Tsujiri - North York location

Love this location!

I'm a bit biased though since I'm just a five minute walk away, and although I've moved away, it really is an upgrade from their downtown location.  The design is a bit more stylish and there is more space and seating.  When you're paying premium prices you expect a little more; a place to sit while having your matcha ice cream is much appreciated.  This post is actually long overdue as this was back when it was a balmy 18 degrees and not -30 degrees!  And I contemplated not posting because it just seemed too long ago but it was an enjoyable experience and after reading this blog post from sho & tell where she writes about preserving moments, reflecting on the past as a way to being alert, awake and aware, I decided to post.


If not for pictures, I don't think I would remember much of things that happened.  Also, I think Tsujiri is planning to open a second floor at this location which will likely serve food as there was a bowl of green tea noodles pictured on the sign hinting at the coming addition.  This post would be a good reminder to keep an eye open for this.



On my first visit I picked up a matcha latte.  The matcha was carefully whisked in a bowl with a chasen (bamboo whisk) before adding it to my latte which I appreciated.  It may take a little longer for your order because of this but they are preserving the way matcha is made and taking it a little slower is not a bad thing.  The latte wasn't too sweet nor too bitter, it was a pleasant matcha taste but I think I prefer slightly stronger tasting matcha.

 

On my second visit, my friend had ordered the hot matcha latte and also a matcha daifuku.  I'll only comment on the daifuku though.  The skin is extremely thin, I'm really surprised that it held the contents inside and didn't split open!  It's very soft and I would expect it to be somewhat chewy to be able to hold the filling in but it was on the softer side.  It was filled with matcha powder and a matcha cream filling, actually LOTS of cream filling.  I actually preferred having more mochi rather than cream. Taste was light though, and not extremely sweet which is how some people like it.

I ordered the matcha shaved ice with matcha soft serve. Nicely presented and enjoyed the flavours.  Sharable, but I could definitely finish this on my own!

I've also bought their matcha powder and sencha tea bags.  Both were on the mild side so it'll be nice if they could introduce a stronger tasting matcha. 

Here are some interior shots: 

Seating at the front

Dividing section between ordering area and more quieter seating

Back table and stools, beautifully lit.

A New View

Farewell 2017

For a good part of the year we were home hunting.  I say home instead of house because we planned on finding a slightly bigger condo and never even considered a house due to sky rocketing housing prices in Toronto and our own lifestyle choices...but as fate would have it, we found a house.

Despite the lack of furniture, walls still to be painted and a host of other things, it's a good house.  It's home.  It felt like home very early on.  The first morning after we spent our first night at the house...family of four on one bed...I looked out the window and it was no longer rows of buildings and people bustling along, but a row of trees and a substantial pine tree in our backyard.  It felt right and I knew then we had made the right decision.

Last year turned out to have much uncertainty, be quite disruptive and we had to re-think a lot of things.  I also think I made some bad decisions and didn't do as much of the things I hoped to have done nor improved on things I had a chance to do again. The year wasn't all bad as I still ate well 😆 , watched my children grow and spent time with family.  But I think 2017 will be remembered as the year we found our home or forever home as some would say.  Our agent had much patience with us and we learned the process was much harder than we anticipated.  We are definitely glad we didn't settle for something early on and through luck or some divine intervention, we weren't successful with getting some other places which was actually a blessing.  I'm glad the year is done though. 

Despite much work ahead in 2018, I'm looking forward to all the work and also the challenges that have come with parenthood.  Much of this was sparked by becoming more settled into the house but also by a passage in a book I was gifted for Christmas.

I love receiving books as gifts and I especially love tea books!  Thankfully, my partner got me the book Puer Tea: Ancient Caravans and Urban Chic by Jinghong Zhang.  I got a chance to start reading it and it is a wonderfully informative book!  There is so much to say about it  but one section early in the book stuck out; how Puer tea from the town of Yiwu was essentially revived by tea connoisseurs from Taiwan.  Upon a pilgrimage to Yiwu in 1994 to get more aged Puer, they found the town was run down, not what they expected and knowledge of aging Puer tea seemed lost..."the Puer tea industry had been inactive there for almost half a century" (pg. 42).  However, they didn't give up and persisted in working with the local government and had samples of the aged tea to guide them in their pursuit. Eventually the industry was revived.

Upon reading this right before the start of 2018, I knew 2018 was going to be a year of hard work and persistence.  PERSISTENCE being key as there are a number of things in my life right now that make life challenging, but instead of giving up or feeling down, I know it is time to pull my energy up and deal with these challenges and work hard for the things that I want to achieve.

Hope 2018 is energizing for you all!

Hello 2018!

P.s. I recently subscribed to receive emails from Nicole Gulotta, author of Eat This Poem and it's been awesome!!  Not only does she write well, but she also provides links to other great reading material.  Check her blog out here.  Her most recent email tells us of her word for 2018, SPACE, which I also really like as I've been thinking about space and having space to myself.  Anyway, lots of good stuff from this author!