Explore Mexico's Best: 3 Awesome Places You'll Love🇲🇽

 Hey travelers! If you're looking for an amazing destination to add to you travel bucket list let me highly recommend Mexico! I recently had the pleasure of exploring this incredible country, and I can't stop praising it. From the mouthwatering cuisine to the perfect weather and lively atmosphere, Mexico has it all.

Let me take you on a virtual tour of three must-visit spots that stole my heart

1. Playa Del Carmen

Imagine sunny beaches and lively streets filled with delicious food and fun music. That's Playa Del Carmen! Take a walk down La Quinta Avenda and check out the tasty Mexican food, colorful clothes, and street artists painting themselves like skulls. It's like a big, colorful party!

　　　　　　　　　　　 

2. Cancun

Who doesn't love a day at the beach? Cancun has some of the best beaches around. I went snorkeling and felt like a fish in the sea, especially since I'm from Toronto, where there's no ocean! You can also explore cool caves called cenotes or visit ancient ruins like Chichen Itza. It's like stepping back in time!

3. Mexico City

If you want a mix of old- fashioned charm and big city excitement, Mexico Zocalo and soak up the atmosphere, or visit the Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral for some seriously amazing sights. It's like being in a giant, beautiful painting! 

So there you have it! Mexico has tons of awesome stuff to see and do. Pack your bags and get ready for an adventure you'll never forgot!

Business idea: organizing hands-on events of cooking Japanese traditional sweets in Toronto

 Hey everyone, it's Akiko. Today, I would like to talk about my business idea that I want to actualize in the future, intertwined with what I have studied in my home university and during the exchange year. It is to organize events that offer hands-on opportunities to cook Japanese traditional sweets for those who live in Toronto, to spread more and more about how fascinating Japanese foods are. 

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This idea is inspired by the course that I took during the exchange year. I frequently went to historical museums to learn about the history and culture of food in Canada and hands-on cooking and eating experience helped me to profoundly appreciate not only the history and culture of food, but also that of Canada as well. 

I believe that this opportunity to experience cooking Japanese traditional sweets and typical homemade dishes not only attracts those who are interested in Japanese food culture but also those who are eager to try new food as being in such a multicultural city, Toronto.

Retrieved from https://www.pakutaso.com/20210832214post-35862.html

Wagashi, a Japanese artistic confectionary that is made by craftsmen, has many varieties. The basis of these sweets are mainly starch syrup, rice cake, and sweet red bean pastes. In Japan, Wagashi is known as the reflection of the Japanese 4 seasons (spring, summer, fall, and winter), and the festivals that we have during each season.

The reason why I chose Wagashi out of all the other Japanese traditional food is that I assume these sweets would be appealing to more potential customers, considering the North American trends. First, wagashi is good for the planet, environment, and human health as it is mostly made from plant-derived ingredients. Therefore, it is vegan- and vegetarian-friendly desserts. Second, wagashi would be accompanied by the tremendous matcha boom in Toronto. Wagashi is historically served with tea in Japan, thus, this dessert can be easily accepted by matcha-lovers.

Utilizing the marketing skills that I acquired from the internship experience and that I would pursue as a first career of full-time working in the future, I would like to expand my business by collaborating with food influences on different channels. 

I'm sure this business would success in Toronto, and surely I try my best to realize in the future!!

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed this!! See you next time!

Scarborough Museum

 Hi, this is Akiko. Today, I talk about the historical museum in Scarborough where you can learn about how European settlers lived in Scarborough from the 19th Century to the early 20th century for free, Wednesday to Sunday from 11am to 4pm.

This is the Scarborough Museum, located in the Thomson Memorial Park. (1005 Brimley Rd, SCARBOROUGH). This is one of the 10 historical museums that are maintained by the city of Toronto.

There are 2 Houses of European Immigration and 1 Carriage shop that was run in the late 19th century, which all buildings were moved from the original location to here for the preservation and education purposes. 

Once you step into this museum, You will be welcomed by the kind staffs. One of the staff members will offer you a tour of this museum if you would like!

【McCowan log House】

This house was constructed in the 1830s and owned by a Scottish immigrant family.

This portrays the life of local settlers in the 1850s.  

Inside, there are open-hearth cooking place and bedrooms. They make scones and lemonade using the equipment and the stove at the time. You can actually enjoy the food and drinks they made!!

You will be surprised how arduous it was to cook in this open stove and how close it was between this stove to other bedrooms.

【Cornell House】

The picture of the white house on the top of this page is Cornell House. This was originally constructed in 1858 for the immigrants coming from New England region of the United States. However, this house now demonstrates the rural village life around 1914.

This house represents the middle-class lifestyle, which includes that the kitchen, dining room, living room and storage as well as the kids' room and parents' bedroom.

Unlike the McCowan log house, this house indicates that middle-class people at the time were able to afford their money to the more elaborate kitchen and dining culture that reflects the British tea party culture. The porcelain tea pots mirrors the British trade history with China.

As a exchange student who have studied food culture and history here in Toronto, it was such an amazing experience to visit these historical sites, recalling what I have learnt in the courses for the past 8 months.

Even though you are not studying the history and culture of Canada, I strongly recommend you to visit these historical museum as a person who currently live in Canada to profoundly understand what had happened in the past.

 If you are coming from the Downtown area, you can take bus 21 from Kennedy Subway Station. The bus stops near the park entrance so that you can get to this museum by only walking 5 minutes from the bus stop.

New Intern: From Japan

Hi guys! I'm Mai Watanabe.

I joined Tenach as an intern two weeks ago, and I'm excited for new experience that I can get by working Tenatch!

Today, I would like to introduce myself briefly as my first task!

 My home city is Fujisawa, in Kanagawa. I was raised in beach city, so sometime miss smell of sea these days because here doesn't have it at all 😂. There is a famous tourist spot called " Enoshima" in my neighborhood. It is island connected to the main island by bridge, and has a shrine, hot spring, and many food stands. You can eat delicious seafood there.

Before I came here Toronto, I was a university student. The most enjoyable memory there was participating in the university beauty pageant. I made an effort to win the competition by making good post via various social media. The covid 19 was in full swing at that time, performance was conducted through broadcast and it was so stressful for me even I didn't speak in front of the audience. However from this experience, I learnt the fun of communication on social media, therefore I applied internship position in Tenach!

Thank you for full reading! I look forward to seeing you again!

Goodbye 👋

New Intern: self introduction

Hey everyone!

I'm Akiko, a newly joined intern at Tenatch. I'm currently doing an exchange program for this academic year at UTSC. Although I major in Portuguese at my home university in Osaka, Japan, I'm now taking courses related to food cultures and history as UTSC offers "food studies" as a minor program. It is really fascinating to profoundly study how food has played a significant role in creating social space in and out of the domestic sphere in history around the world!!

Before coming to Toronto as an exchange student, I used to work as a marketing intern at an English language school, located in Kuala Lumpur, aiming to attract more Japanese students by making short videos to upload on the official SNS accounts as well as contacting Japanese influencers and agents to attain more channels. Besides, I worked part-time in an inside sales team of a chemical marketplace company to connect more buyers overseas with Japanese manufacturers.

While I was looking for another opportunity that would expand my career path, something unique to Toronto and something that I can utilize my previous experience, I found this Tenatch company. Because I was originally born and grew up in an extremely suburban area of Okayama Prefecture, Japan, I have always been interested in the revitalization of the city and in encouraging small businesses, which matches the concept of Tenatch. I am so glad to be a member of this team and thrilled to work on the projects:)

Thank you so much for reading, and see you all soon!

Solo-lunch culture and business

Hi!

Today let me talk about Japanese solo-culture as a business idea. It is very common for Japanese people to enjoy something alone in our daily life. Especially, I'll focus on solo-lunch culture.

When I came to Canada, I realized this is not popular for European, American and Canadian people around me. Except for Japanese, people might think eating alone is lonely and the thing those who don't have friends or family do. 

However, in Japan, we have many kinds of restaurant we can eat alone easily like ramen, beef bowl, casual dining restaurant and even Japanese BBQ! Nobody do not look at you as a lonely person since it's a quite normal option regardless of married or single. The pic below is a famous ramen chain restaurant. We even do not have to talk to a server. Self-service including order and payment make us focus on taste food deeply. At the same time, it reduce our direct labour costs and promote efficiency.

Of course it is wonderful to eat out with your friends or partner while enjoying conversation. on the other hand, everyone must have such a day when they'd like to enjoy tasty food quickly without socializing. Solo-lunch culture make you feel relaxed. We can take our mind off our work. 

Basically, there are various menu in this kind of restaurant. You don't need to worry about the amount of food. Also, some restaurants provide you nutritious set of food like the pic above with low prices and good quality. 

I believe people will realize how comfortable this solo-lunch culture is after they experience this. Everyone needs a little time alone and some personal space. I hope more people get to know the importance of "solo" in the future.

See ya!

Richmond's Sunflower Festival

 Hi all!

 What comes to your mind when you hear ”summer”? For me, I imagine Sunflowers! In Richmond, Canada, I highly recommend you to visit Richmond Country Farms.  In summer, they have the event called Richmond's Sunflower Festival. In this festival, first of all, you can ride the red steam train for free which is bound for the huge Sunflower field. We scream ”Yeehaw!” at once when the train leave. On the first car of this train, there is a man singing some songs with us. We see adorable animals like alpacas, horses, caws and goats during this short trip. It's full of joy.

After arrived at the Sunflower fields, let's look around over 90 varieties of Sunflowers, Dahlias and other flowers on 20 acres. Canadian Sunflowers are much bigger than Japanese one. I was astonished. They are like a pan or a human face. Not only yellow, they have colorful Sunflowers such as white, red and black. You can enjoy these amazing views with merry songs, cool smoothies and snacks.

 If you found favorite one, you could pick one and bring back home. There is also a maze of Sunflowers in the field. After you had a lot of fun, you leave there while getting on the red train or sorts of a track like the pic below. They sing a song cheerfully for you again as well!

  

 Next to the farm, there is a farm-to-table grocery store. Incredible variety of seasonal fruits and vegetables are available. You won't find such local fresh ingredients in a regular store.

  

  Btw, when you visit here in the season of Halloween, there is another festival called Pumpkin patch. Pumpkin version of what I introduced today. It'd be also interesting. Check it out!

HP: https://www.richmondsunflowerfest.com/

https://www.countryfarms.ca/

Best season: Summer or Autumn

Location& Address: In Richmond, Canada

Richmond Country Farms, 12900 Steveston Hwy, Richmond