I was talking to someone earlier this week about how I miss the “blogging” days. I loved seeing how different bloggers would curate and design their website. I would spend hours scrolling through their content, but I know I’m also at fault for not checking my old favorite blogger’s websites today.

Social media has made it so easy to access information and be constantly overwhelmed with content. Why visit a blog when I can visit someone’s Instagram, Youtube, or podcast? They recycle the same content throughout the different platform anyway… right? Not necessarily.

When you’re putting content up on Instagram or Youtube, it’s all about the visuals. For podcast, it’s all about the narrative. When you blog, you get to sit down and thoughtfully think through your thoughts and dive deep. It’s a place you can be more vulnerable.

Blogging can be terrifying. You’re putting your writing out there for the world to read. If you’re like me and a bit self conscious about your writing skills, then publishing a post can feel a bit intimidating. Blogging helps me practice my writing skills and I enjoy reading old posts to see how cringeworthy or reminisce where I was in my life when I wrote a specific post.

It takes a bit more effort to write out a blog than post a photo on IG, but no matter how much I try to run away from this website of mine, I always seem to come back.

I come back to refresh the design, populate content, and think through what I want to timestamp. For me, I enjoy blogging because I get to sit with my thoughts and reflect. I find it therapeutic printing my thoughts into writing. I’ve been trying to be more vulnerable here and talk about my faith. Whenever I re-read those pots, I think about taking them down, but I don’t because if someone judges me for it, then that’s on them. I’m trying to be more vulnerable and brave in standing for what I believe and who I am.

And so, here’s to blogging, being more vulnerable to challenge myself, and one of the latest selfies I have on my phone because, why not.

I was talking to a few friends and they asked, “if I don’t believe in Christ, does this mean I’ll go to hell?”

This is a question I struggled with for a long time — how do you even answer this? So I did some digging and chatted with a few of my Christian friends to see how they would answer this. 

Christianity isn’t supposed to be something that’s terrifying but it’s supposed to be good news. The whole gospel is amazingly great news! It’s news that God sent his only son, Jesus, to come down to this place we call earth. Jesus had to do the chilling at home, walking to get food, taking a shower, and most importantly, understanding what it means to be human. He died on the cross for our sins, so that we can have this direct line of communication with God and have eternal life. 

We no longer have to be afraid of death, we no longer have sin controlling our lives, we no longer will feel this weight of the world on our shoulders. Instead, we have Christ who took that burden for us because He loves us so much. 

A friend of mine asked me this: “if a ship you were in was sinking and you had no idea, wouldn’t you want to know? Wouldn’t you want someone to knock on your door to help you get out and save your life?” This is Christianity. We’re not trying to scare you, we most definitely shouldn’t be guilt tripping you into believing in Jesus Christ, we’re just here to share this good news with you. 

You don’t have to face this world alone, to carry the weight of heartaches, to be in loneliness. Anyone is allowed to have a relationship with Christ and he always has his door opened, no judgement. You might not hear it but he’s also probably knocking on your door asking if you’d welcome Him, but it’s up to you to decide whether you want to explore that relationship or not. 

So I’m going to leave you with this question - would you ever consider learning about Christianity and Jesus Christ? Why or why not?

I was presenting at an important meeting and the nervous jitters were no joke, so right before the meeting started, I looked out of my window and quickly prayed, “God, I know, I really do know you’re here and I know this is silly and I haven’t done this in a while, but if you’re here, please let me see anything fly. A bird, a plane, a - …”

In that moment, a saw a little yellow leaf flying up in the sky. It was small, but it was visible and I couldn’t help but laugh.

I used to do this all the time.

Whenever I needed a sign for anything, whether it was His existence to making life decisions, I used to always ask God to see a “yellow car”, “let the wind shake me while walking”, or whatever that would pop to mind. Of course when God would give me those “signs” I would immediately think, “wait, that was too easy… no that couldn’t be Him” and immediately ask Him for that same sign again and of course that’s when it felt like I heard nothing.

Looking back at this, it made me realize how much I’ve “grown-up” in my trust in Him. Don’t get me wrong, I still feel like a child with God and to be honest, I love that I can be a child, not have my act together, be as flawed and as annoying as I am with Him. It amazes me how much patience He has.

I think one of my favorite “signs” that God gave me was when I was back in college. I had a lot on my mind and I was asking God if I should move forward with a certain decision. It was raining hard, so I asked him to have the wind push against me if the answer was yes.

He almost immediately let the wind push against me to the point I felt like my umbrella would break and I couldn’t walk properly. After a good 15 seconds of fighting to walk straight, the rain and wind calmed and I got this message from God -

Regardless of the “sign” I give you, I know you’re going to do what you want to do, and that’s okay because I’ll be here for you and I will eventually help direct you to the right path. The question is whether you want to take the hard route where you’ll be pushing through the storm like you were just now or you trust me, not move forward with the decision, and you’ll be here under the sun. It’s up to you and I will be walking with you regardless of your decision and be there to help you find your path if you get lost, so the choice is yours.

I remember getting chills when this happened because when I heard the message of being “under the sun”, the sun shined through the leaves and were hitting the floor and that I had “a choice”?! This felt like it was the first time in my Christian walk that I clearly heard that I have a choice and God was content with whatever decision I made too.

Crazy, right?

I knew I shouldn’t move forward with the decision but my mind was already set, so it was nice to hear from God that He wasn’t mad at me about it. I did end up going through a bigger rollercoaster than I probably would’ve liked but I do not regret my decision in taking the hard route and never once did I feel God’s anger or disappointment too. It was moreso, “I’m not judging you, I’m here for you, let’s get through this together” and that made me feel so loved and thankful to have a God who loves me more than I could ever love anyone or anything.

Have you ever asked for “signs” from God? If so, what’s one of your favorite “signs”?

I absolutely love this song and it’s been my main go to repeat for the last year. The lyrics are repetitive, so you’ll be able to quickly memorize the lyrics, but this song helped me get through those days when I was feeling anxious about work, when I felt dry in my faith to needing a soft but also loud song to pump me up.

I love taking the time to pause and focus on the song and lyrics whenever this song comes up. It always helps remind me that God is really here and no matter the struggles, your battles, He’s gotchu.

Miracle worker, promise keeper
Light in the darkness
My God, that is who You are
Yes it is yeah, it's who You are
Way maker, miracle worker, promise keeper
Light in the darkness (hey)
My God, that is who You are

Hope this song gives you the life and energy it gives me.

Julia

We’re still moving into our place and getting settled, but here’s a preview of what our new place looks like (aka lots of boxes everywhere) but at least you’ll get to see the layout a bit.

It’s been yet another long day of work. Something I’ve always thought about was - how do I spread light into this world, to my colleagues, reflect God’s presence and love? 

I’m not trying to evangelize everyone I meet, to be honest, I probably don’t even talk about Christ enough with even friends, but I always wanted to be one of those, “there’s something different about Julia. Oh, it’s because she’s a Christian!”  

I will admit that this did get into my head and I definitely tried to play this “I’m always happy and bright” or “I can be a kind person” - person for a while. But do you know what happens when you act “bright” and “nice” because you want people to view you this way? It gets exhausting and you will quickly realize you’re lying to yourself. 

I realized the hard way this “brightness” is a gift from God and you get it by building a relationship with Him. It’s by praying, trusting, reading, listening to Him (and my personal favorite, Christian music) that I can feel His warmth, so I’m easily able to be whoever He set me to be without caring about my reputation, wondering if I’m being genuine, but most importantly, not feeling exhausted. 

I used to be so good at asking God to help me write an email, lead meetings, to even give me wisdom on how I talk to my colleagues, but I’ve been doing this less and less since working from home. I can feel myself feeling more anxious at work, stressed, pressure... this isn’t how it’s supposed to be! 

I miss the days when even during the craziest and most stressful days, I made it alive feeling at peace and stayed calm during a storm. 

I need to challenge myself to listen to Christian music through the day more and give God a, “hello! I’m here, not sure what to say but I need your help to get through today. Is it selfish for me to ask for your help, your wisdom, and for peace in my heart? Okay, I know it’s selfish to ask you to help me succeed and perform well at work today but... I’m going to ask you for this help anyways, because I could really use the extra support. In Jesus’s name, amen.” 

Maybe I’ll try to share some Christian tunes that’s been on replay.

Thanks for reading,

 Julia 

For years, I thought about using this platform to write transparently and be my full vulnerable and true self. This idea came to mind back when I was in my last year in college, but this idea terrified me.

For some reason, I thought my decision to write freely would’ve hindered my future job search and impact my career opportunities. I was afraid of the judgement I would get from both friends to strangers, so instead, I decided to change the course of this website of mine and make it a food blog.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t regret capturing my food adventures (and I probably will pick this up again), mainly because I can never remember what I order at a restaurant, so I used this blog to share my restaurant reco with friends and so I can easily remember and reorder the same dish I got the last time I visited a restaurant. This made me appreciate food even more and gave me an excuse to take photos.

But after running away for so long, I’ve decided to finally take a leap of faith and blog about what I know best - living the Christian life in an urban city.

I’m not a pastor, I’ve had many battles and questions about Christianity, but most importantly, I’m just a human writing about what my experience has been like and will write about my challenges to blessings about (trying) to stand firm and follow Christ.

I can’t believe I’m going to actually start putting this out for the world of internet, but here we go.

Hello friends,

I’m Julia. I live in the city and I’m a Christian and no matter my doubts and the crazy trials of life, I’ve decided to write about the only truth that I believe in and try (I told you, I am human) to stand by proudly about my faith and relationship with Christ.

I decided to write about my experiences to hopefully help others know that they’re not alone in certain scenarios to non-Christians to ask questions, listen and learn, and even challenge me about anything I write about. This is also a huge part of who I am and I want my best friends to know this side of me on a deeper level to let them in on my life more too.

I’m nervous about posting this but it also feels right. It feels like this is something I should’ve done from the start. Oops, sorry for neglecting and running away (yet again) from you, God.

Alright, here we go.

Thanks for reading, friends. Stay tuned for more.
Julia

I came across this article, "13 Asians on Identity and The Struggles of Loving Their Eyes" by the Huffington Post a few years ago and it left me with many thoughts. 

I grew up hearing, "you have big eyes for an Asian" to "your eyes would be just a bit more pretty if you had double eyelids" to "you're so lucky you have big eyes" to even, "why aren't your eyes smaller, don't all Asians have really small eyes?" All these statements left me feeling extremely uncomfortable.

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When I was in high school, I will admit that I too wondered what it would be like to have double eyelids, so one day, I did a quick YouTube search on - how to create double eyelids using tape. I wanted to feed my curiosity and see what I would look like and whether this "double eyelid" life was that much better than a monolid one. 

For majority of my life, I had monolids. I would get an occasional crease on my left eye when I didn't get enough sleep, but during my second semester of college, I one day noticed that the crease on my left eye was here to stay. To be honest, I was pretty upset about this because by this time of my life, I was happy with my eyes but now, I landed in both worlds. I tried so many different makeup techniques to make my eyes look even, but of course nothing worked, so I instead ended up spending majority of my college career feeling insecure about my uneven eyes and always covering half of my face in photos.

One few years ago, someone mentioned how they were able to naturally teach their eyelids to become double by using double eyelid tape (like one of these). There was no way my left eye was going to go back to being a monolid, so I bit my tongue and tried this tape method out for a bit. A few months later, my right eye started to form its own double eyelid, and that too ended up sticking around (well, 90% of the time without makeup and 100% with makeup).

I now live in yet another insecure world about my eyes and caring too much about whether people think I got plastic surgery, but I’ve been feeling less and less insecure about it lately.

And so, having lived both the mono and double eyelids, is one really better than the other? 

I don’t think it’s fair to pick a side because they’re both equally beautiful and God made you in the way you are today for a reason. I know so many people who hates their mono eyelids/get plastic surgery to get double eyelids. I’m not saying plastic surgery is wrong, but in my opinion, there truly is something so beautiful mono eyelids.

*note: this was a post i wrote back in 2017 and only published it now (after updating it a bit) because I was too scared to publicize it.

It almost feels awkward coming back to this blog of mine. Where do I even start? Do I even bother?

Safe to say 2020 was one heck of a year. It was also a year that I got to step away and truly face battles that I’ve been ignoring for years, but I had a few great blessing on my way to the end too.

But, back to this blog - to be honest, I’m still trying to figure out what to with it. I always have a lot of thoughts running through my head and if I sat down with you in person, you’ll easily find that I’m an open book, but when it comes to writing those thoughts down on, well, the internet, I shy away.

But maybe we start by taking baby steps. Take one step at a time out of my comfort zone. I might fall 10 steps behind, but for 2021, I want to challenge myself to keep pushing forward no matter what.

I have no idea if I’ll keep posting food photos or switch it up, but if you’re interested, stay tuned for more.

2021, let’s do this.

We stumbled upon this cozy Mediterranean restaurant in Brooklyn. Here’s Zizi Limona.

P.S. Apparently, they’re planning to extend their branch to Chelsea.

Flat Bread

A fluffy, warm, hallow on the inside, flat bread.

Hummus for Appetizer

Mix some chickpeas, tahini, and lemon.

This. Hummus.

The perfect texture of creamy, paired will with the warm flat bread, we (literally) liked this bowl clean.

Chicken Leg Confit

The chicken was warm and juicy and I liked the saffron couscous at the bottom of plate.

Shakshuka with skirt steak

I liked this main dish much more than the chicken. The food was a little salty for my taste but the combination of eggs, tomato stew with chickpeas, and to top it all off the warm, tender, skirt steak brought this dish together.

If the weather is nice, you can grab a seat outside or stay inside for a nice cozy meal. I loved the hummus and the Shakshuka with skirt steak.

I now understand why people talk so highly about the Omurice at Hi-Collar in the east village. I highly recommend this place. The Omurice was so fluffy. So. Good.

Lunch time!

This restaurant has limited seating, so if you’re going on a weekend, make sure you line up early, so you can grab a seat (unless you don’t mind waiting, which is worth it, in my opinion).

Original Omurice

Wow. I have no words. The egg was soft, wiggly, fluffy, not too runny but just very slightly runny once you scooped up a bite with your spoon. The Omurice was warm, not sweat, and I almost inhaled this is one go. Did I mention how fluffy the egg was?

Ten out of ten out of ten I would go back.

There’s so many doughnut (or is it donut?) spots in New York. Here’s one of them: Doughnut Plant.

Packaging

There is very limited seating inside. Our original plan was to try and find a seat outside, but we got lucky!

Coconut Doughnut

You can definitely taste the coconut. I liked how this doughnut helped balance out the very sweet PB and Banana one we ordered.

PB and Banana Doughnut

Are you even surprised I got the peanut butter doughnut? Highly recommend for any peanut butter and banana fan.

I used to have the biggest sweet tooth, but lately, when I eat something too sweet, I crave milk or need to constantly chug water. The doughnuts here were sweet and warm, but I had to keep drinking water for the rest of the day.

I took this photo around this time last year.

It feels weird to pause and celebrate accomplishments and small wins, but I made it a goal of mine this year to let myself pause and give myself a pat on the back because it’s okay to be proud, just don’t brag.

It’s been a year.

It makes me warm when I look at this photo because I know that the smile behind that camera was genuine and I was at peace with myself and life. I stopped running from my problems, embraced my failures and flaws, and turned what I thought was a dream to reality.

I’m proud.

In the last year, I managed to strengthen friendships with those who have my best interest and are positive lights in my life. I feel confident in the workplace and I’ve managed to take on so many new responsibilities. I successfully moved to NYC and settled-in quickly (p.s. I love it here too!). I managed to take three weeks off for the winter holiday to spend time with family. I got accepted to grad school, another dream of mine that turned into reality.

I’m proud of what I’ve been able to accomplish in the last year.

The last few years has been one heck of an adventure. I finally feel stable in my life, I know where I’m going, what I want, and who I am as an individual. I’m comfortable with life and I've been at continuous peace. Okay, maybe not all the time, it’s life, but overall, my heart has been filled with so much love and joy.

2019 goal: it’s okay to be proud.

I (obviously) know myself best and the stories behind every chapter of my life. There’s been some crazy stories in each chapter, tribulations, tears, and laughs. I’ve come a long way, but it feels like my story is just getting started, so I’m excited. I’m proud of how much I’ve come and grown but I’m also excited for the adventures to come and to keep learning more.

I’ve always been the type to have longterm goals and I’ll always dream big when it comes to my career-related 5 to 10 year plan, but I’m also just taking each day by day and enjoying life as is. Life is too short, time is only getting faster, so I might as well enjoy the right now while it lasts and celebrate those wins as they come.

One of the most famous Jewish deli’s here in New York. Hi there, Katz’s.

Uh... Salad?

Okay, let me explain: the only thing we’ve been doing and we’re planning to do all day was eat, eat, and eat. We went on a food tour in NYC, so we thought we’d at least TRY to be a bit healthy where we could.

Pickles!

You know, I’m usually not a huge fan of pickles, but this paired nicely with the rich deli meat.

Corned Beef and Pastrami Sandwich

I’m so glad I got the half order because, I mean, look at this thing! Kat’z wasn’t shy with the amount of deli meat they gave you. I now understand why people love this place so much.

BRB.

If you haven’t been to Katz’s yet, you have to check this place out and get their corned beef and pastrami sandwich.

I kept hearing great reviews about Sfoglina’s pasta in D.C., so of course I had to check this place out myself.

P.S. the owners of this restaurant also owns Fiola and Fiola Mare, which we (aka the DC locals) all know has great food and great vibes. It can be a bit pricey, but I’d say it’s some of the best restaurants in DC.

What to eat?

Whenever I come to a restaurant that has high reviews, I’m always nervous about the outcome. Will it meet my expectations?

Nice warm bread to start us off

Free bread + good bread = the best type of bread.

Earl Grey

I hadn’t had my caffeine for the day yet and I was feeling a bit tired, so I ordered a nice earl grey.

Mozzarella balls

I was not expecting them to serve one large mozzarella, so this was a surprise, but if you’re a fan of cheese, please order this as an appetizer. Your tastebuds will thank me later.

Potato Gnocchi

Porcini Crema, Mushrooms, Parmigiano Reggiano. If you’re a fan of gnocchi, you must order this. I can’t stress enough how delicious this plate was. The texture of the sauce wasn’t too creamy but it also wasn’t watery. The warm gnocchi was soft and melted in your mouth with every bite you took.

Tortellini

Chestnut & Ricotta, Sage-Brown Butter, Barilotto Cheese. Another great choice if you’re in the mood for tortellini.

Overall, 10/10 I would come back here. The restaurant was bright, the service was impeccable, but most importantly, the food was fresh, high quality, and absolutely delightful. I know see why so many people talk so highly about this place.

If you’re looking for good pasta, you should add this place to your list.

A nice casual restaurant with good food. Here’s, Cote.

Lunch set menu

If you come during the lunch hours, you’ll be able to participate in their two or three course lunch set menu for a fairly good price.

Smoked Salmon

Sliced smoked salmon with dill, shallots, baby capers and crème fraîche dressing with toasted sourdough bread. The smoked salmon was fresh, the bread was nicely toasted, put them together, squeeze some lemon, and your tastebuds will be pleased.

French Onion Soup

Rustic French onion soup with a sourdough croûte and melted Comté cheese. Okay, I’m usually not a soup person but wow this french onion soup was delicious. The cheese melted right in your mouth, the soup was warm and didn’t feel greasy.

Spinach and Mushroom Crêpes

Baked crêpes with wild mushrooms, spinach and Gruyère cheese. I normally wouldn’t order a dish like this but thought I’d change things up and I’m so glad I did. This crepe is very different from what you’d get in America or Asia, so this was new to me. It was a bit more “mushy” and the cheese and mushroom would melt in your mouth. I enjoyed every bite of it.

Roasted Pork Belly

Pan roasted pork belly with gratin potato, braised Savoy cabbage, apples, thyme and calvados jus. If you’re looking for a more filling meal, this is a good safe option.

The restaurant was a bit crowded when we went, so it felt a bit chaotic, but overall, the food was good for its price.

P.S. apparently they have good espresso coffee too!

Here’s a nice Italian Spanish tapas restaurant in London near Covent Garden. Hello, Opera Tavern.

Time for some tapas.

If you’re looking for a light snack or a full meal, this is a nice ambiance restaurant to go to.

Tenderstern broccoli, granola with preserved lemon

The broccoli was well steamed and the lemon gave it a refreshing kick.

Baked haddock, butter beans, herbs oil

If you don’t like beans, I recommend that you skip ordering this. I personally enjoyed this dish and I have no idea what they put in their “herbs oil” but it was delicious.

Pork & parmesan bombetta, basil, salsa rosa

These were bite sized and they went light on the parmesan. I completely forgot they even added some to it until I was re-reading their menu. The salsa was fresh and the meat was tender. Highly recommended!

Chargrilled chicken, mushroom ragu, guancialc

This was another great dish but it didn’t leave me with a “wow” impression. If I ever came back, I’d probably skip this and try something else under their “Meat” menu.

Sicilian cannoli with pistachio cream

A tiny crunchy cannoli filed with pistachio and powdered sugar to end the meal.

Unfortunately, Opera Tavern lost their Michelin star ranking, but their food is still delicious with great ambiance too.

Lotte recently built a new tall building in Seoul, so we decided to take a last minute trip to check it out. We were a bit hungry, so we grabbed a quick bite at The Lounge, which is one of the few places you can dine at.

They have small bites, afternoon tea, salads, and burgers. The food is a bit costly for the quality and size, but you get a nice birds eye view and ambiance.

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I know I’ve said this before, but I seriously love cafes. I love tea, the smell of coffee, and appreciating the culture of the shop. Today, we stopped by: Everything but the Hero Cafe in Itaewon.

Hero, Cafe.

Fun fact: this cafe is owned by Jo In Sung’s brother. Jo In Sung is a Korean actor who… you know what, here’s a link to his Asian Wiki page since I had to look him up to figure out who he was too (oops!).

Minimalistic design

Bright white interior with lots of seatings up stairs. They even had a room (with a door that closes!) with a long table for students working on group projects or professionals needing a meeting space.

Large Windows

You can even snag a seat next to the large windows throughout the cafe.

I am in my element, my happy place

Also, can we quickly pause at how tiny that tea - it’s more like an espresso - cup is?

Camomile Tea

I’m sensitive to caffeine, so I got a nice camomile tea as my afternoon drink.

Cappuccino

Wow that coffee was fresh and I liked the slight cinnamon kick to it.

Free chocolate, yes.

They also gave us some free chocolate, which they make themselves at the cafe. The chocolate wasn’t too sweet, was rich, and had that perfect amount of slight bitterness to wrap it all up. It didn’t taste like a cheap chocolate bar.

Final thoughts

You will pay a bit more for a cup of coffee here, but hey, they make good coffee, they have a few pastries you can select from, and a nice ambiance. It’s cafes like this that makes me wish I was still a student. I would’ve loved to camp out here and work on papers or study for an exam.

I was disappointed by my usual go-to jjajangmyeon delivery when I was here during the summer, so we decided to try out Mao in Itaewon instead.

Getting here

I’d recommend driving or taking a cab here since it is a bit of a hike from the subway station.

They're known for their pecking duck

But if you’re craving something else, they have other options on the menu too.

Open kitchen

I love open kitchen concepts and like how the staff were speaking in Chinese (don’t worry, they know Korean too!) and were laughing with each other. It kept the mood light and vibrant.

Pork tangsuyuk (탕수육)

The meat was tender - you’d be surprised at how many hard tangsuyuk’s I’ve had - and I liked how the meat wasn’t overly drowning in the sweet and sour sauce.

Seafood crispy noodles

Now this is a dish I haven’t had in a while. The sauce was light, the noodles were nice and crispy (except at the bottom) and they filled your plates with some broccolis, scallions, shrimp, mushrooms, and others.

자장면 time!

One of my favorite comfort foods.

Jjajangmyeon (noodles in blackbean sauce)

I’m still a child so I always ask for scissors to cut my noodles. The sauce wasn’t thick, it was actually a bit watery, but it didn’t taste like your cheap take-out jjajangmyeon.

My favorite jjajang place I’ve ever had is still the one in Chinatown, Incheon (post here), but if I’m looking for something simple, good tangsuyuk, and I’m in the area, I wouldn’t mind coming here to satisfy my cravings.

P.S. rumor has it that seats gets filled quickly at this restaurant on the weekends, so come for lunch on a weekday or arrive a bit early on a weekend to skip the crowd.

aka one of the most difficult times in your life (or so the “adults” say).

Twenties.

I feel like not enough people talk about the difficulties of it. We live in a society where it can feel like people are competing on who has a better - happier - life. Who’s more successful? Who’s more well traveled? Who’s more social?

I feel like twenties is the time when you’re learning how to ride a bike with training wheels, getting off those training wheels, feeling unsteady, and then without realizing it, you’re flying.

Figuring out who you are. Go offline.

It’s a process, it will take time, you’ll learn something new about yourself, and you will change.

I’ve been doing a lot of self reflecting, figuring out who I am, and building my foundation to chase after what I want in life. It’s all the behind the scenes work no one posts about on social, but it’s something we all go through.

With every tear there’s been laughter, with every fail there’s been more laughter and growth. You learn to let go and focus your energy on the more important things in life. You’ll stumble a lot, but you’ll grow a lot too.

Twenties. Our story is just getting started, so get ready, stay hopeful.

There’s so much life has to offer, so much you can offer to the world, and so much we can do to change it for the better. I genuinely feel like my story is just getting started, so equally trying to enjoy living in the moment and staying excited for what else is to come.

You will need a car to get to Masungi Georeserve and it’s a bit of a drive from Manila (thanks to that Manila traffic life), but the view and the experience is all worth it.

You’ll go through a few obstacles but there is an “easy” path for those who want to skip the courses. The obstacles weren’t too difficult to complete, I found them to be a lot of fun. Get ready to walk a lot, squat, and work those calve muscles of yours. Take your time walking through each section and listen to the nature around you. Carry a light back, bring water, and don’t forget your sunscreen and mosquito repellent.

P.S. I highly recommend that you stop by the Silayan Dining Room before your hike if you can.

Before you hit up the Masungi Georeserve, you should come eat at the Silayan Dining Room.

Now this is a view.

Breathtaking.

Blue flower for your iced tea

This restaurant takes this blue flower and adds some local cinnamon to make blue flower housed iced tea.

Blue flower iced tea

So no, there aren’t any food coloring in this drink.

Soup of the day: squash soup

Fresh squash, corn, cherry tomatoes with some local basil heads. They handpick everything every morning, so the ingredients they cook with is very fresh.

Appetizer

Orange flower, which is rich in vitamin C, eggs, cucumber dressing with roots. There were also some dried bananas and sweet potatoes, white cheese, and onion on the side. All flowers were edible. I loved nibbling on these dried foods.

Chicken confit with tomato and forged greens

With local chocolate liver sauce on the side. Yup. I wasn’t a huge fan of this but the chicken was tender and had a nice cilantro kick. There were some bananas under the meat and all the greens were local ingredients.

Double chocolate mango tart

The mango had a bit of a spicy kick thanks to the cayenne powder. The chocolate isn’t your gourmet chocolate, but it went well with the rest of the tart. Oh, and some blue edible flower to top it all.

We weren’t sure what to expect coming to this restaurant, so we were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the meal. They don’t take any walk-in appointment since the staff handpicks all the ingredients they need just for that day.

The view was great, make sure you use mosquito repellent if mosquitos love you (like they annoyingly love me), and sit back and enjoy your meal. 10/10 I would come back here before my hike at Masungi Georeserve. Don’t forget to call ahead to make a reservation if you want a seat though.