I recommend

Sanko in Toronto
[http://www.toronto-sanko.com/en/]
Sanko is probably the awesomest (yeah, it’s not a word – so sue me, spellcheck) store in Toronto. I cannot resist a giant smile every time I enter the store, not to mention Steve Mizuno, the son of the owners is the chippiest hilarious dude and a pleasure to chat with every time. Sanko is a Japanese trading store and it has everything from wasabi kit kat bars to pickled veggies in a transparent plastic tube. Must-get is my all-time favourite Morinaga Hi-Chew fizzy milk chews. You will not regret it.

The gallery I work at
[http://www.glendon.yorku.ca/gallery/english/index.html]
Shameless plug – I work at a kickass gallery nestled on campus in a gorgeous corner of Uptown Toronto. We feature talented artists with a focus on francophone and hispanophone artists. Take a stroll around the Bridle Path, knock on Prince and Celine Dion’s doors (or gates, I should say) and then stop by and say hi!

Going to see some films at NFB
[http://www.nfb.ca/]
I always feel like a sucker every time I forget about the fact that instead of paying $15 for a film at Paramount, I could have sat in the cool (AC!) personal screening booths at the NFB and watched an endless amount of films for free. They have most of, if not their entire, library online but going in person always feels like time well spent. Located right across the Scotiabank theatre on John St, it’s a good affordable alternative if you want to save $15 and can wait 2 weeks to stream that new Robert Pattinson flick on Megavideo.

Picking something up from craigslist’s free section
[http://toronto.en.craigslist.ca/zip/]
From the usual free firewood and dirt (literally), you can find some hidden gems from Russian stamps to a Barbie Jeep (actual examples just taken from the free stuff section). While you’re at it, you can skip on over to the [ETC] section and make a quick $20 subjecting yourself to research in the name of medical science or perhaps have a man tickle you with a feather plume for ten minutes.

Taking a ride on the Railpath
[http://railpath.wordpress.com/]
My fifteen minutes of daily bliss is when I turn off boisterous, door-prize laden College/Dundas/Bloor St. strip and onto the 3km of beautifully paved , unobstructed beauty named West Toronto Railpath. Surrounded by wild weeds, questionable art, train tracks, and strolling mommies, the North-South bike expressway is a paved dream getting to and from downtown if you have the privilege of living in Toronto’s West End.

Bowlerama $1 Bowling Wednesdays
[http://www.bowlerama.com/cenWest.asp?lh=1]
A small tradition within my circle of friends, the  Kipling Bowlerama between the hours of 10:30pm -2am is the place to be on a Wednesday night. The only place where families, stoners, couples, teenagers and thugs from all walks of life come together in the name of cheap bowling and deep fried food all (individually) for ONE dollar. All you need is an arm and a clever nickname. The alley’s also flask-and-420-friendly.

$3 Mainsha Jerk Chicken
Honestly the best bang for my three bucks in food I’ve gotten in the city. It’s delicious and filling, and doesn’t get better than that. I’m all for cheap eats, and with all these strict street food regulations in Toronto, they’re hard to come by. A heaping of rice and peas, topped with a whole leg and drum stick – hacked into sizable pieces, and covered in your choice of oxtail or red sauce gravy and a side o ‘slaw. Sound good? I give it 3 fuck-yeahs out of 3.

$2 Cheese empanada at Jumbo Empanada
I literally melted into another dimension of satisfaction the last time I bit into one of these delicious deep fried pockets of joy. Paired with the most delicious spicy fresh homemade salsa , I can’t think of anything else I could eat 50 of and not want vomit a little at the sight/smell/sound/mention of it for the next 4 years (see: baklavas).

Cafe Sua Da
Vietnamese coffee, translated directly is Coffee Milk Ice, which is exactly what it is. Not to boost my own ethnic ego, but the best part of this drink is the Vietnamese part. Vietnamese coffee is the best. I would be saying the same thing if I were Ukrainian or Ugandan (I’d imagine) because it’s THAT GOOD. It’s thick and strong and sweet and is a beautiful punch in the mouth in the morning to get you going. Nothing will beat the $.50 cafe stands in Saigon but it’s still good at authentic Vietnamese restos in the city. Tip: If ever in Viet Nam and ordering a cafe the fast way, tug your hair for it black, and squeeze your nip if you want it with milk.

A slice of Margherita pizza at King Slice
[http://www.kingslice.ca/]
I swear this is not another ethnic ego boost, but this famous Vietnamese owned West-End pizzeria is the shit. They have BBPS (Big beautiful pizza slices) with the classic being Margherita you can’t go wrong with. I’m not being endorsed by the Vietnamese community, I swear if you ask anyone west of Lansdowne they’ll know King Slice and can vouch for how kickass their pie is.

Panko-crusted anything
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panko]
Screw beer batter, it’s all about that panko crusted everything and anything. You’ll probably know panko from its distinct light crispiness on shrimp tempura at sushi restaurants. They’re essentially just breadcrumbs, but solely white bread, no crust. It gives it that pure white crispy texture that pairs beautifully with anything about to be sentenced to the deep fryer.

Lime, salt and chili as a dipping sauce for anything.
I love salt… and spice… and limes. All three produce the tastiest combination for about anything. Eating a mango? Lime, salt and chilli dip that shit! Soup? Salad? Crab?! Can’t go wrong!

Riding the 501 Queen streetcar from Ronces to the Beaches, or The Beach – whatever.
[http://www3.ttc.ca/Routes/501/Eastbound.jsp]
An amazing cross-section of Toronto can be sampled riding through from Roncesvalles to Parkdale, West Queen West, Liberty Village, Trinity Bellwoods, Queen West, The Fashion District, The Entertainment District, Moss Park, Regent Park, Leslieville, to the Beach!

Tap Phong Trading Co. Ltd
[http://tapphong.com]
This is a glorious megastore of those ubiquitous items you’d normally find in any establishment. It’s the place to go if you ever misplace your … heavy duty deep frying basket…or oil drizzler nozzle. Stocked with every utensil and kitchen appliance imaginable this is the place new restaurant owners go to town at. Specializing in Asian cuisine accessories from cheap bamboo steamers to the arguably unnecessary chopstick holder, this place is a galore of random necessities.

Going out for dumplings
This should be more of a thing than it is, going out and sharing plates of dumplings is a blast with friends and family, or anyone for that matter. Choose from a delicious assortment of pan fried, steamed and boiled dumplings, you really can’t go wrong.  My favourite are the pan fried dumplings at Dumpling House on Spadina (despite the Ratatouille incident) and the Lamb Char Siu from Mother’s Dumplings just up the street.

Mexican Candies
Finally, a solution to my spicy / sweet tooth! I was introduced into the flavourful and firey world of Mexican candy when my sister gave me a sack of 100 lollipops that our cousin had sent us from California. These lollipops, Chiletas, are coated in chili spice atop a sweet & tangy watermelon or mango lollipop. Taken aback at first, I quickly became accustomed to the flavour and man oh man is it ever delicious.

Fiverr
[http://fiverr.com]
A website dedicated to some creatively desperate people willing to do some wacky things for a fiver ($5). You can put up offers or request a gig if you’re in town for something specific. Or, if you’re bored with a fiver to spare, you can pay some guy in Oklahoma to film himself ranting for a minute about a subject of your choice.

Boston Globe’s Big Picture
[http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/]
An amazing and frequently-updated photojournalism news blog, rounding up the most phenomenal photographs every week. Each week features a few new set of images of the most current international events. Really really breathtaking images and really really good stuff. Check it out.

Foodgawker
[http://www.foodgawker.com /]
This is where I go daily to salivate over my laptop and pick out some recipes for everything imaginable. Beautiful clean layout rounding up top notch food photography from all over the interwebs. User-submitted by blog owners, you can create an account and dog-ear recipes and forget about it until you come back and re-discover the amazing recipes you’ve backlogged.