Teddy Bear Tea Party

On Saturday, I did a mascot gig with the Hi-4 group at the UCPN Teddy Bear Tea Party. Also in this gig were Damian, jbadger, foxwell, Dreamwolf, and rapidtrabbit. We weren't the only performers there. Also at the event were Barney, Elmo, a Build-A-Bear bear, Snow White, a magician, and another character I can't identify. It was suggested that we bring plush toys to this event so I brought Plush Husky along. He was well received. Since I was in a husky fursuit and holding a husky plush toy, some of the parents and kids said that Plush Husky was my baby. Anyway, it was a good crowd and a good event. We were in the dance, then took a break during the magic act, and came back for the parade. The bad news is we got word that this may be the last teddy bear event if UCPN can't get a new sponsor for it. Another fallout from the recession.

After the gig, we went for dim sum at Fortune Wheel in Levittown. I kept thinking about Wheel of Fortune while turning the lazy susan. :)

Did a few geocaches, one with jbadger and two more on my own, after that. Then I went to Flushing Chinatown to do some shopping. Parking isn't free on Saturday. I bought an hour of parking time, which I figured was enough to get the Asian pears and sweet bean curd and then take a bit of a look around. I saw a few places selling $1 snack items, so I got a baked samsa at Roosevelt Food Court. I researched that little food court when I got home and it's even more interesting than I thought. I have to go back and find the pink tortoise-shaped things depicted in the article because I haven't seen those since I left the old country.

I also had a mango bubble tea at BLT Flushing Cafe. That restaurant does quite a lot of things. In addition to a standard menu, they offer takeout box lunch with 4 items plus rice for $4.50. Not a bad deal considering that Chinese takeout costs at least twice that in my area. While researching these eateries, I came across CleanScores, a website that scores restaurants based on health inspection reports. Many Flushing-area restaurants have rather disconcerting blemishes on their records. For example, BLT Cafe scored as low as 65 with a few critical issues.

( The caches... )