Happy New Year!!!

I had a very Chinese New year day today; Celeste and I went to Aberdeen Centre, and basked in the glorious New Year celebrations. We visited Daiso (everything only $2!), which was even more fun than you can imagine. From the frivolity of cupcake holders with chess pieces on them, to the necessity of stationary with "Happy Circus!" all over it, this place has everything. Including my new favourite beverage, Peach Water. We wandered the store for well over an hour, oohing and aahing over the merchandise. It was beautiful, and I just now have realized the deprivation I've been living in.

After Daiso, we though we'd explore the mall a bit more, but got sidetracked 50 paces along the path by Dragon's Beard Candy, which was being made right there. If you ever get a chance to see this process, stop and watch; celeste and I stood, in fascinated silence, as the candymaker turned a lump of sugar into thousands and thousands of tiny strands.

After buying some of the candy (we definitely had to eat some, after seeing it be made), we left the mall, and after some initial car trouble, got home. My mom had made an incredible New Year's feast, including fish, hot pot, stuffed tofu puffs, and of course rice. After dinner we had tea, and the dragon's beard candy, which, as it turns out, is excellent. Crispy and sweet and light.

And now I am incredibly full. So, so full.

Happy New Year! May you have a wonderful year of the dog!

Meet Pretty

Me and Pretty, originally uploaded by Never Reason.

Ladies and gentlemen, I have the honour to present...the new, the amazing, the fantABULOUS...

Pretty D50!

Snow, Cousins and Growing

Sunpeaks was beautiful. Pure white everywhere, and falling from the sky. Because of the basketball game of death, I wasn't able to do anything but snowshoe, but it was great to have an actual weekend, and snowshoeing was beautiful. In addition I had a chance to use Pretty (that's Pretty D50, my camera), and try out the various functions.

I also got to hang out with Peek, and my cousins, Jackie (just 7) and Stephanie (8). We played dress-up, as well as several games of Sorry! (I won both), Cadoo (kid's Cranium), and between me and Peek a game I think is called Teacher's Question, which is the most politically incorrect children's game I've ever seen. Here are some examples:

Q: If you're an albino, what colour is your skin?
A: White

Q: Obese people are all _____.
A: Fat

Needless to say, we were laughing hysterically.

The two cousin units are ludicrously cute. As evidence, note this conversation I had with Jackie on the ride up to Sunpeaks.

Parents in the front: We want to take the girls to Disneyland, but Jackie is an inch too short for most of the rides. mumblemumblemumble.

Jackie: Janice?

Jan: Yes?

Jackie: I keep trying to eat lots and lots, but I just can't grow that inch!

Happily, we measured her over the weekend, and she now only needs half an inch! Way to go Jackie!

So cute.

And then I Sez...

"I'm sorry, but pretty comes with an expiry date, and yours is up."

*Smart people go check my new pictures.*

It's the Twenty-Third

Y'all better be voting.

Uh Oh.

A new TV show, Skating with the Stars, is starting this week. It's pretty obvious that it's a rip-off of Dancing with the Stars (networks don't even try to pretend they aren't copying anymore), and as such, I'd assume it's pretty stupid. Because frankly, the "stars" are all somewhat mediocre actors, in general. B-listers, soap stars, oldtimers...not the people you see on the cover of US Weekly. Also, these types of shows usually make me uncomfortable; there's always at least one judge that's a raging witch, and demeans people incessantly for no reason, which is unpleasant to watch (except for when you do it, Janice Dickinson. Tyra, why did you send her away?), and seeing people humiliate themselves in front of millions (okay, thousands) of viewers is excruciating. So I will not be watching.

However, Kurt Browning is one of the pros on the show.

My love for him knows no bounds. But I cannot watch this show.

Thank god for internet summaries.

They Lied to Me About Basketball

It is a contact sport. Tonight we played two games, and I now have a chipped tooth (from being offensively fouled IN THE FACE) and a toenail that may fall off (that one was my shoes' fault. And to be fair, the offensive foul was by definiteion only; the poor girl clobbered her forehead on my mouth, I don't think it was terribly pleasant for her either).

The good news is, not only were my grad photos last week (thank god, as my lips are somewhat asymmetrical right now), but my dentist appointment was rescheduled to tomorrow morning, so hopefully they can do something about the tooth situation.

This is the most injured I've ever gotten during a sports event. My toe hurts, a lot, but it feels kinda cool to have an actual sports injury.

Grad photos.

So I got my hair done (it looked fabulous), and T did my make up (thank goodness. She makes me look lovely. I make me look...let's go with "odd"). So I looked very nice, relative to my everyday, and went to the studio. And now, thanks to Evangelos' on Broadway, there are pictures of me in a graduation gown...in front of a blue background. And "in" a library. And "in" a garden, a forest, a japanese palace, on someone's porch, in catacombs and leaning against a pillar made of foam. I'm holding a diploma, a diploma case, one rose, three roses, a bushel of roses, random books, and, in one priceless photo, my knee. We'll see how it goes when I get the prints back. And yes, I'm kidding about the Japanese palace.

But I'm not kidding about the catacombs.

Orikaso

This is so cool.

I'm a sucker for a good gimmick.

I'm going to travel this summer; I'll make it happen. I want to go to India, and Malaysia, and maybe Taiwan. I want to See the World. I'm a little scared of doing it alone, but I know it's not impossible, and I know I may not get another opportunity to do it in the near future.

And you know what? I'm bringing an Orikaso bowl, dammit!

Restaurant Review: Hon's Won Ton House

Hon's Won Ton House, Robson St.

I went with Kaisha last week, since we were looking for something cheap and light. And cheap it is! Light not so much. It's a huge place, fluorescent lighting and at the time at least, crazy Christmas decorations abound. They serve a ton of different Chinese dishes, including the titular won tons, congee, and dim sum. Kaisha had congee, while I had some won ton soup, and then we shared a siu mai (pork dumpling) dim sum steamer. The soup was okay, but the dim sum was oddly salty. Basically it was your typical mediocre Chinese food, but with supersized servings (not the dim sum) and low low prices (again, not the dim sum). It was meh, but if you want to feel full for cheap, then it's worth your time.

Thoughts Like This

I'm listening to Iron and Wine's cover of "Such Great Heights", which - thankfully - s not just a regurgitation of the same song through different vocal cords. It's soft and peaceful and so much more restrained than Postal Service's original, which to me has always been irrepressibly joyful.

As it's 12:08 am, and my brother no longer lives here, I'm the only person who's still conscious in the house; my parents are in bed already. It feels so restful to be alone, I wonder if this is why all my friends end up staying awake 'til 4 am; it's the only time we have to be alone. This and while I'm enroute to somewhere else. Even then I'm surrounded by people, but at least my anonymity affords me some illusion of solitude. Of course, I'm spending my alone time writing on my blog, which ostensibly is to other people, so I guess I fail a little, too.

I'll list some random facts about myself, because...because I feel like it.

My favourite member of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants is Bridget, and the third book, Girls in Pants, makes me cry. I think Bee is my favourite because most of the time she's fearlessly marching into her future, marshalling it into what she wants with pure will without even realizing it, but sometimes she's frozen behind a wall of confusion, doubt, and apprehension about this world she's made for herself. It may also be because of her long yellow hair, which I alwasy wanted as a kid, and would have, if it wasn't for the fact that I'd look ludicrous.

Some of my friends are surprised when I'm cynical, and some of them are surprised when I miss an opportunity to say something cynical and instead say something nice. My good friends aren't surprised either way.

T once teased me for liking Jon Stewart, saying I wanted to marry him. I replied that if he were younger and taller (and of course, single, rather than happily married with a child) all he'd have to do is ask me. I was only half kidding.

I'm scared I won't get into grad school, even though I know if at first I don't succeed...

I've had several people tell me that if I don't meet someone to spend my life with, I'll end up a crazy cat lady. Which is partially true (you really think I'd limit myself to just cats?), but fingers crossed, it'll never happen.

I miss J, Girly, Tessa, Shakey and Mranda. I wish they were here.

While at work today, a couple from Seattle came in with their (Vancouverite) granddaughter. They've come in a few times, and I love them (we always chat), and when they found out I was graduating soon, they were so excited and congratulatory. It was a really nice feeling, but congratualtions upon graduating from university seem few and far between to me; it isn't an accomplishment, in my world. It's just what you do, and that's sad.

I'm half dreading graduation. I'll have to decide what to do, I won't see all my friends every day anymore, people will start moving away, I might move away. I have the best, best friends, and I don't want to see them fade away. I know they'll never disappear entirely, but I also know nothing will be the same.

I'm upsetting myself, and I'm tired. I need to sleep, and maybe read something happy. 'night, all. 'love.

What in the World?

There is a grocery/bulk store close to my high school that makes salad rolls I love, for the very affordable price of $1.99 each. They contain rice noodles, lettuce, and tofu, and come with this peanut dipping sauce that is divine. Since they're no longer so geographically convenient, when I'm in the area, I tend to grab one. Today, it turned out I was in the area at the same time as current high schoolers were out for lunch.

A few of said high schoolers, all girls, went to get salad rolls at the same time as I did, and one of them, a mouthy little tween, opened two of the peanut sauce containers, poured one into the other, and then replaced the lids, taking the now-full one and leaving the nearly-empty one on the shelf.

...What? Are you serious? They sauces are already portioned, you little brat, and you basically just stole from the store, since it says right on the shelf that extra sauces are 50 cents. Why do you think it's okay for you to just re-portion one for yourself?

I keep having to remind myself about the delayed development of the prefrontal cortex. But seriously. Agh.

Paging Futurephoto

Dear Futurephoto,

In the past, I have very much enjoyed your services; you're affordable, I can send in the digital files over the internet and crop my photos however I like, and I can have my prints sent to the bookstore at uni for free, which means I don't have to take a half-hour trek to your store to save $5. All in all, you and I have had a lovely relationship of mutual reciprocity.

Until now.

I ordered my photos on December 14th, Futurephoto, and you promised them to me by Christmas. In fact, I had two days to spare before meeting your "no longer guaranteed by Christmas" deadline. But you disappointed me, Futurephoto. There was no notification of my pictures being ready for pick up, no beautiful photos in my hand, ready to be embellished into scrapbook oblivion. Instead, on the 23rd, there was an apology letter, and it wasn't even personal, Futurephoto, it was a mass letter. A mail merge. How could you? I don't care how much money you offer me (thank you for your $10), you can't buy back my trust. Or rather, you could have, if you'd just give me the damn pictures already. Seriously, we're approaching a month, now. Did you forget about us? Even when Mariah Carey's song is playing on infinite loop on every radio station in North America? Well fine, I'll just shake it off. You're dead to me, Futurephoto. Dead.

Sincerely,
Jan

Restaurant Review: Mistral

Mistral is a new restaurant on Broadway and Vine, next door to such lauded establishments as Lumiere and Feenies (neither of which I've been to). It's a french restaurant, owned by the same people who once owned L'Emotion in West Vancouver, which was adored by my dad, but was never frequented by moi (I feel like using french words throughout, so I will). Anyhow, since we felt like going out to dinner (ie. giving maman a break from cooking), we decided to go check out Mistral.

With the appetizers, I...was not that impressed. As an appetizer, I had a plate of three different flavours of sauces/spreads. The anchovy-garlic dip was waaay too strong, and not in a good, anchovy-garlic way. It was supremely salty, and instead of having that great anchovy kick, you got a fishy aftertaste. Not pleasant. The cod spread was good on the croutons, but I could only take a very limited quantity of it. Like two bites. The olive tapenade, I'll admit, was awesome. The bro and papa ordered spinach soup to start, which was...really really bland. As the bro (who could only take about a third of the bowl) said, it was as if they'd blanched spinach, and then blended it. No seasoning, nothing. I would have been happier with some spinach sauteed with garlic.

The entrees were loads better. I had honey mussels in a saffrom cury sauce, which were amazing. The one drawback was that the mussels arrived already out of the shell. I personally love taking them out myself, but since I presume that it's meant as a courtesy, I can't really complain. The bro had veal, which also went down well, while my parents both enjoyed their entrees thouroughly (beef stew and...something else, I don't remember).

In the end, an okay dinner. To be fair, this is not an extravagantly priced restaurant (but it's not exactly affordable, either - $18 - $29 entrees), and the service was excellent, and hilarious (ah, les Francais). But if I were to go again, I'd skip the appetizers and go straight to the entrees.