Lesson learned. Need more days in Disney!!! Aug 2010 (NEW 1/20-COMPLETE)

[YukiPhnx]

Yuki Great Post! I Geeky Cons are soooo much fun! I wish I had my camera with my when I went to ACEN last week because I saw some REALLY good princess costumes including Tiana, Cinderella, and Bella. The Kimonos were beautiful!!! And the Samurai was really awesome too.

So sorry to hear about Andrew's grandfather send him my condolences.

What? You went to a con WITHOUT a camera??? For shame!!

I'm sure I can find those pictures on the internet though. One of the reasons I've stopped taking pictures of those REALLY good cosplays, cause there are hundreds online.

The fashion show was so much better than I expected. It was so informational.

I'll pass on your condolences to Andrew, thank you.

 

[dizneeat]

Finally caught up, Yuki!

Montreal and the Bio Dome look wonderful. Wish we could just go there for a weekend.

I was impressed with all your anime photos! Thank you!

 

[YukiPhnx]

Finally caught up, Yuki!

Montreal and the Bio Dome look wonderful. Wish we could just go there for a weekend.

I was impressed with all your anime photos! Thank you!

Karin!!

I'm finally caught up on your many TRs as well, haha.

If you ever do come to visit Canada, don't forget about Toronto! I'd love to show you around.

 

[PennyLane1084]

What? You went to a con WITHOUT a camera??? For shame!!

Oh don't you worry, I will MORE THAN make up for it at Chicago Comic Con!!!

 

[YukiPhnx]

Oh don't you worry, I will MORE THAN make up for it at Chicago Comic Con!!!

Sweet!

 

[YukiPhnx]

I can't believe I forgot to mention this. Andrew bought me these two cuties in the HK airport before his flight home to Canada!

He knows how much I wanted some and that you can't buy them in stores in North America anymore. I guess when they weren't popular, they got shipped to China?

Anyways, I LOOOVE mine and am hoping they will have more for when I visit sometime in the next 2 years!

 

[Cat0727]

The anime convention looked like so much fun! The geisha costumes were my favorite. My friend went to Yaoi-Con in San Francisco a few years back and she loved it. I believe there was an anime convention here in NYC recently but am not sure when.

 

[YukiPhnx]

The anime convention looked like so much fun! The geisha costumes were my favorite. My friend went to Yaoi-Con in San Francisco a few years back and she loved it. I believe there was an anime convention here in NYC recently but am not sure when.

Yeah, it was! Those kimonos were absoultely gorgeous. Definitely my faves too. The make-up was also very well done.

YAOI-CON!!!!!!!!!! I have wanted to go since I was in high school!!! I've heard so many great things about it! Not sure how Andrew would feel about it though....maybe I should take him to Yuri-con to make up for it...It's funny that they happen on opposite sides of the country.

There are quite a few conventions in New York actually! I really should check to see if there'll be any when I visit in August...

 

[englishrose47]

I can't believe I forgot to mention this. Andrew bought me these two cuties in the HK airport before his flight home to Canada!

He knows how much I wanted some and that you can't buy them in stores in North America anymore. I guess when they weren't popular, they got shipped to China?

Anyways, I LOOOVE mine and am hoping they will have more for when I visit sometime in the next 2 years!

Those are tooo cute!!

 

[YukiPhnx]

Those are tooo cute!!

I KNOOOOW!!! I them. They're SOOOO adorable.

 

[YukiPhnx]

Montreal Pt.6

After our fun morning at the Biodome, we were ready to get our grub on! Montreal is known for 2 foods. Smoked meat and poutine! On this trip, we were only able to try their poutine.

What is poutine, you ask? For my non-Canadian friends that do not know, it is a very popular Canadian food that is MUCH loved. A poutine is basically made of fries covered on cheese curds (usually mozzarella) and SMOTHERED in gravy. The hot gravy melts over the cheese curds and clings to the fries to give you ooey-gooey cheesy GOODNESS. Mmmmmm....

Anyways, almost everyone makes this dish differently. The most classic is made of those 3 ingredients, but you can have a lot of variety by adding different toppings such as shredded meat or sliced onions. The quality of the poutine comes from how good the fries can hold up to the hold melted cheese, the thickness of the curds, and the kind of gravy you use.

Moving on, during my research, I found a place that is very popular. Not only do they have a huge variety of poutines as well as other foods, they are open 24hrs which is rare for any sort of sit down restaurant that is not a fast food chain.

This place isn't close to any subway station, so it took us a while to find it, when we figured out the right direction...I'm sure there's a bus that takes you there, but I just didn't have enough time to familiarize myself with the busses. Also, it's on a one-way road so that would've been tricky to navigate anyways.

So, it took us about an hour to get to this place from the Biodome. About 15-20 mins of that was walking in the freezing, blistering cold.

As expected of popular place in Montreal, there was a line out the door. A very long one that didn't move very fast. We were cold and hungry but there didn't seem to be any places around to eat. We noticed we could order it for takeout, but we didn't know of where we could settle down to eat it, so we stayed in line to wait for a table.

At 1:40pm, we are finally seated! The place is PACKED and bustling.

Duffy was really cold too.

I wanted to show a better picture of my D&B wristlet.

We sat there, deciding what to eat and settled on a poutine each, plus I felt like getting a club sandwich out of nowhere....

So we're seated at 1:40pm, but didn't get any service until 2:20pm. We were really hungry, but it WAS super crowded and busy. While we waited, we started chatting with a couple at the table next to ours. There was literally, about a feet of space between our tables. We found out they were also from Toronto and that they had arrived that day.

We told them about what we learned of the city and the restaurant times and the Biodome. Turns out, they bought a ticket to Montreal out of a whim the night before and knew almost nothing about the city. We actually started talking to them when they asked their waitress about Family Day, which was the next day. In Ontario, we recently got a new holiday in February. The waitress was confused and I piped in and reminded the couple that there is no Family Day in Montreal, but that most museums and stuff were closed on Mondays during the Winter anyways.

We had a really nice chat with them and they left around the time our food arrived.

Andrew ordered the T-Rex which has sauage, pepperoni and bacon.

I ordered the Poutine Jago which has mushroom, ground beef, onion and pepper sauce.

I also ordered this turkey club.

It was TOO MUCH FOOD. We had no idea the portions were that big. Had we known better, we would've ordered one to share. It was very yummy and we enjoyed it. They weren't the best poutine we've ever had. The fries weren't that great, they lacked cheese curds, and with all the toppings, it didn't taste much like poutine. Just..fries with all sorts of food dumped on top.

The turkey club...was a bad idea. Not only was it too much food, it wasn't good at all. I expected turkey slices, not shredded turkey. Who puts that in a club sandwich? It was too messy to eat and the turkey was DRY. The coleslaw that came with it was pretty average. It made the sandwich taste only slightly better.

The verdict? I won't be returning. We left around 3pm and there was STILL a long line waiting to get in. Unless I was coming with someone who's never been. But if they really wanted poutine, I know a place in Toronto that makes a great plate.

We had decided the night before to visit the Montreal Eaton's Centre to buy something warmer for me to wear. I had only packed skirts and thin tights, which was a very bad idea. We had no troubles finding this mall because like the one in Toronto, it's connected to the subway! Hooray for indoor paths!

I just wanted a picture with the name of the mall on it.

Looks a lot like the one in Toronto, only smaller.

I thought this was interesting because in Toronto, there's an accent grave over the first "E" in the sign for this store.

I was able to pick up some thick leggings to wear under my skirt. They were a lot cheaper than a new pair of pants...yes I'm cheap.

We wandered around the mall some more, just window shopping. Of course, whenever we see a games store, we have to stop. Andrew picked up an expansion pack for the board game, Pandemic. It's a very fun game and highly recommended for groups! There's only 2 ways to win but SOOO many ways for the game to beat you! Basically, you're cooperating with the other players to cure the viruses that have spread throughout the world. the expansion pack makes it even more challenging and there's an option to play as a biological terrorist.

We returned to the hotel at around 5pm and took a nap. We had initially planned to go to Pointe a Calliere after our lunch, but the cold pretty much hijacked our plans. Since we didn't get a chance to go to the Planeterium the night before, we wanted to catch it tonight. We ate our lunch leftovers for dinner and headed out at 6:30pm.

When we got to the subway, we bumped into that other couple again!! They were having trouble with the ticketing and we helped them solve it. They were about to head back to their hotel and asked us what we were upt to. We told them we were going to see the Planeterium show and they decided to tag along!

So we all went to the Planeterium. I apologize profusely for this but I didn't take ANY pictures of the place! I'm not sure what was wrong with me...I wonder if I thought it was too dark? No....Well, here's a google pic for ya.

We were there for a very empty English showing of a tour through the Milky Way. I really enjoyed learning about the constellations and about light pollution and all that. Our....story-teller I guess? was very good and it felt like I was getting a good lecture. He must've been a prof because he sounded like one.

After the show, the other couple wanted to get something to eat and asked us if we wanted to join them. We had already kind of "eaten" but they were unsure of how to use the subway, so we decided to eat together after all. A friend of theirs recommended an Italian restaurant on Rue Crescent (the nightlife disctrict of downtown) so we headed there.

I noticed this one the walk there.

We went to Weinstein and Gavino's. It was a very nice restaurant and the service was superb. We were seated immediately near the window. The walls were lined with wine racks and the lights were dim.

After we were seated, they brought us some bread and 2 plates with pesto on one and concentrated red wine on the other. Our server then poured some olive oil from a little jug that was sitting on our table on both the plates.

It was so fancy!!!

I ordered the Caprina pizza which had basil pesto, spinach, goat cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, pine nuts.

It was DE(capital)-licious!!!!! Not oily, very fresh, and SOOO flavourful. I still dream of this pizza. I can't wait to go back for it.

They had a Sunday night special for their dish, Osso Bucco. Milanese style braised veal shank, gremolata, spaghetti al burro with a glass of wine for $20! So that's what Andrew ordered.

Again...it was incredible. The veal was melt in your mouth and the spaghetti was cooked to perfection. We both enjoyed our meals very much. We decided against ordering dessert because I really wanted to go to a crepes place. There was one right around the corner from our restaurant, so we headed there after settling the bill.

I'm not sure why, but we never took a picture with our traveling companions. I know, I know, if there are no pictures it didn't happen! I guess you'll just have to trust me on this

We went to Paris Crepe and orderd a simple and plain Sugar and Butter crepe. But since I was too eager to dig into it before I took any pictures, here is the Banana and Nutella crepe of the other couple.

We all really enjoyed our crepes. It was much better than the crepes I've had in Toronto. It had a very nice light sweet taste and the crepes were very thin, as they should be. The ones in Toronto that I've had were on the thicker more pancake-like side.

Overall, it was SO MUCH FUN to have some traveling companions! Especially since we met these people just that day. We had a great time chatting with them but didn't exchange info or anything. We parted after dessert and headed back to our respective hotels for some sleep. We got back close to midnight and went to sleep around 1am.

Coming up next: For the love of SCIENCE!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Sounds like a good afternoon aside from waiting in the cold and you got to make some new friends!

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Hi Yuki. First, let me say how sorry I was to hear about Andrew's grandpa.

Second, I had no idea what you were talking about at the convention, so I googled it - wow! looks like fun - a whole subculture of actors! Glad you had a good time.

How fun that you met some people to hang out with for the day in Montreal. Those fries somehow don't interest me, but maybe it would depend on the taste of the gravy, etc. The Italian place looks really good!

Nice to have you back!

 

[YukiPhnx]

Sounds like a good afternoon aside from waiting in the cold and you got to make some new friends!

Yeah, we had a really good time! It was very nice to go back to our hotel to rest a bit. Kind of like a day in the parks!

Hi Yuki. First, let me say how sorry I was to hear about Andrew's grandpa.

Second, I had no idea what you were talking about at the convention, so I googled it - wow! looks like fun - a whole subculture of actors! Glad you had a good time.

How fun that you met some people to hang out with for the day in Montreal. Those fries somehow don't interest me, but maybe it would depend on the taste of the gravy, etc. The Italian place looks really good!

Nice to have you back!

Hi Tammie, thanks for the welcome back! I should be finished with Montreal pretty soon and then I can finally get back on track!

I'll pass on your sentiments to Andrew.

What did you google up? Anime North? Haha, subculture of actors? I guess so...more like voice actors, they're pretty popular. It's a subculture that has grown SO MUCH in the last 10 years.

I wouldn't recommend the poutine at this place....it wasn't very good. The gravy wasn't very hot or tasty at all.

It was very cool to meet traveling companions! So much fun to just meet some strangers and end up spending so much time with them and having dinner and everything! I feel so grown up

 

[PennyLane1084]

I'm a little behind on your Quebec trip but here are my comments

It had a great spread of hot and cold foods though. They had different kinds of toast, a toaster, bagels, other baked goods, oatmeal, hot water, coffee machine, a mini fridge filled with yogurt and cream cheese, 3 kinds of juice, 3 kinds of cereal, bowl of fruit, hard boiled eggs, and a hot pot of breakfast beans.

I had toast with cream cheese, coffee, a bit of the beans because I've never tried breakfast beans, an eggs and some cranberry juice. I regret not getting more beans cause it was really yummy! Andrew just had cereal, organe juice, yogurt, coffee, and a banana. I know how much y'all wanted to know about this.

Would writing about food without pictures be considered Food Smut as opposed to Food Porn.

After we bought our tickets and headed into the Bio part of the dome, we realized how steamy hot it was, so we decided to check our jackets after all. When we came back to the entrance, there was a giant group of Chinese tourists probably part of a bus tour that was there. We were going to head in ahead of the group because they still had to get something done, but the tour leader stopped us and asked us where we were going...lol, it was kind of funny. We told him we weren't part of the group. I don't blame him. We all look alike.

Oh look, it opened its wings!

Very pretty!!!

They're SOOOO cute!!!

I LOVE these guys!!!! They are so cute. If I could raise one as a pet I so would!!! And wow they were really close!!

As soon as entered the wooded area, we saw this active little guy. Man, I REALLY wished we could've videotaped him. ADORABLE.

It looks like he's saying, "Leave me alone, mom!!"

AWWWWW. I <3 sea otters too! Now I want to go to the Zoo!!

Gorgeous eh?

So pretty!!
And Penguins!!!!!!
I need to go to Quebec and See this place. It looks so cool.

 

[YukiPhnx]

I'm a little behind on your Quebec trip but here are my comments


Would writing about food without pictures be considered Food Smut as opposed to Food Porn.


Very pretty!!!

I LOVE these guys!!!! They are so cute. If I could raise one as a pet I so would!!! And wow they were really close!!

AWWWWW. I <3 sea otters too! Now I want to go to the Zoo!!


So pretty!!
And Penguins!!!!!!
I need to go to Quebec and See this place. It looks so cool.

Yeah, this place is sooo cool! Yes, you must come check out Montreal. I've been meaning to go to the local zoo actually....The weather is finally nice enough to go!

LOL to food smut. That should totally be a category.

Capybaras are adorable, I want one too!

 

[jenbear123]

I hate to say this but those poutines look like heart attack on a plate Too bad they didn't taste any better than they looked either.

The place you went for dinner looked lovely! And the crepe looks really yummy! I've had crepes at St Lawrence Market and they were exactly like that: thin and filled with yummy goodness.

Tights and a skirt in the dead of winter?!?! Are you crazy?!?!

 

[dizneeat]

AND ....... I am late for another update!

Loved following along, Yuki! Thank you so much for taking us along! Your Duffy looks so cute and I like that he took good care of your D&B!

May I ask a dumb question?
But what in the world is poutine? I read it at Le Cellier and forgot to ask, but now that you had it ..... I better ask the pro!
Thank you!

 

[__disneygirl]

HEY YUKI!! Sooo I had to go back and read all the parts I missed and I really enjoyed it, just a few comments...

CAPTAIN JACK WINKED AT YOU?! Jealous. I don’t have a boyfriend so I would have slipped him my room key LOL.

I love the WDW railroad and all the things along the way to look at. It’s usually one of the first things I do every trip is just take a loop around the Kingdom.

I love all your Toontown pictures. I’m sooo sad I didn’t get to see it one last time.

Did you end up seeing Rango? I thought it was amazing, mostly because of the animation. I mean they really went above and beyond with the detail in all those little creatures.

Montreal looks awesome! I’ve always wanted to go to Canada. Awesome people come from there, like you and Ryan Gosling. I love all the animals you saw especially, I am like you with your sloth fascination… they are just so cool looking and funny! Same with the capybara, sometimes I just can’t believe they’re real they’re too cute!

I LOVE the stuffed Mickey & Minnie that Andrew got you! My cousin is obsessed with The Nightmare Before Christmas so I got her Jack & Sally. I love how they look different but still Disneyish.

Can't wait for more!!

 

[YukiPhnx]

I hate to say this but those poutines look like heart attack on a plate Too bad they didn't taste any better than they looked either.

The place you went for dinner looked lovely! And the crepe looks really yummy! I've had crepes at St Lawrence Market and they were exactly like that: thin and filled with yummy goodness.

Tights and a skirt in the dead of winter?!?! Are you crazy?!?!

Yeah....tights and a skirt weren't the best idea, especially not thick winter tights (which I own), but in my defense, the forecast was for 18-20 degree weather! And then it turned upside down for us...

Yeah...those poutines...I've had so much better. The only thing that made them "special" was being open 24hrs and all those toppings, but honestly, I can make my own.

Oooh, St.Lawrence! I haven't been there in EONS. I should check out the crepes.

AND ....... I am late for another update!

Loved following along, Yuki! Thank you so much for taking us along! Your Duffy looks so cute and I like that he took good care of your D&B!

May I ask a dumb question?
But what in the world is poutine? I read it at Le Cellier and forgot to ask, but now that you had it ..... I better ask the pro!
Thank you!

Yeah, I loved all the attention Duffy McDuff got! He looks real good with the D&B, I need to get another

Oh, did you miss the part in the beginning of the post? I'm pretty sure I explained what a poutine was.

I HEARD Le Cellier had poutine, but have never heard of anyone trying it. They should just have a Canadian food stand, seriously. With poutine and beaver tails and Ketchup chips!

HEY YUKI!! Sooo I had to go back and read all the parts I missed and I really enjoyed it, just a few comments...

CAPTAIN JACK WINKED AT YOU?! Jealous. I don’t have a boyfriend so I would have slipped him my room key LOL.

I love the WDW railroad and all the things along the way to look at. It’s usually one of the first things I do every trip is just take a loop around the Kingdom.

I love all your Toontown pictures. I’m sooo sad I didn’t get to see it one last time.

Did you end up seeing Rango? I thought it was amazing, mostly because of the animation. I mean they really went above and beyond with the detail in all those little creatures.

Montreal looks awesome! I’ve always wanted to go to Canada. Awesome people come from there, like you and Ryan Gosling. I love all the animals you saw especially, I am like you with your sloth fascination… they are just so cool looking and funny! Same with the capybara, sometimes I just can’t believe they’re real they’re too cute!

I LOVE the stuffed Mickey & Minnie that Andrew got you! My cousin is obsessed with The Nightmare Before Christmas so I got her Jack & Sally. I love how they look different but still Disneyish.

Can't wait for more!!

Believe me, I was pretty close to giving Capt'n Jack MY room key too! Oh swoons...

Yeah, I really loved taking the MK train. It's one of the things I really wanted to do on my trip. Love the little narration they have.

I'm sad I didn't get to spend as much time as I wanted in Toontown. The heat just completely defeated me.

I DID see Rango and I really liked it! The animation was incredible and I LOVED the snake.

Yes, you MUST come to Canada!!! Then we can stalk Ryan Gosling together.

Omigosh, you like sloths too??? No waai!!! So little people like them, but I think they're so cool looking!

Man....I really wanted to take one of the capybaras home. How can an animal be THAT cute. Oh wait....cause they can.

Oooh, you got Jack and Sally? How adorable! I'm so sad they don't make them anymore. I really wanted Steamboat Willie Mickey.