1st night was good, and old habits die hard. Gotta have fun while I’m young, but one of my friends said that I’m too close to 26 to still be doing this. 2nd night got cancelled, definitely not happy with that. Took the day off today to recover, but no recovery needed. Should’ve just went to work. Didn’t get any good photos or videos of any of the sets because I was waiting for Tiesto & Alesso, so this photo of Pike Place will have to do.

 

This trip felt so incomplete. Less than 2 months till Contact. See you there!

PS – I think I’m done with the PSL hunt, getting tired of pumpkin. I conclude that Starbucks still has the best PSL. All the others are just weak copy cats. Especially you, Tim Horton.

Went to the Second Cup at Bentall Centre. It was a sugar bomb and gave me a really bad caffeine headache in the evening. Only $4.99 for a large though. I’d probably get this again next time I go downtown to hangout at Chapters (i.e. read their books because I’m too cheap to buy it and they never kick anybody out). I sat there for a good 2 hours, reading The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell. You know that feeling when you’re near the end of a good book and you wish it didn’t have to end? When am I going to find another book that keeps me captivated like this one did? It was like a super hero movie, I could imagine the explosions and psychosoteric laser beams being shot from everybody’s chakra eyes. Good distraction from certain things in life.

4 more shifts till a 5 day weekend, 5 more days till Freak Night… THERE ISN’T ENOUGH TIME!!!!!!!!

Went to try their regular coffee with pumpkin syrup… Still tasted like cardboard. Don’t get it. Not even worth a photo. Tim Hortons, WHY SO FAIL WITH PUMPKIN?

On another note, wind storm in Vancouver was dreadful - trees and branches falling over, it was like the end of the world. Today, the sun came out and I went for a run because boredom and sad from BEBHWBAKAM hasn’t spoken to me in a few days. Above & Beyond also keeping me company. We’re all we need.

Visited the Thomas Haas in North Vancouver. It would’ve been pretty easy for someone who isn’t directionally challenged to find, but it took me a good 15 minutes of circling around to give up and look it up again on my phone… The café was packed when I got there, full of high school girls who had just finished an exam at the school next door and office peeps from the surrounding areas.

Don’t bother with the PSL from here, doesn’t taste like pumpkin. Just get the pumpkin pie – it’s got an inch of whipped cream & adorable little chocolates.
Getting used to the pace at work. Went to a psychic with E following recommendation by G. Was told I’m too sensitive for this line of work, but I think she’s wrong. I love it. Also said that I’d marry a tall Asian man and have 1 child, but I’m going to fight against that too. I already know what I’ll name the child if female – Starla Marie. You better not steal it.
From The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell:

“Your fortune’s what you make it. Not what a stranger with a made-up name says.” – Ed Brubeck

Brunch at Scandilicious, a lil’ tiny waffle café on Commercial Drive…

and they had a Pumpkin Pie Latte!

Not sweet enough, or maybe I was just craving more sugar after only 2 hours of sleep following a graveyard shift. Lots of spices and foam near the top, but it wasn’t very strong. Again… maybe because of the graveyard shift. Cost $4.50, and didn’t make me feel sick. Waffles were good too. I like it.

Went to about 3 different locations before I could find a Tim Hortons that wasn’t burned down, under construction, or closed.

Anyways, a Timmy’s Pumpkin Pie Latte cost about $5. Talk about overpriced for half a cup of foam. Not sure if it they just made it wrong at this location, but it tasted like cardboard and I think it gave me food poisoning, i.e. sitting on the toilet for about 2 hours. Definitely not worth the $5; do not get this.

 

 

The Laughing Bean on Hastings, a family run local business.  The owner always seems to be high on caffeine. When I asked them if they had PSLs, they told me It wasn’t the season for PSL yet, as it isn’t quite Fall. They still made me one. They had syrup from last year, I guess, which is slightly questionable.  The drink tasted strong enough of pumpkin, it was sorta too sweet, there was whip, and best of all, the caffeine is strong there! Cost about $5.

This could be a potential replacement once Fall comes around and they have it more readily available.

The Waves on Commercial Drive has become one of my favourite places to sit outside and read at any time of the day.  I think the barista that works during the day recognizes me as the quiet girl who always gets a lavender latte and blueberry muffin. Waves has a $2 latte deal going on right now, promoting their pumpkin pie latte:

Unfortunately, this pumpkin pie latte didn’t come close to the Starbucks PSL. There wasn’t enough pumpkin flavor, although it was sweet enough, and there wasn’t any whip cream. The latte art was cute though. It’s worth the price, I suppose, but doesn’t quite hit the spot.

Tried the Starbucks instant VIA Pumpkin Spice Latte on my graveyard. It tasted strongly of milk powder, almost like a regular latte.. tres sweet. However, can adjust the amount of powder used… 140 calorie per packet when mixed with 240ml of hot water.

Then, I tried it again on the following graveyard shift, but mixed it with coffee instead:

Better this way. Less sweet, more caffeine, stayed alert all night. The mug is fucking awesome too, kept everything hot. It’s THERMOS brand, all the way from Intelligentsia in Los Angeles.

Overall, it’s fairly convenient to use, and only $7.50 before tax for a box of 4 packets. This could be a potential replacement for the original Starbucks PSL, but still not the same flavor. The search continues…

Sunday morning, post hiking the Wedgemount Lake Trail, couldn’t sleep, so went out for a quick coffee instead. Used one of my many McDonalds free coffee cards to pick up a medium PSL with skim milk:

Not too sweet, different type of pumpkin taste than Starbucks, I think more of a fake sweetener taste… Leaves a strange aftertaste though, and there’s no whipped cream! All the syrup was also stuck at the bottom, but that’s probably because the staff at McD were so swamped (or incompetent). Caffeine content in McDonald’s coffee is usually decent, but I wasn’t feeling the kick today. Maybe because I slept badly for about 3 hours, and nothing will be able to save me now.

Starbucks PSL wins this round.  Although the McD PSL is about half the price, I still prefer the taste of the original. Here’s another comparison of the two: http://blogs.houstonpress.com/eating/2013/10/pumpkin_spice_latte_throwdown.php

On another note.. Wedgemount Lake. This is what I live for:

Pictures don’t do it justice. I didn’t want to leave…

Starbucks brought back their Pumpkin Spice Latte right at the end of August instead of waiting until Fall this year, which was an absolutely brilliant business decision. Can’t resist the fake pumpkin taste, which turns out is not the best for you. Oh well, YOLO…  Got myself a nice Tall nonfat, half sweet PSL – with the whip, of course:

Then, I started noticing that other coffee shops and restaurants were releasing PSLs too, and I got sorta excited! I really don’t like buying from Starbucks all the time, because it’s such a huge rip off for the logo on the cup and usually it’s not even that good. However, Starbucks is the only place I know that makes a decent PSL… Now, with so many other places offering PSLs, I can avoid buying from Starbucks! Time to hunt down the best PSL in the world (cuz Vancouver is the world)…