Throwback Thursday: Philadelphia, May 2014

I can't believe that it has been two months now since our day trip over to Philly. We originally were going for a bacon festival but a week before the trip, it was cancelled. We still ended up heading over for the day but we probably chose the most interesting day of the week, weather wise, to go there. The day started off very muggy and it ended up with several torrential downpours. Thankfully we did bring umbrellas and I wore my rain boots so I was a happy camper the entire day!

Of all the times that I visited Philly, I think this was the first time we did not eat a cheese steak but we had started the day off well with brunch at Sabrina's Cafe. After brunch, we started to head to Rittenhouse square park and on the way there stopped at the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul. I like walking into Cathedrals because of the architecture and the way the light flows into all of them.

At Rittenhouse Square, there was an Arts and Crafts fair but we didn't end up buying anything and decided to head over to the Love statue since I haven't seen it before. Once we started to take pictures of the statue/sculpture, the rain moved in and we ended up taking shelter at the Welcome Center for a few minutes before heading to our car.

After the rain had stopped, we headed over to another park for some kite flying but because of the weather, they had also closed down. This is where we got hit with the second storm but it was raining a lot harder so we stayed inside the car. One of our friends suggested we head over to a brewery for a tour so we did just that to kill some time before dinner at the Jamaican Jerk Hut that I had reviewed awhile back.

The tour at the brewery was very fun, it was the first time I got to walk into one and the guy leading the tour was very animated and funny. I don't drink beer so that might have gone to waste for me, but I love to know how things are made so it was still interesting to me. I can't complain anyway because it was free!

Toya : Cliffside Park, NJ

This is a nice little place located in Cliffside Park, NJ that a friend had taken me for dinner a few weeks back. My friend had become a regular and suggested we go try this place with her when we were there for July 4th and it was a very interesting experience.

It was my first time ordering omakase, so we just sat down and the chef just started to cook for us. We told him what we were allergic to and he just went ahead and started to create dishes that were different than anything on a normal Japanese menu.

As we sat there, we ate through multiple courses. Starting off light and with each course it got heavier with food. We ended off the night with some rolls but by then I forgot to take some pictures! 

Crafting Days!: A big happy birthday card!

Last week my husband turned 30 so for the big occasion I decided to make the biggest card I have ever made! Sorry for the lack of pictures, I was making this card while I had a fever so most of it was rushed.

This card is made using two 8.5x11 pieces of card stock joined together with a strip. I had cut a bunch of balloons and bought bakers twine to use as the string. Rather than glue all of the string to the paper, I just let it hang off of the card. This card was actually not my design but rather it was found on pinterest so I can't really take credit for it =).

The only thing that made it mine was the fact that I wrote a nice little note (not pictured) for my husband. Hey, sometimes someone else will have the perfect idea out there for you. No need to reinvent the wheel!

Roadtrip!! Arizona/Utah/Nevada in November!

I absolutely can't wait for November of this year when I head out to Arizona for a nice roadtrip with 5 other people. It will be a week filled with laughter, beautiful landscapes, and hiking. We don't have much of our itinerary planned out yet except for the flights but that shouldn't be a problem since we have a lot of time before we leave.

Places that we will definitely be visiting during our week out there:

• VEGAS! Believe it or not, I have never been to Vegas and it will actually be my first time. We are flying in and out of Vegas but have a very limited out of time here anyway so most of it will probably be spent eating

• Grand Canyon! We will most likely be heading over to the South rim since that is part of Grand Canyon National park to see some of the views. 

• Zion national park. We will also be heading over to Utah to visit Zion National park for some beautiful views over there as well

• Antelope Canyon. This is going to be the highlight of our trip because this is the one spot that all of us are looking forward to see. We will most likely visit the upper canyon for the photo tours

• Arizona Vermilion cliffs, just recently added because of some photos I found online. Beautiful isn't it?

It's going to be a long drive be honestly we are all drivers so we can split up the time anyway (MAP BELOW). This is going to be an amazing time and I can't wait for November to come around already! I will be using hashtag #ChandemicRoadtrip on instagram to post photos along the way. So if you are interested, you know where you can find me =)

All photos downloaded from http://www.stockfreeimages.com/ with a free account since I have not visited any of these locations yet. By the end of the trip I will be able to share my own!

Throwback Thursday: Tau Sar Piah in Malaysia

One of my favorite pastries of all time is actually tau sar piah which is actually a mung bean pastry. During my trip to Malaysia we visited a small bakery that sold them and since my uncle knew the owner, they let us walk through to the back where women were making and baking them.

The entire bakery smelled amazing and you knew that every one of those pastries are warm and fresh when sold. I must admit that I have tried to make these before and it is not easy. These women were so fast with rolling out the dough, adding filling, and wrapping it up that it was fascinating to watch. (Scroll all the way down for video!)

I have had tau sar piah that was made in the US but it is just not the same. Whenever my family goes on vacation to Malaysia, they always bring them home for me because they know how much I love them!

Hinomaru in Astoria, Queens

Awhile back, my husband and his family went to Hinomaru to celebrate a birthday and it was his parents first time there. We arrived pretty early for dinner (around 6pm) and the restaurant didn't have many people there yet. We sat by the wide open storefront where we were able to watch people walk by as we ate.  This time, we ordered more than ramen and some of their "Japanese tapas" were pretty good.

This restaurant is also recommended by the Michelin guide. If that means something to you, it's worth a try!

Starters: 

Ebi Chili - Possibly my favorite appetizer that night. The sauce on the shrimp was not spicy for me, but it will have a nice kick for anyone likes spicy food. 

Crispy pig ears - Oh man, these were pretty good too. The spices worked so well with the slices of pig ears and it was pretty darn crispy!

Tori Karaage - Whenever I go to a new ramen place, I need to try their fried chicken and compare it with others. The chicken was very juicy but the breading wasn't that flavorful. 

Ramen:

Hinomaru: Their house ramen has a pork broth and something called a "fireball" on top of everything. The reason why it has that name? It's because its hot chili oil! If you can't handle the spicy, you might want to put that to the side and add to liking.

Tonkatsu Shoyu: I ordered this with some extra bamboo shoots. The pork broth is very creamy but not too salty like the other broths.

Crafting Days! : Citronella candles

This past weekend we had a BBQ get together and I decided last minute to add some Lord of The Rings inspired decorations. I will feature some of the other things at another time but this blog post will only be about the candles that I made.

A few years back, I bought a candle making kit from Michaels and never really found the time to use it. It included two pounds of wax, coloring, wick, and a mold. I think I waited because I never really found out where to buy Citronella oil until last week. I bought the citronella oil from the Vitamin Shoppe and at first I was afraid it wouldn't work but after lighting them up, most of the mosquitoes stopped biting!

To make sure that the candles fit the theme, I cut a silhouette out of paper of the fellowship and used mod podge to glue it onto mason jars. The jars were from a wedding that I went to a year ago. Yay for recycling!! Honestly, DIY candles are REALLY easy! Just make sure you have a pot or a glass measuring cup that you don't mind melting wax in.

Instructions:

Step 1 : Melt wax in a double boiler/mixing bowl/old pot, melt wax until it is 200 degrees Fahrenheit



Step 2: While the wax is melting, prepare your candle holder by adding a wick. I used mason jars and tied the wick to a chopstick.

Step 3. After the wax has melted and has reached the right temp, remove from the heat source and stir in citronella oil. Roughly 3 drops per cup of wax is recommended.

Step 4. Pour wax into the vessels and let cool!

Throwback Thursday: Juneau, Alaska

If you ever have the chance to take an Alaskan Cruise, I highly recommend it. Unfortunately our trip was near the end of the season and we hit a lot of rain but visit Alaska was pretty entertaining. One of the cities we had a stop at was Juneau. We were supposed to go on a sea kayaking trip but due to high winds, it was cancelled. Instead, we went to look for food and shop for souvenirs!

Crafting Days! : Charlie Brown and Snoopy birthday card

So I have a friend who absolutely loves Snoopy and I wanted to make a card for her birthday this past week. I was originally thinking of making a card I had found on pinterest with flowers made from heart cutouts but I like it when cards are more personalized.

In the end, I decided to combine the two and cut out a silhouette of Charlie Brown and Snoopy sitting next to each other with a 3D flower right next to it. The middle is a pearl bead I had from my sewing supplies. I guess it's a good thing I hoard craft things!

Throwback Thursday: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2012

This is the third time I have feature Malaysia but I went to so many locations, I wanted to split them up so that I don't overload people with pictures. This week I wanted to show pictures of the capital of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur.

We were there for two days and honestly, it was the first city where I felt uncomfortable having my camera out. There were some shady spots and I didn't like the glaring eyes. Coming from a big city myself, I know which spots to avoid but when you are in an unfamiliar place, it's best just to be smart about it.

When you think of Kuala Lumpur, what is the main touristy thing to do? See the twin towers of course! Unfortunately we didn't buy tickets to go up in advance but we walked around the building taking pictures of it. One day, I will get to visit again.

Just like any other city, KL is very crowded. The one thing I was so amazed by was the traffic! There are a lot more motorcyclists on the road that I am used to and seeing how they zoom by on the streets without hitting someone is pretty interesting. I probably stood at this corner watching for a good 15 minutes as the lights changed several times

Kollaboration New York Spotlight at Toshi's living room! 06/26/2014

For those who didn't know, I actually volunteer my time to work as a photographer for an amazing organization called Kollaboration. The organization strives to empower Asian and Pacific Islanders to follow their creative dreams. Annually we host a showcase with finalists who compete to be part of the Los Angeles show. Kollaboration is currently found in 13 different cities and if you are interested in learning more, go check out the main website! You can also check out New York's website as well for more blog posts about our finalists for our showcase in August.

On June 26th, we had a live show where we had four different performers took the stage to show their talent. From this years finalists, we had two amazing groups perform who are completely different in genre but they knew how to wow the crowds.

Yut and the Hot four - A modern string quartet with percussion that covers songs from different genres, including gangster rap! I have seen them perform live in two occasions and they have a ton of energy when they do. When I first heard about them, I couldn't stop watching their Youtube videos!

Red Oak Lane - A group of five young guys who had met each other due to their love of music. They have only been a band for 6 months, but don't pass judgement on them due to that. If you ever have the chance to watch them live, they look like they have known each other for years.

The last two performers were from last years showcase and it was such a good idea to mix and match alumni with the new finalists.

Shilpa - Finalist from last year who has recently been featured on Channel one news. She has also recently released a video for her original song "Renegade"! Go check her out, she has an amazing voice!

Izzy - Winner of last years show, this guy knows how to work the stage. He got the entire place to participate and had a few people dancing on the side to his music.