Vancity Vibes | DAY 14: Cattle Café + Metrotown - Random Thoughts of a Quirky Blogger

Vancity Vibes | DAY 14: Cattle Café + Metrotown

6/12/2022

Unlike the average voyager, there are few places in the GVA that I pinpoint as "must-go" destinations. Often do I have indexes stashed at the back of mind, but rather than fervently checking items off a list, the roster is viewed less as a schedule and more as a assemblage of possibilities.

My sole missions in Vancouver are those constituting familial significance.

Such duties led to Burnaby, where I naturally ̶s̶u̶g̶g̶e̶s̶t̶e̶d̶ requested Cattle Café for lunch.

While initially offered one of the boots along the perimeter of the restaurant, I opted for a roomier four-seater instead. It was brighter, more spacious, and, most importantly, been the same table I had sat at many years ago. For nostalgia's sake, I took the exact seat as before, back against the cushioned common area.

There was no Red Bean Ice or HK Milk Tea floated in ice this time around, but instead hot cups of Lemon Tea to soothe morning jitters.

At failing to find my go-to HK café dish of Baked Ox Tongue in Tomato Sauce, I took to the closest contender: the House Special Baked Fried Rice with Seafood and Pork Chop (C09 牛仔雙色焗飯 (海鮮及豬排)). Occupying one half of the ceramic dish was pork chop covered in starch-thickened ketchup sauce; frozen seafood medley in starch-thickened white sauce was found on the other. Not a strand of choy was in sight.

I barely made a dent in the order, for it was quite dismal and tacky overall. Leftovers were taken home, regrettably, for later consumption. The Lemon Tea, brewed with a concentrated black tea, was too strong for my liking, preventing total depletion.

The Satay Beef Brisket Noodle across from me was informed to be tasty.

Then, I took to exploring Metrotown for the remainder of the afternoon.

Scurrying past the change-seekers at the transit entrance, I dove into retail therapy heaven.

Tremendous joy was attained this solo expedition. I explored shelves of new inventory at Uniqlo, a two-level Miniso, and evaluated countless, summer-appropriate smocked tops before concluding criteria fulfillment of none.

As always, Metrotown boasted a vast variety of stores for perusal. Majority were decently busy, but ARTBOX exceptionally so with its young, K-pop merchandise-seeking demographic.

The food court was packed with lengthy lineups for food and beverage, similar to Square One on the weekends.

I was delighted to discover that Couturist now carries Nerdy! (Not that I could justify that seventy-eight dollar price tag on the lilac terry bucket hat.)

It also came to my attention that Vancouver would be the next upcoming location for a LINE Friends pop-up. After the concept store had made its rounds at Yorkdale, Square One, and Eaton, the limited time retailer would answer to the demands of the West Coast.

Not an inch of the mall was left uncovered: I even took to Cocomolo's larger outpost on the second floor. Despite being larger than the Aberdeen location, its product range was not grander in comparison. The sheer volume of visitors in the space also made it tragically difficult to browse without obstructions.

As I approached CoCo with curiosity, a pastry sample was handed to me. Within was a runny mango filing that gushed and scalded with the first bite, dribbling onto my mask ever so detestably.

Hankering for hydration, I joined the line for CoCo. It moved at a snail-like pace, almost to the point where I began to re-evaluate the decision.

Continuing to observe my surroundings in the meantime, I found the dining area to be positively filthy - seats sticky with napkins strewn about. The Vancouver-specific mural was cute though, with its gondolas, black bears, and mountainous depictions.
As I reached second place in line, I caught a better view of the menu. Generally pricier than the Ontario menu with nothing sparking interest, I stepped out of line, instigating glee in the girl behind me.

I had been conversing with the sleepy polar bear via images of my findings throughout the journey, causing the rapid depletion of battery.

While preparing to head back, I sought one last purchase: a Decaf Chocolate Cold Foam Cold Brew - or more accurately, a Decaf Americano with Chocolate Cold Foam, for decaf cold brew was unavailable.

After boarding the terribly congested 49 UBC bus to Langara, I switched onto the Canada Line. My battery began to plummet at this point, reaching a single-digit low.