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Out & About #397 | Light Up The Square 2017

11/25/2017

Similar to the previous year, Mississauga's Holiday Street Market - otherwise known as Light Up The Square - returned for another year of lights and family-friendly fun.

Food trucks and specialty vendors were again in presence, but this year, inflatable igloos, live music, marshmallow-roasting over bonfires, and strings upon strings of gorgeously colourful lights were added to the roster.

I had initially been hoping to find The Chai House, which had left a strong impression with their tasty, toasty chai tea. Unfortunately, there were nowhere to be found at the event; beverage vendors in general were actually pretty scarce.
Rabba, the primary sponsor of the event, provided hot chocolate to attendees, though its quality was far below the memorable brew I had so vividly recalled.

Apiecalypse Now made an unexpected appearance. Back in May, I had barely missed the opening hours of the vegan pizza diner to try their dairy- and egg-free pies for lunch. Given their participation, I was hoping to witness some of their savoury dishes for sale. Regrettably, only spreads, cookies, and shortbread seemed to be available.

Out & About #396 | Miyabi Japanese

11/21/2017

Frequent is it that I find myself ordering a platter of specialty rolls while the remainder of my party requests Unagi Donburi and Bulgogi. That said, it's more common to find a Japanese restaurant that also serves classic Korean dishes than to locate an eatery purely under Japanese management.

Food quality does not diverge into a less formidable range, though one can ponder the differences between authentic Japanese cuisine and its highly popular Korean interpretation.

While Miyabi's straightforward laminated menu was offered strictly in English and Chinese - Richmond Hill being Richmond Hill - the authenticity of the establishment was evident nonetheless.
The regular list of offerings were found in the menu, but a separate list of seasonal items could be spotted towards the back of the restaurant in both Kanji and English.

< Pictured above and below: Sushi Lunch A, Pork Cutlet Curry Rice, Bluefin Toro Sushi >

Sushi Lunch A included six pieces of assorted nigiri, three Tekka (tuna cube) Rolls, and three Kappa (cucumber) Rolls; the set was accompanied with miso soup as well as a small side salad.

Personally, I'm not the biggest fan of the acidic dressing used in majority of Japanese restaurants. Sometimes the pungency of the vinegar is overbearing, while other times the ratio of oil to grated onion is excessive.
However, with an impeccably aromatic sesame dressing, Miyabi truly had me impressed. Despite that shredded cabbage had largely replaced iceberg lettuce, I couldn't help but return to the salad between bites of sushi to taste more of the dressing. Its presence was subtle in visual terms, yet contributed tremendous impact to the overall depth of the included side.

Additional points were tacked on for the neat placement of cucumber slices.

As for the nigiri and maki rolls, all were of prime freshness and, therefore, could be consumed with minimal wasabi. The cubed tuna bits had been replaced with salmon in my order, though the rolls were happily devoured nonetheless. Sushi rice had also been seasoned with an appropriate amount of sugar and rice wine vinegar.
I found it amusing that the ends of the nori sheet barely met on the Tekka and Kappa rolls; the shape of the roll was maintained, though the reduction in length caused cohesive forces to weaken, making them more challenging to pick up.

Out & About #395 | Supermoon Cheesecakes

11/18/2017

With Love Me Sweet, Lindt, Tory Burch, and more making their foray into Square One, the heart of Mississauga's retail services, one can only anticipate that more exciting ventures are on their way. (Looking at you UNIQLO; we need to fill the void in west GTA.)

An unexpected debut in the homey neighbourhood of Streetsville was Supermoon Cheesecakes. Specializing in Japanese-style cheesecakes, the shop can be found two doors down from Enzo's Two Guys in Italy - which also means that ample parking in the private lot.

On a rather murky Saturday morning, I decided to undertake this brisk adventure. Having exhausted the entirety of Love Me Sweet's menu, it was time to delve towards other destinations. The fact that the area was less likely to be populated with aimless holiday shoppers and slow-moving families with small children was another appealing aspect.

The interior of the shop is quite spacious, with half of the front allocated towards waiting space and the other half a cashier and exposed preparation area. A long, narrow bench was also available for customers to rest while orders were being processed.

I entered the premises to find only three other customers before me. The wait was assumed to be minimal, as tables were non-existent and the shop appeared to mainly operate as a grab-and-go establishment. However, the entire visit extended almost past twenty minutes.
From being acknowledged by any single member of staff to inquiring the availability of their product range to placing and receiving my order, efficiency was essentially absent in all forms.

There appeared to be a main member of management staff - a relatively petite, middle-aged lady - that displayed experience in the baking and packaging processes, but the staff member behind the cashier seemed to be just learning the responsibilities of the position and had no training whatsoever in packing the fragile cakes. I winced at the sight of fingers pressing and shoving the soft specimens into the box with little to no delicacy; one of the cakes were even skinned by an interior fold due to carelessness.

Out & About #394 | Partial/Collective November Visuals

11/16/2017

The second-last month of 2017 has undoubtedly been one of the emotionally-taxing, physically-straining, and mentally-exhausting periods of my academic career. With assignments and tests popping up at every corner unannounced - or announced within very brief periods of time - and minimal percentage of the material apprehended, the very notion of waking up to another day became dreadful - painful even.

In desperate attempts to salvage shreds of enjoyment, as well as the remnants of my already diminishing social life, I turned to the obvious: food and K-Pop.
Jinyoung had wrote "Firework" in hopes of relaying the message that "hard work will always blossom", and at times like these, there are no words that I need to hear more from the artist that earns my utmost respect and adoration.

1) Pre-sliced Pillsbury Snowman Cookies
I shall confess: I much prefer to personally slice and bake these seasonal specimens

2) Matcha Latte (not from The Basil Box) x Cheese Tart pairing
3) Behold: The Confused Pineapple

4) "You Are" serves as a constant personal reminder to stay positive, and hold your head up high
5) Galleria engaged in Pepero Day preparations

6) After much delay, my < 7 for 7 > albums finally arrived! Thanks to a certain friend of a friend, Jinyoung's GOTOON doll is also in possession!!

After being on the edge of purchasing the pricey little cartoon rendition for over two years, I finally caved to its squinty-eyed cuteness.

7) TURN UP also proved to be a great Japanese single - I mean, how can you NOT love soft visuals paired with healing tracks such as この胸に and FLASH UP?!

Out & About #393 | Pai, NC Salon Downtown + Guschlbauer

11/7/2017

More often than not, downtown excursions end up transforming into a string of errands from over-zealousness.

It first started with ProFusion taking place on a date where classes were minimal (read: skip-able).

I cannot fathom the reason behind forcing attendees to loop around the ground floor of the North Building to enter the venue in a retarded, single-file manner. The wait time for entry approximated forty-five minutes, even after the event had fully opened its doors to the public.

The checkout line was slow-moving, just as previous years, so I found myself investigating the items I had been intrigued by and swiftly moving onto the next destination within an hour of being permitted past the registration desk.

A long-time friend of mine has recently begun a semester of commuting, so I suggested grabbing lunch before my next appointment.

Although I had frequented King and John quite sufficiently prior to my dreaded return to academia, I had never received the opportunity to dine at Pai. Wait times never deviated from fifteen minutes plus, patio seats were forever occupied, and the environment was always atrociously loud.

Pai was speedily concluded to be suitable for casual business lunches, especially when serving up niche eats - ie. quick Thai curries of varying spice levels - is involved.
Seats are abundant, though tables are arranged uncomfortably close to each other; it's not easy to eavesdrop on the conversation of the neighbouring diners, however, since the noise level renders it nearly impossible to decipher the words spoken uttered from the person before you. The area is very compact, which is fine if one is merely downing a fast meal, but less ideal with purchases or other space-consuming baggage in tow.

The mildest level of Khai Soi is still slightly spicy for my liking. The yellow curry base is less viscous than Khao San Road's version (prior to relocation), and also less aromatic. As opposed to a rich, milky soup of relatively uniform hue, numerous little orange pockets were found afloat on its surface. Chicken breast was of a sufficient portion, though noodles were fewer than expected given its associated price tag. Consistency-wise, Khao Soi was well-balanced with the crunch of fried noodles, soft, flat rice noodles, and textured lean protein.
Beef Massaman Curry had a slightly tart taste, reminiscent of a ketchup sauce-base pasta. Milder than the Khao Soi by approximately two notches and containing a greater proportion of onions, the base was actually the tastier of the two. It should be noted that I did not sample the beef nor potato chunks floating within and therefore cannot comment in that regard.

Thai Iced Tea was sweet as ever, but definitely soothed the fiery breath that resulted from the Khao Soi. In place of full-sized ice cubes were small shards of crushed ice - a definite improvement from previous renditions as the increase in surface area aided in alleviating the sweetness at a faster pace. I did not appreciate the steep inflation from $4.50 to $5.50 though.

Service was subpar; a half-hearted attitude resonated across all members of serving staff that interacted with us. The gesture that took me back the most was having a pair of disposable chopsticks slid across the table to me whilst mid-stride.

All in all, the visit was a very rushed experience, leaving me unable to inspect the status of the bathrooms. On a more positive note, meals were delivered with exceptional swiftness (within 10 minutes), making it great for office workers on a tight schedule.

Next up on the schedule was a trip to Bloor/Yonge.

Planned around the intersection was a visit to NC Salon, followed by a five-minute trek to Toronto's first cream cheese bun retailer.

Both Miss Rushka and ochungg had left positive feedback in regards to the design studio's colouring and cutting services, so the name naturally popped into my head as I contemplated a haircut over the weekend.

The second floor salon was completely empty during my time of visit, which made me feel a little less guilty about my sheer lack of punctuality.
A Senior Stylist with a friendly, cheerful demeanour welcomed me and gestured towards a series of 5-6 full-sized lockers for the storage of belongings. A key with elastic wristband attachment was then handed over to clients such that each could manage their own personal items; the manner was similar to Aritzia with the exception of NC's lockers being substantially more spacious.

Out & About #397 | Light Up The Square 2017

Out & About #396 | Miyabi Japanese

Out & About #395 | Supermoon Cheesecakes

Out & About #394 | Partial/Collective November Visuals

Out & About #393 | Pai, NC Salon Downtown + Guschlbauer

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Out & About #397 | Light Up The Square 2017

Out & About #396 | Miyabi Japanese

Out & About #395 | Supermoon Cheesecakes

Out & About #394 | Partial/Collective November Visuals

Out & About #393 | Pai, NC Salon Downtown + Guschlbauer

Who Am I?

Archives

Categories

WHAT DOES "QUIRKY AESTHETICS" MEAN?

Contact ME

​Subscribe

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