christiexlee: Travel

Weekend Fun: Seattle Edition

February 28, 2018

Dining like Royalty at Crown and Crumpet’s Annual Holiday Tea Party

January 7, 2017

This past Christmas, I was lucky enough to have my sister treat me out to Crown and Crumpet’s annual holiday tea party, as a present for my birthday! The tea house partners with the historically glamorous Sir Francis Drake Hotel every single year starting around November so no need to fret if you missed out this year! The hotel, located in the heart of the bustling city of San Francisco, is right across the street from the winter wonderland of Union Square. Crown and Crumpet, known for being “a room with tea and wit”, has become a huge hit for hungry customers looking to flood their friend’s Instagram feeds with beautiful photos of their afternoon tea breaks.

A photo posted by ♡Christie Lee (@christiexleee) on Jan 7, 2017 at 4:09pm PST

When you first walk into the hotel, you’re greeted by a cozy lobby complete with a full bar! How amazing does that lobby look?! Despite having grown up in the SF bay area, I’ve never actually stepped foot into the Sir Francis Drake. The whole feel of the hotel is very retro but still upscale. Right away, my sister and I turned to each other and said “American Horror Story!” This hotel totally reminds me of the hotel in the series!

(The Sir Francis Drake hotel lobby)

This festive holiday experience starts beginning in November with dates going on until the end of the year. I made my reservation by calling in, and the woman who placed my reservation asked for a credit card number to hold my spot. The credit card would be charged a $40 “no show fee” in the event that you decide to not show up without informing the business. After being seated, you are offered an assortment of different teas to choose from, as well as a bubbly drink! You can choose to have either apple cider or champagne. We ALL know which drink I opted for hehe, and the owner was kind enough to let me know that there were complimentary unlimited refills. I MAY have gone a little overboard and had like 4 glasses of champagne, but in my defense, it was to celebrate my birthday, haha!

(Me with a glass of bubbly!)

Besides the beverage options, their holiday luncheon set also comes with warm savories, sweet treats, and an assortment of luncheon essentials. Also because this is classic San Francisco, they did not forget to include gluten free and vegetarian options. While you wait for your food, the staff members come by with a Christmas Cracker (no not food, seriously Google it!) and gives you a little history lesson about the origin of the tradition. She had my sister hold hands and sing a Christmas song together before breaking open the cracker to unveil a cute paper crown, a “bad joke”, and a little souvenir to take home (I got a “diamond” keychain)! I thought the Christmas cracker really added to the Crown and Crumpet holiday experience, but I saw a couple of middle aged men look extremely uncomfortable with the whole process of holding hands and singing together, but I digress :P

(My sister and our food!)

After opening the Christmas cracker, our food came out shortly! My personal favorite, besides the bubbly of course, had to be their scones and assortment of jams! The blueberry scones were delicious and very moist on the inside. I was too excited to remember to take any photos of the food, but I do have a picture with my sister and the beautiful tier of food! Although the food on the plates look small, don’t let it fool you! The meal leaves you feeling full but not stuffed, which is something that I actually really appreciate in a dining experience.

All in all, I have to say a big thank you to my sister for taking me out! Did you guys have any interesting dining experiences over the holidays? I’d love to hear about it! :)

Travel

Macau Tower: Skywalk Experience

October 27, 2016

I’m finally back at it with a vacation post! We started our vacation off last month in the vibrant city of Macau! I jokingly asked my cousin if we could bungee jump off the Macau Tower, and it kind of threw me off when she said yes! (O__O) Fortunately, when we were all at the tower, we opted to do the Skywalk instead! The Skywalk is basically a fun little tour/photo shoot on the outside top of the Macau Tower.

The Macau Tower opened in 2001 and offers beautiful scenic 360 views of the vibrant city. The height of the building is very impressive in itself, standing at 338 meters (or approximately 1,109 feet!)

We paid for our tickets downstairs and proceeded up onto the long elevator ride. I remember having to yawn to pop my ears as we were speeding on up! After you get to the top, you fill out some basic information and waivers and wait for your turn! Unfortunately for us, we decided to go on a Saturday afternoon, AND it happened to be during a week/weekend when Mainland China had a public holiday.. Not poppin.

(Swinging from the top!)

We ended up waiting for almost 2 hours before it was our turn :( During that time, we made our way down to the Observation Deck and got to walk around the on the glass floors and look at the views! We took lots of pictures and watched some of the other groups take their Skywalk. It was actually really fun watching because some people made the craziest and most terrified faces!

While we were waiting for the group in front of us to finish their tour around the tower, we saw some of the bungee jumpers prepare for their big leap! I remember having sweaty palms and feeling my heart leap out of my chest when I saw them preparing/counting down to their leap! (Thinking about it now still gets my heart speeding and racing)! I will be coming back for you bungee jump!

(Observation Deck with Glass Floors!)

FINALLY, it was our turn, and I remember running to be the first one in line for our group :P At the beginning of the tour, you will be given a t-shirt to wear for the photos! Afterwards, a team will help you get situated with all of your safety harnesses and ropes and help get you all strapped in. Afterwards, you get to head ~OUTSIDE~ onto the roof and get to have a close up view of the bungee jumpers preparing for their leap, as well!

(My sister sitting on the edge!!)

Our tour guide and photographer, Philip, was really funny! He cracked lots of jokes to help our group feel more relaxed about the fact that we would literally be dangling on the top of a building. He was also very patient with our group when we had members freak out about doing certain poses! Our group consisted of 8 people total. (My mom, sister, 2 cousins, three strangers, and myself). If you come with a small group, they may combine you with another small group to make things more time efficient so keep that in mind if you do not feel comfortable with being joined in with another group. You get to walk one lap around the top of the tower. During this time, we got to do 10 different poses all together, and it also comes with an introduction and closing video as well. You can check out a sample of the closing/opening videos in my sister's vlog below! (You can skip to 05:54 if you only want to see the parts on the Macau Tower!)

(Check out my sister’s vlog of our Macau trip!)

At the end of the tour, you can feel free to change out of your t-shirt and back into your regular clothes. During that time, your tour guide will proceed to transfer all of the photos from their camera into a commemorative USB card. They also let you check your photos on a public computer in the lobby before you leave to make sure there are no issues with your photos.

All in all, I would highly recommend doing the Skywalk at the Macau Tower! It gives you a chance to face your fear of heights, and the photos serve as great souvenirs to bring home and show all your friends and family! Also, it’s a great adrenaline rush, and it gives you the chance to laugh and make new memories!

(Group/Family Photo!)

Tips:

Don’t wear flats or sandals. If you do decide to wear flats, they will literally use a tape roll and bandage your shoes onto your foot. They do, however, provide sneakers for you to wear during the walk, but you might as well save yourself the trouble and be in some comfy sneakers!
Don’t wear loose jewelry. They offer lockers for you to store your purses, backpacks, and expensive items. You do have to pay for these lockers, but it’s better to be safe and store away your valuables then for them to drop off the tower!
Make a reservation. Call and schedule in advance! This will save you precious vacation time.
Go late in the afternoon. This will give you the opportunity to get some poses with the sunset and a couple of shots with the city lights on as well.
Tuck that T-Shirt in. No seriously, I would recommend wearing high waisted shorts/skirt/pants etc. if you can! The t-shirt is pretty long and a lot of that extra material ends up “poofing” out of the harness (resulting in some really unflattering tummy angles!) It’s not really a huge deal, but it was something that kind of bothered me as I sorted through my pics.
LASTLY: Embrace the fear!! It’s going to be a little scary, but just go for it! There is nothing more exhilarating than facing something that scares you. Turn the fear into excitement :)

I hope this post inspires you to get out of your comfort zone and to try something new! Well as I said before, Macau Tower, I WILL BE BACK TO DO THE BUNGEE JUMP FROM YOU!!!!

Weekend Fun: Seattle Edition

Dining like Royalty at Crown and Crumpet’s Annual Holiday Tea Party

Macau Tower: Skywalk Experience

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