sharyoo

[sharyoo]

[sharyoo]

Recently found this, and it is everything you would need in a drink. It’s warm, bitter, and sweet. It’s all of those things and something beyond. 

[sharyoo]

[sharyoo]

[sharyoo]

After graduation, I made a leap by staying in this city rather than jump again to another location. One of my intentional goals is to learn how to make a home instead of just living in a house. (It’s hard work!)

This year’s journey is scary yet I know it’s up to me how it turns out!

[sharyoo]

Korean Dramas

Lately, I’ve really been interested in Korean dramas. It brings me back to when I was a teenager living in India, but was surprisingly surrounded by Koreans quite often. In my formative years, I realized I was ethnically Korean, but very much Korean American in many ways (also a southern yankee korean american [longer story there..]). Anyways, whenever I realized this, I needed to change if I wanted to be categorized as a “korean.” There is always room for improvement! I went from really not knowing what the days of the week to being fluent in about 6 months. You learn a lot about culture and life while learning a language. I assumed and became a more korean version of myself. Since then, I have detached from the culture and language a bit while pursing my masters, but it’s been a great reminder of the culture I come from. Also, I’m seeing changes in my dressing style, tidiness, and thoughts (thinking in Korean). The mind is an interesting thing. 

[sharyoo]

[sharyoo]

Harvard Grad Cafeterias

Over the years, I’m discovering that my brain functions quite differently than the normal population. I’m trying to figure out how it functions with an AI specialist who mainly focuses on human memory and brain capacity. Generally interested in what the conversation will entail.

Anyways, while I was at Harvard Graduate School of Education studying my masters, I used to go to the various graduate school cafeterias during my lunch breaks. Why? It was a general curiosity, optimizing cost benefit, and something to take my brain of grad school studies. 

I did this cross-examination of various cafes before I understood the concept of documentation via #karenbrennan’s #t550 class. 

If you have photos to add to this, please share! 

My criteria: 1. Cost 2. Quality 3. Variety 4. Ambiance (seating, other customers, general ambiance) 5. Location.. (Kind of)

List:

1. Harvard Business School: Starr Food Court

Pros: The food was very good especially considering it was a daily service and variety, quality, and general ambiance was very good. I went twice during dinner time and I had two pieces of salmon and salad. The cost was around 6-7 dollars. 

Open for breakfast lunch and dinner (not sure about weekends)

Cons: It’s kind of out of the way from the rest of the campus and it can be very obvious at times that you are not a student. They do not care to stare at you.

2. Graduate School of Education: Gutman Cafe

Pros: Cost by far is the cheapest, and the food is definitely better than the rest of the cafeterias. The average cost of a small salad is 3 dollars and soup is 2.50 which is very good. There is a hot food bar and most of the food is gauged by weight. The ambiance is fairly casual and a lot of other Harvard-affiliates come to the cafeteria. I’ve been here at least a 100 times. 

Open from 7-3ish for lunch then snacks til 5. (not open on weekends)

Cons: The front desk is mean and rude. Sorry, but they are not sorry. Prepare your ID. 

3. Divinity School

Pros: Surprised at how homey the food tasted. It has the taste of a large family meal at a friend’s house. Not your home food, but it’s someone’s home food. I went during breakfast into lunch. The food is a bit more expensive than the other two I mentioned, but I think I’d pay a bit more to eat homemade like taste food in a relatively quiet location. The cafe feels like an open concept diner? 

Open from : no idea but it didn’t seem like they did dinner

Cons: A bit far north of the main campus

4. Science Center

Pros: They have decent Indian food on a daily basis. Not bad not good but smack dab in the middlish of campus. 

Open from lunch? I think they are renovating right now so not sure if they are still serving food. TBA

Cons: The cost was pretty steep in comparison. My memories stated that soup (one of my faves) was at least a dollar more for the small than the Ed School. The taste was just okay.

*** There is a 10 dollar all you can eat indian lunch at Maharaja in Harvard Square. Go there instead if you want good food.

5. Law School Cafeteria

Pros: Pretty extensive varietyish? It’s open concept and seems like good quality from the outside but after examining the food, I didn’t find it very appealing. they have a noodle/pho bar which I thought was very cool. 

Open? No idea I went for lunch 

Cons: The cost is not too bad, but not worth it if you can go to the Ed School. Once during finals week, a 3L law student showed me a picture of a mouse/rat under the plastic in a sandwich there. His words were, “You thought I’d say thing without proof?”  Disgusting.

6. Kennedy School 

Why, how, when, where, did they ever think the sad sad sad lumps of carbon based materials be considered as food. Cost, quality, everything is just meh on it’s best day. However, they did not have rats from what I have heard. 

***Design School: Haven’t been. Didn’t know it existed, no one mentioned it as a place to eat ever. 

[sharyoo]

“If you think your salad is boring, it’s because nothing is in it!” - A friend.

Recently, I travelled to Finland to visit a friend from high school. She’s been on a super healthy trajectory for about a year not. On the other hand, I have been suffering through grad school and the diet to match it! So, on this trip, I realized how good salad could be! It makes me feel better, and look at how pretty it looks. Also, the price point of buying over a weeks worth of salad was 20 dollars! Wowza. That’s only two lunches in Cambridge. O_O

Salad Dressing: Half a lemon and a drizzle of olive oil! (Life is so good)

Nuts: Sunflower seeds are 2 dollars from trader joes’ (nom nom nom)

Greens: My favorite right now is iceburg because it’s super crunchy and light, but my all time go to is arugula. It’s spicy and has a bit of a bite. 

Other stuff: Onions and tomatoes are my go to.

Generally speaking, it’s a good way to start. Even if your salad isn’t perfect the first time. But the lemon and olive oil dressing is perfection :D

Happy Eating! :)

P.S. I used Italian herb seasoning (the cheap one from the store). It still packs a punch of flavor!

[sharyoo]

Tips for the WTF type flights

Still a bit of a mad rush from this horrendous flight experience; however, I’ve learned some nifty things from my travels. After reading some blog posts about how to deal with long flights, I was highly disappointed. 

Here are my tips:

1. If someone goes wrong, be persistent but always stay VERY polite. It’s a western ideology but it doesn’t hurt to ask for something. The airline staff are willing to help and moreover have the power to help. If you piss them off, oh they can and are probably motivated to not help you. 

2. If you have a longish layover, maybe go to the airport hotel. My flight got delayed, and I missed my connecting flight. So, I had time to kill. There was nothing of notice in the CDG airport, but there was the Sheraton hotel. The food is expensive but you have wifi, comfy chairs, a decent bathroom. A lot of airport hotels also have half day reservations, which is great.

3.When booking your flight, look in advance to the connection airport. Why is this important? I hate Paris CDG airport, it’s confusing, on average people are not very polite, and things are super slow. If you are spending anytime anywhere, it can be nice to at least have a bit of convenience. My favorite airports are Seoul Incheon (ICN), Amsterdam (AMS), and Changi (SIN). The WORST are Paris (CDG), Brussels (BRU), Los Angeles (LAX), and sometimes New York (JFK).

4. Drink Lots of Water. Some blog wrote drink lots of fluids, but I think water is best because there is no calories, it’s hydrating, and probably free. 

5. Sometimes it’s better not to book in advance. Today I lost a connection and I couldn’t do anything about it because it was from a third party vendor. Paid more for a second ticket, but double pay is not worth being “safe” with buying things cheaper.

[sharyoo]

«What a difference between being cooked, and being half-cooked. What a difference between sustaining another human being, and causing them indigestion. May we have the heart, the courage to go through the cooking. May we have the courage to commit ourselves to the flame. May we have the heart to finish our cooking, to make each of us worthy of being inside the heart of another fellow human.»

“The whole of my life is summed up in these three phrases: I used to be raw. Then I was cooked, Now, I am on fire.” —Rūmī

[sharyoo]

[sharyoo]

Yogurt + Lemon Face Mask

It’s winter and my face is changing due to the cold climate. Previously, I lived in relatively warm areas and the low humidity and cold have been affecting my skin. A yogurt lemon mask should do the trick to brighten up the skin during the winter. 

You can also add honey for redness and inflammation and olive oil for moisture.

Recently, I learned with deeper clarity the importance of “good” bacteria for your entire system.

I used all natural greek yogurt and organic lemon from Trader Joes.

1. 1 Heaping Tablespoon of Yogurt 2. 1 Tablespoon of lemon juice 3. (mix) and apply on your face and wait for at least 20-30minutes 4. Wash off with warm water and moisturize.

There is a website that show more of the benefits of yogurts for your skin.

Happy Winter!

[sharyoo]

Purging 2015. That’s what I’ve called this random illness that has taken over my body. I ate some bad food in South Station Boston, and got on the bus. Ever since, it’s been an uphill battle to get better. WARTDAFRACK.

Nonetheless, I do have some caring people in my life, and my roommate made some delicious congee. It was great, and I am starting to feel better (after day6 ). 

This isn’t the exact recipe for what he made, but nonetheless is very good.

Cheers to 2016

[sharyoo]

New Project for 2016 Winter. This is going to be epic.

http://www.vegrecipesofindia.com/appam-recipe-kerala-appam/ (The bread that goes along with it)

[sharyoo]

Sometimes happiness is important goal in life (also for your healthcare). Welcome 2016.