must.not.get.lazy.

AH! it's been so hard for me to get myself to keep blogging, seeing as i'm back in cali now...not really sure why though; the only thing i have to show for myself is 42 yelp reviews (currently on a quest to become an "elite" yelper-should get a life first, i know).

my last post was kind of just me ranting about the disgusting food we got at the hello kitty cafe, so I want to remind you that was an EXCEPTION in Taiwan, as proven by our duck lunch (wish i remembered the name, but honestly probably couldn't spell it anyways). after getting the ham-like "duck" at the hello kitty cafe and literally getting food poisoning, Ann wanted to take me to get real duck, and that's exactly what we got:

to be honest, seeing the head of the animal i used to feed by the pond when i was a little kid lifelessly curled under on a platter kind of threw me off...i was a vegetarian for a little bit for ethical reasons & i still dislike eating cute animals (my form of vegetarianism) so this was a challenge for me. but how many times am i gonna be in taiwan being exposed to all these different types of food? plus, they prepare it on a plate, sin head.

apparently there is a process to eating duck here. first you order (rea ordered for us ahead of time, thank you!!) & then they prepare it (slice it) and you decide if you want a porridge with the rest of it or soup. 

step 1: take a tortilla (not like mexican ones tho..)

step 2: add the sauce (sweet & kinda tangy)
& the onion with chile
(not as hot as it looks, unless ur name is chris kim )

like so...

step 3: add the duck!

& step 4 is self-explanatory: eat!

we also got some other dishes--> 

oh & we opted for the porridge; if i hadn't been so full, i would have eaten more because this was surprisingly great! 

all of us were uncomfortable full afterwards, but it was well worth it. & although i loved the meal, i don't think i would chose duck over other meat. it really was hard for me to get past the fact that i was eating a duck. i know it's weird because cows are dirty and gross, but i justify eating them because of that...wierd mentality that makes no sense, so don't ask. 

hello kitty craze

hmmm since there was so much stuff that i didn't blog about (gah blogging is way harder than i thought it was, takes so much energy) i guess i need to keep this thing updated. don't know who is really reading this/keeping up with it especially now that i'm back, but whatevs, i'm kinda doing this as a journal for myself.

i'm back in cali, still in la & feel trapped here without my car. not a fan of la really, although it's fun once in a while. maybe just not right after a long trip. i've been living out of the same suitcase for over a month (i went up to sf before taiwan) and 1) am getting bored of having wrinkled clothing 2) getting sick of the clothes i packed & 3) need to do laundry. chris is still sleeping (i swear he has some sort of sleeping problem where he can go an abnormal amount of time not sleeping but then reversely can just sleep ferr days. so im sitting in his brother's room downloading music, looking for a job, & blogging. i guess since half my friends at ucsd love hello kitty and have converted me into a fellow hello kitty fan, ill post about the hello kitty cafe (also directed towards my sissy).

we had read about this place on multiple blogs actually and it was on our list of things we HAVE to do (also on that list was palm reading, massage, & macaroons-we covered 2outta3). So rea and an made a reservation for us at 7pm after Danshui. the place wasn't too packed but there was a birthday party going on next to us, so it's probably a good thing we had reservations. sidenote: mel and i were talking about how cool it'd be if you were 10 or something and got to have your bday party at the hello kitty cafe with a hello kitty cake!!! eek!! check out the decorations & cute little details of the place!!

looks like hello kitty is being hung -_-

the napkins i stole for my obsessive sister 

blinged out, u kno i like

so cute!

couches that every young girl would want in their room!! 

anyways, it was around dinner time & we knew we were gonna be going out later, so we decided we probably should order real food as opposed to my idea which was to just get cake (pulling a kristi ordering 2 cheesecakes for dinner on her birthday lol). we got a side of fries (duh) and then seafood pasta for me+mel, curry for an+rea, & chris got the steak. each dinner came with soup, salad, & a appetizer (we ordered the duck, but really it was just like gross ham:

the menu/table-->

 

our food-->

bread was just...bread 

salad was okay

soup was kinda good, mushroom or something with cream

fries were all of our faves (garlic fries, even better)

escargo (fancyy)

grossest thing there-ham like duck?

our entres (the grossest food in all of taiwan...)

made us sick

chris said his was okay

AH really cute presentation

we all took way too many pics here...

carrot-we were amused

my coffee-fave thing there

pink sugar!

so the food was gross. like not just taste wise, but we all felt really sick after eating here. mel and i were sick for the whole next day (this food combined with drinking was a bad combination). we came to the conclusion that we basically were just paying a lot to take pictures and sit on a hello kitty shaped booth. we were still glad we went at the time, but now looking back, i don't even know if the cuteness was worth the money and bad food. at least the desserts were good--

 

 

 

also something that made it slighhhtly worth it, was the bathrooms!!! the decorations were so cute, i had to bring my camera (and had a really embarrassing encounter with the staff...)

so i would only recommend this cafe if you JUST get desserts, are a crazy hello kitty fan, and don't mind paying a lot :)

in transit

So I’m on the plane BORED because chris is watching Your Highness or some lame movie (he would). Currently listening to Avicii’s latest levels podcast, which is making me positively want to go see him at wavehouse despite my depleting funds. I decided not to take dramamine so that poor chris wouldn’t have to be alone for the whole flight back. Little did I know he would make friends with the senior citizen sitting next to us. I have mixed feelings about talking to people on the airplane or in the airport. i like my space & i hate small talk (recruitment was a living hell for me). so why would i want to talk to a stranger about where they are going and where they are coming from? and it's always awkward when you wanna go to sleep or do your own thing. how do you tell someone that you would rather watch a movie than talk to them? last time i flew i was abruptly interrupted by a middle aged man who thought it necessary to tap me on the shoulder while i was drawing and while i had my headphones on to compliment my artwork. his breath wreaked of tequila (a distinct and nauseating smell for me, given my past with tequila) & he continued to talk about how hard it must be to draw so much detail. lame pick up line. he then suggested some places to go in houston texas to see art. i don't plan on going to texas in the near future, so why he continued to talk about it is beyond me.

this is why my policy is to avoid airplane conversations. i'm kind of an introvert, and if you know me well enough you know that i am perfectly fine sitting in silence sometimes...so it's weird i am okay with posting my thoughts on a public forum like this (seems kinda counter-intuitive but whatevs) anyways so the man sitting next to us has apparantly traveled a lot and was born in taiwan during the opium war so it was owned by japan (i'm not sure about the history, this is what i understood from his broken english). his favorite food is tempura shrimp (useless information) & he has type II diabetes (kinda awkward and didn't know how to respond, so just smiled and said 'oh rearry??').

Of course there are exceptions, especially if your julia roberts & bradley cooper (if you don't get this reference, it's probably a good thing). so glad i have chris to handle the talking while i get back to my favorite swede (so far i like his first podcast better, but we'll see). so yeah, now i'm wide awake on a 12 hour flight with nothing to do but watch movies (which isn't that appealing to me). i got pretty behind on my blogging, partly because we were so busy, partly because i was tired from staying out so late, and partly because i just got lazy. i don't really feel like going through each day and explaining what we did...i don't think that's important (plus i don't really think anyone is reading this).

we had some amazing food in the past few days and saw more of the city while experiencing the nightlife, but it's all kinda blurring together as i become more comfortable here. of course there is still this huge language barrier which i am constantly reminded of, but i feel a lot more comfortable in the city. i am getting more used to some of the customs that are present here and not in the states. first of all, i am getting very accustomed to the whole no tipping thing. it makes things so much easier not having to tip!! then again, there is less incentive for waiters to focus on customer service, but we haven't really had any bad experiences. the one place that had really slow service was The Diary (french food, or something...kind of a lounge with small dishes) and the waiter apologized profusely, even as we were half way out the door. but at most of the restaurants we have been treated well and respectfully. to be honest, i was kind of nervous after having a bad experience at the korean place in convey we usually go to, but it has been fine.

also, here it's really rude to refuse food. ella (mel's grandparents maid) prepares so much food for us!! almost every morning she has breakfast for us and granted its not that heavy, i'm just barely getting used to eating right when i wake up (and so is my metabolism...which is FAILING here). ann keeps bringing us food as well which is so very sweet! she brought me brownies, pineapple cake, starbucks & macaroons!! she knows i love macaroons so went to this really well-known place here called patisserie sadaharu aoki  (if you can't tell by the last name, it's owned by a japanese man who went to culinary school in france).

she got me violet, this citrusy fruit one, & sesame (definitely liked the violet one the best, floral scented foods are really light and delicate and i like that a lot)

since we're on the topic of macaroons & i'm something of a macaroon coinsurer, i should probably mention that we went to Patisserie La Douceur which we found on hungrygirl's blog. we wanted to go because of the unique flavors they have, so ordered the weirdest ones we could see:

rose, poprocks, wasabi, truffle oil, earl gray, balsamic vinegar (from left to row, top row to bottom)

the cafe was decorated like a french cafe, so of course it was cute (even though i'm not the biggest fan of paris, the french really do know how to make amazing desserts & have fabulous taste in interior design)

this place was pretty expensive but it was worth it.

Rose: this was ann, mel & chris' favorite one. it was very light, which is probably why mel liked it. she doesn't do the super sweet chocolately desserts & this was just sweet enough to satisfy her sweet tooth but wasn't overboard (not enough chocolate for me...). but this was my second favorite one because i love floral scented tastes (rose cappuccino, violet macaroon, see the trend?) 

Poprocks: interesting concept, making an elegant pastry resemble the candy you eat when you're 5. it kind of fizzed in my mouth (perfect opportunity, but i always get called out for making that's what she said jokes after my own commentary, so i'll refrain...) but it wasn't that dramatic (bahh im holding back). it seemed like kind of an afterthought, not the main flavor and it basically tasted like fruit and chocolate (which isn't a bad thing)!!

Wasabi: this was as good as a macaroon can be for being infused with wasabi. it was mild, not at all spicy, but the taste of wasabi was distinct, especially the aftertaste (aftertaste of wasabi sounds kinda gross, doesn't it?). we agreed that it was pretty good, but we wouldn't pick it over another flavor.

Truffle Oil: the employee told us this one was truffle and being the chocoholic i am, i associated truffle with chocolate, not oil. but i was wrong. i actually really love truffle oil after having it for the first time in the mashed potatoes at my mom's wedding (they will go down in history as the best mashed potatoes of all time). but as a macaroon? not that good...it wasn't sweet, or savory, or sour. it just kinda was. it was too similar to the actual oil, which you dont wanna eat plain unless you're trying to get fat.

Balsamic Vinegar: hmmm this one was alarming at first. it's harsh/vinegary. i think it's a pretty bold move making a vinegar flavored dessert and i actually like this one more than the wasabi just because it had a strong flavor and it just worked. i wouldn't chose this one, but i still enjoyed trying it. it was tangy and a little bit sweet.

Earl Grey: this was my favorite. 1) the middle is chocolate (finally!) 2) i LOVE earl grey tea & 3) its bright blue!! Presentation is a huge plus and when you go to a place like this (& pay that much for a tiny dessert), you are expecting good presentation. and all the macaroons were pretty & colorful (another reason i love macaroons). but this one was the sweetest of the 6, again why it's my fave. 

Just a quick comparison, I still think the earl grey macaroon i had at bottega louie  in LA was better (& it was cheaper, believe it or not). gold leaf on the top was a nice touch, but all in all the flavor was just better and i like the consistency of the ones at botegga better (willing to break my veggie diet while in LA just for these macaroons)

okay okay, i digress & my computer is dying. perfect timing-just finished the podcast, definitely liked avicii's first one better (sorry tim, i still love you). changed it to my trance playlist, always a safe bet when i'm indecisive about what to listen to. first song: move on, ATB (making me excited for atb next thursday @ fluxx). hopefully this will help me sleep while i DIE crammed into this tiny seat for another 9 & a half hours. dammit, i should have taken the dramamine.