Short school weeks are always great. While they may not always prove to be productive, they most definitely have a relaxing effect on the body and mind. (That is, of course, given that you are not exerting yourself at full force over a part-time job.)
I actually managed to finish two of my many assignments on Friday evening. Perhaps the brick toast had something to do with it.
I actually managed to finish two of my many assignments on Friday evening. Perhaps the brick toast had something to do with it.
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< Pictured above: Chocolate- and Sweet Milk Custard-flavoured Brick Toast from Bubble Republic >
At this point, you've probably realized that I have a thing for brick toast. It's all over this blog after all.
Among the various places where I've ordered this unique Taiwanese snack, Go For Tea's Black Sesame thick toast still maintains its top spot on my list. While I can't make a direct comparison, as Bubble Republic does not have a sesame-flavoured toast variation, I tend to find that overly crisp isn't always a good thing, especially when it's served on a relatively small plate. Cutting into the toast always leads to crumbs occupying table space within a 3-in radius. Trying to cut it into smaller pieces for sharing isn't the most graceful thing to do either.
Flavour-wise, though, I don't think I've ever tasted anything like Sweet Milk Custard before. It had a distinctive eggy taste to it, and is sweetened to just the right degree. The Chocolate slice was slathered in Nutella and dusted with multi-coloured sprinkles; its resemblance to fairy toast made for a fun and toothsome treat. Both flavours were great; I just wish that the devouring process wasn't so messy.
As all major malls are closed on both Good Friday and Easter Sunday, the only day to shop over Easter Weekend would be on Saturday. Dropping by to run a few errands, a large sign in the display case of Hallmark caught my eye while walking past.
Among the various places where I've ordered this unique Taiwanese snack, Go For Tea's Black Sesame thick toast still maintains its top spot on my list. While I can't make a direct comparison, as Bubble Republic does not have a sesame-flavoured toast variation, I tend to find that overly crisp isn't always a good thing, especially when it's served on a relatively small plate. Cutting into the toast always leads to crumbs occupying table space within a 3-in radius. Trying to cut it into smaller pieces for sharing isn't the most graceful thing to do either.
Flavour-wise, though, I don't think I've ever tasted anything like Sweet Milk Custard before. It had a distinctive eggy taste to it, and is sweetened to just the right degree. The Chocolate slice was slathered in Nutella and dusted with multi-coloured sprinkles; its resemblance to fairy toast made for a fun and toothsome treat. Both flavours were great; I just wish that the devouring process wasn't so messy.
As all major malls are closed on both Good Friday and Easter Sunday, the only day to shop over Easter Weekend would be on Saturday. Dropping by to run a few errands, a large sign in the display case of Hallmark caught my eye while walking past.
I do believe I made quite an announcement when I acquired my Itty Bittys Sulley on Black Friday, and I even had a sizable internal debate before I finally convinced myself to purchase the $6.95 3-inch-tall toy.
Seeing this sale was a huge shock to me at first. But then I realized that regardless how great this deal seemed, it wouldn't make a difference, as my original intention was to only purchase one of them anyway. Thus, I arrived at the conclusion that I had not missed out on a good deal, and continued to run my errands in a contented state.
P.S. This is awesome. Anything with Sulley in it is automatically awesome.
(Though I can't quite tell whether this is a play on words from Anna's duet - "Love is an open do-o-or~")
After my last errand, I decided to head back out into the sunny, but extremely windy weather. This was spotted on the way back, and I just couldn't take another step until I had this shot in my gallery.
(Though I can't quite tell whether this is a play on words from Anna's duet - "Love is an open do-o-or~")
After my last errand, I decided to head back out into the sunny, but extremely windy weather. This was spotted on the way back, and I just couldn't take another step until I had this shot in my gallery.
PINKBERRY IS COMING?! Is this for REAL? SOMEONE PINCH ME. (Not literally, though, because that would hurt.)
Seeing this "opening soon" store cover was probably the most exciting bit of my trip. pinkberry already has two locations in Vancouver (Richmond and Burnaby), and I'm extremely glad that we're finally getting our own local store! Expanding into the East End of Canada has quite possibly been their second best decision yet! (The first was creating low fat green tea-flavoured frozen yogurt with an ever-so-slight tartness.)
This is honestly even better than discovering that Urban Outfitters would also be one of Square One's new additions come fall. Getting a UO is obviously great too, of course. No longer would I have to wait for the exchange rate to improve, or contemplate other times to purchase to avoid shipping fees.
The Disney Store also happened to be on my way back, so I ducked in. After making a quick round to see whether they still had full-sized Sulley plushies or small Baymax stuffies (which they didn't), I found these adorable Frozen Tsums. Needless to say, I couldn't resist squatting down to take a photo of them, even if that meant attracting the attention of children wandering the store, as well as the tie-and-vest-clad sales assistant.
Seeing this "opening soon" store cover was probably the most exciting bit of my trip. pinkberry already has two locations in Vancouver (Richmond and Burnaby), and I'm extremely glad that we're finally getting our own local store! Expanding into the East End of Canada has quite possibly been their second best decision yet! (The first was creating low fat green tea-flavoured frozen yogurt with an ever-so-slight tartness.)
This is honestly even better than discovering that Urban Outfitters would also be one of Square One's new additions come fall. Getting a UO is obviously great too, of course. No longer would I have to wait for the exchange rate to improve, or contemplate other times to purchase to avoid shipping fees.
The Disney Store also happened to be on my way back, so I ducked in. After making a quick round to see whether they still had full-sized Sulley plushies or small Baymax stuffies (which they didn't), I found these adorable Frozen Tsums. Needless to say, I couldn't resist squatting down to take a photo of them, even if that meant attracting the attention of children wandering the store, as well as the tie-and-vest-clad sales assistant.
And since no week, or weekend for that matter, is complete without a couple homemade drinks, below is another attempt at an Oreo slush and a Kale-Banana Smoothie.
Our oven is supposedly broken according to my mom, so instead of baking her famous butter cupcakes, she's turned to a light and fluffy steamed sponge cake. She then cut the flat, round cakes into small triangles, some of which were later devoured by me as breakfast.
Our oven is supposedly broken according to my mom, so instead of baking her famous butter cupcakes, she's turned to a light and fluffy steamed sponge cake. She then cut the flat, round cakes into small triangles, some of which were later devoured by me as breakfast.
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My last weekend event was a karaoke get-together, which had only been suggested a few days prior.
< Pictured below: Green Tea Smoothie w/ Tapioca, Milk Tea w/ Tapioca, Watermelon Black Tea, and Green Tea Smoothie >
< Pictured below: Green Tea Smoothie w/ Tapioca, Milk Tea w/ Tapioca, Watermelon Black Tea, and Green Tea Smoothie >
I had ordered the Watermelon Black Tea, as I've already had my share of milk teas this past week. Still curious to try the Green Tea smoothie though, I sneaked a sip from my friend's and was pleasantly surprised. Young St. isn't known for their drinks, but this smoothie was much better than expected. I immediately regretted not trying one of their other flavours out.
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With very limited choices available in the area, Young St. is essentially the only place to go for karaoke experience involving a range of songs from different (Asian) languages. I'm happy to see that their Happy Hour price and time has remained the same, and that the quality of their drinks have improved. The quality of service, on the other hand, has plummeted a great deal.
The father-and-son duo that originally ran the place were nowhere in sight today. In their place were too expressionless girls that appeared as if they wanted nothing to do with us. The interface used for song selection has changed since the last time I visited, and since pressing the "call" button on the machine never seems to work, me and one of my friends decided to step outside to order our drinks.
The girls at the front desk took our orders, but once again, remained emotionless. Neither made the slightest effort to crack a smile, even if it was just for show.
We returned to our rooms, and the drinks were delivered shortly afterwards. All was well until it was time to pay.
The Happy Hour price is $12 for 5 hours, and includes a complementary drink (tapioca exempted). It is normal to add HST to this price, however, I was horrified to discover that a service charge of 10% had been added to the bill. My exact thoughts were: "Are you serious?! You expect us to pay a 'service charge' when you barely gave us service??? This is stupid. Even customers that choose to dine in at restaurants are not forcibly told to fork over 10% as a 'service fee'; they are allowed to choose the amount that they give the servers, if any at all. Yet how is that you are demanding a service charge on top of the Happy Hour price that was never implemented before?"
I still paid the full amount, including the lousy service fee charge. But I'll be making a note of this for future reference: don't go to Young St. anymore if not absolutely necessary. The environment is, indeed, nice. But a service charge is just plain ridiculous. The girls' bathroom didn't even toilet paper/paper towels half the time we were there! That, I'm convinced, cannot possible be classified as "service".
My bubble tea cravings had yet to be satisfied, so a trip to Green Grotto was made (again).
As mentioned in my last post, they recently modified their menu for the better. But since no images have been uploaded to Zomato as yet, here are two pages from the updated menu:
The father-and-son duo that originally ran the place were nowhere in sight today. In their place were too expressionless girls that appeared as if they wanted nothing to do with us. The interface used for song selection has changed since the last time I visited, and since pressing the "call" button on the machine never seems to work, me and one of my friends decided to step outside to order our drinks.
The girls at the front desk took our orders, but once again, remained emotionless. Neither made the slightest effort to crack a smile, even if it was just for show.
We returned to our rooms, and the drinks were delivered shortly afterwards. All was well until it was time to pay.
The Happy Hour price is $12 for 5 hours, and includes a complementary drink (tapioca exempted). It is normal to add HST to this price, however, I was horrified to discover that a service charge of 10% had been added to the bill. My exact thoughts were: "Are you serious?! You expect us to pay a 'service charge' when you barely gave us service??? This is stupid. Even customers that choose to dine in at restaurants are not forcibly told to fork over 10% as a 'service fee'; they are allowed to choose the amount that they give the servers, if any at all. Yet how is that you are demanding a service charge on top of the Happy Hour price that was never implemented before?"
I still paid the full amount, including the lousy service fee charge. But I'll be making a note of this for future reference: don't go to Young St. anymore if not absolutely necessary. The environment is, indeed, nice. But a service charge is just plain ridiculous. The girls' bathroom didn't even toilet paper/paper towels half the time we were there! That, I'm convinced, cannot possible be classified as "service".
My bubble tea cravings had yet to be satisfied, so a trip to Green Grotto was made (again).
As mentioned in my last post, they recently modified their menu for the better. But since no images have been uploaded to Zomato as yet, here are two pages from the updated menu:
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Unfortunately, I now realize that their combos can only be ordered at specific times. This means that the lovely Salt & Pepper Chicken is now back up to its original price of $6.99, which is a lousy deal compared to the combo. The boxes happened to be the same size too...
The wait was quite extensive this time, which made sense as they had a full house and an existing takeout line of about 3 people when we first entered. We decided to hang out near the bar, where finished orders were taken to the dine-in customers. The drinks that arrived were extremely appealing in my opinion, and it became difficult to put my phone away.
Truthfully, I was surprised that the waitresses showed no signs of displease at our hanging around. Bubble Republic staff would not have reacted in the same way.
The wait was quite extensive this time, which made sense as they had a full house and an existing takeout line of about 3 people when we first entered. We decided to hang out near the bar, where finished orders were taken to the dine-in customers. The drinks that arrived were extremely appealing in my opinion, and it became difficult to put my phone away.
Truthfully, I was surprised that the waitresses showed no signs of displease at our hanging around. Bubble Republic staff would not have reacted in the same way.
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< Pictured Above: an unknown drink, Sugar Cane Kumquat Aloe Drink, and Taro Milk Freeze from Green Grotto >
The "Freeze" line happens to be one of the franchise's new additions, and is quite similar to a Chiller (though more expensive. The drink is a blend of flavouring and a fine, milky slush. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the Taro Milk Freeze was, in fact, blended with real taro. Next up on my list are going to be the Vanilla Latte Freeze and Coffee Toffee Freeze!
Hope everyone else enjoyed their long weekend! Going back to school after 3 days of relaxation is never a fun thing to do, especially when exams are just right around the corner (/sigh...).
The "Freeze" line happens to be one of the franchise's new additions, and is quite similar to a Chiller (though more expensive. The drink is a blend of flavouring and a fine, milky slush. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the Taro Milk Freeze was, in fact, blended with real taro. Next up on my list are going to be the Vanilla Latte Freeze and Coffee Toffee Freeze!
Hope everyone else enjoyed their long weekend! Going back to school after 3 days of relaxation is never a fun thing to do, especially when exams are just right around the corner (/sigh...).
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