Howdy y'all!
Back home from a trip to Texas, my first ever VACATION that I am entitled to call such.
Tuesday
Meeting niisan's amazing parents was certainly a great, fun encounter. They are as awesome as mine are, and boy are they kickin. They were my first (scratch that, second, my amazing host was the first) encounter of this southern hospitality. I also got treated. The food was my first sampling of what mexican food is meant to be. Not that 'old el paso' stuff, no. Lightly spiced salsa without any chunks, and two types of those tortilla breads.
I got a first glance of what niisan's job entails, as well as the coworkers and bosses in awkward but funny moments. The first night though, I felt the whole trip. Thanks to lots of love, I did sleep some, but what came next was like a miracle.
Wednesday
Breakfast at IHOP! 4 blueberry pancakes meant 4 days of breakfast. I finally ate at this mythical place. From what I had heard, I expected something like 150 different ways to serve pancakes but I am glad it was not so. How could I even have chosen? But yes: light, deliciously fluffy pancakes! All of the amazing.
After that? King SPA. Oh yes.
No, really, from seeing onsen in anime and manga, I knew what to expect, but the whole feeling of stepping into those? So, sooo amazing. (I checked, but really, the closest we have from that is on the edge of the country closer to Ontario..urg) The different rooms were each more amazing than the previous one. That bulgama room had pretty amazing heated floors, and the ice room... hey, it was a taste of my country without the freezing winds~ yay!
That salt room had a ominous but peaceful feel with the bags of salt hanging from the rocky ceiling, and please, that pyramid room next door was like 'yup, I'm Atem, and this is my kingdom'.
Crystal room was just epic with all that quartz lining the walls. A few steps away was the Far Infrared room where your feetsies could bathe in red light. The room was decorated with wooden squares, black wood and more of that purple quartz. There were lights on the ceiling too, which added to the whole atmosphere.
The oxygen room was hidden... or more like the horse statue was what diverted anyone's attention. When we found it? Best thing ever.
Afterwards, I felt my stomach discomfort and everything else had vanished. Our next stop? Buffalo burgers, and boy were they epic. I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was something so, so tasty. Sort of like eating fish or chicken.. it isn't a heavy meat at all. The place we had it from also had the most epic decor and scattered notes. More pictures should have been snapped waiting in line, but it's all goo. Yes. All good. That food was so, so amazing.
We went to see some museums, including really nice jade works and some of the finest human figurines and beautifuly decorated vases.
Next came the Dallas World Aquarium.
Which... really, it's called an aquarium, I expected to see fish. I got served.
More than fish, there was an open-air habitat with birds flying around you, and monkeys and swans... There were also pretty epic exhibits of mustached monkeys that would make for a pretty epic summon.
...oh and a water weasel. Seriously the best part was to watch it play with its rock. It was the cutest thing ever and I went SQUEEE even more than the kids.
I snapped a video of the underwater tunnel with the sharks and manta rays. The feeding? Sharks were so unimpressed by those shrimp. It was sort of sad to see those calmari falling though, but this is the cycle of nature. I sort of expected all of them to jump at everything but they waited for it to just fall or something. There really wasn't much of a fight. I think a shark even just spat out a shrimp, all like 'you call this food? amateurs..'. After that we saw many of the world aquariums, with all different sorts of fish. Even saw a spider crab fight. Those guys are kinda creepy.. but nah, urchins take the creepy flag. Something black with glowy eyes? Yup. Creepy.
There were also jellyfish" Now that was something not many people get to see.
While we are on the subject: there was also the biggest manatee ever that I wanted to hug and squish. Gawds... I swear, it was just... let me in, I wanna.
There were many things rooming in with it, including the biggest sea turtle ever.
We also saw many, many bats. They were so cute hanging upside-down.
They were sort of kicking us out by that time when we reached the flamingoes, but I got to see that epic king of their jungle, and he was lounging like he really was the king.
There was no opportunity to get anything off the souvenir shop, but I would have some opportunity later. I do have the programme book, which makes up for it. It is colorful and lists everything you can see! My memories of that water weasel tops their static photo though.
In the evening, we ate at Reunion Tower. Right on top. We could see all of the city stretching out below us, and it was so, so amazing. Looking back on it, we did so much within a single day, it was incredible. I had the privilege of discovering that I dislike cilantro. Perhaps we should have split that salmon of hers :3 I think a lot of food was shared and split on this trip. I got my first view of downtown in the evening hours, and the buildings lighting up as we headed back.
Also most epic cute present ever: niisan gave me my very own Mister Roary! He is adorable and the best prop ever~
Thursday
In the morning, we played some Wii. Tennis was a tie, as was baseball. We had the most hilarious genjutsu bowling ever too. It went downhill at golf, because Sasuke cannot do this whole putting thing. Nopes. We also had boxing, in which I think I got defeated soundly.
After that, it was on to epic Naruto wii game, in which it was Itachi and Sasuke vs the world and weird teams. We handed them all their asses though, cause we are epic. Niisan also rocks a lot.
Visited 1stGlobal: the most amazing workplace in the history of ever. Really, the people there were each amazing, welcoming, they had a great energy around them. Quite a few were epic enough to be give maple candies. One of them also like dragons. Oh hell yeah~
Went to Kazy's, where we found the most epic inarizushi! Like, ever. Maddy has good taste in food. Also: shime-saba. Yes, yessss marinated mackerel is so so yummy and my most favorite ever! This coupled with ebi. Also eel is very nice. Hmhmm~
Then it was all the packing for the con, the pre-reg...
And Medieval Times in the evening. We got to meet the Falconer, actually falconess. She was epic and was loving our cosplays, and her falcon was amazing and epic and all kinds of awesome. Did I mention epic?
Epic fail also with our double knighting ceremony, the guy couldn't pronounce it to save his life but I bet you any con-goer LOLed. Someone actually said 'off with their heads' ahha.
The food was great, and I could have eaten a cauldron of that tomato soup. The chicken was nice too, and gosh the show. We all came for the show.. but the yellow knight was distracted by the ladies. Tsk tsk. We all loved the guy that only appeared for like 1 scene cause he looked like Madara. We actually found him chillin like a boss at the bar afterwards, and he totally autographed my paper crown. Awyeah. We also got amazing photos. Most amazing epic photos ever.
Friday-Saturday-Sunday
The con. Of which I remember meeting some cool Tsunade and Jiraya, having amazing as hell fanart comissioned... and the most epic Madara cosplay ever. The guy wore our rose the next day too. Ak freakin yea we so cool. No really, I remember eating a hotdog, and being grateful it was a mustard stain cause yellow on white is almost invisible.
Also: epic sunday memory is the maid cafe. I pwned at Jenga. A real ninja, yo. We also won at cat and mouse, and I drew a kisame on a paper napkin for niisan /the host. The host also kept it along with the rose. It was great, and the chicken we had before was also amazing. Had a Payday bar, some salty-sweet peanuts and caramel combo.
In the evening, we went to Bennihana's. Most epic experience in the history of ever. The chef was great and amazing, and the food was cooked to perfection. The fried rice, I just wish I'd had more space in my stomach. It was the most epic fried rice ever made. Then came the zuchinny, the shrimp, the mushrooms, the bigger shrimps, the steak OH the steak. Best steak ever. We will never regreat splitting that splash and meadow plate. Never. Ever.
We had epic, amazing, tasty dango. How did I forget that? I knew we did something food-related. HA! But yes, freshly-made dango is so so so very amazing!! It is as I pictured it should taste like! It also is hardly sweet, so yeah, it all depends on the sauce.
Monday
Picnic day!
We went to Dinosaur World, and found out T-Rexes are epic scary. Also brontosaurs (I think the sign said their name was something else now) are hard to fit in a frame... There were some depiction of dinosaur families. Those triceratops looked hecka cute.
Also raptors are so tiny they look quite nonthreatening. Niisan and I were unimpressed.
The omusubi was amazing, and I also made a trade with a kid that had picked juice from the machine when he wanted soda. Yay good karma~ Plus: fruit juice, it is nice indeed.
Picked up postcards as a souvenir and a souvenir coin made from a penny! Hurray!! I got addicted to souvenir coins.
Visited Hico, which had Wiseman House (those chocolates were epic. The walnut fudge oh gods), the most amazing chocolate meringue pie ever, and also toured the Hico/Billy the Kid museum. There were amazing things there. Really amazing epic things. Old Polaroids, the first prison (yup, niisan tried it) and I was treated the the brief history of how Texas was once its own country. No really, this was pretty amazing, and made me 4000 times more proud to know someone there and be taught things. Texas is very, very amazing.
Tasted and bought popcorn at another shop, and they also had amazing memorabilia. This place also had many guestbooks to sign, which I feel was a great and amazing thing of its own. These people also seemed enthused to see canadian money. "Don't worry, I'm not letting her pay with it" ahhaha~
We also got recognized by a fellow con-goer as we were on our way to the car. More epic. Awwwyea.
Next up: Sweet Tomatoes. Quite a nice little salad and soup bar! I sorta wish I ate more, but their little brownie was the perfect dessert. We left a message on our napkins :3 ehehee... After that was kenjutsu. Which holy heck was awesome. I had that armor on and after a few basics got to go at it. It was my first try but I liked it, how there is that slight adrenaline rush, and how your body moves in another way on its own.
Except overhead shots.. yeah I still sucked at blocking them, but I knew how to move. The instinct wasn't quite there but the brain knew.
Tuesday
Forth Worth day! Botanical gardens were a pretty, pretty place, and that japanese garden was a beauty, with the biggest koi ever. Yeah, bigger than my face. Really. Plus I swiped free food pellets cause people somehow tended to leave whatever had spilled from the thingee where you pick it up. Bwhahaa. There were also many squirrels, and many amazing photo opportunities. I also saw wasps... which do look hecka nasty. One pretty dragonfly did hang around the pool though.
Going there was an adventure in itself. We saw a cattle drive, which happens daily, and got to ride a longhorn. Awyeah baby~ Toured those souvenir shops too, and really, there were quite a few nice things. I should have bought more of those cool little sheriff stars. I do have one for my bag though, which is really all it needs. Hoping rain won't make that sticker disappear. If it does... still a sherrif star!
Ate chopped beef at Billy Bob's, the world's largest honky tonk, which is an arcade, pool tables, line dancing and food all poured into one. Tried fried okra, which is pretty nifty.There was achey-breaky-dance playing too, and everyone poured onto the stage at footloose.
Oh and someone else ran into us because awyea costumes. Niisan is the best.
Wednesday
Dallas Zoo in the morning.
For some things, the Aquarium was better, but the variety there, and the posing avians..? I swear at least two just posed for us, along with some large lizards. I wanted to take one and bring it back home. For real. Oh gawds. Also, we got to see a snake being fed, which only happens once a week. All of the awesomeness. There were also vultures, condors, eagles.. yeah, those amazing avians. Got a water weasel plushie and a cool bag~
Then, it was like 4 hours of amazing and awesome relaxation time. We went to the SPA again, and bathed there, ate the most amazing dessert ever because no you cannot top anko paste and vanilla ice cream in a batter fish shaped thingee. Oh and we totally crashed in the oxygen room. Ahaha. It was epic... we finished with one last round of baths.
The vacation ended just as it started.
Thursday
Last morning began with Traffic Jam on toast. Epic breakfast ftw, then we went to ship my box o stuffs. Then niisan is working to get a passport, we are so planning vacation here.
Chick-fill-A was the most amazing of places to eat. Like ever. The people were so so nice, and ohgod the lemonade was epic. Left another message on a napkin for them~
I almost cried. In fact I shed a few tears waiting in line to go to pick up my tickets. All good things do come to an end.
But darn that end was.. wow.. kinda glad it didn't happen this way at the start since my flight came in late because of the weather. Mom said NO flights were to go out at 2 and 3pm in Montreal or Quebec because of the weather. I was only worried because I had to go through customs AND security in Toronto. (also watched Tangled in-flight and more than half of Mulan. Never saw Tangled but.. meh. It was goo entertainment but glad I didn't buy it.) But yes all the running and hoping I catch my Toronto flight.. oh also, my BBQ sauce did not pass customs. I think we... sorta all forgot about it... Oh well :(
I touched down at home and kinda uh.. flopped down and slept.
Woke up and got outta bed at 9 or 9:30 this morning, which is better than my usual 10-11 and still lounging.
Now? Time to get off my butt and do all that laundry and stuff!
Tuesday
Meeting niisan's amazing parents was certainly a great, fun encounter. They are as awesome as mine are, and boy are they kickin. They were my first (scratch that, second, my amazing host was the first) encounter of this southern hospitality. I also got treated. The food was my first sampling of what mexican food is meant to be. Not that 'old el paso' stuff, no. Lightly spiced salsa without any chunks, and two types of those tortilla breads.
I got a first glance of what niisan's job entails, as well as the coworkers and bosses in awkward but funny moments. The first night though, I felt the whole trip. Thanks to lots of love, I did sleep some, but what came next was like a miracle.
Wednesday
Breakfast at IHOP! 4 blueberry pancakes meant 4 days of breakfast. I finally ate at this mythical place. From what I had heard, I expected something like 150 different ways to serve pancakes but I am glad it was not so. How could I even have chosen? But yes: light, deliciously fluffy pancakes! All of the amazing.
After that? King SPA. Oh yes.
No, really, from seeing onsen in anime and manga, I knew what to expect, but the whole feeling of stepping into those? So, sooo amazing. (I checked, but really, the closest we have from that is on the edge of the country closer to Ontario..urg) The different rooms were each more amazing than the previous one. That bulgama room had pretty amazing heated floors, and the ice room... hey, it was a taste of my country without the freezing winds~ yay!
That salt room had a ominous but peaceful feel with the bags of salt hanging from the rocky ceiling, and please, that pyramid room next door was like 'yup, I'm Atem, and this is my kingdom'.
Crystal room was just epic with all that quartz lining the walls. A few steps away was the Far Infrared room where your feetsies could bathe in red light. The room was decorated with wooden squares, black wood and more of that purple quartz. There were lights on the ceiling too, which added to the whole atmosphere.
The oxygen room was hidden... or more like the horse statue was what diverted anyone's attention. When we found it? Best thing ever.
Afterwards, I felt my stomach discomfort and everything else had vanished. Our next stop? Buffalo burgers, and boy were they epic. I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was something so, so tasty. Sort of like eating fish or chicken.. it isn't a heavy meat at all. The place we had it from also had the most epic decor and scattered notes. More pictures should have been snapped waiting in line, but it's all goo. Yes. All good. That food was so, so amazing.
We went to see some museums, including really nice jade works and some of the finest human figurines and beautifuly decorated vases.
Next came the Dallas World Aquarium.
Which... really, it's called an aquarium, I expected to see fish. I got served.
More than fish, there was an open-air habitat with birds flying around you, and monkeys and swans... There were also pretty epic exhibits of mustached monkeys that would make for a pretty epic summon.
...oh and a water weasel. Seriously the best part was to watch it play with its rock. It was the cutest thing ever and I went SQUEEE even more than the kids.
I snapped a video of the underwater tunnel with the sharks and manta rays. The feeding? Sharks were so unimpressed by those shrimp. It was sort of sad to see those calmari falling though, but this is the cycle of nature. I sort of expected all of them to jump at everything but they waited for it to just fall or something. There really wasn't much of a fight. I think a shark even just spat out a shrimp, all like 'you call this food? amateurs..'. After that we saw many of the world aquariums, with all different sorts of fish. Even saw a spider crab fight. Those guys are kinda creepy.. but nah, urchins take the creepy flag. Something black with glowy eyes? Yup. Creepy.
There were also jellyfish" Now that was something not many people get to see.
While we are on the subject: there was also the biggest manatee ever that I wanted to hug and squish. Gawds... I swear, it was just... let me in, I wanna.
There were many things rooming in with it, including the biggest sea turtle ever.
We also saw many, many bats. They were so cute hanging upside-down.
They were sort of kicking us out by that time when we reached the flamingoes, but I got to see that epic king of their jungle, and he was lounging like he really was the king.
There was no opportunity to get anything off the souvenir shop, but I would have some opportunity later. I do have the programme book, which makes up for it. It is colorful and lists everything you can see! My memories of that water weasel tops their static photo though.
In the evening, we ate at Reunion Tower. Right on top. We could see all of the city stretching out below us, and it was so, so amazing. Looking back on it, we did so much within a single day, it was incredible. I had the privilege of discovering that I dislike cilantro. Perhaps we should have split that salmon of hers :3 I think a lot of food was shared and split on this trip. I got my first view of downtown in the evening hours, and the buildings lighting up as we headed back.
Also most epic cute present ever: niisan gave me my very own Mister Roary! He is adorable and the best prop ever~
Thursday
In the morning, we played some Wii. Tennis was a tie, as was baseball. We had the most hilarious genjutsu bowling ever too. It went downhill at golf, because Sasuke cannot do this whole putting thing. Nopes. We also had boxing, in which I think I got defeated soundly.
After that, it was on to epic Naruto wii game, in which it was Itachi and Sasuke vs the world and weird teams. We handed them all their asses though, cause we are epic. Niisan also rocks a lot.
Visited 1stGlobal: the most amazing workplace in the history of ever. Really, the people there were each amazing, welcoming, they had a great energy around them. Quite a few were epic enough to be give maple candies. One of them also like dragons. Oh hell yeah~
Went to Kazy's, where we found the most epic inarizushi! Like, ever. Maddy has good taste in food. Also: shime-saba. Yes, yessss marinated mackerel is so so yummy and my most favorite ever! This coupled with ebi. Also eel is very nice. Hmhmm~
Then it was all the packing for the con, the pre-reg...
And Medieval Times in the evening. We got to meet the Falconer, actually falconess. She was epic and was loving our cosplays, and her falcon was amazing and epic and all kinds of awesome. Did I mention epic?
Epic fail also with our double knighting ceremony, the guy couldn't pronounce it to save his life but I bet you any con-goer LOLed. Someone actually said 'off with their heads' ahha.
The food was great, and I could have eaten a cauldron of that tomato soup. The chicken was nice too, and gosh the show. We all came for the show.. but the yellow knight was distracted by the ladies. Tsk tsk. We all loved the guy that only appeared for like 1 scene cause he looked like Madara. We actually found him chillin like a boss at the bar afterwards, and he totally autographed my paper crown. Awyeah. We also got amazing photos. Most amazing epic photos ever.
Friday-Saturday-Sunday
The con. Of which I remember meeting some cool Tsunade and Jiraya, having amazing as hell fanart comissioned... and the most epic Madara cosplay ever. The guy wore our rose the next day too. Ak freakin yea we so cool. No really, I remember eating a hotdog, and being grateful it was a mustard stain cause yellow on white is almost invisible.
Also: epic sunday memory is the maid cafe. I pwned at Jenga. A real ninja, yo. We also won at cat and mouse, and I drew a kisame on a paper napkin for niisan /the host. The host also kept it along with the rose. It was great, and the chicken we had before was also amazing. Had a Payday bar, some salty-sweet peanuts and caramel combo.
In the evening, we went to Bennihana's. Most epic experience in the history of ever. The chef was great and amazing, and the food was cooked to perfection. The fried rice, I just wish I'd had more space in my stomach. It was the most epic fried rice ever made. Then came the zuchinny, the shrimp, the mushrooms, the bigger shrimps, the steak OH the steak. Best steak ever. We will never regreat splitting that splash and meadow plate. Never. Ever.
We had epic, amazing, tasty dango. How did I forget that? I knew we did something food-related. HA! But yes, freshly-made dango is so so so very amazing!! It is as I pictured it should taste like! It also is hardly sweet, so yeah, it all depends on the sauce.
Monday
Picnic day!
We went to Dinosaur World, and found out T-Rexes are epic scary. Also brontosaurs (I think the sign said their name was something else now) are hard to fit in a frame... There were some depiction of dinosaur families. Those triceratops looked hecka cute.
Also raptors are so tiny they look quite nonthreatening. Niisan and I were unimpressed.
The omusubi was amazing, and I also made a trade with a kid that had picked juice from the machine when he wanted soda. Yay good karma~ Plus: fruit juice, it is nice indeed.
Picked up postcards as a souvenir and a souvenir coin made from a penny! Hurray!! I got addicted to souvenir coins.
Visited Hico, which had Wiseman House (those chocolates were epic. The walnut fudge oh gods), the most amazing chocolate meringue pie ever, and also toured the Hico/Billy the Kid museum. There were amazing things there. Really amazing epic things. Old Polaroids, the first prison (yup, niisan tried it) and I was treated the the brief history of how Texas was once its own country. No really, this was pretty amazing, and made me 4000 times more proud to know someone there and be taught things. Texas is very, very amazing.
Tasted and bought popcorn at another shop, and they also had amazing memorabilia. This place also had many guestbooks to sign, which I feel was a great and amazing thing of its own. These people also seemed enthused to see canadian money. "Don't worry, I'm not letting her pay with it" ahhaha~
We also got recognized by a fellow con-goer as we were on our way to the car. More epic. Awwwyea.
Next up: Sweet Tomatoes. Quite a nice little salad and soup bar! I sorta wish I ate more, but their little brownie was the perfect dessert. We left a message on our napkins :3 ehehee... After that was kenjutsu. Which holy heck was awesome. I had that armor on and after a few basics got to go at it. It was my first try but I liked it, how there is that slight adrenaline rush, and how your body moves in another way on its own.
Except overhead shots.. yeah I still sucked at blocking them, but I knew how to move. The instinct wasn't quite there but the brain knew.
Tuesday
Forth Worth day! Botanical gardens were a pretty, pretty place, and that japanese garden was a beauty, with the biggest koi ever. Yeah, bigger than my face. Really. Plus I swiped free food pellets cause people somehow tended to leave whatever had spilled from the thingee where you pick it up. Bwhahaa. There were also many squirrels, and many amazing photo opportunities. I also saw wasps... which do look hecka nasty. One pretty dragonfly did hang around the pool though.
Going there was an adventure in itself. We saw a cattle drive, which happens daily, and got to ride a longhorn. Awyeah baby~ Toured those souvenir shops too, and really, there were quite a few nice things. I should have bought more of those cool little sheriff stars. I do have one for my bag though, which is really all it needs. Hoping rain won't make that sticker disappear. If it does... still a sherrif star!
Ate chopped beef at Billy Bob's, the world's largest honky tonk, which is an arcade, pool tables, line dancing and food all poured into one. Tried fried okra, which is pretty nifty.There was achey-breaky-dance playing too, and everyone poured onto the stage at footloose.
Oh and someone else ran into us because awyea costumes. Niisan is the best.
Wednesday
Dallas Zoo in the morning.
For some things, the Aquarium was better, but the variety there, and the posing avians..? I swear at least two just posed for us, along with some large lizards. I wanted to take one and bring it back home. For real. Oh gawds. Also, we got to see a snake being fed, which only happens once a week. All of the awesomeness. There were also vultures, condors, eagles.. yeah, those amazing avians. Got a water weasel plushie and a cool bag~
Then, it was like 4 hours of amazing and awesome relaxation time. We went to the SPA again, and bathed there, ate the most amazing dessert ever because no you cannot top anko paste and vanilla ice cream in a batter fish shaped thingee. Oh and we totally crashed in the oxygen room. Ahaha. It was epic... we finished with one last round of baths.
The vacation ended just as it started.
Thursday
Last morning began with Traffic Jam on toast. Epic breakfast ftw, then we went to ship my box o stuffs. Then niisan is working to get a passport, we are so planning vacation here.
Chick-fill-A was the most amazing of places to eat. Like ever. The people were so so nice, and ohgod the lemonade was epic. Left another message on a napkin for them~
I almost cried. In fact I shed a few tears waiting in line to go to pick up my tickets. All good things do come to an end.
But darn that end was.. wow.. kinda glad it didn't happen this way at the start since my flight came in late because of the weather. Mom said NO flights were to go out at 2 and 3pm in Montreal or Quebec because of the weather. I was only worried because I had to go through customs AND security in Toronto. (also watched Tangled in-flight and more than half of Mulan. Never saw Tangled but.. meh. It was goo entertainment but glad I didn't buy it.) But yes all the running and hoping I catch my Toronto flight.. oh also, my BBQ sauce did not pass customs. I think we... sorta all forgot about it... Oh well :(
I touched down at home and kinda uh.. flopped down and slept.
Woke up and got outta bed at 9 or 9:30 this morning, which is better than my usual 10-11 and still lounging.
Now? Time to get off my butt and do all that laundry and stuff!