St. Lawrence Market

St. Lawrence Market is the oldest market in Toronto that has been around for more than two centuries. Built in the 1800s in Old Town Toronto, the market has become one of the city’s iconic landmark and is now home to more than 120 merchants and farmers that sell various local and international fresh produce and gourmet food. With the abundance of food choices that are available, St. Lawrence Market has also become a culinary hotspot for food enthusiasts. During weekdays, you can find local craftspeople and artisans selling their crafts in the market. On weekends, there are Saturday Farmer’s Market and Sunday Antique Market going on where you can do more shopping.

For a cosmopolitan market, I think St. Lawrence Market is really nice. The place is clean and well-maintained, and the layout of the market is not too cramped in-between vendors (at least on the upper level. On the lower level, the space is a bit smaller), making exploring the market an enjoyable experience. If you’re a tourist or a local who is looking for a ready-to-eat food, there are plenty of choices available at the market. Western options such as meat sandwiches, cured meats, cheese, pizza and fresh seafood to name a few are easy to find but international cuisines are also available such as Chinese food, Greek food and French desserts.

One notable vendor is Buster’s Sea Cove, one of the legendary institutions in Toronto that has been selling the freshest and most delectable seafood inside the market since its flagship opening in 1992. Their house special—the East Coast Lobster Roll—is apparently a crowd’s favorite and ended up making my friend joining the long line in front of the counter to order one to try. 

East Coast Lobster Roll with Salad $25.03 | 7/10

Their East Coast Lobster Roll with salad is served with pickles and a slice of lemon. The chopped up lobster meat is served cold on a grilled bun. The lobster meat is fresh and seasoned well, but I personally think the meat was chopped up too much. I think I just prefer bigger chunks of lobster meat on my lobster roll in general. But overall, it was alright. 

If you want to avoid the crowd, maybe go during odd hours like I did. I went there around 3 pm on a Saturday and the place was not super crowded. There were still a good number of people in the market so you can definitely still experience the market vibe. 

 

St. Lawrence Market

Address:
Farmer’s Market / South Market
The Market Lot
Front & Jarvis | Front & Church | Jarvis & Wellington
St. Lawrence Hall
The Market Lot | Front & Jarvis

Telephone: +1 416-392-7219

Hours:
South Market
Tuesday to Friday 9am-7pm | Saturday 7am-5pm | Sunday 10am-5pm | Closed on Mondays
Farmer's Market
Saturday 5am-3pm

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Gooderham Flatiron Building

Gooderham Building (or Gooderham “Flatiron” Building) is a wedge-like shaped structure occupying the same triangular land as the Berczy Park. The unique design of the building earned it the nickname of Toronto’s Flatiron Building, reminiscent of the famous Flatiron Building in New York. But compared to New York’s 22-story structure, Gooderham Building only comprised of 5-story made out of redbrick. The building was actually built in 1892—10 years earlier than the New York’s Flatiron Building—by architect David Roberts Jr. for the office of Gooderham & Worts, the largest manufacturer of distilled spirits in Canada during the 1830s. 

Other than its unique shape, Gooderham Building is also well-known for its trompe l’oeil Flatiron Mural on the back wall by renowned Canadian artist Derek Michael Besant. The mural facing the Berczy Park was commissioned by the city in 1980 and depicts a canvas with windows façade of a building painted on it. There are four nails painted on the fluttering edges of the the canvas, creating an illusion that the canvas is being nailed to the façade of the Gooderham building.

Today, Gooderham “Flatiron” Building is one of Toronto’s most well-known structure with the skyscrapers of the Financial District and CN Tower (from certain angles) towering in the background.

 

Gooderham "Flatiron" Building

Address: 49 Wellington St E, Toronto, ON M5E 1C9, Canada

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Berczy Park

Berczy Park is a small triangular park in downtown Toronto located between Wellington, Front and Scott streets. The park is named after Willam Berczy, a German-born architect, surveyor and writer who’s often considered as one of the founder of modern Toronto. 

In 2015, the park was renovated for the first time after its opening in 1980. The $7.2 million renovation was commissioned to landscape architects Claude Cormier + Associés of Montreal and the process took two years before the park was reopened again in Spring 2017.

Adopting a more playful theme, in the center of the park, you can find a large two-tiered fountain with dog sculptures around and on it that are sprouting water from their mouths towards center of the fountain. Surrounding the fountain are grassy berms, garden beds and park benches where you can sit, relax and enjoy the view. There’s also a total of 27 dog and one cat sculptures that are placed around the park. And if it’s not obvious by now, the park is dog friendly. They even have a ground level trough that provide drinking water for real dogs. Berczy Park is perfect place for dog owners, Torontonians and tourists alike to enjoy a little bit of green oasis in the middle of the city. 

 

Berczy Park

Address: 35 Wellington St E, Toronto, ON M5E 1C6, Canada

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KT Pre-Paid Sim & Wifi Rental at Incheon Airport T2

There are a couple of places that sell pre-paid SIM card and Wifi rental at Seoul Incheon International Airport. All of them offers similar products and packages but I’ve been using KT since the time I was living in Korea, never had a problem with it and works well every time so it just stuck with me until now. 

There are three locations at Incheon International Airport, 2 locations at Terminal 1 arrival hall and 1 location at Terminal 2 arrival hall. (See map below for the exact locations and operational hours) 

Source: KT Website

Most of my flights usually arrived at Terminal 2 so the following pictures are from the KT counter at Incheon Airport Terminal 2 arrival hall (1F), between exit 4 and 5. 

First thing you want to do is get a waiting ticket from the machine. Select the red ‘SIM • WIFI’ button on top and the machine will print out a ticket with your queue number on it. If there’s no line, usually the staff will call you right away. But if there’s a line, you can track the queue number on the screen behind the counter. Sometimes the staff call out the numbers in Korean which can be confusing if you don’t speak Korean, so the screen does help with that too. The staff do speak English so communication shouldn’t be an issue. Things that they’ll need from you for making a purchase are your passport and your credit card/cash for payment. 

For the Data Packages, there are 8 options available to choose from, depending on the validity of the Sim Card. 

For the Wifi Router rental, there are only 2 options available at the counter (although there are 4 options available via online reservation). Wifi Router rental might be a better option if you are traveling in a group and the group for sure will stay together all the time. But if you’re not going to stay together all the time, then the sim card option might be a better option for flexibility, just in case people in your group need to split to go to different places. Plus with Sim Card, you can top up the call/text plan which comes pretty handy for ordering Kakao Taxi through the app or for restaurant/cafe reservations (most places in Seoul now have the queue machine where you can put your phone number and it’ll give you a text notification when your table is ready so you don’t have to wait around at the restaurant). 

I usually just buy the sim card because it’s more convenient, I don’t have to bring around yet another extra gadget in my bag and I don’t have to return it before I fly out. Since I usually stay for a month during my trip, I usually get the 30 Days Data Plan (₩71,500) with the additional ₩5,500 Call/SMS top up (see the pink boxes on the picture below). If you ran out of balance and want to top up or extend your plan, you can conveniently do it online on their website, sparing you the hassle to have to come back to the airport.

If you want to save some money, there’s a 10% discount if you reserve your Sim Card (and Wifi Router) online. They have more options for the packages too that’s not available at the counter as well as eSim option if you choose to get one.

After you make your purchase, they’ll give you the Sim Card in a small plastic pouch with a Sim eject tool included. You just have to switch the sim card with the one that you have on your phone, restart your phone and everything should works (but just in case it doesn’t, I would recommend you to test the sim card before you leave the airport just to be safe). And with that you’re set to go. 

The Slow Kitchen and Bar

The Slow is one of the trendiest and hippest boutique hotel that is located on the coast of Batu Bolong in Canggu, Bali. Other than providing a beautiful accommodation, The Slow also has a well-known dining service called The Slow Kitchen and Bar as well as an art gallery next door connected to the space. Founded by Australian fashion designer George Gorrow (of Ksubi) and his wife Cisco Tschurtschenthaler, one of The Slow’s main intention is to encourage visitors to slow down, relax and enjoy the space.

I first visited The Slow Kitchen and Bar back in 2017, a couple of months after the hotel’s building completion. Since its grand opening, the place has received rave reviews from visitors, including many of my friends who have went and stayed at the place. So during my trip to Bali, I decided to check the place out and went for a visit to its restaurant (since I’m not staying at the hotel). It was a sunny day and I arrived at the hotel around 3 pm in the afternoon. First thing that amazed me was the lighting around the space. The bright sun light actually lit up the whole area really nicely. And living up to its hype, The Slow is absolutely beautiful. Decorated with concrete surface, warm wooden furnitures, lush greeneries and contemporary arts, the combination gives off this modern tropical vibes to the place. The natural lighting and the open area that allows gentle breeze to pass through also give that relaxing ambience that definitely encourages you to slow down and enjoy the space.

“The interior concept is in line with the architecture, using raw and minimal material palette such as timber, concrete and painted plaster wall. The grid module timber ceiling and wall creates strong shadow pattern which becomes the character of the space which is complemented by the lush landscape.”
— rafaelmiranti architects

“The hotel, described by its owners as an exercise in “tropical brutalism”, was designed in collaboration with local architect Rieky Sunur of GFAB architects. Every detail at The Slow has been designed with intentionality, to coax bustling tourists into relaxation, and encourage guests to take full advantage of the beautiful space.”
— theinnbox.co

“Self-described as ‘a place to rest your bones, stir your senses and expand your mind’, the hotel was inspired by Gorrow and Tschurtschenthaler’s personalities amongst the tropical island environment. Natively-sourced, sustainable timber and stone form the foundation of the design, paired with locally made furniture and crafts and artwork from the couple’s own collection.”
— Melia Rayner for estliving.com

Note: Photos were taken before the pandemic.

Update:
On Google, it says that they are temporarily closed, although the hotel itself seems to be open and taking reservations for room bookings. I suggest you contact the restaurant prior to your visit.

 

The Slow Kitchen and Bar

Address: Jl. Pantai Batu Bolong No.97, Canggu, Kec. Kuta Utara, Kabupaten Badung, Bali 80361, Indonesia
Telephone: +623612099000 | +628113899009 (WA)

Instagram: @the.slow.kitchen.bar

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