Tag: Holiday

A couple of weekends ago my college friends and I visited Houston to attend the Houston Rodeo. In all my eight years living in Houston, that was the first time I ever went.

Lydi – one of my friends – has the nicest parents ever.

Her father drove all the way from Pearland to Dallas just to pick us up and then drove us back to Houston. Her mother also made us a ton of food, something I always appreciate.

At the halfway point we stopped by at Buc-ee’s.

All of friends who aren’t from Texas were so shook by the enormity of the place. Joanna, another friend of mine, said if the world ever underwent a zombie apocalypse then   Buc-ee’s would be the place humans would run to.

The first night we went out for dinner at Koto.

One of my most favorite restaurants ever.

When Lydi proposed going there, completely unaware of my love for Koto, I flipped out. Once we entered the restaurant, I literally told everyone where I sat (which was most of the tables).

Afterwards we had dessert at Red Circle, another place I love going to. My high school squad and I go to Red Circle (and other places similar to it) all the time, so to have gone with my college squad was really cool.

It’s also in Chinatown.

For those of you who don’t know my high school squad is primarily Asian while my college squad is primarily Caucasian. When we were about to enter Red Circle,           Sean – white boy #1 – said that we needed an Asian to go in first.

Yes, it ended up being me.

After having breakfast at Another Broken Egg the next day, everyone headed to the NRG Stadium for the Houston Rodeo.

The first thing I noticed was that the majority of the events were indoors. I quietly thanked God because heat and I are not buddies. The second thing I noticed was that the place was HUGE. From the NRG Center where the shops are, to the NRG Stadium where the concerts are held, to the ginormous amusement park next to them.

The first thing we did was go to the Petting Zoo. Despite my jacket being slightly chewed on by a goat, ultimately saved by Tim (white boy #2), the animals were overall adorable. And don’t worry, my jacket is fine.

We also saw a cow being milked. Sean has a somewhat unhealthy obsession with milk so we had to stay and watch.

We went to tons of shops in the NRG Center. We went to the largest moving candy store, saw tons of cows walking around, would jokingly go into livestock trailers, and ate TONS of food (like cotton candy, curly fries, fried oreos, etc.).

Afterwards we went on a few rides. One of them almost made me threw up.

I didn’t though.

We then ended the night with a movie at Lydi’s, playing Zombies, and accidentally pushing Martha into the pool (sorry!).

The next day we went to Killen’s, which was amazing, before driving back to UD.

During Spring Break my high school squad and I went to the Rodeo.

I know.

I’ve never gone for eight years and now I’ve gone twice in one month.

With my high school squad, however, we mostly focus on food and taking Instagrammable pictures.

I had cotton candy, Diane had tamales, while Joy and RJ shared a hugeass baked potato.

Joy always goes to extreme lengths to make sure she gets the perfect angle. People around us were probably confused by these four Asians running around in circles trying to take the perfect picture.

With cool friends come lovely quirks.

My first, and second, experience at the Houston Rodeo was awesome.

But while the event itself is really cool, it was the company that made the entire trip really wonderful.

Until next year!

 This past weekend I went back home to celebrate Chinese New Year with my parents.

The original plan was to go home the weekend before that, but I apparently decided to be sick on Valentine’s Day.

Naturally, I stuffed my face with Asian cuisine.

The first night we went to one of the two Malaysian cafes in Chinatown: Mamak.

My soul literally lifted up. I was so full and happy like a pug whose just been fed and/or been given a massage by it’s owner.

After having delicious roti canai / prata (basically Indian pancakes) and nasi lemak (flavored rice with curry chicken, roasted peanuts, anchovies, etc.), I took my parents to a place my high school friends and I frequently go to when we meet up. It’s called Wsup Cafe and it is AMAZING. I’m in love with their strawberry slushy and desserts. They’re most known for their waffle and ice cream meal.

It’s basically Heaven in a cone.

I think I’ve also officially got Momma Bear hooked on their honeydew smoothie.

 The next day we went out for some Japanese food and I had one of my favorite dishes ever: chicken katsu.

If you ask anyone who truly knows me, they’ll tell you four things: I love to take naps, I love chocolate, I’m sassy, and I love chicken katsu.

If you have no idea what that is then shame on you!

Go Google it fool!

 Afterwards we went to get my stepfather, Gigi, some new jeans ’cause he had like two and one of them had holes so big I thought they were black holes.

Momma Bear was hellbent on getting him to try on skinny jeans and “look cool.”

Now my old school, fifty-something-year-old (gotta keep some things a secret) stepfather who always makes fun of my ripped jeans is walking around in black skinny jeans.

You know, I never knew he actually had legs.

 Yesterday morning Momma Bear and I went to see Black Panther and, in all honesty, was one of the best movies I’ve seen in a really long time.

I won’t give too much away, all I’ll say is that the actors were absolutely amazing at making their characters both hysterical and dignified.

My favorite character was Shuri.

She’s the incredibly intelligent and hilarious younger sister on the main character, T’Challa a.k.a the Black Panther. If you’ve seen the movie, you know what I’m talking about.

It was also just so freakin’ emotional, like I can’t even.

GO WATCH IT.

 When I arrived at the airport to go back to Dallas, I arrived thirty minutes before boarding.

Now normally I get to the airport two hours before JUST IN CASE anything happens because life just sucks that way. But this time we didn’t think it was necessary.

WRONG.

Since there was only one officer at security checkpoint, the line was super long and it took me around half an hour to get through. Boarding began at 5:30 and ended at 5:50, so I had like ten minutes to run to my gate.

I had to get to my gate, which was E1, from Terminal C because Gigi thought the two terminals weren’t that far away from one another.

He was a LIAR. It was FAR. I ran like I was being chased by demons or something.

I get there and there are tons of people still sitting in the waiting area. So I ask the lady at the counter whether boarding had begun yet and she said, “No, boarding has been delayed ten minutes.”

I both wanted to laugh and punch someone in the face.

The flight was eventually delayed for like another hour and I didn’t get back until late at night. I was so done with life, you can’t even imagine.

I think we can all agree that 2017 was rough.

Like hella rough around the globe.

We have had some of the worst hurricanes in history, faced the most tumultuous presidential election in America thus far, and face an onslaught of hate for anything or anyone that’s different. And that’s not even all of it.

But where there is darkness there is also light not far behind.

Whether it’s the momentous moments, such as the Astros winning post Harvey or the “Nevertheless, She Persisted” movement, or seemingly small ones, like the graduation of the 2017 students, all of them should be celebrated. Especially when everything else seems so bleak.

On a more personal note, 2017 is extremely important to me for many reasons.

It’s the year I graduated high school, the year I started university, and the year I became a legal adult.

With that came many goodbyes, reunions, and beginnings. All of the best kind.

Goodbyes that aren’t “forever,” but rather “for now.”

Reunions that celebrate who we once were and who we’ve become so far.

As well as beginnings that inspire us to look forward to and achieve whatever we set out mind on.

As a female, Asian immigrant, 2017 has been disheartening given who America elected for president.

It’s not just because the candidate I was rooting for, who yes happened to be female, lost the presidential election. It was the fact that the country I am living in, and have been for the past seven years, elected a president who insults and degrades everything that I am.

It was discouraging to think that I was basically unwelcome in the country that I’ve basically called home for a big portion of my life.

I have to hope for the best but prepare for the worst.

I hope the People understand that acceptance and respect is something that everyone deserves regardless of color, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or gender. In so many aspects we have progressed in terms of equality, like suffrage and just outright freedom. Yet we also have so much farther to go, like the gender pay gap and general courtesy for other human beings.

While I’m fully aware of the racism and sexism that prevails even to this day, and have been victim to it, I truly hope that somehow and in someway we can all rise above the hate and become better than we have ever been in the past.

I have thick skin for what bad things may come my way, but I will also work towards making the world a place wherein everyone is respected for who they are and what they believe.

Regardless of how you feel about 2017, we can all agree that it is a memorable year.

And while it’s important to reflect upon past years, it’s vital that we all also look to the future and work towards making it a better and brighter one.

So here’s to 2018.

Happy new year everyone!

One of the things that mark the beginning of adulthood is, in my opinion, the ability to find and purchase Christmas presents for your loved ones. So it’s not just figuring out what they want and where to buy them, but it’s also about the money coming out of your own pocket.

Initially you don’t really feel it. You just spend and spend and spend and get caught up in the fun of it. Everywhere you turn you see something that is perfect for somebody you know. Did they want it? Probably not. Do they need it? Nope.

And then you feel how light your wallet is while waiting in line and you think, “Oh s**t!”

This year I got some pretty cool gifts if I may say so myself.

And I have.

The person who has always been a struggle getting gifts for is my stepbrother, Gabriel. Usually he says “I don’t know” or nothing at all so we’re left guessing. Hopefully I’ll figure something out. Preferably before Christmas Eve.

I’m incredibly excited about reuniting with the majority of my high school squad this Christmas too. Every Christmas we have a Secret Santa party and everyone of us receives a gift from another in our group.

We also have this major group chat on FaceBook messenger where we tell our Secret Santa what we like, what we don’t like, what we’d like to have, and other stuff like that. Usually it helps but by now we know each other well enough to know what we might like.

I’m probably more excited about seeing everybody again than the actual receiving of gifts. Not that I’d turn it away either though.

Regardless of what you manage to get for others and from them to you, all gifts are pretty awesome given that someone took the time to find something.

Christmas is coming soon!

I’m incredibly excited and I’m sure you are too.

 

We have exactly one week until Christmas day!

This Christmas will mark my first one as a university student.

This year was the first time I hadn’t gone with my parent to pick out a tree, we are pretty late in decorating our home for Christmas, and, of course, I spent most of the weeks leading up to the holiday with my friends instead of my family.

Some things, however, stay the same.

I watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas on replay, drink tons of hot chocolate, decorate the tree and give it a name.

 

My friends and I have managed to start some new Christmas traditions of our own at the University of Dallas.

We have mini parties making and decorating cookies and then dunking them in a nice, hot mug of hot chocolate. We also go all out in terms of decorating our dorm rooms and doors. My roommate, Sarah, hung tons of snowflakes in our room and put at least five mini trees around the dorm room. She also put small Christmas inspired plates filled with candy for anyone to take who visits us in our dorm.

Sarah and our friend, Joanna, had a little competition for who has the best Christmas decorated door. Funny enough they ended up having the same concept for what they wanted the doors to look like: a fireplace with stockings we decorated ourselves as well.

We can go from having a fun, ugly Christmas sweater party dancing along to catchy Christmas songs to watching Christmas movies in our room eating pizza. I probably watched How the Grinch Stole Christmas seven times in the past two weeks. I also watched Fred Claus and The Polar Express intermittently.

 

As a kid who has had to move multiple times, any traditions that I have in my life is incredibly important. But with that, as well as just being a human being, also comes a capacity to accept change.

Change isn’t always bad. And while I’ll miss how the weeks leading up to Christmas used to be, I also fully embrace any and all new things that come my way.

I did not need to miss my parents during my first week of university as Labor Day Weekend was right after it.

A couple of hours after class I took packed all my things and headed to the airport in an Uber. It was kind of stressful considering the multiple entrances this campus has. I, however, treated myself to McDonald’s and some Auntie Anne pretzel bites at the airport for getting myself to the airport in one piece.

We spent the majority of the weekend on our super comfy couch, all snuggled up in a fuzzy blue blanket, catching up with the tv series Suits and So You Think You Can Dance (Go Lex!). With the occasional kolache and Whataburger.

I also wanted to give a shout out to my father who bought me this dress.

Super pretty!

And great for twirling.

The plane ride back from Houston was awesome.

It was my first time ever in first class and even though it was barely an hour long, it was very enjoyable.

It’s not just that the seats are wider, or that there’s more leg room, or that there’s more arm space, or that there’s even a coat hanger. The stewardess came to us a few minutes after takeoff, paper and pen in hand, to order our drinks. I think it was the first time ever that I’ve been served Sprite in a glass on an airplane. And we even got snacks! Normally on these short flights they don’t serve you, but I guess first class gets them anyway. I had the most delicious, aside from my mother’s of course, thin chocolate chip cookies ever.

Basically I could get used to first class.

The cab ride back, however, was not as pleasant.

Despite telling the cab driver twice to go to the University of Dallas NOT the University of Texas in Dallas, he took me there anyway. Which OF COURSE was in the opposite direction from my own school. It normally takes about 14 minutes to get to UD from the airport and vice versa. However, it took about 20 minutes to get to UT from the airport and another 20 minutes to go to the correct university. Which I may have been okay with if it weren’t for the fact that I was congested, had a headache, and was starving.

Not a great combo.

I ended the night with watching a Kevin Hart film while eating mini burgers my mother packed for me beforehand. And watching Horton Hears A Who!

So what?

I think I deserved it.

So.

2016 is finally over.

I think we can all agree that this (last) year has been the epitome of a roller coaster ride. No matter where you live or what you believe in, I think we can all agree that this year has been cray cray.

There was some form of battle around the world.

Whether it be a political one, social, or environmental.

Although 2016 has ended, I’m feeling uneasy about this new year.

For as long as I can remember I have dreaded the year 2017.

The year I graduate.

While it’s terrifying, I can revel in this last semester (which no longer counts towards most college applications) and in the fact that no matter what I will have somewhere to go (yes that means I was indeed accepted into a school(s)) 😉 .

In preparation of our (basically) free semester, my friends and I made a list to do before we part our ways in August.

I know, so dramatic.

This is our To-Do List:

1. Learn how to kickbox or box
2. Take a tango class
3. Take a hip hop class
4. Have a major outing for the sole purpose of tryning new food
5. take a flower arrangement class
6. Go biking
7. Go rollerblading
8. Go horseback riding
9. Go skydiving
10. Go scuba diving
11. Learn how to fence
12. Learn archery
13. Go on a road trip
14. Go to an amusement park and ride rollercoasters
15. Have a scary movie night

Not every single one of us wants to do everything on that list and is no way complete. But it is a good indication of what we’re going to be doing in our spare time.

Now mind you we are well aware that some of the activities listed above are not possible of doing in Houston. And there’s also that annoying thing in the way. What’s it called? Oh yeah, money.

But it’s nice to dream though, right?

 2017 is either going to be the best year ever or the worse.

I prefer the former.

Fingers crossed.