03. Columbus Day

It was Columbus Day yesterday. Although it is said that Columbus didn't even quite make it to the mainland of America, he was credited for the discovery of this new continent. Well, I guess it's like when you work for someone higher, they always take the credit? (Don't argue, it's true!)

For the first time, I was going to Queens to meet up with a new friend of ours, Luis, who can speak perfect Chinese and always has jokes to share with us. He's so funny. We met up last week at Barnes &Noble and he heard me and my roommate talking in Mandarin. Suddenly there was a white guy asking,"你們是從台灣來的嗎?"(Are you guys from Taiwan? ) And we were so shocked and amazed. So we started chatting and the rest was history. It turned out he used to study in China for a year and later 3 months in Taiwan. He thinks Taiwan is a gem and is the most fantastic place to be! In less than a second, we became friends immediately. (haha)

So, back to Columbus Day. Luis invited us to Flushing, formerly a.k.a. "Little Taipei" (now it's more like "Little Korea"), for Sha-bu Sha-bu (Japanese hot pot) so we were excited about the whole Taiwanese eatery fuss. For me, it was another thrill because I've never been to Queens so it's another exploration for me(like Columbus!) expanding my territory of the new continent. And it turned out Queens is such a nice place with little shops and streets that are not so hectic as in Manhattan. There were full of of Asian, Hispanic people. One certainly can spot the town that it's known for.

We went to 【牙虎涮涮鍋】(Yahoo Sha-bu Sha-bu) and it was like suddenly I was back in my homeland! The deco and the smell of the food... Luis is very good at making me homesick! The whole setting made me felt right at home and it was time to have some Taiwanese feast. We had a satisfying meal and then headed to SAGO, which means tapioca in Tagalog, for some Bubble Tea(珍珠奶茶). We had so much fun chatting and making fun of the Beijing accent that we got eyed quite a few times. But who cares! We're in America and it's a free country! We just had such a blast.

After the Bubble Tea, it was late and time to go home. Like some might say, "Let's go, sago!"

JT