2024 Pokémon Go Fest Weekend and Tokyo, OK Recap
Joss and I are recovering from a big weekend – although, of course we’ve already hit the ground running this week, as he’s off to a new camp. Most of the camps we’ve done this summer have been ones we’ve done before. But this one is new to both of us. So hopefully everything is going well, considering he might be extra tired today.
Kitty Vaccines
The first thing I had to do Saturday morning was drop Joss off at tae kwon do, then zip down the street to Southern Agriculture. They offer low-cost vaccination clinics at each location select days of the week/month: southernagriculture.com/pages/veterinary-services
One of our unexpected summer surprises was discovering a tiny black kitten living under our back porch. The kitty – Cinnamon Butterscotch Pie – is now living inside and has gone from being shy and skittish to playful and affectionate. He’s great! However, we’re not in a position to keep another cat 🙁 So we are working on getting him his shots so he is nice and healthy for his forever home.
Anyway, it made for a busier morning, but I’m grateful to Southern Ag for offering these clinics! It was fast and very easy, and Cinnamon seemed to enjoy seeing the other animals there.
Tokyo, OK
After a quick lunch, we headed to Tulsa Marriott Southern Hills for this year’s Tokyo, OK convention. The highlight of this year’s convention (for us) was the shopping area. It was fun to see some of the same artists we’d seen in previous years. And Joss was on the hunt for Undertale merch, so we were really keeping our eyes peeled for that, and excited whenever we found something!
La Petite Camionnette has the cutest Pokémon shirts and stickers, plus some other fun things as well. Joss purchased one of her “Be Strange” Bulbasaur shirts a few months after seeing it at Tokyo, OK last year and wore it to the convention this year. So we were excited to see her back again!
He also bought a poster from this perfectly pastel Kirby booth.
Artist: @dmochii_ on Instagram
Sadly (on our account), Tokyo, OK coincided with Pokémon Go Fest weekend, and the convention hotel only had one lone Pokéstop we could reach, and no gyms. So we left a little earlier than anticipated to head to Woodward Park and get the rest of our weekend started!
Pokémon Go Fest in Tulsa (and BA)
If you’re not familiar, Pokémon Go Fest is an annual weekend event where Pokémon Go players all over the world can do special raids to get special Pokémon, and there are extra challenges, in-game perks, etc. (There are also in-person events leading up to the global events in different cities around the world.)
I was more excited about this year’s event than I anticipated, as our first one was just last year. We’ve learned a lot since then! Woodward Park and downtown BA are both excellent places to play Pokémon Go on special event days. I believe downtown Tulsa is as well, too.
We only played at Woodward Park for maybe a couple hours, since it was so hot. But we did see several people we recognized from previous days playing there, which was great.
Probably our best result of the weekend
On Saturday, we met friends in BA. We mostly drove around for several hours starting at the Broken Arrow Library and around the Rose District. It may sound boring, but the excitement of seeing everyone else out and doing the raids definitely helps. And you have a better chance of catching “shiny” Pokémon this weekend, which is an added bonus. Plus, we were with friends, and there was air conditioning!
And we finally made it to Laurannae for a mid-afternoon pick-me-up. It is a really beautiful shop. I wanted to try all of their baked goods – particularly the London Fog Cheesecake – but settled for a Bride’s Cake latte. I guess it fit the bill for dessert and coffee, all in one delicious drink. If I lived in BA, I’d be there all the time.
Mizu Sushi & Bar
Despite having a fun and successful day, Joss was ready to head home by 5. But he rallied when someone threw out the idea of grabbing sushi for dinner. We ended up at the new Mizu Sushi at 71st and Memorial. I believe it was their soft opening weekend. It’s an all-you-can-eat sushi restaurant. Adults are about $35, and kids 7-12 are about $15. If I recall correctly, kids 6 and under are free. So it’s not cheap, but for all-you-can-eat sushi, I’d definitely go here again for a special occasion.
I loved the presentation of the dishes (in addition to the taste). My photo is not doing it justice. But the bowls and plates were very appealing, and they garnished with flowers, even flashing, colored lights on one dish. The menu was large, and included specialty rolls, sashimi, noodle and rice dishes, appetizers, desserts, etc. Here’s a better look at some of their dishes: instagram.com/p/C9SfBMzJ-Os/
And you can also see, in the video linked above, their cool projection tile floor. The projection moves and changes throughout the day.
They are open for lunch Monday through Friday, close for an hour after lunch service, then re-open for dinner. On Saturday and Sunday, they are open lunch through dinner.
Were you at Tokyo, OK this weekend? Did you participate in Pokémon Go Fest? I’d love to hear about your highlights in the comments!
