I think I may now be addicted to butter mochi.


(photo ganked from Google Images)

My roommate made some last night and let me try some. The only thing that stopped me from asking for more is that I finished off whatever was left in the pan. SO DELICIOUS.

---

Edit 4/30/08: This is bad. It's so craveable that I'm still thinking about it today. I hope she makes some more this weekend! :)

Dinner tonight:



A slightly brighter photo here.

Ingredients:
- Steamed zucchini, asparagus, and carrots, very lightly salted
- Canned corn with a little Sriracha sauce on top, both for the spicy kick and to emulate "worms"
- Hard-boiled eggs with carrot and zucchini pieces to make the faces
- Ramen noodles (chicken-flavored)

And it was all unintentionally vegetarian! I think going for color really encourages me to put more veggies into my diet.

Are you sick of the food-related posts yet? :P

P.S. Hopefully, my next roommate will be a photographer, so I can post better photos of these meals!

As per last week's post, I'm starting up bento boxing (bento box making?). I bought this really cute box at Lucky's yesterday with 3 compartments. It was designed to hold sandwiches and cold snacks, but I've never been much of a sandwich person, so I decided to put something else in instead.

My bento box today:
Snack box - Apples & oranges
Sides box - Sauteed zucchini and mushrooms with sun-dried tomatoes
Main box - Rice-a-roni (Mexican)

It's not cute, but it's gonna be yummy and colorful. And I did attempt to make it cute; I cut the zucchini into hearts and stars, but sauteeing them made them less cute.

Photos to come later. Right now, my rice-a-roni is being cooked.

---

Edit: Photos!

( Bento! )

Not that cute for my first attempt, but the colors were pretty and it was VERY tasty, so... *high fives self*!

I think my next attempt will be a "bird's nest" ramen box. Planned:
- Ramen noodles for the nest part
- Two hard boiled egg "chicks", pictured in the last bento post
- A side dish of corn
- A small snack/dessert of gummy worms? :P Or vienna sausages cut into the shape of worms (I love sausages with my ramen)
- If I don't do the gummy worms, then the snack/dessert will be banana chips and walnuts

I'll be doing some baking on Thursday afternoon anyway, so I'll probably attempt this for my Thursday night dinner break between classes.

I've been thinking about going into making bento boxes, 'specially on a regular basis. It'll be a great hobby, because:

1) I'll be more nutritionally aware of and involved in what I'm eating, which hopefully will mean a healthier diet!
2) There's something psychologically comforting about food that's visually good-looking.
3) I'll get satisfaction from knowing that I can prepare something beautiful and appetizing.
4) I can start a photo blog strictly on bento boxes (which I think would be a way fun blog to do!)
5) I can show off to people at work or school. That's always fun! :P

So I'm thinking about accruing bento supplies. I'm not sure what this will involve quite yet as there's more to the art than just the cute little bento boxes, but I'd imagine that there are utensil holders, sauce containers, molds, mini cookie cutters, etc. It's intricate, time-consuming work, so I'd probably just want to try it once a week once I get started.

BUT JUST LOOK AT HOW CUTE MY MEALS CAN BE OMG

(I probably won't make them as fancy as mmmbento does, but I'll be darned if I don't try a few times!)

Also, I'd imagine it could have very therapeutic applications for kids. Imagine being a kid and earning your own awesome bento box after working so hard on x issue! Yes, very awesome indeed.

In the meantime, I'm gonna try to make one of these guys:



Site note: my birthday's in about a month, so if you were wondering about birthday gifts, bento-related items are a plus this year. :)

All the potato suggestions sounded delicious, and I plan to try them all eventually. I ended up going with zyzyly's made-up suggestion with stuffed potatoes tonight based on the idea that it would look pretty with my steak. I forgot to add the milk and instead added ricotta cheese to the spinach stuffing. Added basil and parsley. Also, instead of 10 minutes in the oven, I put the stuffed potatoes in for 20-30 minutes because my roommate was telling me a good story. It turned out really crispy, aromatic, and tasty, more fun to eat than the steak.

I breaded the steak and pan seared it before braising it in the oven. Lots of mistakes here, but it was a good learning experience and still ended up tasting okay. First, I burnt one side of the first steak. Oops, left it too long. The second one turned out perfectly golden brown as a result. (See, I learn from my mistakes!) Second, I didn't have vegetable stock available, so I used chicken stock and added chopped veggies in the hopes that their flavors would combine. 'Course, this just made my pork steaks taste like chicken later, but no matter! They were still good. I'll use just water next time.

Here's the finished result:

( I love food photos! )

One of the good things about being in L.A. for vacation is knowing where to get a decent haircut for cheap in Little Saigon. I decided to try bangs along with my trim this time.



The general verdict I've gotten from my family is that I look younger and that I resemble my cousin Vyvian (who's got a very similar haircut). I like the change. :)

My breakfast was intended to be Happy Face eggs, but I splashed on the soy sauce before I thought to take the photo. Oops. Also, the right yolk "eye" broke while I fried the eggs, and I splashed on too much Sriracha sauce. So now I name these "Joker eggs" because they kind of look like the Joker.

The demise of the Joker eggs. They were delicious. ;)

I got interested in making homemade jam once Chrissy introduced the idea. I thought it would make great Christmas gifts and would be a little different from the baked goods idea.

So I got together the supplies I needed and did a test run today with a strawberry-peach combination. I used frozen strawberries and canned peaches just so that I wouldn't waste good, fresh fruit on a test run. Also, because I'm new to the canning process, I eyeballed the measurements a bit and kind of messed up on the sterilizing process... which means that for better or for worses, I gotta finish this whole test batch over a span of 3 weeks. I'm crossing my fingers for tastiness; I like how there are chunks of peaches, and I'm thinking it's gonna go great with pancakes.

Anyway, here are two photos.



And just to give you an idea of the size of the jars (4 oz.), my thumb is 2 inches in length:



If you're interested in the canning process and storing jam and other foods in sterile jars, here's a good video of how to do it. It's an episode of Good Eats in two parts: [1] [2]

I finally downloaded photos from the past month or so into my computer.

( Weekend(s) with MF )

( Thanksgiving weekend )

Most interestingly, though, today I just got back from my first "tea time" experience at Lovejoy's in the Mission district. I met up with Chrissy and her friend Sarah there, and we were amazed that the place was so cute! I think the mismatched china and quirky decor had something to do with it. We had unlimited refills of the spicy citrus tea and the gingerbread tea (I highly recommend the latter!).


( Tea time! )

It was a very cute experience. If you're in the city, I highly recommend visiting Lovejoy's with some girlfriends and at least $20. It's not cheap, but it's so worth the splurge, and I think it's still cheaper than the other tea rooms in the city.

I've heard about this project awhile ago (back when the organization was called "$100 Laptop"), so it's been interesting to see the project come to fruition and see a review of it on YouTube.

For those of you not familiar with the organization, their goal is to develop a workable laptop for $100, making it affordable enough for children in developing countries to access technology. While pricing is still in the works (it's at $200-$300 each right now), on the technical front, I'm pleasantly surprised at what they've come up with so far. True, the system doesn't have the full functionality of a PC, but it's still a pretty neat gadget (see video for more details). The major criticism here is more about the social meaning behind selling cheap laptops to governments; why are they trying to get high-tech products in a low-tech market that's got more pressing concerns, like access to clean water? Maybe that could go in its own separate post, but for now, here's the XO-1 "$100 laptop."

(image/video ganked from rinku)
( photo )

My memories of my family's Canadian vacation have faded, so I'll just recall what I can remember based on my photos.

It was a long road trip. The first rest stop we took was somewhere in Oregon...


( More photos )

Sorry for the vague descriptions and convoluted photos. I thought I had more, but maybe it was because I had taken several using my dad's camera, so they're probably still in his memory card or on his computer; if I get ahold of those, I'll try to upload a few more here.

I'm a little sick this weekend, so instead of going out, I thought I'd make a photo post. I still need to update about my Canada trip with my family, but that could still wait. I just want to get some other photos out of the way first.

Last month, I accompanied a classmate to John Muir Woods in the north bay. If you enjoy hiking, Muir Woods is a great place to check out with lots of trails, varying from easy, paved paths to more difficult paths (in which you'd be rewarded with really lovely views of the bay!).

( photo... )

The week after that, I went to the Ghiradelli Chocolate Festival in SF (on the Saturday). I was hoping for more than just ice cream, cookies, and brownies, and I think the Sunday festival featured chocolate pasta or spaghetti or something.

( photo... )

About a week after that, I flew home briefly for friends (visiting James/Theresa) and family (taking our family portrait). The following was taken on our way to the photo studio. Dad was driving, and Mom's sleeping in the back. Teenage sister Teresa took this photo from the front passenger seat.

( photo... )

The week after that, I had to stay in during the weekend to finish a paper. MF surprised me by ordering me Thai food from a local restaurant, having them deliver it to my place. I thought it was one of the most thoughtful and romantic things he's done for me. The delivery came in a huge brown bag, and it took me about a week to eat all this food (I ate an entree once a day).

( photo... )

The week after that, no photos were taken. I get pretty drained from the weekdays, so lately on weekends, I'm content to just stay in. I had "movie night" with MF that Saturday, which I know probably sounds a little corny with us syncing our DVD players to watch a movie at the same time, but when you're 3000 miles away, that's pretty much what some of your dates are gonna look like. It was still a pretty sweet evening.

Huh. I thought there were gonna be more photos, but I guess not! I have some time to do the Canada post now, so I'll do that right after this one.

I love Threadless's shirts.

This is the shirt I got:



I also got one for my teenage sister as a very late birthday present.

I really liked the bright blue one they used to have, but at $10/shirt now, the baby blue is an acceptable substitute. :)

(The $10 sale goes on til Monday. Get yours soon!)

Back in June or July, MF and I were exploring Clement Street when we came across a cute little Japanese shop called Genki's. They're known in the area for their crispy crepes, but to me, Genki's elicits thoughts of Japanese trinkets and groceries. Among them was this:



"What's THIS?" I asked MF. The box was entirely in Japanese. We couldn't tell if it was a really frothy cappuccino or a muffin in a mug, but the picture in the back gave us a clue.

( Photos and descriptions )

And the taste? Mostly spongy. Not as chocolatey as I had hoped for. But the novelty is worth the money, and I've never seen a cupcake "bake" so fast. :P

I'm a little more than halfway through The Kite Runner. Normally, it would be hard to tear myself away from a novel this good, but everytime there's a new emotional twist... I just need a break for a moment. Hence this update.

Eric informed me recently that they were going to make a movie about it, but he said I shouldn't read the IMDB page until I read the book. So here I am, reading it! I might be done by tomorrow. Done! And still 12 minutes til 8/21/07, hehehe. :P

Update on the red peeptoes in the last public post: I went shopping yesterday and bought myself not only red accessories, but also the Little Black Dress that every girl is supposed to have and that I've neglected to buy until now. I'm also positive that it's the only outfit I've ever tried on that made me squee with glee. I'm making MF take me out to someplace nice this week so I can wear it. :P

I love that boy. He drives me nuts sometimes, but I return the favor plenty.

Ben, my old roommate from Berkeley, just pinged me today. He's here for a few more days before he returns to Korea, so we just made plans to meet for dinner tomorrow. God, I haven't really talked to him since 2004, when he moved out. Well, there was that one chat last year, but still. It'll be great to catch up.

---

Random thing, because I was rearranging some files in my images folder:

MF and I frequent this cheap Chinese cafe on Clement called D&A. Our favorite dish from there is what they call "Yin Yang fried rice." It seemed simple to make, but I don't know how they make their sauce. Here's the closest image I could find of it:



Maybe next time, I'll take a photo of it. Does anyone know this dish? Especially how to make the sauce? It's so delicious!

Just last week, on our way back from Canada (a photo post which I will make about one of these days), we stopped by an outlet center. I think it was somewhere in Washington. I made a beeline to the DSW which had an additional 20% off of everything.

I fell in love with a pair of peeptoes. Red peeptoes.



It was the red or black peeptoes. I strongly considered the black peeptoes since it was more versatile with my wardrobe, and this shade of red is brighter than any red I have already. But the few family members I surveyed all agreed: the red peeptoes popped and looked good. And all of my other shoes were neutral-colored anyway. So I bought these.

Now I'm wondering how to wear these. I could pair them up with jeans and a black top, but the red "pop" on my feet would be too much. Do I need a red belt? Red hair accessories? Jewelry? All of the above? And is black the the only color I could comfortably wear with these shoes?

To promote the upcoming Simpsons movie, 7-Eleven is converting some of its stores into Kwik-E-Marts. This morning, I took Jenny and Teresa over to my godbrother's house. We picked Peter and Viv up, and he led us to the store on Venice Blvd.



( More photos from the brief trip... )


If you want to make a trek to your nearest Kwik-E-Mart, you can look up the locations here. There aren't many--California is blessed with 3 Kwik-E-Marts--but my source tells me that a few of the Kwik-E-Mart products can be found at regular 7-Elevens, including the Squishee cups with the blue Woo Hoo Vanilla flavor and the famous pink donuts. The Buzz Colas can be found at regular 7-Elevens, too, but they're harder to find; the bulk of the stock is allocated to the converted Kwik-E-Marts.

Haircuts, at their very core, reflect our need for identity, whether it's to shed our old identity, to build a new one, or even to maintain a certain kind of identity.

( So what was my motive for this haircut? )

I am still undecided as to whether I like the cut. I've never had bangs before, and I think these are still a little longer than I wanted to try, long enough to nearly pull behind my ears. Also, I think short hair has the tendency to make me look younger, which is not something I particularly want. I have to admit, though: chopping off six inches is kind of cathartic.


Classmate today: "So what was the reason for your haircut?"
Me: "Split ends."

Took me forever to get this posted, but I finally figured out how to
post via email (thanks to needing to post privately!). Here it is,
written two days ago. Hope this works!

---

You know how you've done a lot of stuff, then when you finally have the
time to update about it, you just don't feel like chronicling it all?
Yeah. That's me right now. So while I'll post up a few photos from the
weekend, the narrative will be very brief. You know what they say about
Vegas. ;)

To start off, MF made a very beautiful frittata that we had seen on the
Food Network just a few days before. It was lovely, but it needed more
seasoning than what was suggested in the recipe we followed, so it's
pictured here topped with some Sriracha sauce.



Then off we went on our trip! ( Bits of the trip + photos )

Vegas was fun. That's all I'm gonna post about Vegas for now. I'll be
posting separately about general updates.


--

I've disappeared for awhile and will disappear again this Memorial Day weekend. Though I'm really glad to be taking another trip out of town, I'm a little disappointed that I couldn't be around to show my brother around the city since he's visiting.

However, I've been able to take lots of photos and video clips since I got my new camera. Here are some of my photos from last week during my visit to LA. I wish I could show you some more video clips of Jenny, but alas, I haven't quite figured out how to size down the video clips to upload them. For now, photos will have to do.
( Photos! )

I've been playing the "What's better game" a lot with Jenny, though she calls it the "What do you like better?" game. She's often very quick with her answers, so the fun for me is coming up with questions I know she might struggle with, e.g. "Which do you like better: blue or green? Ice cream or candy? Rainbows or flowers?"

I tried playing the "What's better game" with MF, but ever since I started with superpowers (I think it was mind-reading vs. invisibility), he hasn't wanted to stray from the superpowers theme. At all.

In other news, I started my summer classes yesterday. Our Monday class is just what I had hoped for in my counseling program: no papers or assigned readings (though we do have books we purchased for class), only (audio) taped practice sessions to be constructively critiqued. But as a bit of a technophile, I cringed a little when the professor said he required those 2" x 3.5" cassettes to be turned in. So now I need to find a cassette recorder with an external microphone.