Defeat.

Sometimes part of being an adult is just knowing when to give up, and let go of something you want more than anything.

Happy Winter Break!

Yes, I've been sadly M.I.A.! It's 3:00am right now and I've just finished my last final paper, so it is officially WINTER BREAK - finally!! I've definitely been running out of steam...and falling behind on everything, so break couldn't have come at a better time.  On top of that, I've been battling some major health issues, so that's been slowing me down a lot lately also.  Oh yeah, and the Niners suffered a disappointing loss against the Arizona Cardinals yesterday so there was certainly no motivation to spontaneously post after that.

But...some hauls, recipes and other random junk in my world coming soon!

NFC West Champions + Frank the Tank

Two pictures to sum up everything I'd possibly have to say about today:

and

Happy Sunday to all...see you at the playoffs!!

Food Favorites

There are few things in life that make me as happy as the following three items:

Boba/Pearl Milk Tea from:

Tea Station

39115 Cedar Blvd.

Newark, CA 94560

Yes, this is an international chain and I've been to many of the ones in LA as well, but nothing tops the milk tea from this unassuming Newark location!  These are better than all the ones I've ever had in SF, and even Asia! I'm convinced they're the best in the world.  The pearls are flavorful and chewy (not bland, soggy, or hard), and the flavor is distinctly Taiwanese.  Love! 

(P.S. You get 10% off for ordering to-go)

Double-Double Burger from In-N-Out.

I rarely eat fast food, but when I have to, this is what I get.  Double-Double is as much as I can fit in my mouth at one time, or else I'd pile on even more scrumptious layers!

#8 House Special Spicy Noodle Soup (with hand-pulled wide flat noodles)

This has got to be one of my all-time favorite foods of my entire life! (And thats a special spot because my top 100 things in life is probably all food.  And football.)

QQ Noodle

3625 Thornton Avenue

Fremont, CA 94536

In Chinese, "QQ" is a kind of slang that refers to something that is perfectly chewy - not hard, and not soggy/mushy.  These noodles are all hand-pulled for the perfect degree of QQ-ness!  I've never ordered anything besides the house special, #8 extra spicy, and I've never needed to.  I've tasted just about everything else on the menu when others have ordered - and nothing beats this in my humble opinion!  I can take QQ any day, any time of day.  

I guess you could say these are a few of my go-to comfort foods, I will never say no to any one!

Thanksgiving Break Part I: Harbowl + A Taste of Taiwan

My Thanksgiving Break began on Wednesday when I went shopping with family for some winter clothes for my ever growing little bro.  He is turning 15 in a few weeks and since last May, has been growing about 1-2 inches/month.  I have a newly acquired  understanding of the expression, "growing like a weed"!

On Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, my mom and I did some grocery shopping at Marina Foods in Fremont, then had the most amazing lunch I've had in a while!  My mom grew up in Taiwan so since I was little, I've been exposed to some amazing Taiwanese food.  Not going to lie, this is what I miss the most in SF cuisine - where Asian food is predominantly Cantonese.

We went to the newly opened:

Fusion House

46228 Warm Springs Blvd.

Fremont, CA 94539

And I thought I'd died and gone to Taiwan when I opened the menu.  Here finally, was a place where I could indulge in my favorite Taiwanese foods, authentically made, and actually afford to pig-out too!  Needless to say my mom and I stuffed ourselves and left VERY happy.  These are some of my favorite Taiwanese dishes:

I believe this is called the "Glutinous Cupped Rice," it's one of my mom's favorites.  She's a total rice person, whereas I am the Noodle Queen.  (Yes, that is actually a title which was bestowed upon me when I was only five years old but had already manifested a clear preference in carbohydrate selections.)

This is my favorite - apparently, in English, it's called "pottage," news to me as I only ever knew what it was called in Taiwanese!  So "pottage" is basically skinny brown noodles (not to be confused with vermicelli - completely different) in a clear jelly-like thick soup, with different flavors.  My favorite is intestine, this one has both intestine and oyster.  I know it must sound disgustingly terrible to non-Chinese, but please don't freak out until you try it, it's DELICIOUS.

This is probably tied for favorite in my book.  It's called something slightly different at different places, but basically it's a big meat ball inside of a glutinous shell.  So difficult to describe but it will blow your mind and explode your taste buds with wonder!

Lastly my mom and I split another staple - the oyster and egg pancake. It's oyster and egg (duh) inside of a fried jelly-like skin, and it's so amazing!  They put some kind of ketchup-y concoction over it and the sauce is beyond delicious.

Then I came home in the afternoon, cleaned the house a little, and planted myself right in-front of the tv for the much awaited Thanksgiving Niner Game vs. the Baltimore Ravens, which us fans had lovingly dubbed Harbowl.  (For non Niner/football fans, this is because the Ravens are coached by John Harbaugh, elder brother by 15 months to Niner head coach Jim Harbaugh.)

(C)Dave Reginek/Getty Images; Nick Wass/Associated Press

Unfortunately...it was probably by far the most depressing game I had watched all season.  It wasn't even  torture anymore, pain is probably a better way to describe it.  First of all, the Niner's offensive line was all but non-existent, leading to Alex Smith getting sacked 9 times.  Nine times!!!  I cowered shamefully beneath my blanket on the couch.  The poor guy didn't even get a chance to play.  Snyder's presence was definitely missed.

Secondly, the refs made some terrible calls throughout the game that really set the niners back, the worst of which being the chop block penalty called on Rachal which wiped out what would have been Ted Ginn Jr.'s 75-yard touchdown catch.  It was a magical moment, quickly whipped away.  If you watch the replay, I can understand why "technically" the refs had the right to make the call, but that only makes it a "correct call," it was by no means a "good call," as Jim Harbaugh so classily refered to it as, in the post-game press conference.  I seriously give him props for taking the high road with all this, because the good Lord knows I was bashing my head on the wall in disgust when this happened.  Refs let penalties like this go, ALL THE TIME, taking things into context, and I was convinced (and still am) that the refs just wanted to give the fans in Baltimore a Thanksgiving present.  That call totally changed the dynamics of the game, in my opinion, and it was just abysmal from there on out.  Add to it the lack of O, and well...that was that.  

Needless to say, I have full faith that we will be geared up and back ready to go for Sunday's game against the Rams!  In any case, I suppose now is the time to explore weaknesses and areas for improvement, so we can go FTW in the post-season!!

SOS!!!!!

Got some regular posts coming up soon but for now - a plea for help!

I have found myself the victim of Black Friday shopping madness....
I've been lusting the the Reebok San Francisco 49ers Player Sideline 2nd Season Visor Knit Hat and found it online last night, and put it in my shopping cart at nflshop.com.  This morning I woke up early, worked all day, cooked a Turkey dinner, then hosted dinner, and returned to my computer only to discover that this hat was not only sold out on nflshop.com, but also ALL AROUND THE WEB?!?!?!?!?

It looks like this:

and retails for $19.99, but at this point I'm about ready to work out some sort of arrangement for it if I could only find one!  I even went to eBay and was prepared to kick butt in some massive bidding war if someone had put one up there.  I must have this hat :(   I was really hoping to have it by the end of the year for a trip to the East Coast I'll be taking around the 1st of Jan...I hope they restock, or some kind soul decides to sell theirs to me!

If anyone knows where I can get a hold of this hat, please do share!! I would be eternally grateful!

More Pics:

Our own Alex Smith wearing this hat backwards...

(C)Rob Carr/Getty Images

And Ray Lewis of the Baltimore Ravens wearing the Ravens version right side forward.  (Unfortunately I couldn't find one of a 49er wearing it correctly...)

(C)Rob Carr/Getty Images

Sushi in the Golden State

This week has been strangely reversed.  When my weeks normally start headed downhill, hit the bottom at Wednesday, then slowly climb back up towards the end, this week started off fantastically well, then slowly fizzled to a lack-luster Friday afternoon.  I'm attending a concert tonight that should be promising, so hopefully some Schoenberg & Chamber Music will turn things around for me.

On Wednesday, I ended up dining solo, and decided nothing would be more comforting than my favorite cuisine: Japanese.  Since I am a quarter Japanese and grew up on the food, I am extremely hard to please.  There wasn't much time so I went to O-Toro Sushi, which is literally about 4 minutes walking distance from my school, and I was surprised to be blown away by the deliciousness! 

O-Toro Sushi

205 Oak Street

(between Gough & Octavia)

San Francisco, 94102

The only way to eat alone is to really pig out, so I ordered a hot Nabeyaki Udon to counter the cold wintery weather we've been having, and also ordered a Golden State Roll to satisfy the sashimi-lover in me.  Of course while I waited I was sipping on my hot Green Tea.  

Story:  My mother has been feeding me tea since I was a wee lass.  When I was a baby, mother's American friends would ask if I was drinking apple juice, looking at the color of the liquid in my bottle, which was clearly not milk.  And my mother would reply, "Nope, she's drinking tea!"  As a result, to this day I still guzzle tea like a camel.  In fact, in one day I could probably easily consume double the amount of tea than I could water.

Anyway, back to the food.  What initially caught my eye about the Golden State Roll was - I'm not going to lie - the name.  I guess you could say this whole lockout business has got me missing our Warriors, so I'll take any Golden State I could get at this point, even if it comes on my food.  Of course, I also love salmon sashimi so this was a double delight.  

I was completely impressed with how fresh the fish was, and the fact that the *real* snow crab inside the roll tasted great.

  

Then came the Nabeyaki Udon, which was also great.  I appreciated the fact that my egg actually came raw, which was nice because a) that means the soup is actually as hot as it's supposed to be, and b) I could take care of the egg the way I wanted to.  I hate it when the soup comes out in this impressive looking clay pot but is only moderately hot.  What's the point?!  The tempura was also delicious, and there was more chicken on the bottom than I could finish.

All in all, a great experience, and I will definitely be back!  Don't let the small front and simple menu fool you, this place is great.