Monthly Archives: November 2019

What Fashion Means to Me

Since I was a kid I have loved fashion. I love expressing myself through clothing and playing with my identity. Somedays fashion allowed me to express my emotions, and other days it allowed me to be someone else entirely. Fashion is the visual identity you construct to display to society. You are basically determining how your want to be perceived by the outside world, whether or not it is reflective of who you really are. Fashion is a language that is filled with meaning and assumptions, and my favourite part of fashion is trying to break those meanings and mess up the ‘norm’.

I, like most people went through “phases” as a kid. My style evolved overtime because who I was changed a lot. Let me show you just how many phases I had….

The Hippie Phase…

In Kindergarten I was notorious for wearing old dirty T-Shirts and a headband around my forehead

The Colour Phase

In early elementary school I went through a phase where my entire outfit was one colour from head to toe

The Girly Girl Phase

Around the same time, I went through a lip gloss, pink clothing, and fake dog in a purse phase (we all know the one)

The Cardigan Phase

Pretty much the rest of elementary school consisted of me wearing some kind of cardigan over every outfit I wore. I was obsessed with cardigans.

The Trying Too Hard Phase

When I started high school, I was a girl from a suburb going to high school in the city. All of the city kids were so “cool” and had a very individual style. I wanted to show that I had good style (which at this point, I did not. This is what we call the “awkward teen years”). I wore dresses with patterned tights, too much makeup (done horribly), boots with fringe or sparkles, and I looked a MESS.

The Grunge Phase

Then of course, as all teens do, you rebel against yourself and who you used to be and become the total opposite. For me this meant wearing thrift store mom jeans, old t shirts with a turtle neck underneath, combat boots, and my hair up at all times. I must admit that this was the comfiest phase and I still have days where I channel this phase.

The I Just Got a Job in Retail Phase

In my senior year of high school I got my first retail job at Topshop and I felt a need to up my fashion game since the people I worked with were all very stylish and being stylish was sort of a requirement for the job. I was really drawn to cigarette trousers, boyfriend jackets, leather boots, and knitwear. This phase ended my so called “Phases” and from here on, my style has not changed drastically but has evolved with current trends and who I am as a person

Creator – “Escape”

The piece uses movement to express discomfort within ones body. The camera has moments of shakiness to represent the unbalanced relationship between the girl and those who view her. The abstract colouring and lighting create an unfamiliar and strange environment meant to mimic how she feels in her own skin. This piece uses choreography to portray the need for escape and the discomfort and struggle between a girl and her body.

TUSH Magazine’s Scarfschützen

I wanted to showcase this specific editorial, because of its styling. The first image of the editorial from TUSH Magazine’s editorial titled, “Scarfschützen,” utilizes face-paint to replicate the Pucci patterned headscarf on the face that creates a camouflage effect that highlights the eyes of the model.

Keep on scrolling to see the rest of the images!

Photography Style

I am a great admirer of photographers who are able to use simple setups to create impactful images. In fashion, the impact relies on the model and their ability to–basically–sell the clothes they are wearing.

The photography style is very much like Richard Avedon and Steven Meisel where the simple backdrop is utilized. However, what makes these images look so angelic and soft is the use of diffused light that spreads evenly across the image: minimizing shadows and highlights.

Twiggy, by Avedon
Gisele Bündchen, by Meisel

Notice the basic backdrops and how they bring focus to the models and the fashion.

Team Credits

Photographer: Armin Morbach // Hair: Stelli // Make-up: Loni Baur // Fashion Stylist: Arthur Mayadoux // Body-paint: Milla De Wet // Models: Emily Liptow & Lia Marie (Modelwerk), Samuel (Iconic Management) // Photo Retouch: Sebastian Reuter // Digital Operator: Bastian Achard // Photo Assistant: Alex Craddock & Simon Stock // Make-up Assistant : Melanie Krieg // Styling Assistant: Mathilde Chaize

Knowing Your Resources at School

One of the most beneficial things that you can do for yourself as a student is get to know the resources that are available to you at your school. There are likely many more than you thought and many that you will want to use.

Clubs

I’m not sure what it is like at every school, but most schools have an extensive list of clubs that are available for students to join. In the case that you don’t find a club that you like, start your own club and meet new people that have similar interests to you! Being involved on campus is also impressive to future employers.

Volunteer Opportunities

Many schools are connected with outside organizations that are looking for students to volunteer for them. Eliminate the tedious task of googling volunteer opportunities online, and check out what is available for you from your school. Of course, volunteer opportunities are great for building up your resume.

Career-Building Opportunities

Speaking of resume-building opportunities, many schools offer career fairs and events in which organizations will send a representative to a booth at your campus to inform students about possible career opportunities. This is a great way for you to figure out what is available in your field, ask questions, and make important connections with future employers.

Health Resources

Check out what health resources your school offers its students. There are many different resources that can be offered including mental health counselling, doctor services, dental services, women’s centres that offer sanitary products, counselling for sexual assault survivors, and safe sex information.

Sports/School Spirit

Of course, there are often many options for athletes in university. Whether you are trying out for a team or interested in joining in on some fun intramurals, there should be an option for you. If you’re not much of a sporty person (like me), get some friends together and attend a sporting event to show your school spirit!

Social Media

Get connected with your school on social media. A lot of schools keep up with their social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to announce upcoming events or opportunities at the school. This is also a great way for you to engage online with some fellow classmates and potentially meet new friends.

If you have anything else to add to this list, let me know in the comments!

Week 11: Process Post

This week was dedicated to discussing transmedia integration and how we can incorporate it into the online presence.

I have already created an Instagram account for my website that I have been updating every so often. Below is a screenshot of the way I have set up my site. I have not yet worked at gaining more followers for my account as I wanted to wait until I had more content on my website in order to promote it further.

Instagram is the only other channel that I have been focusing on specifically for my website 1) because I am most comfortable using Instagram for promotion and personal reasons, and 2) because I feel like it is the most relevant channel to market to my audience. Being a personal kind of blogger, I have often seen other personal bloggers running an Instagram account alongside their blog content. I believe it has something to do with the visual part of IG that draws in followers. Below are some examples of IG posts that I have made. I try to shuffle between posts that update readers about my blog content & try to direct them back to my blog or engagement posts that try to encourage user comments & interactions.

On top of the Instagram that I have created for my website, I have attached my personal social media accounts onto my website (FB, Twitter, and LinkedIn). These are accounts that I use in my personal life and not necessarily just for my blog content. These social media accounts are presented to my blog readers as social media icons at the top bar of my website above my site logo.

A more recent addition to my blog is a widget that I found called, Instagram Widget by WPZOOM. This widget allows me to display my Instagram feed on the homepage of my blog, along with a “Follow” button that users can easily click to follow my account.

Overall, I think that I will keep up with the Instagram account for my blog, but I don’t think there are any other channels that I will be exploring right now. A Pinterest account may be a possible addition in the future, but I am not sure how many university students are still using Pinterest.

Some thoughts on analytics…

I’ve never realized that Analytics (Google, Facebook, Twitter etc.) is such a reliable and valuable tool for building an audience. Before setting up this website, my idea for Analytics was that “it’s only useful for really large corporations or professional scholars”, something like that. But now, I know that even we are just tiny, tiny content creators, analytics could help us to know how our readers behave on our websites and can greatly with the development and transformation of the best content. Everything is simply tracked, in detail. For instance, I could see exactly which city my readers are located when they visit my website and I could know what time (e.g. whether daytime/nighttime) they are clicking in. Therefore, I could adjust my posting time and adopt the most appropriate engagement strategies. Of course, every coin has two sides, for my readers, it could be kind of worrying if they know that every single step of them are recorded clearly. But, I guess this is absolutely unavoidable in the Internet era and it would be better for us to capitalize on it. (especially for me, as the website manager and creator!)

Amsterdam Day 1

After stepping off of the Eurostar train from London and into Schiphol Airport, we took our free shuttle to Corendon Village Hotel by Schiphol Airport. I know many people decide to stay in Amsterdam out of convenience but because we would also be travelling outside of the city, we stayed by the Airport which also has a train station within it.

I loved our hotel. It is a four-star hotel at the price of a three-star. We were there early April and it was around $110 CAD a night. Yes, it is outside of Amsterdam but with the amenities and services it offers, we didn’t mind at all. There are frequent complimentary shuttles to the airport and back which made getting around really easy. To get to Amsterdam Centraal, you can just take the train from Schiphol straight there. There is also a shuttle that takes you to the museum district in Amsterdam for €7,50 return trip. Just make sure you check the schedule so you don’t miss the last bus. You can find the shuttle information here.

Corendon Village Hotel had a pretty good fitness room and spa so you don’t miss out on your fitness regime whilst you are on holiday. One of the things that I struggle with is finding time to watch films that I look forward to that have just released in cinemas. As a avid film lover, I have to watch movies that I am really interested in within the first week but finding time to do that whilst I am on holiday is difficult. This hotel has a cinema downstairs and I’m not saying it plays movies that have already been released on DVD. I got to watch Shazam the day it was release in cinemas in my hotel and that was amazing.

Our room was in a different building than the lobby but it was easily accessible and no trouble at all for us. Everything in our room was clean and modern with functionality. We had a large fully-stocked kitchenette and a living area separate from the bedroom unlike many hotels in Europe where everything is usually cramped into one room. It allowed us space to stretch, relax, and lay out our luggage wherever we please.

More information about Corendon Village Hotel here.

Since we only had about half a day left, we decided to go to the Keukenhof, the largest flower garden in the world. We had already purchased the combination ticket which included a return bus ticket and admission into the garden. We took the free shuttle from the hotel to Schiphol Airport and then took the 858 bus to the Keukenhof. The combination ticket is €27,50 and more information about visiting Keukenhof can be found here.

The garden was massive and you can follow the winding roads to discover beautifully arranged flowers and attractions. This is the ideal place to pretend to be a princess walking around your palace gardens. There no just way to describe the elegance of the flowers so I’ve created a gallery below so you can see for yourself.

Process Post #4: Web-design

I took my general idea for the website from other creepy-pasta esque websites such as Lorepodcast.com. Lore primarily features an excellent podcast. If you’re interested in the topic of cryptids, I highly recommend it.

In Genereal:
– I understand my meatier posts can be quite wordy, and that is likely a problem which stems from my own bias.
– I think the darker theme looks nice. It sets the mood and is an easy way to visually indicate what kind of website it is
– As you may have noticed, I try to keep myself relatively anonymous
– In regards to the first Peer Review of my website, I certainly am trying to implement some of the suggestions. The main concern being content, but also a few edits

Process Post #3

Customize your vegan cinnamon roll! @Cinnaholic Seattle

I couldn’t even remember how many times I’ve seen cinnamon rolls in cafes, grocery stores or fast food places in Vancouver, but I never tried one because I felt like it would be a bit too boring and overly sweet to have a big cinnamon roll on my own. However, I was very attracted by a vegan cinnamon bun chain called “Cinnaholic” since their cinnamon rolls are firstly healthier; and the most important thing is: they offer flavor varieties and customization!

I visited their bakery at Seattle to experience their handcrafted cinnamon rolls; which are claimed 100% vegan, dairy & lactose-free, egg-free and cholesterol-free. The best part for me was being able to choose from more than a dozen decadent topping choices, the process of picking and creating is always fun. And what I got was a cinnamon roll topped with caramel sauce, brownie bites, pie crusts, and some fresh strawberries (in case of being too indecisive or simply lazy, the shop also offers a list of recommended combinations for you)!

the surroundings.
the counter where you pick your flavors!

The cinnamon roll itself was fresh and yummy, love how they reheated it by oven before serving to customers. While for the toppings, things can’t go wrong with the combinations that I picked (I guess…), the fruits balanced the sweetness and heaviness from the brownies (which are awesome) and the pie crust added some more texture to the whole dessert. I definitely recommend people who have a sweet tooth to pay a visit and have fun there!

Self-customized cinnamon roll

$8.26 (USD)

[4 toppings|without frosting]

[strawberries, brownie bites, pie crust, caramel sauce]

Rating: 8.5/10

Location: 816 E Pike St, Seattle, WA 98122

The Hottest ‘Instagramable’ Restaurants in LA you can’t miss!

It comes as no surprise that Los Angeles is a famous food palace, you can always find worldwide cuisine and some unusual restaurants in this beautiful sunshine city, food choices would never be repeated here. Want to know which restaurants are the hottest on Instagram now? let’s have a look together!

1.The Ivy (LA)

Flowers, artistic and vintage, those are bright features of this popular LA restaurant-the Ivy. If you want to have an unforgettable lunch in a wonderful garden, I really recommend you to come. Recently it has become a new favorite of the ins-bloggers, tourists and celebrities, if you are lucky enough, you can enjoy the cuisine while takes a close look at them. I really like the building itself, like the restaurant introduced that-a prettily decorated country-cottage rooms, distinctly, it looks really like a beautiful pastoral house of the grandmother in the 70-80s countryside, you feel really warm, comfortable and relax in this amazing atmosphere.

When you walk inside, you can see a big fireplace and the light yellow walls hung with retro plates, but compare with indoor, the flowery outdoor terrace with cozy sofas is my real love. Another adorable thing which really attracts my eyes is that every table was decorated with fresh roses, how romantic is it! Speaking of the food, the price is a little bit high and most meals are beautifully laid out. Besides, the lobster pasta is the signature dish and almost every table must be ordered. By the way, the fresh juice in this restaurant is my personal recommendation, I really like the apple juice which tastes really well. Noticed that this restaurant also needs an appointment, you can use OpenTable or just called the phone.

Address: 113 N Robertson Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90048 USA

Phone: +1 310-274-8303 Hours: 08:00-21:30

2.BBCM-The Butcher, The Baker & The Cappuccino Maker Cafe

Have an amazing breakfast will cheer you up and bring a fresh new day! In my own view, this quote is definitely made for BBCM-the most popular restaurant in West Hollywood, LA. It opens daily for breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner, but the brunch and lunchtime are the busiest periods in a whole day, almost overcrowding! You can see a really long waiting line every day, which represents the popularity of BBCM, so try to avoid going there at weekends and vacation days! Also, making a reservation through bbcmcafe.com, OpenTable or phone call will help you to save time.

At first sight, all decoration of BBCM is based on white and designed in a modern simple style, which is totally different compared with the Ivy. The food is really really fresh and delicious, I believed the food placing is in a European style rather than American! My favorite is egg benedict and the smoked salmon croissant, Furthermore, the drinks are also nice and creative! I strongly recommend the specialty coffee beverages and craft cocktails, you will know that food is also the art when you see them!

Address: 8653 Sunset Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90069 USA

Phone: +1 310-360-6900 Hours: 08:00-22:00

3.The Living Room (The peninsula beverly hills)

If you are not much hungry, but want to have some food and chat with your friends, the living room in peninsula hotel (Beverly hills) can be your first choice in this situation. The afternoon tea offered in this hotel spreads fame the overseas, which attract many people to come and taste. It also served breakfast, dinner and some snacks, pianist will play the piano in the evening, and you can enjoy a lovely time with some cocktail in this romantic and exquisite room.

Accompanied by the music of a classical harpist, The Peninsula’s legendary Afternoon Tea start. There are two types of tea sets you can choose, an optional glass of Champagne and a tower of traditional high tea requisites; I order the Champagne including one, which is more fit for the atmosphere I think. For the tea menu, I do recommend the black tea and matcha, which are really rich and delicious. Moreover, from sandwiches to bite-sized pastries and scones, all the desserts in the selection are really tasteful, whole snacks inside the tea set are well-prepared and value for the price.

Address: 9882 Santa Monica blvd, The Peninsula Beverly Hills, CA 90212

Phone: +1 310 975 2736

Sharetea

My all time favourite bubble tea store would have to be Sharetea. I go there regularly and sometimes you can find me there about 3 times a week, whether I’m just picking up a drink or studying there. I just love how they’re really consistent with their drink flavours and the aiyu jelly here taste amazing and has to be the best I’ve had before.

Location

Address: 1033-8300 Capstan Way, Richmond, BC V6X 4B7

There’s two Sharetea locations in Richmond, one next to Richmond Centre and one located within the Union Square Shopping Centre which is close by Aberdeen Centre. Both locations are quite accessible via the Canada Line since the Canada Line has stops at Aberdeen and Richmond-Brighouse, making it a few minutes walk to both locations after getting off the skytrain.

Interior

The space of Sharetea isn’t too big or small, but has about 5 tables for customers to sit down. Usually during weekdays I would say that it isn’t too busy, but it definitely gets quite full on weekend afternoons. The walls are painted black and grey and the lighting is dim inside Sharetea. The decor is definitely quite simplistic but has an industrial ambiance to it. Also, they do play a lot of Chinese remixes of English music so that is quite an interesting element to this Sharetea location.

Taste

I’ve tried many drinks here at Sharetea but my favourite would have to be the Green Milk Tea with Aiyu Jelly because of its light, but sweet taste and also the aiyu jelly adds an element of a soft texture to the overall drink. Also, the Creamas here are really good too and Creamas are basically a tea drink with a layer of frothy cream that goes at the top and you sip it like how you would a regular hot drink. My favourite thing about Sharetea would have to be the quality of their drinks so they’re so consistent and they don’t taste artificial.

Price

The drinks here average to $5-$6 a cup which is quite standard, when compared to other bubble tea stores. Newer bubble tea chains nowadays have drinks that are a couple dollars more expensive than Sharetea. I would say the price of their drinks are reasonable for the exceptional taste of their drinks.

Conclusion

Whenever friends ask me for a bubble tea recommendation, I always say Sharetea! It is my go-to place for bubble tea without a doubt and I think I’ve converted all my friends and family too to Sharetea drinkers. I love their quality, taste, and consistency of all of their drinks and the price is not too expensive either. I definitely would recommend trying Sharetea to anyone who hasn’t and is a bubble tea lover!

Check on the posts I did on my Instagram!

self care while seeing other people

dating sucks. If the date goes well, it can be exciting, if it goes bad, you start to reassess everything in your life. In order to keep your head on straight I have a few suggestions.

Know what you want: Know what you are looking for before you start this adventure, be truthful with yourself about what you need, want and can maintain in terms of a relationship at this time in your life. Also if you don’t know what you want thats okay too, don’t try to force yourself into one category

Date yourself too: Make sure you are spending the same amount of time with yourself, if not more. Sure other people are cool, and as cliche as it sounds you should really know yourself before you can know someone else

R-E-J-E-C-T-I-O-N: Ahh the worst part of dating, finally finding someone who you like, ticks a few of the boxes and then nothing. It will happen. The key to dealing with this is all in how you react. The thing with rejection is that it can make you feel like you are less than all the amazing things that you are. My suggestion is to put on some Lizzo, go back to the previous two steps and then move on to bigger and better things.

Manage Expectations: This is a big one, especially for me. Be realistic about what’s going on in the present, stop looking into things so much, stop planning for the future. It’s easy to get sweet up in a moment and also compare every date and every person to what came before. Stay focused, what’s in the past in there for a reason. Embrace the new for good or the bad, and don’t get too wrapped up in it all (remember step 2).

2 Innovative Shoe Companies

WATERPROOF SHOES

We all wear shoes, and Im sure most of us have experienced super rainy weather. Here I will be highlighting two Vancouver-based shoe companies that offer waterproof shoes that will help you survive Vancouver’s weather. I personally hate it if my shoes gets wet in the rain. Rain boots are also not my style of footwear, so these shoes are actually my go-to shoes to wear in the rain. They will keep your socks completely dry, even if you step in a puddle- making it ideal for the gloomy weather here in Vancouver. Both of these companies also promote sustainability. If you also own a pair of these shoes, or end up purchasing one, let me know what you think! Also, do you have other shoe recommendation? Join the conversation in the comment sections below!

VESSI

Vessi is a shoe company that started in 2017 in Vancouver by three people. The shoes are designed in Vancouver, and with the goal of the product to be stylish and completely waterproof. Vessi created their shoes to keep your feet sweat-free, comfortable, and stylish, while also being environmentally friendly. Vessi strives to ensure their shoes are sustainable, with every pair of shoes being 100% vegan. Further, the company has been able to reduce their carbon footprint by over 600% by cutting the tradition machine knit time usually needed to make shoes, into only 45 minutes. As their shoes are completely waterproof, you can wear them in any season. Another fact about Vessi shoes is that they are actually the lightest 100% waterproof shoes in the world. The patented Dyma-tex technology is the “magic layer” of breathable knit that keeps their shoes waterproof.

After wearing Vessi shoes, I can say from my experience that the shoes are very comfortable, and is completely waterproof. Vessi comes in three different styles, all priced at $135. I think the price is well aligned with other comparable sneakers in the market. Based on my own preference, I also think that Vessi shoes are also a lot more stylish than other waterproof shoes. Since it is made with a knit material, at first glance, many can’t even tell that it is waterproof.

NATIVE

Native is a Vancouver-based company, originally founded by Scoot Hawthorn in 2009. Native shoes comes in a lot of styles for all types of occasions, including boots, sandals, sneakers, and much more. Similar to Vessi, Native shoes are also made for rainy weather. The company uses a material called ethylene vinyl acetate, a rubber-like material that is flexible, water-proof, and helps prevent odour. The material used is actually the same that Crocs uses, however, Native shoes are very different in style and offers more trendy footwear. In terms of sustainability, Native has a goal that by 2023, every pair of Native Shoes will be made by a material that can be 100% recycle into other creations such as flooring, seats, insulation, and much more. Further, Native shoes are completely Vegan, and Beast Free, meaning the company has not touched a single hair on animal in creating their products– Shows are light-weight.

I purchased a pair of Native because I last-minute needed a lightweight, waterproof pair of shoes to bring on a trip. I think these shoes are actually very light-weight and comfortable. They come in many different styles, to cater to everyone’s personal preferences.

Bread Ahead Bakery

Let’s talk about Bread Ahead Bakery. If you have read my Borough Market Food Guide, you’ll know that I have already mentioned them. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it now: they have the best doughnuts in the world. I’m not exaggerating. I still dream about these doughnuts and I purchased five within three days. They are clouds of happiness that you bite into. Read more about these doughnuts here.

The rest of Bread Ahead is not as heavenly as their doughnuts but its pretty close. There is a large selection of freshly made pastries and sandwiches available for your enjoyment. They not only taste delicious, but they look amazing. The breads were displayed in baskets and the sandwiches and baked goods were arranged beautifully on cake stands.

What I decided to get the mozzarella and pesto sandwich. It featured basil pesto, fresh tomato and rocket, mozzarella, and a ham/prosciutto type meat on a ciabatta bun. The ingredients were high quality which complimented the exceptional bun. Something that I love about London is that you don’t get that dry mozzarella. You always get fresh mozzarella that has a buttery texture and has such a delicate flavour whilst still maintaining the signature “squeakiness” that mozzarella should have. 8/10

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to taste anything else because I was picking up a snack after a previous food stop. But Bread Ahead Bakery is a must when you are visiting London. You can’t miss it. The windows are decorated with doughnuts and cinnamon rolls (the Bread Ahead signatures) so you can’t resist stopping and admiring their art.

Christmas Classics

With one and a half week past the end of Halloween, it’s time to begin the Holiday season and bump the classics, featuring Mariah Carey and Michael Bublé.

1. All I Want For Christmas Is You

If this isn’t the first Christmas song you’re playing then you’re doing something wrong. When you hear this song, you know it’s that time of the year to bring out the decorations.

2. Bublé Christmas

This entire album is so iconic might as well just add it all to your Christmas music queue.

3. Feliz Navidad

Honestly, the most fun Christmas song. You either hate it or you love, but you will never be able to resist the urge to sing it.

4. Jingle Bell Rock

The funniest use of Jingle Bell Rock yet, this song is an iconic symbol as both the holiday season and a Hollywood moment.

5. Last Christmas

Perhaps the saddest of the Christmas jingles, Last Christmas teaches us that the holiday seasons are meant to be spent with special people, not someone who will just give your heart away

Xing Fu Tang (Teahouse)

Background At first glance, Xing Fu Tang （幸福堂）may seem like nothing more than another Taiwanese teahouse. But they pride themselves by making the act of getting a simple drink a unique experience. Every location is stationed with a specialty pan placed out in the open which is used to stir fry their pearls. Additionally, they also give customers the option of taking out a card with a fortune similar to that of a fortune cookie, but with much more meaning. These two unique offerings are iconic and have allowed Xing Fu Tang to become one of the top tea houses in every city they arrive in. December 1st, 2018 marks the soft opening of their store on Cambie in the Lower Mainland. Today, the presence spans out to seven other locations which on average would equate to an additional store showing in almost every month and a half.

Brown Sugar Pearl Milk This is their signature drink and for good reason. It uses pearls form the publicly visible frying pan which switches out conventional sugar for brown sugar giving it a richer flavor profile. But the biggest benefit coming from this preparing is the texture of the pearls itself. Stir drying the pearls with sugar allows for the pearls to be much more chewy but also soft on the outside to more perfectly compliment the drink itself. As for the milk, Xing Fu Tang tries to use Avalon milk which is probably the best milk around.

Verdict Xing Fu Tang is truly becoming one of the world’s best tea houses for all the right reasons. They provide an experience out of something that most people do not think much about it while delivering an exceptional product as well. With many other drinks of their menu, I would urge everyone to try the brown sugar pearl milk first, and branch out and I plan to do just that.

Bao Soho

Bao is a modern restaurant in the heart of Soho that serves small Taiwanese dishes. The restaurant was intimate and clean featuring both bar seating and table seating. There is was a small queue outside of the restaurant and it only took around ten minutes for us to be seated. The menu was small and you order is like a Chinese dim sum restaurant, you write the quantity next the the dish you want.

The Bao menu includes “Xiao Chi” which translates to “little eats”, “bao”, and “sides”. You are also able to purchase Bao tote bags and t-shirts if you like collecting restaurant souvenirs, this is available to you.

The first thing we ordered the beef soup and braised daikon from the “Xiao Chi” section. At first glance, it looked okay. It was a small bowl of dark liquid with a few rectangles of veg floating in it.

I’m going to be honest, it was not very good. The beef soup had no beef in it, so that was a little disappointing. Taiwanese beef soup has beef 99% of the time so I expected at least a bite of meat. Not only that, the soup was incredibly salty. However, there was a nice beef flavour, I won’t deny that but there was just too much salt. Not only that, the daikon didn’t really add any flavour so it wasn’t really that interesting to eat. There is so much you can do with daikon and unlocking the flavour is something that was lacking in this particular dish. I wouldn’t really recommend this soup to anyone and to be frank, you’re better off saving 3.5 quid. I would rate this particular dish a 3/10.

The next dish was the Taiwanese Fried Chicken with Hot Sauce from the “Xiao Chi” section. I was still hopeful after the beef soup because this place has such high reviews and it was good. The coating on the outside was crispy and the chicken was tender on the inside. What stood out for me was actually the hot sauce. I usually don’t have sauce with my Taiwanese fried chicken because it is already aromatic and bursting with flavour. The dish Bao served was not as flavourful as the fried chicken you would get in Taiwan but it’s close. The hot sauce made up for the lack of aromatic flavour and brought in a bit of spiciness to lift the dish. This was a huge step up from the first “Xiao Chi” and got me excited to try more.

The Taiwanese fried chicken is priced at £6.5 which is steep for the small amount of chicken on the plate. I would honestly recommend that unless you desperately want to try Taiwanese fried chicken, don’t go for this. It is lovely and tastes good but I don’t think its worth the price point and it doesn’t hold up to authentic Taiwanese fried chicken. But hey, it’s London. Everything is a bit more expensive and this restaurant is in Soho so I guess I can’t be too harsh. 5/10

Next were the Baos. The first was the Fried Chicken Bao which featured the same fried chicken from the dish before. It was dressed with kimchi, coriander, and Sichuan mayo. I liked this more than the Xiao Chi version because there were different textures and elements that elevated the experience. The sesame steamed bun was fluffy and moist providing an extra chew to the bao. The kimchi brought in acidity to balance and cut through the richness of the mayo. It is priced at £5.5 and I would give it the same rating: 5.5/10

The second was the Classic Bao and it had braised pork, peanut powder, fermented veg, and coriander. This wasn’t very memorable to me. I remember liking the peanut powder because of the fragrance and liking the bao because it was softer than the previous but that is about it. Since I can’t remember much about this dish, I unfortunately cannot give it a rating but I can tell you that it is priced at £5.25.

Bao Soho was okay for a quick bite but definitely not enough for a full meal. If you would like to pop by for a quick snack I might recommend it but personally, I just don’t think that it is worth the price point. As a Taiwanese person, the flavours don’t really meet the expectations that I had. But if you would like to try some Taiwanese food and you are not able to plan a holiday in Taiwan, coming here for a taste of the cuisine won’t do any harm. I would suggest trying out the Baos and having a swig of Taiwanese beer whilst you’re here.

For all of Bao London’s locations, visit their website here.

Play when…it’s too early

Go to bed late, wake up early. Repeat.

I don’t know about you, but that’s what my disintegrating sleep schedule has been like during this final stretch of the semester. I mean, I haven’t travelled anywhere out of the 10km radius of my house for the past couple of days but I’m walking around like I’m jet-lagged.

Thank you, term papers.

And hear me out, waking up is hard. Getting up while it’s still dark outside seems counterintuitive, my body clock believes otherwise, and it doesn’t seem fair to trade your warm bed for the cold touch of the bathroom floor. I did not sign up for this.

But alas, another day, another morning.

So here’s a playlist to ease your delicate self out of bed and into the world that seems to be throwing everything at you as of late.

Sound on & wake up slow.

The best of all worlds!@Vegan Night Market

Recently, articles about the upcoming Vegan Night Market in Vancouver went viral in my personal news feed. This reminds me of my unforgettable gourmet night in the Vegan Night Market held on September 12, 2019; in “At the Waldorf”. I believe it’s now a good time to share my experience since the next night market, which shall be more or less similar, is coming back in December!

This night market I’d been to was organized mainly by “The Vegan Project”, participants could enjoy shopping, eating, listening to music, and more; simply by paying a minimum admission fee (aka donation) of $2. And of course, my focus through the night is on all the scrumptious food!

Say Hello Sweets
Chickpea
Lita's Mexican Food
Taybeh Food
The Rolling Cashew

These are all the things I had tried (actually there was so much more that I wanna eat!! but I was already full…), and they ALL TASTED GOOD. The ice cream was coconut-based and tasted really flavourful since strawberry and coconut always match well, the ice cream itself is creamy and the cone is crispy. The pita from Chickpea tasted awesome too, the crispy tofu wasn’t oily and you can freely add different sauces provided by the shop; the whole thing was much better than my previous experience in their restaurant. All the other savories are also just as good as they look like in the pictures and I definitely recommend vegans (or even non-vegans) to grab some food there. You’ll surely feel satisfied.

The next Vegan Night Market will be held on 19th December 2019. I want to go again so badly but I wouldn’t be able to make it because I’ll be back in Hong Kong already at that time… Those who are in Vancouver, you better don’t miss the chance!

Rating: 9/10

Location: 1489 E Hastings St, Vancouver, BC V5L 1S4 (At the Waldorf)

Peer Review #2

Today I am reviewing Lucas’s art blog Krowmeat Does Art. I have previously been to his site before and find his aesthetic somewhat amusing. It is a mixture of creepy meets purposely gaudy. The colour story of his blog consists of a saturated dark blue and a very bright yellow. This coincides with his general art style which is also primarily made with glowing primary colours, heavy line art, and graphic novel inspired as illustrated below:

Along with the artwork he has currently posted in his blog, he also has linked an instagram which showcases other artwork as well as a twitter account. He has an “About” page which gives further insight about who he is as a creator and what his online persona is like. In some of his posts, Lucas muses about his art process and other artists he gains inspiration from.

Lucas’s blog is fairly easy to navigate. It has different categories that separate class posts from general posts and art posts, and also includes a nice menu tab on the upper left corner. There are some grammatical errors present in posts, however, said posts are exceedingly casual in tone. Thus, I find no issue with that. Again addressing the blog’s aesthetic, but it is possible he may alienate potential viewers. It is definitely an aesthetic chosen for the author rather than his audience, however, I understand it and I do not feel he needs to change it considering his blog is aimed at a more casual rather than professional crowd. Content wise there is not much to add. Lucas is clearly updating regularly, and has a decent amount of artwork and posts on his blog in addition to his social media pages.

As a former art student myself, it is nice to take a slightly deeper dive into another’s process and aesthetic. If I was to add a bit of wisdom I received from my own art professors, I would recommend also having a more business professional website or social media contact if Lucas wishes to monetize or sell his skills in the future. It is a very difficult thing as an artist to accept that sometimes you have to sacrifice your own tastes a bit and make a compromise in order to get your foot in the door so to speak. That said, I am certainly not saying he should or has to follow this advice. I am merely pointing out that the art world is a fickle mistress. Overall, it is a good blog and I look forward to more posts from him.

Peer Review #1

For this Peer Review assignment, I will be reviewing Mehtab’s blog, Vancity Exotics. It aims to “create a clean, minimalist, and futuristic website” about cars and car culture. As of right now, there appears to be little implementation regarding this specific topic. In “Process Post #2”, Mehtab expresses that this is, in part, due to his busy schedule. He also feels frustrated regarding the aesthetics of his website. Personally, I feel he has accomplished a fairly nice and clean looking website. Granted, I completely understand his frustration. The only aesthetic issues I see involve the inconsistency with the banner text-type as illustrated below:

I do not feel this is more than a nit-pick, however, I felt it should be noted. The simpler text type on the bottom image I feel is a better fit in comparison to the fancier one above. Particularly due to Mehtab’s statement that he wants something that feels “minimalist” and “futuristic” is accomplished on a rudimentary level. The black, white, and grey colour story is nice and easy to read. As for user interface improvements, either having a tab bar or set categories would be useful. Currently, most posts appears to be listed under the sole category “uncategorized”. This makes it a bit difficult to navigate between posts related to the website’s topic versus process posts or assignments from class. Not all of his posts are under this category as well, which makes navigation a tad more cumbersome. Content wise, as stated before, is somewhat bare and I would suggest adding an introduction page to really emphasize what he enjoys and knows about cars and car culture. As of right now, the only thing that shows his audience what his website is about are the header and “Process Post #5”. In terms of an “online self” being created on this blog, there is not much. I believe Mehtab wants to keep his identity somewhat anonymous for the time being. Overall, taking a look at a peer’s blog was a great way to see how students express themselves in different ways with the same tool set. I think it is an inspiring thing to see, even with personal struggles.