Toronto Haul – August 2018

I go to Toronto more than I actually should. Actually this year was the exception to the equation. I usually just go about once a year or something unless something else comes up and well, something else came up. This past weekend was my best friend’s wedding. Her husband is from Toronto so they ended up holding their wedding there. I honestly think I’ve been to more wedding outside of Montreal than in Montreal. Its a weird thought and shows how many of my friends have moved away, I guess.

Either way, it was a really fun weekend. We ate some awesome food, tried out some new places: two of which I’ll do a restaurant overview for during this week. I’ll show more of the wedding stuff in the next Weekly Adventures, mostly because well, it seems we may have skipped the last one. I know I did and it was deliberate.

Before I jump off onto another tangent, let’s check out some stuff I got in Toronto.

Things I Bought Because I Was Forgetful..
Scarborough Town Centre – Yves Rocher & Walmart

First stop on Friday in Toronto was the hunt for everything we remembered that we forgot during packing for the wedding stuff. For myself, it was not exactly all forgot but I don’t use make-up a lot so a lot of mine had expired and I needed to get some new stuff. Nothing heavy since I don’t do eye make-up because it causes eye infections for myself so just some simple concealer to do the job and seeing Fantasia and work destroyed my sleeping schedule, I’m currently rocking some puffy panda eyes and I had forgotten my eye cream. A trip to Yves Rocher was in the stars and the closest we could find on the way to the hotel was at Scarborough Town Centre. I’ll share the eventful moment there in the Weekly Adventures but one of the great things was the great service at Yves Rocher but a lovely lady who gave me some really fantastic suggestions and actually suggested that I changed to the other skincare line as my skin had changed and its why I was having all the blemishes I’ve been having lately. I didn’t get the skincare line seeing as I was away and didn’t really want to spend so much just yet but I loved the service of just sharing the knowledge of it all. So I got some body lotion and the eye care gel at Yves Rocher.

At Walmart, I got a concealer and some nail polish. I actually ended up not painting my nails for the event but I did also pick up this interesting product called a blur stick which I’m still exploring whether its something I could use or not as it felt really oily. I’m not sure the texture works well for my skin type, so I passed on using it and am still researching. If you all know what it is and have any suggestions or dos and don’ts, please do share with me.

T&T Supermarket (2 Trips)

Most of the snacks and such were bought on the first stop. We didn’t think that we would go back but we did end up going again on Sunday. Friday was to pick up a late lunch of dimsum, which I didn’t take pictures of. We stocked up on drinks which I also didn’t take pictures so and they are all consumed. I can tell you that I was on a semi caffeine detox since March where I cut tea out of my life completely. I don’t drink coffee so its a given, I suppose. Either way, this weekend, I drank all the tea that I didn’t drink in the last few months or at least it felt that way. However, the Vita brand which usually is known for its lemon tea and such actually has this Green Tea and Japanese Green Tea which both tastes fantastic and its unsweetened so its the legit ones. Going back to the picture, look at these flavors, its like a world tour of Lay’s flavors.

During the first trip, we saw these pokemon Ocean Bomb sparkling water. Actually when we went back in the second trip, we saw one new one and lost two so I guess I shouldn’t procrastinate so much in buying stuff. Either way, that was a spontaneous purchase although I’m still fairly unsure about trying the Pikachu Cucumber flavor. We also saw this KIM brand drink for bird’s nest drink. I’m not sure how many people know about bird nest’s drinks. Regardless, the happiest purchase here is the black sesame stuff because I love black sesame paste. Its my favorite dessert. I’ve never tried this brand so hopefully it’ll be good. I ended up sharing the bag with my mom.

Big Apple & 401 Brewery

Our always must-stop location is The Big Apple. I love to grab a pie and strudel and my husband loves the brownies. It is quite amazing to see how this location as grown in size and variety of what they offer. I remember stopping there the first time and it was still known but not quite as popular as it is now. I kind of miss the quieter days but they have really diversified and made it a truly Canadian experience with what they offer also.

In the building, they have the store for 401 Brewery. We’ve never had anything from there before. Seeing as we didn’t manage to pick up anything at LCBO this time, we decided to grab some ciders. We picked the traditional apple cider and then a peach cider and a pear cider to try. We also saw a sparkling oaked cider which seems like it could be a nice smoky taste sort of experience. We are looking forward to trying it out eventually.

That wraps up this shorter Toronto haul as I get things into order!

Ottawa 2018 Haul!

Hey everyone!

Sorry for the radio silence yesterday and well…today as well, I guess! Its been a bit of taking time off every week to sort out my own stuff. Usually, this weekend is when my friend has his Ottawa half marathon and I tag along to help him out. However, this year, I opted out of this duty. Instead, my husband and I both went down to Ottawa to hang out for a little today before his first race for the 5 km. Its humid and a little rainy and well, the sun has arrived back in Montreal but not sure how its doing in Ottawa since I’m home as I’m typing this.

The trip came with a lot of stuff on the to-do list. Yes, I shop with to-do lists if not, I might end up going crazy and just buy everything or sit there and be indecisiveness. Shopping with a goal is what my husband calls it. With that said, we had an idea of what places to hit at Rideau Center and Ottawa before heading back home. This is as timely as this post can get because we just unloaded and I took pictures and here we are!

Rideau Centre 

Eddie Bauer

Marathon weekend is always sales weekend for Eddie Bauer. Normally, Eddie Bauer’s stuff is expensive and usually rightfully so because its very durable especially for the hiking lovers like me and my husband. However, the only time we buy it is during sale time or else it would just be way out of budget. This year was a 40% off on everything in store. We both wanted to get new caps and new hiking pants. I got the blue capris and the blue cap and he got the beige pants that can be changed to shorts and the lighter color cap.

Disney Store

For those who don’t know, I collect Disney plushies. I had stopped the actual normal sized plushies for a while and was trying to get all the Animator series ones which are much more reasonable in storage. Regardless of that, when I see one that I like, I always tend to pick it up. I’m actually planning on keeping track of my collection over on Avenue of Daydreams some time this year. It would be fun to have an archive of the many things I collect and that seemed like a nice place to do it. Either way, Flower from Bambi was on sale so I picked it up. At the same time, I also saw little Piglet as well. I have a Tigger which is in the same style. These two were definitely coming home with me.

Squish Candy

Last year I had gone to Squish and got the Prosecco Bears and they were super delicious. They expanded their cocktail line and this time, my husband chose the Bourbon Cubes ans Sake Sakura and I chose the Wine O’Clock. I’m hoping that these will turn out to be equally delicious. They had a few other ones with sangria and such and those definitely has peaked my interest but for another time.

LCBO

Embracing the love of trying out VQA Ontario wines, LCBO was a must-go. I found a Riesling to try out eventually and my husband’s colleague had recommended the Big House Pinot Grigio and we saw it so we ended up picking up the bottle and he wanted to also get the can version. As for myself, I also saw another Cider from Brickworks Ciderhouse. I had tried another one earlier this year and was really impressed so having some high hopes for this one also.

Second Stop: T&T Supermarket

I mean, I’m pretty much thinking about groceries all the time so T&T Supermarket is always one of my stops. I don’t usually post about it but this time, we had some interesting finds. The herbal drinks from Hung Fook Tong had a new flavor. My husband picked out the Orange Ramune soda drink. I always get some dimsum, which I did but ended up eating on the trip back so not shown here. But there is also some pot stickers and vietnamese chicken lunch box and some BBQ Pork. The main goal this time was to get some sticky rice for the Dragonboat Festival. They had fresh ones which would be preferable if I had gone 2 weeks later but for now, I got the frozen in case I don’t end up going. However, the snacks we picked (and saw) were quite unique to say the least. Lay’s had these cucumber chips (and they also had lime flavor). I wonder if its an excuse to feel like you were being healthier when making that choice. Then we saw these Potato Wish brand which had the Steak and Red Wine Flavor and well, it looks like Ringolos but they are called Roller Coaster.

That’s it for the haul!
Nothing too special but a few unique finds!

Hope you are enjoying your weekend!

Ottawa Marathon Race Weekend!

I kind of slacked off this weekend (and the last two for other reasons with an update soon) and that’s because I was away in Ottawa for the Marathon Race Weekend!

Let’s make one thing clear! I was away in Ottawa this weekend but for the third year in a row, I was there as support for my good friend. He’s kind of like my brother and he even volunteered as my photographer at my wedding last year! He usually does only the half marathon BUT this year, he did the 5 km run as well! I’ll get more into detail a little later on the going on of the weekend. There’s food, race starts and shopping haul! Its a nice little getaway from Montreal even if I did miss my husband and my kitty a ton, as I always do. Its nice to be back home even if today is another work day and there’s a deadline tomorrow! 😉

Friday Evening

We left for Ottawa after work on Friday evening.  On the road there was a lot of heavy rain here and there. However, somewhere nearing Ottawa, the road was clear and the sunset was clear.  It looked so beautiful! I couldn’t resist a picture.

Our first stop was to T&T Supermarket to grab some dinner to take to the hotel. Here’s what our dinner was.

There was two different glutinous rice.  There was some dumplings, some rolls and some chow mein. It was all really good.  The only one was the rolls there that was something we never had before and it was pretty good.

Saturday

Its almost routine at this point since its the third year that my friend has joined into the race weekend.  Morning is always for picking up the race package and walking through the running convention and see what other races there are and what new products and sales on running gear and whatnot.

After that, we head out to grab some breakfast.  Like last year, we went to Zak’s Diner.  We enjoyed it quite a bit.

I decided to have a little healthier dish so I replaced the home fries with a fruit salad. My friend had the banana pancakes and he said it was really good: fluffy and delicious.

After that, we went off to do some shopping around Rideau Centre. He left a little earlier than I did to gear up for his 5 km race at 4pm.  I stayed about an hour more.  The really great discovery is that this August, there will be a Disney store there. We’re super excited about that! 🙂

As for the shopping, I found some pretty great deals! I’ll have the haul at the end. Let’s skip forward to the 5 km. There was a huge issue with the heat that day so the morning was mostly also waiting for the times to see if all the races were on time. The 5 km was not affected but the half marathon was changed earlier for the next day. However, the arrangement was that they would provide more water stations and mist to cool down the runners for all the races.

Before 5 km race, kids cooling down

5 km start

The 5 km; Ravens controlling the start; Drone filming

According my friend, he ran the 5 km in a decent time.  Slight more than he expected.  His one complaint, which I’m sure he will address more on his own, was that there was no water station until the 4 km mark when there was supposed to be at 2.5 km. That’s a big deal because it was unexpectedly humid and hot at around 35+ degrees Celsius. Even if its a short run, its still dangerous to be out running in this weather without more hydration available. I wasn’t running it so that’s all I’m going to talk about this, because they did manage to regulate it for the other races.

Sunday

Half Marathon Start

The highlight of Sunday was the half marathon.  The race was moved up 45 minutes to hopefully ease the heat.  The lucky part was that the weather did ease up a little and it was less humid and had moment of cool breeze.  At least, it was so until a little later in the morning for the end of the race for my friend. I was tracking him on Sportstat so I had a good idea where he was. Good news is that with the very well done job on cool down and hoses from residences and businesses along the running path, my friend did his personal best in a half marathon. Congrats to him!

Dimsum at T&T Supermarket

After checkout, we headed to T&T Supermarket to pick up some dimsum for lunch before heading back to Montreal.

Before I end this post, as I promised here is the...SHOPPING HAUL!

PS4 Games: Thief, The Evil Within, Until Dawn

Hiking Pants and Casual Shorts at Eddie Bauer

Victoria Secret Sports Bra

V-Neck Tunic Tank at Dynamite Clothing

Gummies and Nerds at Sugar Mountain

While this is quite a bit of stuff, it actually wasn’t too expensive and everything had a good deal. The highlight would be the great find at EB Games (or Gamestop) for Until Dawn which was pretty much half of what it is sold online. And I’ve been wanting to play it since last year and review it on That Moment In. I’m pretty excited to play it after Life is Strange (for the next Game Warp Podcast soon). Although I do need to finish Little Big Planet 3.

Also, I was pretty impressed and surprised at the Victoria Secret’s new Sport Bra design for medium support since it doesn’t have the wire support anymore but still is equally as good and comfortable. This is the one thing I always get at Victoria Secret because its expensive normally (there was a sale this weekend) but its so much more durable and comfortable.

Everything else was a necessity since I’m a little short on summer clothes since I haven’t bought much in the last few years. 🙂

Overall…It was a really fun weekend as usual! It was really hot but also extremely nice to know that summer is on its way. I am still thinking about joining either the 5 or the 10 km next year. I’m absolutely motivated to do more running this year.  So far I’ve only ran once.

That’s it for the Ottawa Race Weekend recap!

Have you been to Ottawa? Have you run in any sort of marathon (5 km, 10 km, Half, Full)?