Adventures in Hamilton (II)

Wednesday was the last official day of school for us. But unlike those lucky high school kids, we're not free until exams are over.

I guess I'm quite lucky in that my first exam is taking place Saturday instead of tomorrow. Though at the same time, I can't say I'm too fond of writing two finals within a day of each other either =P

But alas, you did not click on this post to hear me rant about my exam schedule! Let's move on to Part II of exploring Hamilton and its surrounding areas (Read Part 1 HERE). ^ ^ /

First stop was a little Vietnamese restaurant in Westdale called Saigon. I had actually already visited this place briefly prior to Wednesday's lunch for late-night chicken stir fry with rice one evening after mahjong (and made the horrible mistake of forgetting to double check if anything on the menu was spicy). That night happened to be rather busy, so I had to wait a good 20 minutes before my takeout was ready.

But yesterday was a completely different story! It was surprisingly quiet for 12 PM (aka prime lunchtime);the Vietnamese spring rolls with peanut-hoisin dipping sauce I ordered arrived in less than 5 minutes!! My friend's pho arrived shortly after.

The food was good, appropriately-priced (my spring rolls at $3.49 and pho betwen $6 - $7) and our server was decidedly friendly. ^ ^


Our next stop was Jackson Square in downtown Hamilton.

Since we had to wait for the next bus, I had time to take in all the festive decorations.

I guess you can't really tell from the second photo, but there were lights arranged in the shape of snowflakes attached to the telephone poles.

Upon arriving at Jackson Square, we were welcomed by this huge wreath in the lobby of the building.

Also spotted were some adorable Santas and snowmen/snowwomen plushies at the dollar store.

I went into Nations and DoReMi for the first time yesterday, and was able to snap a few shots of the types of food/snacks they offered.
For those that don't know, Nations vended items one could easily find at Loblaws in addition to a variety of Asian snacks (think T&T, though technically, T&T is under Loblaws now...).
DoReMi sold interesting, but severely overpriced Asian snacks and bubble tea. A ginourmous Rilakkuma was also spotted there ;)

There was also bubble tea and a self-serve yogurt bar called Shangri-La connected to Nations.

My friend mixed cappuccino, caramel latte, strawberry, and matcha green tea, while I added some mini chocolate chips, dried fruit, and rainbow jelly (bad decision btw) on top. To my surprise, the frozen yogurt was much firmer than that of Yogurty's and Menchies. This prevented the flavours from melting together into one big mess, allowing one to savour each and every flavour.

And so that concludes Part II of exploring Hamilton! =3

*EXAM CRUNCH MODE ON*