refreshed

maldives from a sea plane :)

our beach

nothing cures nausea and stress like a vacation at the maldives! after months of throwing up and being miserable, I feel pretty much functional again. Sadly I still don't enjoy food quite as much as I used to, and I keep waiting for my weird craving. But I definitely did not lose my love for fruit. 9 days of breakfast buffets and I stuffed myself full of fruit. Probably not the best bang for buck, but my belly was happy!

oh and i still like eggs too.

ahhhh! i fell in love with mangosteen when my parents first took us to Vietnam when we were kids. they had some in the bowls, but told me it wasn't part of the buffet. what a tease! i snuck some anyway and it was fantastic as i remembered.

rambutans! we had these in vietnam too. they taste like a cousin of longan and lychee, but they're a little annoying to eat cuz the shell gets stuck to the meat. am i peeling it wrong?

sweet longans. so happy.

tiny maldivian mangos! i've never seen mangos so small and cute that tasted so sweet.

bye bye maldives. i hope global warming doesn't swallow you up.

Happy Turkey Day!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

i came home to find my parents sunbathing Mrs Bear, our animatronic Christmas bear.

home cooked turkey

frank, my second cousin twice removed, enjoying a turkey leg

Turkey Day is my most favorite holiday! While I love chicken (so versatile!), beef (so delicious), and duck (so flavorful), turkey is my favorite type of meat because of the specialness I associate with it. Every year, my family has 2.5 Thanksgiving day meals... first a traditional meal (turkey! ham! stuffing! sweet potatos! brussel sprouts!) cooked by my aunt, then a Chinese-style potluck with my family friends, and finally a midnight snack of congee with leftover turkey juices and bits!

What are your Thanksgiving traditions? And what do you do with all the leftover turkey??

Thai Kitchen

Before Thai by Thai and Jumbo Jumbo... there was the Chicken Teriyaki Man!!! The Chicken Teriyaki Man owns Thai Kitchen, a truck on the campus of Carnegie Mellon University. I used to go to this truck EVERY day (some times twice a day) for 3 years, only the stupid freshmen meal plans prevented me from being a loyal customer for 4 years!

I was so excited to go back this Fall for college recruiting. After a long day of talking to a bunch of college seniors (was I really like that when I was 22?!), my coworker and I stopped by the Chicken Teriyaki Truck for dinner. I was so happy when Chicken Teriyaki Man and Mrs. Chicken Teriyaki Man recognized me after so many years of being away! They even hooked us up with a medium size entree for the price of a small!!

The trucks on CMU's campus provide some of the tastiest and cost-efficient food on campus.

Chicken Teriyaki Man and Mrs. Chicken Teriyaki Man, nicest people ever!

A lot of offerings...

But Chicken Teriyaki is the best!! I also got a side of Thai Basil, but found it a little dry

CMU campus, at the corner of Forbes Avenue & Margaret Morrison St • Phone number unavailable

McRib!!!!

It's here...

Oh delicious McRib! I don't know what's in you... but I do enjoy eating you!! Someone told me there's an imprint of a rib outline on the top of you, but I've never managed to open up my bun cleanly to see it... too much bbq sauce!

The McRib... such a controversial piece of meat. Some love it; others are too chicken to even try it out! Call me a fan! How can you not love the excessive sauce and fresh onions?! How 'bout you? Are you a McRib lover or hater?

McRibs are available for a limited time at all McDonald's. BUT here's a handy website to find McRibs after this promotion ends - http://www.kleincast.com/maps/mcrib.php

bye bye summer fun

It's only Oct and I miss summer already. Come back heat and sunshine. summer is good for a lot of things, but among my favorites in this area is crabbing! I took my sister once and she called me boring. what a loser (i mean her). I got to go 3 times this year; once to Sandy Point State Park, once to Romancoke Pier (Sandy Point was full), and once to a pier off of VA beach (First Landing State Park boat ramp). VA beach was the most private and pleasant crabbing experience I've had yet. and we caught more than crabbies.

And if you like eating crabs and never had freshly caught blue crabs, you must! It's waay more tender.

I've only tried chicken on the string crabbing. One of these days i have to try it off a boat.

hello one arm crab

oysters!

fresh and tasty (just don't think about the murky water)

go grow nice and big so i can eat you next year

Thanks robbie for the lovely pics!

wedding, bday, and more boston eats (day 2)

cheers to the cute happy couple! :) It was a little bittersweet seeing one of our last college friends getting married. It harder now to get together with everyone being all busy and grown up. Luckily with this group of friends I'm confident we'll find excuses to meet up somehow.

Before the wedding, we picked a random direction and went looking for food. After walking through mostly retail shops, we finally found a pizza shop. I guess it was meant to be cuz the place was all decorated just for Tina who had to share her day with the bride and groom.

Happy Birthday!

Bostone Pizza: Spinach and buffalo Sicilian slices

Haven't had a Siilian pizza in so long. Thick but not overly bready with a nice crispy crust. I liked the spinach more than the buffalo.

Bostone Pizza • 225 Newbury St. Boston, MA • 617.536.9451 • www.bostonepizza.com/


After the wedding we were exhausted but not ready to call it a night, so chinese food here we come. Boston Chinatown after midnight = ghetto. tons of bums and hoodlums everywhere. Never have I been to a restaurant where there are multiple armed cops walking back and forth patrolling the dining hall. The patrons for the most part looked like gangsters or hookers. haha that was a fun experience. And I was happy with all the food even though what we all really wanted was sleep.

Beef w/ Broccoli

Pepper Salted Squid

Clams w/ Black Bean Sauce

Chau Chow City • 83 Essex St, Boston, MA • 617.338.8158

See you next time Boston!

blah blah Boston (day 1)

To me going to Boston is like going to a bridal shower. It's not like bridal showers are that much fun, you just go for the bride. The 3 times I’ve been to Boston, it was to check out a college with my sister, visit a friend at BU, and this past time for a good friend’s wedding.

Growing up in ny, I’ve seen my share of angry, but Boston takes the cake when it comes to down right rude. And I’m not just talking about their fans. In our short weekend there my friend got pushed into a stroller by a homeless lady, I got yelled in a crowded store for picking up something that someone else dropped, among other outburst of rage from random drivers. Well despite their ppl and awful accent, I enjoyed Boston this time around and especially liked seeing all my college friends again.

Hei La Moon: TL- Hubby's favorite "furry hamsters", TR- Har gow, BL- Cheung fun, Shumai, Tofu

The bride and groom brought us here for rehearsal brunch. Honestly I was so tired from waking up for our 6am flight, I can't remember the details about the food, but I don't believe I had any complaints.

88 Beach St, Boston, MA • 617.338.8813 • www.heilamoon.com


After brunch and some rest at the hotel we decided to explore Boston a bit. We followed the red brick road along the freedom trail and I visited Quincy Market for the first time. I'm a sucker for markets and fairs so +1 for Boston.

Ice cream break!

Quincy's Place: Pistachio Ice Cream

Pistachio ice cream always reminds me of my cousin mikey. We used to walk to carvel all the time and I never understood why he never got any other flavor, ever. haha these days i'm quite fond of pistachio. Ice cream here was good, but too many pistachios for me. I know it doesn't look like it from the picture but there was a lot!

254 Faneuil Hall Market Pl, Boston, MA • 617.723.3635

For lunch we got to choose from an overwhelming selection in the indoor market. After some samples we landed at Boston Chowder.

Boston Chowda Co: lobster roll & cream of corn soup

mmm mmm good! big chunky lobster pieces on a sweet roll. A little more mayo than I prefer but I was able to overlook that.

Faneuil Hall Market Place, Boston, MA • 617.742.4441 • http://www.bostonchowda.com

On our way home we were too tired for walking. Look! The platform is flush to the rails. I was very amused.

Buzzzzz

For 2 years I drove by Buzz on my way to and from work, always curious, but never enough to extend my already long commute. Then when I switched jobs, and only drove by for occasional meetings at our HQ, driven primarily by our agency's imminent BRAC relocation, it only took another 4 years before I finally went in for a peek. why shame on me. This place is really cute and for a non cupcake lover the cupcakes were pretty decent. way better than what I remember of Georgetown cupcakes. oh and good ice coffee too.

Cookie Monster Cupcake

Moist cupcake, cream is not overly sweet, and I love how there were chunks of cookie dough in the cupcake.

I wonder when the next time I'll make it back out here now that it's no longer on the way to anything. But I'm sure it'll be before 6 years this time around. :)

Some kind of chocolate mint cupcake

I wonder if all the cupcakes have cool fillings.

901 Slaters Lane, Alexandria, VA • 703.600.2899 • www.buzzbakery.com

Hello again Mosaic Cuisine,

Last time we came here I was excited to return for the breakfast menu. My experience this time can be summed up in 3 words: less-butter-please. And I like my butter, so too much means too much!

Spinach Eggs Benedict

I admit I don't know much about egg benedicts, but this sauce was distinctly different in a bad way. mr. piggy agrees.

Breakfast Mosaic Style

How do you mess up a standard breakfast? with too much butter! The bacon was good though, I think they skipped on buttering the bacon. yaay. The fruit was mushy and old. I also decided these waffles are too airy and crispy for my liking.

186 Halpine Road, Rockville, MD • 301.468.0682 • www.mosaiccuisine.com

A&J Restaurant

Where Chinese breakfast (e: & brunch) is concerned, I think Cantonese dim sum can beat up Taiwanese breakfast any day. But with some convincing the food is starting to grow on me. In this area A&J is the place to go if you're craving many variations of fried dough and sweet soy milk, among other non breakfast dishes. You have to come in the weekend to enjoy the full breakfast menu. They have a location in VA as well, but I hear the MD one is superior. We came in for brunch and feasted happily. I think this trip just upgraded A&J to my cubby of favorites!

Fried dough stick w/ sweet soy bean milk

Too bad I recently developed an allergy to soy. But the temporary itchy throat is still worth it.

Sticky Rice Roll (Fan Tuan)

Something about this is so satisfying. It looks small but it's really dense; packed with sticky rice, dried pork, fried dough, and pickled vegetable.

Pot Stickers

If you like meaty dumplings, you'll like these pot stickers.

Seaweed and beansprouts in garlic, vinegar sauce

A really light and tasty side to go with the heavier dishes.

Steamed pork bun

I tried this for kicks and it was disappointing. The meat was disturbingly red, and not soupy at all.

Minced pork with egg over rice

I love this dish here. The meat is seasoned better than most places I've tried.

Fried pork chop over rice

Not over fried and dry like other ones I've had.

Sour cabbage with pork strips and bean thread noodle soup

Sour soup isn't for everyone, but I think it is fantastic!

Beef noodle soup

No thanks. The soup is so salty and the soy sauce flavor is really overpowering.

1319 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852 • 301.251.7878