Divergent Movie Date and Birthday Celebration!

On Friday, Boba and I went to see Divergent. Ugh, it was SO good and thought provoking! I def caught a case of the feels. I need to get the books stat. My bestie Meika saw it a few hours later; she read the books and said that the movie pretty much followed it. Obviously some things had to be left out, but that just makes me want to read the books even more. She also liked that they stayed true to keeping the POC in the books POC in the movies which doesn't happen sometimes.

The only downside was that this awkward girl sat beside us. There were three sits between us and the next person before she sat, so she could have sat in the middle and had a set free on either side of her. But no, she had to sit beside me. At first I was thought maybe she had a friend that was going to join her later, nope she didn't. She proceeded to move uncomfortably in her chair due to the back being broken which she knew and commented to me after she sat in it -_- Um trick, move to the empty seat beside you. AND she talked to herself the whole movie. She tried to talk to me at one point and I wasn't having that ish. My body's been ready for this movie for two months you ARE NOT gonna sit beside me and f this up. No ma'am!

The trailer for The Maze Runner blew my mind. I told Meika to be on the lookout for it, but she said she didn't get the same trailers I did. She ended up watching it on YouTube. I think she's down for the cause. It'll be another movie we'll run to see. I ain't gonna lie the trailer did scare me a bit lol I also got to see the trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy for the first time. Boba's gonna sprint to the box office for that one lol

Of course we had to play the what faction would I be in game. He swears up and down I'm Dauntless. I had to explain to him that I don't like to do anything physical unless I want to, that's one of the reasons I quit track after junior high lol I figure I would probably be a divergent. He can't decided if he would be smart or kind. I told him he'd probably be a divergent, too.

♥Bubble Tea Love♥

I still remember the first time I tried bubble tea. I didn't care too much for the boba. The tapioca pearls did not do it for me, but the tea itself whooooo buddy I was all about it. I had no idea that I would become an addict >_< I even named my blog after it ha After the third or fourth try, I loved the pearls!

I wanted to share a few of my favorite spots in NYC that I frequent. The best bubble tea I've had has been in Chinatown (the one in Manhattan on Canal). If you ever been to any of the places I mention let me know how you like them!

1. Ten Ren Tea Time
The first time I had bubble was at Ten Ren Tea Time which unfortunately spoiled me lol Sometimes it sucks to have the best of the best the first time you try something new. The first time I came here, I got the Chocolate Milk Tea which is still one of my favorites. It's located in Chinatown on Mott Street.

Black Sugar Milk Tea : ) So yummy!

2. Saint's Alp Teahouse

My friend took me here a few years ago and it blew my mind. My fav is the Strawberry Ice Slush. I don't know why, but it seems like it's so hard to make an authentic tasting strawberry bubble tea. Even if it's milk tea, it can often be a miss. This tastes just like a delicious smoothie and most importantly like real strawberry. I hate that syrupy flavor you get from non milk tea strawberry flavors worse than a failed strawberry milk tea. This Taiwanese bubble tea house is located on 3rd Ave near Astor Place and St. Marks.

Their Sesame Ice Slush

They also have this really delicious condensed milk toast!

3. Chatime

Cha Time has an amazing menu! There are so many different flavors to try ^^ Also, the prices are amaZING! You can get two large size bubble teas for the price of one. They also have different add ins besides tapioca pearls. So, if you want to try jelly or even something else in your boba, give them a try. There is a Chatime in Canal Street, but I usually go to the one in Flushing. I love how they seal the top.

I've also had bubble tea from Teariffic on Mott and random bakeries in Chinatown. Usually the bubble tea in Chinatown is tastes good, but I wanted to highlight my favorite places. 

Also, I am super happy that Boba and I will be going to see Divergent tomorrow. I am sad that I missed Hunger Games, but I refuse to miss this. My friend Meika and I really love books with dystopian societies. She's planning on seeing it tomorrow or Saturday, either way I know we'll have a great conversation about it :) Thanks for reading!

Gemini Gamer Attack! Well, right after I finish something else....

I would say my astrological sign description fits me. I know a little bit about everything, have a ton of interests, and love to talk my butt off. Some of the super negative traits I don't have; I think it's because my Sun sign and my Moon sign are both Gemini, so some of the bad attributes were canceled out. Two still haunt me in my gaming life: lack of follow through and indecisiveness. I have amazing organizational and planning skills outside of this area. If you ask my closest friends, they will let you know that I finished every assignment before the last minute which is amazing because my college was reading and writing heavy.

I had only beaten one video game in my entire life, and I've been gaming since I was three or four! It was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Fall of the Foot Clan game on the original Game Boy. It was actually the first video game I owned!!! : )

The fact that I am an RPG lover further complicates this issues and aids my indecisiveness. When I do finally get back in the mood for gaming, I have to pick through all of my awesome titles. If the game I pick happens to be wrong for the mood I'm in, I then lose my enthusiasm and the process starts all over again -_- If video games were were like the game of love, I would def be a love em and leave em type haha

And alas, it has happened again lol In my Valentine's post, I talked about how I had to choose between Bravely Default and One Piece: Romance Dawn. I got tired of Romance Dawn in a night...I know I'm that bad. It was cool to play as the Strawhat gang, but when I had the option to repeat a level that I had just beaten to fight a boss that I already fought before I gave up. I could have just continued the story, but I knew leveling up would be important for the next part of the game. I was like f it lol I still plan to do a review on it.

So, Boba and I had a mini date on Friday where we got Dim Sum and bubble tea. I tried a new flavor at one of my favorite boba spots, Ten Ren. It was Black Sugar Milk Tea, and it was sooo amazing. I was a little nervous that day because I was meeting one of his good friends from college. Before we met up with him, Boba surprised me and bought me Bravely Default! I am such a lucky girl! He knows about my video game commitment issues and he still bought me a new game : ) He also bought South Park: The Stick of Truth for himself. Also, the meeting with his friend went awesome! Nick was really funny and cool.

Also, for any of my readers that are hyped about the new Harvest Moon game Connect to a New Land I found a YouTube channel called Lin and Ko run by a super cute interracial couple that are playing the game live. They have about 11 videos up already. And no worries about the game being in Japanese for my non-Japanese speakers, they're translating it! I haven't had time to watch them yet, but it's definitely something I will do soon.

Thanks for reading! Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Review of Footprints Recruiting

I finally have time to write a review about Footprints Recruiting. This company is one of the well known recruiting agencies for ESL jobs. My experiences with them were in 2012, but I figured I might as well right a review because it may aid others.

When I began my ESL journey in I remember one thing I continually read on message boards: be wary with recruiting companies, especially big ones. I'm glad I kept that advice in mine. I was accepted by Footprints in July 2012. They were very prompt with their responses in the beginning and setting up an interview with me.

The interview went fine, and I found out shortly after that I was accepted. I worked with a woman named Katrin for documentation, and then my application was forwarded to Luna for placement. I emailed her a few jobs that I was interested in. I had a few questions about the process which I emailed her. I never heard back from her on those questions. I even waited a week, but still no response. I tried calling as well, no one picked up anytime I called. So, I emailed another woman named Tamara. I got an out of office response, but she didn't even email when she came back from being out. 

At that point one of my good friends advised me to find a job on my own and go through another agency to have different options. So, I did both. I scoured the China job board on Dave's ESL Cafe and found the job that I would later take in Shandong Province. 

Tamara emailed me back a few days after I landed my new job with a separate email that didn't address my original email. I sent her an email basically stating that I wouldn't ever recommend anyone to work with them due to their extreme lack of communication. Luckily, I didn't rely on them and didn't allow them to waste my time. I would recommend going with another recruiter and looking for jobs on your own. And if you do decide to still go with them (or any recruiter for that matter) don't fully rely on them especially if you have a specific departure time in mind.

King Spa | Korean Spa Date with Boba!

Boba and I went to King Spa on Thursday; the spa was sooo relaxing and I definitely needed some relaxation time. I bought the vouchers off Groupon as a nice Valentine's gift. We were originally supposed to use them on February 13th, but it kept getting pushed back due to my schedule. I had been to a Korean spa (Spa Castle) before back in 2012. A friend of mines got two gift certificates from her boyfriend for Spa Castle. She decided to take me which was super sweet! I talked to my roommate about wanting to go back to Spa Castle, and she suggested I try out Kings Spa. A month before Valentine's I saw the voucher and thought why not! It was $40 for two people, not bad.

The night before was filled with laughs as always. I love how silly Boba is; I had the bright idea for him to put on my kigurumi that I got from New York Comic Con. I don't why I hadn't thought of it before! He was adorable ^^ He wouldn't let me take any pics though *sad face*

The next morning we leave around 9:50 to make the 11:05 shuttle from Flushing; I picked the H Mart location. The shuttle is free as long as you take it there and back. It was super freakin cold in the morning, we got to the H Mart with no problem. I noticed that it had a mini parking lot, so I called King Spa to check to see if we should wait there or in front of the H Mart. A guy picks up and I ask this simple question, he proceeds to tell me that I should have went to the Flushing Public Parking Lot because it's better. I explain that it's too late and I am already here and wouldn't have time to make it there. He then puts a woman on who repeats the same thing and tells me I should call the driver because the driver sometimes doesn't stop at H Mart because "it's hard to stop there." By this point it's getting annoying because they're doing everything but answer my question. It was clear that there was a language barrier. She also had a slight attitude with me even though I wasn't catching one with her. So, I take the driver's number. He answers in Korean, I repeat my question. He just hangs up -_- I call back a few times and he wont answer. Boba and I are waiting in the cold trying to figure out if we should just go warm ourselves up, relocate to the public parking lot, and catch the next shuttle at 1. We decided to wait until 11:30. An annoying start to say the least.

We wait in front of the H Mart on the sidewalk. Around 11:15, a black van pulls up. It has no logo on it for King Spa, but since it beeped I figured it might be for the spa. I knock on the window and ask. The guy shakes his head yes and we get in. 

It didn't take long to get to the spa. My roommate told me about a nice, cheap Korean restaurant across the street. We decided to go in and eat there in case the food inside was too expensive. We both ordered bibimbap. Here's a photo of the side dishes.

I really like bibimbap, but I haven't really explored Korean food outside of that. I have seen some delicious photos, but I have yet to find a restaurant to try. I think I need to go with someone who eats Korean food a lot, so they can blow my mind with its yumminess.  

Next, we ventured into the spa. The reception area was super small and really unorganized and it wasn't even a busy day. The one thing I loved about Spa Castle is that even though my friend and I went on a Saturday it was still a nice, fluid, super friendly entrance and exit. The staff was super nice and helpful, here not so much. 

We both enjoyed the Jacuzzis in the same gender locker rooms. Then we met on the second floor. We explored the floors together; I was feeling snacky so we had our first patbingsu which I have always wanted to try! That and Taiwanese shaved ice, another to do on my list. We had shaved ice in China that looked like this:

And Boba said this kind of shaved ice blew his mind lol So when I described patbingsu and Taiwanese shaved ice, he was a little hesitant. We both liked it though : )

Here it is in all it's delicious glory!

They had little chairs that basically had no legs and were on the floor and game tables. They even had chess pieces! Boba is a chess lover, so I offered to play with him. It was my first time playing a full game. I usually quit and go do something else. The game lasted a long time at the end, but I was determined to see it through. Surprisingly, I won! I kept picturing Fire Emblem in my head haha I think that was the only way that I was able to do it lol It was more fun than I thought it would be!

We look so relaxed and sleepy haha

Our cute uniforms

I really enjoyed the various nap rooms and tv rooms they had. It was super easy to find a quiet place to relax. The downside with Spa Castle is that all of the comfy chairs are in one big floor together, so it can get pretty loud. We went into one sauna and decided to spend the rest of the time napping until we took our 4:30 shuttle back to Flushing.

Boba got done changing before me and was waiting for me at the reception area. There was a lady and three of the staff talking/arguing and it was clear that they weren't understanding each other despite the fact they were all speaking English. 

We checked out and decided to stop at the cafe across the street called Koko Loko. We bought some macarons that were so so. Their coffee and drinks looked amazing though.

We stopped by the New World Mall food court and got shrimp dumplings. We headed to get bubble tea from Cha Time across the street. Then made the trek back to Brooklyn.

I personally liked Spa Castle's efficiency a lot better, their website is super detailed, so you pretty much don't have to call them for anything. But I did like the intimate setting and different rooms that King Spa had to offer. Spa Castle's food is way better and their staff rock. I feel like King Spa's staff is a little rude and they are super unhelpful. King Spa doesn't allow kids, but Spa Castle does. So keep that in mind depending on what kind of experience you have in mind.

Also, Boba and I went to a fantastic restaurant last night Coppelia, it was SOOOO amazing. It's a 24 hour Spanish restaurant; we ordered Mac and Chicharron, Flautas de Pollo, and the nachos. I tried their condensed milk milkshake and nearly tripped out because of the tastiness. And of course we had to get the Mexican Coca Cola soooo amazing >_< Someone help me!!! We will def be going back. I love how when we got to eat at Latin American restaurants the staff just start speaking in Spanish to Boba. Its like they always know he speaks Spanish too haha They hardly ever talk to him in English, and if they do once they hear his pronunciation they switch to Spanish. I need to brush up on my Spanish, I've gotten so lazy -_-

Thanks for reading! I hope warm weather comes to NYC soon : )