Authenticity

Flaunt your veggie side.

No, I am not a vegetarian. As much as I enjoy crunching through apples and romaine lettuce, I think I would be very sad if there was no meat on the side. Yes, I like my chicken on the side!

When it comes to looking for authentic Chinese food in America, I always find that I eat the best at home. I'm really blessed for having a nanny that can cook really good dumplings and 包子 during the weekdays. Can you believe that my family eats homemade dumplings every Fridays ever since I was in third grade? Yes, from scratch. It's amazing how my nanny works from the ground pork to the handmade flour in a matter of a few hours. Usually people get their "enjoyment" of dumplings from purchasing a few in the nearest grocery store or from those 50-packs in restaurants directly from their freezers. Bought it, tried it, didn't like it.

I'm beginning to feel that many Chinese restaurants are losing their essence as well. No, I'm not talking about the happy woks or Panda Expresses that are around the corner, I'm talking about restaurants that used to have a name in particular dishes. Today, my family and I decided to celebrate late Father's day since my parents came back from Taiwan a few days after the actual holiday. So, we decided to come back to 古月 in Life Plaza. The moment my sister and I took a step into the restaurant, we realized that there were a lot less people than we expected. We would usually see a full house, but there were only about 4 tables occupied. Now we know why. The food wasn't as great as the last time we came. The rice was mushy and all the dishes that we ordered were extremely greasy. Not only that, but the waiters had no class at all. Because my mom was really unsatisfied with the food, she didn't pay the full 15% tip. Before we left the restaurant, the waitress told my mom that she didn't pay enough for the tip. My mom said that the food was blatantly unappetizing and not as good as before. The waiter just said that we ate it all so they couldn't do anything about it. Wow, nice hospitality there lady.

This isn't the first time this thought came across my mind. I realized now that almost "authentic" Chinese restaurants that I've got to around my area is slowly losing what they had. It's so sad that restaurants are more worried about the money that they lose the taste return. I guess my family and I have to drive all the way to San Gabriel next time to have decent Chinese food.

After watching a recent 蔡依林 (Jolin Tsai) concert, I get the feeling that she's just another version of Britney Spears. I really don't understand how many people thinks she's the most beautiful and popular female artist in Taiwan. I disagree. Her costumes were a bit horrifying and her dances weren't as great as her MVs. What really annoyed me was that she copied the theme from Madonna in "Die Another Day" and the whole kissing controversy between Britney Spears and Madonna. Ugh, disgusting. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed Jolin's album that came out last year, but I think she can do better than that. She's a great dancer and gymnast, but why copy ideas from other artists to make yourself look better?

It's pretty sad that many Chinese people are losing and forgetting the aspects of their culture. I look around and many Chinese people don't remember particular holidays and the traditional routines that each holidays does. I remember it was shocking that one day when Jono didn't know how to 拜年 to my mother before she would give him a red envelope. I realized that many Chinese families doesn't do that anymore, it's depressing witnessing how the culture is slowly atrophying away in the younger generations. I'm really thankful that my family goes through the trouble to still preserve our culture each year.

Well, even though 端午節 (Dragon Boat Festival) was last Tuesday (5/5 in the Lunar Calendar if you didn't know), my nanny is going to make homemade 粽子! I can't wait to take pictures of them! I love homemade Chinese food.

because it disappoints my sole

The other side of linguini. Strictly seafood.

I think I'm not particularly used to Hong Kong cuisine. Is it just me or do they like to experiment with different cuisines in one? Or should I say it's multicultural? Or even colorful? It's so difficult to put in words! Unlike most other Asian cuisines that I've had, Hong Kong has various tastes that appears incompatible. Like fitting a circle into a square hole, one may think that different types of food wouldn't complement each other. Hong Kong is unique from their culture. Although it's technically Asian, it's so open with other cultures that it just mixes in like a stew. I found it really cool how they can add linguini, an Italian pasta, and stir fry it with seafood into this new Asian taste.

After ordering the same dish twice, I think I learned my lesson to never get anything that has the word "sole." I'm sorry, but I don't find eating fish with a rich creamy sauce appetizing, which is pretty common in Hong Kong cafes. I always thought that there would be a grilled only sole available, but they always add the creamy sauce. Bleh. Actually, I'm not used to having seafood smothered with cream sauce in general, I normally eat them raw or grilled/cooked/fried/anything that is not smothered with creamy sauce.

I think Hong Kong is too ahead of me. I find that I'm more conservative when it comes to food, does that even make sense? It's weird really. I think it's the mix of cultures...I'm not used to the fact that Italian cuisine is mixed with a sense of neo-"Chinese" taste, or how the way they cook the filet mignon in a "French" style but really it's Hong Kong style. It's just different for me. I need to get used to it!

Enough of my I'm-not-used-to-this rambling. Anyways, I must say, Red Ant Cafe was not bad, besides the fact that I got the same dish that I didn't want. The environment is very small, yet personal and clean.

Red Ant Cafe @ Life Plaza

I really wish I had a part-time job. My mom has been nagging me to work at her office and help her out. I love my mom, but I particularly love her office. Not only are her office hours overlap my sleeping hours (I stayed at her office till 1AM once), but it's unbearable at times. I would really enjoy babysitting on of my friend's younger sister because she's simply adorable, but his mother refuses to pay me. What a pity. Oh well, I still visit anyways.

It's sad how it's hard to convey my feelings into words. Beautifylove is a piece. A chunk. No. A shred of the accumlulated feelings that are shoved into this puny brain of mine. There are times I feel like I have so much of these abstract feelings that I can just explode into a million pieces. For some odd reason, my heart is heavy, wanting to shout, ramble, or simply say how it feels into thousands, millions, billions of words. But. It simply can't. My inability to speak is tortuous, consuming my soul and plunges me into this never ending cycle of happiness and insanity.

I'm sure many people have the same problem.

Levey made a good point about something that I'm always bothered/annoyed around my head. I don't nor can't understand nor see how I'm considered kind and caring. Really, isn't everyone like that? It's simply respect and following up to the golden rule. What do I do that makes people think the same way about Levey about me. I'm not trying to downplay myself to make myself appear better, but for the worse. I'm just any other ordinary person that is raised that way? I'm just too cynical. Or people just like to say that to flatter me.

SAT II scores are out in a couple of hours. Not cool!

Utter blandness

It sure fulfills the auspicious aura of romance, and the stomach.

I simply adore Vanille. The smooth taste of creme and mousse is just perfect. I totally recommend one piece named Romance. It's different yet so delicious and the best part is that it melts in your mouth so perfectly.
Comparing Vanille to RJ Patisserie in Azusa is quite difficult. Although RJ Patisserie has existed way before Vanille, Vanille puts a new twist with fruits and creme. However, I'm a little hesitant to try their more bittersweet flavors such as coffee and chocolate tiramisus since their fruit cakes are usually more alluring than the latter. Unlike Vanille though, RJ Patisserie is more known for its classy tastes since the all the cakes have a tinge taste of wine and are carved in very unique shapes and colors. As for prices, they both cost about the same. After having tea with Ashley though, I realized that Vanille had alot more options that were more compatible with the younger generations. Instead of having sophisticated teas such as Lavender and Earl Gray (in RJ Patisserie), Vanille serves more common drinks such as coffee and tea. In the end, I would recommend both for casual tea parties. It depends on the person really. :\

Yes, I'm pretty sure "blandness" is a word. Isn't that weird? Anyways, the first week of summer sure flew by pretty swiftly. It sure feels awkward getting ready for school again, coming back to the same campus, and learning something new again. I must say. It doesn't feel any different. Instead, it feels bland. I see the same people everyday, talk to the same people, and now work with the same people. Homework looks pretty self-explanatory. Hmm.

Hurrah! My parents came back home from Taiwan. I missed them so :).

Life is completely frustrating to the point where I can psychologically breakdown. Ew. Not good.

I hope the jumprope that I bought at Big 5 Sporting Goods will help a bit with my health. After attempting to run from a street sign to the traffic light with my younger brother, I collapsed and nearly passed out. No really. Don't laugh now, my health actually sucks even though my family says I appear "fit". It's not sad but hilarious seeing me trying ever so hard to carry my brother's 30 lb. dumbbell with both hands.

most random realization

I miss Taiwan. alot :(

Wow... of all the months that I have known Fahrenheit (飛輪海), I feel that I don't know them at all.

I thought Calvin was Aaron and Aaron was Calvin. Haha how sad.

Oh! And another thing I learned was that there was no such thing as "reformatting" a computer. Instead, it's "formatting" a computer. Speaking of formatting, I decided to be productive for once and asked Jono to help me format my laptop since it went blue screen the night before. It's pretty pathetic how just webcamming with only the Skype program led the laptop to overheat and restart itself.

let's start it with a CRUNCH

Chocolate covered Almond Crush Pocky. Over the usual.

As you may have noticed by now, you have stumbled into my new (however, not really improved) blog. I know, it's not really as great as my old default blog from Livejournal.com, but it's nice to have a clean and simple look for a change.

Shall I say goodbye to my dearest Raison d'Etre? Well... I'm not really sure myself. To tell you the truth, I still feel a bit of guilt from neglecting my little lair. After posting entries for more than 2 years, I must say that I felt a slight bond between me and that blog. Eh. Not really. After looking at a few of my posts, I realized how immature I was at times. Well not to say I am mature now, there are times when I throw a childish tantrum here and there like any teenager. But hopefully after starting this blog, I will learn to talk more in a sophisticated language like almost every person in my age. Haha, trust me, I'm probably going to put up with this for only a few days.

Well, I guess a change between my old blog and this one is the fact that I'm not going to hide any of my thoughts or perspectives towards situations. While I had my old blog, I enabled the option of keeping ALL entries through friends only. In other words, people had to get an account to basically read my entries. Yeah, not much of a charismatic person was I? Hmmm... maybe now I'm just trying to open myself to people. Maybe not. Who knows?

Also to top things off, I was instantly inspired by this delicious blog that I decided to also post up pictures of foods that I make/bake/cook/concoct (?) or I bought in every entry. Or... at least I'll try to. Thanks to the wonderful summer break, I will probably play around in the kitchen and experiment with some ingredients. How exciting!

Hmmm... I really want...NEED a new laptop. This one that I am currently typing will soon fry and...die. I can't even use 3 programs without it failing on me. I'm not even asking for huge programs that eats gigabytes of RAM, I'm talking about simple programs such as Windows Media Player, MSN, and possibly even Gtalk/Skype. But no, this piece of metal is as stubborn as a mule and will retaliate by lagging like crazy on me. Nice.