I started drinking boba drinks sometime in junior year of high school, I think. There was a place at the food court in the mall that sold them and I remember going there to get black tea smoothies with boba. I loved how the iciness of the drink froze them up just so – so they were a little bit chewy, a little bit crunchy. They’re nice and sweet without being overwhelming and they add a fun element to your drink. I try to get them whenever I can and it’s always been a fun time to hang out with friends over boba drinks. Sometimes I go for the milk tea and sometimes I got for the fruity tea. I used to get a wonderfully light white tea but it’s no longer being offered. 🙁 Still, I love just about any boba drink, hot or cold, and I love how they provide a great way to spend time with friends.
Posts Tagged ‘high school’
365great Day 296: boba
365great Day 271: pho
Pho is comfort food to me. When I’m not feeling well, whether I’m sick or sad, it’s the perfect thing to soothe me. I personally like it more than chicken noodle soup. I love the fragrance of the herbs, the thin noodles, the rich broth, and the experience of putting in the veggies when the soup comes out steaming hot. I like to get the plain noodle soup if I can, since I love it for the veggies, soup, and noodles. No need for meat for me! I always feel better after downing a large bowl and usually my sinuses and head will get cleared up by the end of it. It’s perfect for those down days and I can’t even remember what I used to do before I was introduced to pho. I guess I did get afternoon fevers pretty frequently in high school. I’m so glad that college brought me experiences like discovering pho because it’s now an important part of my diet, particularly in the colder months. It’s so great for a pick-me-up!
Physically aging
I hadn’t realized how much more stiff my body’s gotten. Back in the day, my back was so flexible it was really hard for me to keep a straight back when I did pushups. I could practically touch my hands and feet together when I did the bridge and I easily touched my heels to my forehead when I leaned back while laying on my belly (similar to the picture shown). Up until high school, I did these types of back-bending exercises often. Then in college it didn’t really come up and over the years I sort of forgot about it. I tried to do it again a few nights ago and uh… yeah, let’s just say my back wouldn’t cooperate.
Some things I still can do, like touch my elbows behind my back and bring my heels all the way in when doing the butterfly stretch. But this? If I point my toes I can get them to touch my head, but it’s not quite the same. I did strain my back a few times since college, which must have tightened my muscles more than I realized. I wonder if I can still do the limbo like I used to too. I was always awesome at that, but I doubt I could get very low nowadays. I think it’s time to get back into yoga so I can regain some of that flexibility while building strength. Now if only I could get around to finding a good studio…
365great Day 161: AcuHoop
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Back in high school, my best friend Katana and I would drive out to Chinatown on a whim and hang out there for the day. We loved browsing Saigon Market (umm why is there a Saigon market in Chinatown??) for all the random trinkets, clothing, and even pets they had. We bought matching clothes, phone charms (back when phones could have charms dangling off them!), and even betta fish. Once when we were shopping around for qi pao (Chinese evening dresses), we happened upon a stand selling AcuHoops. You could get the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6-lb one. We found it to be quite hilarious and I decided I wanted to get one sometime. I believe it was my first year of college that I actually went through with it and chose the 3-lb one. It’s funny because I can’t hula hoop, but when you have a heavy weight like the AcuHoop, I actually got the hang of it quickly! Soon enough I was able to keep it up for over an hour at a time. I trained myself to be able to rotate it clockwise and counterclockwise so I wasn’t always putting the same force on my opposing sides. What fun it was! It’s still one of my favorite ways to “work out” and it really does help trim your mid-section. I think it’s really great! 🙂
Job history: high school edition
I thought it’d be fun to go through the jobs I’ve held over the years, since each feels like a different version of me and sometimes I’m suddenly reminded of those experiences (like when a blogger I follow wrote about her kid getting swim lessons). Let’s start with what I did in high school:
The FIRST job, being a babysitter
My very first “job” where I got paid to do stuff outside the home was (surprise) a babysitting gig when I was 14. It was a lively family of 5 children, ranging from about 1 to 10. The first four children were boys and the little baby was a girl. I was approached by the mom one day on my way home from the bus stop – her house is along my route and visible from the stop, so I guess she’d seen me here and there. She needed help managing all those kids so she asked if I’d come watch them. Much of the time she just needed help while she was home, so she could get some work done. Sometimes I helped with the work, other times I made sure the kids were ok. The oldest son didn’t need any watching and basically did his own thing. Two of the other boys would sometimes fight and otherwise cause a ruckus. The one who didn’t fight much was autistic so he needed additional attention, but was mostly happy to watch videos all day. And the baby girl would usually be in her crib playing or sleeping. I don’t think I was very good at it, but I did manage to lighten the mom’s load as much as I could. What an experience it was for me, an only child!
The second job, working at a Chinese buffet
When I was 15, I had reached out to a local Chinese buffet that my parents and I ate at consistently. I wanted a job after the babysitting gig ended, so I spoke to the manager and he took down my number. One day, they actually contacted me to say they were interested, so I got the appropriate work clothing and began as a bus boy/waitress. Initially, they wanted me to just help seat guests and get their drinks, but I kind of ended up waitressing too. Every now and then I’d help out in the kitchen and once I even ran an errand to get groceries when they were running low. I cleaned a lot of tables and poured a lot of fountain drinks. Tips were shared among the “real” waitresses and since I was technically a bus boy, I didn’t get split any (but I didn’t mind). The highlight was when one family was leaving, noticed that the tip they left for me was cleaned up by another waitress, and they flagged me down to give me a $5 bill to thank me specifically. Awww. Scheduling conflicts quickly ended this job – I was a student first, after all!
I couldn’t find a picture of any of my jobs but this is a pic from the YMCA swim team I was on!
A few months later, I was practicing at the YMCA pool (where I was on the swim team) when I was approached to be a swim instructor. I thought it might be a joke since it was April Fool’s that day, but the manager got back to me and we set up a time for me to start! I watched other instructors teach and assisted with their lesson until I could do it on my own. I forget what level I taught – probably Minnows or something – but the kids were mostly about 5 or 6, though I think some were up to 9 or 10. I wasn’t very confident in my skills with kids, but I did have fun and I think they did too. I mean, the goal of the class was basically to help them not drown if they ever fell in a pool. Any sort of swimming skills beyond that was a bonus! Their favorite part was at the end of class, when I’d take them one by one, have them hug me, hold their breath, and we’d go under the water for a few seconds. They came out squealing in delight!
That summer, I ended up having to move away. At my new place, I was too busy getting used to the new environment, not only academically, but physically and socially as well. For the rest of high school, I focused on SAT prep and getting decent grades and applying for college. No more jobs! Next week I’ll be sharing the jobs I had in college, when I started working again.
What was your job history like during high school? Did you try out a bunch of things too or did you not work at all?
365great Day 61: Loaded Boards
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Sometime in high school, I decided I wanted to learn how to skateboard. One of my friends promised to teach me, but then time went on and it kind of never happened. I graduated high school and moved on to college. Then, my senior year of college, I happened to hang out with some friends who skated and often had their boards around. I started by standing on them while leaning on a picnic bench. From there, I practiced standing without holding onto something. Before I knew it, my balance and control were improving and I could even manage some push-offs without hurting someone. After a tough Valentine’s Day with three brutal midterms, I decided to pull the trigger and treat myself to a board. The one I had in mind was a Loaded Board, which one of the guys had. It’s made from bamboo and is super flexible. I absolutely loved it and chose the Vanguard design. Soon enough, I was cruising around campus on my board, rushing off to classes and meetings and whatnot. It was so fun! I even got a chance to go cruising from Malibu to Venice Beach one weekend and had a total blast. I’ve had my share of scrapes and bruises, but that hasn’t stopped me. I do keep it pretty conservative though – no carving down major hills or trying any stunts. Nonetheless, learning how to skate and getting my beloved Loaded Board was one of the best decisions I made! It has been undeniably great.
On My Mind, episode 3
(Linking up with Jennifer of Ramblings of a Suburban Mom for Thursday Thoughts again!)
I was just thinking that perhaps On My Mind/In My Life would be slightly more appropriate for these posts, but that title’s too long, eh? You get the point, right?
Gogobot bear!
~Some totally awesome things have happened lately!! For one, I was happily surprised to find that I became a Gogobot Pro 2013! I only joined the site in late February so I certainly didn’t expect that so soon. Granted, I did spend a ton of time ramping* up my reviews past 100 so I could get that free swag I shared previously. As a Gogobot Pro, I get even more awesome stuff, which is on its way, yay! Can’t wait to show you what else I get AND to plan a trip to take advantage of it all. 🙂
~Sometimes you get what you want just by holding out hope and having some luck. That’s what happened with a recent eBay auction, where I bid around $2.50 and the ultimate winner of the auction bid around $7.50. I was not willing to pay that much, but I held out hope that I’d eventually get the product at the price point I wanted. AND THEN I got a second chance offer! If you’re not familiar with eBay, sellers can choose to give a “second chance offer” to any of the bidders who didn’t win the auction. As long as they have more product (or the auction winner doesn’t pay up), they can extend that offer to you if they feel your highest bid price is acceptable. I got a pretty great deal.
source: lilblueboo
~Wondering what I got for that eBay auction? Well, it’s some foldover elastic – which may mean nothing to you – and it’s what you use to make those hair ties you probably know as Twistbands. I was certainly not about to pay $2 for ONE hair tie, but I do want to try them to see if they’re more effective. Once I figured out the “technical” term for them, it was pretty easy to find on eBay. My long, desperate searches in the aisles of Joann’s, Michael’s, and Walmart are thankfully over. I’m excited to make my own!
The coveted welcome screen.
~As of last night I FINALLYYYY got a working code for Graze! Thanks to a lovely reader posting on Jennifer’s Ramblings of a Suburban Mom Facebook page, I have signed up for my weekly snacks. The default is every other week, but with just four snacks per shipment, that’s not enough for my snacking habits so I increased the frequency.
~If you’ve never won anything, let me just say that you just gotta try a lot and set your heart to doing everything you can to win. So many people complain that they never win… and you know what? They never even enter. Beyond that, you can still win at times if you don’t give up and stay positive! Check out the time I won a $150 UCLA rug because I tried really hard.
~So for the past two or three weeks, I’ve been having this strange thing happen to me; whenever I eat small bits of food, inevitably one piece will get stuck in this extra space in my throat. I swallow and swallow to no effect, but a rush of water usually flushes it out. Is this normal?? Shouldn’t my throat be one straight tube? Maybe these pieces are somewhere in middle ground between “throat” and “windpipe” territory. :-/
~Last week it was reeeeeally windy! I seriously thought that a palm tree might come crashing down into the house. Thank goodness they’re sturdier than the more “branchy” trees. I believe these are the Santa Ana winds, which I first learned about when I arrived to SoCal 10 years and read a passage in English class, telling me that these winds cause scenes in which “Meek little wives feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husbands’ necks.” Talk about mildly traumatizing. I didn’t get it then and I still don’t get it now, but it sure did stick with me all these years.
With a toilet paper holder between the toilet and sink, how am I to reach back there??
~And finally, a pet peeve of mine: why do so many places put the toilet paper holder in an inconvenient location? I don’t want to have to do some sort of contortionist act just to reach it. I know that due to the design of the space, sometimes that’s all that works, but you’d think they might take that into consideration when drawing up the blueprints. I guess I could retrain myself to get the toilet paper first, but old habits die hard.
*as a side note, I realized the way I work is in “binges” – more on that in a later post
