The Counter's Burgers

My dad heard that The Counter has really good burgers. I guess the whole family is a foodie lol. Anyways, uncle Hershey invited us out to lunch, so we decided to go check it out. I also got to meet Uncle George. I haven't seen him in more than 15 years!

The place has a modern decor. Food was yummy. You get to build your own burger, and they are hormone and antibiotic free. I like the clipboard menu :p. I got my burger with Brie Cheese, 7 Grain bun, Pineapple, Sprouts, and garlic aioli dressing. They have very tasty sweet potatoes fries :D.

Sweet Street 2@ Nucleus Gallery

Took a trip to LA to help my dad move and also to go to Sweet Street 2 art show. I knew that a few of my friends were going there, but we ended up missing each others so I didn't get to see them :(. I did get to hang out with Rudy and Gary though. We all went to eat dinner and then to the show together.

Porridge

Craving Porridge from Siam Sunset in LA. That place has the best thai food. In the end, I just made it myself. Not as good as the one at Siam Sunset, but it will do for now.

Stir Fry Glass Noodles

Mom makes the best Stir Fry glass noodles. I had some broccoli and mushrooms in the fridge, so I decided to make some.

Cat Show - Santa Clara

Derek, Laine, Elda, and I went to Santa Clara cat show. I drew almost every breed of cats for MEG, so it was super cool to actually see the real animals lol. I didn't know that cats can get that big. There were some that are about 27 lbs. 27!! isn't that crazy? Here I am thinking that Mewmew is a gigantic cat because he's about 14 lbs. The big cat's head is the size of a human's head!

I liked the american curls with their ears rounded and curled back. The Ragdolls and Burman kitties remind me of Coco <3. I love the pattern of Ocicats. They're like leopards. I want one! lol. Savannah cats and Maine coon cats are the gigantic ones. I've never seen a real Toyger before either (They're the ones that looks like tigers).

Thank you Derek for the pictures. I had a hard time taking pictures there because I have a stupid camera that shoots out red laser beams to focus. Those poor cats would squint, so I stopped and told Dererk that I'd steal his pics instead >_<.

Baked Salmon w/ curry panko crust

Rosann's yummy looking baked salmon picture made me crave baked salmon, so I took my frozen Salmon out and kind of threw stuff together to make Baked salmon with curry crust. (I saw the curry powder in my spice drawer, and thought it'd be fun to try adding it to the panko mixture lol). Well, all I did was mixing in chopped Shallots, parsley, garlic powder, curry powder with panko. Add a little olive oil, then plop it on the Salmon and baked. It was really good.

I also made Garlic Yukon mashed potatoes to go with it. Super quick and easy meal. yay!

Katara Art

I got an email from a girl in Germany that's a fan of Avatar: The Last Airbender. She liked the trading card set that we did for Avatar, so she asked if I can draw something for her. I wasn't too busy, so I did a small watercolor painting for her. :)

Japanese Cheesecake

I made Japanese Cheesecake today. It's not as dense as the american cheesecake and it's also less sweet.

Birthday Gifts

Sunny sent me extremely pretty Bow tie pasta for my birthday. They are so pretty that I was afraid to eat them lol. I ended up making a Chicken Piccata-ish pasta plate with them.


Mike Butkus sent me chocolates from France. It's super fancy, and the way it snaps when you bite into it... so so divine. <3


And a Kaffir Lime Tree that I've always wanted from Alan, "How to Train your dragon" Art book from James, Mini Vaccuum from Derek, and a super cute pot holder from Laine. <3

Nursery Rhymes

I was just thinking that a lot of Children songs and Nursery Rhymes are kind of depressing and morbid, don't you think? For example...
Hush-a-by baby
On the tree top,
When the wind blows
The cradle will rock.
When the bough breaks,
The cradle will fall,
Down tumbles baby,
Cradle and all.
Tumbling baby from the treetop? @_@

And the one they teach you in Spanish classes about the cockroaches that can't walk because it doesn't have 2 back legs >_<:
La cucaracha, la cucaracha,
ya no puede caminar
porque no tiene, porque le falta
las dos patitas de atrás.

They also have the one about plucking the birds feathers away from head to toes for the kids in French classes.
Alouette, gentille Alouette
Alouette je te plumerai
Alouette, gentille Alouette
Alouette je te plumerai

Japanese also have the one about snipping off the rain doll's head if it happens to rain the following day (Teru Teru Bozu).
てるてるぼうず、てるぼうず
明日天気にしておくれ
それでも曇って泣いてたら
そなたの首をちょんと切るぞ


I'm sure there are a lot more. Why are they so sad and mean? T_T

SF Food Fest

Laine invited me to the San Francisco Food Cart Festival. We met up with a few people, and I made a new friend that loves food as much as I do. We clicked right away and couldn't stop talking about the food and restaurants that we like lol. I think most of my friends and I are bonded through art. It's interesting that we could talk so much about food XD. And she's super skinny and pretty too. How come all the other foodies are skinny! It's so unfair!

There were so many food carts. A lot of them were quite tasty. For some reason though, the drinks with fancy names always taste a bit strange. I didn't really like Shiso Horchata or Purple Hibiscus. Even Maple soda that Derek got tasted weird.

Mom's Flower & Huntington Trip

My mom used to own a flower shop. She hasn't done arrangements in a long time though. She did one recently (above picture). Isn't it pretty? Sometimes I forget that my mom is super artistic. Actually according to my sister, my mom has a better sense of style than me T_T.

This LA trip, I decided to take my mom to Huntington Library. Last time we took a trip, it was to Disneyland, and my mom tripped and sprained her ankle. After that, it was one bad event after another, but we kind of laughed it out. This time, my mom fell and hurt her ankle again the day before the trip! So I said, "don't worry, we'll get a wheelchair." I've seen people wheeling other people around. It can't be THAT bad... Well, it was a bad idea lol.

OMG, I didn't know that thing weighs a ton! When mom was going slightly down hill, I had to pull it so she won't tumble down. When she was going up hill, it's so hard to push >_<. I was sweating like crazy. She felt so bad that she decided to walk up and down the stairs instead of taking the ramp because the ramp which tends to be a much longer way that loops around. That didn't work too well either. I can't lift those wheelchairs up lol. I think she had a great time laughing at me pushing and pulling her on the wheelchair though. Mom can be so cruel at times XD.

The Huntington Library has many gardens, art galleries, and a library. It's really nice and peaceful there. I always thought that if I live near pasadena, I'd go there very often. This time, we saw a very unique looking koi in the japanese garden. My mom said it's an angelic carp because the pectoral fins were abnormally long making it look more like wings. The way the fins flowed in the water was really pretty. I took a picture of it too (last picture).

Half way through Huntington Library, Pailin said "Oh, I think the wheelchair is in the locked position". >o<;;;; <--- me. No wonder why it was almost impossible to push. Well it helped to unlock it, but it was still hard to push. In the end, everything went well. Mom is happy because she got to enjoy the whole garden without having to walk. I told her "When you get older and can't walk anymore, you better get those Motorized wheelchair >:("

Ocean Blue - Sushi

Ocean Blue in Sunnyvale has one of the best rolled sushi that I've ever had. The presentation is gorgeous, and the food tastes so good. I took Pailin there this time. She loved it so much we went there two days in a row lol. The sushi chef was so nice too. He gave Pailin a free plate of dessert. The Green Tea cheesecake and the Green Tea Crème brûlée were perfect <3