Out & About #1112 | Pt. 2: Old Spagetti Factory + BamBam at K-Expo

Read Part 1 HERE !

Never would I have thought that K-Expo would have a lineup around the building simply for entry into the convention.
"Surely this must be for the giveaway of free concert tickets." was my suspicion when I passed the corner of Meridian Hall while en route to Union from St. Lawrence.
Alas, it was not.

The concert buddies had abandoned the venue without letting me know, zipping off at the early hour of 2 PM when I had notified them of my slated 4 PM arrival.
Reasonable traffic volumes had allowed for a timely arrival, but didn't prepare me for queuing in the sun whatsoever.

Thankfully, a portion of the line remained in the shade. The total time from joining the queue to entry was about ten minutes. If any longer, the treacherous humidity and direct sunlight would have proved lethal.

A member of staff holding a clicker had been positioned near the entrance, counting each member of public that walked through the double doors. Staggering entry was supposedly for the purpose of crowd control.
Not withstanding these measures, the inside of the entertainment space was brimming with people - to the point where moving about was arduous and stifling.
It felt like KCON all over again, but with lower ceilings, reduced illumination, and no lineup organization whatsoever. The scene was a strict travesty to behold.

Attractions had been dispersed across three floors, with ridiculous lineups were witnessed at practically every booth. Upon entering, there was a large sign to indicate the name of the event, but neither maps nor staff to provide clear direction.
The main floor was bustling with makeup demos, a complimentary photoism stall, and some games/sampling booths. On the upper floor were cooking demonstrations, a pop-up boutique retailing merchandise from the National Museum of Korea, more beauty-related content, and, most importantly, bathrooms. Frankly, I was unable to identify majority of these installations, for hoards of people camouflaged the booths' contents.

​Some of the booths had posted signage about closing early: While the convention portion of the expo was scheduled to operate until 5 PM, the cut-off time for select attractions was moved to 4 PM. Staff members would also halt visitors from joining the queue, as it was unlikely that they would make the posted cut-off time, or even receive any freebies.

Further installations were present on the basement level, though I decided to make a sluggish lap about the main floor before proceeding. One of two concert buddies had advised that the booth to the right of the entrance handed out "passports". After visiting each booth, a sticker could be collected and used to redeem a prize at the end of the visit. By the time I succeeded in making my way towards the nearest uniformed staff member, I was informed that all passports had been distributed. Stickers could still be collected, but the selection of prizes had been reduced significantly.

​The overall format was not dissimilar to my personal experience in Seoul, where events are multi-dimensional with time-consuming, game-like elements (ie. collecting stamps for prizes), but clarity is horribly lacking and rules of operation for individual attractions could be adjusted on the fly.

I relayed my findings to my browsing partner on the spot, but decided to commit to a handful of booths seeing that I made my way inside anyway.
While queuing for a "ramen game" booth, I received two complimentary embroidered patches from a member of staff. Thirty minutes later, it was finally my turn to undertake the chopstick challenge. Players would use either rounded or flat metal chopsticks to fill a makeshift ramen bowl with plastic ingredients until the one-minute timer went off. My win earned me a complimentary pack of Shin Ramyun, Buldak ramen, or Shrimp Chips. Glaring at the bulky offerings with contempt, I negotiated acquisition of two embroidered patches instead. After all, lugging around snacks that would easily become crushed was a huge hassle.

​Completing a Google Forms survey earned me another embroidered path. Obtaining personal data appeared to be another facet of Korean event organization, along with growing follower counts on social media platforms.

Another lineup granted me a free Milkis sample. Then, I headed to the basement level. Besides rest areas and water fountains, the floor housed a variety of games and animation booths.

​My attempt at dancing to La La Love Me on a Just Dance spinoff ended poorly. As I passed a section set up for Ddakji (card flipping by slapping), a father and daughter duo inquired whether I'd like a complimentary ticket to the evening concert.
"Oh I have one already." Surprised, I glanced over at the ticket in the man's hand. It read "DD", which was closer than my own FF. "You don't want to go?"
"We can't make it." replied the young girl.
"We won the ticket from a game." the father elaborated.
"Only one?"
"Yes."

​It made sense - neither the father nor daughter would want to go alone. And so I took the physical ticket willingly, later learning that it was row DD in the Mezzanine, as opposed to the main floor. But I kept the ticket anyway.

​My browsing partner had offered to come back to Meridian Hall after completing time-sensitive errands, but learned that entry into the venue was paused at 4 PM. Those inside could remain until the concert, but no more would be permitted within. Under the assumption that I'd need to re-queue for concert access, I promptly changed into my fangirl attire and exited in search of proper sustenance. Aside from comfortable carpeted floors, A/C, and water refill stations, the convention portion of K-Expo was entirely undeserving of my energy.

Suggested by my browsing partner was The Old Spaghetti Factory for supper.
"But why?" Tourist trap eateries in close proximity to office buildings and the downtown core were amongst the very last of my candidates.
"It's close and I haven't been." I was told. "You haven't been either."
Admittedly, all arguments were valid. Indeed, I hadn't been, despite strolling past on a handful of occasions.

​It would be an early meal before doors opened at 7 PM. We entered into the restaurant around 4:55 PM. The dining room was quiet; nevertheless, a five minute wait was incurred before we were gestured towards a booth tucked behind the stained glass partition separating the hostess table and the seating area.

​Our server provided an overview of the menu format: Each meal included a starter, pasta main, and dessert of ice cream. Starters comprised of either salad or minestrone soup, with clam chowder available at an extra three dollars. The price of each meal was dictated by one's choice of pasta, spanning a range of $22 to $35.

It was almost expected that my browsing partner would gravitate towards the Spaghetti with Meat Sauce, for it was the default selection of practically every eatery visited thus far. Minestrone Soup was the chosen appetizer.
These choices varied vastly from my own: A Crisp Green Salad with Honey Mustard dressing on the side and Seafood Linguine. Truthfully, I had longed for nothing more than the Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo, but fears of uncontrollable stomach pains during the concert loomed above me. It was also pivotal to pick a dish that could be depleted by my browsing partner, for I'd be unable to consume a full portion. Instead of entrées featuring a base of cream sauce, the Seafood Linguine was chosen for its "marinara and cream" (aka rosé) foundation.

​A former of coworker of mine had advocated in favour of the bread, affectionately referring to the starter as "crack bread". Needless to say, the declaration spurred my hopes.
One bite of the pasty loaf sent me into instant disillusionment. The roll was crusty, devoid of dimension, and, well, very white. For clarification, the remark wasn't intended to be derogatory, but merely pertained to the use of bleached flour for its creation. Beyond bleached white flour, salt, and yeast, there were few other ingredients detected into its composition. There were distinct deviations from my go-to of brioche, a variety that owed its sumptuous qualities to butter, eggs, and sugar, or the afternoon's focaccia, which encased a supple interior beneath a crunchy, gratifying surface.
The Old Spaghetti Factory's starter was neither porous nor plush. Its accompanying container of garlic butter did little to salvage the specimen either.

​The Crisp Green Salad was nothing more than a pile of packaged greens arranged in a small, ceramic dish. As for the Minestrone Soup, it was a partially spilled portion of, presumably, canned Campbells - or worse, no name.

Freshly grated Parmesan was offered from our server upon delivery of the mains. Neither was particularly memorable, but both offered decent value in consideration of dismal downtown Toronto standards.

​I wasn't fond of the somewhat stiff shrimp, nor the raw scallion bits arranged as garnish. The baby clams were tasty, but the absence of other complementary ingredients had decelerated my pace of consumption. Simply put, there was too much pasta, and not much else of anything else. I could barely find a sliver of tomato!

My browsing partner deemed this feedback as being "picky", however I disagree that being critically evaluative wasn't warranted for platters priced upwards of twenty dollars. A variety pack of pasta from Costco would set me back a measly $11 and easily provide for more than one month of carbs.

​We concluded the meal to be much better than the previous weekend at Amal. (The soiled seats and Lebanese dips had came to a whopping hundred after tax and tip!).

Dessert choices included Vanilla, Chocolate, or Vanilla-Chocolate-Pistachio ice cream. My browsing partner leaned conservative, while I, the adventurous one, opted for a tri-coloured monstrosity. The so-called "pistachio" was despicable; I weaved around the streaks of artificial green to sample the chocolate bits instead.

Bathrooms were located further into the dining area. Venturing towards it, I learned of the various seating options offered by the restaurant. From merry-go-rounds to passenger train cars, the options were boundless, and further instilled a sense of visual interest.

​At 6:30 PM, we made our way towards Meridian Hall. Surely enough, another lineup was required to enter the venue. The wait was short-lived though; humidity levels had also dropped significantly in the evening hours, and blinding UV rays replaced with overcast conditions.

​We swiftly made our way inside, settling into our respective seats minutes before 7 PM. While there had been countless announcements urging participants to take their seat in the auditorium leading up to the concert start time, it did not appear that all guests had been seated punctually. Shortly after, an announcement informed attendees that the show was delayed by ten minutes.

​The show proceeded in an oddly formal manner, with performers awkwardly filling their MC segments with promotional speeches for the K-Expo event.

​First up was R.P.M dance crew, who performed Love Language by TXT, Whiplash by aespa, and Baggy Jeans by NCT U.

Next was FIFTY FIFTY, a five-member girl group that had undergone a comprehensive lineup change in the past year. In spite of achieving tremendous success with "Cupid", the group felt very green overall and not that comfortable with crowd interactions. The only member who distinguished herself was Chanelle Moon; her lively nature and powerful vocals were definitely worth noting.

​Cravity was up next. Having heard very little about the group, I was surprised to find a handful of white lightsticks in the crowd. The nine-member boy group had definitely garnered a decent handful of supporters.

​One member was spotted with a foot injury and sat on the right of the stage as the other members performed incredibly labourious choreography. Contributing to the level of challenge was a deficiency of rest parts, which demanded both strength and fluidity.

Hyeongjun was the sole member that I recognized, primarily due to his appearance in Produce X 101. He has noticeably improved since conclusion of the season, to the point where his range and body control were an obvious tier above his members.

​Unlike R.P.M, the boys were hardly out of breath even after consecutively performing several physically intensive songs. They proceeded through their ments with ease, even making witty references to Canadian classics like Beaver Tails and maple syrup.

View the full album HERE !

​There were two extremely loud girls behind me. Their attendance was for Cravity and Cravity only, and, shockingly, disappeared just before BamBam's set. Of course, most of those present were ahgases eagerly awaiting the arrival of our beloved Double B.

​Slowly but surely, the ahgabongs began to illuminate across the floor. BamBam appeared in a sleek ensemble featuring his signature colour duo of black and red, transforming the atmosphere in a matter of nanoseconds with his presence. The cheers were deafening as we all stood to welcome the sweetest, most selfless member of the group.

Thank You Come Again was a solid starter to the set. It was then succeeded by PANDORA, one of my long-time favourites, and a reimagined performance of Air inclusive of an impactful choreography with inspirations from the Afro dance genre. I could barely breathe in response to the awe-inducing performance of the B-side track.​

In some ways, it did feel like BAMESIS 2.0, as one of my fellow K-pop friends had mentioned. But we all knew that BamBam's time on stage would be limited, seeing as K-EXPO was not a standalone show.

Nevertheless, BamBam was impactful despite the short time he had. Incorporating the GOT7 fanchant at the end of riBBon was a wonderful surprise. Amidst extremely high spirits, I started shouting far faster than the song demanded, but ultimately finished on the right count.

I most definitely lost my mind when Lullaby began playing though. The girl beside me silently raised her hand to shield her ears from my screeches. My enthusiasm was undeniable as I jumped without restraint, frantically waving my ahgabong in the process. Hard Carry (Rock Version) also had me shaking the lightstick forcefully enough to become a weapon. Oh, the power that GOT7 delivers.

Surprisingly, Last Parade had not been incorporated into the setlist. I almost anticipated an encore, but the convention was strictly regulated. The final moments of the show concluded with each of the performers re-entering the stage and bowing to the crowds.

​Dusting off the red and white confetti, I began to gather my belongings. I found a fellow ahgase in the adjacent section, and immediately requested a photo of our AREA 52 gear. Navigating towards the entrance, I encountered a handful more familiar faces. Giddy smiles and excited wails characterized these exchanges - what a profound moment it was to reunite with my local ahga-community!

My browsing partner met me outside, away from the chatty bustle that followed me along my exit path.
While accompanying me for the latter half of the day was unplanned, I was thankfully for having someone to share dinner with, someone to walk back to the car with, and someone to  ̶t̶a̶l̶k̶ ̶t̶o̶ listen to me on the tiring drive home. The concept of K-Pop performances and concerts remained foreign territory, though I persisted in preserving my high tension energy despite the disinterested responses.

The day had been an incredibly long one, but seeing BamBam in concert made it worthwhile. Having terminated at a reasonable time, I was even able to decompress and review footage on the same evening before plummeting into bed.

Thank you GOT7, once again.