Random Thoughts of a Quirky Blogger
  • ~ Home ~
  • ~ What I Think ~
  • ~ What I See ~
    • Events >
      • Food
    • People
    • Places >
      • Disclaimer
  • ~ What I Make ~
  • Blog Series
  • Terms and Conditions

Out & About #202 | Ripley's Aquarium of Canada + ROM

2/20/2016

 
Ripley's Aquarium of Canada, not to be confused with "Ripley's Believe It Or Not", has been occupying the space adjacent to the CN tower for over two years now. yet I've never had the opportunity to visit. It was high time I engaged in a tourist-y activity.  
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
If I remember correctly, my first aquarium visit was to COEX Aquarium in Korea - it was one of the main highlights of the mall it was situated within. My second, and more recent, experience was the ​Vancouver Aquarium, which was largely outdoors and featured penguins, otters, and Beluga whales.
Picture
Picture
Picture
As expected of a weekend morning, Ripley's was seriously crowded. Children were rampant and in abundance, and in the hands of every non-local was a different DSLR model, if not at least some type of smartphone or media-capturing device.
Picture
View the full album HERE !
Picture
Picture
Picture
An undeniably kid-friendly environment, the aquarium included small-sized tunnel attractions and carried kitschy glitter keychains, colouring books, and shark tooth necklaces in the gift shop. As someone over the age of ten though, I developed a much greater appreciation for the moving walkway in the underwater tunnel and the ceiling-high jellyfish wall.
Picture
The next stop of the day was the Royal Ontario Museum, which we had purchased timed online tickets for prior to embarking on the trip. Ripley's had been more exciting than anticipated, despite the incredible influx of young children, but we were now facing a shortage of time.
Picture
Picture
Instead of trying out McDonald's new $2.99 McGreek and McItalian sandwiches as I had hoped, we settled on hot dogs instead.
Picture
The subway whizzed us away to the ROM in about fifteen minutes.
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
After thoroughly enjoying the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibit and gazing upon the remains of Dinosauria clade, we were off to the Bay and Dundas area. Uncle Tetsu's happened to be en route to Ryerson, so I suggested popping in for Matcha Soft Serve and Matcha Madeleines.
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
We passed by a fairly new bubble tea shop by the name of Chachago on the way, but not wanting to fill our stomachs up before Basil Box's Pre-Opening Event, it was only reasonable to save the trip for a later date.
Picture
Picture
My hankering for something sweet didn't exactly subside even after munching various Basil Box goodies, so I was prompted to drop by Infuse Cafe across the street afterwards.
Picture
Picture
We were too full to try any of their teas, but I desperately wanted to make a comparison between the ever-so-hyped Cece's Cheesecakes and Uncle Tetsu's original Japanese cheesecake.
Picture
Picture
Quarter slices of the original and chocolate-flavoured cheesecake were ordered to go (matcha had been sold out). The staff were extremely friendly and even expressed interest in knowing my verdict after conducting the taste test.
The consistency of chocolate slice fell between a dense, egg-less chocolate cake and a classic sponge; the cake itself wasn't overly sweet, though I found the ganache and milk chocolate sphere placed atop to be a tad too sugary for my liking. It wasn't anything to write home about, but hadn't exceeded expectations either.
Picture
Directly marketed against the famous Uncle, Cecilia's original cheesecake was creamier and denser than its rival. Not nearly as fluffy, and a bit too moist even after chilling, it felt as if the recipe was tweaked in order to appeal to the New York Cheesecake-loving crowd looking to delve into the Japanese cheesecake trend. While tasty all the same, my preference still lies with Uncle Tetsu. (Sorry!)


Find my experience at the Basil Box's Ryerson Pre-Opening event here!

Comments are closed.
    Picture

    Who Am I?

    Formerly an avid owner of several interest-based portals, Random Thoughts of a Quirky Blogger presents precisely the elements expected. From experiments in the kitchen to miscellaneous musings, from IGOT7 reflections to developments in transportation infrastructure, it's all consolidated here. Welcome to the raw, unfiltered side of Quirky Aesthetics.



    Archives

    June 2025
    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013


    Categories

    All
    Ahgabond Adventures
    Ahgase
    Arctic Aquarium
    Atlantic Canada 2018
    Barrie
    Beauty
    Birthday Buddy
    Calgary 2023
    Chinese New Year
    Conquering COVID 19
    Daily Randoms
    Eyes On You World Tour 2018
    Food
    Friends
    Hallyucon
    Hamilton
    Hong Kong
    Iron Ring
    Jeju
    J Movie
    K Drama
    K-Drama
    Korea 2025
    Korean Beauty
    K Pop
    Los Angeles 2017
    Macau
    Montréal 2023
    New York 2018
    Ottawa 2019
    Pilates
    Random Rant
    Restaurant Review
    Seoul
    Shopping
    SSMC
    Taiwan
    TFR
    Vacation
    Vancouver 2013
    Vancouver 2014
    Vancouver 2015
    Vancouver 2016
    Vancouver 2020
    Vancouver 2022
    Vancouver 2024


    trazy.com

    RSS Feed


WHAT DOES "QUIRKY AESTHETICS" MEAN?

Quirky =  a term that commonly refers to something/someone distinctly different and unique
Aesthetics = the visual aspect of things



Together, Quirky Aesthetics refers to the things, events, and happenings seen and perceived by this blog's creator - quirky perspectives in a visual form.

Contact ME

​Subscribe

Join our mailing list today!
Join Now
© Quirky Aesthetics. All rights reserved. Last modified: August 10, 2015.