Chuc Mung Nam Moi

January 26, 2020

This weekend is the Chinese/Lunar New Year, also known as Tet for the Vietnamese.

I always found Asian New Year celebrations better than the regular New Year celebrations. The traditions and all it entails are more fun and I love that it brings family together. It’s a time to celebrate, with food, games, money, family and friends.

As a kid I loved receiving li xi (lucky red envelopes) and counting all the money I would get and thinking of all the ridiculous, useless things I don’t need, to spend it on. Of course, my mom would always take it away from me at the end of the night, insisting she was “keeping it safe” for me. In the end, she probably was, because, as stated, I would’ve thrown it away on garbage toys and other tchotchkes. Now as an adult, and married as well, I’m no longer allowed to receive envelopes but rather it’s my turn to give. They symbolize you passing on good luck and fortune to others, and in turn, it will come back double to you. There are also a lot of little fun games with dice, paper and numbers played. One year, my husband gambled with the kids and almost gambled my car away because he lost all his New Year money to them but wanted to keep playing, haha!

I didn’t appreciate the food back then when I was young but now I’m all about it. I love being able to pick from many different dishes at one meal and this celebration is no exception. A traditional New Year meal has many different dishes due to the different symbolism attached with each dish and animal, as well as differing a little bit from culture to culture (i.e. I commonly see dumplings, fish and spring rolls in Chinese gatherings, but for Vietnamese, I see more banh tet, gio cha (Vietnamese ham), and thit kho usually. My mom always makes banh tet, which takes an entire day to prep and another day to cook. She always makes a big batch to give away to friends and family.

I haven’t celebrated Tet with my extended family in a while, due to work and adult life schedules but I try to at least spend some time with my immediate family. I was off this year so I spent the day with my sisters. We gram toured around Chinatown for whatever cute New Year desserts we could find and had dinner at Madame Vo BBQ. It was really nice to spend time with them as we prepare to travel together next month to take on the runDisney Princess Half Marathon weekend together. I feel like it was symbolic of our year to come for 2020, more sister time and bonding.

I do want to expand on these traditions and one year prepare and host a New Year dinner with my family instead of going out to eat. I love eating out because the prep and cleanup is taken care of, but I also love a home cooked meal better. I haven’t had a big Asian sit down dinner at home in a while so maybe I’ll make this a goal for another year. I can do Thanksgiving just fine so I really should start learning to cook for my own cultural traditions as well. I also want to visit Vietnam again one year but I want to also experience Tet celebrations and how they celebrate there. I always hear from my parents and their friends about how beautiful, festive and fun it is. And next year, Valentine’s Day falls around the same time as New Year and Disneyland California is the only park that celebrates both holidays with decorations and food and all! I want to see if I can make it there next year as well. It’s funny how Disneyland is a much smaller park than Disney World but they always do the holiday celebrations better. More signs pointing me to the West Coast move.

Another thing I love about it is the folklore and the zodiac signs and all the different things about them. The Chinese New Year is based on a different zodiac than the astrological signs, with 12 different animals cycling through to represent each new year. The order is based on old Chinese mythology, where 12 animals were selected for a great race. This year is the year of the rat, which is the first animal in order of the zodiac. How did the rat win the race? By being a rat! He was cunning enough to hitch a ride on the ox and ran forward at the finish line.

I was born in the sign of the dragon. Why did the dragon not win, you ask? There are two different versions of the story; one version says the dragon stopped to help put out a fire at a nearby village and saved the people, another version says the dragon was in first place and got cocky, and decided to take a nap (like the tortoise and the hare story) and woke up in time to make it as 5th place. Which story is right? Being a dragon myself, I can tell you both versions are right, hahaha. I do find it in my nature to help others when I can, but I do tend to overestimate myself sometimes when I think I’m ahead. Hence my procrastination skills are always followed by my superpowers where I come through and do ultimately complete my tasks on time, albeit last minute. Although I AM working on it! Last year I told myself to finish my pharmacy CEs early and I stuck to that goal instead of having to complete them last minute like last renewal period. I also started being better at packing for traveling and doing it a week ahead of time instead of the night before. Baby steps.

Along with the different animals, there are different elements in each sign as well. You can look up your individual birth year to find out your elemental animal. For my year, I’m an Earth dragon in the zodiac.

While they’ll be trying to become better with every day that passes, the Earth dragon will manage to reinvent themselves every step of the way.
I feel like I've been reinventing myself since I was 5.😅 When I was in elementary school, I wanted to fit in, being the only Asian kid in school, so I tried hard to learn the language, speak with no accent and dress like my peers. When I was in high school, I wanted to be popular, so I tried too hard to make myself likable and friendly. When I got to college, I realized I didn't really care what people thought of me, so I finally became more myself, loud, outspoken and "brazen" as I was labeled by two faced friends. I dialed it back when I graduated as I had to become more "professional" for the working world. But as I grew into adulthood, I learned to balance myself, being who I really am, and pulling back when necessary for certain situations and circumstances. But that's the power of the Earth dragon. Perhaps the greatest risk any of us will ever take is to be seen as we really are.

What sign are you? Do you think you match the traits associated with it? I don’t fully believe in everything I read about zodiac signs and horoscopes but I still find them fun to read and it’s always interesting to see how some things do line up. Although I do find that I do match up to a lot of the characteristics of a dragon as well as a Scorpio. For the year of the rat, the dragon is supposed to have overall improved good fortune and I’m really hoping that means no financial curveballs this year. But with it, means I also have to stop pushing the envelope and spending frivolously. I’m going to try and make it a goal to travel a little less, save a little more and if I do travel, I need to stick to a budget and no more YOLO-ing. I met the YOLO quota for the decade from the last 3-4 years traveling. Time to buckle up and work on being more smart with my money. I know I can do it, I just have to learn discipline with money as much as I learned to discipline my health and fitness in the last 2 years.

The Museum of Ice Cream NYC

December 20, 2019

The Museum of Ice Cream is back in town in NYC, it’s original hometown and it’s here to stay!

So what IS the Museum of Ice Cream? If you know, you know. But if you don’t, where have you been? It’s one of the OG pop-up Instagram havens. It started here in NYC years ago and then migrated to LA, San Francisco and Miami before finally coming back home. They opened up a temporary pop-up called Pint Shop last summer I visited that you can read about here. What started as a small experiment has become a national phenomenon as its products and merchandise can be found all around the country now in Target stores and even had a makeup collaboration with Sephora last year. They’re still going strong with their own line of ice cream at Target stores. I loved their LA location and I enjoyed their Pint Shop rendition last summer so I was so happy to hear that they were coming back to NYC finally. I legit stalked their ice cream truck during NYCC because I was so excited.

TICKETS

Tickets launched this past October and you bet your bottom dollar I snagged tickets for their first opening week! I decided against a weekend day and tested my luck on a weekday instead for a chance of being less busy so I could have optimal time gramming and experiencing it without feeling or being rushed through the experience since quite frankly, the prices and fees are quite steep at $39 a pop with a $8.50 service charge . Long story short, is it worth it? Absolutely. And no, this is not sponsored or anything. I bought tickets on my own and I have honestly always found Museum of Ice Cream to be one of the better pop-ups I’ve attended. I am NOT entirely bias though as I did report back on the Pint Shop Tasting rather objectively which you can read about here for that experience.

TIME

My appointment was Thursday at 2pm and it worked out pretty well. I didn’t leave til around 6pm (yes, I spent 4 hours here, don’t judge me) and when I left, there was a LONG line waiting to get in. So I definitely recommend a weekday and I recommend earlier time slots if you don’t want to fight for an empty gram photo. Although, I do have to say, they have also improved their policies in regards to time! You still can only go forward in a pop-up (meaning you can’t go back to a room once you’ve moved forward) BUT there is no time limit on ANY of the rooms and exhibits! Yes, you read that right, no time limit! For those who have visited MOIC and infinity room like pop-ups, you know their money maker rooms usually have time limits as little as 45 seconds. For the LA MOIC, the sprinkle pool was limited to 3 minutes once they started the clock. Gone are these days for this installation. You can stay in the sprinkle room as long as you like! But remember, going during busier times, means a lot of people in the same room as you and a few of you might be standing around fighting for that coveted empty shot. Tickets are also the same price no matter what day or time slot you choose, so I definitely recommend strategizing to get the most out of your visit. They do only allow a set number of guests at a time, which is good and bad; good because you’ll never feel too crowded but bad because if you go during a busy time, obviously you’ll have to wait in line before your group can get in. It’s a no brainer to go on an off-peak day at an off-peak time (think before school lets out and the families flood the place because that’s what happened at 6pm when I walked out). It is self-paced though so take your time once you get in and absolutely take advantage and take photos of everything, eat everything and play with everything.

ICE CREAM

I think I got to try 5 different ice creams in the exhibit. I remember Churro Churro being in the first room, which was delicious, an ice cream cake pop, booza ice cream (elastic ice cream), soft serve, and Queen Bee (a delicious honey ice cream!). They were all stationed pretty evenly apart and you’re allowed seconds or thirds or however many times as you want to keep going back for more so long as you’re still in that room! My favorite was the Queen Bee and the booza since it was unique and my first time trying stretchy ice cream.

THE ROOMS

There are 13 installations across 3 floors. Some rooms are bigger than others; some HUGE and some closet sized but there is definitely a LOT to get through. Take your time, take your time, take your time! Oh yes, a coat check is provided before you start on your adventure which I found really convenient and amazing to have built in to a pop-up. The only other pop-up I’ve found to have done this so far was Rose Mansion, which is also another one of my favorite and highly recommended pop-ups worth your money. They also have restrooms available on the first floor before you start as well. I found the bathroom to not only be clean, spacious (unheard of in NYC) but also gorgeous and grammable. I found it to be an extra photo op!

After the coat check, you walk down a pink waffle cone wallpaper hallway that has cute little facts about the beginnings of ice cream on the wall. From there, you step into a room where you brainstorm and think up your new ice cream name and write it on your name tag. I suggest you do this before arriving so you can think up something cute and clever. I was RxBerries & Cream but they have a lot of cute celebrity ones on the wall as inspiration like Dairyana Grande and Angelato Jolie. From there, you get a little introduction from the staff and head into your first room where you get a sample of Churro Churro. This room is themed like a cute little speakeasy bar. From there, you walk up a long pink hallway upstairs into a Marie Antoinette dream of a room filled with dessert and balloons. This was probably my favorite room as it smelled amazing like cotton candy and was in a pink haze as you walk through. Everything was grammable from everything on the table to the wallpaper. MOIC really knocked it out of the ballpark with every little detail. On the table are cute little ice cream cake pops that are for you to take and enjoy as you please. I love that everything is for you to touch and grab and enjoy. It doesn’t feel like a stuffy museum where everything is roped off and no photography allowed.

From here, you journey to a pink room with different doors to open like a fun house, and then into a mock subway car but in pink MOIC fashion. This was another favorite room as it felt like a Disney ride as it hyper spaced you into the next “station.” There were so many photo ops in the subway room. From here, you walk though a galaxy/cloud room and then straight into the banana room. I liked that they brought the banana room back from the LA rendition. It’s a simple room but spacious, fun and I just love the splash of vibrant color. From here, they have two small rooms you have to crawl into to gram; one is a bouncy pink room and a sprinkle wall room. From there, you walk down a hallway with magnets on the wall where you can answer questions like “What are you grateful for?,” “What are your dreams?,” and “Where are you from?” After this, you get another serving of ice cream; this time the booza vanilla ice cream. Then you walk to the music room where they have giant keyboards on the wall with rings you can grab to play diifferent sound effects into the music, or you can listen in on two record players and scratch like a DJ. After this, you walk down a rainbow corridor (another one of my favorites because rainbow so duh) to the slide! This slide was wild! It spans 3 floors. You spiral down into the basement, which looks like a melted pink ice cream room. Here you get a soft serve cone before venturing into the yellow bee hive room with wings, chairs and a serving of Queen Bee ice cream. Then it’s onto the jungle gym with swings, seesaws, an ice cream cone ballpit, and ice cream cone basketball hoops. From here, you walk up the stairs into the last room, the sprinkle pool room! There are cubbies for you to leave your belongings and shoes before dipping into the insta-famous sprinkle pool, which my husband likes to call the Instagram hoe room, lol. The sprinkles used this time around are significantly larger and made of a softer rubber-like material. I don’t know how deep the pool really is because of how much larger the sprinkles are. I dug and dug but got too tired before finding the bottom, hahaha. There is a LOT of space compared to the LA rendition as well. The smaller “adults only” pool has more green sprinkles in it while the larger pool has a significant higher ratio of pink sprinkles. Again, take your time! After this, they have postcards and stickers on a table you can grab and take with you or write a message to leave on the wall. And after that, it’s time to say goodbye! You arrive back at the beginning, where coat check is and the bathroom before you leave.

Did I enjoy my visit? Hell yeah I did. It’s safe to say I absolutely love the new and permanent location of MOIC NYC. Would I go back? Yes, especially if they plan on doing holiday overlays on the existing exhibit like how they do the Christmas in San Francisco to switch it up from time to time. The tickets are expensive yes, but I definitely say it’s worth it in terms of grammability and the opportunities. It’s professional looking and the quality is there. It’s worth its price of admission. It doesn’t look like a cheap dorm room decoration installation like other cheap ‘pop-ups’ that claim to be ‘interactive’ and ‘immersive’ when they’re not at all anything but a cheap cash grab and an Instagram trap for “photos for the gram.” MOIC delivers; not only are the photo ops well done, but it really IS interactive and immersive. The staff is there acting the part, enthusiastic and charismatic to guide you on your journey. I found everyone to be incredibly friendly, helpful and encouraging. No one ever made me feel rushed or ashamed that I was taking too much time. They actually celebrated you as you took photos and took your time going through the entire exhibit. I love reading little facts everywhere and little interactive QR codes built into the museum for selfie filters and little games in the elevator. There is so much attention paid to detail from the windows to the walls, to the cute questions and rainbowed halls! You can actually PLAY here and take as long as you want playing. So it’s definitely not just for photos. And oh man, that slide still gets me. It was wild. That’s all I have to say. When you experience it for yourself sliding down 3 floors, you’ll get it. I screamed all the way down, hahaha.

If you choose to go, my best advice is to go in with a super cute outfit (don’t be basic or boring in your civilian clothes, come on, it’s about to be 2020!), have your ice cream name ready, and take your time take your time TAKE YOUR TIME. Go with a few friends, you’ll have a blast! And no worries if you don’t have anyone to go with either. The staff is amazing and super friendly at helping with taking your photos for you on your phone. Most of all, remember to have fun!

MOIC NYC is located at 558 Broadway and is open Wednesdays - Mondays: 9:30am - 9:30pm. It is a permanent location and tickets are currently on sale now through March 1, 2020 for right now. If you’re not sure about going yet, you can still stop in to the shop as the first floor is a gift shop with merchandise and ice cream available for purchase. You can see part of the slide at the entrance too. But if you go, well, when you know, you know. Have lots of fun!

Hello Panda Festival

December 5, 2019

Hello Panda Festival is a winter lantern festival held in Queens, NY in the Citi Field parking lot. There are currently three different light festivals going on right now for the winter season (Lumino City on Randall’s Island and NYC Winter Lantern Festival on Staten Island).

Hello Panda was the easiest to access, honestly, being right in Queens, easy to get to and on-site parking adjacent to the event. I haven’t been to the other two festivals but when I researched them both, there were a lot of cons with their parking issues and extra fees and having to walk a substantial distance before even entering the event. With Hello Panda, I drove to the Citi Field parking lot, parked up front, and walked over to the ticket booth to check-in and then walked right through the gates to the display entrance right next to it. If you’re not driving, it’s also easily accessible via the 7 train. It’s literally right outside the Mets-Willets Point stop. Easy peazy. Which was a blessing because it’s winter and well, it’s brick out. Let’s be real, it’s no secret I hate the cold, it DOES bother me anyway, but I braved it tonight for the gram. BUT! I can attest that Hello Panda is pretty awesome in the fact that they take this into consideration that duh, their festival is in the winter and provide giant heated igloo tents for guests to come in, rest their feet between walking through displays, grab a bite to eat, watch performances and warm up before heading back out. They have food vendors on site for dumplings, baos, shrimp, donuts and burritos. I attended the press event so there was a limited amount of vendors this night but the event officially opens to the public tomorrow so I suppose there will be more vendors and a marketplace for you to shop and buy gifts and unique souvenirs from all over the world. There were live performances with a DJ, violinist and a drumline for tonight’s festivities to open up the event. I was also able to try a little bit of everything and all the food was hot, fresh and delicious.

But let’s get to the main attraction! The actual lanterns and lights! From the entrance, it didn’t look like a lot. But upon entering, I found that everything is really well spaced out and it’s bigger than it looks and it goes farther back. There are a LOT of displays and I didn’t even get to capture them all (due to coldness and time constraints). There were ferris wheels and lit up swings that I forgot to make my rounds back to see and gram, unfortunately. But I saw a majority of what the ground had to offer! And there is a lot. There’s plenty of tunnels spaced all around so there’s no need to crowd around any particular one. There are different themed displays so there’s something for everyone. There’s a dinosaur land, a safari zone, underwater theme with mermaids and Nemo and friends, angel wings for the Instagram hoes like me, Christmas displays, a castle channeling that of Sleeping Beauty’s castle, complete with fairy tale figures and horse drawn carriages, giant forest creatures as if you’re living through A Bug’s Life, and of course, pandas! This was my first light festival but I do have to say they had a nice eclectic assortment of displays all around and there was no shortage of wondrous color. This is a festival for the eyes.

I do have to note that I was worried that the photos wouldn’t come out as nice because the festival is at night and night photos are a hit or miss usually. But with this being in the parking lot, there is actually a lot of light available from parking lot lights all around. I would still recommend bringing your own portable selfie/ring light to light up your face/body if you’re there for the gram and want to take photos of yourself keeping the background lit as well as yourself. Otherwise, you run the risk of not showing up in your photos because you’re darker than the lanterns.

Overall, would I recommend this event? Absolutely. Tickets on Groupon are pretty reasonably priced right now at about $19, compared to some garbage pop-ups I’ve attended in the city that charge more and only have 4-5 dinky rooms to photograph, with their displays showing wear and tear and not even providing food or any extra entertainment. I also hate when pop-ups describe their experience as “immersive” when there’s really nothing to it other than taking a photo, not anything interactive, honestly. But at Hello Panda, you can touch some of the exhibits(but not all); there are 20 or so lantern sets you can touch and walk though and 10 of them are interactive for you to play on. There’s a cute light up dance board, swing sets, maze and some of the dinosaurs even move and make sounds. I think there’s also an indoor panda playground that’s going to available for kids, as I saw it getting set up but didn’t have access to view what it looked like inside.

This would be a cute event for a family to explore or even a date night. I do recommend to go on a warmer night if you’re lucky during the winter season so that you’re not freezing for a pic for the gram, but remember, warm weather means more people and crowds so you might have a harder time getting that shot for the gram. So pick your poison.

Tickets are available on their website, as well as updates in case of inclement weather, but I also saw Groupon selling discounted tickets as well. You can check their Instagram from time to time for discount codes. Tickets are also conveniently sold at the door which is nice since a lot of pop-ups and event nowadays do not and only sell tickets online. I also found my own experience communicating with them via email very efficient and responsive, compared to the other light festivals. From emails to even the staff and vendors working tonight, everyone was friendly and welcoming and eager to help you have a fun night! Hello Panda officially opens to the public Dec. 6 in time for the holiday season. If you’re looking for something away from the Rockefeller and Times Square crowds, this is definitely something.