tim and i joked about how we did every touristy thing seattle has to offer but i do believe it’s almost true. on day 1 we visited the pike place market. we first witnessed the fish fly then off to happy hour at elliot’s oyster house – which became a little too happy for us. after attempting to do some buzzed shopping, we ended up agreeing to take a “nap” that turned into deep drunken slumber until 6am the next day. this was definitely not a sleepless in seattle trip. there’s just something so soothing about sleeping in a toasty bed while it’s raining outside. it’s almost hypnotizing.

feeling rejuvenated, we crammed most of the sightseeing in day 2. after a delicious breakfast at lola (a tom douglas restaurant), we took the monorail, rode the ducks around the city, explored seattle center including the emp museum, pacific science center and of course, the space needle. though i enjoyed the seattle center, i found myself wanting to explore the more lively pike place market. pike place chowder was recommended by friends and sure enough, did not disappoint. we also hit up the “cups of crab” stand in the middle of the market then accidentally stumbled upon the infamous gum wall. tim was going to offer me $5 to lick it but i countered with $100 (he was too wuss to accept it cause he knows i’d do it.) our last pitstop before nightfall was for the famous donuts, featured on the food network, from dahlia bakery (also a tom douglas restaurant, notice a theme here.) at the bakery, a homeless man who claims he has over 750,000 hits on youtube approached us and performed a tune using an empty water jug. i can only hope he is as happy and carefree as he seemed while singing.

seattle nightlife is more my style too…a bar/gastropub scene. great local beers and they seem to love their scotch. +1. we shot pool with some locals and strolled around downtown to random bars.

on our last full day, tim and i sped through the seattle aquarium then attended my cousins wedding reception in bellevue. photos of the lovely couple to come in the next post! en route, we agreed seattle looks just like forks in twilight…hardly any sun, lots of clouds, and covered in evergreen trees. it’s the exact opposite of socal’s 80 degree winters but nonetheless enjoyable and beautiful.

the reception was intimate but boasted lots of love and laughter. it was priceless to see my relatives, some who i haven’t seen in over 15 years. it’s a trip to think we’re all at this event to celebrate the union of 2 people beginning their lives together yet next week, I’ll see some of them again at our grandpa’s funeral in taipei to celebrate commemorate his life and passing. it’s the circle of life in 1 week’s time. too deep.

finally, though drained and still full from the reception, we made an effort to try the last 2 restaurants on our want list: serious pie (tom douglas, again…) and japonessa. i’m glad we did to end seattle right. and bloated. who says having 2 dinners in one night is excessive? not i.

btw, since we went to 3 tom douglas restaurants, all of which were recommended to us by friends, i took the liberty of wiki’ing him. he should be glad i did because i found not only does he pretty much pwn the downtown seattle food scene, he beat morimoto in an iron chef america salmon challenge. mad respect, tom!

and now, i’m at the airport concluding this trip. excited to get the photos uploaded and shared with y’all. seattle treated us well and i feel like i blabbed too much so i’m going to stop here. blame southwest for making me wait 3 hours at the terminal.

final note – here’s a vid i captured of the homeless man i was talking about earlier. also, don’t mess with me when i’m bored

1. you develop an internal alarm clock that wakes you up before 7am everyday.

2. you’d rather listen to kost 103.5 rather than power and sing scream eye of the tiger like it’s no one’s business.

3. you crave to bake on the weekends.

just to reaffirm how i constantly feel, i did all three of these things today. even sing eye of the tiger. way to go, em. i can almost feel my joints tightening up. i decided to make a rice cake in celebration of chinese new years but instead of making a traditional 年糕 i decided to bake a matcha mochi cake. it was also an excuse to visit the local japanese market, mitsuwa, and see the jolly japanese ladies that work there. they’re so cute! happy chinese new years everyone!! may your year be filled with happiness and love.

super easy recipe:

Matcha Mochi Cake
1 lb glutinous rice flour (equivalent to about 3.5-4 cups depending on the type of flour. the french weigh out their ingredients. and they make the best macarons so we should trust their technique)
2 tblspn matcha powder
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 cups milk
2 cups sugar (i used 1.5 cause i don’t like it too sweet)
3 eggs, beaten

preheat oven to 350 degrees. combine all ingredients in a bowl, mix until consistent. grease a pan or two, depending on the size, pour the mixture in, then bake for an hour or until you poke the center with a toothpick and it comes out clean. let cool before you cut it! next time i want to pizzazz it up and put some red bean in it. mmmmmmm. the star of the cake – matcha!!! it’s a great antioxidant.

dozer is the snot king. snot that looks exactly like how they draw it in anime. example below.

here’s to a humble celebration of his time here on earth. the last photo was just a month ago.

last night, dozer stared at me looking mighty bewildered. if i could guess, he’s thinking im crazy for running around the house like a mad woman, cleaning my ass off. vacuum, steam mop, laundry, dishes, bed linens… oh my, what a glorious night!

later on, dozer was doing what he does best – dozing off – and looked too cute to ignore. i tried practicing manual focus. failed on that last one…then i got distracted by my flowers on the coffee table.

taiwan’s markets are a maze of exotic fruits and on-the-scene slaughtered meats. innards and animal parts you’d never imagine were edible hang everywhere and if you’re not cautious, a large intestine or cow tongue will probably grace your face. it’s festively loud, with mopeds honking their way through the stands and everyone haggling for the best price. many vendors are old. they wake up before the sun and haul their harvest to the market each day. it’s quite amusing and surely a humbling experience.

i hate excuses but in my defense, much has happened these past couple months. i’ve been on a roller coaster ride of emotions that took me to both low and high places. my father was diagnosed with infective endocarditis  after doing some dental work. his supposedly qualified dentist failed to prescribe antibiotics after a tooth extraction so bacteria was able to make its way into his heart valves and do some major damage. after a couple months, he took his yearly trip to taiwan where he felt uneasy and was admitted into the hospital for emergency open heart surgery. thankfully, taiwan healthcare is extremely efficient, thorough, and suffice it to say much cheaper than healthcare in the states. my brother and i rushed to taipei to see our parents and spent almost 3 weeks there. our visit was a surprise. as soon as we landed at midnight, we went straight to the hospital where he was sleeping. he woke but didn’t have his glasses on so we had to move our faces literally 6 inches away from him until his eyes could focus and once he made our faces, his eyes widened with pure joy. it was, hands down, the highlight of my trip.

the 4 of us together is a rarity so the presence of everyone in one small hospital room day after day was extremely comforting and personally, very emotional. i witnessed my mom care for my dad in ways i thought were long lost in their relationship. i bonded with my brother. i cherished my dad. to think i was even just a tiny bit closer to losing him was overwhelming and reasserted what we all already know but constantly brush off…that life is delicate and needs to be appreciated.

leaving taipei was difficult. i fought back tears the last 2 days knowing i wouldn’t see my mom for years but am super thankful i got the chance to go.

as soon as i got back to the states, there were tons of things to take care of. it felt never ending. on a positive note, i closed escrow on a condo in pasadena!!! now the fun begins to slightly remodel it and get it rented. my plans were to move in but due to my dad’s condition, i’m staying put for now so i can take care of him. perhaps this will turn out to be better on an investing standpoint.

not only have i neglected the blog and my readers, my 5d is also screaming at me to use him (his name is chauncey, btw). it’ll be refreshing to get back into shooting again. since this is starting to become more of an emo diary entry than a blog post, the least i can do is leave you with some photos, courtesy of my iphone. that is…if you even read this far. tl;dr. sidenote…i’ve subconsciously known this but after selecting images, it’s confirmed – 80% of my iphone photos are of dozer….

happy 2012 everyone!!!!