Monthly Archives: February 2014

02/17/14

My 18 Before 19

So my birthday was on Friday (yes, Valentine’s Day) and I am officially the newest and the last “adult” in my circle of friends. Since I got to come home for Reading Week, I also got to have a weekend of celebrations with the fam  and with the friends I have still living in my hometown.

Did you know that Blue Chip will make you a giant cookie with your name on it for your birthday? (Not pictured) My roommate did that for me and she shall now be known as the Greatest Roomie Ever.

Obviously in the split second between 11:59 pm on February 13 and 12 am on the 14th, I didn’t suddenly develop a fully matured prefrontal cortex and start making only rational decisions. I didn’t suddenly figure out how to file taxes, or find a place to live next year or get a job. These are all things grownups do right? It’s funny to me that 18 is considered the point when one becomes an adult, but I guess it’s as good a number as any. Over the last few months, I’ve learned a little about what it’s like to act like an independent adult. I had to learn how to take care of myself when I was almost the sickest I’d ever been, which involved hospitals and insurancey-type things (thank God UBC hospital makes that pretty simple for you). And I’m learning right now just how freaking difficult it is to find a three bedroom apartment anywhere near campus.

So in honour of the last 18 years I’ve had on this planet,  here are some non-academic things I hope to implement or do in the next one, God willing:

  1. Go ziplining
  2. Bike/Rollerblade the Seawall
  3. Read my Bible everyday (but maybe start with a 3x/week as I’ve already failed at this quite a few times)
  4. Do the Grouse Grind
  5. Perform at both UBC Slam and Vancouver Poetry Slam
  6. Downsize my closet and donate everything that isn’t absolutely essential
  7. Start volunteering again
  8. Go to bed before midnight on weeknights (This was my only New Year’s goal —not resolution– and I still haven’t succeeded)
  9. Start going for a run a few times a week
  10. Get a paying job and reduce or eliminate my student loan amount for the remaining years of my degree
  11. Travel to a part of the country I’ve never seen before
  12. Start laying down actual designs for the clothing brand that’s existed in my head for a while
  13. Get my drivers license and go on a road trip
  14. See MGK live again and start going to more hip hop shows
  15. Complete a creative piece of writing every week
  16. Join a recreational soccer team
  17. Go on a brief mirror fast like the kinds described here and here and hopefully learn something. (This one’s because I think that NOT having a full length mirror in my dorm room is actually making me more vain.)
  18. Start phasing out music that contributes to the sexism and misogyny in our culture. Support and promote positive hip hop.

This list may change but I’ll try and blog about each one that I accomplish.

Oh and in case y’all were wondering, the first drink I ever ordered was a “frozen white peach Bellini”. Yup, I’m that girl. Or should I say woman?

 

02/5/14

2 Places to get Yummy Sushi for Cheap

Before we start, no, I was not paid to say nice things about these places. (But if you’d like to pay me, you’d be even more nice … 😉 just kidding. not really.)

Prior to my arrival in Vancouver, I was not a fan of sushi. But now I know that was just because I hadn’t tasted the restaurant quality stuff. The African in me didn’t understand the point of cold rice or cold fish and why on earth anyone would put the two together.

BUT THEN

A friend of mine knows a lot of good Japanese restaurants in Vancouver and sometimes she invites me along on her sushicapades. (Also, another friend likes to make café-crawls so perhaps restaurant features will become a regular on this blog?) Allow me to share with you two places we’ve visited that give you tons of food for not a lot of money. Keep in mind, I’m not an aficionado so this isn’t necessarily top-of-the-line food (if you know somewhere better, comment!) but I liked it and so did most people in our dining party.

1.) B.C. Sushi. Four words: ALL YOU CAN EAT

eating (1408) Animated Gif on Giphy

You will get your money’s worth at this place, which is located here. The buffet cost us $13.95 I think and that was because it was the weekend. Not sure, but I think it costs $12.95 during the week. I went in with the intention of ordering one round of food. We ordered three. And there were five of us. The amount of food we ordered covered three tables and it just kept coming. I highly recommend the yam tempura as well as the spring rolls which are perfectly bite-sized. Their California and salmon rolls were decent but I can’t remember what other ones we ordered. S always asks for spicy mayo with her food because it’s never on the table. So if you haven’t, you should give that a try at least once. They also have a non-buffet option.

On the flip side, my roommate said that she didn’t think B.C. Sushi was the greatest. She’s gone out for Japanese food way more often than I have and she said that the all-you-can-eat aspect was part of the problem. It was evident that the restaurant was focused more on pumping out a large quantity of food than they were on the quality.

Verdict: 3 spicy mayos out of 5.

2. Sun Sushi. Two words: HELLA CHEAP.

It’s the so-full-you-have-trouble-finishing-for-$6.95 kinda cheap.

90s (3517) Animated Gif on Giphy

(sorry couldn’t resist. Full House was my jam.)

I was here a few days ago and I’m seriously impressed with the amount and quality of food you can get for so little. Kinda makes me want to re-evaluate my meal plan. I ordered the Beef Teriyaki Box which was a convenient little box with compartments for salad, four kinds of tempura, California roll (6 pcs), beef and rice. Since moving down my chopsticks skills have gone from non-existent to being able to eat a full meal including rice, which might not be a big deal for y’all, but Friday was like my first time eating rice with chopsticks, so pat on the back for moi.

Even though this was totally me the whole night:

food (3962) Animated Gif on Giphy

Verdict: 4 little boxes out 5

If you do go out and try these places,  which you obviously should cuz hello student budget, hit me up with your reactions and let me know what you thought.

Gifs from giphy.com