Curiously Carmen

Travel: Tokyo DisneySea Resort Review

January 4, 2020

I actually started writing this draft in April, but never ended up finishing it! Back in November 2018, the fiance and I went on our much anticipated trip to Tokyo. One of the places we wanted to check out was Tokyo DisneySea.

Tokyo DisneySea is the only DisneySea resort in the world! Next door to Tokyo DisneySea is Tokyo Disneyland. Since we have been to Disneyland in the past and had limited time, we decided to only check out DisneySea.

The weather was quite cold for Tokyo standards that day! Also, the Disney resorts are located on the outskirts of Tokyo, closer to Tokyo Bay which also made it colder.

There were also some drizzly periods, but that didn’t stop us from having fun! You can tell from my photos that it was also cloudy that day. I thought about editing them to make it brighter but wanted to show potential visitors what the weather is like in November.

Tokyo DisneySea did sell some rain ponchos and portable sticky heat pads as well.

Getting there: Both Disney resorts are easily accessible from Tokyo, and is approximately 1-1.5 hours each way, depending on the method of transportation.

The cheapest option is to take the subway from Tokyo, but you’ll have to transfer a few times. Since we were meeting with our friends early, we purchased shuttle bus tickets on the same morning that departed from the Shinjuku Expressway Bus Terminal. It was a great decision because I was able to nap the whole way and not worry about transferring trains or keeping our friends waiting from getting lost in Tokyo’s vast subway system.

American Waterfront at night

Just like Disneyland, DisneySea was divided into different themed areas – Mediterranean Harbour, Mysterious Island, American Waterfront, Port Discovery, Arabian Coast, Mermaid Lagoon, and Lost River Delta!

The park was huge, and we were so glad to have our experienced Japanese friends guide us around. If it was just the two of us, we definitely wouldn’t have been able to explore as much as we did that day.

Toy Story Mania, one of the most popular rides! We didn’t have time to go on it though. 🙁

There was also an app that they used, which told you the wait times for each ride. I don’t remember if it was only in Japanese or not though… Clearly that day, we were useless and trusted our friends LOL!

Mediterranean Harbour: The first area of the park!

As the name suggests, Mediterranean is named after a seaside Mediterranean town. This is also where the nightly water show is held too.

For lunch, we went to Miguel’s El Dorado Cantina, the Mexican themed restaurant. The food was delicious!

Also, I brought in some onigiri from 7-11 just incase, as I was still dealing with my stomach issues during the trip and didn’t want to upset my stomach/in case I couldn’t eat anything at the park.

There wasn’t a problem with bringing in my own food, so you could also stock up if you have strict dietary requirements or want to save money on food.

Stella Lou is one of the exclusive DisneySea characters. I fell in love with this adorable, soft purple bunny! Other exclusive DisneySea characters include Shellie May and Duffy.

All the cute Stella Lou’s!

Another Tokyo food exclusive was Toy Story’s alien mochi! I knew we had to get these.

They were cute and also delicious, with either a chocolate, strawberry or vanilla filling. You can find these at a trolley in American Harbour. Just a heads up that there will probably be a line up because they are very popular!

Mickey Mouse chicken nuggets! I forgot which place my friend got these though. They tasted like regular chicken nuggets, except they were Mickey Mouse shaped.

Mermaid Lagoon: This indoor area of the park was dedicated to Ariel and ocean life. It was a huge building with some different rides and a gift shop.

More Mermaid Lagoon

Arabian Coast

Found Stitch at Arabian Coast!

Sindbad’s Storybook Voyage, Disneysea’s version of the ‘It’s a Small World’ ride. We were on a boat which slowly transported you to different themes.

Sindbad’s Storybook Voyage

Gondolas at Mediterranean Harbour

At the end of a fun day, we watched the night show at Mediterranean Harbour. The show was in Japanese so I couldn’t understand what they were saying. It was still fun to watch though!

We had a very fun day at DisneySea! If you are staying in the Tokyo area for more than 4 days (anything less I would recommend only checking out the neighbourhoods in Tokyo), I would recommend reserving a day for DisneySea.

Fable Diner – Revisit

January 2, 2020

Happy new year everyone!

It’s been a few years since our first visit to Fable Diner. We came here with a group back in 2016 when they had just opened, you can read that review here. Fast forward to present day, we were looking for a place to have dinner one evening that wasn’t one of our usual places!

After some browsing, we decided to come here because the fiance loves the tomato cheddar soup and I would finally be able to try it! I’m happy to say that my digestive issues have temporarily subsided so I need to take advantage of being able to eat dairy.

Peanut butter and Nutella milkshake: This was one of the items that was ordered in our first visit, but I wasn’t able to have dairy back then so I didn’t try it. I was able to try it this time and it was very delicious!

The milkshake was very creamy, rich, and chocolatey. There was also a good balance of peanut butter as well.

Cheddar tomato soup: The star of the show! This soup has been raved about by multiple friends and the fiance. It did not disappoint as well!

The soup had a nice, smooth pureed texture. It was very tomato-y and you could taste the cheddar that was pureed in as well. To elevate the soup even more, it came with some deliciously cheesy garlic bread on the side.

Poutine with BBQ duck: The poutine was delicious with lots of cheese curds and gravy. The BBQ duck was very moist and tender. It reminded me of Chinese style BBQ duck.

Both were good separately, but I did not find that the combination went well together.

Mac and cheese: The mac and cheese was my favourite dish of the night. It was so incredibly cheesy. The sprinkled goat cheese on top gave it more excitement.

Chicken and grits: We both never had grits before, so decided to give it a try. I was not a fan of the texture at all. It appears that each restaurant makes it differently. I found it to be undercooked and as if I were eating plastic.

The fried chicken was juicy, fresh, and crispy! We got two pieces with this plate.

We ordered a lot of food and had enough leftovers for the next day. It was nice to be back at Fable Diner and I would recommend going. Service was very attentive and friendly throughout our dinner too.

Botanist

December 30, 2019

For my birthday this year, the fiance took me to Botanist. I’ve seen and heard good things about Botanist before, so I was quite excited to try it!

Botanist is located inside the Fairmont Pacific Rim hotel, so you already know it’ll be an upscale dinner. The restaurant itself was really pretty and airy, with a modern yet nature-y feel to it.

We were seated in the garden area, surrounded by lush draping leaves and vines. Our server told us that a gardener comes everyday!

After we were seated, I was given a birthday card signed by various staff members! It was a thoughtful touch.

Bread: We started with the complementary bread. It contained some sesame seeds in it, which gave the bread a bit of a crunchy texture. The texture was dense and chewy, similar to a pretzel. There was also a generous slab of butter.

Treebeard: The fiance ordered the treebird, which came with Douglas Fir gin, Oaked rye, cedar, birch sap, and smoked tea. Needless to say, there was a very strong woodsy and smoked flavour to it. It wasn’t my cup of tea but if you’re a fan of gin or hard liquor, you’d enjoy this.

No bad days: I ordered a mocktail, which was just the same quality. This drink was made with grapefruit juice, rose (not the wine) and lemon. The flavors and together really well and I also appreciated the fact that there wasn’t any ice. One of my pet peeves is when restaurants fill the glass with ice and you’re barely getting any drink!

Foie gras: For one of our starters, the fiance wanted to try the foie gras. It had a smooth texture similar to tofu. The taste reminded me a bit of fatty beef.

The foie gras was very rich so it also came with a sweet churro and pastry tart to cut the richness. The churro and pastry seemed strange at first, but it really complemented the taste of the foie gras.

Hand cut tagliatelle: This was delicious! If you’re a mushroom lover, this dish is not to be missed. The tagliatelle was a bit thick, chewy, and cooked al dente.

There was a lot of fresh mushrooms inside and it was simply DELICIOUS! The tagliatelle also came with two pieces of thinly cut and dried piave cheese.

Duck breast: I ordered the duck breast and it was amazing. The duck breast was tender and juicy inside while slightly crispy on the outside. A brown butter sauce was poured on top which complemented the duck breast. I don’t know how they come up with these combinations but they know what they are doing because it was delicious.

After having the tagliatelle, I was also spoiled with more fresh, delicious mushrooms in this dish too! In addition, I fell in love with the mushroom sauce. The sauce was light and fluffy but full of mushroom flavour.

Olive oil poached halibut: The fiance ordered the halibut, which was a great decision as well. The halibut flaked perfectly and tasted very fresh. It was a simple dish but still enjoyable. There was also a salty crunchy topping on the halibut which we weren’t too sure of what it was.

Surrounding the halibut in a circle, the dish also included some pork agnolotti, which is the Italian version of a dumpling. It was a nice addition to the halibut. The pork was juicy and flavourful inside.

Apart from the agnlotti, the circle also included some deep fried fish skin, which was very very very fishy! There were also some two root vegetables, salsify and rutabaga.

The dishes at Botanist were executed very well and we left full and happy. Although some items seemed random, they actually complemented the other flavours very well. The chefs know what they were doing here. I would definitely recommend Botanist for a special occasion.

Gong Cha – Renfrew

December 27, 2019

Last year, I remember complaining to the fiance that there weren’t many bubble tea places in this area. Then, they opened Ding Tea earlier this year… and now, they also have a Gong Cha in this area that opened a few weeks ago which I will be writing about today!

Last week, I also saw a ShareTea sign opening up soon just a block from Ding Tea as well! My bubble tea prayers have been answered and I will have three options to choose from in this area!

Gong Cha has been on the back burner for me in terms of bubble tea. I’ve been a couple times to the Robson Street and Kingsway Street locations. The drinks were decent, but I don’t live close to either location nor do they offer delivery so I don’t have Gong Cha as often as ShareTea or YiFang.

However, I found that this new Gong Cha has been the best Gong Cha to date. Also, since this location is a lot more convenient for me (not the reason why I found it to be the best Gong Cha to date btw), I’m sure that we will be back again.

This location is directly across from Renfrew Skytrain beside Tim Hortons. It is spacious, and suitable for studying or catching up.

Wintermelon juice: I went with my usual wintermelon juice. I was a bit disappointed that I couldn’t adjust the sweetness level because that meant it wasn’t made to order like other drinks. So far, the only place where I can adjust wintermelon juice is ShareTea.

With that said, I still enjoyed my wintermelon juice. It was light and refreshing, with a good amount of sweetness.

My favourite part however, were the pearls. These were some of the best pearls I’ve had! They were so fresh and chewy. I’d come back just for the pearls. The fiance also noted that the pearls were really good quality here.

Milk tea: The fiance ordered a milk tea with grass jelly. The milk tea was fragrant and strong. He also really enjoyed the grass jelly, which had a strong herbal taste to it so you know that it’s quite pure and not made with a lot of sweetener.

Overall, we enjoyed our drinks at Gong Cha and will definitely be back.

Golden Seafood Restaurant

December 22, 2019

Golden Seafood Restaurant replaced Golden Phoenix Restaurant, which is a bit confusing because both restaurant names are a bit similar. Anyways, I remember going to Golden Phoenix in the past but did not realize they had closed down and the restaurant is now Golden Seafood.

We came here with my parents for dim sum on a weekend, and it was quite full. None of us like waiting (I guess that’s where I get it from) and we ended up waiting for about 15 minutes for a table.

Prawn spring roll: The prawn spring rolls came fresh and crunchy. They were delicious, with a nice, snappy bite to it. There was also some garlic in the spring roll which was a good addition!

Steamed prawn and corn dumpling: We usually go with the steamed prawn dumpling, but this seemed enticing. Again, the prawns had a nice, fresh snap to it. The corn did not taste very fresh or sweet though.

Steamed pork beancurd: The most disappointing dish of the afternoon. When it came to the table, we just stared at it because it looked quite sad and small compared to other restaurants. Tastewise, it was very bland.

Taiwanese vermicelli with XO sauce: The vermicelli was very thin, I would have preferred a slightly thicker vermicelli. The noodles were also a bit overcooked. However, the flavour was there and the XO sauce gave the dish a nice spicy kick.

Shrimp dumpling with pea tip: How many shrimp dishes can we order?? The answer is, a lot! After ordering a few shrimp dishes, they do these dishes pretty well – the shrimp was fresh with a nice snap to it.

Beef tendon: My parents ordered a beef tendon as well. I didn’t have any, but they had no complaints about it.

Overall, we left full and satisfied. Golden Seafood Restaurant is a good and convenient option in this neighbourhood, but not a restaurant I would specifically drive to.