We woke up around 10am, and quickly got out and about and went to a place called OEB for breakfast. It felt like a very fancy place, and was almost completely full except for the seats we got and maybe another table. I got a pretty simple breakfast with some meats and eggs, like what I get at Denny’s but nicer obviously. Sophia got some breakfast tacos which she thoroughly enjoyed.
We then walked to a cafe nearby that’s attached to an apartment buildings huge lobby, which they let you sit in while drinking your coffee from the cafe. I got a hot chocolate and Sophia got a chai latte, both of which were mediocre at best. It was a good spot to sit for a bit and use the wifi to get some work done though, and while there, Sophia bought a yearly pass to the aquarium, and also bought our tickets for the greatest thing ever: a puppy cuddle session the next day.
We then walked to the aquarium where we were able to get me in for 30% off using Sophia’s yearly pass. The staff member that sold me my ticket also complimented by shark shirt I got yesterday! It was quite busy, and since we arrived right on the hour, a lot of people were trying to get in with their ticket, since it’s hourly timed entry (though you can enter any time during the hour and stay as long as you want, people just like to show up on the hour despite the recommendation not to). The first bit of the aquarium was very busy, with lots of children running around, but as we got further in it quieted down a little bit.
We walked around the aquarium for a few hours and saw lots of fish, along with some amazing sharks as we went through the tunnel that lets you look up and all around you into the tank. About half way through, we came across an automated frozen yoghurt machine that we decided to give a go. It was pretty cool, but definitely not worth the $11 price tag to use it. The yoghurt was also fine, nothing remarkable.
There was also a part of one of the exhibits that let you feel an eels shock, which I tried, and while it felt weird, it wasn’t as sudden as I thought it would be. It was more of a fuzzy feeling throughout my hand and arm, but I can definitely see it being a lot worse for a smaller animal. I couldn’t convince Sophia to do it at first, but she did end up trying it by having me put my finger on it while she touched by hand, and sure enough it went right through me and shocked her too. She then tried it herself and did not like it one bit.
I make everyone I go to the aquarium with pose with a blobfish stuffy.
We finished up at the aquarium and headed back outside, being immediately blinded by the sun after being in the dark for the last 2 hours. Once we adjusted, we walked over the Beaver Tails stand and got a beaver tail each. We sat on the bench nearby in the train museum and ate it, watching a steady stream of people leave the nearby stadium. It turns out the Blue Jays had just played a baseball game, and so everyone was now trying to head home.
In an effort to avoid the crowds at Union station, we decided to walk a little further through the PATH network and go to a station before Union so the train would be quieter, then head home that way. We ended up getting completely lost in the PATH network, and eventually made our way out and found we were still under Union station, but since it didn’t look too busy we figured we’d just take the train from here. Before we went down into the station, we were handed two Tequila drinks from a company that was advertising them, but they didn’t ID us or anything, just handed them to us as we passed. Seems like there should be some regulation around that, but oh well
We took the train to Museum station, right outside the Royal Ontario Museum, but when we tried to go into the museum, we realized we hadn’t been watching the time, and it was 5:26pm, and they closed at 5:30pm, oops. No worries, we just headed home and napped for an hour or so since we were both very tired. Upon waking up, we did the classic send “reels to each other from across the room” for a bit before getting up and going to the “Madison Avenue Pub” nearby.
We’d got reservations online before going since it was apparently recommended on Google Maps, and after getting ID’d for the first time (even the LCBO liquor store we went to the day before didn’t ID us) we headed in, but were confused about where to go. It was a very nice building, but there was a lot of people around and it wasn’t clear where to go for a reservation, and it also didn’t feel like the kind of place that would have reservations.
We eventually found someone to ask and they said we could take a seat upstairs, but we weren’t able to find upstairs. We asked someone else and they were a little rude and said upstairs was closed, and after a little more time of wandering around confused, we found another person to ask, who was very nice and found us a seat nearby, and brought us menus and the like.
The Leafs game was playing tonight, which we had forgotten about and didn’t come to the bar to watch, but since it was on we couldn’t not watch. It was the Toronto Maple Leafs vs the Florida Panthers, and it was game 7, so this was the deciding factor for which one would stay in the Stanley Cup playoffs. While watching, Sophia saw a sign saying that over the long weekend they were having different events, and tonight there was going to be on-site tattoos. We couldn’t find any more information, so we asked the staff member that helped us before and she was also confused. She said she’d find out though and let us know when she had more information.
The Leafs then began losing quite badly, only having one goal compared to the Panthers’ 3. The staff member then came back and let us know that there was tattoo’s going on around the corner, and that we could talk to the artist for more information. Sophia pulled up their Instagram account to try and find a design she liked, and by now had fully commit to getting a tattoo.
She decided on a vine-like tattoo going up her side, and we headed over to the artist, paid, and she got ready. Getting a tattoo on your side is one of the more painful places to get one, so Sophia used her partners sweater to crunch on while she got the tattoo done. During the tattoo, the Leafs start losing even more, and the game ends with a horrendous 1-6 loss to the Panthers. The Leafs are now officially out of the Stanley Cup, continuing their trend of losing in game 7.
The tattoo then finished, only taking about half an hour, and looked great. Sophia showed it to the staff member that helped us earlier since she’d asked to see it when it was done, and then we headed home. We played Polytopia on my iPad for a bit before calling it a night around midnight.
