Toronto Local Custom Tips by Grootpiet

This seems to be common in Canada and in some US states. Unless otherwise indicated, you're allowed to turn right at a red traffic light from the far-right lane (when traffic allows of course). So, if you're standing there patiently waiting for the light to go green (like I did for the first few weeks) and someone starts honking their horn behind you, this is why...

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The tip-rate in Canada is 15%, or so they've been telling me. Now, after a few drinks, calculating this off the cuff takes more than a minute.

If you add the Provincial and Government taxes on your bill, which amount to... 15%, you have a sure way of impressing your friends/girlfriend with your mathematical prowess.

Happy eating!

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Sim1's LCBO tip made me remeber this...

With the alcohol prices in Canada so high due to total government control of liquor sales, thrifty Canadians have started making their own wine and beer.

All over town you'll see wine-making shops:
Essentially you go in, pick your choice of grape juice/extract, choose the quantity (30l's or so), and get a call after two months to come in and help bottle it. The deal with the bottling is that if you have a hand in the 'production' of the wine, they tax you less (sounds like a good small business to me). The bottling process is pretty easy, you wash the bottles (new, or from your previous batch), choose plastic or cork for a stopper, and then put all into this fancy pneumatic thingey which seals it right up.

Options are custom labels and foil wrapping for the corks.

At around $3.50/bottle for 'Australian Shiraz' I couldn't have made a better weekday drinking/cooking wine.

I'm keeping a bottle to see if it matures well(haha).

Watchout: For some reason whenever I spill it (it's potent), it stains my kitchen counter like hell.

Oh yes, the beer... I've made a case of 500ml Mexican beer, not too bad, and with a refrigerated shelf-life of 3 months, makes for some quick consumption.

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Driving on the 401, Toronto's main East-West highway through the city, is mildly frustrating at best. Maintenance is a secondary concern, although it always seems like roadworks are underway.

The mysterious thing though, is that the traffic tends to slow down to standstill for no apparent reason. All of a sudden you'll be stopped dead, and when you reach the point that the traffic picks up again, there seems to have been no reason/ accident/ cops/anything for this to have happened.

The 100km/h speed limit is of course a totally seperate topic... for some reason North Americans are not allowed to enjoy driving at all...

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When walking into a shop, be aware that you will be greeted profusely, and offered assistance many a time...

I know this is not something uniquely Torontonian, or even Canadian... but for me, sometimes I just enjoy relative peace & quiet when going shopping. Here, when I go to the video store, or a clothing shop... or, or... the employees march up to you, look you straight in the eye, and ask how you're doing, as if they care.

This may sound like a personal gripe, or even slightly petty, but I like being aloofly ignored when going into a shop as in most parts of Europe, or my native South Africa, until I actually need assistance.

Here, you have no chance of escaping the apparent (and trained) friendliness of an assault team of employees, who deliver drilled lines upon your arrival, during your time spent in their establishment, and make sure that they are positioned to deliver a sweet goodbye upon your exit.

If, on the other hand, this is your thing, enjoy, Toronto will be a shopper's paradise for you...

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