After my standard coffee-oatmeal breakfast duo and a piece of cloying, unyielding Red Date Jelly from Pine House Bakery inside Parker Place, I was off to run errands.
In true Translink nature, the supposedly frequent 401 bus never arrived at its specified time, in spite of its promise on Google Maps. Instead of waiting for the next bus, which would comedically take more time, I opted to walk to Brighouse.
Locating the bus stops proved a tad tricky, for unfamiliarity with a region can interfere with awareness of one's bearings relative to the ordinal directions. It also didn't help that signage was nonexistent and the bus stops were dispersed across the six-lane-plus-median intersection, as opposed to being conveniently located along the length of the Olympic Village SkyTrain entrance.
The commercial portion of the neighbourhood was quite lively during work hours, its streets occupied by office workers on a late lunch break, however one could presume off-peak times to be distinctly quieter.
At reaching the inverted Y-split at E 7th Avenue and Main Street/Kingsway, I debated my next course of action. A breather was sought before the patio chairs of Melo Patisserie - not to be confused with mello donuts - before mustering the determination to continue. By this point, I was just twenty-ish minutes away from Rain or Shine's Cambie location. "Let's just do it." I resolved, turning west onto 12th Ave.
Samples were requested for the Honey Lavender and London Fog. Despite being provided on wooden spoons, they thankfully did not retain the off-putting palate of wood like Paragon. The staff responding with a calm, pleasant demeanour, but was otherwise short in the enthusiasm department.
Decently strong winds were experienced while strolling south. Technically, I could have continued and boarded the SkyTrain back home from King Edward Station. My poor choice of cotton attire and cooler bag-less acquisition of ice cream begged me to consider alternate forms of transportation though.
The man had hailed from Southeast Asian origins, contrasting against the East Asian or Caucasian Uber-driving population I've encountered to date. His vehicle featured seat covers, an element I hadn't observed in any Toronto Uber. Although less pristine than the real estate agent's white Tesla, the car was clean and free of odours.