Indian food.. but not really

Yi Shen wanted something different for dinner tonight so he yelped for nearby Indian restaurants in San Gabriel. Result showed an "Indian" restaurant about 1.3 miles away from home that has a 4 star rating. We got to the restaurant and was intrigued by their "native american indian" theme interior with matching servers dressed as, ummm, Pocahontas. We thought the cuisine was fusion but the food on the menu were all taiwanese dishes!! I don't know why we didn't read the reviews about the place before going there, we relied solely on the star rating. Who would have thought a place named "Indian Restarant" would be serving authentic taiwanese food. haha. Nonetheless, we ordered four dishes and loved 3 out of 4. Their three cups chicken was my favorite.

Three cups Chicken

Mapo Tofu

Sizzling Beef

Shrimp and Pineapple
(Didn't enjoy this dish at all! Fried shrimp coated with watery mayo plus pineapple chunks that looked like it came out straight from the can and lamely tossed with the shrimp)

PS: I love the new Iphone 4 camera. Makes food blogging easier! :)

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Randomness at work

Found this box inside our supply room.




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Im grateful for...

Even though I didn't blog regularly for the past two months, I still kept a list of things Im grateful for in my iphone. I wrote 2-3 things every few days but I never had the chance to publish any of them. So now Im posting them in order to keep my New Year's resolution alive :)

161. Had the chance to visit my sister in Minneapolis for much needed sisterly bonding :)
162. Explored downtwn msp and enjoyed a different part of the US
163. The visible support for GLBT during Pride parade
164. UU general assembly. I got to attend the sunday service and experience their awesome community
165. "Standing on the side of love" pin from UU
166. Pride festival
167. I have gay best friends and I love them with all my heart
168. Proud and supportive parents of GBLT community
169. Non-stop chitchat with my sister. She talks, I listen. Haha!
170. I got to decorate my sister's appartment
171. Efficient public transportation system in msp. You can actually survive without a car!
172. Tolerable weather during our visit to msp. My sister told me it got grossly humid after we left.
173. Great eats around town! TONS of 'em. (had jiffy burger: beef burger with peanutbutter!)
174. My Parent's 27th wedding anniversary :)
175. Option to go paperless for bank statements.
176. Freedom of speech
177. Good worship service at UU church in pasadena
178. For central AC that works. so we can stay cool in this summer heat
179. Matthew's 2nd bday (my adorable nephew)
180. Random date nights with hubby, Since my work schedule changes everyweek.
181. Nights at work where Im reminded how important it is to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
182. Hospital workers who maintains our units clean. Im forever grateful.
183. Good summer flicks. I actually saw few of them since hubby is back
184. My sister for visiting SoCal after 8 months of living in MSP
185. My parents, for always treating us to lunch/dinner even though we're not starving-students anymore
186. Dad, for being the resident bartender. Happy hour at home :)
187. HD video quality for point and shoot camera. I love technology
188. My MOH for keeping me sane and helping me out with all the planning
189. Craigslist. For Free stuff!
190. My wonderful friends who joined the "post-bachelorette" party for me
191. My sister and bridesmaids for planning that unforgettable evening
192. NPH for creating that entertaining activity in hollywood.
193. My newly pierced ears remained infection-free. Yay!!!
194. My adorable husband, for always making sure i have something to eat before work
195. Time spent with the whole fam at Disneyland. It's hard to plan for family trips since evryone is busy, so im really happy that this family-day happened :)
196. NBC - for yummy dim sum
197. For that microscopic increase in my pay rate. Haha.
198. Still have time to work-out inspite of the busy wedding planning schedule
199. Time spent on meditation. Im still learning...
200. Book on Life and Death by Forest Church. It helps a lot since Im working in a unit that has the highest death count out of all the icu's at Loma Linda hospital. Sometimes I get immune to people dying so it's nice have a book that talks about celebrating life and dealing with death.


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Choza Mama

Choza Mama

Peruvian restaurant located along Colorada Blvd. in Pasadena (that building used to be Hooters).

I was hesitant to dine here at first because their Yelp review only garnered them 3.5 stars. But after  I saw their decent lunch buffet selection (for only $9.95!) and the Zagat plaque display, I concluded it was safe to indulge on this new cuisine. 

My first Peruvian smorgasbord was a delightful experience. I wanted to try all their dishes, hence my full plate :) I wish I took a snapshot of the buffet table because I can't remember the names of the dishes. (I can point out the bread roll and black beans though. ha!). 

This is Plate No. 1

I tried to plate my food neatly so I can tell the difference between each dish.

Their cuisine is similar to Filipino food, very saucy and more on the salty side. They have Chicken Adobo!

The buffet selection is definitely NOT vegetarian friendly. Thank goodness im not a veggie anymore. haha. There's probably five meat dishes & two vegetarian dishes.

Plate No. 2

I swear, I tried everything on their buffet table! I'm still a newbie when it comes to real meat so I don't know how to rate it yet.

I saved some room for dessert (of course), they have small slices of chocolate cake included on the lunch buffet. The cake was very moist and not too sweet, it was the perfect ending for our superb meal.

Boutonniere Project

Photo Credit: http://irisandlight.net/

Materials Needed:
1. Fabric: wedding color (I bought mine from Jo-Ann's Fabric store)
2. Yo-yo template (comes in different sizes)
3. Glue gun
4. Safety pins
5. Buttons


Instruction:
1. The Yo-Yo template comes with easy step-by-step instruction. 

2. You can either sew or glue the buttons on the yo-yo's (Glue gun will make your life easier!).
3. Glue 3 yo-yo's together to make 1 boutonniere. Be playful and use different patterned fabrics per yo-yo.
4. Glue safety pin on the back. 

Corner Bakery

Lunch date with mom :) 

(I missed posting food pics!)

Pesto Cavatappi
Roasted chicken with cavatappi pasta in pesto cream sauce and toasted bread crumbs

 Chicken PomodoriAll-natural roasted chicken, fresh basil and spinach, oven-roasted tomatoes, and provolone cheese with pesto mayo.

                                                 

Lemon Bar

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Post wedding era

It's been 3 days since the wedding party, feels weird that Im not busy with any diy projects/ charts/diagrams. In a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the highest) im about a 4 on wedding planning withdrawals. Haha. I honestly wish the wedding party lasted longer because I had so much fun! Being surrounded by wonderful family and friends during that special was a dream come true. Plus the fact that I had the most amazing and reliable wedding entourage :) Im such a lucky bride!

Now that all the craziness is over, I'll try and blog more about the wedding. From the planning stage till the day-of. I want to give credit to everyone who made this whole planning process a memorable experience for Yi Shen and I.

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