BTS Birthday Event: "SOPE" Celebration for J-Hope and Suga at Golden Bubbles

Oh, yes, Iris and I are back at it again with the BTS cup sleeve events! We unfortunately missed Tae's and Jin's birthdays because we couldn't find an event that would work with our schedules in December, so when we saw that GTA BTS Events was hosting a SOPE event (that's Suga + J-Hope for non-ARMYs) this weekend, we jumped at the chance.

BTS Suga and J-Hope "SOPE" Birthday Event at Golden Bubbles
The BTS Waffle
Apple Pie Waffle with vanilla ice cream
Brown sugar tea lattes with BTS SOPE cupsleeves
BTS Suga and J-Hope "SOPE" Birthday Event at Golden Bubbles
BTS Suga and J-Hope "SOPE" Birthday Event at Golden Bubbles
BTS Suga and J-Hope "SOPE" Birthday Event at Golden Bubbles
BTS Suga and J-Hope "SOPE" Birthday Event at Golden Bubbles — Photocards

It was held at Golden Bubbles, so of course, we had to get the BTS Waffle that only comes out for BTS birthday events (taro bubble waffle, taro ice cream, whipped cream, and star-shaped sprinkles), but we also got their new Apple Pie Waffle with vanilla ice cream, and two of their new Brown Sugar Tea Lattes, which were all quite delightful and provided us enough sugar intake for the next three days.

Thank you to GTA BTS Events for hosting and organizing this event, and happy early birthday to our beloved Hobi (February 18) and Yoongi (March 9)! 🐿️🐱🎉💜

Golden Bubbles Vaughan

Tuscany Place

3175 Rutherford Rd., Unit #41

Vaughan, ON L4K 5Y6

(905) 760-9288

BTS Birthday Event: "Jimin Chaos" for Jimin at Golden Bubbles

Due to some scheduling and commuting issues, we couldn't make it to any of the RM birthday events last month, so Iris and I decided we had to go to at least one Jimin birthday event this month. Technically, Jimin's birthday was last week, but due to the BTS "Yet to Come" in Busan concert, a lot of the Jimin birthday events were pushed back to this weekend instead. So Iris and I decided to drive all the way to Vaughan to attend the "Jimin Chaos" cup sleeve event at Golden Bubbles this afternoon.

BTS Jimin "Jimin Chaos" Birthday Event at Golden Bubbles
BTS Jimin "Jimin Chaos" Birthday Event at Golden Bubbles
Golden Bubbles is, of course, known for their Hong Kong egg waffles (or "bubble waffles"), and they've created two specialty waffles for this event. One is the "BTS Waffle," which is a taro waffle with taro ice cream, taro syrup, whipped cream, and star-shaped sprinkles. (If it looks familiar, it's because they've made this before for another BTS event.) The second one is the "Jimin Waffle," which is a black sesame waffle with black sesame ice cream, mango ice cream, and whipped cream. 

The BTS Waffle: Taro egg waffle with taro ice cream, taro syrup, whipped cream, and star-shaped sprinkles
The Jimin Waffle: Black sesame egg waffle with black sesame ice cream, mango ice cream, and whipped cream

 

MY GOD, I haven't indulged this hard in a while. I do think the BTS Waffle is more aesthetic (I mean, it's purple with sprinkles and sprinkles make everything prettier), but I actually preferred the Jimin Waffle as a whole because I'm biased towards black sesame and mango flavours and they work surprisingly well together. Still, they're both delicious in their own right and you can't go wrong with either. (Unless you hate taro, mango, or black sesame flavours. In which case, you're fucked up. Just kidding. Kinda. But there are a ton of other non-BTS-themed options to choose from.)

   Kiwi Guava Green Tea (left) and HK Lemon Tea Slush (right) with "Jimin Chaos" Cup Sleeve

But then we got really thirsty, so we also ordered some boba — a kiwi guava green tea for me (I had to go sugar-free on this — I can't even imagine how high my glucose level spiked after those waffles) and an HK lemon tea slush for Iris, which were both delightfully refreshing on a surprisingly warm and sunny fall day like today. Of course, we got cup sleeves to go with our orders — this angel wing-style is particularly gorgeous — as well as a bunch of photocards and little bags of candy for Halloween. Thank you so much to GTA BTS Events for hosting and organizing this lovely event! It will be on tomorrow as well, so if you're an ARMY in the GTA reading this, you still have a chance to go if you missed out on today.

And, most importantly, HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY TO OUR BELOVED JIMINIE!

Golden Bubbles Vaughan

Tuscany Place

3175 Rutherford Rd., Unit #41

Vaughan, ON L4K 5Y6

(905) 760-9288

BTS Birthday Event: "HAPPY JK DAY" for Jungkook at Palgong Tea

Went to celebrate Jungkook's birthday with Ying at Palgong Tea!

BTS Jungkook "HAPPY JK DAY" Birthday Event at Palgong Tea
BTS Jungkook "HAPPY JK DAY" Birthday Event at Palgong Tea
BTS Jungkook "HAPPY JK DAY" Birthday Event at Palgong Tea

This is the first time I've seen an actual cafe host and organize a BTS birthday cup sleeve event. Usually, these events are organized by an ARMY or a team of ARMYs, and they ask a cafe if they can host it at the venue, so I'm guessing the team at Palgong Tea Metro Square are ARMYs themselves. This particular location does not have any seating so it is take-out only, but the cafe staff did an amazing job at decorating their little shop space. 

"Euphoria" Banana Milk Tea with "HAPPY JK DAY" Cup Sleeve at Palgong Tea
"Euphoria" Banana Milk Tea at Palgong Tea

They made a special menu just for this event with three limited edition drinks just for the occasion, so we both decided on the "Euphoria" — banana milk tea, in honour of one of JK's favourite drinks — because we wanted to try something that was different from our usual boba choices. It's sweet as heck but is ridiculously delicious and incredibly addictive, like banana ice cream. Some people don't like artificial banana flavour, but we are not those people. I would absolutely order this again. (And I imagine Jungkook would totally approve of this boba.)

Happy 25th birthday to our beautiful, talented, golden maknae! 

Palgong Tea 

Metro Square

3636 Steeles Ave. E., Unit 125

Markham, ON L3R 1K9

(289) 554-9638

Take Out: Galaxy Passion Fruit Green Tea from Royaltea

Galaxy Passion Fruit Green Tea
I went to the dentist for the first time in 18 years today and they only found one cavity (and I don't need to take my wisdom teeth out!) so I thought that was cause for celebration and thus got myself a bubble tea (with minimum sugar 'cause, you know, I'm diabetic and I have a cavity, after all). I honestly got this passion fruit green tea because I thought it was pretty, and it was for about 5 seconds until I mixed it and it turned into a dark brown muddied mess, but it was still tasty and it quenched my thirst on this gross humid day and that's what counts.

Dining Out: Asian Street Foods at Night It Up! Night Market

Went to check out Night It Up! this evening with my co-worker, Carmen, and her cousin, Jenny. If you've never been before, Night It Up! is a three-day outdoor Asian street food festival where dozens of vendors from around the city sell a variety of food and drink in stalls, and you practice the art of eating and walking. We'd been talking about it all week since we haven't been to an Asian night market in so long (for me, it's been over a decade). Over the course of two hours, we had:

Grilled lamb skewers from Zao Men Kan
Stinky tofu from Zhanan Stinky Tofu
Taiwanese spicy fried chicken cutlet from Top Fried Chicken
Pork and chicken skewers from Lert Thai Skewer
Homemade Wuhan sui mai
BBQ pork skewers from Juicy Meat Skewers
Chashu Japadog from Japas
Deep-fried mochi balls (black sesame, mango, and red bean) from One Dog Toronto
Fresh passion fruit lime tea with coconut jelly from TasteT House
Strawberry milk mochi kakigōri from Japas
We probably had room for one more dessert, but then it got insanely busy and the line-ups were getting way too ridiculous, so we decided that that was our cue to leave. Still, we had a pretty good variety of Asian street food tonight. Despite having to immediately shower and put your clothing in the washing machine the moment you get home, it was still worth checking out this year. If you're in the downtown Markham area and want to make a visit, Night It Up! is open until Sunday night.

Night It Up! Night Market

179 Enterprise Boulevard

East Parking Lot

Markham, ON L6G 1B3

BTS Birthday Event: "HOBI DAY 2022" for J-Hope at The Alley Hub

First BTS birthday of the year!  🎉💜 

HOBI DAY 2022 Cup Sleeves!
Deerioca Fever Soy Milk Bubble Tea
HOBI DAY 2022 Photocards
HOBI DAY 2022 Decorations
HOBI DAY 2022 Cup Sleeve Tower
HOBI DAY 2022 J-Hope Poster
HOBI DAY 2022 Decorations
HOBI DAY 2022 Decorations
HOBI DAY 2022 Decorations
In honour of J-Hope's 28th birthday, Ying and I went to a cup sleeve event at The Alley Hub after work today. (This particular location just opened and is having their soft opening right now, so you get 15% off any drink this week!) We celebrated with our favourite Deerioca Fever bobas (they're basically brown sugar milk teas, but I get mine made with soy milk because it tastes exactly like Oatmeal Crisp Maple Nut cereal and IT IS DELIGHTFUL AF), which got us the adorable cup sleeves and a set of sexy Hobi photocards. Thank you so much to @jwaehope218 and @ghopewrld for hosting and organizing such a beautiful event. So glad we could celebrate on Hobi's actual birthday this year! 

Happy birthday to our eternal sunshine, our Piece of Peace, Jung Hoseok! ☀️✌🏼🥳

The Alley Hub

8750 Bayview Ave., Unit 1

Richmond Hill, ON L4B 4V9

Take Out: Chatime BT21 Kosmos Tea

Chatime BT21 Kosmos
As it is Fri-yay, my co-workers and I decided to have a bubble tea break this afternoon. We decided to order from Chatime since it's the closest boba shop to work, and that is when I remembered that they have a BT21 collaboration for Lunar New Year! WHAT A COINCIDENCE. Obviously, Ying and I ordered the BT21 Kosmos, a "shimmering white grape and white peach butterfly pea tea." Aside from the ADORABLE AF cups, the drink itself is beautiful — I'm not sure how much shimmer they needed to add in there, but it looks like a galaxy in a cup. Of course, the butterfly tea is used purely to add the purple colour (would it be a BTS drink without purple?), but the drink itself is actually really tasty and refreshing — it tastes almost identical to an aloe drink especially with coconut jelly. Will definitely go back for another one before the collab is over. 

BTS Birthday Event: "JIMIN DAY" for Jimin at ITS TEA

HAPPY JIMIN WEEK! (Or HAPPY BELATED JIMIN DAY!) 

As planned, I went to a second Jimin birthday cup sleeve event today, this time at ITS TEA! And since no public transportation was involved, Ying was actually able to come with me (albeit on crutches, but still).

BTS Jimin "JIMIN DAY" Birthday Cup Sleeve Event at ITS TEA
BTS Jimin "JIMIN DAY" Birthday Cup Sleeve Event at ITS TEA
BTS Jimin "JIMIN DAY" Birthday Cup Sleeve Event at ITS TEA
BTS Jimin "JIMIN DAY" Birthday Cup Sleeve Event at ITS TEA
BTS Jimin "JIMIN DAY" Birthday Cup Sleeve Event at ITS TEA
(Fresh Lychee & Peach Green Tea and Peach Yakult)
Got a Peach Yakult for myself and a Fresh Lychee & Peach Green Tea for Ying, and received the coolest cup sleeves I've ever seen (they're printed on transparent plastic!). Definitely made up for missing out on the cup sleeves last weekend. Thank you so, so much to Sandy, my favourite BTS event host. It still amazes me that she organizes these events on her own time and money without support from an established fansite. (She said it costs $500 just to have the cup sleeves manufactured and delivered. This doesn't even include the costs for decorations, event posters, and photo prints.) It really made me realize how much these events are labours of love, and how much we take them for granted.

BTS Jimin "JIMIN DAY" Birthday Cup Sleeve Event at ITS TEA — Cup Sleeves
BTS Jimin "JIMIN DAY" Birthday Cup Sleeve Event at ITS TEA — Poster and Photos
What was really great about this particular event was that the venue is bigger than the usual event cafes we go to, so we were actually allowed to hang out in there. We stayed to chat and catch up with Sandy for over an hour, who I had only been able to talk to very briefly the last two times I saw her (at last week's Jimin event and last month's Namkook event). We were actually there until the end of the event so I helped Sandy clean up the space, and she told me to take whatever decorations I wanted because they'd all be thrown out afterwards. I couldn't just let them go to waste, so I carefully selected my two favourite photos from the wall, as well as the event poster. (I couldn't resist. Jimin is my bias.) 

I just really wanted to thank Sandy for being such a genuinely lovely, thoughtful ARMY, and organizing such an amazing event. Her hard work and effort does not go unnoticed. And, of course, happy belated 26th birthday to our cutie, sexy, lovely, Park Jimin!  

ITS TEA

5203 Yonge Street

North York, ON M2N 5P7

(416) 551-9666

BTS Birthday Event: "Kookie Rapper" for Jungkook and RM at Kung Fu Tea

As mentioned in the last post, ARMY Events Toronto, headed by fellow ARMY and graphic designer, Kait Martin, hosted a 3-day joint birthday celebration this long weekend in honour Jungkook and RM. It was headquartered at Christie Pits Park and partnered with three different cafes/eateries. Ying and I had stopped by K Seoul Hotdog for lunch and to get the Jungkook and RM photo strips, and then we headed over to Kung Fu Tea to get the event cup sleeves.

BTS Jungkook and RM "Kookie Rapper" Birthday Event at Kung Fu Tea
BTS Jungkook and RM "Kookie Rapper" Birthday Event at Kung Fu Tea
Grapefruit Green Tea with Agar Bubbles and Yakult Green Tea with Aloe from Kung Fu Tea
You can only get one cup sleeve per drink, so I had to order two drinks to get both cup sleeves, but I inadvertently discovered some fantastic summer beverages: the Grapefruit Green Tea with Agar Bubbles, and the Yakult Green Tea with Aloe. They're equal parts tart and sweet, and both delightfully refreshing; 10/10, would order again. Most importantly, we got our cup sleeves and they are adorable. Happy belated birthday again to Jungkookie, our golden maknae, and happy early birthday to RM, our fearless leader!

Kung Fu Tea

633 Bloor St. W.

Toronto, ON M6G 1K8

(416) 538-7880

Photolog 2021: Day 68 of 365

HAPPY SUGA DAY! Our cup sleeve sets from WithTheCloudsCo had arrived just in time so that we could celebrate Yoongi on his actual birthday, so Ying and I decided to go try Tiger Sugar this time around (some sugar for Suga, har har har).

Brown Sugar Boba Milk with Cream Mousse (with Suga cup sleeves!)
Brown Sugar Boba Milk with Cream Mousse (with a Suga photocard!)
We both got their signature Brown Sugar Boba Milk with Cream Mousse and I gotta say, it's easily become my favourite brown sugar bubble tea. They got the flavour, texture, and ratio down pat, so it's really no surprise that they've centered their entire franchise around their brown sugar drinks. (The drinks also look a lot prettier when you get them fresh from the store — the brown sugar had settled down to the bottom by the time we got back to my apartment so these photos don't show the drinks in their full majesticness.)

Happy 28th birthday to Min Yoongi, Agust D, and our Lil' Meow Meow (it just occurred to me how appropriate it was to go to a bubble tea shop named Tiger Sugar)! 🥳💜