O Canada!

Finally, here it is! As promised, a post about my family's 4-day cruise trip to Canada. How much more befitting is it to publish this on Canada Day. The part of Canada that we headed to was New Brunswick, and Saint John to be more exact. We hadn't gone on a cruise since I was 6, which I don't even remember very well. Cruises are kind of...interesting, to say the least. However, being out in the ocean/middle of nowhere is really nice and freeing.

Onto the pictures! And a fair warning, there are a lot.

Cruisin'

Going on a cruise vacation with my family for a week.

If you want to stay updated (if I even have phone coverage/wifi), follow my instagram. Will be back soon!

NYC Food Adventure!

This past weekend, my family and I decided to embark on a less-than-24-hour food excursion to not only celebrate the new year, but also because my parents' vacation time was winding down. They picked me up right afterschool on Friday and we drove to New York City. We stayed for one night at the Strand Hotel (which is so swanky, damn) and left Saturday afternoon. For our little food fest, we ate a dinner at Sik Gaek and a lunch the next day at Momofuku Noodle Bar.

Sik Gaek was quite an experience. The waiters all wore ahjumma pants (which was hilarious and cute at the same time) and yelled/blew horns/hazed people with a giant black afro if it was their birthday. There were three victims the night we went. We sat in long shared tables with tall plastic stools. The place looked so purposefully rundown. It was pretty...pretty...one of a kind.

Complimentary self-fried fried eggs.

Hung our jackets on floating coat racks in the middle of the restaurant.

The stools we sat on.

Complimentary tteokbokki.

Live Octopus Sashimi!?! I was too scared to try this, it was MOVING.

Kimchi pancake.

HUGE Seafood hotpot. HUGE.

The claw kept clamping and unclamping over and over again.

Night//Morning - perfect view of the Empire State Building from our hotel window.

Times Square Disney Store -- hadn't been in one in years.

Times Square! The ball was still up.

Momofuku Noodle Bar was a lovely little lunch (hah, alliteration). The famous pork buns were heavenly, the ramen had the perfect soup-to-noodle ratio, and the noodles were perfectly cooked. However, I hate to say it, but it was just a tad overpriced. I did love their restaurant design! The bright wooden (I'm thinking bamboo) furniture was on point. I would go back with friends one day, though, when we can all split the bill. But I will have to find a cheaper alternative to get my ramen fix next time!

Their menus change everyday.

Those famous pork buns!

Momofuku Ramen.

And that concludes my family's mini food feast this past weekend. It was compact but still so complete. With a little advanced planning and a GPS, we can fill our bellies with delicious foods we can't find in Boston! Have you ever gone on a one-day food trip (or just a one-day trip) before? If you haven't, you must! It is quite an experience. Have a great week! :)

Lake Todd Photo Diary

This past weekend, my family and I rented a little lake cabin up in New Hampshire for a couple days. It was a nice little getaway for us all  before this eventful upcoming year (me applying to colleges and my brother graduating from college). There was no internet, TV or cell phone coverage, so it was literally 2 days in nature, away from the rest of the world. We barbecued and fished and rowed around the lake. Oh my, the lake was absolutely beautiful and the air was so fresh and clean. I didn't want to leave at all. But of course, c'est la vie. I'll let pictures do the rest of the talking.

It was such a lovely weekend and I thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. I would definitely recommend any of you to take a little getaway once in a while, away from technology and society. Just you, your family, your loved ones, and nature.

Remember when I went to Puerto Rico?

Remember me? Yeah, I don't either.

Hi! Hey! Hello! Howdy! I'm aliiiiiive! Sorry for the sudden disappearance, everyone. Things started picking up really quickly at my internship and well, the Olympics started so...there was no blogging for me! I'm loving it at my internship, though. I'm soaking in SOOO much. I've definitely gotten a taste of the work world and (hopefully) what my future will be like.

Anyway, back to the post...the long-awaited Puerto Rico travel diary post!!! (Note the multiple exclamation marks. Hence, you should be very excited.)

It's your lucky day because you're in for a bunch of photos!

The gorgeous beach.

Garlic chicken and chili, I believe?

 

I fell in love with their narrow streets and colorful houses.

Old Fort San Juan.

Inside one of the dark halls...it was oh so ominous and spooky (not my cup of tea).

For some reason, there was an iguana roaming around the fort!

Crashing waves are gorgeous, no?

Old men socialize at a cafe during lunch.

An authentic Puerto Rican dish: Mofungo (it was very yummy).

FLAAAAAN!

Gift shops are always so overpriced. I thought these were pretty cool.

And these masks too.

Their water system is quite interesting.

"The Cloud Forest" was eerily beautiful.

L: these newts were everywhere! R: The waterfall was absolutely breathtaking.

Our hike to the waterfall was well worth it!

I just love this shot...not even edited at all! The water lookit lookit!

Had a layover in NYC...no wonder it's called the city that never sleeps.

And looky looky, I made a video too! Experience 5 minutes of my 5 days in Puerto Rico (yeah, I totally planned that). Kind of like a vlog but not really because I don't speak in it, still do watch! Puerto Rico's definitely a beautiful place: full of character and friendly people.

 

I hope you got a gist of my experience in Puerto Rico through this post. If you ever get the chance to, definitely definitely visit it one day. It may be rough around the edges in some areas, but well, any place is.