January Thru April: Sea Kayaking, Caffeine Crawl, Happy Time & More

Me at the Moonlight Kayak adventure I went on with 
my kayaking class earlier in the semester

Hello friends!

I hope all is well and that life is treating everyone good as can be and that everyone is healthy and safe during this pandemic. 

I had written part of this blog post back in February but never got to posting it since I got super busy oops ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ But below I will indicate which parts were written in February and what was written in present day April. 

What Should Have Been The February Update

I went back to school in January for my second to last semester in undergrad! Which I'm actually kind of sad about. While I do complain about studying a LOT (and anyone that has ever spoken to me in person can attest to this) I genuinely love learning so it is saddening to me that I'm almost done.

Speaking of complaining, my smart self decided to take 13 units of biology classes LOL. Will I survive? You guys will find out if I did in May. On top of that, I decided to take a sea kayaking class!

I've been kayaking before with my friends but I never knew how to "properly" kayak per say. It is a 1 unit course offered at my university so I decided why not take it and get credit for it? So here I am, taking sea kayaking.

My first kayaking experience was in 6th grade and probably the most traumatizing experience of my life. I was a teeny tiny 6th grader, trying to get over the surf at La Jolla Shores with my kayak, tipped over, was stuck under the kayak and my glasses fell off. Luckily, my dad was there and saved me♡ I swore from that day I would never kayak again but when I got to my senior year of high school I decided to try it again but this time at Mission Bay where there are no waves lol. Since then, I've been enjoying my kayaking experience.

This last week (referring to Feb 21st) in my kayaking course we learned to do a self-assisted rescue. This was absolutely terrifying for me considering the fact I almost drowned my first time in a kayak and had to be saved. My instructor and my class mates were really encouraging and I was able to do a self-assisted rescue on my own! So I am feeling extremely accomplished about that. 

Moonlight kayaking adventure for my class. This was also the last time I went kayaking since this was the week before the pandemic became a serious issue. This really was an experience of a lifetime and I hope I get the chance to do a moonlight kayak again once this is all over.  

What I Decided To Finally Write About In April

Now with the pandemic going on, all my classes have been canceled and converted to online, including my sea kayaking class. The sea kayaking class was the course I was most sad about since it was a great way to start my Friday morning with friends. But it's ok, there will be plenty of days to kayak once the pandemic is over.

Caffeine Crawl

As for a few things that happened back in January I went on a Yelp Elite Event called "The Caffeine Crawl". This by far was one of the most fun events I have gone to (keep in mind I've only been a Yelp Elite since November and haven't been to many events yet, especially since they got canceled due to the pandemic. 

Basically during the Caffeine Crawl, myself,  a group of other Yelp Elites, and people who signed up for the event got to try out 6 different local coffee shops in San Diego, try out their most popular coffees and desserts, learn their story, and the history of coffee & where its sourced. 

The route that I took for the Caffeine Crawl consisted of the following coffee shops: 

• Cafe Moto

• My favorite one due to the reason they had coffee samples that were dairy-free. Additionally they have donuts from Barrio Donas which are by far one of the best donuts I've ever had. Their donuts have a Mexican twist to them and come in diff flavors from Jamacia (Hibiscus), Horchata, Flan, etc.

• Ryan Bros Coffee

• This place was just dope. They literally have coffee on tap which I have never seen in my life before. They also had this really tasty green coffee that looked a lot and tasted like tea which is supposed to keep you youthful.

• Cafe Virtuoso Coffee Roasters

• Here I learned about the history of coffee and depending on whether you choose a light, medium, or dark roast coffee- it will determine whether you milk actually mixes in and doesn't clump into your coffee. Light roasts contain more acid and when mixed with milk, they undergo a chemical reaction thus causing your coffee to clump even if your milk is fresh

• Coava Coffee Roasters

• I had no idea that there were so many ways to make coffee and that the way you make it will determine the notes brought out when you taste it. I definitely started to feel the ultimate caffeine high here since at this point I had probably 10 cups of coffee from the other previous places and Coava gave me another 4 cups. 
• They also gave a free pack of their roasted beans which I finally began using in quarantine and mannnn, they are some good coffee beans!!

• Moe Coffee

• This place had such a cute outdoor seating space and garage feel. Also they have such good pastries! This is also where the Crawl ended and I was off to studying for the day afterwards.

To check out some photos and videos of the Caffeine Crawl, click here to check out Instagram highlight of the day I had posted!

Donut from Barrio Donas which I ate at the Caffeine Crawl at Cafe Moto!It was such a good donut!!

Lattes with Oat Milk & Honey from Cafe Moto.

Caffeine Crawl Tips

• Eat a big breakfast. This was my biggest regret as I literally woke up late and only had an apple. It was not enough and I spent the whole day with heart burn because I literally had 16 cups of coffee in the span of 3 hours. 

• Bring a water bottle with you and keep drinking water. You will have so much coffee in your system and its easy to get dehydrated.

• Bring another water bottle but with milk! As someone who suffers from a dairy allergy, the only place that had a dairy-free milk option during the Crawl was Cafe Moto. The other places either put regular cow's milk or gave you straight up black coffee. You will really want to balance out that black coffee with some milk of your own.

• You don't have to drink everything you are given. You aren't exactly given sample sizes of coffee and while it is tempting to drink all of them, you're going to be cracked out on caffeine. If you like something, then drink it, but don't feel obligated to drink ALL the coffee. Keep in mind you're trying a lot of coffee.

• Have fun! Be social, talk to the people who are on the Caffeine Crawl and you'll make new friends. I made some new friends and it made the taste testing 100x more fun.  

Happy Time SD

Additionally in January I went to Happy Time San Diego in Rancho San Diego with other food bloggers for a collaboration. This was my first group collaboration that I had joined, as previously I have only done collaborations with restaurants on my own. 

Beef Kabob Plate w/fries from Happy Time SD!

At first, I won't deny the fact that I was overwhelmed. Since usually I'm the only one that is taking photos of the food. But this time it was me and 10 other people taking photos which was insane. The food got cold, but it was still delicious. 

The eggplant salad was my favorite appetizer and as for the entree my favorite was the ground beef kabob plate which came with two skewers of ground beef and ground lamb that came with SUCH DELICIOUS FRIES. Don't get me wrong, the beef kabob was amazing but omg I have an addiction to french fries and these triggered my french fry addiction haha. 

They also have kunafa which by far is so cute and probably gives the nicest cheese pull that I have seen in San Diego before. Kunafa is a baked cheese pastry that is wrapped in shredded phyllo dough and topped with pistachios and rose water syrup yummmm...

Kunafa! The king of Middle Eastern desserts. Look at that cheese pull tho, are you drooling yet?

   

Krisp Beverages 

I went to Krisp Beverages in February for another Yelp Elite event. Krisp is located in downtown San Diego and it is pretty much a grab and go spot. They have a deli where they sell sandwiches and pizza and a grocery store like section which has snacks, milk, fresh vegetables and fruits. The part that shocked me the most was that they had plenty of vegan options available which I was not expecting at all. 

For the Yelp Elite event I got to pick out full-sized sandwich, chips, and a can of soda.

I don't know what tempted me to pick a tuna sandwich. I never go out of my way to order a tuna sandwich since they're usually meh. But omggggg, literally Krisp has the BEST TUNA SANDWICH EVER!

First off the sandwich is huge, literally it was the size of my arm. And then the sandwich itself was stuffed with tuna, roasted red peppers, onions, celery, artichoke, mayo, lettuce, tomato, and giadiniera. The baguette just hit right and it was perfectly toasted.

Tuna Sandwich from Krisp side by side with my arm. I'm telling you guys, its a big sandwich!

The Start Of The COVID-19 Pandemic 

 I remember being in class during February and first hearing about the coronavirus. It wasn't serious in the beginning and people were just making jokes that whenever someone coughed or sneezed in class that they had the disease. All was fun and games for everyone until the first week of March when cases started arising in the US and Italy. I feel that is when people began to realize the severity of getting COVID-19. Those first two weeks of March at school was stressful. People were anxious to go to class especially with lecture halls that fit 250+ students. The non-STEM professors began canceling classes yet none of the STEM professors were doing it. I found it ironic considering the fact that the STEM professors at my university do a lot of research in regards to disease and how disease spreads,  yet we were still expected to go to classes. 

On March 11th my professor for my genetics & evolution course scheduled an exam and even though nearly all the other classes on campus that week canceled their tests and classes. I found this extremely ironic, the professor studies genetics and understands how mutations work and how disease is spread, yet we were still expected to show up to the test. I was as anxious as my peers but tried to not let it get to me. Several of the students failed that test and I believe it's due to the fear that they had which prevented them from being able to properly study. 

The next day March 12th was my last day of classes. I went to my neurobiology course and literally it was me and 10 other people in what should be a class of 125 people. My professor announced to us that this was going to be his last in-person lecture as he was 67 years old and he was scared. He allowed people to be dismissed but I stayed to remember my last moments in class of Spring 2020. Thankfully since nearly the entire class was absent, social distancing wasn't an issue. But I couldn't help but still feel anxious for what was coming. Later that day I received an email that classes on campus were canceled the following week and I felt a sense of relief. But in the midst of that sense of relief I wondered was this how I'm going to end my second to last semester of college? Will I see my friends again? Are they safe? Am I safe? My mind was clouded with an array of thoughts and emotions. 

The last thing I ate out before lockdown in California. I got this before class on March 12th and man, it was a stressful experience to get this bagel from Einstein's. 

I had originally thought that only universities and schools would be shut down but cafes would still be open. I thought well even though school was closed, I can still meet up with my friends at local coffee shops and we could study together, that way I could be productive and still have human interaction. Unfortunately, this wasn't the case. The situation escalated so quickly that it wasn't safe to go out anymore in fear that someone was a carrier of the disease. 

I was supposed to do a lot of things that first week of April. I was supposed to go to San Fransisco for the first time, attend a Yelp Elite event at El Tianguis in Chula Vista, and go to the opening night of the Rooftop Cinema Club. But clearly with what was going on, all of these things have been canceled until further notice. We can plan all we want for the future, but life does its thing sometimes, and we may not know why and that's ok. 

The first few weeks were stressful and I was sad about everything being canceled, but now as of April 28th I would say that I have adjusted. I've learned to cook a variety of different foods, from Turkish, Cajun, Indian, and Egyptian food. I have realized that cooking while it does take a lot of time, is extremely therapeutic and at the end of the day it feels good to make something for your family to enjoy together. 

I pray that this pandemic ends soon and that you, my loved ones, friends, and the rest of the world are safe and healthy.

Until next time friends.

♡ Sarah

Sweet Desserts Box from Bite Desserts! The carrot cupcake is filled with dark chocolate which was a nice surprise! The lemon meringue pies were also sooo delicious, especially the filling inside. Bite Desserts is doing a no-contact delivery which is perfect for these times in the pandemic. 

The last time I dined out, March 6th.
I went to Izakaya 52 with my mom and we ate baked salmon rolls,
garlic edamame, and fried soft shell crab.

The prep for the fudge brownies I made. They were absolutely delicious. But the batch came out pretty small. Link to recipe here. 

Jasmine Dragon Pearls, aka Jasmine Green Tea from Gemstone Tea!
They have free shipping to the US and Canada until May 1st with the code "HOME" 
I really like to drink mine iced with some honey, its delicious!

Me in my natural element aka eating. This is me eating sushi at my fave spot, Izakaya 52, with one of my good friends who was visiting from Egypt. Can you tell that I go here with everyone haha.