Our second day started rather late, as we were finally ready around noon. I can't really blame my cousins though — one wasn't feeling well (even though she took medication and even a heating pack) and the other was still a bit jet-lagged. I don't think we were as indecisive this time though, as I remembered my Australian cousin showing interest in a restaurant on our way back from the shopping trip* we did the day before. 

*Correction: it wasn't just my cousin buying stuff... I realized I forgot to mention that I ended up buying stuff for my homeslice too. My cousin was teasing me the whole trip about how funny it was that my homeslice wanted not 1, not 3, but 5 of the same funko pops to sell, lol. 

Chit Chat Play

This past Saturday, I spent the day with a group of friends/boyfriend all the way in Markham for a board game café. The first time I went, it was a triple date with Markham friends and because we didn't have anything planned after dim sum lunch, one of the guys suggested this place.

I remember the first time upon arriving, I was thinking, "Wtf, where is this café?? All I see is a giant mosque/church/ whatever religious building that was, and the rest are townhouses. Dafuq?" But when you think about it, it's a pretty smart idea. It goes back to my last year in university working on a thesis project for workshop class — I was researching the idea of third places (I might have mentioned this in a previous blog post... I don't quite remember) and one of the things Ray Oldenburg pointed out was that third places should be easy to get to in a neighbourhood. That's why theatres and pubs were within walking distance in Europe, whereas here in North America, most of the time, you would have to drive to get to those kinds of places. And with Chit Chat Play being smack dab in a residential maze, I kind of envy the people that live there and can walk to the café anytime they like.

Another unique aspect is the game selection you can find there. I mean, yes, both Snakes and Lattes and Castle have an abundance of games in their library and I probably haven't heard of 90% of the games either, but I get this feeling that 80% of the games at Chit Chat Play, you wouldn't find in either of the other two places that I just mentioned. At least, that's how I feel. Maybe I should mission to downtown one day for the sole reason of cross comparison of these three cafés, lol.

Anyway, one of the games I was introduced to my first time there, was a fun board game called Survive that I would recommend if you want a new board game to try...

At first glance, those familiar with Catan would probably think this is similar to it. Using hexagon tiles aside, these two games don't have much in common. Well... maybe with the exception of the possibility of ruining friendships (except Survive would probably have a stronger impact). Seriously though, this is a pretty fun game. Basically, you want to get your little people off the central island and into either of the islands in the four corners of the game board. Along the way, you have opportunities to force other players into temporary or permanent alliances with you and/or sabotage them to reduce their chances of winning. And for some of the friends I have, just the ability to sabotage other people's plans in a board game makes their day completely *coughcough*

Sadly, I failed as a photographer both times I was there, as I didn't really take pictures of other board games or more of the interior. What I can tell you though, is that, again, unlike S&L and Castle, CCP doesn't really offer food. They offer gelato, which is pretty nifty, but you would most certainly need to leave to aid your stomach if dinner time was nearing. Another thing about CCP is that they offer mostly tea and coffee. And when I say tea, I mean the variety isn't English tea, green tea or black tea. I mean flavors such as Peach Oolong, Raspberry Green Tea, White Gingseng Detox, etc, etc. They are serious about their tea, which is something I greatly appreciate. When they first serve the tea, they provide you with a tea cup, a separate transparent teapot (you can see what the ingredients are inside) and a timer.

"What? Why does that even matter?"

They provide a timer with a time set for you so that when it beeps at zero, that would be the optimal time to pour out your tea and drink it. They know how long it takes for the ingredients to steep properly, giving the best potential of taste. That's awesome!

 I mean, ya, they could have just steeped it themselves (then again, they don't have a huge counter so having all those tea cups and teapots may cause problems) and there would be less of a hassle for the visitors/players to find room when they're preoccupied by their board games, but *shrugs* it's still a cool experience, and that's what makes CCP all the more different right?

Granted, I'm not much of a coffee drinker so I can't tell you how good their coffee is, sorry :P

Oh and one final thing — the board games there are at a pretty reasonable price, if you're looking to start your board game collection. My jaw dropped when I discovered that you could buy Catan (the basic original set) for only $29.95, not including tax. When I was at Chapters or Snakes and Lattes, that same game was $49.95. You essentially save $20. And sure, I could buy Catan on Amazon for the same price, but I would also have to account for shipping, so in conclusion, buying it at CCP was a good choice.

I know I went this past weekend, but I would be excited to go again just to try out more board games I have not heard about, especially when I have a friend who frequents there and could tell me some nifty recommendations :P

NYC: Day One Part 2

So where were we? Right, the ROW NYC Hotel...

The hotel room itself was quaint, modern and obviously appealed to the graphic designer in me (notice the window blinds' phrases in Helvetica?).

Even the packaging of the bath accessories looked pretty modern.

After settling down, we headed over to the Intrepid Air, Space and Sea Museum.

I found it pretty cool that the museum was situated right inside the ship, allowing visitors to see what the interior looked like without it being altered too much (except for the Hangar deck, that was obviously changed to curate more items in a more museum-like aesthetic). Being an aircraft carrier, it also showcased numerous fighter planes on its Flight deck and even had room for a space shuttle pavilion...

The exhibit reminded me very much of the movie Gravity that I watched late last year, especially when I saw the capsule in the last photo. It's bizarre to think that some of the specimens were actually once in outer space before it was put on display there, and technology as simple as eye glasses would require some alterations to make it suitable for space use.

We also went inside the Growler submarine since we were ahead of schedule (and we wanted to avoid the rain!). It was quite cramped in there, even for someone who isn't claustrophobic. I was fascinated by the numerous dials and machinery in each compartment, as well as the layout of the whole submarine. I just wouldn't be able to live in one like the soldiers did back then though.

After the museum, we headed back to the hotel to freshen up a bit before meeting up with my boyfriend's friend again for dinner. Our meal that night was Ramen at Momofuku Noodle Bar. I still have yet to try the branch in Toronto, but at least I can now compare the two if I ever go.

It was quite crowded by the time the three of us arrived. I think it was worth the wait — not that we waited too long. The interior was not that big in the first place, and if I'm not mistaken, the place was a combination of the noodle bar and the milk bar. Once seated (we waited around 15 minutes I think?), the three of us ordered the Momofuku Ramen, which consists of Ramen noodles, a poached egg, pork belly, green onion and fish slices. The quality of the noodles were comparable to the ones from Santouka back at home and the taste was too. The only major difference I found between the two Ramen places was that the pork belly from Momofuku didn't quite melt in my mouth like the kind Santouka has. I'm not super picky about the malleability of the meat, but it is a nice quality to have. Other than that, the price is around the same value if you compare USD to CAD dollars, and the quantity is roughly the same too (though I think Momofuku has SLIGHTLY more noodles). Oh, I almost forgot... at Momofuku, you don't have the option of asking for less salt on your noodles. At first I wasn't looking forward to my noodles after hearing that, but upon initial taste impression, the noodles weren't salty at all! If I remember correctly, I don't think you can add extra noodles either. Wait, I lied. Yes you can; it must be the fact that they took awhile to bring the extra noodles that I forgot, haha.

After a decently satisfying dinner, we parted ways. My boyfriend and I decided to work out at the small gym at our hotel after dinner, just because we knew to keep ourselves in check since we're not done with our food adventures in NYC :P

And that was Day 1! Hope you enjoyed following along with my adventure so far as much as I have. Day 2 shall be coming soon :)

NYC: Day one PART 1

I decided to break up the NYC trip by days/sections to make it easier to read, so I don't bombard you with too many photos, haha. This isn't the first time that I have been to NYC, but it's certainly a different experience all on its own. The last (and first time) I went was way back in high school during a trip excursion, so it has been awhile! Here's a throwback photo I took:

Much like last time, I started off the trip by taking a bus. My boyfriend and I took the Greyhound bus Friday night, which lasted till early morning of the next day. I think it's really the luck of the draw in terms of how comfortable the bus seats are or the type of people you so happen to commute with. Our bus ride to New York wasn't the most accommodating one, as the seats were semi-hard leather seats and we had the unfortunate incident of someone blasting their ethnic music on the bus and only stopping when my boyfriend asked them politely to stop. Maybe I am more tolerable of different scenarios when it comes to sleeping, but I got an "okay" amount/quality of sleep. My boyfriend on the other hand, suffered from poor sleep.

We started our day by familiarizing with the subway, as we would be travelling on it a lot for the next couple of days. I never took it in my previous trip, so my inner design geek was overjoyed to be able to witness one of Vignelli's work firsthand — the wayfinding system of the subway.

It was also interesting to be able to compare Toronto's subway system to NYC's. The most obvious difference is how vastly expansive NYC's subway is compared to Toronto, making it much more accessible and efficient. On the other hand, there are little quirks about the TTC that I found enduring and more accustomed to as opposed to NYC. 

For one, our Metropasses are much more durable. The Metrocard in NYC is hardly even cardstock paper, making it susceptible to wear and tear if you're not careful with it. The black strip on the card is especially important, as a simple dent would deem the card unreadable and you'd have to mail the damaged card to the company to get a new one (or tell the information kiosk about your situation if you're just travelling for a couple of days, and hopefully they'll give you a new one/replacement card).

As a tourist, I made sure to be prepared by Google mapping all my routes and saving the directions on my phone for easy access, which makes for easier travelling. Not everyone does that, so I can understand the confusion that takes place when you look at the signage with only very limited knowledge of where your destination is. Back in Toronto, the subway stations would also specify which orientation the trains are headed towards: Southbound, Northbound, etc, which NYC subway stations don't do. I think if their subway stations had that, maybe there would be less confusion?

Also, the maps in the subway stations are much further down the passageway than the ones in Toronto. It makes it a little frustrating if you want to check where you are and you'd have to wander around not knowing where the maps are. In Toronto, they stick basic maps on the first columns you would see when you first descend into the subway train area, which makes for easy checking.

Anyway, I think my wayfinding designer geek side has done enough blabbering :P

We first headed to the Queens area because my boyfriend has been pretty excited in trying out the Jollibee's in America (as a comparison to the one back in his home country).

Top: Jollibee Chickenjoy Combo with Mashed Potatoes and Gravy, Bottom: Peach Mango Pie

I'm not super particular about fried chicken unless if it was horribly salty, so I enjoyed my meal at Jollibee's like I would at say, White Brick Kitchen back in Toronto. The mashed potatoes was a little lack lustre in the 'wow' department, reminiscent of the processed taste in Popeye's. The gravy sauce on the other hand, gets a thumbs up as it was not overly salty and it made the mashed potatoes much more tolerable. I was content when I was finished my meal, so I saved my peach mango pie till much later in the day. In fact, I had almost forgotten about it as the day went on! I munched on it sometime between lunch and dinner. Frantically slurping on the falling contents aside, it was a nice snack to have. It wasn't too sweet and the outer shell was surprisingly crunchier than your McDonald's apple pie outer layer. 

Since I was busy carrying my luggage in the morning (we hadn't checked in at the hotel yet), I didn't get a chance/forgot to take a picture of the outside of the fast food joint, and I also regrettably didn't take a picture of the surrounding streets. The view was very Batman/Gotham-esque, which I found pretty cool.

Next stop was Brooklyn, where a childhood friend of my boyfriend's joined us for lunch at Smorgasburg.

Smorgasburg is a food tent event that happens every weekend in Brooklyn. We definitely don't have that back in Toronto, which I'm a little jealous of.

For lunch, we each had a Ramen burger, which consisted of buns made entirely out of Ramen noodles sandwiching a beef patty with some barbecue sauce inbetween.

Overall, the burger was good. A little small for $8, but still a good experience. It wasn't something that wowed me out of my mind, so if I had the chance to go to Smorgasburg again, I would definitely try something else if given the choice to.

Oh, I forgot to add that I never realized how hipster Brooklyn was! I wasn't going to take pictures of random strangers, but just the vibe I got from that part of the city was interesting. From the restaurant signage to the graffiti to the people I saw walking on the street, it definitely reminded me of a familiar culture.

Next, we headed back to downtown Manhattan to check in early at the ROW NYC Hotel. When I first stepped inside, I immediately liked the modern decor it had, from the chainmail curtains in the upper lobby, the glowing lights behind the check-in desks, the super fast elevators with oddly convexed interiors to the the Mac computer station set up for anyone that needed to use a computer.

Stay tuned for part 2 of Day 1...