Tag Archive: walking

Walking in the city

Categories:

Fri. January 22, 2010

I’ve said it time and again on this blog: I enjoy walking to the train station after work. It’s a good way to de-stress, and to become mobile again after a long time sitting down at my desk at work. It’s also a great way to reconnect with the city as a whole. I mean, it’s easy to become self-absorbed and feel like the world is limited to work, home, and the usual haunts with friends. The city is so much bigger, and wider than that. I enjoy walking through the different neighbourhoods and taking in their differing atmospheres. Chinatown is different from the university campus, which feels different from the Annex, which is different from the upscale boutiques on Bloor West. It’s fascinating. From a streetcar you can see it all, but it’s different from actually taking in the sights and listening to the din of traffic and human interaction. Usually I’m in no hurry to get back home, so my walks are fairly relaxed.

Anyway, I’m writing about all of this tonight because after tonight’s walk along University Ave and around Queen’s Park Circle I started paying attention to my changing walking habits. For quite a while I’ve just been hiking due north to the first subway station, but lately I’ve been spending more time hiking over another kilometre, two stops over. I think I was starting to think that the walk to my usual stop was too short, so I wanted to pick another location to walk to. In doing so it opened up a couple of new paths for me. Toronto’s road structure is very grid-like so there are a lot of opportunities to vary how I make it to my destination. I’ve actually started walking up St. George through the University of Toronto campus. I would never have gone through that area under normal circumstances–there’s just no reason to. Walking through I can almost feel the idealism and the gathering of ideas among all of the young people I pass by. I know: it sounds crazy. Perhaps I’m just projecting these expectations among all the people there. Who knows?

Another habit that I’ve noticed is the fact that I’ve been running a lot for a lot of stoplights lately. Usually, as I approach a stoplight that’s about to turn I just slow down my walking so that I don’t end up at the intersection just waiting for the time to run down. Like I said, I’m usually not in any hurry, so I’m perfectly content for the next cycle to happen before crossing. Over the past week or two, when I come across an intersection that’s about to turn, instead of slowing down I’ll actually make a dash for it. As soon as I cross, I’m back to my composed usual self. All of the training runs have helped out my cardio tremendously. I can tell that my heart rate really drops down fairly quickly after such bursts of activity. I remember a time when it would take me a long while to get things under control again. I realize that dashing for the light may not always be the safest thing, but it actually makes me feel like I have a bit more control over my walk. I know, it sounds a little bit odd, but that’s how I feel, right?

So, these changes are pretty beneficial. It shows that my health is definitely improving. At the same time, it allows me to explore more parts of the city that have been under a fog in my mental map of the city. It just increases my love of this place I call home.

Tags: ,

Leave comment

10,000 steps

Categories:

Wed. October 21, 2009

I’ve always had a thing for taking a walk after work. As I’ve said before it helps me to unwind after a long day of figuring out algorithms and laying out code. It’s not like it’s physically strenuous, but it still takes a lot out of you. Besides the required mental energy, the fact that I’m seated for most of the day can be hard. The walk from work to the station takes me about 35 to 40 minutes at a leisurely pace. It’s long enough to be substantial, but short enough to not feel like an ordeal. It’s relaxing, for sure. Over the past few years doing the walk has just been an occasional thing–maybe a few days a week. Although, the frequency tends to be less during the summer months because I seriously can’t stand the heat.

So, over the past week or two, I’ve started making the walk to the station a little bit more than I normally would. See, a little while ago I picked up a pedometer from Wal-mart. Now, a lot of people say that 10,000 steps is a good number to aim for in order to encourage good health. Seriously, I see that number everywhere. Well, it seems to me that due to the nature of my job I can’t seem to get to that number unless I make that trek, and perhaps head out for a lunchtime walk. So, that’s why I’ve been consciously trying to get out there more often. It’s just another step in my quest to find better health. I don’t think I would have consciously made the effort if it wasn’t for the pedometer. Seeing something quantitative really makes it easy to keep track. This is an inexpensive piece of equipment that you can clip on and just check on every now and then. The fact that you have a goal in mind keeps you accountable. Very useful!

Tags: ,

Leave comment

Heavy head; heavy heart

Categories:

Wed. July 22, 2009

Yeah…I’m safe, but that doesn’t mean I’m unaffected. I left at the end of the day feeling quite gross. As I walked down the stairs I knew that I just wasn’t in any mood to go run today. People say that running really helps to alleviate stress. It’s true. I actually perpetuated that among my students in the LTR. Thing is, in my sad state I wasn’t in a position to be helpful to anyone. I pretty much made the decision to miss the class, but on the streetcar I was vacillating. Part of me knew that getting out there might actually help. Sure, I’d be such that I wouldn’t want to talk to anyone, but still.

When I got to the subway, it just so happened that the train was out of power for some reason. The driver was outside on the phone talking to the control centre. I took that as a sign that it just wasn’t meant to be. So, I decided to walk over to Yonge and Bloor. I mean, I figured it would be a great way to kill time and hopefully burn off some of the cloud that was just hanging over my head. On the way though, I decided to change my plans. Instead of walking past the rich stores around Bay & Bloor, I thought it would be a great idea to head down to College and take the 506 streetcar to check out the scenery. Unlike the last time I took the 506, I wanted to make sure I got a window seat to get a good view of all the neighbourhoods. I walked down St. George through the University of Toronto. Seeing so many young people kind of made me feel old. I mean, if I think about it, I’m sure that a good number of those people are around ten years younger than me. There they are, all laughing it up and enjoying life as they walk down the road. In contrast, there I am kind of miserable after seeing far too much change happen at work.

I made it to the route and the streetcar arrived about 5 to 10 minutes later. Let me tell you, the ride was really long. Toronto is a really wide city, isn’t it? If I wasn’t so intent on trying to enjoy the route, I would probably be more annoyed at having made such a decision. I was fascinated by the varying levels of cleanliness throughout the areas. I mean, with the city workers’ strike going on, I’ve really only experienced the levels of filth that have accumulated around my workplace. By contrast, so much of the route was kept clean. I was impressed. It shows the amount of pride the local business have in keeping the city clean.

I made it back to my car eventually. After a quick ride home, I did a quick assessment of how I was feeling. Well, sure, I spent a lot of time out there trying to unwind and destress, but ultimately my head was still heavy. My chemicals were such that I continued to feel crappy. Such is life, I guess. These events can’t be washed away so quickly with a bit of a walk. I’m going to see if sleep will help to make things better. I hope so, otherwise tomorrow might actually be a bit hard to bear.

Tags: , , , ,

Leave comment

Contemplating the snow storm

Categories:

Wed. January 28, 2009

A snow storm has settled over the city, promising about 20 cm of snow by day’s end. Driving in today was an exercise in patience. I’m still surprised at the occasional idiot driving as if it was a clear summer day out there. Traffic is already going slow; we don’t need a collision to tighten roads and make things even slower. It’s just inconsiderate.

Anyway, it’s in this weather that I decided to go for a long walk during lunch. I just wanted to get away from my desk. So, I put on my leather jacket and gloves and just decided to wander. I went west on King for a while with my jacket unzipped, but soon zipped up when I noticed just how much snow my fleece sweater was holding onto. By the time I got to Bathurst though I overheated to the point where I unzipped myself again. I had no problem toughing it out.

Without a hat, my hair was really collecting a good amount of snow. While walking up Bathurst I encountered this young guy seemed to be dressed kind of grotty in oversized street clothes. He asked for some spare change. Luckily for him I was in the mood to stop. He continued on to say that he was thirsty and wanted to buy a beer or something. Whatever. As I was fishing for change, the guy started commenting on my hair. I think words were failing him. He was telling me how my hair looked awesome with the snow in it. Apparently the snow really only collected along the front giving me this two-tone look. He said was making me look like I had white hair, but he was then quick to correct himself to say that it didn’t mean he thought I was old. Yeeeah, that smacked of a little desperation. In any case, I gave him a dollar and wished him luck.

I went up to Dundas and walked over back to Spadina and Chinatown. Each step was interesting because depending where I walked, the snow might shift or it might be hard and uneven. It was unpredictable. As I passed by, a couple of Chinese old ladies were walking past and smiling at what I’d assume was my snow-caked hair. Walking back south to my building, I noticed the majority of people bundled up with their heads covered. Some were really hunched over in an attempt to maintain some warmth. I don’t know. Too much snow isn’t a good thing because it does become stressful after a while. When we have an occasional storm like this after a period of relatively nice weather I almost feel like this something that we should “own.” Know what I mean? This type of weather is a fact of life in a place that’s blessed with four distinct seasons. The snow was beaning me in the face, and was turning my head into a snow sculpture, but I was happy.

Of course…even though I’m saying all this I’m feeling quite damp right now because all my clothes absorbed a lot of the melted snow. My socks have been laid out on top of my computer tower in an attempt to get them to dry out enough before my commute home. It’s OK. I’ll be just fine. It’s all part of the season.

Tags: , , ,

2 comments

A blanket of white under foot

Categories:

Wed. November 19, 2008

Unless my mind’s gone hazy, today’s been the first day this season that there’s been enough of an accumulation of snow for it to really make a difference on the ground. It’s beautiful stuff. When I left work and walked to the streetcar stop, I saw a long queue of people waiting in line. At that point, despite the wind, despite the falling snow, despite the biting chill, I decided to make the trek to the station on foot.

I’m not sure everyone understands why I’m willing to walk like that in this weather. At lunch when I want to wander around for the sake of wandering I often ask if any of my colleagues want to come along. With the onset of the cold weather, the response is inevitably “it’s too cold to walk!” Bah! Since I tend to overheat, the cold weather keeps me balanced. My jacket it usually undone; my torso can handle it. My fingers are really the only parts that really need to be covered, so as long as I have a pair of gloves I’m good to go.

However, no, the cold weather isn’t the only reason I like walking for a half hour after work. I consider walking where there’s a lot of activity as a good way to reconnect with the city. It’s a reminder to myself that I’m one of many. I’m part of it all. I belong. After stressing out at work, being in open air allows me to unwind.

That’s not to say that I avoid the streetcar all the time; some days I just need to get going. When I walk though, it’s sort of like an act of defiance. I don’t need to be held down by schedules. Weather won’t prevent me from walking. Hell, if I have an umbrella I’m happy enough to walk in the rain. I don’t need to listen to the people that say that normal people would take the streetcar up.

I guess that just makes me eccentric.

Tags: , , ,

3 comments

Respect the pedestrian!

Categories:

Tue. June 24, 2008

I’m feeling mildly empowered right now. More than anything I just feel good.

Earlier during the lunch hour I went for a walk in order to get something to eat. Over at an intersection close to work I stopped to wait for the light to turn so that I could continue on my way. The pedestrian light changed to the walking man so I started to cross. Even as a good number of us pedestrians had already begun crossing this car insisted on turning right in front us. I just kept going because I had the right of way. I mean, surely he’d stop because that would be the sensible and courteous thing to do, right? Instead, he just continued his slow turn. I had to actually stop and wait for the guy to turn a mere inches away from my feet. I wasn’t happy at all. Out of the blue, I was just overcome by this sudden urge and swiftly gave his tire a good kick.

I kicked a moving car.

People around me laughed. I was so damn proud. Sure, since it was just the tire the driver probably didn’t notice. Frankly, part of me wishes that I targeted the bumper. I mean, I suppose I have a little perverse dream where give a dent or something of the like to a car that cuts me off as a pedestrian. It’s not like I want to go all Michael Jackson Black or White on a vehicle–that’s just a bit extreme. Well, all in all, I’m just satisfied with myself.

I’ve been trying to figure out whether this is all “in character” for me. Is this something classic Jason would do? I’ve had a few people say “yes.” However, I think someone put it best in saying that yes, it’s in character to want to do it, but out of character to actually go through with it. I would agree with that assessment. So, maybe I can say that I’m making progress. Ha!

Tags: , , ,

Leave comment

Ninja secrets

Categories:

Mon. June 23, 2008

On that second last day in Japan, I headed back to the apartment with all of my purchases and chilled out for a bit before being convinced to head out for a long walk to Akasaka, near Roppongi. He wanted to go to a ninja restaurant in the area. If you recall, I made an attempt to wander around the city from Roppongi back to the apartment back before the rail tour. That walk took 4 hours. Of course, I wasn’t taking a direct route, but still. Knowing that, I was skeptical about the walk. He promised a 2-2.5 hour walk. I balked at first but he retorted: “what are you going to do on your second to last night here, just sit around the apartment?” True. As such, I just decided to go along. God, that was a rough walk. I mean, after walking around the city all morning, I really just wanted some rest. Instead, I was hiking cross-city again. Sure, he took me around to see some interesting sights: Kanda Myōjin, the Imperial Palace, Hikawa Jinja in Akasaka. Of course, it was all in the dark, but still. We eventually made it to where we needed to go after 2.5 hours. I was hot and sweaty and rather unamused.

As it turned out, the ninja restaurant was called…Ninja Akasaka. Figures, doesn’t it? We waited around for a third person to join us. When we arrived, we headed in. Oh man, what a trip that place was. The reception area looked all boxed off and dark. There was a single greeter there taking names. After taking our names the greeter went from smiley to secretive and spooky all at once. She announced that a ninja was going to come in and guide us to our table so we had to pay attention. All of a sudden one of the walls opened up and in came the seater, dressed up ninja garb guiding us to follow her. She took us through some tight passages with low ceilings. The whole time she was bending her knees and looking around because, after all, we were in a ninja hideout and someone might attack at any time. We had to go up some uneven stairs and such. At one point the pathway looked destroyed–the path was broken and there was flowing water below. The guide put on a good show in decent English. “Oh no! The bridge is destroyed! What should we do?” I think we were all just in a state of WTF is going on @__@ to respond. She said, “wait…NINJA MAGIC!” She then yelled out and did a chant “rin pyou tou sha kai jin retsu zai zen….” All of a sudden, a drawbridge came down allowing us to cross. God, that was awesome. When we crossed, we finally got to the dining area. There were different rooms with tatami mats full of people enjoying themselves. When we got to our own room, we took of our shoes and sat down at the low tables.

The waitress, naturally in ninja garb, came by and greeted us. She started prefacing things saying that she wasn’t too great with English but that she will try her best. My friend then spoke up that it’s OK to speak Japanese if she has to because he’ll translate. The waitress was shocked and let out a very happy “arigatou gozaimasu!!!.” So funny!

After we ordered drinks, ehe pulled out what looked like a tube, and with great dramatic flair, she yanked on it and revealed that it was actually a scroll with the menu on it. She said that a few of the courses involved “ninja surprises.” Naturally that was a draw. Two of us ordered the “Surprise Course.” My friend ordered a steak course. Well the first course that came for us was a bunch of ninja star crackers with some foie gras. No kidding. The juxtaposition between an oddball theme the sophistication of foie gras was amusing. When the waitress came in with the second course, she announced: “first appetizer…now…dessert! Ninja surprise!” She set down two chocolate truffles in front of the two of us that ordered the surprise course. All I could think was, “umm..OK…” After a pause, she told us though that the chocolates were actually a potato type appetizer and a meat ball of sorts. Well that was neat. Heh. At some point we got this escargot type course. She came with a plate with shells on it. She did a chant and…well…probably better if you see this:

Get the Flash Player to see this content.

Awesome! For another course, she brought out these veggies and started cutting them up in a small wooden bucket. She poured in a “secret soup” which was a mixture of soy milk, shellfish soup, and vegetable soup. She then took this rock and told me to say “nin nin.” I did, and then she stuffed the stone into the bucket. The contents started sizzling. Turns out the rock was 400 degrees. That heated up the whole thing. Quite awesome. She added pork, and that completed the soup. See the following vid:

Get the Flash Player to see this content.

The soup itself was pretty nice. It had a very Thai feel to it. At some point someone (also in ninja garb, of course) came in to perform a funny magic show for us. He was also able to speak in broken but understandable English which makes me think they must get a lot of foreigners around the restaurant. By the end of the meal, the waitress brought in what looked like a bonsai tree. Turns out the bonsai was made of a fried wonton-like wrapper. The soil was made of chocolate cake. The green moss was dusted matcha powder. Underneath is all was ice cream and fruit. That was damn awesome.

As our guide was taking us to the front, I was expecting another crazy trip so I had my camera ready to capture it all. Unfortunately, the way out was a little for straightforward. She opened a door and there we were back at the reception area. God, that was amazing. As we headed out, someone called out to us. It was the guide. She jumped out, pulled out a scroll with a big smile: “Please come again.” Hahah. So cute! Well yes, if I find myself back in Tokyo that will be a place I’ll want to visit again. I was totally happy to have eaten in such a place. I had so much fun! It was a memorable way to slowly close out my vacation there. Of course, I still had one day to do stuff, but wow, how do you top something like that?

Tags: , ,

2 comments

Restoring my faith in the city

Categories:

Sun. June 1, 2008

After my last post or two, it may seem like I’ve lost a bit of faith in Tokyo. Fair enough, you know? I mean, it almost seems like this whole experience is just one insult to foreigners after another, right? It almost seems like all you can do is to just go along with it and not pay too much mind. Well, I have to be fair and say that Japanese people are really friendly. I think any misgivings that arise are really as a result of a few things. First, there’s a great deal of shyness that the locals have when communicating with someone that speaks English. As much they’ve been trained, there’s not much practical time when it comes to putting the language to good use. So, the result is that a lot of people are just plain afraid to try for fear of making a mistake. Frankly, I’m pretty much the same way when I try out my Japanese–I’m painfully shy! I can make the effort, but I’m also hung up on whether I was using polite language, or maybe whether I was using the correct inflections or vocabulary, etc etc. Lately I’ve been getting better at making the effort, but it’s still a struggle.

Anyway, despite all of this it’s easy to fall into a state of dislike for the place if you’re caught off guard. Today I did a few things that really helped me restore my faith in the city. First, thing I did was to find a RC church with and English mass and attend. I found one in Roppongi which makes sense due to it being considered a foreigner hangout. Due to an error in time adjustment instead of arriving half an hour early like I’d wanted, I actually arrived half an hour late. Anyway, despite that I felt quite at home in there. I mean, wow, I’ve never seen so many foreigners gathered in one place in Tokyo–not even in the airport. Seriously, I felt like I was back in Canada. So many of them were Filipinos too. It was mind boggling. I don’t know what happened, but for that mass in particular I was really moved. At the end, they asked people new and visiting to introduce themselves to the congregation. After each introduction there was a round of applause. I got to do my introduction, and wow, that was a good feeling. At the end, the announcer said something to the effect that they were happy to be people’s “spiritual home away from home,” I seriously nearly lost it. I was so deeply affected by it that I needed to take a few moments to regather my thoughts just to not start bawling. It’s so easy to feel isolated and lonely here: that’s why the warm welcome really got to me. After the mass, a parishioner came up to me and asked if I was Filipino in Tagalog. I replied that I was. We had a nice mini-chat after which she wished me a nice stay. I felt so good coming out of that place.

Well, after mass, I had a few hours to kill before my friend became available, so I decided on his suggestion to wander around the city and take in the people and the sites. So that’s what I did. I started wandering around Roppongi. I had intentions of going west over to the Meiji shrine and Harajuku on foot, but I got side-tracked and saw a familiar hospital that I passed by in the 2006 tour. Since it was familiar, I decided to see if I could somehow end up seeing any other familiar places. Somehow made it over to Azabu-Jūban. I think only one reader out there knows the significance of this place :P . Anyway, I bought a Pocari Sweat and drank it on Patio Jūban. Everyone in that district looks so posh! I continued to wander and ended up at Daimon and the area around Shiba Park–both places that I’d seen before. I decided to just keep going and I ended up at district after district. Shinbashi, Ginza, Nihonbashi, Akihabara, Ueno… I was surprised when I got to Ginza. The main artery through the shopping district was closed to cars and only allowed pedestrian traffic. Apparently this only happens on Sundays. Holy crap, why can’t we do that more often in Toronto? Seriously, if Tokyo can do that on what seems to be a major road, why can’t we? It was a popular area–so many people crowded the place. After four hours of straight walking I got tired and ended up stopping at Ueno park. I hit that fatigue point where I just needed to drink something sugary to get my glycogen levels back to normal.

From there, my friend called me to say that he was done with his business and asked me to meet him at Nihonbashi station on the subway. As I was on the subway, I was thinking that on the subway it took only a few minutes to get someplace it took me an hour or two to get from. Crazy. We went over to Yoyogi park and took in a random rave party. Don’t ask me. There was a lot of drunk naked people stumbling openly in daylight. There were kids running around with incense sticks. It’s not normally my scene, but damn, it was interesting to watch the general debauchery. I got a good laugh out of it.

From there, my friend, his friend and I walked all the way back through Roppongi to Azabu-Jūban. That was basically another 45 minute walk–honestly it felt like an eternity. We went there for some really great thin pizza at a place called Savoy. It’s a small place, but damn the food was awesome. The three of us finished off 4 small pizzas–well worth it. From there, we walked from Azabu to Roppongi to get some frozen yogurt.

That’s been my day. I can honestly say that the long walk helped me absorb more of the character of the city. I’m feeling a bit better about being here. It’s like…the city really only reveals its true nuances to those that are willing to explore a bit. All of the walking has wiped me out. I’m going to get a good night’s sleep. I have to be up early tomorrow to start the 7 day tour all over the country. It’s going to be fantastic!

Tags: , , , , , ,

2 comments

Older posts «

» Newer posts

Switch to our mobile site