SANKO Japanese Foods & Gifts Shop in Toronto

I wanted to do a short post on a Japanese foods and gifts shop located in downtown Toronto called SANKO on Queen Street West. I actually recorded a video of this shop awhile back last year for a video contest to win a trip to Japan. Unfortunately I didn't win the contest but I thought it'd be fun to share and talk about it on my blog anyway. There has been so many new Japanese restaurants and shops opening in Toronto lately, especially in the downtown area that it has turned into a little Japan town. UNIQLO has just opened in Eaton Centre on Friday September 30th and I wanted to go and record a video tour there but there was soooo many people lining up to go inside the store. I'm going to wait a bit until it dies down before I go there to shop around. 

Anyway, SANKO has been around in Toronto for quite some time now so it's not new. It has been opened since 1968 and the shop is owned by a lovely Japanese old man by the name of William Mizuno. At the shop you can find everything from Japanese snacks, food, tea pots, home appliances and even magazines that are imported from Japan. The price is a little expensive but that's probably because they need to cover the import fees to have the items sold here. However, they do have some quite unique and cool stuff that you won't be able to find anywhere else here in Toronto. 

SANKO Official website: http://toronto-sanko.com/

Cherry Blossoms At Trinity Park

So I took these pictures back in mid May? I don't even remember anymore, lol. Although the cherry blossoms are all gone now but I never got around to posting these pictures up on my blog until now. Well, better late than never, right? 

Did you know that there are actually cherry blossom trees at Trinity Park on Queen Street West in Toronto? Other than High Park, you can actually see cherry blossoms at the Bellwoods Trinity Park too. I actually like the trees at this park better than the ones in High Park because the trees are much smaller and shorter in size that it is very convenient for taking selfie pictures. XD Not to mention there are way LESS people at this park compared to High Park too so you can hog a whole tree to snap pictures yourself! LOL. I now know where I want to go for cherry blossom sight seeing next year! =D

I couldn't pass on taking a selfie although it was not a very satisfying selfie picture as I look kind of awkward in it but let me explain what happened. So even though I have an awesome phone camera that takes great selfie photos, it was still hard to snap a good photo. Because depending on where I was standing, the sunlight would be shinning directly right into my face and my phone screen becomes SUPER bright that I cannot even see a thing what I was taking a picture of on my screen. Selfie fail much? Lol. I never knew/thought this could be a problem as it was my first time taking actual selfies outside in the sunlight with my Note 4. I snapped so many shots and I swear I felt like I was getting blinded by the super bright white light from the sun and my phone screen. I think this is when I need to pull out my sunglasses. XD Maybe next time I'll master how to properly take good selfies in the daylight without getting blinded! lol.