On the morning of August 1, Lyra drove from her side of the state to mine, arriving at my parents’ house at about 10:30 AM. From there we departed in the FLE car for Montreal!
The Travelodge, our cheap hotel of choice, required a three-night reservation. We decided to travel down on Thursday, August 1, and pass Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights, departing Sunday morning. We anticipated arriving on Montreal by lunchtime, early enough for us to go to a museum that afternoon. We also thought that we would do shabu shabu at Kagayaki on Thursday night before the anime hordes descended on Friday, the first day of the con.
I got smart this year and brought clothes hangers [to dry sweaty clothes before putting them in laundry], a garbage bag [to separate dirty clothes from clean], extras of everything [because I sweat a lot around this time of year], and my own towels. For dolls, I brought two 1:6 scale Hardshippers, Toon Silence and Toon Ethan. I was considering bringing just one, but I started to feel guilty. Because they are partners, I didn’t want to bring one without the other and make them unhappy to be separated!
I also got smart this year by checking beforehand how long the border crossing might take. The US customs and border patrol’s website conveniently lists each border crossing, how many of each lane [passenger, commercial, pedestrian] are open, how long the wait is, and if there are any warnings. When we left my parents’ house, I saw a ten-minute delay [i.e., a ten-minute wait at the border] for the Highgate Springs crossing, where we have always gone into Canada. We hoped that our luck would hold and that we would not have to wait long to cross.
As we got within yards of the border, we saw one of those portable highway signs that forms digital text with each letter made of different formations. It said WARNING: CANADA AHEAD! We thought that was hilarious, as to me it implies that Canada is a surprise or toxic or both.
We were also highly entertained by an infographic sign of a speed bump because Lyra had seen a Norwegian version online. Apparently the Norse word for speed bump is “fartshumper,” which is naturally funny to us Anglophones because it contains “farts,” a scatological term. We were just saying “fartshumper” and snickering.
Anyway, we cleared the border in 10 minutes, which was the quickest weekday border crossing I’ve ever experienced! Once in Canada, we experienced bumpier local routes and highways, but no problems entering Montreal, parking the car in the usual garage a block away [$30.00 Canadian a day], and checking into the hotel [room 201, right by the elevator].
We identified a new favorite food shop in Chinatown for lunch and all other snacks. Coco, a chain of patisseries [sometimes in conjunction with bubble tea shops], offers delicious Japanese and Chinese pastries and other sweets.
For lunch we got sesame buns with red bean paste in them, which are crunchy because of the sesame seeds, dense, chewy, and fatty because of the doughy bun parts, and sweet [but not too sweet] on the inside because of the red bean paste. We consider them the perfect blend of sugar, fat, and protein, the perfect addition to a meal. We also got onigiri, which is kind of a Japanese equivalent of a sandwich with a filling [I had spicy beef], rice for the equivalent of bread, and a seafood wrapper to keep the whole thing together.
Continue reading Otakuthon, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 08/01/2024: “Warning: Canada ahead!”
