For me - and several others, as I've reads lots of complaints already in the forums - doing daily chores to unlock basic things of the expansion is a grind. Because there are no other ways to do it than doing these chores.
I can see that for others it's not a chore but a fun activity and they enjoy doing this on a daily basis. So eventually it boils down to the type of player you are if it's a grind or just playing the game for you.