Out & About #219 | Partial April Visuals - Random Thoughts of a Quirky Blogger

Out & About #219 | Partial April Visuals

4/15/2016

Be prepared - the first half of April has unarguably dine-out-intensive.

1. Homemade Matcha White Hot Chocolate w/ a Toasted Black Sesame Rim (inspired by Sweet Jesus) + Mango Sticky Rice
2. Partially demolished Chocolate Chip Cookie from Starbucks

3. Spotted at Square One: an adorable monkey coin pouch from Fossil
4. Oatmeal Raisin Cookie from Starbucks (Thank you, Starbucks, for finally bringing another oatmeal cookie variation to Canada!)

5. The ghastly scene that was witnessed by southern Ontarians towards the beginning of April

6. Gong Cha

Hands down, Gong Cha's North York location is my go-to bubble spot when I happen to have a few minutes to spare near Finch terminal. To date, I've probably visited this spot more than ten times! (While not an amount comparable to Chatime, it's important to note that Gong Cha isn't exactly in the vicinity of my neighbourhood.)

A vast contrast to the Markham shop in Metro Square, this (mainly) Korean-operated franchise has always maintained superb levels of customer service and astounding quality in all of their beverages. I've yet to find discrepancies in ice and sugar levels; milk tea drinks are never overly creamy either.
Wintermelon Tea is a personal favourite, though I've recently had the opportunity to try out their new selection of milk foam toppings. The Roasted Oolong Tea with Black Sesame Foam was as fragrant as it was indulgent - definitely a great option for those craving a slightly savoury version of milk tea, yet hesitant to forgo the refreshing taste of brewed tea.

The environment is largely dim, with spacious seating ranging large group tables to smaller two-person tables to a bright red sofa at the front. Music is usually of good taste and unobtrusive to customers looking to have a casual conversation. My sole complaint is that Wi-Fi can be finicky at times, even though it is password-protected.

7. Star Wars displays spotted at Union Station

8. Obtaining a morning boost at McCafé (Union Station)

9. A soggy Chocolate Bun purchased from Kin-Kin Bakery out of impulse
10. Red Bean Float from Tsujiri

11. Tokyo Fog w/ Tapioca + a customized Taro-Matcha Smoothie w/ Lychee Jelly from Nohohon (aka my all-time favourite bubble tea spot in the Downtown Core!)
12. My first attempt at a Crème Brûlée Hong Kong Milk Tea (à la Quantum)

13. CoCo Mississauga's specials for April: Sago Milk Tea + Lemon Green Tea

14. BLT Sandwich + Iced HK Milk Tea combo for dinner from Magic Fusion Cuisine (admittedly, this dish showed significant improvement in comparison to their depressing monstrosity of egg waffles)