My First Birthday in Canada: Bisha Brunch & TIFF Celebrities
My first birthday in Canada was definitely a memorable one, because it happened to fall during the famous TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) and yes – I saw some Hollywood celebrities for the very first time in my life!
It started off with brunch with my dear friend Tyne, who booked a reservation at Kost and made her way downtown for me. She had been to this restaurant before and she said I would love it because of the view.
She was right! Kost is the 44th floor rooftop restaurant of Bisha Hotel, so the CN Tower serves as a gorgeous backdrop of their patio area with an outdoor swimming pool. We asked to be seated outside so we could enjoy it more.
Tyne joked that we might encounter some Hollywood celebrities in the restaurant, that it would be her birthday gift to me.
I loved the coffee and the brunch food, especially the eggs benedict with lobster salad that Tyne got.
Then the waitress gave me a free tres leches birthday cake because Tyne stated in the reservation that it was my birthday. It was so delicious that Tyne bought a slice to bring home to her hubby. She said it’s his favorite kind of cake.
TIFF Hollywood Celebrity Encounters
After eating, we made our way down to Bisha’s hotel lobby and to our surprise, the whole front area was covered with a throng of people who seemed to be waiting for celebrities.
So we decided not to leave the premises and in the process, we spotted Henry Golding, Jacob Elordi, Will Poulter, and Dakota Johnson. You can see them in my Instagram reel about that moment.
It’s funny because we didn’t even recognize some of the actors. We would just wait for the crowd to yell their name and then we would quickly google them to see who they were talking about. 😅
But the first Hollywood celebrity I ever spotted was from the night before. I was trying to get through a closed down King Street when I decided not to fight the flow of the huge swarm of people who seemed to be waiting for someone outside Royal Alexandra Theatre.
“Who are we waiting for?” someone asked me.
“No idea,” I shrugged.
Later on, a scream rippled through the crowd, and it turns out it was for Andrew Garfield. I tried to take good videos but it was extremely hard to get a clear shot! 😅
Most people know him as Amazing Spiderman but I honestly thought he sucked there except for in No Way Home, where he redeemed himself. I liked him more in The Social Network. (UPDATE: A month after this, he went viral for his Chicken Shop Date with Amelia Dimoldenberg and their cute chemistry would inspire me to manifest a first date like that!)
We later got tired of waiting for celebrities we may or may not know with a bunch of people we definitely did not know, so we meandered through the closed off King Street to take pictures with the TIFF signs before Tyne went home.
On my way down Adelaide Street, I had my closest celebrity encounter yet with Tilda Swinton, who was so close I could have probably taken a selfie with her. She gamely posed for pictures with a couple of kids.
This was definitely one of my most memorable birthdays ever, perhaps at par with that time I lost my passport in Edinburgh. Other first birthdays: my first OFW birthday in Singapore and my loneliest birthday ever in Hong Kong. Read about all my other birthdays here.
Closest encounter with Hollywood stars!!! 🌟
Maybe next time, Chris Evans! 😂