The Life of Sophia Ysabel

It's unbelievable how the year is almost over. Months ago I was just this scared 11 year old of life who just started Year 7, and now I'm 12, still scared, but just less than I was before. My favourite thing about the new year is that it's always unforgettable. Last year my family and I got to see the fireworks lit up in the sky with thousands other people, and sure, I do it almost every year, but just because it's repetitive doesn't necessarily mean it would be unforgettable. I've been through my ups and downs, loads of them. 2025 has been... well, a lot. I can't even imagine next year. It's going to be wild. But l've been thinking about it, and I've decided to make a list of what things I could do before 2026 begins. I want to share with you some suggestions of mine! Please enjoy!~ 1. write a google form to yourself This suggestion is what I thought of, but to be honest with you, it can go multiple ways. You could write a message to yourself to...

some delicious goodies! First food: Oreo Round Donut, a donut filled with cream, with crumbs of crushed oreos on top ⏺  New World Metro Willis Street I am going to confess something to you. I have never ever found a donut that is not overpowering with chocolate, jam, or some sort of sweet substance. And particularly one that is satisfying. But I never knew that I would find a marvelous-tasting donut in a grocery store. I saw this and another donut that I'm reviewing today in the shelf, and they looked like something out of a high tea, since the round treats looked so visually appealing. It looked fresh, and for once, unlike other donuts that I've tried in NZ, it was fresh. There was also other unique flavours that were in stock, not simple flavours like hazelnut, strawberry, or jam filled donuts. There was ube and lotus biscoff donuts, fruit tarts even, and a lot more. I loved the variety there was in stock, and the options looked delicious, and tasted good. Rating:   ✩✩✩✩✩/✩✩...

  First food: Chicken Katsu Ramen ⚲ Hikari Teppanyaki Queenstown Funny thing is that I ate at a Hikari branch before, but not in the one that I'm reviewing right now. I ate at a Hikari which was at the airport. The branch that was in the airport was super delicious, the food just made me want another bowl of ramen again. So I figured, if the Hikari at the airport was divine, then surely the Hikari in Queenstown would be just as great, right? My honest overall rating for this would be that the soup for the ramen was diluted, so it wasn't as tasty as I would've liked, and there was a bit too much beansprout for my liking. So, sure, it wasn't what I exactly expected for this branch to be, but at least in the bright side, it was hot and filing. And plus, the chicken Katsu was amazingly cooked, so for the chicken, nothing bad about it.    Overall rating:   ✩✩ ✩ / ✩✩✩✩✩ Second food: Tonkotsu Beef Ramen ⚲  Hikari Sushi Bar - Five Mile Queenstown Just pointing it out, t...

First food: Gimme S'more Bagel {nutella, strawberry and banana} ⚲ The Shelter Bar and Kitchen Just imagine, my family and I hunting the area for any source of breakfast and to our dismay, we can't find any restaurants that are open. Until we come across this restaurant, with a big family going inside and our hunger growing. We step inside, and take our orders. I think to myself, let me guess, the menu's probably gonna be like, a sandwich or an apple rhubarb. Something that's pretty common to come across when you see a breakfast menu in New Zealand. Except instead of that, I look at bagel options. And the best part is that there's sweet bagel options as well, not just savoury. This was perfect. Because I know two very important things. One, bagels are delicious and very likeable, and two, I could really eat a bagel right now. So the bagel I chose was the "Gimme S'more" Bagel, which consists of nutella spread, strawberries and banana. The three component...

First food: Crispy chicken {side: chili mayo sauce} ⚲ Saigon Kingdom I am a huge sucker for chicken.  Especially  fried chicken. Of course I had to order crispy fried chicken with a side of rice (filipinos eat everything with rice). I came into Saigon Kingdom after a hot and exhausting 6 hour long road trip and ultimately decided  I'm craving fried chicken.  Sure, it took a while for it to be served into my table, but you know the saying: "Good things take a long time."? Yeah, it was proven to me that saying was right when I wolfed down my fried chicken and rice. There was something different about this fried chicken. It tasted super homemade and special for some reason. It just really stood out to me. It was incredible. It's like when I first ate it, all of my tiredness just disappeared into thin air. I'm not really sure why. It's probably because of two reasons: I'm a huge foodie, so of course any good food would make me feel better, and two, I just need...

Visiting Queenstown and trying the food! Hello guys~... Today's blog post is obviously going to be a tiny bit different,  because instead of reviewing the Wellington Central's food or  Christchurch's, this  time my family and I are travelling down the South Island and for the next  consecutive days, I'll be trying the taste of some of Queenstown's restaurants and shops. Some will be restaurants I've tried in the past, and others will be my first time trying it. I hope you guys like it <3 (bonus content at the end!) First food: Peanut sauce stir fry   {house made peanut sauce wok fried with fresh vegetables and a choice of meat, served with rice} ⚲ Thai Siam Kitchen This actually wasn't the first time I've been to this restaurant. About 2 and-a-bit years ago, I was visiting Queenstown and went to the same restaurant. In the present day, I'd tried the food here in Thai Siam Kitchen after two years. And it was still as good as I remembered. I have tr...