NYC #13 // Happy Birthday ♥

Somewhere in Brooklyn.

Hello there! Yes, I am still alive and yes, I am still in New York. Many apologies for my lack of posts the last two weeks, but my private life had taken over me and my thoughts. Anyways, everything is good and yesterday was a special day for me! If you follow me on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter you might have noticed that it was my Birthday :) But writing this, I actually would like to say: Happy Bornday to everyone who made the past year such a special and incredible one full of life, love and joy! I am looking forward to another new year, a new and better me! May it be filled with more adventures, more mindfulness, more compassion and even more love ♥ 

Thank you to everyone who is reading this, thank you to everyone who believes in me and a huge thank you to my friends and family! And special thanks to the ones, who spent this bright day with me! :) Of course, this wasn't a usual birthday since I am far away from home, but I started the day easy, enjoyed lots of reading and met up with dear friends for some thrift shopping - because in NY you just have to do that! - then later that day, we went out for Vietnamese Dinner because I was craving vietnamese authentic Phở! 

 Bánh Cuốn

 (a nothern dish, rice batter filled with pork, 

mushrooms and shallots)

 #notsovegan

Sao Mai, East Village

203 1st Ave, New York, NY 10003

Open everyday 11-22.30pm

We ended up at Sao Mai in the East Village and it was pretty decent. I would probably come back here again. The appetizers were good, the Beef-Phở Broth reminded me of home and the overall atmosphere, waiters (southern-vietnamese) were nice, too! I wonder how their vegetarian Phở is because this was not so vegan... so an exception for me. This might be a good thing to find out: Vietnamese Vegan Dishes!

After this filling meal, my Japanese friend took me to Cha-An, a very hidden place close to St.Marks. It's on the second floor of the building and when you step into the café, you will enter a Japanese traditional teahouse filled with tea pots, bamboo leaves and little tables. First thought: This place is super cute and cozy! The desserts were really really delicious, I'm definitely coming back here! We had the Dora-Yaki Ice-Cream Sandwich and Yukimi Zenzai - mochi ice cream with red bean porridge and Genmaicha Green Tea. This place is highly recommended for all green tea lovers!

Cha-An Teahouse, 

 230 East 9th Street, 2nd Floor

New York, 10003

Mon-Thu 2-11pm

Fri-Sat 12-12am

Sun 12-10pm 

Therefore, I had a beautiful day in the city. The sun was shining bright, it was pretty warm and I had good food and good company! This week will be pretty food-heavy since Thanksgiving is coming up, so stay tuned for more foody-posts the next days, stay curious and have a Happy New Week guys ♥ 

NYC #1 // Welcome back to NY

As you know, I kicked off my new semester with NYFW (see the street styles I shot here, here and here), but this NYC Series will be a small diary about my New York life and what I'm up to. In here, I also want to show you revisited eating-out-tips, shopping-tips, events and also street styles from people I meet  ;-) Enjoy this trip with me and let me know how you like it!

It's been 3 weeks now that I moved to Brooklyn, Williamsburg and the faster time passes, the more I am getting used to it. I have to say, I was super lucky to find a room with a nice roommate here. Again, Vitamin B helps. It was only a couple of nights before my study abroad semester started and before, I stayed with friends in NJ. Looking for a room in the city is really not as easy, especially if you are not here. There are a couple of options such as Craigslist, Airbnb and also Student Housing, but often these I find superduper expensive and not reasonable. 

Such a warm welcome, thank you S & T!
You guys are the best ♥

My budget for a room in a private apartment was 1000$, which I think, is still lots of money and last minute a friend from a friend from a friend got back to me and offered me a room. It was under my budget and the decision was easy. It's a small room, maybe 8m², I sleep on an air mattress with my sleeping bag, but I don't really care, I am here for only a couple of months and I live in one of the best places in Brooklyn. Once again, I had to learn: don't stress out.. in the end, everything will fall into place!

Of course, I had to bake some good bread!

The very first nights on the East Coast // New Jersey

I am so glad that for the first couple of nights my friends from two years ago took care of me and welcomed me back to the States with open arms. Thank you again! ♥ School.. is situated in Downtown Manhattan, Financial District, therefore very busy, very smelly, very loud, many cabs, many tourists.. the Brooklyn Bridge, the One World Trade Center and Chinatown are nearby.  

Lunch view.

Germany is visiting me ♥

Some Sightseeing in Central Park

Germany, second round :)

But.. luckily, I can escape Manhattan a bit and spend most of my weekends in a more quiter place: Williamsburg. When I was here two years back, I wished I could live here, I guess that little dream came true! I didn't do anything big in Brooklyn so far, but will definitely come up with eating-out tips, where-to-shop and many more stories! Oh yes, two of my best friends from Germany already came to visit and I had an amazing time showing them around and showing them MY personal New York, wanna hang out? :)

Although my room is small and I have a 30minute commute to school, the location is just perfect! There is the McCarren Park, the year-long farmer's market every saturday, a donation-based Yoga Studio, a supermarket, the subway station, the beautiful East River State Park with the view to Manhattan aaaand.. for all longboarders out there: the Bustin Board Shop! Everything in 15minutes walking distance. Two weeks ago, I just had to stop by at their shop when they had a HUGE sale going on.. (they are moving down the street and will reopen mid-October) and I couldn't leave the shop without bringing this beauty of board home. Yep, this was definitely a splurge! Not planned, but even as an artwork for my wall totally worth it. I also have the feeling that one day, someone special will receive this :) 

I hope you liked this kind-of NYC Diary, let me know what you think about it! Anything special you want to see while I'm here? 

For daily New York posts, 

follow me on Instagram and Twitter.

Have a wonderful new week ♥

MH

I saw it, I fell in love, I couldn't resist.

Crack Pie anyone? :)

Healthy Friday: More and more Vegan

This is no regular Food Friday and I actually wanted to post this on a healthy wednesday, but since I moved to New York almost three weeks ago, things are a bit crazy over here and I barely find time to really embrace myself into blogging! Just so you know, there will be some changes in the next couple of months and I am not sure, if I will be able to post on specific weekdays.

Still, no excuses and I really wanted to share this important fact with you. Well, okay, this is not big news because some of my friends did sense that, but I do eat more and more vegan now. How come? I tried several times last year, but was never able to stick to it for more than a week. And then, something happened to my skin. After my summer in Berlin, I started getting eczema and it was really bad, so bad that my skin turned completely white and dry because I could not resist scratching. I never had it before and after a few check-ups with my doctors and failed treatments with creams, I took the chance and just try it.

McCarren Park Greenmarket

Brooklyn, NY

Let's go vegan for 30 days, strict. As you know, I already did tend to more vegan and vegetarian food since I post them in my food friday recipes, so this was actually not that hard for me. But, I have to say, it was very benefical to not stay with my parents and their Vietnamese cooking, therefore I was forced to cook for myself when I spent that month in Berlin. Additonally, I did not consume dairy before, and I could definitely live without cheese. So, the 30 days turned out to be very experimental and at the end very eye-opening. My skin got better and better and it seemed like my eczema was gone.. for good... until life becomes stressful again and your body shows it to you.

Nevertheless, it's been around three months now and I would say that I am still 80% vegan. Why only 80%? Because I do have my exceptions. The very first month was strict, but then later, I figured out for myself that most of the time and especially when I am cooking for me, I can definitely stay vegan. But you know what, there are situations such as birthday parties, having food at home with your parents etc., where I do not ask whether there is egg or milk inside the birthday cake or the spring roll. I would either bring my own food or just eat with my friends and family because I don't want to make a big deal about my lifestyle and we still want to be social, right?! If friends came over to my place, it would totally be all-vegan. And why not back to meat? Not only did my skin turn better, but in general I feel better, too! :) 

So amazed by the COLORS! *.*

Here are some tips to start out with veganism: 

1. Start small, try a day, then a week, 

then a month and if it suits you, keep going 

2. Of course, it helps when you're open-minded 

and want to learn more about this lifestyle  

3. Inform yourself to get the right nutrients and 

also protein from your vegetables and fruits

4. Don't try to convert people, 

always be nice and open, too!

5. You can substitute everything:

cow milk with soy/almond/hemp/flax milk

eggs with soy milk/bananas/other fruits etc.

 cheese with almond butter/ cashew butter

6. Be creative! Look up amazing recipes on the WWW, 

find some of mine here

.. and most of all: don't be too harsh on yourself, this should be about your health and food should be fun and enjoyable!

Happy Experimenting!

Food Friday: The Pancake goes around the World

 Vancouver, Canada

How to bring two of your favorite hobbies together? 

Travel & Food?

Cook for your dear hosts and friends 

to show some gratitude :)

My plan was to bake bread for them, but as you might already know from my previous travel posts: No planning is the best travel advice! Find something else what everyone, yes everyone loves: namely P-A-N-C-A-K-E-S! As a foundation of all my pancakes, I take this recipe of my vegan banana pancake with almonds. Then, I would just see what kind of ingredients my friends would like to have. The result is a big improvisation, maybe a challenge but always with a super yummy outcome and happy tummies :)

Pancake #1 served in Vancouver was rather a non-vegan cheat-pancake because the dough included: white flour, white sugar, milk, bananas, chocolate-chips, blueberries and almonds. What a lovely treat for breakfast *.*

North Vancouver, Canada

Pancake #2 served in North Vancouver was healthier because it included flax & spelt flour, bananas, almonds, chia seeds and goji berries, therefore tons of superfoods. We enjoyed it with Matcha Latte and good old fashioned Canadian Maple Syrup. Never had it before, so yummy! ♥

 San Francisco, California

Pancake #3 served in San Francisco was a real challenge!!! Carla's boyfriend is on a special diet and is not allowed to eat many things.. such as banana, almonds, chocolate, mango, tomatoes (not that I would put them in the pancake) .. but all the good stuff! :O Clearly, for a foodlover like me, I answered with: Challenge ACCEPTED!

This specialty, which made it to the healthiest pancake, included: not sticky coconut flour, coconut milk, peaches! yes, he can eat peaches! tapioca, and I think that was it! Although the pancakes looked more like burgers or patties, the judges aka my friends liked it. I thought it was so-so since this coconutty pancake can definitely be upgraded! Anyone interested in a small experiment with me? :) 

Enjoy your weekend guys! ♥

I'm off to New Adventures, 

New York I'm all yours now!