Sushi & Bubble Tea

My Birthday was on a Tuesday this year. I should have gone to my Managerial Accounting class, but instead, I called my professor and became an annoying non-traditional students who said, "I know that your class is important and I hope this doesn't hurt your feelings. I really enjoying going, but it's my birthday and I don't want to come tonight. Are we going to have a quiz, because if we are I'll come, but if not, I'm not coming." I guess in that moment, I thought honesty would be the best policy.

Fortunately for me, my teacher was gracious and told me we weren't having a quiz, so I didn't go. Instead, I came home and my roommates decided to take me out. Jess said, "Ang, it's your birthday, so you pick the place. We'll go wherever you want to go." "Wherever I want to go?" I'm sure I squealed out of excitment. My sister Beckie said she knew in that instant that I would want to go to Sushiland, which is pretty incredible because I hadn't even thought of Sushi yet, but ultimately that is where I asked to go.

We drove 20 minutes across town to Fisher's Landing and the closest Sushiland restaurant. Sushiland is unusual, even for sushi, because the dishes go by you on a conveyor belt and you choose the plates you want to eat. There is a menu with pictures so you know what everything is and the plates are color coded so you know how much it costs. It's actually a great way to try something new because the cost of each plate ranges from $1 to $3. So, if you don't like it, it's okay because you haven't made a big investment.

Here are some of my favorites:

After Sushiland we went to Bubble Bubble Tea, a local chain of Bubble or Pearl Tea shops. It's my new favorite thing. Bubble or Pearl Tea is tea with Tapioca balls in the bottom. Or if you don't like Tapioca you can get flavored jellies in the bottom of your tea. You drink the drink through a very fat straw so that you suck up the bubbles or jellies while you are drinking.

A word of caution: If you have texture issues, this is not the drink for you.

However, if you like black or green tea, especially with milk in it since Bubble Tea is traditionally made with milk, and you like Tapioca, chances are you'll like this. My favorite is just the traditional Bubble Bubble Tea with black milk tea and Tapioca Bubbles. At most of stores around here you can also get a wide variety of fruit flavored black and green teas as well as slushies, etc. There are so many choices it sort of makes your head spin.

As you can see from the pictures, they seal the tea into your cup with this great machine which I think is half the fun of drinking the drink. On my birthday, I branched out a little and got Mango Black Tea with Bubbles. Unfortunately, you can't see the bubbles because the tea is so dark, but it was really good:) I had a great Birthday--thanks Bec and Jess for being willing to try new experiences with me on my birthday! I loved experiencing conveyor belt sushi with you. All except for the hairy peas--those were not fun, but that's Beckie's story to tell.

Tattoos . . . and other edgy things

Last May I got my nose pierced. I'd been thinking about it for months and I finally just went out and got it done at a little shop in Seaside, OR (where I happened to be when the urge struck). I ran into this guy who had multiple piercings on his ears and face, and I figured who better to ask so I asked him where the best place to get pierced was. He pointed me to the Nine Lives Tattoo and Body Piercing shop just down the street. I had a great experience at their shop--the girl who pierced my nose, Jenny I think her name was, was really good and I only felt a pinch. It really only felt like I'd plucked a deep eyebrow hair--you know, when you pluck the kind that makes your nose itch and your eyes water. It took several months to heal, but now my nose ring rarely bothers me, it looks cute, and I'm completely pleased.



This good experience has led me to consider more seriously the next step in the Urbanization-Northwestification (completely made up term) of myself.


I've been thinking long and hard about--getting a tattoo. Until recently, I've known where I want it and about what size I want it, even possible colors, but no idea exactly what I want it to look like. I try not to make these kind of decisions lightly (that usually works out badly) , so if I'm going to have something that's on me "forever and ever" as the 13 year old of some good friends reminded me last week, I want it to mean something. But what? I thought about a Cross or even a Triquetra (symbolizing the Trinity), such as the one shown on my blog with the circle of God's eternal love running through it. But somehow, those symbols seem a little trite, or overdone, or maybe just plain watered down in today's society. So I vetoed them. But finally, last week, I was reading in the 4th and 5th chapters of Revelation and (pun completely intended) I had a revelation. I know what I want my tattoo to look like . . . at least in my mind's eye I know what I want it to look like--one of the four creatures hovering around the throne of God and never ceasing to say, "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord, God, Almighty; Who was, and is, and is to come."




I've looked on line for a good artist's rendering of the creatures described there, hovering over the throne of God, never ceasing to praise Him, but I've not been able to find anything that comes close to what I picture in my mind. I guess I'm not in any hurry . . . it's taken me well over a year to decide exactly what I want and now that I know, I'm sure it will take me close to that long to find an artist and save up the money to pay for it. So in the mean time, I'm doing some research and I think I'm beginning to learn the difference between a poor tattoo and a good one--I want a good tattoo artist. I've been watching Miami Ink on TLC and I even bought a tattoo magazine last night at Wal-Mart, much to the chagrin of Jessie, my roommate. There were so many cool tattoos in the magazine--it mostly focused on these incredible works of art that have taken months and months and hours and hours to create. I was inspired and feel like I see more clearly what it is that I want--take for example this peacock: it's incredibly beautiful. I want my tattoo to be in this style of tattoo, which I think is Japanese, but I don't want it to be nearly that big. While this tattoo takes up this whole girl's back, for now, at least, I just want my tattoo to be right in the center of my back, about 1/3 of the way down from my neck, color, and about 7 inches in diameter.




So, I'll continue to keep you posted on my journey toward being a skin art collector. Let me know what you think and definitely let me know if you have any good tattoo artists hiding up your sleeve:)