Sanity Tips from a Grouch

“Are we there yet?”

That is the question uttered wearily by every student during this point at the semester. Go on, ask one. They’ll turn to you with bleary eyes and caffeinated jitters, and repeat that same question.

Mid-terms has just past, like a great typhoon of late-night studying and flurry of readings and scribblings. The tide has drawn, but you never know when it’ll flood back with a storm of new papers and exams.

Boy, college is tough. But I’m not here to bitch. I’m here to share a few of my secrets on how to stay sane in the midst of all the stress and craziness.

Here are a few of my own personal guidelines (some I break, some I uphold like a religious commandment):

Sophia’s Ways to Maintain Sanity in College

• The 7pm Rule: Never open a textbook or study or do anything academic-related after 7pm. Once the clock reads 7:00 pm, I close up my notebooks, and relax.
  (This is my favorite rule. I stick to it no matter what. Even during mid-terms. Which is why you could see my blogging when I have mid-terms the next day)
• The Morning Coffee: I always try to wake up about at least an hour and a half earlier than my first class, so that I can go out for a run, come back home, fix breakfast, drink my fresh-brewed coffee.
  (This sets me off for a good day. It is never a good idea to rush off to class right out of bed, because you’re just not in the right mentality to pay attention in class. Might as well sleep in. Also, without coffee, I’m a total…bitch)
• Be smart-selective with readings: I don’t read everything that my professor assigns. Some are just plain unnecessary! Figure out what the professor wants, and emphasizes on, and focus on that.
  (I’m still trying to get the hang of this)
• Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy: No matter what I do, even a 10-page research paper (groan!), I try my best to make it enjoyable. It’s not a matter of hypnotizing or forcing yourself to “enjoy” it, but a matter of changing your attitude about that assignment. Try to find some aspects of it that may interest you. If you stay positive, your time spent will be much more productive and effective.
  (True story. I experience this all the time)
• Start on your assignment ASAP: Don’t ever procrastinate. It can do you no good.
  (I actually start on my assignments the day I get them. While my classmates are struggling to finish their essays, I have mine done 2 days ahead of time. Love the breathing space!)
• Eat well: Duh. Like I needed to even tell you this!
  (But not if you have a mandated partial meal plan. Like I do. Scroll down, and let me explain)

Unfortunately, I still have 43 meals left to choke down in my school dining hall. Damn it. It’s already past half the semester, and I’ve only dined there for a total of 7 meals. And I’m already so, so, so sick of all the food there.

I have, however, found the dining cafeteria a good place to study:
They have internet access and power cords for my laptop, so I just hitch my Macbook up and take advantage of the unlimited drinks and snacks.

Like say, granola in a bit of milk, with chunks of chocolate:
Warmed up in the microwave, the chocolate melts into the mixture, and the granola gets sort of chewy…
Not bad, but it was too sweet. The first bowl was good. But after my second bowl, I thought I was going to puke.

So another time, I decided to do brunch, since how can anyone mess up brunch food, right?

Wrong.

Check this out:
 Salad, fruit, turkey sausage, frittata, and omelet. With diet coke.

Salad is fine. Fruit is okay. Turkey sausage is blah. Frittata is blah. Omelet is waaaaay under-seasoned.
How the hell does one mess up an omelet? Is this some crazy low-sodium rule that the school has? And where is the cheese I ordered? No cheese makes Sophia a very, very unhappy grouch.

Disappointed, I just filled up on frittata:
…And more frittata:
And more frittata, with another sausage patty:
 And yet more frittata, with yet another patty:
I used the same plate for the omelet, so it’s still there, cold and rejected.

It’s something about the fact that this lackluster meal cost me $11 that makes me stuff myself to the brim with lackluster food. Does this make sense? That in order to get my money’s worth, I feel the need to fill myself up to the gills!

Poor Mimi. During our weekly Thursday meet-ups, I sometimes have to drag her to dine at the cafeteria. And they’ve been consistently bad. But we managed to find a few items that were actually edible.

Vegetarian Shepherd’s pie that was all potatoes and no filling:
Some kind of Indian-spiced vegetable medley that was actually pretty good minus all the grease:
 Mango-Chutney Chicken salad with tzatziki sauce:
Some kind of beef curry that was tough, stringy, and spat out:
Boring egg salad and tuna salad: 
These totally needed hot sauce. And lots of it.

On the brighter hand, I found out that Fridays was Asian-themed. Despite my ambivalence, the food wasn’t too bad:
 Asian sweet-and-sour rice noodle salad, cheese pizza, tzatziki sauce.

And second plate:
 Pepperoni & Sausage pizza, lemongrass mashed potatoes, green curry with shrimp and white rice

There was not a hint of lemongrass in that mashed potatoes, so I suspect they just threw that in there to sound fancy and go along with the Asian-theme. The green curry was pretty good, though.

So far, a lot of misses and a few acceptables. And I have 43 more rounds to go. God. Damn. It. I tried to swipe my friend in for a free meal, but they wouldn’t let me because I only have a partial meal plan.

Huh?! I’ve never heard such complete bullshit in my life!

To think my brother goes to Virginia-Tech, the school with one of the best on-campus dining, complete with lobsters and wood-grilled pizzas. Next time he complains about the food, I shall smack him and make him eat ours.

Wow. How did this post turn out to be so negative? Sorry, I promised not to bitch, but as I said, bad food makes me grouchy!

I’ll be back to my more chipper self by the next post. I promise!

Question of the Day: Remember my 7 pm rule? What about you? Are you a late-worker? A procrastinator?
And any tips for me to enjoy school dining food more?

Lovey-Dovey

I’m not a lovey-dovey person. I really am not. Cooing at cute little babies is foreign to me, and romantic gestures like flowers and cute “surprises” creep me out. If I ever get a husband, you’ll probably see us bickering and getting into passionate debates instead of passionate embraces.

That said, I have to admit I am very affectionate. I just don’t know how to show it well in person. Which is why when I need to express deep feelings and fondness for someone, I need to do it through writing.

Abby from Abby Has Issues spread some bloggy love to me about a week ago. I, in typical fashion, was an idiot and didn’t realize that I was supposed to spread it in return through a definite post, and not just regular commenting pleasantry. Abby reminded me to spread the love this weekend, so here I am. Thanks for being patient with me, Abby!
Now. Honestly, I was in a predicament about who to spread this to. Not because I can’t think of anyone, but because my head was bombarded by a whole list of names I wanted to spread this love to. Which is why it took me a bit longer to write this post. But I’ve finally whittled it down to three. Here they are:

1. Wacky Becky (tee hee) from The Nomad Gourmand:

This amazing, spunky bread-whore from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia has been one of my oldest readers. Her comments never fail to make me smile, as they are humorous, detailed, and personable. She’s been through some hard times, such as pneumonia, but she has endured them with grace, and still fights on. Despite her little antics and clowning, she has a deeper, more philosophical side to her, which I can see by her constant encouragements for me while I was still deep in the process of recovery. I find that amazing considering that she never and doesn’t have ED, she is so understanding!

Oh, and this little woman may be opening her own bakery soon…so when she does, please send her some love! <3

2. Grace Melody-Moo from Grace Points:

What more can I say about Grace, except that she is the most blessed and most blessing person ever? Grace has also been one of my oldest readers, and she has always given me such great comfort and advices. This is a girl who went through the same horror path as me, but who have fought and won the great battle. And now, she has dedicated her life to God, and is in seminary school.

This girl is my role model. I am always inspired by her wise reflections, her deep spirituality, and most of all, her simple and passionate love for God.

3. Mimi from Damn the Freshman 15:

And finally, Mimi. Can I tell you how much I adore this girl? I think her name has been mentioned in every single post ever since I came to USC. In fact, this post will be specially dedicated to her.

I have not stated this out loud in my blog, but Mimi is going through some bad food relationships of her own. In fact, before I even met her or knew that we would be in the same school together, Mimi had sent me a sincere and desperate email, finally admitting that she has an eating disorder, and seeking help.

If by help she means enjoying good food with her, then I’ve done a pretty darn good job. But honestly, I can’t take credit for anything. All I’ve done is sit next to her and eat up while she tackled her fear foods, one by one.

Let’s see…what did she overcome in the less than two months?

• A whole greasy burger at Umami
• Real pizza at Mr. Pizza, with the crusts
• Fried Thai noodles at the University Village
• A real sandwich (aka two non-diet bread pieces) with creamy brie at Sophia’s Kitchen
• Tons of butter-laden Italian cuisine at Zucca Ristorante
• Tteokbukki at Han Nam Market
• Mac & Cheese (not the non-fat shit) at Sophia’s kitchen

I know. Who is this mean, lean, eating, ED-conquering machine? This girl is SUPER-ED-BASHER! Even now, I am amazed at how willingly and determined she is in facing every of her challenging fear foods…She never once chickened out, she never once ran away screaming as I would have done about a year ago, but met each battle with tenacity and courage. I tell you, never ever underestimate a Southern belle!

A couple of days ago, Mimi faced another battle. This time, we met up with another fellow USC student and blogger, Kathryn.
Kathryn is the blogger of Froyoaholics Anonymous, and one of the most stunning girl I’ve ever met in person. This girl is gorgeous! I think I was a bit star-struck. She is also incredibly nice and sweet, and from the instant we met, we were gibbering non-stop about everything from froyo (her specialty) to horses to movies. Another cool thing about her? She has a car! Woo-hoo!! We took that opportunity to travel further than we could have.

We went to the Farmer’s Market at The Grove.
Remember that place my parents and I took a wrong turn to? Well this time it was completely deliberate as we sought out to try a cuisine that is dear to my heart…
  Singaporean cuisine! I was thrilled to find that L.A. had a small Singaporean eatery called Banana Leaf! Oh, how I’ve missed my hometown food!
We ordered three dishes to share. First, Chicken Mee Goreng:
 Thin yellow noodles fried with onion, chili, vegetables, tomatoes, and egg. Topped with spicy chicken.
This was okay. It wasn’t as authentic as I wanted it to be, but it was satisfying nonetheless. The chicken was tough and stringy, though the seasoning had a great kick, almost like fajita chicken. The noodles were a bit overcooked, but that just added to its crispness, which is actually desirable in Mee Goreng.
Second, Rojak:
Salad dish with jicama, pineapple, salad greens, bean sprouts in sweet and spicy chili sauce.
This was horribly unauthentic. It was more like a salad plate you can find anywhere else! The sauce is supposed to be thick, dark, and sticky, chock-full of peanuts, almost like molasses. But it was more like a regular liquidy dressing. Not to say it wasn’t good, but it was just disappointingly boring.

Third, Laksa:
 Coconut curry soup with noodles and fishballs
  This was just blah. It looks spicy, but it really wasn’t. The taste is supposed to be strong and pungent, a sinus-clearing sensation, but it was severely lacking in taste.
It came with keropok, or shrimp crackers:
At least this was pretty darn authentic! Nice and crunchy, with a definite dried shrimp flavor.

Now, obviously, none of these dishes are what doctors would recommend for weight loss. But Mimi sampled all of them and enjoyed it! What a trooper! That’s really the only way to conquer your fears…just DO it! Unfortunately, I can’t say Kathryn seemed to like Singaporean food too much…So sorry, Kathryn! You pick the location next time!

At least we had a great time! The best moment is when we al whipped out our cameras, of course:
Bloggers in action!
The farmer’s market is a really cool place. I wish I had a car to visit frequently! Because Halloween is near, they had some sort of Halloween-themed event going on:
Check out this amazing carved pumpkin!

And mom and daughter dancing to country music:
Aawww…
And basically, just a whole lot of food stalls!

Well, I’ve spread some blogger love, and L.A. love, and Singaporean love as well, though that particular food place disappointed me…At least, it still gave me a taste of home.

Now, go spread some love yourselves!

Question of the day: Name one fellow blogger you would like to show some appreciation to today?

Edited to add: The church member I mentioned on my previous two posts have just passed away. It was peaceful, without much pain. He left behind a young wife and two kids. Please keep them in your prayers.

Unpredictable

Thank you all for your warm regards towards my church member back in Virginia. His nutrition IV has been pulled as of last night, and for now, all we can do is wait…My father has already visited him many times, and the reassuring thing is how peaceful the man is…

Life is so…unpredictable.

My mom said something yesterday on the phone to me that struck me hard: “I went to visit him today…and Sophia, he looked just like you a year ago, all skin and bones. His cheekbones were protruding, and even the veins on his temples were visible…Oh Sophia, he looked just like you.”

That brought my memory back to about a year ago. I was beside him on the church altar. We were both on our knees, and the whole church was gathered around us, praying aloud for us. At that time, he had already discovered his cancer, but was not at a terminal stage yet. But I was.

We were both really, really ill. He wept and wept as the church prayed out loud, sincere and cut to the heart. In the meantime, my cheeks were dry; my heart was still hardened by despair and disbelief. I didn’t believe I’d ever get well, and I had pretty much given up on life.

How strange…that God chose to restore me, the disbeliever, but He chooses to take away the other who truly, desperately wanted to get well. I don’t understand the work of God. I really…don’t.

Oh, Lord, why? Why choose me? What am I, that you would preserve my worthless life here on earth?

I voiced the same question to my mom. “We don’t know the reason, Sophia,” she answered gently. “But trust in God that there is a purpose. Trust in Him, and give thanks to Him. Life is unpredictable, but God always is. His plans, His love, His wisdom, His righteousness are always faithful.”

Yes, you never know what kind of strange twists there will be in life. We plan and obsess and dream, but we never know where life will lead us. There are a lot of things that are just totally out of our hands, but I try to find peace in them through my trust and faith in God, who is eternal and faithful and unchanging.

Hm. Sorry to be all somber. I swear I’m not gloomy or depressed or anything! Just…reflective.

Speaking of unpredictability, this Los Angeles weather has the mood of a pubescent teenage girl! Last week, it was chilly, foggy, and windy. It drizzled like the tears of a petulant baby for two days straight. And today, the sun is shining bright and fierce in the 80’s, as if it’s making a forced, aggressive grin. 

Last week on Sunday, it was yet another chilly day, and after church service, everyone just wanted something warm and hearty. This being downtown L.A. where there is not a Panera in sight (WTF?), our general consensus was ramen.

A huge group of us trooped down to Daikokuya in Little Tokyo, in search of apparently the best ramen in Los Angeles. Unfortunately, the line in Daikokuya was outrageous, and there was no way the 20-something of us could fit in there. So we headed to the ramen shop nearby:
 Mr. Ramen. Seriously? Mr. Pizza, and now Mr. Ramen? Asians come up with the hokiest name! –___-;;;
Anyway. Cheesy name aside, the place was pretty cozy, decorated just like a welcoming little Japanese home, which was a pleasant sight especially when we were all chilled to the bone.
There were even stacks of manga! (I used to read and draw my own manga, until I decided that manga was sexist and treated women like honeymelon-breasted sex objects)
We totally filled up the whole place, us Christian Students!
These two lovebirds in front are engaged and are gonna have their wedding soon~

Anyway. The menu was very limited to just ramen and curry rice, with a few other choices, which was a good sign that this house really knew their ramen.

I ordered the soy soup ramen:
Wow! The bowl was twice the size of my head! And look at all the seaweed in there! I approve! >.<
The only thing I wasn’t happy about was the egg: hard-boiled? And just a tiny quarter? Come on! >:-6

But I loved the pieces of pork in there:
It wasn’t fatty and greasy like the one I had at Ippudo in NYC, but full of tender meat that just literally melted in my mouth.
And the noodles were nice and chewy and springy, just the way I like it.

Everyone ate with gusto:
However, I noticed once again that I was the only one who ate my ramen the “right and polite” way. Yes, I was the only one who made slurping noises!

Some of my friends ordered a half-size portion of ramen with a plate of curry rice:
That red thing there is pickles! I didn’t try it, but apparently it was good.

I was a bit worried about the price, but Mr. Ramen turned out to be just half the price of Ippudo. Awesome! But I didn’t get to pay. Someone else grabbed the tab before I did. I’m not sure who, but a big thank you to the generous ramen-buyer!

Another thank you to the Heart Thrive peeps who sent me this package:
Look at the selection! They are all made with whole-grains, with 30% Daily Protein, Fiber & Calcium and suitable for vegans:

• Apricot
• Date
• Cranberry
• Lemon Poppyseed
• Apple
• Chocolate

Now, I’ve got to be honest. On my first bite, I really did not like it. The taste was so raw; it was like eating uncooked oats or dough. It turned into dry crumbly paste in my mouth, and I had to choke it down.
The second time, I warmed a Cranberry one up in the microwave for about 20 seconds:
Much better! Now it was actually edible, and tasted quite good! This was the Lemon Poppyseed one.
  The third time, I tried grilling it on my George Foreman:
Ooh~ Is there anything Mr. GF cannot do? I loved how it was nice and crispy outside, but warm and soft inside. Yum!

And yet another time, I microwaved a Date one again, but added a bit of syrup on top for extra moistness:
I ate this with a fork like a cake. A dainty, pretty, heart-shaped cake. I think this was my favorite way to eat it.

Thank you, Mark, for this opportunity to try a new ultra-healthy snack!

Okay, I’ve chatted enough. I hope you all have a great weekend!

Question of the day: What was the most unpredictable thing life threw at you? It can be good or bad, serious or funny.

Just a Shadow

For those of you who have been reading since the start of this blog, or if you look at my About Me page, you’ll know that I started this blog as a sort of “treatment center” for me to fight my eating disorder…And for the past month or so, you might have noticed that I don’t really talk much about my eating disorder anymore.

Well, the simple truth is, I just don’t have much to say about it anymore. Why? Because it isn’t part of my life now. Take note that I am not saying I am completely healed. But it’s no longer dominant. There used to be a time when I would wake up feeling eating disordered, and go to sleep feeling eating disordered. The two letters ‘ED’ rang in my mind, poking me and taunting me in every single action and speech I made.

But now, I no longer care for it. Quite simply, I have many other things to think about that is much more significant and meaningful to me than my eating disorder.

Again, I am not saying that I am quitting, or that I am no longer fighting. The thing is, I don’t even have to fight or struggle that hard anymore. I just…simply don’t get all those irrational fears and anxieties anymore, and if they do come occasionally, it takes just a few shrugs to brush it off.

My dad once told me that one day, ED will be like a distant dream to me. At that moment, I felt my heart clench with longing and desire— I wanted that day to come so desperately, but I did not have any spark of hope that it will. And now…I believe I am very close. ED is but a shadow in my life. There are still remnants of it lingering from time to time, but the light inside of me is getting brighter and brighter, chasing the darkness away.

One key evidence is the ease with which I dine with others. Gone are the days when I would freak out over a social eating days in advance. Even if a social event is sprung upon me by surprise, I can comfortably abandon my plans and follow along.

Sunday was one example of that. After church service, a bunch of girls asked me out for lunch. I actually had something else in mind that day, but I said “yes” immediately, simply for the reason to socialize…like any normal person would!

And guess where we went?
 CURRY HOUSE in Little Tokyo! Remember that time I went there and had a divine lunch with my parents? I was so thrilled to be able to visit it again!

This time, I ordered the Chili Shrimp and Spinach Pasta:
 Shrimp, spinach and onion in spicy chili flavor with Spaghetti
Eee! Divine! I forgot to ask them to make it as spicy as possible though, so it certainly wasn’t hot enough for me. Thus I dunked tons of Tabasco sauce on top, shocking the hell out of my new church friends. Don’t mind me, just being Korean…

By the way, I think I found my church. I really enjoyed the Sunday’s message. I had goosebumps all over; the message was so powerful! Also, my new friends are pretty awesome! One of them also grew up in Singapore, and guess what? She whipped out her camera with me, too! How cool is that? A potential food-blogger, perhaps?

Anyway. There is another reason why I should hang out with them more. They have cars. Haha! We might be making a Trader Joe trip sometime, and of course downtown for more good eats!

Sadly, the food options in my own school’s campus seems to be limited without a car.

See, I’ve also been exploring other dining options in my campus with my friends. On Wednesday, my friend Yoomi called me out for lunch out of the blue, and we went to this on-campus cafe called Popovich.

Obviously, the Smoked Turkey Wrap caught my eye:
 Smoked turkey, orange-infused cream cheese, cranberry chutney, and spinach in a spinach wrap, done Panini-style. Side of pasta salad and pickle.
Orange-infused cream cheese? Cranberry chutney? How could I refuse?
Unfortunately, there was too much spinach and too little cheese and chutney. They were skimpy on the two most interesting ingredients, so this wrap turned out…quite unremarkable. Sad.
The pasta salad weren’t that great, either. Not a fan of cold pasta or dressing…

And all those people who have been telling me Parkside Dining hall is better than EVK? They were WRONG!
 Mimi and I met up yesterday afternoon for lunch at the dining hall next to my apartment.
It was the first time I was dining here, and I see I haven’t been missing much.

Parkside looks nice and polished, but I can’t say the same for their food:
 Turkey burger, Mango chicken, Indian-stewed vegetables, salad, fruit.
Blegh. The mango chicken had a great sauce, but the chicken was overcooked and tough. 
The turkey burger was completely inedible. I had to get another cheeseburger:
And this was almost as horrible. Dry, tasteless, bland. Even the cheese. I thought processed cheese was supposed to at least have some kind of taste with all the crap they put in there.
The stewed vegetables were all right, but too greasy and heavy.

To “get my money’s worth” from this completely unsatisfactory (and expensive for $10.25) lunch, I loaded up on two of these ice-cream cones:

Even the cones were tiny! Rip-offs! >:-(

I might have also snuck out with some fruits. ;-p

Ah, well. You can’t always have fabulous meals all the time. Too bad I have 49 more meals I’m forced to eat in Parkside. Boo.

Anyway, I’m glad it’s a weekend! Weekends didn’t mean anything to me before, but now it’s such a pleasure to have a couple of days off! I guess this goes to prove that we need a little tough moments (or bad food) in our life to make us appreciate the good moments (or yummy food)!

Question of the day: Why did you start your blog? Has the purpose/motivation for your blog changed over time?

P.S. Check out Mimi’s post on her revelation on calorie-counting and her recipe for her Hotshot Creamy Cuke Sammie!

Pampered

I just hung up after speaking with my parents, and here I am sitting on my new desk, sipping on a fresh-brewed cup of Vanilla-biscotti coffee, and relishing the first few moments of the start to my life as an independent college student…

My dad’s last “sermon” to me is still ringing clear in my mind: “Just be happy today, each day. Because whatever circumstances and situation you are in, it is the perfect moment God has arranged for you, and that moment will never come back. So just enjoy every single moment!”

And then he ended with the usual “I love you, call often, eat well, bye bye.”

I’ll miss my parents. I’ll miss them a freaking lot. But now is the beginning of a new chapter in my life, and just like my dad said, I shall enjoy each and every single moment of it, the good and the bad.

The last four days with my parents have been amazing, though. My parents love my campus, and my new room, so much that for the past two nights we’ve just been cooking dinner in my apartment. Mostly oatmeal and eggs, because after all the fast food and heavy food both my parents and I start craving a good ol’ bowl of oats in the evening.

I feel rather bad, because for the past few days my parents have practically become my chauffeur and maid. I’ve been dragging them around the city everywhere to buy all my essentials and to stock up my kitchen, and spending so much money! Yesterday I wanted my parents to just go off by themselves to have their own little “vacation” but they refused and insisted on spending the whole day with me again. Awww…Of course I gladly accepted, because hey, I want to enjoy being pampered for as long as I can get!

So these are the places we’ve shopped in during the last couple of days:

• Korean supermarket
• Walmart
• Costco
• Trader Joe’s
• Whole Foods
• Japanese market
• Grand Central Market (DEFINITELY visiting again!)
• K-Mart (It SUCKS! NEVER go there ever ever ever!)
• Ross
• Dollar-Dollar Bargain Center

Phew! I’ve certainly been on a rapid shopping spree! But even now, my kitchen is still seriously under-stocked, and there’s still some supplies I need to get for my room. I had no idea there are so freaking many necessities one needs! Humans are fussy creatures!

My room is still unorganized, but I’ll update you with pictures once my roommate moves in (tomorrow) and we are both settled in.

So, what have we been eating to fuel up? Well, tons of fast food…But it’s been some great training for me…I sure can’t be a picky food snob anymore when I’m a poor college student! Besides…fast food is pretty damn tasty (Shh! Don’t tell anyone I said that)!

Anyway, the day before we finally managed to wake up early enough for some McDonald’s breakfast:
Sausage McMuffin with Egg. Too freaking yummy. Darn that MSG and artificial crap that makes food taste good!

For some reason I wasn’t craving pancakes that morning, so I had the McMuffin instead. But come afternoon, our minds were screaming heresy for not ordering the hotcakes in McDonald’s, so we had lunch at IHOP.

I ordered the Harvest Grains ‘N Nuts Pancakes Healthy Combo:
Pancakes made with hearty grains, wholesome oats, almonds, English walnuts, and blueberries. Topped with bananas. With 2 poached eggs.
This actually comes with scrambled eggs, but I substituted poached eggs because as you know, I love my runny yolks!
If you ever go to IHOP, GET THIS because it is freaking awesome! Drizzle on that syrup, and you’ve got one wholesome, sweet and savory meal!

But of course, we didn’t subsist only on chain restaurants. What is the fun of that? Knowing my obsession for European-Japanese cuisine, one of my dearest friends who is a former USC student recommended a little restaurant in Little Tokyo called Curry House:
It’s situated in Weller Court Shopping Centre, a little hub of Japanese stores. I let my parents take a look at the menu, and I swear I’ve never seen them so excited!
The place is really chic and modern with bright colors, and most of the servers were Japanese.

My dad, the ultimate seafood and pasta lover, of course ordered the Seafood & Wiener Jambalaya Style Curry:
Brimming with scallops, shrimp, squid, white fish, wiener & vegetables in a rich tomato stock. Made extra-extra-extra hot per request, of couse, and the rice was substituted with spaghetti.
Holy shit. It was SO freaking GOOD!!! For those of you who have never tried Japanese curry, it is a lot different from the Indian or Thai kind. Theirs is really thick, and more sweet than spicy. But this curry, though it retained the Japanese curry characteristics, was ramped up with Cajun spices. YUM holy YUM!

My mom took a long time deciding because she wanted everything (tsk, tsk) but finally she chose the Keema Curry:
Ground beef with onion, Shimeji mushroom, carrots, potatoes, garlic, red chili and soft-boiled egg. Served with brown rice.
I loved that they have brown rice options! This dish was really delicious too, though it was not as spicy and a tad bit sweeter than my dad’s dish. And I love how the Japanese like to top a lot of their dishes with a soft-boiled egg! Yum!

As for me, I went for something totally unexpected by ordered the Tarako Mayo:
Onions and Shimeji mushrooms with cod roe and mayonnaise sauce in spaghetti.
I’m not usually a big fan of mayonnaise, but Japanese mayo is just…fabulous. And the sauce in this was SO awesome! It was so rich and creamy, but not cloying at all because of the tang of the mayonnaise.
And LOVE the cod roe in there! It’s got a gritty texture, sort of like cornmeal for some crunch factor, but much softer, and when you bite into it, it releases sweet juices into your mouth and OH EM GI! You’ll have total gastronomic orgasm!
There was also a pot of some kind of red Japanese pickles which was sweet and crunchy and sour at the same time:
The three of us were greedy and actually finished the whole pot! Oops!

I was stuffed to the brim after finishing my dish (and stealing huge bites from my parents’ plates) because the serving size was way too generous, but we still ordered a dessert because nothing is better than Japanese desserts. We got the Sweet Potato Cake with Ice Cream:
If you’re wondering why it is yellow in color that’s because Japanese sweet potatoes aren’t orange. They’re yellow, and a million times superior in taste to the normal orange ones. They’ve got a deep, intense flavor, like roasted chestnuts.
The cake was actually more like a thick, dense, pureed sweet potato! I couldn’t taste the flour, and it was rich and creamy in my mouth. So good! The ice cream was just your basic vanilla. It was okay. Too sweet, in my opinion.

Oh, and did you know they also have another Curry House in that same shopping centre?
It’s a small To-Go place though, for those in a rush or for the cheapskates who don’t wanna pay tip (that might be me in the future).

I was ecstatic to find that there is a bus that comes here from my school. I shall most definitely visit again, preferably with friends!

Okay, one more thing I want to share and then I’ll shut up and be done. Anyone in LA been to the Grand Central Market?
Apparently it is LA’s largest and oldest open-air market. There are over 38 merchants selling all sorts of produce, delicacies, and unique specialty items…and the prices are SO cheap! A whole container of figs and strawberries for a freaking $1!! And grapes for 99 cents per 2 pounds! YAHOO!!
There were also lots of food vendors selling delicious-smelling foods like burritos, chicken rotisserie, frozen yogurt, Korean-Mexican fusion, Japanese teriyaki, overstuffed pupusas, etc…It was a pity I was too stuffed to eat anything, though I did consider getting the froyo. Well, there’s always a next time!

Okay, I’m running out of time…Gotta run again for Welcome Week stuff…My posts may be sporadic for a while, but I promise to return to blog as often as I can. I hope to be able to work out a schedule as I get adjusted to my weekly routine.

Till I return, please take care and remember to enjoy every moment of your life!

P.S. Take a look at this article on orthorexia…It’s scary.

You Just Can’t Compare

“She has a smaller waist than me.” 
“He has a nice car than me.”
“She has better grades than me.”
“Her skin is so much better than mine…”

Does this sound familiar? Just think about it…How many times have you compared yourself to others today?

Comparison…It seems like such a harmless, human thing to do. Everyone compares. But unfortunately, not many people seem to realize how dangerous and destructive comparing can be. In fact, one of the biggest contribution to my anorexia was comparison.

Why do we feel the need to compare? I have often asked myself this, torn apart by guilt and self-loathing as I looked at others, even my closest friends, with deep envy and resentment. Why can’t I be satisfied with myself? Why can’t I be happy for others for their good qualities? Why can’t I just be at peace with the way I am?

While rummaging through my old things today, I’ve come across some of my old diaries from when I was in middle and high school. God,  I was so tempted to bake them in the oven to a crisp! All the ridiculously childish, envious thoughts I harbored within me! All the self-criticism and rivalry! I wanted to crawl under my bed in shame.

But I couldn’t help mulling over this. Am I still like this? Am I still wading in these waves of constant jealousy and comparison? And the sad answer was: YES. I still critique myself frequently, especially when I see someone better than me. The worst thing is that the comparison is mostly with people who are close to me.

But whenever I pray to God about this, He reminds me one thing: You are precious in my eyes. You are uniquely and individually made under my wisdom and eternal purpose.

This gives me enormous comfort. It reminds me that not one person is alike. We’re all uniquely and personally created, with our own special background, circumstances, situations, personalities, and appearances. We can’t all have a body like Jessica Alba’s, a brain like Einstein’s, or a voice like Mariah Carey’s. We can’t all be amazing musicians, artists, or dancers. We can’t all be rich, charming, and powerful.

We just can’t have it all. But we do have our own preciously unique selves to serve our very own special purpose in this world. Which is again why there is simply no way we can compare to each other. We’re all precious in our own ways.

In fact, my father always told me, “Don’t compare. Instead, give thanks for other people’s better points. Because what we lack, others will fill up, and vice versa. That’s how we balance each other out, and keep this world interesting.”

Speaking of balancing each other…you all already know I love my flavor combinations. One thing I learned about cooking is that in order to make a great dish, you need to know how to balance out the five fundamental flavors: Sweet, spicy, sour, salty, and bitter.

I really can’t compare which flavors I like best…each one is so different from the other, and sticking to one flavor in a dish would be too extreme and cloying…but they complement each other so well!

Anyway, today’s dish was a real hit with the balance of flavors. I really think curries are just one of the most complex and intriguing dishes in the world. Get the components right, and you’ve got yourself one heck of an amazing meal.

Mango Chicken Curry

• 1 small onion, chopped
• small peeled ginger root, about 1/4 inch, minced
• 1 medium cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/2 mango, diced
• 1 medium tomato, chopped
• canola oil
• 1 tablespoon curry powder 
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon garam masala
• 1/4 cup salsa (I used the mild Tostitos brand)
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 cup chicken broth 
• salt and pepper
• 1 large boneless, skinless chicken breast halve, chopped
• 1 link andouille sausage, sliced
• about 5 pieces dates, sliced
• 1/3 cup unsweetened desiccated coconut   

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until softened. Add the spices. Cook, stirring once or twice, until fragrant. Add the ginger and garlic and cook until fragrant.

Add the mango pieces and tomato to the skillet and stir to incorporate. Then pour in the broth with the salsa and lemon juice. Increase the heat to medium-high to bring just to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low. Cover and let simmer until thickened a bit. Season to taste.

Add the chicken pieces, sausages and dates and stir to coat them evenly. Cover and cook again, stirring occasionally, then toss in the coconut. Continue to cook until chicken is cooked through and all the flavors are absorbed. Top with a bit of extra coconut. Not the prettiest, but oh-so-good!!

The sweetness from the mangoes and dates, the spice and bitterness from the spices and sausage, the sour from the lemon juice…Oh my, what a hit, a very palatable hit!

So beautifully well-balanced! Funny how today’s dish somehow linked itself to today’s post topic. I should just become a food philosopher. Is there such thing as a food philosopher?

I don’t know whether this would go under Indian or Thai. What do you think?

Oh, and guess what arrived in my mail today…

A little parcel sent by an angel!! My dear friend Natalie from Singapore sent a little present from her trip to Melaka, Malaysia…

I tore the parcel open to find a little red container and a Melaka postcard…And being foodies, of course it’s gonna be food, oh glorious food!

Traveled safe and sound from half-way across the world! Two cookies, one filled with peanut, the other with taro. And three mochis! Little adorable glutinous rice cakes, each with a different filling of sweet black rice, red bean, and black sesame! Nat, are you a mind-reader? How did you know I adore these things?

I tore into one right away…

And then another…

And yet another…!

They were so reminiscent of those lovely Asian snacks I loved as a kid. I love these things because they’re so light yet satisfying, sort of savory, with just the right amount of sweetness.

My brother got mad-jealous, so I reluctantly gave up one of the rice cakes to him. I’ve got just one more precious mochi left, and I’m gonna do my best to let it last a little longer. Thank you so freaking much, Nat! I burp my thanks to you! ~burp~

And that’s not all! Boy oh boy, aren’t we full of nice surprises today? Catherine from The Unconfidential Cook and Claudia from Journey of an Italian Cook passed me this heart-warming award:

Thank you, Catherine and Claudia! I am so honored and pleased to be remembered by you!

I have actually already received this award and have passed it down to other bloggers before, so this time round, I would like to pass it to my faithful and amazing non-blogging blog-readers…namely: Nanete, Alda, Catherine, Adrienne, Smita, and Wen Xiu! Thank you, guys, for your kind words and support! And my most sincere thanks to any more “shy readers” out there who have not made known to me!

Question of the day: Do you find yourself comparing yourself with others? What qualities of others do you usually envy the most?

“Sophia Cuisine” Reigns Supreme!!

Well, I’ve sure been adventurous gastronomically yesterday and today! I tried out two unfamiliar cuisines: Mexican and Indian. One from across the border, the other from way across the ocean. But one of them were done my way (aka totally unauthentic) and the other was quite authentic.

Yesterday I met up with my church friends for our weekly prayer group together. This week I offered to host the gathering and the dinner afterwards.

After my horrible first Mexican cuisine experience at Chili’s, I decided to give Mexican cuisine another try…but manipulating it into “Sophia cuisine.” I didn’t want to make something all fancy and fussy, so I stuck to just three simple courses: soup, salad, and enchiladas as the main dish.

I wanted to make enchiladas from scratch, and not use enchilada sauce from a can. So after browsing through several recipes online, my mind began to twist and churn to devise my own style of enchiladas. Here’s what I came up with:

Avocado-Chicken Enchiladas with Spicy Pumpkin Sauce

For the sauce:

• ½ onion, finely chopped
• 1 big tomato, chopped
• 2 chipotle pepper in adobado sauce and 1 tsp of the sauce
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 2 cups chicken broth
• cumin, chili powder, and salt to taste
• 1/2 cup Greek yogurt

For the enchiladas:

• 12 corn tortillas
• vegetable oil
• 2 avocadoes, pitted and mashed
• 1 cup whipped cottage cheese
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• cumin, salt, and pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup chopped green onions
• 2 cups grilled chicken breast, chopped
• 1 cup sharp Cheddar Cheese
• 1 cup Four-blend Mexican Cheese
• 1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese

For the sauce, cook the onion, tomatoes, and chipotle pepper with the sauce in a pot with some oil until tender. Then pour in the pumpkin and broth, season and taste as you go. Boil and simmer until thick. Turn off the heat, stir in the yogurt then set the pot aside.

For the filling: mash together the avocado, cottage cheese and lemon juice, season to taste. Mix in the green onions.

Meanwhile, heat in another pan about ½ inch of vegetable oil.
Dip one tortilla a time until heated through and soft.
Place the tortillas on a plate and let them cool just enough to handle them.

Then place some chicken in the middle of the tortilla with the avocado mixture and fold. Do this with the rest of the tortillas placing them on a baking dish.

Soak them with the pumpkin sauce, top with cheese and pop it into a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes until cheese is melted and everyone comes running after the heavenly aroma.

I’m sorry, but the pictures don’t do them justice. Enchiladas are just plain ugly. But oh they were soooo good!

It was rich, creamy, spicy, sweet, chewy and crunchy all at the same time. Talk about a fiesta in the mouth!

You all know anything with pumpkin in it and smothered in cheese and I’m sold, but I was worried my friends wouldn’t like this new variation of enchiladas…but thankfully, it was gone in a few seconds!

On the side I also made some kabocha-roasted red bell pepper soup:

And a salad:

Romaine lettuce, baby carrots, orange and yellow bell peppers, celery, strawberries, and grape tomatoes.

And blue corn chips and salsa:

Today I met my old high school friend, Ashley for lunch. Her brother, Martin, is friends with my brother, so all four of us met up. We decided to be adventurous and try out a popular Indian restaurant in my neighborhood, Amma’s Vegetarian Kitchen. I had checked up on it online, and it had gotten pretty good reviews, and apparently frequented mainly by Indians. And I knew if the majority of the customers were Indians, it had to be authentic!

Ashley had the special of the day, the pongal aviyal:

The owner was really ambiguous with his explanations. He just said it’s some kind of mixed lentil and vegetables with banana and coconut. It was really interesting, sort of like an Indian-style risotto. A bit sweet, with spots of spice from whole peppercorns and mustard seeds.

Martin had the onion rava masala dosa:

Spiced potatoes and onions wrapped in a crepe made from
semolina, sprinkled cumin seeds, ginger and green chilis,
topped with onions.

My brother ordered the amma’s feast:

Traditional South Indian meal consisting of rice, chappathi,
vegetable curry, sambar, rasam, pappadum, pickle, raita and
samiya payasam.

The whadda-what? I have no idea what which was which, but here’s a wild guess:

The rasam (super-sour and spicy tomato soup) and chana masala(nice).

Another kind of vegetable curry and sambar.

The rice, chappathi, and pappadum.

Phew. There is more, but you all know what raita (spiced yogurt with cucumbers) is, and the samiya payasam was white and milky and looked just like the raita. Sweet and bleh.

I ordered the mysore sada dosa:

Crepe spread with spicy chutney

Holy crackers! This was HUGE! And really spicy! In a sour, shooting kind of way that wasn’t too pleasant. I usually don’t believe restaurants when they claim a dish to be spicy, but this just turned my stomach into a cauldron…a cauldron of spitting fire!

I had to borrow my brother’s raita to cool it down, but it was still pretty horrible:
This came with sambar (vegetable curry stew):

And some kind of coconut chutney that turned me off:

After our little Indian gastronomy adventure we trooped off for something cooling to quell the fire in our tummies. And what is more cooling than ice-cream? And what is even better and richer than frozen custard!!

Despite having lived in this area for 7-8 years, I had never paid the acclaimed Nielson’s Frozen Custard a visit. Nielson’s is said to make the richest and creamiest frozen custard with best quality ingredients, and they change their flavors regularly. Most days they only have 5 flavors available. Today’s flavors were: Peach, cool mint, caramel, pistachio, strawberry, and cream-sicle.

Ashely and Martin shared the strawberry:

My brother got a cream-sicle cone:

And I dived into the pistachio in a cup:

This was another challenge for me. Ice-cream used to be one of my trigger foods…it provokes a lot of horrible memories of me binging on it by the gallons then purging the whole night long. I’ve been avoiding it like the plague, but it was time to face it. A summer without ice-cream is a sad summer after all…and now I know it’s gonna be a great summer because I enjoyed each and every lick and bite!

Yum! Frozen custard saves the day! Although the Indian restaurant was interesting, I really don’t think I’ll be visiting again. Or if I do, I’m definitely ordering something else. And I will believe them when they say a dish is spicy…Or better yet, I’ll just make Indian food the “Sophia cuisine” way

Oh and two reminders:

1. Have you signed up for our Warm Fuzzies game yet? Some of you left rather ambiguous comments, so I wasn’t sure whether or not I should add  you to our list of participants. Please check the list on our Warm Fuzzie page for your name! If your name is not there and you’d like to join, please shoot me a comment or an email.
2. I’m still open for all BSI: Corn recipes! Check out the BSI page for the list of recipes that have been submitted, and for more details.

Question of the day: Look above!

Twiddling my thumbs for the Big Event

Yup, that’s what I did all day on Friday before the Big Event. I twiddled my thumbs, watched the clock tick each second by, dozed off a bit, then twiddled my thumbs again. I totally got over-dexterous on Thursday with the preparations, leaving me with barely anything to do on the actual day to the big dinner.

Let’s recap: I have eight items on the menu for the dinner:

* Crudites or salad
* Omu-pilaf
* Potato cake
* Tomato-pork curry
* Meatloaf
* Cheese-baked pumpkin Mac & Cheese
* Banana chocolate chip cake
* Frozen Mango Cream Cake

I baked the banana chocolate-chip cake on Wednesday, and made the Potato cake, tomato-pork curry, meatloaf, and the frozen mango cream cake on Thursday. That left me with just the vegetables, the omu-pilaf, and the cheese-baked pumpkin mac & cheese to do on Friday, plus reheating the dishes I’d made beforehand. 

I finished everything I needed to do for Friday in just about 2 hours, and was left with practically nothing to do but watch the time go by for the rest of the day! I guess my planning for the pre-preparations were a little off. Oh well, I’ll learn from my mistakes.

Anyway, as promised, the pictures from my farewell dinner organized by yours truly…

First off there’s the nice little carrot and celery sticks which nobody really touched except for me…

And then the big-ass omu-pilaf drew a lot of exclamations…

My friends were all bowled over by the fact that I used barley instead of rice. It was like they’ve never seen barley before!

And then of course the baked potato cake which I featured on the previous post…

It was incredible. Very very cheesy and flavorful, dense and creamy in the mouth, an ultra-rich version of mashed potatoes. I definitely recommend this!

And then the tomato-pork curry…

This wasn’t as special as the omu-pilaf or potato cake as they’ve all seen curry before, but still was popular in its own familiar way…

The meatloaf, which was my own personal favorite…

I slathered extra ketchup on top to keep it moist and to create a nice thick, sticky glaze. Awesome!

And my amazing Cheese-baked pumpkin mac & cheese!

I didn’t have macaroni so I used penne pasta. Everyone loved this a lot, because you don’t find much mac & cheese in Singapore.

Here’s the banana chocolate chip cake that I am so sick of baking but did so under the insist of my dear friends…

Honestly, do you see anything special about this cake? It’s so boring! But is was devoured in a blink of an eye. I guess my friends are simple creatures.

And…the grand finale, frozen mango cream cake!

The crust is an almond-sugar cookie, with pureed mango, orange juice, and freshly whipped cream filling, and I topped this with fresh grated coconut.

And what do you know? My friends raved about this as well. But half of them still preferred the plain old banana cake! What’s wrong with them?

All in all it was an awesome dinner. For the first 10 minutes it was total silence as everyone just dived into the food and chewed and chewed like it was their last meal! And then it started getting really noisy, as all fourteen dinner guests began praising and complimenting the food, and asking me how I made them. I forgot the rules of a good chef and foolishly divulged all my secrets. What can I say? I’m a sucker for compliments.

I definitely broke the bank on this dinner! The frozen mango cream cake itself cost about $20 to make! But every penny I spent, every last drop of energy I used for this dinner was well worth it and more as I watched the happy faces of my friends, and the way they mopped up every last bit of morsel, licked their fingers, and sat back with a groan of satisfaction.

Oh, and another reward I got for making this dinner? My youth group leader did a special prayer just for me! And my friends also gave me a present: a cool sweatshirt that they searched high and low over all of Singapore for, looking for something that is “thick” enough. That’s not easy, considering that Singapore stays well around 90 degrees all year round! Hee hee. And what’s more, they also helped with cleaning up! They washed up the dishes, wiped the tables, vacuumed the floor, and took home all the leftovers. They were the world’s greatest and sweetest guests ever! I felt very much appreciated and loved.

That said, the next week will be a bit of a battle for me, because I’ll be having quite a lot of farewell dinners and will be eating out a lot more than usual! But I think my sadness for leaving overtakes my fear and anxiety of the food…For once, being sad is working for my favor…

Question of the day: Do you have your own specialty dish that is famous among your family and friends? And do you ever share your secret recipes with others?

I have quite a lot of “specialty dishes”, but I’m famous for incorporating pumpkin into practically everything. My friends tearfully told me during dinner that each time they see a pumpkin, they’ll think of me! Ha ha!

Heavy and Greasy as a Golden Pillow

As promised…a report on last night’s “scary” dinner with my church youth group!

As always, turns out the dinner was not as scary as I imagined it to be. Once again, I let my fears and anxieties run rampant even before I faced my challenges. I always seem to work myself up and waste lots of precious energy and emotion for nothing.

But that doesn’t mean that the dinner was not a challenge. Oh, no. In fact, it was entirely made out of “bad” foods. The kind of food that will send nutritionists and dieticians into a coma.

That said, dinner was very, very interesting. You’ll see why in a minute, but first let me tantalize you with these two words: Golden Pillow… What do you think that means? I’m giving you time to imagine…

—————–*Are you imagining what it is right now?*——————–

When my friend informed me that she was ordering Golden Pillow for dinner, I immediately felt a wave of relief— I thought it was going to be a rather “safe” food. I mean, what do you think of with the word “pillow”? Something light, airy, and fluffy, right? I was imagining some kind of soufflé or something. That, I could handle. I smiled to myself.

And then my smile froze up when my friend sent me the link to the Golden Pillow catering site and I realized just exactly what it was. Light and airy? Diet-safe food? No freaking way.

Golden Pillow was chicken curry encased in a big white bun. What’s so bad about chicken curry,  you ask? Well, you’ve never tried the chicken curry here in Singapore. It’s not the kind you get in an Indian or Thai restaurant, where the curry is relatively healthy, with minimal oil and healthy fats from coconut milk.

Nope, the chicken curry in Singapore is thick with carb-laden gravy and swimming in red oil. Not the healthy oil like olive or canola, either, but the cheap kind with ridiculous amount of trans fat. Sometimes I wonder if these people don’t have a death wish.

But! I have to give credit to the interesting idea of baking chicken curry in a bun. I snapped some pictures to illustrate…

So here’s this big fat golden bun, roughly twice the size of my head (I stuck my head beside it to compare):
You tear into it and find this little baby parcel:

You twist it open…

And reveal the “golden” contents…

Golden and glistening from high-cholesterol and heart attack-inducing GREASE, that is.

A closer look into the contents…

Lots of pieces of dark chicken meat and a few potatoes as the “vegetable” serving of the day…

Nary a green leaf in sight. A doctor’s worst nightmare (Or any health-conscious person’s).

And that’s not all. When my Singaporean friends decide to go all out, they go all out.

Not being satisfied with this bazillion-calorie Golden Pillow, they ordered another one…Here’s the box “containing” the second one (Already empty):

…and more heart-killing goodies…

…and three more large pizzas. With very interesting names.

Here’s the Sunshine Fantasy:

“Chicken bacon, sausage, sliced boiled eggs and mayonnaise.”

And the Four Seasons:

“Artichoke, chicken ham, green peppers, black olives, mushrooms.”

Last but not least, the Spicy Macho:

“Spicy sauce, ground beef, red chili, onion, pineapple, oregano.”

I’m curious. Which of you are saying “WOW! YUM!” and which of you are saying “EEYUCK!” I’ll bet you have both voices screaming in  your ear. I did. I was really freaked out by all the grease and the refined carbs, but fascinated by all the interesting flavors and concepts. 

Anyway, I did the best I could. I had a slice from all three pizzas.

The Sunshine Fantasy was the best. It was really, really good, in fact. I loved the egg baked into it, and the little bursts of tangy mayonnaise in each bite. I don’t think I’ve ever come across this pizza topping in America before, but I’m ringing up Papa Johns and Pizza Hut with a new pizza proposal when I return.

The Spicy Macho was basically chili on a pizza. It had just the right amount of spice, but I could only manage half a slice of this. It was just way too greasy and meaty!

The Four Seasons was just blah. Actually, it was the least popular. The Sunshine Fantasy was gone before I could help myself to a second piece, but we had half of the Four Seasons left. I blame the suspiciously neon pink “ham” and the severe lack of artichokes.  And apparently Singaporeans hate olives.

Now, I know all of you are curious about the Golden Pillow, and I’m sorry to disappoint you that it was not up to par. And it wasn’t just me, everyone else thought it just wasn’t up to standards. It was good, but it could have been better. The curry was too watery, too oily, and a tad bit too sweet. I ate some just to face up to my fears and challenge myself by dipping my pizza into the gravy and eating about two pieces of chicken, but otherwise I was not very impressed with it. What a shame, as it was supposed to be the highlight of the dinner.

With all these meat and grease, I thought it would be a very good idea to bring some veggies…

In the form of a carrot cake.

Hey, at least we got our servings of vegetables! This was the moistest, most delicious cake, and filled with raisins, almonds, pineapple, and coconut. Looks boring, but a bite of this will make you think you’ve died and gone to heaven. (Aren’t I just so modest?) In fact, vegetables have never been so popular with my meat-loving friends.

Overall, dinner was quite good. I would much rather have enjoyed the food I prepare for myself, but this meal was less about the food and more about the social time we had together. Also, it was the first time my friend Jingwen joined our church youth group (after lots of persuasion), so that made the night a very happy night for me.

On to lunch today. I was expecting to have lunch out with Liwen and Wengang per our weekly arrangement, but at the last minute lunch plans were canceled. So lunch was on my own.

Unfortunately as I had not been expecting to cook and I had just recently cleared the fridge of all leftovers (with yesterday’s yummy Super-decker omelet that you’ve got to check out), so I was left with little options. Thus, I resorted to my ultimate comfort food: oatmeal.

Pumpkin oatmeal, to be exact.

With cinnamon, a swirl of maple syrup, and a sprinkle of fresh grated coconut.

On the side for protein I had two sunny-side eggs with a small dollop of my cilantro-coconut spread:

Mmm…Simple, fuss-free, and satisfying…

Of course my yolks have to be all golden and runny. That’s the only way to eat yolks.

Well, that’s it for the day. Thank you for all your well wishes on last night’s dinner challenge! It’s so empowering and encouraging to know that I have a whole bunch of “invisible” support group out here in this blog world!

Oh, and I’m eating out with Jingwen tomorrow, and I’m hoping to make another trip to the Soup Spoon! Remember that amazing Panera wanna-be? Hee!

All right, ta-ta for now, and here’s today’s question of the day: What were the most interesting pizza toppings  you’ve ever seen/heard/eaten before?

P.S. Please remember to add  your link when you comment! Some of you have no links to your name, so I was unable to comment back…

A baking throw-down, Q&A, and unauthentic Middle-eastern cuisine…

Wow. I’m in tears. Really. My (tiny Asian) eyes are glistening with grateful emotion. Thank you so much for your amazing, kind, encouraging comments to my last post. They mean so much to me, and have strengthened my resolve to overcome this sickening disease and pursue my dream. Being able to go back to college means so much to me, because I love learning new things and studying. I’m an uber-nerd that way. Heh. But seriously, I just want to forward all your comments to the admission-decision committee of USC and say, “Come on, now. How can you not accept me? Are you really gonna disappoint all these incredible girls out there?” Bet that will work! Hahahahahaha!

A-hem. Anyway, I’m still joyfully chomping my way through recovery. Delicious eats, and a fear food faced and conquered! Are you ready? Here we go…

Lunch yesterday was another variation of my soufflé-omelet…

Can you guess what’s inside this fluffy blanket?

I was meaning to try a sweet version of this, but suddenly I had a real craving for something cheesy, so I went all cheesy-crazy. I whipped up my soufflé-omelet just like before, but for the filling I used roasted butternut squash and four kinds of cheeses: bleu cheese, Parmesan cheese, cheddar cheese, and cucumber-garlic cream cheese to make a Four-cheese-butternut squash Soufflé-Omelet:

Oh, heaven. How can you ever go wrong with cheese?

I did not measure, but I used about 2 tablespoonfuls of Parmesan, a fistful of cheddar, a tablespoon of bleu, and 3 tablespoonfuls of cream cheese.

I was afraid the flavor of the cheeses would all mesh together into one incoherent, unidentifiable mess, but I could actually detect each distinctive taste and texture…

There’s the tangy creaminess of the cream cheese…

And the stringy, sharpness of the cheddar…

Every bite was amazing. The roasted butternut squash gave a nice smoky, mellow sweetness to the omelet that was perfect with the blend of cheeses.

I had church youth group that night, so I had to pack up my dinner. Along with my usual 12 mini chicken hotdogs, I tried out a new sandwich combo. Do you remember my Poop-in-poop-out? This is how it looks like:

You can click here for the recipe, but it’s basically a chocolaty blend of black beans, pumpkin, and cocoa. I paired this poopy (but so delicious)puree with sliced green apples on two slices of whole wheat bread:

And of course sandwiches tastes best toasted like this:

Check out the filling! It was torture restraining myself from gobbling this up right there and then!

’Twas a poopilicious dinner ^______^. Youth group ended late till midnight, and I was just too pooped out to blog…

Well, that brings us to today, Saturday! Those who have followed my blog continuously should know that Liwen, Wengang (the couple who are hosting me) and I have lunch out together every Saturday. Today we went to a place nearby called Istanbul Gourmet. As the name indicates, it’s a Middle-eastern restaurant. Can you believe I’ve never really tried Middle-eastern food before? Unfortunately, we chose the wrong place for my first taste of Middle-eastern cuisine. Istanbul Gourmet was definitely…not gourmet. It was small and the prices were too cheap to be able to serve great food.

I ordered the Chicken Kebabs and Yellow Rice on Bean Salad:

The chicken…tasted like fried chicken. I’ve never tried chicken kebabs before, but I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to have chunks of crispy bits in kebabs. They came shredded over a bed of bean salad with some kind of sweet chili sauce drizzled all over.

The yellow rice…

Meh. I hate rice, but had decided to challenge myself with this dish. Besides, I thought it wouldn’t be so bad as it is yellow and had other mix-ins like herbs, turmeric,raisins and chickpeas. But it was so bland! Looks are deceiving. But at least I faced my fear food and I still forced myself to choke them down.

Liwen ordered the Istanbul laksa:

Yeah, this is so totally not Middle-eastern at all. Laksa is a Singaporean noodle dish based of a coconut-curry soup. The only thing “Middle-eastern” about this was the chicken kebabs they used in the soup. I thought it was just sub-standard. Not a huge fan of coconut-based laksa.

Wengang ordered the Beef Bomb, which was marinated beef stuffed with hard-boiled egg on salad and a side of potatoes:

Again, I can’t see anything authentically Middle-eastern about this dish. The beef was pretty tough and stringy.

Damn, my first experience with Middle-eastern cuisine, and we had to pick a lousy unauthentic place. It’s like going to Taco Bell to try my first “Mexican” fare. Or calling sweet-and-sour chicken and fortune cookies “Chinese” cuisine.

But that’s okay, because we had a lovely time together, and that’s what matters. But still, I hope to give Middle-eastern cuisine another chance once I return to the States. What do you guys recommend? (Except hummus…Please don’t kill me, but I really don’t see what’s so great about hummus)

Bad Middle-eastern food aside, I got some baking done for my friend Mei-er, who’s birthday is on March 22nd~! I made sure to take pictures of it…Yup, Morgan, these pictures are especially for you! Consider this my first baking challenge to you! Check this out:

My Chocolate-Pumpkin Swirl Brownie Cheesecake!!!!

Take a hunk of that! (The knife is for dramatic effect) Can you beat that chunk of drool-worthy baby? Put on those baking mittens, girl, because the baking throw-down is ON!

As the Iron Chef chairman says, ”ALLEZ CUISINE!!!!” *Takes a chomp on a bell pepper muffin and grins lecherously challengingly*

Um, just to make sure. That’s not me.

Right. Before I scurry away, here’s a mini-mini-mini Q&A section in response to the last post’s question of the day! LOL, are you guys shy to ask questions? But anyway, hear are the questions that were asked by these lovely fellow bloggers [with a bit of my add-ins in these brackets ]:

Emily and Kiki asks:

Do you have recipe for that [freaking amazing oh-my-god you’re such an amazing baker] brownie?

My answer:

Those brownies were actually just leftover batter from my chocolate-pumpkin swirl cheesecake brownies (see above for the fabbity fab fab pic), which I plopped into a muffin tin to bake. I sort of “made-up” this concoction by mixing-and-matching several recipes, but here’s the basic recipe for the brownie bottom:

• 6 oz unsweetened chocolate
• ½ pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 large eggs plus 5 large egg yolks
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla
• 1 cup chopped almonds

To make the brownies:

1. In the top of a double boiler over simmering, not boiling water, melt the chocolate and the butter, stirring to combine. Set aside to cool to warm.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

3. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, egg yolks, sugar, and vanilla until smooth.

4. Pour the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture and combine with a whisk. Add the flour mixture and almonds to the chocolate/egg mixture and stir until just combined. Pour the brownie batter into muffin tins. You can pour all the way, because you don’t need to worry about the batter rising too much.
5. Bake for about 40 minutes in a 325 degrees. Remove to a wire rack to cool.

I adapted this recipe from here, and used a lot more egg yolks so that the batter will be a bit drier and more like a cookie so it’ll keep it’s shape better. If you want my added recipe for the chocolate-pumpkin swirl cheesecake topping, just ask.

Noodlegirl asks:

Hey the sushi looks yum just out of curiosity, I noticed you use pearled barley on most of your stuff in place of rice. I have never tired it before and intend to ask what is the reasoning behind it, if you don’t mind me asking, just so curious…

My answer:

Of course I don’t mind you asking! Ask away!

I have mentioned this a few times, and will probably mention it over again many more times, but I absolutely hate, detest, abhor, loathe rice! I’m so not Asian in that way. But I like pearled barley. I actually only just discovered this, and have fallen in love with its plump, chewy texture. Plus, it has way more nutrients, fiber, and protein than plain ol’ rice. I hope you give this grain a chance, it’s awesome! And if you come across any great barley recipe, share the wealth!

Yasmin asks:

Where have you always wanted to travel to?

My answer:

Wow. Where to start? First of all, traveling is my dream and I really hope to be able to touch all corners of the Earth before I’m dead. That said, one of the top things on my to-do list of “Things I wanna do before I DIE” is to backpack all across Europe. I also want to go to China, but just to immerse myself in the language and culture there and perfect my Chinese. Anybody wanna join me?

Heather McD and Emily asks:

[You crazy girl!] How can you not like avocadoes?

My answer:

I know this sounds like blasphemy to a lot of you guacamole and avocado-lovers out there, but there’s just something about avocadoes that turn me off. Probably their creamy, mushy consistency. I like food with texture, food that I can chew and bite. I don’t really like mushy stuff, which is another reason why I also do did not like tofu. But! I am willing to give avocadoes another try…Suggestions on recipes with avocadoes, anyone?

And lastly, Ellie asks:

When are you coming to the UK to teach me to cook? Kidding. Seriously though- do you like traveling? if you could go live anywhere, where would it be?

My answer:

Hey girl, if you could fork up at least half the amount for the plane fare, I will hop onto the nearest plane and live in your kitchen! Haha! But yes, as I mentioned above, I love traveling. But if I could live anywhere, I’d have to say southern California. I’m a girl who loves the sunshine and freezes her skinny ass off in the slightest chill, so the sunshine state it is for me! And I heard that west coast people are more laid-back than the crazy ambitious east coast peeps, so that’s good for me because I need to learn to relax. It’s one of the reason I applied to USC (that and it has a pretty good journalism program).

Hee hee! I like this Q&A thingy! I’ll probably give this another try some time, but hopefully more of you will ask questions the next time! But I’m sure you’ve had enough of me for one day, so here’s today’s question for you: What is the least authentic ethnic food you’ve ever tried? For me, I’ll have to say every single item on a Chinese take-out menu in America. I seriously can’t stand the “Chinese” food they serve…way too greasy and sweet!

Oh, by the way, I found this random quote that really tickled me:

“I never worry about diets. The only carrots that interest me are the number you get in a diamond. “~ Mae West

Tee hee! Wise words, eh? I certainly should learn a little from this smart, insightful woman!

Okay, I’m off now. Have an awesome weekend, everyone, and please indulge me by answering my question!

P.S. By the way, Donna from My Tasty Treasures is having a food magazine giveaway! THREE, actually! As a hoarder of foodie magazines and cookbooks, I’m thrilled!