Game Night and Cupcake Tasting

Nothing beats good food and good company. My friends Tean and Chanda hosted Game Night at their house, which a cupcake tasting was also thrown into. Tean and Heng made dinner! (Oh how I love being friends with REAL FOODIES!!!) It was dubbed "The Sausage Fest!"...because everything contained sausage. Turkey Sausage Chili, Sausage Orzo, and Sausage and Cream Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms. It was delicious. 

We had cupcakes from Sweet Sunshine Bakery from the LES, and when KT and Paolo finally came by they brought an assortment of cakes and other baked goods. We ate so much dessert I almost threw up on the shaky train rides home. 

If I live in Seattle...

*I would weight 260 lb because of the awesome food variety at pike market
*I would have great ass for climbing those nasty hills downtown
*I would have a wardrob dedicated to coats, hats, beanies, rainboots... Layers...
*I would be an official coffee snob-- not only a wannabe caffeine whore
*I would only sleep 2 hours a night
*I would work for Microsoft... Boeing... Or some other big-brother company with a montrous campus
*I would contribute to carbon emission
*... but it's not that bad, cuz I'll have a prius :)
*I would own a spiffy condo with a room dedicated to storing outdoor toys...
*on top of my 260 lb frame, I would gain 10 lb for every trip I take to Vancouver :)

As u can see, I must and musnt move to Seattle... a girl can dream and ponder :)

But visiting is always an option... Especially if my unofficial best friend gets stationed here ::crosses fingers::

l.p.t.

reality checked in the chin

i love assholes.... especially my favorite asshole in the world :)

my mom once told me that i could have had an older sibling, but yada yada yada.... I'm here & the oldest. I've always hated being the oldest; always had to go out there forge the path for my sister, but the all knowing one (i don't know what xyz means! go look it up!) and protect her from all the bad things in the world. I just wanted the responsible-less role of the youngest or the un-assuming presence of the middle child-- lemme alone with my books and quiet things-- to just *be*

The stress of all the grown-up problem on a poor little 8 year old :[ Of course, there were benefits of being older: less hand-me-downs, official-prodigal-daughter stamp at birth, standard setter. But there were many times that i needed the support and help of someone that's older.... someone... with a car!

Jim's the bomb-diggity... altho he keeps dropping off the face of the earth in the last few years. But i've always respected him and his opinions... he's the brother that every girl needs-- he's been around the block a couple times and even graffiti'ed a couple of spots (... not literally... altho there was the incident with the bb gun....), he knows the dirty male mind inside and out, read people and know humans interactions soo well, but cares about me enough to keep me protected with the blunt truth, hold the sugar. *perfect* brother.... actually, he predicted many thing that would happen to my life before it even passed my mind. it's kinda creepy-- there are times that i don't even want to tell him about things because he can be such a pessimist!

i'm the yin to his yang..... keep his soul a little clean and squeeze him through to purgatory while he puts some smudges in my innocent mind.... but after 20 some odd years, he's one of the oldest truest friends i have and am truly bessed with his presence... *sigh*

thanks for the reality check bro, i owe you one :)

Ippudo -- Japanese Cuisine

Ippudo is known for their authentic ramen. It's located on 4th ave and
E10th st in manhattan.

The food is good, the service is topnotch and their décor is something
else to brag about. Beautiful frosted glass panels separate the
booths, creating a nice intimate and almost private feel. I love the
front bar area where the wall is mirrored, and they lined it with
wooden bricks...gives it a modern but ethnic feel. I really like it!

I was still full from a heavy lunch so I only ordered the spicy wings,
(they were ok...a little hard at the edges), but my friend let me try
some of her ramen and I'm pretty sure I'll be back for some of the
shoyu ramen. The soup was amazing! Oh, and the waitress recommended a
bottle of unfiltered sake, which was delicious...sweet and almost
creamy.

The place looks really cute, and the staff greets you in Japanese when
you're being seated. I think it would be a great place to bring
friends, or a date. Although I would come early, it's a pretty popular
place, and we waited 45mins to be seated. But trust me, it's worth it!

Magnolia Bakery

Unfortunately, it didn't live up to the hype. The cake was a little hard at the top, but the frosting was delicious! I heard Billy's and Cupcake Cafe is good too. We shall find out!

Yay for cupcakes!!

Dim Sum Adventures

CIM was a bust, but no worries! Other running adventures are on the horizon :)

running is great. great solo activity... fitness regiment... but when you find some great running friends, it brings things to a next level. I suppose I can get pretty crazy about running, but I do have to blame the company I keep. People to push you to go further, longer, steeper... make you run for your meal.

'12 miles for the best fish taco in sf'
'let's run to the milbrea for dim sum'
'we can end our run at the ferry building for gelato!'

Well, if you see some runners along the BART line saturday morning. just wave and try not to run us over, m'kay?

... Mmmm.. im getting excited and it's only weds! ... i *heard* there's a great lobster roll place somewhere on the pennisula.....

Mango on 7th Ave in Brooklyn

After feeling my blood sugar drop to the soles of my shoes, me and my adventure traveler, Chappeloneous, raced out of Prospect Park. We chased squirrels, gang feuding blue and red birds, dodged the pigeon casualty under the bridge, and clawed our way back to civilization. Artificial LIGHTS!!! A beacon of hope, and a sign that there were restaurants near by. 

After walking pass countless of eatery establishments, we came upon Mango. I thought it was a froyo place, but I am happy to know I was wrong. Mango is a Thai fusion restaurant--I like thai food, and mangos are delicious, what other reason did I need to stop? We gleefully flailed our malnourished bodies into a seat by the wall.  

As blood slowly moved its way back to our brains, and our conscious was regained, I noticed the quaint decor, and the smell of awesome coming out of the kitchen. The waitress kindly and promptly got us water, which I chugged like I just ran a marathon.

We ordered the Orange Chicken Wings and Curry Puffs for appetizers. Chappel took one bite and claimed he was hooked. Both appetizers were amazing!!! The chicken was soft and saucy, code orange saucy. That's almost as saucy as code red, like flavorrists are really about to attack your taste buds and your shirt. Thank goodness it was safe, and tasty. 

For the main dish,  I dished on Spicy Eggplant, flavored to perfection with Thai basil. I wanted to pour all my rice into that sweet and savory sauce. In fact, I would of licked the plate if 2 different families, with children mind you, haven't walked in. Chappeloneous got the Rack of Lamb, which his eyes rolled back as he bit into it. 

"How do you eat art?!" he asked. Why like so, MUNCH MUNCH, OM NOM NOM NOM. (what's with the om nom nom nom phenom? Must be coz it's so fun to say! "omnomnomnomnomnom") Needless to say, it was a good experience, and yes...I did fancy it. The way a british bloke would fancy a good cup'o ale and a newspaper cone of fish and chips. 

Mango....we WILL be back, and we'll bring reinforcements. Starved bears from le manor.

PS. something is wrong with blogger's picture uploader...YOU SUCK! And yes, that was a proclamation. Why do you gotta make it hard on everyone? I got uneven pictures, that I'm too lazy to fix. Staring at code gives me a headache. FIX THIS!!  (please.)