Black Coffee Motel

Please enjoy your stay

August 18, 2021

KITCHEN: rice krispie treats

My late grandma on my dad’s side passed away when I was too young to comprehend the nature of it all. At the time, all I knew was that it happened, people were sad, and we moved on. Now that I’m older, I look back and remember her as more than just my late grandma.…
August 15, 2021

KITCHEN: angel food cake

I have a friend at work who I like to call my “Work Uncle.” The way we became friends was through his generous homemade baked goods that he would occasionally share at work. I’d walk into the dreaded office one morning to find a delicate treat on my desk, enclosed in a clean ziploc bag.…
August 12, 2021

BOOKS: in defense of my favorite (but controversial) literary classic

I was with a group of friends one evening, a group that I wasn’t particularly close to, but hung out with every now and then anyway. Somewhere along the line, The Catcher in the Rye was mentioned and before I got a chance to speak and say, “It’s one of my favorites!” a girl condescendingly…
August 8, 2021

BOOKS: the best french cookbook

I have a confession to make: I am a closeted francophile. Whereas my friends favor the likes of weeb-ism and koreaboo-ism, I find joy immersing myself in French culture and cuisine. It all started with the Madame Chic series but, we’ll get to that in another post. For starters, the Madame Chic series is about…
August 8, 2021

TV: The Way We Were (1973)

I woke up this morning thinking about the way Barbara Streisand and Robert Redford looked at each other in The Way We Were. Not only that, but every once in a while I find myself pondering about this film, and the differences their characters endured that, despite their love for each other, resulted in their…
June 17, 2021

TV: Flipped (2010)

See here for a post on the book. As of today, June 17th, 2021, Flipped the movie is on Netflix. Who would’ve thought, that Netflix actually has good taste? So it was about time that I finally talk about this movie, and how it’s my best kept little secret. The thing about many book to…
June 4, 2021

BOOKS: a new kind of self-help

I was blessed to have had elementary school teachers who taught me the joy and love of reading. I also owe my love for reading and books to my childhood superheroes: Mr. Rogers and Steve from Blue’s Clues. An honorable mention would be Barney because unlike most kids at the time, I actually enjoyed that…
May 9, 2021

TV: The Parent Trap

*I combine shows and movies into the “TV” category because they’re not very different to me, and after all, technically you watch both formats on a “television” of some sort. When you’re a self-proclaimed film enthusiast, you get asked a lot about your favorite movies. It took me a while, and a bit of trial…
May 1, 2021

TV: Murder, She Wrote

As you will soon find out on this blog or, if you haven’t caught on already, I am a big cozy mystery fan. Emphasis on cozy because I don’t want to scare myself too much before I go to sleep every night! I’ve been a fan of the mystery genre since childhood, and had even…
March 23, 2021

TV: Malcolm in the Middle

Everything is so deep, dark, gory, and depressing these days. I scroll through Netflix only to be met with shows and movies that are either super stupid, or super serious. There’s also the concept of an 8-10 episode arc, which is basically Netflix’s signature. And obviously it was created to have the watcher breeze by…