Hello again

Mango banana with sautee bananas! This would be so perfect with hot malay tea.

Eggplant with tamarind sauce and red curry prawns with veggies.

Hmm.... ugh.

I might have already posted about one of my favorite restaurant, Banana Leaf. This place really satisfy my thai craving. During lunch, I just realize how long it has been since I had a pad thai. I normally get that but this place just have too much goodness for me to pass up.

If you go, I recommend the eggplant with tamarind sauce, Singaporean prawns, and black bean saute eggplant and green beans. They are really good in knowing in to keep the crunchiness in the beans and eggplants.

I tried to keep healthy by eating less than usual rice. However, when the dessert came out, I think I lost that battle.

It's always nice to splurge on juicy food sometimes.

Hello probiotic

I felt like I needed some cleansing today and decided to go to Whole Foods for salad. I had too much fried rice yesterday for lunch & dinner.

I need some change. Off to WholeFoods I went and I got:

- mixed salad: kale with seaweed, cole slaw with vinagrette, cucumbers, olives, corn & peas. (all in small portions)

-roasted asparagus

-Mac & Cheese

-Kombucha tea

Total: $16

A little too much. I agree. I could have skipped on the mac&cheese. But I wanted to try it.

All in all- my lunch was so good. The asparagus was roasted perfectly and had a great crunch to it. It was smoky and savory. The mac&cheese was also really good. The cheese was thick but not too salty. There was also a crunchy top to the mac&cheese that added great texture. The salad was fantastic. The cole slaw had a tasty light dressing; that mixed with the kale, peas and corn made it much more heartier.

There are much more hot item section I want to try from Whole Foods like the snap pea salad, broccoli salad, pesto tofu salad and pizza. They passed out free slices of pizza for samples! I didn't try it because I wasn't smart enough to figure out they were sample until I saw a lady literally take the dish of pizza slices and passed them out to her school of children.

Now I have been waiting for a long time to try kombucha tea. Kombucha tea is a fermented tea that, according to the label on the jar, have '1 billion' good probiotic. I would agree because it's very tangy and have a sizzling type effect. I don't think this is really my thing. I thought it would be more smooth. You really are just drinking bacteria. If you really want probiotic, I would advice drinking lassi. It's so much more smoother and have a cooling effect on your body.

BTW: They have free wasabi packages and it is good! I suspect that these wasabi are fresh because it was fibrous. It was also really spicy- which I really like a lot! I am going to grab more wasabi next time I am there.

Lassi is easy to make: 2 spoonfuls of plain unsweeten yogurt/ 1 teaspoon of salt/ dash of pepper/ 1 cup of water. Mix, stir, & enjoy. You can also add cilantro, peppers or wasabi to give it a different taste.

Hello fluffly cake

This cake is quite literally the most fluffiest cake I have ever had. My mom got this from a bakery near her work and it is so freakin good. It is fluffly and lightly sweeten. It's a chinese sponge cake.

Pair this with strong coffee and you have a good morning.

Goodbye messy wires

I am so into braiding these days. I promise I will post a video of my braid tutorial up once I have master it. I am still working on making my braids more tighter and neater.

Braiding is not just for hair- you can also braid your wires too! I found this great tutorial on making cute braids for your cable cords.

Enjoy !

Hello hazelnut coffee!

Some girls like to go to the malls- I like to go to CVS and supermarkets. I am a pig.
I love how CVS have all these coupons they issue each week. Although today I had some issues redeeming it (and the guy behind me was really anxious) because the cashier accused me of using a coupon that doesn't belong to my account. How ludicrous.

We have been experiencing hot hot weather early this week. Not today. In fact, we might get rain next week.

During hot weather, my mom puts on crazy hair styles such as above. She tells me that she puts them up like that at work too! ::shocking::

She is holding a bowl of one of my favorite dish: tomatoe over fried rice with cilantro and fresh onions. It has a sweet and tangy flavor and she even added some spices to make it hot. Soooo good.

Speaking of hair, I am getting a lot better in french braiding my hair. Once I get it really nice, I would post a pix of it.

While I am writing this post, I tried the new coffee I bought that has hazelnut flavor. I think I put too much cream in cup because it taste too creamy. Although, I really like the scent of hazelnut of this coffee. So nice.

Have you tried anything new lately?

Hello Summer !

Apron from Anthro- my new obsession.

Green beans from our garden

Happy First Day of Summer!

It's literally 100 degrees outside San Ramon! I am so excited! Finally- hot weather. Granted, it is a little extreme, but it is a much welcome extreme from the long winter months we have been enduring.

With summer comes a rich garden. We are already seeing green beans starting to sprout. Very soon we will also have a lot of tomatoes and lemons. Like my mom says, it's organic.

More recently, I have been daydreaming about the cute cute aprons from Anthro. Can you believe that Anthro makes apron?! Moreover, they are totally cute! It's a little costly ($32) but I am so tempted to buy this apron. I keep imagining how cute it would be and how much of an uplift it would do to my normal pajamas. I also like to fantasize wearing this apron while serving fresh food to my guest in my own place. It would be so cute. I think if I have a cute apron, I would feel more motivated to actually learn to cook.

Hello back knots

I eat right, I exercise often, take my vitamins, wear sun screen, and meditate.

Yet I still often get knots in my back so frequently. It is seriously annoying- and painful. No matter how much you take care of yourself, you can't prevent everything.

I was googling back muscle pain and learn that red wine can help with the muscle tightness. Thus, I busted out a glass of red wine.

Dah-ling~ I am starting my weekend early~

It was so hot this morning; I am not cute when I am sweaty and greasy.

What do you like to do in the summer?

It's always nice to get a tour of your own backyard because it allows oneself to appreciate your own hometown even more.
We took a tour of SF this weekend by a local & green company, Mr Toad around SF. We saw new neighborhoods and was mesmerized by the big houses sprinkled throughout SF.

What I love esp are the new views of the city from different hilltops. I know SF is full of hills, but I never realize how much there was until I took the tour. Moreover, each viewpoint seems to offer another spectacular view of SF. Oh how I love SF!!

Above is a picture that I caught of my bf daydreaming. It would be nice to know what his face looks like, but I imagine he is half smiling and lusting for a piece of the property in SF.


We passed by a big festival in North Beach. There were a lot of young adults.

Going up hill.

Only in SF do you see women wearing high heels going down the steep hill. How do they do it.

Scooter is the way to travel if you live in SF.

Mrs. Doubtfire's home!

Hello vegan cookie!

Today I am so motivated to bake vegan cookie; a recipes that I found online.
It has very simple ingredients and I think in flavor wise, it came out very good. It actually contains recipe that I normally would put in my oatmeal for breakfast. Who would have thought that you can also bake it?!

It is not crunchy like a cookie. In fact, it is kind of cakey and soft. Perhaps I should have baked it longer? Although the recipe asked for it to be baked for 20 min only. All in all, it really is very yummy and fragrant.

The batter.

The ingredients: oatmeal, raisin, cinnamon, almond, 3 bananas, some oil.

I will be eating them as snacks with a cup of smoothie! :)

I can't wait to try new recipes! I want to learn how to cook more of oatmeal bars.

Goodbye hot hot weather

Twin Peaks- last Sat.

I like this picture a lot because it looks so natural. Although it was really windy that day, the view was clear and the picture came out nicely.

I worked at home today. I am starting to really like working from home. Like I said- it is like Friday everytime I work from home. There is no pressure to dress up or behave.





Yesterday

Hello new chinatown

A lot of new HK style cafe have opened in San Leandro this year and my mom is determine to try them out. Could San Leandro be the new Chinatown?

Yesterday on the Chinese news, San Leandro Mayor announced that the census report shows that the Chinese population is on the same level with white people. (25% Chinese 25% white) That is quite incredible. I didn't know San Leandro had that much Chinese people. It could be a great thing!

On Monday, I took my mom and grandma out for dinner at a new HK cafe and we had: honey walnut shrimp, curry beef, fish with beens. It was not too greasy and had a lot of flavor. I was reading on some of my past yelp reviews and I seem to describe all delicious food as: not too greasy and flavorful. >_<

My mom and grandma had a fun time.



Can you see how much I am enjoying my food? To celebrate it's grand opening, they also serve you complimentary milk tea! It was good! My sister would like that. This offer is only for a limited time.

It's summer time now and I finally got the chance to bust out my cute summer skirt and frilly tops. Although I heard it will start to cool down later this week. I actually don't mind the scorching hot weather. It is refreshing considering how long we were in the cold.

I took an extra long walk today at work (25 min), with my cute shades on, and when I got back to my desk, I noticed a tan line of where my shade was. It was light color under my eye and below that is a darker shade. And this was a walk in the morning! I was shocked! I might need to wear a wide brim hat on my walks now.

Hello baking

What's for lunch yesterday: Singaporean fried noodles with spicy squid.

We like to celebrate early. Yesterday we celebrated Father's Day early by going out to eat at a HK cafe. My dad loves simple street foods- hence he ordered the wonton noodle soup with wonton and duck. My grandma and I split a fried noodle dish. I don't think my grandma really liked that dish too much.
For dinner we had sushi!!! My aunt makes the cutest and interesting sushi. Inside are: korean pickled radish, chinese preserved pulled pork & avacado. Very healthy and so full of flavor. I am not quite sure what the green sauce on top is; it is sweet though.

Her homemade sushi inspire me to start developing my own reciepes. I got so pumped up that I spent some time looking up recipes. I want to start learning how to bake. This week, I am determine to bake some oatmeal cookie- vegan style.

Vegan cooking is all the rage now. It is basically cooking without processed flours. A much more healthier alternative and a great way to stay off unhealthy carbs. One of my co worker's wife is really into vegan cooking and told me that too much flour can lead to brain degeneration. I am a little skeptical about that. Nevertheless, watch for my post this week when I will be baking vegan oatmeal cookies!!! :)

Goodbye great weekend!

A lot of picture taking this weekend... including in the middle of the street to capture some nice scenic shot.

I finally got to hike up telegraph hills! It is such a cute side street decorated with cute plants throughout the trail. The hike for me was quite easy... I wasn't so sure if it was for my bf.

Later we headed to Butterfly to chow down some Asian fusion food. Courtesy of a coupon from living social, we got the chance to try an assortment of food. The ambiance is really nice- romantic and modern with lots of great lighting. The seating is weird. I mean the window is behind us, yet we are seated facing the restaurant.

Oyster shoot. Delicious.

Duck with veggies wrapped in a crepe. The duck is actually really good. Very tender and goes so great with the cherries on the side.

Filet mignon with assorted veggies and blue cheese on top. According to my bf, it wasn't that great. I tried it and thought it was ok. For the price, I would hope they would be more moist.

Hello sunflower seeds

I had some time to do a little shopping today. And when I mean shopping, I mostly mean grocery shopping. I went to Trader Joe and bought the above items that all total $18! Yay!!!! Take that Whole Foods!

My mom usually buys bread... and it is not the healthy kinds, though delicious. Hence I bought 100% whole grain bread. Then I bought some raisin to add to my daily oatmeal for breakfast. I also got some crackers to snack on with cheese after work.

From time to time, I like to read blogs. It is so much more encouraging and educational then facebook status updates. Health blogs is one of the many genre of blogs I read and I see so many people eat sunflower seed butter. So many. In fact, people who have this eat it with everything. They put it in their smoothie, their bread, oatmeal, salad, and with cheese! The first time I saw it, I wasn't too crazy for it. I thought it wasn't anything special. I am a big fan of peanut butter so I didn't think I would enjoy sunflower seed butter.

How wrong I was. Sunflower seed butter is the best! It really does taste like sunflower seed and it has a very light sweetness to it. It is sooo creamy and light tasting. It really is very flavorful: nutty, slightly sweet, and rich. I really really recommend you use this. It's the bomb!

Hello chaat

Half eaten samosa and jalebi.


Jalebi is deep fried batter soaked (yes soaked) in sugar water.





One of my co worker stopped by the office today. Traditions in the old office in Milpitas is snacking on good spicy Indian food and that is exactly what we did. My love for Indian food grew exponentially over the years and lately I haven't had it for a long time. I like how it is spicy and the different type of flavors there are!


Of the type of Indian food, I love chaat the best. Chaat is Indian snacks- or street foods. It is served in small portions (not all the time) and can include sweet or savory. Before I was acquainted with Indian sweets, I could not stand taking a bite of their sweets. If you don't know, Indian sweets are literally, drenched in sugar syrup. But oh... the more you eat it... the more your taste bud suddenly gets used to it. Serve that with Chai and you will be in a food coma.

If you want to learn more about Indian food... I would be happy to accompany you and indulge in fried & sugar soaked food.

When my mom gets the chance to use my camera, she would take it and click away. Often times, when I browse through my SD card, I would find pictures of teddy bears, the vases in our house, plastic flowers, bed sheets, our couch... etc. One of my mom's most (and I mean MOST) favorite snaps to take is of people caught off guard. She tells me how bored she is of taking posed shots and prefer to take pictures of people in their moment not really posing. Hence, the picture above.
It was taken a couple weeks back and I was doing my face exercise/ lotion routine in front of the TV watching TMZ. Not a cute shot... noticed the pile of clothes I have still yet to fold on my bed.

According to my mom, when I am not really posing is when I look the best. She tends to capture those stunned looks and claims that those look are more fun to look at. I can't help but disagree.

Hello red bean

Crush red bean mixed with milk.
This is one of my favorite drink as a child and I have not drank this for a while. It is a great summer drink because it is healthy and keeps you cool. Take cooked red beans and crush it till you get some good "sand" quality; then stir in enough sugar for sweetness. Next, stir in some milk and drink/ eat it as a snack. The bean is great for fiber and the milk provides calcium. These days, I have been making myself a cup everyday after work. It really fills you up.

P.S. I just realize you can see my face in the reflection of the laptop.... ew!

Working from home today, thus my lunch at home. I can't get enough of that frozen costco burger. It is really delicious.

This picture didn't come out so well. The burger looks more gross than it is. I think there was too much light...? A burger will not last me all day, so I decided to add in a biscotti and red-bean milk.

It's starting to get warmer. I think the absent-ness of the sun have really put a damp in my mood and seeing the bright sun outside and hearing the birds chirp makes my heart grow fonder. It's time for me to get some more vitamin D.

Hello summer

I like to drink from straws. These colorful straws allows me to easily take a big sip without having to lift a cup. I like to minimize lifting cups... just because.

While I went for my routine walk at 9ish am, I saw 2 turkeys hanging in the front of our building. They run fast. I tried to catch a good close up but they kept running to my left. This will do.

15 minute into my walk, I noticed an unusually large group of people streaming out of the building and conglomerating in the parking lot. There were attendants in bright orange vest guiding people to the center of the lot. We were having a fire drill. It's been so long since I experienced a fire drill. Many people were on their cell.... probably walking around looking for wi-fi so they can twitter. ;)

I proceeded to continue to walk and then soon we were asked to go back in the building shortly afterward.

In other news, I am so glad the warm weather is coming back. I have so many things I want to do and cannot wait to bust out my summer gear once again.

Hello modern warfare

On ABC World News today, Diane Sawyer did a special on the current dilemma of the war in Afghanistan. She interviewed, soon to be former, Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates. He noted some interesting points and below are some that I would like for you to consider as well.

One of the questions asked from Diane was are we winning this war and if we are not, then why risk the troops' lives. Robert Gates answered:
'Since WWII, we have not had a war with a declared victory... this is the phenomenon of modern warfare'.

Rather, what the US is seeking is a settlement from the middle east.

Another question asked was what there was to gain by staying in Afghanistan and Gates answered:

'The question is, what is the cost of failure'.


I hope this is good food for thoughts for you as well.

Hello humility

A mini whoopie pie from Starbucks. It's basically red velvet cake with cream cheese whip cream in the middle. I would not recommend this. It's dry and too sweet.


Every Monday morning, as a treat for myself, I like to indulge in a cup of Peets coffee. I am really not a coffee snob, but I can't help and utter how fabulous I think Peet's coffee are. It's strong and dark- just the way I like them. You don't know how disappointed I am when I drink water down coffee. Although, there are occasions when I would stop by for McDonald's coffee; they are also not bad.

For good coffee, I like to add maybe 3 tablespoons of cream and a pack of sugar cane sugar. I recently discovered sugar cane sugar; they add a better tasting sweetness and are healthier for you. Just enough cream and sugar to enhance the flavor of the coffee. As I did my routine near the cream/ sugar counter today, I noticed that there were 2 guys who pour lots of cream and sugar in their coffee. I was shocked.

I had a cup of peets this morning and it hit the spot. Sigh..... :) !!

At church yesterday, the pastor talked about humility. Some of the words still resonated with me today. I think I am a very humble person and hearing the service yesterday helped me understand more about humility. It's more than just not bragging. Our weakness is our strength that God uses so that we may serve others. The pastor said: 'We should be humble by God's strength and boast our weakness so that others may also praise His works. ' I had to think about that one for a bit.

I am going to practice humility this week by acknowledging His awesome power in everything.

Hello 10 lbs

We went hiking on the border of Pacifica and Half Moon Bay. As you can tell, it was very windy. The higher you get on the mountain... the more windier it is. However, the view is amazing. I love hiking. I wish we could hike more often when I meet my bf.

After hiking, we had a big appetite. We went to Ocean Fish for sushi. It was our first time trying that place and it was a big hit with both of us. Their rolls were good and their sashimi is great. I esp love how they give you a free roll after $40. I like that because they are acknowledging how much we have spent (and how pricey it can be). They have a lot of specials during the weekdays and if I lived here, I would definitely come for their specials!!!

This roll is very good. Very crunchy and good. Only Americans can think of frying sushi.

Our dinner: Tuna sashimi / Cucumber wrapped with hamachi and salmon sashimi/ hamachi carpachio / rainbow roll

Onion rings from Best Burger. The best onion ring ever. I am just salivating looking at this awesome picture!

Goodbye coolness

My vitamin box. Just one of those multivitamin makes me feel full. It truly does.

Yesterday, I had a crappy lunch. So to make myself feel better, I went to indulge in a shot of espresso. This time, my barista is very generous with the whip cream. I mean.... That is quite a bowlful of whip. Nevertheless, I like it and enjoyed it.

Today I worked from home and everytime I work from home it feels like Friday. During a conference call, I went a little too emotional and might have went a little bizerk. If there is one advice I want to give to you is to never lose your cool at work. You can lose your cool in front of your family or friends because we need to let out steam sometimes. Anger is totally poison and according to the Bible, it is equivalent to murder. yikes.

Never involve your emotions at work. It's one thing I tell myself often, and one where I find myself fall short of it. However, it's hard to remain cool and if you do find your anger level rising, try to at least talk in a normal tone and not go high.

I am glad the weekend is here.

Hello smoothie X2

Smoothie, smoothie, smoothie. All day, errrrrday.

Once my mom gets in the mode, she will be in the mode and take it to the next level. Before my mom was involved in my smoothie process, I would buy enough fruits to last for a month and a half. One large ziplock back will last me 1 month and a half. I think the 4 bags above will last me....6 months???

I like Costco, but I really disdain the quantity they make you buy. I feel obligated to eat those all the time. And my mom wonders why we still have so much milk left when she bought 2 big gallons of milk from Costco!

Before shot of all the fruits from Costco before packing them in the ziplock bags. There are more fruits added to this. In addition to what you see now, blueberries (organic) and strawberries, there are also: papaya, pears, bananas, oranges, apples & maybe a ginger or two.

My mom loves taking pictures and asked that I lay on the couch and take a picture with the stuffed animals. According to her, the fabric is very colorful and the animals are very lively looking. I, on the other hand, look like I am trying to seduce the animals.... ew.

I wonder if drinking all those smoothies will really help my body. I have been drinking them for almost a year now and it really does wonder on keeping me regular. On the other hand, am I really getting all the vitamins and nutrients that I need? I still get pimples and I still fluctuate in my weight. I wonder....