Oliphest 2016 continues with... dun dun duuuuuuuuuun! Chocolate!

Croston was a little concerned that we were considering Oliphest for another Chocopocalypse this year, but we assured him that that holiday happens only once a year, at the end of Lent.

First up was Enchanté Chocolate. See that é? Yeah, just like the Pokémon é. Which means, I just lurrrrve this place.

Of course, it DOES NOT COMPARE TO THE MEADOW.

Not because it isn't fantastic, because Enchanté is fantastic and fun. It's just that The Meadow is just so amazing.

And yes, we went to The Meadow next. I was expecting to go to the one on 23rd, and Matthew let me know the PHESTIVAL WAS NOT CROSSING THE BRIDGE. That Matthew, he's a smart one.

As I walked into The Meadow, I was delighted to find four bars of my most favourite chocolate in all the world. I grabbed them up, to have Sagan giggle at me.

I couldn't find any of my second favourite chocolate, the Patric Dark Milk, so I picked up a couple others that would tide me over, and asked the woman working at The Meadow if all of her stock was out. We then chatted about the cycles of Patric, and the current lull in chocolate varieties as Patric is off at school (OMG, how amazing is this?). She was surprised when I bought up all the remaining Gardini milk chocolate sea salt bars, as she was considering stopping carrying them. They weren't selling well in her store.

My response was, "Nooooooooooooooooooooo!"

And then a measured, "Am I the only one buying these?" Turns out, yes, yes I am. B and I are buying all of The Meadow's supply of these bars.

Huh.

I might have to convince Matthew to journey to the Meadow monthly and buy up all the Gardini's milk chocolate sea salt bars, just as I have B do it at the 23rd St Meadow.

Back to Oliphest. The chocolate shop event was a success! Just look at the wall of chocolate:

And the salts.

Who can forget the amazing salts here?

Next up for our hallway-conversations-only, all-inclusive Oliphest conference was, of course, RAMEN!

I had been to this particular ramen shop before, when Matthew and Kristin were doing their Ramen Show podcast episode here. I recall being puzzled at the menu. I was puzzled again today. These things happen. I'm used to Ryowa's menu: point to a picture, receive a bowl of delicious soup. It worked out, though. I managed to order.

This event was small, but we were able to add Kristin and John to our list of attendees. Good thing, too. Kristin has her interpretive dance tomorrow morning at 4:00 am. I needed to get the scoop on the details.

I couldn't, however, squeeze everyone in the picture, except by, well, you know, actually moving, so I took two shots instead. John showed up when we were half finished, and managed to order, receive his food, and catch up.

The food was, unsurprisingly, ramen. The food was also, unsurprisingly, delicious:

Event three of Oliphest is a success!

Matthew took us to Guardian Games for this evening's conference entertainment. I had no idea what to expect, though, approaching the store to see this:

... I have to say, my hopes were up!

And then I walked in.

I walked into Guardian Games, and I heard celestial music. I saw the clouds part and the fucking light shine through into this building and I knew, I KNEW, I had landed somewhere close to heaven. I mean, just LOOK!

Shelves TWELVE FEET HIGH OF BOARD GAMES!

I would bet you a million dollars in that stack is a game Andy and I could play at the same time, against each other even, and not get pissed at each other. Maybe even two of them.

I would win that bet.

I was in awe and overwhelmed with delight.

Guardian Games also has many spaces for playing games, tables set up in several distinct locations. Given how many chairs and small tables tucked into various places, I have to believe the place is packed full of board and card gamers frequently.

Talk about a gamer's delight!

One of the sections that impressed me the most was the used games section.

Sometimes, a game just doesn't work out. You don't like it for whatever reason: the design sucks, the play is slow, the game takes forever, or the thing reminds you of playing Diplomacy for days in college, hey, now you have a place where you can take it and just remove it from your life. Hot damn! Magic!

I love that Portland is ac city where a place like Guardian Games can survive and thrive. I hope for more of these.

Oliphest 2016 event two: a success!

And we're off! Heading out for day one's Oliphest 2016 adventures. First up, the game store for tonight's entertainment.

Today was the first full day of Oliphest 2016, the first annual Oliphant Festival. Originally conceived as a pottery-and-book exchange gathering of friends in Portland, other elements quickly emerged (such as the desire to have a conferences completely full of the hallway conversations that are "the best part" of larger conferences). Everyone quickly volunteered different events to have, and soon we realized we had our conference. The schedule is fluid, with a few fixed by external factors, such as another conference held in Portland the same weekend (which is to say, XOXO).

First up on the Oliphest schedule was waffles. I've been on a huge waffle kick, ever since having Saturday morning breakfast over at Shirley, Chris, and Penelope's house. Shirley has an adorable waffle maker, which I just lurve. It's smaller and easier to wield than my farm animals waffle maker (which I also simply lurrrrve), and so, more likely to be pulled out for quick meals.

I bought one for Mom and made waffles during my month and a half at Mom's, and, well, left it there (over Mom's initially strong and quickly waning objections). I ordered another one (at $20 a pop, these things should be in every house!), had it delivered in time for Oliphest, and brought over a mix (easiest way to make them), strawberries, and whipped cream in a can.

While I was mixing up the batter and adding the wrong ingredients, Matthew was busy slicing up the strawberries. I swear, his knife skills are worth watching. sliceslicesliceslicesliceslice done!

Despite washing the waffle plates, I never quite trust the first anything on brand new cooking implements. Yes, I also wash my clothes before using them the first time. As a result, the very first waffles off the griddle were sacrificed to the Waffle Gods, and tossed.

But not before the beautiful picture of them and the strawberries was taken. Of course.

We made two batches of batter. The first with blueberries, which I learned just today, that MATTHEW CANNOT STAND. I did not know. Matthew made the second batch of batter much differently than I did, a process I found fascinating. He didn't mix the batter completely, and let it rest. And used the full eggs. I really like the Klondike Flapjack mix I use (just add milk!), but didn't find any here (didn't look hard, to be honest), so had to add eggs to the mix we did have. I didn't have a waffle from the second batch, so am unable to comment on its superior texture.

I can, however, comment on the first batch.

They were delicious.

Though, I have to admit, my waffle decorating skills are really lacking behind Sagan's skills:

In the end, we ended up sacrificing another two waffles to the Waffle Gods, as I forgot I had waffles in the maker, and became distracted by Pokémon Go and the lack of pokémons in the area. Yes, yes, I know, how shameful to lose two waffles because of a game. Meh, I'm not so sure it's such a bad sacrifice.

First Oliphest 2016 event?

A success!