I need a break from the stress, anxiety and tears that have plagued my moving plans to Vancouver. What better way than making up a list (in no particular order) of things that have given be joy in Toronto for the last decade and things I'd have to and like to squeeze into my last month here but probably will not be able to!


10 Best things in Toronto that I'll miss

1. The subway and streetcars: I love them. They are such wonderful alternatives to the horrid buses. I'm going to miss them a lot in Vancouver.
2. Eaton Centre : My favourite shopping destination. Its huge and follows one straight line and it has EVERYTHING! 1 hour and I'm happy as a clam, provided I've bought something (eg. pink razors)
3. University of Toronto campus: Its pretty and every corner has a memory- there were reading Bengali books at Roberts Library, extended lunch discussions at the Med Sci cafeteria and the UofT bookstore with beautiful high ceilings and my discovery of Anita Rao Badami's Tamarind Mem.
4. FOOD: All my favourite sushi joints, Spring Rolls, the new Crepe place we discovered on Queen street, roasted marshmallow icecream at Greg's on Spadina/Bloor, Ferraro Rocher gelato at Hollywood Gelato, hot chocolate at this tiny cafe on Wellington, Brunch at Hot House Cafe
5. Learning how to Skate at Harbourfront centre
6. Theatre: Fringe festival, Second City, Elgin Winter Garden theatre (its gorgeous inside), Shakespeare in the Park
7. Toronto International Film festival: There's going to be a Bangledeshi fim on this year and I'm going to miss it.
9. All the old churches and buildings of Toronto: We have a castle and I didn't even know it until a year ago!
&
10. My tiny apartment where I had my first taste of freedom. I will miss it terribly and all the lovely friends who frequented it with unabashed good humour.


5 things I should be doing before I leave Toronto in a month:

1. Find place to live in Vancouver by checking online listings by the hour
2. Find a place to live in Vancouver that will allow Tusch to come with me
3. Sell all my furniture from the apartment or find a good moving company to move it
4. Sort through all my books and divide them into piles that
a) I must take to vancouver with me at any cost
b) can be packed and shipped at a later date should I stay longer than a year
c) possible impulse buys and tattered copies of murder mystries that I can donate to the library
5. Spend time with family


10 things I'd like to do instead, before I leave Toronto in a month:

1. Go for Masala Dosa at Udupi Palace at Gerrard India Bazaar
2. Buy a colourful (pink) sun umbrella at Spadina
3. Have afternoon High-tea at Red Tea Box on Queen street
4. Go on a Lonely Planet guided walking tour of downtown Toronto with Simica
5. Watch "Spamalot" at Canon(vertigo) Theatre
6. Sip some cosmo with friends on the rooftop patio at 'Smooze'
7. Replace the pink earring I lost from the weekend vendors at Dundas Square
8. Visit the Bata Shoe Museum
9. Find a vendor that sells snow cones and have two of them
10. Rent a bike and bike around Centre-Island

Time and money will probably object to my achieving all of the above.
But so long as I get snow cones, I might be ok :)