Hayashi Rice (from the packet)

Made this hayashi rice using premade mix and microwavable brown rice. Overall, it was tasty. I even had seconds. The one thing I didn't like: the sauce mix had monosodium glutamate. Sad. It was on sale for $1.69 at the Japanese market, which is why I bought it. I'm going to try and find a different brand without MSG. I also want to try making hayashi rice from scratch. I hope it's not too difficult. Anyways, the directions for this particular one is on the box. This is how I did it:

Hayashi Rice (premade mix)
Serves 4

1 medium yellow onion
1 lb. beef for stew (I cut the pieces into smaller pieces, I know at some Asian markets they also sell beef for curry which you can buy)
1 2/3 cup water
4 squares hayashi premade mix
2 packs microwave brown rice

1. Heat some oil in a pot. Add the onion and beef. Cook until browned.
2. Add the water. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium. Cover and cook for 20 minutes.
3. Add hayashi mix. Stir until dissolved. Simmer for 5 minutes.
4. Microwave rice according to package instructions.
5. Serve in bowls.

Basil Plant

I have to grow a basil plant (and keep it alive all quarter) for my plant biology lab. I planted it almost two weeks ago 1/10/2013. It has finally sprouted, I was worried it froze to death in the incredibly cold weather we've been having in CA recently.

Day 12: First signs of sprouts

La Boulange de Burlingame

They have really good almond croissants here. Macarons are ehhhh. I prefer 'Lette macarons. Or the ones I've had in Paris.

Honey Berry

Roti bun from Honey Berry with cream cheese/yogurt filling I believe? Pretty good cause it was fresh and soft. It just needs some more filling though!

Beard Papa's

I've been to quite a few Beard Papa's back home in Orange County and in Los Angeles. I think the cream puffs are pretty whatever. I think they'd taste better if they were super fresh, like right off the press fresh. But otherwise, it's eh. The vanilla filling is the best tasting one out of the ones I've tried, which include chocolate and green tea. I got the mini puffs this time because I was craving something sweet after my lunch. I originally ordered 4 vanilla and 2 chocolate, since they come in packs of 6 (or 12). But the girl working there accidentally messed up my order and gave me 6 vanilla because she forgot my chocolate ones. So I ended up getting 6 vanilla and 2 chocolates. Free food is always awesome.

Vanilla Filling

Mini Puff

Chocolate Filling

Ahi Poke

Ahi poke! Nice and fresh tasting. Got this from a super market that sells Hawaiian food. I want to go back and try their Portuguese sausage musubi among other things.

Banh Mi

I was craving a banh mi. I found this place, Cherimoya Vietnamese Cafe, through yelp. There was some weird sweet sauce on the vegetables though that I really didn't like. I might give this place a shot again if I don't get that sweet sauce. But it doesn't compare to the banh mi I've had back in Orange County. And there was definitely not enough meat and pate in this sandwich. Sad.

Sophie's Crepes

My sister's favorite crepe place. I mostly went here to just order a crepe and take a picture to show her.

Santa Ramen

They ran out of the ramen flavor we really wanted to try. My mom was hungry after our 8 hour car ride up from SoCal.

The Melt

Egg in a Hole with Bacon

Egg in a Hole with Bacon

The Cakery

I have cravings for baked goods and sweets quite often. This bakery is relatively close to my house. I looked up The Cakery on yelp, people recommend the princess cake, so I decided to give it a shot. I'm not really a huge cake fan, unless I make it myself. So I was a bit worried I wasn't going to like it. The cake is very cute, and the colors are really pretty. The light green outside and the berry colors inside. The cake was nice and fluffy, the green outside was surprisingly good for the first few bites. It was sweet and sugary. I really liked it in the beginning. Towards the end though, the cake started to get sickeningly sweet. It was too much. It would have been perfect to share. But I had to force myself to finish it, and that pretty much killed the experience for me. I want to go back and try the other baked goods at this bakery but I probably won't order a piece of princess cake again.

Princess Cake

Princess Cake

Mingalaba

Mingalaba is a Burmese Restaurant in Burlingame, CA. This was my first time eating Burmese food. I was pretty satisfied with my experience. However, I think eating the Tea Leaf Salad, though delicious and flavorful, gave me a migraine later due to the caffeine in tea leaves. Sigh. And here I was migraine free for a long time. It could also have been the neck and back pain I've been having recently that triggered it. But alas, I'm trying to fix that as well. Anyways, on to the food.

Coconut Milk Tapioca Drink: Pretty standard, tastes like coconut milk and tapioca with bits of sliced coconut meat in there. Sweet and filling.

Tea Leaf Salad: Burmese tea leaves, tomatoes, cabbage, dried shrimp, fried garlic, sesame seeds, peanuts, and split yellow peas. I liked how crunchy it was, the flavor is also very unique, I haven't had anything like it. This one is a must try.

Paratha: This is perhaps my favorite dish. It's a Burmese crispy pancake with curry dipping sauce. There's two sauces, one is sweeter with a slight coconut flavor, I liked that sauce a lot better. The pancake is really heavy and oily though. It filled me up right away.

Soup: I don't even remember the name of the soup, that's how forgettable it was.

 Pumpkin Yellow Chicken: Kabocha squash with stewed chicken, bell pepers, string beans, and carrots. Slightly spicy, with a coconut flavoring to it causing it to also be a little sweet. A heavy dish as well, but I liked the flavors though I don't think I could eat too much of it at once. Still tasted good a few days after when I had left overs for lunch.

Coconut Rice: Essentially steamed white rice with coconut flavor and funny little crispy things sprinkled on top.

Coconut Milk Tapioca Drink

Tea Leaf Salad (Lap Pat Dok)

Paratha

Soup

Pumpkin Yellow Chicken

Coconut Rice

Day 0

Today I drove up with my mom to NorCal. The drive took about 8 hours and my legs were dying by the end of it. It was already such a killer to drive up to visit my sister in SLO, which was only 5 hours. I can honestly say I never want to make the drive again. Someone please pick me up from the airport when I come to visit!

The room I have now is nice. It's smaller than the one at home but there's still good space to workout so I'm fine. The problem is I have a lot of clothes and the closet is super small >.< I'm hoping I'll add some new pieces and I can get rid of old stuff that I don't use much. I've been trying to update my wardrobe for a while anyways.