Chicago Chillin'

It is officially 2017! This is my first post of the year, yes I know it's already 19 days into the new year but better late than never right? The most popular saying since the new year: new year, new me. I hope this happens to me, for the better of course. I'm about to start my second semester at NYU as a graduate student as well as interning 3 days a week so I'm hoping I can juggle both to really build up my resume as I pursue my master's. I can't wait to see what's in store for me this year and I hope it's a great year for me and you!

This year has already been pretty good for me. Rang in the new year with my close loved ones with no concrete plans but ended up having a great time, got a 3.94 GPA (so close yet so far to a 4.0), scored an internship at a well-known designer's corporate office as a press intern, and went on a trip with my best friend -- which is where these photos come in. 

I really wanted to have a mini getaway with just wendy, just wendy and me. We were initially planning to go to Boston, but having been there together already and due to pretty inexpensive flights we decided on: CHICAGO. Wendy had never been and I've been but when I was 12, which was a decade ago (o m g a decade) so I have almost no memory of it except that I don't like deep-dish pizza. We had such a great time in Chicago that we keep wanting to go back. Minus the cold everything was awesome. When we felt the crisp, cold air of Chicago, we realized NYC cold ain't shit.. we would stand outside for maybe 15 seconds and already feel our exposed body parts starting to get numb. It's no joke in Chicago. On our first night, during a trip to Walgreens it was 4 degrees but felt like -7.. insane. Which is why I wore AT LEAST 4 layers every day. 

I love being able to explore a new city. One that is quite similar to NYC in terms of a lot of skyscrapers and a lot of shopping; Chicago's Magnificent Mile is comparable to our 5th Ave. BUT it's a lot nicer walking through Chicago streets because there are about 19387598x more people walking the streets of NYC. We were contemplating on whether or not to rent a car but we found out that Uber is pretty inexpensive there, so we opted to just uber/lyft-ing around. Getting to try restaurants in a different city is so exciting to me. A few places I would recommend:

• Honey Butter Fried Chicken: BOMB fried chicken. I got the Original Fried Chicken Sandwich "The O.G" and O m G it was so good. The chicken was flavorful, tender, and juicy, the sauce was delicious.. just TRY IT. Wendy ordered the 2-piece honey butter fried chicken, which had 1 piece of white meat and 1 piece of dark meat and came with a side of butter that you're supposed to spread on the chicken. First we tried the white meat one, so obviously it was a bit dry so I thought it was eh. But then the second one was dark meat and MM yes, dark meat is the way to go. Also super juicy and tender and with the butter.. well MO BUTTA MO BETTA (hi5 if you know who says this.) We also got a side of the pimento mac n' cheese, it was interesting but it wasn't really up my alley. I don't remember if we ordered cornbread or if it was given but it was whatever, just tasted like any ol' cornbread.
• Mortar & Pestle: Alaskan King Crab Benedict. Delicious. I don't believe we have anything like this in NYC; I know we have lump crab at Sarabeth's but it doesn't compare to the alaskan king crab. I love king crab and I love benedict so it was so good. Chicago also does their eggs really well. All four of our poached eggs were perfectly poached, which is a must in this dish. The price was also very affordable considering the ingredient used - $17! I can imagine it being about $25 if it were elsewhere. We also ordered the fruity pebble funnel cake to share and it was good as well! Not much of a fruity pebble taste though if you ask me, but you can never go wrong with funnel cake.
• RPM: This was a random spot we yelped since the place we initially wanted to go was booked for the night. We learned that in Chicago it's important to call before going to a restaurant, so we did and they told us the next table available would be 11PM but we could sit at the bar. We just agreed since we were hungry and wanted Italian. When we arrived, expecting to sit at the bar, we actually got a bar table which was pretty much our own little hightop table. We didn't mind at all! We ordered the Maine lobster ravioli, the spicy crab squid ink spaghetti, with a side of broccolini because us Chinese girls need our veggies. EVERYTHING WAS SO GOOD! It was so good that we ordered 2 spicy crab squid ink pastas to go, hehe. I recommend this place if you're in Chicago! It's right off of Magnificent Mile so quite convenient if you're in the area. 

There are a few places that we went to that were recommended to us or had a lot of reviews but we didn't find that spectacular. 

• Wildberry: A brunch spot that supposedly gets really busy on the weekends. We got super lucky only having to wait about 5 minutes on a Friday at around 1:30. They're one of those restaurants that close at 2:30 then open later again. The one perk was that it was pretty inexpensive for the amount of food that they give you. It's a lot. But the food itself was okay. Wendy got some kind of mexican skillet and I got the benedict with chorizo. Both were okay. Maybe we didn't order the right items.
• The Purple Pig: If you ain't a meat, or PORK lover, this is not the place for you. This is supposed to be a tapas/small plates restaurant but holy pig the portions were HUGE. Each 'tapa' resembled a regular entree dish size. Our waitress told us to order 2 each and we could barely finish 2.. I LOVE salty food, but the food was pretty salty. I'm also not a food critic, but in my opinion things were a little over-seasoned. The dishes seemed to have too many flavors going on in one dish, to the point where it was quite overwhelming. 

I could go into more detail but don't want to make this a crazy long review but if you have any questions you can drop a comment or email me! 

I seriously had such a great time with just my bestie ^_^ I can't wait until our next vacation together! We need to make this an annual thing before we get married and have kids!! 

australia dairy company

Two macaroni + ham in soup combo with egg + toast

One HK style french toast

Pretty much every Hong Kong style cafe/restaurant will offer different sets for breakfast, we call it A-chaan, B-chaan, etc. which will come with a main dish and a side of eggs or toast or both!

Australia Dairy Company is a well-known food spot in Hong Kong; I've seen food blogs about it and friends' social media posts.  When I posted my photo on Instagram, several people left comments with enthusiasm.  On google it says that the place opens at 7:30AM. With Hong Kong being our first stop on our Asia adventure, we were super jetlagged waking up at <6:00am every day.  On the day we decided to go to Australia Dairy Company, we were up and ready by 7.  The restaurant was roughly a ten minute walk from our hotel.  With our long journey from our hotel room to the streets and then crossing the infamous Hong Kong pedestrian tunnels, we made it to Australia Dairy Co. at around 7:15.  We thought we would be waiting for it to open, but as we approached it, the gate was half open but the restaurant was already almost full. So I highly suggest going there even before opening time because they will be opened. When we got seated, there were still several tables left, but by 7:30 the whole place was completely full.

We ordered our macaroni with ham and within 30 seconds, the dishes came out. Our waiter didn't even relay the order to the kitchen.. We were amazed and shocked. It was awesome though.  The efficiency and speed of Asians was honestly so amazing, not only in Hong Kong but throughout our whole trip. I'm a fan of macaroni in soup and the one here was SOOOO good; the broth was creamier than any I've tasted. There were a lot of positive reviews about their egg, but to me it was too runny, I like my eggs more cooked. Hong Kong french toast. Amazing. I've never tried it before I got there and we had it every time we had breakfast. The one at Australia Dairy Co. was definitely my favorite though and I tried four or five different ones! (If you live in NYC, specifically Queens, teashop near Francis Lewis High School serves HK style french toast and it's obviously not as good as HK but it's still delicious. I'm sure places in Chinatown have but I haven't tried any yet.) Hong Kong style french toast >> American french toast, sorry America.  Our meal was also very inexpensive; when converted everything was probably $13-$15 (we also ordered 2 egg puddings and 3 drinks not shown.)

beautiful day in beacon

The bf and I decided to go on a little day trip to Beacon, NY because it was recommended by one of our friends. We were supposed to go on Valentine's Day, but with it feeling like -15 degrees outside we decided to go the following week. The drive was about an hour an a half from my house so it wasn't too bad. 

Our first stop was lunch at The Hop, 544 Main Street. It was a cute spot, pretty roomy, with 3 separate areas for seating. I ordered something from the specials, which was the salmon cakes and Kyle ordered the lamb and kale sausage, which he said was alright. I was disappointed because I really wanted to try the scallop and pork belly appetizer but we were told there was no more and it was only 2PM. Overall our meal was okay. Across the street from the restaurant was a train track as well as a cool waterfall so we snapped some photos there.

I really enjoy going to art museums and exhibits so we decided to check out Dia:Beacon because we heard good things about it. The land was enormous, compared to anywhere in the city, so it was in a huge warehouse. Overall, the museum was okay but it was a nice, calming experience. 

Walking on Main Street, we came across cute little shops, restaurants and cafes. Beacon is a really small town, so there wasn't much to do but it was definitely cute. With it being Sunday, a lot of shops were closed earlier so we decided to end our trip with a super early dinner at The Kitchen Sink, 157 Main Street. This meal was delicious! For starters we got the brisket kreplach, which was like a fried dumpling. I had the beer braised pull pork lasagna and it was yummy! It had tomatoes and spinach in it so it tasted and seemed healthier than it probably was. Kyle had the steak crepe and said it was good too. I recommend trying this place out if you're in the Beacon area, but it's tiny so either come early or there might be a wait!

This day was so gorgeous with the weather in the high 50's while the prior weekend was in the single digits.  I always do my best to take advantage of the nice weather when it's winter because I hate being bundled up every day. It's finally not dark outside when I get out of work; spring is coming, my friends! 

philly's magic garden

Photo credits to Kyle Braganza

Yesterday Kyle and I took a day trip to Philly to help his little sis move into college, which gave us the opportunity to explore a little. I finally got to go to Magic Garden, a place I've been constantly seeing on Instagram. It was fairly small but it was so pretty! Admissions is $7, but $5 if you have student ID. Everything was made by Isaiah Zagar, whose artwork can be found on hundreds of walls throughout Philly. I've never seen anything like this before and it was so interesting and gorgeous to look at. I definitely recommend visiting the garden especially if you're an artsy type of person! I heard it gets pretty busy there so try to go at off-hours and on a cloudy day instead of sunny.

Jacket: Forever 21 | Top: Forever 21 | Shorts: Forever 21 | Shoes: Steve Madden | Hat: Soho | Bag: YSL

Spring Break '15 | Punta Cana

Unfortunately I am back from Punta Cana, few pounds heaviers, and not much tanner. Back to reality, boo. I didn't get to snap as much pictures as I would have liked, but I had a great time. Much needed vacation away from the cold. Going from down jackets to tank tops was amazing, but coming back to down jackets.. not so amazing.

We got to experience Punta Cana nightlife -- Cocobongo and Imagine. Cocobongo is like a huge venue with performances and endless drinks all night long.  The performances were actually pretty good, but the set up of the venue was different from what I'm used to since it was more of a stadium.  Imagine was a cave bar, which was pretty damn cool. Partying in a cave? Don't tell me that doesn't sound cool!  Our second day, we went on a super adventurous excursion at Fun Fun Cave, and damn I'm extremely proud of myself for getting through the whole thing. It was my first time horseback riding, rappelling down a cave (or anything at all), and exploring a cave.  It was tiring, but in the end, it was a once in a lifetime experience and I'm glad we decided to do it.

We got to cruise and relax on a catamaran on the third day, where we finally got in some tanning time, and the only day we got to tan. There was also unlimited drinks, and the service was superb.  The workers are so cheerful and full of energy that it just brings such happy vibes to the boat.  We got to snorkel, and stop by a beach.  The third day was definitely a lot more relaxing, full of sun, drinks, and chilling.

Day four was spent riding buggies/boogies through a set path in the middle of Punta Cana. I personally would not recommend this, because I just felt like I was riding in a car with dirt and dust flying at me.  I was falling asleep, and I would have preferred staying at the hotel to chill poolside with the pool bar.

Overall, DR was fun and I wish we could have stayed longer! Can't wait until our next getaway (hopefully Aruba?)

AND I am currently in the process of editing a vlog! Hoping it comes out good and I'll try posting it as soon as possible.

travels | cancun part II

Wedding time! I haven't been to a wedding in so long, and this time the couple is pretty close to me in age! When I was little it was always adults much older than me, but my godsis and now godbro-in-law are only seven years older than me!

The thought of having your wedding on the beach already sounds lovely. In person, it was beautiful! Although it was a small wedding, it was still so breathtaking. My godsis arrived in a horse carriage! It was like a true fairy tale. After seeing several brides arrive in horse carriages, I definitely want to arrive in something extraordinary; I told my mom I want to ride on an elephant but that might be a bit TOO extraordinary. The natural lighting makes taking pictures great, I'm sure the professional photographers got amazing pictures. After the ceremony, there was cocktail hour which was on the grass just above the sand area. At 6PM, the reception started in a gazebo right by the beach. The vibes in the gazebo were so perfect, the calm sounds from the waves, the light, relaxing breeze, and the fresh air. As an appetizer, as shown in the picture above, it was a seafood salad. Does that rectangle thing not look like fish?! I thought it was fish until I took a bite of it, and it was pineapple! I don't like shrimp though so I just gave that to my mom. Next appetizer was a ravioli in soup, the ravioli was delicious! But they skimped on the meat and they only gave one. For the main dish, I had steak with some spaghetti underneath. It was eh, I would probably give it a 2.5. The steak was cooked well but it lacked sauce and seasoning, and the spaghetti was super bland since there was barely any sauce. After the reception, my mom and I went to the buffet to eat more since we weren't that full (all in-clusive woo woo)

Sweater: Forever 21 ✕ Dress: Agaci ✕ Heels: Charlotte Russe ✕ Belt: Ebay

Congratulations to Mr. & Mrs. Kevin Ma 

Welcome to the Godfam, Kevin :)

travels | cancun part I

I got lucky enough to escape the brutal weather of New York City this past weekend. My godsister had a destination wedding in Cancun, Mexico! It was just my mom and I this vacation. We left on Friday at around 10AM, getting us to Cancun at around 2. Yes, that mirror picture was my ootd to the airport, so I was wearing a dress and sandals in 2 degree weather. God bless the uniqlo puffer jackets because they are so thin and convient, fold it up and it doesn't take up a lot of room.  We stayed at the Moon Palace (Nizuc area), and once we arrived they gave us those pretty flowers.  I absolutely love peonies, and these reminded me of mini peonies but my mom told me that these were carnations and they're the cheapest flowers out there.  We checked in, but our room wasn't ready so we headed straight to one of the buffets. I'm a super picky eater, so the buffet as a whole was alright, but there were definitely a few dishes that I did really enjoy.

Both my parents don't drink. So I wasn't expecting to be drinking at all this trip, but my godsis convinced my mom to let me drink!! I was shocked. I don't know if all midori sours in Mexico taste like this, but it wasn't the usual midori sour that I get in the city. It tasted like green juice with a bit of alcohol in my opinion. I prefer midori sours in the city. We had dinner at a Brazilian Steakhouse in our resort, and it was a new experience. One of the meats, not really sure what it was, but it was deliciouuus. Definitely need to go to a Brazilian Steakhouse in the city; my godsister said there's a really good one in Tribeca so I must go! After dinner, it was still early so my mom and I just decided to stroll along and explore the resort. The pool area was so nice, and we took some pictures.  It wasn't even 11 when we got back to the room, but I was ready to pass the hell out.  We took showers, washed up, and I ended up knocking out at around 11:30. (For those who don't know, I am a night owl and I usually sleep around 3.) 

Dress: Forever 21 ✕ Vest: Forever 21 ✕ Bag: Target ✕ Hat: Soho streets

(I have no idea where my sandals are from)

travels | pennsylvania

Last week, February 7th, Kyle, Willie, and I headed to Pennsylvania to spend time with Bianca to celebrate her birthday.  She wanted to go to a shooting range, and that has been on my bucket list for a while! I was actually really scared and nervous since it was my first time, but it was actually really fun.  It was super loud even with the ear protectors on.  There were people in the same area as us shooting with a huge rifle looking gun and the noise was extremely loud, and left a nasty after-smell.  We were split into 3 pairs and we had 100 bullets per pair so I got to shoot 50.  It was pretty relaxing. I would definitely go again.

We had reservations at La Calaca Feliz, a Mexican restaurant in Philly, which is 40 minutes away from Bianca's apartment. First we ordered appetizers to share: traditional guac, crab guac, ceviche, and nachos with brisket. I am a bit allergic to avocado so guac makes my throat itchy but I looove crab so I had to give the crab guac a try.  It was SO good and I don't even like guac, but I could only eat so much because my throat started to get itchy. The ceviche was pretty good as well; the other times I've eaten ceviche it was in a bowl and eaten with a spoon, but here it was topped on a chip and was more of a finger-food. We ordered the nachos with brisket as an add-on, and it was okay.  For my entree I got baja fish tacos because I love fish tacos.  But.. I've definitely had better and these were just alright.  I would prefer Grey Dog's fish tacos over these any day! I also tried white sangria for the first time and it was actually pretty good, I tried red sangria multiple times and I've never liked it. 

I love going to different cities to eat and explore! Can't wait for more travel adventures :)

Shooting Range: Targetmaster ✕ Restaurant: La Calaca Feliz