Ode to Fig

Oh Fig, thou art so yummy. I usually believe in sharing, but when it comes to figs, it's every kitty cat to herself... CHOMP!

Scary Fire

No, LA has not been attacked, that's smoke from the wild fire... it was so surreal to see the mushroom cloud rise up in the horizon, and yet, sky is still clear and blue on the westside, and people going about their business as usual...

Zen Cat

Ssshhhhhhh... be quiet, I am meditating...

Moon

I am looking out at the moon dangling in the dark night sky... I can see the craters and shadows... ahh, what a funny and strange world we live in.

Kawwaaaaiiiiii

Okie, cutesy, shrieky Asian chick alert... Kaaawwaaaaaiiiiiiii, just want to give the little kitten all the hugs and kisses in the world, muah muah muah! SOOOOOOO cute! Look at its little toeis, awwwwww.
Photo courtesy of cuteoverload.com

Anna Wintour: you are so meh!

There was a Maureen Dowd editorial in the New York Times this weekend. It profiled Vogue's editor-in-chief, Anna Wintour and her diva lifestyle. And then I saw an article about a young Chinese girl named Zhang Chianchian who works with her parents at a local brick factory in rural Guizhou (one of the poorest provinces in China) to help support her family.

On one hand, we have the ice queen with her entourage producing magazines with laughably priced and indeed just plain laughable clothing and accessories modeled by anorexic girls. On the other hand, we have a real girl on the cusp of womanhood who is taking her difficult life in stride. And you know what, I have so much more respect for Chianchian... It only shows that dignity and hardwork never go out of fashion. Here are pictures of Chianchian, she also helps to take care of her younger siblings.

Romanov Restaurant

If you want to experience a piece of Russia without flying all the way there... then go to the Romanov restaurant in LA... and make sure you are prepared to party until the wee hours of the night! Luckily, with this facade, there is no way you can missed it.

This is the main dining room. It's like a throw back in time, everything is over the top -- chandeliers, drapes, tablescloths, etc...

When you get there, an elaborate spread of cold appetizers has already been set up. You munch on the appetizers, then dance a little (there is a live band), and eat the hot appetizers, then dance some more, and eat first course main entries, and dance off more, then eat second course main entries... and so on. The food was surprisingly good and flavorful. The Russian dumplings tasted sooo much like Chinese dumplings. Yummy.

If you are a real hot shot, then you could have a room all to yourself. Notice the throne? Oh btw, the "picture" thingy on the wall to the left is actually an LCD screen with its own ornate frame!

London

I am back in LA now, but for my last morning in London, I took a stroll from Piccadilly Circus to the Tower of London, and here is what I saw along the way.

Trafalgar Square. If you look closely, you'll see Big Ben peeking out next to the big pole holding up the statute of Lord Nelson.

Trafalgar Square is sort of like the Embassy District, and apparently unbeknowst to us, Texas suceeded from the Union in London. You should check out The Texas Embassy's website, such a Euro-centric view of how America took Texas from Mexico by force. Pfft, they should be glad we still keep them as part of the Union.

Harry Potter's castle. Ok, it's the Royal Court of Justice though it looks like Disneyland.

St. Paul's Cathedral (looks so much like the US Capitol). There were some Vietnamese tourists posing in front of it. They were such posers! Some women were doing the S line in front of the Cathedral, and a guy was posing with his chin resting on his hand, ewe.

I passed a bridge that overlooked the Tower of London Bridge. I used this picture in a previous blog post, but it's so beautiful, had to put it up again. Oh yeah, the weather was perfect when I was there, and right after I got back to the hotel and got ready for the airport, it started raining.

Main entrance to the Tower of London, notice the famous bullet like modern building in the background?

Part of the Tower: heeeelp heeelp, free Princess Cat!

The Main Tower, very fairtale-like. You wouldn't guess that so many people lost their lives here.

Alternative view: the Tower of London isn't a tower per se, it's actually kind of low... like a midget castle.


Then I took a cab back to Piccadilly Circus...

...and walked over to the The Windmill, and had delicious Kidney and Steak Pie. Perfect ending to my trip.

Mission Impossible: Steak and Kidney Pie

Oi. All I wanted was to eat some hearty steak and kidney pie at The Guinea, and guess when they open for lunch? 12:30! WTH! My flight home is at three and pick up time is at 1pm, how am I going to order and eat a kidney pie and rush back by 1pm? Arrrgh... Being ever so resourceful, I found The Guinea's sister pub, The Windmill, a few blocks away. It serves the same champion kidney and steak pie and opens at 12pm, perfect!

Here you have it: beautiful, golden, kidney and steak pie.

J and P, this bite is for you guys! CHOMP! Hmmm, I like the slight bitterness taste of the kidney, plus the meatiness of the steak, and the rich flavorful sauce, and the flakey golden crust. I am not a huge pie fan, but this one is good!

So, London, with a full tummy, I bid thee farewell.

Night Out on the Town...

Fun, fun, fun... good food, good wine, good conversation, can't beat that!

Most bars get so crowded with people that they spill onto streets, this is nothing compared to earlier during the night when dozens of happy hour goers crowded the alleyway...

Regent Street

Regent Street is a popular shopping area in London that stretches from Piccadilly Circus to Oxford Circus. See the picture below in my previous entry? If you take a left turn from there, this is what you'd see. There are lots of shops, some are high end and some are familiar international brands such as H & M, Gap, the Body Shop... yeah, there are some interesting shops here, but shopping is becoming pretty much the same everywhere in the "developed" world.

Piccadilly at Night

Pretty Night in London. It's such a diverse town. Although we have a diverse population in LA, people are really segregated (since there is enough room for people to cloister themselves in their own little ethnic enclaves). Here I guess since London is so small, people are forced to intermingle and there is less segregation, at least in public spaces.

An Afternoon at Piccadilly Circus

It's been a nice afternoon here in London. Walked over to Piccadilly Circus... it's puny compared to Time Square.

Then I took a stroll along Piccadilly Street... btw, that pink cab is my official vehicle here in London :-P

and came across Fortnum and Mason, the famous grocery store that's supposedly been at Piccadilly since 100 BC, ok jk, since 17something. The storefront is all the way to the right with the union jack proudly hanging on top.

Marzipans! They are very pretty but I can't get over all the food colorings that go into the pretty apples and oranges... eh, but me really want one, who cares about food color poisoning... ahhh, why is life so hard!

P, here are your Earl Greys!

Off to London, again...

Ok, I am off to London for a few days... be good while I am gone. Unlike last time, I am not there to be all chummy with the Queen... in fact, this time it's Mission Coup D'etat, yep the purpose of my trip is to usurp the British throne... move aside Queenie, a new Princess is in town... Meow! But, first thing first, Princess needs to get her beauty rest...

Perseid Meteor Shower

Lots of celestial activities lately. We've had a full solar eclipse in Asia, amazing images from NASA's Spitzer Telescope. And tonight, the Perseid Meteor Shower is expected to be at its peak. I will keep my eyes out for sure and see if I could catch any shooting stars... Btw, here is a typical night view from my balcony :-P
image courtesy of wikipedia

TLC Disgusts Me!

The Learning Channel should change its name to CEC, Child Exploitation Channel. Two shows in particularly disgust me: Jon and Kate + 8 and Toddlers and Tiaras (child beauty pageant reality show). My grandmother endured starvation so that her children could be brought up right and have an education... and now these douchebag parents are parading their kids in front of national television to fatten their own wallets! It was sickening watching six, seven year old little girls dressed up like Vegas showgirls... what are these parents thinking?

Our Universe

OMG. When I saw this picture and read the caption, my jaw literally dropped. I am in awe of our universe!

Photo courtesy of Cat...okie, I didn't take it, NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope took this pic and here is AP's caption: This image provided by NASA this July 23, 2009 is a photo made by the Spitzer Space Telescope of the galaxy, called NGC-1097, is located 50 million light-years away. It is spiral-shaped like our Milky Way, with long, spindly arms of stars. The 'eye' at the center of the galaxy is actually a monstrous black hole surrounded by a ring of stars. In this color-coded infrared view from Spitzer, the area around the invisible black hole is blue and the ring of stars, white. The black hole is huge, about 100 million times the mass of our sun, and is feeding off gas and dust along with the occasional unlucky star. The galaxy's red spiral arms and the swirling spokes seen between the arms show dust heated by newborn stars. Older populations of stars scattered through the galaxy are blue. The fuzzy blue dot to the left, which appears to fit snuggly between the arms, is a companion galaxy. This image was taken during Spitzer's cold mission, before it ran out of liquid coolant.

Hello World!

Hello World! I am Cat. How are you? Hope you are having a good day! Weeeeeeee!

I had a really busy weekend and these are the activities I did. I ate this...

And this... I call Pinkberry Evilberry cuz they tried to squeeze others out of business, but if I buy these, it means I am an evil enabler, gasp!

And I ate some of this... Love KBBQ! Highly recommend Chosun Galbee, it's pricey but it's good.

And this... such a delicious piece of sea bass... I know I know, I am supposed to protect the world's fishy species, but I can't help it, it's so yummy!

All in all, a fantastic bday weekend. Thanks L for coming and helping me put together my pad... can't wait until the dining set arrives, and then I'll have a dumpling party!