Lets End the Year with Ugly Sweaters!

WTF is an ugly sweater party?

Well I guess its a "northwestern" thing cuz they party in ugly sweaters all the time up there! Since two of our roomies are from the NORTH, we decided to embrace their tradition and throw an ugly sweater dinner, also in celebration of finishing finals, the beginning of the holidays, and just spending quality time together as housemates. This was the FIRST time we have ever sat together, all 6 of us, and shared a meal together! It was really a memorable experience that I will always cherish :)

we all made something we were good at and shared!

baked mashed potatoes with peas carrots- made by meee
roasted cauliflower drizzed with butter and parsley- made by richelle (the health freak!)
fucking delicious homemade mac and cheese with bacon and onions and MORE cheese- made by angela :) (so fing gooood)
theresa's specialty dish- kimchi fried rice! delicious ever time she makes it!
my greek chicken lemon soup, first time making it and it was a sucess! hooray!!
canned corn- nuf said
roasted sweet potatoes with honey and cinnamon OMG THE BOMB- made by richelle
yummy bulgogi with mushrooms and onions from vivian!

our feast set out on the dining room table :)
droooooooooooooooooooll...
roomies pic in our ugly sweaters! love you all!!!
The night ended with our secret santa exchange, killing this bottle of skyy, and going bar hopping in Costa Mesa then Hungtington Beach. My car didn't smell very pleasant the next day HAHAHHA.

CHEERS to good friends, good food, and an exciting NEW YEAR! :D

Vegas Sweets

Sigh, Vegas vegas vegas. I left my heart there, as well as my earrings and vivian's phone. Can't wait to go back since it was so much effing fun! Seriously, whatever goes there hahaha.

After our massive hangover saturday night, we needed to eat food. like seriously we were starving. Right across from our hotel was caesar's palace so we went to their buffet. LUCKY US, we decided to get the buffet of buffets deal where you eat as much as you want at 5 different buffets for 24 hours, for $50 bucks! BUT, the waitress was so out of it she said $40 on accident so had to give us the discount. HAHAHAHA. So we ate there for lunch, then a snack at Emperor's Palace, then dinner at Village Buffet in Paris. YAY for buffets in vegas!

This was a macaroon from Village Buffet in Paris. fluffyyyyyyy :)

BOMB ASS hot chocolate, we had 4 cups. HAHAHA the waitnress gave us the stink eye every time we asked for another cup. whoops.

All these deserts came from caesar's palace. They looked good, tasted whatever. Points for presentation though!

VEGAS, WE WILL BE BACK SOON! ;)

I'm Thankful

Drove home from Irvine for 9 hours, and it was all worth it for THIS! Thats right, hot pot for thanksgiving bitches....thats how we roll HAHAH. We had hotpot, turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, fried rice, soup, and apple cider. FREAKEN FEAST. It was great, not only the amazing food, but sitting at the family table again and eating together with my family. I rarely get to do this anymore so it I've come to appreciate the limited time we spend together more and more these days. Thanksgiving is a good time to reflect on what you have. I'm thankful for of course my family and friends and my blessed life. I know I havn't been blogging much these days, and its not really so much because I've been busy, but I kind of been avoiding it for some other reasons. But I know that I shouldn't cuz its something I like to do! So FUCK the baggage and all the crap, and lets be thankful for all our days ahead of us :)

I'm thankful for this year, as its been a year of learning and growing. I'm thankful for all my existing friends and new friends I've made this year, including my new roomates :) I'm thankful for where life has taken me so far and where it will lead me in the future.

Cheers to our mothers and fathers who made thanksgiving dinner!! (Thanks Mom~~)

HOT POT CITY

fried fish paste with those asian shrimp chip things

homemade pineapple fried rice

my uncle carving the turkey

my brother being overly excited about turkey

my mother cooking soup

picture of the sunset in Monterey, CA from the car. Quite beautiful :D

Picture of the sunset in Monterey, CA. Quite beautiful :)

Simplydelicious

If only life was really simple? But then again that would be no fun. This bakery was right across the street from where I stayed in Hong Kong. It was a bakery and cafe but I only tried their breads. The shop was really elegant and cozy. I think they specialize in croissants because I saw a lot of different types...

Below is a chestnut creme croissant. It was really amazing. yum yum yum.
What was even more amazing was the strawberries and creme croissant pastry. Damn how do they make it so fluffy and crunch and creamy and sweet and tart all in one bite? Its one of God's many blessings.
Oh how I wish these types of bakeries would open up in irvine? :)

Learning some motherly skills

So after visiting my great aunt in HK, I learned how to make postickers strictly from scratch, even the skin! We spent the whole day making potstickers! The process includes:

1) Making the dough

2) Flattening them into small circles

3) Putting the stuffing inside and folding the dumplings

4) Frying them until cooked

5) ENJOYING ALL YOUR HARD WORK!

I'm sure this skill will come handy one day when I have kids. Even if I make it half as good as my great aunt I'll be happy! :D

In celebration of my greataunt's birthday, we also had crab for dinner. This type of crab I've never had in the states before. It's a lot smaller, and REALLY REALLY fresh. All we did was steam them until they were cooked, you don't even need any sauce. Just the authentic crab taste was more then enough. So delicious.

Sisterly love :)

Even though this was months ago, Happy Birthday again Guu Po! Thinking of you!

Jumbo Egg Tart

The amount and diversity of pastries you can find in HK is amazingly huge. Even just one bread shop will have over 30 different types of delicious goodies. I want to try them all, and I would if I could!! A few that stood out to me were..

chocolate covered waffle. omg. Isn't it beautiful?
Even cooler: deep dish Egg Tart (Dan Tat). Whoever invented this is a freaken genius. Why can't all egg tarts look and taste like this? Basically, its like 3 egg tarts in 1. The whole filling is egg!! I had to eat it with a spoon. I was so happy :)
Now, time to run and sweat in ridiculous hot weather so I can enjoy more and more jumbo egg tarts.

It's Tea Time!

I think one of the coolest things about HK is their Afternoon tea time, or "ha mm cha". It's that very special time in the middle of the day, usually somewhere between 2-5, where food in many restaurants are way cheaper and way less crowds. Since no one really eats between 2-5 they offere a special menu thats cheap and good. HOW PERFECT!

Since it was my cousin's last day of Summer, we went on a spontanious adventure. We walked in an aimless direction in Wan Chai away from the subway station, through a random farmers market, and then we had to decide to turn left or right. For some reason I decided we should go right. GOOD THING WE DID!

A few blocks away we glanced at the menu of this lovely little resturant called La Bons Broasserie French and Italian Fusion Cuisine. Menu title: Tea Time. The prices were suprisingly cheap, and the food sounded interesting. OK lets go in!

Went inside the elevator to go up to the actual resturant. It was kinda spooky since we didn't know what to expect. No one in the hallway when we got off the elevator. WTF? uhh. Walk inside, and was greeted by nice waitresses and brought to a table overlooking the street. And there's a few people inside. OK cool. We look around. What a cute place! French romance music is playing softly in the backgrown. The room is pretty and bright. Oil paitings on the wall, and the atmosphere is very relaxed and chill. The tea time menu which includes an entree and a drink of either italian coffee, milk tea, or iced fruit tea. Guess what I got??
As for food, I ordered linguini with mushrooms, corn, and smoked salmon in fresh tomato sauce. Two of my favorite foods combined (corn and tomatoes). It tasted great! Loved the smoked salmon with the flavorful tomato sauce. Big portions too.
My cousin ordered a vegetarian omelette which came with salad and bread. She said it was good even though it tasted very healthy.

But thats not all! Then after that fantastic meal, we walked along the street and came across this super hipster cupcake bakery called Sift Patisserie. There was a sign that said it was one of HK's must go to places for red velvet cupcake. Thats all I needed to get one. The cake was really moist and good. The frosting was good, but I could make equally as good creme cheese frosting at home (right angela?!! :D). Cute shop with lots of different interesting cupcake flavors though!Then, a little bit later (not that much later actually hahaha) we stumbled across this:
Turns out, it's frozen yogurt!!! hahaha. Only 2 flavors, original and green tea. Not as many toppings as yogurtland but who cares? It tasted very similar to pinkberry, but maybe a bit less sweet and more tart. First time trying frozen yogurt in HK and was not dissapointed! I love it for both it's yogurt and it's name!
When I asked for sprinkles, they RAINED it with sprinkles.

o well sugar high!

Eating fishballs and contemplating life

Hong Kong is a busy place. Busy meaning- theres no time to stop and think. People are always on the go. Doing things- selling things, buying things, eating things, looking at things, waiting in line for things, walking to other places to do other things.

So today, as I was about to go home after walking aimlessly around Wan Chai, and I saw this tiny snack stand next to the subway station with a long line of people. How could I resist? I was a little scared of food poisoning since the stand didnt look that clean, and I saw a fly buzzing around, but there was a line of people so it had to be ok right? They offered fish balls, lobster balls, pork balls, some type of intestine lol, shui mai, hot dogs, and much more.

I ordered fish balls in spicy sauce. Only 6 hkd. It's a simple food, but sometimes the most delicious foods are the simplest to make. The whole street was crowded with people and I wanted to find a peaceful place to enjoy my snack. I ended up turned the corner and sat down on a bench that said do not sit.

I sat down anyways and enjoyed my fishballs while watching the hectic atmosphere surrounding me. In front of me, the street was crowded with taxis and busses, people walking left and right. I couldn't help but feel small and insignificant in such a huge mass of people, in such a diverse and populous city. But then right after feeling that way, I realized that I should appreciate all my time in HK and enjoy every moment that I have. As I let the whole atmosphere envelope me; eating fishballs and people watching; my mind wondering about what my future has in store for me; I realized then that that very moment would be another cherished memory in Hong Kong :D
Then, I got up and realized that I sat in a big puddle of water. HAHAH my butt was wet the whole way back on the subway.
Life is full of suprises.

cakes cakes cakes

Even in the subway, there are tons of bakerys in HK. HEHEHE my aunty bought me this in the subway station on the way back home. No one eats sweet foods in the house except me....uh oh!! I guess I will have to pace myself! hehehe.
yummy walnut cookiechocolate cake
pineapple cake
mocha cake
mango tart
tiramisu