Yogurtland or Redmango? Freedom or Limit?

On Monday, after studying for my criminal justice final in the library, my friend and I decided to drop by Yogurtland that was next to our school. Surprisingly, even at 9:30 PM, there were people, mostly CSULB students, lined up to fill their cups with these “fat free” frozen dairies. As lines became shorter and I was near the yogurt machines, I realized there were too many flavors to choose from. Inside my mind, I was struggling on which yogurt flavor I wanted in my cup. In the end, after moments of frustration, I chose the French Vanilla flavor, not because I wanted to, but because there were people behind me and I didn’t blockade their way. Even as I pulled the machine lever, I had hard time deciding on the amount of yogurt on my cup. To my dismay, I put too much yogurt on my cup, having barely any space for toppings, except for about three slices of banana and mochis. As we left the building, I left the place in frustration, wishing for Red Mango instead.
Yogurtland offers too much freedom to their customers, causing the them to overload their cups to satisfy their greedy desire. Since it is our greedy human nature to desire more than enough it is necessary, it is hard for us to put adequate amount of yogurt or toppings in our cups. Even in the beginning, because my desire was to try different types of yogurts, I chose French Vanilla in the end because I took too long to decide and people were anxiously waiting behind me. Just like my experience in Yogurtland, I was carried away by my desire to eat yogurt. Because of this, I only had space to put three slices of banana and only handful of mochis. In the end, I was unhappy with the choices that I committed and regretted on coming here. Because I had too much freedom over my yogurt cup, I made bad decisions in the process. Red Mango, on the other hand, puts limits on our freedoms. First of all, there are only two flavors to choose from: Green Tea and Plain Tart. Since there are only two choices to pick from, it helps people like me to choose swiftly. Secondly, since the Red Mango workers are well trained staff, they put adequate amount of yogurt and toppings on our cups. Though they give us the freedom to choose which yogurt and toppings that we want on our cups, they limit our greedy desires by putting just enough of it to satisfy our stomach. By putting limits to our freedom, Red Mango satisfies the customers by guiding them with their discretion.
Many people will disagree with my voicing towards Yogurtland. I am sure there are many people out there that prefer the infinite freedom that Yogurtland provides for their customers. However, I prefer Red Mango’s guidance.

McDonalds: The True American Restaurant

Last week, I had the urge to eat at McDonalds before I headed to Starbucks to study for my dreadful finals. Stingy that I am, I decided to enter McDonalds in high hopes that I will spend less than 4 dollars for my meal. When I first entered the restaurant, it was pretty crowded with bunch of different types of crowds. There were the “I’m too cool for you” Mexican high school students in the right corner, eating their Big Mac while putting up a stern look as I looked at them. On the left corner was a Caucasian couple, drinking their coffees and having a delicate conversation at the same time. In the middle of the restaurant, three identical siblings were busy dipping their fries with barbeque sauce and trying to outrun each other on finishing the remaining fries. I chuckled to myself as I got in line to order my meal. In front of me was an African American man, who was on the phone with his family members, asking them whether they wanted apple pies or ice creams for the dessert. When it was my turn to order, my eyes immediately gazed toward the dollar menu section, and unsurprisingly, I ordered a chicken burger and double cheeseburger as usual . As I stood to the side, waiting for my order to be ready, I glanced around the restaurant again. Suddenly I realized that McDonald was not some shabby, cheap fast food restaurant. It was actually a decent restaurant with true American values. Different races were eating in the same room, eating with their loved ones. High school Mexican students, regardless of their impressions, ate contently together like a close family. The siblings in the middle of the room were bonding amongst each other as they raced to finish their fries together. The Caucasian couple was having a pleasant date as they were drinking their coffees. The African-American man was calling his family members so that he can buy something for his loved ones. Though the customers may not know each other, they, in a sense, created a community in this small fast food restaurant. To think that in the 1950’s, when the colored folks were banned from eating at the same restaurant as Caucasian folks, I found this scene fascinating as all the races were seated next to one another in one room. Plus, they were creating family values by eating their meals with their loved ones, which shows one of the American values. As I picked up my order from the counter, I smiled happily as I left McDonalds. As I entered my car, I whispered, “This is America.”

Rice Cakes, a Tradition

Every first week of the month, our Sunday school children at my church eats rice cakes to celebrate their birthdays. It has become a tradition that, many children wait anxiously as the days go by and the first week of the next month to arrive. They even memorized all the types of cakes that we bought for them: rainbow rice cake, cocoa rice cake, and sweet rice cake. Since the cakes are not too sweet and very soft to eat, the children at our church love to indulge on these sweets. Some kids even skip breakfast so that they can take more than one slice of rice cake. At times, they make bets on which cake will be for their monthly birthdays. Even the Sunday school teachers, including me, smile when our students gleefully eat their rice cakes as they run around our church parking lot to play with their fellow church members. Quite often, our adult members of our church come into our room to take some of our cakes. As an apology, they usually compliment us on our looks as they step out of the room. Because of their excitements for the cakes, I even started to eat those “100% carb” food even though it degrades my diet plan. However, since it is our church culture, I become accustomed to this new tradition. To be honest, it’s not the taste of the rice cake that we are craving for. It’s the fellowship and the bonding time we have with others is that drives us to look forward to the next month. Even though the rice cakes are presented to our children so that they can celebrate their fellow church member’s birthdays, the children treat each other as though it is everyone’s birthday. It has become our church tradition for nearly a decade, something that our teachers are proud of as we continue to dedicate our lives for our religion. With something as little as rice cakes, we created happiness to our church community.
Culture doesn’t always have to be divided into countries. As long as a certain group practices certain events for the benefit of their own community, I believe that it is culture.

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Fast Food or Fancy Restaurants?

Sometimes we struggle to pick a restaurant when we take out our loved ones because of our money. In many occasions, we try to satisfy our hungers with fast-food restaurants like In-N-Out or Panda Express to spend as less money as possible. However, we fail to realize that by sacrificing little bit of our money, we can spend awesome time with our loved ones in a fancy restaurants. Hence, you will give them more happiness and more meaning memories as well.
A week ago, my brother came down from UCLA and wanted to treat me out for lunch. Though I wanted to stay home and sleep little bit more before I went to class, I accepted his offer. I mean, who wouldn’t say yes to free meal? As usual, I expected my brother to take me out to Lee’s Sandwich or some shabby fast food restaurants. But for some reason, he took the freeway and soon we were at front of the Cheesecake Factory in Huntington Beach. I was quite taken aback because first, this was my first time eating here and secondly, I heard from my friends that it was expensive restaurant, sometimes ranging from $15-20. As we entered, the waitresses were ready to escort us to our tables. I looked around the structures. Designed in Greek/European style, the inside of the restaurant brought luxurious atmosphere to my eyes. The huge pillars inside appealed to my eyes as my brother and I sat on our table. I was amazed by how big and luxurious the restaurant was. Unlike the shabby fast food restaurants, where we had to find seats ourselves, my brother and I were escorted to a “clean” table. As soon as we were seated, a waiter came up to our table and in a polite manner, introduced himself before he took our orders. While in fast food restaurants, where we had to line up to order our meals, in expensive restaurants like Cheesecake Factory, the waiter came up to our table and received our orders like we were in a royal family. By putting more money on our table, we were treated with respect and courtesy. As I looked through the menu, there was a lunch special section where it ranged from $8-10, a reasonable price for restaurants. I ordered Fettuccini with Chicken and Sun-Dried Tomatoes while my brother got Hawaiian Pizza with Salad. As we waited for our meals to arrive, my brother and I talked about our busy lives. For some reason, I was actually into a deep conversation with my brother, something that we couldn’t have while we were at fast food restaurants because people were so loud. Because of the quiet and yet, luxurious atmosphere, we were able to share stories without any disruptions. Besides the social conversations, the meals satisfied my expectations. Unlike the fast food restaurants, where the workers microwave their frozen ingredients, Cheesecake Factory meals that we ordered seemed fresh. After I finish my Fettucini, I was having hard time breathing from eating so much. Even though it was lunch special, my meal was abundant enough for my hungry stomach. As we stepped outside and walked toward our car, I was truly happy that I was able to eat a delicious meal in a luxurious restaurant while spending great time with my brother at the same time.
So next time you take out your loved ones, please sacrifice few more dollars and eat at a fancy restaurant. Not only will you bring more happiness to them, but also, you will give more meaningful memories to them as well.

Cheese, A Necessity

Recently, my high school friend and I decided to meet up and talk about our college lives. Since I had dinner plans that day, we decided to eat lunch together at Red Robbins, one of our favorite restaurants. After we were seated inside, a pretty waitress came up to our table and took our orders. As usual, I ordered my Royal Red Robbin Burger while my friend ordered Banzai Burger. When she asked me what kind of cheese that I wanted in my burger, I pondered about whether I should add cheese or not. Because I was quite excited to see my old friend, I declined to the waitress’s offer and decided try a different route by ordering my burger without it. To make my story short, I forced myself to finish the burger because I didn’t enjoy the taste of it. The mix taste of my burger patty and the cheese were nowhere to be found in my mouth as I was eating it. Suddenly, my RRR Burger was foreign to my taste bud and I began to hate the taste. As I talked to my friend about my own college experience, I realized how important cheese was to my meals, and began to appreciate its value.
Cheese is used in almost every meals. Mexican foods, for example, definitely need cheese to spice up the taste of tacos and quesadillas. Tacos smell pleasant to our noses because of the scent that the cheese brings to our senses when it melts with the meat. We would not be so insistent on eating tacos if it wasn’t for the melting cheese that captures both our eyes and noses. Quesadillas wouldn’t be right if there is no cheese inside the tortilla. Nachos definitely would lose its customers if it wasn’t for the yellow, hot cheese on it. Besides the Mexican food, Macaroni and Cheese is an all time favorite side dish that we can't afford to live without. Whenever we order KFC or El Pollo Loco, we lean more towards Macaroni and Cheese than the chicken itself. If it wasn't for the melted cheese that "melted" in our mouths, Mac N' Cheese wouldn't be one of our favorite. Surprisingly, we even put cheese on our salads because it goes well with the lettuces. And how can we forget about cheese cake? The rich, thick cheesecakes are pleasant to our mouths because of the delicate taste that the cheese brings to our taste buds. Cheese truly drives our senses to crave for it. Italian foods, like pasta and spaghetti, are spread around the noodles so that the cheese’s taste can blend with the pasta sauce, brining more luxurious taste to our taste buds. Cheese is definitely needed in our everyday
We can not leave without cheese added to our meals. Whether it is melted, frozen, or sliced, cheese definitely brings out a beautiful, “cheesy” taste to our mouths. Without it, we wouldn’t be so eager to eat Nachos or Spaghetti. Cheesecake would be out of our imagination. We should thank the person who made cheese. Seriously.

Cakes: Created By Several Cultures

Whenever we think about cakes, at least three words rush into our minds: fat, sweet, and western. However we fail to realize that it was, in fact, several cultures’ effort’s that created the modern cake of today. Every culture took the ideas from their predecessors and created their own style of cakes.

The history of cake started during the ancient time when the Egyptians strived in our world. Surprisingly, Egyptians were the first civilization to make some style of cake. Though the “cakes” that the Egyptians made consisted of bread sweetened with honey, they started the cake revolution to the world. The medieval Europeans further upgraded from the foundation of the Egyptians by creating gingerbreads, yet they were still far away from making the sweet, delicate shaped cakes of today. During 15th century, the Chinese made moon cake, which was made with lotus seed paste and was eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival. However, predecessor of modern cakes appeared in our society during the 17th century, when the Europeans designed their “breads” as a round, baked cake with icing on the top of it; due to the invention of ovens and new ingredients, such as refined sugar, the 17th century Europeans baked a cake similar to our cakes today. In 19th century, the round cake with icing turned into the cake that we all know today. By using extra refined white flour and baking powder instead of yeast, it changed into a modern cake of today. Not only did the taste change drastically, but its shape altered as well; cakes were no longer limited to thick, round cakes. Now bakeries design their cakes to express their feelings and symbolize meanings. Besides their shapes, some cultures, like Asia, use different ingredients to create their own unique cake. For example, Kasutera, also known as sponge cake in Japan, and Korean sweet potato cake, a cake replacing flour with sweet potatoes, are rising in favor among Asian countries.
In a sense, every culture in the world shaped the cake’s foundation. We today are able to enjoy the delicious, creamy cakes because our 19th century Europeans developed from the recipes that the 17th century Europeans created. The 17th century Europeans were able to produce something similar to the modern cake because the Egyptians, Chinese, and the medieval Europeans, their predecessors, first started creating premature cakes. Cakes were created by several cultures, not only by the western countries.