So, I realize I’ve been slacking. Well, slacking in general, but specifically slacking in three areas, which I’ll try this year (um, minus 1 month) to improve.

Area 1: Keeping in contact with people
I am absolutely horrible in keeping in contact with people. Whether it be my friends or family, I just drop off the face of the earth when I’m not physically with them anymore (or freakishly active online). I tend to be content with just staying at home most of the time or hanging out with my bestest friend, Danny. I don’t have any real desire to hang out with my family usually because I lived with them for so long and our relationship is just now to that point where I can take them in small amounts. But, there are times when I find myself with no one to talk to about things Danny doesn’t care about or things that sure Dan will go to but would be more appropriate for a girlfriend to go with me to (ex: MAC parties) or he doesn’t really want to go to (ex: I love dim sum much more than he ever will).

Then again, I’m the type of person that takes things personally. If I don’t hang out with you that often, I want to make sure that our time is fun, and I’ll spend a while bouncing ideas around and basically planning a date. If everything goes great, great. But if conversation is weird, food isn’t good, or too expensive, then I take it personally. I also take it personally if people don’t show up, or are late. I realize that if I had more casual hangouts that it wouldn’t matter as much to me, but these few rare occasions are a tad… not forced, but I go out of my way for them. So, why risk dissatisfaction for any member of the party and just stay at home?

In general, I’m going to try to drop little “hello”s more often, via LJ, facebook, or e-mail, and maybe try extra hard to take note of people’s events in their lives and call them about it.

Bonus Area: Be Less Selfish
Even though I do care about other people and their going ons, I’m the type of person that is just crazy and vent vent vents all day and then I’m exhausted and forget to ask people about their issues, feelings.l’ve been working on this for a while, and I hope I can master it this year.

Area 2: Health
I’ve been pretty good about eating healthier (cooking at home helps a bunch), but I really need to crack the whip and start exercising. Sure, dieting can keep you from gaining weight, but in order to have a body that I’m proud of I need to exercise. And this isn’t just for bathing suits and such–I want to be able to not worry about whether I’m going to dislocate or break something.

Bonus Area: Don’t stress, or at least don’t let the stress get to me.
Yeah, I tend to dwell on things, and even if I’m not consciously stressing about them, my body stresses about it and I get sick. I know stressing affects me (tension headaches that no medicine can cure), and I don’t want to be uncomfortable or take medicine on a daily basis. I want to learn to let go of things or manage my stress.

(Goal: Take the JLPT in December!)

January 25th, 2009

For some reason in the recent past I have found myself fixated on brunches. It’s a meal only served only on the weekends at most, if any, restaurants, and finding a non-dim sum brunch that is worth getting out of bed that early is a mini-quest I’ve been on. Consider the adventure over: Farrah Olivia’s resume fills all my requirements.

The rule of a good brunch is that it offers something interesting, not just the normal eggs, waffles, and french toast. First of all, it’s a three course brunch–that’s interesting in itself. There’s something for everyone here (including the option to order single appetizers and/or entrees), from Shrimp & Grits to Waffles to Steak. There’s also a great array of (affordable) drinks available, which I recommend. Don’t worry, while there were a few brave souls sipping “Spicy Bloody Mary”s and martini’s at noon, I’m referring to the delicious and refreshing Hibiscus lemonade (“spiked with ginger and lemongrass”) and the less-sweet Hibiscus Iced Tea. I personally like the iced tea better–the lemonade was much sweeter–almost too sweet, but it’s one of the best lemonades I’ve ever had. Iced tea is another story. I find myself either drinking way-too-sweet Southern-style tea, or tea that just tastes like leaves and water. This tea was perfectly brewed with just the amount of sweetness. At first I was a little off-put that our server kind-of insisted we get something to drink, and after we received our drinks I forgave him. (Not to mention that it was only $3.50 for a tall glass of refrescos-goodness with free refills).

With our drinks we received a basket of muffins/biscotti and a tray of four spreads. (Blueberry Cottage Cheese, a butter, a mango cream cheese, and a orange more-marmalade-than-jam jam). My favorite combination was the zucchini muffin + jam, though the cranberry muffin was a nice tart alternative. I didn’t much care for the other spreads and refused to try the cottage cheese just because I have a past of cottage-cheese-hatred.

Service was good. There was only one server in our area, but I didn’t feel un-attended to. We also had a personal chef-sidekick who would bring out some of our dishes and clear the table.  (Note: this is a business casual restaurant, which equates to multiple sets of silverware. You might want to familiarize yourself with some basic table etiquette before going.) He recommended dishes when asked (we asked for dessert), but his recommendations soon expanded to include nearly everything in the dessert section…which really negated us asking for his opinion. There were three minus points for service: 1) The table wasn’t cleared of crumbs. Now, for some reason, we were especially not-that-crumby at this meal, but once you’ve eaten at a few restaurants that do “scrape” the table, it’s a really nice added touch that you miss when it isn’t…added. 2) Serving (literally). We were sitting at a corner of a four-cornered table, with two whole sides of the table open. The waiter took our orders while standing at the corner opposite of us, but persisted in serving the dishes (without warning) either right next to my face, or over my head. Out of all of the places I’ve eaten at, I’ve never commented multiple times throughout a meal that I was almost hit with my food! 3) He didn’t explain the appetizer/entree dishes. I wanted to know what the blossoms were on my plate with the char and what the sauces were.

First Course: Warm Pear Beignets (orange cinnamon reduction | caramelized pear) & Squash Soup.
I had to look up what a beignet was before ordering it. (It’s apparently a french doughnut.) This sounded like it would be a very sweet dish, but it wasn’t. In fact, from the description on the menu, I thought it would be like Mexican, Chinese, or Indian doughnuts that I’ve had. In fact, the orange cinnamon reduction (if it was that?) was slightly similar to tomato sauce, and I didn’t see any caramelized pear. For some reason, this dish reminded me of slightly sweetened pizza bites. You know what I’m talking about. The soup was a little thick for me, and looked like baby food. It had great flavors, (first flavor of cinnamon and then squash), but could have used to be a little more watered down and maybe have a more substance to it.

Second Course: Arctic Char (quinoa tabouleh | yuzu mustard) & Lamb Burger (smoked paprika fries | chile ketchup)
I was really hesitant about ordering fish this early in the morning, but figured that I’d chance it. The real test of a restaurant is if they can do seafood well, and I’d recently seen an episode on Survivorman (while flipping channels) where he was eating Arctic Char. I personally do not like eating the skin of fish, so I took the skin off of the char and gave it to Dan. I also don’t like eating the grey mushy part of the fish that was connected to the skin, so I gave that to Dan as well. Other than that, the fish was great (not as great as the sea bass at Sea Pearl, but it’s a different fish), and it worked well with the citrus-y couscous (which I took the ewwww olives off) and the sauces.
The lamb burger was possibly the best burger I’ve ever had. In fact, why do we even make cow burgers? I just want eat those baby lambs from now on. Cooked medium, it was the perfect amount of juiciness (not too juicy so it leaked all over the plate or made the bun soggy), and had great flavor. The bun was potato based and was toasted perfectly. It was also the perfect size for the burger — no hang overs here! I couldn’t really taste the chile in the ketchup, and the fries were okay (you only get like four!).

Third Course: Chocolate Espresso (Brownie Bottom?) Cheesecake & Apple “Pizza” (fig jam | calvados ice cream | toffee sauce | pomegranate seeds)
These were good. The apple pizza was light and flaky, but the vanilla flavor of the ice cream was way too strong. It was the first time I got to try pomegranate seeds though (I made Dan eat one first). The cheesecake didn’t taste like cheesecake — it tasted like a dense brownie.

The decor in here is great. We had a nice street-side view, but to the left there were mint green branches cut out of a brown wall, and above us was a classy green square with wooden rings hanging from it.

From Zagat:

Expect “fascinating” culinary “fireworks” from “innovative” New American maestro (and Iron Chef contender) Morou Ouattara at this “lovely” Old Town yearling where his signature “deconstructivist” style – and “fanciful” African and French touches – turn the seasonal menu into an “inspired” “dining adventure”; the “subtle” backdrop and “attentive” but “unpretentious service” keep the hurrahs focused on some of “the most imaginative” eating around.

Food: 25, Decor: 21, Service: 22, Cost: $54
Old Town | 600 Franklin St. (S. Washington St.) [King Street Metro] | Alexandria, VA | 703-778-2233

Read more »

January 2nd, 2009

The location is bad but the food is great. I love the level of customization available here with vegetarian options as well. The burgers are surprisingly cheap, even if a little on the small side. Shakes and fries are great, and even though the burgers were only 2/3rds the size of burgers at Five Guys or Ray’s Hell Burger, they were still filling and tasted fresh (not greasy and over-cooked).

The way the burgers were wrapped reminded me of First Kitchen in Japan, but the decor (warehouse-esque) and the baking pan the food was served in did not.

Service is okay. We put in our order and our name was called when it was ready. We had to pick it up–it wasn’t brought to the table. I received raw onions instead of the caramelized onions that I requested, but that was fixed in a jiffy. We cleared our table ourselves (so no wait staff here). This is a place that a lot of families come to, so don’t visit if you’re easily annoyed by children dropping containers of oranges or teenagers venting.

Cheeseburger and Veggie Burger #1 with Elevation Sauce, Fries, and Coffee & Cookies Malt

Read more »

So I know it’s not the new new new year, but lets just say this is pre-emptive for the new years to end all new years (Lunar/Chinese New Year – Jan. 26th). The past few days things have been rolling through my head and I’ve catalouged the good, the bad, and the “both” as refelected on the past year (and… few weeks).

Andre Peach Passion Sparking Wine: Only Harris Teeter carries this wine. I don’t like any wine, but I love this wine (and Plum wine, which I hold in a different category all together). I picked this up for Pei Ming on her birthday in Charlottesville because it was bright and shiny and on the end cap. Unfortunately, I fell in love with it and spent months trying to re-locate it. Dan bought me some for Christmas (after a treacherous journey to Columbia Pike), and we revisited that Teeter and bought ever single Peach Passion they had (don’t worry, it was only 3). This wine tastes great and is really cheap! (about 5-6 dollars).

Asian Pear Deodorant: I love Asian Pear (which is apparently slightly different than Korean Pear, but that’s another story), and picked this up at Target the moment I saw it. I’ve been swinging back and forth between deodorants, finding that even clinical strength didn’t do the job. Not only does this deodorant go on smooth, smells great (and gradually re-releases the scent in a good way throughout the day), but it doesn’t clump on me and does the job better than the clinical strength brands I’ve tried. I’ve never used a deodorant all the way to the bottom so that I had to but another one, and I’ve never bought the same deodorant twice — except for this one.

Brush Sets: I use brushes for foundation and eyeliner, but this year I upgraded myself. I ditched the constantly shedding MAC 109 Buffer brush and invested in the Clinique Sable-Hair Foundation brush. This brush works noticeably better and is much easier to clean. Plus I don’t have to worry about black hairs appearing throughout the day on my skin. I still use the MAC 208 angled brush for Fluidline application, but use a drugstore (Maybelline) angled brush to apply eyeshadow as eyeliner, or use a Watercolor blending brush to apply eyeshadow. Since I have a few brushes (I also started wearing powder and bought a powder brush from Clinique), I wanted a hard case to carry them in when I traveled to Japan so they wouldn’t get damaged, but Sephora discontinued theirs. I got a case that was 75% off at ULTA and came with several brushes. (I gave the brush blush to my mom because I already had one and she had been ripped off by Clinique telling her she needed one when she doesn’t even wear blush). Since I had all these extra brushes, I set to using them to create more blended eyeshadow looks and I like being able to pack the color on. I only use the brushes for the outer half of my eyes, I still use my fingers for the inner corner and hilight areas, as well as for certain colors that are applied better with fingers.

Chowhound: I stumbled upon Chowhound (chow.com) for the Washington D.C./Baltimore area, and I’m addicted. It’s a great source for information and you can ask specific questions and almost always get an answer.

Cute Breakfast: who doesn’t love a super cute (and efficient) meal, any part of the day? Bacon & Egg Cups,  Heart Eggs and Toast?

DC Restaurants: This year was a great year for restaurants. A bunch of new places were opened or old places revamped. I’ve been scouring Zagat 2009, the Dining Guide, Washingtonian Magain and the Food Section of the Washington Post whenever I can to keep up on new and/or happening places (as well as to stay away from the bad places!)

Dry Shampoo: This year I relied heavily on dry shampoo and tried a few. Sammy Salon clogged after one use and used half the bottle, but Ojon worked great the first time I bought it (travel size). I bought two more the next trip to Sephora, one leaked and one didn’t work as well (I think they changed the formula). The third time I bought it it worked okay, but nothing rivals the first purchase of Ojon (plus I bought it at ULTA so it was $1 less than Sephora). Maybe it works better on shorter hair? Regardless, this makes greasy hair semi-presentable, but can only do so much. Martha Stewart magazine recommended Klorane (though I’ve heard bad things about it), so I’ll try that next.

Flaxseed: Ground flaxseed, whole flaxseed… I used this a bunch during the year in cooking and baking. It’s great because it has a ton of omega-3s in it and fiber to boot. Whenever I make stir-fries or fried rice (or anything involving a pan) I mix some flaxseed into it.

Hard Luggage: I like hard luggage (I bought a small, carry-on sized one in Japan at LoFt 2008) because it won’t expand so I’ll over stuff it. It’s easier to carry and is more protective of my packed items.

Ikea: Ikea in general is amazing — I furnished my whole apartment with it for under $1K (and this is including 2 dressers, 4 tables, a coffee table, an entertainment center, 3 lights, pillows, and kitchen supplies) <3 <3

Interesting Ingredients: I’m definetely getting into cooking more, and like using interesting ingredients like bok choy, jicama, flaxseed, and miscellaneous spices (wasabi powder, tumeric). I’m also cooking with tofu a lot more because it’s super cheap and super easy! What will be next?

Marie Claire Gorgeous Veil Foundation: [Image] [Site] When looking for a picture of this foundation, I discovered that it’s only for sale in Japan! If I would have known that when I went to Japan the second time, I would have stocked up! Anyways, this foundation holds up great and goes on sheer, yet doesn’t sacrifice any coverage. I only use this foundation for special occasions because I have Clinique for every day wear.

Martin + Osa: Last year when I went to Martin + Osa (Tysons Corner Mall) I didn’t understand why everything was so expensive and it didn’t even look good. This past year I think I bought things from them about 4 times, just because their shirts don’t explode on me in the chest area and the clothes are made really well. (Not to mention there was a holiday sale where I snagged a $160 cashmere sweater for about $40). Plus I learned that they time the lights to resemble clouds passing through the sky, and they have periodic “outdoorsy” bursts of scent. I had to find a new place to spend money because Express, Limited, Bennetton, and FCUK were all un-inspired this season.

More Natural (but not always quicker) makeup: the Corporate world and it’s necessary commute and rigourouse same-hours-every-day schedule + me still living out of my ‘only the necessaries’ Japan 07 makeup bag has caused me to wipe on makeup in a (usually) quicker manner, which involves more mascara, no bottom eye-liner, and usually eyeshadows already paired for me [CANMAKE ].

Nail Polish: This year I was a big fan of actually painting my nails, especially Metallic colors (especially OPI’s “Birthday Babe“. I only got two professional manicures this year, and both were OPI gold colors.

neolive Salon Straight Perm: I swear by my beloved Mizonokuchi neolive salon(s)! I’ve gotten a straight perm there two years in a row and it is definetely worth the ~$170. Not only does it cut down my routine in the morning, but I don’t have to maintain my hair throughout the day either.

New Host: In the fall, Qoozz failed and lost all of my files. I had to re-build my Wordpress database from scratch and switched to Cats-Nine hosting. So far, so good!

New President: Obama-Rama! What more is there to say? Oh yeah, I helped him get elected because I voted for the first time EVER!

Patent Leather Accessories: This year I saw a huge increase in patent leather everything, particularly shoes and bags. I think the patent leather bags, if done right, look expensive and stay looking good longer. The shoes look dressy or business as well.

Slicci Pen スカイブル (0.3mm): These pens, for some reason, are the perfect thin-ness for writing and go on smooth with great color. I don’t’ know if I got this pen in Japan or America, but I definitely plan on re-buying!

Small Mascara/Eyebrow Brush: These might be one of the best inventions ever. I take a few from Sephora whenever I remember to and use them to tame the brows or fly-aways in my crown.

Socks from Japan: Who couldn’t like these super cheap 100 yen (about $1) socks that come in many colors and textures and provide just the right something in-between your shoes to make them more fun to wear. I bought several the first time I went to Japan and made sure to buy tons more when I went back the second time. Unfortunately, I was on more of a time constraint the second time so I wasn’t able to get the colors and styles I wanted, but I think they sell similar socks here now.

Sur La Table: What more is there to say? Sur La Table is cheaper than W&S, closer to me now, and has more cool and funky kitchen-related things.

Stir Fry: Easy, Healthy, and a good fridge-cleaner-outer! I love making this with Dan for dinner with noodles or rice.

Taste of Georgetown: Oct. 11th. The weather was beautiful and the food was amazing. I keep meaning to post the pictures and what we ate, but this whole moving/working/sleeping thing is getting in the way. I definetely want to do it again next year, and it was worth every cent!

Tide-to-Go: Miracle stick. That’s all I’m going to say.

True Blood: I know, I know, but it’s just something about this Southern-Gothic tolerance vs. intolerance themed series that keeps me coming back.

Turtlenecks: I wanted to stock up on turtlenecks this year, and was able to get one turtleneck sweater and a regular turtleneck shirt this year. It’s super cold so far, and I’d like to get more, but everyone’s already changed their line-ups to Spring!

Wall-E: Amazing. [full thoughts here]

Washington Post Food Section: This section of the newspaper just kept me looking forward to Wednesdays! I love the reviews, recipes, and special features like Holiday Cookies and Cupcake Wars.

Wii Fit: I stood in line 3 times trying to get this for my family and I got one for my birthday! I haven’t gotten the chance to use mine that much, but I used my families pretty consistently for a few weeks, and I love it!

Wrinkle Release Spray: This is my saving grace. I origionally bought some for Japan07 trip, but I continued to use it ever since. It’s great when you don’t have an iron or don’t have time to iron, and even though you might have to do more than one round, it does the job. (much like another favorite of mine, Tide-to-go).

Bras: So it has come to my attention that apparently, no one makes my bra size. Geez.

Corporate World: Drama, Drama, and more Drama. Except, it’s not even fun like the Office. It’s just politics and crap and high school starting all over again. I want to go back to college!

Credit Card Fraud: In November, someone tried to buy thousands of dollars of Google merch on my credit card… Hmm…

Expensive, Un-Healthy Take-Out: Now that I have my own place, I try not to go back to the only thing bad about college — the food! It was seriously unhealthy to eat all of that take-out and carry-out, and I’m trying to cut back severely. (especially if we have yummy food in the fridge).

Host Failure: Yeah. Everything was lost in the fall and I had to go through a tedious re-build. *sigh*

Internet Group Homes / Hostels: Yeah, I don’t know what I was thinking, but I was desperate because my hotel canceled on me at the last minute. I had to go way out of my way to stay here which looked alright enough online, but when I arrived in Japan, it was horrible! I thought it was better because it wasn’t a hostel, but I ended up moving with my friend to Ace Inn (after staying at an Ikebukuro hotel for a day). No AC, 8 older Japanese men, no real beds, no real toilet or place to wash your face. O_O It wasn’t worth the $20 a night!

Japanese: I totally sucked at Japanese this year. I’m slowly (aherm, QUICKLY) loosing all of my Japanese and I must make a full-fledged effort to retain and build on my Japanese! I don’t want to be in a few years saying “Yeah, I used to be able to speak Japanese” (looks at Chinese all dusty in the corner).

Keeping in Touch: Aherm. I am horrible at staying in contact with people. If I graduate, don’t live by you, don’t belong to the same online community anymore, or whatever, I probably will not/didn’t contact you. This is just because I am, for some reason, horrible at keeping in touch with people. Hey, I don’t even talk to my own family for weeks. I need to work on keeping in touch with my friends or else I won’t have friends for long! It’s also not fair to always unload/depend on Dan. But, I like planning things and don’t like spontaneity, so this makes it hard for me to hang out with people. I’m just awkward sometimes.

MarioKart Wii: MarioKart is way to hard with the steering wheel/wii motes. We had to attach Game Cube controllers to the Wii just to be able to steer! There’s a difference between making a game hard and making a game poorly.

Music: No real good music this year. Everything was all over-processed and bleh. [Though AKUTOU was an amazing resource for remixes this year]

Pretentious, Over-rated Restaurants: Yeah. I hate going to a restaurant and paying a bunch of money and still not really enjoying my experience. Some recent examples would be Mate and Co Co Sala (Round 2).

Project Runway: Just like American Idol, this show is less about substance now and is less interesting. When PR was first starting out, it was interesting because you were discovering new talent, new ideas, new challenges. Now it’s comprised mostly of individuals who already have their own labels and just want the jumpstart that the show and the prizes will give them.

Reading: I really neglected reading for pleasure this year. Maybe it was because of all that reading I did for school + no time to read + no library by me + no money to buy books… Right now I’m trying to read a book but I keep finding “better” things to do, like.. play Wii and watch TV shows…

Stress: I don’t stress well. I need to work on handlilng my stress by not allowing things to stress me and developing techniques to handle my stress. (If something is bothering me I get physically sick, so I can’t just pretend to not be stressed out and ignore it — my body confronts it).

Student Loans: Enough said. Payment on these has already started.

Threading: Not to many reputable and accessible places in this area provide this service. I went to Okyo Salon in Georgetown and after about 9 years of waxing, I couldn’t hold back the tears. I let one big tear out and though the shape in general was better than my less-than-half-the-cost wax job, the shape didn’t last long and she still missed some hairs. Glad I tried, but never again.

Japan 2008: I went to Japan to teach English for a few weeks and I had real mixed feelings about it. Not to mention that I was sick the beginning and end of the trip, and for fear of being sick the whole trip, I restricted my diet. Because of my program, I had to buy my ticket super late (=$$$) and then the exchange rate sucked when I came back so I lost hundreds of dollars. I had to move around because my living arrangements sucked, my schedule was deceiving (8-5, plus a long commute which meant almost no time to do anything *I* wanted to, and no free weekends). I’m really bummed that I was sick because it made my time with Kanae in Osaka and Nagoya not as enjoyable.

Trips: I didn’t get to go on a trip this year with Danny. (granted I took the time meant for a beach trip and up and went to Japan). I really want to plan a trip to San Francisco with him, if not this year for SFO, then a short short trip to NYC is in order!

Working Out: My rule is work out about 2-3 times a year. This year I want to work out more, but it’s difficult for me to do the things I want to (bike) because of my knee. I’ll try to do more things like the eliptical and situps, especially now since I have a 24 hr residental work-out partner and a free gym.

Happy New Year! Sorry it’s taken me so long to make a post in the new year — I almost forgot the year had changed! (Trust me, I’m still dating things as 2008). It was especially busy because of my sister’s birthday, our celebration of Chinese New Years (on New Years Day because we’re all together), and stupid stupid work.

I was so hungry on New Year’s that I didn’t even take pictures (and I had specifically brought my camera). Our spread consisted of:

- Long Island Duck
- Great Grandpa’s Potato/Liver Duck Stuffing
- Mushroom Chicken (Ginger)
- Vegetables (Jicama, Broccoli, Cauliflour, Napa, all with sauce)
- Rice
- Guava Chiffon Pie

I’ve temporarily changed the image up top to a nengajyo 年賀状 to celebrate the new years. The image is from a super cute Japanese website called Putiya.  I’ve collected some cute new year’s images for you in the attached gallery.

Read more »