Thursday, July 31, 2008

pink heart cup found its mate

I finally found the matching saucer for my pink heart cup!

pink heart cup and saucer
The saucer has a embossed pink heart for the indented pink heart in the bottom of the cup.


I found it at the same second hand store. It might have been there all along but I just didn't see it when I bought the cup.

I also found out that this cup and saucer set was made by Starbucks in 1995 (marked on the bottom of the saucer). Interesting the cup was not marked.

And yay I have a complete cute set of pink heart cup and saucer!

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

chili's

I was talking to EC and found that she had never been to Chili's! It's not my favorite place or anything, but I thought she might like it and we went there yesterday.

texas cheese fries
Texas Cheese Fries for appetizer. I enjoyed the cheese and the jalapenos. The fries seemed a bit too soft for my taste.


grilled salmon and monty
I got the Monterrey Chicken and Grilled Salmon combo. The salmon was surprisingly delicious, but the chicken was a bit dry for me.


bacon burger
EC got the Bacon Burger. It was too big and dry for her. She loved the fries, though.


And this was EC's first Chili's encounter.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

the martha rules

I found The Martha Rules at the dollar store one day. It's an amazing book! Martha Stewart tells her stories and experiences of being an entrepreneur and the ups and downs one may encounter when starting or managing a business.


(photo from Amazon.com)


I love how Martha "writes" like she talks! :D John didn't enjoy it as much as I do, but we both agree Martha was Martha for a reason.

I've just started reading this book again and I'm still really enjoying it!

Saturday, July 26, 2008

turkey-cran-pesto

Mikey and I exchanged lunch again today. Yay! I made him a Peach Rooibos Iced Tea with Chewy Pearls, and he brought me this:

turkey-cran-pesto sandwich


It's the Turkey-Cran-Pesto sandwich! It's "Fresh sliced turkey with green leaf lettuce, dried cranberries, pumpkin seed pesto, and raspberry coulis on a toasted sub roll."

Yummy!

writing

Yesterday I was making lunch and saw a show on UEN about teaching, inspiring, and helping youngsters to write. The show was called "Words That Cook," where the hosts gave "recipes" for writing/reading success... it reminded me of a class called "Reading Instructions" back in grad school.

Here are a few tips I remembered from the show that can help young people write (in my own words):

-Encourage and help kids make special and unique notebooks and book covers.
-Inspire kids to write stories about things they see in daily life.
-Allow kids to use words they make up.
-It's OK when kids make mistakes when spelling... as long as the words make sense phonetically.
-Do give the CORRECT ways of spelling when kids ask.
-Write stories together with the kids.
-Encourage kids to read different styles of writing and from various writers.

OK the show gave more tips but these are the ones I can remember right now. I think these tips are not only helpful for young people but also for adults. Let's all write up! :)

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

pink heart cup

I'm not a big "cute heart" person... but my favorite cup for daily coffee these days is the pink heart cup I found at the second-hand store.

pink heart cup


I love how it's pink on the outside and white on the inside, and I especially love how I always see a beautiful little pink heart when I finish my drink!

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

emo torsion

My friend Joyce's dachshund Torsion is a very good friend of mine, and he lets me fix his "hair-do" sometimes...


emo torsion
He' totally emo (regarding his fashion sense) these days!

Monday, July 21, 2008

korean pickled cucumbers

EC and I went to Myung-Ga Korean Tofu & BBQ House last week and when we were looking at the menu I noticed that at the last page there were pickled cucumbers and Kimchi "for sale." 5 dollars each.

I loved their pickled cucumbers so I ordered a "container" (32 oz. according to the menu, but I was not sure of it) of the pickled cucumbers to take home after our lunch.

korean side dishes
The pickled cucumbers are on the top left among the side dieshes.


These cucumbers are so delicious! They look really red but only slightly spicy. I searched online trying to find the recipe but didn't see any that "looks" similar to the ones I bought. I did find out another way to make Korean pickled cucumbers. These look very yummy, too. Maybe I should try it some time.

On a side note, I really like how the rice was served in a small stone pot at Korean restaurants. Some of my friends don't quite like the slightly burned (toasty) rice on the bottom of the pot because it's really hard to get all the rice out, but I've found out that I'm really good at "flipping" the bottom of the rice over and can enjoy the slightly chewy-crispy-hard-toasty rice either by itself or mixed-in with the tofu soup!

crispy rice
Toasty rice!

Friday, July 18, 2008

spinach salad

Mikey from upstairs at Stoneground asked if I want to trade lunch with him. I said yes, and made him his favorite melon bubble tea. He then brought me this delicious spinach salad:

spinach salad
It's spinach, gorgonzola, candied walnuts, dried cranberries, and red onion tossed in our house-made raspberry vinaigrette.


Delish! We should trade lunch more often Mikey!

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

otanjobi omedeto

It's our friend Nobu's birthday, and John and I thought it would be nice to sing Happy Birthday to him in Japanese.

All I knew was that "Happy Birthday" in Japanese was "Otanjobi Omedeto (Birthday-Congratulations!)" Then John found a cute song on Youtube:



And yes we sang part of to him... just the "Odanjobi Omedeto... Odanjobi Omedeto...." I think he liked it.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

new A/C at the caffe

After a couple weeks of no-A/C craziness, we are finally getting a new A/C in today!

new A/C
Sitting next to the building, waiting to be installed.


new A/C
I think the guys are really excited about working on the giant beast.


crane
A crane has to be hired to lift the new A/C onto the top of the building.


The crane just got here, and the guys are loading the new A/C unit. If I do figure out a way to take more pictures of the progress without interfering with the guys' work I'll do so. Otherwise I'll just sit here in the kitchen and wait for the A/C to kick on!

Saturday, July 12, 2008

jazz festival

Ryan at KRCL gave me two sponsor passes to the Salt Lake City Jazz Festival, which is held at the Library Square across from the caffe. I will probably check it out later today and tomorrow.

Thanks Ryan!

st. ives makeup remover & facial cleanser

Another great product from St. Ives that I absolutely love is the Makeup Remover & Facial Cleanser.


(photo from st.ives web site)


This product is supposed to remove the heaviest makeup, but since I've always only wear light makeup, I wouldn't know its true potential, but I'm happy with its cleansing power every time.

And since it removes makeup and cleans at the same time, I save time using it every night. Yay!

Wednesday, July 09, 2008

st. ives apricot scrub

I was just talking with a friend and we both agreed that the Apricot Scrub from St. Ives is the best scrub in the market! I later found out that most Americans thought so, too.


(photo from St. Ives site)


I just really love the tiny walnut skin pieces rubbing on my face! haha

Tuesday, July 08, 2008

baby raccoons

This past weekend we found out that there were four baby raccoons that come to our deck to visit at times!

Here are the raccoon sightings so far this year:

We saw a mommy raccoon with two babies late one night a few weeks ago on the street near our drive way. (At first we thought they were cats!) When they saw us they headed off to our neighbor's yard across from ours.

Then another night we saw the mommy raccoon with one of her babies in front of our garage drinking rain water that was in a small hand cart. (We saw the mom's ears first... and we thought they belonged to a kitty again!)

One evening last week I saw two baby raccoons playing on the trees by the backyard gate. They were so tiny and cute!

After knowing that they were slightly active in our side yard John started putting out a big pot of water for them (so they don't try to drink dirty rain water off the hand carts!) and put out little fruit, nuts, and sweets for them by the deck (the side that's not right by the kitchen). They have been coming to eat their snacks off and on.

And this past weekend John thought he heard the raccoons one night, and decided to cut up some bananas and a muffin to the deck, placed them next to the water pot, and then sit quietly with our digital camera.

The raccons were there! At one point four raccons were on the edge of the deck eating banana pieces! They seemed to have seen John, but were not disturbed at all. They took some pieces of food, drank some water, and climbed back on the trees. John got about 6 minutes of footage with the camera, and then the battery died. I will post the video after we upload it.

I think the dogs know these little creatures come and visit our yard, because they always sniff around the deck areas when they go to the backyard, but so far only Naicha saw the two baby raccoons with me the other evening (which thankfully she didn't get too excited about). Everyone keeps to itself and doesn't bother one another. I think it's good this way.

From what we had read, raccoons travel a lot. We're not sure if the four raccoons that we saw on the video do live in our trees, but we now know that at least 4 raccons come, drink water, and eat the treats John put out for them.

Monday, July 07, 2008

seven!

It's John and my seventh anniversary today. Seventh!

As interesting as it may sound, John got us the Wii for our anniversary. And yes, Wii can be romantic-ish. haha.

Happy Anniversary to John and I! :)

Saturday, July 05, 2008

weeeeeee!

I know we've waited too long...


(photo from Nintendo.com)

We finally got it today!

Friday, July 04, 2008

sealy

I found this cute little toy seal from Sea World for .50 and I loved it! It has two long "arms" that can wrap around your wrist/arm or shoulder straps on bags, or in our case, on Naicha's leg!

toy seal
I named him "Sealy."


naicha and sealy
Naicha is a bit skeptical about Sealy, but she's still interested.


naicha and sealy
So I wrap Sealy around Naicha's bad leg.


naicha and sealy
I think Naicha *hearts* Sealy!

Thursday, July 03, 2008

myung-ga korean tofu house

I've visited Myung-Ga several times, and I really enjoyed the food! I think everyone should go for their tofu dishes! Their sides are delicious as well.

Here are a few photos from our previous visits:

korean soup with sides
From top to bottom: Mixed tofu meal, sides, rice cake soup. The rice cake soup was a little bland for me, but the sides made up for it.



korean tofu with sides
Yay for seafood tofu pot! (cell phone pic)


korean barbeque
And Yay for Korean barbeque pork on sizzling hot plate! (fuzzy cell phone pic)


I've also had their spicy rice cakes, and they were super yummy. I prefer the saucy rice cakes but not the kind with light soup.

The sides come with all the dishes, and the lovely waitresses will bring you more when you make a request. I was never too crazy about bean sprouts until now! Can't believe I'm saying this, but the bean sprouts are delicious!


Myung-Ga
1839 West 3500 South
West Valley, UT 84119
(801) 908-0124

Wednesday, July 02, 2008

outbreak prevention translation

Shawn at KRCL sent me a couple messages from the Utah Department of Health and I translated them into Chinese so we can record it later on in the studio. The messages were simple common senses that can benefit everyone:

Disease Outbreak Radio Spot

Diseases such as the flu can spread easily from person to person. Sometimes illnesses can spread throughout the world and make many people sick. To avoid getting sick, and protect others when you ARE ill, try these simple steps:

Washing your hands often with soap and water for 20 seconds to kill germs that cause colds and flu.

Germs spread quickly and easily in the air. Cough or sneeze into your arm, rather than your hands, to stop the spread of germs each time you touch someone or something.

Stay home from work or school if you are sick, so you don’t spread the sickness to others.

Know who to call or where to go when you or someone in your family needs help from a nurse or doctor.

This message brought to you by the Utah Department of Health. Additional information and resources at: Be Ready Utah (dot) Gov.

Prepare Radio Spot

In times of emergency, you may find things in short supply. It can be hard to get food or water for many days. During weather emergencies, roads may be impassable and stores unreachable. At other times, for your safety, you may be asked to stay in your home, such as during a disease outbreak. You can prepare yourself and family by storing supplies somewhere safe in your home. Things you may want to have on hand include:

Water
Food
Medications
Flashlight
Can Opener
Radio
Hygiene Items
First Aid
Money

Know who to call or where to go when you or someone in your family needs help from a nurse or doctor.

This message brought to you by the Utah Department of Health. Additional information and resources at: Be Ready Utah (dot) Gov.

And the following is the (Mandarin) Chinese translated version of the messages:

防治傳染疾病

許多在我們身邊的疾病都可能因爲人和人之間的接觸而輕易傳播。政府有鋻於此,列出了幾條可協助民衆保護自身健康安全的準則,希望每個人都可以為防止疾病散播盡自己的一份心力。

第一,常洗手。我們在公共場合洗手的時候,務必記得使用香皂和清水,並至少搓洗和清潔20秒以上,才可有效抑制感冒和其他病毒的傳播。

第二,咳嗽或打噴嚏的時候,記得用手臂遮住嘴巴,而不是用手,因爲如果唾液及噴嚏沾在手上,我們在觸摸他人或物品的時候,也會把病菌間接傳給別人。

第三,感冒生病的時候,盡量待在家裏,避免將病菌帶到工作的地方和學校傳染他人。

第四,每個人都必須知道在緊急的病況下需要接洽的人士及醫護人員的聯絡電話。

以上的訊息是由猶他州健康醫療部門提供;其他詳盡資料請民衆上網至 BeReadyUtah.gov 查詢。


隨時做好防災準備

每有天災人禍,民衆都可能遇上資源供不應求的狀況;此時食物和水也可能有短缺的情形。遇上強烈的氣候或疾病的傳染等,許多道路和商家可能完全關閉,民衆更可能被要求足不出戶,所以我們必須在平時在家裏就做好防災的準備,以防不時之需。

政府希望每戶人家都能做好準備,盡量避免緊急情況發生時可能造成的混亂和恐慌。猶他州健康醫療部門強調,在家中隨時準備好一些防災應急用品,可讓我們在有緊急狀況發生時也能夠盡量平靜度過;有關單位希望各戶人家都能在家中常備下列的物品,存放在隨手可得的地方:

食物和水
藥品
手電筒
開罐器
收音機
衛生用品
急救箱


家中所有的成員,也必須知道所有的緊急聯絡人和醫護人員的電話。

以上的訊息是由猶他州健康醫療部門提供;其他詳盡資料請民衆上網至 BeReadyUtah.gov 查詢。

Tuesday, July 01, 2008

muffin

Is it bad that sometimes I only eat the top of a muffin?

muffin