March favorites: Healthy snacks

Before getting started on this post, I'd like to wish everyone a 

HAPPY EASTER!

Like I mentioned in the previous post, college life can get pretty hectic. With all the exams, projects, and activities going on, it's not only hard to make time with friends (here's some fun suggestions!) but also very challenging to stay healthy. As a HUGE foodie (proud carb-lover and desserts-fanatic~~), it's definitely difficult to stay away from those late night carbs and sweets. So for this month's favorites are all the things I enjoy doing for fun that are both healthy and not too time consuming! (February's favorites: inspiration quotes on dreams.)

1. Matcha latte. Matcha is such a great source of antioxidants and is super healthy. Take a small spoonful of matcha powder, 1 cup of milk (or soymilk/almond milk in my case), and a teaspoon+ of honey and blend it till it's nice and frothy! Now you have a delicious morning drink! Check out my sister's recipe!
2. Peach milk tea. If you've never had peach tea before, you're definitely missing out. And if you've never had peach milk tea, you're missing out X2! It is such a delicious and refreshing drink. Although it's can be hard to make authentic milk teas at home, all you really need is a (few) bag of peach oolong tea and some milk and honey! The end result is quite refreshing!
3. Oatmeal, pumpkin pancakes. I know some people really dislike the texture of oatmeal. Me? I really like oatmeal personally, but for those who don't, trying blending up the oatmeal into flour and using it to make pancakes! Add in some pumpkin puree for added nutrients!
4. Frozen bananas. As the weather gets warmer and warmer (especially LA!!), a chilling and sweet snack is a must. Cut the bananas into smaller chunks and freeze them in a bag. They'll take wonderful! You can also do this with grapes!

Thanks for sticking with me! Hope you find something fun to make for this week!

What are some of your favorite snacks?

How did you spend Easter?
I went to church and blessed by the testimonies that were shared!

Hello Mexico! My first cruise experience~

It's officially spring break, and for the first time ever, I decided to travel! I ended up going on a four-night cruise to Ensenada, Mexico, with my sister and a friend! It was such a fun and exciting experience traveling to a different country and "living" on a boat!

We went with Carnival Imagination. Although Carnival doesn't have the best reputation, I had an amazing time with them! The staff members were all so hard working, and they were super friendly! I was so shocked how sweet and funny they were!

Our first stop was Catalina Island, which, if you didn't know, is still in the United States. Nonetheless, it was a lot of fun. The beaches were beautiful and the water was very blue. Unfortunately, we didn't plan well ahead of time, so we ended up just enjoying some good, old ice cream and handmade taffies! It was still a fun and relaxing experience!

Our second stop was Mexico. Ensenada was definitely very different from Catalina. While it definitely looks much more rural, Ensenada was nonetheless a very beautiful place. In the morning, we went to a flea market. The flea market was definitely targeted towards tourists, but it was fun and exciting anyways. I know I can haggle with the shopkeepers, but I'm super horrible at haggling, so I probably bought everything overpriced...oh well. It's the memories that count~

Later in the afternoon, my friends and I went horseback riding by the beach. It was such a fun and unique experience! I loved being able to see the sea and the open sky while riding a horse.

 

On the actual cruise ship, there was so much food! My friends and I definitely ate our full. We had breakfast, lunch, and 3 dinners! Lol~ The food was quite delicious: we had steak 2x, salmon 2x, and Maine lobster once! What a deal! All these meals were included! <3 yayyy!

 

Breakfast!

Teatime!

 

 

 

Dinner! AND of course many more desserts--just could add them all!! 

Have you ever been on a cruise? If so, how was the experience? If not, where would you like to go? <3

Natural products expo west, Anaheim, CA

This last weekend was the Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim! My sister and I decided to attend with my dad, who was already planning to check it out. The tickets was a bit expensive, but luckily they have educational passes for less.

Of course, I went to the expo more so to get business experience and to complete one of my business class assignments than to conduct business deals. Overall, it was a great opportunity for me to see how people market their products/brands to others. I had a lot of fun learning about different foods, supplements, and beauty products! I think the only downside was that people are there to conduct business and not to talk to students, so sometimes, it was quite obvious when they didn't want to talk to me...

Expo West is definitely one of the largest expo's around! There were 71,000+ attendees and 2,700+ exhibitors! That's a lot of people! While I was there, I also noticed many countries represented--there were many people speaking different languages!

 

Of course, there were lots of good foods to try out. One company was celebrating its 20th year, so it was giving out free alcohol and cupcakes! I decided to try some alcoholic drinks this time--I never drink--and my face became so red! I was so embarrassed~~ (Disclaimer: I'm over 21, so no worries!) :)

 

Some of the exhibits were simple, while others were more extravagant. Has anyone had ThinkThin bars? They're actually pretty good--thick and chewy! Unfortunately the bars contain fake sugar, which doesn't always make me feel good. Nonetheless, they're a good on-the-go snack! The exhibit on the right was for a body & skincare products. Their display was so pretty--and smelled great! They had dried flowers on the ground! There's actually a lot more flowers on the ground than you can see in the photos; I guess the photo didn't capture it too well! 

 

 

The photo on the top right was marketing essential oils. Their marketing technique was brilliant, because they got people to interact with them by offering people the chance to DIY their own foot scrubs! Isn't the display so cute?  The top right photo was some of the samples I got to try at the expo! I love the chia pods--great for breakfast and snacks! The bottom two was offered by Chobani. Did you know they have their own cafe in New York City? Well, they came over to LA and made pancakes, granola + yogurt, muffins, cookies, and much more for their audience! The snacks were so delicious! 

I had a great time at the expo, trying different foods and meeting different people. It was also a great opportunity to see how my dad interacts with other business people! I'm so grateful that my professor had us to go see a trade show/expo, and this is a fun and exciting experience for anyone in studying business! Expo tickets can be pretty pricey, but often times, they have discounts for educational purposes! Take advantage of being a student~ :)

Has any of you ever attended an expo before? What was it about? I'm excited to know~

Weekend food fun at Pikey!

After the difficult and stressful Biochemistry exam last week, I was definitely in need of some friend-time, food, and relaxation. Being in California, my friends and I decided to check out some brunch locations in Hollywood! We went to the Pikey, and the food was phenomenal! I definitely had a great time! The chance to spend time with friends and eat good food was definitely worth the 1-hour traffic each way! hahaha. I'm still a little bummed about the traffic, but at least the experience at Pikey was wonderful. :)

Curry on Toast with fried duck egg

Full English breakfast with fried eggs, sausage, bacon, beans, roasted tomato, and mushroom with grilled toast

Brioche French Toast with seasonal fruit (berries) and crème fraîche

What are some of your favorite foods to eat for breakfast?

I absolutely love breakfast foods, but my favorite would be (good) French toast and pancakes!

Long weekend extravaganza!

This past weekend was a three day weekend for (most) students! I was so happy and excited, especially since school had just started and I didn't have any work to do. So my friend decided to come visit me, and we went to Huntington Gardens and to dinner~

Huntington gardens was such a fun place to visit. Even though we arrived a little late (3pm-ish), we still were able to see a lot. We went to the Japanese, Chinese, and Australian gardens. The first two were very pretty and quite relaxing to look at. However, the Australian garden was very plain...were they still working on it? I'm not quite sure... Lastly, we stopped by the cactus garden. All the cacti were super cute, and the "baby" ones were just all the more adorable~~ hahaha. I guess I have a thing for cacti! 

If you have the chance to go, GO! It's so much fun to enjoy nature and hang out with friends! Also, Huntington has much more than just gardens--there's also many paintings you can check out.

 

  

After the trip to Huntington's, we went to SugarFish. It has the best sushi rolls and sashimi I've ever tasted! Usually I don't quite like sashimi, but this was just amazing! It didn't leave any of that icky aftertaste. The fish was very fresh and soft. It melts in your mouth~~ Unfortunately, the setting was quite dark, and I wasn't able to take any pictures...

I did, however, take pictures of food from another restaurant. It's called Alcove Café & Bakery, located in Los Angeles. The food was also very delicious and very unique. The pricing is actually pretty good for their serving size. The Blackened Salmon Sandwich, which I ordered, was $13.95 and had a huge filet of salmon and half an avocado! Quite delicious :) The last photo was my friend's seafood omelette! She liked it. hehehe.

What did you all do this past weekend? Anything fun or exciting?

Green tea matcha latte with soy milk~

Product were provided by Kiss Me Organic, but all content and opinions are based on my own experience!

Hi everyone! One of my favorite things to do first thing in the morning is to drink a cup of green tea latte! It's nice and refreshing, especially since I always wake up thirsty.

 

Isn't the color so lovely? The green is so pretty; it makes it so happy and relaxed when I drink it in the morning! Anyways, in an effort to be healthier this new year, I've been trying to avoid coffee (don't want to get addicted!) Since this oragnic matcha powder has 10 times the nutritional and antioxidant benefits than a single cup of tea and helps increase the metabolism, I felt that drinking a cup of green tea matcha latte would be a great way to start the day.

This cup of morning tea is very easy to make and requires only three ingredients! Hope you're excited!

          1/2 to 1 tsp of matcha (depending on how strong you like the green tea flavor)
          1 tsp of honey
          1 cup of unsweetened soymilk

          1. mix the matcha powder with a small amount of hot water (to help it mix better with the soy milk)
          2. heat the soymilk in the microwave for 1-1:30 minutes
          3. combine the soymilk and matcha "syrup" and stir in the honey
          4. ENJOY~

In this particular recipe, I used Kiss Me Organic's culinary grade green tea powder! I really like this brand because the powder mixes smoothly in drinks and gives a beautiful green color for baked goods! If you're interested in trying this brand, you can find it on Amazon here! If you're in the UK or in Canada, you can find the matcha powder here and here, respectively.

What's your favorite green tea flavored drink or snack?

Back at school, finish my last semester!

Hello everyone! I've arrived safely back in LA. I was so surprised by the rainy weather! Since Washington had surprisingly, good weather, I was shocked to find it rainy and gloomy in LA (that's what Washington should be like!)!

Anyways, I excited to be back at school (but not necessarily for classes). I always look forward to seeing old friends, making new friends, and first day of classes. I usually enjoy the first week of classes, but unfortunately not when midterms and projects roll around...D:

As a small celebration for first day back, I stopped by the school's cafeteria and made a blueberry-raspberry waffle and topped it will a few mini chocolate chips! hahaha, I love getting creative with my food creations.

Hope the new year is off to a great start for you all! And for those of you with school, best of luck~~ :)

Christmas vacation in Bellevue

Hello everyone!! I hope you've all had a great Christmas season and winter break. I just came back from a mini vacation with my family to Bellevue, Washington. We pretty much did nothing at all except to eat and do a little holiday shopping.

One particular restaurant we stopped by was called Ruth's Chris Steak House. My family ordered three different steaks to share--all at medium. Unfortunately for my sister and I, we didn't quite like the steak cooked at medium...we're just not used to that sort of flavor. My parents, on the other hand, really enjoyed the steak. We also ordered a salad, which was delicious! The tuna was soft--unlike other restaurants'...

We also ordered a cheesecake to share for desert. That was probably one of the best cheesecakes I've ever had! AND the presentation was extra special and cute~ <3

Also, lucky for us, there was little Christmas parade during our stay! It was such a cute and festive time--made me so happy and excited! I haven't seen a parade, much less a Christmas one, for such a long time. The girls in the parade were dressed in such cute red, white, blue outfits with little bobs, and there were guys were playing the drums and dancing on the street! hahaha, such a festive experience! Made Christmas seem much more like Christmas~

Overall, I had a nice little vacation get-away! 

How about you all? How was your Christmas? :)

End of finals = start of BREAK!

Finals are finally OVER! Hooray~ After a week of torture and sleeplessness, I am finally done! I'm super excited for the winter break and for family/friend time!

Anyways, once again--praise God!--lots of good things happened despite it being finals week. My bestie (who graduated last year) came over Monday afternoon to spend time with us. She took my sister and I (who have no car :P) out to eat some yummy Korean food in Koreatown. I was definitely surprised by how much food we received for $30 total. I felt like I was eating at an all-you-can eat buffet! The food was very delicious and unique. Yum yum.

Seafood jja jang myun (huge!!)

4 King dumplings and 8 spicy shrimp dumplings~ 

After dinner, we went to grab some coffee/drinks at Document Coffee Bar! It's such a cute place, so if anyone is ever in Los Angeles, definitely check it out! They have the BEST homemade hot chocolate! They make their own Belgium chocolate (which is on a wooden spool) that you swirl around in hot, frothy milk! What a amazing (and not super-duper sweet) drink!

Unfortunately, we went there to study, and to our disappointment, they close at 9PM--we came at like 8:30...So we got kicked out shortly after ordering >__< sigghhh. Had to go back to the apartment to study. I guess everything worked out in the end anyways, hahaha.

Do you have any favorite coffee house or cafe?