The Power of Belief

I recently finished the book The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg and it really changes your perspective on things. The narrative was mix of research and anecdotal storytelling, which I really enjoyed. It relayed information that could be considered boring if told wrong, through different stories that proved what the author was trying to convey, which is how powerful habits are.

A big takeaway I got from the book was how strong belief plays into changing your habits, or creating good ones. It’s not only being consciously aware that you have these habits but it’s the belief that you can change or that you can do what you set out to do. Once you get past the hard part, that is starting something challenging, and you keep in mind that you can continue to go on, even though it’s hard and it sucks and/or it physically and mentally hurts to continue doing something, it is then you can truly form a habit. Because the hard part does get easier and eventually it’s something that you do without even thinking about it. And from that habit, other good habits can come from it.

A good habit that I want to form and that I’ve always struggled with was exercising. I’ve eventually just said that it isn’t for everyone and I’m just one of those people, I’ll never learn to love it. I’ve always had a negative mindset that I can’t exercise, and maybe that’s where I went wrong. I’ve never actually made it past the hard part of exercising, but with a new outlook after reading this book, I’m going to try again. But this time the big difference is that I’ll believe in myself. I’ll also keep in mind all the tools I was given in this book and see if I could form the good habit of exercising and getting in shape. I know it’ll be challenging and it’s not something that will happen over night but at least now I believe in my ability to do it.

Xi’an Brewery

Recently I discovered that there was a Xi’an Brewery. If you’ve read my Shanghai post, you’ll know that when I went to Shanghai, my friends and I made Shanghai Brewery our second home. So it was a delight to find out that there was a Xi’an brewery as well.

We went to check it out and it did not disappoint. Although their menu is much smaller than Shanghai Brewery and don’t have as many options, what they do have is quite tasty.

I tried the spicy chicken wings and I had the California burger, which included avocados, caramelized onions, pickles, cheese, and I asked the waiter to add bacon on mine and substitute my regular fries for sweet potato fries; it only came up to an extra 10rmb and it was so worth it.

The menu includes a few burger options, including sliders, one vegetarian sandwich, a chicken salad that looks amazing, pizza, and a few other options. It’s a little pricey for China because it’s western food but a bang for your buck. And if you’re a lady and go between 8pm-10pm you can get a free cocktail, which is a nice added bonus.

Although I won’t be making this place my second home in Xi’an (sorry but it’s too expensive for me to be eating there all the time) I definitely enjoyed it and will go back a few times.

Xiangzimen Youth Hostel (Xi’an)

Xiangzimen Youth hostel, located right in the center of the city, is the perfect place to stay when in Xi’an that won’t break your pockets. It’s also my first choice when recommending hostels to people.

I like to call it the quiet hostel because right around the corner is Shuyuan hostel and bar (Parkqin), everyone in Xi’an is familiar with it. It’s the party hostel, I don’t recommend it as a place to stay because it can get loud. What you can do however, is stay right around the corner at a quiet hostel where you can get a good nights sleep, play some pool with friends and head over to Parkqin if you want to party.

At only 45-50rmb for a bed, you get nice clean accommodations, in a relatively big space. For about 150rmb, you can even get a private room with a bed big enough to share with about 3 people. I’ve stayed there quite a few times in 2017 and I can safely say that I haven’t been in a room I didn’t like.  The bathrooms are fairly clean and the shower pressure is better than the one I have at home.

You can go downstairs in the morning and get some breakfast. The options include American breakfast, French breakfast and Chinese breakfast. It’s not a five star gourmet meal but it gets the job done.

Then there’s the added bonus that it’s in the perfect location. It’s right near the Xi’an wall and the center of the city. It’s near a metro station if you want to get away from the area. The Bell Tower is one stop away by subway or you can just walk there and take in the sites.

So if you’re looking for a place to stay, before sure to check this one out. It’s one of my favorites!

The Story of How We First Met a.k.a The Best Restaurant in Beijing

Ok, so I don’t know if it’s the best Mexican restaurant in Beijing because its the only one I went to but to me, in my own biased opinion, it’s actually the best restaurant in the world.

I first stumbled upon Q-mex by accident. I was intending to go to another restaurant, one that rated higher than Q-mex on trip advisor (I will never know if it was better now). While wandering around looking for the other restaurant, which turned out to be in a darkly lit location, my friend and I were stopped by someone who was asking for directions to Q-mex, we didn’t know where Q-mex was and sent the person on their way. We continued walking and lo and behold there was Q-mex. There were so many people outside and everyone looked like they were having a good time. It was then we decided to give up and go into Q-mex.

Lucky for us we stumbled into the best night we had while in Beijing. It was Wednesday and Wednesday is apparently trivia night. On trivia night you get free beers just for participating and free beers throughout for winning certain rounds etc. My friend and I participated in trivia night because why the hell not. We didn’t win but we had a fun time doing it and we got free beers. We also got free drinks for following Q-mex on wechat.

And then there was the food. Man on man hands down the best burrito bowl I’ve had in my life. My friend ordered an appetizer (sorry I can’t remember the name) that brought her to tears. We loved it so much we went back the next night, which was our last night in Beijing, and waited 45 minutes to get a seat because it was totally worth it.

Ever since that night, I have not been able to stop talking about Q-mex, so I’ll just leave this link here, incase anyone wants to check it out.

http://www.qmex.com.cn/

 

A Week in Shanghai Part Two – The Adventures

I’m back with the second part of my shanghai trip. This times it’s all about the places we went, the things we saw and where we stayed. Unfortunately it’s probably not as long as my food post about shanghai because let’s face it, this was high key a foodcation as any good vacation is, but I still have some things to say about my adventures as well.

WHERE WE STAYED

So first things first, we stayed at The Phoenix, otherwise known as LaoShan hostel. For $14 a night, it was pretty decent accommodations. My friends and I shared a 6 bedroom dorm, ensuite. In theory, having your own bathroom that you share with only 5 other people is nice, but in reality 6 girls sharing a single bathroom is not a very smart idea. With that aside, the ensuite wasn’t bad; a cleaner came in everyday to clean up the bathroom, which was really nice. One of the biggest surprise was that they had real mattresses on the bottom bed, which personally I think is a rarity for China (I barely have a real mattress in my apartment). It was nice and soft and called for a good night sleep.

The hostel also has a rooftop bar that you can probably read all about on tripadvisor. Everyone talked about the guy who works there, Dexter, and how amazing he is. And you know what they were right. He has a knack for remembering people and information about them after only speaking to someone once.

Overall, the hostel was a nice place to stay, just thirty minutes by subway to most touristy spots. I definitely recommend if you’re looking for a cheap place to stay and also want to meet people because hostels are a good way to meet people.

THE BARS

During our time in Shanghai, my friends and I went to a few bars and some of them were pretty cool, if not a little overpriced.

We went to a hidden bar called Speak Low and when I say hidden, I really mean hidden. When we first showed up we thought there was nothing there until someone came out and told us to go in. I won’t ruin the secret of where the bar is hidden because you should check it out for yourselves. The drinks were fine but overpriced and the place is kind of small but I think its all about the hidden bar experience.

The next bar we went to was called The Captain. It was a bar inside of a hostel and this one was much bigger than the first one and had a nice view of the city. When it’s warm you can sit outside and enjoy your drink and take in the city.

Another place we went to was called The Parrot. It was pretty small, with only a few tables. In my opinion nothing really special.

My favorite spot was Zapatas, a Mexican food and bar. I didn’t get food but I heard they have taco Tuesdays with all you can eat tacos. I was there on a Friday and they have free tequila shots every hour on the hour. You can dance on the bars and there are really fun quotes all over the place. What I loved the most about the place was the music. They did not play the EDM or bad music that they usually play in China. There were songs that you could dance to and I danced the night away.

JUST TOURIST THINGS

The last part I’ll talk about was the touristy things we did while in Shanghai. Being a tourist is not my favorite thing to do because it tends to be crowded and can get annoying but nonetheless there were some tourist attractions we went to see.

First off, you must see The Bund. It’s a beautiful skyline of the city and totally worth getting a picture of it.

My favorite tourist thing to see was the French Concession. The neighborhood is the best in Shanghai in my opinion. We ended up there everyday. Also if you read my last post that’s where a lot of the food places are located. It’s such a beautiful neighborhood, you can wander around for hours going into the shops and just hang out. I found a couple of bookstores there, which was great.

We also went to Nanjing Road which is a big shopping street and we wandered into a few stores. A few blocks away was Shanghai Foreign Language bookstore and for me personally, bookstores are always a good time.

Yu garden is a nice place to go to wander. You can literally spend hours getting lost in the place, I know we did. It’s very big and has lots of greenery and you can take a lot of pictures. Similar to that, is Zhongshan Park, also a good to place to wander on a nice summer day.

People’s Square was right near our hostel and on the list of places to check out. So we went there and saw a marriage market where people put up umbrellas to sell their kids off to marriage, which was a pretty interesting thing to see.

That about wraps up how I spent my time in Shanghai. It’s was long overdue but I’m glad we finally got through this and I hope this gives you guys some ideas of things to do if you ever find yourself in Shanghai!

A Week in Shanghai Part One – The Food

For Chinese New Year my friends and I decided to visit Shanghai (they were the cheapest tickets we can find). It was my first time visiting the city and it’s by far my favorite city in China.

This originally started off as a comprehensive post of my entire trip to Shanghai but 1000 words in I was still talking about food, so I decided to break them up and start with the most important. THE FOOD.

Liquid Laundry

• Let’s start off this post right at liquid laundry. We went here twice, once in the beginning of the trip and once at the end (only because they were closed in between). I got the macaroni and cheese and man oh man, to quote The Jonas Brothers “Now i’m speechless, over the edge and just breathless.” I haven’t had mac and cheese in a while so when I saw it on the menu I just had to get it and let me tell you, it did not disappoint. I also got the avocado ranch burger and it was so big and so juicy and just all around a good freaking time. My friends got the chicken and mashed potato and mac and cheese, I can’t speak for them but my food was amazing.
• The second time we went there, we got brunch and I ordered the corn bread with bacon, which i’m not going to lie was disappointing because it was literally what it said it was going to be. There were corn pieces baked into bread and I expected something different. I also got the Korean chicken sandwich, which was really good. My friends got the waffles, eggs Benedict and pancakes. It was all picture perfect and all in all a very good brunch.

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Shanghai Brewery

• Shanghai Brewery was deemed our second home in Shanghai by one of my friends. We stumbled across it (you’ll start to see a pattern) because they had relatively cheap happy hour prices and it was the nicest day – weather wise – in Shanghai, so we decided to day drink. They had really good drinks, we tried the mojitos, margaritas, tequila sunrise, some beers and for food we tried the buffalo chicken wings, fajitas, mashed potatoes and loaded nachos. Let me tell you there were all  good, I mean we must have thought it was because we kept going back.

The Ramen Bar

• Another place we stumbled upon, it was right next to the hidden bar and by far our cheapest meal in Shanghai, but also a hidden gem. It was a kind of asian fusion and I had the kimchi stir-fry pork and let me tell you it was heavenly. I have a strong love for Korean food and that dish just did it for me. My friends had the bibimbap and I tried some, it was good too, but that kimchi stir fried pork was top-notch. 👌🏽

Catina Agave

• I was really excited to go to this place because I was really craving Mexican food but unfortunately nothing compares to Q-mex in Beijing and this place left me feeling unsatisfied. I tried to get a burrito bowl but they only had burrito’s and it lacked in flavor. However, they did have bottomless chips and salsa and a free drink.

Moka Bros

• Moka Bros is what I would like to called an LA girl menu. It has all the trendy food such as acai bowls, avocado toast, smoothies. I just feel like it’s downtown Los Angelos in a menu. I had the avocado toast, unfortunately it was on rye bread and I found out that I am not a fan of rye bread so I didn’t enjoy the toast as much as I would have if it was just on regular bread.

Beef and Liberty

• Subpar food for high prices. This was one of the places that was actually on the list to go and it disappointed. The burger was average, the fries were average and the food was expensive. My friend got to the point where the more she thought about it, the more she hated it. At first it was just ok to her, by the end of the trip she was cursing their names.

Charlie’s

• A burger joint that we did stumbled upon and it turned  out 100 times better than the one stated above. We went to the location looking for a fast food Mexican joint but it wasn’t there anymore so we said “what the hey” and decided to eat here instead. The hotdog, (I wish you guys can see my face as I think about the hotdog)  it was so good I could cry. I mean, I may just be saying that because it was my first time having a hotdog in a while but it was so good. The avocado burger was also really good but the hotdog, man, the hotdog. I also had a milkshake because they are known for their milkshakes and that was delicious as well, but once again the hotdog. 

Original Korean Taste

• Remember earlier, I was talking about my love for Korean food, well because of that KBBQ had to go on the list. This was hands down the best Korean barbecue that I’ve had in China. We really went all out with this one, we ordered so many things on the menu including, kimchi jjigae, Korean pancakes, a pork stir fry dish and pork belly. OK that may not sound like a lot but but we didn’t have any space on the table because you know there are also the sides, when it comes to KBBQ. Is “it was so good” banned from my dictionary yet? Ok fine, it was amazingly delicious. We went back the next night and ordered the exact same thing, if that tells you what we think about it. Also all the food split between the three of us was so cheap.

I talk about the prices a lot because compared to other parts in China, Shanghai is an expensive city and considering we ate our way through most of the trip, I just want to let anyone who has a budget know what they are getting into when they go there. Some of the items are even more expensive than NYC and my friend said that the drinks are more expensive than in London. So you have been warned. Other than that feel free to eat your way to shanghai like we did, it was delicious!

BEST BOOKSTORE IN BEIJING (for foreigners)

So if you don’t know by now, I live in China. I’ve been living in China for the past year and as an avid reader it’s hard because I had to leave all my babies (books) behind. And I can’t just walk into any bookstore and pick up a book I want because you know, the 99.9% chance that it will be in Chinese. So this one post goes out to all my readers out there in China who happens to live or is just visiting Beijing.

The name of the bookstore is very straight forward, no frills or added niceties, it get’s straight to the point (unlike this sentence). Beijing Foreign Language Bookstore, located right in the middle of Wanfujing shopping street.

235 Wanfujing St, DongDan, Dongcheng Qu, China (王府井大街, 100006东城区)

It’s not perfect but it’s doing the best it can and I applaud them for that. Of course you won’t find every book you’re looking for or sometimes not even the latest releases, but it’s doing better than most bookstores in China, in which the store only has one shelf of English books and something you might not even want to read. In the case of this bookstore I think you can at least leave with one book (hey, I left with two). I think the prices are pretty standard and if you want to compare for yourself, just take out your conversion app and make sure you’re not getting overcharged. They also have pretty cool bookmarks that you can gift to friends and I just loved the travel section and flipping through all the travel guides. Oh and the best part is that there are tons of floors to explore, I spent hours roaming up and down all the floors and checking out what each had to offer.

So if you’re ever in the neighborhood, make sure to give it a look!