Simple Things I've Learned That Have Improved My Cooking

If your mashed potatoes are not sticking together, it's because there's not enough moisture/liquid/water/whatever you want to call it.

I learned this one from Chrissy Teigen: peel ginger with a spoon. It is so much easier than using a peeler or knife.

When making dalgona coffee with a electric mixer, make sure to use a deep bowl or cup because the coffee mixture WILL splash.

A Short List of Food I Will Never Eat at a Restaurant Again

Why? Because I can make it better at home.

Tacos

Exception: Crafted The Art of Taco's "Hoodie" Falafel Tacos // Greensboro, NC

Sushi

Exception: Sushi Momo // Montreal

Cake

Exception: Fare Well's chocolate chip cookie dough // Washington D.C.

2017 Year in Review

2020 update: I never finished this because of how much work it was, but I should have quit grad school.

I started the year off with my very first short, "Vegan Dating Problems," based on real life events. It honestly wasn't the best thing ever, but I was proud of myself for putting it together i.e. collaborating with another human being aka my friend Julie. She was such a good actress, and I can't wait to work with her again.

Unfortunately, it won't be for a while, as I quit my job and moved back to Charlottesville for grad school. I didn't plan either of the two when the year started. I talked about my decision to leave my job in a blog post and a video titled "Why I Left Buzzfeed," parodying the ones of actual Buzzfeed employees leaving the media company. 

The initial goal was to find another job, but I couldn't imagine doing anything besides teaching and becoming a Youtube star of course. For a whole month, I actually tried to be a Youtuber. I made some videos and blogged a lot (see my blog archive on the right), but rent money was running out, so I got a job as a hostess for a sushi restaurant. Working at Ichiban Sushi & Ramen was a highlight of my year because of my amazing and super cool coworkers.

I also had to work because I got a cat! He does not look like the screenshot below, but he is pretty obese. My roommate currently has custody while I'm away, but I get to see him from time to time.

2017 was a big year for Asian Americans. Kevin Kwan's bestselling book, Crazy Rich Asians was adapted into a feature film set to release later this year. I actually auditioned, as you can see below. Hasan Minhaj released his standup special on Netflix; Ali Wong went on tour again-I was lucky enough to see her in DC; Master of None Season 2 was a hit, and so much more. This success was what made me regret my decision to go back to grad school instead of moving to LA with my savings. I seriously thought about quitting grad school, but somehow made it through with help from new friends.

sometimes all i see are imperfections

hair: badly in need of a haircut

makeup: lipstick not fully able to cover my peeled and bleeding lip

outfit: cut from a dress but i'm always bloated so crop tops don't look good on me so i tucked in the shirt, but it doesn't hide my protruding stomach because i'm always slouching

North America City Guide

New York City

Must Do: 

• Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum
• $7 admission with valid student ID
• If you are a fan of the Smithsonian art museums in DC, then you will enjoy the Cooper Hewitt. 
• The Museum at FIT
• Free admission
• For those interested in fashion and or design
• Your boyfriend will probably be bored and start playing Pokemon Go
• World Trade Center + other unique skyscrapers/buildings in New York
• If you're into architecture
• Other examples:
• 9/11 Memorial
• Flatiron Building
• Oculus at One World Trade Center
• If you want to see how capitalism has taken advantage of a tragedy
• "Imagine if they made a shopping mall at the Holocaust Museum."
• All that other touristy stuff
• NYC's got something for everyone: 5th Avenue, Times Square, Chinatown, etc.

Not Worth It:

• The Metropolitan Museum of Art ($12 admission with valid student ID)

If you've been to other art museums, then the Met is not worth it because everything in the Met, I've seen before. Sure the specific pieces will be different, but the collections are the same as say The Getty, LACMA, or any of the DC museums. I recommend these museums because they are smaller and easier to navigate. Aside from LACMA, these museums are also free.

As a person with social anxiety, the Met was way too overwhelming. Because it's so large, it is hard to navigate: not everything is labelled on the map, and you can't access certain parts of the museum without returning to the main lobby. Normally, this would not be a problem, but with a museum so large, it is a lot of work and time wasted trying to find your way [instead of seeing everything and easing your anxiety].

If you're a new museum goer with NYC as your only means to an art museum, then the Met is for you. Otherwise, I'd recommend more niche museums like the Cooper-Hewitt Design Museum or Museum at Fit when traveling in the city.

Food: 

Bodhi Vegetarian, Seasoned Vegan, Brooklyn Whiskers, Xian Famous Foods, Smorgasburg

Connecticut

Must Do: 

• Rocky Neck State Park Located right off 95,  Rocky Neck State Park is the perfect stop for those looking for a beach on their road trip up north. I really wanted to go to a beach, but the ones I researched were out of the way. Then while leaving Connecticut, a brown sign on the side of the highway granted me my one wish. In addition to a sandy beach filled clear water and bright green seaweed, the state park features a pathway of large rocks adjacent to the water perfect for those looking for an adventure aka bored boyfriends.

Not Worth It: 

• Frank Pepe's Pizzeria

Rhode Island

Must Do:

• Plant City Why? Plant City is the first and only vegan food hall in the world.

Not Worth It:

• Plant City Why? The food is still a work in progress.

Boston

Must Do: 

• Brookline Dispensary Massachusetts began selling recreational weed in 2018, and this dispensary opened in March 2019 in a former bank, making it one of the prettiest dispensaries in America. Order ahead for pickup to avoid the long lines stretching way outside the door even at 8 p.m. on a weeknight.   
• Boston Public Garden 😍 What more do I have to say other than we went on a cloudy day and it was still beautiful
• Rose Kennedy Greenway Best viewed at night when the lights are out and the light and water displays are on
• Boston Waterfront The perfect spot to view the transition from day to night after the public garden and before you head to the Greenway

Not Worth It: 

• Arnold Arboretum Maybe it's because we went on rainy day, but it was a lot of effort walking around for not a lot of reward; I don't think I gained anything from the experience besides a little exercise. The bonsai collection was closed by the time we got there. The best part was probably the shrub and vine garden.

Food: 

Red White, My Thai Vegan Cafe

Montreal

Must Do:

• Barbie EXPO

• Free admission
• A must go if you grew up playing Barbies and love fashion
• You can step inside a Barbie box for a photo opportunity, but beware: the box is made for tall skinny people; I finally understand why people don't like Barbie now.
• Old Montreal
• Put this in your GPS to walk around the cobblestone city by the waterfront
• Also where LOV McGill is located
• Grocery Shopping

• Honestly, this was one of the best parts of our road trip. 
• $1 100% fruit juices!!!!! like pure grapefruit and a tropical guava mix 
• Ketchup Doritos 
• Convenient Store Shopping
• For Canadian beer
• Fast Food Restaurants
• Tim Horton's coming through with the Beyond Meat breakfast sandwich 
• Even the fast food restaurants like A&W have poutine on the menu...speaking of which
• Poutine
• Dispensary-SQDC

• Weed is 100% legal in Canada.
• SQDC has a monopoly on the sale of recreational weed in Quebec.
• There was also a long line here, but it moved relatively quick, and the inside was nice and bright. 
• Talking to people who will assume you speak French even if you are Asian but who are bilingual and can also speak English
• Gay Village
• Close to Sushi Momo 
• Has a Copper Branch
• A lot of cool artwork and displays
• An Airbnb in Repentigny
• Eat vegan food 
• Canada is way ahead of the curve and even has vegan chains.

Not Worth It: 

• La Banquise

Food: 

Lov, Sushi Momo, Copper Branch

Philadelphia

Must Do: 

• Philadelphia Magic Gardens $8 admission-buy tickets in advance, and do it for the gram. Honestly, this was the only thing in Philadelphia we ended up doing besides eating at Hipcity Veg. Nothing else really captured my eye, and parking was a bitch during a midday afternoon, so we didn't go anywhere else like the Liberty Bell. Everything else the city had to offer, we had already experienced elsewhere. 

Not Worth It:

• Hipcity Veg There's no reason to go here if you live in DC. A Hipcity Veg in its birthplace is no different than a Hipcity Veg elsewhere. 

The Best Vegan Poutine in Montreal

"hehe the only thing I know about montreal is.... poutine"

When traveling I, like most others, start by researching popular tourist attractions and the local food scene. I can usually and quickly find sensory experiences on TripAdvisor and food options by searching for "Vegan Food" on Yelp. By only searching for vegan food, I filter out a lot of restaurants. However, with Montreal it was a different story.

I had heard of poutine before, but it never really stayed on my mind as a must-have because it wasn't a vegan dish. Little did I know how vegan-friendly Montreal and Canada was. After my boyfriend mentioned poutine, I immediately did a Google search to see if there was indeed vegan poutine. I stumbled upon this list by Miranda Cipolla, https://www.mtlblog.com/best-of-mtl/8-restaurants-in-montreal-where-you-can-get-poutine-yes-vegan-poutine, the only list of its kind, and thus our quest to find the best vegan poutine in Montreal began (and how our meals in Montreal were subsequently planned).

1. LOV. The first stop on our Montreal trip was the first place on Miranda's list: LOV. When researching LOV and many of the restaurants on the list, I was pleasantly surprised to see multiple locations: Canada is so vegan-friendly, it has vegan chains! Although, the multiple locations became super confusing when trying to correspond locations on Google maps with the ones on the list. Adding to the confusion was the language barrier between French and English. Thankfully, LOV McGill was easy enough to remember so in the GPS it went. However, upon seating and looking at the menu, poutine was no where to be found. My boyfriend asked the waiter if they had poutine, and he responded with "Sorry, we don't have poutine." This is a good time to note that I did not thoroughly research the poutine list before our trip, which is very unusual for a planner like me. I somehow figured we would wing it depending on our location. Thus, when the waiter told us there was no poutine, I thought poutine had permanently been removed from the menu. It was only later when researching for this story that I realized poutine was only absent from the weekend brunch menu. Nevertheless, I was not deterred in the moment because we still had seven restaurants left on the list, and we shared a delicious apple french toast at LOV.

2. LOLA ROSA. After walking Old Montreal and downtown Montreal, we were ready to try again. Because the #2 spot on Miranda's list was outside Montreal, we tried going to next spot, Lola Rosa. This is when Google Maps really tripped me up-again, another failure due to my lack of planning-because all the Lola Rosas had different names-four compared to LOV's two. Additionally, all of the addresses were given to us in English on Google, whereas they were French on the list and Yelp.

I ended up choosing the location closest to us at the moment, but there was no parking nearby, so we just gave up because by then I had already planned for us to go to another poutine place on the list-La Banquise-where my boyfriend could try and compare non-vegan and vegan poutine side-by-side.

3. LA BANQUISE. La Banquise is situated outside downtown Montreal and has no other location, so it was pretty easy to find and park nearby. It was also the perfect dinner spot before we headed further north towards our Airbnb in Repentigny.

La Banquise is a poutinerie, meaning it specializes in poutine. At the #8 spot, it is the only poutinerie and non-vegan restaurant on Miranda's list. Upon arriving at La Banquise, you will see a sign at the front of the line informing guests of the accepted forms of payment, which was very smart and considerate. If you do not have Canadian cash or debit, they have conveniently provided an ATM in a corner next to the entrance.

After we converted our money, we were seated outside where our server informed us alcohol would not be served. I was kind of mad at my boyfriend, who's allergic to alcohol, for agreeing to this because I wanted beer with my poutine, but I didn't want to inconvenience the staff or wait any longer for this delicacy. The menu had plenty of customizable options, so essentially any poutine could be made vegan, but because this was our first poutine experience, we opted for the "La Classique." They also offer non-poutine options if you're interested in non-potato foods.

"La [Classique] Véganomane" was very visually appealing.

Unfortunately, its taste did not live up. The vegan gravy was bland, and the mozzarella cheese shreds were not fully melted (traditional poutine is made with melted cheese curds). Even the fries themselves had no flavor. I later bought a beer at a convenience store, which made stomaching these leftover fries easier, but I left La Banquise with the possibility that poutine just wasn't for me like how restaurant tacos aren't for me.

4. 57 CALS. LOLA ROSA (again). VEGAN RAPIDE. & L'GROSE LUXE VEGE. With internet at our Airbnb, I finally did the proper research on the list. I found out that the #2 and #6 restaurants on the list, 57 Cals and L'Grose Luxe Veg, had closed since the list's 2017 publication, so while vegan restaurants were more prevalent in Canada, they were also highly volatile. With three restaurants remaining on the list (Lola Rosa, Vegan Rapide, and Copper Branch), I decided to forgo Lola Rosa because its poutine appeared to be the same as La Banquise's. The Vegan Rapide location on Miranda's list also used shredded cheese, but I found another Vegan Rapide location using vegan cheese curds. I was prepared to order the Orbit Poutine, which came highly recommended by Yelp, with seitan, minced vegan meat, mushrooms, and caramelized onions, despite initially avoiding the restaurant because of its fast food moniker. The next morning came, and my faith in poutine was temporarily restored, but when we arrived at Vegan Rapide, it was closed-permanently. Sadness overwhelmed me to the point of not knowing what to do next, but luckily there was one restaurant left on the list-Copper Branch. 

5. COPPER BRANCH Copper Branch wasn't my first choice for several reasons: 1. It was the most chain-y of the list-I had to endlessly scroll on their website to find the location I wanted. 2. It had the worst ratings on Yelp (the location closest to Vegan Rapide had 3/5 stars because a reviewer saw an employee eating a popsicle while preparing his food lol). 3. Their poutine-made with a mushroom gravy and cubed potatoes instead of fries-was the least traditional. Despite all of this, Copper Branch ended up having the best vegan poutine in Montreal. Neither my boyfriend or I expected our last ditch effort to fulfill this quest.

For a different experience, we opted for the sweet potato poutine first. It was a game changer, as the sweet flavor contrasted perfectly with the savory gravy and cheese, which actually melted. It was so good, we regretted not ordering a large, but we ordered a potato one to try too. The potato one was not as distinct, but it was still good because of the gravy, which I deducted as the key to a good poutine.  

So to conclude, don't put all your blind trust into a list, especially if it's outdated. Do your own research. However, I wouldn't have had my vegan poutine experience any other way. If it weren't for the horrible poutine at La Banquise, I wouldn't have looked on Yelp for nearby vegan restaurants and discovered Sushi Momo, the best vegan sushi in North America nor would I have given Copper Branch's sweet potato poutine a try-what if I had tried LOV's poutine and been satisfied with plain potato poutine?! I'd still like to go back to LOV to try to their poutine but from what I've eaten, you can't go wrong with Copper Branch's vegan sweet potato poutine. With so many locations, it's highly unlikely it will disappear after reading my list! After visiting for two days, my boyfriend and I know a lot more about Montreal now: everyone is bilingual and assumes you speak French even if you're Asian; it is home to the largest permanent Barbie exhibit in the world; their grocery store juices are fresher and better; their Starbucks equivalent, Tim Horton's, serves Beyond meat; it is the birthplace of poutine, and last but not least, it has a lot of dank vegan food, including poutine.  

*For prices, please visit LOV and La Banquise's websites.  

We Can't Trust Robots

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/

In this edition of I can't write a review for this place on Yelp:

As a child of the 21st century, I have a blind trust in computers, so I never understood why my mom would calculate her bank deposits with blank ink on her hand before turning her checks in with the teller. Machines are supposed to be smarter than us, more precise and error-free. That is until one betrays you.

Last weekend, I had $300 cash to deposit, and the ATM repeatedly counted it as $280. This was not the first time this particular ATM had counted my money wrong. On one occasion, it counted my total wrong the first time but corrected itself the second time around. I believe it counted it wrong on one other occasion, but I was not aware of it because of my blind trust: I had not counted the money myself to cross-reference with the machine, so I believed what the machine said even though the total did not make sense with the amount I was paid for my job. With the knowledge I've since learned, I realized I was gypped $20 by this ATM. However, at the time I blamed it on human error: my boss had counted wrong and not given me the correct amount of money. I couldn't believe a machine designed to make our lives easier had actually made it harder, as I repeatedly entered my money trusting the machine would fix its mistake.

After the machine counted my money wrong three times, I switched to another one. It counted my money correctly on the first try. There's hope for the robot race after all. I on the other hand will not let a machine have the upper hand again. I can't become a mindless human who allows technology to make my decisions for me. Otherwise, the robots will take over or those controlling the robots will.

Editor's note: I truly did not know it was possible for an ATM to miscount cash and that it was common for them to do so, hence my shock.