Monday, June 20, 2022

Jackie's Bachelorette

Friday, May 20th:

  • Emily picked me up before we drove down to pick up Shanice at the airport
  • Met up with Meethu and Jackie at Krog Street Market for lunch. We ordered food from half of the places, and all of it was great!
  • Rode Bird scooters down the Beltline to the Ponce City Market area
  • Ordered drinks and sat outside in the shade to chat while we waited to check into our Airbnb nearby
  • Stopped by Kroger for some supplies and snacks before heading to the Airbnb
  • Dressed up for a night out and all unintentionally matched wearing black
  • Surprised Jackie by going to Lips! The food wasn’t super great, but the performances were fun
  • Went back to the beltline to order more drinks before going back to the Airbnb and talking super late at night. It was great catching up with everyone; still weird that I’m the only one left not engaged or married lol


Saturday, May 21st:

  • Went to brunch at The Roof at Ponce City Market. Sat outside under the awning, so we had a great view but weren’t burning under the sun. We wore our matching Hello Kitty bride and bachelorette shirts, which was super cute!
  • Walked around Ponce and bought more snacks
  • Walked to Kroger nearby to buy wine and snacks for later that night. After drinking a mix of great and just okay drinks, we decided it was better (and cheaper) to buy some wine and drink at home lol
  • Went back and got ready for our fancy schmancy dinner at Canoe. Our waiter was AWESOME, and the food was nice, but I think I definitely prefer food with more spices in it lol
  • Took an uber to the Battery nearby to go do an art heist escape room. It was only fitting since we were already dressed up and ready to go to a museum like in the escape room lol
  • Walked around the battery before going back to the Airbnb to drink wine and eat snacks for the rest of the night


Sunday, May 22nd:

  • While everyone else was packing up, Emily and Meethu walked to Bomb Biscuit Atlanta and picked us up breakfast. We’ve walked past it a couple of times during the weekend and wanted to give it a try since it seemed pretty popular. The Hot Honey Fried Chicken biscuit was good, especially if you had some of the hot honey sauce on the side to drizzle on top!
  • Checked out and went home.
  • All in all, a successful bachelorette! One down, one more to go! :D

Friday, June 17, 2022

Mini Reviews: Married to the Male Lead’s Brother, The Boss Became My Three-year-old Son, Lucky Bag in the 1980s

Title: Married to the Male Lead’s Brother
Author: 美人无霜
Chapters: 125 chapters + 8 extras
Publication: 2021
Summary from Novel Updates:

Ning Zhi transmigrated into a female supporting character who ran away from her wedding.

The original novel was a fluffy book on the love between the male and female leads.

The cannon fodder female supporting character, who had also married into a prestigious family, was caught while trying to escape her marriage which had led to her difficult days in the prestigious family.

In addition, her husband was autistic and, for the sake of pursing true love, she made a tragedy out of her own life.

Recalling the awful ending of the female supporting character in the novel, Ning Zhi expressed that she would never try to run away from her marriage. What was wrong with having globs of money? Or was her husband not cute enough?

3 STARS - I LIKED IT

MY REVIEW:
 

This was a light and fluffy book. Lu Jue was super cute, and I loved how Ning Zhi and him both slowly fell for each other. It was fun reading about how Ning Zhi loved teasing Lu Jue to death lol. 

A main point should be stated: The autism depicted in the book is not accurate nor can it be cured. If that bothers you, then don't read it. If you just want some cute fluff, then I highly recommend it. 



Title: The Boss Became My Three-Year-Old Son
Author: 美人无霜
Chapters: 132 chapters
Publication: N/A
Summary from Wattpad:

In the book, the beautiful and cheap female paired with the male protagonist couldn't ask for it. After the male protagonist's death, she picked up the male protagonist's three-year-old son, facing a face that looked very similar to the male protagonist. Child abuse is fun.

Later, when the female partner ended tragically, she was told by the heroine that the child was not the son of the hero, but the hero himself.

When she woke up, Tang Su found herself dressed as this arrogant and vicious female partner. Looking at the three-year-old cute baby sitting in front of her house, Tang Su's extremely beautiful face was instantly full of smiles. Fortunately, everything was still too late, and the female partner had not yet begun to abuse the child.

In order to prevent the tragic ending in the book from happening, she needs to take care of the child, take care of him, care for him, pet him, and wait for him to be picked up by the hostess.

3 STARS - I LIKED IT ENOUGH

MY REVIEW: 

This is another fluffy romance about a girl transmigrating into a villainess and trying to prevent her tragic ending. It's just a little funnier because the male lead randomly becomes a 3 year old after a car accident, and his slow progression of feelings for Tang Su is pretty amusing. It also never explained why he shrunk into a 3 year old either. 

This is a slow romance with lots of face-slapping and unnecessary descriptions about how beautiful Tang Su is and how handsome Yan Jinyang is. There's also lots of spoiling and pampering. If that's you're cup of tea, then start reading this book!



Title: Lucky Bag in the 1980s
Author: Yang Sheng Luobi
Chapters: 61 chapters
Publication: 2021
Summary from Wattpad:

Upon waking up, Ye Jiaying dressed as the daughter of the captain of the Red Star production team. The third house of the Ye family gave birth to nine sons, but Ye Jiaying had a beautiful baby girl. The whole family was extremely rare. Grandparents guarded, father and mother petted, and nine older brothers held them; everyone in the village said that the little girls of the Ye family are always blessed. In stark contrast to Ye Jiaying is the son of Li Lap's family in the east of the village; his mother ran away after giving birth, and his father drank and beat him all day, refused to eat, and was scolded as a broom star by the villagers; Ye Jiaying saw that he was pitiful, Save the eggs and snacks secretly to him.

 As a result, one day, a small car came to the village, and a couple came down crying while holding Li's lame son; "Son, we are your biological parents!" Ye Jiaying ate a civet cat in exchange for the crown prince's melon, but didn't want to be small. The boy held her hand tightly before leaving; "You are not allowed to give food to others in the future, no one can do it!" Ten years later, when an extravagant boy driving a luxury car appeared in the village, he picked up Ye Jiaying. When I was in college, the whole village was a sensation! Ye Jiaying looked at the young man against the light, the little lone wolf in his memory finally became the dazzling existence everyone looked up to; the young man stood still in front of the beautiful girl, she was the only light in his dark world! He just wants to pet her, pet her, pet her. 

Reading Guide: Healing Fairy VS Meiqiang and the Great Devil Content Tags: Traveling through time and space, sweet and cool, chronological search keywords: Protagonist: Ye Jiaying┃ Supporting role: ┃

3 STARS - I LIKED IT

MY REVIEW: 

I quite liked the slice of life, gradual growth between the main leads and their family. It was refreshing to read about strong family relationships where there's no toxic sibling or in-law conflicts. However, this book also showcased terrible human beings who have no right to be a parent. 

Tuesday, June 14, 2022

Shows I'm Currently Watching: The Masked Singer, Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games Is Tough for Mobs, Spy x Family, Haikyuu!! To the Top, Obi-Wan Kenobi

I haven't made one of these posts in a while, so I thought I'd share the shows I'm currently watching!

CURRENTLY WATCHING:

The Masked Singer Season 2

We started watching this a while ago when my parents came up to visit, and my dad surprisingly really enjoyed it. I think it's because the show is pretty similar to Paris By Night where there's lots of live singing and small skits lol. My dad also liked the whole guessing parts even though most of us didn't know any of the contestants lol. I got Alec to finish watching the first season with me when I was staying over at his place, so now we're planning to start watching season 2 soon!


Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games Is Tough for Mobs

Alec and I watched the first episode on a whim when it first came out and unexpectedly really like it! I love how the main guy keeps on acting like a jerk to the main characters in the game lol. Also thought it was pretty funny about the world setting being a reverse harem, so guys in the show have to try to woo women with tea parties and appointments. 

So yeah, now Alec and I are waiting for the new episodes every weekend! 


Spy x Family

Funny enough, I bought the manga volumes when they first came out because I thought the art was cute, and the plot sounded funny. I was waiting for more volumes to be released before binge reading them all. Next thing I know, there was an announcement that it was being turned into an anime! Then, life got busy, so I never read the manga and the anime premiered. Alec had already started watching it and convinced me to watch it with him weekly, so here I am, impatiently waiting every weekend for a new episode to come out. It's just so cute and wholesome! I love their fake family lol.


Haikyuu!! To the Top

It's been almost half a year since Shelle, Kyle, and I finished watching the third season, so I definitely forgot a lot of characters after we started watching this season. But what can you do, we've been busy these past few months and haven't had enough time to sit down and watch a show together for a while since we've been in and out of the house for a while. Either way, Haikyuu continues to be super wholesome and funny and inspiring. 


Obi-Wan Kenobi

We've been watching every episode once they come out because Kyle is a big Obi-Wan fan, and I really like it! The amount of details each episode shows is astonishing! I do feel bad for the actress playing Third Sister. Apparently, she's been receiving a lot of racist, hate comments because of her character. It's just a show! Obviously, her character's not real! I don't know how they totally missed the spaceships and aliens to think otherwise!


RECENTLY FINISHED: 

In the Land of Leadale

Finished watching this pretty quickly in the span of two days after work because I needed something cute and relaxing to watch while I decompressed from the long commute for my new job while I was staying at Alec's house alone. I liked how even though the show was a slice of life, Cayna still had little side missions to help keep the plot moving and how the plot wasn't about how OP she was. Instead, she was just enjoying life since she wasn't able to before she died.

Thursday, June 9, 2022

Mini Reviews: Luobei of the Last Days, Su Qin Reborn in the Last Days, The Prince in His Dark Days vol. 1

Title:
Luobei of the Last Days
Author: Su Su Xiu
Chapters: 92 chapters
Publication: N/A
Summary from Wattpad:
The strong cute girl from the Magic Continent has become a female partner in a book she has never read. How can Luo Bei, a cute and soft girl, deal with this unexpected situation? Let's look at how Luobei recruited younger brothers, created her own business, and met beautiful love in the crisis-ridden apocalypse. Cute martial arts high-strength soft girl VS domineering loyal dog male white dog blood, don't like a cross, don't spray ==
2.5 STARS - IT WAS OKAY

MY REVIEW:


The writing style was immature, especially for the first half of the novel when the author kept on saying "Let's go back to Luobei..." as a transition and breaking the 4th wall by inserting her own author's comments into the text.

The whole book was okay. The female and male lead were OP, the romance was boring, the female lead won people over with just her cute face and eventually her skills, and the action scenes weren't that exciting. I actually preferred Luobei dynamics with her siscon brother lol.

I wanted to quit after 70 chapters, but I was close to the end so I started skimming the rest of the chapters. Not the best apocalyptic novel, but it's also not the worst.



Title:
Su Qin Reborn in the Last Days
Author: 请叫我山大王
Chapters: 140 chapters + 10 extras
Publication: 2014
Summary from jjwxc:
The end of the world is approaching, zombies are rampant, and people's hearts are strange.

Su Qin struggled to survive for three years in the apocalypse. Seeing that there is a glimmer of survival in the future, she was killed by her "relatives" who had been desperately protecting her for three years, together with her life.

When she opened her eyes again, it was already three years ago, and the apocalypse had not yet come, and she had a chance to start over. This time, she had no other expectations, but just hoped to live and live well. .

And the weak cousin who can't help screaming when she sees zombies three years after the apocalypse, she really wants to see how she can eat people in this zombie without her protecting her from the beginning. The human world is struggling to survive...

The heroine of this article has a cold personality, has a coffin face for many years, and has strong hands-on ability...
3.5 STARS - I LIKED IT

MY REVIEW:


This was super exciting! I stayed awake until 5AM finishing the book because I couldn't stop reading!

Su Qin's adventures with her team was super fun and exciting. They all encountered so many life and death situations that her team formed an indelible bond that was hard to find even when some members left the group. Thanks to them, Su Qin slowly came out of her shell from her past betrayal in her last life.

Also, the romance is very light. It's more hinted than anything else, but don't let that deter you, because everyone else notices the love interests except for Su Qin lol.



Title:
The Prince in His Dark Days vol. 1
Author: Hiko Yamanaka
Pages: 160
Publication: 2016
Summary from Goodreads:
Atsuko's father is a drunk, and she's shunned by her classmates as "the poor kid." Walking the streets in a dark fog of despair, Atsuko cons perverts out of their money to survive. Then, one day, she meets Itaru, the heir to a wealthy family, who happens to look exactly like her. Itaru hatches a plan: Atsuko will live his tedious public life for him, and she will get a taste of the luxuries enjoyed by the 1%. Everybody's (finally) happy. Right?
2 STARS - IT WAS OKAY

MY REVIEW:


Like the title implies, this manga was kind of dark. Atsuko deals with a lot of crap just to survive at home with her drunk dad. The other characters also slowly reveal their dark histories as well. But, I just couldn't get into the story.

Atsuko isn't treated well by others because they look down on her, and she also doesn't treat herself well either. It's just bad incidents piling on top of more bad incidents in the name of her feelings about how others treat the guy she's substituting! I wasn't interested enough to read more volumes about how things could maybe get better.

Monday, June 6, 2022

Weekly Haul 148

Shelle's Christmas present for me were these pre-orders from Rightstuf, and they finally came in!

Heaven Official's Blessing vol. 1 by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

Scum Villain's Self-Saving System vol. 2 Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation vol. 2 by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

Thursday, June 2, 2022

Books I Want to Read This Month

Gonna try to read something physical this month! I will! 

  1. Oksi by Mari Ahokoivu
  2. Spy x Family vol. 1 by Tatsuya Endo
  3. Spy x Family vol. 2 by Tatsuya Endo
  4. Spy x Family vol. 3 by Tatsuya Endo
  5. A Man & His Cat vol. 3 by Umi Sakurai
  6. A Man & His Cat vol. 4 by Umi Sakurai
  7. Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? vol. 12 by Fujino Omori
  8. Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? vol. 13 by Fujino Omori
  9. Tamiko and the Two Janitors by Forthright 
  10. Love Looks Pretty on You by Lang Leav
  11. Euphoria by F.S. Yousaf
  12. Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair by Pablo Neruda
  13. The Anatomy of Being by Shinji Moon
  14. Home Body by Rupi Kaur
  15. The Sun Will Rise & So Will We by Jennae Cecelia

Wednesday, June 1, 2022

May in Retrospect

Since I've started my new job, there really hasn't been much time for reading :(

I read: 

  • Run with the Ball in the Last Day by 萝卜精
  • I'm The Vicious Cannon Fodder In The Book by 廿乱
  • Rebirth of the Little Mute by 穆青延
  • I Have More Meat in the Last Days by Fei Dao
  • Full Level Bigshot Only Takes the Career Path by 李温酒


I watched: 

  • Life with an Ordinary Guy Who Reincarnated into a Total Fantasy Knockout (2022)
  • The Other Guys (2010)
  • The Gentlemen (2019)
  • In the Land of Leadale (2022)
  • The Masked Singer season 1 (2019)

Monday, May 30, 2022

Chicago Trip!

Oh man, all we did this trip was basically eat until we couldn't take another bite... and then eat some more! This all stems from the fact that my cousin is a foodie, and she was our tour guide the whole trip lol. We came to Chicago on a whim with no plans except to eat and see the Bean lmao.

Tuesday, May 3rd: 
  • This trip feels so long ago already! I feel like all we did was eat lol
  • Landed in Chicago around 9am and became confused on how to get onto the CTA lol
  • Got on the CTA and got off on an exit near Cafe Con Leches for brunch. I don’t remember what I ordered, but it was great. The fried plantains were the bread!
  • Walked in the sprinkling rain over to Gaslight Coffee to chill for a bit before we could check into our Airbnb, which was so cool!
  • Our Airbnb was southwestern themed and had all of these cool desert/cactus theme items throughout the whole apartment. There were TWO teepees! One inside and one in the backyard!
  • Found out my cousin was nearby, so she came over to chill for a bit
  • Went to my cousin’s apartment to chill until we met up with her friends for dinner at a KBBQ restaurant nearby. Cousin wanted to go because they didn’t order the meat ferris wheel last time lol. It was insane! Also, the salad was REALLY good
  • Went back home and ordered Pequod’s pizza for a midnight snack cuz all we do is eat even though we’re stuffed. Lmao we were on a mission to try as many of the famous pizza places in Chicago as possible
  • Ate a slice of pizza and passed out

Wednesday, May 4th: 
  • The only sunny day during this trip, so we walked for miles outside!
  • Ate leftover Pequods for a quick breakfast
  • Went to the backyard to check out the bigger teepee
  • Took the CTA to Hanabusa Cafe for their pancake souffle. Unfortunately, they’re other side dishes and ramen were only available for dinner, but the pancakes were good and *aesthetic*
  • Walked across the street to Garrett’s to get their famous popcorn as a snack for later
  • Found out Magnolia Bakery was nearby and that Jessica and Alec have never eaten it before, so bought a large banana pudding also as a snack for later
  • Walked along the Chicago Riverwalk through the Magnificent Mile along the Lakefront Trail and resting and snacking on our popcorn before walking all the way to Navy Pier
  • Walking along the lake was nice and all until we found a bunch of these big gnats stuck to our clothes. Then, Jess and I were grossed out and ran the last stretch of the lake before getting back into civilization lol
  • Went into the building in front of the pier and had a hotdog as a snack before deciding to take the bus to Millenium Park to go to more tourist sites since my cousin was picking us up around 4 and it was already 3
  • Walked to the Bean and took pics before walking across the BP Pedestrian Bridge and around a few blocks to Buckingham Fountain only to find out that the water was off for the season. It was around 55-65 degrees the whole trip, which was a huge difference from GA’s 80 degree weather lol
  • Cousin picked us up from the corner and drove us to our happy hour reservation at Machine: Engineers, which is known for their fancy, aesthetic drinks. It did NOT disappoint. They looked awesome!
  • Also, look at the bar decorations!
  • We ate a snack and mainly drank at Machine: Engineer, so we walked around to Kurimu for some ice cream since my cousin said that they have lots of Asian flavors. Unfortunately, the white rabbit flavor wasn't in rotation at the time, so Alec and I split the earl grey flavor instead.
  • Drove around and went to Time Out Market for dinner and got food from half of the vendors inside
  • Even though we were stuffed, we were committed to ordering Giordano’s pizza and trying it later
  • Jess ordered it online, and my cousin drove us there only to find out that they had already locked their doors for the night and wouldn’t let us in until some customers left. Then, they said that they didn’t have any pizza orders left, and Jess was about to throw down before my cousin said that we had the wrong address! Lol, so Jess was all “my bad” and we booked it to the other location closer to my cousin’s address and got our pizza lol
  • By the time we got back to our apartment, we were still super full and tired from walking all day, so we didn’t even eat the pizza lol

Thursday, May 5th: 
  • Reheated a couple slices of Giordano’s for a quick breakfast. Wasn’t trying to eat much because we made plans for brunch already
  • Went to Kusama for brunch with my cousin’s recommendation since it recently got its first Michelin star. Awesome Filipino food and pastries!
  • Drove around multiple blocks trying to find free side street parking before walking to the 3 Arts Club Cafe. We were 30 minutes early for our reservation, so we went up the floors and checked out all of their fancy rooms and furniture that we couldn’t afford lol
  • We ate appetizers and had drinks at this place purely for the aesthetics and fountain lol. The charcuterie board was pricey but delicious, too
  • Drove to the 2D Cafe for the novelty! The donuts were pretty nice. The strawberry milk was aesthetic lol
  • Went back to the apartment so Jess could pack since she was leaving soon.
  • Walked to Furious Spoon across the street because we saw that they had $.50 dumplings for happy hour online and REALLY wanted dumplings. Then, they told us that that offer period was over, so we couldn’t get unlimited dumplings, and we were sad lol. We ordered drinks and two ramens to share because we had been eating all day. The ramen was good!
  • Dropped off Jess at the CTA since it was faster that way to get to the airport
  • Went back to my cousin's apartment to chill since our next reservation wasn’t until 9. We ended up watching Kitchen Nightmares upstairs in the free area until it was close to time for Gaijin
  • Ordered more drinks in honor of Cinco de Drinko and two different types of okonomiyaki: Osaka style (the ingredients are all mixed into a batter and then grilled) and Hiroshima style (a small crepe-like pancake is grilled and then other ingredients are layered on top)
  • Also ordered the matcha donut for desert, which was SO soft and chewy freshly made <3

Friday, May 6th: 
  • Ate the rest of the pizza for breakfast
  • Walked to Colectivo for tea. The Masala Chai Latte and Windy Ci-Tea were great!
  • Took the CTA to my cousin’s place to drop off our bags before going to Matchacita for more aesthetic drinks and waffles. The whole place is instagramable
  • Ordered frozen pizzas from Giordano’s to take back to GA with us in their free freezer bags when you spend a certain amount of money
  • Picked up the pizzas and headed to the CTA to go back to the airport
  • Made it home around midnight