Fantasy Roll from Ami Japanese

For those on the quarter system, winter quarter starts tomorrow. Winter break really flew by fast! At least I was fairly productive this winter break & had a lot of fun. I totally accomplished my goal of reading 5 books! HIGH FIVE in the voice of Borat.

I uploaded a few new albums to the gallery. Really putting my camera to use.

New Albums

• The Boiler
• Ami Japanese
• AnQi

I hope those of you who had winter break had a good one & I wish you all the best of luck as the new school quarter/semester/trimester/whatever begins.

House Pan Roast with Okra from The Boiler

My parents weren’t kidding when they told me that my 20s would fly by before I knew it. Just a few hours ago, my mom asked me when I was going to get married since I’m almost older than she was when she married my dad. Wonderful. Anyway, I can’t believe it’s already 2012! Time flies; better make the most of it.

Celebrating the New Year!

I celebrated New Year’s Eve in Vegas (making it the fifth time this year…) & went on a food adventure all the way to Chino Hills to experience the deliciousness that is The Boiler. I now only have 5 days left to finish my last book, Choke by Chuck Palahniuk if I want to finish my goal of reading 5 books this break! Hopefully everyone had a great time on New Year’s Eve!

New Albums

• Vegas Part I
• Vegas Part II
• Vegas Part III
• The Boiler
• Half & Half Tea Express

My cousins Carol & Tammy in Vegas!

4 trips to Vegas this year since I turned 21? I’m really living it up, I guess. My cousins, their friends, & I went to Vegas before Tammy flew off to England & we had an abundant amount of fun. Now to shed the weight during the holidays, which will be difficult to do. Must get toned for the summer!

I only have one more book left to complete my personal goal of reading 3 books this winter break! I really attacked that goal, but I’m going to further challenge myself to add 2 more books on top of the one & to finish making layouts for 2 completely different websites.

Bookworming

• The Alchemist by Paolo Coelho
• Choke by Chuck Palahniuk
• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

I’m seriously considering starting a little book club in which I recommend a new book to read every month with a very simple newsletter with the attached ePub of the book. Might even start a forum for it if there’s a large interest in this. Maybe not. We’ll see.

New Albums

• Yelp! Elite Event in Santa Monica
• Vegas Part I
• Vegas Part II
• Vegas Part III

Happy holidays everyone!

My cousins Tammy & Brianna at Angi & Bobby’s wedding reception

After one sleep deprived week devoted to finals, I’ve finally gotten around to posting pictures of Angi & Bobby’s wedding reception along with pictures from Thanksgiving. One album is password protected with my mother’s Vietnamese name being the password.

In addition, I’ve posted up a new recipe for my Arugula Shrimp Salad. More recipes to come, hopefully!

This past summer, I made it a personal goal to finish 5 books, which I did. However I finished 3–A Clockwork Orange, Intern, & Witches of East End–of the original 5 I planned on reading. The 2 others were Who Ordered This Truckload of Dung? by Ajahn Brahm & Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling. This winter break, I plan on finishing 3 books:

• Genie by Russ Rymer
• The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
• The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

The last book is the longest, boasting 452 pages, so we’ll see if I can actually do this.

New Albums

• Thanksgiving
• Angi & Bobby’s Wedding

UCLA’s Beat ‘SC Bonfire Rally

I’ve always loved UCLA, but going to the bonfire yesterday to celebrate the rivalry between USC & UCLA, watching all the sports highlights, & seeing the massive crowd of Bruins definitely boosted my school spirit. I feel incredibly lucky & privileged to attend such an amazing school with such memorable traditions!

Even more so, I decided to bring my camera to school to photograph the foliage around North Campus. It’s pretty much the only indicator of any sort of change of season. Juliana & I were talking about how we’ve been having a pretty disappointing & sad week, but just walking around & seeing where we are & how beautiful the foliage is just makes us feel better.

New Albums

• Fall at UCLA
• Beat ‘SC Rally