Intense days are intense.
My last exam took place on Saturday at 9 AM, which meant that I'd need to arrive on campus at least twenty minutes prior. As the rest of my day was completely packed, I decided to park at Square One and retrieve the car later to continue with the rest of the day's activities. Initially, I had planned on returning home for a quick bit at some point during the day, but the events were scheduled quite closely and I didn't get a chance in the end.
After writing a horrid pass/fail exam (which I sincerely hope I did pass, as failing to do so would result in seeing my lovely (CAN YOU SENSE THE SARCASM?!) prof's face for another year...again.), I hopped onto the bus and headed over to Kariya Park.
My last exam took place on Saturday at 9 AM, which meant that I'd need to arrive on campus at least twenty minutes prior. As the rest of my day was completely packed, I decided to park at Square One and retrieve the car later to continue with the rest of the day's activities. Initially, I had planned on returning home for a quick bit at some point during the day, but the events were scheduled quite closely and I didn't get a chance in the end.
After writing a horrid pass/fail exam (which I sincerely hope I did pass, as failing to do so would result in seeing my lovely (CAN YOU SENSE THE SARCASM?!) prof's face for another year...again.), I hopped onto the bus and headed over to Kariya Park.
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I don't believe I took any non-cosplay-related photos on my phone, so here are shots of a Chicken Onigiri from Kenzo that I had packed for lunch, and my furry driving companion (Ehehe).
The full Kariya Park Cosplay Picnic album can be viewed HERE.
The full Kariya Park Cosplay Picnic album can be viewed HERE.
After a few hours of repetitively asking cosplayers for photos, my friend and I headed toward a newly-opened tea house in Port Credit called Ever Fresh Tea House.
Despite being a tad chilly, the weather was absolutely lovely. The drive down to Port Credit wasn't the swiftest process ever, but at least it was accompanied with a great deal of sunshine.
Despite being a tad chilly, the weather was absolutely lovely. The drive down to Port Credit wasn't the swiftest process ever, but at least it was accompanied with a great deal of sunshine.
I think I had originally discovered this place via insauga; I had also checked out their Facebook page prior to making this trip, discovering that the owner insisted on using fresh ingredients as opposed to the powders used by other bubble tea places, with the exception of taro and matcha flavours. I found this to be quite appealing and decided to check it out.
The small-scale gallery that had been posted to their Facebook page had seemed exceptionally appealing, especially the Marshmallow Thick Toast. I was prepared to order exactly that when one of the workers aggressively tried to persuade us to try the Coconut Toast by explaining that the Marshmallow version would be excessively sweet. I'm not sure why she was so opposed to the flavour, but regardless of the reason, I still felt a little taken back by her attitude. I mean, if an item is listed on your menu, then it should be available to be ordered by customers, right?
The small-scale gallery that had been posted to their Facebook page had seemed exceptionally appealing, especially the Marshmallow Thick Toast. I was prepared to order exactly that when one of the workers aggressively tried to persuade us to try the Coconut Toast by explaining that the Marshmallow version would be excessively sweet. I'm not sure why she was so opposed to the flavour, but regardless of the reason, I still felt a little taken back by her attitude. I mean, if an item is listed on your menu, then it should be available to be ordered by customers, right?
We thoroughly analyzed the menu before ordering, discussing our options for approximately 20 minutes. It didn't look as if the workers were concerned though, as there was no lineup anyway.
Both of us were tempted to try the Matcha Red Bean Milk Shake, but had wanted to choose different drinks to explore the options the menu had to offer. The Hazelnut Chocolate Milk Shake sounded interesting, so I inquired whether the drink was made from actual roasted hazelnuts and chocolate. To my disappointment, I was told that both flavours were just syrups. "But doesn't that contrast against your initial statement that you only utilize fresh ingredients in your drinks?!" was what I was thinking.
I still decided to go with the Hazelnut Chocolate Milk Shake in the end, though, for lack of other milk shake options.
Both of us were tempted to try the Matcha Red Bean Milk Shake, but had wanted to choose different drinks to explore the options the menu had to offer. The Hazelnut Chocolate Milk Shake sounded interesting, so I inquired whether the drink was made from actual roasted hazelnuts and chocolate. To my disappointment, I was told that both flavours were just syrups. "But doesn't that contrast against your initial statement that you only utilize fresh ingredients in your drinks?!" was what I was thinking.
I still decided to go with the Hazelnut Chocolate Milk Shake in the end, though, for lack of other milk shake options.
Our order took about five minutes to process, and at that point we were finally able to take in the interior design. A colourful Totoro design had been painted onto one of the walls, while the other walls were painted in solid hues, some adorned with photographs and pictures.
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Our drinks arrived shortly after in the same flimsy takeout cups as distributed from Kuma's Candy, and after my standard excessive photo-taking routine, we finally took a sip. To be quite frank, neither of us knew what to think. Matcha Red Bean is a classic combo that is, to put it quite bluntly, almost impossible to mess up. This one, however, tasted very little like matcha, and more of ice with canned red bean that had been placed atop of it.
The Hazelnut Chocolate Milk Shake was, unfortunately, even more bland than the Matcha; to put it simply, it tasted of nothing at all. It was like drinking artificially-coloured crushed ice.
One of workers brought over the Marshmallow Thick Toast some few minutes later. The toast was crisp without being overdone (looking at you, BR), and was composed of nine slightly toasted marshmallow resting on top of a thin layer of Nutella. The chocolate sauce drizzle also added a nice touch.
Truthfully, the toast wasn't near as sweet as the worker had emphasized it to be - it was perfectly the fine as is. Overall, the thick toast would have to be considered the best thing we ordered, though I would've preferred the marshmallows to be tad more melted so that they could be incorporated into the dish.
The Hazelnut Chocolate Milk Shake was, unfortunately, even more bland than the Matcha; to put it simply, it tasted of nothing at all. It was like drinking artificially-coloured crushed ice.
One of workers brought over the Marshmallow Thick Toast some few minutes later. The toast was crisp without being overdone (looking at you, BR), and was composed of nine slightly toasted marshmallow resting on top of a thin layer of Nutella. The chocolate sauce drizzle also added a nice touch.
Truthfully, the toast wasn't near as sweet as the worker had emphasized it to be - it was perfectly the fine as is. Overall, the thick toast would have to be considered the best thing we ordered, though I would've preferred the marshmallows to be tad more melted so that they could be incorporated into the dish.
Once again, the full album can be found HERE.
Karaoke was the last event of the day, followed by a late-night dinner at The Owl of Minerva.
I hadn't visited the Korean franchise in a number of years, and was slightly saddened by the fact that they no longer aired re-runs of K-Pop performances on their monitors. The shows had, instead, been replaced by a slideshow of their menu.
Karaoke was the last event of the day, followed by a late-night dinner at The Owl of Minerva.
I hadn't visited the Korean franchise in a number of years, and was slightly saddened by the fact that they no longer aired re-runs of K-Pop performances on their monitors. The shows had, instead, been replaced by a slideshow of their menu.
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The restaurant was open 24 hours, so it was still quite packed when we sat down around 11 pm. To be honest, I'm amazed at how fast they process their orders; we were in and out in about 20 minutes.
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