary Historian/Guide, Shirley Lum's favourite desserts! 

There's still time to book spots or order a Gift Certificate and surprise that foodie in your life! It's simple. Give the office a quick call at (416) 923-6813 to give us a heads-up. Drop into our website A Taste of the World Walks Print and complete the Gift Certificate Order Form and mail it with your cheque. We will e-mail you right away the A Taste of the World Walks Gift Certificate to be printed and placed in an envelope. It's up to you to then decide whether to place it in a gift box, wrap it up and place it under a Christmas tree or give it with the Chanukkah goodies. 


If that foodie in your life  is too busy to partake in one of the food tours in 2011, they can always look forward to the popular annual behind-the-scenes Chinese New Year tours (January 14th, 15th, 21st, 22nd, 28th, 29th and February 4th, 2012 10:00AM - 1:30 PM)) and/or the annual 11-course Chinese New Year banquet on Saturday, January 21st, 2012 (6:00 - 7:30 PM) as we bid farewell to the Year of the Metal Rabbit and usher in the Year of the Water Dragon!  

Chinese New Year Tours & Banquet
We kick-off with Lucky Candies
Good luck for all in Year 2012!

Tis the Season: Share ALL the Festivals of Lights!

I love this time of the year as the spectacular sunsets take place earlier each day and the crisp morning air gets nippy due to dropping temperatures approaching the freezing point, and we're shrouded with coldness and darkness...

Some of my annual Festivals of Lights party decorations:
Hanukkah Menorah, Diwali oil lamp or Diyas,
Kwanzaa Mishumaa Saba & Santa Claus' hat with tea candle

Let there be light, I say!  Lets light up the night!  All of a sudden, there's a plethora of glowing candle lights and cavalcade of lights at homes and in public spaces. There's something magical about basking in the soft, warm glow of any form of illumination in the dead of winter, especially over the holidays in Toronto... the city of neighbourhoods.

Is it a coincidence that Toronto has so many Festivals of Lights to celebrate? At this time of the year, this city lives up to its ancient First Nation namesake, Toronto, The Meeting Place.  Lets say it's a wave of festival of lights... Diwali, a.k.a the Indian Festival of Lights (started on October 26th 2011 and ended 5 days later), kicked off the festival within Gerrard Street's Little India neighbourhood, in addition to other locations, running for five bright nights... Then the lights get passed on and we have Eid Mubarak (November 6th, 2011), Chanukkah (starts at sunset onTuesday December 20th, 2011 and ends at sunset on Wednesday December 28th), Winter Solstice (December 21st), Christmas (December 25th) and Kwanzaa (December 26th to New Year's Day). Want to celebrate, embrace and share them all?  Check out the popular annual Kensington Market Festival of Lights which is celebrated on the streets of Kensington Market during the Winter Solstice.  This awesome Street festival features a lantern parade, drums, costumes and more. Free. It starts from Oxford/Augusta Streets at 6:30PM. You might see me there with my with hubby celebrating and embracing it all! Have other plans that evening or you can't stand being in the cold for too long in the evening?

Holiday treats from Moon Bean Cafe:
Baked Samosa, Spinach Boreka & Chocolate Rugullachs

Year round, I conduct seasonal bounties foodie walks along the Kensington Foodie Roots Walks within the residential and marketplace of Kensington. Peeling back 200 years of immigrant food roots for 10 months begs for a change of scenery once we're into the month of December. Since there are several festivals involving lights, I figured that's a good enough reason to celebrate and embrace ALL of them: Diwali Festival, Eid, Hanukkah, Winter Solstice, Christmas, and Kwanzaa.  Did I mention that the most important part of all this celebration and embracing the different holidays is the food and drinks served during this special time of the year?

Decadent holiday sweets at Akram's Shoppe await us...

Over the last couple of years, I've consider myself honoured and lucky to be able to share the diverse holidays celebrated along the Kensington Festive Foodie Roots walks on December 10th, 17th and 30th (Note: special addition).  Part of the excitement is to inspire my walking tour guests to do the same by opening the doors to their minds and allowing them to embrace all the holidays and the diversity the experience brings. I'm excited about reciting an ode to the Fruitcake after tasting delicious Jamaican Black Rum Christmas Cake from Patty King (yes, I've had guests who swear that they are passionate Christmas Cake tossers only to become Christmas cake lovers and beg for more!). We might do a toast to the holidays with Ting! (the national drink of Jamaica) or with the refreshing Mexican apple cider or the specially brewed Syrian spiced tea at Akram's Shoppe. I'm always flattered when a guest e-mails after one of these special walks with a hearty thanks for planting the seeds of such a simple idea. I love it when folks share how they take it to the next level by putting their own personal stamp on the idea of sharing the diverse holidays, by picking the highlights from our fun foodie tours! Chocolate rugullachs or Cranberry/Walnut Vegan Loaf from Moon Bean Café anyone? Dark Chocolate Baklava from Akram's Shoppe anyone? Some Niagara Gold Cheese or Maple Cheddar with the Montreal-style St. Urbain bagel respectively from Cheese Magic and My Market Bakery anyone? Mexican Christmas treats like churros or buenuelos or tamales or Oaxaca cheese anyone? Chilean Christmas treats like pastel de choclo or alfajores anyone?  Endless holiday foodies possibilities...

BCE Place, Toronto, ON

By the way, here's food for thought. When it's December 21st - Winter Solstice is not just Winter Solstice! For the Chinese community, Winter Solstice is called Dong Zhi and it is traditionally celebrated with the decadent Eight-Treasure Rice Pudding equivalent to the English Christmas Pudding that could surpass what would have been served by the Denison, the founding family of the area given the name, Kensington. Meanwhile the Persian community celebrates Shab-e Yalda with outdoor bonfires and then head indoors to gather around the korsi (usually a low, square table covered with a cloth and laden with numerous symbolic and delicious dishes).

What's your favourite Festival of Light? What part of Toronto do you try to visit just for its lights?

Happy Diwali as you celebrated five-night of lights and sweets! 

Happy Winter Solstice as you celebrate the first day of winter! 

Happy Hanukkah while lighting up all eight candles! 

Happy Kwanzaa while lighting up all seven symbolic candles be they green, red & black!

Merry Christmas to one and all!  

 Have a happy but safe and relaxing holiday season and all the best for 2012!
Stay tuned on how I celebrate the New Year three times and three different ways!

Oh, if you still need a gift for a foodie in your life...
Treat them to  Kensington Festive Foodie Roots walks ! 
You still have time to book them on one of the tours scheduled on 
December 10th, 17th and 30th (Note: special addition not listed on website). 
Then give them special instructions to show up at the base of the red art pole with the Black Cat on the Yellow Chair (Spadina Avenue/St Andrew Street).