Back to Mexican Festival…sigh, that guacamole. Made fresh tableside! The adorable Mexican server carved out two perfectly ripe and creamy avocados and mixed them with fresh onion, tomatillos, Serrano peppers and pomegranate seeds. And to accompany that beautiful bowl of green heaven, homemade warm tortilla chips straight out of the fryer. Herag looked away for 2 minutes and the two bowls were emptied. I just couldn’t stop! I’ve never had such incredible guacamole. Our entrees included pulled chicken enchiladas with mole sauce and grilled chicken with Chihuahua cheese and poblano sauce. Although we were hoping to finish it off with New York-styled cheesecake, the three plates knocked us out. We were in bed by 10.
Disclosure, the popular electronic music duo from the UK, is actually who brought us to the concrete jungle. We had purchased tickets back when Herag had visited me in North India in late June. We came across the tour schedule one day waiting for a room at Zostel in New Delhi and went gaga over the idea of heading to New York for a weekend, only to find out a week later they would be coming to Toronto the week before the New York show. No regrets! Madison Square Garden vs. the Direct Energy Center, a boring ol- convention center… there’s no competition.
Overall, the show was exactly what I expected of the incredibly talented duo (minus the fact that I had extremely high hopes that Sam Smith would magically appear to perform Latch and Omen). I’ve been waiting for Disclosure to come back to Toronto since 2013 when I missed their show at the Hoxton at Bathurst and King but they have long overgrown intimate venues and I praise them for that. The show featured special guests such as UK singer Eliza Doolittle, Kwabs, LION BABE and Brendon Riley on their featured songs with the group. I danced my heart out in general admission and did not give a damn what I looked like. The more I danced, the more I noticed those around me started to actually look comfortable about joining in and become free with their movement and how the music made them feel. I thought to myself after why do we care what we look like dancing alone? We paid money to see the show, we’ve come because we obviously really enjoy the music and the way it makes us feel…why hide it? I always admire Europeans for that. Every club or bar I’ve been to in Europe, every single person danced like no one was watching (but they are a lot more talented than North Americans and know how to do an authentic shuffle). It was fun to know the words to every song too. In the one video I grabbed on my phone, you can hear my raspy voice singing loud and proud and off beat.
Our only full day in the city was Sunday, which was spent walking south along Central Park and Broadway browsing cute shops, bakeries and farmer’s markets set up in school parking lots and playgrounds. It was beautiful weather all weekend with highs of almost 16ºC, no clouds and the smell of fall air and dried leaves, which continuously swirled down from the trees to line the sidewalks. We walked for hours until we realized just how long we actually had walked and started to focus on our foot pain rather than the smells, sights and sounds of the bustling city.
We flew Porter both ways, which I think is the only way you should ever fly between Toronto and New York. Although it lands in Newark, it’s under an hour to get into Manhattan. The Newark AirLink train will take you right to the Newark train line that stops at Penn Station, connecting you to subway lines all over New York. Porter always has really good deals on as well (it was just under $500 for both our round trips!) and you only need to arrive 45 minutes to an hour before your flight. It's super quick to get through customs, you'll even have time to make yourself a complimentary latte and stuff your purse with their chocolate chip shortbread cookies. Complimentary Jackson Triggs wine, Steamwhistle beer and yummy snacks on board is another plus to the 45 minute-ish flight (wayyyyy better than the Megabus!).
Weekend trips are always such a great escape from reality. And right now, my reality is another visa process with the Indian Consulate, packing up my life again (which isn’t too hard since I own very little and most is still in my backpack) and starting the goodbye process before I’m back off to Rajasthan in a few weeks time.
My, how time flies.
Jazz