This past weekend, I visited my previous roommate in Dallas Fort Worth, TX (also known as DFW). I met him through a work friend and we started living together right around when COVID hit. And for anybody reading this who went through COVID, everybody spent a lot of time indoors.
During that time, we got so bored that we started reviewing hot sauces from The Hot Ones Youtube show. I put it on my channel – you can watch it here!
Anyways, he left and it had been 2 years since we last saw each other. I got in Saturday morning and left Sunday really evening – so I essentially had like a full 2 days to see DFW. Here are some highlights!
Finally ate Texas BBQ in Texas
I’ve had Texas BBQ outside of Texas but never in Texas. So it was of course one of my must do’s when I visited. They took me to Heim BBQ! I can describe how juicy and flavorful the meat was, but I’ll just let the pictures do the talking. I would highly recommend this place. Very open and casual setting.
Ate fried pho & winning stuff at the Texas State Fair
We also went to the Texas State Fair. Before I flew to Dallas, some coworkers were telling me that the Texas State Fair was one of the biggest fairs in the country. So I had to check out some fun facts. The full list is here, but to state (no pun intended) a few of my favorites:
- The state fair has been around for over 135 years
- it’s the largest state fair in the nation
- it holds the record for being the longest running state fair
I rarely go to state fairs (I haven’t even been to the Arizona or California state fair yet), but when I go to any fair, I always try to do two things:
- eat the weirdest and most interesting sounding food
- win something
Fortunately, I was able to do both.
It’s always about the fried foods
The most notable foods we ate were fried pho and fried mochi. I had some fried pho (yes you read that correctly…pho…that’s fried). It’s essentially a fried spring roll but instead of egg and a vegetable medley, it’s all the ingredients you find in a bowl of pho. The dipping sauce is the pho broth. It was $24…not my proudest purchase but definitely an interesting thing to fry.
The fried mochi felt like fried ice cream. Wouldn’t recommend…I didn’t feel the mochi texture.
I’m a Pokémon winner…not a Pokémon trainer.
After stuffing ourselves, we purchased some additional tickets and played some fair games!
Now the last game I played and won at the fair was the bottled ring toss game. I won it by tossing the entire basket of rings; however, the one in Texas didn’t allow that…so I didn’t win anything. That game is pretty much 100% luck.
We were on our last tickets so we decided to play the basketball shooting game as a last chance to win something. I rarely play basketball so I tend to avoid these games at the fair. We all got one shot and somehow I made my shot. I probably used up all my luck for the rest of the year. In return, I got a Squirtle!
Longhorns cattle
I’ve seen one on the internet but never in real life. My friends took me to a free show where they walk longhorns down a street. There horns can get really freakin long! I mean look!
Always cool to see the iconic animals known for each state.
Living in the moment for meaningful fulfillment
Living in the moment is important for you to feel fulfilled. You can accept who you are and where you are at. You don’t need to distract yourself with the past or the future.
It’s not easy to live in the moment nowadays, especially as a young working adult. Whether it’s social media or work, we often have a lot of things that can distract us. For me, it was the work hustle. Whenever I wasn’t at work, I was thinking about work. Whenever I was at work, I was thinking about my acting class. I felt like I wasn’t practicing that mindful presence I so desperately needed.
Going on this trip was almost like a reminder to be more present. To live more in the moment. I wasn’t thinking about work or anything else during the trip. I was happy to hang out with my friends and eat the weirdest stuff. I sort of felt at peace. My mind wasn’t racing because I didn’t need anything else to feel happy. The present was enough.
Master Oogway says why living in the moment is a present for all of us:
Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present
Master oogway
