2012

a lot has changed... with this blogger tool, wtf I almost gave up trying to find how to post new entry.

Anyway, its clear I have not been updating this as much as I did last year.  Good thing I posted more pics in 2011, because due to recent upgrade I did to my computer, according to my iphoto I never even lived 2011.  Yah my photos from 2011 are gone.  Only 2011, I don't know why.

Anyway, 2012 is almost over.  In fact it is over in approximately 5.75 hrs.

Let me record some quick highlights since thats what blogs are for.

- began with trip to Whistler.  almost died several times. lost an expensive camera wesley got me for birthday.  but very beautiful place and got an amazing massage.
- planned and went on a go-carting outing with coworkers, it was raining but beer was yummy afterwards.
- paid off credit card debt that has been piling up since forever ago.  HUGE win!
- read Hunger Games trilogy.  yep I actually read books.
- purchased Juicer.  good for my stomach.
- switched teams at work.  new friends and colleagues.
- tons of greenery around house.
- tons of mountain hiking in the Spring - Summer.
- introduced Allison to Chinese foot massage and hot pot.
- Wesley's parents visited and ate a whole bunch of good food in town.
- Capitol hill blockparty finally got to see Major Lazer, saw a girl on ecstasy pole dancing and getting grinded from the back in front of a bar.
- discovered i-90 trail, quit gym membership.  lost 15lbs and then gained it back.
- Trip back home - finally saw some friends from Japan, hanging out with my beautiful grown up girlfriends, eating at new restaurants, a lot of blackout drinking.
- Trip to Leavenworth, B&D and taking quiet summer strolls, eating delicious food and beer!!
- Freaknight 2012, best rave ever, didn't get to see all the artists, stood in very long line, met teenage girl addicted to heroine, but rode on a crazy ride and became part of mile high club.
- Lori visited Seattle with her bf.  good drunk times and reminiscing high school memories.
- skiing trip with Marcus and Flo at White Pass, soooooo much fun!  improved my skiing speed and control, but need more practice to conquer black diamond!!!  s'mores, making snowman, cooking big meals, playing boardgames, hot tub in the snow, drinking delicious local brews!!
- MM gains more popularity on the internet.
- finally upgraded my 4 year old iMac!
- I got iphone5 and switched to Sprint after being a loyal customer of t-mobile for 10+ years... and after drunkenly dropping my android one too many times.


2013 Resolution:
I want 2013 to be a year of big change.  I don't know why, I never do resolutions and shit but this one will be big this year.  I just turned 28, its like I have 2 more years to enjoy my 20s, thats so f'n old.  But I say I'm so old every year, so I'm going to QUIT feeling old and gain more energy.

- I'm quitting meat.
- BE MORE ACTIVE - go skiing as many times as weather/car pooling allows this season, stay flexible, do yoga at least 3 times a week.  go out running once its warmer, get in routine with strength conditioning.
- Yeah I really should quit smoking... WILL QUIT SMOKING. O_O
- seriously, get control of my drinking.  do not blackout drink.
- Cook more at home and save money.


Not sure if anyone is reading this, but if you are reading, curious, what is your resolution?! how was 2012 for you??

Wassap Bloggahz!!

It has been a while.  It is already more than half way through 2012!  Crayzay!
I just got my second raise within this year! I'm so happy, I never got 2 raises in 1 year!! I'm really freakin' proud of myself :)  I've been taking on more responsibilities, projects, learning a whole lot of new tools and geeky stuff.  I still don't know where I want to be doing few years from now, but I'm pretty confident I'm on the right track in life.  Hustliiiiin' yeaaah~!

Lets see, so its summer, which means outdoor events!!! Beerfest, foodfest, solstice fest, cockfest, you name it!   Our seemingly brief Summer season in the PNW means the we GTFO of the indoors at every opportunity we can, eat & drink the crap out everything you see and conquer the mountains. I am fully embracing this Washingtonian mentality to da max this Summer.  Here are some picuchaz. 

Hiking on Mount Si.  We decided to wing it pretty late in the afternoon, like 3pm.  about 3500ft elevation gain.  It was pretty rough for someone who is completely out of shape.

King Crab and corn at Crawfish King.  I couldn't do crawfish since I had pet crawfish before .  

Sashimi with king crab at Nishino!! BEST SASHIMI EVAR!! 

ShabuShabu Salad at Shochu Bar :D 

Kushi Katsu platter! Yum!

TURKY ON BONE by a pound at Taste of Tacoma.  I didn't get any of this, but I thought it was crazy.

Spicy Wings at Taste of Tacoma (food fest)

Blackened Salmon burger at Taste of Tacoma (foodfest)

Rasta Bananas game prize at Taste of Tacoma 

Great sushi at Fuji Sushi!! 

Summer time means MILKSHAKE!! 

Veggie Burger at 8oz Burger on Cap Hill! Veggie burgers are yummy!! 

  

Mini carnival at South Center

Macaroons!

I have no words.  weird car show at the Ballard festival.  

Squirrel car at Ballard festival

My first time at Snoqualmie Falls! 

View from near the top of Rattlesnake Ledge

This was hella short hike, only 1100ft elevation gain.  

F'n Beautiful.  Its like being back in the dinosaur times!!  Top of Rattle snake ledge.  

Another view from Rattlesnake ledge

My pale back blinding the camera.  Also I'm over looking a lake.  

This was the panoramic view from the top of Rattlesnake. It was super crowded the day we went!  

Seattle's newest addition to its waterfront landscape, a FERRIS WHEEL!! :D

There were over 100 people in line on 4th of July, so we didn't want to stand in line.  The word on the street is that there is 1 VIP cart that has glass floor.  

Meow Ming says HewOOo <3 

Are we there yet?

Winter is fiiiiiiiiiinally over *crossfingers*
I'm really excited for the Spring/Summer!  I love how its still LIGHT outside when I get off work these days.

Cherry Blossom!

Moarrr cherry blossom! so pretty yah!?

These past couple of months, I've been busy getting fat and working, mostly getting fat.  Seattle really has some delicious food to offer and its hard to turn it down given the opportunity.

Pork Burger at "Facing East" in Bellevue

Famous Paseo sandwich, featured on Travel Channel!

sushi overload at Jsushi

Wesley's wasabi pineapple pizza o_O at World Pizza

There has been some changes around work, taking on more projects, doing a lot of recruiting and interviews.  I've been offered to take on a new role of doing process analysis work within my department, which is an exciting new opportunity for me.  Its basically a role where I get to draw maps and ask people questions until their brains explode, totally me. yah. we'll see!

me gettin' certified to export stuff.  yah n3rd al3rt 8)

Back in Feb, wesley bought me couple of tickets to go see shows as Valentines gift.  One of which was the Beauty and the Beast.  I was so ecstatic!! I saw the Aladdin last year which was ballllllz deep amazing so I knew this one was going to be good too.  The Beauty and the Beast played at the Paramount theater, which has beautiful interior, perfect for romantic evening out with my bubbly butt:

fantabulous chandelier

Cool railing

The Stage

This past week and next week is Seattle's bi-annual, "Restaurant Week," where participating restaurants (many of them fine dining restaurants) will offer 3 course meal for a fixed price ($15 for lunch, $28 for dinner).  My coworkers and I chose Columbia Tower Club for lunch one day, which is normally only open to club members and is located at the very top floor of the tallest building in PNW.   The view and the food, was amazing! 

Facing West

Facing North

Pan Fried chicken with lemon caper sauce, the sauce on this chicken was so good!

Also part of the restaurant week, Wesley and I went to a fusion restaurant called "Poppy" on Capitol Hill.  I've been wanting to go to this place for a while so I thought the Restaurant Week was a good excuse for us to go! OMFG the restaurant was AMAZING!!  They serve their meals like Indian thali style with tiny little plates of food served on a big round tray.  From what I know, their menu changes every season.  I had the most amazing roasted duck, scallop, and banana cake ice cream!!!!  happy belly happy belly.  There is 1 more week left so I wanna try check out more restaurants next week :D 

clock wise: duck, pickled vegetables, pickled carrots, beet soup, béchamel gratin, nAAn bread, mashed sweet potato

da fat chi getting ready for consumption

superrrrr awesum deserrrrrt <333333 

Vietnamese crepe @ Tamarind Tree

I am lying down in bed as my cat licks his butt above my head, taking over my pillow. I don't know why but he decided to abandon his bed lately and sleeps above my head. He is looking over my head into my phone screen as I type this. Creep.

Anyway. Trying to blog more often now. We went to Tamarind Tree tonight. It is a Vietnamese restaurant in the international district with a contemporary twist. For everything I've tried there, the presentation is always the opposite of my expectation but tastes phenomenal.  Tonight we ordered the "Vietnamese crepe," which was, by far, the weirdest thing I've eaten lately.  But pretty good. You can see in the pic, its almost more appropriate to call it Vietnamese taco.  It had a crispy shell, and on the inside was bean sprouts, pork, squid, shrimp, mushroom stir fried in coconut milk.  It came with a plate full of greens which included Thai basil, perilla, mint leaves, cilantro and lettuce. So many ingredients, so much flavor! I can't say it was my favorite, but definitely a difficult dish to pull off if i were to make my own.

posted from Bloggeroid

Absinthe @ Snoose Junction Pizzeria

The last time I tried Absinthe was in my freshman year of college.  My roommate/bff Sasha B brought a bottle of Absinthe her mom brought back from her trip to Ukraine. Absinthe is weird.  It has very high alcohol content but it really does not taste or feel like it.

This time, our friend Paul brought us to his neighborhood pizzeria, which has a cool loft/bar upstairs and they carry a selection of absinthe.  This was the first time I had it at a bar.  The bartender prepared our glass by first pouring a drop of absinthe on to a sugar cube, and then he lit it on fire.  Like mentioned, absinthe has high alcohol content so the sugar cube goes in flames instantly.  Then it slowly melts, through the spoon/spatula looking thing with holes, into to the glass.  Lastly they slowly pour iced water into it. 

When I looked at the menu, there were local made absinthe as well as the ones from overseas.  The first thing popped in my mind was that painting by Picasso so I decided to go with the Spanish brand called "Obsello Verte."  It had 50% alcohol content, so less than normal, it took several tries before the bartender successfully lit the sugar cube on fire.  It has a light subtle flavor, I'm not a huge fan of licorice so I was able to enjoy it to its last drop.

Normally when I have a shot of any hard liquor at least 80 proof, I feel the drunkenness in my veins almost instantly.  But with absinthe, the effect is less dramatic.  It really put me in a calm state of mind, my vision was hardly altered.  Almost reminded me of doing drinking kava tea, not the physical numbness of it, but the psychological effect.  Overall an enjoyable experience.  I think its good to try at least once.

'Snow big deal

Here are some pics from January Snowpocalypse in Seattle!

Before Snow

After

wesley playing in snow

Snow in China town!

Street view

Snow ball fight!

me with snowball

Icy parking lot