Late Launch Party... Minus the Party

You know, I'm so enamored with the late launch party that's scheduled for today, even though I can't go since I'm so far away. I like the concept, no matter the timing, as it lets players discuss and play together the latest games, which are in this case Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon. I'm sorely disappointed that I can't go, but at least I could take to celebrate for a reason and with other means.

First up is the reason. Remember how I noted that I may or may not receive my copy of Ultra Moon by the time of the late launch party, which is today? It turns out the day after the post was made, I was told that my copy of the game was ready for me, and that all I had to do was to pay off the rest of the pre-order (earlier, I had made a small down payment) to have the game delivered to me. I was glad to hear this, and I soon paid off the game; the game was delivered to me on the same day using the local courier service.

What I'm even more glad is that this time, my pre-order has a bonus, and that bonus is a code for Shiny Silvally, which is on the sheet as you see here. However, the code is for the previous games (Sun and Moon) rather than for this game. Still, it is totally worth it to enter those games and claim the code, and in my case, there might be something to do as well. I appreciate the bonus regardless.

As for the means to celebrate, the festivities are way too far away for me to enjoy. However, what is not too far away is the menu for the party, which had been divulged ahead of time. It's such a neat Pokémon-inspired menu that I'm also inspired by it... enough that I ended up making three of the items featured on the menu for myself to enjoy as the festivities proceeded. It has been said that food can take people to different places, so what better alternative than to make the food, as if to take me to the party.

The three items I chose to make were the pandan tea, mushroom pasta, and mini doughnuts, as seen in the photo. The first was easy to make - just brew tea with pandan leaves and off you go. The mushroom pasta I made with the exact ingredients listed, though I added aromatics and herbs to balance the culinary logic. For the last one, I took some help by buying fry bread bits from a hawker stall (which are more akin to beignets) and made the spice-sugar topping myself. The filling wasn't present, but that's fine. The important thing is that I think I got somewhat close.

I can sense that this late launch party was a hit, especially since I heard that some of the others took to staying well after the party was supposed to be over, and that the food was excellent, especially the dessert. I also do believe that despite the distance, I was able to share at least some of the merriment through what unfolded above. I would really love to come and physically share the merriment next time something like this happens and I'm close enough to do so.