We all know how nasty possums can be in the USA… not only are they pretty damn ugly and gross overall.. but they are also mean and always making hissing open mouth noises when you happen to be nearby. (except when they are flat on the road… eeew)

To the left you will see the ugly american possum, not a pretty sight most of the time..

Last night while on my way to dinner with my new house mate, we were crossing along the park and i saw a little creature running around the grass.. i was like.. what is that? and he was like.. oh its just a possum… I was like OMG EEW! but then…. when we got closer and it actually did not hiss or even seemed bothered that we were close to it.. i saw it up close.. and …

it was cute…

not only does it look more like a squirrel, but it also has these huge eyes and its a lot nicer than its north american cousin… check these out:

I was like… wow… i cant believe they are actually cute! and they happen to just wander around the parks and climb on trees! very odd..

anyway… just wanted to share the possum experience

Last week I got news from my dad that my grandfather was in the hospital under intensive care. My dad flew to Los angeles to prepare and sign any documents necessary since he is the only child. He explained to me that there was a very high chance that we would loose him within a week or so and to be prepared for the bad news.

Today I got the bad news. My grandfather passed away this morning at 8am.

He was the last grandparent I had left, and even though I was not able to be there in person this last week, I called my dad everyday just to keep up with the information of his status.

My grandfather was a very difficult man, and even though he lived in west covina, I hardly ever visited him due to always having a bad experience when I would go see him. He was very “old school thinking”, and to him the fact that I am in my 30’s and have not married and had kids, was a huge issue. He never understood my lifestyle, my job situations, or even bothered to call me or be part of my life. When I would see him he would make me feel bad about myself due to my weight, appearance or choices in life.. and even last time I visited him he gave me his usual “bad taste doesn’t have forgiveness from god” quote. Which meant that i should be dating someone that would improve my bloodline and be careful of my choices. He was also in a very dark place when I last saw him, talking about wanting to die and how unhapppy he was without my grandma. In a nutshell, it really was difficult to even be around him, so I had chosen to just avoid him in general.

When I got the news I didn’t really have much emotions about it. I felt bad about the situation but was also relieved my dad was going to be there to take care of things. A few days ago while in bed it hit me.. I was extremely upset and cried for a while. I felt helpless that I was not there and could not do anything about it anyway since he was unconcious most of the time, I felt guilty for not keeping in touch with him when he was alone in a home, and that I didn’t personally say goodbye.

Today I talked to my dad while walking back from an errand and after hanging up I realized I was having a hard time keeping the tears from falling and feeling the loss. I am happy that he is now in a better place and that he passed on peacefully and painlessly after they removed the life support yesturday afternoon. I am sure he is happier to be with my grandma which he missed dearly, and I know my dad feels better that “god remembered him”.

I loved my grandfather, even if he was a hard man to deal with. I am sure he is in a much better place now. Rest in peace abuelito.. you will always remain in my heart.

The picture above was the last time I saw my grandfather.. when I went to visit him with my sister Adriana.

It’s ridiculous and we are out of control.

First I started off being carefull about my driving.. but now i am running everyone over, stealing any cool car that happens to pass by, and shooting at anyone who pisses me off! LOL

so there ya have it.. been a little away based on trying to get the game completed (which btw we are almost done with it.. and we are now working on the 2 different endings). Everyone likes us, we have killed people we have worked with before, and we dont even have to worry about getting to get those 4 girls to like us anymore.

The gameplay itself is pretty good, the story is definitelly interesting with many twists, and lots of fun things to do as side quests. (from pidgeon killing, to assasin quests, to car theft, to unique stunt jumps..). Only thing is that the character themselves are pretty damn ugly.. man.. even the girls we date are kinda scary.. and a bit demanding at times too.. I mean.. HELLO.. i am in the middle of hit woman! stop calling me to ask me to take you out! sheesh!

So I ordered my mom an “Edible Arrangement’s Bouquet”.. which is pretty awesome cause it’s original and yummy! plus.. flowers die anyway…

When i called her, she was totally excited and mentioned on how she had already eaten the whole thing! HAHHA! awww…. my mom is so cute

I called my step-mom and send emails to a few other mom’s that deserve to be celebrated as well.

Here is a pic of my mom eating the crap out of her bouquet.. LOL

For any other mom’s out there… HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY !!!

It has taken me to San Francisco, Santa Maria, and now Vancouver. It has been quite a journey and along the way I have met some amazing people.. but still feel like I have not found the home I was looking for just yet.

So far I really like Vancouver.. a lot. Right now life has been quiet.. I am still waiting to hear the call to where I need to be and the phone has been kinda dead.

I miss my friends, I miss my family, and I miss having a home. But I am sure things will eventually sort themselves out. I have hope that I have given up so much for a good reason.. and that the road to the light will soon clear the path for me.

I know I have been posting lots of things about food, and random updates but nothing too personal. I guess right now I just had the need to just get it out and write. Even if my blog doesn’t really get many visits since not many people know about it.

well .. here it is… now you know what has been brewing in my silence… I am sorry for those who felt I have disappeared from the world, I have always been here.. and in a strange way.. maybe I was just hoping that someone would notice I had been gone…

As I had mentioned before, ever since I got to Vancouver I have been working with Mat to redesign his apt.

We have been really busy working on purchasing new things, painting, and overall trying to organize things in a small space. We finally finished the bathroom and the kitchen.. and the other rooms are starting to also take form. Here is the first look of the finished bathroom…

The Problem:

• I noticed that there was a peanut butter colored tile in the shower, but nothing else in the bathroom carried this color, and it look a bit out of place.
• Everything was out in the room and very cluttered, and overall it just did not appear to have much of an order
• There was no extra room for anything and the vitamins were kept in the kitchen due to lack of space in the bathrrom
• There was a sole image in the bathroom that appeared to be floating on a sea of a plain wall to the left of the mirror

The Solution:

• Divided the wall by choosing a lighter hue of the same blue to give it more depth
• I wanted to continue the linear peanut butter tile around the bathroom, so I added moulding with a matched paint color to balance the division of the blues around the bathroom
• purchased a new light fixture that would be less bright and more visually pleasing
• purchased a new medicine cabinet to put away all the clutter and bring back the vitamins into the bathroom and away from the kitchen
• painted the bottom moulding of the walls to continue the peanut butter lines
• added new handles on the cabinets to match the rest of the towel holders
• added a nice infuser scent and candles to the top of the toilet area for a more pleasant feel
• placed the old picture on the wall next to the shower to anchor it into the room and to be seen reflected in the mirror as you walk in

so there ya have it! a new bathroom.. here are some of the after pictures, some with my fish eye lens to try to capture the whole space.

So there I was looking around at all the cool things this place has to offer and I was in love… this store not only has a HUGE selection of fancy mushrooms that i had not ever seen before, but they also have lots of exotic fruits, cheeses, and veggie. They also have a whole aisle dedicated to Olive oil and vinegar.. i was like OMG!!! i LOVE  oil and vinegar, and being in that aisle was like being in a candy store! oh yeah.. and it was next to their bakery.. so HELLO.. BREAD!!!

They also offer freshly made pasta, and plenty of isles of more fancy things… they even had a brand of wated called “BLING” water! it was crazy…

so after putting enough ingredients to make a seafood and veggie dinner.. (which turned out to be like $100 for them) i was pulled out of the store before I did more damage to my wallet!

I only got a few pics of some of the goodies.. so here is a look to some of the cool things i saw.

Mystery exotic Fruit

Heavenly Oil & Vinegar Aisle

DragonFruit and StarFruit

We arrived at 7pm (they open their doors at 5:30) but we figured.. hey it’s a monday.. cant be that long of a wait. Well, be warned, the place was PACKED and we had a 30-45 minute wait for our table, so we were directed to go to the back to put our name in and wait in the lounge.

Let me start off by saying that Vij’s is an experience on it’s own. The do not take any reservations, so you have to arrive early and wait in their lounge area until they have a seat for you. Now, at a regular restaurant, the waiting area is just a waiting area.. but at Vij’s its an experience. It’s low dimmed lights, friendly staff, and overall ambiance is really cool. The staff passes by every so often offering random snacks while you wait (free of charge). You can also order cider, beer or wine while you wait for your table.

After a few minutes wait, which didn’t really appear to be that long since we had snacks, drinks, and a nice ambiance, we were taken to our table.

Vij’s has an all female Punjabi kitchen staff, that work in 2 shifts in order to create everything in the restaurant always fresh and nothing is pre-made, and let me tell you the food speaks for itself!

we started off with BC Prawns in coconut masala on grilled kale. – WOW… it was extremely tasty! the kale was delicious, and overall the dish was so good I totally forgot to take a picture of it!

I ordered the Lamb popsicles in fenugreek cream curry on spinach potatoes – I think this was the best curry I have ever tasted! the lamb was amazingly tender, and full of flavor.. definitelly order this dish if you ever visit!!

Mat ordered the beef tenderloin with almonds and garlic in tomato & yogurt curry – the beef was amazingly tender, and the dish itself was good enough to eat with just nan!

Your meals all come with nan and basmati rice.. which is fully refillable.. and its awesome that they do that cause the nan is amazing!!

We ended up the meal with an order of kulfi and some chai tea. Both we tasty, but I am still loving the other courses! I will definitelly have to go back to this place and try some more dishes from their menu

You really have to try the food for yourself.. these pictures dont give the food any justice!! Oh, and to finish it all off.. the service was amazing, and the prices were not that bad either!! (about $20-28 per dish but it comes with nan and rice).

Enjoy!!!

yeah.. i know it sounds weird.. you would assume that there would be coffee in the drink, but there isn’t.

so I decided to try it out, and I gotto say, I was pleasantly surprised! it was pretty tasty and really easy to make! So if anyone out there is curious.. here is the recipe!

Carrot Cake Cappuccino