Dashi Panda

Byebye Dashi Panda!

2014-04-06T23:04:00.002-05:00

Hey guys! Did you think I ran off into the sunset and never came back to post?

Well, I kind of did, haha~ Just got back from spring break a few weeks ago, and I spent it in the sunny happiness called California. I went on the beach for maybe two hours, and now I have a shorts tan already =_____________= Durr, NOOOO.

Anyways, you know how I kept talking about that new blog I never seemed to actually be working on? Well, I finally decided to switch to a Tumblr platform. It requires less typing and time, haha~ Let's see how this works out; you are now welcome to join me while I adjust and venture out into the next stage of my life! Thanks Dashi Panda for serving as such a nice space for my college musings. I'll miss you :')

See you after the jump!

( Click me! )

Hiatus

2014-01-23T17:09:00.002-06:00

Happy 2014 ! :D

I was surprised that my layout images were still in tact-- guess those were saved somewhere not on my webclient ^_^ The images that you see now are the ones that I've been uploading to Google's server, but the 5,000+ images I was talking about before have now disappeared with the expiration of my domain / web-hosting services :( But next time I will just upload them to Google! *lesson learned... the hard way boo hoo!*

I know there's no excuse for the postponement (is that a word? @.@) of a blog revival, but I've been mad busy! Last winter, I frolicked around NYC's streets and raided several bakeries and dessert shops (Momofuku's cereal milk soft serve ice cream, anyone??! My favorite foods combined!! :D). Those photos will be posted in the future for your vicarious enjoyment. Coming back to school still recovering from the additional 5 lbs I gained (guess that's what I get for eating cookies for breakfast and lunch and then ice cream for dinner...) and lack of good quality rest the last week of break, it's been kind of difficult trying to get through the week while being slammed with tests and materials, as well as embarking on a new project on the side, hehe~ ^^'' I haven't been able to exercise at all, except swimming twice... and the last time it was outside in 19F weather where the ice on my kick board froze over-- pretty sure that's how I got sick the following week!

The new camera came in, and it can take better / less pixel-y pictures than my iPhone! I'm excited! Just have to get used to walking around with a bulky, heavy camera again though -_- Spring break plans are in the air, but a whiff of it says I'm heading West! :) SO EXCITED YAY! But until then, don't expect too much activity~ byebye!~

Winter outings

2013-12-20T23:34:00.000-06:00

Okay, a last post about Dallas for 2013!

Oh hey look, The high for Wednesday is 81! YAY! But on Friday, it's going to SNOW?!

Oh dear, that's Dallas weather for you. And I thought I had escaped the bipolar nature of weather by returning from WashU back to Texas =.= *this Texan girl likes her warm weather*!

So what do you do when it's cold and miserable outside?

You make macaroni and cheese from the box. Ooey gooey delicious twists of delight.

Yes, it's from the box, but it's not the BLUE box! haha, instead of Kraft's mac n' cheese, I had two free boxes of Betty Crocker mac n' cheese, so I decided to make one! Mmmm, haven't had boxed mac and cheese in *ages*~ Haha, not that it's better than homemade, but I really missed melted, oozing cheese in general. Adding pepper made it taste a lot better for me ^^

And you eat toasted gingerbread swirl bread!

The Pepperidge Farm (which is not an actual farm for you non-foodies, tee hee) company released their seasonal gingerbread-flavored swirl bread! They usually have cinnamon raisin, but I haven't had gingerbread other than the cookies before, so I decided to give this a go. And I also learned that my rice cooker can not only stew and steam things... it can TOAST. O_O Just putting the slices in there without water makes an excellent crunchy but not burnt texture! But I have no idea when to take it out (hence the slightly burt areas in the photo!), haha~

I was also too cold to walk around in the apartment-- I literally lay in bed and study, and since there's air flow if I prop myself on my elbows and stomach, I lay with my face squished to my notes for max warmth! XD So I ran to the kitchen, threw some frozen dumplings in the rice cooker, and then jumped back into bed to wait for them to steam. The green ones are my first circular Korean mandu dumplings! :D I like them a lot :) The filling had the clear dongfen / glass noodles mixed with meat and veggies. Nom!

Like my soy sauce holder? It's actually an egg holder from IKEA. I'm so fancy, right? ;)

After the dumplings, I had a sudden craving for bananas (randommmmm), but they were room temperature.. so what could a Wendy do?

ZAP 'EM IN THE MICROWAVE

Haha! I'm so strange, but I knew that too much heat makes a banana disgustingly watery and gross, so ten seconds was just enough to make the banana look normal on the outside but oozy in the middle @_@ It was like eating hot banana pudding! Try it! And let me know if I'm actually just crazy, or if it actually tastes good :P

Oh, and I also made banana bread for some friends as a "Go you!" study pep-up/pep-talk treat :D Apparently everyone else likes walnuts in the banana bread, so I added those. But personally, I don't like crunchy offenders in my banana bread; that's extra chewing! Super lazy, blahhh~

What are these papers doing on the oven?

Remember how I said I was really cold? Well, I wanted to bake the banana bread, and I was cold, so I studied while pretty much sprawling myself on the oven. It was so nice and warm *heart* :P My hands are usually really cold, like.. ice cold *not kidding*, so it was nice having a hand warmer while waiting for the bread to finish baking :)

~*~

The MS1's had a little holiday get together planned, and since they said there would be cookies to decorate... I HAD TO GO. *cookies calling my name!!*

Charlotte showing off a festive cookie!

I made a Santa Claus cookie!

Shelly and Debbie trying their hand at decorating!

There was also a gingerbread building/decorating contest

I think creativity is really cool...

I would've never thought of a hexagonal castle gingerbread house, and I love the snow patches!!

The next day, I woke up to snow fall.

More like frozen water, so the roads were iced over and slick. The radio stations were all telling everyone to stay off the roads, haha~ Ah, silly Texans. No capability of driving in the snow. (me included!)

And then I decided that I *probably* wouldn't be able to drive to school

Ya know.. just maybe, since the visibility is just like.. ZERO TIMES INFINITY

... wait, is that just zero then? haha :P

Chibi was totally encased in ice! At first I felt really bad (How could I have let Chibi freeze to death alone in the night?!?!!?!) But then I just convinced myself that he's actually a wolf, and he likes the ice.. and somehow that's logical and makes me feel better. Yay!

Icicles!

It was kind of pretty though :)

The next day, I couldn't take looking at freezer-burned Chibi. I took my wooden spatula (usually used for stir frying my veggies ^^b) and attacked the snow with vigor until I'm pretty sure half of the apartment complex wondered what the thunking, clunking, and random meows and roars were in the parking lot. After an hour of hacking away, I finally cleared off the windshield, side mirrors, and windows. Whew! Ended up with a lot of random cuts from the snow chunks and dry wind, but at least I've now had that experience. Definitely need to invest in an ice scraper.. I don't think spatulas were quite meant for clearing off sleet ._.

Afterwards, Aurelia and I headed to the magical plaza of Hmart for lunch! I drove ultra slowly, and when we sped up to get onto the highway, the ice on Chibi's hood flew towards the windshield with big THWACKS that Aurelia and I were screaming our heads off, haha! And then random ice chunks from other cars would fly off randomly too, so we were both kind of freaking out randomly and then laughing our heads off :P

We decided on Omi Grill, but not for the grill. Just for the Omi. Haha, just kidding! But we both had their all you can eat BBQ buffet before (and both died), so we decided to order regular food. The place was super empty (usually they're packed), since no one wanted to venture out into the snowy roads. We pretty much had a whole section of the restaurant to ourselves! The waiters/waitresses were a lot more attentive this time than my last visit... probably since there was only two groups to cater to though~

Ahh, banchan makes me so happy :') Good spread!

Aurelia and I both ordered tofu stew! Hehe, Aurelia's like, "Wahh, so much fooooood!"

Well, I actually ordered stewed pollack with vegetables (pollack = fish), but the waiter kind of looked at me funny and then told me that's what Koreans order after they had a crazy night and are recovering from hangovers. I should have told them that I was a Korean that couldn't speak Korean, and that I just partied all night long, haha! I asked him if it tasted good, and he said yes, but then he recommended me to order something else, so my usual tofu stew it was! It didn't disappoint either-- a hot and comforting meal to melt away the cold from the snowy weather and the gloominess of tests and whatnot! I'm glad I had a friend to share it with too!

Yay for adventures into the snow! :D

~*~

Yet another reminder about this blog! Well, more like update. So I finally downloaded all my images and files from the online hosting company, and I have a little more than five thousand images. I hope you guys don't mind, but I'm going to save myself from 293842938472389 years of toiling and just hope that you will enjoy my new blog. I'm kind of sad about the imminent demise of this Dashipanda blog though... I wanted to be able to look back at my blog (with all its pictures!) and enjoy my journeys vicariously whenever I wanted to, as well as let others have that opportunity too! It's okay though-- I'll try hard to make the new blog more interesting and inviting! So for now, keep "www.dashipanda.blogspot.com" as your address to my blog. I'll be posting a few more updates on where my new blog will be!

And thank you, readers, for sharing my adventures with me. Although I may actually be just rambling to myself 99% of the time, I know that 1% of the time, other people are enjoying my posts. I'm really glad when people comment or ask me questions; it makes me feel helpful somehow, and I get to share what I love to do! Again, thanks for your support! :D Blog writing is actually pretty therapeutic in a sense, as I get to rethink about the events and see it from different perspectives sometimes :)

Aiite, peace out for now, XOXOXO!

^ That's right, you get THREE sets of hugs and kisses, hahaha!

Happy holidays at home!

2013-12-14T22:38:00.002-06:00

Quick note!

At the end of this year (December 31st-ish), a lot of the images on my blog will die. Er, well, you won't be able to see them. I'll be in the ultra slow process of transferring files and whatnot to a new file hosting client, blahblah, basically-- until I finish moving things, many images will be lost for a while :( I hope to be able to move all of them so that Dashipanda will still be an enjoyable blog to peruse through and for others to experience some travelling and eating adventures. However, I started the blog in college, and there are A LOT of photos. I'm not sure if I have the patience to redo *every single* darn image URL. I should have thought of that before *doink // face palm*. But in the worst case scenario, Dashipanda will just have my rambling words and that's it. :( I'm going to get a new blog domain and start afresh, so there will still be new uploaded photos there ^^b

Okay, end of quick note, begin the long note!

~*~

WHOO! I AM SO PUMPED! :) Wendy is so happy-- a break without having to study!! Now I'm talking in 3rd person, great...

After dropping Aurelia off at the airport, taking out the trash/recycling, and packing up, driving back home was kind entertaining-- I totally love Chibi; he makes driving fun ^o^ Hugging me with every curve and sharing each little bump with me, haha~ Going over a little fault line is like ROLLERCOASTERRRR~~~ :P I bumped into two major traffic jams, one at the Woodlands, and another uh... somewhere else ^^' But I had an awesome array of songs playing, and it was a one person party inside. Of course, I might just be in a terrific fantastical mood too. Near the end, I made a planned stop in the Woodlands to visit a Culver's! I've never been to a Culver's (it's like a homey fast food restaurant with burgers, fries, shakes, cheese curds, and frozen custard. Oh my goodness, so excited! I miss Ted Drewe's and Mr. Wizards back in STL, and we don't have any good frozen custard places in my area. The nearest would be Conroe or Woodlands. I had a coupon for a free mini-concrete (yay for freebies!), so I literally walked in and then walked out with a cute little cup of happiness in my hands. The manager kept looking at me, so I wasn't sure if he thought I was leaving without paying or if Asians aren't very common in the Woodlands .-. Anyone looking Chibi's way would have seen me all giddy and smiling in the driver's seat. I was talking excitedly to myself and Chibi, haha~ Ahh, old habits never die..

Anyways, the custard was delish! Pretty much tasted like a McFlurry, but definitely more.. poofy. I'm glad I made the visit, otherwise I would have never known! Maybe on another drive back, I'll try the cheese curds. I heard they're everywhere in Wisconsin-- little fried bites of cheese O_O *droolz*

Culver's
8800 Six Pines Drive
The Woodlands, TX 77380

When I arrived at home, I ran up to the door literally singing and rang the doorbell. No answer, parents probably thought I was a solicitor. So, *ring ring*. Nope.. Okay, gotta pull a Connie and ring doorbells her way: *spastically rings doorbell 23942398 times* Still no answer D: Whaaa? I have no family?!

I entered through the garage, expecting Balto and Bacardi to welcome me with slobbery kisses and moo's (yes, they moo) of excitement. Total silence. Aww, where are my parents and my little doggies? Chibi was sad too :( Turns out that they went to pick up the doggies from the pet dentist, so I actually had time to put everything away and was playing piano when they came home! Yay, reunited! ^_^

And of course, my parents fed me well. haha, I am so stuffed x_x Anyhow, got a lot of errands to run already =o='' And tomorrow I'm going to the temple with them~ At least I have nothing to study for *so happy* ! Happy start of the break everyone!

And since I have no smiling pics for this post (too busy eating frozen custard and didn't think to take a selfie), here's a goofing-around pic from one of the shoots I did in the summer! I remember it was SOOOO humid that day, and we were shooting in 99F @.@ Warmth sounds so foreign after the frost in Dallas this winter! My mom said I'm too skinny now, and usually I think she just says that because parents like feeding their kids, haha ^^' But this time, I think I definitely need to put on some more weight around my cheeks.. I was looking through some of my pictures where I could see my face, and compared to then, I look like a skeleton now x_x Guess that just means.. MORE FROYO, MUNG BEAN SLUSHIES, AND GOING OUT TO EAT DELICIOUS YUMMY NOM NOMS FOR MEEEE. I like caps. I think they make me sound excited, haha :D

YAYY~~ Winter break-- let's hit it!

Buzzbrews Kitchen Review

2013-12-06T14:00:00.000-06:00

Yes, I still frolic around town finding restaurants to try for fun :) And this post is for BuzzBrews, a bar and 24 hour restaurant serving grub and breakfast all day and night!

I got the "Californication"-- veggie crepe with fruit and toast

The toast was nice, especially with the jam that had big chunks of real strawberries! After noshing on crepes in St. Louis, I can't really get too excited over the one I had at Buzzbrews. The skin was a little too thick and plastic-y, and it didn't have too much flavor. To be honest though, I wasn't in the best of moods when I had this meal (hmm.. seems like I haven't been in the best mood for a while now.. must fix!). But I was also craving sweet, so maybe that's why hehe! Also, this crepe didn't have meat, in case anyone was curious~ Also, I don't like cantaloupe. Why did I order this?! XD

My eating buddy for the day, Derek, ordered the Pit Griddle Toast-- which is basically ginormous slabs of bread pan fried beautifully with egg mixture on it and sprinkled with pecans and buttery awesomeness. (I'm pretty biased towards sweets :D) It comes with maple syrup, but its flavor is fantastic on its own. The two pieces of french toast come with bacon and eggs your way.

Buzzbrews Kitchens

4334 Lemmon Ave
Dallas, TX 75219

And yes, I still bake! .. although rarely. With anatomy over, I plan to pull that back into my life! ^o^

Slab of banana bread, anyone?

Someone wanted this photo up again without the random whiskers and scribblings I put on it a few posts ago, haha! Here you go:

Happy faces coming soon!

Happy turkey week!

2013-11-29T22:10:00.001-06:00

Hope everyone is having a great turkey week (Happy Thanksgiving!) :D This was my first Thanksgiving with family in four years, so it was a nice change of pace. Definitely a much needed break! :)

Daddy's fried rice *heart*!

This guy warmed me up inside and outside. Thank you, Balto ^^

Can you see Bacardi trying to sneak a bite in from dinner? Hehe~

For Thanksgiving, my sister came home and the family made lunch. Connie made mac 'n cheese and green bean casserole, my parents made a shrimp dish, stuffed chicken, and veggies, and I made a pumpkin pie. It was a square one, since I couldn't find our circular pie pan!

My sister made Mac and Cheese for Thanksgiving! Om nom nom, so good~

My lovely parents :D

Feast!

~*~

Since I have told a few people, I guess I'll just go ahead and let everyone in on what's going on, haha~ ^^ I signed to an agency in Dallas in September for modeling :) It's nothing fancy and nothing big-- In fact, they're more talent-based (meaning mostly actors and actresses!), but it's interesting and neat to see what actors do when they are rep-ed by an agency ^^b There are things I'm not going to post, but I do think my experience is definitely not representative of how an agency runs... or at least how we interact with agents anyways! More on that in the far, far future~

That said, I've decided I'm not going to pursue this too seriously any further-- definitely need to focus on life goals too! It's tough, letting logic tell me what I know is right, especially when so many people laugh at me and expect me to fail. Dreams are sometimes just dreams, I guess :( I can still skip on them lightly, enjoy the experience, and have fun though! Now, I am going to try just being regular me! :D Let's try getting a fashion sense (that's probably the hardest thing for me to do, haha!), play with the hair a bit, and being a girl on a quest ^^ ... I also want to finally go to one of those Yelp Elite events hehe :P Maybe I can meet food lovers like me too!!

Another sobering thought? I'm super fortunate that my life is how it is now, but something from the past definitely hit me (again) and made me regret one of my choices. Definitely a big life changer, quite possibly a future-changer too. *But*, I'm going to type out a little phrase that has helped me get through past dips, and it also helped out a friend in need recently. The silly thing is, Dr. Phil made this one haha!: You may not always make the right choice, but you can always make the choice right. That's what I'll do, and I'm going to make this one even better. :)

~*~

My sister and I watched Disney's Frozen today! Kellogg's cereal was having this promotion, and I ate enough cereal to get 2 free movie tickets (woohoo! no extra effort whatsoever, being the cereal lover I am, hehe :3). I thought the movie was great! I laughed so many times, and I'm pretty sure the people around us may have been slightly annoyed ^^'' and I also cried :'( Ahh, cartoons make me cry!

Mmm.. Who best to enjoy waffle fries at a movie theater?...

... than my silly sister? :) Flash attack!

I'm really glad we got to hang out this break :) We weren't very close growing up, so I feel like I'm getting to know her better. Pestering her with random texts is starting to work, mwahahahaaaa! ;) I hope her schedule becomes more regular, so we can meet up even more often! She's going to be my travel buddy *happy* :D

These are our attractive faces. haha! XD

Have a great holiday season! ^^

Pears and Hairs

2013-11-22T22:58:00.002-06:00

First off, I want to give you guys a pear!

Yes, thanks for not hounding me, because I didn't realize I skipped last week's Friday post @_@ Did time really pass that quickly?!

With the months that passed, my hair has gotten pretty long.. probably need to trim those bangs a bit-- I'm starting to use hairclips to keep them out of my face! They're in that awkward too-short-to-put-behind-the-ears, but too-long-and-I-look-like-the-girl-from-the-Grudge phase. ^^''

Peek-a-boo~ My left eye can finally SEE, haha! It's usually covered with hair~

So my anatomy tank buddies decided that Asian girls look mean when they're not smiling. Is that true?

Speaking of anatomy, today was our last day of lecture! (That also means our exams are coming soon D:) But I received this photo from two lovely ladies during the lecture :)

Happy Holidays everyone! :D

Some sweets and some fun

2013-11-08T18:30:00.000-06:00

And it's Thursday, not Saturday OR Friday, beat that! (Well, I'm scheduling this post to be published on Friday around 6pm, so you'll think I typed it up Friday night :D) Mwahahaha~ Haha, just kidding-- I know for sure I won't be able to get to a computer tomorrow night, so I'm going to go ahead and post some randomness a day before ^^b *so on top of things, right??* Hehe~

So first off, I'd like to ask all of y'all to add replace the bookmark for my blog (And you ALL have my blog bookmarked, yes?? ;D Hehe) to dashipanda.blogspot.com instead of dashipanda.com. Or if you don't have it bookmarked, just remember that the URL is currently dashipanda.blogspot.com. I'm definitely switching the domain/.com address, and I might also change the blogspot.com address too, but more of that later!

Okay, so since I'm not allowed to post ten thousand food posts in a row and nothing crazy eventful happened this past week... Well, someone accidentally shoved a table into me and I bruised a shin :( and now some portions of my leg are green-- NOOOOOOOO!! :P

~*~

How's school, you ask? Oh, why thanks for asking, so considerate of you! The cafeteria food serves great stuff (love, love veggies!).

Omgah!

No. Just kidding.

That's not from school! Our school has a food court with a Burrito Jimmy's (burritos, tacos, and your typical Americanized Mexican food fare), Burger House, Big (?) Sal's (hand-tossed salads made with the items you point at and baked spuds, oh my!! Thank goodness this is too expensive for me, otherwise I'd be eating potatoes every day :P), Subway (will never go there by choice, because I had it way often at WashU!), and some Chinese food place that looks soooo greasy and delicious but, sadly/fortunately, too expensive for this medical student. It's peanut butter sandwiches for me :) But I love them! So delish :') Om nom nom~

Anyways, the picture is from a Taiwanese restaurant called... Taiwan Cafe. So original! But Derek introduced the place and it's $6 for rice, 3 sides (meat or veggies, you call it), and unlimited complimentary soup. Add bubble tea, and it's $6.50. It's a good deal, and it was pretty good, but I was feeling sick that day, so I didn't eat much and couldn't enjoy the taste. Plus, they didn't have any tofu dishes to choose from D: I'll have to come back to give an actual opinion of Taiwan Cafe ^^ It's very popular too! Lots of people were eating there, and it seems like they were expanding and building another room.

Okay, since I tricked you about a picture from school, here's an actual picture from school!

We have a parking garage that's 5 stories tall (above ground, unlike college!), and I usually get there early enough to nab a spot on the 3rd floor. But the other day, I came in the middle of the day and drove up, up, and further up until I reached the top! Omgahh, so scary up there! Actually, it was really nice; the weather was getting slightly chilly, so the brisk wind swept away my hair when I got out of the car. (More like... it made my hair go all crazy and I was left spitting my hair out of my mouth by myself in the empty parking lot, haha!) But the view was nice :D And when I got back out to go home, the sun was setting. Definitely something I don't even appreciate when I'm on the 3rd floor. ^^

~*~

Boo.

AHH Scary!! D: Okay, try to be a little cuter..

See? Wendy with makeup isn't *that scary*

AM I?!?!?!

Haha, I actually think I look super cheesy and weird with makeup and curled hair. I think it's the eyebrows. Or the fact that I have no idea what I'm doing :P I'll put on less stuff there next time, but my eyebrows are a brownish color (like my hair), so if I use black eyeliner, it looks like I'm eyebrow-less! Noooo, haha exaggeration, but slightly true ;)

But look at this! *jump jump excited*

I have no idea how my hair turned into that bun, because I've been trying to learn how to do it for the *longest* time! I was kind of sad when I took my hair out, because it'll be a while until that magically happens again, haha!

~*~

Anyhow, I went and checked out the famed Sprinkles cupcakery, and it was a happy evening for me! Cupcakes for dinner-- om nom nom!~ ^o^

You can check out my review on Yelp, but basically I tried a limited edition cupcake promoting the 2 Broke Girls TV show, and it was more of a muffin than a cupcake (uber delish that way too!). Graham cracker crust, vanilla chocolate chip cake, milk chocolate frosting with a sprinkle of sea salt. Mm. Mmm. Mmmmmmm........

After you order the cupcake, they don't just pack one up and give it to you. Instead, you wait at the corner like you would at Starbucks while they prepare and box the cupcake(s) and call your name and all that fancy jazz. Derek thinks it's to make it "higher-class." Haha~! Definitely not fitting in when I squealed and crammed myself into the cute chairs by the kiddy table. They had a super small table with chairs for kids, and I was adamant about enjoying my cupcake there until Derek sat down in another kiddy chair and looked extremely uncomfortable XD

I got forks and a knife, because I thought I would be all dainty and use them like a lady

And then I opened the box

Look at my cupcake! It would've looked better without the text, in my opinion =.=

But the frosting is smooth (classic Sprinkles frosting style)

Oh, and here's Derek's dark chocolate cupcake, but mine's cooler, ya know~

SO COOL THAT IT'S SNOWING. Hahaha! Okay, I added that in-- it wasn't actually snowing inside the shop, in case you thought so, haha!

One bite of the cupcake, and I was like..

This is so yummy.

(That's Crush! My sister's doggie!)

Omgahh! Thank goodness Sprinkle's is also semi-far away, because I would be eating these for dinner every day, hehe! I love how there's not too much frosting, and it's not too sweet. But you can't take that from me; I ate a Jilly's cupcake back in STL and loved it, while my friends were dying from sugar overdose :P

Anyhow, Sprinkle's has so many flavors to choose from, and they rotate daily! Seasonal offers too~ I need to take a picture of the inside, because that really helps make the nice experience. Even the music was the music from those high class bars (imagine the ones in skyscrapers and fancy fancy)! Again, didn't fit in, because instead of enjoying it neatly and being all posh-posh, I was smooshing the cupcake into my face. YUM!

I told Aurelia that I'd go here with her, so definitely will be visiting again ^^ Can't wait! There's also a cupcake ATM (yesss, that thing I saw on Yahoo way back when!), and Sprinkles' sister shop that serves ice cream~ :D

Sprinkles Cupcakes

4020 Villanova Dr
Dallas, TX 75334

And in case you think that I'm not eating well (cupcakes and froyo for dinner?), here's a glimpse of my *ultra fancy* cooking:

So those three piles of goop (haha!) are actually probably 3 of my favorite comfort foods on one plate! I absolutely love scrambled eggs, sauteed onions, and mashed sweet potato. But I was too lazy to make mashed sweet potatoes, so I pulled out a convenient can of pumpkin puree from the pantry and made it taste like pumpkin pie. Mmm.. lovely. My dad looked at this photo and texted me that my cooking skills were improving. Haha! Really? I think they're going downhill: from rice and chewable foods to mush that I can just swallow without chewing ^^' Okay, I actually had to chew the onions (Darn.) because I didn't cook them until they were super soggy :P

~*~

Okay, now for some fun!

So you were probably wondering why on earth I was putting on makeup and curling my hair. Or maybe not, since most girls do that anyways? But I pretty much comb my hair and put on lotion for my morning routine, haha ^^''

Anyways, I've been having some fun with some fellow photographers! Jason was learning how to photograph in natural lighting, so here's one of the photos from that shoot:

I recently stumbled upon a photo of well-known models with and without makeup, and I would just like to say that it's kind of shocking. So in case you think that's what I look like with the curly hair (that I totally messed up on and need to learn how to do, durrr..), let me show you otherwise. I also think my face looks really big in that photo, but I'm sure that's just the self-centered part of me going nyah nyah blah blah, haha~

After doing my daily exercises (if I can even call them that, haha!) and before I go take a shower, this is what I look like:

Uh.. I forgot to comb my hair =o=

Kitty says, "Can you do this and try to look cute?"

Oh, like this?

Cat says, "Now be all angsty and look like you wanna punch someone in the face."

Easy. Mwahaha

Makeup really makes a difference, no? (okay, granted, I was actually sweaty and my hair was a mess!)

I feel like a lot of girls are insecure without makeup.

Just remember that models have a lot of tricks and tips that help them. Photoshop and makeup-- so don't feel insecure! That's actually one of my biggest problems (not just on physical appearances), and I'm trying to overcome it by building up my confidence too. It's working, slowly ^^

Watch, instant prettier-ness (well, hopefully anyways):

See? I just turned off the lights

and if I tilt my head a bit, my face looks different.

Same thing with photoshop and lighting equipment-- all helps!

My mom will probably be like, "Wendy-ah! Why are you posting all these not attractive pictures of yourself?!! Boys will see!!" Haha ;) Just kidding (sort of)~ But I hope that if there's one girl (or guy) out there that feels a little better about their natural selves by reading this, that would make me happy. Because back in college when people commented on my lack of fashion (which I have to admit, I don't really have a sense of still, hehe!), or saw pictures of my sister's Facebook page and said "Dannng! She's a hottie! You guys look totally different!," that didn't really help with my confidence problem. I once commented on how pretty a Kpop star looked and that I wished I was as pretty as her, and someone told me I would never be because I don't use makeup. Well, now. Haha =o= I may not ever be as pretty as that star, but I hope makeup isn't the solution to everything! I'm curious what most people think though. Makeup does work wonders, but I also think it can make people feel even more insecure.

One of my classmates saw me go to Anatomy from something, and I had some makeup (faint eyeliner and mascara) on. He later texted me that he thinks I look better in my usual day-to-day makeup. When I told him that I don't wear makeup when I go to class usually, he totally didn't believe me. Not every girl wear makeup, man! And they don't have to! *grumble grumble* I know he didn't mean anything like that, but it still kind of annoys me how society kind of expects girls to use that stuff. Anyhow, I'm done ranting. Have a good weekend!

Real me exposed! Harsh bathroom lights, greasy sweat, and messy hair.

Keep smiling ^^

Dashi Panda?

2013-11-03T16:42:00.002-06:00

Taking a quick break here! :D

Should I change my blog's site name? It's Dashi Panda right now :) But I've been playing with a new blog name too. That would mean you would have to type something into the address bar instead of "dashipanda.com!" Hmm~ Let me know what you think ^^

Burgers and BBQ

2013-11-02T15:17:00.003-05:00

This seems like it will become an on-going theme: posting my Friday posts on Saturday :P

But to recap on the week (it's going to be a food post, sorry!), we went to In-N-Out for Jean and Chris' first time experience with the California-based fast food chain. We ordered everything "animal-style," which is basically added grilled onions and thousand island sauce and deliciousness at no cost :) I also tried one of their super thick milk shakes! Aurelia kept telling Chris how awesome In-N-Out was, and Chris would give a comeback about how awesome Whataburger (a Texas chain) was, haha~

During the last spring break, my venture to Los Angeles brought me to In-and-Out, and I didn't think the burger was *amazing*, but their milkshake looked mad yummy. At this Dallas location (not just a drive through like the one I visited in Cali), the burgers tasted really good, and the milkshake didn't perform up to my expectations... maybe because it was yellow-ish/cream colored instead of white... kind of like the reason why I like vanilla bean flavor more than french vanilla ice cream, haha!

Chris even said it was better than Whataburger!

Animal style cheeseburger (2x2) and animal style fries

Okay, I also thought In-N-Out's burgers were itty bitty... and here was a hefty-sized mouth-watering-inducing tower of calories perched innocently in front of me, next to the vanilla milkshake that I ordered. Goodness gracious, I have to apologize to my thighs and my butt XD

And in case you think I'm exaggerating, here's a more in-your-face picture:

The bun is actually THICK o_o

Oh yeah! I was reading the paper wrapping around the burger, and apparently they use their original "sponge dough" recipe. I have no idea what that implies, but I'm guessing that's a factor in their poofy buns. The LA location I went to didn't have this fancy packaging either.. I'm starting to think I walked up to a impostor franchise!

Aurelia spreading her Californian love for In-N-Out with Michelle!

Jean also approved, and Dana always approves ;)

In-N-Out

7940 N Central Expy
Dallas, TX 75206

~*~

Friday was Michelle's birthday! We wandered to Carrollton and found ourselves at Gui-Rock Korean BBQ. This time, it was Aurelia and Dana's first time having Korean BBQ from the grill! Our table had so much food, that I hope Michelle got her Korean food-fix :D

Hmm, first time I was served a (complimentary) salad at a Korean BBQ place.. interesting ^^

We had a tough time fitting all the dishes at the table @_@

This was the most not blurry phone pic of the bunch-- Happy Birthday, young Michelle! :D

Gui-Rock Korean BBQ

2625 Old Denton Rd
Ste 700
Carrollton, TX 75007

Ah! Okay, something about my life and not just food, food, food: (Well, okay, I lied, it's related to food, haha ^^") I think I have a bad reaction to mussels, because I've eaten mussels twice in the past several years. And both times, I have gotten sick afterwards! I'm recovering from yesterday's seafood tofu soup (which had a crazy amount of mussels inside), and I feel gross =o= I actually passed out before 10pm last night and slept until my alarm at 7:30am @.@

That might also be jumping to conclusions, so my alternative guess is that I just ate way too much the past week and my gluttony has made me ill, blahhhh. When lunch time came, I wasn't that hungry, so I decided to eat something super simple: a peanut butter sandwich.

Spread the peanut butter, close the sandwich, move plate to table, sit down. And then I notice... what's that slightly gray-green spot on the bread? Hmmmm... could it be mold?? *further inspection* Ahh, yeah, it's mold. *sigh* What to do? I don't want to eat anything else (all my food is heavy food, haha)!

*rip rip rip* *toss moldy bits into the trash*

Okie dokie! Lunch is ready! Nom nom nom ^^

Haha, omgahh... so the scientific/clean side of me was like, "When mold grows on food, you can't just cut out a piece, because the mold has hyphae that makes this network of mycelium that you can't see. So you're just doing what Mom does when she cuts some moldy bit off of a peach or strawberry and gives you the rest (haha!)." But the who-gives-a-care/lazy side of me took over, "This would be such a waste if I threw it away. Plus, cheese is basically mold so I won't get sick... or too sick anyways." This reminded me of that tilapia sandwich story I had from sophomore year at college... but you can look that one up in the archives ;) Haha, the germaphobe I once was in middle school is slowly disappearing~ Not sure if that's a good or bad thing!

All right, have a good weekend everyone ^^

It's Friday, Friday~~ (Well... it was Friday, haha)

2013-10-26T14:14:00.001-05:00

Yesterday, a few of you were probably thinking, "It's Friday, and Wendy didn't post her first "Friday Funday" or whatever thingie like she said she would!" And you're right-- but I have an excuse! I was out all night (literally) and didn't come back until morning, so I didn't have time to spend some quality time with my computer ^^'

Honey Bunches of Oats cereal to start the morning :) So bright and happy!

Anyone know that I usually rave about eating cereal? My day will turn upside down if I don't start the day with a bowl of pure sugar (I eat all the kiddy and sweet ones!) :P Another thing I realized this year, is that I ABSOLUTELY love frozen yogurt (and ice cream, but frozen yogurt even more so!). It used to be, "I really like," and now it's "I can eat this for dinner three days in a row." Have I tried that? Noooo, but I've eaten it for dinner every Friday for a month before! :D Yogurtland has become my favorite in Dallas (mostly because that's the only one I ever eat, hehe~), and yesterday they had banana bread and oatmeal raisin cookie flavors! I ended up getting banana bread and peanut butter...

which leads me to: I ABSOLUTELY love peanut butter (or almond butter) sandwiches!! Almond butter more so, but that stuff is crazy expensive @_@ SO GOOD. It's so strange how I would rather gobble up a peanut butter sandwich than go off campus to eat lunch, but it's just so darn good :') Maybe it's my innate medical school student attempting to save me money, haha~ So cheap, convenient, and delish!

Why am I rambling about food? Well since I posted something earlier in the week, I can excuse myself for this food-filled post (Yay!), hehe~

Okay, some food pics that were just *waiting* to get on this blog, but I felt sorry for my readers since I always force feed y'all food photos :P So a little bit of Dallas for you!:

Beef noodle soup from King Noodle restaurant

Frozen dumplings for weekend lunches (haha~ I like making it look fancy :D)

Some Dallas BBQ with a friend visiting from Houston-- creamed corn! *heart*

Experimenting in the kitchen-- random tofu dish! With steamed rice ^o^

Venturing out to try my first Dallas food truck (The Butcher's Son)

Voodoo Tots- tater tots with braised beef, onions, curry powder~ Mmmmm!

What I usually have with my ultra delicious peanut butter sandwiches- fruit!

... adds some color into my monotonous brown-looking sandwich / lunch :3

Anyone understand how Apple knows where I'm headed towards?? ._.

It's kind of weird, because I never set any home addresses or anything, and it always tells me how long it takes to get to school on the weekdays @______@

And yes... I have an 11 o'clock alarm. Why? Because I was sleepy after eating breakfast, so I took a nap XD

Finally, an uber cute photo:

This is Hyung's kitty-- Boba!

I bet he's super spoiled, what a cutie ^^

New times and family time

2013-10-23T23:04:00.002-05:00

Mornings waiting for the sunrise on the balcony are serene..

(Those are my extra rectangular feet dangling on the balcony! :D)

So is enjoying a home cooked meal (yay for slowly improving cooking skills, haha!)

Exploring the area by trying out restaurants with new friends,

Michelle and Dana at Tampopo

Nomming on Texas classics when meeting up with old friends,

Eric and Jeremy at Whataburger

Derek trying Korean Juk for the first time

Trying out crazy concoctions at the State Fair,

Sharing fried cake balls with Aurelia

Fried Oreos, anyone? :)

Karen, Tom, and Shelly won a dragon!!

Waiting in line for fous corn dogs

This one is jalapeño and cheese, mmmm~ ^o^

Matt trying to get Gee to eat chocolate bacon and jalapeños

And attending our school's Oktoberfest celebration for some good old bratwurst and yodeling are some of things I've been up to recently!

Meep? o.o

Who says medical school is the worst thing ever? I'm happy and (hopefully) healthy, so let's keep it that way!

My parents even came for my White Cost Ceremony :) it was a three person slumber party, hehe! Last meal together until thanksgiving! My parents cooked everything ^^ thanks for coming~

There's a little of school life! :) Hopefully some bits about social life coming soon, haha~ ^^

Starting the "What's going on Fridays!"

2013-10-18T12:16:00.001-05:00

Heyyyyy~ :) I'm going to start popping up here once a week to do a little blurb about what's happening! Hopefully that will keep my presence around here a bit better than before, where I'm absent for a looong time ^^'

For now, my parents are visiting me today! We have the "White Coat Ceremony" tomorrow, where all the first-years get their white coats after a month of studying and taking exams and stuff :P

Today we went to the ophthalmology clinic and dilated our friends' eyes to practice using the equipment. It's *so* much easier with dilated eyes!! I'm so happy that I could actually use the scope-- makes me feel competent, haha~

^_^

Harro~

2013-09-23T08:14:00.002-05:00

Hihi, lovely readers!

It's been a while, yes, but I still think of y'all while I'm in class :)

I have some pretty exciting news I want to share later, but I'm going to wait a bit.. Ohhh, the suspense :D Mwahaha!

As for that new website? Uhmm... I gave up / couldn't figure out some of the coding ^_^''''' Instead of moving to tumblr like I originally planned, I might stick with Blogger. But the posts will definitely be shorter, so don't worry about having to read a 10 page essay every time you visit :P

Okay, I have to run off to lecture! Byebye~ (^.^)/)"

A return trip to Chicago

2013-07-17T16:59:00.000-05:00

The windy city! I visited Chicago last summer with friends, and this would be my second trip there ever :)

I went to a friend's formal event, and it was a lot of fun! It was an awesome deal for the bus ride there and back, attending the formal (meal included!), and the chance to wander the streets of Chicago! I totally enjoyed the exploration of the city more than the actual fraternity dance part :P But even that was a nice experience ^^v And the food was excellent, nom nom nom!~

So the bus ride there was purely napping purposes (I like my shuteye!), while the rest of the bus was passing Arizona tea spiked with some alcohol. Mannnn, one of my friends that I met in Chemistry freshman year who I thought was hilarious already was SO funny when he's under the influence!

When we got there, I got to see the city again :) Wow!

Chicago Tribune building

Yes. Welcome to Conic Chicago. Wait, no, it's "iconic," but I was standing in front of the "I." I can be the "I!" Har har har~ XD

We stayed at the Allerton Hotel which was right next to the busy streets-- perfect access :D

All of us tumbled out of the bus

HORSIEEEEE. Okay, now we can go in, haha~

After settling down in our rooms, we went out in search of dinner.

How come St. Louis isn't like this?

People walking around and streets flooded with lights~

Giordano's! What's that? I'll give you a hint.

It's a restaurant.

That serves these.

BAM. Chicago style deep dish pizza pies. BAM.

Haha! We were seated within 15 minutes, but we sat at our table waiting for the pizzas for a long time, probably more than an hour! This was a "small" sized pizza, and the two of us didn't even finish it! I ate half, and Brian couldn't finish his half, so he took the rest back to the hotel :P

I was pretty happy! I liked this pizza better than the one we had at Lou Malnati's the previous summer. It was thicker, fuller, cheesier, and each bite was another delicious reminder that food that taste that good is never healthy for you ;)

Fellow food photographer, yes!

Look at that cheese! Mmmmm...

CHOMP.

This was my window view!

The next day was free time before the formal, so that means EXPLORING! YAYYYY *happy happy*

Whee!

It was mostly walking around, which I love to do in new places. When I go to Taiwan, I love walking around and just taking in the sights and window shopping. Usually the people I go with get tired or bored, but it's something I really enjoy doing ^^

My friends always joke around with it being "Wiiiiiindy," so I guess this is my city! RWARRR :3

And it was actually still chilly in April! I like the city backdrop :)

In the park! Love Greek and Roman-inspired architecture. Makes me feel like my art history minor is super special, haha!

The Cloud Gate! Aka, the Bean. Oooooh~

I secretly want to go up to the bean and lay down like the person in the corner, but I'm too sissy!

Maybe if I go again in the future, but that probably won't be happening-- I did so much during this trip! :)

Meow~

Oh, this was a photo kiosk taking pictures of random people on the street!

We would try jumping in the air the moment they took pictures, but it never really worked, as you can see. Brian hasn't even jumped yet!

So interesting that the subway is above the cars on the streets.

Haha, happy tourist!

There was a cultural parade that day, so lots of horses tied to buggies

Not too many people~

But there was a high school band!

Ah, Argo Tea.

Apparently it's a Chicagoan thing, and I love it! I got hooked on their matcha vanilla chai tea sample and ordered one for breakfast (it didn't taste like tea, haha).

People watching~

Mmmmm.. I never drink tea, but this was a tourist thing to do, I suppose ;)

Next stop? Willis Tower! Formerly known as the Sears Tower.

There was a huge line wrapping around the block to go inside to visit the once-tallest building in the world!

What people go for is the Skydeck, which you'll get to see in just a bit!

Informational stuff that no one really reads, so sad!

This super fast elevator compared what level you were at with various buildings around the world!

Can you spot me?

At the top, I took pictures of the view! Lots of buildings~ Everything looked tiny!

Okay, so here is where the fun begins, haha~

People wait in line to stand on a glass ledge, so it's like you're floating really high!

Like this! And people obviously take pictures :P

My turn!

Whee, so cool!

Oooooh, so high.

I actually trust the building a lot, so this didn't give me any pangs of fear or nervousness at all. In fact, the guy behind us in line was afraid of heights, and his buddy was talking him into standing next to us for a picture. We talked and joked with him a bit, and then I jumped once just to be obnoxious and freaked him out XD

So funny!

This was the guy! Wonder if he thought it was fun though?

Afterwards we continued to walk around aimlessly~

Haha, I think the statue looks more formal than he does, right?

Oh, and my first time at a City Target!

City Target stores are basically Target stores condensed into a smaller space for the city. They sell more grocery and food products instead of other things like tires, etc.!

Walgreens also ups their game when it comes to big cities. This one had a sommelier (wine expert) and wine tastings!

Such weird architecture @_@

Lost! Just kidding~

I have no idea what I'm pointing at. YAY!

Another riverside shot ^^

Street performer! He was really cool-- a statue until the beat began :)

I got a picture with him!!

I saw this and thought of Josh :)

Another pizza location! Look at the line~

Another thing to try? Chicago hot dogs. I was way too full, but was also curious to see these.

Let's follow Brian into the store! So many doggie pictures :D

Here it is!

Chicago hotdog. Lots of relish and pickles @_@

Preparation...

Attack!

Poor hotdog, it didn't know what got to him. :P I had a bite, not bad!

Another Argo spotted O_O

There's the hotel! Time to head back and get ready for formal~

Waiting for my hair to dry after showering~

Too lazy / late for makeup, haha!

Brian showed up, and I thought his mohawk was hilarious-- like a shark!

Can you tell that I sewed the dress?

Not from scratch silly! But it was a longer dress before, and I altered it to a short one. So proud! My sewing skills are nonexistent, and if you lift up the bottom part, you'll probably cringe at the spiderwebs of attempted stitches XD But you can't really tell from the outside!

The event was held in one of the ballrooms.

As usual, I was offered drinks :p But I don't like alcohol!!

Really nice setting~

And the view of the darkening city was nice too ^^

Still so bright!

This pretzel bread looked too fake and pretty @_@

Here was the menu! I love food, haha~

I made some new friends too :D

I think most of the guys got the steak, it was really funny :P

I saw Ramita there too!

They look so happy together~ Quite goofy, actually~

Awesome travelling friend for the weekend!

Salad~

Manly entree, the steak.

He's so happy to be eating, haha~ :)

My fish entree with risotto! Best things combined, ever.

Then the server added the sauce~

Dessert!

Want some? Says the emaciated looking self XD

There was talking after dinner and then some goofy and silly dancing (mostly just watching everyone groove!)

Awesome few days in Chicago-- loved it!

Spirit of Korea 2013

2013-07-14T12:12:00.000-05:00

Still tying some loose ends from STL! And I *have* to start it out with food :P Yeah, I know the last post was "the last post about food," so there will only be a few pictures-- I'll spare you! ;)

Daniel taught me how to panfry salmon and make mashed potatoes! It's really easy and pretty~

Looks normal, right?

Well LOOK AT THAT. The skin is scored to let the heat distribute evenly :)

The small piece of salmon is my version of baked salmon. I undercooked it, so it tasted like lox.. haha, fail...

SOK was upon us!

Everyone had been practicing and getting ready for the big event

And today was rehearsals!

But wait! My attention-deficient self has to insert more random food pictures here :)

Homemade oatmeal raisin ice cream sandwiches

Super messy to eat ^^

My Mommy's birthday was then too! Happy birthday! Here she is with Bacardi :D

And... I like ice cream with chocolate goldfish. It's vanilla bean! SEE THE SPECKS?!

Here was the makeup I decided to use for the performance! Do I still look Asian? :P

Lots of people showed up on SOK even though it was so chilly ^^b

But the band warmed us up~

And these two goofballs too :)

Performance order! I was in #5 this year~ But I had friends in pretty much every dance! O_O

Also, Jeff's first dance was #2!

So proud of him :')

Korean fan dance is so elegant!

Here are some of the girls I danced with! Yenlin, Laina, Elizabeth, and Jen ^^

Spam begins! Elizabeth said that she was kind of mixed emotion-ed, because we practiced so much and the performance was only ~4 minutes long (and we only performed once), so I will make all the pictures worth the time! >:O RWARRR haha~ The pictures beginning here were taken by my friends, Elaine and Jenny :)

And begin! Looks like we all have tummy aches XD

Work it, Elizabeth!

Jen totally rocked this part :3

Yenlin's super awesome moves ^^

Pictures here with the XL Photography were taken by Alex and Betty. Check them out at their website (http://xuliuphotography.com/)-- they're so good! :D

Our friend, teacher, choreographer, and lovely Lilly :D

First time to meet Linda too~

Want to watch the performance? Click this movie then ^^

Wheee! Happy ^^ This was probably my last dance *sniff* I'm glad it was a good one :')

WUCypher totally killed their performance too!

Why are they so cool @______@

Another dance, which was "One of a Kind," hur hur hurr~

Elaine also choreographed "Stop Girl," which was one of the most anticipated dances of the show! Watching all my friends up there was so cool~ Awesome ^o^

Watch and be amazed by Stop Girl! (Movie^)

Elaine was also in Sojin's dance, a Sistar mashup that Debra also performed in. Watch it below; I bet the crowd was going crazy, hehehe~

Click to watch!

Afterwards, the performances went back inside, and it was hectic!

Salmunori :)

And Daniel's dance, "Beautiful Night." So hip!

Spirit of Korea was a blast-- I had a lot of fun, and I love girly dances! Too bad I will no longer be at WashU to enjoy the next SOK, but this was a great way to end the year and my college career. Hopefully there will be some fun dancing opportunities in medical school!

Next post? CHICAGO. Stay tuned~ ^o^

After Dark 2013

2013-07-09T15:59:00.000-05:00

Another post from St. Louis! This is After Dark!

~*~

Waiiiiiitttt!! *zip, pause*

Hurh? I got a few questions from a blog reader (yay!), and I'm going to go ahead and answer them here. ^^b I thought it would be an invasion of privacy if I posted their questions (just to be safe!), so these are answers to questions people can't see, hahaha XD Begin!~

I'm not from China, since I was born in the United States, but my parents are from Taiwan.

Yes, I did graduate from that school, went to college, and now I'm going to medical school. :D In the US, we don't graduate from universities as a doctor. It's a two step process: first go to college, then apply and get into medical school (then graduate... as a doctor!!).

Aww thanks! :) I like to swim and dance, and would like to think and hope that I'm pretty good at swimming, but I haven't swam competitively in 4 years, so I'm no where as fast as I used to be. I like to swim for fun and keeping in shape though. As for dancing, I still have a lot to learn!

I'm 22 years old (probably much older than you thought I was, right? haha~) and no, I don't currently have a boyfriend.

Okay, let's continue to After Dark!!

~*~

What's that? Basically a photography conference full of learning. It's a national event where photographer gurus come and teach their passions to others. Photographers (I think there were more than 400?) who want to learn pay big bucks to attend for a few days, and they, as well as a bunch of models, fly in from all over the country. One of the coordinators contacted me, and luckily, I was still at WashU in St. Louis at that time. :)

Information session

Daniel took me to the information session in downtown. After Dark was hosted at the Union Station hotel! It was pretty big inside @__@ This information session was pretty cool; I got to see how coordinators organized and planned things out, and we were all assigned days and times. The event ran into my classes, so I couldn't attend for 2 out of the 4 days, and I went at night after my classes. Looking back, I should have skipped those classes (seeing as how everyone does it on a weekly basis, haha!) and embraced the opportunity! I worked during the later hours ("After Dark," right?) where pretty much only studio work could be done, but I actually love, love, love natural lighting. Playing around in the hallways with natural sunlight seeping through the curtains would have been awesome. At least I know now!

Here was my name tag~

They were setting up studio pods for the next day.

The hotel had a lot of space, like this pretty hall of shops

And this one by the windows. SUNLIGHTTT

This is what the hotel entrance looks like, just like a castle!

Random pictures of tulips from campus (no idea why these pictures are here XD)

But campus is quite pretty during the spring semester ^^

This is the After Dark. There's an interview in the middle. I was featured in it twice; can you spot me? :D

Pretty exterior again~

This was my first modeling event, so I had no idea what to expect. Darn it, so should have went to all four days-- it was a lot of fun! I love being all dolled up with the hair, the dressing up, and the makeup. It's like playing pretend in front of the camera :D I'm sure many people don't know what an event like this is like, so here are some pictures to share with you ^^

Makeshift makeup station, haha~

People would sit and listen to a mentor before testing their skills.

All sorts of gizmos and gadgets

I actually liked listening too! .. although I couldn't understand some of the stuff they were saying ^^''

Here was a snack bar for those who didn't have enough time for meals! So nice of them :)

I met this girl while we were doing makeup together. She's gorgeous! I couldn't stop sneaking looks at her through the reflection in the mirror :P

The makeup artists were awesome too-- they even did hair too!

Here's my hair! All this with a straightener. How is that possible? @_@

Back into the ballroom for shoots!

So a lot of it is trial-and-error for the learning photographers.

They'll have a model and take some shots with some settings,

review their shots and see how they can improve,

and then continue to take more shots.

I've never seen this thing before! I think it's an extra large reflector, haha~

I was totally amazed by the backdrops. The floor looks like real wood!

And always wanted to play with a ring light! These things are so awesome and fun! But they hurt my eyes XD

For the days I went, I went at around 9pm and stayed until 2 or 3am. Daniel picked me up both days, and I'm super thankful! He even had a test that week too.

This is how many bobby pins the makeup artist put in my hair ._.

Daniel falling asleep while reviewing his notes... Thank you, thank you, thank you~

Here are just a few pictures from the event. I talked with these photographers personally, so I feel like these pictures mean a bit more to me :D

(Photographer: Stacy Lahti) Haha, my signature green jacket on campus.

(Photographer: Richard Sturdevant)

This was one of the mentors (head honcho guru teaching everyone else)! I'm so fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with him ^^

(Photographer: Brian Poon)

(Photographer: Connie White) Adieu!

After Dark was tooooons of fun, definitely had way too much makeup on (not used to it :P), and I hope I can continue to model in the future!

Feed me!

2013-07-04T12:09:00.001-05:00

Did you miss me? :)

NOOO??

Well, I understand. It's summer; you are excused from missing me for a while. Hehe, just kidding~

Anyways, these will be the last few posts (I have 2 or 3 more after this one!) of the DashiPanda blog. I will be making a new blog for the next part of my life! It'll be more condensed, less rambling, and less food-pictures-in-your-face-all-the-time. ^^'' Hopefully it'll save a lot of time too! I have this bad habit of taking pictures of EVERYTHING and then wanting to put EVERYTHING on the blog. In the next blog, I'll be forced to pick and choose my ~~spam~~ er, pictures wisely.

But today's topic?! FOOD HAHAHA. But only because this happy blog of memories is coming to a close. So gotta have some yummy stuff, right?

Once upon a time...

THERE WAS A PLATE OF PASTA.

I ATE IT.

THE END.

._.?

Haha XD Okay there's more to it!

Daniel made panfried salmon with pasta! It was muy delicioso~

That plate of pasta caused me so much pain though! The pasta has these peppers or jalapenos in them, and I (being silly and forgetful) decided that it would be a FANTASTIC idea to take the seeds out with my bare hands. Spoons? Forks? Utensils to save me from touching the capsaicin-infused little seeds of fire? Nahhhh, who need those?~

My fingers started tingling and then burning up. But I have a pretty high tolerance for pain (or I'd like to think so and then actually cry when I get a paper cut or something. XD Just kidding!), so I decided to just sit down to dinner with Daniel and eat. And then half an hour later, I was crumpled on his bed attempting not to think about how badly my hands hurt. The numbness didn't even block out enough pain either! Haha, silly me... I remember asking Daniel for a favor, and when he asked me what? I asked him if he could Google how to get rid of the burning sensation. He was so kind and obliged, then came and took me to the kitchen (princess-style carry, yayyyyy! I'm not spoiled; I'm in PAINNNN, haha) where we tried various remedies from the Internet. Ice water and limes! It felt good to have ice water on my fingers, but after the cool faded, I was ready to be miserable again.

So the fantastic dinner he made ended with me going back to my apartment after I made a mess on his kitchen countertop with juiced limes and stuff. I raided the fridge for ice cubes, dumped them in a Ziploc bag, and tried to sleep with my hands inside the Ziploc bags. Probably not the best idea, because I woke up multiple times from the burning sensation still, and the bag leaked and got my entire bed wet. Which felt like I wet the bed or something. Which wasn't very awesome :P It was so hard to sleep with my hands on fire too! Well, now I will never cook with chiles ever again, or force someone else to peel them for me while I scream at them to wear heavy-duty rubber gloves!

That's the end of that story. And so begins another!

One of the TSO alumni was passing through St. Louis and we went to have dinner with him at the Pastaria! We caught up with him, and he's still our TSO granddaddy-- silly and so, so nice!

TSO knows how to eat, yeahhhhh :)

Granddaddy Brian! He was a senior when we were freshman.

And now we were seniors! Hi Ian~~ Ian was actually co-president with Debra!

This is Pastaria's take on ramen (Italian-style). Looks pretty ^^ Brian said he could probably make it, haha~

Belinda and Michael-- they are now rising seniors, wow!

And of course, Debra ^____^

Here's my order of Cacio e Pepe (like mac 'n cheese). Simple, peppery, and yummy :D

Debra and I nabbed a picture with Ironman!

Just kidding-- it's Brian!

I remember when Debra and I were freshmen, we went to Target (where I pushed Debra in a shopping cart, haha!) and bought Brian that Iron Man mask. So coooooool, and we're so happy he kept it :) It was nice seeing him visit; he didn't think he would when he graduated, but turned out that he did. I think the chances of me visiting STL are pretty slim, but if Brian ended up doing it, perhaps I will one day end up back there :o

~*~

Another day I met up with Dai for lunch on the Loop after class, and we bumped into David, Jehyun, and Jae, so we all went to Chubbies :D

They sell burgers and wings~

Look at those kiddos. So cool looking :P

Cheese fries-- literally, fries with cheese. Hahaha~ Dai added the pepper!

Double burger-- looks good!

Nom nom?

Hehe, I like happy candid smiles :3

Ah! So Chubbies sells frozen custard (which I LOVE), but there's wasn't comparable to Mr. Wizards or Ted Drewes. Good to have some sugar though :P

~*~

Learning to make mashed potatoes. It's Sue!!

Wanna know a secret? I had my first girl crush in college. And it was Sue! And I pretty much fell head over heels XD I won't go into the specifics, because it's wayyyy to embarrassing, but in the beginning, I was like a nervous little boy or something and just wanted to run the other way when I saw her! But Daniel, Sue, and I hung out and had our learn-how-to-cook-by-pretending-to-help-Daniel-make-dinner cooking lessons the past semester, and she's so friendly and uber funny. Pretty sure I choked on a few things laughing with her :) She's one of my inspirations now too-- going for what she loves to do! Thanks, Sue ^^

*mash mash mash* Mashed po-tah-toes! With bacon, green onion, and all the good stuff~

AND MEAT. Oh my gosh, so much meat @_@ Steak night!

With executive chef, Daniel! It was his first time making steak this semester, and he nailed it!

Bam! Dinner. The steak looks like the United States of Ameria, yeah? :P

Fwee! So happy :)

Another picture of the steak, because it was just so good. ^^b

Ah, and I gave them one of the egg cakes I made. It's a cake in the shape of an egg!

Made these for Michael's birthday.

He sent me a video of how to make these a month or so before his birthday, and I wanted to try something new. My first egg cakes, and they were semi-successful? Kind of dry *smacks mouth* hahaha~ But to make up for it, I also made coffee cake (because that's one of his favorite cakes)! It kind of failed, because it didn't rise (nooooo), so I tried saving it by cutting it in half and sandwiching the two layers with chocolate frosting. It worked!

They became coffee cake bites. Glad people liked them ^___^

Daniel squeezing limes.

Oh, limes. That means = BURNING HANDS AHHH THE MEMORIESSSSS D: Haha~ I remember that this day was one of the many, many, many days I was being a cranky little kid. I was pouting, I was quiet, and I was giving a face that probably made everyone run away =o='' And this picture also reminds me that no matter how many times I think I'm more like a guy than a girl, I am still a girl. Because I remember we were trying to decide what to eat, and I gave a few options and Daniel said he didn't care. Then he suggested Tortallaria, so according to my usually faulty girl-emotion-skills, that means he *did* care (which he probably really didn't, haha). Being a dude, I would just go ahead and pick something from my options since he didn't care and not read into it, but I said we could go to Tortallaria. And my pout became bigger. I think my thought process was something like, "Wait, so I'm in a bad mood, but I'm still catering to please him?" And I marched into the restaurant and ordered some soup because I didn't want to eat Mexican food. HAHA, oh my. Good learning experience. A good point about guys is that they'll just speak their mind. That's what I'll do next time.

Be like, "Man. I'm in a bad mood. Please me."

XD Not quite. But more like, "May we go to this place instead? I'm not in the mood for Mexican food tonight." EASY AS THAT. If the other person doesn't want to go, then they'll say so. Unlike people like me who have trouble with reading people ._.''

And the whole time, even if I was being a total buttmuncher, Daniel was patient and nice with me even at the risk of me flipping over the table and biting his head off. :P Thanks, Daniel!

~*~

Some time near the end of the semester, I saw this ad in our mail:

Oh man.

That can only mean one thing.

I'M EATING PIZZA TONIGHHHHT.

Haha, do you see it? CRAZY. CHEESY CRUST. PIZZA.?! Yeah, well I sent the picture to Sue, and we both were text-squealing that we had to have this. I hadn't had takeout pizza in several years. (I eat frozen pizza if I ever eat pizza-- Digiorno's!) So Daniel got in on the heist, and the three of us wagged our tails while we waited by the door for the arrival of the pizza delivery guy ;)

Tadaa! Looks a little different, but each slice is like a heart! CUTEEE.

And so oily. haha :P

Nom? :D

Nibble nibble nibble~ ^^

Pizza was delish~ But what bread slathered with artery-clogging cheese and blood pressure raising processed meats doesn't? I think I still like Papa John's better, and both Daniel and Sue recommended Domino's cheeseburger pizza. Guess what I'll be eating at medical school when I'm too busy to cook? ;)

Oh, oh! Daniel also made tiramisu ^_^ He made it in a Tupperware and then scooped out some into plates, so the prettiness got messed up, but it was still delicious! It was the first time I bought mascarpone cheese, which just tastes like thick heavy cream, really. This treat was super easy to make, so I'll definitely make this as a quick dessert for guests in my apartment in the future too :) Thank you for teaching me!

May not be the prettiest (I still think it looks good!), but it was mad yum!

~*~

Okay! That's the last food post for this blog! So sad :'( but again, there will be a new blog, so no worries! I'm still deciding whether or not to keep the Dashipanda.com domain name. I think it will be just be the Blogger address: dashipanda.blogspot.com, and I will get a new domain name for my next website. I'll keep you guys updated so you can come and follow me around on my journey, yeah? :) And since this is the last food post, I want to make it a wee bit special-er and present you with random bits of non-informative information!!

Firstly, not sure if you guys know this, but I like to Yelp. If you don't know what that is (WHAT?!), go Google it. Basically a site of reviews, mostly restaurants. And there are people called "Yelp Elites," which is like the higher status people of the sites. They get this by recommendations and approvals of Yelp officers, yada yada blah blah cool. But anyways, I was instigated as a Yelp elite (along with 23892938 other people) back in St. Louis, and we get invited to usually free events hosted by Yelp where all the elites gather, mingle, nom, and talk. Just a fun social event! Well, I've been getting invites, and you know me... not going~ My excuse is that I didn't have a car in STL, and STL isn't really the safest place to be running out and about in the evenings anyways! So in Dallas, I plan to go to some Yelp events! :D COOL STORY RIGHT?!

Next, is that Yelp has "Reviews of the Day," where someone's review gets presented on the main page of Yelp (one for each main city). And today I was on Houston Yelp's main page! O_O Totally surprised, but suddenly my inbox was sprinkled with friend requests and compliments on my review of the day, which confuzzled me. Then I looked up my review and found that people actually find it helpful. I'm so happy! Cool if it's review of the day, but what makes it awesome is that people are actually finding it informative ^__^ That's the best. I used Yelp for a while before I even signed up as a member just to read people's reviews. Some reviews would be really fun to read and help me decide on whether I wanted to go to the business and try it, and now people were doing the same with my reviews. I don't know what this is called, but it's like giving, but feeling like you're getting much more back? Dunno~ Just thought I'd share my giddy happiness. :) Also, I met one of the waiters at the restaurant featured in that review. He was funny, and I remember him making me laugh when I was struggling to handle some spare ribs with my chopsticks (so embarrassing; they kept running away from meeee). Hope this brings some more patrons to his place :D

Home again

2013-06-23T11:07:00.000-05:00

Hey guys! After running around Asia, I'm finally back at home :) It was an awesome trip-- got to sight-see until we were all worn out, tried our hands at new foods, and partied the night away ^^b

I still have 2 or 3 more posts from WashU college life to put up! And after that, I may be starting a new blog (gasp!) in accordance to the next part of my life. It will probably be more short-post based (instead of my long ramblings... didn't think you'd miss that, eh?? :P) to save time in order to follow my other dreams!~ Asia trip pictures will be posted there spontaneously too :3

And just a picture to keep us all happy~ My sister and I ended up having almost identical sunglasses! She treated me to crawfish and crabs (taught me how to crack both open, which proved to be a useful skill in Thailand), and we hung out with her friend too. I picked plums from the plum tree in our backyard with Balto for part of my breakfast :) What a life! That was before the trip-- still tons of adventures and experiences coming ^o^

LOL Tournie & Night Market

2013-05-23T10:56:00.002-05:00

Quite a few bits of things from STL to post~ Let's begin with the on-campus LoL tournament and AAA night market! ... but first, a picture from the iPhone!

I didn't know the battery would turn red. AHH my iPhone looks so angry at me for not keeping it charged :(

Jeff was playing in a LOL tournie, and he made it to finals. We ventured into the arena~

Totally tempted to steal this poster

Debra and Josh among the spectators

Jeff's team concentrating..

Until we go and attack him!

LoL friends :) And champions! They won! Congrats~

Then a walk back to the South 40...

Oh? AAA Night Market is just getting started!

Lots of familiar faces selling yummy foods to promote their cultural groups

And cute ones noshing on nom noms too :3

TSO sold bubble tea!

WU Cypher performed their annual mock battle

Lots of shows for people to enjoy while enjoying the street / nightmarket-like atmosphere

And enjoying freshly made food

Here's TSO's stewed pork, made by head chef XY :)

Trying out new foods is fun :D

Here is deep fried tteokbokki drizzled with gochujang and honey-- nice ^^

Also, I was organizing my photos and files, and I found this video that I made last winter break. Did anyone want to see Balto and Bacardi in live action? Here they are! ^_^ My brother and sister~

And even now

2013-05-20T00:34:00.002-05:00

He hesitantly asks a question. Such a simple question, yet full of earnest. She groggily answers and confirmation, and within seconds, she falls into slumber.

In the morning, she glances at his curled up form tangled in the covers. He's so tired, she thinks. After a successful rummaging for breakfast in the kitchen, she plants herself in the leather chair at the dining table. Just last night, the two of them enjoyed a meal together. He had prepared one of the meals she wished to try the most, and she was delighted.

Probably... she ponders, This is probably my last meal here. A sense of remorse gnaws at her core, and she pushes herself away from the table and walks back to his room.

Soft, uneven snoring. She grins, her face close to his while she kneels next to the bed.

Minutes melt into hours, and she finds herself constantly glancing at the clock. A flutter of happiness lifts her doubt when she sees him shuffling towards the kitchen.

A big yawn and an exchange of words reveals that he is perched between fatigue and sleepiness. He steps towards the hallway and vanishes into his room.

A half hour later, she glances up from a card written in his writing to dismiss the third alarm on her phone and tiptoes back into his room.

Still lost in dreamland.

Unable to take it any longer, she wades onto the sheets and watches his eyes snap open.

Oh my God. I had a dream... he mumbles, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and failing. that I was in school... and I was miserable. She laughs, placing her hand on his chest and nuzzling into his neck, jesting with him that she probably saved him from a few hours of torture. And within a few minutes, she realizes that she lost him to sleep's grasp yet again.

~*~

And then it is time. Time to go. Time to leave. Time to depart.

And she is torn. It is a happy day. It is a sad day. It is a day when she is unable to discern what storm is brewing within.

Your question. I haven't fulfilled it. Nor have I spent enough time with you this morning. Panic.

She attempts to keep the spring in her step and the laughter in her voice as he washes his face to get ready. She looks around his room to take it in, to bury it somewhere deep. And then they step out the door together. But the door closes with an emphatic click.

They stop by a quaint little shop for lunch. She enjoys a large concoction of cream and chocolate for lunch, and he savors a similar confection for breakfast. They share a few smiles between spoonfuls. But the smiles seem deflated and quiet.

~*~

The car pulls up to the parking spot, and the two step out to grab the luggage from the back of the trunk. When all of luggage bags are out, the two face one another. A tight hug. She closes her eyes, wanting to say so much more than she does, but unable to. Their bodies detach and their eyes meet. Both were dreading this very moment, but they lean in. Pressing, but gentle. Moving, but not fierce. Emotional, and sad. And when they open their eyes and look at one another, they both think the same five words.

Is this the last time?

Dragging her baggage behind her, she looks back at the car and smiles. He waves goodbye as the doors slide shut behind her.

~*~

A day later, she feels brave enough to take out the card again. Her eyes wander through the small print written by his hand, gliding over the curves of his u's and n's and tumbling over the slightly messy bits. She notices a few grammar mistakes, and the corners of her lips tug upwards a little. Taking a breath, she tucks the card back into its envelope and spreads it onto the carpet with six other memories: two cards, an index card, an apple slice-shaped Post-it note, a Gundam figurine, and a small stuffed dog.

It's enough, she tells herself, realizing something. Few, but meaningful. And there are others too. One that will remind me that he didn’t know much about me at the beginning. One that will inspire me at medical school this year. One that will keep me warm when it’s cold. Just the way he did.

Her thoughts flash back to his question on the last night. His face tilted upwards, not looking at her. Embarrassed, or shy. Quiet and softened.

At that moment, I was there, she thinks, But now...

She imagines him laying and staring towards the ceiling, asking the same question, but by himself. His words are still quiet, yet they are loud in the silence of his room. So lonely and sad. Her vision instantly blurs as a dam breaks with the weight of gushing tears.

I'm so sorry, she says, directing her words at the stuffed dog. Spots on the dog's coat become matted into clumps as her tears slowly glide down, linger on her chin and then pummel down onto its synthetic fur.

He did it last time, so he will be able to overcome it again, she reminds herself, unable to do anything but stay in place. She smooths the fur and looks into the small dog’s eyes. Hi, Cream. She hugs the small thing towards her chest with an everlasting tight squeeze.

Splash of sunshine

2013-05-10T20:39:00.000-05:00

The girl's head emerges from the water as she takes a much needed breath after finishing strong to the wall. Another girl in the same lane at the wall looks at her questionably.

"Have I--" she begins, as the other girl also blurts out something. A slight pause. A round of shared giggles.

The girl already resting at the wall stops her laughter and says, "You are soooo graceful!"

The other, who was rinsing out her goggles with the pool water, looked up in surprise and her face burst into an immediate smile. "Oh my gosh, really?"

"Yeah! I'm just watching you, and I'm like, 'Danggg, this girl!'"

Laughter. "Thank you so much. That actually really makes me happy! Even if the stroke looks pretty, it doesn't mean it's fast though!"

"No wayyyy... And that back-to-breast flip thing you do. Is that a thing nowadays? Because I see it all the time, and it looks really cool."

The girl, happy to take an excuse to rest from her previous set, immediately replied, "Do you want to learn how to do it? It's actually really easy-- just takes some time getting used to it. My name is Tori, by the way. What's yours?"

A look of surprise flutters across the other girl's face, but it quickly washes away with a grin.

"Nancy. Nice to meet you! That would be awesome!"

From afar, it seems like the two girls had planned to come to the pool to swim together, one watching the other as she attempted to learn a back flip on the wall, and the other breaking through the water's surface just after bouncing off the wall to listen for corrections. The lifeguard walks past as he does his rounds.

When they finish, the teacher says to her student, "I used to teach little kids how to swim, so this... kind of reminds me of it. What a happy feeling..."

They chat, getting know one another just a bit more and end up sharing tips on classes and life. After swimming a few laps next to one another, one of the girls glances at the clock.

"Well, I have to get going. Thanks for teaching me!"

"No problem-- it was fun! Hope to see you later!" They wave, and the girl still in the pool takes a breath before submerging back into the water.

Graduation is soon... I'll probably never see her again, she thinks, as the pool's tiles fly beneath her, but I'm glad to have met her.

~*~

Here is one of the cakes I made last month :)

And my first attempt at stirfry noodles-- mmm, broccoli~

Flood

2013-05-08T21:43:00.002-05:00

That hurt, she thought, concentrating on taking one step forward at a time. Telling me that I probably thought you were worth nothing...

The first time my heart felt tight and actually ached. I was a shell, and it was hard to breathe. The first time I felt like my world was going to end because I caused tears to flow. The joy I had making someone happy just by showing up. The first time I could hold a hand in public or take a hug without pushing away in embarrassment or in fear.

And you still think I didn't feel anything for you?

She walked away, only aware of the cars racing towards her when she was already several steps into the road crossing. She hurried to the nearest sidewalk.

I can never do anything right.

Wetness. The girl looked up at the gray clouds overhead as stray raindrops danced lightly on her skin. They added to the ones of her own that were threatening to spill over.

Perfect. I deserve this.

Spring Break- LA Day 5

2013-05-08T09:26:00.000-05:00

Last post of the LA Spring Break trip!

Let's wait in line~

Waiiii do I have to wait in lineeeee

To get on the train, yo!

Yep, so everyone parks somewhere and then takes a train / tram to the Getty Museum!

This art museum is free for the public!

And it's huge!

Nestled onto a California mountain side

An actual, REAL Vermeer!! O_O *remembers studying it in class*

Lots of school kids there too :)

The weather was so nice too~ Sunny and breezy ^^

Look at the view!

And the smog... haha~ =o=

Quite an amazing site for a Texan girl like me-- roads between mountains @_@

Pretty cool, eh?

Back to the center of the museum~

I ventured into the rooms to seek out my favorite section: Greek & Roman sculpture ^^

Caracalla, how can I forget? Suspicious and fearful of assassination, always looking over his shoulder

A mother dressed as Athena to protect her son~ Motherly love!

Looking Up!

Fountain thingie in the middle-- I like the infinite edge instead of gutters :)

There are also gardens!

But I didn't know how to get down, haha~ STUCK IN THE BUILDING NOOO

Standing in the shade made it feel 20 degrees cooler :P

Oh my gawsh, seeing all these works that I've studied before :O I don't think this one's an original either~

We went on a tour! ... I ended up not listening ^_^''

This sculpture is made of wood with gilt gold. Really creepily realistic!

Hyung is tired... needs a rest, haha! (Actually, I was pretty tired too @_@)

ZZzzz~

Sean, Anna, and Elaine join in!

After the museum, everyone was starving! So we found a place that Debra recommended (because Yelp recommended it, hehe). It's called Lares! Mexican food! In California! I'm so excited! It must be great! Okay, I'll stop with the exclamation marks! Okay, no, really I will... haha~ It was so late, I think almost 4pm, so we were all about to topple over from lack of energy.

Cute outdoor dining

Rustic little sign

AND FRESH WARM CHIPS. OMG. *inhales whole basket*

Elaine so purdy~~~

The interior was really nicely decorated :)

Sean and some.. soup thing. (real specific, right? :P)

Anna and tilapia!!

Debra ordered burrito and taco :D

Wow, genuine smile O_O Hehe, steak! ... at a Mexican restaurant, durrr~

Had to put another one on, too cute! :D Oh, shrimp rice soupy dish thing. Also very specific. :P

BEHOLD. MY LUNCH. Chilaquiles ^^

Pretty much a delicious mess of tortilla chips smothered with sauce, cheese, and chicken :) Super yum! I love the combination of slightly crunchy and chewy, and of course cheese is always delish~ And who doesn't like refried beans?!! You don't? Well... TOO BAD *steals your refried beans and eats them* Om nom nom :3

After lunch, we headed to the beach for some nice sun time! And then the world ended:

This is Anna and Sean on the beach.

Haha! Surprised?? It's California and it's March, but it was soooo cool in the area for some reason, so the low pressure caused a lot of fog and cold drafts to roll in. Thus, we were surrounded with an eerie fog that I could have sworn was the coming of a zombie apocalypse @_@'' But to the beach we went! Go forth and conquer!

We look like we're fleeing from some far away land instead of playing on the beach XD

Beautiful and trendy beach styles, eh?

Even though it was cold (shivvvvver!), I was really happy just to see the ocean. I don't know; maybe it's because I'm from the Gulf Coast, but I really miss seeing large bodies of water once in a while, especially after being cooped up in the Middlewest :( Too bad we couldn't play in the ocean since it was too freezing... maybe in the future! I walked and ran up and down a small stretch of the sand, because I would lose sight of the group~

We went to an outdoor mall (think of a multi-story mall with no ceiling), which would have been amazing in warmer weather, but with the fog enshrouding everything, it was cold and kind of gloomy looking.

But they had these really cool parking lights! They would turn from green to red when someone parked into a space, so it saves people from driving around. They can just look for green lights. We watched a few cars parked with some "Ooooooh's" and "Ahhhhh's" before heading towards the mall entrance. The lights change a few seconds after someone parks, so they're triggered by motion sensors.

How come Texas can't have one of these?? Oh wait, duh. It's 108F during the summer.

Anna and Sean disappearing into the crowd

And pointing the way! Or at the advertisement? I don't remember.

Josh found his Taeyeon peas :) Turns out they're from Toy Story!

The three gals buy the three brother bears from Brave. Cute ^^

For dinner, we ate with Alex, a TSO alumni, at The Father's Office. He said it's really popular, and the burgers are pretty good. So off we went~ It's a bar / burger place, and you have to be 21 or over just to get in. Our IDs were checked~

Ooooh. Office...

And it's super dark x_x

Really crowded! No one seats you, so you basically stand behind a table until they finish eating. Awkward... haha~

Alex!! Wait, I can't see him... One sec.

Alex!! *blinds him with the flash*

*then proceeds to do it to everyone else*

The Father's burger

The menu is really limited, although there are steaks, appetizers, and salad. Most of their stuff consists of the drinks, and people come here to hang out and yell at each other over the noise, haha~ Debra and I split a burger, since we were still so full from our super late lunch. I like their bun-- it was really soft and buttery, dense and chewy. The gruyere cheese, caramelized onions, and smoked bacon had a lot of flavor and hid the bleu cheese flavor (hooray! I don't like bleu cheese) for me. Noms!

Father's Office

3229 Helms Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90034

Another trip to Boba Time! I ordered something that wasn't what I thought it would be, but it was still yummy. Fluffy milk ice!

Red beans and blueberries-- it can work :)

And I'm going for it...

Hmm...

I feel like someone's watching me!

Om nom! Hahaha, Debra :)

On the way back, we stopped by a Korean supermarket. Fun to walk around in, although not as big as H-Mart!

We were very amused at the cart escalator!

And that's it! That was Spring Break 2013 in Los Angeles :) Hope you were able to enjoy some of LA's locations through the post series ^^

Panda sammies

2013-05-06T14:37:00.003-05:00

I haven't really been in the blogging mood lately-- and with finals here, we're all busy anyways :) So a teeny tiny post to keep the ball going!

(Picture from a tumblr site!)

If someone made me these,

I would probably laugh with glee and think they were too cute to eat.

If a guy made me these,

I would probably look up and think that I was looking at my potential future husband.

Panda Nutella sammies! What can be cuter? (and more delicious?)~