#*and* it's right next to a taiwanese grocery store that probably has a lunar new year candy I've been idly looking for for like. 20 years.

[kirby-the-gorb]

[lennonhead]

hello my friends. happy Lunar New Year. I wish I could be in Richmond partying right now, but I've been ill and it's getting better but not enough of course, I craved the atmosphere as well as Chinese baking today, so I went to Coquitlam. the new bus goes from Mission to Coquitlam, and it's actually really convenient for me because all the buses I need to take line up so I don't need to spend any time waiting. unfortunately, it only allows me 2 hours there unless I want to take the train back which is about 3 extra dollars since I'm sick I only really needed the 2 hours haha I went to Henderson Mall, a Chinese mall that for some reason hasn't taken off like the Crystal Mall in Burnaby. apparently most of the time it's completely empty, or at least that's what I'm told. it's supposedly kept afloat by the owner who has a lot of money to spend and keeps it as a pet project it wasn't empty, but a lot of shops were shuttered. the food court was small and everything was Northern Chinese, Taiwanese, or Korean. it was surprising to see no Cantonese food, but I guess most people in Coquitlam are new arrivals..? I wanted HK cafe food but my phone died so I couldn't look a place up so I got beef noodle soup at the food court. it was kind of weird... the meat had a lot of fat instead of having lines of tendon in it, and the taste wasn't very deep. should have gotten something Korean! I went to the grocery store. it's not T&T (the big mall next door has T&T). they had a lot of different products, including some lovely and expensive red lychees and cherimoya, and my favourite bottled honey pomelo tea. there was a lot of things made with haw, including candies I haven't seen before... tempting but I didn't get any. my tip is to bring your own bags, their's are super crummy, mine basically disintegrated most importantly, there is a Maxim's bakery in the mall! it was small but stocked very well (as in, had stuff I liked). I bought a coffee cream bun, egg tarts, apple turnovers (let me say: they are fantastic), a peach cake slice, and a lychee mousse cake The bus was full both times, and the driver said that was good because service would probably be extended later. that would be useful... it's a lot faster to go to Coquitlam now than Surrey because of how the buses line up