My trip to Toronto was a lot of fun! My family and I (minus my sister who had too much homework) left at around 8 AM and we arrived at around 1:30 PM. We had a delicious lunch at a restaurant that we usually go to called, "Congee Wong." After lunch, we went shopping and I went on a mini shopping spree.
Goodies purchased from TO.
Here is a picture of all the goodies that I purchased from Toronto. Although they had a lot of stores that sold kawaii, I was disappointed with the selection since a lot of it were fakes. There were tons of fake rilakkuma, totoro and other kawaii character items. Worst of all, they weren't even good fakes, I could tell right away that they weren't the real deal.
But a lot of new shops opened up in the mall that we usually go to and we haven't been to Toronto in a long time so I still managed to spend a good 3 or 4 hours shopping. A lot of Asian makeup stores has opened up, my sister would've loved it. I, on the other hand, am too lazy to learn to apply makeup well so it didn't mean much to me unless it's creams or cleansers.
Kitty/Doggy Hand Cream
So it's not unusual that I bought this! The packaging obviously caught my eye so I went into the store to inquire more information about it and there was a tester and it passed! It didn't leave any stickiness behind. I hate it when creams leave a sticky residue. I bought a Korean brand hand cream and it feels disgusting after you put it on. Plus, it doesn't even work!
There isn't much but you don't need to slather a lot on her hands for it to work either.
Birthday Teddy Bear
This one my parents actually bought me and it was funny because I was planning on buying it and I kind of ruined my own surprise. The store that was selling it had a huge display of these cute little bears. I thought it was super cute and although I'm normally not a fan of these birthday toys, I couldn't resist this cute little bear. But to my dismay, April 27th was all gone! They had a whole bunch of other birthdays still available but mine had been all snatched! I asked one of the saleswoman who worked there and asked if she had anymore of April 27th, she said that she'd go check in the back.
I also happened to run into my dad about 5 seconds later (we had split up) and he asked what I was looking for. I told him the teddy bear, then he asked which date and I told him my birthday. He gave me a look and said,"Already bought it for you." and proceeds to take it out of his shopping bag and gave it me.
So soft too!
There was a store that sold a lot of Shinzi Katoh goods and other unusual items. I was surprised that they had a shop like that since the majority of the mall sold fake kawaii goods, car parts, copied DVDs, and Asian makeup. They had so much Shinzi Katoh! They were reasonably priced too (as far as Shinzi Katoh items go for anyway).
Ugly Duckling Tin Pencil Case
I thought this was really cute but Alex told me that it's super depressing. My brother agreed. They said that every time I need to get my pencil/pen, I have to look at the sad ugly duckling I don't think he's ugly at all!). I told them that it'll remind me to not judge things by their covers. They still insisted that it was depressing.
Inside.
Bottom.
Sheep Earrings.
I also bought a pair of sheep earrings from the same store. I normally get an allergic reaction to the cheaper earrings because of the metal or paint that they use, but I asked the girl and she said that they're titanium so they won't give an allergic reaction. I hope she's right.
Kapibara-san Gashapon
There used to be a lot of gashapon shops in the mall but I guess they weren't doing really well since there was only one left. It was a small one and they toys were ugly! I couldn't even remember what they were but they did have a kapibarasan one :)
Kapibarasan Screen Cleaner.
I usually don't buy collectors' toys or figurines but this one is cute! The figurines are sheep and I had previously bought one of these (but a different collection, I forgot what it was) when I was in Hong Kong 5 years ago.
They're dream sheep. The text on the box didn't make any sense but I'm guessing it's sheep that grant your dreams' wishes or something.
Possible Toys.
This series is the horoscope collection. I like the Taurus and Virgo ones the most. You have a 7:8 chance of getting a white sheep, which are the ones with pictures and a 1:8 chance of getting a black sheep, which are the question marks.
What's Inside?
OMG I GOT THE TAURUS ONE!!!!!!
DJFKAJFKLDAJFKDSJFKDSJDFLJSAFF IT'S THE TAURUS ONE!!!!! WHAT ARE THE CHANCES?! THE STARS MUST BE ALIGNED WITH THE PLANET NEPTUNE AND IT MUST BE THE RIGHT TIME TO BUY THESE DREAM SHEEP!!!!!
In case you didn't know, Taurus is MY sign and it's the one I wanted! I can't believe this! On my first (and only) try too!
MY ACTUAL BIRTH DATE TOO!?
And that's not all, my actual birth day is printed on the bottom of the sheep. WHAT IS THIS?! THIS IS DESTINY! THE SHEEP AND I ARE MEANT FOR EACH OTHER!
Apparently, it's a game and it came with this paper. I'm not going to use it but here it is just to show you guys. OMG THAT SHEEP AND I ARE SOUL MATES! I DON'T NEED THIS SILLY PAPER GAME TO TELL ME!
Instructions that I'll never use because WE CHOSE EACH OTHER!
Last but not least is Alex's birthday present for me! At the Shinzi Katoh store, I was debating on whether I should buy this adorable tote (since I have a lot of bags, I'm a plush and handbag addict). I left the store without it and decided to think about it. Within an hour, I decided to get it, life is too short! It was then the cherry on top of an awesome day when Alex offered to get it for my birthday (even though it was over our budget, we had decided to get each other small gifts of $10 so that we can get amazing gifts for each other in Asia). He said that he didn't mind going over the budget as long as it made me happy (awwww!).
Shinzi Katoh Doggy Tote.
Front/back.
Bottom.
Yummy curry fish and beef balls.
At some point during the day, my brother got hungry so we went to buy some delicious fish and beef balls. Every time we come to Toronto, my brother feasts on these. I wanted to get escargots too but they ran out. We had ordered much more but Alex and my brother were like vultures and ate a lot of them before I got a chance to take a picture.
Baby Polar Bear.
I didn't buy this little guy in Toronto but he was purchased a few days before we went. I found him in an outlet candy store and there was three of them lined up together. Although all 3 were cute, my eyes were immediately drawn to him. After little deliberation, I decided he was coming home with me. Alex, on the other hand, bought some chocolate almonds.
Here is a picture of all the goodies that I purchased from Toronto. Although they had a lot of stores that sold kawaii, I was disappointed with the selection since a lot of it were fakes. There were tons of fake rilakkuma, totoro and other kawaii character items. Worst of all, they weren't even good fakes, I could tell right away that they weren't the real deal.
But a lot of new shops opened up in the mall that we usually go to and we haven't been to Toronto in a long time so I still managed to spend a good 3 or 4 hours shopping. A lot of Asian makeup stores has opened up, my sister would've loved it. I, on the other hand, am too lazy to learn to apply makeup well so it didn't mean much to me unless it's creams or cleansers.
So it's not unusual that I bought this! The packaging obviously caught my eye so I went into the store to inquire more information about it and there was a tester and it passed! It didn't leave any stickiness behind. I hate it when creams leave a sticky residue. I bought a Korean brand hand cream and it feels disgusting after you put it on. Plus, it doesn't even work!
There isn't much but you don't need to slather a lot on her hands for it to work either.
This one my parents actually bought me and it was funny because I was planning on buying it and I kind of ruined my own surprise. The store that was selling it had a huge display of these cute little bears. I thought it was super cute and although I'm normally not a fan of these birthday toys, I couldn't resist this cute little bear. But to my dismay, April 27th was all gone! They had a whole bunch of other birthdays still available but mine had been all snatched! I asked one of the saleswoman who worked there and asked if she had anymore of April 27th, she said that she'd go check in the back.
I also happened to run into my dad about 5 seconds later (we had split up) and he asked what I was looking for. I told him the teddy bear, then he asked which date and I told him my birthday. He gave me a look and said,"Already bought it for you." and proceeds to take it out of his shopping bag and gave it me.
There was a store that sold a lot of Shinzi Katoh goods and other unusual items. I was surprised that they had a shop like that since the majority of the mall sold fake kawaii goods, car parts, copied DVDs, and Asian makeup. They had so much Shinzi Katoh! They were reasonably priced too (as far as Shinzi Katoh items go for anyway).
I thought this was really cute but Alex told me that it's super depressing. My brother agreed. They said that every time I need to get my pencil/pen, I have to look at the sad ugly duckling I don't think he's ugly at all!). I told them that it'll remind me to not judge things by their covers. They still insisted that it was depressing.
I also bought a pair of sheep earrings from the same store. I normally get an allergic reaction to the cheaper earrings because of the metal or paint that they use, but I asked the girl and she said that they're titanium so they won't give an allergic reaction. I hope she's right.
There used to be a lot of gashapon shops in the mall but I guess they weren't doing really well since there was only one left. It was a small one and they toys were ugly! I couldn't even remember what they were but they did have a kapibarasan one :)
I usually don't buy collectors' toys or figurines but this one is cute! The figurines are sheep and I had previously bought one of these (but a different collection, I forgot what it was) when I was in Hong Kong 5 years ago.
They're dream sheep. The text on the box didn't make any sense but I'm guessing it's sheep that grant your dreams' wishes or something.
This series is the horoscope collection. I like the Taurus and Virgo ones the most. You have a 7:8 chance of getting a white sheep, which are the ones with pictures and a 1:8 chance of getting a black sheep, which are the question marks.
DJFKAJFKLDAJFKDSJFKDSJDFLJSAFF IT'S THE TAURUS ONE!!!!! WHAT ARE THE CHANCES?! THE STARS MUST BE ALIGNED WITH THE PLANET NEPTUNE AND IT MUST BE THE RIGHT TIME TO BUY THESE DREAM SHEEP!!!!!
In case you didn't know, Taurus is MY sign and it's the one I wanted! I can't believe this! On my first (and only) try too!
And that's not all, my actual birth day is printed on the bottom of the sheep. WHAT IS THIS?! THIS IS DESTINY! THE SHEEP AND I ARE MEANT FOR EACH OTHER!
Apparently, it's a game and it came with this paper. I'm not going to use it but here it is just to show you guys. OMG THAT SHEEP AND I ARE SOUL MATES! I DON'T NEED THIS SILLY PAPER GAME TO TELL ME!
Last but not least is Alex's birthday present for me! At the Shinzi Katoh store, I was debating on whether I should buy this adorable tote (since I have a lot of bags, I'm a plush and handbag addict). I left the store without it and decided to think about it. Within an hour, I decided to get it, life is too short! It was then the cherry on top of an awesome day when Alex offered to get it for my birthday (even though it was over our budget, we had decided to get each other small gifts of $10 so that we can get amazing gifts for each other in Asia). He said that he didn't mind going over the budget as long as it made me happy (awwww!).
At some point during the day, my brother got hungry so we went to buy some delicious fish and beef balls. Every time we come to Toronto, my brother feasts on these. I wanted to get escargots too but they ran out. We had ordered much more but Alex and my brother were like vultures and ate a lot of them before I got a chance to take a picture.
I didn't buy this little guy in Toronto but he was purchased a few days before we went. I found him in an outlet candy store and there was three of them lined up together. Although all 3 were cute, my eyes were immediately drawn to him. After little deliberation, I decided he was coming home with me. Alex, on the other hand, bought some chocolate almonds.
Sista @ 