Tag: Asian

Solo Date: Detroit, Michigan ♡ – Food & Place Alert

Hello SALLY ♡ THINGS readers! If you follow me on any social platforms, you might have noticed that I have been out more and doing more solo. Lately, I have been pushing myself to do more things solo and forcing myself outside of my comfort zone. This has been something that I’ve been working on for years and years now. When I turned 30, something really clicked and I just see life in a new perspective. I get to be “selfish” by standing on my boundaries and choosing better. You only get older, so live your best life. Stop holding yourself back. One of the best advice I ever got was to date yourself. ♡

My original plans did not work out, but instead of just staying home I decided to make new plans. The week of, I decided to buy Jonas Brothers concert tickets in Detroit. I am a long time fan of the Jonas Brothers, ever since 2005/06. I’m very blessed that I have the privilege of being able to do things so last minute. I took this day to date myself. I explored, adventured, spoiled myself and got to sing and dance my heart out to the Jonas Brothers. I have only been to Detroit a couple times and never have I’ve driven or really explored the area, so this was very brand new adventure for me. Come explore the east side of Michigan with me!

My first stop of the day was two hours away to Moose Pastry & Tea in Novi, Michigan. Moose is a pastry shop that has tons of buns and sandwich-like options. I’m never really on the east side of the state, but when I find myself over here I try to grab some goodies. My go to buns are the Garlic Hotdog Bun, Moose, Doraemon, and Piggy (Buta). The pastries are all a good size and price! I believe all the buns I got were only $3 each. I bought a bag full to take home with me.

Garlic Hotdog Bun: Filled with hotdog and pork floss (dried, shredded pork) topped with garlic butter

Moose: Our signature animal! Filled with blueberry cream cheese richness.

Doraemon: Come and test our ability to recreate the famous Japanese manga character, Doraemon. This delicious pastry has a creamy custard filling and
a cherry on top

Piggy (Buta): Our strawberry jam filled bread is the perfect reason to PIG out

Down the street from Moose is this place called MIRAI – Coffee, Bubble Tea, and Stationery. Yes, it has all those things plus more! I was surprised at how much seating they have for the cafe side. They also had a lot of gashapon machines and a decent amount of mini claw machines! I got a hot vanilla latte to keep me going, it was an early morning & late night day. I also won two little plushies from the mini claw machines. I couldn’t resist!

I was all over the east side of the state. My next stop was to OVERRATED in Clinton Township, Michigan. The store is located in The Mall at Partridge Creek. I found this store on tiktok and everyone kept saying that they had tons of blindboxes, so you know I made sure to visit. I bought a Sanrio fruit keychain plush blind box and a snowglobe Studio Ghibli blind box. Let’s say I was very satisfied with my pulls! Can we get an OVERRATED over on the west side? They also sell authentic Labubus, Sonny Angels and Smikis. OVERRATED really does have it all!

Not the final destination, but the final city. HELLO DETROIT! (located midtown Detroit) At this point I was on the road more than I was visiting places. There’s a lot of construction happening on that side of the Michigan, but what’s new? 40 minutes later, I made it to Hihi, a super cute store with all the Sanrio plushies and merch that you can think of. At Hihi, they have some items that were only released Japan or Korea, so it was very cool to see those items in person! They sell more than just Sanrio, like Bearbricks, Toki Doki, Pusheen, Pokemon, etc. The prices here are a little higher, but you do have to consider the out of country items and how much it cost for them to get them here.

What is a solo date without a nice wine and dine? Choosing where to eat was a challenge for me because Downtown Detroit has so many good places to choose from and let’s face the real fact, I’m a girl. It’s very true. We have a hard time deciding what we want to eat! I wanted to splurge on myself and try something new. We live to eat and not eat to live, right? I decided on Experience Zuzu for: 1) easy parking 2) menu items and 3) aesthetic. Parking was pretty easy, even with the blocked roads for a jazz festival and all the construction going on downtown. I was having cravings for a really good steak or lamb chops, which all three options had, but what really caught my eye was the Sailor Moon Mai Tai. I’m a sucker for cute things. Since I’m a sucker for cute things, I saw photos of the interior of Experience Zuzu and knew they would be the place I would eat it.

Experience Zuzu has a very fun vibe the moment you walk in and it was perfect to get me concert ready. There’s lots of reds, golds, and metallics. I sat at the bar and was blown away at the set up. I bartend myself, so I LOVE seeing how other bars are at other places. The bar itself, like the table, has built in LED lights and the table changes colors as you eat. The music they play is the perfect mix of edm house, it was a great time. I got the Sailor Moon Mai Tai, which came in a cute Artemis cup; the Waygu Beef Gyoza, 10/10, very rich in flavor and melts in your mouth; and the Prime Miso Lamb Chops, full of flavor and tender. I would recommend Experience Zuzu, so if you’re ever in downtown Detroit area give them a try!

Sailor Moon Mai Tai: Bacardi Anejo Rum, Macadamia Orgeat, Lime, Mint, Orange Blossom

Waygu Beef Gyoza: Wagyu Beef Dumplings, Garlic Chili Crunch, Sweet Citrus Ponzu

Prime Miso Lamb Chops: Tableside Grill Presentation, Red Onion + Mint Salad, Pickled Cucumber, Shishito Pepper, Fingerling Potatoes, Miso Anticucho Sauce

Before heading to the Jonas Brothers concert, I drove and ran around downtown to try to find a portable battery because my phone was dying and my car charger takes forever to charge. That was the adventure of my life because why did I have to go to FOUR different locations until I found a power bank? I even got a parking ticket, RIP. Nothing like being stressed right before a show, right? This caused me to get to Little Cesars Arena a lot later than I wanted to be and I still had to find out parking around the arena.

I’m not sure if you guys are aware, but this Jonas20: Greetings From Your Hometown Tour is super important because not only is this their 13th tour, but it also celebrates their 20 year anniversary as a band! It’s a huge milestone, especially since the band broke up for a bit. If you love them, you know how it is. As I was in line for their specialty drink, Boys Like Girls were closing out with ‘The Great Escape’. It took me back to middle school days. Russell Dickerson was the hometown guest for this show and Marshmello played a set mid concert, so there was a little rave break. Then at the end, Detroit got all the Jonas men (Paul Kevin Jonas Sr & Franklin Jonas) on stage singing ‘When You Look Me In The Eyes’. Even though I was by myself, I had the best time singing and dancing with thousands of people around to my favorite boy band. To describe what a Jonas Brothers show is like, a room filled with thousands of feral women, ready to jumpship LOL. Nick sang “ReeeEEEeEeED DReeeeEEssSSS” and the crowd went wild, Joe took his jacket to show a shoulder and the crowd went wild, Kevin played a little guitar solo and the crowd went wild. Look, WE LOVE HOT DADS, what can we say? I’ll also admit that I did cry when they first came out on stage. These boys are seriously so talented with voices from heaven. Listening and watching them on tv in 2005 to seeing them live for the second time in 2025. It’s been a great 20 years of music and to many more ♡

Burning Up’
“Slip into the LAVA with the Joe Bros Hurricane”
Captain Morgan, Barcardi, Passion Fruit, Orange Juice, Lime Juice, Grenadine in a Red Flame Glass & Light Up Ice Cube.

Once you got your drink, you got to choose from three different stickers and OF COURSE I needed the one that said “Greetings from Camp Rock Bar”.
How Iconic.

I see more concert trips to Detroit in my near future and more solo dates. Do what you love for yourself and don’t let anything stop you from experiencing life! It’s fun to be with friends, but it can also be fun being with yourself too. Date yourself and give yourself love. Until the next adventure, live your best life and live for you ♡

@sallynohands

Not in my vlogging era cause I never finished this 😂 I visited Overrated in Clinton Township, Hihi in Detroit, ate lamb chops at Experience Zuzu and then to the Jonas Brothers concert 🙂‍↕️ It was a great day #vietnamesegirl #detroit #solotraveler #jonasbrothersconcert #healingenergy @Jonas Brothers @Nick Jonas @joejonas @Kevin Jonas @Franklin jonas

♬ Noite de Verão – ya-su

Conversations: Asian Americans.

I came across this channel on Youtube called Jubilee and watched quite a few of their videos and it really got me thinking about my answers and opinions as well. There’s different episodes, but in each they bring in a group of people of the same or different race or people who believe in this or that and ask them questions. The group of people then stand on a scale of strongly disagree to strongly agree or sit down if they agree with said statement and just talk it out with one another. It’s such a nice safe space for these people to get their opinions or experiences out there about general topics or about those hard topics that most will stay quiet about. Maybe this will become a new blog series that I’ll continue to write about or not, but I just wanted to share where I am with this video called “Do All Asian Americans Think the Same?” | Spectrum (the video is at the bottom of the blog)

I think it’s great to watch videos like these especially with how society has been. A lot has happened within the last few decades, let alone the last 4 years. It’s time to start having these deeper conversations or just more conversations in general. I’m starting off with this video because I do identify with Asian American, I’m Vietnamese and American born. For me, it’s not like I have forgotten my cultural traditions or values, but I don’t really discuss them enough. So I’ll take some questions or statements from the video and discuss it. Just want to remind everyone that I am not the spokesperson for the whole community or race or the people that I hang out with! This is just me.

I have felt pressure to date within my own race.
Luckily, my parents have never put that idea onto me. They have mentioned it a couple of times, but they always made it known that it’s okay if I don’t. They don’t have a preference on another race either, so I was allowed to date whoever. Now when it comes to outside my family, like within the Vietnamese community here, I do feel the pressure. Weird right? Well I’ve gone to the Viet supermarkets, stores, hair salons, or nail salons and they’ll always ask me who I’m dating and what race they are, then make some comments like “oh, he’s not Vietnamese, why not? You need to find a Viet guy and keep the culture alive.” I disagree with that so much. I can still keep my culture alive still with whoever I’m with, it’s not passed down through blood, but through teachings.
Asian stereotypes are funny.
I think this is kind of a broad statement and you’ll see why, but my answer is yes and no. I have a lot to say about this. So asian stereotypes put on the asian group by non-asian are not funny at all. The typical asians are good at math, asians are bad drivers, asians have chinky eyes, asians eat dogs/cats etc. are just so outplayed, it’s not true for everyone. Stereotypes have a big influence in judging certain groups of people and most times they are negative. I think when I wasn’t up to par with some of those stereotypes, people I went to school with who were non-asians wouldn’t judge me differently, but they wouldn’t identify me as asian or downplay that I was asian. I heard a lot of “oh Sally, you’re not THAT asian” or “omg, you don’t like to watch anime or make boba? I’m more asian than you.” Which actually did hurt my feelings and made me feel a type of way, but I didn’t know how to correctly speak about it back in high school, so I would just agree with them. Now if it’s my asian friends and I talking about stereotypes within our different asian races, then they can be funny, but that’s because they aren’t so negative or downplaying their identities. Big emphasis on CAN BE FUNNY though.
I do want to point out that a lot of asian stereotypes are positive compared to other races and the stereotypes that are put on them.
Asian people have it easier than other minorities.
I would have to agree with that statement. I do think that asian people have it easier than other minorities even within the last few years and with covid happening. Yes, it’s very unfortunate and sad that covid has brought out more racism towards asians and it breaks my heart to see. Yes, we asians still have it harder than some minorities, but bigger picture we do have it easier. What asians are experiencing with covid, others have been experiencing for decades and on a more worst scale. Stereotypes on asians are also easier on asians, the “popular” stereotypes are majority positive. The reality of it is, asian minorities are more accepted in the United States with white people and I think it’s because of the history between the two and that asians have conformed with the American way. I don’t know how to really explain it, but I can see it or have experienced it personally. I do think Americans use Asians to their advantage sometimes to compare to other minorities or for other uses, when it’s good for them if that makes any sense.

Like I said earlier I do not represent a whole community or other people, but myself. I am up to having more in depth conversations and hearing other opinions, so feel free to comment or contact me. I want this to be a safe space of free discussion. I do not tolerate hate or racism though, so please don’t come around with that. Give me feedback on if I should do more post like this. Watch the video below and the others on their channel! Keep conversations going with the people around you.

SALLY ♡ T