When Fish Fly! - Newport Pier Restaurant Review

Hi all! Today's post is a review of an eating establishment I recently went to. While I did provide a Yelp review for this particular establishment, I'd like to extend my review on my blog with pictures included. The establishment that I went to is called "Fly 'N' Fish Oyster Bar & Grill" in Newport Beach, California.

Photo taken from the Fly 'N' Fish website

The location is in McFadden Square by Newport Pier. Parking is $1.90/hour, and if you have a handicap placard or license plate, you do not need to pay at most parking locations. However, there are some exceptions. Newport Beach is known for frozen bananas and Balboa bars as well. Unfortunately, I forgot to grab one before leaving. Expect to circle around for long periods of time to find parking both here and Balboa Island. However, once you do find parking, check out the local hangouts around both of these areas. You can even grab touristy items in both locations.

Photo from Newport Beach Magazine - Balboa Bars

 My original Yelp review:
The atmosphere is nice and lively. It can be a tad bit loud so expect to speak loudly when you're with others. We (my mother and I) got the fish and chips, today. The fish has a great texture, not over seasoned, and not overcooked.  You get four pieces. You also get a side of fries, which I believe could be truffle fries, and coleslaw. As an avid coleslaw hater, I can say I ate it all up like Goldilocks eating baby bear's porridge. It has golden raisins in it as well, which adds a nice sweetness to it. The cocktail sauce was great with the fish as well. I've had a lot of fish and chips and this one is up there with the best. Also, the executive chef/general manager came and talked with us many times. He was funny and courteous. Also, he had really cool glasses This might have been my first time, but it certainly wasn't the last.

Started off with a glass of Blue Moon on draft with an orange slice on the side.

The inside of the restaurant - The man in white is the executive chef.

Fish & Chips with truffle fries, and coleslaw. That cocktail sauce was also amazing! I normally hate cocktail sauce.

At the restaurant- headband by & Other Stories

Sunglasses by Fendi, Crop Top by Forever 21, Overalls by Cherokee & thrifted from Savers, Over the Shoulder Bag by Mz Wallace, & Sandals by Mephisto

My view from Newport Pier - It was around 84 degrees that day - May 20th.

Anyone that personally knows me knows that I very rarely do Yelp reviews. I have to either really like or really dislike a place to review it. Luckily, Fly ' N' Fish made it on the 5 star review from me. I hope that you liked my review and photos.

Let me know in the comments below what Orange County restaurants you recommend me trying. I'm very open-minded when it comes to food choices.

Till Next Time!

-Hachi

Beauty meets Brains: Graduation Photography

Hi all! I hope this week has treated you well. Today's blog is a bit of a follow up to my blog from last week. Last weekend, I did some graduation photography with my friend, Tammohawk Photography. He's also one of my cosplay photographers.  He's a very versatile photographer and will make sure to get your best side. The main reason I chose to get graduation photography for my Master's Degree is because I didn't have the opportunity to participate in graduation as an undergrad. I lost the motivation to walk the next school year (2013-2014),  they wouldn't let me walk with my graduating class, 2013. This time,  I finished on time and was able to walk with my friends from my cohort. As a result, I became motivated to walk and took celebratory photos. So I'd like to share some with you. I hope you like them! I had to add braid hair to my hair because my grad cap wouldn't fit on my natural hair, otherwise. Hopefully, it doesn't look that bad. It's been over seven years since I last added my own braid extensions..S. My grad cap should also be able to glow in the dark if I did it right.  I'm going to put that and my tassel in a shadow box.

This dress is by American Rag if anyone is curious and my medallion is from the honor society - Phi Beta Delta.

It took about four tries to get this photo right.

In international phonetic alphabet, I.P.A, this says: "What we think, we become" (A quote from Buddha)

That's all folks!

I hope you guys liked my photos. Also, if you're about to graduate soon too, congratulations! For those in the midst of final classes and exams, finish strong and enjoy your summer vacation! In the comments below, show me your grad caps!

Update: We graduated on Sunday, May 21st, 2017! We're M.A. recipients!  Being M.A. recipients, we had to be hooded on stage so we took photos with our hoods on before knowing that and then took them off when our procession began.

A selfie of my friend Bao & I before graduation/hooding ceremony.

M.A. Linguistics - California State University, Fullerton - 58th graduation ceremony - C/O 2017 - Photography Courtesy of Nina G.

Till next time!

-Hachi

Time Travelling Letters

Hi all! Today's blog is a little bit different. I am teaming up with Earnest, which is a S.F. based tech-enabled student loan refinancing company, to reminisce about my college days in the form of a letter to my past self. It was almost 10 years ago since I was a freshman at UC Riverside, and now, in just 10 days, I will be participating in the hooding ceremony for my master's degree from Cal State Fullerton. I am both excited and nervous because I did not get the opportunity to walk with my friends for my undergraduate graduation. As a result, I did not participate in it. This time around, I get to walk with some amazing people from my graduate cohort. Anyway, I hope you enjoy my letter!

Dear 18 year old Dawn,

Hi there! Would you believe that you are almost 28 years old now?! Time sure flies! I cannot begin to tell you about all the interesting people you will meet and things you will do with your life. You will have many fun experiences in college, some of which will dictate how you live out your life until this very day.

You were never much of a party animal, but as soon as you turned 21, kickbacks with friends became a weekly thing. You would invite everyone over to your apartment to play Super Smash Brothers Brawl and drink blended margaritas. You really thought you were a good bartender/hostess those days. You went on road trips to Laguna Beach, Long Beach, Los Angeles, and many other places. You saw Salvation Mountain with once close friends and visited their family.

Unfortunately, like many instances in your life, friends came and went, but you always cherished the good times despite that. Some of your friends you made in college, you still will spend time with.  Did you know that you took over two and a half years of Japanese classes as an undergraduate and grad student and picked it up pretty well? You also became a Conversation Partner and made many Japanese and Korean friends from this program as well that you still connect with. You're still as into anime and manga as always, and even got more into cosplay. Through this, you made life long friends that you meet up with at every convention. Also, can you believe that you have gone to FanimeCon over 12 years in a row, and that you would be volunteering for Comic-Con International going on 5 years now? I bet you didn't expect a hobby like that to extend throughout your young adult life.

You felt like you would be tired of school many times and that you would stop with just your bachelor's degree. Well believe it or not, you are now about to receive a M.A. in Linguistics with specialization in Disorders of Communication. Congrats to you! You persevered, changed majors once, stayed one extra year & a quarter, and still embrace the scientific/analytical side of your personality. You are a seasoned researcher that has both presented at and been invited to several different research conferences in many states and one country. You are a smart young lady! Never forget that! There were many challenging classes you'd take as an undergraduate and despite not having the ideal GPA, you still got into graduate school and thrived! You're in a prestigious international honor society and one of the top students of your graduating class of grad school. Be proud of all your accomplishments and all you have went through and will go through. You have the passion of a highlander with the strength of a titan and you will overcome all obstacles. Nothing can stand in your way.

With love,

27 year old Dawn

18 year old me vs present day me. Do I look that much different? Haha

I hope you guys like my letter to myself. This actually isn't the first time I have done this. If I remember correctly, one of my undergraduate classes had us do this as an assignment. It was either an English class or a Japanese class.  Have you guys ever written a letter to yourself? Let me know in the comments below. *Random factoid: Travelling is the British English spelling, while traveling is the American English spelling. I tend to write using both dialect styles.*

Till Next Time!

-Hachi

There's no Sand in this Hourglass!

Hi all! Happy Cinco de Mayo! I hope you all are relaxed and well! Today's post will be brief because I am out of town. However, I did not want to disappoint and not post anything. Today's post will be a product review, so I hope that you enjoy it!

During Black Friday, I had purchased a cotton underbust waspie corset from Orchard Corset for my cosplay. The specific name is CS-201 in Grey. They were going for $39.99, original price $59. This particular style is meant for women with shorter/average torsos. It is also great for beginners in corsetry. I cannot stress this enough, but for beginners, please know that steel boned corsets are best for long term usage. Plastic boned ones are costume corsets and should not be worn for long periods of time or risk damage. Seasoning corsets to conform to your body will also help maintain the lifespan of your corset and reduce risk of injury. Also, never wear a corset so tight that you feel pain or shortness of breath.

The sizes do go up to plus sized, however, mine is a 32, which is a "regular" size. That means that when it clinches, my waist should be at 32", which is about 6 inches less than my normal natural waist. Also, a thing to note is that the type of fabric does determine how it might look on you. For people that want to conceal their corsets, I recommend getting a mesh style as those are closer to the skin. I would get a mesh corset next, personally. The laces are very long too, but it's nothing that can't be hidden with some strategic tucking.

Unfortunately, my torso might be a little bit too long for this style, but in most outfits, the little bit of pooch is not noticeable. Also, for what I am using it for, it works. Sometimes, if I have an uncomfortable amount of bloat, it gets rid of the discomfort. That's a huge plus for me. However, next time, I would probably go for the CS-426 Longline in mesh.

Overall rating: 7.5/10, for it having some extra pooch spilling over & for the closure hooks coming out of the fabric after around half a year of usage.

Now, without further ado, let me show you pictures of my corset both in cosplay and under my regular clothing.

Character: Ember McClain from the cartoon Danny Phantom. Photography courtesy of Novice Snapshots.

Rouge the Bat from Sonic the Hedgehog. Photography courtesy of Novice Snapshots

Non-clinched CS-201 under the outfit to conceal bad bloating.

Do any of you wear corsets? What is your favorite brand? Please feel free to let me know in the comments below.


Till Next Time!

-Hachi