We cannot over-emphasize  the importance of getting some form of exercise  during COVID 19

Few places in the city are as diverse and eclectic as Kensington Market. Crammed with ethnic eateries, exotic spice shops, cafes, vintage clothing boutiques, and colourful produce stands, it’s a microcosm of Toronto in one walkable neighbourhood. Over the years, it’s also become a tourist attraction and one that’s worth a visit any day of the week.

Pedestrian Sundays

To experience it at its liveliest though, arrive on the last Sunday of any month between May and October. During Pedestrian Sundays, as it’s called, musicians, artists and other entertainers turn up to perform on the car-free streets to enthusiastic audiences. You could hear everything from classical violin on one corner to an eight-piece band pumping out Latin rhythms on another. Oh and keep your eye out for the Superman impersonator!

“There’s a real energy, a festival atmosphere, everyone’s on show,” says Kevin Durkee, of Culinary Adventure Co., who runs foodie tours in Kensington Market during Pedestrian Sundays.

“Businesses are fully packed, the restaurants are offering different dishes, and many of them have music and art installations and live performances.” Durkee’s “Made in Canada” tours highlight the country’s culinary diversity, and feature iconic dishes and locally crafted or grown foods, such as Montreal bagels, maple syrup, and local pies made from Ontario fruits.

“This is how neighbourhoods use to work, shop together and celebrate each others businesses and I don’t think there’s any place better in Canada that showcases what a community looks like than a Pedestrian Sunday,” insists Durkee.

Ethnic history

Eastern European Jewish immigrants and, to a lesser extent, Italians were the first on the scene in the market’s early days. But the neighbourhood has changed dramatically in the past four or five decades. The ethnic make-up evolved as immigrants arrived from Portugal, the Caribbean, China and other Asian countries and more recently Africa and South and Central America. And the products and foods from all these regions are well represented.

Amidst the obvious multicultural mix is a noticeable artsy vibe. Set amidst charming Victorian homes (some of which operate as one-of-a-kind shops), you’ll encounter colourful murals and art installations. Check the large sign near College Street that spells the word “Kensington” using bicycle chains. Another local landmark is the garden car, an artistically painted old vehicle with plants and flowers sprouting from the windows and hood!

While strolling amidst the 200-plus businesses you’ll find galleries, bike shops, surplus stores and Canadian-designed clothing. And when you get hungry, the choice is endless: falafel, pho noodles, tacos, and rotio, pad thai, empanadas, crepes and more. Or pick up some fresh bread from one of the bakeries and some artisanal cheese from the specialty cheese shops and have a picnic in leafy Bellevue Square Park.

The market is for people of all walks of life including health conscious, Bohemian types interested counter culture. Note the eateries with vegan and gluten free-food options, fresh juice bars, tattoo and piercing shops, trendy vintage clothing, and stores selling books on alternative living.

Central Location

Located near Chinatown in downtown Toronto, Kensington Market’s 240 businesses are crammed into roughly eight blocks from College St. in the north to Dundas St. in the south and from Spadina Ave. in the east to Bathurst St. in the west.

Pedestrian Sundays, now in its 15th year, is an entertaining way to spend the day. But it’s not the only notable event here.

Jazz Festival

A more recent addition to the calendar is the Kensington Market Jazz Festival which takes place during three days in September (Sept 14-16, 2018). Local singer-songwriter and broadcaster Molly Johnson spearheaded this mostly-ticketed event that features 400 Canadian musicians playing over 200 shows in 12 venues! It’s the place to see established jazz musicians on the Toronto scene.

Winter Solstice

In winter, one of the most popular events in the city is the annual solstice festival which takes place in Kensington Market in December. Make your own lantern and join a parade through the streets featuring giant puppets, stilt walkers, Brazilian drummers, fire breathers and more, as the community marks the longest night of the year in true pagan fashion!

Each year, thousands of people come to Toronto to savour the city’s sights, delicious food and its many events.

But of all the events that are held in Toronto each year, film festivals are always a highlight for both visitors and locals alike. 

From fancy red carpets to expanding your mind with some of the world’s best documentaries, the city has something to offer for everyone.

So whether you’re an indie film lover, a French cinema connoisseur or simply on the hunt to see your favourite stars up close, visitors can choose to attend more than 100 film festivals held in Toronto.

Below, we break down some of our favourite film festivals to go to:

Toronto International Film Festival

Founded in 1976, the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) started as an event that showcased the best-regarded films from other film festivals around the world.

But over the past 42 years, TIFF has grown to become one of the most prestigious film festivals in the world, drawing in high profile guests such as George Clooney, Angelina Jolie, Benedict Cumberbatch, Julianne Moore and Ryan Gosling.

The festival has acted as a precursor to the Academy Awards, as critically acclaimed films such as 12 Years A Slave, La La Land, Slumdog Millionaire and Room have screened at the event and won the festival’s People’s Choice Award.

However, if you’re more of a celebrity seeker than a film buff, TIFF is also a great event to attend if you’re hoping to shake hands with your idols. Just follow the huge crowds of people surrounding the film’s movie venues. Celebrities are often making carpet appearances, and they are usually more than happy to sign some autographs and take pictures.

TIFF 2017 runs from September 7 to 17. Go to tiff.net for more info.

Hot Docs

Hot Docs is North America’s largest documentary festival. Held each year in the spring, it offers over 200 films from Canada and across the world.

Every year, the festival brings in documentaries that take a closer look at celebrities, activists or fascinating characters from across the world. Past documentaries that have aired include the Oscar-winning O.J.: Made in America, the critically acclaimed Blackfish and the Oscar-nominated Twenty Feet from Stardom.

Tickets for films are extremely affordable, and admission is free for students and seniors before 5 p.m. during the festival.

The 2018 Hot Docs Festival will run April 28, 2017 to May 8, 2017. Go to http://hotdocs.ca for more info.

Toronto After Dark Film Festival

For fans who love to see gore, blood and guts on screen, this festival is for you.

With nine nights of horror, sci-fi and cult movies, The Toronto After Dark Film Festival has offered thousands of movie fans thrills and chills with a selection of short and feature length films from Canada, the U.S. and other parts of the world.

This is the perfect opportunity to check out new movies on the big screen, as many horror films sadly never end up releasing in theatres and just go straight to DVD or Video on Demand.

And plus, it’s always more fun to scream and squirm in a theatre full of other horror films!

Toronto After Dark will run from Oct 12, 2017 - Oct 20, 2017. Go to http://www.torontoafterdark.com/ for more info

Other cultural film festivals of note:

When Toronto is a city full of people from different backgrounds, it would only make sense to reflect the community through film.

Every year, the city hosts a number of film festivals for every group whether you’re Asian, Black, Indigenous, Jewish or European.

For international film lovers, we highly recommend checking out Reel Asian Film Festival, ImagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival, Toronto Jewish Film Festival, Toronto Black Film Festival, and The European Union Toronto Film Festival.

These events offer both galas and screenings for cinephiles. But if you’re a budding filmmaker, these festivals also offer workshops and panel discussions. Make the most of your time by networking and rubbing shoulders with industry experts and workers in the field!

There’s an opening-day ritual for ice cream parlours in Toronto that goes something like this: a massive line-up that runs down the block appears, it lasts all day. After acquiring their ice cream, patrons raise their cones to the sky like Olympic torches to snap the perfect photo – usually in front of a festive wall – before it melts into a sticky, un-Instagramable mess. Appropriate hashtags ensue.

It’s difficult to say when exactly Toronto became a verified ice cream-loving city but with the number of new parlours popping up in the last few years, its not hard to believe. Trying their best to nudge each other out of accolades like having the most delicious ube ice cream or best Hong Kong-style waffle cones, this new wave of dessert spots are far from the basic vanilla-or-chocolate-serving parlours of yore.

The latest shop to capitalize on Toronto’s ice cream mania is iHalo Krunch, which opened recently to customers clamouring for a taste of its charcoal confections. Before that it was Sweet Jesus in 2015 with its monstrously decked-out cones, or Kekou serving Asian-inspired flavours from its new Queen Street location, and Bang Bang in 2014 with its prime Ossington Avenue real estate.

A few years later, these ice cream parlours still draw lengthy queues, which makes us think that maybe Torontonians aren’t just fad-followers, or that we really like waiting in lines. Maybe, just maybe, we genuinely really love ice cream.

The seeds of this city’s devotion to ice cream were first sowed with Dutch Dreams. For years, the ice cream parlour on Vaughan Road was the trendiest spot for the best scoop in Toronto. Its eclectic exterior and exhilarating selection of dipped waffle cones made the family-owned shop a city staple, drawing tourists and locals alike even in the winter (yes, Canadians really like their winter iceys). After serving loyal customers in the same building for more than 30 years, the store relocated in an iconic albeit anti-climactic move just down the street in 2014. People wrote about it, Drake visited the new location; it was a big deal for us.

The new school parlours now springing up overnight differ from Dutch Dreams and other classic Toronto ice cream joints like Greg’s Ice Cream, Ed’s Real Scoop, or even Sweet Olenka’s. While some of them still like to boast a multitude of flavours, for many new businesses, less is more. It isn’t about overwhelming customers with an endless menu, rather, it’s about trying to find a special identity in a market where the money always follows the next new taste. New stores often draw from cultural flavours to boost their uniqueness, and serving a cone that looks great in pictures helps too.

Whether you’re someone who can’t wait for the next rainbow-coloured scoop in the glittering cone or you just want some plain old vanilla soft serve, Toronto is the city to get it. You just might have to wait in line.

When I was in elementary school and high school, the coolest kids were part of a distinct clique. There was usually something stereotypical about them that I would see in movies, like they were the best athletes or from the wealthiest families. What made the group COOL was that everyone couldn’t be a part of it – exclusion was a major factor.

When I was in grade 12, I signed up to go on my schools spring break trip to Cancun. While I knew lots of people, I didn’t have many close friends. My best friend at the time, cancelled last minute and I was left without a roommate. Thankfully there was one other person without a roommate as well – a tall blonde from a wealthy family who from my perspective FIT in with the cool kids but in that world the rules were different and she didn’t quite make the cut, which she attempted to heal by getting a nose job shortly after graduation.

Exclusion has been the foundation for the rise of many things COOL – members only clubs, limited edition cars, waitlist for handbags, EH list events. This creates a desperate desire to be part of something ‘special’ for everyone else and leaves the people who are part of it –often the rich, beautiful and famous -thinking, “this is what everyone else wants and I am here, so this must be a good thing and I am going to act like I am happy and confident and deeply fulfilled because that is what everyone expects me to do and if I don’t respond that way, they might think I am ungrateful.”

Once I moved downtown and started university, I noticed a different kind of COOL emerging – something that made more sense to me. COOL people were friends with every one, they were inclusive, warm, generous and enjoyable to be around. No more attitude, snobbishness or leaving people out.

While the inclusive person FIT my definition of COOL, I wasn’t sure this would become a cultural norm in my lifetime but thankfully I think I may have been wrong.

For much of our history, both as the nation of Canada and the city of Toronto, we have been seen as the super friendly, welcoming, hockey playing, beer drinking, poutine eating loser-ish best friend of the United States. Being ranked the most diverse city in the world didn’t used to give us much street cred. Yes, having over 50% of our population come directly from other countries has given us locals, the most delicious abundance of food, fashion, entertainment and social life but somehow we were still poked fun at in popular media. We weren’t exclusive enough to be COOL, at least not the kind of COOL that makes people feel bad.

Oh, how things are changing. With the international attention from having an eccentric mayor (may he rest in peace) to hosting the Pan Am games to being named Hollywood North, we began seeing the power of our attraction at work. The buzz of this city has people flying in from all over the world to enjoy gay pride, Caribana, TIFF and the expanding marijuana industry but these things have been building for years.

What is different now - besides the Raptors, Blue Jays, and Leafs being more awesome, the rise of Drake and the Weeknd and the Trump-lessness of our government – is that we, Torontonians, are walking around shamelessly proud.

With brands like The Original 6, OVO, Peace Collective, 416, 6ixside, Thank You Toronto, CHILclothing, Legends League, 100 Miles… we are literally wearing love for this city and showering our pride all over the streets. I ♥ NY t-shirts have fallen from our pile of favs and have been taken over by Home Is Toronto. Look at us now and how far we have come. No more cowering when someone makes a joke about how much snow we must get up here.

Not only are we growing up as a city – becoming more diverse, more inclusive and more trusting of one another – we are growing more proud, more willing to represent our city locally and internationally. We are changing the definition of COOL. People from all over the world want to be here and we want to be here. Not because we are so expensive or have the best beaches or spend the most on advertising but because we love life and we love having fun and we love people. Our shirts may say Toronto Vs Everybody but our pride is present because the truth is Toronto welcomes everybody.

Inclusion is the new COOL and if that is part of our brand, we are representing something bigger than our city. We are changing the world, one garment at a time.

Love Mala

“Its COOL to BE Happy”

Paws on Parenthood: 8 Reasons Millennials Postpone Being MilleniMOMS & Dads

1) Boomerang Babies Having Babies?

This one doesn’t need much explanation. After dishing out dollars on style, smart phones and shots at the club, your credit card is maxed out and you beg your PAYrents to help you pay rent. After a few months, they refuse to help you AGAIN and you beg them to move back home. After all, they haven’t redecorated your room, they must really miss you deep down inside, even if they don’t say it – OR you have moved back home every year since graduation and they haven’t had time to move your things into storage. A boomerang baby is simply too broke to have babies. While many parents used to hope for grandchildren, parents of boomerangs pray their kids don’t have more responsibilities that they will eventually have to take care of. After all, what are us boomerangs gonna do when the baby boomers bail?

2) Would Rather Have a Dog

Cute, sometimes fluffy, always happy to see you – pets are paradise, the purrrfect FIT. Yes, you have to pick up their poop and come home more often than normal but when you do pop in for a poop-walk, your friendly companion will always be overjoyed to see you. No crying all night, daycare expenses or fighting over custody (hopefully). Pets are the purrrfect playmate when you are ready to be a grown up but only a little. Pets are the best and as long as they don’t bite anyone, you know you are doing a good job!

3) Natural Evolution

While many things have changed over time, there are still similarities as well. In the Medieval times, it was normal for a woman to give birth at the age of 14. It was also normal to die before the age of 35. Today the average life expectancy is 73 years! And is closer to 80 in more prosperous countries. So what does this mean? It means that the ratios are still similar. The percentage of time people desire to live freely before having children compared to their life expectancy is almost the same. People tend to want children right before the halfway mark of their life span.

4) Commitment Issues

While you may find it hard to commit to an outFIT let alone a person, the average length of a marriage is between 8 and 13 years in North America. While there is tonnes of info about how Millennials are addicted to instant gratification – shopping, touch screen technology, InstaLikes etc – this divorce stat was created by the older generation. It seems that we are not the only age group who finds it hard to work through things. And children are an even bigger commitment than an intimate relationship because you can’t divorce a child who misbehaves or a teenager who is acting out.

5) Desire To Save the World

With access to the internet and social media at an all-time high, there has never been a generation more informed about what is going on around the world. Attention has shifted from an individual and their individual family to what impact a person makes and can have on people all over the world. This is why more young people are opting to travel, adopt and treat other children as their own. The perspective of many Millennials is, if we can’t take care of the children we have now, why make more? There is a greater sense of social responsibility and international responsibility both of which take attention away from having a standard nuclear family.

6) Fear of Being A Struggling Single MilleniMOM or Dad

While Disney movies may warm our hearts, millions of Millennials grew up with struggling single parents. It is a nice thought that you will meet the ‘one’ and they will always be there to help you and raise your children but from real life experience, Millennials can see that this is no longer a realistic expectation. What is becoming more realistic is having multiple marriages and children with different people. This can become emotionally, financially and physically draining. Not something you wish to walk into without careFULL consideration.

7) Missing Necessary Skills

Besides commitment issues, financial challenges and timing, there are a whole slew of skills necessary to raise happy, healthy, well-balanced children. With the rise of the Self-Help world, TED Talks, the Oprah Winfrey Network and social media, we have never been more aware of both what we are lacking and also what is necessary to ‘make it’. This abundance of information around, healing, health, parenting, happiness and success can be overwhelming and can reinforce feelings of inadequacy – the awareness of such feelings often stop us from moving into later stages of life willingly, which includes deciding to be parents.

8) Negative Messages From Parents

While many parents tell public stories of how much they love their children and how appreciative they are to have a family, the day to day private experience may be quite different. Most kids hear things like how much parents had to sacrifice and suffer in order to take care of them. This both paints a scary picture for young people about having a family and also hands them a whole bunch of guilt. Each generation tends to be more sensitive than the last and many Millennials simply don’t want to bring a child into the world unprepared, someone whose experience they may flood with anxiety, stress and guilt on a regular basis. Postponing such an experience for as long as possible seems like the best option for some.

Well, there you have it. Eight reasons Millennials postpone or opt out of having kids. While these reasons are relevant at this point in time, there is nothing to fear. Our biological programming will ensure the continuation of our species. Survival of the FITest always wins!

Love Mala

“Its Cool To BE Happy”

the FIT List

Top Ten Best Cafes in Toronto February 2017

Toronto’s Poop Café: I’ll Have A Number 2 Please!

When I first heard that Poop Café was opening in Toronto’s Koreatown neighborhood, I began gathering my friends, excited for the grand opening. To my amazement, many people I spoke to had a strong hesitation to visiting the poop themed dessert spot. I thought to myself how could delicious desserts be unappetizing? I would start saying things like, “Doesn’t everything you eat remind you that you will eventually have to poop anyway? Eating something that looks the same going in and coming out is like the palindrome of food experiences.” The skeptical folk weren’t amused by such comments. This perspective while valid to me was more validation to my friends of my being a weirdo.

And to my happy surprise, it seems I am not the only weirdo in the city! In its 5^th month after opening, the Poop Café is going strong. Yesterday I sat on their toilet seats for my second time – it was still full of excited people taking selfies, children spoiling their dinners and passers by walking in to check the place out. “What is this about?” they say, and quickly add, “I gotta bring my friends here some time!”

The menu is filled with delicious Asian inspired desserts, bingsu, poop shaped waffles, ice cream, milkshakes, coffees and teas. Everything comes in urinal and toilet shaped cups and bowls. The light fixtures look like plungers and the seats are actual closed toilet seats with soft poop emoji cushions to sit on. Toilet paper hangs off holders for extra napkin. There are funny comments and drawings about poop all over the walls of the café as well as the walls of the actual bathroom – which has a real working toilet (phew!) - and makes me wonder how many people have actually pooped in the poop café?

While the owner Lien Nguyen, definitely took a big risk opening a provocative dessert place, this being her first business venture after graduating from George Brown College, there is another bold decision that got the Poop Café on our FIT List this season - Lien has spent $0 on advertising! It turns out the controversial topic of poop created enough buzz to have extra-long line-ups in the first week of opening, news stations and reporters visiting on a regular basis and tourists squeezing in a visit to make their trip as interesting as possible. Even with the hesitant folk, people really like to talk about poop. It is almost unheard of at this time to watch a business grow by word of mouth and it is wonderful to see that it is still possible! I guess you just got to get people talking about whether a place will ‘stink or swim.’ Lien shared that it felt like a lot of pressure when she first opened, it was a new space with a new concept and new staff. No one was sure about how it would be received and it seems to me this place is a hit! Here’s to poop staying afloat.

The Poop Café has it all. So what’s so great about it? Here’s 10 reasons the Poop Café is the $*!T.

1. It is in a great Bloor street location, super close to Christie station, surrounded by restaurants. The perfect FIT for an after meal dessert.

2. A great family place and an extra memorable experience for children of all ages!

3. Fun space for mini birthday bashes.

4. May be the only poop in Toronto that both smells and tastes great.

5. Gives visitors an awesome story to tell family, friends and co-workers

6. Great place to take pics for your Instagram foodie shares

7. Playing with your food is encouraged!

8. Makes the phrase “Eat $*!T” seem less offensive

9. Everyone can relate

10. Gives us the opportunity to support local entre-poo-neurs!

Now that we’ve covered poop, it can only get more interesting from here. Nine more spots to go. Stay tuned to see if your favorite café made it onto the FIT List. Your go-to guide for what’s hip, happening and about to happen in Toronto.

Love Mala

“Its Cool To BE Happy”

Right before winter rolled around this year, I made a decision I had never made before – I am going to stay warm no matter what. No more trying to look sexy when there is clearly a blizzard happening outside or trying to keep a smile on my face when I am shivering on the inside. I am 2-3 months into Toronto winter and the most amazing thing is happening – I have spent more time outside than any winter I can remember, I feel great and I am getting more compliments on my style than I ever expected. Just in the last few days, 2 different people stopped to compliment me while I was all bundled up with a hat, big scarf, mitts, snow boots (even though there is no snow right now) and a long coat I stuff myself and big hoodie sweaters into.

This experience has got me thinking about the bigger picture in fashion. Looking attractive is not just about each piece of clothing we choose to drape our body in each morning – it is also about how happy and self-expressed we are. This winter, my clothes were saying, “I would rather be physically warm than socially COOL” and so far it is well received.

While there are specific trends we are seeing on the runways for the coming spring and summer – sleeve slits, trenches and robes, bright yellows and blues, stripes – there is a greater trend happening in fashion that makes getting dressed super fun, even for those who aren’t ‘into’ clothes and accessories.

Well-travelled polarity is where it’s at. Whether you are rocking a 6 pack or beer belly, super sleek or super surf style – extreme is in. No more playing it safe while making a statement.

Whether you are an athlete, artist, business person, parent, jet-setter, public servant or all of the above, wear your favorite color, cut, khaki and cardigan and you will FIT right in because the ULTIMATE trend is to be extremely YOU. Wear what makes you happy. Wear what makes you confident and you will turn heads while you turn the corner or wait in line for your turn at the counter.

Quick Tip For The Perfect FIT:

Does choosing the right outFIT stress you out sometimes?

My Little Secret: Before looking in your closet, put on your favorite dance song and move your body. Let yourself be wild and free. When you open your closet door, you will see with new eyes. Fully connect to your body and let IT choose what IT wants you to wear. Don’t let getting dressed get you stressed!

The World is a colorful place, full of variety. There is nothing dull about the ocean. There is nothing quiet about the city. You no longer need to be conservative to FIT in. Self-expression is at an all-time high. Spring into Summer unafraid and uninhibited. Mix it up. Be everything you are -unapologetically.

Spring/Summer 2017 Fashion Trends

Love Mala

“Its Cool To BE Happy”