Café Con Monica

On First Time Cruises…

Last month I took a last minute Cruise with my Florida family. I knew I was going to visit them but didn’t find out I was going on a cruise till about 2 weeks before. I guess that isn’t really last minute but if you have never been on a cruise and think your just going to Florida to hang out with family it is.

Anyway…it was a 5 day cruise to Cozumel & back. We spent most of the time at sea minus the 8 hours on land in Cozumel. It was a great time. I would definitely do it again.

Some random thoughts….

– Formal night is awesome. I loved all the backdrop options to take photos. I felt like Prom all over again!

When I take selfies I like to make faces.  
– Food. Food. Food. & Alcohol.  I will be 100% honest and tell you that I didn’t think the food was that great. My Florida family are all seasoned cruisers and told me that the Carnival ship we were on really just doesn’t have the best food so I didn’t get the best first cruise experience. We got the drink package because I didn’t have to pay for it. I can drink but I knew I’d be with family and not partying it up so I highly doubted I would have at least 15 drinks a day…and I was right. But I would definitely recommend it if you are planning to booze it up. 
– Apparently I really love Ziplining because anytime the opportunity presents itself I am all about doing it! I definitely recommend taking advantage of activities when you are off the boat. We skipped the beach for ATV’s/ziplining, eating local and shopping.
– There is plenty to do on the ship. SO many activities…bingo, shows, auction, casino, comedy shows, the club, food, shopping, laying out, table tennis, salt water pool, and mini golf. I did a lot but still managed to get a good mix of laying out too. I did a lot on my own since my family was broken up with the younger and then the older w/kids and then me…unmarried and no children. Haha the story of my life. 
– I loved coming back to my room to find the towels in the shape of animals…I’m easy like that. 

– My teenage siblings are hilarious…and fiesty…just like me 🙂

 
She took all the pics!

It was a definitely a good time and I would go again…maybe on another cruise line and to somewhere other than Mexico though…

Five on Friday!

{1}
So its 34° outside right now…it literally might as well be summer in Chicago. I was born & raised here and still the weather never ceases to amaze me. Monday it was -15 with a -40 windchill and today 34°. Crazy. 



{2}

Yesterday I was looking at photos from my time in China and I realized how much I actually miss it. I miss my coworkers and my students so much that it makes me quite sad sometimes. It being my first time away from Chicago and my family & friends for a whole year without coming home made it so hard to really appreciate the amazing things I was experiencing all the time. 

{3} 
This girl needs a night out! I have not been out with my girls & bestie G without The Boy in 2 months. I have never been one of those girls that does everything with her boyfriend and somehow that is exactly what has happened. Do you ever just need a night out with just friends(no SO)???
I need high heels, a cute dress and some drinks!! 
{4} 
This weekend I plan to get my blogging shizz in order. I am going to make a plan and stick to it! Ok…I am going to really really try to make that happen! 
I have an idea of the kinds of posts I want for certain days and link ups that I enjoy participating in and it would really help if I didn’t leave every post up to the  morning of. 
{5} 

It is effing Friday!!! Woooooo! 
I don’t have a 5th thing to share because I posted exactly what was on my mind every day this week so….Instead I share a song that I am loving this week: 
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I may have mentioned before I am a big Eric Church fan 🙂 


Chinese Food

One of the things I love most is food.(thats my inner fat kid talking) but really I do. I fell in love with the food in Thailand right away and am basically ruined for life because nothing will compare. But I have not had this same experience with Chinese food. I have found some things I really enjoy and some things I would rather not see ever again. 

Here are some of my fave Chinese foods that I am going to try making and finding here in the US: 

Red Bean Konnyaku jelly 

This stuff is delicious and different. It has a jelly like texture and obviously uses red beans which is not usually something you find in a dessert but Asians love red beans in their sweets! 

Kai-Lan (Chinese Broccoli) 
I love Broccoli and this tastes nothing like it but it was delicious and I never once went to a restaurant and didn’t order it. I made it in my apartment all the time too! Here is a recipe if you would like to try making it. 
Eggplant…
I’m convinced they put crack in their eggplant dishes. Before moving abroad I had eaten eggplant less times than I have fingers. Now I miss it so much and have asked one of my old chinese coworkers to give me a recipe to try and make it at home…minus the crack of course. 
McDonald’s Taro Pie
I should be ashamed of myself for admitting this but I loved these things! I am a fan of the McDonald’s apple pies even though I rarely ate them here so I definitely interested in trying these. They were amazing and I am so unhappy with McDonalds for not having them here. 
Jian Dui(Sesame Taro Balls) 
Another Taro food that I fell in love with. They are probably horrendously bad for me but I loved them anyway. Deep Fried and I think made with some kind of rice? I think it might be possible to find them at a Dim Sum place…I will investigate this! 
Yangmei(Waxberry) 
These are delicious and have an odd texture sometimes sweet sometimes tart…but I was very excited to find a fruit I hadn’t tried before. 

Fish balls
I couldn’t really find a proper name for these but they are delicious. They could really be all kinds of parts of the fish or not even real fish but I don’t care. They are spongey balls with a fish flavor that taste great in soup or with noodles. I often ordered them as a snack at 7-11 and it was not uncommon to see people walking around eating these with skewers. 

There are other things I miss…but these were some of my favorite. 
Have you tried anything while traveling that you miss now? 


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