Project 365 day 52

Now that I bought my laptop, I need a laptop bag. I always had a softspot for Kipling. My current purse is Kipling also. I found this nice messenger bag at the Mall yesterday and fell in love with it. It is the perfect size for my laptop and it is very stylish. The only downside is that it is not really a laptop bag and therefore don't have any padding so I would have to buy a sleeve for my laptop. When I got home, I looked online and found that they have a similar style that is a laptop bag :(. Now I am really torn, I really like this bag, should I return this and get the laptop one? or just keep this one for the versatility and get a sleeve. The price is gonna come out to about the same. Dilemma!!

Project 365 day 51

Ninja and I went to this new Japanese restaurant today. I randomly saw this place while I was looking for a haircutting place. Since we have pretty much eaten at every possible place around Bellevue downtown area, a new place is always very exciting. This is Kobe Katsu, a Katsu/Noodle place ran , as usual, by some Korean people. Ninja ordered a Bimbim Bap and I ordered the Katsu/Udon combo. My food was delicious and also enough to feed two people -_-. I am actually quite happy with the way the BimBimBap picture came out. It almost looks like I know what I am doing hehe.

Project 365 day 50

M is still on her quest to feed me as much goodies as possible. Today, she bought some live Dungeness crab and we made crab Chinese style. It was very yummy!

Project 365 day 49

Spring is in the air. These trees are blooming all over my street. They kind of look like magnolias but I know they are not. If only it is a little warmer it would be perfect.

Project 365 day 48

After being couped up at home for 2 days, I decided to do a mall walk today. It was nice to be outside and breathing some fresh air. Apparently, it is also almost time for Easter. I wonder if it is the same exact rabbit every year? or is it a different one? I know that parents take their kids to take these pictures every single year. How do they tell the difference year from year unless they mark down the date? hm.

project 365 day 47

Who's got the Vicodin!? Me Apparently :)

I had minor outpatient surgery today to excise a small lump out of my right breast. I found it a while ago and the doctors think that is a benign tumor (not uncommon for girls). It should be harmless but there is always that slim chance it might turn into something bad. So we decided better to just take it out.

The surgery itself went pretty smoothly except for the fact that I had to be there at 6 am in the morning (1st of the day). This is all entirely new for me. first time staying in a hospital, first time getting an IV drip and of course first time getting myself cut open -_-. All in all, it went pretty well. The doctors confirmed their suspicions. I was sedated for the procedure. I always had a fear of being putting under and not waking up but it wasn't so bad. The anesthesiologist put something in my IV and was like "we will just put some medicine while the doctor get ready" and the next thing I know, I am waking up in an empty surgery with a lonely nurse keeping an eye on me. After lying groggily for couple hours I got to come home and sleep the rest of the day. I can't really even feel any pain right now, I think the local anesthetic is still in effect. Hopefully I won't be screaming later.

PSA: girls, self examination is very important. haha.

project 365 day 46

My recent lapse in picture posting is caused by the fact that my camera battery finally ran out and I keep forgetting to charge it. sigh, I guess I have to carry the charger around too. Good thing my purse is big.

I am always a fan of Chinese desser snacks because they use interesting ingredients and are not overly sweet. These are Mung Bean cakes. M got these as a gift this weekend. Can't wait to try them out. I think I will bring them to work.

Project 365 day 45

This is continuation of yesterday really. I am not sure if this is a uniquely Seattle thing or not. But recently, these expresso stands started popping up, they feature coffee and scantily dressed baristas. This one is called Cowgirls and is a chain. I have heard of them but haven't seen one until yesterday on the way back from the hike.

Project 365 day 44

I went hiking again this Saturday because it was a warm day. This time we went to Lake 22 up north. This was one of my first hikes that I went on since I came to Seattle. I remember this lake was frozen the last time I went too haha. I foresee many hikes coming up now that this winter is unusually warm

Project 360 day 43

So I was at my dermatologist the other day. While I was waiting for the doctor, I picked up this food magazine which had a story on a Sushi chef from Seattle that only uses sustainable fish. After reading about the plights of the bluefin tuna, I think I have decided that I am not going to eat anymore of it. ( this is a hard decision to make because Daitoro is sooo delicious!). Along with the article was a easy recipe provided by this chef. We made this dish tonight for dinner. It was quite tasty.

project 360 day 42

This was taken at I Love Sushi. It is party for Ninja's old roommate who went to Australia and came back to visit. Everyone ordered 3 rolls each . This is the fullest table I have ever seen.

Project 365 day 41

After my latest snowboarding adventure, I noticed that my gloves are actually coming apart at the seams of my fingers. I am amazed that my hand stayed dry the entire time. Those pair of REI gloves have served me well over the years. They see snow about once a year for 4 years. It is time to retire. So tonight, I went to REI and got these Dakine Catalina ones. They are definitely an upgrade, with leather palms and Gore-Tex lining. Lets hope I get to use them at least one more time this year.

Project 365 day 40

This is the last of my sake posts for a while as I ran out of my backlog hehe. This is Ninja's newest acquisition: Ura. It is usually really expensive but this one was on sale for 50% off. This is also a Junmai Jinjou so it is the same as our old favorite Kikusui. Tastewise, this one is much more "tasty" in that it makes much more sensation on your tongue than the Kikusui, however it doesn't go down as smooth as the Kikusui. Actually it rather burns a little haha. But it sure does make a party on your tongue :)

project 365 day 39

This is Kasumi Tsuru Kimoto Extra dry. I'd say this is slightly less smooth than the Kurosawa from last post. Other than that, there is not much I can say about it. haha.

project 365 day 38

The next in line for my Sake theme. This is Kurosawa, a Junmai Kimoto. It was recommended to us by the Japanese grocery store wine guy. Apparently it has the reputation of being very dependable and very "pure" taste. If you want to know what a normal sake SHOULD taste like, then this is it. This is only Junmai Kimoto not Jummai Jinjou so it is lower grade than the Kikusui I posted before. However, it is still very smooth and light. Ninja says it has a full body, whatever that means. I can say it was pretty good though.

project 365 day 37

Snowboarding at Steven's Pass today. As the Veggies know, I am usually the skier. However, the friends I went with this time all snowboarded and there were some beginners as well so I figure it is as a good time as any to give it a shot. I actually found it easier than skiing especially after I learned how to leaf down the hill. It is much easier to slow down or stop on snowboards, less chance of tumbling down the hill in a heap. I had alot of fun.

project 365 day 36

Continuation of the Sake theme. Hmm as I am writing this, I realized I probably should have tried a different setting for the pictures rather than just doing it in the exactly spot. Will think about it some more next time. This is Kikusui, a Junmai Ginjo as opposed to the sweet Nigori in the last post. Junmai Ginjo is more of a traditional sake type. It is clear high grade rice wine. This particular brand is actually extremely good. Very light and smooth and with just a hint of alcohol taste. This is Ninja's favorite so far. Since my judgment of whether a drink is good is how much I can not taste the alcohol. I'd say this is my favorite as well haha. It does come with a big pricetag. This is about 13 bucks while the Sayuri was only 6 bucks haha. Both bottles are small sample size bottles.

project 365 day 35

Velius inspired me with his themed pics. I am starting a Sake theme. Ninja is a big fan of sake and have been going through the local Japanese grocery store's sake section. I would try a sip now and then just to see what the difference is. This one is the first one we tried. A Sayuri Nigori, it is a very sweet cloudy sake. There are rice at the bottom and when you shake it, you can see it swirls in the liquid. I think the good thing about it is that it is pretty sweet, although not very 'smooth'. Good thing for dessert I suppose.

project 365 day 34

Today was a super cold day, completely blowing away any wishful thinking of a mild rest of the winter. It was cold and wet, in other words back to normal. Just before the sunset however, there was a brief patch of clearness and you can see the surrounding mountains. You'd think being in Seattle, I'd get used to seeing them but for most of othe year they are shrouded in cloudiness that I still gasp everytime I get a clear view of the magnificence.

project 365 day 33

On Monday, all of a sudden, our resident Lara Croft was replaced with this bad boy.

project 365 day 32

Ninja made this giant piece of steak on Sunday. It was so delicious and only took 12 minutes to make. American food sometimes really is quite simple! I wish I know how to make some, rather than the time consuming Chinese variety.

project 365 day 28

I suffer from a serious case of Out of Picture Idea-itis. It doesn't help that basically everyday I just go between two places. For the make up day, I took a picture of Ninja's most expensive bottle of booze. Apparently it was like $200. Don't know why people drink this stuff haha. I think I am going to do pics of booze for all future makeup day. Ninja has quite a collection to tie me over =p

project 365 day 31

Today, I went on my first hike of the year: Talapus Lake. This is rather early to start the hiking season but this winter has been unseasonably warm (sorry Eastcoasters). The organizers figure the snow will not be stopping us. This is rather an easy hike, about 4.4 miles round trip with an elevation gain of 1200ft. It is really just a warm up. The first half of the hike was relatively easy and dry. Then we got to the second half, where the trail was covered with 1 feet of compacted snow which is basically ice. That was not bad going up, but coming down was really tricky. I fell once. The trail ended at Talapus Lake which is surrounded by mountain peaks and completely frozen over. It was really lovely and a gorgeous day for the hike.

project 365 day 30

Spring is in the air.. This is the traffic circle outside one of our buildings

project 365 day 29

After contemplating it for months, I finally bought a laptop today. This is a Sony Vaio 13" , from now on it is going to be my precioussss..

specs:

Now as usual, it came with a bunch of crap and I will spend the next couple of days cleaning up my precioussss..

p.s. I gotta make up day 28 again sigh

gasp! not project 365

This video is really cool!

project 365 day 27

A little forest is growing on the windowsill at work. Kirason has been taking care of most of these. She has done a great job. The second from the right has been growing so much, she already had to split it 2 times.

Project 365 day 26

Speaks for itself..

Project 365 day 25

I decided to call certain someone "Ninja" since he is too lazy to come up with a name and he is all stealthy so there now I can refer to him haha. I had dinner with Ninja on Sunday. He went and bought these American style Kobe Beef from our resident Japanese grocery store. It is crazy marbled and very very tendered. You barely have to cook them! yum!

Project 365 day 24

I have a big backlog of pictures again, for some reason i never remember to go post them -_-

M's birthday was this last Friday so on Saturday, for celebration, we went to the performance of "Butterfly Lover"(梁祝）by the Beijing Dance Academy on their world tour. The show itself was fantastic. The first half was made up of several short dances, encompassing both traditional and modern dance forms. The traditional dance are basically court dances from thousands of years ago. There were several modern dance that was quite interesting, one is this weird interpretive dance set to Chinese Rap except all the dancers were wearing Beijing Opera costumes. Very weird. The second half was the full 25 minute set of the Dance Drama "Butterfly Lover" which is basically Chinese version of Romeo and Juliet. It was amazing! The dancers were so exquisite and the music was so moving. I think it was the best dance I have ever seen!

I actually felt sorry for the dance troupe because the theatre was barely 1/3 full and they were pretty bad at organizing. For example, they didn't do much of advertising at all for tickets, unlike that Sheng Yun dance troupe that had posters everywhere!. Then at the theatre, they didn't have the program until the show almost started and they didn't have any sort of introductions. I feel like their talent was not being appreciated because most people here didn't even know they came! What a loss!