Ben & Jerry's Factory Tour

For spring break, I went to Vermont for snowboarding and on one of the last days, we had a free day so we went to the Ben and Jerry's Factory!! :D 

The tour is broken up into three parts, which totaled 30 minutes:

1) ~7 minute video about the history of Ben and Jerry's

2) Seeing the ice cream making process on the mezzanine

They were cleaning up when we got there though, so nothing was being produced

3) Sample room where the flavors are made and where they give you ice cream

Apparently they just launched a Cookies and Cream Cheesecake flavor this week.. ahhh I'll probably go get some when I drag myself out

The sample they had was Brown Bourbon  Butter (??) flavored and it was actually really good!

Debated between a shake and ice cream.. just because why not if I'm there. Mistakes were made. 

Back of the factory

Afterwards, we went to the Cabot Annex Store which was only a few minutes drive, practically down the street.

Lots of cheese and syrups out for sample

And right next door to Cabot was a Smugglers' Notch Distillery

Tasting with a choice of 4 out of 6 spirits for $3

Lastly, we finished up the day before heading back with a late lunch..at 4pm.

Blackened Salmon Tacos @ The Reservoir

Overall, it was nice to finally visit the factory because it's something that I've wanted to do for a while now, but there's not a lot to expect from it, tbh. I wouldn't say it's a letdown because it's something to cross off my bucket list, but it's really nothing special.

Final Semester of Undergrad

School starts again on Tuesday. It's going to be a busy semester because I'm overloading again and really aiming to push my GPA as much as I can, since it'll be my last chance to do so. It might seem unnecessary because I already have a full-time job after graduation, but I don't think it ever hurts to have it as high as it can be. Who knows, I might end up going to grad school in the future as well, so it'll come in handy.

In the meantime, I already have a bunch of readings assigned to be prepared before class :( They're not too bad, but ahhh I hate reading. So I'm dreading the semester in a way. I have lots and lots of studying to do, but I also want to be able to play. :( 

Either way, I hope to have a good spring because it's the last time I'll be in this city for a while.

Paris: Château de Versailles (Palace of Versailles)

During the first week of November, I went on a trip to Paris with a group of friends. We took the Eurostar and it's about a 2.5 hour train ride from St. Pancras to Gare Du Nord. Tickets were about £160 but they can definitely be bought for cheaper if you book ahead of time. I booked mine a bit later. 

It was pretty annoying because the train broke down halfway there so it stopped for a bit and we also had to switch to another train. They reimbursed us for a cab but that was it. We ended up getting to the hostel three hours later than scheduled at 2:00AM :( It was a bit weird because the cab driver would only take cash.. not sure if that's a thing or not but luckily one of us did have cash.

I stayed at a hostel about half an hour from city centre. If you want more info about where I stayed, just let me know!

Anyways, our main activity of the day was the Palace of Versailles because we only had two days for activities and we have to deal with luggage on Sunday, so Saturday was the best day to go. I would say plan to spend ~3 hours at the palace. The RER C towards 'Paris - Versailles Rive Gauche' goes directly here, with a ~5 minute walk.

We went to the McDonalds outside the station to grab some food and was surprised to see these machines that you order with O_O McDonalds is pricier in Paris than in the States and comparable to eating elsewhere, so I would rather eat elsewhere instead.

We bought the Passport tickets online and it gives access to the Palace and Musical Garden. But we didn't even go to the Garden.. we actually thought the garden in the back (which everyone had access to) so we were confused why we needed the extra access. Ah wells..

 I had a light breakfast so I was pretty hungry T_T We went back into the city to a place called La Cuisine de Bar and they serve tartines. It's next door to a bakery that seemed famous for these biscuits that you eat with coffee; every customer left with a bag of those.

I ordered the set, which came with a salad/soup, wine/water, tartine, and tea/coffee.

Smoked duck tartine; the duck was a bit dry and there wasn't a lot so I only mainly tasted the cheese.

Foie gras tartine

Smoked salmon tartine

After lunch, everyone separated to do their own thing. I ended up going wine shopping, while others went drinking or shopping.

We met up at Le Temps des Cerises for dinner, but I was running late cuz I got lost T_T and spent an hour trying to figure out directions. 

Escargot & Charcuterie 

Steak tartare--SO GOOD T_T

We were going to head to the Eiffel Tower to see it at night but then decided to just head back because it was getting too late and the trains would stop running. We also had to wake up early for the next day, and our schedule was packed with running around the city to hit all the major tourist spots. I'm dreading going through those photos since there's so many more. T_T

Anyways, until next time!

Happy New Year!

Hi, 

I kind of just disappeared this summer without any word but I haven't really been too motivated to blog. I'm still very behind with my travel posts so at this point, I don't know if they're even worth blogging about since it's been nearly a year already. Maybe I'll just do a picture spam of them though.

For those of you who don't know, I was abroad in London this past fall. I really do like the city, it's very beautiful and has the urban feel that I desire. I don't really think I'll blog about the experience though. While I love the city, there were circumstances that prevented me from fully diving into the experience. But in a sense, that is an experience in itself. I would definitely love to come back to London, it's fairly close by, just separated by the ocean. London is such an expensive city though :(

My main resolution is to be a better friend!! I feel like I neglect people a lot/don't show my appreciation well, so I'm hoping to improve on that!

I don't have too much to say, so until next time!

Singapore: Five Days Too Many

January 3, 2015

I've already seen more of Singapore that I was interested in. When people say you only need 1-2 days here, they really mean it. So my plans for the day was just doing some last minute shopping at Bugis Street and hopefully be able to pick up some kaya to bring back. My friend told me that you can get the at grocery stores, but the during my whole trip, I never saw a grocery store at all D: So then if I see it, then I’ll get it, but if not… not like I had a lot of cash and luggage space anyways. By the way, Singapore is NOT card friendly unless you’re dining at a restaurant or something. But since I visited a lot of shopping centers (like Bugis Street, not malls) and hawker stalls, you’re going to need cash.

Had this for breakfast in the morning before there was I was already really hungry and who can resist Hainanese chicken rice...

The night before, one of the guys from dinner asked to hang out too so we ended up meeting up but it ended up being a really frustrating experience because I couldn’t really remember which station we were supposed to go to. I originally told him one station (Station A) because it seemed close, but then I told him, nevermind lets go to this other station (Station B) instead. Ah wait, this other station (Station C) is close instead.

But when the day came, I ended up going to the very original station by accident x_x So I walked over to the right station, but second guessed myself and walked over to Station B. But then I didn’t see him there! So I was like oh fuck maybe I made a mistake and I walked back over to Station C again. But I didn’t see him there either.. If I remember correctly, I think I ended up going back between Station B and C again.

I was finally able to get wifi right across from Station C, and I messaged him.. like WHERE ARE YOU? And he was somewhere completely far away wtf. And said he went to the station but was running late so maybe I missed him the whole time I was going between stations. But either way he didn’t wait like I told him to… So I was just kinda like wtf.

But we met up in the end anyways… we went to Killiney for breakfast. I liked Ya Kun more though. Not sure if I'm eating it properly, but I pour a little bit of soy sauce into the eggs and mix it up, then dip the toast in.

After that, we just walked over to Bugis Street and I was just like fuck it and bought more clothing x_x I had to buy shoes too because I packed away all my shoes and it was already taken back to the States, so all I had were: Uggs, rainboots, and indoor slippers. Struggles L I mean obviously it wasn’t a problem in Tokyo/Seoul, but it’s hot in Singapore…and will be for the rest of my trip before I head home too.

It was really hard to find something that fit/that I liked but right before we left, I found this pair of flats:

So weird but cute at the same time.

To end the day, we ate at Eng Seng Restaurant for their black pepper crab :D It was the last one too…and it was quite big O_O I think it was like $80 for the crab? I didn’t expect to get such a big one so if I had been alone, I wouldn’t have been able to pay for it wtf. Well, actually, I didn’t have enough even when splitting it wtf so I some of the money I gave to my friend was in USD so he can exchange to SGD later wtf. And sadly… he was also tight on SGD because the ATM ate his card, so I felt bad dragging him with me.

Went home and packed.

Next destination: Kuala Lumpur!

Singapore: Shitty Airbnb Stay

After the night I arrived, I already kinda got over the fact that they weren't willing to come get me from the station because if anything, they're really only offering the place to stay and coming to get you is an extra gesture. I guess I've just been spoiled in the past of being picked up from the station/bus stop every time.

But this wasn't the issue. The issue was that the house was infested with ants. Not to that extreme, but there's a noticeable amount crawling around. I did notice that there were ants crawling around on the first floor (my room was on the second) on the first night. But it was like.. I dunno, maybe a dozen in total crawling around throughout the floor, kitchen, counter, sink, etc. Not to the point where I found the entire colony. It wasn't on the second floor, and it didn't really affect me that much, so I chose to ignore it and assumed maybe it was normal for Singapore.

Over the next few days, I noticed that there were a few tiny ants, the size of a dot that you make with a pencil, running about on my bed. Like maybe 2-3 total every night. Not that much, just killed them and got over it.

On my very last night, I finally noticed a shit ton more ants on the bed. I see like 3 crawling around at a time. After I killed them, another 3 would just appear from somewhere. So I felt like I was battling ants all night and finally fell asleep (YES, I STILL SLEPT THERE). I realized this quite late at night, maybe around midnight or so. So I didn't want to wake up the "manager" to complain about it. The host himself wasn't there, but I also messaged him about, not expecting a response until the next day. Just for the records, I never ate in the room.

I was scared shitless by all the ants and that they would go into all my luggage and have babies and I would bring them back to the States with me and everything. :(

Okay, so that was already my last night and everything. I wasn't leaving the next day until noon or so. 

The host, let's call him "Fred", messaged me back saying that he didn't realize there was an issue with ants, and asked if I notified the manager.

I'm like ya, I told her about it in the morning but not at night because it was already very late when I found out.

And he's like, I'm not sure if much can be done about it since it's already your last day but you can move your stuff to another room even if it's for a few hours. 

He followed up afterwards asking me for feedback and to be "brutally honest" and I was, except I did it in my review, not through PM. I actually forgot to respond to his message, but it shouldn't really matter whether it came from my review or my message because my review would've been the same anyways.

Airbnb does a thing where you can defend your reviews if they're bad, which is what he did, but he was such an asshole about it because he attacked me personally.

I'm going to paraphrase a bit because I don't want it to come up on a Google search, but I don't mind sharing the actual thing if you ask.

1) His claim: My review states that he said there's nothing that can be done
My review said that there's mainly nothing that can be done because it's my last day. Key word: mainly. Because he did offer to transfer my stuff even for a few hours... which was all he offered and I was leaving in a few hours, so that more or less is mainly nothing can be done imo. But he quoted only the part where I said there's nothing that can be done.
Point invalid.

2) His claim: I knew that the manager was there for issues but I chose to contact him instead because he's in charge of payment
Except I told him that I told the manager after he asked whether I did. Is it not normal to contact him because it's his house...?
Point invalid.

3) His claim: My review states that I contacted him immediately but I only contacted him on the last night, not any of the previous nights
Uh, because I didn't know of the issue the previous night? If he even read my review properly, I said that I discovered the ants on my last night and contacted him immediately, so how is his defense even relevant...? Plus I made the fact that I just discovered it that night clear when I messaged him.
Point invalid.

4) His claim: Fred stayed in the room personally and found no ants. He asked my roommates and they said the problem appeared and disappeared along with me. The ants are a result of me eating/having food in the room.
Roommates? I only had one, who moved in on my 3rd or 4th night. So how would they know if it appeared along with me? Plus I TOLD them that there's an issue with the ants right before I left, so if they fixed it, isn't it natural for the ants to disappear as well?! Also, I told the manager (maybe her grandma) that I did not eat in the room when she asked. So why is he making shit up. Clearly there's a lack of communication between them, or he's just making shit up anyways.

He ended his response about how I'm conveniently using this issue for a refund and that there's a lot of questions about my integrity.
Fuck you. I never asked for a refund, and even if it was my intention, how is notifying him of an issue and leaving a bad review based on my bad experience not within my own rights?!?!? Not that he questioned my rights, but there's no relation to money and my integrity. Regardless of whether I had asked for a refund, the ants were in fact there, were they not?!

Makes me so angry just writing about this. I was very upset when I saw his response and I was actually terrified of all my luggage being infested with ants and their babies. :'(

/rant done.

Herp Derp Derp

If you didn't know, I'm going to be interning in New York for the summer. So I went to NY with my mom on Saturday and she accompanied me because her friends were here as well. So I stayed up the night before packing and everything and we arrived some time past noon. 

But then a few hours later... I realized that I didn't have my passport for paperwork that I needed for my internship. D:< It was a Saturday, so I couldn't mail it (even overnighting) and get it by Monday morning, where I needed it in my hands by 6:30AM. So the only choice I had was to take the bus back home the same night T__T;;; I didn't even get home until... 4:30AM. I slept in and took the bus back to New York the next day (Sunday) and didn't get settled into my place until nearly midnight :( Needless to say, I was super tired at work the next day.

Oh, but to derp more, since I didn't actually get to move in on Saturday, what happened was that my mom's friend had all my luggage because I wasn't able to get it to my place that night. So then on Sunday night, I realized that my hardcopy of the paperwork was still with the friend.... Derp... and I don't have a printer here, so... fml. Nowhere to print it, and it's just as important as my passport, that I wasted all my time and money on getting if I didn't forget it T_T I almost forgot the paperwork when I left home, but remembered it right before I headed out, so not sure why I forgot my passport =(

Luckily, I was able to print the paperwork at my friend's house on Monday morning, only to realize once I got to work that it was supposed to be submitted online, not an original copy. Fml.

On a side note, I would get sick the night before my first day, so I've been sick all week :( Just have an uncomfortable (not sore) throat and small cough.

It's been a busy week, but I'll try to finish up my Singapore posts soon, and maybe more updates on my first week.