Retail therapy

You know, girls can get really masochistic when they're unhappy. Every single time those bad vibes come sinking in, I just get lured into the depths of retail therapy... I remembered the last time I was unhappy like that, I went into this shoe shop and bought 5 pairs of shoes in about 10 min, which after my mum pronounced me a disgrace to my family. Oh well.

So the temptation came knocking by last weekend again. I've been extremely good thus far, staying clear of malls or even the shops on campus. But I just couldn't resist.

Hence, the acquisition of a brand new LV speedy bag and well, a Burberry bag just for shits and giggles.


Aren't they the cutest things? (Okay, you guys reading my blog, shut up)

The buzz lasted the whole of 1 hour, until my brain finally decided to regain some sense and went "Shite".

I used to like this saying that goes "Procrastination is like masturbation. Seems like a good idea at the moment, but in the end, you're just fucking yrself". Seems to work equally well if I insert "retail therapy".

Or maybe, another way to put it: Every time I use retail therapy as a half-hearted attempt to achieve some happiness, it's like using a Q-tip to fill up a big gaping hole in my heart, which is not only futile, but also wasting a Q-tip along the way.

Okay, not the best analogy, but you get my drift.

Anyways, end of my rant.

Bought new eyelashes from Shu Uemura. I've always been envious of the taiwanese girls here, with their perfect fake eyelashes, so I made up my mind to get some. Oh, okay, that was my reason for stepping into the mall in the first place, now that I recall. Heh.


Tadaa! It's such a pain to put it on tho, and from some angles, I feel like I look like a trannie. Haw haw. Oh well.

Okay time for bed.

Chi-town trip

The trip to Chicago was fun, as usual. It's always nice to get together with the girls, and indulge in some girly fun. I'm just gonna put up a bunch of pictures, and describe it as we go along.

The first night, I demanded to go back to Joyee's, and man did I not regret it at all!


The golden mushrooms with japanese tofu, was again, heavenly. Yum!


The kang kong was even better! *slurp!*


We went to this club called Sound Bar, which is apparently the place to be on a Friday night. I had a lot of fun! It was just nice dancing to good r n b music.


My hair got progressively messier towards the end of the night. Hehe.


Went for my favorite deep dish pizza at Pizzeria Duo the next day. I ordered a small by myself, because I didn't want to share. In the end, I ate some of their medium too, and in total, I ate about 5, 6 slices? It was sooo good, and our server was really impressed that we could finish it all, and I could eat so much. :D
Their small pizza was anything but small...

We went to Martini Park, Vain and Republic in the same night. It was a-okay, I enjoyed the first night way better...


Us preening in front of the mirror in our hotel room before heading out


In the club.

The next morning, we went to Mitsuwa Market for lunch, and they had a hokkaido fair going on! I was delirious with happiness when I found the kani store... had to get it...


Kani bento with ikura....yum! :) Both are really fresh...I love seafood.

down times

I know I know, I've been really bad about updating my blog...haven't been in the best of moods this whole month... but I do have some pictures I should post up.

Went to this Adams Ave music fair over the weekend, had quite a bit of fun. Had my fortune told by this lousy psychic reader, who got half the facts wrong... oh well.


Got this sterling silver chain with a crystal on it. The old couple who made it are so adorable! The old man was taking a long time crafting my name out of the wire, and the old lady was frantic and nervous cuz we were just waiting around. Cute.

We got this wine for the party, and I picked it out... no surprises. One thing about gimmicky wine though, very bad quality...and I thought you can never go wrong with Australian wines. Oh well.


I loved the tri-tip sandwich and the corn on the cob at the fair! Sooooo good. Ah, simple pleasures of life. Was a little buzzed at that point of time, from the lousy wine. Heh.
Me and Diane, drinking the lousy wine. The bands were pretty good, but the last act was disappointing. What really seized me was the atmosphere. You just feel so.... alive, when you're in a huge crowd of people from all walks of life.

Went to a miracle fruit party hosted by Guang. For those of you who have no idea what a miracle fruit is, it's a fruit that upon ingestion, causes subsequent sour foods to taste sweet. Guang ordered a stash of the fruit extract tablets online, and we ventured to try every kind of sour food possible.


Exhibit A.

It was awesome. The limes tasted like sweet lime juice, the lemons tasted like lemonade, the strawberries and sour tomatoes tasted like they're in season. Guiness stout tasted bland without it's usual bitter taste, and even salt tasted like msg. Weird.


Me and Renee!

The hookah tasted sweeter than usual, and it was fun blowing bubbles using the hookah smoke.


I tried to do it. It was pathetic. The most I could do was two bubbles, max.


Guang is of course, the expert on this. The night ended on a weird note, with some people licking each other. Eeeew. :P

More than animals?

I had a thought this morning. I wonder what it was like, when humans was merely a new branch of the evolutionary tree of apes. A world without money, without preconceived moral values and concepts. A world where we were just another species of animals on this Earth we live in. We like to think that we're superior to other animals, but is this necessarily constructive and fulfilling in terms of general happiness? We thrive in a world where money and success are keys to general fulfillment, but really, how important is it? We are brought up in a world guided by rules and values - to work towards getting a good education, getting a good job, a good mate, and to live a moral life. But how important are all these things? Are they basic instincts, or just something that we carry onto future generations in order to live in this world that we created?

At the end of the day, when you're steps away from your grave, how important really, is money, or all the branded bags you have, or sports cars you've always desired? What are morals, really? We brand incest, and murder, and theft as immoral, but what are morals really, other than a way to ensure order in the society we live in? It is perfectly normal for other animal species to commit incest, to steal food from each other to survive, to kill each other if need be, hence the concept of "survival of the fittest". These are all basic instincts, for us to propagate, for evolution to carry on selecting for the fittest. Who are we to go against this, to imprison one another with all these regulations and rules?

If we revert back to an age where everything was simple, where money didn't exist, and everything was fair game, will we be happier? I see a world today where most people are unhappy and stressed, where everyone is so busy fighting and struggling for fame, money and success that they forget how pleasant it is to just...live. To be able to breathe in the scent of stargazers, to be able to feel the sea breeze on your skin, to be able to kiss your loved ones. And if you think about it, what plans does our creater have for us when we were created. Are we born in this world to go on this endless pursuit of money? Or to just...live?

random stuff

I'm done with my major proposition! I had my first committee meeting last week, and they decided that I overprepared for the first meeting, and no changes need to be made. I really can't describe how relieved I am. The major defense is a big deal to me, and if I don't pass it, I can advance, and now, I can do away with it!

Been redeeming a lot of free stuff lately... used up my northwest miles to redeem a trip to chicago in two weeks to visit Nicole together with Wenqi and Yvonne. Also, used up pretty much all my thank you points to redeem 175 bucks of statement credit on my citicard account.

I just moved into my new place last week, and it's been hectic so far. Been buying new stuff for my room etc...

My bedroom


The part adjoined to my bathroom, with closets on the side


And my sink cramped with all my perfumes...

I like it so far... if only I'm in better spirits to enjoy it. At least now, the gym is like 20 steps away from my place. Need to cancel my gym membership...

Been having a lot on my mind, and I've been so distracted at work. I can't seem to focus cuz I'm thinking about something else, and for some reason, I've been feeling nauseous lately. I think it's either 1) due to the algae, mold and fungi infected Brita pitcher I've been using 2) my lack of high spirits. Oh well, maybe I'll lose some weight this way.

In love with Whisk n ladle

I am in love. With Whisk n ladle in downtown La Jolla. I think if I tally the average number of times I went there in the last two months, it'd be about 3 times per week. The desserts, appetizers and cocktails are the best I've ever had in my life. Not all of them, but the ones I like, I luuurrrrveee...

I've already wrote about the panna cotta cake, and it's blah now cuz they have a rotating menu, and it's not due for a reappearance anytime soon.

So I tried the next best option on the menu, the fig crisp, with a salty almond crust, and figs and berries underneath, topped with goat cheese ice cream. I like it, the crust was awesome, and the sourness of the fruits complemented the sweetness of the crust and the ice cream. I think fans of goat cheese should definitely try this.

Went for brunch there the other day too! :D I had two entrees because I am a greedy greedy girl.

The granola pancakes. It comes with fresh syrup with soaked berries. Very fluffy, not too sweet, melts in your mouth. Not sure that I like the idea of the granola tho, I kinda liked the pancakes on its own...


The eggs benedict was disappointing. I hate to badmouth my fav restaurant, but they used their own cured ham instead of canadian bacon, and it was wayyyyy too salty. The spinach was really good tho, but the one at Brockton Villa still remains my favorite.

The servers and hostess and bartender recognize me now. It's kinda embarrassing, cuz I was there the afternoon before with Renee, and they were all like "aww you're here again!" when I walked in the door...

This is the remnants of my London's burning cocktail. It's like the lemonade version of a bloody mary. Packed full with flavor, with a little jalapeno juice, lemon juice, gin, lemongrass extract and stuff. It was my favorite drink before...

my favorite drink called the Keiraroyale! I don't have a pic of it cuz I always thot I had a pic of it, but I'll take it the next time. It came about when I saw tomato juice on the counter, and Jenn and I asked the bartender if he can make a drink with tomato juice. And it was soooo good, it became my staple drink, hence the name. The bartender's gonna put together all the regulars' favorite drink and come up with a menu based on that. Yay, my own cocktail! :) Renee loved it too, so I'm sure it'll be a winner out of all the regulars' drinks. Heh. It has tomato juice, passionfruit, vanilla bean, vodka, lemon juice (they squeeze it fresh) and raspberry.

I'll put up a picture of it soon.

Jenn and I shared the diver scallops appetizer the last time we went, and it was topped with a saffron foam and accompanied by fresh salsa and corn. The scallops were huge, and very lightly seared. The best scallops ever.

She had the heirloom lasagne, which was mediocre.


And the creme brulee, which was equally mediocre. Ha. The sugar coating was waaaayyy too thick for consumption.

A few of the lab peeps went out for lunch. We ended up going to Sbicca, in Del Mar. The seafood paella was the BEST I've ever had, and everyone agreed. The seafood were very very fresh, and the shrimps and scallops were HUGE! I've always thought it is very hard to cook a good paella, because a lot of cooks overcook the seafood, leaving it dry, or overseason the paella, or undercook the paella such that it's hard and dry in your mouth. It's such a complicated dish that a lot of things can go wrong... but this one was perfect. The seafood was soft, well seasoned, cooked perfectly. The sauce was delicious, with a strong seafood taste but not too salty. The best paella I've ever had.

The penne with artichokes, corn, feta cheese, and roma tomatoes was oookay, it'd have been better if I am a big fan of artichokes though..

The lobster bisque sucked, in my opinion. It was way too creamy, and I can't really taste any seafood taste in it, and they didn't add cognac at all.

Last week, the lab peeps went to this place called the Tractor Room in Hillcrest. It's mostly hearty food, and if you like game, you'll love this place. They have a great selection of cocktails too...

The black skillet cornbread was sooooo yummy. Hot, fluffy, sweet and just amazing with the layer of honey on top of it.

The wild boar stew was equally good. The meat was tender and not too dry. Very yummy.

The honey sweet squash was a-okay. But if you like squash, this should be kinda nice.

I've been procrastinating for so long about these food blogs, sorry this post's so long. :)

First day of my life...or has it been longer?

This is the first day of my life
I swear I was born right in the doorway
I went out in the rain suddenly everything changed
They're spreading blankets on the beach

Yours is the first face that I saw
I think I was blind before I met you
Now I don’t know where I am
I don’t know where I’ve been
But I know where I want to go

And so I thought I’d let you know
That these things take forever
I especially am slow
But I realize that I need you
And I wondered if I could come home

Remember the time you drove all night
Just to meet me in the morning
And I thought it was strange you said everything changed
You felt as if you'd just woke up
And you said “this is the first day of my life
I’m glad I didn’t die before I met you
But now I don’t care I could go anywhere with you
And I’d probably be happy”

So if you want to be with me
With these things there’s no telling
We just have to wait and see
But I’d rather be working for a paycheck
Than waiting to win the lottery
Besides maybe this time is different
I mean I really think you like me

I heard the best version of this song today...It's almost like you came and topped me up with happiness. Hee. I feel so loved. It's like the first day of my life every day ever since I met you. ^____^