Boba: The Quest for Perfection (Cha for Tea, Long Beach)

I visited Cha for Tea in Long Beach where I got blended Thai Tea because they didn’t have my favorite flavor: chocolate. It was way too sweet. And way too icy. The bobas were perfect, though.

The customer service is fantastic. All of the girls working were very helpful and friendly.

They had samples of tea at the register along with way too many things to read and look at.

There is no lounge area. Just wooden tables and chairs with a confusing number system.

1/5 bobas. 

P.S. The name of your business doesn’t make sense.

Natraj Cuisine of India

That guy might be a nerd...

Is Indian food considered geeky? I don’t know, but I had to write about this restaurant.

My friends Sean and Sam took me to Natraj Cuisine of India in Belmont Shore. I’ve only had Indian food maybe twice before, but this was AMAZING.

Sean and Sam are regulars at this restaurant and thus are treated like royalty. We were warmly greeted by the owner the moment we walked in. The warm ‘hello’s continue from every staff member we came across.

Natraj is a little bit of a hole-in-the-wall (my favorite kind of hole (I know)). The restaurant is quiet and dark and warm and fresh. The décor is not too cheesy: There is a wall mural of the Taj Mahal, but, c’mon, isn’t that standard practice?

We ordered a plethora of vegetarian dishes. As well as some rice and garlic naan. SO GOOD. And, because Sean and Sam are on 'the list', we got to share a complimentary frozen cheesy piece of heaven. Then the owner came back over to us and wanted to make sure I, specifically, was satisfied.

So, after your love interest agrees to a second date (since you took him/her to The Library for coffee on your first date), take him/her to Natraj Cuisine of India and relish in the, “You know all the good places,” compliments you are sure to receive.

The Library: A Coffee Shop

I don't know these people.

Do you like hot beverages? What about books?

I stumbled upon a way-cool geek-friendly coffee shop in Long Beach: The Library.

Think of the kind of coffee shop you see in movies and TV shows. Central Perk, anyone? Those sort of lounge-coffee shops don’t really exist, right? In the real world we have stark, always-the-same, Starbucks. Not so fast, Mr. Negative.

This place is so comfortable and cozy. I browsed through books, made 2 new friends, and enjoyed a delicious soy chai tea latte. If I had the foresight to have brought my laptop, I may have been inspired to write a novel – who knows. It’s just THAT awesome of a place.

If you’re a nerd without the courage to ask a someone on a real date and instead asks him or her to ‘coffee’. This is where you should take that person to get said coffee. Your guest will, for sure, agree to a second date to see what other amazing hidden places you know about.

One draw-back: parking. Isn’t that just Long Beach in general, though?

Aquarium of the Pacific

Fish! So interesting, those fish. Right? RIGHT? Meh… not really.

I received free tickets to the Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific. Score! I love fish, sharks, the whole lot! That’s why I SCUBA dive occasionally. Well, that, and my parents eventually forced me to do a physical activity.

I took a day off work, grabbed Grandma (the friend I know is always available and up for anything), and we hit the Aquarium! When we first arrived I scheduled our day around the shows. The shows are usually the best part of animal-related amusement parks. The shows are when the animals have to actually do stuff, well, if they want to eat.

First up: Whales, A Journey With Giants. This is to be a show made up of 8 projections on the walls. 8 SCREENS?!! AWESOME! The location of the show is called the Great Hall and is huge. I’m thinking this place is going to transform into an underwater paradise: whales swimming all around… Nope. 8 identical 4ftX5ft fuzzy videos play in various nooks of the hall.

Diver in a big ol' fish tank.

Next show: SCUBA divers. For this show a couple divers get into a 3-story tall tank! One has a microphone and he… barely audibly tells us about how important recycling is. Okay. Moving on.

Sharks! Yes! We’re going to see huge scary sharks ferociously rip apart their food. No we’re not. We’re going to see incredibly bored sharks ignore their dinners.

Otters? Uneventful.

Another diver? Same dude, same spiel, different tank.

Lorakeets? Closed.

The most exciting attractions were the embossing stations around the park. Find the page of your Visitor’s Guide that discusses this area, and emboss it! Yay! Grandma and I collected them all.

Now what? Let’s look at fish.

Turns out, watching fish swim around and be fish-like: not very interesting.

My friend, Matthew, however, tells me that on Fridays one can enter the outdoor portion of the Aquarium for free. He says they often have a band playing and it can be a way cool nerd date-night.

In conclusion, if you’re not on a nerd date and/or you’re not a 2^nd grader getting out of school to learn about fish and recycling… meh.

Hello. I am at the Aquarium.