So last week, a few of us from work decided to go to Chinatown during our lunch hour in search of some good bubble tea. When I say ‘good bubble tea’, I mean the kind with real ingredients, not the powdered stuff. We had talked about it for quite some time, so we were all super excited to go! I drove us downtown and noticed a parking spot on Riverfront Avenue, so we parked there and then walked into Chinatown. It was a very merry time with much conversation and laughter. I remember stopping after about 5 minutes to think- ‘Oh wait, I was supposed to pay for parking, right?’ But then we shrugged it off, thinking we could park for under 2 hours without problem. We all got bubble tea, and we were a very happy bunch.
Fast-forward to today. I love surprises! So when I retrieved my mail to find an envelope from the Calgary Parking Authority, I was thrilled!! Obviously, I wasn’t thrilled, but when I saw it, I knew right away why I got it :(. I opened it up, and lo and behold, a lovely notice from the city of Calgary indicating that I owe them 40 bucks. And you really can’t challenge it- the Parking Infraction Notice comes complete with photographic evidence of your car, where it was parked, and the time at which it was parked! Thankfully I can pay this thing online and be done with this whole tragic ordeal…
The big question is, was it all worth it?? Well, it was quality time spent with some pretty awesome people, so yes it was. Also, I did order a mango-coconut bubble tea with tapioca balls, and it was FANTASTIC! In fact, I’ll even declare it the best $40 bubble tea I’ve ever had! So to answer the question… yes, it was definitely all worth it. 🙂
Oh the Calgary Farmers’ Market (www.calgaryfarmersmarket.ca/). I’ve been wanting to go since arriving in Calgary over two years ago. So as usual, I just never went. In reviewing my 30 before 30 list, I thought about community-oriented activities that I want to do (…yes, it’s pretty open-ended). And since the Calgary Farmers’ Market (CFM) recently re-opened at its new Blackfoot Centre location, I knew this would be a place to support and visit. The CFM prides itself as a venue where Calgarians can get the best local food and products. Now, for convenience, I’m definitely one to go to Superstore and load up my entire selection of groceries. The fact is it can be quite expensive to buy all groceries from the market; nevertheless, I’m also all for supporting local farmers and vendors. So off to the Calgary Farmers’ Market I went.
I entered the CFM at around 3:30 pm, and I hadn’t even had my coffee for the day. So it was great to see Fratello Analog Cafe near the entrance. According to the website (www.fratellocoffee.com), Fratello Coffee Roasters is a second-generation boutique coffee roaster with experience sourcing beans chosen for their desirable taste profiles. Their coffee is consciously chosen, responsibly purchased, and carefully roasted. Sounds good to me! The staff was incredibly friendly, and though it was quite busy, I received my coffee in a timely manner. I ended up ordering a 12oz cup of Sumatra Aceh. This blend has a sweet clove aroma with a syrupy body and flavours of milk chocolate and roasted almonds. Sounds good to me. I’m a huge Starbucks fan, but I definitely enjoyed this fantastic blend much more!
After wandering with my coffee, I stopped at Simple Simon Pies (www.simplesimonpies.com). Simple Simon Pies is a locally owned and operated company that’s been producing pies for more than 20 years. They make 4″ individual serving pies which are all made by hand using the freshest ingredients. After taste-testing a chicken dijon pie, I was sold, and so I bought a chicken shepherd’s pie. Yum! I didn’t feel like cooking dinner Saturday night, so this made a great treat to myself.
My last stop was Gull Valley Greenhouses (www.gullvalley.ca). I was told by a colleague that their tomatoes are to die for. The tomatoes there are picked fully ripened, and handled only at the picking and selling stages. All of the produce is grown without the use of pesticides and herbicides. Sounds good to me! I still had many tomatoes in my fridge, so I opted to get Three Amigo Bruschetta to eat with some nachos I had at home. The bruschetta is now half gone. It’s really good.
After I bought the bruschetta, I headed out of the Farmers’ Market quite content with my purchases. I had a great cup of coffee, supported a local company by buying a pie for dinner, and now had some bruschetta made from local produce. I’ll definitely be going back to the market again. (To my breakfast buddy- If you’re reading this, we must go here! The coffee and food options are awesome!!). Does this mean I can now cross #26 off of my list? For the sake of the list, yes I will, but doing community-oriented activities doesn’t end with just one :)…
In an unrelated but much more important note, it is Mother’s Day today! Happy Mother’s Day to all the Mothers out there. And a special shout out to my Mummy! Thank you for everything, and I love you!!!
HIKES & HAMSTRINGS 