strawberry likes to...

Andy always posts the funnest blogging ideas. For this one, just go to Google and type "[your name] likes to" and post the first ten results. I had to kind of cheat on mine since my parents spelled my name so unusual (real name), so I had to use the more traditional/boring spelling of it in order to get any results. I must say, mine were pretty cool for the most part.

1. Strawberry likes to help Mom cook.
Indeed, I do enjoy helping my mom cook when I'm home. I like cooking FOR my parents even more, they're the best people to test recipes out on.

2. Strawberry likes to keep things pale and interesting.
HAHAHA, this one is awesome because I'm so white. I don't really know what it means to "like to keep things pale and interesting" but I definitely keep things pale. SPF 30 every day, baby.

3. Strawberry likes to party...obviously.
When it's time to party, we have a tea party.

4. Strawberry likes to get sloppy drunk and hit on bartenders who are dumb and not that good looking (or nice) and then she drives home really really really fast listening to OAR - I mean not listening to OAR.
#1 I do not get sloppy drunk and hit on bartenders (I prefer getting sloppy drunk and hitting on much-older-than-me ferry boat captains at formals, thankyouverymuch) #2 I would never drive drunk. Ever. Period. #3 It's physically impossible for me to drive anywhere really really really fast in my jeep wrangler (they were built for off-terrain driving, not racing) and #4 Who the heck is OAR?

5. Strawberry likes to take risks.
I moved to China for a year, didn't I?

6. Strawberry likes to be outside and has been photographed frequently strolling along the sidewalks and beaches near her home.
Sounds pretty nice to me.

7. Strawberry likes to eat Ramon noodles, Fruity Pebbles, and cheese pizza.
WTF....was someone watching me from my window tonight and taking notes or something?

8. Strawberry likes to be the little spoon.
I'm always the little spoon. Duh.

9. Strawberry likes to go camping with her friends and enjoys anything that involves bright colors.
Camping is so much fun. I haven't been in a while but want to go some time when I get back in the States. Bright colors are okay, too.

10. Strawberry likes to say, “It’s only the beginning. Get ready.”
Hellz yes.

product review: skippy's peanut butter and chocolate swirl

I couldn't find a photograph of Skippy's Peanut Butter and Chocolate Swirl variety, but trust me, it's out there, haunting the shelf of a grocery store near you. I would have taken a photograph of the jar I had, but it was the Chinese Skippy brand so everything was in Chinese and I also threw it away after trying it. That's right, I THREW IT AWAY.

I've always been curious about peanut butter swirl jars, y'know, like those ones that come with jelly already mixed in with the pb (haven't tried those yet), so when I saw the chocolate peanut butter mix at Carrefour a few days ago and noticed that it actually had LESS calories and fat than the regular creamy peanut butter spread, I had to buy it.

Chocolate and peanut butter are probably my favorite combination of anything in the world, having them both in one convenient jar seemed too good to be true. And it was. If you want the deliciousness of chocolate and peanut butter combined the next time you make a pb and banana morning sammy, you'd be better off just squeezing some Hershey's syrup on top than you would be using this nasty product.

First, the chocolate was way overwhelming at the top of the jar and if was difficult to mix it well. Second, the peanut butter was lacking in flavor. It wasn't sweet at all and didn't really taste like anything other than "mushy". The chocolate also wasn't very sweet. I mean, really, there was nothing good about this product. I THREW IT AWAY, and this is coming from a girl who literally only has $3 to my name until I get paid in a week which means I have to survive on the oatmeal, protein powder, rice, and soup mixes I have stock piled in my room for the next 7 days. For me to throw away something edible is a clear indication that it wasn't really that edible.

Verdict: Skip it. It's a waste of money and the few calories you'll expend tasting it before realizing it's nasty.

fear of fitness

Gyms in China are nothing like gyms in America.

For starters, gym memberships are way more expensive here than in the States. Working out is a very American thing to do, and as such it's seen as a luxury and "foreign" so they charge outrageous prices and rich status-seeking Chinese people (and foreigners who have been raised in a society where NOT having a gym membership makes you a freak) are willing to fork out the dough.

Also, they have tons of equipment...and yet, they don't really have much variety. For example, my gym, Best Fit, has about 25 treadmills, but only 1 elliptical, 2 stairmasters, and 2 bikes. Why 25 treadmills? It makes no sense to me.

Unlike in America, gyms in China are always empty, which makes me question even more why they thought they needed 25 treadmills. In the States if you go to a gym before work (between 5-9AM) or after work (between 3-7) the machines are pretty packed and I've even had to wait up to 30 minutes for my chance on the stairmaster. My gym doesn't even open until 10Am, for starters, and even with ONE ellipitical machine, I've never ever had to wait. It's like walking into a ghost town filled with free weights and yoga mats, I halfway expect a few tumbleweeds to scatter across the floor in front of me after I swipe my membership card.

Okay, I'm not being 100% honest here, because my gym is never completely empty. There's always about 10 personal trainers milling about, walking slowly from one side of the building to the other, or going out in the courtyard for a cigarette break (they all smoke). And when they're not busy doing that, they're busy harassing the few people that actually go to the gym (read: me) into using their services.

A lot of people who are out of shape say they don't want to go to the gym because they're embarrassed, that they don't like the idea of other people watching them work out. Well, these people definitely could not hang in a Chinese gym. Chinese trainers are on you like hawks the whole time you're there, waiting to pounce at any sign of weakness, like when you take your iPod ear bud out of your ear for a split second to untangle the cord, or set your kindle down next to you to focus on your work out. They see that as their "in" and they pounce.

And they. won't. leave. you. alone.

I straight up had to tell one of them "LEAVE ME ALONE!!!" because he was being so annoying. So he left me alone. Left me alone by standing two feet away from my weight machine and staring at me while I finished my set.

how to: throw an easy, elegant, and kick-ass oscar party in 5 steps

How to throw an easy, elegant, and kick-ass oscar party in five simple steps.


1. Get the party started!

First, make sure to invite people that are compatible. This may seem like a no-brainer, but seriously, no Debbie Downers or Party Poopers allowed.

Second, have enough seats for your guests. Count all the couch space you have and add any chairs or cushions needed. If you're short on seating, big fluffy pillows placed strategically around the room should do the job just fine.

Third, if you're hosting an Oscar party, it's assumed that your television is large enough for a small crowd to comfortably sit and watch. If you're still rocking a 10 incher from your college dorm days, you should probably NOT be the host of an Oscar party.

And finally, dress up! As my fashion guru Isaac Mizrahi says, "If the stars try that hard, it's only polite that you and your friends make the same effort". In this day and age there's not many opportunities to get dolled up, so by all means make this Oscar party an event to remember and encourage your guests to dress to the nines! Black-tie is totally appropriate, but if you think your guests wouldn't be too interested in donning tuxedos and gowns, then state that cocktail attire is o-k, too.

2. Have FUN.

I am a firm believer in Oscar pools. To make it easier for your guests, print out a list of all the nominees. I've made it simple for you, just go here and you'll find everything you need in easy to print format! Make sure everyone makes a vote for each category. Sure, they might not know anything about "live action shorts", but have them make a wild guess for the category Best Live Action Short! Who knows, they could end up being right.

Have some sort of reward for the person who got the most and the person who got the least amount of awards correct. Present the "Biggest Winner" and "Biggest Loser" with an Oscar gift basket. A cute (and relatively cheap!) idea is to buy one of those large popcorn tubs and fill it with candy and a movie. For the winner, provide a copy of one of the "Best Picture" nominees. For the loser, choose a total razz-worthy film, like Waterworld or Dude Where's My Car?.

Another fun party activity is to vote for best dressed male and female. Give each winner a fake Oscar (you can purchase them at an party supply store during this time of year) and encourage them to give an acceptance speech!

3. Nom.

Provide plenty of appetizers and sweets for your guests. Suggestions for appetizers include spinach dip and sourdough bread, chili in bread bowls, nachos, vegetables and dip. For dessert, my signature Oscar frou frou cupcakes are an absolute MUST for any elegant celebration, they just scream glamor. They are also very, very tasty. Champagne jelly is another fun and festive idea, you can find the recipe here.


Popcorn is, duh, a total necessity for an Oscar party, but forget microwave popcorn, it's all about the real deal. Trust me, after you make popcorn once this way, you will never ever buy microwave popcorn again.

Perfect Popcorn Recipe

3 Tbsp canola, peanut or grapeseed oil (high smoke point oil)
1/3 cup of high quality popcorn kernels
Salt to taste

1. Heat the oil and a few pinches of salt in a 3-quart saucepan on medium high heat.

2. Put 3 or 4 popcorn kernels into the oil and cover the pan.

3. When the kernels pop, add the rest of the 1/3 cup of popcorn kernels in an even layer. Cover, remove from heat and count 30 seconds. This method first heats the oil to the right temperature, then waiting 30 seconds brings all of the other kernels to a near-popping temperature so that when they are put back on the heat, they all pop at about the same time.

4. Return the pan to the heat. The popcorn should begin popping soon, and all at once. Once the popping starts in earnest, gently shake the pan by moving it back and forth over the burner. Try to keep the lid slightly ajar to let the steam from the popcorn release (the popcorn will be drier and crisper). Once the popping slows to several seconds between pops, remove the pan from the heat, remove the lid, and dump the popcorn immediately into a wide bowl.

5. Top with anything you like! Salt and butter are pretty standard, but you can get creative and make kettle corn, add some cinnamon, maybe a pinch of nutmeg, the possibilities are endless! One great topping is rosemary and cayenne pepper. Seriously, so good.

For Spicy Rosemary Cayenne Popcorn you will need:

2 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
2 tablespoons minced rosemary (I used dried rosemary - 1 tbsp)
2 tablespoons grated parmesan
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon cayenne (or more, to taste) (I added at least one teaspoon!)
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 cups popped popcorn

In the bottom of a large bowl, mix the butter, rosemary, parmesan, brown sugar, cayenne and salt. Pour the popcorn into the large bowl. Stir the popcorn to evenly coat the kernels with the seasoning.

4. Sip and judge.

Make sure you provide plenty of drink choices for your guests, there's nothing better than a good sipping and judging session with a delicious cocktail in your hand.

Come up with a signature drink for your party and make a large batch of it in advance and put it in a large punch bowl for guests to serve themselves throughout the night. It can be ANY drink you like, but give it a fun Oscar-inspired name. Have a thing for mojitos? (I mean, who doesn't?) Make a big batch and put a cute label near the bowl "Slumdog Millionaire Mojito". Just add an actor's name or the title of a film to any drink and you're golden.


Make sure to have nonalcoholic beverages on hand for those that don't like to drink. Staples include diet soda, fruit juice, and water. You can have fun with this and make a nonalcoholic punch, too.

5. Au revoir.

Parting is such sweet sorrow, but eventually, your guests need to leave, if only to give you an opportunity to clean up after your successful Academy Award bash. This is your chance to give your guests a little star treatment with goody bags similar to those the stars will all be receiving! Okay, maybe not similar (I don't know if any of my blog readers have enough disposable income to buy 20 iPods and sets of Le Mer face cream), but definitely super thoughtful and sweet. Some ideas include a small bag of your home-made popcorn (prepared in advance), lots of movie theater candy, and a custom-made mix CD of all the songs from the films that received nominations. Put it in a cute bag, tie a bit of pink ribbon on it, and voila, perfect ending to a perfect party.

and you thought lolcats were the end all be all

The coolest thing to come to the internet since LOLcats....LOLMart!!! Where you can satiate all your LOLware needs in just a few clicks of your mouse and taps of your keyboard.

Currently the stock is pretty low and I'm hoping over the next few months they take it up a notch and offer a wider selection of t-shirt designs and plush toys. I must say, though, that this LOLrus plush toy is pretty much the sweetest thing I've seen EVER.


I has a bukkit. Nooooo. They be stealin' mah bukkit.

Don't worry little buddy, I won't steal your bukkit.

WTF wednesday: dragon fruit

While I'm somewhat confident these are available in the United States, I still think the shape and look of them alone merits a hearty, "WTF?!"

Behold, the dragon fruit.

There's actually three varieties of dragon fruit. Two with pink skin, one that has white "flesh" or fruit inside, and one with pink/red "flesh". I tried a pink dragon fruit with white flesh, as shown below. The third kind is yellow with white fruit, but seriously, what's the point in that? It's all about the pink.


Apparently the fruit is low in calories (score!), but personally I wasn't a huge fan. It's cool to look at, sure, but it wasn't anything that special on the inside. The texture is a lot like a kiwi, and it tastes like a mixture of a kiwi and a pear, but I found the flesh to be a bit more grainy than a kiwi, which is probably what I found most off putting.

They do make for a great tablescape, though, and if I have any kind of Chinese welcome home party, I'm sure these suckers will be making an appearance on my table because they're so visually interesting. I also really like saying the name "dragon fruit". Sounds ferocious.

update on saemi, my injured 12th grade student

Today was the first time seeing my 12th graders since the break and all the drama with Saemi happened. They all seemed pretty normal, I don't know what was I was expecting, maybe for them to break down into tears when I took roll and left out Saemi's name? A few students were absent so I was asking the class, "Where's Dulce? Is she coming back? Oh, and what about Daniel? Is he going to be back?" and I almost asked "Where's Saemi?" out of instinct since her seat is empty, but I didn't.

Big Amy seemed a little on edge, especially when I was asking everyone where Daniel was (Daniel is Korean like Saemi and they were very good friends), but for the most part she acted normal. Everyone acted so normal. It was weird. It would have been less weird if everyone was acting out of character, but instead I conducted class with a huge pink elephant standing in the room right in front of me, and no one said anything about it. I wonder how the next few days and weeks will be.

This is the spot where Saemi fell. It was the roof of a bar/restaurant. Apparently she was balancing on the ledge in her high heels and fell three stories to the floor below, right on her head.



The doctors still don't know the extent of the damage, but seeing as how this is China, I'm not surprised by that. Thankfully this school has a lot of money and the administration is helping the family with their medical costs, which means Saemi is at least getting the best help available in this country. They're doing a mixture of Western and Chinese treatments. I'm not sure of a lot of details, but I know they've been doing accupuncture and are hoping it will bring her out of her coma.


Saemi is breathing on her own, which is step in the right direction. When I left for my vacation the only thing keeping her alive was the machine she was hooked up to. Now that she's able to breath on her own, it shows at least some sign of life. She's been moving her hands and opening her eyes, but there's no real signs of consciousness yet. The doctors have performed a few surgeries to decrease the pressure in her skull by draining fluids and they're anticipating by May of this year everyone will have a clearer picture of the Saemi that will be here post-accident. Like I said, they don't know the extent of the damage, so who knows what this new Saemi will be like. But I'm hoping for the best.


That's Big Amy and Saemi, during better times. Whether you're religious or not, I'm a true believer in the powers of positive thinking, so if you're reading this, please do a little "Get better, Saemi" mantra in your head and send some positive vibes over to Shanghai. She needs it.

product review: 100 calorie delight cheesecake bar

Twin and Mom sent me two fabulous care packages for Valentine's Day. They were filled with cute stickers, some candy for my kids (I like to bribe them into paying attention in class), and tons of snackies from the States. I love snackies of all varieties, but 100 calorie packs are definitely my favorite. Now that I've given up dessert, they're a total god send for my sweet tooth.

Nabisco is always trying to produce new 100 calorie pack snacks and their most recent HoneyMaid graham cracker series is totally nom worthy. Today I tried the Cheesecake delight bar and it was SO delicious. The graham cracker crust is sweet and moist, not too crumbly which I thought would be a problem. The cheesecake is the perfect balance of tart and sweet. It really does taste like cheesecake! Perfect as a dessert substitute.

Verdict: GET IT!!!

the things people do for attention

Before I left for my South East Asia trip I made a post about the awesome tattoo my dad got with the names of me and my two sisters on it. I can't wait to see it in person, it looks so cool! I also mentioned a lot of the shenanigans my dad has gotten himself into over the years, the most memorable of which being his April Fool's joke of dressing up like a woman.

Well, I don't know how or where, but Twin found a photograph of him from that day and sent it to me. He looks JUST like his mother, only about a foot taller. So creepy.


While I have your attention, readers, I'm curious...why do you read my blog? I know there's a lot more of you out there than comments suggest (thanks Google Analytics), and it makes me wonder what keeps you coming back to read my posts. Do you find me entertaining? Do you hate me? What's the deal? You can comment anonymously if you want.

love is...

A cute bento box filled with animal shaped rice:


Adventures in Bentomaking is one of my new favorite food blogs. I wish I had a kitchen so I could make all kinds of adorable bento lunches, but for the time being I'll just live vicariously through Pikko's posts.

Happy Valentine's Day! It's weird, this is the first year I haven't been hyper aware of the holiday. My parents own a flower shop so for as long as I can remember Valentine's Day played a huge role in my life. As a child it meant baby sitters for a whole week, when we got old enough to watch ourselves it meant TV dinners for a whole week, and when we were old enough to drive it meant working at the flower shop for a whole week.

Walking around in Shanghai today I would have totally forgotten that it was Valentine's Day at all but then I spotted a woman selling roses on the street and it sparked my memory. I figured I should treat myself to something, y'know, a sort of self love version of the holiday, so I booked it over to the DVD store and bought the second season of Gossip Girls and three new movies (The Reader, Changeling, and Madagascar 2). I was surprised that Valentine's Day wasn't nearly as hyped up as other American holidays have been (like Thanksgiving and Christmas), but I didn't mind too much since I have yet to find my Korean Valentine. I wonder how Easter in China is going to pan out.

friday the 13th

Friday the 13th isn't scary or unlucky here in China, but since I'm still very much American at heart I couldn't help but feel an itty bitty flutter of nervousness when Romy scheduled our flight from Hong Kong to Shanghai for the superstitious date. As luck would have it, we were so exhausted (and totally slightly broke) from traveling, so we switched our flight to the 12th and avoided flying on the unluckiest day of the year.

I saw some incredible things during my four weeks of travel through South East Asia. It was the most different and exciting vacation I've ever taken, and while I had an awesome time with Romy and all of the friends we met up with in Cambodia and Thailand, it felt so good to get back to Shanghai, to my little corner of China.

Classes begin on Monday which means I need to start lesson planning some time before then. I'm trying to hold on to my vacation for as long as possible, so I'll probably procrastinate until Sunday night and then whip something up for each of my classes. I also need to go through my GoogleReader (I have over 600 unread entries from all the blogs I subscribe to) and get caught up with everyone out there in BlogWorld. I've missed you all and can't wait to read about what you've all been up to over the last month. Hopefully I'll be able to write a few stories about my travels over the next few days.

Physically I'm back in Shanghai, but mentally I'm still relaxing in a hammock on a beach in southern Thailand.

thailand: surf, sand, and sun burns

I'm alive and very badly sunburned (or is it "sunburnt"?) in Thailand. Tomorrow is my last day and I'm spending it learning how to cook 10 different vegetarian Thai dishes at a 5-hour long cooking class. I can't wait!

Romy and I will be stupidly spending the night in the airport which we both realize we will regret, but our flight leaves so early in the morning we couldn't bring ourselves to justify spending any more baht (Thai's currency) on a hostel for only a few hours of sleep. We'll arrive in Hong Kong around noon and we'll be there for three or four days, we haven't decided yet. My only real Hong Kong traveling goal is to go to Hong Kong Disney.

I'll be home (weird, Shanghai is now my home) on February 14th for sure, also known as Valentine's Day for all you Americans out there that celebrate that very American holiday which is not such a big deal here in Asia. Funny, I'm kind of looking forward to going back to China. Is it possible I'm starting to actually feel that I belong in the PRC?

cambodia: kingdom of trash

All over Cambodia there are vendors selling stacks of postcards that all say "Kingdom of Cambodia" over a scenic photograph of a temple or some cows grazing in a lush green field. In reality, though, Cambodia is a kingdom built on trash. Singapore has its signature Merlion statue, Cambodia has its signature piles of garbage everywhere.

My trip to Cambodia was eye opening to say the least. I've seen poverty in the banlieues of Paris or along the stretch of Baja highway that runs from Cabo San Lucas to California, but never before have I seen a country covered in poverty, absolutely saturated to its core.
Yet, there were plenty of Land Rovers, Range Rovers, and Lexus SUVs riding along the dirt roads, weaving to avoid children begging for food and the stray dogs that roam the streets. Angelina Jolie donated a lot of money to Cambodia when she adopted her son a few years ago, but seeing the country really made me wonder where her money went to. Perhaps to the people driving the luxury vehicles?

I arrived in Phnom Penh and stayed there for a day before hopping on a bus and making a 5-hour trip to Siem Reap, where the world famous Angkor Wat is located. The bus driver had his hand on the horn for at least 4 1/2 out of those 5 hours, and he had to continually slam on his breaks to avoid hitting the cows that kept crossing the road.

The roads were bumpy and few of them were even paved. After we finally arrived in Siem Reap my head felt like I had been riding a boat in the middle of an oceanic thunderstorm instead of sitting in an air-conditioned charter bus.

It was all worth it after seeing the temple grounds in Angkor, though:


It was all worth it. The stench of the garbage on every street corner, the dirt, dust, and gasoline fumes being filtered through my nose constantly, the heartwrenching scenes of orphaned children forced to live on the filthy streets. I could deal with all of that. That is, until, I got food posioning. Twice.

Funny thing is, I didn't even eat that much, and definitely nothing out of the ordinary (my friend ate a grasshopper and a tarantula from a street vendor, yet her stomach was unphased). I packed a bunch of Luna bars and trail mix in order to travel on the cheap, and when we did go out I always ordered simple non-spicy dishes like white rice or noodles in vegetable broth.

Except...when I ordered fresh spring rolls. I thought I was making the healthy decision, choosing "fresh" over "fried", but in a country notorious for poor sanitation practices, it's probably better to never order anything that has not been cooked thoroughly.

If only I had known that sooner.

The food posioning was mild, though, so I was mostly just tired and grumpy but not completely bedridden, which is a good thing when you're traveling. Romy got a little sick, too. You'd think the two vegetarians would be the ones who would be the "safest" when it comes to food since meat can be undercooked or tainted with e. coli or salmonella. But no, it was the veg heads who got sick. Serves us right for inconviencing everyone whenever we try to pick a restaurant.

wtf?! wednesday: singapore edition

I wanted to start this before I left on my trip, but as usual I waited until the last minute to complete everything on my pre-vacation "to do" list so I didn't get the chance to make any posts, but insomnia and free hostel internet can be a wonderful so I bring you the newest StrawberrySays gimmick: wtf?! wednesday.

wtf?! wednesday will be a new weekly addition here on my blog. If the name isn't clear enough for you, I'll explain a bit. I've been trying, eating, seeing, hearing, and experiencing all sorts of crazy stuff during my time in China and my travels around Asia. I thought to myself, hey, why not capitalize on this craziness and do a series of "wtf?!" blog posts? So every week I will be bringing you things from my life in Asia that made me say, think, mumble, or scream "WHAT THE EFF???"

I figured it would be fitting to bring you something Singaporean since that's where I am currently located. And so, here is the Merlion, the national symbol of Singapore in all its glory:

Yup. That's pretty much the coolest thing in Singapore. A statue with the head of a lion and the body of fish.

It was as underwhelming in person as it is in the photograph. In my opinion, if you're going to use a made-up creature as your national symbol, you might as well make it an awesome made-up creature, not a lame wanna-be Disney character. Singapore, wtf?! were you thinking.

vacation time

I've been running around like a chicken with my head cut off all morning. Because of yesterday's events I got pretty much none of my pre-vacation errands done, so I had to fit them all in this morning. I'm leaving in 15 minutes for the airport and still need to finish packing, but I didn't want to leave without saying a quick goodbye to everyone in the blog world!

I'll be gone until February 13th and while I'm not going to be actively avoiding internet activity, I don't know how available it's going to be/how much time I'll have to actually get online. My rough itinerary is: January 16-21 Singapore, January 21-26 Cambodia, January 26-30 MAYBE Laos (this isn't for sure yet), January 30-February 10 Thailand, February 10-13 Hong Kong.

Have a Happy Chinese New Year everyone!!

life lessons usually suck

You know how people always say "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger"? Well, I think that's total bullshit, excuse my French. Sure, maybe it hardens you and makes you less susceptible to pain and suffering, like a callous that forms around your heart, but I don't think it makes you stronger. Wiser, perhaps, but not stronger, it just makes you realize what a cruel world we live in and how short life really is.

One of my students is in critical condition in the ICU at a hospital in Pudong. Her name is Saemi and she's in my 12th grade essay writing class. We talked a lot outside of class and she helped me plan my trip to South Korea with Romy. Her best friend Big Amy (she's very tall and there are two "Amy"s in the 12th grade, hence the appellation) is also in my essay writing class. The three of us have spent a lot of time together outside of school and they see me as more of a friend than a teacher (though they speak to me with respect and always refer to me as "Miss Strawberry"). Last week Saemi and Big Amy helped me pick out a cake for their home room teacher's birthday. On Tuesday the pair walked by my classroom and blew me kisses and made hearts with their hands. We've all gotten very close and I consider these girls my Chinese meimeis (little sisters).

Saemi and Big Amy went out last night to celebrate finals being over. I'm sure drinking was involved, but Saemi is a free spirit anyway and at some point in the evening she thought it would be a good idea to climb on the railing of the balcony of a three story club. Somehow she lost her footing, Big Amy tried to grab her but Saemi slipped through her hands and plummeted to the sidewalk below. Her skull was immediately crushed and she has been unconscious ever since. The club refused to call an ambulance and Big Amy was forced to take Saemi to the hospital in a taxi.

As soon as I found out the situation this morning I called Big Amy but her phone was off. She spent the evening alternating between the hospital and the police station. When she arrived back on campus I took care of her a bit: made her eat some granola bars and stayed with her while she took a short nap (she didn't want to be alone).

At around 3:00 we went to the police station where they wanted to question her some more. She was very upset and the police wouldn't let her leave, luckily they were distracted by another officer who came in with supplies so we left and took a taxi to the hospital so we could see Saemi before visiting hours ended at 4:00.

The hallway was filled with students and some administrators from our school. Visitors were allowed in one at a time and they had to put on a gown and cover their shoes with little bootie things. Tears were streaming down each person's face as they rounded the corner from the ICU to the waiting room. I knew things weren't good; the doctor had told us Saemi has a 1% chance of survival. I had to see her, though, so I suited up and went into the ICU.

Saemi is in a coma still and her skin wasn't the usual glowing pink it is in class due to the massive loss of blood she has endured both externally and internally. I held her hand for a minute and talked to her, telling her she needed to promise to get better since she told me she would draw me a picture for my room in California. I also told her how she did in class, since she was very worried about not knowing the answers on the final she took for essay writing yesterday morning.

When I left I told her "See you later, Saemi" and I really hope I do.

arrrr arrrr arrrr!

My totem animal is a walrus. I took an East Asian religions course for about 1 and 1/2 weeks before I dropped it, but in that time we learned about Shamanistic power animals and how to figure out what yours is (it involves some mediation and a lot of just making crap up).

For various reasons, I was able to determine that my power animal is a walrus. I even have a stuffed animal walrus (I got it as a gift last Christmas) named Wall*E who I sleep with every night. I also really enjoy screaming "arrr arrr arrr!" and clapping my hands together like fins.

So imagine my surprise and pure unadultered happiness when I stumbled upon these glorious creations from Blempgorf:


I've been sticking to my No-Dessert-09 rule, but if these cute little guys were in front of me I might just cave. Well, probably not, but I'd really really want to cave and then I would take a bunch of pictures with the cupcakes in all kinds of cute poses.

Check out Blempgorf's blog where she describes how to make these majestic culinary creatures!

interview: take five

Today is my last interview question from Andy! Thanks again for interviewing me, you chose some great questions!

The Rules

1. If you want to participate, leave me a comment saying, "Interview
me." (And your e-mail address, please.)
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone
else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them
five questions.


The Questions:

5. Looking at the list of the foods you've actually tried, I was surprised you've eaten pretty much everything! Where have you eaten so many... exotic things?

Andy is referring THE food list that has been making its rounds in the blog world, 100 things that apparently all omnivores should try at least once.

Well, considering one of my personal heroes (and biggest celebrity crush) is Anthony Bourdain, I have this "try anything once" attitude regarding food. Okay, not quite anything, but even good ol' Tony can't stomach all the stuff they throw at him on his show, so I can't be expected to either since I don't even get paid for my culinary adventures.

I tried a lot of the more exotic things on the list during my 9 month stint in Europe in 2006. I was mostly in Pau (south western France) and Paris, but I traveled extensively through Italy, Ireland, London, Greece, Spain, Poland, and Germany and tried a lot of things during my trip. I didn't have any food restrictions back then, so it was easier to cross things like "head cheese" off the list. To be truthful, I ordered that on accident and didn't find out what the heck I was eating until I was already half-way finished with it. I lost my appetite once my meal's identity was revealed, though.

Other exotic things I've eaten include: crocodile (in my hometown in California, it was very mild tasting), foie gras (I lived in France, this is a requirement. Plus, I went to college in the same town as the biggest foie gras company West of the Mississippi), eel (tried it my first week in China, it was slimy and extremely difficult to pick up using chopsticks but the texture was nice and the sauce was yummy), and hare and horse, both of which were considered delicacies in Pau and were featured on most restaurant menus. Oh, and frogs legs.

Now, the only things I won't try for the time being are meat-related products. I'm sort of interested in drinking snake blood in Thailand, though. I hear people do that there.

interview: take four

The Rules

1. If you want to participate, leave me a comment saying, "Interview
me." (And your e-mail address, please.)
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone
else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them
five questions.

The Questions:

4. We know you have a twin sister, how was it to grow up with her? Did you fight all the time or were you always great friends?

We fought. ALL. THE. TIME. You know how they say whatever hell you put your parents through you'll be put through 10 times worse when you have kids? Ya, the possibility of that being true has frightened me enough to never want children. Well, maybe not never, but definitely not until I can afford a full time nanny to take care of the brats.

The most memorable twin battle I can remember happened in high school, our junior year I think. Twin seems to have no recollection of this happening, isn't selective memory a wonderful thing?

I came home from school at around 2 or 3 in the afternoon and both of my parents were home, sitting on the couch. Automatically I knew something was up because both of my parents own businesses and worked during the day so both of them being at the house in the middle of the day was unusual.

The details of what exactly went down are fuzzy, but I walk in the door, shout a "Sup?" to my parents, and they tell me they need to talk to me. It was one of those situations where you know you're about to get in trouble but you don't really know what for, so your mind starts racing through all the potential things it could be. Did they find out I had been forging their signatures on notes I used to get me out of school? Oh shit, did I cheat on an exam recently? Wait, did I spend too much on my cell phone bill this month? My mind was racing with ideas of what I could have done that would require both of my parents to spend the afternoon away from work to talk to me about.

"We heard you were selling drugs."

Um, what? Me? Selling drugs? I started laughing because I thought it was a joke, except my parents didn't so much as crack a smile.

"This is very serious."

After I was composed enough to talk and managed to pick myself up off the floor where I had been rolling with laughter, I let my parents explain why they would ever think that I was a drug dealer. Me. Miss straight A golf playing pomeranian loving whitest white girl in the world. Twin had told them that she heard (from her best friend's sister's boyfriend's brother's girlfriend who heard from this guy who knows this kid who's going with a girl who saw Ferris pass out at 31 Flavors last night) that I was selling drugs. The whole idea was so ridiculous to me, I didn't even know any drug dealers, much less how a person would go about becoming a drug dealer.

I'm not sure how long the conversation went on, but from my memory it wasn't very long because I kept laughing so hard that it was difficult to even talk. Eventually, my parents realized that I was innocent of any crimes. Except for maybe that whole forging of signatures thing, but they never found out about that.

I called my mom today to verify that this did indeed happen and wasn't just a crazy dream I had in high school like Twin would want me to believe. She remembered it, alright, but then started complaining about stuff that she remembers me doing in high school that I have insisted never happened.

"Mom, this isn't about me being wrong, this is about Twin being wrong. Let's not lose focus of that."

"i love you, dad"

"I love you, dad" has to be my favorite quote from Old School. Only a guy like Will Ferrell could make that sentence hilarious. Plus, I think it's hilarious in general to tell people you love and/or miss them. In college I was the president of a film club (there were 3 members, including me, and we didn't want/allow anyone else to join), and we always used to tell each other "I miss you" because we thought it was funny.

...I guess you had to be there.

Anyway, my dad is pretty legit. In his youth he moved to Hawaii and drove a pedicab for a living. He and his brothers started a "fire dance" tradition in my family that has been carried on at all big events, the men wear hand-made (usually poorly hand-made) masks, no shirts, and dance around with large planks of wood that are on fire at both ends. Don't worry, there's always a hose nearby. He dressed up like a woman one April Fool's Day (it was part of a bigger prank he was playing on his employees) and picked me up from school when I was in 7th grade. Actually, that was the first time I ever told my father "I hate you", but looking back on it makes me laugh. When he turned 50 he shaved his head and got his ear pierced to be funny. He showed up at his 40 year high school reunion in an A&W bear costume with two Elvis impersonators as sidekicks. This year he decided to get his first tattoo ever in Cabo San Lucas, a heart with my mom's name.

Okay, that last one he didn't mean to be funny, but it was definitely surprising. When he showed it to me before I left for China I thought I was going to vomit, which I realize is a strange reaction, but my dad? With a tattoo? What kind of alternate world was I living in that that could even be a possible reality? Mostly I was worried that he didn't like it, because he kept saying how he wished it was bigger.

Well, yesterday he decided to make it bigger by adding to the heart and putting the names of me and my sisters on it. Initially he wanted some lame barbed wire thing (a little too Pam Anderson for my liking), but after a few drawings by his tattoo artist and some coaxing from my anchor-loving twin, he decided to go for a whole nautical theme. I think it's suiting, considering he got the first one done right by the beach. Plus, it's very sailor of him, which I find amusing.

It's pretty damn awesome to have my name tattooed on someone's body. I worked some of my non-existent photoshop skills to blur my name out since I have a blogosphere identity to uphold, duh. I went ahead and blurred Twin's name out too, since it's practically the same as mine. Not that my identity is really even a secret, but my whole Strawberry alter-ego thing is one of the few consistent pleasures I have in my life, so I'm willing to spend 45 seconds to edit my name out of a picture in order to keep the whole thing going.