742. Recent Life | bambeau

These past few weeks I have been super busy with my new store - bambeau! It's an online store selling Korean skincare products which I started over a year ago. The name is pronounced similar to "bamboo" but the "-beau" is pronounced as in "beauty".

It was always a side project/hobby so I took a loooong (slow) time setting it up. I didn't really get any sales at first because I wasn't really promoting it. & to be honest I didn't think it could be really successful lol. I became busy with other things and lost interest in it for a few months..then in May for some weird reason, I started getting a lot of sales. Well, I started getting some sales which was "a lot" compared to none hahah. At that point I started putting a lot more work into it to keep the momentum. Then in June I got 3x more sales than in May..and now more than halfway through July I think I will at least double June's sales. I am really happy now it's a sustainable business and now I will keep it going. I've invested quite a bit so far.

I still work my usual job so this is a side thing for now. It feels really rewarding to grow something from nothing. Plus I'm really obsessed with skincare products so it's fun doing it. My rationale before was that if I wasn't able to sell anything, at least I would use everything myself eventually lol. Now I also have an excuse to buy a lot of skincare.

Please follow me there on Instagram! & message me if you'd like to purchase anything..I can offer a friends/Leftbanked followers discount ;)

One of the brands I stock is Laneige. I realize that the packaging is different for their North American market. The products I get are all with the Korea/Asian market packaging.


I don't know why it look me so long to discover Pangaia. They sell basic clothing which are made sustainably using methods and materials that are not harmful to the environment; recyclable materials, environmentally-friendly dye, material from recycled plastic bottles, and they plant one mangrove tree per item sold. I ordered my first set from them and have been living in it every day hahah. I ordered a second set already which is on the way (red/orange coral shade)..I plan to get more in the other shades of blue too. They are super comfortable and I love the colours!





A few weeks ago, restaurants were finally allowed to open for patio seating. This was the first restaurant meal I had in months with my mom and sister.





Another restaurant meal at Chotto Matte!


Their fluorescent washroom hallway


Yesterday we went on a day trip to Algonquin Park. We went on a long hike to reach Mizzy Lake while getting eaten by mosquitoes. I think I got at least 50 bites on me (my record was 80+ in one night in Hong Kong a few years ago lol).


Hennessy watching the drone


I guess I should have worn other shoes lol (they did get a bit muddier after this photo was taken). There was a severe thunderstorm on our drive there though so everything was wet. Luckily the sun came out when we arrived though.


So exhausted from the long hike!


& passed out on the way back.

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737. Recent (Quarantine) Life | Coronavirus Edition

We are currently in a state of emergency due to the Coronavirus outbreak. In Toronto, most businesses are closed with the exception of grocery stores and pharmacies. Restaurants are still allowing takeout/delivery for now but apparently tomorrow, they must all shut down completely as well. I heard they may be announcing a total lockdown starting tomorrow but that may or may not be true. I personally hope it's true so that we can have this all under control faster.

The stock market has crashed and I have resisted checking my stocks for days now (normally I check multiple times a day) as I don't want to get depressed lol. Mainly I just look at the ones on my "To Buy" list as I'm happy to see them declining. As now (or when it bottoms out) will be the best time to buy more. So I am patiently waiting.

A lot of people are now working from home (or completely off work/unemployed). For me it doesn't make a huge difference since I've always worked from home..but I just can't go out to work at cafes anymore. I've been about 3x busier than I was before all this chaos though. As I work in the wedding/beauty industry, all our bookings for this month and next have to be postponed/rescheduled. I've spent the past several days dealing with a lot of panicked clients and rebooking everyone. Now it has calmed down a bit but two days ago I saw that I sent 200 emails within the day, which was probably a record for me. By the end of the day my wrist was actually sore from all the fast and non-stop typing all day lol. On top of work, I started an online course 10 days ago which has quite a heavy workload, so I've been trying to manage everything at the same time which isn't easy.

I am a bit jealous of most other people who are now stuck at home with more free time. I haven't really had any of that in the past week.

Today I finally have a bit of time to update my blog again (I am SUPER behind!! as always). Later I will go and stock up on more groceries. One positive about this whole situation is that we will be forced to cook all our meals for the next little while/save a lot by not eating out.


A lonely little Corona I found in the PATH.


Stocking up at Pusateri's.

**The following photos were from last month/pre-quarantine life, as I'm just trying to catch up now lol.

A few weeks ago we accidentally discovered True True. The place we had wanted to go was completely packed so we ended up coming here. It was nearly empty inside and we were not expecting much. But we ended up loving the place. This pumpkin hummus is soooooo good. My favourite is this bread though. It is freshly baked and very soft on the inside, with some seasoning and honey. I also got one of their flatbreads which was also amazing. We ended up going back the week after as well.


The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks
The author, Oliver Sacks, is a neurologist. In this book he recounts the stores of patients he's had and their unique cases.





Terroni Adelaide in the photos above, La Bettola di Terroni in the photo below




Gulp by Mary Roach I love all of Mary Roach's books (my favourite is Stiff so far) as they're always about weird and interesting topics nobody else writes about. She writes in an engaging and humorous way. This one is about the alimentary canal.

My new favourite place is Early Bird! I can't believe it has taken me so long to try it. Their avocado toast is so good. Sometimes they make it into the shape of a rose (I'll show a pic of that in my next post). This is the plain avocado toast and below is the one with an egg and salmon.






Our "28th-month anniversary" at Nord Bistro. We first went here on one of our first dates and I had always wanted to go back.

A Gentleman in Moscow and Rules of Civility by Amor TowlesI loooooved both these books. They are the first and only fiction books I've read in years. They're both beautifully written and really captivating. I will try, one of these days, to do more formal book review posts.

But unfortunately with my current schedule I doubt I'll be able to read much more from now on lol.


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701. Off to Peru!

We are leaving for Peru today!! I am so excited. I think this will be the most extreme trip I've ever taken so far..I will try my best to post daily updates here. & of course I will be updating extensively on Instagram (@leftbanked)!


Big Love Ball displayed at my building


I wanted new sneakers for vacation and got these but it probably isn't a good idea to bring them there..



First attempt at flying the new drone



Second attempt with drone #2! (The first had an unfortunate death)



Now I am off to finish packing...

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700. Vacation Plans, Chotto Matte & the new Royal York Hotel

Last week we went to the brand new Chotto Matte here in Toronto. They specialize in Nikkei cuisine; a fusion of Japanese dishes with Peruvian influences. Everything from the service to the drinks and food (taste and presentation) were all really good. I loved the yucca and sweet potato chips (even though they are super spicy), ceviche, corn and the sushi above the most. The owner of the chain happened to be there when we were, sitting at a table across from us. He very generously gave us a discount off our bill at the end. Probably because he saw us taking photos of everything lol.

Vacation Plans!
Since this is a Japanese-Peruvian restaurant I guess now is a good time to announce our next trip..we will be going to Peru!! I don't remember when exactly it was decided upon but it seems like a long time of planning already. We will be leaving next weekend and I'm super excited. I've never been to South America before and I'll be able to cross one thing off my bucket list - to visit the Amazon! We will be staying in a lodge in the rainforest for 6 days. Before that we will visit Lima, Paracas, Huacachina, Cusco, & Iquitos.

I've never planned a trip as extensively as this one so far. There is a lot of preparation and research involved like getting certain vaccinations, pills, how to dress in the Amazon, etc. After the trip I will make a series of (informative) blog posts of everything you need to know before visiting Peru. In the past my travel posts consisted mostly of photos but I'll try to do some guides this time. & eventually if I have time I will go back and do them all for the previous cities I've visited as well. I will try to do regular posts while there. Hopefully the internet connection is fast and reliable.

Anyways, here are some more photos from Chotto Matte and other random ones from the past weeks:














Dinner at Miku. I feel I've posted this place so many times already lol.

The Royal York Hotel recently had a major transformation. They completely renovated the lobby, bar and dining area. If you've been following my blog for a long time you may know I used to come here a LOT before they closed for renos. Now they finally re-opened so I went to check it out. I think the lobby in the past was nicer (it was more historic and traditional style). Now it is more modern but it's still very beautiful.

The lobby bar is called CLOCKWORK and the main restaurant is called Reign. That night we had dinner at the restaurant then drinks and dessert at the lobby bar.




I love the colours of Reign - dark green, gold with lots of velvets. It's hard to see in my photos though.







This is supposed to say "We the North".

Dinner at Buca - the Yorkville location. Their Yorkville location has mostly seafood while the King West one has mostly meat. It was really good. I loved the nodini and my lobster pasta was pretty heavy but delicious.



Dinner at Cru.




Lastly, to end an already food-filled post with a final one..here was dinner at Kiin.




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